UO E-Clips is a daily report prepared by the Office of Communications (http://comm.uoregon.edu) summarizing current news coverage of the University of Oregon.
Media mentions for February 29
Genetics of Endangered African Monkey Suggest Troubles from Warming Climate
ScienceDaily: A rare and endangered monkey in an African equatorial rainforest is providing a look into our climatic future through its DNA. Its genes show that wild drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus), already an overhunted species, may see a dramatic population decline if the forest dries out and vegetation becomes sparser amid warming temperatures, researchers report. Looking for clues amid 2,076 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA -- genes passed down along female lineages -- researchers discovered genetic signs that coincide with the conditions that mirror current climate projections for the equator around the globe in the next 100 years. Also examined were the region's fossil and pollen records. "The drills went through a large population collapse -- as much as 15-fold," said Nelson Ting, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon. Ting is the lead author of a study placed online ahead of regular publication in the journal Ecology and Evolution. "This occurred sometime around the mid-Holocene, which was about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago."
Simulated Drinking Becomes a Reality
Fairfield Mirror: The media has been influencing our lives since Myspace took control in the year 2003. Even before social media started clouding our brains, reality television and movies have been establishing themselves in our lives. We've quoted many characters and we've dressed the part for Halloween. It is no surprise that Mike Stoolmiller, Ph.D. at the University of Oregon in Eugene and some of his colleagues published an online study of U.S. adolescent's intake of alcohol from a comparative standpoint of media and family predictors. The study shows over the course of two years how much media, movies and alcohol-related merchandise seemed to impact the drinking habits of teenagers between 10 to 14 years of age. The experiment was a digital phone survey done with trained interviewers. The social aspect of drinking in college, without a doubt, has an effect on the way in which drinking habits develop throughout a student's four years. Movies and the media affect adolescents up to the point of entering college, as shown in the University of Oregon study.
New Measuring Techniques Can Improve Nanoparticles
PCB Design 007: Using high-precision microscopy and X-ray scattering techniques, University of Oregon researchers have gained eye-opening insights into the process of applying green chemistry to nanotechnology that results in high yields, improves efficiency and dramatically reduces waste and potential negative exposure to human health or the environment. University of Oregon chemist James E. Hutchison described his lab's recent efforts to monitor the dynamics of nanoparticles in an invited talk Feb. 28 at the American Physical Society's March Meeting (February 27-March 2) in Boston, Massachusetts. It turns out, Hutchison said, that simply reducing the amount of gold--the material used in his research--in the initial stages of the process used to grow nanoparticles allows for better maintenance of the particle size.
Eastern Oregon University to request tuition increase
Bend Bulletin: Eastern Oregon University President Bob Davies will submit a proposal to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in April asking for a tuition increase. It appears that the request will be for a 5.5 percent jump. Davies will make his request based on the recommendation of a six-person tuition committee made up of students and faculty, staff and community members. The committee has three students. The committee will make its recommendation after holding public meetings on campus to take input on its proposal. ... Eastern now has the lowest tuition and fees of any state university for the regular academic year. Tuition and fees for an undergraduate taking 12 credits for this academic year is now $1,494 per term. The University of Oregon has the highest tuition and fees for the regular academic year at $2,013 per term.
Student housing plan raises concerns
Register-Guard: It's a huge project for Eugene, and a lot of people want to have a say about it. If built, the $89 million Capstone student apartment complex would be the largest downtown redevelopment project in the city's history. One neighborhood leader says the proposal is so important that it will take a new group -- separate from traditional neighborhood associations -- to weigh in on the potential development. ... Retired real estate broker and downtown condominium developer Jean Tate is listed as a member, along with Mike Eyster, UO associate vice president for student affairs. Eyster also is president of the Lane Transit District board. Eyster on Tuesday said he joined not as a representative of the university or LTD, but as a resident with an interest in the topic. "I have been in the community for 20 years, and have some interest and knowledge of the subject," said Eyster, who was student housing director at the UO for 17 years.
