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 May 8
University of Oregon finishes Atlas of Yellowstone
KMTR: It took nine years, about 100 experts and 30 cartographers to complete, but a University of Oregon-led project to create an atlas of Yellowstone National Park is done. The Atlas of Yellowstone, published by the University of California Press, was first envisioned nine years ago as a class project in the university's geography department. The book has about 800 maps and graphics covering topics including archaeology, evidence of climate change, vegetation, bison movement, art, the economy and vegetation in the region, including both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Collaborators included Yellowstone National Park, the University of Wyoming, Montana State University and area museums. Funding partners included the universities, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and Canon U.S.A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 7
As experiment, science pubs a huge success
Register-Guard: The fists didn’t fly. The topic didn’t provoke a barroom brawl. But it was definitely a lively debate.University of Oregon chemist David Tyler was at the Calapooia Brewing Co. in Albany recently, giving an informal lecture through the UO-organized Science Pub, when he suggested that, if one analyzes their entire lifespan, plastic bags may be a better grocery carrier than paper.“I don’t believe you. I just don’t believe this,” Tyler remembers a beer-hoisting patron saying ...That is the essence of the growing conversational forum called “science cafe” or “science pub.” Once a month, scholars will present their work in lay terms at a bar or tavern and will welcome — or in Tyler’s case, provoke — the audience members who have gathered around to feed their heads while pickling their brains.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 6
AP surges as tool for schools raising standards
Federal News Radio: Not long ago, Advanced Placement exams were mostly for top students looking to challenge themselves and get a head start on college credit. Not anymore.In the next two weeks, 2 million students will take 3.7 million end-of-year AP exams _ figures well over double those from a decade ago. With no national curriculum, AP has become the de facto gold standard for high school rigor ... Why has AP become a gold standard? One reason is schools can slap the label "honors" on any class, but AP requires outside validation, said David Conley, a University of Oregon professor and CEO of the Educational Policy Improvement Center. To offer official AP courses, teachers and principals must develop a curriculum that the College Board attests meets standards set by college faculty (Conley's group does that validation work for the College Board). Many AP teachers also undergo special training.
Future U: Classroom tech doesn't mean handing out tablets
Ars Technica: A couple of decades ago the most advanced technology to appear in an average classroom was a mini-cassette recorder and a calculator. For most students, however, typical classroom technology ran the gamut from yellow legal pads to theme books, from pencils to ballpoints ... "I'm glad that it takes me about two split seconds to find an image on the Internet, a painting, say, and two more seconds to import it into a PowerPoint presentation for lecture," said University of Oregon comparative literature professor Ken Calhoon ... Andre Chinn, instructional technology coordinator for the university's School of Journalism and Communications, does not believe that data-over-knowledge imbalance is a continuing trend ... "I get the distinct impression in the last two years," he said, "that the panic has washed away." Discussions of which program or tool to teach is less urgent these days. There are no definitive tools the students must learn. "We want students to understand the grammar of technology.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 5
Give them that old soft shoe ... to reuse
Register-Guard: Spectators heading to today’s Pac-12 and Oregon Twilight meets at Hayward Field might consider taking along all of their old, worn-out athletic shoes.A group of University of Oregon MBA students is trying to gather 2,012 pairs of such footwear for reuse. It will have collection bins at the meets ... The recycling programs at Lane County waste transfer stations accept a tremendous range of waste, from old newspapers to plastic jugs, waste oil, chemicals and scrap metal. But they do not accept old sports shoes for recycling because the county hasn’t been able to find a source that will commit to taking the steady and large volume that might be collected, county officials have said.
Newspaper owner defends donation
The World: Despite a large donation to a candidate running for commissioner, the owner of the Coquille Valley Sentinel says her paper's election coverage will remain impartial ... Tom Bivins, a journalism ethics professor at the University of Oregon, said it wasn't unusual for newspaper owners to make campaign contributions.'Even readers of newspapers accept that owners have political leanings," Bivins said.As long as Ivey maintained a bright line between reporting and opinion pieces, Bivins said, there was no ethical issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 4
KEZI: A group of University of Oregon graduate students are putting old shoes to new use, and they are asking for your help.You can drop off your worn-out shoes into a box with the white "O" on it on campus.The students are working with Nike's Re-use a Shoe program.It recycles old running shoes into new sport facility surfaces.Shoes that are still okay to wear will be donated to Hope 4 Hoopers which will then be given to local people in need.
