UO E-clips, March 14
Top stories for March 14, 2008: Oregon's Supreme Court reinstates a verdict in a case involving abuse of an Explorer Scout and timing of a lawsuit, and a UO law professor tells The Oregonian that the final outcome will benefit people who sue the government; the Los Angeles Times looks at an enthusiastic 10-year-old baseball player in China, quoting the UO's Paul Swangard about how the hopes of big-league ball in China is "kind of like a land grab" similar to the gold rush; UO business professor Phillip Romero addresses immigration in an opinion piece in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram; and Florida seeks Oregon's advice on how to hold vote by mail, with the Palm Beach Post quoting UO political scientist Priscilla Southwell
High court reinstates abuse verdict (The Oregonian): The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated a $245,000 verdict against The Dalles and a former police officer accused of molesting an Explorer Scout. The decision overturned the Court of Appeals, which ruled that the plaintiff had waited too long to file his lawsuit. ... Caroline Forell, a professor at the University of Oregon Law School, said the two cases had different legal issues, but both will benefit people who sue the government.
A major league push in China (Los Angeles Times): Leadoff batter Peng Zixuan has been playing baseball all of four months, and his stance is a bit wobbly. But after a few swings, he smacks an infield single past the mound and eventually rounds the bases to score the first run of the game. Zixuan is more than an enthusiastic 10-year-old. He embodies the hope and future of Major League Baseball in China, which is holding its first games here this weekend, between the Dodgers and the Padres. Zixuan and his teammates plan on attending. ... It's kind of a land grab now that harkens back to the gold rush," said Paul Swangard, head of the University of Oregon's sports marketing center.
That policy vacuum will be filled (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, opinion piece by UO Business professor Phillip Romero): As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum. On immigration policy, for most of the last 20 years -- since the last immigration "reform" act was passed in Congress in 1986 -- a vacuum is about all that has emanated from Washington. So states are attempting what the feds won't do. The illegal immigrant problem that was first placed on the national radar by California in the early 1990s has expanded beyond a handful of border states to almost every state, with only vacuous statements from our national "leaders."
Florida seeks Oregon's advice on how to hold vote by mail ( Palm Beach Post): For an idea of how a Florida revote by mail might work, the Sunshine State is looking west. Florida Democrats have been consulting with Oregon officials this week on how the vote is conducted there, said Scott Moore, spokesman for the Oregon secretary of state. ... In a 2003 survey by the University of Oregon, about 80 percent of voters said they preferred voting by mail. Almost one-third said they voted more regularly with the vote-by-mail system. "It's still extremely popular," said Priscilla Southwell, the political science professor who conducted the survey.