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UO E-clips, Feb. 12

Top stories for February 12, 2008: 'Nothing but net' is the headline of an editorial in today's Oregonian about the need for the Oregon Legislature to endorse the UO arena project; Hulig.com, United Press International, China's Xinhua news service and Daily India are among media outlets picking up UO research about a mechanism involved in cleft palate being discovered in zebrafish; the Black Enterprise of New York reports on the recent economic report by the UO's Tim Duy that a recession remains likely for Oregon; Anatomy of U. of Oregon's $100-Million Gift Revealed, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education; and the Register-Guard's Page One story today says the bond repayment is "put in UO court"

Nothing but net (Oregonian editorial): There's a bright shining moment right after a home team's basketball player lets fly a three-pointer when all in the arena inhale and wait. Did the nitwit just make a terrible miscalculation? One based on unrealistic expectations? One clearly at odds with the odds? Then the ball swishes -- nothing but net -- and all in the arena exhale and cheer. That up-in-the-air moment is where we are this week with the University of Oregon's proposal to build a spiffy new arena to replace sad sack Mac Court. The role now for the Oregon Legislature is clear. It must endorse the effort, then sit back and watch the ball make its way through the hoop.

Oregon researchers discover a mechanism leading to cleft palate (Huliq.com, several others): By creating a genetic mutation in zebrafish, University of Oregon scientists say they've discovered a previously unknown mechanism for cleft palate, a common birth defect in humans that has challenged medical professionals for centuries. Many molecular pathways in zebrafish are present in humans and other vertebrates. By studying the induced mutation in zebrafish, the 10-member research team isolated a disruption in early developmental signaling involving Pdgf, a platelet-derived growth-factor protein, and a microRNA known as Mirn140, the researchers write in a paper posted online in advance of regular publication the monthly journal Nature Genetics.

University of Oregon economist: Recession remains likely for state (Black Enterprise, New York): Oregon economic conditions remained soft in December, according to a recent report by the University of Oregon. The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators rose 0.2 percent in December, with the majority of index components improving during the month. Despite December gains, however, the index suggests there is still substantial risk of recession in the near future, according to the index's author Tim Duy.

Anatomy of U. of Oregon's $100-Million Gift Revealed (Chronicle of Higher Education, article in its entirety): The University of Oregon could lose a $100-million pledge from Philip H. Knight and his wife, Penny, if it doesn’t secure $200-million in bonds by June 1 to pay for the design and construction of a new basketball arena. Mr. Knight, the co-founder and chairman of Nike, made the pledge in September for a new Legacy Fund, an endowment to be used to support the athletic department, but not for construction or design of the arena. According to the donor agreement between the Knights and the university, the Oregonian reports, payment on the pledge is contingent on the institution’s ability to secure the bonds. “Athletic department officials say they plan to pay the debt service on the arena’s bonds with arena revenues,” according to the article. “If those don’t suffice, Oregon will use annual donations to the athletic department to help pay off the bonds, and replace that money in the operating budget with proceeds from the Legacy Fund.” University officials did not comment on what will happen to the donation if the bonds don’t come through.

Bond repayment put in UO court (Register-Guard): Oregon lawmakers on Monday called on the University of Oregon to set up a reserve fund that could help repay bonds for a new arena -- an additional precaution against the possibility that revenues from the basketball and concert venue fail to meet projections. The request -- which UO officials took same-day steps to accommodate -- comes in the wake of newly released documents that prompted some lawmakers to urge more caution as they proceed with plans to issue $200 million in state-backed bonds for the project.

UO physicist Dave Soper to share a top 2009 APS prize

UO physics professor Dave Soper is a 2009 winner of the J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Physics. He will share the prize with John Collins (Penn State) and Keith Ellis (Fermilab) when presented formally in May during the American Physical Society's annual meeting in Denver. Soper was cited for his "work in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, including applications to problems pivotal to the interpretation of high-energy particle collisions." Quantum chromodynamics is a theory of strong nuclear interactions among quarks -- fundamental constituents of matter.

