Friday
Editor in chief: jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Kudos to Ducks
for preserving Bucks
Well, proper congratu
lations are in order.
The Bucks for Ducks
campaign was an un
qualified success, at least in com
parison to the usual student in
volvement with the ASUO.
Forty-one proposals were submit
ted, suggesting ways to spend
$100,000 of the overrealized fund
on a project that would benefit all
students. And the Ducks for Bucks
committee, composed of ASUO
Public Relations Director Jamie
Gerlitz, ASUO Student Senate
President Peter Watts, ASUO Presi
dent Jay Breslow and Dean of Stu
dents Anne Leavitt, sifted through
the suggestions and made a fantas
tic choice.
So $100,000 of our incidental fee
money will be used to mount solar
panels on the roof of the EMU to
generate electricity for the build
ing. This idea, thanks to Ben Gates
and Jocelyn Eisenberg at the Eco
logical Design Center, was the best
choice because it will pay off in the
long run for every student — pres
ent and future—by saving energy
and shaving costs off the EMU
budget.
Some students may not be aware
of this, but the EMU is the students.
According to Susan Racette, the
business manager for the EMU, the
building was built with incidental
fee money. The building might be
owned by the state (as is all Univer
sity property), but students are the
major users of the building. And
students’ incidental fees pay for
roughly half the EMU’s operating
budget, which includes nearly
$250,000 for electricity for the next
fiscal year.
So by investing in an energy-gen
erating technology, students are pay
ing the $100,000 back to themselves
again and again. The committee
could have chosen a free concert or
covered moving sidewalks on 13th
Avenue, but those options would
not have put money back into stu
dents’ hands for years to come.
There were other realistic and
beneficial suggestions made dur
ing the Bucks for Ducks campaign.
One proposal suggested revamping
the Pocket Playhouse. Last spring,
the Emerald reported on a theatre
arts department rally to earn public
support for renovating and im
proving Villard Hall’s theatre arts
facilities. Nothing much has
changed since then, and both the
Pocket Playhouse and the Robin
son Theatre most likely need sig
nificant improvement.
It upsets us, however, that stu
dents felt the need to ask for inci
dental fee money for departmental
improvements. In order to teach ef
fectively, departments need work
ing equipment and decent build
ings. The Athletic Department
certainly isn’t hurting for facilities.
But the University administration
should raise the money and take
care of departmental needs. Stu
dents shouldn’t have to pay tuition
and then also pay for maintaining
buildings.
But the winning proposal, for so
lar panels, will earn students mon
ey. If you haven’t done the math
since hearing about the project
(“Solar panel idea wins big
‘Bucks,’” ODE, May 22), don’t try
now. Rates for industrial users are
complicated. The Register-Guard
reported that the solar panels will
produce an average 8 kilowatt
hours, but the story didn’t say if
that’s per hour, per week or per
year. In the Emerald story, Gerlitz
said the project will save 79,000
kilowatts per year. How much
money that amounts to is unclear.
Dana Winitzky, facilities manager
for the EMU, said that he’s support
ive of the project and that it will
save students money. EWEB has
said it will pay the EMU a premi
um for the wattage generated be
cause it’s an alternative energy
source. And Winitzky said that a
rate hike, likely to be anywhere
from 60 to 300 percent, is coming
in October and will make the solar
panels’ contribution even more
valuable.
Kudos should also go to EWEB
itself for contributing to this proj
ect. The utility will design the proj
ect free of charge to once again help
reduce the University’s energy use.
Racette said the two public institu
tions have long worked together to
save energy and money, from giv
ing the EMU a loan for an HVAC
system a few years ago, to more re
cently installing “vending mizers,”
which are units installed by vend
ing machines that turn off their mo
tors when not in use.
Whatever the dollar figure, it’s
nice that the solar panels will save
students money. The real point,
though, and the reason this project
deserves a standing ovation, is that
the solar panels send a message of
conservation at a time when many
people are saying “energy crisis”
more and more loudly. This is the
Pacific Northwest, and more to the
point, this is the University of Ore
gon in Eugene, Ore. If this commu
nity doesn’t lead the way toward
responsible environmental poli
cies, who will?
This editorial represents the opinion of
the Emerald editorial board. Responses
can be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
CORRECTION
In the story “Airport debate slows
budget talks,” (ODE, May 24), the
story should have read the Eugene
City Council will vote on the
proposed budget June 18. Also,
the committee approved a recom- •
mended budget of $296 million.
