Holiday wishes
Thanks to Santa and his reindeer (and a lack
of classes), the Emerald will cease publica
tion until Tuesday, Jan. 4. Happy holidays —
may all your Christmas wishes come true.
Oregon daily
emerald
Monday, December 13, 1982
Eugene. Oregon
Volume 84, Number 70
Ducks surviving;
efforts continue
By David Brown
Of the Emerald
A 'miracle" may have saved the majority of the water fowl
caught in Friday's diesel fuel spill, which inundated the
Millrace and the duck pond
According to Kathy Flood, director of the Lane County
Animal Regulation Authority, only 10 percent of the ducks
and geese were expected to survive. So far 16 ducks and
none of the geese — of the 338 fowl treated by the agency —
have died as a result of the spill, she says
"It's a miracle,” she says
Flood attributes that "miracle" to the immediate re
sponse of nearly 100 students, bystanders and city residents
who answered the pleas for volunteers and materials from the
Survival Center, the EMU public address system and a local
radio station.
Although the diesel spill was "just one mistake, it was a
very costly mistake,” says Bob Harrison, manager of the
Eugene maintenance office for the Oregon Highway Depart
ment.
It all began around midnight Thursday. Harrison says As
Michael Curry, a highway department employee, was starting
his shift, he inadvertently drove a sand truck over the nozzle
of a diesel pump left lying under a truck. Harrison says The
nozzle broke and spewed diesel fuel into a nearby flood-water
drain that empties into the Millrace. he says
According to Harrison, the accident resulted from a
violation of fueling procedures Employees are required to
take pump meter readings after returning the hose to the
pump, he says.
Curry has been suspended with pay pending possible
disciplinary action by the highway department
Three hours later, a second employee discovered the
hose but failed to report the incident, he says By the time the
pump had run dry it had emptied 2,100 gallons of diesel fuel
into the Millrace. Harrison says. If the accident had been
reported immediately, the spill may have been contained
before it reached the duck pond, he says.
Continued on Page 8
Photo by Bob Baker
This volunteer — one of almost 100 — wraps a diesel-oil soaked duck in a towel to keep it warm prior to washing
it in a soapy solution. Of 338 ducks and geese, only 16 had died as of Sunday night.
Pawn texts for extra cash
By Sandy Johnstone
Ot the Emerald
With the arrival of finals week, the end of the
month, and Christmas, students may be feeling a
financial pinch One way to obtain some extra
funds is to sell textbooks.
Where can students get the best deal?
Three easy options are available
First, the University bookstore buys back
textbooks during finals week Rates range from
one-half of the original price if the book will be
used next term to about 25 percent of the original
cost
The bookstore invites used book dealers in to
buy back the textbooks not being used in the next
year, and it uses a standard buy-back guide to
determine the prices it will pay students
Otto Henrickson, textbook manager, says
most books probably won't be eligible for the
half-price buy back. He says it depends on the
subject area and whether the course is taught by
the same professor each term
At Smith Family Bookstore, a buy-back guide
is always used because they have no information
on what textbooks will be used next term, says
Misa Smith, owner
"We make an evaluation according to
whether or not we feel something can be resold,"
says Smith "It is a judgment on our part."
Another option open to students is the
booksale sponsored by the American Advertising
Federation.
The AAF allows students to set the price for
their textbooks and charges a 10 percent com
mission for providing the service The federation
is taking books from Dec. 13-15 and will sell them
during the first week of winter term.
AAF Pres. Linnea Greenlund says the AAF
began this service last year to give students a
chance to get more money when they sell their
textbooks and also to provide next term's con
sumers a reasonable alternative.
She says similar student cooperatives oper
ate successfully on many campuses throughout
the United States.
Smith estimates about 75 percent of the
Smith Family Bookstore is geared to college
related books, and they buy about $80,000 worth
of books per year Henrickson says the Bookstore
buys back about $75,000 in textbooks per term.
Greenlund says the AAF probably sells about
$1,000 worth of books each term — "not a high
turnover of books.” She adds next term the club
will have a table in the EMU lobby as well as a
room in the cafeteria to gain visibility with
students.
For the purpose of comparison, the Emerald
selected six books at random to see if there were
any differences in the buyback prices — Readings
in Ancient History (originally $8.86), Rethinking
the Presidency ($8.86), Business Statistics
($18.69), College Mathematics ($20.43), The First
Amendment and the Fourth Estate ($15.80) and
the Fabric of Existentialism ($17.32).
Keep in mind students set their own prices at
the AAF sale.
Three of the books, Business Statistics, Col
lege Mathematics and The First Amendment, will
be used again next term, so the bookstore offers
half of the original price.
Business Statistics will get $10.80 from the
bookstore while Smith Family will pay $5. College
Mathematics will get $11.70 from the bookstore
and $7.50 from Smith Family The First Amend
ment will get $8 from the bookstore and $5 from
Smith Family.
Existentialism will get $5 from both places,
and Ancient History, originally $8.86, is worth
$2.50 to each bookstore. Presidency will get
$2.50 from the bookstore and $3 from Smith
Family.
Simic may leave
for Berkeley job
By Debbie Howlett
01 the Emerald
Curt Simic, vice president
for University relations, is
leaving the University for a
similar position at the
University of California at
Berkeley, according to relia
ble reports.
Simic, contacted at home
Sunday afternoon, would
neither confirm nor deny the
reports. However, it has been
learned from a source close
to Simic, that he is in the final
stages of negotiations with
Berkeley for the position of
vice chancellor for develop
ment and president of the the
UC-Berkeley Foundation.
The position reportedly pays
substantially more than
Simic is now being paid at
the University.
Simic, 40, came to the
University in 1978 as vice
president for public services,
a newly created position
Last year the title of Simic’s
position was changed to vice
president for University rela
tions.
Simic's present job was
created by former University
Pres. William Boyd to coor
dinate University activities in
fund raising, media, com
munity service and alumni
and governmental relations.
"I think he realized that the
University needs to make a
better case for itself before
the public,” Simic said of
Boyd’s decision in 1978.
“The University spent nearly
$40,000 to get me, but they
know I'll make money for
them," he said in the same
interview.
"He has an outstanding
record in the field of external
relations, and I am confident
he will provide the leadership
needed to make the Univer
sity more effective in serving
Oregon and gaining support
needed to keep the Universi
ty at a high level of quality,"
said Boyd, upon hiring Simic.
Simic came to the Univer
sity after leaving his job as
assistant vice president for
resource development at the
University of Alabama. He
has held similar positions at
the Yale University of
Medicine, Yale New Haven
Medical Center, Southern Il
linois University, the Univer
sity of Tennessee and In
diana University.