It is an honor to welcome the new Senators of the 2000/2001 Senate.
I told the UO Assembly at the beginning of this academic year: "The University
of Oregon has a long tradition of shared governance. The University Senate
together with the elected and appointed committees are an integral part
of that tradition. As Senate President during this year, my primary role
is to facilitate the smooth working of these structures." It has been a
high honor and privilege to serve as your Senate President and to facilitate
your work this year and I am grateful for the opportunity. I would like
to thank the Parliamentarian (Paul Simonds) and the Secretary of the Senate
(Gwen Steigelman) for trying to keep me out of trouble this year - to quote
President Frohnmayer: "Experience is something you don't get until just
after you need it." (As an aside, I attended the UOAA meeting on Saturday
- it was a great meeting. I copied down all the jokes President Frohnmayer
told. I am going to recycle most of them here as he has a much better speech
writer than I do!). I would like to thank your Senate Executive Committee
(James Earl, Jeremy Grzybowski, Barbara Jenkins, Greg McLaughlin, Margaret
Paris, Gwen Steigelman, Nathan Tublitz, Thomas Wheeler), your Senate Rules
Committee (Margaret Paris and Jim Schombert), and your Senate Nominating
Committee (Elizabeth Housworth and Priscilla Southwell). They have worked
long and hard on your behalf and deserve your gratitude.
I believe passionately in the ideal of shared governance and am delighted to report that shared governance is alive and well at our University. The President of the University remarked: "Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance." I have been fortunate this year to be Senate President when so much was accomplished by others. Let me enumerate four items that we all can take pride in.
Primus: The work of the Senate Budget Committee, comprised of Professors Frank, Kellman Tublitz, and Westling and of Provost Moseley is one exemplar. Rather than engaging in sterile confrontation, the SBC worked together to make a start at solving some of our salary problems. Although much remains to be done, an excellent beginning has been made. The three documents the SBC presented and that the Senate subsequently adopted provide valuable guidelines for the future.
Secondus: The statement of ``community values'' reminds us: "The University of Oregon has a long and illustrious history in the area of academic freedom and freedom of speech. A culture of respect that honors the rights, safety, dignity and worth of every individual is essential to preserve such freedom" - this statement of shared community values is an outgrowth of the work of the Diversity interns with input from many people; it was adopted by the UO Senate, and promulgated by UO President Frohnmayer. It is truly a work of shared governance.
Tertius: The Distinguished Service Awards. There were many excellent nominees from the faculty this year and the University can be proud of the winner(s) when the awards are presented at commencement. However, all members of the University Community must continue to participate actively in the nomination process - I commend to your attention DSA Committee Chair Dave Hubin with the Latin Motto: FUREM FUR COGNOSCIT ET LUPIUM LUPUS.
Quartious: The WRC. The President remarked "It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal the neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it", and of his own role that: "It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others." As noted above, President Frohnmayer has a much better speechwriter than I do. But in addition to his jokes, I would like to share with you some of the things I and others on Saturday concerning matters related to the WRC.
I would now like to turn to lighter topics.