President Richard Nixon had his tapes and his four-letter expletives. President Ronald Reagan had his jelly beans and his pie-in-the-sky sci-fi nuclear defense plans. And President Bill Clinton had his cigars and his interns.
As long as there have been administrators, there have been stories about their self-indulgent vices.
Which leaves one to wonder what sorts of vices the administrators of the University have.
Investigations of various high-ranking University officials failed to turn up anything as juicy as the vices of various world leaders, but as any addiction specialist will tell you, even the most benign activities can become a problem when taken to excess.
Health Center Director Dr. Gerald Fleischli, a “packrat” in the words of his assistant Kim Barker, admits to having a penchant for fast food. Thrice weekly, the 61-year-old Fleischli pays a visit to McDonald’s, Burger King or Carl’s Jr. to indulge in a burger from the 99-cent menu — a ritual he said he’s practiced for nearly 20 years.
“But my cholesterol is only 201,” he said, referring to his combined HDL and LDL cholesterol level. “I make up for it by eating fruit and cereal for breakfast.”
Apparently the combination works; the last time his cholesterol was tested, Fleischli said, his HDL was 57 — which puts him in the American Medical Association’s “healthy” range. As long as his numbers stay good, his lunch hours limited and the 99-cent menus well-stocked, Fleischli says he’ll continue his regular visits to the grease pits of Eugene.
As for his packrat tendencies, Fleischli said it’s less a vice than a necessity in today’s information-dependent society. He said he keeps his childhood immunization records on his hard drive because, “Who else could you get it from?”
Vice President for Student Affairs Anne Leavitt’s two worst vices are a raging coffee addiction and an all-consuming passion for collecting books. Leavitt admitted to being one of those people who switch to iced coffee in the summer and are willing to get up early or be late for appointments to get that perfect cup of joe.
“I’ll stand in line way too long,” she said with a laugh.
As bad as Leavitt’s coffee addiction is, though, it pales in comparison to her book addiction. Almost every wall in her house has a bookshelf, she said, and they fill up so quickly that her husband, who, fortunately, enjoys carpentry, has to build a new one every few months.
But of all the vices of all the administrators at the University, the most disturbing may be that of President Dave Frohnmayer: clean living. Because of health concerns, Frohnmayer said he has given up cigars, alcohol and even caffeine in recent years.
“I’ve become really disgusted at my own lack of vices,” he said with regret.
Of all his old vices, the former Oregon attorney general most lamented giving up “real” coffee.
“I used to take it intravenously,” he joked. He described the decaffeinated brew he drinks now as a “pale shadow” of the hard stuff he used to drink.
But while he has given up many of his favorite vices and even started exercising — students and faculty arriving on campus before 8 a.m. can sometimes see him power-walking between Johnson Hall and other buildings — Frohnmayer has one indulgence left: his cluttered desk.
It’s not much, he admitted, but it’s better than nothing.