Vol. 80, No.
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Thursday, July 6, 1978
Country
Dancin’
By ERIC BENJAMINSON
Of the Emerald
Craftspeople, entertainers and
members of the Northwest’s al
ternative community will converge
near Elmira Friday, Saturday and
Sunday for the eighth Annual
Oregon Country Fair.
The three-day gathering claims
to offer the finest in homemade,
homegrown and hand-gathered
wares, and has scheduled enter
tainers from San Francisco to
Seattle to participate in a Cultural
Arts Festival. Goods will also be
displayed in 250 homemade
booths. About 20,000 attended
last year’s fair, recognized as a
major cultural event.
For the second consecutive
year, a special feature of the
gathering will be the Community
Village, an exhibition of alternative
lifestyles and techniques. Dis
plays will focus on such areas as
environmental awareness,
human services, and appropriate
technology. Exhibits will include a
portable sawmill, a solar shower
and a working composting toilet.
"The area will be made to look
like a true alternative village
-rea,” says Barbara Stem, the
fair’s publicity director. “The at
mosphere will be incorporated
The Annual Country Faire returns Friday near Elmira this weekend with
music, dancing, entertainment and homegrown and handmade
Emerald Photo
wares. About 20,000 people are expected to attend this year's faire,
which will feature an exhibition of alternative lifestyles and techniques.
into the handmade booths, some
of which are quite unique.”
Ballad singers, circus acts and
jazz musicians will contribute to
the varied crowd-pleasing plans of
the Festival. Five separate stage
locations will feature such diverse
entertainment as Chamber Music
and Country Rock; Sword Swal
lowing and Belly Dancing; and
Contemporary jazz and traditional
Irish ballads.
Many well-known Eugene area
bands will perform, in addition to
the great number of “foreign”
musicians. A circus area will be
highlighted, featuring all-day per
formances by troupes from San
Francisco and Seattle.
Stem likens this section to the
successful Renaissance Faire of
the San Francisco Bay area, while
Student challenges ASUO
By JOCK HATFIELD
Of the Emerald
A student has filed a formal complaint against
the ASUO Affirmative Action Hiring Plan because, he
says, it is unworkable.
Loren Simonds, who applied for the position of
ASUO Vice-President of State Affairs, says he was
discriminated against because he is a paraplegic.
ASUO Pres. Ramon Herrera gave the job to Jeff.
Warren, an unsuccessful ASUO presidential candi
date.
Simonds calls the decision to hire Warren “polit
ical appeasement,” while admitting Jeff is capable.
“I’m not questioning that. But I’ve had four sessions
of experience to Jeff’s one.’’
Simonds says he thinks Herrera had hidden
criteria up his sleeve during the selection process.
Herrera denies it, saying Warren is more knowledg
able about University affairs and has a thorough
understanding of the Legislature.
Simonds says his real complaint is that the Af
firmative Action plan offers him no reasonable way to
challenge the choice. “Under the guidelines of the
present affirmative action plan I have no recourse. I
want the guidelines themselves changed.”
Simonds sees several problems with the pres
ent system. For one, it requires him to register his
complaint with the man who didn’t hire him: Herrera.
The persons who wrote the guidelines apparently
didn’t expect complaints to crop up within the execu
tive, says Simonds.
Secondly, says Simonds, the present system
does not require the employer to tell a prospective
employee exactly what criteria will be used in filling a
job.
The system is ambiguous,” Simonds com
plains. “The employer can use five questions as a
criterion.” Written criteria would let prospective em
ployees know what the employer is after, he sug
gests.
Simonds also discovered the ASUO has no af
firmative action committee. He says that is because
no one wanted to serve on it. But the ASUO is looking
for volunteers and, the committee would get right to
work if it would find a staff, according to Herrera.
Herrera says he is in sympathy with Simonds’
demands. “It’s crazy,” he says. “How can I objec
tively receive complaints against my own decisions?
It’s a dead-end in a way.”
After talking with Herrera, Simonds gave up try
ing to challenge the Warren choice in particular. In
stead, he went after the affirmative action plan as a
whole. That complaint may have been filed too late,
according to Herrera.
Even if his complaint is rejected, Simonds hopes
to take the issue to the voters. "If necessary we can
make executive positions elected,” he says. “This is
a drastic action. But if the student government
doesn’t make affirmative action changes, I’ll have to
go to the student voters.”
describing the Country Fair as
“more modern, and unique in its
own way.”
She plays down rumors of fric
tion between patrons and police.
“Some people just forget that the
fair is a public place,” says Stem.
“The deputies are helpful in traffic
control and security, and the area
residents appreciate this.”
The site can be reached by fol
lowing West 11th Ave. to Territor
ial Road between Veneta and El
mira. Buses will serve the Fair,
open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each
of the three days. Schedules are
available by calling 687-5555.
A $3 admission fee will also be
charged and patrons are re
minded that no camping is al
lowed. Further information can be
obtained by calling 484-0422.
‘-Toda/-:
Affirmative action pro
grams at the University may be
in no danger from the recent
Bakke reverse discrimination
decision, but a historical
analysis of minorities in
Eugene puts that decision in
perspective for Eugene and
the University. S$e Page 3.
When protestors occupied
the Trojan Nuclear Plant in
Rainier, Oregon last
November they expected to be
arrested. Many of them didn’t
expect to be convicted though.
The story on Page 4 explains
what happened.
California’s tax revolt
seems to have moved north
ward as truckloads of tax limita
tion petitions move to Salem
today to meet Friday’s filing
deadline for November’s elec
tion. Story on Page 8.
Blood is the commodity in a
new business recently started
in Eugene. Special deals, dis
counts and coupons offer up to
$20 for the patron’s juices. See
the story on Page 9.