Monday, January 16
Eugana, Oragon
Oregon daily
Volume 83
Number 80
-emerald
Beer tests
net profits
EMU slights pub
By Richard Burr
Of th» EnwmM
During the last seven years, in lieu of
no University tavern, the EMU Beer Gar
den has provided a way of meeting the
demand for alcohol on campus
Although the Beer Garden's affect on
business varies from tavern to tavern,
local owners have opposed the Beer
Garden since its inception in 1975.
The weekly Friday afternoon brew test
cuts Duffy's Friday business by about 10
percent, according to manager Casey
Baker. “The one day it was closed, we
had one of our best days ” B.J Kelly's
has not suffered any slack in business
because of the Beer Garden, owner
Doug Lee says
EMU administrators are “delighted,
from a revenue sense," about the suc
cess of the Beer Garden, says EMU Di
rector Adell McMillan
Baker says he is not in favor of a
University tavern because it would
provide a service to only one-third of the
student population His statement is
based on the assumption that students
are at the drinking age when they are
juniors
In 1975, a non-profit consulting cor
poration made up of University graduate
business students conducted a feasib
lility study on a University tavern propo
sal.
According to the study, the tavern
could make approximately $4000 in
profits after taxes if the tavern were
operated by an outside contractor If
University-operated, the tavern could
yearly earn about $29,000 in profit after
taxes However, the risk would be greater
than if the tavern were privately operat
ed, the study showed
University Pres William Boyd said he
would veto any EMU Tavern proposal.
The EMU Board then decided to with
draw its proposal because of the pre
sident's opposition, McMillan says
University students could have ap
pealed a Boyd veto to the State Board of
Higher Education. However, the appeal
would probably have failed, saysAlan
Contreras, ASUO vice president of pro
gram administration.
University Pres. Paul Olum’s position
on a EMU tavern was not available at
presstime, but Contreras says every
University president to his knowledge
has been against such a proposal
Adding an EMU tavern conjures up a
few issues. Should the University en
courage drinking on campus? And does
the demand for alcohol exceed that pre
sently being supplied by the Beer
Garden? Several problems exist with a
tavern proposal, McMillan says. They
include finding a location for such an
enterprise, allocation funds for the
tavern's operation and securing legisla
tive approval necessary for the long term
capital investment.
The proposal's approval would place
higher education in the role of pushing
alcohol to ensure the tavern breaks even,
McMillan says.
The tavern might also be considered
discriminatory because it would only be
accessible to students 21 years of age
and older while occupying a large por
tion of the EMU, she contends.
The EMU Board is the only group hav
ing the authority to ask for a campus
tavern, McMillan says.
Mirrors help storekeepers keep an eye on customers at all times.
Photo by Bob Baker
THIEVES UOB LOCAL PROFIT
By Lori Lleborman
Of Em»rmk)
There is no question that students
shoplift in the University area, but just
how much merchandise students lift is
not quite as clear
“Everyone shoplifts," says Celia
Silver, assistant manager of Kaufman's
at 840 E 13th Ave. And students, she
says, shouldn't have to suffer the slings
and arrows of automatic suspicion.
The fact that college students com
prise 80 percent of the store's customers
is irrelevant, she says.
"I don't think that makes any differ
ence regarding the amount of shoplift
ing. Students are a key target but you
can't pinpoint them."
But shoplifting is one of the store's
major problems, and the campus store
encounters more shoplifiting than other
Kaufman’s stores, Silver says.
"The belief that it is because of the
students is not valid. I think it’s because
we have a reputation of not being very
hard on shoplifters. We're trying to
change that reputation and start crack
ing down.”
TO HELP CRACK DOWN, the store
has called in the Community Officer
Patrol team, a division of the Eugene
Police Department.
The special force is often requested by
businesses to answer questions, point
out weaknesses and consult on the sub
ject of shoplifting, says Al Coleman of the
COP team.
“It’s not a student problem, it's a com
munity problem,” Coleman says. The
sheer number of people in the campus
vicinity is the main reason for the high
shoplifting rate, he says.
"Whenever there are a lot of people in
a small area there will be a problem. The
density of people in the campus area is
very high and so are the losses.”
The losses are so high, Silver says, the
owner predicts all Kaufman’s stores will
be broke in three years if the chain con
tinues to lose merchandise at the current
rate.
At the University Bookstore, annual
losses due to theft are up to $80,000,
general manager Jim Williams says.
Because of these losses, the book
store is “very, very firm with how we deal
with shoplifting,” he says.
THE BOOKSTORE POSTS ITS
POLICY concerning shoplifters and em
ploys student security guards to achieve
one goal — deter shoplifters, not catch
them, Williams says.
One hundred persons are apprehend
ed annually, however, and a high per
centage are convicted, he says. The high
conviction rate is due to the fact that "we
are very careful in apprehension and
interviewing of the shoplifter,” Williams
says.
There are two steps in apprehension,
he says. The first is to prove probable
cause for stopping the person. The
second is to prove intent.
Williams will then interview the person,
and if he is satisfied the person is guilty,
the case is pursued.
The value of the stolen item is of little
importance, he says.
Shoplifting can be very expensive for
the thief, Williams says, since the law
allows stores to demand restitution for
the amount of the item plus a minimum of
$100.
Why shoplifters take the risk puzzles
Coleman.
“Students invest an immense amount
of money in a college education in hopes
of getting a quality job, but then they
tarnish their record by an apprehension
or arrest," he says.
PERHAPS AGE PLAYS A ROLE, Wil
liams says.
"College-age students don't feel as
accountable for their actions," he says.
"There is also a lack of real careful
thinking. But you can surely find older
people who steal. Who can say why."
Silver is equally puzzled. "I don't know
why they do it. Ninety-five percent of the
time they have the money to pay for it,"
she says. “The COP team told us most
people do it out of boredom."
One drugstore security guard says, "It
might be an obsession, they forget, have
a problem, or were dared."
Students are most prone to shoplift
when they are drunk, says Rita Scarpelli,
co-owner of the 7-11 store at 1316 Alder
St.
“Good, steady customers do things
when they're drunk (that) they wouldn’t
dream of doing when they’re sober,"
Scarpelli says.
get-cutting
inside today’s Emerald is a
special report on the Oregon
Legislature’s special session on
the budget beginning today in
Salem.
Future issues of the Emerald will
include Associated Press reports
and staff coverage from both the
campus and the capital. Series
planned include Oregon economic
diversification and a forecast of
University school and department
cuts.