Dumpster diving at OSU
Corvallis Gazette-Times: Pedestrians passing through Oregon State University's Memorial Union quad Tuesday afternoon got a noseful of the pungent smell of garbage as Campus Recycling staff and volunteers dug through a Dumpster full of refuse, dividing the contents into piles of recyclables, compostables and trash. ... Tuesday's activity was part of Recyclemania, a 10-week event in which universities nationwide tally their collected recyclables. OSU and the University of Oregon have competed in the Recyclemania Civil War since 2010. With four weeks to go, OSU is in the lead with 8.5 pounds of recycled material per person to the University of Oregon's 5.9 pounds per person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late mentions for February 28
U.S. home prices fall again in December to reach new low; Portland loses ground
Oregonian: U.S. home prices fell for the fourth straight month in December, closing the year at a new low and erasing gains seen in the summer. The S&P Case-Shiller home price index fell 1.1 percent in December across the 20 major U.S. cities surveyed, a 4 percent decline from a year earlier. ... There are still glimmers of positive news headed into the new year. Sales activity has shown gains in recent months even as prices continue to decline. ... The bump and subsequent decline last year in some ways resembled gains seen in 2010 before prices reversed course and continued their fall. But Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist, said the higher level of sales activity seen today isn't likely to allow prices to slip much further. "I don't sense this is a repeat of that episode," said Duy. "We're tending toward a bottoming-out phase in housing prices, but I don't think that signals some rapid rebound is right around the corner."
Best Buy shares in the glory from Daytona 500 win
Star Tribune: When it comes to NASCAR sponsorships, Best Buy Co. Inc. is already basking in victory lane. ... Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, said major brands like Best Buy have gotten "better and faster" on how to best use their sponsorships, especially given the weak economy. Best Buy's partnership with Roush "can be a great example of a how a sponsorship is all about awareness and consumer appeal" instead of selling stuff, Swangard said. At the same time, a major victory like the Daytona 500, long considered the Super Bowl of stock car racing, presents Best Buy with some unexpected opportunities that "you'd be crazy to ignore," he said. The retailer should therefore get the most out of its Daytona 500 triumph, Swangard said. "Roush didn't trade a sponsorship for a couple of plasma televisions at a Best Buy, I can tell you that," said Swangard, noting that a major NASCAR sponsorship easily runs into millions of dollars.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for February 29
Genetics of Endangered African Monkey Suggest Troubles from Warming Climate
ScienceDaily -- A rare and endangered monkey in an African equatorial rainforest is providing a look into our climatic future through its DNA. Its genes show that wild drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus), already an overhunted species, may see a dramatic population decline if the forest dries out and vegetation becomes sparser amid warming temperatures, researchers report.
Looking for clues amid 2,076 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA -- genes passed down along female lineages -- researchers discovered genetic signs that coincide with the conditions that mirror current climate projections for the equator around the globe in the next 100 years. Also examined were the region's fossil and pollen records.
"The drills went through a large population collapse -- as much as 15-fold," said Nelson Ting, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon. Ting is the lead author of a study placed online ahead of regular publication in the journal Ecology and Evolution. "This occurred sometime around the mid-Holocene, which was about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago."
Ting and 10 other researchers -- representing institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, Nigeria and Germany -- gathered feces of drills in the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko Coastal forests that stretch across portions of Nigeria, Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea) and Cameroon. The extracted DNA provided the first genetic information from this species, which is found only in that region.
The species also is struggling for survival because of poaching and by habitat loss due to logging and cultivation activities. Drill meat also is a valued food; hunters often shoot them en masse. Protecting drill populations was the top priority of the African Primate Conservation Action Plan developed in 1996 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Despite the designation, Ting said, "hunting continues and is the much more immediate danger facing the drill."
The base pairs examined came from 54 samples of DNA. Base pairs are made up of adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine. While DNA is the blueprint for life, examining the sequences of these chemicals also provides a roadmap into any organism's past. "Looking at its modern genetic diversity, you can infer changes in past population size," Ting said.
In the mid-Holocene, temperatures across equatorial Africa were hotter and dryer, with a reduction of forest cover that the drill need for survival. The ecology of the region also includes multiple other species found only there. The research, Ting said, is among emerging work focusing on past climate conditions in equatorial areas. Many studies have been done on conditions in both temperate and arctic regions.
