UO E-clips, Jan. 8

UO football trails on SAT scores (Eugene Weekly): UO football players SAT scores average 147 points lower than the average SAT scores of other UO students, according to an investigative report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The average SAT score at the UO is 1,100, but the average score for football players is 953, according to the latest NCAA reports studied by the AJC. The UO’s average football SAT score ranked 17th among the 54 biggest college football programs studied by the newspaper. By comparison the football average at OSU on the 1,600-point SAT was 997, or 88 points less than the OSU student average.

Backtrack (Oregon Daily Emerald): Both a track meet and a senior year of college are a strenuous race to the finish line - and next year the finish for University seniors could conflict with the finish for the University track team. In spring 2010, seniors will graduate during Dead Week to accommodate the NCAA track and field national championship.

Old Town: developers vs. preservationists (The Oregonian): The graceful arch of a window. A delicate ornamental curlicue. Low buildings snuggled together on narrow streets: All evoke Old Town's late 19th-century glamour, when timber and shipping money flowed through the city and Portland's energy matched that of Seattle and San Francisco. … But nothing dramatic happened in Old Town until three years ago when the University of Oregon leased the White Stag building, with the iconic lighted deer on top, from historic property developer Art DeMuro.

Bowl economics explained (Atlanta Journal Constitution): The college football season is set to end Thursday night, and Chick-fil-A Bowl President Gary Stokan is in Miami ready to attend the title game. Sure, he gets a chance to watch one last gridiron contest, and being in Florida in January isn’t bad, either. But Stokan said his mission is to see how officials there put on the game and if there’s anything the Chick-fil-A organizers might emulate. … “We’re seeing probably for the first time in a long time the pullback in sponsorship,” said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

UO economic index shows another decline (Associated Press): The latest economic index compiled by the University of Oregon showed another dip as the recession sweeps through the state, with no signs of improvement any time soon. The university's monthly index of economic indicators fell a half percentage point in November, and is now down nearly 8 percent in the past six months. The index measures a wide range of business and employment activity, and the overall weakness across the index suggests the recession will continue at least another three to six months. The index showed that housing markets deteriorated further in November, but consumer confidence held steady.

Vetting process for new UO leader raises concerns (Register-Guard): The committee charged with finding a recommended replacement for University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer is only about halfway through the process but already faces a possible conflict over the finalists. Some members of the search committee, particularly faculty members, are upset over the possibility that state officials would name only a single finalist who would take part in public interviews and events. They want a short list of finalists -- three is a number often suggested -- to be announced and to make campus visits before the state picks a finalist.