OPINION
Lawnmower man stakes again
\ THE FINE
1 1 PRINT
BY KIRSTEN LUCAS
I emerge from FLU a woman
wilh a mission
My mission: to make it
across thn quad without getting
drenched.
Fake to the left! Fake to the
right!
I brave the sprinklers and
make it to my 10:30 class • only
to have my professor drowned
out by un obnoxious lawnmow
er from hell. We are forced to
shut the windows, sweat, and
try to ignore it.
Let's face it. it's hard enough
to get motivated to go to class
in this great spring weather
without having to compete
with lawnmowors and sprin
klers!
Aren't wo paying enough tui
tion to enjoy the luxury of not
having to deal with this non
sense?
1 suppose lawn mowing and
sidewalk sprinkling are nui
sances at any hour. But
couldn't they do it in the even
ing or early morning when few
er students are around?
In a word ... no.
Mower and sprinklor com
plaints are nothing now to the
Physical Plant's Tim King, who
is in charge of campus grounds.
"It's not very eusy to work at
night." King said "Early in Ihe
morning wt can't see wall
enough (to mow). We've go to
do it in the daylight It's impos
sible to avoid.
"We try not to stay in one
urea very long." King said
"And wo don't mind being told
we’re being disruptive. We'll
try to accommodate people."
1 wish I'd known that.
So next time you can't hear
your professor over the roar of
the mowers, go out there anil
tell the lawnmower limn to take
it someplace else,
If that strategy doesn't work,
call Tim King al the Physical
Plant (340-5243), like I did He
seemed like a pretty reasonable
guy. but don't be surprised if
he asks you to put your money
whore your mouth is He asked
me if I wanted to donate $8,000
for new mowers
The Physical Plant, like ev
erything else at the University,
is strapped for cash - and ap
parently a few mowers only go
so far, so fast. Like it or not.
they may just end up in your
neck of the woods al an inop
portune moment.
So the mowing can’t be
helped but what about those
pesky sprinklers?
"YVe try to leave people a
path from here to there." King
said. "So we don't have to wa
ter people on sidewalks.”
That's nice, but I'd still ad
vise carrying an umbrella if
you're going unywhere near
So next time you
cant hear your
professor over the
roar of the mowers,
go out there and
tell the lawnmower
man to take It
someplace else.
PLC In a hurry • and don'I want
to got soaked on your way.
I didn't find a path. Instead I
was forced to do the infamous
PLC sprinkler scramble
The Physical Plant is work
ing on getting all of the sprin
klers on an automatic system,
and King said only one-third of
the campus is left
Because I haven’t encoun
tered these other sprinklers (the
way it should he). I don’t know
where they are located Howev
er. 1 wonder why the Physical
Plant left one of the busiest
thoroughfares on campus for
last.
"We hope by next summer
we’ll have that taken can; of."
King said
Until then, the forecast is for
showers and mowers.
Kirsten Lucas is u m/iorier at
the L'mornld
LETTERS
All Natural
When most people think of
"organic" agriculture, they no
doubt think of poor-quality
produce sold at overblown
prices at u few "alternative"
grocers
To debunk this myth, organic
simply means that fruits and
vegetables are certified as being
free of chemical pesticides, and
are thus cultivated by sustain
able farming techniques that do
not exacerbate the hidden-costs
of pesticide-based agriculture.
Did you know, for example,
that 7(H) million pounds of pcs
nemos ore useo in me uniieu
Slates annually at costs exceed
ing S4 billion (that’s roughly 3
pounds per person)? And did
you know that once the envi
ronmental costs of soil deple
tion. groundwater pollution
and soil erosion are tallied up.
the known dollar stakes soar
beyond SB billion? And these
figures cannot begin to measure
the 157.000 reported human poi
sonings attributed to pesticides
each yeur In our country, or the
innumerable wildlife, includ
ing natunil pest-predators, that
ure killed or displaced
Clearly, supporting the nu
im tuua wi i^uiik.ui i y v.um
farms that dot the Willamette
Valley not only promotes the
welfare of hard-working local
farmers, hut as any economist
would argue, lowers the costs
for consumers. Without con
sumer awareness and support,
however, aeon o m I c
infeasibility will continue to
keep orgunic produce on the
sidelines. Along with the envi
ronment und peace of mind
Brian Yarbrough
Nathan Scott
Satsuko Ogino
Students
There're Animals at Kid's Day
UO Bookstore • May 30th
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