Arts and Letters Colloquium : The University in Peace and War

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https://hdl.handle.net/1794/309

This collection contains student papers from the Clark Honors College course HC 421 Honors College Arts and Letters Colloquium: The University in Peace and War. For more information on the course and the Honors College program, consult the College website

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    29 Years Between Protests and The Newspaper that Separates and Connects Them: A comparison between the Register Guard's representation of the 1970 ROTC protests and its representation of the 1999 anarchist riots of Eugene, Oregon
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-11-21) Weidman, Katie
    For my paper, I would like to compare the rhetoric, focus, and intent of media coverage today with that of the sixties. I will discuss the stories, photographs, and editorials used by the Eugene Register Guard to depict the April 15, 1970 University of Oregon anti-ROTC riots, and compare them with coverage of the June 18, 1999 Anarchist riot in downtown Eugene. Specifically, I hope to find out how the Register Guard, as well as the culture it represents, changed (or remained the same) in regards to riots over the last forty years. Did the University of Oregon’s protests of the 1970’s set the standard, or create the form for the protests of 1999 to follow? What tactics do protesters and reporters continue to use, and what tactics were unique to the sixties? These are the questions to which I hope to offer some possible answers, while looking at how local newspapers might have worked with or against rioters in both time periods. Although my research was centered around the Register Guard, I also read Oregon Daily Emerald and Oregonian articles, newspaper clippings in the R. D. Clark Presidential Archives, as well as books discussing the media and the sixties. The comparisons in this paper will primarily be shaped by the opinions and objectives of Eugene Register Guard reporters, editors, photographers, and letter-writing citizens, as well as what I perceive are the political and social views of the time.
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    Berkeley of the Northwest? Not quite.
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12) Nussbaum, Ben
    A wave of student activism swept the nation during the turbulent 1960’s and 1970’s. During this time, the University of Oregon earned the reputation as the “Berkeley of the Northwest” in obvious reference to the chaotic and violent campus of the University of California at Berkeley during this time period. The connections between the two campuses run deep. Students and faculty moved between the campuses for educational purposes or to participate in the powerful social movements that enveloped both campuses during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Driven by congruent ideologies, the atmosphere found on both campuses was remarkably similar, especially in the students’ and sometimes faculty’s stance against the conflict in Vietnam. Students challenged the administrations and attacked the status quo on both campuses with the same passion, but the movement at the University of Oregon never reached the same scale as the one at Berkeley.
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    Discrimination and Diversity: The True Colors of University Athletics
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-14) Koski, Sarah Anne
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    Drug Use Within Vietnam-era Student Protest: Central or Coincidental?
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-04-15) Freeland, Sarah
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    First Amendment Rights—McCall’s Evolution as Protector
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-11-11) Fisher, Tracy
    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. So reads the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The exact meaning of this amendment has been the subject of much debate and many Supreme Court rulings since the ratification of the Constitution in 1789. The way in which the Court chooses to interpret this Amendment at any given time has a drastic effect on the way constituents choose to protest and the consequences thereof. The line between constitutionally protected rights under the First Amendment and those actions left unprotected has continually required clarification. The years of the Sixties brought great degrees of social change and, with that, many young protestors pushing the envelope on public officials and demanding the liberty to exercise their rights. One of the greatest legacies of this period is the sit-in. Originally popularized by the Civil Rights Movement, demonstrators of all persuasions adopted and made notorious this useful tool of protest. In the interest of keeping the peace, public officials were required to decide between allowing or disallowing such demonstrations of protest and dissent. Some proved themselves to be greatly in favor of the process of protest; others found it and its repercussions merely a thorn in their side. The sit-in at Johnson Hall on the University of Oregon campus in the spring of 1970 was not among the most notorious of nation-wide protests, but it did change the way Oregonians viewed protest as well as the way public officials chose to respond to confrontation.
