Mavbe We'll See Some Action Now
Thanks to the efforts of
Dave Todd, junior in pre
medics, all parties concerned
with the future of the millrace
are combining on a program
to do the most possible now
to put the race in good shape.
A meeting of students from
millrace houses, townspeople,
University officials and City
Manager Oren King held last
month got the plans go
ing. Todd, seeking to
do something about the stag
nant condition of the race, or
ganized the meeting. Another
meeting was held Thurs
day night in the student
union.
The gates on the upper part
of the millrace were partially
opened, allowing a fair flow
of water which has for a
month now' replaced the pre
vious stillness.
A big cleanup, with stu
dents and city w'orkmen par
ticipating, is planned for Sat
urday, April 18. And a city
engineering survey (with en
gineers from OSC, even)
which will determine what
wiH be physically possible in
improving the situation is
nearing completion.
At the same time a com
mittee of the ASUO senate is
working on the problem, but
from a different angle and
with less tangible success.
Headed by Senator-at-J*arge
Mike Lally, the committee
figures that the city, judged
by past evidence, will not pro
vide much support for mill
race improvement unless the
students show a real interest
in using the race.
So Lallv's committee is
planning a shack on the mill
race as a canoing headquar
ters. with the University to
furnish the manpower for
running the place. Houses
or private parties will have to
provide the canoes.
Lally said that he woidd ex
pect a cleanup of the millrace
sometime this summer. But
the cleanup is apparently
coming a week from Satur
day.*
There is certainly justifica
tion for thinking that the
city needs at least concrete
evidence that the students
want the full use of the mill
race before it will lend a
hand.
In 1948 the city was to float
bonds to match a $20,000 sum
to be raised through contri
butions from students and
townspeople, the total to be
used for improving the :-ace.
Contributions amounting to
some $24,000 were raised, the
sum to be used to inst ill a
pump at the intake end of the
millrace on the Willamette
river.
It was used instead for
work on the banks, prevent
ing overflows, and the like,
gravity being relied upon for
the flow. The bonds were
never floated.
Since then little has been
done on the situation, al
though the city isn't solely to
blame. Sporadic efforts have
been made by student groups,
but never to much avail.
The real problem of the
millrace's stagnancy is one
whose solution lies in the fu
ture. A five-block long cul
vert underneath the highway
was installed when the new
highway was built, and is too
small to allow a fast enough
flow of water. Also, a break in
the dike at the upper end of
the millrace cabses much of
the river water to flow.around
the intake dam, rather than
over it, thus eliminating
much of the head of water.
Both Of these difficulties
will require very' extensive
and expensive correction —
and that’s why nothing has
been done in some five years
to put the millrace back onto
a fast-flowing, un-polluted
basis as it once was, in the
days of the Junior Weekend
canoe fetes.
Another problem, in the
opinion of Todd, is the retain
er wall on the millrace’s upper
end. Togs and debris have
torn away much of the wall’s
hacking, and if it isn't re
pair in time, the walls may
erode away. Then there will
be no millrace of any kind,
Todd said.
Of course, there are the
problems of a polluted race
i,which w ill probably be cor
rected when Springfield’s
jhw sewage disposal plant—
to he completed within a year
—replaces dumping of sew
age into the Willamette river)
and other relatively minor de
fects in the millrace channel.
But the three-point pro
gram worked out by Todd’s
group—students, townspeo
ple, University officials S. W.
Little, Orville Lindstrom anti ,
1. I. Wright, City Manager
Oren King Barks and Recrea
tion Superintendent Tex
Matsler, Millrace Improve
ment chairman Kieth I'enneH
will do much to provide a
better race.
The water is now flowing
fairly well—and the four
gates can be opened further,
Todd says. The bottles and
other debris in the bed of the
millrace will be cleaned outr
and tlic engineering survey ,
may provide a long-range so
lution. ' *
Lally’s committee, more *
than a year old (though mil
headed by Lally that long),
may provide the student in- ”
terest angle. It has operate*!
with a somewhat passive ap- .
proach, but after little success ‘
with the city. The city is evi
dently providing real'help.-in *
cooperation with Todies,
group.
Although the senate was*
skeptical about the extent
city cooperation, a more ag
gressive program might have
produced the same kind of re
sults that Todd's program a^>~*
pears to be getting. (We eall -
it " I odd’s" program merdh
for convenience, realizing trr
various parties involved.) Tin -
senate would have done mu*Ji
to justify its work by driving
hard on such a problem* a- *
the millrace.
All that aside, we wcyiffl.
suggest that Lally’s commip
tee coordinate its plana wlw!
Todd’s program, and thatltll*
students interested in gettiiw
the best possible millrace set
up back the program at fur -
ther meetings and the Apjti
18 cleanup, as well as
developments.—(A.K.) • *
Numerous Variations on the Theme of Spring
It is now spring, in spite of
Nature’s rather unsportsmanlike
reluctance, and time for the an
nual intense drive on the part of
the student body to flunk out of
school. The Primrose Path of Dal
liance begins somewhere along
Thirteenth Street and continues
out in the general direction of the
River, and with a little more sun
it will probably experience quite
a traffic jam.
We have been contributing to
our spring term delinquency in no
more serious manner than eyeing,
with more embarrassment than
pleasure, the covers on paper
bound books sold in campus busi
ness establishments. It is not that
we have just discovered this form
of art, or are so naive to think
that the interiors correspond with
the covers.
It is just that this type of
tiling seems to be an insult to
the intelligence and dignity of
the American people, or some
awesome group like that.
