Student builds University a kiln... for free
By Kim Carlson
Of the Emeretd
One way or another, almost everyone
manages to leave something of them
selves for posterity when he or she
graduates from college and moves on
Some carve initials on desks or scratch
deep insights on restroom walls Others
make or break records, earning foot
notes in the history books
John Lewis, an undergraduate fine
arts major here at the University, isn't
interested in bathroom hieroglyphics or
the 100-yard dash Instead, he's de
signed and built an $8,000 kiln for the
University ceramics department free
of charge
"It was a learning experience I
learned more from this than anything
else I’ve ever done," said Lewis "I didn't
do it for the school, I mean, well, it was
for my own benefit. I'll be a poor
graduate, but rich in experience."
Bob James, a fine arts professor and
the acting ceramics department head,
says Lewis shows the energy and effort
required of a student in a graduate pro
gram.
"He wanted to build the kiln for his own
experience It was good for him to have
the opportunity," James says "If all
students were as motivated, we wouldn’t
be able to accomodate them He rose to
the task he assigned himself."
Lewis is curious about the entire cer
amic process, from step one — shaping
the clay — to the actual firing
"I'm approaching ceramics with an
interest in geology Ceramics is an in
stant, man-made, geological process
It's really fascinating," Lewis says. "The
information that is obtainable from the
kiln will enable me to better understand
the ceramic process
"I have an interest in the process and
that led to me building the kiln. It was all
for the personal gain — my personal
interests,' he says "A lot of people think
it's OK to do just enough (in school) I
guess I wanted to do a little more than
enough I feel fortunate to have had the
opportunity ”
Although no University official asked
Lewis to build the kiln, it was high time for
a new one to be constructed Another
kiln, located on the same site behind the
ceramics studio, is a twenty-year-old
jumble of bricks that is, James admits,
■'.. worn out and sagging Kind of taffy
like "
Lewis replaced the larger, less energy
efficient kiln, which he dismantled after
getting the official go-ahead to construct
his model
He erected a 150-cubic foot kiln with
surplus bricks from previous projects at
the University
While the new kiln has only 20 cubic
feet of stacking space compared to 40
cubic feet in the previous model, it is
more popular among students because
they don't have to fill so much space
That allows the artists to concentrate on
specialized pieces, rather than mass
produce to fill the kiln just so it can be
fired
"There was absolutely no money
available to work with,” Lewis says "I
had to use my imagination and be re
sourceful I made a lot of mistakes, but I
tore it down and learned from it
Lewis cut some bricks in half to ac
comodate the design he wanted He
used no power tools, manually sawing
individual pieces. Special features in
Photo by Mark Pynes
Senior John Lewis worked for six months to design and build an $8,000 kiln for the
University — free of charge
elude a glazed interior and snug-fitting
arch bricks that form the opening.
If the University had not already owned
the bricks to be used, and if it had com
missioned the labor to build the kiln, it
would have been about an $8,000
project, Lewis and James agree
While free materials and labor are the
stuff that department heads' dreams are
made of, Lewis stresses that he built the
kiln for himself.
“I did it to learn about it It's a mon
umental feeling. I don't know how to
describe it," he says, "People kidded me
about working on it for so long, but I
really wanted to do it Nobody pressured
me"
Unless Eugene is shaken by an earth
quake or flattened by a nuclear bomb,
Lewis' kiln will be around tor another
generation of students to fire their crafts
in
"I guess I'm proud,” admits Lewis with
a grin "It feels like a pretty major ac
complishment."
Photo by Mark Pyrwa
Flick of a Bic...
An unidentified high school student attending the Oregon
Scholastic Press Association Conference decided to exercise
his freedom of speech Wednesday by igniting some Com
munist literature
After borrowing a lighter, the student set fire to a leaflet
distributed by members of the Revolutionary Communist
Youth Brigade
He was part of the more than 2,000 high school journalists
from all over the state who attended the conference The
journalists participated in writing contests, lectures, work
shops, a keynote speech by ABC sports commentator Keith
Jackson and tours of the Emerald
When sunny skies brought many of the conference-goers
outside, they also attended an impromptu meeting with
members of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade and
Christian speakers
Page 16
Dean granted one-year leave
Bob Bowlin, dean of students,
was officially granted a one
year leave of absence Tuesday
As of Jan. 1, the University will
be without his services for the
first time in more than two
decades
Bowlin will take the leave of
absence to serve as the as
sociate director of the Commis
sion on Colleges of the North
West Association of Schools
and Colleges, an organization
that handles all the accredita
tion of higher education in the
Northwest
Bowlin said the commission
examines each school to deter
mine how well they are fulfilling
their goals and prepares a
report for the college
"It's like holding a mirror up to
the institution," Bowlin says,
"so they can see their strengths
and weaknesses.”
A school that has not been
accredited is not eligible for
federal financial aid, Bowlin
says, and students going to a
non-accredited school will have
problems transferring their
credits
"As associate director I'll be
doing a lot of administrative
work," Bowlin says, "but the
richness of being able to see
what other schools are doing,
and the extensive exposure to
higher education will be
something I can’t get anywhere
else "
Bowltn started at the Univer
sity as the assistant men's dean
22 years ago He served as act
ing registrar for a year, as the
men's dean, the associate dean
of students and finally as dean
of students, a position he has
held for 12 years Bowlin has
also been an associate profes
sor in the education and per
sonnel management depart
ment since I965
His duties as dean of students
included working closely with
students and students affairs
groups like academic advising,
the associate provost s office
and campus living organiza
tions
Bowlin says when he was of
fered the job. he decided to take
it for a year
"After all," he says, "after 22
years in one place you don't
lightly' leave "
Hu|t Continued from page 1
Ball says it was a (air meet
ing, but "It was certainly not the
way I would have preferred to
have seen it conducted
“They were trying to be a
little theatrical In retrospect,
the theatrics probably should
have given way to deeper con
sideration on how and when to
hold city council meetings "
Ball says citizens could
have attended the meeting
without holding a dinner ticket
but admitted "that's very in
timidating ”
Council member Mark
Lindberg also expressed
dissatisfaction about the coun
cil meeting
"One weird thing is It cost
$10 to get into the meeting,"
Lindberg says "It was on the
margin of your Oregon Public
Meetings Law "
Lindberg says he wasn't
aware the meeting would be
conducted in the middle of the
dinner
"The council was scattered
among hundreds of people, and
there was only one microphone
so there was obviously no room
for discussion," he says
"Under those circumstances
with 700 people screaming their
approval it was real hard to say
anything but yes ' So we did."
And if Lindberg were a ci
tizen hearing about the name
change on the day of the grand
opening. "I would have felt the
same way a lot of people did and
that is hurt "
He says Mayor Gus Keller
notified the council of the nam
ing proposal on Sept 22. and
the council didn't have much
time to examine the resolution
"It was a boom. boom, boom
process." Lindberg says
There was a lot of fast talking,
fast thinking and snap
decisions "
Lindberg has mixed
feelings about the practice of
naming public buildings after
private individuals
A lot ot other projects are
going to require public sup
port,” he says This type of
controversy may cause some
prospective donors to shy away
if they feel they're going to be
“raked over the coals," he
adds
Lindberg says the council
should have scrutinized the
naming resolution in 1980
"In hindsight we should
have dotted every i‘ and
crossed every t' of the
resolution,” he says “Maybe
we ought to think about it
Asked about the possibility
of a council reversal of the name
Change. Hult angrily sputters his
response
“As far as I'm concerned
they can name it any damn thing
they want." he says "If the city
council wants to change it,
that's fine with me In fact, I kind
of wish they would "
Thursday, October 14,1982