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    GO GREEK TO NO GREEK: A LOOK AT THE CHANGING ATTITUDE TOWARD THE GREEK COMMUNITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, 1964-1972
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-13) Bryans, Cherlyn
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    HARMLESS OR HOSTILE? :THE SDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON IN THE SPRING OF 1970
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-11) Dicharry, Kristen Marie
    The rather loosely organized (and increasingly weakening) Oregon chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) reportedly influenced a number of student protest situations leading up to these events, but were the ROTC bombing on April 15th, or the riots following the Johnson Hall sit-in on April 23rd, 1970, inevitable occurrences independent of the SDS’ contributions? The true identity and campus role of the University of Oregon chapter of the SDS in 1969-1970 is difficult to define; reports of who the SDS was at that time varies within the individual accounts by the administration, The Oregon Daily Emerald, The Augur (a Eugene underground newspaper), the general student population, and the SDS members themselves. It is clear to a certain extent, that the local SDS mirrored the national chapter, but it also mirrored the general sentiment of the national youth movement at large. The SDS undoubtedly had some impact on the events in the spring of 1970 at the University of Oregon . . . but how, and to what extent?
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    How Activism during the Vietnam Era Influenced Change in the Student Role on Campus
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-13) ChapmanGraves, Camas
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    Little Paper Cuts: The Struggles and Demands of Black Students at the University of Oregon
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-13) Harmon, Corey
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    The Oregonian: A Portrayal of the University of Oregon
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-09) Miller, Jessica Adele, 1967-
    The University of Oregon in the sixties was a representative of the changing attitude among young people across the country. Growing hair long, experimenting with sex and drugs, and questioning all authority was among the revolutionary actions. American youth protested decisions of the government, specifically with constant controversy over the war. Violence was all around as Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated, the U.S. Army killed hundreds of civilians in South Vietnam, and black athletes were protested at the Mexico City Olympics. The once conservative and strict attitude between the Deans of Men and Women and the enrolled students, quickly transformed to a liberal and rebellious attitude. Civil rights were a hot topic and on campuses across the country, the specific issue of student rights was debated. Many Eugene, Oregon locals witnessed first-hand the protests of the students at the University. However, most other Oregonians relied on the media to relay the information and state of the University to them in an objective and factual manner. The largest state-wide newspaper, based out of Portland, was The Oregonian. Specifically studied here are The Oregonian articles reporting on the University of Oregon incidents during April of 1970 as well as a generalized study of how mass media affects public opinion. This Portland publication used loaded language and photographs to frame incidents at the University of Oregon, and thus to persuade readers across the state that the Eugene campus was a place of liberal chaos.
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    Oregon’s Silent Majority v. their Children: Challenging the role of the University and widening the “Generation Gap”
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-10) Friedman, Judith
    Student unrest in 1970 at the University of Oregon and across the nation reflected the increasing tensions, frustrations and disillusionment that the younger generation of Americans felt toward their place in the global political drama. They felt confused about their roles as citizens enrolled in institutions funded by a government and a military whose actions and ideology conflicted with their developing attitudes about the national and local power structures. How did this enable them to be heard in the wake of the older generation? The younger generation insisted that social, cultural and political movement and sentiment of the era was unprecedented. Rather than imitating their parents, students and youth of the late 1960s were rebelling against them and creating something new—something radical. Students threw the American dream to the wayside. They went to college and many defied the morals and models their parents had established for them. Instead of following in the footsteps of an earlier generation, the youth of America was trying to create a different path. Students utilized their position as students and disputed the role of higher education. They changed the concept of the university from that which their parents cherished as an almost sacred instrument of self-improvement, to a forum for their political expression. They rebelled against both their parents and the in loco parentis role of the University. The voices of radical minority were heard in spite of the wide generation gap and answered by gasps and hushes from the silent majority.
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    Protesting the Media: The Students’ Plea to be Heard
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-10) Haire, Lauren
    The sixties and seventies were marked by unprecedented revolution. The world was changing and people were waking up to the social inequalities and political deviations. During a time when civil rights were scarcely recognized and young men were being shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War, concerned citizens emerged to voice their opinions. One of the major sources of activism occurred on university campuses.
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    The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps: Protests and Perspectives on the University of Oregon Campus in 1969 and 1970
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-14) Mosen, Emily
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    Robert D. Clark and Hill Walker’s Idea of “Escalation”
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-11) Nelson, Sarah
    Most occurrences, whether they are large or small, are not merely isolated happenings, but part of a greater chain of being, so to speak. Each event leads to another, following a sort of pre-projected path, either increasing to a point of intensity, or decreasing from it. This theory has been discussed in a number of milieus: evolution, international politics, and child behavior. The latter was studied closely by former UO Professor Hill Walker, and he developed a specific theory, outlining the steps of this escalation, and what can be done to prevent its reaching catastrophic levels.