These covers, or at least an
amazing percentage of them, dis
With Wisdom Comes Practicality
THE HOWE ECO TEACHER f
AT — -1
SCH
AT l
The Oregon Uaily Emerald published Monday through Friday during the college year
except Jan. 5; Feb. 23; Mar. 2, 3, 5, 9, 10 and 11; Mar. 13 through 30; June 1, 2 and 3 by the
Student Publications Board of the University of Oregon. Entered as second class matter
at the post office, Eugene, Oregon. Subscription rates: $5 "per school year; $2 per term.
Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the writer and do not pretend to
represent the opinions of the ASUO or of the University. Editorials are written by the
editor and the members of the editorial staff.
Jim Haycox, Editor
Ron Brown, Business Manager
by bob funk
play wondrously formed women
posed about in general disarray.
This would be all l ight, or at least
truthful, if the books were all
about wondrously formed women
standing about in disarray. How
ever, the books may be anything
from Everybody's Handy Pocket
Dictionary to Gardening Made
Easy. This type of book with that
type of cover is a fraud and a
come-on.
Besides, it is monotonous.
Not all of the women in a!I of
the books can possibly look like
that, and surely in just a couple
of books they are fully clothed
at least a certain amount of the
time.
If there is a female mentioned
in the book, it will be she, wear
ing nothing much more than a
provocative smile, who graces the
cover. If Alice in Wonderland
were to be made available in a
pocket edition, Alice would be
pictured, probably, in a negligee
open at various places, smiling
congenially (at least) at someone
of the opposite sex (the March
Hare ?). There would be a caption
“She was a small time girl until
she fell suddenly into the undei -
world, where life i3 an orgy of
teas and croquet matches, and a
girl has to watch her step . .
The trend, we realize, is against
us, and for the pocket book cov
ers. This is called progress.
* * *
The birds are back from
wherever the birds were, and
any number of different kinds
of flowers and insects have
bloomed and hatched, respec
tively. Some cf the more com
mon species to be seen on cam
pus this spring:
The North American Cross
Eyed Sprinklersetter. Habitat:
campus sidewalks. This interest
ing member of the animal king
dom hibernates during the winter
in the physical plant, comes out
spring term in a big way. Prob
ably under the impression that he
is yards out in the middle of the
quad, the sprinklersetter sets
springlers in such out-of-the-way
places as the steps of Friendly,
all available sidewalks leading
from the co-op to anyplace else,
and the front walk of the stndent
union. Rumor has it that an espe
cially large sprinkler is going to
be set in the square in front of
Commonwealth. Just watch.
The Inveterate Bottleopener.
Habitat: up the McKenzie, ins
tinctive features: a bottle-open
er grafted to the right hand, a
bottle in the left. This species
is thriving, although a number
of them have fallen into the
river and drifted down to sea.
The Honorary Tapper. Habi
Lat The Junior Weekend picn s
Very little to be said about t| i
one except once tapped by' i r
honorary tapper you are an h« *
orary tapper yourself, so dofl
make any sneering remarks.
The Leering Stdpsittcr. H
tat: Fenton Hall. This bird pe;
es out in the sun and eompa
the cotton dresses of the class'
1954 with the cotton dresses
the class of 1955. There are wo(
kinds of birds to be.
The Spring Term Scholar:'$
tinct.
The College Crowd-$
\
_Campus Headlines Elsewhere .■!
By Rae Thomas
The sharpshooting Idaho wom
en's rifle team unceremoniously
beat the Army KOTC squad by a
one-point margin. The final score
was 96S for the ladies, 967 for the
men. 1000 is the highest possible
score in a five-man match.
A Miss Cates headed the match
by shooting 198 out of her pos
sible 200.
* * *
In Tennessee was seen a boy
who took no chances on anyone
swiping his bike while he was in
class. The fellow took the handle
bars off the bike and put them in
his locker.
* * *
Oscar Levant will be at OSC on
April 18th.
A “thrifty” fellow at Cornell
was fined $25. He didn’t want to
pay for new license plates for his
car, so he painted his old ones
over in the new color.
* * *
A history professor at UCLA
declares, “I don’t mind much kids
coming in late. I don’t mind too
much when kids leaved But I do
mind when the kids coming in
late meet the kids going out
early.”
:J» :Jc -Jfi
“Chew for Charity” has begun
at UCLA. Bubble gum can be
bought from student salesmen in
classrooms and on the Quad. The
gum is five cents for two pieces
or three cents apiece. Gum chew
ing in classes this week has been
sanctioned by department heads.
Oh, goodie.
*
A student, tired of comp’ali.
at the University of Washing*
that there was not enough soki>
spirit at basketball games, acii
asked, “How do you expect sonf
one to yell and cheer when theijj.
a psychology professor beside lie
taking notes on mob behavior*^,
* * * 1,
From “The University of WgA
ington Daily” An economics. 3
jor with a four point grade i >
erage who wanted to get in ;
more exciting field” had his v, 1
granted this week.
Robert Girard, who wilP |(
graduated this June, passed#?<
difficult Harvard law school* {!
mission test with an unnsuaj
high score. He ranked among1
top two per cent of the 2bt *
students who have taken thc“t i
since 1947. v •
The teat is used as an a<ki ;•
sion examination for several I
schools. Girard, who will er a
the Harvard law school next"} 1
received a score of 98. ”1 thin
said Girard, “that I slipped t
English. I never was very got
at that.” '
Girard has had only one gT; It
below “A” during his attenda '<
at the University. He receive ?
“B” in a non-academic phys a
education' course.
When asked by an eeononc'
professor why he wanted to
law school when he had dog/sc
something “a little mere elit'
well in his present field, Gilvc
said lie wanted to changJTu
ing.”
t