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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1998)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: ADDRESS: (541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald E-MAIL: P.0 BOX3159 ode@oregon. uoregon.edu Eugene. Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/~ode Perspectives EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Nicole Krueger Two of the people behind the University Bookstore’s service have much in common What do Robert Canaga and Jim Williams have in common? Things that matter like time in a war, a philosophy, a passion, a commitment to their alma mater and a re solve to give back to the larger community from which they have received so much. Who are they? You may not know them personally, but they have affected you — unless you have been able to perform the impossible and have not stepped foot inside the University Bookstore. They may not know you, but be lieve it or not, they care about you and deeply about the University and its wide spread community. Robert is the stalwart engager responsible for the bookstore’s art department, and Jim il Hannah Dillon nas ueen me sieaoiasi, cre ative hand at the helm of the bookstore since 1976. Both are Vietnam veterans and grew up a leisurely car ride from one another — Robert in Lebanon and Jim on the coast in Taft, now part of Lincoln City. They graduated from this Uni versity, Robert in anthro pology with a B.F. A. and Jim in business with a mar keting locus. 1 heir work is a finely fitting re flection of their educational disciplines, nat ural talents and passions. My father has often said that he is one of the few luckiest men in the world because he loved his work, and he was astounded that he got paid for doing what he loved, which he looked forward to every weekday of the 40 plus years he did it. When we were kids, he advised my brothers not to go into the news paper business. Lowering his register as if to impart an inside scoop, he told them that it was tough, certainly didn't pay well enough and chewed up most only to spit them out. So both of them did, which was my father’s point and another for reverse psychology. Robert and Jim consider themselves mem bers of the lucky few. Such a regard has been instrumental in nurturing the very heart of the bookstore, which is the unwavering de termination to serve the customers and thereby the community in the best possible way. Robert says, “Make your avocation your vacation. If you do what you love, what you love will come to you. Money is tertiary.” And Robert loves watching people’s eyes light up when they discover the right art tool, when it works for them, and when they come back in to tell him and to say thank you. After Robert finished hisB.F.A. in 1991, he told himself that if the day came when he said, “I have to go to work," that would be his last day of work at that particular place. He claims that he has never had a day at the bookstore when he has had to go to work. He hasn't had to go to work for five years. Such an attitude offers the kind of confidence where he can tell the customer, “No, you don’t want that tool or material.... This is what you want.” It also moves him to say yes to customers. “Yes, we have it. Yes, we can get it. Yes, there are alternatives.” Robert built his own studio and paints every night and sometimes in the morning. He says there are so many wonderful West Coast artists, especially in Eugene and its en virons. He loves to network in the art world, making connections and bringing together artists who might not know one another, but should. He enjoys reading, talking and lis tening about the latest art materials in the in dustry and takes home everything that comes into the bookstore from the manufac turers to try them out. Robert offers that he is extraordinarily opinionated about, and high ly encouraging of, non-toxic practices. Tur pentine and paint thinner are banned from his studio. The bookstore’s raison-d’ etre is stated in its articles of incorporation and by-laws. It is owned by the students, faculty and classi fied staff of the University of Oregon, and its purpose is to provide the benefit of non profit purchasing and merchandising to them. The board of directors is composed of students and others who are elected to their positions. It is ultimately responsible for the operation of the bookstore and is Jim Williams’ boss. Since the bookstore’s beginning in 1920, there have been only three general man agers. Jim Williams began as a Stocker while a student. He believed that it was important to do your very best no matter what you un dertook because whatever you did had your signature on it, you owned it. His parents in culcated in their children a positive ap proach to life that helped him cultivate an “eternal optimism" and taught him to see the possible. He says, “If you have positive energy radiating out, you can accomplish amazing things.” Jim found that he loved the retail side of things and that his forte was in organizing and marketing. He was also good with peo ple and enjoyed motivating them. Before he headed to Vietnam, the assistant manager of the bookstore asked him if he had given any thought to a bookstore career. He hadn’t but was passed the torch at the age of 28 in 1976. “Why me?” Jim inquired. He was