UO E-clips, Oct. 22

Bach Festival expands its horizon (Register-Guard): The Oregon Bach Festival has never been just about Bach. Next summer will take OBF about as far afield musically as it's ever gone as the three-week festival opens with Haydn's "Creation," closes with Handel's "Messiah" and features the world premiere of a new choral setting of the "Messiah" by Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström. Executive Director John Evans announced the festival's 40th season Tuesday morning at Eugene's Hult Center, where the festival will open on June 26 with the Haydn choral work.

$1.5M grant will aid green research by OSU and UO (Daily Journal of Commerce): Oregon State University and the University of Oregon will continue their research of sustainable materials with a three-year $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to form a new Center for Green Materials Chemistry. Sponsored by the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, the center would research ways to make production and fabrication methods more sustainable by using green materials and reducing environmental impacts. One of the project's goals is to reduce toxic elements in electronic devices by using zinc or tin, which is inexpensive and nontoxic. If successful, the center could receive federal funding of up to $25 million over five years.

World Series needs an update, and he has a plan (Los Angeles Times): I'm playing hooky today, and I hate it. I'm skipping what should be the most important sports event of the year, and I'm sick about it. I'm ditching the World Series. And it's the World Series' fault. ... "The World Series feels like the end of a long line in a buffet," said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "By the time you get there, you've just about had your fill."

OHSU considers guns for its security guards (The Oregonian): OHSU's public safety officers face offenders with no weapon stronger than a Taser, university spokeswoman Liana Haywood said. But in the wake of high-profile school shootings from Thurston High School in Springfield to Virginia Tech, OHSU is considering giving guns to its security officers. School officials want to know the public's thoughts on that proposal. ... In Oregon, state law prevents university security forces from carrying guns, Haywood said. So some universities, including the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, contract with police forces to provide armed security, she said.

Why Women Get More Cavities (ScienceNOW Daily News): The old wives' tale that a woman loses one tooth for every child she delivers may, in fact, contain a grain of truth. A new study has found that women have had worse dental health than men ever since our ancestors became farmers about 10,000 years ago. ... The shift to farming also set in motion other important biological changes, notes biological anthropologist John Lukacs of the University of Oregon in Eugene. Lukacs did a meta-analysis of studies of tooth decay in 147 collections of tens of thousands of teeth from prehistoric and living humans that lived around the world from 12,000 years ago to 800 years ago. He confirmed that women consistently had more cavities than men when they lived in agricultural societies. He also documented a rise in fertility among women, perhaps in part because they were less nomadic and didn't have to carry children from place to place.