The Emerald regrets the errors.
Alternative fun for sun lovers
DIARY
MICHAEL J. KLECKNER
The sun is shining. I usually
write to y’all about issues
close to my heart or things
that piss me off. But the sun
is shining, and what I want to do is
play outside in the heat. Disrobed
bodies are some of my favorite
things, and the shining sun, which is
expected to last through Tuesday,
generally facilitates the shedding of
clothes.
So in the spirit of the sunshine and
the long holiday weekend, here are a
few alternative-minded suggestions
for fun activities this Memorial Day.
Bear in mind these are just my picks.
I’m not trying to speak for a genera
tion, plug anybody’s event or advance
a particular notion of what’s “cool.”
But I’ve had fun doing this stuff when
it’s sunny and I’m trapped in Eugene
(as I will be this weekend).
Ride into the hills
The bike trails at the end of West
Amazon in South Eugene are a fan
tastic place to get away and breathe
some pine. Drive down Hilyard a
few blocks past 3.0th Avenue. Make a
left onto West Amazon Drive and
keep going. The road will end at
Pearl Buck Center, a support and em
ployment facility for those with de
velopmental disabilities (they al
ways need volunteers, by the way).
At the end of the road is a little trail
winding into the woods. Bikes are al
lowed here, and if you poke around
enough in the bushes, you can ferret
your way to the Ridgeline Trail.
There are many open areas in here
for flinging some disc, so bring a
buddy and your Frisbee or Aerobie
or other round thing. There are also
plenty of hidden recesses in which
to check out the local herbs, flowers
and each other.
Sun your nether parts
For a little more daring and open
activity, check out Eugene’s local
nude beach. Finding it can be a lit
tle tricky, but here’s the gist: Go out
to Lane Community College and go
down the hill past it. Cross the free
way, make a left and then make a
right at the Texaco station. Just
around the bend is BRING Recy
cling. You can park just off the road
here, and then walk past BRING on
the same side of the street. Just a lit
tle way down is a trail through the
forest-y stuff. Follow the trail to ...
the river. OK, it’s on a river, so
“beach” isn’t exactly the right term,
but it works. Water, sandy areas to
sun your buns and great people
watching. Public nudity is legal in
Oregon, but public sex is not, so be
careful not to flagrantly enjoy your
self. Most of the clientele here are
men, so if you like to hang out with
nude men, by all means go at once.
If you’re a woman, please come on
down and help balance the equa
tion. Every time I’ve been here, the
atmosphere is really relaxed and
cool. Just don’t go digging into the
deep, private recesses of the area’s
foliage unless you already know
what you’re getting into.
Commune with the dead
So this is the creepy-coolest thing
about Eugene, in my opinion. Hope
Abbey, a mausoleum adjacent to the
Lane Masonic Cemetery at 25th Av
enue and University Street, was put
on the National Register of Historic
Places in 1980. It was finished in
1914 by Ellis F. Lawrence, who
then became the first dean of archi
tecture at the University. (Some of
you alterna-kids might not know it
yet, but history is way freakin’
cool.) Besides its campus connec
tion, the mausoleum is insanely
neat, and (scary music begins here)
they only open its doors on Memor
ial Day and Labor Day. My tradi
tion here started in high school,
when we were unwise kids and
would take LSD and dress in black
and trip out on the very old, very
dead spirits in the room. Believe it
or not, we meant no disrespect. Ac
tually, we saw our activities as su
per respectful because we were
communing with the dead. Any
way, I still go back every year to
check out the names, the flowers
and the cold feel of marble and
granite.
I have a few other suggestions, but I
seem to have run out of room. If you
like traditional BBQs or the kitsch ap
peal of gawking at the locals, drive out
to the Fern Ridge area to watch acres
and acres of families with lots of pick
ups and tons of pig to roast. If you
want even more kitsch-Americana en
joyment, attend Monday’s official
Memorial Day service for veterans
(last year it was held atthe Pioneer
Cemetery on campus). This isn’t just
kitsch, though, folks. I may be a cynic
and I may have my own definition of
patriotism, but standing, recognizing
and listening to veterans who fought
and killed for what they believe in
brought tears to my eyes last year. Who
knows what’s alternative anymore
anyway?
Michael J. Kleckner is the editorial editor for
the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not
necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
He can be reached at opededitor@journal
ist.com.