Orator gives life to tales
■A University employee's
alter ego will try to seta
record by reading aloud
for 24 hours this summer
By Mason West
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a day when storytellers seem
to be only beside your bed or on
VHl, one man steps out of the
silent crowd. This lone knight is
known as Sir Readalot. But in
stead of inventing stories, this man
chooses the classics of children’s
literature as his repertoire.
Sir Readalot’s name is Rickie
Birran and he works on the main
tenance staff at the University. Bir
ran always had a love for acting,
storytelling, literature and work
ing with kids.
“It just sort of evolved into this
character: Sir Readalot,” he said.
Birran vows to “show young
readers in a unique way that read
ing is important.” As Sir Readalot,
Birran does selected readings and
also holds marathon readings oc
casionally. This summer, he will
read aloud for 24 hours out of the
first seven Oz books at the Wizard
of Oz Centennial Convention in
Indiana. This will establish a new
record for length of a continued
reading.
But Birran does more than just
read the passages — he performs
them.
“I sorta specialize in wild char
acters,” Birran said.
For his reading of the Oz books,
Birran is currently working on 72
different character voices. He says
he goes through all this effort be
cause, “I want the characters to be
alive. As soon as Sir Readalot says
his name, you don’t know what’s
going to happen. I become the
characters and the characters lead
to the stories.”
When Birran recently per
formed in front of a second/third
grade class at Howard Elementary
School, the children were very en
tertained, he said. Now, whenever
those students are not having fun
reading aloud in class, Birran said
the teacher asks, “How would Sir
Readalot say that?”
To see the man in person, go to
Borders bookstore on Saturday at
7 p.m. for his first CD release party.
Birran will be reading excerpts
from literary selections such as
“Alice’s Adventure in Wonder
land,” “The Adventures of Huck
leberry Finn” and “Treasure Is
land.” Birran has performed
before at Borders reading aloud
the first book of Oz.
“His performance was fantastic
and the kids there really enjoyed
it,” said Lillian Knutsen, commu
nity relations coordinator for Bor
ders. Knutsen said that many kids
stayed the entire four and a half
hours it took to read the book.
While this all sounds good, the
question lingers: Does the world
really need a Sir Readalot? Birran
certainly thinks so.
“We tell kids that reading is im
portant, but can you think of
everyday examples that show the
value of reading?” he asked.
With Sir Readalot around, the
answer is yes.
Food Service
continued from page 1A
Dreyer’s Cart and The Hearth
Cafe.
Miller said that EMU Food Ser
vice projects to break even this
school year, even though May and
June are two traditionally volatile
and difficult months to project
profitability.
EMU Food Service’s,projected
budget for next year is a total in
come of $1,448,150, Miller said.
He added that they also project to
break even next year.
At the beginning of the school
year, Food Service was losing
money because the staff wasn’t re
ceiving information about waste
and labor management. Miller
said a new time card system was
installed, and more programming
events, such as poetry slams at
The Buzz Cafe and Lounge, were
added to increase revenue.
According to Miller, the loss in
revenue occurred partly because
Food Service was focused on fin
ishing building renovations and
getting the building open. The
staff had to adjust to running its
new eateries.
Miller said that during the tran
sition, the staff was still being
challenged by personnel moves.
The baker and manager for The
Greatful Bread, Peter Lohr, was
not given a contract renewal.
Miller said Lohr’s release was not
due to the financial situation of
The Greatful Bread; EMU Food
Service as a whole was losing
money at the same time.
“The Greatful Bread baker was
not terminated because the bakery
was losing money,” Miller said.
Miller said the largest fiscal
turnaround for this school year
has come from The Greatful Bread
and The Buzz. He added that this
was because of the better control
over labor, waste, cost of goods
and what was produced. These
improvements came from faster
access to data and experience in
meeting students’ needs.
“We began to find more menu
items and put them together in
the way students appreciated,”
Miller said.
Customer revenue went up be
cause of additions such as a soup
and sandwich option at The
Greatful Bread. Miller said stu
dents liked the fact that $4 could
buy them a complete meal.
“I think we became more in
tune with students’ pocketbooks,”
Miller said.
However, while food variety is
improving, students are still com
plaining about the operation
hours of EMU Food Service.
Sonya Moore, a freshman edu
cation major, said the hours of
The Buzz are an inconvenience
because it closes at 2 a.m. on Fri
day and Saturday and at midnight
on Sunday and Monday.
“They should be open later on
Sunday and Monday nights be
cause people are studying and
usually have projects due,” Moore
said.
Miller said that adjusting the
hours of operation is a possibility
for next year, including tentative
ly opening The Buzz earlier in the
morning.
“I think we have to continue to
survey their needs — what they
expect, when they want it and at
what time — and try to find out
the best way to deliver that,” he
said.
As for further improvements to
EMU Food Service, Miller will be
hiring a new Food Service direc
tor for next year and also assess
ing results from a nationwide sat
isfaction survey the EMU is taking
part in, administered by the Asso
ciation of College Unions Interna
tional and Educational Bench
marking, Inc.
Teela Labrum opens The Buzz
coffeehouse in the EMU on Mon
day, closes the coffeehouse on
Tuesday and works during the
middle of the day on Wednesday.
The jumble of shifts is a taste of
what it’s like to work for EMU
Food Service.
Labrum, a senior history major,
has been an employee at The
Buzz for two years.
“It’s great to have short shifts
between classes,” Labrum said.
“But it’s a double-edged sword be
cause you don’t end up doing the
same thing every day, and it gets
to be confusing.”
She mentioned that making
changes in Food Service can be a
difficult process. It took six
months for price tags on pastries
to be placed in the display case.
“It can get frustrating and make
you not want to take an interest in
your workplace, but things have
gotten so much better than last
year,” she said.
Labrum, who tried not to focus
entirely on the drawbacks of
working for EMU Food Service,
said she enjoys interacting with a
diverse group of student employ
ees. She also mentioned that the
staff is understanding of her need
to work around issues such as a
heavy load of schoolwork.
She said that this year, the
number of customers she has seen
at The Buzz has tripled due in
part to better advertising and
more selection.
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