The AP has the report here: LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — At least one-third of the Power Five conference schools are not punishing athletes as harshly as they were 10 years ago for testing positive for marijuana and other so-called recreational drugs, according to an investigation by The Associated Press. The…
Posts published in “Uncategorized”
While AD Rob Mullens and Duck apologists like VP for Enrollment Roger Thompson love to talk about the benefits of the Duck’s big-time sports enterprise, there are a few costs as well. Former UO economics professor Jason Lindo (now at Texas A&M) and coauthors (including Isaac Swensen a UO PhD grad)…
A long opinion piece, here: Reopening the bidding process would also allow further public scrutiny of Nike and its role in Eugene’s candidacy: welcome in light of the new I.A.A.F. president Sebastian Coe’s longstanding commercial ties to the company that he only recently severed; welcome, too, in light of Lananna’s…
12/24/2015: Altruism takes many forms, some easier to measure than others. Every year the state of Oregon runs a Charitable Fund Drive for employees. You know the drill. You get a few emails asking you to sign up for payroll deductions to support community groups like the United Way, Food For Lane…
That’s the word from UO’s Public Records Officer. She then graciously offers to get a copy from Track Town: 12/22/2015 Dear Mr. Harbaugh, The University does not possess the bid book you requested, as TrackTown provided the bid book directly to the Register Guard. It is our understanding that Mr.…
12/22/2015 update: I guess this means the defamation lawsuit is off: 12/21/2015: Gormless “Lord Coe” threatens reporter with defamation lawsuit No, it’s not about Diane Dietz: This is apparently not Bird and Bird’s first attempt to shut up Seppelt – the last try was a miserable failure too. No telling why Coe didn’t hire noted…
9/21/2015 live-blog: Getting into the courthouse is like getting onto an airplane. Long line, and they confiscate my needle-nose pliers. Unlike TSA though, they promise to give them back. Here are the docs that I’ve got so far: Cleavenger’s complaint, here. UO’s motion to dismiss, here. Cleavenger’ response, here. More response, here. Sitting in the court-room…
Online at the Register Guard tonight, and in print tomorrow. There’s no way to adequately summarize this, read it all here. Vin Lananna’s take is ~$800K a year, from 2012 to at least 2021. Lananna also owns a private media company that will be in on the championships. And while Lananna is making…
That’s the word from the RG’s Austin Meek, here: Lananna and his team — TrackTown treasurer Michael Reilly, UO general counsel Kevin Reed and athletic director Rob Mullens — took a step in that direction by meeting face-to-face with a group of reporters and editors at The Register-Guard last week.…
The Manchester Guardian has the news here: The former IAAF president Lamine Diack has admitted to police that he asked Russia for €1.5m to run a political campaign in his native Senegal, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. France’s national office for financial prosecutions is investigating Diack, who stepped…
12/19/2015 update:
John Solomon has the latest college football data, on CBSsports. Basketball demand is even lower, in part due to a secular trend, in part because many fans think Knight Arena is a soulless big box, and in part because some fans can’t stomach the sight of Dana Altman after how he handled the rape allegations.
So how are the Ducks going to pay for the admins Alamo Bowl game junkets, and the jock bosses bloated bonuses?
They’ll squeeze our UO students. Since regular fans won’t pay, AD Rob Mullens and AAD Eric Roedl are doing everything they can to extract more money from the ASUO student government, as explained below.
8/3/2015 update: Duck athletics uses monopoly power to discriminate against students
12/18/2015 update:
The DOJ will bill the OBPE ~$500 for having to write this order. All because their Director, Charles J. Hill, spent weeks ignoring a public records request for the rules that he claims allow him to keep the public out of the hearing about the $5K fine that the OBPE recommended for UO Counseling Director Shelly Kerr. Then Hill tried to use a petty $2.75 fee to delay release for two more weeks. Ridiculous.
The documents he’s been trying to hide are the OBPE“Notice of Rights and Procedures” and documents showing this was adopted according to state law. Call me slow, but I’m starting to wonder if it was.
We’ll find out, Hill’s got a week to provide the documents at no charge, and I’ll post them when he does. Meanwhile the Oregon Office of Administrative Hearings is telling me that no hearing on the Kerr fine has yet been scheduled.
The DOJ’s full Public Records Order is here:
12/16/2015: Oregon Board of Psychologist Examiners uses fees and delays to hide public records
Here’s an email exchange with Charles Hill, the Director of the OBPE, in chronological order. Mr. Hill is trying to argue that he can close the upcoming OBPE hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge about UO’s appeal of the OBPE’s $5,000 fine against Shelly Kerr, who gave the Jane Doe Counseling Records to UO’s lawyers Doug Park and Sam Hill.
I ask Hill for a copy of the rules that allow the hearing to be closed. He waits for 3 weeks to respond, then tries to use a $2.75 charge to further delay release of the records.
I’ve filed a petition with Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum over his office’s use of fees and delays to frustrate the intent of the Oregon Public Records law, saying:
Dear Mr. Hill –
I’m ccing AAG Michael Kron, the head of the DOJ’s Task Force on public records reform, because your use of delays and fees to frustrate the release of public records is so classic that it might serve as a useful example of how state agencies are manipulating current law.
The emails below show a simple request for your board’s “Notice of Rights and Procedures” and documents showing this was adopted according to state law.
You managed to avoid even responding for 21 days, until I filed a petition with AG Rosenblum. Your response proposes an additional delay of 2 weeks, plus the time needed to send you a check for $2.75.
My request asked for a fee-waiver on the basis of public interest. Given that the UO counseling records incident that led to the hearing at question have been the subject of many news stories in the local, state, and national press, and to proposed and adopted changes in state and federal law, I don’t think there’s much to argue there – the interest certainly exceeds the cost of the $2.75 fee you propose. In any case, if you disagree and do not want to waive the fee, the public records law requires that you explain why you think it is not in the public interest to waive the fee. Your letter doesn’t even try.
Given Mr. Hill’s obstinance, I’m also beginning to wonder if the OPBE (sic) actually has the authority to close these hearings.
The AG’s opinion on his $2.75 fee is due Friday.
On Nov 17, 2015, at 10:18 PM
Doug Blandy needs to get with UO’s new transparency and shared governance movement. Here’s the job posting for his new Assistant VP: http://jobs.uoregon.edu/unclassified.php?id=5300: … Academic Affairs has a strong role in advising and communicating with all departments/units and colleges in the interpretation of academic practice and policy. The assistant vice provost supports…
That’s the rumor from Camilla Mortensen in the Eugene Weekly, here: Sources at the Eugene Register-Guard tell EW that an email went out on Dec. 17 informing R-Gstaffers that N. Christian Anderson is no longer editor and publisher of the paper. Anderson started at the R-G June 1, after leaving The…
He just does it. Sara Germano of the WSJ has the story here: The new buildings come at a critical moment in Nike’s history. The company’s co-founder and chairman Phil Knight—who traditionally has had the last word on who receives the honor, according to the person familiar with the process—is planning…