m $ * ~" " ~ ' ' ......
Co-ops...To Cut Cost of Living
It's Not All Work In The Co-ops
Girls at University house gather for a few hands of bridge before 7:30 study hours. Kibitzers advise
while knitting and chatting over the day’s activities. Although house tasks take up time, the co-top girls
have time to enjoy campus social life.
Wally Campbell Founds Oregon
Cooperatives, Stays With Work
rne cooperative living organi
zation still ranks among the top
interests of Wally Campbell, who
founded' the co-ops on the Oregon'
campus and for whom Campbell
club was named.
Campbell, who is now secretary
of the Cooperative league of Am
erica and co-organizer of CARE,
was active in co-op work even in
his undergraduate years. His thes
_i
I
Budget Shows ;
Men's Expenses!
By budgeting his time, as well
as his money, Herb Spady combats |
the present high cost of living. A
freshman in history, Spady works
27 hours a week, carries 16 credit
hours, and works four hours around 1
Campbell club. !
Like other Campbell men, Spady j
is paying his way through college.
This necessitates carrying a light
er load than he otherwise might.
His average day consists of
morning classes, noon house study,
afternoon work at the Register-;
Guard, and evening for studying.
Spady solves transportation costs
with a bicycle. Y
John McManigle might be called
typical of the veteran students at:
Campbell. A sophomore in liberal j
arts, he carries 15 credit hours and !
works 16 hours a week at the li
brary, in addition to his four-hour
house duty.
Library pay, work in the sum
mer and veteran subsistence allows,
him enough money to go through j
college and afford incidentals. He i
has arranged a schedule which en- |
ables him to have enough time left;
for proper studying.
McManigle has no complaint
against the high cost of living, con- j
tending that high wages compen-!
sate for most of the high prices. He
does believe, however, that the
prices of school supplies are “un
reasonably high.”
is in sociology was writen on this
type of campus living. While at
Oregon he actively promoted the
co-ops.
His enthusiasm for the cooper
ative movement proved infectious
for the campus. Wesley founda
tion in which Campbell had been a
leader. The initiated studies of the
movement in their Sunday night
discussion sessions, and it was de
cided to start a cooperative house
on the campus, where students
could live more cheaply and gain
an understanding of cooperative
philosophy.
All Faiths Sheltered
The house was named Wallace J.
Campbell Cooperative house. Or
rnized in 1934 around a nu
cleus of Wesley foundation stud
er-'to, the house also sheltered men
o,! Jewish and Catholic faiths, a
Filipino cook, a Japanese Buddhist
and ?. man newly arived from Ger
man' ■.
The Burt Biown Barker award,
a trc: hy presented to the men’s
group maintaining the highest
scholar;!" average during the pre
ceding ycrr, was earned by Camp
bell club in 1939, 1940, and 1947.
Last year they hit a grade-point
average 3r excess of 2.60.
Campbell has visited coopera
tives in ira” European countries,
and last s: .miner he spent seven
weeks in Eurone attending the In
ternational Cooperative congress
held in Zurich Switzerland. While
in Europe, he conceived the idea
of uniting all the agencies admin
istering relief.
Chairman of CAKE
With H. Eastbourne Thompson
of the Friends Servi'o committee
and George Miles of the war relief
services of the National Catholic
Welfare conference, Campbell vis
ited the executives and boards of
more than 20 religious, labor and
relief organizations. They raised
three quarters of a million dollars
to start Cooperative American Re
mittances for Europe (CARE).
(Please turn to page six)
(Second in Series
This is the second in a series
of articles on “The higher cost of
living.’’ Today’s articles were
written by Don Smith, June Mc
Connell, Sut McCarrel, Helen
Sherman, and Barbara Heywood.
The sereis is designed to show
how University students are
meeting the higher cost of living.
100 Gals Find
Co-ops Are Fun
There are more than 100 girls on
the University of Oregon campus
who are finding that working their
way through college collectively is
not only profitable, but fun.
They are the “Co-op Co-eds,” the
gals who reside from September to
June in the three University co
operative houses: University, High
land and Rebec. By paying a mod
erate fee for board and room and
helping keep up the house and pre
pare meals, these girls give and
take equally while studying for
their degrees.
