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 August 23
Observatory brings stars closer: Pine Mountain Observatory east of Bend offers stunning view of night sky
(Bend) Bulletin: I have a confession to make: My wife, Meryl Ibis, and I are total science nerds. When we found out there was a university-owned research observatory -- the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory -- that was open to the public and less than an hour away from town, we jumped at the chance to make a trip out there. What sweetened the deal even more were the clear skies, cool temperatures and the Perseid meteor shower. "There will probably be dozens of people in sleeping bags hanging out here in the middle of the night looking at the stars," said Kent Fairfield, an observatory volunteer who showed us around the facility right before one of its busiest nights.
'Summer Triangle' lights up August's night sky
(Bend) Bulletin, article by Bill Logan of the University of Oregon's Pine Mountain Observatory: In June, I wrote about the Great Summer Arc. If you follow the handle of the Big Dipper southwest, you will see the bright star Arcturus. Then, farther southwest near the horizon, you will see the star Spica. The Great Summer Arc is still there, but is farther west now. The bright star in the west-southwest, just above Spica, is Saturn. It will set at 10:05 p.m. tonight. Mars, just to the left of Saturn, will set at 10 p.m. Jupiter will rise in the east at 12:12 a.m. and Venus will rise at 2:35 a.m. In addition to the Great Summer Arc, the Summer Triangle is a wonderful sight and consists of three very bright stars: Vega, Deneb and Altair. The best way to see the summer triangle is to simply sit back in a chaise lounge chair in the backyard and look straight up after dark.
GUEST VIEWPOINT: Labor will honor workers' struggles in parade
Register-Guard: Labor celebrates the past and the present by marching in the Eugene Celebration parade -- and we'll be doing it again this year, honoring the achievements of workers who came before and acknowledging the struggles of workers today. ... Meanwhile, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation at the University of Oregon is asked to make similar sacrifices. Despite their vital role, take-home salaries for many graduate teaching fellows are less than $10,000 a year, well below the poverty line. Their tuition is paid, and GTFs are not permitted to work more than half time. The average salary for faculty at the UO's Lundquist College of Business is more than $150,000 a year. These faculty members could work half time and still make more than seven times as much as many graduate teaching fellows. GTFs are responsible for 31.5 percent of all instructional time, including more than 90 percent of labs and discussion sections. They conduct research and serve in administrative positions.
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Media mentions for August 22
Jackson County unemployment ticks up in July
(Medford) Mail Tribune: Jackson County jobless numbers released Tuesday weren't accompanied by a smiley face. The seasonally adjusted 10.7 percent July unemployment rate was slightly higher than June's 10.5 percent, yet marginally better than a year ago when it hovered at 11.7 percent. Like the smoke dangling above the Rogue Valley, double-digit employment has been hanging around way too long and there's nothing to suggest diminished numbers are just around the next bend. "We're grinding slowly forward," said Tim Duy, a University of Oregon economist who tracks both state and regional activity. "The recovery hasn't really taken hold as aggressively as we would have liked. It's slowly getting better, but not enough to cause widespread improvement in the outlying markets."
7 University Of Oregon Students Awarded Fulbright Scholarships
Oregon Public Broadcasting: Seven students from the University of Oregon have received Fulbright scholarships and will study abroad this academic year. The university identified the students Tuesday as Gina Blackburn, Catherine Gifford, Lucy Gubbins, Brian Guy, Jade Snelling, Jason Tashea and Adhiraj Vable. Two of the students will spend the academic year in Germany and the others are heading to Armenia, Denmark, India, Kosovo and Senegal. Five UO students received the highly competitive scholarship a year ago, and 76 have received Fulbright awards over the past 16 years.
Weird Willie Style: The many adaptable faces of Shakespeare.
Willamette Week: ...Portland loves its Shakespeare. But this year, it feels like the interpretations have taken on an especially twisted bent. ... The Western world's intimate familiarity with the works of Shakespeare is key to their adaptability, says John Schmor, head of the theater arts department at the University of Oregon. "They're known even if they're not known," says Schmor, who once staged a zombie version of Hamlet. "You could draw the balcony scene [from Romeo and Juliet] and someone who's never read the play or seen the title could tell you what scene it is."
