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 7
Too much TV football is too hard to fathom
USA Today: Each season brings more televised football -- games and TV time spent analyzing them -- but never an answer to this: Can Americans ever get enough? ... That's debatable. But it's difficult to argue with Paul Swangard, who oversees sports business studies at the University of Oregon, on this point: TV football, he says, "remains the all-you-can-eat-buffet. And it's remarkable that broadcasters can keep turning on more spigots and fans keep drinking."
Oregon trying random drug testing
ESPN: The University of Oregon is implementing random drug testing of all its athletes after an ESPN The Magazine report earlier this year estimated that between 40 and 60 percent of the football team smoked marijuana. Oregon's previous drug policy allowed for testing when there was reasonable suspicion. A recent decision by the general counsel gives temporary permission for random testing, effective this month. The policy still faces a public hearing in early October.
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Late mentions for September 6
Canzano: The Cliff Harris Rule of random drug testing is worthless without real penalties
The Oregonian: The University of Oregon will now issue random drug testing for its student athletes. The new policy, which will be reviewed by the university next month following a public hearing, might just catch some unsuspecting marijuana user and re-direct his life through confidential drug-education program. Or it might be a colossal waste of time ... I don't know if UO really believes it has a marijuana epidemic. But I'll bet they agree they have a perception issue. The press surrounding Harris and Masoli, who was dismissed himself after a traffic stop in which he was in possession of marijuana, was loud and ugly. And this whole random-testing charade feels rooted in perception instead of prevention.
Art Walk ready to go all a-go-go
The Register-Guard: Tina Rinaldi, managing director of the University of Oregon's Arts and Administration Program, hosts this month's First Friday Art Walk ... The free monthly walking tour of downtown art spaces spends half an hour at each stop, where gallery owners and artists talk about the work on exhibit. Some venues offer refreshments ... The Piano Academy will be showing "Artists on the Go-Go," work by Mary Oleri, Maureen Campbell, Steve Esteban Davis and Wendy Huhn. Campbell will give a live painting demonstration, and piano music will be performed by graduate students of the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance.
University of Oregon starts random drug tests of athletes
Statesman Journal: The University of Oregon is moving up its plan to do random drug tests of athletes, saying it doesn't want anybody in fall sports to get hurt while high and that it's concerned about liability, public opinion and the risk of sanctions. The university was taken aback this spring when ESPN The Magazine estimated that half the members of the Rose Bowl champion Oregon Ducks smoked marijuana. Coach Chip Kelly said he thought that couldn't be accurate and said he'd like to have random tests to settle the matter.
Chip Kelly supports Oregon's random drug testing policy
The Oregonian:Chip Kelly was not aware that the University of Oregon last week approved, at least temporarily, the implementation of a new drug policy that includes random testing of student-athletes, but the UO football coach does approve of the change. "I've been in support of it; I wasn't trumpeting it, but I think it's what everyone else in our league does, so it can also give us an answer if kids are in trouble and need help," Kelly said today. "We can educate them on why they're not supposed to do it." Kelly said today that he was not consulted by UO officials about the policy change. "I coach football," he said. "I'm not a science expert or any of those other things, so there's no reason to consult me on that issue, because I'm not an expert. Talk to the experts." Not everyone on the UO campus was happy that the policy was given temporary approval, before an Oct. 3 hearing to allow for public comment. A decision on final approval is expected after that hearing.
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Late mentions for September 5
Portland Tribune: When experts talk about the strength of the Portland-area economy, they increasingly mean Washington County and especially Hillsboro, the fastest-growing city in the region ... For many years, the conventional wisdom was that the Portland area was driving the state's economy. This was supposed to be especially true after the timber industry collapsed in the 1980s and Great Recession hit Oregon ... But in 2009, University of Oregon economist Tim Duy offered a more refined analysis ... Duy said that Portland was having trouble generating family-wage jobs. He noted that average incomes in Multnomah County were lower than Clackamas County and especially lower than Washington County.