According to a recent paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, individuals who drink alcohol have a longer life expectancy on average than those who do not. From Time Magazine: But even after controlling for nearly all imaginable variables — socioeconomic status, level of physical activity, num

. . . totally didn’t happen, because there was no quorum. Quorum for the Summer Senate is 2/3 of seated members, of which there are 11. As far as I know, nobody has resigned from Summer Senate so far (not with public notice anyway), so that means they would have had to have eight people [...]

Tonight, there is a Summer Senate meeting: This is an official notice that the ASUO Student Senate will have a special meeting on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 6:00pm. The meeting will be held in GER 246. The Agenda is as follows: 1. Call to order 2. Approval of the agenda 3. Special requests a. APS 4. New Business [.

The Oregonian is currently doing a series on the budget crisis in Oregon, including this quick article from Saturday’s paper about eliminating the OLCC. Essentially, the article lists the pros and cons of privatization. The most interesting part: 2009-2011 budget: $134 million, generated by sales, fees and fines. Here

The ASUO is seeking to hire a new Con Court Justice [emphasis added]: ASUO Student Body Government Now Hiring Con Court Appointment Constitution Court Associate Justice Hear student grievances, govern elections, issue rulings and maintain constitutional order. One position available, no law student requirement for the curre

Developers attempting to build an Islamic cultural center two blocks from ground zero in New York City are facing resistance from a number of individuals and politicians in the area and around the country, even catching the attention of President Obama himself. Here’s how I’m looking at it. A Baptist man moved t

The good folks over at the Oregon Politico have a story about the successful petition for Initiative 28 to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate and provide services to those with medical marijuana prescriptions in Oregon. From the post: Klahr, the co-chief petitioner of Initiative 28, said the regulated medical m

The Daily Emerald’s publisher, Kellee Weinhold, has resigned, according to a press release the newspaper’s board sent out Friday. The publisher is the one who runs the business side of the paper. For the background on the creation of this position, probably the best place to go is the blog that the Emerald’

Hey, I know you probably know this by now, but student season tickets will be on sale on August 22nd via GoDucks.com for $200. We received this email from the ASUO a little while ago: Dear Students, The Athletic Department will be releasing student season tickets on Sunday, August 22nd. Students should be on the look [...]

This was just posted on UO Matters under the headline “Every now and then”: 8/11/2010: there is a sign that UO is moving towards being a real institution for the public good, with decisions made in the open, on the basis of joint goals and a shared mission. We are still a long way [...]

This is a story about Julie Murphy. Julie Murphy is from Oregon City. She was inspired to become an entrepreneur by one of her favorite television shows. She and her mother traveled up to Portland, to set up shop in a more lucrative location — Alberta Street. As is often the case, Julie was shut down [...]

A classroom. A cluster of desks. Late afternoon. Flanigan, sitting at a desk, is trying to cover the ASUO Senate. She pulls at it with both hands, panting. She gets up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before. Enter Tomchak. FLANIGAN. Giving up. Nothing to be done. TOMCHAK. Advancing with short, stiff strides, legs wide a

The Pac-10 has now officially changed its name to the Pac-12. Which I guess is news?

The Ol’ Dirty is reporting today that, similar to 2008-09, the UO has let in more freshmen than they have room for in housing. This time, instead of sending them across the river to live in Stadium Park, the UO admin has another plan: Students are first notified that there isn’t enough room within University Housing

The Summer Issue, Part 2, will be on stands monday. Get a full color sneak peek here.

We at the Oregon Commentator love to poke fun at our fellow campus publications, but sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due. In the latest issue of the Oregon Voice, which is downloadable in PDF form at their website, they have included some worthwhile gems. Most importantly, this: Way to remain relevant, OV

ASUO President Amelie Rousseau was published in the Register-Guard this week, along with a UO alum and a grad student, with an opinion on the UO’s proposed riverfront development. As is the general student opinion on the riverfront, they’re not too pleased: More than two years has passed since the University of

The DOJ has released their opinion on the OLCC homebrew issue from a couple weeks ago, and if you were looking forward to a beer or wine competition at this year’s state fair, you are sure to be disappointed: In a legal opinion made public today, the Oregon Department of Justice has concluded that amateur home [...]

So I was going to do a post bout the Afghan soldier evacuation and the $500 million in planned aid to Pakistan. Then I saw this, an ad from Apple touting another use for their titular iPad. Ignoring the fact that the iPad is pretty much a glorified, expanded iPhone–a less sophisticated computer with a touch [...]

From the OLCC blog: The Oregon Liquor Control Commission was recently asked whether certain public competitions involving home made alcohol products were in compliance with the law. We provided guidance to the State Fair and other licensees which stated that such competitions were not authorized because they did not fall wi

So those of you not aware, I’m currently in South Africa during the World Cup. A few days ago during the Germany-Argentina game, I went to watch the game on the beach, where they have Fan Parks set up. Basically, there are a bunch of beer tents and food vendors so you get wasted and [...]

Magic everywhere in this bitch.

I was interrupted the other day as I sorted my belongings out in my new room by a knock on the door. I was expecting a friend but was instead greeted by a cheery, rotund face at the door. “Hello sir!” he boomed in a slightly over enthusiastic voice, smiling with an all-too-mechanical demeanor. I [...]

Last night’s ASUO Summer Senate meeting was bogged down in procedural hiccups. For those of you who don’t know, the ASUO operates on a 12 month fiscal cycle, starting on July 1 (today), and thus ending on June 30 (last night). ASUO Accountant Lynn Giordano was there to navigate the mostly-freshman senate on the

Summer Senate!!!

The Oregon State Legislature’s Emergency Board Committee voted on Tuesday to allow the seven OUS universities to use $65 million in tuition reserves to offset the state budget cuts to higher education in the wake of a $577 million hole in the state budget as well as a projected 15% reduction in OUS funding in [...]

Some things have been going on during the last couple of months. 1. University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere released a white paper outlining his idea for a restructure of University funding and management. The proposal includes a $1.6 billion endowment for the university, a portion of which would be financed by sta

Rush Limbaugh enjoyed this fourth wedding last Friday in a ceremony I would have paid to get into.  Guests included Karl Rove, Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity, GOP analyst Mary Matalin, Fred Thompson, and, according to People, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. I hope they played the wedding game where everyone has to shov

The Oregon Commentator, as well as all other student programs with space in the EMU, just received this memo from new ASUO Programs Administrator Sinjin Carey [Friday, June 4]: Date: June 4, 2010 To: ASUO Programs, EMU Board, Ticket Office Re: ASUO Key Requests In an effort to increase safety and security within Erb Memoria

Last night, the ASUO Student Senate held a special meeting with the purpose of electing a Summer Senate Chair and Vice Chair. Unfortunately, senate meetings never turn out to be ask short as we would hope them to be, especially when nobody knows what the hell is going on. But hey, it’s the ASUO Senate. [...]