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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
Chronograph Since 1922 • Member American Gem Society 1027 Willamette St. • 345-0354 Valley River Center • 342-4496 An authorized TAG Heuer dealer. University imprinted with past ■ Leaders and innovators, as well as Webfoots and midnight marauders, have left their marks on campus By Clayton Cone for the Emerald The gray dampness, the ubiqui tous tree green and some hearty pioneer lore tap out a tattoo unique to a University that shapes all who pass through. As the days get progressively shorter and wet ter, and opportunities for excite ment seem more limited, you may wonder what student life was like in other eras. Generations ago, “before the backseats of automobiles became popular, Pioneer Cemetery was a place to which couples used to steal away and make romance,” said former University archivist K. Keith Richard. “It became a kind of a lovers’ area.” This was in sharp contrast with the students’ more formal activi ties, such as orations, recitations, dramatic presentations and music. These events where put on by the men’s and women’s literary soci eties as far back as December 1877, the second year the Univer sity was open. By the turn of the century, teams for the major sports, includ ing football, men’s basketball, baseball and track, and women’s basketball, gained representation on the campus. Hence, another tradition, which reached its hey day in the 1910s and 1920s, had students building towering bon fires around which fans would gather to support the sports teams at pep rallies. One wood pile stacked up to a height of four stories and burned for three nights and two days in 1915, according to an exhibit at the Len Casanova Athletic Center. University sports fans called themselves “Webfoots” as long ago as the 1890s. Local pioneer lore had it that the wetness of the weather here caused webs to grow between their toes. { { Before the backseats of automobiles became pop ular, Pioneer Cemetery was a place to which cou ples used to steal away and make romance. K. Keith Richard former University , archivist Later, a duck named Puddles toured with the football team as its informal mascot in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1943, Donald Duck ap peared in the University yearbook, and four years later Walt Disney himself agreed to allow Donald Duck to “represent Oregon at ath letic events.” Donald has done so ever since. It was not, however, until 1978 that the “Webfoots” lost its stand ing as the official school name. And a Swoosh was born Most people know that Nike got its start here at the University in the 1960s when track and field coach Bill Bowerman collaborated with current Nike President and CEO Phil Knight, one of his former runners. Prior to his venture with Knight, Bowerman had spent years working out the design and con struction of lightweight track shoes. But Bowerman had needed technical help that he got from a shoemaker on 13th Avenue, ac cording to Richard. “Otherwise, [Bowerman] didn’t know how to make a shoe,” he said, relating a story: told by Bow erman himself. “That shoe man showed him how to put it all to gether and he helped him sew things together.” Other individuals with creative flair and cutting-edge leadership have also passed through the Uni versity. Nobel laureates William Parry Murphy, who developed a remedy for anemia in 1936, and Walter H. Brattain, who helped invent the transistor in 1956, both graduated from the University. A number of active politicians have also graduated from the Uni versity, including U.S. Senator from "Delaware William Roth in 1944, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden in 1974 and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio in 1977. Inconspicuous campus landmark Naturally, the dampness of the Willamette Valley benefits trees, and the University has an exten sive assortment of them, nearly 4,000 individual specimens from 500 species and varieties. Tu rn to History, page 16A Visit our new LEARNING CENTER ACADEMIC LEARNING SERVICES Helping Faculty and Students Succeed. FOR MORE INFORMATION stop by 68 PLC or call 346-3226. http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/ ~ als/ Tutors for foreign languages, science and math classes Free drop-in help for math and writing Workshops to help you improve studying and testing Individual consultation about your academic situation Classes on effective learning techniques GRE, LSAT, GMAT, CBEST, MCAT, DAT Preparation Two TRIO Programs: McNair and Student Support Services Requests for accommodations related to disability should be made to Kim Lilley (346-3226) one week prior to event.
