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 September 20
UO event to be dedicated to memory of McLucas
The Register-Guard: University of Oregon officials affirmed Wednesday that the second portion of a two-part symposium on oral music traditions will be dedicated to the memory of UO music professor and former dean Anne Dhu McLucas, who died Sept. 8 in a homicide. The symposium, planned before McLucas' death, will welcome scholars in the areas of music history and ethnomusicology, and will take place in two portions: Sept. 29 and Oct. 19-20. ... A memorial service for McLucas will be held at 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 in Beall Concert Hall at the MarAbel Frohnmayer Music Building, 961 E. 18th Ave., on campus. The service will be open to the public.
Discovery News: University of Oregon economists and political scientists found that employment and wages increase in some sectors during a wildfire. That small boost can offset the unemployment caused by the short-term disruption of the inferno. "The increased spending on services related to fire suppression efforts certainly does not undo the social and economic damage caused by a wildfire," said Cassandra Moseley, director of the Ecosystem Workforce Program, which carried out the study in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, in a press release. "But that initial burst of money does offset some of the immediate economic damage," Moseley said. "How the Forest Service spends its suppression money greatly influences how a community experiences a fire."
The Register-Guard: The University of Oregon might add a semi-private golf course designed by premier architect Tom Fazio to its assemblage of high-end sports facilities, which now include a new basketball arena, baseball stadium and football operations center. A group of alumni led by Mick Humphreys, who was a UO golf standout in the early 1960s, earlier this month won the Lane County planning director's approval for a proposed golf course on 796 acres of farmland and forests about two miles west of Creswell.
Cooling Coal Emissions Has Massive Potential For Clean Air
Green Building Elements: One of the biggest threats to the environment in the United States unfortunately stems from one of the most integral parts of its economy: coal. Used to power businesses and homes alike, coal has been a major force behind America's rise to superpower status. But the byproduct of coal is pollution that could be contributing to a dangerous shift in the climate. The good news is that scientists are hard at work finding solutions to today's big environmental quandaries. A recent study conducted by the University of Oregon suggests that cooling coal emissions could have a positive impact on both air quality and emission levels. Published in the American Physical Society's journal Physical Review E the study's results show that cooled coal emissions would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 90 percent.
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Late mentions for September 19
Protocols Were Disregarded By Clovis Impact Theory Challengers
redOrbit: Disregard of three critical protocols, including sorting samples by size, explains why a group challenging the theory of a North American meteor-impact event approximately 12,900 years ago failed to find iron and silica rich magnetic particles in the sites they investigated, says a new study from an interdisciplinary team of scientists. Edward K. Vogel, co-author of the study published in the online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, said that not separating samples of the materials into like-sized grouping made for an unavoidable layer of difficulty.
Oregon jobless rate up slightly to 8.9 percent
McMinnville News-Register: Oregon employers created a robust 8,800 jobs in August but the unemployment rate increased slightly to 8.9 percent, according to state figures released Tuesday. ... Tim Duy, an economist at the University of Oregon, cautioned against reading too much into the one-month job gains from August. The counterintuitive message from the figures -- that nearly 9,000 new jobs were created at the same time as the unemployment rate rose -- probably comes from issues with the underlying data, which are collected from separate surveys of employers and households, he said. "It's unlikely that both those things are true," Duy said. "I think there's some underlying data issues, and the reality is somewhere in between those two outcomes."
Eugene's proposed party penalties advance
The Register-Guard: University of Oregon students are returning to Eugene for the start of fall classes, an annual occurrence that adds life to the neighborhoods around campus. It also means the return of unruly, alcohol-fueled parties. Now, city officials are about to present to the City Council a proposed ordinance to impose new penalties on residents responsible for parties that get out of hand and draw police attention. ... The group also recommended that UO Department of Public Safety officers be allowed to patrol neighborhoods around campus, and suggested that UO change its student conduct code so the UO could punish students if they are convicted or cited for off-campus alcohol-related offenses -- ideas that have made little headway at the UO.
The (Bend) Bulletin: A state senator says a special legislative committee will vote next month on a final draft of a bill that would give the University of Oregon and Portland State University authority create independent governing boards. The Special Committee on University Governance has wrestled with questions about how the boards would form and operate. But Democratic Sen. Mark Hass, of Beaverton, said Tuesday that the committee's work has not stalled and he expects to have a final draft of legislation ready for approval on Oct. 4.
NHL Ticket Holders Lack Interest Guarantees on Season Payments
Bloomberg Businessweek: National Hockey League fans are at the mercy of teams when it comes to refunds and interest on ticket payments if games are lost to a lockout this season. The NHL, with annual revenue of about $3 billion, is allowing all 30 clubs to set their own refund policies, according to Matt Majka, chief operating officer of the Minnesota Wild, which is applying interest toward future ticket purchases. ... "If hockey perceives itself as a major-league sport, then I think following prevailing business standards of its competitors makes sense," Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon (85086MF), said in an e-mail. "The NBA set the standard in this case and NHL teams should be capable of offering the same deal even if the League doesn't mandate it."
Willamette Week: Judah Gold-Markel has trouble parking in front of his house these days. ... Seven of the 11 new buildings won't have on-site parking--thanks to a city zoning rule that exempts developers from having to provide it. That's 224 new rental units in 13 blocks without a single new parking space. The Portland City Council more than a decade ago created this exemption--a huge financial benefit to developers--to increase density and discourage people from owning and driving cars. ... Robert Liberty, a former Metro councilor who now directs the University of Oregon's urban planning think tank Sustainable Cities Initiative, says less parking is a good sign for Division--his own neighborhood. "Would you want to live in a neighborhood with abundant parking because no one goes there?" Liberty asks. "Neighborhoods change. They are constantly changing. The people who live there now are not the people who will live there 20 years from now."
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Late mentions for September 18
UO scores $10M grant for microbial studies
Portland Business Journal: The University of Oregon has landed big federal bucks that it will use to open a systems biology research and education center. UO will receive $10.3 million, over five years, from the National Institutes of Health for the project. The new Microbial Ecology and Theory of Animals Center for Systems Biology will study "how animal-associated microbial communities assemble, interact, evolve and influence human health and diseases." Funding for the center comes from NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Twelve UO researchers will work at the new center.