The findings carry conservation implications, Ting said. "We could see many of these equatorial forests becoming very arid. Forest will be lost as vegetation changes to adapt to dryer conditions. Our findings show that this type of animal, which already is very much endangered because of hunters, would not be able to deal with the level of climate changes that could be coming."
What is needed to protect this little understood species are measures that reduce the destruction of the forest habitat and step up protection against poachers, said Ting, who is co-director of the UO's molecular anthropology group and a member of the UO Institute of Ecology and Evolution and UO Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences.
The other co-authors on the paper were Christos Astaras of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Gail Hearn and Shaya Honarvar of Drexel University in Philadelphia; Joel Corush, a research assistant in the UO molecular anthropology group; Andrew S. Burrell of New York University; Naomi Phillips of Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa.; Bethan J. Morgan of the University of Stirling, United Kingdom, and member of CERCOPAN, a non-profit, non-government organizations working for conservation in Nigeria; Elizabeth L. Gadsby of the San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research; Ryan Raaum of Lehman College and City University of New York Graduate Center, West Bronx, N.Y.; and Christian Roos of the Gene Bank of Primates and Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Gottingen, Germany.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simulated Drinking Becomes a Reality
Posted by Caleigh TanseyThe media has been influencing our lives since Myspace took control in the year 2003. Even before social media started clouding our brains, reality television and movies have been establishing themselves in our lives. We've quoted many characters and we've dressed the part for Halloween.
It is no surprise that Mike Stoolmiller, Ph.D. at the University of Oregon in Eugene and some of his colleagues published an online study of U.S. adolescent's intake of alcohol from a comparative standpoint of media and family predictors.
The study shows over the course of two years how much media, movies and alcohol-related merchandise seemed to impact the drinking habits of teenagers between 10 to 14 years of age. The experiment was a digital phone survey done with trained interviewers.
The social aspect of drinking in college, without a doubt, has an effect on the way in which drinking habits develop throughout a student's four years. Movies and the media affect adolescents up to the point of entering college, as shown in the University of Oregon study.
"I used to always think that's what college was going to be like…frat life," says Ashli Kravarik '12.
Peer pressure was also seen as a factor that leads to binge drinking in the teen years. It is known on college campuses across the country as hazing and has been brought to the attention of many administrators.
"I think the media can influence underage drinking, but not as much as everyone thinks," says Mike Gabrielli '15. "I feel as though the media can be a factor in deciding to underage drink or not, but its definitely not the deciding factor. I feel as though peer pressure influences drinking much more than the media."
Over the two-year period that this issue was being explored, they found that the amount of teenagers reporting drinking increased from 11 to 25 percent. The number who reported their binge drinking the numbers increased from 4 to 13 percent. The study further showed that from 532 "selected popular movies" there was an average of 4.5 hours showing partying and drinking.
"I think the media popularizes some things through reality television specifically, but it is hard to gauge whether they take the shows seriously and act out on them," says Julia Harvey '15. "I think middle schoolers take what they see on TV more seriously."
As for family influence, it was proven that having parents who drink affects when adolescents begin drinking and also makes it easier for the teens to obtain alcohol within the household.
"I think younger generations start drinking at the same time we did," says Ashli Kravarik '12. "They [adolescents] used to start drinking younger when our parents were our age. I think it's the same."
This study was conducted in hopes of finding drinking habits related to media and movies. As for drinking on a college campus, media and movies may be the least of the issue.
The movies and media portray college life as one big party; academics not included. Young adults are brought up to view the social life of college in this sense.
With studies now being done on the affects of media and movies on drinking habits to young adults, hopefully, prevention can be taken to a new level with the issue, though it is inevitable rebellious teenagers may try what is forbidden to them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Measuring Techniques Can Improve Nanoparticles
University of OregonUsing high-precision microscopy and X-ray scattering techniques, University of Oregon researchers have gained eye-opening insights into the process of applying green chemistry to nanotechnology that results in high yields, improves efficiency and dramatically reduces waste and potential negative exposure to human health or the environment.
University of Oregon chemist James E. Hutchison described his lab's recent efforts to monitor the dynamics of nanoparticles in an invited talk Feb. 28 at the American Physical Society's March Meeting (February 27-March 2) in Boston, Massachusetts. It turns out, Hutchison said, that simply reducing the amount of gold--the material used in his research--in the initial stages of the process used to grow nanoparticles allows for better maintenance of the particle size.