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    Robert D. Clark at San Jose State College and the University of Oregon
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12) Barth, Laura
    The 1960s and 1970s were turbulent times all over the world. The Cultural Revolution introduced freedom, rebellion, and protest into the minds of the young. The war in Vietnam and civil rights issues provided the perfect opportunities for young people to practice the new freedoms that they were acquiring. Civil rights protests and protests against the United States’ policy in Vietnam became commonplace. College campuses were ideal locations for protests because they were full of young, idealistic, educated students. Officials of higher education had to deal with a generational clash that involved parents who wanted an authoritarian college president and students who wanted more freedom. Robert Clark had to deal with these conflicting interests when he was president of San Jose State College and the University of Oregon. At both institutions, there were many trying issues that challenged Clark to please both the parents and the students. In his five years at San Jose State, Clark dealt with three large issues: black student civil rights, the Dow Chemical protest, and the AFT strike. At the University of Oregon, the three main problems that Clark dealt with were the Weyerhaeuser protest, the Johnson Hall sit-in, and the ROTC looting incidences. Clark handled these situations at both schools similarly by listening and talking to students and by making changes in school policy when he deemed it necessary.
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    The Role of the Civil Rights Movement in Oregon
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-10) Vitus, Stephanie
    I started researching the role of the Civil Rights Movement in Eugene with high hopes. Civil Rights as a subject is so large, and so well-covered nationally, that I figured sources would overflow. I knew that Oregon had a spotty history at best concerning the treatment of African Americans, but that knowledge lent me to expect a more fervent Civil Rights Movement in the area. As it turns out, racial oppression dates back to before Oregon became a state, when the Ku Klux Klan was a powerful force. The citizens of Oregon tried their utmost to keep African Americans away, so any Civil Rights Movement later contained mostly whites. Looking at the greater picture of Oregon as a whole, including the roles of Eugene, Portland and other cities, provides a clearer picture of the local Civil Rights Movement than studying any one city can. The role of the Movement was change, but it didn’t happen suddenly, and it grew out of a sordid history of discrimination.
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    The Roles of President Clark and the Oregon Daily Emerald In the 1970 Protests on the University of Oregon Campus
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-11) Hoogerhuis, Mara
    Like many colleges and universities throughout the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the University of Oregon experienced a variety of anti-war student protests on its usually peaceful green campus. Students at the University of Oregon, upset with the unjust war in Vietnam, the draft, and the feeling that their parents’ generation was ignoring their voice and first amendment right to protest, took to the streets and administration buildings their demands for justice. The administrators of the University of Oregon, as well as other demonstration prone universities like UC Berkeley, Columbia, and San Francisco State, faced new challenges as the demonstrations and protests erupted into unprecedented forms of violence and student/faculty/community discontent. Different University Presidents handled the disruptions differently. On the University of Oregon campus, President Robert D. Clark’s voice of reason and calm kept dangerous situations from escalating into uncontrollable ones. The events of the late 1960s and early 1970s, on the microcosm of the university campus, epitomized an era of transition and shifting values among the younger generation of America.
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    Shades of Scientific Activism: John Froines and Ralph Spitzer
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-11) Drueding, Katie
    In 1959, a young physical chemist by the name of Ralph Spitzer left Oregon State University, then Oregon State College. Eleven years later, in 1970, another young chemist, John Froines, left the University of Oregon. Both men were deeply involved in left-wing politics, and both lost their positions for political reasons. But more than the passage of time separates these two men. Spitzer was fired from his position; Froines resigned. Between them was a philosophical gulf regarding the practice of science, the practice of politics, and how the two should be linked.
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    “Stop, hey, what’s that sound”: Popular Music at the University of Oregon During the 1969-70 School Year
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2005-03-14) Roby-Sage, Courtney
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    Students for a Democratic Society: A Successful Failure?
    (Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, 2003-12-11) Abbott, Justin
    The Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, were characterized by their fervent, enthusiastic discontent, their lofty ideals, and their incapacitating lack of organization. The group, both nationally and locally, undoubtedly strayed far from its foundations, a downward spiral culminating in the SDS’ ultimate factionalization and collapse. Despite its unfortunate an ungraceful demise, the SDS has left a legacy that still benefits us, in one way or another, today.