The prize honors J.J. Sakarai, a Japanese-American particle physicist who authored leading textbooks on quantum mechanics and the principles of elementary particles during a career at the University of Chicago and UCLA. This year's winners bring the total number of honorees to 36, including three who later won the Nobel Prize.

3 UO faculty are finalists for Oregon Book Awards

kessler-face.jpg sbender-face.jpg ehudhavazelet-face.jpg

From left to right, UO professors Lauren Kessler (journalism), Steven Bender (law) and Ehud Havazelet (creative writing) are finalists for the 2008 Oregon Book Awards. Winners will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Portland Art Museum.

Media Links

Campus Magazines:

Oregon Quarterly

Cascade (CAS)

Newspapers:
Daily Emerald (UO students)
Register-Guard
Eugene Weekly
The Oregonian

Campus Radio:
a) Eugene's Classical
KWAX (99.1 FM)
b) Student Run
KWVA (88.1 FM)

TV Stations:
KEZI, Channel 9 (ABC)
KVAL, Channel 13 (CBS)
KMTR, Channel 16 (NBC)
KPTV (FOX-12, Portland)
 
Public TV, Radio:
Oregon Public Broadcasting
NPR (LCC, 89.7 FM)
KOPB (1600 AM)

News/Talks Radio:
KUGN (590 AM): UO Sports
KPNW (1120 AM)

UO Alumni News

1) Keep up on alumni news with the official e-newsletter of the UO Alumni Association.

2) Alumni in Portland have their own newsletter: See PDX Ducks.

 
Investors worried, tuned into news reports, UO psychologists tell Wall Street Journal writer

Paul Slovic mug shot    Two with University of Oregon ties named to new FDA risk advisory panel

Since 2001, investors’ comfort zone with their stocks has nose-dived from little worry about negative returns to growing worry about their stocks going nowhere for maybe a decade, reports UO psychologist Paul Slovic in an interview with Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig about today’s economy. In same article, UO psychologist Ellen Peters notes that American investors are spending a lot of time following, especially on TV news, the economic turmoil. Zweig’s column, however, carries the message that those who have some cash and can conquer their stock-phobia may be a good position, likening their potential investments to a venture in emerging markets. (Read story – may require paid subscription)

Sense of entitlement? Not in faces at military base, writes UO's Tom Bivins

Tom Bivins UO journalism professor Tom Bivins, sipping coffee and watching youthful faces at San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston, says the often-discussed "sense of entitlement" thought to exist in today's college-aged students was absent among like-aged faces wearing U.S. Army uniforms. His comments appear in a commentary in The Oregonian. (Read it)

UO spinoff MitoSciences collects 2008 Emerald Award for Innovation

MitoSciences Logo

The biotechnology company MitoSciences Inc., a technological spinoff founded in 2003 by University of Oregon scientists Roderick Capaldi and Michael Marusich, captured the Eugene Chamber of Commerce's 2008 Emerald Award for Innovation on Sept. 24. The company was among four winners of Emerald Awards.

For full details of the chamber's fifth-annual event, read the story in the Register-Guard.

UO ranks high in two national college guides

Princeton Review logoThe University of Oregon is one of 11 colleges that received a Green Rating of 99 (the highest score) in The Princeton Review’s “Green Honor Roll.” The news received national attention from the CBS Early Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson, and other national and local media.

Fiske Guide 2009 The UO is also included in the 2009 edition of the Fiske Guide to Colleges as a Best Buy school. From the guide: "UO may be the best deal in public higher education on the West Coast."

Media Relations Contact Info

Phone: (541) 346-3134
Email: uonews@uoregon.edu


Staff Members (Position Details)
Phil Weiler: 541-346-3873; pweiler@uoregon.edu
Julie Brown: 541-346-3185; julbrown@uoregon.edu
Heidi Hiaasen: 541-346-3606, heidih@uoregon.edu
Jim Barlow: 541-346-3481; jebarlow@uoregon.edu
Pauline Austin: 541-346-3129; paustin@uoregon.edu
Shannon Rose: 541-346-3314; roses@uoregon.edu

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