Research suggests Yellowstone's big blast was 2 eruptions, not 1
Billings Gazette: What was long considered the Yellowstone super volcano's biggest eruption — the fourth-largest volcanic event known to science — may have been diminished a bit by research released this week. "They just chipped a little off this earlier estimate," said Ilya Bindeman, a University of Oregon associate professor of geological sciences who has done research in Yellowstone.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 3
GUEST VIEWPOINT: Journalism can play a role in resolving conflicts
Register Guard: The guard with the sweet name of Carmella locked the door behind me and about a dozen University of Oregon students. She marched us into the Oregon State Correctional Institution, where we took seats in what would seem like a classroom anywhere, were it not for the tiny window panes held in place with what looked like impenetrable steel. We waited a few minutes until the other half of the class arrived, another dozen or so, these students all wearing prison blues stamped in large block letters with the word “inmate.” ... Professor Shankman asked me to speak with the students about a class I’m teaching in conflict sensitive journalism.
Portland leads the way as Oregon economic recovery grinds forward
Oregonian: Oregon's economic recovery continues "grinding forward," with growth near the state's average for the past two decades, a University of Oregon professor said Thursday. Economist Tim Duy released his monthly UO Index of Economic Indicators, which was flat in March. Initial unemployment claims edged up during the month and temp hiring inched down. Residential building permits fell and trucking activity declined. Compared to six months ago, the UO Index rose 3.6 percent, reaching 90.6. Normally during expansions that follow recessions, growth would be higher than a two-decade rate, Duy said. But in this case, Portland is doing reasonably well, he said, while the rest of the state drags behind. "I'm not seeing anything that would make me think there's a recession on the way," Duy said. "But also no explosion of growth around the corner."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media mentions for May 2
Mass evacuation scenario around campus conducted by National Guard
Daily Emerald: National Guard servicemen were gathered around the artificial turf fields outside the Student Recreation Center early on May 2 ... A low-flying helicopter passed over the Knight Law Center. The exercise was a mass-evacuation scenario, part of a statewide operation codenamed Vigilant Guard, said Specialist Cory Grogan, a media representative for the Oregon National Guard. “One of the biggest things since 9/11 has been developing communication between civil and defense agencies. I know for a fact that the National Guard’s partnership with Eugene has been very good,” Grogan said.
Overcoming the seemingly intractable
Central Valley Business Times: Economic breakdown. Unemployment. Political hostility. Climate upheaval. And that’s the good news. Change expert and professor Bob Doppelt says these and other problems are the outcomes of how we see and respond to the world. And as such, they can be changed. “I do think that there’s a sense around the world today that many of the systems we’ve relied on for so long … the basic systems of life are threatened and in many ways collapsing,” says Mr. Doppelt ... adjunct instructor in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon.
Ancient migration: Coming to America
Nature: For decades, scientists thought that the Clovis hunters were the first to cross the Arctic to America. They were wrong — and now they need a better theory ... “I was once warned not to write about coastal migration in my dissertation. My adviser said I would ruin my career,” says Jon Erlandson, an archaeologist at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late mentions for May 1
Coalition offers immigrants support
Register Guard: A new coalition of Eugene and Springfield groups says it wants to help create a welcoming and supportive environment for immigrants and promote a “thoughtful public dialogue about immigration.” ... Network organizer Bob Bussel, director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon, said the network may eventually support specific national immigration proposals to make them more consistent and humane.
University of Oregon design class assists disabled athletes with help of Nike instructors
Oregonian: Will Groulx, who is paralyzed from the chest down because of a motorcycle accident, uses this handcycle in racing competitions. A University of Oregon design class envisioned outfitting the seating with a cooling system to assist Groulx, who is not able to perspire. The handcycle retrofit was part of the "Enabling Athletes with Disabilities" product design class taught at the UO's Portland campus.
KEZI: The state of Arizona recently banned ethnic studies programs. The ban includes some books, including various classics of U.S. Latino literature and even Shaklespeare's "The Tempest". In a stance of solidarity, a coalition of groups met outside the EMU at the University of Oregon for a public reading of the banned books. "I think it goes against the overall meaning of education in general. Personally, I feel heartbroken by it," said Beya Montero with UO MEChA.