UO E-clips, Feb. 13

Students study to speak nearly lost Native American languages (KATU Channel 2 PortlandAP story originally in The Register-Guard 2/9/09): When his foreign language instructor says something, University of Oregon freshman Carson Viles knows it's important to pay attention. "I might never get a chance to hear that phrase again," he said. It's true. Viles is taking Yakama Sahaptin, one of a family of American Indian languages spoken along the Columbia River and offered for the first time this year at the UO. The class, taught by native speaker and Yakama elder Virginia Beavert, is not a typical foreign language class. There are no textbooks, no study-abroad programs, no dubbed TV shows, and the instructor is one of only 200 people who can converse in the target language.

State union proposes furloughs ,fewer raises But employees would still see annual “step” pay increases of up to 4.8 percent (Register-Guard, similar story on KVAL.com): Oregon’s largest public employees union is proposing a two-year contract that would forgo a cost-of-living increase for 23,000 state workers and require that they take eight unpaid furlough days in the next two years. The Service Employees International Union Local 503’s proposal, described Thursday at a state Capitol news conference, was presented two days earlier to the state. The service employees union represents nearly half the state’s work force, including 4,000 classified employees on seven university campuses, including the University of Oregon.

Lananna says shorter Trials no problem: The University of Oregon director of track and field is confident the 2012 event will be good, no matter how long (Register-Guard): Vin Lananna, University of Oregon director of track and field, said he has no problem with a shortened version of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. “Whether the event is four days, five days, 10 days or 20 days,” said Lananna, who served as co-chairman of the Eugene 08 local organizing committee. “Whatever it is, we will make it a great event. That’s our role.

For Kings, a lot is riding on arena plan due Feb. 27 (Sacramento Bee): An important rendezvous awaits the Sacramento Kings and the National Basketball Association two weeks from today on the grounds of Cal Expo. That's when state officials and an NBA-controlled corporation unveil a long-awaited plan for a major development project at Cal Expo, focused on a state-of-the-art arena for the Kings. It may be a race against time. ... "I think they're challenged in this environment to begin with," Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, recently told The Bee.

This line will chill your spine (Associated Press, in the Oregonian): Bad news about Connecticut Opera closing down, but this line stopped me cold: The nonprofit group Americans for the Arts estimates 10,000 arts organizations could disappear in 2009. The Connecticut Opera has gone out of business after 67 seasons, the latest arts group to fall victim to the economic downturn and sagging charitable donations. ... OK, so how about some good news? For that, we turn to the University of Oregon's music department, which is set to open its new wing March 6. I received this note from Dean Brad Foley: We have concluded our $19.2 million dollar building additions and renovations that will enable us to better serve the many music constituencies throughout Oregon and are very proud of the end results.

In recession, Nike is likely to cut marketing (Reuters, appearing in France's International Herald Tribune): Nike, one of the world's biggest sports marketers, could send shock waves through the industry this year by cutting its marketing budget as part of a push to reduce expenses. ... "Nike's sports marketing strategy looking backwards was a little bit more free-spending than it will be moving forward," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, an academic arm of the University of Oregon.

Toler seeks energy solutions for JoCo economy (Illinois Valley News): Renewable energy was the topic on Friday, Jan. 30, when Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler met with state and regional officials at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) campus in Klamath Falls. Toler said that Jeff Griffin from Gov. Kulongoski’s economic revitalization team was present, along with Michael Cavallero from Rogue Valley Council of Governments (RVCOG). The group heard a presentation from representatives of the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies (BEST) Center. Toler said that Oregon BEST is the research arm of a consortium consisting of the University of Oregon at Eugene, OIT, Oregon State University at Corvallis, and Portland State University. Its aim is to achieve Kulongoski’s goal of 25 percent renewable energy production.