The focus of the meeting was the new “Responsible Reporting Policy”. There was lots of interesting debate, some amendments, and a decision to hold an additional Senate meeting next Wednesday the 18th to continue working on this policy. DRAFT Senate Meeting Agenda – May 11, 2016 2015-2016, Agendas, Watch Live, University Senate Blog Browsing…
Posts published in “Uncategorized”
Jack Moran has the story in the RG here:
The University of Oregon has accepted a $242,000 settlement deal to end a legal dispute over bonuses the UO paid to then-head football coach Chip Kelly and his staff for the 2012-13 season.
“The university is glad we were able to reach a settlement agreement and now we are looking forward to the upcoming season,” UO spokesman Tobin Klinger said.
The university had paid a nearly $490,000 premium for an insurance policy the UO says it thought would cover all incentive bonuses Kelly and his assistants earned in the 2012-13 season.
After the highly successful season, the UO paid out bonuses totaling nearly $688,000 and sought reimbursement under its policy. The insurer refused.
Financially, it appears the university would have been better off not buying the insurance at all, as the lawsuit settlement doesn’t even cover the cost of the premium the UO paid. …
Duck Associate Athletic Director Eric Roedl, who agreed to this $490,000 contract without understanding it, has been fired:
Just kidding, Rob Mullens gave him another raise:
So how much did HLGR bill UO for settling this case for 50¢ on the dollar? I don’t know, but judging by the long docket below, they probably did OK at ~$300 per. Here’s hoping PURMIT picked up their tab:
Case details
| Court: | ord |
| Docket #: | 6:15-cv-00260 |
| Case Name: | University of Oregon v. Drummer et al |
| PACER case #: | 120541 |
| Date filed: | 2015-02-13 |
| Assigned to: | Judge Ann L. Aiken |
| Case Cause: | 28:1332 Diversity-Insurance Contract |
| Nature of Suit: | 110 Insurance |
| Jury Demand: | Both |
| Jurisdiction: | Diversity |
Parties
Associate Brett Applegate has left HLGR’s Portland office for Larkins Vacura LLC, who famously took the case of the 1930 Pendleton Roundup Queen’s dress to the Oregon Supreme Court, and won: That does sound like more fun than helping Bill Gary and Sharon Rudnick defend Philip Morris from another lawsuit, from the family of another dead cigarette addict.
Monday May 9th, 4:30-6:00PM, Room 141 in the UO Journalism School.
Live-blog: Usual disclaimer – my opinion of the gist of what people said. Nothing is quote unless in quotes.
David Force – newspaperman back in 1973 when this law was passed. The Oregon DOJ was once the ally of transparency. Now the DOJ is on the side of state agencies trying to hide records. It would be more accurate to call this the “Oregon Public Official Secrets Act”. Calls for an independent advocate outside the DOJ, and taking control away from the DOJ and the County DAs. Gives the RG’s long fight to get the Seneca contract from EWEB as an example. It’s not just the exemptions, it’s the conflict of interest between the DOJ and the agencies trying to hide records.
Dave Bahr – local attorney working for clients trying to get records from Feds and various state records. On National Archives transparency committee.
Many people nationally are advocating for eliminating all fees. These are effectively used to block the public’s right of access, but are a trivial part of the budgets of the agencies. The DOJ makes it too easy for state agencies to do this.
Similarly with delays. Washington state allows 5 days – and fines if agencies don’t respond.
Also brings up the point that, under Oregon law, requestors who get the AG or the DA to issue a PR Order can then be sued by the agency. No other state allows this.
Bill Harbaugh – Argues that AG Ellen Rosenblum can and should use the DOJ’s Public Records Orders process to promote transparency, by putting agencies on notice that the AG will not tolerate use of fees and delays. Asks why she is not doing this.
Here are a few resources:
Oregon DOJ:
The Oregon DOJ’s Public Records and Meetings law website.
You can get all the AG’s PR Orders (updated quarterly) from the Oregon Law Library, by following this link: http://cdm17027.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p17027coll2. It’s a pretty clunky interface, and it’s not indexed by google, or even linked to from the DOJ website, but you can search by full text, etc. (Petitions to require local agencies to comply with the law go to the county DAs. Multnomah county has posted all their DA’s PR Orders online. I don’t think any other counties do.)
2008 AG’s Public Records and Meeting Manual. Former AG John Kroger didn’t want it on the web. I posted it illegally in 2009, to much amusement, and Kroger then backed down.
2011 AG’s Public Records and Meetings Manual. (AG Kroger, January 2011)
2014 AG’s Public Records and Meetings Manual (AG Rosenblum, November 2014)
Some UO links:
Task Force in Eugene, hearing announcement:
Max Thornberry has a story on the Senate in the Emerald, here. Some extracts: “American universities are the best in the world because of our strong tradition of academic freedom,” [Incoming President Harbaugh] said, “and because of the principle that the faculty, not the administration, controls the academic mission in…
Bob Keefer’s Eugene Art Talk has the story here – with a photo of the fabulous winner of the People’s Choice award for the final Jacob’s gallery show last year. The Karin Clarke Gallery website is here. Submissions are due May 31.
