UO E-clips, June 26

Track Town U.S.A. is back (The Oregonian): As it prepares to stage its first U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 28 years, Eugene seems to be channeling some of the fearless spirit of the legendary Steve Prefontaine. The 10-day event will be much more than a track meet. It's going to be an exuberant victory lap -- brash, cocksure and ferociously competitive, just like Prefontaine, the great Oregon runner who died in a 1975 car wreck just hours after winning his last race at Hayward Field. It was Prefontaine who helped turn the historic University of Oregon venue into the Carnegie Hall of track and field. Hayward was the site of groundbreaking U.S. Olympic trials in 1972, 1976 and 1980 before losing a little of its luster as the best place in the nation for competitive runners, jumpers and throwers.

A vision realized: Track and field utopia (Register-Guard): Before the 2008 outdoor track season had even started, when the cold winter rains were making life miserable for anybody who ventured outside, University of Oregon director of track and field Vin Lananna had something to say to one of his young middle-distance runners. “He told me,” sophomore Andrew Wheating said, “that I should consider looking into the Olympic Trials. I thought he was off his rocker.” Remember this: Wheating was a relative unknown at the time.

UO seeks to overturn city’s requirement for arena site (Register-Guard): The University of Oregon is contesting the city of Eugene decision that requires the UO to get a conditional use permit to build its new basketball arena. But the UO says it will not try to avoid the permit requirement. Rather, the university said it is appealing the requirement in hopes of overturning a precedent that could limit its ability to develop other property it owns near the arena site. University officials say they will seek a ruling from the state Land Use Board of Appeals overturning the local hearings official who said the conditional use permit is required. Getting the conditional permit adds an extra step that could delay the start of arena construction and probably require the UO to take additional measures to alleviate any neighborhood problems the arena might cause.

Soul, not sales, gives Trials a special feel (Register-Guard): Olympic Trials IV in Eugene should be better than ever. Hayward Field is better than ever. University of Oregon athletics, with all that glitz and gumption, are better than ever. Nike money is more than ever. The place is sold out. Future mega meets are assured. Perfect. Maybe. Maybe it is because I lived through the first three Olympic Trials at Hayward Field, when it was rustic and still smacked of long-ago football games, and you’d worry more about whether the urinal in the men’s room worked than the digital scoreboard.

Heat may be a trial at weekend events (Register-Guard): The big thermostat in the sky is forecast to be cranked up high this weekend -- and spectators and athletes at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials will be sweating the details of how to handle the unusual heat. On Friday, the opening day of activities, the mercury could reach 91 degrees, while temperatures could climb to 95 on Saturday and 94 on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Portland. AccuWeather.com, meanwhile, predicts highs during those three days of between 85 and 90 degrees. Either way, the temperatures easily will exceed the highs in the upper 70stypically seen this time of year.

To lower oil price, boost the buck? (Christian Science Monitor): For six years, the world has witnessed an intriguing phenomenon: Oil prices have soared as the US dollar has declined in value. Now some economists say the simplest way to ease oil prices in the short term is to boost the value of the greenback … "The more that people doubt the Federal Reserve's willingness to reverse this policy course they've chosen, the higher oil prices rise," says Tim Duy, an economist at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Bach on Track: Fest changes tune (KVAL News 13): Track and field meets Johann Sebastian Bach in just a few days in Eugene. As track fans fill Hayward Field, thousands of classical music lovers will be tuning in for the Oregon Bach Festival. But is there enough interest to go around? A little creative scheduling goes a long way. The Bach Festival is used to having the local stage all to its own in late June. However, instead of a discord between track and music, Bach Festival organizers think the two will go hand in hand.