Since I teach Econ honors students how to write these, I keep a file of good and bad examples. This is a great one. From the NYT, quoting Portland economist Robert McCullough from his report on the 2018 Camp Fire: “PG&E’s behavior was unforgivable and totally unnecessary,” said Robert McCullough,…
Posts published by “uomatters”
Dear Colleagues, The Faculty Club is open during the usual hours this week (Wednesday and Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00). Wednesday, Provost Patrick Phillips will be on hand to chat informally with faculty and to deliver the Six-o-Clock Toast. If you’ve known him for years, it’ll be a fine time…
That would be a replacement for Provost Jim Bean of Northeastern. Bean was formerly UO B-school dean, then interim provost under Lariviere. He left UO after Rob Kyr and the UO Senate made it clear we would not accept him as UO President. The students abandoned him after a timely…
When I go to Great Britain to give a talk and the Queen’s immigration officers find out I’m a professor, they give me a skeptical look, then stamp my passport with a prohibition against recourse to public funds: But when Niels De Vos wanted a US visa to work in…
Thanks to a loyal reader for the link: Members of the union—Academic Researchers United (ARU)—ratified the 3-year deal in a 2450-to-53 vote on 8 November. The contract guarantees: Salary increases of up to 24% over the duration of the contract Eligibility to participate in the same benefits and retirement programs as other…
I know I’ve posted some unkind things about the UO BoT, and they can expect more to come, e.g. about the IAAF 2021 championships. But things could be worse. We could have a board that decided to donate $2.5M in university money to a neo-confederate group, so they could build…
The RG’s Adam Duvernay has the interesting story here. If you’re using these data for a consulting report on the economic impact of Duck football, or to forecast the impact of the IAAF 2021 championships, don’t make the mistake of assuming that this money will stay in Eugene. Rational utility-maximizing…
Compare FLOTUS Melania Trump’s response to student protests during her recent speech in Baltimore, to UO President Mike Schill’s response to student protests during his 2017 State of the University address in the EMU: Trump’s response on Tuesday, from the RG: Melania Trump defends rights of Baltimore teens to boo…
FSU has fired Coach Taggart, and apparently he expected to get a $17M buyout. But as the Tampa Bay Times reports, apparently FSU and Taggart never actually got around to signing a contract: When this happened at UO with Mike Bellotti, President Lariviere fired Melinda Grier, the general counsel that…
From InsideHigherEd, here: December’s Notices of the American Mathematical Society contains a surprising column on Page 4, given that mathematicians have not been on the front lines of debates about diversity and campus speech. The column, by Abigail Thompson, chair of math at the University of California, Davis, and one of the society’s vice presidents, says…
Here. I don’t know or really care much about the details of this particular claim or under what sort of pressure this reporter’s apology was made, but I will say, and I think I can prove to the satisfaction of 12 reasonable persons, that Rob Mullens was dishonest to me…
This sort of plain-spoken statement seems to becoming a more common response to complaints about faculty who express themselves offensively, and my understanding is that this is now the recommended course of action by the AAU, as it has been by the AAUP since McCarthyism if not earlier. In my…
Dear Colleagues, During recent remarks to the University Senate, President Mike Schill alerted the campus to yet another potential budget crisis. He identified four reasons for his concern about budget “fragility:” the ongoing difficulties with PERS funding, the decrease in international students, low reserves, and the loss of “flexibility” due…
Back of the envelope I’m guessing Pres Schill has let his GC Kevin Read pay Barran and Liebman $300K in tuition money fighting this gender discrimination lawsuit against himself and other UO administrators, with plenty more billable hours to come at $300 per. [Kevin, if I’ve got that wrong please…
Thanks to a reader for the latest link, from Willamette Week’s Aaron Mesh. It’s a very long story, mostly about Alberto Salazar and Mary Cain. Here’s the UO part: Welcome to Nike Town Track scandals arrive just as Oregon takes the world stage. The allegation that Nike abused runners comes…