Torrey: Pleased with effects of dog and skateboard ban
■ Continued from Page 1C
ble that in the end result you are
now citizens of your community,
which is all of our community,
and I would hope that we would
be able to get along. I’m confident
that we can, provided both of us
use reason and restraint as we ap
proach this coming fall season.
Qj Is there anything the city
: has done to work on this
problem?
A We’re trying to work hand
.| in hand with the University
of Oregon people in an attempt to
define what is an acceptable level
of behavior and try to catch the
potential incidents before they
happen. We check out people
who take out kegs and things of
that nature so we have an idea of
knowing where they are. Not
with the intent necessarily of
stopping the party, but just being
able to pinpoint where the party
might be if something gets out of
hand quickly. We are going to be
vigilant, and as long as every
body understands that and acts
with restraint, I think we’re going
to be in good shape.
Qj Do you think students feel a
i connection with the City of
Eugene?
A; I really don’t. Some do, but
j very, very few.
Years ago, 1 worked for the
State Accident Insurance Fund
in Salem, and one of the things
that I was hired to do was to be
the business, almost, ombuds
man for the State of Oregon.
The State Accident Insurance
I
Fund has this huge building in
the middle of Salem, a great big
concrete facility. It’s probably
five stories high and could
probably house 700 or 800 em
ployees. Inside that building
was a different world. It was as
if the outside world didn’t ex
ist. And I think to a certain de
gree that at the University of
Oregon, inside the framework
of the university setting — not
necessarily just inside the prop
erty of the University — that
community of the University is
somewhat insulated from the
rest of the city.
And I think to a certain degree
— with the exception of perhaps
athletic events and some cultural
events — the rest of the city feels
somewhat isolated from the Uni
versity. I believe that there are
substantial amounts of misinfor
mation that people expect to hap
pen and really don’t have hap
pen.
As far as students being con
cerned about issues that affect
them as far as the city is con
cerned — I don’t hear from them.
I’m somewhat frustrated about
not knowing how to go and com
municate with them. But I don’t
want to impose myself on them if
they don’t have any interest. I’m
interested in their concerns. If
they had a concern and wanted
to speak with me, I’m available to
do that.
Q: City councilmember Bobby
Lee is a former ASUO presi
dent. What is the value of having
him on the council?
A; First of all, he understands a
: lot of the concerns that stu
dents have. He is extremely con
cerned about the high cost of
housing in and around the Uni
versity area. Not so much the
dorms as it is the apartment com
plexes around the University
area.
He is concerned about the
quality of the environment sur
rounding the University. In the
University grounds themselves,
they’re well maintained.
You get off the campus and de
pending on the interests of the
property owner, you could have
some pretty badly maintained fa
cilities. The property owner in
some instances — I won’t say
every instance — says, “What’s
the value of spending the money
and trying to improve it?” Their
reaction is get a bunch of young
people in there, and they may
end up damaging it anyway.
They make so much money off
of these homes. They have, finan
cially, probably the best return
on investment of any other hous
ing investment in the city, and
that can’t last forever. Those
houses aren’t going to last forev
er. The question then becomes:
What’s the city’s role on private
property surrounding the Univer
sity.
Bobby Lee has a pretty good
feel for what’s happening there. I
think you would call him a stu
dent-activist. The fact that he un
derstands students, understands
the University, understands the
There is really not a
strong constituency for
students in the state
legislature. They talk the
story, hut they really
don’t vote the story. ^
Jim Torrey
Mayor of Eugene
concerns of the students around
the University I think is very
helpful.
QWhat do you think are some
of the more important issues
facing students at the University
of Oregon?
Ai I would definitely say hous
.I ing. Not so much the fresh
men because they’re almost man
dated to be in a dorm. After your
freshman year, if you decide you
want to live someplace else, the
cost of housing in Eugene is ex
tremely high. It is part of the
problem we have with our home
less population.
The second issue that I would
see is the cost of your education.
It’s not going to get lower. They
took the out-of-state tuition level
about as high as they could.
When you don’t have the high
revenue that was being generated
by those out-of-state students for
the University of Oregon and Eu
gene, it is going to get laid at the
doorstep of in-state students.
The major issue that I see for
the cost of education is that there
is really not a strong constituen
cy for students in the state legis
lature. They talk the story, but
they really don’t vote the story.
There has to be a constituency in
particular for in-state education
costs for students. Do we want to
limit a low-income family stu
dent who might be the next med
ical breakthrough, or might be
the next best writer, or might be
the next entrepreneurial business
genius from going to school?
If students want to do some
thing for themselves, do it back
in their home areas. You already
won the battle here. Every legis
lator from Eugene will do what
they can to keep the cost of edu
cation down.
QDo you think the ban on
' dogs and skateboards on
East 13th Avenue has been suc
cessful?
A; Yes, I absolutely do. I was
i the proponent that got that
thing moving. And on a weekly
basis, I drive — I wish I could say
I take a bike, but I don’t — I drive
from Willamette to the Universi
ty on 13th and turn around and
drive back to High Street on 14th.
You go down that street right
now in the middle of the day,
and you will never see large
groups of kids on skateboards or
large numbers of dogs on leashes.
It is just a better place. I haven’t
had a complaint from 13th in six
months.
This interview was edited for length.
1
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