The meeting was called to order by President Myles Brand on April 7, 1993, in Columbia 150 at 3:36 p.m. The minutes of the February 3, 1993 meeting were approved as distributed. (No meeting was held in March
A memorial for J. Orville Lindstrom is a part of these minutes. This memorial can be found at the end of these minutes. Mr. Lindstrom was the UO Director of Fiscal Affairs and Contract Officer from 1932 until his retirement in December 1971. He passed away, in Eugene, on January 27, 1993. A memorial for Professor Emeritus, Education, Oscar Frederick Schaaf can be found at the end of these minutes. Mr. Schaaf's relationship with the University of Oregon commenced in 1954 and lasted for 34 years. On February 12, 1993 Mr. Schaff passed away.
The President recognized Ms. Sandra Morgen, Chair of the President's Multicultural Curriculum Committee, to move the following motion:
"Motion to revise the Race, Gender and non European Requirement"
"It is incumbent upon the University of Oregon to respond to the changing demographic and political realities of the U. S. and the world as we shape a curriculum for the 21st century. To begin this process, the Multicultural Curriculum Committee requests that the University Assembly approve the following changes in the Race, Gender, and non European Requirement. These changes will be effective for all undergraduates entering the University of Oregon beginning in the academic year 1994 1995 unless the committee responsible for implementation of the requirement, upon evaluation of available courses, requests an additional one year extension to ensure sufficient course availability for the meaningful implementation of the revised requirement.
"The current requirement calls for one course that addresses either race, gender, or non European subject matter.
"1. We move that the requirement be increased to two (2) courses to be chosen from a list of courses to be approved by a Senate appointed seven (7) member standing committee which will review and recommend to the Committee on the Curriculum approval of existing and new classes for the requirement. The standing committee will review all courses which currently fulfill the requirement as well as new courses which are to be considered to fulfill the requirement. The standing committee will review approved courses periodically, minimally every two years. The standing committee shall be composed of the Director of Women's Studies (or appointee), the Director of Ethnic Studies (or appointee), the Director of International Studies (or appointee), one student appointed by the ASUO President and Student Senate, and three faculty members appointed by the University Senate. A member of the Committee on the Curriculum will be appointed to the standing committee as an ex officio non voting member.
2. One of the two courses will focus on contemporary race relations in the U. S. ; or the historical roots of contemporary race relations in the U. S., specifically linking the historical matters to contemporary issues; or it will address in depth the social, economic, political, cultural, and/or psychological conditions of, and/or the artistic, musical, oral or written expressions of African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and/or Latinos/Chicanos. In addition, courses that examine the theoretical conceptualization of race as a biological, historical, and cultural category, and that include material about people of color in the U. S. can be counted towards fulfillment of the requirements.
"3. The second course will foster a student's understanding of diversity by focusing on how gender, race, ethnicity and/or class shape experience or identity, relations among social groups, or the creative expressions of women, peoples of color, ethnic minorities, and/or non European cultures. These courses may be taught in a wide variety of disciplines and can explore either non European or European societies. Since the primary pedagogical goal of this requirement is to enable students to better understand diversity as it is manifested within and characterizes our society in its global context, the committee shall encourage courses that provide students with conceptual tools and substantive material to facilitate these understandings.
"The University Assembly requests that the University administration commit sufficient resources to support additional classes over the next two years to provide the array of options necessary for the implementation of this requirement."
Mr. Robert O'Brien, Sociology, was recognized by President and Mr. O'Brien moved that the University Assembly "Fix the Time to Adjourn" at 5:00 p.m. President Brand stated that this was a debatable motion and required a majority vote to pass. The Assembly voted in favor of the motion by voice vote.
