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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2015)
“how to be leaders in the world.” The UO’s most visible outreach is via its football and athletics programs and, while the Ducks are wildly popular with some, the athletic program is controversial for many who see the school’s academics falling by the wayside. How do we raise up the UO’s academics comparably to the way its athletics has risen? According to Schill, the UO athletics program creates school spirit and keeps an alumni connection. He says that the athletics program is “self-supporting so it doesn’t drain our resources” and it “gets our name out.” He says the school will be hiring 80 to 100 new faculty members in the next four years and building its sciences, which he says tend to be expensive as faculty need labs. One controversial issue that has been linked, in some instances, with athletics is the rape allegations and allegations of mishandled sexual assault cases that have been in the news. EW asked Schill how the UO can rebuild trust in the light of those allegations. Schill points to the climate surveys conducted at the UO and across the nation, saying that while the UO is in the middle of the pack in those results, “that’s not saying it’s acceptable” and “all universities need to take action and have zero tolerance for sexual violence.” While maintaining that the UO did not do anything illegal when it accessed the counseling records of students who had made rape allegations, Schill also says that the school has moved to protect student privacy in such situations, requiring the UO to “subpoena ourselves” if there is a legal action or notify students whose re- cords it intends to review, giving them an opportunity to object. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jennifer Mor- lok, a therapist and whistleblower on the UO’s handling of the re- cords, wrote a resignation letter to Schill on Nov. 1, saying that the university had “taken no supportive actions to make sure I am safe and treated with the full professional support I need in order to do my job.” Schill says the counseling records issue “seems to be a story people can’t let go of” and expressed a desire to be “forward-look- ing, and focus on what makes us great.” Schill’s first all-campus address will be on “The UO’s Commit- ment to Access and Opportunity” at 11 am Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the EMU Ballroom on campus. — Camilla Mortensen HARVARD PROFESSOR TO SPEAK AT UO ON BLACK LIVES MATTER Charles Ogletree has a vision for the Black Lives Matter move- ment, the youth of our country and even a vision for how to change the conditions of generational poverty featured on HBO’s The Wire. Ogletree, an activist and prominent Harvard law professor, will visit Eugene on Nov. 12 to give speeches on the Black Lives Matter movement. “I want to make people understand — you can see all the galas and awards I’ve accomplished, but I’m still just a kid from Cali- fornia that had an opportunity to finish college,” he tells EW. “My mission is to make sure the next generation of young people under- stand they are the leaders and they can make a difference.” Ogletree has taught at Harvard since 1985, specializing in race >>> CONTINUED ON P. 10 If you want to stop drinking Alcoholics Anonymous can help EVI by phone 24 hours: 541-342-4113 www. eviaa.org | www.aa.org IT’S ABOUT TIME BY D AV I D WA G N E R COW PARSNIP, HERACLEUM LANATUM N ovember is the month to drain and roll up the garden hoses. It is important to take timers and other freezing sensitive equipment indoors for the winter. Be prepared to wrap the outside faucets. It wouldn’t hurt to give the plants in the yard one final, gentle feeding of fertilizer. Bird lovers will be keeping a close eye on their feeders. This time of the year there are impressive flocks of small birds, which have come down from the mountains to feed on grains. They love to congregate in yards that have water and different kinds of feed. Water gets to be very important when temperatures drop below freezing. Investing in a watering bowl that keeps the water thawed would be a great holiday gift to your feathered friends. Leaves of our broadleaf trees don’t finish falling until late November. The bigleaf maple had a good showing of bright golden orange this year. Alder leaves just turn brown and fall quickly. These fallen leaves will decompose and add their nutrients back into the soil. These recycled nutrients will, in turn, enhance the growth of leaves next spring. Different plants decompose in different ways. I like the way the Oregon ash leaves break down. By late winter their soft tissues will have disappeared completely but the fine mesh-like skeleton is preserved in minute detail. The stems of big herbs show their circulatory system as they decay. The way a leaf connects to a stem is revealed as an intricate web. David Wagner is a botanist who works in Eugene. He teaches moss classes, makes nature calendars and stud- ies liverworts. Contact him at fernzenmosses@me.com. Loving Downtown Eugene for over 20 years 128 e broadway passionfl owerdesign.com eugeneweekly.com • November 5, 2015 9
