Weaver supports UO solar energy project
By RICK BELLA
Of the Emerald
The University solar energy re
search project received a boost
Monday when U.S. Congressman
Jim Weaver, D-Eugene, pledged
support in the effort to obtain fed
eral funds.
Weaver was guided through a
one-hour tour of the research
facilities on the roof of Science I by
Doug Lowndes, associate profes
sor of physics, Dan Kaehn,
physics research associate, and
University glassblower Gerrit
De Wilde.
The project, designed to study
the feasibility of solar energy
collector-reflectors, has funding
/
through “the middle of this year,"
according to Lowndes. It is now
operating on grants from Portland
General Electric, Pacific Power
and Light and the Graduate
Studies Center. When these
sources are exhausted, the pro
ject directors will have to seek al
ternate means of funding.
"I’m going to convert my own
house to solar energy," Weaver
said, "And I will support any effort
to obtain funds." Weaver was re
ferring to the possible availability
of money through research grants
from the Energy Research and
Development Administration
(ERDA), one of the groups that
replaced the now-defunct Atomic
Energy Commission.
Weaver is a member of the
Jim Weaver
House Energy Conservation Sub
committee and hopes to use his
influence to sway opinion on the
ERDA grant proposal board. The
project directors have submitted
grant proposals to ERDA and are
still waiting for evaluation.
"We hope to hear of the results
in the next couple of months," said
Lowndes. “We wrote the project
proposals with a strongly regional
emphasis in our measurement of
solar radiation and the pos
sibilities of solar energy." Lown
des and Kaehn both stressed that
if solar energy could work in the
Pacific Northwest, it could proba
bly work anywhere in the country.
The project is currently studying
the use of reflectors in conjunction
with the collectors already mar
keted by solar energy pioneers.
The reflectors would gather and
direct the sunlight into the collec
tors where the energy would be
used to heat circulating water. The
heated water could then be used
for radiator heat or for driving tur
bines to generate electricity. Re
flectors, Lowndes says, make par
ticular sense in the Northwest,
where there is relatively little sun
light, because they can help utilize
all available sunlight.
One new technique of reflection
is the use of aluminum coatings in
the collectors. This idea, used by
DeWilde in the current project
modifies Coos Bay inventor Henry
Mathew s use of aluminum foil as
a reflector.
--
Vol. 77, No. 75
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, January 13,1976
Demands rest on Mac Court ownership
Editor's note: The following is the
first in a two-part series on the
historical ownership and control
of McArthur Court. Tomorrow's
article will deal with the ASUO's
Aid session
slated today
The introduction of new finan
cial aid forms has prompted the
Office of Student Financial Aid to
conduct application workshops
Wednesday and Thursday.
Any student applying for aid for
summer term and next year will
have to follow new procedures
and fill out forms different from any
which the University has used be
fore. The Financial Aid Office
hopes to avoid confusion at the
end of February by holding the two
mass workshops.
The workshops will last for three
hours, with an hour-long presenta
tion of the new procedures, fol
lowed by a two-hour question
answer session.
The Wednesday workshop will
be held from 2 to 5 p.m. and the
Thursday session will be in the
morning from 8 to 11. Both are
scheduled in the EMU, room to be
posted
Any students wishing informa
tion on the new procedures who
miss the workshops can pick up
hand-outs and receive less exten
sive advice in the financial aids
office, 270 Oregon Hall. .
According to Janice Holland, fi
nancial aids assistant, students
who are not informed about the
new procedures for applying for
financial aids will be severely
handicapped.
"The forms are different enough
that if people don't know about
them, they'll be pretty unhappy in
June,” she said.
The priority deadline for appli
cations for both summer term and
the 1976-77 academic year is
March 1. No applications for scho
larships will be considered after
that date.
specific plans for regaining con
trol of the facility and the
administration's response to
those plans.
By LOIS LINDSAY
Of the Emerald
Student leaders are ready to do
battle to regain control of McAr
thur Court, a building they say
they built themselves.
Opposing current University
rule over usage of the nearly
$800,000 facility, ASUO officials
say that power rightfully belongs
to the students. A proposal assert
ing that hght will go before the
General Faculty for approval to
morrow.
After all, we built the building,"
says Dave Donley of the Inciden
tal Fee Committee (IFC). We
should at least have some say as
to how it is used. As it stands now,
they (the administrators) are de
termining both the scheduling
and usage of the facility without
any student input. That's not an
equitable system by any terms.”
Donley bases his claim on re
search he conducted for the
ASUO over a six-month period
from November, 1974, to June,
1975. Delving into piles of official
documents, Donley compiled an
extensive report outlining histori
cal ownership and management
of the athletic facility.
According to Donley s re
search, the history of Mac Court
goes back to August, 1925. when
( Continued on Page 11)
The next event in Mac Court may be a hard-fought contest for control of the facility.
Photo by Greg Clark