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Adieu, Wheatgerm
By Michael Clapp
Of the Emerald
Jerry “Wheatgerm” Campbell’s
friends, fans and political supporters
gathered Thursday evening in the
warm July sunshine to bid farewell to
Eugene’s own cosmic candidate.
They came with wicker picnic
baskets and Styrofoam coolers and sat
sipping wine from sparkling glasses
and chugging Blitz beer from brown
quart bottles, waiting for the man who
garnered more than 4,000 votes and
finished third in May’s mayoral race.
Wheatgerm’s buddies from the On
The Edge comedy group entertained
the onlookers with skits and songs,
warming them up for the guru of
granola. Paco Madero, the “Wayne
Newton of Latin America,” introduc
ed Wheatgerm.
Paco, who met Wheatgerm when he
fell out of a boxcar in front of
Eugene’s Amtrak station on a return
trip from picking apples near
Spokane, Wash., spoke of
Wheatgerm’s departure with heartfelt
sorrow.
“How come we all get together to
say goodbye to people, but we never
get together to say hello?” he asked.
“Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Weedherm, he’d put anything in his
pipe,” Madero said, pronouncing the
name with a thick Spanish accent.
Then Wheatgerm took the stage.
He began his farewell performance
with an auction, selling off items that
had failed to move at his “totally
spiritual” moving sale earlier in the
week.
There was a motorcycle helmet
from his less coordinated high school
days. “I used to run into things a lot,”
he confessed.
There was a pneumatic-tube con
tainer he’d taken from his bank. “I
know I got no more use for it now,
and I know I can’t go back to my
bank,” he said snorting a quick
laugh.
And there was a package deal that
included “The Cultivator’s Guide to
Marijuana,” which Wheatgerm said
he’d memorized and had no more use
for, and a map of Lane County.
“Please ignore the spots marked with
an X, at least until next week. Okay?”
With business out of the way,
Wheatgerm checked the list taped to
the side of his guitar and launched in
to his repertoire of songs. Many of
them were quasi-original numbers
dealing with aspects of his Eugene
life.
Photo by Michael Clapp
Wheatgerm entertained the crowd
with songs and stories at his
farewell concert in Amazon park.
He sang a Saturday Market ballad,
set to the Beatles tune “Yesterday,”
which lamented his bygone days of
selling hash pipes. That was followed
by an Oregon Country Fair song,
which suggested one should take LSD
and forget about time.
To close the show, Wheatgerm was
joined on stage by several friends for a
rousing rendition of “The Foodstamp
Boogie.”
After the performance, Campbell,
who came to Eugene 11 years ago to
study psychology at the University
and to escape the Los Angeles area,
talked about Wheatgerm with a bit of
distance.
“He’s about 30 to 40 percent from
my past, but I take him to the ex
tremes,” he said. “I don’t do drugs
anymore, but I used to (do drugs), and
sell drugs, and have hair like that.”
Campbell said he’ll take
Wheatgerm along with him to Los
Angeles, where he’ll be studying act
ing at the California Institute for the
Arts. “I’ve used him there before do
ing stand-up routines.”
He said he and Wheatgerm learned
a lot about politics and politicians in
their campaign this spring, but
Wheatgerm holds no grudge.
“Wheatgerm is nothing but love,”
Campbell said.
ASUO to fund phone
By Julie Shippen
Of th« Emerald
The summer subcommittee of the In
cidental Fee Committee voted 3-0 Mon
day to allocate a total of $460 toward
continuing service of the Off-Campus
Housing’s outside phone line.
According to Michael Morrow, direc
tor of Off-Campus Housing, the
organization’s budget made provisions
for only one phone for the coming year.
Until the beginning of this month, the
service had three lines, one of which was
cut off due to the likely adoption of
measured service rates on state agency
phone systems.
The main reason for continuing to
fund the outside line is that it has proven
its worth as a cost-free aid to students
looking for housing, IFC members
agreed. However, its services have been
abused by students who use the phone to
make personal calls, they added.
“I see people using this phone around
nine or ten at night, and they're not mak
ing calls associated with Off-Campus
Housing. They’re using the phone to call
their boyfriend or girlfriend because they
don’t have to pay 25 cents,” said Lori
Lieberman, an IFC member.
