UO E-clips, March 1-3

UO to award honorary degrees to Japanese-American students (Register-Guard): Alice Yoshie Kawasaki Sumida still remembers the excitement of leaving her home in Portland and enrolling as a freshman at the University of Oregon. But Sumida never completed her freshman year. In the wake of Executive Order 9066, she instead joined the rest of her family at a temporary relocation camp in north Portland before being sent to a wartime internment camp in Idaho. Sumida was one of at least 19 Japanese-American students at the UO forced to cut their educations short in 1942 because of the presidential edict ordering Japanese-Americans to leave the West Coast. Sumida, who turns 85 this month, remembers sadness more than bitterness at having to drop out of the UO.

Alternative school serves wide range of needs (Register-Guard guest viewpoint by David Sokoloff, UO physics professor): Eastside Elementary School is one of the Eugene School District’s finest schools and has been a cornerstone of its school choice system for more than 35 years. The skill and devotion of its teaching staff, coupled with its distinctive teaching strategies and a strong role for parents, offer an important alternative learning option to all children in Eugene. As the school board considers options for the schools in south Eugene, it is important to understand the arguments for maintaining Eastside as an independent alternative school.

The Olympic Trials: Construction (Oregon Daily Emerald): If history is to repeat itself, then Hayward Field should host more close finishes with fans creating deafening noise when the stadium hosts the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials this summer. Renovations to the historic track and field stadium aim to make these moments more memorable. University track and field officials have orchestrated remodeling projects in the stadium since 2006 in preparation for the Olympic Trials that will be held at Hayward Field from June 27 to July 6. Significant upgrades include a grass infield, a video scoreboard and new lighting. The stadium's capacity will be expanded from 10,500 to about 16,000 thanks to temporary bleachers lining the track.

Greenhouse grows to completion (Register-Guard): It seemed fitting that a greenhouse was the first mark of a project that will only grow. The small outbuilding at Northwest Youth Corps, built with sustainability in mind, will germinate seeds for years to come. The University of Oregon architecture students who designed and built the seedling house are cultivating more work. More than a year ago, the small band of students formed Design Bridge, a volunteer program serving groups that cannot afford professional design services. The new building unveiled Sunday was the first the group had completed.

County could study renewable energy plant (Register-Guard): Lane County has money to study the building of a renewable energy plant, and the county board could decide later this month whether to pursue the project. The state has given the county $50,000 to study whether to build an “anaerobic digestion facility,” which would process food waste and other matter to make energy, said Mike McKenzie-Bahr, community and economic development coordinator. … Research suggests there’s plenty of food waste for such a plant. A 2007 study found that large, nonresidential facilities in the Eugene-Springfield area produce more than 17,000 tons of food waste annually -- enough to generate 1.2 megawatts of electricity, said Marcus Kauffman, of the University of Oregon’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment.

Mediator brings healing message (Register-Guard): The most profound lessons of forgiveness often come from those who are most deeply wounded. This was the message at a lecture presented in Eugene on Saturday by a man involved in mediation between killers and the surviving family members of their victims. Mark Umbreit, founding director of the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota, School of Social Work, spoke at “Realms of Forgiveness,” a conference co-sponsored by the University of Oregon’s master’s degree program in Conflict and Dispute Resolution, and the Community Mediation Services of Eugene.

UO teaches kids to get mad about science -- KVAL.com (News article follows in its entirety) (University of Oregon graduate students and professors shared their knowledge today with budding scientists. The Science Factory kicked off March with a visit from U of O scientists. They were on-hand to teach kids about zebra fish, what smoking can do to the lungs and how to use an electron microscope. One experiment put on by the department of physiology put the kids to the test, showing them how hard it would be to ride a bike if they smoked. Ten-year-old Izsak Neill couldn't wait to get home to tell his parents everything he learned. "It takes about two months for a zebra fish to grow and it would be hard to breath if your lungs are contaminated," said Neill. The U of O is one of the worlds leaders in zebra fish gene research.)

Arena faces more hurdles (Register-Guard): The Legislature’s approval of $200 million in bonds has given the University of Oregon some certainty that it will be able to build its new basketball arena, but whether the work can start as soon as this summer -- which is the UO’s goal -- remains a question. The UO has said it wants to begin construction this year and wrap up in time for the start of basketball in November 2010. But the UO must complete a number of complicated steps for that to happen, and even a minor glitch could reverberate through the schedule.