I'm resurrecting this thread for two reasons. First, he was a great guy
that did a LOT for not only his community but communities farther away.
Second, I think you guys would be fascinated by something that has recently
changed here at the University of Oregon.

To give you some background, (and help emphasize the absurdity of recent
events here) the Ben Linder Forum (in our student union) has long been a
popular meeting room for many student-related activities. It's a spacious
room but acoustically well-designed so that you don't have to raise your
voice to be heard. You can easily fit probably 200-250 people comfortably.
Outside of the room is a display case filled with many news articles about
Ben, some of his old juggling equipment and pictures galore. Only a few
yards away on the stairs leading up to the next level is a HUGE (at a
guess, I'd say 7'x4') chalk drawing of Ben dressed as a clown while
juggling that was done by an artist from one of the communities that Ben
visited.

While I've never previously had any problems on campus with my unicycle,
our oft-decried Dept. of Public Safety has decided to start making issues
about it. Namely, they're trying to keep me from taking it into various
buildings, the first of which is our student union! In fact, the first time
that it ever became an issue was when I was at a meeting INSIDE the Ben
Linder room itself!

I am now involved in some legal battles here on campus (with the aid of our
student advocacy office) over my unicycle. In short, they're claiming I
can't bring a bike inside and I'm saying that if it's a bike it needs to be
accommodated by the racks. (I have a simple addition that could easily be
installed to allow a unicycle to be locked through the tire AND tightly sit
around the fork on all three sides.)

I think it's a shame that the UO is failing to realize that the very person
that they've honored so highly wouldn't even be able to appreciate his own
tribute with one of the things he's most remembered for in his hand.

Sorry for the length of the letter. I've kept it short-ish but wanted to
let you guys know what's happened.


Mike Peterson
Eugene, OR
Come visit Mike's Home for Wayward MiB agents at:
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~mpeters1