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 5O0OFF: any; MENUi ITEM' ItrmmtiH br «* tt |l | < S«r i (N|nirt !»( i uMtllVI mm N*H ^>1 «t(ll ■ «>drr* i »{•«»«*» & I! | I I Tf TCBV The Country,V Best UtgurU M3IW«tllikMaik-tpfari-\Xbt 1888 I i.iaklin IU\ vl. Itnnklui . FALL CREEK BAKERY 881 East 13th Avenue, next to the UO Bookstore Mon-Fri 7 30-9 00, Sat 8 00-3:00, Sun 9:00-3:00