Oregon daily emerald., March 08, 1982, Page 3, Image 3

Left handers;
handling life in
a ‘right’ world
By Alise Refson
Ol Iht Emtratd
John Hawkey, left-handed senior, has always hated
right-handed chairs He has to "sit sideways to write all the time,”
Hawkey says, so he looks for seats on the left end of a row to avoid
bumping other students
' It's almost better to use 'gout he says
University Plann^Agllpl^Bte^ left-handers have a
problem "we've no*paifWjFf^^Te to,''
Still, the UrvM^ip^hastgiyeh tifcm some thought by installing
left-handed cf|rt*aJn.|omerclBssr<ioff% Row*Mgs Those few
left-handed qftsif^ H****aal ' blessing," Hawkey s^ys
Researob furred,B»ie4oHen ccficern for th# Npft minority
University ptMnpers aimW toeventufelly have at l*fM| 15 percent of
classroom pMffs.oater to tfttHll-handed position,
Umver||iy vies prestdenfdiradministration and finance, Ray
Hawk. sayslM latest budget c?Wfcas curtailed ||pe intentions
But there ari|*|ill far more tailored chairs now than there were 30
years ago, according to Loren Allen^pl-handed <JTF who works
at the Univeri(|§||£iysic3iplant.
Some left-hlSig^rs. like Allen, opted instead of fight
A 25-year user o^M||banded chafsJMH^e prefers them
and actually shuns ndMkMNIndjCihflfeft'
The existing left-harftSiif SKl^Pnave some shortcomings
In lecture halls containing fixed furniture such as 150 Geology,
the special seats can be found only at the row s end Other
classrooms force left-handers into obscure places Thus, the
left-hander must choose between isolated comfort or discomfort
in the company of friends
Prominent left-handers include:
Harpo Marx, Bob Dylan, two
Beatles, and ex-Pres. Jerry Ford
The answer may lie with an ambidextrous seat that the
physical plant is looking to purchase The seat, with a desk that
covers the whole lap is designed to please both left and right
handers Meanwhile the plant has introduced another simpler
solution in Gilbert Hall — tables
Another cause for lefty annoyance is the growing reliance on
No 2 pencils, used to mark computer-sheet test forms Forced to
move from left to right, lefties often smudge work they've just
completed — and thus either waste time erasing stray smears or
risk a faulty computer reading
Such gauche-pawed problems are the lifeblood of
Lefthanders International This society, founded in Kansas in
1975, is now the world's largest lefthanded organization, claiming
8,000 activists
The organization encourages manufacturers to produce
left-handed products and also acts as an information center for
the availability of all things lefthanded
The club publishes a newsletter, a Bill of Lefts and the
quarterly 'Lefty'' magazine to foster lefthanded sentiments and
pride Lefthanders International pays tribute to prominent
left-handers like Harpo Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Dylan, Ringo
Starr. Paul McCartney, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Benjamin
Franklin, Alexander the Great and Queen Victoria The board of
trustees includes former Pres Gerald Ford and U S Sen Bob
Dole
One member, Susan Ifshin of New York City, wrote "Keep
fighting I'm on your side!" after she described how she and all
the other lefthanders present during a Graduate Record
Examination, were made to sit in the back row "so that the lefties
wouldn’t cheat off the righties ”
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Pag* 3