UO E-clips, May 28

Whatchu talkin' bout (GreatReporter.com -- a web site devoted to new journalism): A new wave of slang collectors are trying to keep up with language as it evolves. As an Oregon high schooler might say: dankidy! A few months ago David Turnbull, 37, of Portland, Ore., used the term "California car pool" in an online exchange with a colleague, who didn't know what he meant… Dr. Eric Pederson, head of the linguistics department at the University of Oregon, notes that such byplay is to be expected. "Slang is there for a purpose," he said. "It's there to talk about stuff that is very, very important to your speech community."

UO students fuel rental boom (Register- Guard): While the pace of residential construction is generally sluggish this spring, the neighborhood on the University of Oregon's west flank is undergoing rapid gentrification block by block by block. In the 400, 500 and 600 blocks of East 14th Avenue, for example, developers are squeezing shiny new seven- or nine-unit apartment buildings onto generous old home lots. Over the last three years, the 10-block area next to campus saw $30 million to $40 million worth of new construction, said Terry Shockley, whose property management company leases much of the new construction to students.

'Track Town USA' art exhibit (KVAL News 13): In honor of the sports that have made Eugene famous, the Maude Kerns Art Center is pleased to present "Track Town USA," opening on Friday, May 30, with a reception from 6 – 8 p.m. The exhibit is on display through July 11. The exhibit coincides with the Olympic Team Trials in Eugene at historic Hayward Field, only a few blocks from the Art Center. "Track Town USA" features the work of 11 artists juried from a national call.

Supporters sing praises of saving Civic (Register-Guard): Serenading the Eugene City Council with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," supporters of Civic Stadium on Tuesday asked city leaders to help them save the historic ballpark. Nine people urged councilors to back their efforts to preserve the 70-year old stadium in south Eugene, at 20th Avenue and Willamette Street. The stadium's future is in doubt because its owner, the Eugene School District, has no long-term use for the property, and its main tenant, the Eugene Emeralds minor league baseball team, apparently is ready to move to the University of Oregon's yet-to-be built ballpark next to Autzen Stadium.

McCain due global warming credit (Register-Guard, opinion piece by Bob Doppelt, UO director of resource innovations): It took a Republican president, Richard Nixon, to go to China. Perhaps Republican presidential candidate John McCain's proclamation in Portland that global warming is real and urgent will similarly overcome the right-left divide and make it acceptable for everyone to embrace the need to solve the climate crisis. To be sure, McCain's announcement likely had as much to do with his desire to lure independents and moderate Oregon Democrats as it did with global warming. But I'm convinced this is more than just a campaign ploy. With Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., McCain introduced the first global warming legislation back in 2003. He knows this is an extremely serious problem.