Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, June 02, 1997, Page 8, Image 8

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    Dedication marks anniversary of Skinners’ arrival
■ PROJECT: During the past
eight weeks, volunteers
restored the terrace viewing
area on top of Skinner Butte
By Eric Collins
Community Reporter
With rainy, windy days like last
Saturday, it’s a wonder that Eu
gene Skinner, the first settler to
make his home on the western
portion of what is now Skinner
Butte, didn’t turn the wagons
around and head back to Califor
nia.
Luckily for Eugene, Skinner
stayed to brave the weather.
One hundred and fifty years lat
er, members of the Eugene Rotary
Club set aside a blustery Saturday
to dedicate the newly renovated
viewing terrace on top of the butte
to Eugene, Mary and Mary Eliza
beth Skinner on the anniversary
of their move into their cabin.
With high winds pummeling
the stage and rotary members
struggling to hold down the
speaking tent, Ray Wiley, project
manager for the Skinner Butte
Renovation Project, kicked off a
celebration that included a reen
actment of the Skinners’ first
conversation on top of the butte.
Mayor Jim Torrey, who was on
hand to praise the renovation
work of the rotary and other com
munity groups, quipped, “They
realized that if anyone could keep
this [tent] down, it would be me.”
Wiley said the project, which
has been in the works for eight
weeks, culminated in Saturday’s
celebration. The 145 volunteers
removed graffiti from and re
painted the city’s transmitter
building, refurbished planters,
repainted the iron railing around
the terrace, and installed a park
bench, drinking fountain and a
dedication plaque.
The newly elected ASUO Ex
ecutive and members of the Stu
dent Senate also donated their
time to the project. They worked
on the Skinner Butte “O,” scrap
ing off the layers of orange and
purple paint from previous Ore
gon State University and Univer
sity of Washington pranks and
returning it to its yellow color.
Wiley said the project began as
an effort to keep the butte from
being closed to motorists. In
March, Bob Hammitt, parks
maintenance director, said the
deteriorating condition of the
road, reduced staffing and van
dalism led city officials to con
sider closing the road to the ter
race area. The road closure was
postponed after Eugene residents
suggested alternatives for dealing
with the problems, including the
renovation project.
According to Wiley, the Eu
gene and Mary Skinner, both
born in New York, traveled
across the country to reach Sacra
mento in 1845. After moving to
Dallas, Ore., in the Spring of
1846, Eugene Skinner, along
with three of his friends, ex
plored the south end of the
Willamette Valley and decided to
move his family there.
^\ _I
MICHAEL CRISP/Emerald
Local actors portraying Eugene and Mary Skinner reenacted a conver
sation Saturday morning that the Skinners might have had on top of the
butte.
Symantec managers say ban is not ‘official position’ of company
■ REQUEST: Mangers say
two employees who asked for
a ban on public nudity were
acting on their own
By Eric Collins
Community Reporter
Don’t get them wrong. They’re
not anti-breast. But then again,
they don’t want to be labeled as
pro-breast either. They, the man
agers of Symantec Corp. that is,
would just like to be breast-neu
tral.
But as the issue of breasts in
the Downtown Mall area became
the subject of front page head
lines and conversations through
out Eugene in the past three
weeks, Symantec, with its appar
ent plea to the City Council for a
ban on female toplessness, in ac
tuality wanted no such thing.
In a memo Thursday after
noon, John Ragsdale, site manag
er of the 530-employee customer
call-in center, stated that Syman
tec was not asking the city coun
cil to enact an ordinance to pro
hibit toplessness. Ragsdale wrote
that the letter submitted by em
ployees David Fitch, senior facil
ities supervisor, and Jim Ayde
lott, senior facilities manager,
was from “two employees acting
alone and was neither an official
letter nor the official position of
the company.”
Ragsdale deemed the letter a
“miscommunication that
[Symantec] takes very seriously.”
He said the company was em
barrassed by the slip-up because
the actions of Symantec send a
large signal to the public.
“Our company does not take
moral position on issues,” Rags
dale said. “[The request] ab
solutely was not speaking for
Symantec.”
Teresa Bright, technical sup
port director at Symantec,
agreed.
“Topless women is not some
thing we feel we are responsible
for taking a stand on,” Bright
said.
Ragsdale is taking all calls for
Symantec regarding the situa
tion. Aydelott declined to com
ment Friday afternoon.
The confusion began during a
City Council meeting on May 12
when Fitch delivered a statement
signed by Aydelott asking the
council to consider changing the
city code to prohibit the exposure
of female breasts. The statement
maintained that the incidence of
bare-breasted women in the
downtown area was offensive
and the corporation could not
continue its business without
some attention directed to the
“daily problem.”
Bright said she and Ragsdale
were not aware of the problem
until local press reported the is
sue. She said the managers want
ed to deal first with the miscom
munication within the company
before making a public state
ment.
City spokesman Phil Weiler
said the City Council officers had
already decided to avoid the is
sue because of the moral implica
tions and the amount of time al
ready committed to city issues.
THE BAIL
You can still register
for University
of Oregon Summer
Session classes. Summer
Duck Call's ready and
waiting.
Pick up your
free summer bulletin
then pick up the
phone.
Bulletins with schedule of classes
)
are available in 333 Oregon Hall
and at the UO Bookstore.
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
1997 SUMMER SESSION
Need Fall Term Advising?
Available in Residence
Hall Lobbies
• Duck Call help!
• UO graduation requirements
explained.
• Fall term scheduling assistance.
• Information about various UO Depts.
• Help with any advising question you
can think of.
Drop by the tables at any of the following
times*:
Riley Lobby: UI Lobby:
May 27-29 May 28-29
7:00-9:00 p.m. 5:00-7:00 p.m.
June 3-5 June 2, 4, & 5
7:00-9:00 p.m. 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Hamilton Hall, Carson Lobby:
May 27-28
5:00-7:00 p.m.
^ June 2-4
^5:00-7:00 p.m.
f
Provided by
Residence Hall
Peer Advising
Program
♦Time slots are subject to slight changes.
PLEASE RECYCLE