UO E-clips, Dec. 28

UO Professor: 'I expected it' (Register-Guard): Another attempt on Benazir Bhutto's life did not surprise Anita Weiss, a University of Oregon international studies professor and expert on Pakistan. Weiss, who has written extensively about Pakistan and is frequently quoted in newspapers such as The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, said she had been regularly reading Pakistani newspapers half expecting another attack on the former prime minister who returned to Pakistan in October after several years in exile. Since the Oct. 18 bomb blast that rocked Bhutto's return, there have been threats and other unsuccessful attacks on her. "I expected it. Everybody did," Weiss said. What shocked her was the failure of Bhutto's security force to protect the leader of the Pakistan People's Party. … Beyond the immediate family tragedy, Bhutto's death leaves two critical political voids in a country struggling to maintain its secular political identity. The Jan. 8 election was expected to give the Pakistan People's Party the majority of seats in the National Assembly, and President Pervez Musharraf would have invited Bhutto to form a government, legitimizing his own political position, Weiss said. Still more significant may be the symbolic void Bhutto leaves. Even for those who supported other candidates and parties, she represented the promise that someday the state would care for all people in the country, Weiss said. "Benazir represented the united hopes for Pakistan's future. There is no leader left today who can fill that void," she said. Weiss predicted chaos and confusion in the wake of the assassination with the likely imposition of martial law.

Northwest authors to appear at Driftwood Public Library for Oregon Legacy 2008 (Newport News Times): The Friends of Driftwood Public Library will present the literary series, Oregon Legacy, on four Sunday afternoons in January 2008.The series opens at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6 with a presentation of reading and commentary on writing by Cai Emmons from Eugene. Her novel, "His Mother's Son," was published in 2003, winning the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel (an Oregon Book Award). Her second novel, "The Stylist," was released in October of 2007. Emmons began her career as a dramatist, writing for the stage, film, and television. ... Lauren Kessler of Eugene is the third author in the 2008 series; she will speak on Jan. 20. She is the author of five works of narrative nonfiction, including "Dancing with Rose," "Clever Girl," "The Happy Bottom Riding Club," "Full Court Press" and the Oregon Book Award winner "Stubborn Twig." "Stubborn Twig" was also chosen as the book for all Oregon to read in honor of the state's 2009 sesquicentennial.