Emerald
Vol 83, No 31
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Friday, October 16, 1981
Locks, chains don’t stop bike thieves
By ANN PORTAL
Of me Emerald
Like the returning of students,
it's an annual cycle
At least two — and as many as
five — bikes have been stolen at
the University every day since
the beginning of the term,
according to crime prevention
specialist Karen Riley
But she says Campus Securi
ty won't recover many of the
bikes, which are mostly
10-speeds worth at least $100
"If you don’t know your
(bike's) serial number, you're
never going to get it back,''
Riley says
Bike thieves are cutting
chains, picking locks, taking
removable wheels and bike
pumps and even throwing
locked bikes into the back of
pick-ups, vans and cars, she
says
One student reported to
Campus Security Thursday that
his two bikes — valued at $600 —
had been stolen the night
before, says Sgt Rick Allison of
the Eugene Police Department
The student said he was too
tired to lock the bikes when he
got home Allison says
To slow down bike thieves,
Campus Security began a strict
program of enforcing University
bike regulations Thursday
Campus Security will con
centrate on impounding un
registered bikes, issuing
parking citations and educating
students on how to properly
lock bikes
"We are going full force right
now,” Riley says
But students will have to help
if thefts are to be stopped she
says Many bikes are being
taken during the day — clipped
with bolt cutters on which the
handle has been shortened,
allowing the clippers to be
carried in jackets and packs
Within five seconds, thieves
can pull out the clippers, cut a
chain and return the clippers to
their packs, Riley says Yet
students frequently observe
bikes being stolen — even
carried away, she says
“There's a lot more students
than police and security They
see a lot more things than we
do.”
Students need to be assertive
and ask people what they are
doing if something looks
suspicious, which often is en
ough to rattle nervous thieves,
she says
Although Campus Security
members say they expect
students will get upset about
impounded bikes, they say the
action is necessary to get all
bikes registered
Campus Security will cut the
chains of unregistered bikes
and take them to the security
office, Riley says To reclaim
bikes, students will have to pay
a $2 impounding fine, the $2
registration fee — which is good
for four years — and any addi
tional fines for improper
parking, she says
Registration helps in two
ways, Riley says. First, serial
numbers of recovered bikes can
be entered into a computer sys
tem, helping to return bikes
taken to cities like Los Angeles
by bike theft rings
Second, the serial number is
the only means of positively
identifying a bike, she says
Even if students find their bike,
the thief may have resold it, and
ownership would have to be
proved in court, Riley says
Allison suggests that students
invest in a good chain —
airplane-type cables are
especially hard to cut through —
and a solid lock
Riley says she sees many
bikes with “a good chain and a
lock I could pick in two min
utes."
A new type of high security
lock — about $30 — is good
because there is no chain. Alli
son says, adding that bike
stores can help students select
locks Link chains and com
bination locks should be avoid
ed, he says
Where the bike is locked can
be just as important as the type
of lock used, Riley says. Bikes
should be secured to a
Photo by Bob Baker
The University is impounding unregistered bikes on campus in an
attempt to slow down bike thefts, which have increased to 5 per day.
stationary object, she says,
warning that locking bikes to
trees is against campus regula
tions
Allison cautions students with
expensive bikes to be especially
cautious because bike theives
have been known to follow the
bike owner, watching and wait
ing for the best opportunity to
steal the expensive vehicle
Students can register their
bikes at the public safety
department in Straub Hall,
located on 14th Street across
from the covered tennis courts
Photo by Bob Baker
Students blush to flush
Put this on the list ot things Mother
never told you — unisex bathrooms
Lawrence Hall is fast becoming
infamous for not one, but two of these
liberated commodes
Students who admit to using the
third-floor bathrooms, say they feel a
little insecure and, as one student put
it, the situation has to be one of "dire
need."
Reluctance to talk about "them"
was high, but most found some humor
in the innovative lavatory.
"My dad said to never go in where
there are urinals," says Kathy Schutt,
an architecture graduate student
“Mom wouldn't approve of these
ambisextrous toilets,” says Roger
Allams, an exchange student from
Great Britain
The doors to the bathrooms say
"people'' — among other things —
and the windows in one of the
bathrooms provide a nice view of
Allen Hall
"I wash my hands in there, but I
don't even like to do that because I
hate to embarass myself," says Janet
Flemmer, a fourth-year landscape
student.
Alumni gather to applaud
student co-op expansion
By KIRK KNIGHTON
Ol the Emerald
Student cooperatives are on the rise
again at the University
The Campbell Club Student Coopera
tive made it official last Saturday by
throwing a day-and-night-long alumni
party, marking the opening of the new
Janet K Smith Co-op
Campbell Club has been around — in
one form or another — since 1936, and
Saturday's party brought together co-op
alumni from as far back as the original
housemates
These "old-time campus socialists’’ —
as several of them referred to themselves
— mingled affably with present-day co
op members, discussing, among other
things, the 45 years of politics between
them
They gathered to celebrate Campbell
Club’s acquisition of the house on the
corner of 18th Avenue and Alder Street,
now called Janet K Smith Co-op, after
the woman who started the University’s
first women’s co-op
Campbell Club is named after Wallace
Campbell, the mastermind behind the
University's first men's co-op But such
was the order of the day in 1936 — today
the co-ops are co-ed
The party also marked the end of a
16-month financial battle as well as relief
and happiness for at least one present
co-op member, Steve Brye
“Two years ago Campbell Club
became financially strong enough to
expand," Brye said Brye and other co
op members forsaw the current hard
economic times at the University
"We felt there would be a need for
another co-op at the University since
co-ops are the cheapest way to go," he
said
A prospectus was passed around to all
of the co-op's members, and an over
whelming majority agreed to make a go
at expansion An expansion committee
was formed with Brye as its chairer
After locating a suitable house, the
committee secured loans from the
National Consumers Co-op Bank, as well
as a Community Development Block
Grant from West University Neighbor
hood
They bought the house in June, gave it
its name, and members moved in this
term
Smith Co-op members have spent a lot
of effort literally "getting the bugs out” of
their house, with a new foundatign built
to replace one infested with termites and
carpenter ants
Both Campbell Club and the Janet K
Smith Co-op are nearly filled, and as long
as the economy remains sluggish Brye
says they will stay that way.
"Historically speaking, co-ops have
always done well in times of tight mon
ey," he says.
But at Saturday’s party co-op
members and alumni all agreed that
"co-ops have always done well.”