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E-clips, Oct. 6-8
Top stories for Oct. 6-8, 2007: The UO is out of options regarding funding, President Dave Frohnmayer said Friday, with coverage from the Register-Guard and Associated Press; Salem's Statesman Journal features the archaeological work of John S. Craig, who recently worked with the UO's Julie Schablitsky and Thomas Connolly at the boyhood home of American naval hero John Paul Jones in Scotland; An archaeological dig at a highway construction project in Oregon has unearthed signs of native life as far back as 1,500 years ago, according to an Associated Press report.
UO says its out of options -- Two Reports:
A) Register-Guard: If Oregon won’t provide the kind of funding other states provide to their flagship universities, then the University of Oregon should at least be granted the freedom to boost tuition, leverage more student aid, borrow construction dollars and otherwise operate more like an independent institution. That was UO President Dave Frohnmayer's message Friday to the state Board of Higher Education. The bottom line in his board presentation was that the UO's future survival as a high-quality research, graduate and professional education institution relied on either higher state funding or greater autonomy. Frohnmayer allowed that some mix of the two would be beneficial.
B) Associated Press: Frohnmayer says the state needs to increase funding for higher education or tuition increases and more financial independence will be needed to help maintain quality and remain competitive. Frohnmayer warned the state Board of Higher Education on Friday that the university will drop from the ranks of the nation's premier public universities unless funding is improved. He said the university ranked last in state support when compared to five other public universities designated as their state's "flagship" campuses. Frohnmayer said the university has done all it can with other options over the years: squeezing operations, neglecting repair needs, boosting student fees and tuition, and trying to rely on the "quality of life" pitch to recruit and retain top-notch faculty instead of offering competitive salaries.
Digging in the dirt reveals artifacts of fascinating past (Statesman Journal): John S. Craig digs history. He first got his hands dirty at Little Big Horn, in the 1980s, during the first full-scale archaeology investigation of a battlefield. A newspaper article mentioned that volunteers might be needed at the historic southeastern Montana site, where General Custer made his last stand, and that's all the incentive Craig needed. He fired off a letter the next day, even though he had no experience. "I did live close by, I did have a metal detector, and I was one of the first to respond," Craig said. And so his passion for the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains was unearthed. "I've never had a class in archaeology," said Craig, who lives in South Salem. "But over 25 years, I've learned a lot." He recently ventured to Scotland with a prestigious 10-person team to dig at the boyhood home of John Paul Jones, who many consider the father of the United States Navy. Craig rubbed trowels with Ph.D.s such as Julie Schablitsky and Thomas Connolly, who have connections to the University of Oregon.
Oregon tribes sift for history in road project (Associated Press) Some clues to ancient life may emerge from the careful excavation of an American Indian site that could be paved over when highway crews begin construction on a safety improvement project. The last day of the four-week archaeological dig by University of Oregon researchers and tribal members was Friday. Testing of artifacts from the site indicate that people lived there as far back as 1,500 years ago. One portion of the site has primarily prehistoric significance while another portion is the location of potential homes built on top of prehistoric remains, said Pat OGrady, staff archaeologist.