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 June 27
Hell, not Heaven, helps keep society safe
CBS News via LiveScience: Hell has its benefits. A strong belief in fiery punishment is good for a country's crime rates, indicates a new study that looked at religious belief and crime data from around the world. ... The researchers, Azim Shariff from the University of Oregon and Mijke Rhemtulla of the University of Kansas, drew upon survey data collected from 143,197 people in 67 countries between 1981 and 2007. The surveys asked people if they believed in "Heaven," "Hell" and "God." They calculated crime rates using United Nations statistics on crimes from human trafficking and homicide to auto theft and burglary. This shows religious belief does not have a uniform effect on people's behavior, Shariff said in a statement.
Why Investment Brokers Provide Poor Advice
US News and World Report blog: Sitting face-to-face across from a professional investment broker is widely extolled as the preferred way for individual investors to get the best advice. Yet a study of retirement-plan investors who took advantage of this option found that their investment results were markedly worse than participants in the same plan who made their own investment decisions. And both groups, it turns out, did worse than plan participants who used the plan's default investment option for target-date mutual funds. Researchers John Chalmers (University of Oregon) and Jonathan Reuter (Boston College) conducted a detailed study of participants in the defined-contribution plan of the Oregon University System (OUS). It offers employees the option of working directly with investment brokers or of making their own choices from the plan's investment options. The study looked at the choices and investment results made by participants as well as their level of investment expertise.
Karen Klein: Cruel, yet not unusual
Albany Times Union blog: The video of Karen Klein, the ridiculed 68-year-old bus monitor from the Rochester suburb of Greece has gone viral. Millions of people, apparently around the world, have watched the 10-minute clip of kids mocking Klein for her weight, sweat glands and choice in tote bag. She endured it and restrained herself throughout the entire ordeal. ... Sara Hodges, a social psychology professor at the University of Oregon, says that the sense of identification many felt for Klein and her trauma is what made the news explode. "It's such a clear case of somebody who is being bullied. She's all alone, and she has no allies. … And what the kids are saying is so obviously hurtful. … It's so compelling that you can't turn away."
The Foundations of a Blue Economy
Center for American Progress: The ocean is integral to our society. According to data from the 2010 census, more than half of all Americans now live in coastal watershed counties, which comprise less than 20 percent of U.S. land (excluding Alaska) and have an average population density more than five times higher than inland regions. ... Despite their natural resiliency, our wetlands are increasingly threatened by multiple stressors including erosion, climate-change-accelerated sea-level rise, and an increasing influx of pollutants such as fertilizers, chemicals, and crude oil from spills and leaks. ... Restoring these critical habitats is not only an environmental imperative but a great economic opportunity. The design, construction, operation, and monitoring of large-scale coastal and marine restoration projects bear the potential for sustaining job creation and increasing ecosystem services vital to supporting existing coastal livelihoods. ... Furthermore, these jobs directly benefit local communities, and most cannot be outsourced. An analysis of Oregon's forest and watershed restoration projects conducted by the University of Oregon found that the vast majority of restoration dollars stayed within the state. In fact more than 90 percent of contracts by restoration project managers occurred with Oregon-based businesses.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Late mentions for June 26
Hundreds Turn To University Dorms To Take In The Track Trials
KEZI: But, about 750 people from around the nation even other countries are choosing the U of O dorms as their home away from home during the trials. ... It's $59.00 a night to share a room $89.00 if you want your own. You get three meals a day for that price. "I've saved who knows how much money," added Chadez. ... That price, goes straight to the students. "It goes to the housing department and helps us keep these halls during the summer, which helps defray costs during the academic year," explained Tom Driscoll, Associate Director of Housing for The University of Oregon.
How to dig up your house's history
Associated Press: Many homeowners and apartment dwellers across the country are doing the painstaking work of researching the history of their home and neighborhood. Some delve into the past for practical reasons -- perhaps they want to change the exterior of an old house and need to document how it once looked, or they want to create (or protest) a historic designation. Others are simply fascinated by the testament of time. This research "feeds into the notion of pride of place," said Kingston Heath, professor and director of the graduate Historic Preservation Program at the University of Oregon. The history of a house and its people can also cast light on larger historical changes. "A house is like an artifact," Heath said. "It represents these collective human values, and cultural and technological change."