UO E-clips, May 2

Costner, band may play Eugene benefit concert (Register-Guard): Kevin Costner’s contributions to baseball have been mostly limited to the big screen, but the actor who starred in the movie “Bull Durham” may be coming to Eugene to lend his musical talents to the University of Oregon’s burgeoning baseball program. Athletic department spokesman Joe Giansante confirmed Thursday that the department was working to produce a concert featuring performances by Costner and his country-inflected rock band Modern West. Costner and UO baseball coach George Horton are longtime friends.

LTD will be sole shuttle provider for marathon, Trials (Register-Guard): Lane Transit District is back in the shuttle service business — the sole provider for both the Eugene Marathon on Sunday and the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials this summer. As expected, the Federal Transit Administration on Wednesday granted a waiver allowing LTD to provide shuttle service to the 10-day Trials that begin June 27 at Hayward Field. Trials officials and others had predicted a logistical nightmare if LTD were denied the job it had been planning to do for more than two years.

The saga of Holy Cow shows we’re all connected (Register-Guard, guest viewpoint): Do you ever get strange songs stuck in your head? It happens to me often when I wash dishes at the Holy Cow Cafe. Usually I can trace the songs back to where I last heard them. But I have no idea where that “Dem Dry Bones” song came from that haunted me at the dish pit on Tuesday, after the wonderful news broke that our owners and the Erb Memorial Union had signed a new five-year lease agreement to keep the Holy Cow on the University of Oregon campus.

Art museum names new executive director (Oregon Daily Emerald): The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art officially named a new executive director Thursday after searching for more than a year to fill the position. Jill Hartz, the former director of the University of Virginia Art Museum for 10 years, will begin full time at the University in August, she said. Interim Director Robert Melnick, who has held the position since January 2007, said Hartz stood out to the University search committee because of her commitment and experience in working both with University and outside community members on and off campus.

Schnitzer Museum selects new director (Register-Guard): Leaderless for more than a year, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon will have a new executive director by the end of the summer. Jill Hartz, who has been director of the University of Virginia Museum of Art in Charlottesville, Va., for 10 years, has accepted the top job at the Schnitzer and will begin work sometime in August. She replaces David Turner, who was forced out in December 2006 under pressure from donors who felt that the newly remodeled museum, under his direction, wasn’t serving the broader Eugene community but was concentrating too much on its academic mission.

Second review for International Affairs released (Oregon Daily Emerald): Lorraine Davis' second review regarding the Office of International Affairs revealed several serious structural issues and resulted in Vice Provost for International Affairs and Outreach Chunsheng Zhang's transfer to Johnson Hall, where he will serve as special assistant to the president and provost for international affairs. This is the second of two reports Provost Linda Brady requested from Davis. It addressed the overall management of International Affairs, including goal-setting and performance, staff development, financial management and communication.