Abducted rock
turns itself in
to Pres. Boyd
The Museum of Natural
History’s missing imitation
meteor landed on Pres. Wil
liam Boyd’s driveway Monday,
after a nine-day disappear
ance.
The meteor was apparently
unloaded from a pickup truck.
“I heard something around 4
o’clock,” said Boyd, "but I
thought it was my neighbor un
loading from an elk trip.”
The meteor, a model of a
meteorite found at Oregon City
in 1902, is 8 feet long, 5 feet
wide, 3 feet thick and weighs in
excess of 300 pounds.
On discovering the meteor,
Boyd called Campus Security
for help. Initially Campus Sec
urity misunderstood Boyd and
sent out one man to pick up a
parking meter.
Security eventually straigh
tened the mistake out, and two
more men and a pickup truck
managed to remove the
meteor.
Boyd said that although he
was temporarily delayed for
work, the meteor was only a
minor distraction.
The meteor has been mis
sing from the Museum of
Natural History since Hal
loween. A note delivered to the
EMU Grievance Center Friday
indicated the meteor theft was
part of a plot.
The imitation meteor was
donated to the University in the
early 1900s, and the University
has spent much of the time
since then trying to figure out
what to do with it. It was dis
played on the porch of McClure
Hall until the building was de
molished.
The meteor then spent 15
years in hiding, and in 1968 it
was remodeled and stuck in
front of the Museum of Natural
History, where it remained until
Halloween.
The crime began with an im
itation suicide, intended to dis
tract security officials. Mean
while the meteor was lifted by
thieves with an undeclared mo
tive. Monday at 7 a.m. the
group, which calls itself
“Meteorite Cleaning Service,”
called the Oregon Daily
Emerald offices to say the
meteorite “has landed at Pres
ident Boyd’s.”
Sociology
enough to design their own cur
riculum, says department
member Gordon. The faculty
should control staff develop
ment, he says, because they have
a long term interest in the depart
ment, while students only have a
transient interest.
As for the abolition of the execu
tive committee, Gordon says, “It
was just another layer of people in
the department structure.”
Johnson, a University faculty
member for 21 years, says he had
been a strong supporter of student
power in the past and that the de
cision to reduce graduate student
power was a painful one.
Johnson says Administration
approval was not needed for his
actions.
“In fact," Johnson says, “If we
had to rely on the administration in
these matters, there is a strong
likelihood there would be no stu
dent representation.”
Last spring, Johnson says, Paul
Olum, Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Provost, vis
ited the department, and was
shocked that graduate students
were allowed active participation
in the department. "And he
couldn’t believe we would allow
undergraduate participation,"
says Johnson.
But not all of the department is
happy with the new department
head's changes.
“Johnson has exacerbated the
tension already present in the de
partment,” Van Houten says.
Tension arose last spnng dur
ing a department squabble over
hiring, when a liberal faction of the
faculty favored hiring Marxists to
fill any of three existing vacancies
in the department. A conservative
faction contended there were al
ready enough Marxists in the de
partment and opposed the hiring
of any additional adherents of that
ideology.
In department meetings, the six
graduate students present com
prised a liberal voting bloc that
placed the conservatives in the
minority.
Oregon Daily Emerald, ,,
(Continued from Page 1).
The conservatives opposed
what was meant to be a final com
promise resolution passed by the
liberals, which called for the hiring
of a Marxist and two non-Marxists,
all on three-year term renewable
contracts.
“We had a reputation of being a
very liberal department, ” says Joe
Canali, graduate forum officer and
general-department meeting rep
resentative. “But now we’re prob
ably the phoniest department on
campus. We have input now, but
no power.”
Joan Acker, associate sociol
ogy professor, says she doesn’t
think any of the changes have im
proved the department.
“I’d advise graduate students to
get their degress and get out of
here,” she says.
Photo by Patrick SuMvan
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