Cards satirize society
By Lois Yoshishige
Oi the Emerald
By day, Cathy Boucher is a University stu
dent and a part-time office worker. And in
another part of town, Julie Dahlen spends her
daylight hours rolling Michael Jackson posters
into plastic bags.
But at night, Dahlen and Boucher become
the “Cargo Cultists" — postcard creators who
explode traditional American attitudes of con
sumerism, sexism and conservatism with
laughter.
The cards mainly reflect American at
titudes in relation to the rest of the world, such
as the American preference for television
watching, drugs as a cure-all and
industrialization.
By setting most of their postcards in the
1950s, the two establish the satirical situation
far enough away so people can laugh about it,
Boucher says.
“But it may also cause them to think, 'Hey,
part of that is still going on today.' " she says.
One of Boucher and Dahlen's best sellers
is the "neo-conservatives.” On the card, a man
and woman bear "Pepsodent" smiles as they
pose for the camera. Both wear horn-rimmed
glasses and have closely cropped hair. He
wears a striped polyester suit and tie, she
wears a button down dress and string of pearls.
Flecked over the photo are tiny captions:
"Keep yourselves clean," "Husbands, show
self-sacrificing love" and "How can we keep
our 'First Love?' "
An underlying motive in producing these
cards is to dispel the myth that Americans are
better than people from other countries,
Boucher and Dahlen say. When traveling
abroad, Boucher says she has been embarrass
ed by Americans and their attitude toward
others.
The cards also provide a way to make
political statements. "We're not the type to
distribute leaflets on a street corner," Boucher
says.
In addition to self-expression, the cards are
a way to get in touch with the community, she
says. "When you're in school, sometimes you
feel you're not taking part in the real world,"
Boucher says.
Profit seems to be the last reason Boucher
and Dahlen sell the cards. The cards sell at the
University Bookstore and at a small table at
Saturday Market. The bookstore buys a dozen
of each design, or 144 postcards every three
weeks, Boucher says.
The cards gross about $50 with every batch
sold at the bookstore and about $35 at the
market every Saturday, just enough to finance
a nice dinner, she says.
The card production began in January
under the term "Cargo Cultists," which means
"blatant consumerism gone wild," Boucher
says.
Centurion awards granted
Nearly 100 students received
the Centurion award for leader
ship, scholarship and service to
the University this month.
The awards, given annually by
the Student University Relations
Council, recognizes students in
every University class level,
department and school.
“It was great to see so many
strong applications. It made the
concept of picking the top 98
very difficult," says Laura Simic,
who served on the selection
committee this year and also
received an award. She will
chair next year's selection
process.
“It is rewarding to see so
many top students willing to
give of their time and effort to
the University," said Wayne
Kurlinski, vice president for
University Relations, who spoke
at the awards banquet.
The recipients are:
Joyce Aguirre, Patricia
Akiyama, Michael Annus, Steve
Bardi, Sarah Barton, Dawn
Becker, Joseph Bernard, Lisa
Berquist, Kimberly Bott, Karen
Bounds, Elizabeth Boyd, Jean
Breiling, Mona Buckley, Sandra
Burr, Bradford Butler. Martha
Carey, Richard Cheong, Dane
Claussen, Laura Cooper, Don
Corson, Julie Davis, Leslie
Dewson, Kathleen Downey,
Kayse Durgan, Marilyn Fancher.
Grant Faust, Stephanie Funk,
FHilary Cerdes, Sue Gray, Lynda
Grillo, Elizabeth Halimah,
Thomas Hart, Jana Hjelmseth,
Mary Hotchkiss, Tedrick Housh,
Jane Houston, Jolayne Houtz,
Julian Jollon, Karin Keutzer,
Douglas Koekkoek.
Lois Kronquist, Mark
Lakeman, Henry Lawrence,
Stephanie Lewis, Lori Lieber
man, Carolyn Litty, Richard
Machado, Dave Magilke, Kimm
Mahoney-Watson, Daniel
Malarkey, Rebecca Markee,
OREGON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA POPS
NORMAN LEYDEN, CONDUCTOR SHIRLEY NANETTE. VOCALIST
A FABULOUS EVENING OF
BIG BAND HITS
May 18.1984—8 30 p m
Silva Concert Hall
Hult Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets available at the Hult
Center'and all Hult Center ticket outlets
Tickets S8 S9 S11
687-5000
Call today1
Randy Martin, Barbara McClurg,
Michael McElmoyl, Robin
McKown, James Meyer, Ann
Milkovich, Christine Mitchell.
Lee Ann Mortensen, Mary
Mosher, Ellen Nakamura, Maria
Neese, Lisa Nuss, Kevin Oyama,
Colleen Pang, Faith Payton,
Gary Peiss, left' Pennington,
Randall Putz, Karen Quilter,
lames Samuel, Eric Sandoval,
David Sargent, Sherri Schultz.
Denise Sharp, Mary Shrauger,
Laura Simic, Mary Sipprell,
Catherine Smith, Ricky Lee
Smithrud, Heather Sparby,
Marc Spence, Steve Splon
skowski, Kelly Spohn, Suzanne
Stalick, Kristin Stark, Andy Stor
ment, Susan Terrill.
David Thurman, Mitchell
Vance, Denise Waldron, Lynn
Walton, Theodore Wells,
Frances Wong, Sara Wong,
William Wrightsman, Bruce
Wyllie and Marina Yu.
Economist to talk
Economic issues facing the na
tion in the 1980s will be discuss
ed by former U.S. Labor
Secretary Ray Marshall at the
University Friday.
Marshall, who served during
the Carter administration from
1977-81, will give his lecture at
9:30 a.m. at the Law Center,
Room 129. The talk is free and
open to the public.
Marshall, a professor of
economics and public policy at
the University of Texas at
Austin, is considered a national
authority in economics. During
his tenure as labor sec retary, the
Department of Labor won na
tional acclaim for numerous in
novative programs in occupa
tional safety and health, civil
service reform, and minority job
advancement among other
programs.
The lecture is jointly spon
sored by the University Labor
Education and Research Center,
University Department of
Economics and Institute of In
dustrial Relations.
USSA recruiting
Bob Bingaman, a field
organizer for the United States
Student Association from
Washington, D.C., will be on
campus Friday as part of a May
17-23 recruiting trip to the
Northwest.
Bingaman will attend an
Oregon community college
association conference and will
solidify plans for the USSA's
37th national student congress,
scheduled for August at the
University.
Following the conference,
Bingaman and former ASUO
Vice-Pres. Kevin Kouns, a
member of the USSA board of
directors, will travel to
Washington to recruit new
member schools.
Bingaman has five years ex
perience in student organizing.
He has served as a staff member
of Pennsylvania's Com
monwealth Association of
Students.
Visit Our Booth At
UO Springfest ’84
New natural fibre
lothing in rich colors,
fabrics and styles from
around the world.
Rainbow cotton
hammocks, silver
jewelry and
select folk
art pieces.
FOl
DOWNSTAIRS
FIFTH STREET MARKET
FOLKWAYS
see imports
683-2204
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Spring Sale
at
^ Sportstowi\, e4thletics
(Next to the Bookstore)
FREE
SHORTS
Buy one pair of shorts from
our special purchase table and
get one pair free.
Shoe Sale
Nike Equator reg. $64 95 NOW
Centurion reg $54.95 NOW
Plus many more
specials on our
closeout table
$4995
$3995
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Thursday and Friday