told by the retiring manager, Jerry Henson, that he had seen Jim’s potential even while he was a Stocker. Jim still sounds a bit incredulous when recounting the story. Nevertheless, he feels that it was somehow his destiny to take charge of the bookstore, and when he did, he assumed his vocation. The 22 adventurous years of it has been his affirmation. Jim believes that his leadership has pro vided stability and continuity to the book store but that it is vital to be vigilant against complacency, and so he likes to have the place constantly shaken up. Risk taking is a quality that Jim applauds and encourages in himself and in bookstore employees. By try ing new ways and offering new expressions, people are more able to find their gifts even though there is also the increased risk of fail ure. To fail is only to have risked. Jim manages from the heart and operates by the tenet of the Golden Rule. He has been known to let one more customer in after closing time because it is that customer whom the bookstore has sought to serve for 78 years. “We are there when they [students, faculty, university community) need us, we do our very best, and we are continually try ing to get better.” The desire and ability to give back to the community is vital for both men. Robert and his wife, Linda, have begun a fund at the University to bring visiting artists into the art department. Robert also goes to middle and high schools to teach bookmaking and to instruct in the uses of art materials. His memberships on the board of directors of the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Art and its acquisitions and earned-income committees have been a way of offering him self back to the community. Jim’s environmental work is a major part of his life. When three dams were being pro posed on the north fork of the Willamette River, Jim, his fly-fishers group and the writer, composer and musician Mason Williams were instrumental in defeating the plan they were informed was a fait accom pli. They amassed support against the pro posal by staging a concert at the new Hult Center, which proved decisive. Jim strongly believes that a person can make a difference through the use of his or her gifts. He went to D.C. to testify on behalf of the Oregon Rivers Bill and was President of Oregon Trout for four years, which champions the genetic diversity of wild fish. He was also head of the Environmental Concerns Task Force for three years. “I’m green,” he smiles. The next time you are in the bookstore, look these gentlemen up. They are an essen tial ingredient of the expansive heart and soul of the place. They are about hospitality, and their stories are about grace. No doubt it already is, but wish them a fine day anyway. Hannah Dillon is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. Her metis do not necessarily rep resent those of the newspaper. Drawing Board / J i SSST 'T- • jjw ” »oo«n i DtMV IT_| KmIT..I oc«w n. • DtMV n.i Dt**r iT-iotNr re* Study the contract This is in response to Jeff Shaw's open letter to Univer sity President Dave Frohn mayer (ODE, Jan. 28). False opinions are like false mon ey, struck first of all by guilty men and thereafter circulated by honest people who per petuate the crime without knowing what they are do ing. With regard to the situa tion the foreign students are facing due to a drop in their home country's currency, one must look at the struc ture of the contract that al lows them to study here in the first place. In the issuing of a non-im migrant student visa, more commonly known as an F-l visa, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service emphatically states that stu dents must have proof that they will be able to support themselves while full-time students in the United States. This proof can be attained in one of two ways. It may take the form of a sponsor who is a U.S. citizen who signs an affidavit of support stating that he or she will support the student in the form of the documentation of funds al ready held in the full amount in U.S. currency. If the stu dents are now having finan cial problems, they have technically defrauded the INS, for if their F-l visa was obtained legally, then their fi nancial support would be covered. I am myself a foreign stu dent. As well, I am a foreign student from a country with a very unstable currency. I am married to a U.S. citizen and plan one day to become a citizen of this country. One thing I will not do is defraud its government. I have come here with the intention of fol lowing the specific INS rules. Any deviation of this would be illegal. It would appear to me Shaw is guilty of one or of perhaps two things. Either he is asking Frohnmayer and the Nike company to defraud the U.S. government or he has not researched his opinion with the attention it so de spondently needs. I want to remind Shaw of the wise words from a jour nalist from my home coun try, Agnes C. Laut: “The ulti mate umpire of all things in life is — fact." Thank you for your atten tion. William Holbrun Journalism The article, “Frohnmayerasks board to review cases" (ODE, Feb. 2), reported inaccurate informa tion. University President Dave Frohnmayer recommended to the University Appeals Board that they allow Danta Graham-Preston to return to campus while the cases are being remanded. The board meets first on Friday.
