Inside:
•Save Olum, Page 2
•Jack Anderson, Page 6
• Pete Nelson, Page 8
—^.Oregon Dailyw _
Emerald
Friday. November 13, 1987
Eugene. Oregon
Volume 89. Number 52
Agate parking study group
gives findings to committee
By Paula Green
Emerald Reporter
Project staff members of the
19th and Agate Special Area
Study presented a compilation
of their findings to the city's
Citizen Involvement Committee
on Thursday for approval.
According to Pat Decker, pro
ject staff member, the study
earned an audience with the
C1C because of the "approach
we've used in terms of citizen
involvement” with the Univer
sity’s Community Workshop,
which drafted the proposal.
“In a response to a complaint
by businesses in the area, the
workshop group came up with
the south lot of the Condon
School site (for conversion into
a parking lot for nearby
businesses)," Decker said.
The proposed parking lot
conversion of the playground
located on the south side of
Condon School is an issue that
has upset residents in the area
Other issues include the lack of
representation in developing
the study, and the traffic pro
blem which would result from
the one-way conversion of the
alley between 17th and 19th
Avenues.
C1C member Ken Tollenaar
appeared to sympathize with
the views expressed by the
residents in the neighborhood,
by asking whether the
neighborhood shouldn't play a
larger role in developing the
study.
“This is both a community
issue and a technical and
economic issue, so I don't think
it's appropriate to turn it over to
just the neighborhood," Decker
responded. Another project
staff member, Teresa Bishow,
stressed that citizens have been
and will be provided oppor
tunities to be involved in
various stages of the project.
A public information meeting
involving presentation of the
proposal by its proponents and
residents in the area was held
last Thursday at the Condon
School. Project staff members
have compiled concerns
presented at that meeting for
another community-wide
meeting on Nov. 21.
"On the 21st, we ll begin
with a general introduction and
discussion. Then we'll discuss
the problems associated with
the study and rank them and
compile them," Bishow said,
adding, "we need to narrow
alternatives and define
problems "
Bishow also noted that she
would like the study to garner a
more positive view with the
community.
"On Nov. 21. we are going to
ask, What would you like to
see?' or ‘What would you like it
to become?' — more positive
questions to center around,"
Turn to Parking, Page 4
Photo kv Hobbir In
Slate System of Wither Education Chancellor William "Hud" Davis is confronted by
students and the media Thursday durin/t a rally to support President Paul Olum.
Students rally to keep Olum
By Kathy Proffit
Emerald Contributor
Carrying signs reading.
"Dump Hud not Paul," and
wearing yellow buttons that
said. "Hell No. Paul won't
go," more than 150 students
rallied Thursday afternoon
against the early retirement of
University President Paul
Olum.
Student representative
ttrvan Moore opened the rally
by stating that those students
who came out m support
demonstrated a unity in con
fronting this serious crisis,
which occurred because of a
"behind-the-door” decision.
Representatives from Univer
sity, state and community
organizations wore also pre
sent to express their full
fledged support of Olum.
Lane County Commissioner
Jerry Kust said the University
is the county's largest
Turn to Rally, Page 3
Tree-house builder still living it up in Eugene
By Stephen Maher
Emerald Associate Editor
Tom Dumas first came to the public's
attention In 1983 when Eiugene police
dismantled his elaborate tree house in
Washburne Park
Police were said to be amazed at the
quality of the tree house's construction.
And small wonder They needed bolt
cutters to enter the padlocked structure
and a chainsaw to tear it down.
In subsequent years. Dumas continued
to live in non-traditiona! settings. Short
ly after his eviction from the park, he
took over an abandoned garage and went
to work, repairing the door and leaky
roof and making the place habitable. He
called the garage home for two years un
til an eviction notice sent him on his
way.
Next came the Willamette River green
way and its well-secluded areas Using
discarded materials. Dumas constructed
a hut and lived in it for more than a year.
But University officials eventually came
calling and asked him to move on. He
did, but only a short distance: an A
frame tent soon was home
All the while, newspaper accounts
chronicled Dumas’ exploits, and he
became a folk hero to some, a curiosity to
others.
Today, Dumas still lives in the area
and has relocated once again. But this
time the locale of his ingenious work
comes with the owner's permission.
Photo bv Stephen Maher
Tom Dumas' true house in West Eugene offers him a view of Spencer Hutte. The
shelter was constructed with wood the property owner bought from local mills.
Located in west Eugene. Dumas’ cur
rent home is 20 feet off the ground and
wedged between two evergreens. It has
four inches of insulation in the roof, a
sliding door for a front entrance and a
large picture window that looks out at
Spencer Butte. The entire structure took
him two weeks to build. Dumas said
During a recent early-morning visit to
the tree house, a reporter found Dumas
neatly organizing his living quarters. A
green sleeping bag took up most of the
cozy house, but on one side were plastic
containers full of pencils and pens and a
wall that held a pinned yellow flower,
rulers and a variety of lists. On the wall
opposite the front door, a telephone
hung attached as well as a digital clock.
When someone calls, the telephone
rings in I>oth Dumas' tree house and the
property owner's residence. If the phone
call is for Dumas, the property owner
pulls a cord from inside the residence.
The cord tugs on a metal bar which then
rubs against a spring outside the tree
house. The resulting squeak vibrates in
side the house, alerting Dumas the call is
for him.
Other anemities include an electric
heater and a television set on loan from a
friend.
In early September. Dumas posted
handbills around the city alerting
readers that "Eugene’s locally famous,
greenway tree house builder, Tom
Dumas, is looking to build a winter
home before the wet and cold arrives this
winter. I will build on the location you
legally provide for me. in exchange for
the use of the structure during the winter
until the dryer and warmer weather of
mid-summer."
Response to the flyer was quick
Dumas saiil he received offers from four
different parties within a week-and-a
half. It was the first time he had ever
advertised in order to find a place to
build.
Dumas said he chose to advertise
because he wanted to lit; legal for a
change and wanted some anemities.
such as electricity, which weren’t possi
ble in a secluded area
The 35-year-old Dumas said he came
to Eugene about 10 years ago. although
he isn't quite sure of the exact date.
"I'm not a calendar watcher." he said.
"I take each day as it comes."
Horn and raised in Alabama. Dumas
arrived in Oregon in the early 1970s
while stationed in Astoria with the Coast
Guard, he said. At the conclusion of his
duty at sea. Dumas lived in a shelter for
four or five months near Astoria. He
described the shelter as a tree house-like
structure set halfway up a hill that was
"pretty sturdy."
He moved to Eugene sometime after
Turn to Dumas, Page 4