UO E-clips, Feb. 15

Crash course for parents can dramatically improve a child's behaviour (Daily Mail, London): Parents can be trained to dramatically improve their children's behaviour, a study claimed yesterday. An eight-week crash course in parenting skills led to calmer homes and improved learning among children, the researchers said. Over regular two-and-a-half-hour sessions, mothers and fathers were coached how to better communicate with their pre-school children and keep them under control. At the end of the experiment, which involved 28 children aged three to five, parents reported dramatic reductions of stress in the home and better behaviour. Tests and brain scans also showed significant improvements in the children's language-acquisition skills, memory and mental performance. The experiment targeted poorer families after research in both the US and UK showed links between parents' education and income levels and children's future educational achievement. The findings of the study are also likely to apply in the UK and will lead to calls for greater use of parenting classes here.

Study hails parenting courses (Press Association, UK): A crash course in parenting skills can significantly help children at risk of being left on the educational scrap heap, a controversial study suggests. Scientists in the US tested an eight-week-long programme aimed at showing parents at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder where they are going wrong. Over a number of weekly two-and-a-half-hour sessions, mothers and fathers were coached in better ways to communicate with their pre-school children and keep them under control. At the end of the experiment, participating parents reported dramatic reductions of stress in the home, and better behaviour from their children … Dr Courtney Stevens, from the University of Oregon in Eugene, who led the study, said: "Our findings are important because they suggest that kids who are at high risk for school failure can be helped through these interventions." The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston.

State schools crafting emergency systems (The Oregonian): Taking a lesson from last year's Virginia Tech shootings, Oregon's three largest public universities are developing quicker ways to notify students and staff about campus emergencies. Sending a warning to everyone on a large campus takes multiple methods, including text messages, faxes, phone calls, e-mails, Web alerts and loudspeaker broadcasts, campus officials say. "We're looking at a sweep of different tools that we can use for notification, not one thing as the saving grace," said Andre Le Duc, the University of Oregon's director of emergency management.

UO arena's big jump: ticket prices (The Oregonian): For the past week, officials backing the University of Oregon's basketball arena project have rattled the pots of money -- from a marketing deal to a reserve fund -- that could help repay the $200 million in bonds UO wants the Legislature to approve. But the most important pot carries perhaps the most uncertain number: men's basketball ticket and donation revenue. As UO administrators and legislators debate various projections, longtime fans brace for the higher season-ticket prices necessary to reach the university's revenue goals. "It's not (just) that it's going up, it's like a 100 percent increase," said Larry Lawrence, a longtime season-ticket holder from Eugene.

How Obama does that thing he does (Slate Magazine): Barack Obama bringeth rapture to his audience. They swoon and wobble, regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation, although few understand exactly why he has this effect on them. ... A 2005 paper (abstract) by University of Oregon professor of rhetoric David A. Frank unpeels Obama's momentous 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address (video and text here) for clues to his method. Obama's spellbinding oration earned near-universal raves, including one from establishment conservative Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, and its echoes can be heard in every speech he's given as a candidate for president.

Congo's bonobos the apple of University professor's eye (Oregon Daily Emerald): Amidst civil war, a social environment that exhibits free love, peace and sexuality would be a startling find deep within the heart of the African Congo. But primatologist and University professor Frances White discovered groundbreaking evidence that affirms the ability of primates to demonstrate such behavior. Unlike their cousin the chimpanzee, bonobo apes seem to embody the phrase "make love not war," as was articulated by White on Wednesday night at the OMSI Science Pub presentation in the downtown nightclub, Luna.

2012 Trials may draw grievance (Register-Guard): Just how unhappy are Sacramento track officials about Eugene snagging the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials? So unhappy that they are threatening to file a grievance against the track officials who late last year picked Eugene for the prestigious event. The Pacific Association of USA Track & Field, a group based in the Sacramento area, has threatened to file the complaint against individuals involved in the award procedure for the Trials and other U.S. championship events to Eugene.