UO E-clips, July 10

UO gifts will help study abroad (Register-Guard): Three gifts totaling more than $3 million will help bolster the University of Oregon's position as an international university by supporting study abroad programs. They are the largest gifts for international scholarship and also include the first-ever study abroad scholarship for students majoring in international studies. They come at a time when the UO's international programs are ballooning with about 25 percent of the school's under¬graduates involved in study abroad.

Council may alter apartment zoning (Register-Guard): The Eugene City Council on Wednesday indicated that it may lower building heights and require more off-street parking for new apartment projects in a residential area south of the University of Oregon. The proposal came about at the instigation of south university neighborhood residents, who had objected to a proposed seven-story apartment building on the northeast corner of East 19th Avenue and Alder Street, one block south of the university campus.

Activist claims he won't give up tape (Register-Guard): Tim Lewis doesn't want to be the next member of the U.S. media jailed for defying a court order. But he says he'd rather be locked up than surrender to Lane County prosecutors a video he shot during a May 30 anti-pesticide rally in downtown Eugene marked by the controversial stun-gun arrest of 18-year-old University of Oregon student Ian Van Ornum. ... University of Oregon journalism dean Tim Gleason said Lewis' current situation raises the issue of whether Oregon's shield law applies to independent online reporters -- whose numbers are growing "as the Internet becomes more pervasive."

University of Oregon planners seek alley for new arena (Daily Journal of Commerce): University of Oregon planners are asking the Eugene City Council to relinquish public right-of-way of an alley and a portion of East 13th Avenue in order to construct its new, $200 million basketball arena. The university wants to take right-of-way possession of the alley, which runs between Villard and Moss streets between East 15th and 13th avenues, and a small portion of the south side of East 13th Avenue, where it intersects with Villard. The city council can abandon public right-of-way only if it is in the best interest of the public. The university owns all of the property adjoining the alley and is currently consolidating the northern block into one arena site. A public hearing will be held July 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the council chamber to hear public opinions on the issue. The council will make a final decision later this summer.

Universities mull new state ruling on patrolling dorms (OPB News): Dorm sweet home. Dormitories at publicly funded universities are now considered residences as far as the police are concerned. So police have to obtain a warrant to search hallways or common areas. Bill Gardner is Washington State University's police chief. He says the ruling doesn't mean a pot-smoking or alcohol-swilling free-for-all in the dorms will ensue. Bill Gardner: "This isn't a situation where these residence halls become an island unto themselves and no police can ever visit there." In Oregon, the debate over private residences at a public institution hasn't become an issue. Oregon State University officials say they will continue their patrols, while University of Oregon officials in Eugene say they don't conduct regular patrols through residence halls.

Officials deny Title IX as reason for cutting wrestling (Associated Press): Federal Title IX gender equity provisions played no role in the University of Oregon's decision to cut its intercollegiate wrestling program, University athletic department officials testified Monday afternoon in Marion County Circuit Court. Their testimony countered the popularly held belief that Oregon's decision to cut its men's wrestling program was a necessary component of the decision to resurrect men's baseball.

Problems found with consumer-directed health plans (Portland Business Journal): Consumer-driven health plans, hailed since their inception in 2000 as a tool to help control costs, are actually motivating plan members to forgo care and discontinue drugs to treat chronic medical problems, according to two new studies by Oregon researchers. ... New research published in Health Affairs this week, led by two University of Oregon policy experts, found people enrolled in these plans were more likely to quit taking drugs that control high blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications than participants with more robust medical coverage.