UO E-clips, Nov. 22-26
Top stories for November 22-26, 2007: UO professor Anita Weiss is quoted in a Washington Post story on the return of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif into Pakistan; The UO's Linda A. Kizer-Paquette, an assistant registrar, is interviewed for part of the coverage by the Chronicle of Higher Education on political campaigning now reaching onto U.S. college campuses; UO settles with former employee in a whistle-blowing dispute, reports the Oregon Daily Emerald; A green light has been given on the park for Eugene’s densely populated West University Neighborhood, reports the Register-Guard
Opposition leader Sharif returns to Pakistan (Washington Post): Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan late Sunday, greeted by crowds of frenzied supporters after seven years in exile. His arrival injects a new element of complexity into the country's chaotic political scene and presents a powerful challenge to the military president who deposed him. Sharif had attempted to return in September but was forced to leave the country without stepping off his plane. This time, his homecoming received the reluctant acquiescence of President Pervez Musharraf. … "Obviously, it's huge," University of Oregon professor Anita Weiss said of Sharif's return. Weiss, who has written several books on Pakistan, said many Pakistanis see in Sharif "a mature, elder" -- she paused for emphasis -- "male statesman."
Political campaigns get personal with students (Chronicle of Higher Education): Credit-card companies, apartment complexes, you name it. College students are constantly barraged with unsolicited advertisements. But on Election Day in 2006, some students at the University of Texas at Austin were prodded by startlingly personal calls: "Today someone our age is going to die in Iraq. Today you will also walk or drive by your precinct polling location at least twice on the way to and from class. If you choose not to vote, their blood may as well be on your hands." … "This is not a business we want to be in, but we've been advised that it's something that we are supposed to do," says Linda A. Kizer-Paquette, an assistant registrar at the University of Oregon. The university has received several requests for students' phone numbers in the past few years, mostly from local political campaigns.
University settles with Stockard for $500,000 (Daily Emerald): The University settled a lawsuit last week with the former head of the Planning, Public Policy and Management Department for $500,000. Jean Stockard sued the University in June 2006 after she says she was forced to resign for blowing the whistle on a first-year program in the Institute for Policy Research and Innovation. Administrators continue to deny any wrongdoing, but Stockard's attorney, Craig Crispin, said the University's half a million dollar payment - which will net Stockard close to $600,000 because of interest - is an "objective demonstration that Dr. Stockard was wronged by the administration." The settlement avoids a trial that was set to begin on Tuesday in which Stockard sought at least $1 million. Stockard's resignation in February 2006 came months after she first raised concerns that an experimental program in IPRI that recruited students from around the globe was unfairly charging the scholars for services they never received.
Park gets green light after being stalled for years (Register-Guard): After 12 years of wishing they still had a park of their own, residents of Eugene’s densely populated West University Neighborhood should be able to feel the grass between their toes or sit and sip their lattés on the brand new café plaza this summer. Eventually, they’ll also be able to sink putts on a disc-golf green, shoot a few hoops at the basketball plaza and watch little children cavort on a compact playground. … Neighborhood volunteers and a team from the University of Oregon’s planning, architecture and landscape architecture departments all worked on redesigning the park, he said.
