Oregon daily _ -
emerald
Willi BLOOfi coum TtXY?
llfin1 j
4
£2v i
Wednesday, November 24, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84, Number 59
E meratd Pt>ot©
The University Small Business Association is trying to
save the current. "unique" lighting fixtures on East 13th
Avenue, which the city is trying to modernize At right, a
sketch of the proposed style favored by the city.
Group flares up over city proposal
to replace outdated street lamps
By David Brown
Otth* Enmld
What distinguishes East 13th Avenue from the rest
of Eugene? Possibly its street lamps, says Jamie Doug
las. board member of the University Small Business
Association.
The USBA is opposing the replacement of the
city-owned street lights between Alder and Kincaid
streets
Under an incentive program offered by the Bon
neville Power Administration through the Eugene Water
and Electric Board, the city is considering converting
the current incandescent lamp fixtures to accom
modate sodium bulbs that emit more light for fewer
dollars
Sodium bulbs also cut down on contrast between
shadows and lighted areas
But the lowest wattage sodium bulb available is
twice as bright as the current incandescent bulbs,
creating more glare. Douglas says
And the conversion would include a style change to
a fixture called "American Revolution" that holds a
single bright bulb Currently, four softer incandescent
lamps that emit bluish light hang from cast-iron stems
circling a center lamp
The existing lamp
posts, which were in
stalled in 1910, are the
unique characteristic
identifying the shopping
area. Douglas says The
USBA's letter-head logo
includes a sketch of the
lamps
As part of their effort,
the USBA circulated a pe
tition about the bulb
proposal to area businesses, asking people if they
favored the existing lighting structures or supported the
proposed conversion All returns to date have been
marked "I am in favor of keeping the existing lighting,”
Douglas says
Members of the USBA and West University Neigh
bors have formed a Lighting Task Force to study the
problem of the more expensive incandescent lamps
The task force is negotiating various options with
the Traffic Engineering Division of the city's public
works department, Douglas says
The USBA is considering sharing the maintenance
cost for the existing lamps with the city to offset the
extra cost of burning incandescent bulbs, she says
Do differing degrees color job prospects?
By Debbie Howlett
Ol ttw Emaratd
The difference between a degree in a
liberal arts field and a degree from a
professional school is a matter of em
ployment — the student's — says James
Reinmuth. dean of the business school
at the University
"Students now are 100 times more
pragmatic Fifteen years ago, students
were seeking causes. Now they're seek
ing jobs," Reinmuth says
Joe Hynes, associate dean of the arts
and sciences college, isn't as sure the
only way to a job is through a profes
sional school
While there is no outward sign of a
raging debate or an inner struggle, the
two men see the value in a degree from
their respective fields
Reinmuth defines the value as market
value
The best value in the educational mar
ketplace is the one that current opinion
says is the most valuable, he says A
good example, he notes, is a business
degree in today's market
According to Reinmuth, a recent sur
vey in the Wall Street Journal says that 10
years ago, businesses were hiring liberal
arts students four to one over business
school graduates Now, he says, that
trend has been completely reversed, and
busineses are hiring business majors
over liberal arts students at the same
four-to-one clip
“They are saying two things: one, the
whole nature of business requirements
have changed and two, the require
ments of business are such that it takes
too long to pick them up on the job,”
Reinmuth says. "What they're not saying
is the liberal arts component is not im
portant.”
Hynes says the value of a liberal arts
degree isn't "the dollar value” but the
ability to reason logically and to think
intelligently.
"I wouldn’t say there are any disad
vantages (to a liberal arts degree) I
would not talk about disadvantages,” he
says. "If you want to know can you set
the table with it?’ — I'd say probably less
today than the last 20 to 30 years ”
As far as market value goes, Hynes
says the "sellers" aren't the ones who
make the decisions.
"It's a buyer's market,” he says. "The
tendency is for buyers to be very
choosy."
The real question to ask, Hynes says, is
"can you spend professional training
time creatively or are you limited to a
narrow scope?"
Reinmuth answers Hynes by looking at
the change in the hiring practices of
business.
"The role of business education in
1958-60 was wrong," Reinmuth says.
"There was too much how to' teaching,
people wanted more of an intellectual
content. We don't teach how-to, but we
go give more liberal arts skills, humanis
tic skills.”
Ultimately, "business schools got their
act together," Reinmuth says.
Reinmuth says the evidence of the
switch from "vo-tech" training to a more
Continued on Page 2
Business
picks up
Those leaves piling up on
lawns around campus are just
part of a day's work for Public
Works Department employees
Bob Dutton (standing) and Don
Malm (in cab).
Today the crews begin a
leaf-cleaning sweep between
East 18th Avenue and Franklin
Boulevard from Mill Street
through the southern Fair
mount neighborhood east of
campus. After Thanksgiving
weekend, the crews will double
back on the far side of East 18th
Avenue.
Due to parking congestion
around campus, they will return
during Christmas vacation for a
final clean-up.
Photo by Bob Baker