UO E-clips, Nov. 13

University of Oregon sports arena approved for permit, with conditions (Daily Journal of Commerce): The University of Oregon has been conditionally approved by the city of Eugene hearings official for a Conditional Use Permit application to build its new sports arena. The decision recognizes the Arena Impact Mitigation Agreement, which was recently signed by the university, the city of Eugene and the Fairmount Neighbors Association. The mitigation agreement provides a set of measures to lessen traffic impacts, parking and litter associated with the new arena. It requires the university to provide a specific number of off-street parking spaces, park-and-ride spaces and bicycle parking spaces, and physical improvements to streets near the arena. It also creates a new Fairmount Neighbors Event Parking District. Sixteen additional conditions were named by the hearings official, and addressed issues such as lighting, landscaping and pedestrian access. The decision will be effective as of Nov. 20 if it is not appealed to the Planning Commission. The university can then proceed with submitting building permits for the construction of the arena.

Is STD tracking website going too far? (KVAL News 13): What if a private moment suddenly became very public? That's the point of a new website that exposes those who have allegedly been exposed to uncurable STI's like Herpes, Hepatitis C, HIV, and AIDS. Here's how it works. Anyone can post a name and picture of someone they claim is infected. Some names you may recognize, like Magic Johnson. Johnson has been openly HIV positive for years. ... Sullivan says the point of the website is to alert people of those who could be carriers and to prevent STI's from spreading. But despite Sullivan's good intentions, Dr. Ben Douglas, The Medical Director at the University of Oregon Health Center say this website is a bad idea.

Police issue advisory after string of campus area attacks on women (Register-Guard): A series of frightening encounters on and around the University of Oregon campus have prompted police to advise people to be on guard when walking in the area, especially at night. In separate campus area incidents last weekend, two women reported being attacked by a man they did not know, police said. A woman told Eugene police officers she was walking in the southeast campus area about 3 a.m. Saturday when a man approached her and struck up a conversation. The man then grabbed her and threatened her with an unknown-type weapon, police said. She was able to free herself and get away.

Sustaining Oregon's place as a sustainability leader (OPB News): Oregon has been in the sustainability game for years. Its reputation is solid enough, in fact, that Oregon leaders managed to throw together a four-day sustainability summit on short notice. Not only that, people from thousands of miles away showed up to participate. In a promotional video, participants spoke in glowing terms of Oregon's "green" efforts. Voice from video: "I've come from Europe, so it was worth coming. I wish I could stay longer...." But Oregon leaders don't want to sit on their laurels. ... But even if the answer is "yes," the bigger question may be, how does Oregon keep that advantage? That's the question bothering Brook Muller and his colleagues at the architecture school at the University of Oregon.

IKEA displays furniture created by UO students (KVAL News 13): It's not the IKEA brand, but the Swedish furniture giant is proudly displaying furniture designed by University of Oregon students. It's not the IKEA brand, but it's very much the IKEA spirit. The graduate and undergraduate students modeled their furniture on IKEA principals: simplicity, multifunction and affordability. Each student modeled their piece of furniture after an item in the store's catalog. Assistant Professor Esther Hagenlocher got the idea when she first arrived in Portland from Germany. "I drove down to Eugene and saw the big blue box and I was like IKEA is here," said Hagenlocher. "And I was very happy about it." Now the IKEA store in Portland is displaying the pieces of furniture next to the IKEA item that inspired it.