The WP has the report here: On Thursday evening, a 40-year-old man – with dark, curly hair, olive skin and an exotic foreign accent – boarded a plane. It was a regional jet making a short, uneventful hop from Philadelphia to nearby Syracuse. Or so dozens of unsuspecting passengers thought.…
The RG has a list of the demands from UO’s Black Student Task force here, along with UO’s responses so far. Here are some of the demands and responses: 2: Create an African-American Opportunities program that is comparable to the Opportunities program for Latino students. In fall 2016, the enrollment…
I’m no history professor, but the proposal for a panel of them to advise seems pretty sensible to me. I also like the idea of ending the process with an interpretive display of the history inside Deady Hall, or whatever it may be called. To: Members of the University of Oregon…
The chair of the UO Faculty Club’s Refreshments and Entertainments Committee has asked me to post this message: Dear UO Faculty Club Members: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will be speaking at the Lane County Fairgrounds on Friday. His campaign organization has sent the Faculty Club 100 free tickets for this important…
Students will learn to report bias incidents (like pro-Trump chalk messages).” That’s the headline in the libertarian magazine Reason, here: Critics of the current intellectual climate at university campuses believe classrooms are indoctrination camps where left-wing academics brainwash students into becoming social justice activists. They are mistaken. The most pernicious and…
Christian Wihtol has the long story in the RG here. EWEB’s current management and board didn’t have much choice about fighting the RG lawsuit, given the double-secret contract their predecessors had signed with Seneca. EWEB paid their own lawyers $100k for losing this case, and is still paying millions more to Seneca and other failed green energy projects,…
5/3/2016: Diane Dietz has the good news here:
The University of Oregon is one of the 50 best universities nationally for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)” students, says the rating service collegechoice.net.
… The UO also offers gender-inclusive housing where students can room with members of any gender they wish. In academics, UO offers a minor in queer studies through the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Plus, this year the UO is redesignating up to 111 restrooms on campus as gender-inclusive facilities.
The UO Economics Department was one of the first to get the “All Gender” restrooms, and I can report that Ted Cruz’s worst bathroom nightmares were not well grounded in reality. It seems most of Indiana’s republicans agree.
9/21/2015: Progressive UO economists first to try out gender neutral bathrooms in PLC
Usually they provide a dial-in number so the public can hear what’s going on: Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2016 3:14 AM To: Parker, James Subject: Re: PURMIT public records request Thanks, what is the call in info? Not this time: From: “Parker, James” <[email protected]> Subject: RE: PURMIT public records request…
5/3/2016: Schill’s on a roll. Four down, one to go:
Colleagues,
W. Andrew Marcus has been Interim Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences since 2013, and he knows both the amazing opportunity and daily challenges of the University of Oregon’s largest college. That firsthand knowledge and a 15-year UO career that has been defined by incredible dedication, committed leadership, and an unflappable passion for his college make him a clear choice to serve in the role on a permanent basis.
Andrew has earned the respect of the faculty, staff, and UO leadership by always maintaining an optimistic eye on the future. Perhaps most visibly, he has been the driving force to conceptualize the Tykeson Hall College and Careers Building, and will now continue that work to make it a reality.
A tireless advocate for his faculty and staff, he leads by example, as demonstrated by his significant reorganization of the dean’s office to optimize its efficiency in the face of budgetary challenges. The high-functioning and dedicated team he has built allows him to devote more and more time to advancing the visibility of CAS, especially among alumni and donors.
Andrew remains research-active, focusing on human impacts on rivers and the use of remote sensing technology to map and understand rivers. Most recently he served as lead editor of the award winning Atlas of Yellowstone. He also served as head of the Department of Geography from 2008 to 2011, associate dean for social sciences from 2011 to 2013, and president of the UO Senate in 2004–5.
A 1978 graduate of Stanford University, Andrew went on to earn his master of arts in geography from Arizona State University in 1983 and his PhD in geography from the University of Colorado in 1987.
Please join me in congratulating W. Andrew Marcus, now the permanent Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Sincerely,
Scott Coltrane
Provost and Senior Vice President
Schill’s on a roll. Four down, one to go:
?: New LCB business school Dean ?
5/3/2016: Andrew Marcus appointed as Permanent CAS Dean
5/2/2016: New School of Architecture and Allied Arts Dean Christoph Lindner, from Amsterdam
4/28/2016: UO’s new Dean of Journalism and Communications is PR expert Juan-Carlos Molleda from UFL
4/26/2016: UO’s new VP for Research, David Conover from Stony Brook
5/2/2016: New School of Architecture and Allied Arts Dean Christoph Lindner, from Amsterdam