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Late mentions for August 21
New York Times, written by Mark Thoma, economics professor at the University of Oregon: Unfortunately for the millions of people who cannot find work because of the recession, the Fed is unlikely to do more to help the economy recover because of a misperception of the cost and benefits of further policy action. The Fed is far too worried about the potential for inflation, and far too pessimistic about its ability to lower the unemployment rate. ... I believe that the Fed's misperception of the costs and benefits of further policy intervention is the main reason for its lack of attention to the unemployment problem, but it's impossible to dismiss that political influence explains how some of the biggest inflation hawks on the Fed's monetary policy committee – those at regional Fed banks – were appointed. In any case, the Fed needs to set its inflation fears aside, and begin a new round of quantitative easing of $200 billion in long-term bonds per month, and continue the purchases until unemployment falls below 7 percent, or the inflation rate rises above 4 percent.
New catalyst could improve production of glass alternatives
e! Science News: University of Oregon chemists have identified a catalyst that could dramatically reduce the amount of waste made in the production of methyl methacrylate, a monomer used in the large-scale manufacturing of lightweight, shatter-resistant alternatives to glass such as Plexiglas. David Tyler, Charles J. and M. Monteith Jacobs Professor of Chemistry, will present his findings August 21 at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, Aug. 19-23 in Philadelphia, Penn.
Campus Pride Releases 'Top 25 List of LGBT-Friendly Colleges & Universities'
Human Rights Campaign: Campus Pride today announced its 2012 "Top 25 List of LGBT-Friendly Colleges & Universities." The list draws on findings from the 2012 Campus Pride Index, a searchable index presenting in-depth data from over 300 colleges and universities on LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices. Questionnaire responses from students, faculty and staff are factored into the colleges' one- to five-star ratings. The Top 25 list includes (in alphabetical order): ... University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Utah; University of Vermont; and University of Washington.
(Bend) Bulletin: A three-month average of Central Oregon's economic indicators increased slightly compared with the previous year, although the data show an economy lagging behind the growth typical for the region since 1998, according to data University of Oregon economist Timothy Duy released Monday. Duy uses the average growth in the region since 1998 as a baseline for trends in current economic activity. Home sales activity exceeded all other indicators for the region in June. Lackluster job growth pulled down the index of economic indicators. The Portland area showed above-average economic growth in the three months ending in April, while Central Oregon, Salem, the Rogue River valley and the Eugene-Springfield area did not.
UO won't hard sell students to fee hike
Albany Democrat Herald: University of Oregon leaders have decided not to pursue a full campaign including free T-shirts to encourage students to raise their own fees to upgrade the student union. The Oregonian reports the campaign was designed by a top political firm. But UO Vice President Robin Holmes said Monday that the university won't follow through on the hard-sell approach. Students are voting in October whether to raise their fees to pay for a $135 million renovation and expansion of Erb Memorial Union. Holmes says the university has not decided whether to adopt any of the recommendations of Denver-based RBI Strategies and Research. The company was paid $17,000 to create the plan.
Seeking Alpha, contributed by Tim Duy, UO: Is the Federal Reserve doing enough? Joe Gagnon says no: ... Earlier this spring, Brad DeLong made an insightful observation about the real parallels with the 1970s: ... The Fed is really making the same mistake as it did in the 1970s. Not so says David Altig, who does not see so much of a conflict between the Fed's objective and the actual outcomes: ... Mark Thoma replies: "It sounds as though the Fed has given up -- we've done all that we can, there's nothing more we can do, so we won't even try -- and we're not about to risk even the tiniest bit of inflation to find out if we are wrong..." Mark's idea that the Fed has "given up" is not sufficiently appreciated. Altig's calculations make the important assumption that the labor force participation rate holds at 63.7%. This effectively assumes that none of the decline in the labor force participation is cyclical. Instead, it is all structural: (See chart online)