Life in a co-op isn’t all play and J
no work. For the reduced cost of
board and room the girls do their
share of keeping up the three cam
pus houses. Each girl does five or
six jobs per week—including wash
ing and drying dishes, setting ta
bles, serving meals, cleaning the
dining and living rooms and the
kitchen, halls and stairs, preparing
breakfast and keeping up the yard.
Girls Pay Fee
With the hours put in on the job,
the girls pay the nominal fee of
$35 per month; a $1 social fee is
paid by the term, as is a $2 charge
for buildings, set aside for use in
the future.
This $35 gives the co-eds living
in co-ops the atmosphere of the
large dormitory with “small
crowd” advantages. Two to five
girls share a room and sleep on the
big sleeping porches, which have
bunk beds. Studying is done in the
rooms at individual desks. The
rooms also are furnished with
(Please turn to page six)
Girls' Co-ops Triumph
Over Early Opposition
Co-ed cooperative living had its beginning on the Oregon
campus during the spring term of 1936 under the leadership
of a group of interested girls with the help of Janet Smith, em
ployment secretary for the campus.
According to the records left by these first co-op girls, they
experienced many hardships in the establishment of their or
ganization. Many people on the campus, such as University
housing officials, did not hold high hopes for the success of
-. v ' *■* *C5 > likj LI 1(1
proposed by the girls.
University House
University house, at 1415 Univ
ersity street, was the first house
occupied by the girls’ co-ops. It was
rented from Mrs. Mary Daniels,
who previously had maintained a
boarding house. In 1944 the Univ
ersity purchased the structure but
continued renting it to the co-ops.
The girls were gradually able to
purchase furnishings for the house
and redecorated it, doing the work
themselves.
Future of University house, ac
commodating 40 girls, remains
somewhat uncertain. The house is
to be moved' or torn down next
summer by the University, to
make room for the student union
building.
liuyara Mouse
Next in the history of the co-op
houses was Hilyard house, which
was established in 1937. The name
Hilyard house was carried by three
different structures occupied by
the co-ops, the last of which was
located at 1391 Emerald. Hilyard
was discontinued spring term of
1947 due to housing difficulties.
Plans are being made to reorgan
ize it as soon as a house can be
found by the co-op council.
Highland House
Highland house was the third
women’s co-op house at Oregon.
It, too, had several locations, the
present one at 1335 onyx. It was
organiced fall term of 1938 and ac
commodates 31 girls. The present
house is owned by the University
rented by the co-ops.
Rebec House
The only house owned by the co
op organization is Rebec house, lo
cated at 725 E. 13th. Its history
dates back to fall term 1943 when
it was established as the fourth
women’s co-op. It was given to
the co-op organization in a bequest
from George Rebec, who was dean
of the graduate school before his
death.
Campbell Club
Provides Good,
Cheap Living
Campbell club has grown since
1934, the first year of the Oregon
cooperative, when the members
would buy a whole cow and then
butcher it to cut costs. But the
same theory of quantitive, econ
omical buying' is used to give pres
ent-day members simple and
wholesome living at minimum ex
expense.
In ’34 and '35 room and board
was $15 a month, plus five hours
of work a week. Today 65 men
pay an average of $4 a month,
plus four hours of work.
To keep the cost of campus liv
ing at a minimum, all house main
tenance, repair work, and duties
are done by members. Jobs in
clude keeping the living room,
dining room, kitchen, halls, and
sleeping porches in sanitary con
dition. All small repair jobs, as
well as all work connected with
meals, are done by members.
The only person on the “payroll”
is the cook, who insures a well
balanced diet.
While major repairs are done
by professionals, the members did
redecorate the inside of the house
during the summer and fall. Wall
papering, siding in the dining
room, electric fixtures, and re
painting were done by members
who donated their time.
The club has been operating with
a profit recently and has payed
off the mortgage on the house.
Plans include a new roof, new rugs,
and an outside paint job, according
to treasurer Clarence Hull.
All available space is used to the
fullest with most rooms accom
modating four members. Mainten
ance and cleanliness of the rooms
is left to the individuals.
Work Cuts Expenses
It’s an old Campbell club custom that the freshman wash dishes.
Here three frosh clean up after dinner while their upperclassmen
buddies relax. Doing dishes is one of the tasks that makes living in
cooperatives cost less—Photo by Kirk Braun.