Mr. Thomas Givon, Linguistics, stated that the President had twice taken a position in favor of the motion and because of this he could not be impartial and thus he should surrender the Chair to the Provost. The President asked Mr. Chapin Clark, Law and Parliamentarian for this meeting, to make a ruling from Robert's Rules on Mr. Givon's request. Mr. Clark explained that the impartiality required of the chair in an assembly precludes his taking any position on motions before the assembly. If the President wished to speak to the motion he would have to surrender the Chair and would not be able to resume the Chair until the motion has been voted upon. As to the question of having taken an announced position on the motion previous to the meeting being a sign of not being impartial Mr. Clark said that he would let the Chair decide if he should preside or not. The President stated to the Assembly that he knew he could be impartial and that he would remain in the Chair. Mr. Givon appealed the decision of the Chair. This move to appeal died from lack of a second.
Ms. Morgen was recognized to speak to the Motion. She outlined the background and purpose of the motion. Students wanted these requirements and the future of the students made necessary the exposure and knowledge that the requirements would bring to the students. She strongly urged the passing of the motion.
Mr. Michael Hibbard, President of the University Senate, reporting the actions of the University Senate on the motion, gave the vote of the Senate (33 yes, 5 no), and the strong endorsement the Senate gave the motion. Mr. Hibbard added that the members of the Assembly had received two statements concerning the motion, one in favor and one opposed, and that these statements should help to focus the debate on the motion. In closing Mr. Hibbard asked that the members of the Assembly and the visitors follow the normal decorum of debate and allow the discussion to flow freely and that the audience should not applaud, boo or shout.
The President thanked Mr. Hibbard for his remarks on decorum and strongly endorsed them.
Ms. Morgen was recognized and she urged support of the motion. She stated that the growth of academic scholarship in the area of Race relations in the past twenty years was very impressive. Race was very important and although one would think of the Social Sciences as the most logical place to find the required courses on Race, it was possible for the requirement to cut across the entire University curriculum. She gave an example of Biology having a course on the background of race. She acknowledged that one course would not solve the problems faced by the United States in race relations, but the exposure would provide the tools to commence to find a solution to the difficulties of race relations.
Mr. Quintard Taylor, History, joined Ms. Morgen in supporting the motion and said that the preliminary list of courses that would qualify as fulfilling the requirement was just that a preliminary list. It was not complete, and in fact some courses on the list might not qualify when the syllabi for the individual courses are reviewed by the Committee. The Committee would work with the Deans, the Registrar, and Department Heads to produce a list of courses that would be fully acceptable and would meet the requirement. He added that no courses on anti Semitism existed on campus at the present time and thus no course could be put on the list that dealt with anti Semitism. It is possible that such a course could be on the list if it existed. He concluded that similar requirements, as contained in the motion before this Assembly, have, at Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford tended to broaden the outlook of the faculty as well as the students.
Mr. David Hubin, Academic Learning Services and Academic Affairs, presented the following information for the required fiscal impact statement.
Estimated Annual Costs for Race Component of Multicultural Requirement Current Actual: Courses Faculty Enrollments Capacity
Sp, Fall 92, Win 93 36 27 1,830 2,110
Current Average: FTE Faculty at 5 courses Enrollments Capacity
7 51 59
New Seats Needed: 1,000 to 2,000
For 1,000 Additional Seats:
Class Size 40 50 60
Sections Needed 25 20 17
FTE Faculty Needed 5 4 3.3
at 5 Courses/FTE
Costs: Assistant Professor $252,700 $202,160 $168,467
All Ranks $299,250 $239,400 $199,500
Average Salary: with OPE
Assistant Professor $38,000 $50,540
All Ranks $45,000 $59,850
No figures were presented for the second part of the requirement as sufficient courses already exist to satisfy the requirement without any additional expense.
President Brand explained that the "Target of Opportunity" program would be used to help fund the necessary positions to support the requirement. No incremental funding would be involved in meeting this requirement, he added.
Mr. Jack Sanders, Religious Studies, was recognized. He stated that he had some questions to ask of Mr. Taylor before he could decide on how he would vote on the motion. Mr. Sanders asked where, in either requirement, would religion find a home? Mr. Taylor stated that it would fit into the second requirement and ethnicity specifically. Mr. Sanders asked if anti Semitism might not fit in with the creative expressions, etc. part of the 2d requirement? Mr. Taylor replied that religion deals with ethnicity and would qualify as an attempt to understand how religion fits with ethnicity.
