Off Campus
Transients irk neighbors
By David Brown
Of th# Emerald
A dirty-looking man stares at the
grass below his battered boots while
resting in a small park on East 14th
Avenue
Shortly afterword, he shoulders a
bulky pack, fusses with greasy tangles
of long black hair that are caught in the
straps and then shuffles away
A minute later, a youngish girl in
sunglasses crosses the small park, her
hands in the pockets of a down jacket
Barely audible, a comment rises:
"Where have I been all your life." With
out responding, she walks quickly, her
cleated boot-heels clicking
The speaker huddled on a nearby
bench resumes coughing, spitting and
talking hoarsely to a friend
The scene took place during a recent
lunch hour
It characterizes the problem with
"transients" congregating in the com
munity-owned park This is a problem
that has troubled the West University
Neighbors since residents completed
the park's construction in 1979, says
Marshall Landman, WUN's refinement
plan administrator
"There is no reason why anyone
should feel harassed in that park,"
Landman says. It is the only park in the
neighborhood, and it belongs to the
neighborhood residents, he says
By spring of 1981 "a lot of vagrants
were hanging around in that park — a
lot — and really harassing a lot of peo
ple, especially women,” he says.
The community requested that the
city prohibit the drinking of alcoholic
beverages in the park. The prohibition
became official in August 1981
Subsequently, neighbors called
police often about vagrants drinking in
the park, Landman says
"This summer was really great," he
says Students used the park in greater
numbers than previously, making the
park a valuable part of the community,
rather than anybody’s hangout, Land
man says.
A study on vagrancy was submitted
to the Eugene City Council Wednesday
The problem of vagrancy has increased
"with Eugene's growth as an urban
center and the recent rise in unem
ployment," reads the study, which was
submitted by council member Mark
Lindberg
It's a problem that can’t just be driven
out of town as some would like — va
grancy is inherent to economic reces
sion, Lindberg says
During an era of unemployment, cut
backs in assistance programs and
reduced government funding of insti
tutions, many people who live "mar
ginally" end up on the street, he says
"Some people, of course, choose to
be vagrants, and some of their behavior
is distinctly anti-social In contrast,
most vagrants, especially older age
groups, prefer to be peaceful and with
drawn,” reads the study
Lindberg, who represents the West
University area, says the city must deal
with vagrancy —"the human side of
economic recession” — as well as
economic diversification
Communities must signal to vagrants
what types of behavior are acceptable,
Lindberg says. Neighborhoods might
hold meetings and inform residents on
how to respond to requests by vagrants
begging for spare change, he says
His report recommends that the city
form a task force to improve the city's
understanding of vagrancy and related
city problems such as law enforcement
The report recommends the task force
identify needed services for vagrants
and ways to coordinate public and
private efforts to deal with vagrancy
The city council unanimously ap
proved the proposed task force
Police officer Bill Speicher says cer
tain members of the Eugene vagrant
population become very familiar to
police officers On responding to a
report of a disturbance of persons
drinking in an alley, “we ll know these
guys on a first name basis You'll say,
Hey, John, what's going on?’ ” he
says
i
This transient named Ray, with all his worldly belongings in a burlap bag. spends
much of his time panhandling in the West University neighborhood He charged the
photographer 15 cents to take his picture
-On Campus
University takes steps to discourage transients
By Richard Burr
Of th« Emwild
With the lure of a warm place to watch
TV and free hot showers, transients are
making themselves comfortable in the
student union building and in residence
halls, much to the concern of EMU and
housing office officials
So a small battle has ensued Mea
sures are being considered that will
make life at the University less appealing
to outsiders but maintain services to
students who belong here One measure
seems to have worked
Since the EMU Board had the televi
sion, tables and chairs removed from the
EMU Fishbowl TV room about two weeks
ago, transients are not congregating in
the union building as much, says Dick
Vander Schaaf, EMU night manager
"For the moment, the problem has
been solved,” EMU Director Adell
McMillan says
Lounge transients have been a con
tinual problem, but this year the problem
worsened, McMillan says Two fist fights
and several complaints of drunkenness,
which was not a problem in.the past,
were reported, she says
Relocating the television will be a
problem becau'se other possible
locations also are accessible to tran
sients wandering in off the street, McMil
Ian says
Board member Daniel Cohen suggest
ed Monday the television be moved to
the Recreation Center lobby, with the TV
to be turned off at 3 p m when the
transients enter the building The board
needs to decide whether the proposal
will solve the transient problem, says
Paul Rudinsky, board member
The transients also congregate in the
Fishbowl cafeteria and sleep in the ba
sement lobby near the ASUO office,
McMillan says The EMU administration
can do little to prevent drifters from using
the building because it is semi-public,
she says
Transients used to congregate at an
all-night restaurant on the Millrace,
McMillan says But the restaurant closed,
and the EMU became the place with the
latest open hours, she says
One transient says he comes to the
EMU for the reasons McMillan gives
The transient, who wished to remain
anonymous, says he sits in the EMU
because it is warm, semi-public and
open “a hell of a lot longer than the
municipal library " He says he also
comes to the union when he is "blue "
"I seem to be tolerated by students
here," the man says, "I’m exposed to
other people's lives ”
"I don't feel like an outcast here,*' he
adds
When he walks around the downtown
mall, however, people either ignore him
or seem scared of him, the transient
says
But transients do cause some prob
lems, say University students and ad
ministrators
One female student, who requested
anonymity, says one transient is in love
with her girlfriend, and he constantly
bothers her about the friend's health But
he is not representative of typical tran
sients. she says
"Most of them are friendly, but not
overly friendly," says the student "They
don't bother people who don't want to be
bothered "
Marjory Ramey, assistant director of
housing, makes a similar appraisal of the
transients She says transients are
"relatively peaceful" but are a "constant
irritation" to the residents
"There's always a concern that they
won't always be honest." Ramey says
Transients enter the residence halls to
sleep, shower or eat a free meal, she
says All dormitories have locked doors
after certain hours, but unsuspecting
students either let transients in or prop
the doors open, Ramey says
The number of transients seeking
showers has Increased the past two
years since the physical education
department installed its security system,
she says Vagabonds regularly used the
P E facilities because there was no
Identification check, Ramey says
Several unauthorized women used to
use the showers and "made no bones
about it," she adds
The transients also attempt to slip
through the meal line, Ramey says To
counter this, students are required to
show identification at every meal, which
was not done previously, she says
Food workers also doublecheck peo
ple who look out of place, Ramey says
Some transients can be identified
because they do not walk with the same
confidence students do, she adds
Within the next year, the housing
department will Install an automatic
identification system to further reduce
the amount of cheaters, Ramey says The
system will use University computers,
she says
Identifying transients has become ea
sier because students are dressing more
formally. Ramey says During the late
1960s, it was difficult to differentiate
between students and transients, she
says
But even with easier identification and
other measures, the problem will never
be solved. Ramey says The residents
change annually and educating them is a
constant process, she says