Blindness not a hindrance
mis unusual name
a problem for GTF
By Melissa Martin
Of the Emerald
Eugene Organ, appropriately enough, teaches
geography at the University.
When he applied for graduate school, depart
ment officials were on the verge of throwing the
application away because they thought it was a
joke. But somebody verified his name in the
phone book.
"People tell me this is an appropriate place to
live," says Organ, who teaches 150 University
students in an urban environment class.
But he's not the stereotypical teacher of
geography, which he defines as the study of
places and spatial relationships on the earth. He's
legally blind.
"I'm forced into a position where I can't rely
on my vision alone," Organ says. "I'm forced to
rely on other stimuli like sound. I was able to
capitalize on that."
With a magnifying glass, he "laboriously"
grades papers and reads maps that his wife, Lucin
da, draws for him. He also depends on readers,
provided by the Commission for the Blind, to help
him with his own studies.
"My only handicap is my immobility," he
says.
His blindness is a result of gradual vision
deterioration.
"It’s been pretty stable lately," he says. And
doctors tell Organ his vision will remain the way it
is for awhile.
Depending on people may be frustrating at
times, but Organ says it creates friendships for
him.
And at the same time, his blindness gives his
students a nonvisual picture of landscapes and
geography.
"I've made people more aware of using sense
rather then their vision for studying a place," he
says. "Geography is a perspective in looking at
the world, or in my case, listening to the world."
For example, Organ studied sounds in urban
landscapes for his master's dissertation.
"I spent a year listening on the street cor
ners," he says.
In the project, Organ sectioned off Eugene,
listened to sounds and identified them as coming
from environmental, mechanical or human
sources.
Organ says he wasn't surprised to find more
human sounds near campus than in any other
Photo by Melissa Martin
Eugene Organ has overcome his sight pro
blems to become a geography CTF.
place in the city. And the mechanical noises he
did identify came from roller skates and bicycles
— not cars.
The University CTF will spend the summer
traveling around Western Oregon to study unin
corporated towns and hamlets, which he defines
as any place with five buildings, five functions
(this could include a family) and an identity.
His field work will include counting buildings,
determining the function of the 60 unincor
porated towns in Lane County and interviewing
local people.
"You'd be surprised how many candy bars f
have to buy in a little grocery store to talk to the
people," he says.
When he graduates with his doctorate degree
next year, Organ wants to continue doing what he
enjoys most — teaching at the college level.
Bundy honored as top senior
By Lois Yoshishige
Of the Emerald
For University student John Bundy, recogni
tion as one of the top three blind college seniors
in the United States is not a personal achievement
but an encouraging example for other physically
limited people.
Bundy was presented with a certificate of
recognition and a $1,000 award at a reception in
New York City two weeks ago.
His award — the Scholastic Achievement
Award given by the Recording for the Blind —
shows that “blind people can succeed in
something they start, such as going to the Univer
sity and doing fairly well." Bundy says.
“Doing fairly well" for Bundy means a nearly
straight “A” average in clinical psychology, which
places him in the top 2 percent in his class. Bundy
will graduate this month and plans to begin a doc
toral degree program in clinical psychology in the
fall.
As far as the $1,000 award, Bundy says the
money will pay for the 12 to 15 readers who help
him study every week.
The trip to New York put Bundy one week
behind in his studies. “I have to catch up on lec
tures, my reading, and I have a paper due — just
like everyone else."
To catch up, Bundy says he is increasing his
study time from eight hours a day to about 11
hours and finding a few more readers to help him
collect research material. This task gets more dif
ficult toward the end of the term, he says.
"They get busy to where they can't help me.
Even an hour or two a week helps."
Like his recent award, Bundy's blindness
came unexpectedly.
When he was 9 years old, a can of Drano ex
ploded in his face and blinded him in one eye. He
gradually lost sight in the other eye despite a
series of cataract surgeries five years ago.
But Bundy didn't consider it a tragedy.
Oregon Daily Emerald
"It's a relief to be done with it. During the
operations my goal was to be able to see and I
kept fighting it. I could get on with other things."
He is developing a pamphlet that illustrates
and describes wheelchair access for campus
buildings as a practicum through the Office of
Academic Advising and Student Services.
Bundy also counsels elderly persons, helping
them adjust to and accept their gradual loss of
sight. He says he usually hears about these people
through word of mouth.
"When they start to lose their sight, many
elderly people start to think it's the end of their
life. They don't know how to cope with these pro
blems." he says.
"With a little bit of help, they see that they can
figure things out. They just need a little en
couragement to start on their own."
For the blind, some problems can't be over
come, such as driving a car, he says.
"But instead of looking at the whole bleak
and bad picture, they can focus on specific pro
blems to deal with and overcome."
Things Bundy wishes he could do include
driving a car — "I could get around a bit easier,"
he says — and seeing the blackboard during math
classes. "It's hard to understand the problem if
you can't see the figures."
He says he copes by borrowing notes from
others in the class or talking to the instructor.
He gets about three-quarters of his texts from
Recording for the Blind, a national non-profit
voluntary service organization which provides
free taped educational textbooks to visually,
physically and perceptually handicapped
students.
Eventually, Bundy wants to work with mental
ly and emotionally disturbed elderly people.
"I found my niche is psychology," he says. "I
think it's important work and can see myself do
ing this the rest of my life."
* June 12 • Hult Center *
^ 8:00 p.m. Silva Concert Hall *
Reserved Seats $11.50 & $12.50
Tickets at: Everybody’s Records, Valley
River Records, Hult Center Box Office.
Tickets subject to service charge.
r
A
EWEB
customers:
If you’re moving,
say STOP!
Don’t get stuck owing more than you
should. When you move, tell EWEB to stop
service in your name. EWEB will then read
the meter to be certain you are charged
only for what you used. Remember, you are
responsible for paying all charges from
when you begin occupancy until you tell
EWEB to stop service.
Simply call 484-6016. Please give at least
three day’s notice.
Wherever you move, if utilities are not paid
by someone else, be certain to call the
serving utility to start service in your name.
Eugene Water &
Electric Board
500 E. 4th Ave.
Eugene, Oregon
Office hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Monday through Friday
484-6016
Owned by the citizens of Eugene
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