Mr. Sanders said that "... to omit religion from race is spurious." To be Jewish at birth is to always be a Jew, regardless of race, location, or belief. He added that for many people in many nations the Jew is seen as the evil in the world. Religion cannot be separated from society and this motion wipes out the multicultural gains made in the present requirement. To give the students entry into the world of today and the future the present requirement is much better he concluded.
Mr. Tom Givon, in opposing the motion, made several points: the issue should be debated openly, that members of the faculty should speak their minds without fear of intimidation, the motion on the floor closes down the curriculum through making it politically and ideologically based. The requirement would create a "special committee" to review and accept or reject the proposed courses to fulfill the requirement, and that the University Committee on the Curriculum would not be allowed to do what it is supposed to do through faculty legislation. The "special committee" is politically based not academically based. Continuing, Mr. Givon questioned the silence of the Deans on this requirement, did the Deans oppose the motion as it has been rumored, he asked rhetorically. In closing he said the requirements would not teach students how to think, but, instead, what to think.
At this point Mr. Givon stated: "I move that the vote on this motion be by a secret mail ballot; and that the Secretary prepare the ballots and mail them to all members of the Assembly not later than April 14, 1993; and that the ballots be returned to the Secretary not later than April 21; and that the Secretary report the results not later than April 28." Mr. Givon, stated, in justification of his procedural motion, that the secret mail ballot would assure a vote by individuals who might feel intimidated because of various hints and suggestions that have been made to them by people who can affect their future as faculty members.
Although this motion was not debatable, debate took place. Proponents endorsed the move to have the secret mail ballot for various reasons, getting a larger number of teaching faculty to participate in the decision on this curriculum issue, making sure that those who do vote are eligible to vote, and a short history of the secret vote and how sacred it is in the United States.
Opponents to the secret mail ballot felt that the intimidation harge was an exaggeration, that intimidation was a two way street, and that people should not be afraid to vote their conscience in an open forum. And continuing on this theme another added that this meeting was equal to a town meeting and in town meetings you vote openly after public debate. Ms. Sumi Cho, Political Science, stated that the suggestion of intimidation was intriguing, but that it was a smoke screen, the issue was not political correctness, but that the real issue was to be able to hold people politically accountable for their vote.
The motion to have a secret mail ballot failed by a vote of 147 yes and 170 opposed.
Mr. Ron Rousseve, Counseling Psychology, in joining the debate on the motion to revise, stated that he was on the committee that drew up the original Ethnic Studies Program, and that a moderate elective program was the result of this committee's deliberations. The present race requirement is diffused, not focused, and the motion under consideration moves toward making the requirement relevant, it corrects a deficiency in the current requirement and is a very moderate response to meet the need to change the requirement. He urged the adoption of the motion. In conclusion, Mr. Rousseve said he supported the second requirement on the grounds that it will require faculty involvement in developing the curriculum and that much educational merit will be found in this requirement as it will prove to enrich the curriculum.
Mr. Robert Proudfoot, International Studies, Folklore and Ethnic Studies, discussed briefly the work of the committee and the dedication of those involved in drawing up the motion.
As the hour was drawing near 5:00 p.m., the set time for adjournment, the President asked if the Assembly wanted to extend the meeting past 5:00 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. This failed to pass, so the time for adjournment remained at 5:00 p.m.
Some person, unidentified and unrecognized formally, called for the question. The President stated that those eligible to vote were the only individuals that could be seated in the area immediately in front of the iron railing. He requested all those not eligible to vote to remove themselves from the specified area. He added that those remaining in the specifice area were attesting to their honesty that they were eligible to vote. The vote on the call for the question was by a show of hands. Debate ceased with the Assembly voting in favoring of calling the question.
The motion was now put to a vote. The motion passed by a vote of 175 yes and 155 no.
