Photo by Nick Lacy
Model airplane dogfights (left), Harrisburg’s old
fashioned parade (above) and more traditional
Photo by Trish Weisman
fireworks highlighted the Eugene area’s
celebration of America’s 197th birthday.
Eugene celebrates a birthday
for Michael and America
There are lots of ways to spend the Fourth of
July. But Michael, who is 11 today, thinks hehas
found the best way to celebrate the Fourth and his
birthday.
Michael lives out near Dexter Lake. He, his
parents and his sister came to Autzen Stadium to
watch the fireworks on the night of the Fourth of
July. They got there in the afternoon, “even before
the gates were supposed to open.”
The Eugene Prop Spinners put on a show of
aerial acrobatics starting at 6:30 p.m. Michael liked
the dogfights the best, where one plane chased
another and tried to cut its ribbon streamers off.
“I’m going to root for the silver one ... no the
black one . . maybe I’ll wait and see which one’s
ahead before I choose.”
In between the airplane demonstrations, a 30
piece band from the American Federation of
Musicians Union, Local 689, played a variety of
marches and “Fourth-of-July” music. Michael
liked the band, since he plays clarinet in his grade
school band. But he drew the line at the performers
from the musical “West Side Story.”
“I don’t like that kind of music. It’s icky. I hate
‘West Side Story.’ ” But after the first number he
changed his mind. “I didn’t know it was that kind of
music.”
The Eugene Active 20-30 Club started shooting
off $2000 worth of fireworks when it got dark.
Michael kept up a running stream of comments.
“Ooo look at that one ... I like that one ... no I
like that one best... That one looks like a Christmas
tree... that one looks like ice cream .. . Oooo! That
one lit up the whole stadium!”
The fireworks went up accompanied by sounds
like muted cannons. “I feel like I’m being shot . . .
Oh, they got me, I’m going fast. That one scared
me.”
Part of the fireworks included two set pieces—
one of the American flag, and one of Snoopy on top
of his dog house.
“Look at that flag. It’s falling apart now. That’s
a symbol of war ... we’re losing our country.”
Another cannon blast. “Wow, that one blew the
daylights out of me. Here comes another one, plug
your ears . . . ready, plug!”
Another one came, and another. Michael finally
decided he liked the fireworks best that spread
across the sky above the stadium like molten rain.
He said he’d had a great Fourth of July. And the
20,000 people who packed half of Autzen Stadium to
watch the show seemed to agree with him.
Now it’s the University Bookstore
V.
University Co-op changes name, rules and book prices
I
I
I
Co-operative bookstores are on the wane,
according to Gerald Henson, manager of the
University of Oregon Bookstore, Inc., and on July
1 the University Co-op gave in to the trend by
changing its rules along with its name.
“For the past 53 years it’s been operating as
the Co-op, but on July 1 we became the University
Bookstore,” Henson said. “The change was voted
on last spring by Co-op members and was ap
proved five to one.
“The change came about because the board of
directors felt there were too many inequities in the
co-operative system. The rebates given to
members were low due to inflation and high taxes.
8
“Only one third of the student body joined the
Co-op,” said Henson, “but under regulations of the
Bureau of Internal Revenue profits made from
non-members couldn’t be distributed among
-members. Money accumulated, and the board
didn’t know how to dispose of it.
“As the University of Oregon Bookstore, Inc.,
we intend to reduce the price of textbooks by
around 10 per cent. We’d like to discount
everything, but the book price reduction alone will
wipe out most of the profits.”
Henson remarked that the past five years
have posed some trying times and bookstores have
&&&&&&&&Stf*
been forced to operate on less, while the profit
margin on texts remains the same.
“The average life of a textbook is short, about
a year or so,” he said. “New editions are con
stantly appearing and at a liberal arts school such
as the University, texts become obsolete quickly.
The bookstore can buy back very few used books,
making it hard on both students and the store.
“Many students tend to look at books as a rip
off. Texts are expensive,” Henson admitted, “but
what the student spends on books—which play
such an important role in his education—is just a
fraction compared to the total cost of his
schooling.”