That accomplishment, he said, has important implications. The use of lower concentrations of the precursor that forms the nanoparticles virtually eliminates the ability of nanoparticles to aggregate together and thus prevents variations of sizes of the desired end product.
"What we saw while observing the production process with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was amazing," Hutchison said in an interview before his lecture. "We realized that it is possible to reduce the concentration of gold and allow the particles to still grow, but shutdown the coalescent, or aggregation, pathway."
He also summarized his lab's use of chemically modified grids (Smart Grids) in transmission electron microscopy to study how nanoparticles are shed from common objects such as silverware and copper jewelry --findings that were detailed in the journal ACS Nano in October. They studied the transformation of silver nanoparticles coated on Smart Grids as well as the common objects and found that all forms produce smaller silver nanoparticles that could disperse into the environment, especially in humid air, water and light--and likely have been doing that throughout time without any known health ramifications.
"There may be many beneficial applications to nanotechnology, but they are only beneficial if the net benefits outweigh the deleterious implications for human health and the environment," said Hutchison, who holds the Lokey-Harrington Chair in Chemistry at the University of Oregon.
These new monitoring and measuring techniques, he said, are vital to help understand what modifications are possible in the processes that grow nanoparticles for a desired product. Using green chemistry, he added, can help assure both efficiency and stability of a product, which, in turn, will lower the risk of unwanted environmental or harmful human-health consequences.
"Advancing the safe implementation of nanotechnology is vital to many fields, from electronics to medicine and materials science, in general," said Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation at the UO. "Professor Hutchison has been a leader in the University of Oregon's efforts to promote green chemistry in this effort, and his work continues to set examples on how best to use it."
Hutchison is co-author of "Green Nanotechnology Challenges and Opportunities," a white paper published by the American Chemical Society's Green Chemistry Institute, and the National Research Council report, "A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials." He also was the founding director of the Safer Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing Initiative (SNNI) of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), a state signature research center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Oregon University to request tuition increase
By The La Grande ObserverEastern Oregon University President Bob Davies will submit a proposal to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in April asking for a tuition increase. It appears that the request will be for a 5.5 percent jump.
Davies will make his request based on the recommendation of a six-person tuition committee made up of students and faculty, staff and community members. The committee has three students. The committee will make its recommendation after holding public meetings on campus to take input on its proposal.
A 5.5 percent tuition increase would raise what students pay per credit hour by $6.93. Students now pay $124.50 per credit.
The 5.5 percent hike would increase what a student taking 12 hours a term pays by $83.16 a term. This would come to a total of $249.48 a year.
Davies said the increase is needed to help Eastern maintain the quality of education it provides.
"This will enable us to achieve our goals,'' Davies said.
Eastern now has the lowest tuition and fees of any state university for the regular academic year. Tuition and fees for an undergraduate taking 12 credits for this academic year is now $1,494 per term. The University of Oregon has the highest tuition and fees for the regular academic year at $2,013 per term.
Davies said it is likely that if tuition is boosted 5.5 percent that Eastern would continue to have one of the lowest tuition rates in the state, and possibly the lowest.
"We are always striving to have as low tuition as possible."
He said this is particularly important at Eastern since many EOU students are from families that do not have high incomes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student housing plan raises concerns
The sheer size of the Capstone proposal leads some to ask whether current review mechanisms are adequate
By Edward Russo -- The Register-GuardIt's a huge project for Eugene, and a lot of people want to have a say about it.
If built, the $89 million Capstone student apartment complex would be the largest downtown redevelopment project in the city's history.
One neighborhood leader says the proposal is so important that it will take a new group -- separate from traditional neighborhood associations -- to weigh in on the potential development.
"This project could be very good for the community, or it could be bad for the community if it's not done right," said Paul Conte, chairman of the Jefferson-Westside Neighbors, the neighborhood group west and south of downtown.
"The best way to get a positive outcome is to have a very well-informed community that is able to affect the decisions that are made."
