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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1951)
*Duc& ^ 9*6* Canton I,IM i,r sev< M or years to become proficient at ‘•"""'“’T a,Hl it all. Use it all With one quick pain in eg that feels like an electric shock followed by dull all a pleasant experience. Not after seven or < 'Kid years of work—for that. Sounds like a 10 a.m. soap-opera, doesn’t it. Well, it isn't. It happened the other day to Oregon’s Art Backlund. Art came to Oregon from Hoseburg High School to major in education, run distance events with the Oregon track team, if he was good enough, and eventually get a job teaching someplace. * 1 le Sam permitting, lie’ll still graduate in education and get j-'l. t.-achmg and probably be « darned good track coach some l"' al ^'•l't seven 'ears, Art has been training bard to a ,|Mam«’ rtmnc-r- not just a distance runner, but a goo,I erne I here - a difference. Lots of Promise \' a !r< 'l"i'a" *H' showed a lot of promise, and lie showed even n mi promise last year as a sophomore running the mile. This year, it was decided he should run the two-mile. Saturday in Seattle he was clipping around the Husky oval in The seventh lap of his two-mile race. He was setting the pace, h admg the race and would soon have applied his last-lap kick to "in the race. Most of the spectators concede that he would have won the race. And then came the sudden sharp feeling in his left leg. It was numb. The only thing to do was to get off the track and let the others finish the race. iodav Art Backlund is in Sacred Heart Hospital. His left “ g ls i ncased in a heavy plaster cast from hip to toe. His right leg. above the knee, is heavily japed. Under the tape is a long in cision. I here's another long incision in his left calf under the cast. Backlund suffered an accident not too uncommon to ath letes. The muscle which is connected to the long, hard, achilles tendon (on the back of the lower leg, right above the heel) simply contracted so hard it pulled the tendon almost com pletely in two. Kcpairing this is not a hard job for a good surgeon. The doc tor simply cuts into the calf of the leg.*pulls the tendon down and fastens it together once more. Sometimes its pulled apart so far that another piece of tendon has to be grafted onto it. That’s what happened in Art s case. '1 lie extra piece of tendon came out of his light thigh. 1 hat s why he has incisions in both legs. If He Wants to, But.. . In ten days, he’ll he up and around on crutches. Within six weeks he II he out of the cast and walking around as good as ever. Then he can even run a little if he wants to. i!ut to start over again and become a good distance runner is not the best thing to do, the authorities say. Now, this isn't a dissertation on the sad woes of injured athletes. It's just to show that they can work pretty hard for something—and then end up with a disappoiiftment in their prime. Just how such a thing can happen is interesting, and a little mysterious. Take Backlund’s case for instance. Art is in perfect physical condition, or he was until 3:20 p.m. last Saturday. He’s in per fect health. He was warm when the tendon broke because he had been running for seven laps. He wasn’t pressed because he was ahead and the nearest man was ten yards back. That’s a safe margin in most distance races. Why did the tendon decide to break at that particular moment? Track Coach Bill Bowerman says no one is just sure why those things happen, hxperts have advanced plenty of theories and explanations, most of which are probably right, but they have no proof, he says, on just why that muscle would suddenly contract and snap the tendon. A 'Funny' Sport Track is a "funny” sport. It doesn’t attract tens of thousands of cheering people. Bookies don’t take many bets on track meets. No one tries to fix college track meets to beat the bookies. It doesn’t have the glory of a 90 yard run or a 30-foot one-handed field goal. But it has plenty of glory for the participants. And it lias plenty of disappointments for guys like Art. And it has plenty of plain old hard, tedious work—called training. With Backlund running the two-mile race. Oregon had good chances for the Northern Division cinder champion ship this year. The Webfoots still have good chances for the ND title, but they're dimmed a bit by Art’s absence. He’ll be when the public address system calls for two-milers to report to the judges stand. And he’ll be missed when the final points are added up. 4 I f you plan to see any ()regon track meets this year, if you read about the Wcbfoot cinder squad in the papers, if you saw them perform last year-—if you have any interest in track at all, drop the Swede a line. I le’s at Sacred I Ieart. I le’ll be there for the next nine days or so. 1 le’ll be glad to hear that you’re interested. Student Demand For Summer Jobs Revealed High Applications received by the University employment office Sihow a heavy demand among students for summer employment, accord ing to Miss Shirley Sylverster, of fice manager. Students are willing to work al most anywhere, and the campus office has received applications from such places as Minnesota and Texas. Last year many students traveled up and down the Willa mette Valley, stopping wherever they could find work. Jobs in summer camps, summer resorts, canneries, offices, depart ment stores, and mill and construc tion work are among those that have been filled by the employ ment office in the past. The office filled 187 positions during March alone. Of these 80 were here on campus. Taylor, Leeper To Visit OSC H. R. Taylor, head of ■.'"'e psych ology u ’partment, and R. W. Leep professor of psychology, will speak to students at Oregon State College today. The invitation to address Oregon State students was extended by J. W. Sherman, act ing head of the OSC psychology department. Taylor will speak to a group of students at 4 p.m. concerning graduate work in psychology, and occupational opportunities in the field. Leeper will address a group of the faculty at 7:30 p.m. on the topic.of Freud’s influence on theor ies of psychology, and on Freud's book, "Civilization and its Discon tents." There were 235,800 more persons injured in U. S. motor vehicle acci dents last year than in 1949. HecrrKWAX! Have that F.M. set repaired by Endicott's Radio and Appliance 871 13th Ave. K. Don't test one brand alone ...compare them all! _—I .—■ nevet as^ W«t SM^.1 •^St^ssi try this TEST I Tak* a phiup worms-and any other cigarette. Then, here’s all you do: 1 Light up either cigarette. Take a puff—don’t inhale—and s-l-o-w-l-y let the smoke come through your nose. 2 Now do exactly the same thing with the other cigarette. NOTICE THAT PHIUP MORRIS IS DEFINITELY LESS IRRITATING, DEFINITELY MILPERj I Remember... NO CIGARETTE HANGOVER means MORE SMOKING PLEASURE! CALL FOR PHILIP MORRIS