UO E-clips, Nov. 10-12

No sign of missing Oregon professor (AP): There's still no sign of a missing University of Oregon mathematics professor. Authorities now have to decide if it is a recovery operation for 63-year-old Daming Xu (Da Ming Shoo). The professor left for a solo day hike on Olallie Mountain near Cougar Reservoir Sunday, November fourth. Scores of searchers have looked for him without success. The area received about a half inch of snow Saturday night, making conditions hazardous for crews. Xu is believed to have started his hike without warm clothing, food, water or a cell phone. Crews will continue a ground search today.

UO can be better at being green (Daily Emerald): editorial -- The University of Oregon deserves praise for recently earning a 'B-' from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The grade was the average of ratings given across eight categories that assessed the University's overall efforts to become more "green." Most of us can think of specific ways that the University's efforts to promote a more sustainable existence. One of the "green" aspects of the University that draws the most praise and attention is the Lillis Business Complex, a building that actually helped the University earn an "A" in the "green building" category.

Dirty jobs: UO professor researches burrowers (Daily Emerald): For Samantha Hopkins, holes in the ground are more than something to trip over. They represent the Robert D. Clark Honors College geology assistant professor's ongoing research. The holes - and the animals digging them - can be quite telling. Hopkins studies the evolution of ecology in mammals. She is currently researching how some mammals, including moles and mole rats, have evolved to become specialized burrowers. She wants to know how and why they dig. Hopkins presented her findings so far in a speech at the annual Geological Society of America meeting last month in Colorado.

Urban renewal plans still on the table (Daily Emerald): In less than a year, downtown Eugene will be a center of activity full of tourists, customers, families and media personnel. Only it won't happen because the Eugene City Council and developers worked together to revitalize the area, but because the U.S. Olympic Trials - and the 13,000 spectators the event is expected to bring - will be here in June 2008. With the recent failure of the downtown urban renewal ballot measure, and a rejection by the council of a smaller-scale plan posed about a year ago, city officials are uncertain of just how much work can be done in time to give the blighted West Broadway area a facelift before the summer.

Back from war, four struggle to find peace at home (Register-Guard): Eric Mongan is about to graduate from the University of Oregon, and he credits a residential treatment program for post-traumatic stress disorder with saving his life. Danny Miller is entering the same treatment program this week after seeing its effect on his buddy, Mongan. … He credits a UO graduate teaching fellow with directing him to the school’s disability services office, which helped him work around his PTSD. The office taught him how to notify professors that he had a medical condition requiring flexible attendance and due date policies, as well as taking exams in a private room.

Deep drilling for "Black Smoker" clues (Astrobiology Magazine): A project to learn more about extracting energy from hot rocks on land should give clues about "black smokers," hydrothermal vents that belch superheated water and minerals deep below the ocean. As part of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project, researchers from UC Davis, UC Riverside, Stanford University and the University of Oregon (Mark Reed, geology) plan to sink a deep borehole into a site on land where seawater circulates through deep, hot rock. Most such sites on land have circulating fresh water, with very different chemistry.