The business of the meeting having been concluded the Assembly adjourned at 5:05 p.m. Keith Richard Secretary
In 1933 he married fellow student, Catherine Adams, a marriage that lasted nearly 60 years. Three children were the product of this marriage, John of Everett, Washington, Janet Starr of Eugene and Julie Curtis of Salem. While devoted to his work Orville found time for recreation. He was particularly fond of golf and cards, which probably explains his early membership in the Eugene Country Club. He served as both Secretary and President of the Club and after retirement he spent many happy hours there and it was only fitting that his memorial service was held at the Club where an overflow crowd paid their respects.
Orville was a visionary, noting during World War II years that someday the campus would be flooded with veterans, many of whom would be newlyweds seeking housing. The Amazon Housing Project provided married students inexpensive housing even to this day. Later in a desire to both meet the need and to upgrade quality Orville led the drive to acquire the land and build the Westmoreland Housing Project. He did not overlook the single students. Immediately after the war he obtained from the Vancouver shipyards prefabricated housing known as the Veterans Dorms and had them ready for occupancy when the enrollment crunch began in 1945. At the same time an ambitious schedule of building permanent dormitories was undertaken. Top assure future expansion he was successful in having the university boundary extended to Villard Street on the East. Nearly all of that property has now been acquired. He had professional articles published on these subject in 1946 and 1950.
Town gown relationships were recognized by Orville as being very important to the welfare of the University. His membership in the Eugene Country Club was an important avenue of contact and likewise his membership in Eugene Round Table, a 50 member study club equally divided between town and gown. He belonged to the Lions service club and served as Secretary and Treasurer from 1943 47. He was Vice President of the Eugene Pageant Association in 1950. He served on the Board of Directors of the Eugene Water and Electric Board from 1959 64.
Professionally he served as President of the Western Association of College and University Business Officers in 1946 47 and on their executive committee in 1947 48. In 1949 he was a member of the Editorial Board of College and University Business Magazine.
Few can match his dedication to the university and to the community.
N. Ray Hawk Vice President Emeritus Administration and Finance
In 1945 Oscar resumed his education at the University of Chicago where he received a Masters degree in Education. He then taught high school prior to enrolling at Ohio State University where he received a PhD in Mathematics Education in 1954.
Upon moving to Eugene in 1954 Oscar taught mathematics education courses at the University of Oregon for 34 years and held a joint position between the Eugene School district and the University of Oregon. He headed South Eugene High School's mathematics department from 1954 until 1970, and also taught at Roosevelt Junior High School in Eugene. In 1963 he was named Lane County's Teacher of the Year. In the early 1970s he was the mathematics coordinator for the Eugene School District, and from 1974 until 1983 Oscar was the mathematics specialist for the Lane Education Service District. He is listed in Who's Who Directory of Educators as well as Who's Who in the West. He has been honored by numerous state and national organizations of math educators. Last year, Oscar was inducted as charter member of the Oregon Mathematics Education Hall of Fame. A secondary teacher will be recognized annually for outstanding teaching through the Oscar Schaaf Secondary Teaching Award.
Oscar's contributions to mathematics education were many. He wrote curriculum guides for the Eugene School District and the Oregon Department of Education. He was the author of many books and was most recently the director a problem solving project which produced materials used throughout the country. Oscar was always in great demand as a speaker and workshop leader in mathematics education. He was an organizer and charter member of the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics and was a continuous leader in that organization for almost forty years.
Oscar was truly and inspirational teacher. Perhaps his most significant contribution was being a role model and mentor to hundreds of mathematics educators. This influence is bound to continue geometrically as each of us shares with others what we learned from Oscar.
In addition to his wife, Meredith, he is survived by his sons, Douglas and William, both of Eugene; three sisters, and two grandchildren. A memorial fund is being established in Oscar's memory through the OCTM to be used to provide scholarship assistance to graduate students in mathematics education.
Mr. President, I request that this memorial be made a part of the official and permanent minutes of this meeting and that copies of this memorial be sent to the immediate family by the Secretary of the Faculty.
Scott D. McFadden College of Education 1988 1992