ASUO Finance Coordinator John
Dreeszen said the ASUO believes the
phone is still valuable to the University
and is willing to help support it.
However, Dreeszen stressed that the ser
vice should be credited to the ASUO in
the future.
“You're making more of a policy state
ment than a financial statement when
you’re asking the ASUO to co-sponsor
this,” Dreeszen said. He and Kevin
Lewis, ASUO budget assistant, express
ed reluctance to offer ASUO assistance
now without also making plans for
future funding.
Lewis also was concerned about the
possible confusion that would be caused
by having two parties share the line’s
billing.
The ASUO never has funded another
student group’s phone system, and the
current request is a unique one, Lewis
said.
Though plans have been made to make
further investigations on other possible
sources to help fund the line, the IFC
took the ASUO up on its offer and decid
ed to draw $230 of the $460 from ASUO
unallocated reserves as. the ASUO’s con
tribution. The other $230 also will be
taken from the same account in the name
of Off-Campus Housing.
LTD shuttle to run in fall
The Lane Transit District will in
augurate a permanent shuttle bus this
fall to connect the University with the
downtown mall and the Fifth Street
Public Market, a spokesperson for LTD
said Friday.
“The beauty of the downtown shuttle
is not only the speed but the price,” said
Ed Bergeron, marketing administrator
for LTD.
The shuttle, which begins service
Sept. 23, will cost 25 cents and run every
half hour. Those who wish to transfer
from the shuttle to other routes can pay
the regular bus fare of 55 cents.
The shuttle was inspired by the suc
cess of the free Christmas shuttle that
was subsidized by downtown mer
chants. After seeing research done by
Steve Brye, then a student in the Univer
sity’s planning program, LTD started the
holiday season route in 1981.
The Christmas shuttle was discon
tinued in 1982 but returned in 1983
because of popular demand, Bergeron
said. The option for merchants to sub
sidize the permanent shuttle during the
holiday season still is open, he said.
The shuttle will be a regular LTD bus
that will be distinctively painted for easy
identification. Eventually, LTD hopes to
get some type of "variety” bus, such as a
bus modified to look like a street car.
LTD plans to keep the shuttle in opera
tion year-round. Alhough student
patronage would drop off during the
summer, the shuttle would still be used
by tourists and those attending summer
conferences on campus, he said.
"The downtown shuttle would be
really attractive to tourists who want to
see the University but don't know where
to park,” Bergeron said.
The Eugene Downtown Commission
has proposed a three way shuttle connec
ting the Valley River Center to
downtown and the University. But LTD
rejected that proposal because there
already is sufficient bus service to the
shopping center and the distance is too
great to make a shuttle practical,
Bergeron said.
LTD also will continue its shuttle to
Autzen Stadium during University foot
ball games, even if the games are held at
night, he said. The football shuttles run
between the stadium and such locations
as the Valley River Center, South Eugene
High School and the Springfield Transit
Station.
W? Swing into ^
^ summer with
CARNIVAL THEATRE!
I University Theatre’s fun-filled season of plays will fill
your summer evenings with music and laughter!
I'm Getting My Act Together and
Taking It On The Road
The critically acclaimed musical starring
PRISCILLA LAURIS
July 5, 6, 7, 19, 25, 26; August 3, 4, 10
Sole by Side by Sondheim
A musical revue of
Broadway show tunes by the
master songwriter, Stephen
Sondheim
July 12, 13, 14, 20, 21
August 2, 11
Mass Appeal
A heartwarming comic
drama starring TOM
LASS WELL and DENNIS
SMITH
July 17, 18, 27, 28
August 1, 8, 9
Robinson Theatre ® 8 p.m.
$5.00 - Any Friday or Saturday
$3.50 - Any other performance day
Call 686-4191 for ticket reservations and information.
Pug**
Double Your FUN
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Mon. - Sat.
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2 for 1
well drinks,
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11:30 a m. 7:00 p.m,/8:30 • 10:00 p m.
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TUESDAYS • KZEL Rock Night"
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QrWhat's better than a
shot in the dark?
A: A Resume from ODE
Graphic Services!
Tnmday, July 31,1984