But Conte's novel approach to gather public opinion on the proposed development isn't being embraced by all neighborhood leaders, including the chairman of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, the group that represents the area where the development would be located.
Despite the differences of opinion, the City Council, not neighborhood groups, will play the pivotal role in whether Birmingham, Ala.-based Capstone proceeds with plans to build 359 apartments for 1,200 students on parts of three blocks bound by West 11th and 13th avenues and Willamette and Olive streets.
The developers say they need the council to approve a cumulative $16 million tax break over 10 years in order for them to proceed with their project.
The developers and their representatives were in Eugene Monday and Tuesday, meeting with residents and community leaders, including Mayor Kitty Piercy and city councilors.
On Monday afternoon, the developers and representatives, including Capstone executive John Vawter, walked around the redevelopment site answering residents' questions.
Conte, who participated in the walk-around, has formed a new group along with other residents, called the Eugene Community Advisory Team, in hopes of influencing the project.
The group of about 10 people includes a downtown resident and residents who live in neighborhoods near the University of Oregon.
Retired real estate broker and downtown condominium developer Jean Tate is listed as a member, along with Mike Eyster, UO associate vice president for student affairs. Eyster also is president of the Lane Transit District board.
Eyster on Tuesday said he joined not as a representative of the university or LTD, but as a resident with an interest in the topic.
"I have been in the community for 20 years, and have some interest and knowledge of the subject," said Eyster, who was student housing director at the UO for 17 years.
Typically, neighborhood associations respond to development projects as they move through approval channels. But, Conte said, a project such as Capstone's -- with its potential major effects on downtown and surrounding neighborhoods -- requires a separate committee where residents and local experts can get involved before the project goes to the City Council for approval.
"You need a variety of people with different knowledge and interests to come forward from the community," he said. "The community knows more about the community than a single (city) staff person would."
Another benefit of the new group is that "the community will place more trust in the information and any recommendation that comes from a community-based organization," Conte said.
But David Mandelblatt, chairman of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, said he doesn't see the need to join Conte's group.
"Downtown has got its own sets of needs, interests and concerns," he said. "They are different from Jefferson-Westside or the West University neighborhood."
The Downtown Neighborhood Association will have its own public outreach effort, including a March 11 forum on the project that it is co-sponsoring with the City Club of Eugene.
The 5.3-acre redevelopment site is now owned by PeaceHealth, a nonprofit health care provider that does not pay taxes on the property. The site includes the empty Eugene Clinic building and its parking lots.
A purchase deal was worked out with the help of Eugene developer Steve Master, who had secured an option to buy the property from PeaceHealth.
Under the plan, as soon as Master buys the property in June, Capstone will buy the property from Master and proceed with construction.
In its application for the property tax waivers, Capstone said it will pay $6.6 million to acquire the property.
The developers are seeking a 10-year tax waiver, equal to $1.6 million annually, on the value of the new buildings. The city for decades has granted tax waivers to downtown developers in order to promote high-density city center revitalization.
The developers also are expected to ask the City Council to sell to them one of the public alleys that bisects the property, in order to build a bike and pedestrian path through the block bound by Willamette Street to the east and Olive Street on the west.
The City Council is scheduled on April 9 to have its first meeting to discuss the project and the tax waivers. A date has yet to be set for the council to take final council action on the tax waivers.
Mandelblatt said some residents are concerned about the project's size, and how it would fit in downtown, which has residents of all ages.
Olive Plaza, a high-rise building filled with elderly and disabled residents, is near the site, he noted.
Some residents would like to see a mixture of housing on the development site, not just housing for students, Mandelblatt said.
Some residents also are concerned about the "monoculture" aspect of Capstone's proposal, he said.
"I'm not picking on students here," Mandelblatt said. "It doesn't matter if they are 1,200 students, or 1,200 millionaires, or 1,200 acrobats, or 1,200 people with dogs. That's a lot of people with the same interests and same general culture."
What's next
The Downtown Neighborhood Association and City Club of Eugene will host a public forum on Capstone Collegiate Communities' student housing project.
When and where: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. March 11 at Cozmic, 199 W. Eighth Ave.
