Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1980)
Colorful, unique kites soar to popularity Photo by Dennis Tachibana Eugene kite builder Robin Smith flew two of her creations in the Yachats Kite Festival. Yachats festival attracts afficienados By OSCAR HALPERT Otttw Emerald Colored streamers swirl in the wind, and crows in the nearby trees screech at the flying invaders. “Welcome to the Yachats Kite Festival,” booms a voice over the loudspeaker. Clad in blue jeans and a blue and white kimono, Eugene kite-maker Robin Smith arrives at the beach, the site of the kite celebration, to put the final touches on her homemade kite. "This baby wants to sail,” she says as her diamond-shaped dragon kite soars, its confetti like tail whipping behind it. "That’s gorgeous," says a woman, calling to her husband. “Did you do all the work yourself?" "Sure did," Smith replies. Nearby, a large pink and blue kite resembling a starship hovers near the ground Kites of all shapes and sizes bobble and dive above the beach. With the dragon kite aloft, Smith sets to work on her other entry in the competition — the carp kite. "Look! Look! It wants to fly so bad, " she exclaims as the kite squirms in the sand. The wind at ground level is weak, but the kite struggles upward "It needs a tail,” says Smith, taking off her kimono belt. Expertly she ties the tail onto the kit, and it sails away while a spool of string spins wildly in the sand Families from throughout the state have gathered on the beach at the mouth of the Yachats river north of Florence. Children run towing their small, paper kites. Dogs join in the fun. The blue and white striped canopy of the hot dog stand helps create a carnival atmos phere. While Smith concentrates on her kites, the announcer introduces a man with a rare kite. “It’s an original World War II fighter kite, used for target pratice by anti-aricraft guns. It hasn’t flown for 20 years." Smaller than other kites, fighter kites are usually made of tissue paper and bamboo, Smith explains. In kite fighting, crushed light bulbs are glued to the kite string, one kite flier tries to sever the opponent’s string. Smith says kite fighting is one of the most exhilarating forms of kite flying. “Unless you're kite fighting, it isn't that exciting.” Suddenly, the announcer presents the Fes tival Court. Queen Linda is crowned, and she and her four festival princesses judge the homemade kite competition. In the background, the announcer can barely be heard. Smith moves farther away as he announces the winners of the competition, but she fails to place. Disappointed, she says she had hoped to use the $100 prize on new kite materials — she feels like punching someone. A senior majoring in graphic arts at the University, Smith's deep involvement with kites began out of necessity. “There was a Fourth of July party, and in order to get in, I needed to make a kite. I've been making them ever since.” She’s covered her apartment walls with exotic kites, mostly Oriental in design, and she's taken courses in Chinese art history and brush paint ing. But her interest in Oriental art is purely prag matic. "I like to do recognizable designs. To make money in kite making, you have to appeal to the public." More people buy kites for decoration than for flying, Smith says. "It's definitely more profitable to build decorative kites than kites that fly." Smith says a friend has just hired her to decorate his house with kites. In addition to making kites, Smith will teach a course on the subject for the Willamette Science and Technology Center beginning Oct. 25. For more information call 484-9027. To help publicize the class, Smith says she plans to jump from a sand dune with a kite she will make out of silk, nylon and bamboo. “I've already stolen the bamboo.” Library seeks new way One of three modern catalog ing systems soon may replace the University library’s sluggish system. Library staff members, dissa tisfied with the present catalog ing system, recently concluded visits with three prospective bibliographic utilities — the Ohio College Library Center, the Re search Libraries Group-Research Libraries In formation Network and the Wa shington Library Network. Bibliographic utilities main tain large collections of biblio graphic material, and member libraries can use the information either with computers or through teleprocessing. University librarian George Shipman says he’s pleased with the high turnout of faculty and library staff at the utilities' pre sentations. “We’re now in the process of gathering and digesting re sponses" before choosing the utility best suited to the library’s present and future needs, Ship man says. The library needs a new ca taloging system because the Correction On Wednesday the Emeraid reported the wrong dates for the ASUO elections. The general election will be held Oct. 29-30, not Oct. 28-29. present system processes books too slowly, Shipman says. At present, about 15,000 volumes are backlogged, and it takes nine months to work each new book through the backlog. “It’s not that the people (in cataloging) aren’t good," Ship man explains. "Cataloging, marking and deciding where a book should go takes time — it’s a very labor intensive job. "Once we work out the backlogs, we can free up em ployees to work in other areas," Shipman says. "At least that's been the experience of libraries that have joined (cataloging utilities).” The University library is the only member of the Association of Research Libraries that hasn’t joined some kind of bib liographic utility. Libraries all over the country are switching to online or com puter cataloging, and “we want to participate in this more so phisticated and exciting way of providing information," says Elaine Kemp, acting librarian for technical services. BOOK IMMEDIATELY! Christmas Vacation Flights to New York EUGENE TRAVEL 687-2823 FREE T-SHIRTS FOR FIRST 100 BOOKING CHRISTMAS AIR SPACE EUGENE TRAVEL 687-2825 WHAT’S NEXT 1% ★ Masks * Make-up ^ Magic 4- Juggling Supplies Everything for Halloween Open 10:00-5:30 2449 Hilyard 343-4495 ¥ ¥ ¥ * * * H ¥ GET INTO THE SPIRITS! Spend HALLOWEEN with Nightwing — Rock Music — Friday, Oct. 31st 9:00 pm — 1:30 am Prizes for best costumes! ^ Free drink at midnight for those in costume! Free popcorn! 1-5 and 30th Avenue (Across from LCC)
