UO E-clips, Oct. 29

UO guidebook touts use of wood boilers (Daily Journal of Commerce): A new guidebook produced by the Institute for a Sustainable Environment at the University of Oregon promotes the use of wood to heat large buildings amid skyrocketing prices of fossil fuels. The guidebook, "Wood Heat Solutions: A Community Guide to Biomass Thermal Projects," was produced by Resource Innovations, a program within the ISE. According to the book, woody biomass is a renewable resource in that it is carbon-neutral and available locally. When wood is converted into wood chips or pellets and burned in a boiler, the book says that it can be economically beneficial for heating. The book also cites wildfire risk reduction, cost savings and low emissions as benefits of heating with wood. Enterprise High School in Wallowa County recently became the first school in the state in over 50 years to use wood heating, and reported savings of $112,000 from replacing an oil boiler with a woodchip boiler. Similarly, the Harney County District Hospital in Burns has saved $50,000 in the last year by using a wood-pellet boiler.

Judge rejects UO wrestling claims (Register-Guard): A state judge has upheld the University of Oregon's decision to scuttle its wrestling program, ruling that the UO did not break any rules or deny anyone's rights by terminating the sport. Marion County Circuit Judge Lynn Ashcroft found in favor of the UO on all substantive issues raised in a lawsuit filed by wrestling supporters. Ashcroft said he sympathized with the plight of athletes whose careers were cut short by the decision but said the university has the right to determine which programs best fulfill its mission.

Remembering to put quality into health care (The Oregonian): Consumers, it's become fashionable to say, need to take more responsibility for their health before the country can solve its health-care mess. Judith Hibbard, a health policy professor at the University of Oregon, has became a leading expert on the evolving role of the medical consumer. On Friday, she speaks in Washington, D.C., in a national conference sponsored by the Center for American Progress and the Institute on Medicine as a Profession. Her topic: "Health Care Quality and the Delivery System: The Forgotten Issue." We quizzed Hibbard about quality and consumerism in health care.

PK Park design plans -- KEZI News 9: Drive by Autzen Stadium and you can't miss the construction happening right next door. Crews are working feverishly to get the University of Oregon's baseball park finished in time for the team to practice on February 2, 2009. (Video)