More information on the project: Visit www.eugene-or.gov
The newly formed Eugene Community Advisory Team also has information about the project: www.eugenecat.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dumpster diving at OSU
By GAIL COLE, Corvallis Gazette-TimesPedestrians passing through Oregon State University's Memorial Union quad Tuesday afternoon got a noseful of the pungent smell of garbage as Campus Recycling staff and volunteers dug through a Dumpster full of refuse, dividing the contents into piles of recyclables, compostables and trash.
"We get more strange looks than people stopping and talking to us," said Andrea Norris, an outreach coordinator with Campus Recycling.
Even if passersby weren't curious, the group trudged on with its audit of the Dumpster's contents. The hope is that people who work in buildings near the large garbage bins will be more careful about what they toss away as trash.
The particular Dumpster that was the object of Tuesday's attentions is shared by the occupants of Burt and Wilkinson halls, both located on Northwest Orchard Avenue between 26th and 27th streets. Departments in the College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences have offices in both buildings.
By the end of the day, the group found 23 pounds of recycling, 110 pounds of compostables and 51 pounds of trash. In other words, just a bit more than a quarter of the material tossed into the Dumpster was trash; the remainder could either be recycled or composted.
With the totals in mind, Campus Recycling will compile a report to send to the buildings' offices with suggestions on how to use the buildings' recycling bins and reduce waste in general.
For example, the group found many eight-ounce plastic yogurt containers that could have been placed in co-mingled recycling bins. They also found plastic-coated paper coffee cups, which are trash but could be eliminated with the use of to-go mugs.
"The most ideal thing is to reduce and reuse," Norris said.
All trash and recyclable cans, bottles and cardboard is picked up by Allied Waste, and paper is sold to Salem's Garten Services. Compost is sent to Allied Waste's Pacific Region Compost Facility, located on Camp Adair Road north of Corvallis.
Tuesday's activity was part of Recyclemania, a 10-week event in which universities nationwide tally their collected recyclables. OSU and the University of Oregon have competed in the Recyclemania Civil War since 2010. With four weeks to go, OSU is in the lead with 8.5 pounds of recycled material per person to the University of Oregon's 5.9 pounds per person.
Campus Recycling has conducted Dumpster audits for a few residence halls, but it's the first time it's examined professorial trash.
"Already, we've observed that our staff is eating more fruit than our students," Norris said, and laughed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late mentions for February 28
U.S. home prices fall again in December to reach new low; Portland loses ground
By Elliot Njus, The OregonianU.S. home prices fell for the fourth straight month in December, closing the year at a new low and erasing gains seen in the summer.
The S&P Case-Shiller home price index fell 1.1 percent in December across the 20 major U.S. cities surveyed, a 4 percent decline from a year earlier.
In the Portland area, the index showed a decline of 0.4 percent, leaving prices 4 percent lower than the same month in 2010. Only Miami and Phoenix saw gains in December, and prices are lower than a year earlier in all of the cities except Detroit.
The news deflates hopes for a robust recovery in prices, but brokers and observers say it belies strong sales activity and likely doesn't mean the bottom is falling out again.
The month-to-month declines since early autumn partly reflect a seasonal decline typical for the winter months, and Portland's reading is essentially flat with seasonal adjustment.
Still, he nation's home prices are now at their lowest since 2003. The Portland area is still narrowly beating its low point seen last March.
"While we thought we saw some signs of stabilization in the middle of 2011, it appears that neither the economy nor consumer confidence was strong enough to move the market in a positive direction as the year ended," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.
There are still glimmers of positive news headed into the new year. Sales activity has shown gains in recent months even as prices continue to decline.
That's because much of the activity is happening at the lower end of the market, said Chris Suarez, an agent with Keller Williams in Portland. Investors buying houses to lease out, taking advantage of low vacancy rates and rising rents, often look for discounted bank-owned property or short sales.
And entry-level buyers are taking advantage of fallen prices and interest rates to buy entry-level homes.
"Those first-time buyers are, in terms of dollar value, more closely tied to what the monthly payment is of their home," Suarez said. They're more motivated to buy now "because they want a great deal."
Desirable neighborhoods continue to perform well, and often see competitive offers that drive the sale price above the listed price. Most houses close to the downtown core sell in a matter of days, said Sally Gilcrease, a broker with Hasson Company Realtors in Clackamas.
