Oregon Daily
fRfOAY OCTOBER 21.19T*
EUGENE
VOLUME 96. ISSUE 39
we
e re in this busi
ness because we
like it and because
we're making a liv
ing at it.
— lX»nnj Amstrong
Tom Arm
strong har
vests 1st*
season apples.
Tom Armstrong works tong hours to harvast th# classic and naw vartatlas of apptas grown on thair farm.
Tom and
Donna
Armstrong
have intro
duced new
varieties of
apples to
the local
market
Photos by
Michael Shindler
Story by
Anne Moser- Komfeld
Anne Moser-Komfeid
Oagcxl Ime’Mt
The apple is considered one of the most
sjHN.ial fruits. The (inert translation for apple
tree meant "bearing fair fruit." The lush Lane
County valley is espei tally well-adapted for
growing apples
University students can enjoy an esi ape
into the world of apples.
In 1960, Tom Armstrong started, directly
out of high school, a tree fnnt business from
the hare ground on 15 acres of prime land
outside of Santa Clara Since I07:t he and his
wife, Donna, have replanted their orchard
twice and now manage a commercial apple
orchard on the urban boundary. Tom's
Apples may be one of the best kepi secrets in
the area.
Their business is very successful, supply
ing apples to local families and businesses.
Like many small businesses, they’ve experi
enced ups-and-downs.
Donna Armstrong talked about the orchard
and its bounties on October 14. "The orchard
has made a good living for us. We're very
conservative and watch our pennies pretty
close considering only 75 percent of the
orchard is in production at any one time,"
Following their motto, the Armstrongs handle
their apples with car*.
Armstrong said.
They're proud of their accomplishments,
considering Torn is mostly self-taught. He just
got out Ixjoks and read about fmit harvesting.
With more education, the Armstrongs may
have made fewer errors in the beginning, but
they tap into local resources when questions
come up. particularly about [Mist control.
Turn to ARMSTRONG, Page 3A
GTFF claims
technology
fee violates
agreement
Grievance: Union says the fee
is really an instructional fee' that
should be waived
Natasha Shepard
*<v !tm t Vegan IXaA tmetakl
The $M) technology fee tacked on to the
tuition of all University Graduate Teach
ing Fellows is a violation of an agreement
between tfie graduate tear hing fellows'
union and the I 'niversitv. M i ordmg to a
grievance that the union will file this
week
The union, formally the Graduate
Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF).
alleges the fee is actually an "instruction
al fire '' This type of fee is waived for
GTFs, according to the collective bar
gaining agreement, signed in 199.1.
The grievance, act ording to union rep
resentative Diane Kail, would serve as
"formal noth e that we believe there's
been a violation The GTFF has boon
gathering signatures from (i l l's to be sub
milted along with the grievance and has
collected more than 2(H) signatures so fur.
According to tin union grievance, the
University should "cease the assessment”
of the technology fee for GTFs and refund
any money already paid toward the fee
"We (relieve (the fee) to he a violation
of the conditions of employment Iwtcause
GTFs are entitled to a waiver of instruc
tional fis's,” Kao said “(Vet) the technol
ogy fee has been referred to as an
instructional technology fee or an educa
tional technology fee ''
The services the fee pays for. including
computer and Internet use, were provid
ed to GTFs m the past without charge,
Rnu said The agreement also guarantees
that “the University shall provide each
GTF with facilities and services appro
priate to their assignment,” including
"needed office equipment, supplies and
services." The question, Rau said, is
whether computer services fall under this
category.
Although University employee rela
tions manager Eric Buckles has "not seen
a grievance.” he said that the University
Turn to FEE. Page 5A
■ GOOD MORNING
► SEATTLE (AP) — II your place has
bad acoustics — REALLY bad acoustics
— King County may have a deal lor you.
Tucked away in a county warehouse
are 880 acoustical bailies — strips ol syn
thetic fabric up to 60 feet long — that the
county wants to unload.
The baffles, which are like colored ban
ners and cost the county $195,000, were
to hang Irom the Kingdome ceiling But
that was before plans lor the stadium
changed and construction experts decid
ed to spray an acoustical insulation over
the 9.5-acre ceiling instead.
The insulation replaces 40,000 acoustic
ceiling tiles that had to be removed after
four fell into the stands July 19.
Acting Kingdome Director Dick Saii
daas said Wednesday it has not been
decided whether to return the "gray ele
phant" baffles to the manufacturer, and
take a possible loss, or sell them on the
open market.