"You can't just look at all of the Portland metro area and make any general statements," Gilcrease said. "It's so different from neighborhood to neighborhood."
The bump and subsequent decline last year in some ways resembled gains seen in 2010 before prices reversed course and continued their fall. But Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist, said the higher level of sales activity seen today isn't likely to allow prices to slip much further.
"I don't sense this is a repeat of that episode," said Duy. "We're tending toward a bottoming-out phase in housing prices, but I don't think that signals some rapid rebound is right around the corner."
Case-Shiller pricing data is released on a two-month delay and measures 20 major cities' relative price fluctuations -- a base reading of 100 represents prices in January 2000. The Portland area reading in December was 132.76, and nationally the index is at 136.71. The index covers 70 percent of U.S. homes.
Locally, the Regional Multiple Listing Service reported previously that the median home sale price in December was $216,600, a 6.2 percent decline compared with the same month a year earlier.
But while prices have declined, sales activity has improved. The 1,612 homes sold in December were a 10.3 percent increase compared with December 2010, according to RMLS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Buy shares in the glory from Daytona 500 win
The Richfield-based retailer plans a social media campaign and consumer events to honor Matt Kenseth's Daytona 500 triumph.
Article by: Thomas Lee, Star TribuneWhen it comes to NASCAR sponsorships, Best Buy Co. Inc. is already basking in victory lane.
The Richfield-based consumer electronics giant struck pay dirt Tuesday when Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing, which only recently agreed to a major sponsorship deal with Best Buy, won the Daytona 500.
"If you had to pick a race to win, this is the one you wanted to win," Drew Panayiotou, Best Buy's senior vice president of marketing in the United States, told the Star Tribune. "I felt [Kenseth] was going to have a hot year, but I didn't know he was going to win the first [big] race" of the season.
Over the next few weeks, Best Buy plans to purchase advertisements saluting Kenseth and use Facebook and Twitter to promote the sponsorship. The retailer will also host some consumer events. One possibility includes allowing Reward Zone members, Best Buy's most loyal customers, to personally view Kenseth's winning No. 17 car.
But judged against marketing-crazy NASCAR, where every inch of a driver's car and race suit is up for sale to the highest bidder, Best Buy's approach seems rather low-key.
That's not entirely by accident. In the past, advertisers, including Best Buy, would pay celebrities to hawk products or tell shoppers why they should frequent a particular store. Today, Best Buy's marketing strategy is more subtle, an approach that relies more on shared values than actual commerce, Panayiotou said.
Take the Super Bowl. Just a couple of years ago, the retailer hired Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osborne to pitch its stores. But in the most recent Super Bowl, Best Buy opted to purchase a spot that featured 10 relatively unknown wizards in mobile technology who created everything from text messaging to music sharing.
Last December, Best Buy announced it would be the primary sponsor of Roush Racing, which includes Kenseth and Carl Edwards, for the upcoming Sprint Cup series. Panayiotou said he was impressed with how Roush was using technology to create better, faster race cars.
"When you have great technology and you have a user who knows how to use that technology, great things can happen," Panayiotou said.
Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, said major brands like Best Buy have gotten "better and faster" on how to best use their sponsorships, especially given the weak economy.
Best Buy's partnership with Roush "can be a great example of a how a sponsorship is all about awareness and consumer appeal" instead of selling stuff, Swangard said.
At the same time, a major victory like the Daytona 500, long considered the Super Bowl of stock car racing, presents Best Buy with some unexpected opportunities that "you'd be crazy to ignore," he said.
The retailer should therefore get the most out of its Daytona 500 triumph, Swangard said.
"Roush didn't trade a sponsorship for a couple of plasma televisions at a Best Buy, I can tell you that," said Swangard, noting that a major NASCAR sponsorship easily runs into millions of dollars.
Panayiotou admitted that this year's Daytona 500 caught the retailer a bit off guard. The race, which was delayed twice because of rain, did not finish until shortly before midnight Central time Monday.
Best Buy didn't issue a news release acknowledging the victory until Tuesday afternoon.
"I wish the race ended earlier," Panayiotou said. "But we're now moving as fast as humanely possible" to seize the moment.