Campus News

UO alumni Bret Jacobson, 33, and Ian Spencer, 29, have formed an Arlington, Va., company called Red Edge, which offers digital services for politically conservative causes. The two worked on the Commentator, the UO’s conservative alternative paper, where they learned about media messaging. Jacobson served as the Commentator's publisher and ran unsuccessfully for ASUO president in 2001. Spencer was the paper's editor-in-chief in 2005.

If the conscious mind—the part you consider you—accounts for only a fraction of the brain’s function, what is all the rest doing? David Eagleman will answer that during a free public lecture, “The Secret Lives of the Human Brain,” at 7:30 p.m. March 5 in 182 Lillis Hall, 955 E. 13th Ave. Our behavior, thoughts, and experiences are inseparably linked to a vast, wet, chemical-electrical network called the nervous system, said Eagleman, a neuroscientist and director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Baylor College of Medicine.

Silicon Shire, a consortium of over 150 technology companies in the Eugene-Springfield area, hosted a business mixer earlier this year at the University of Oregon's Ford Alumni Center. The well-attended event gave UO students and faculty a chance to mingle with representatives from local tech firms specializing in computer gaming, biotech, web and media, mobile and embedded applications, networking and security, business and educational software, and industrial optimization – all located in the university's backyard.

The University of Oregon School of Music and Dance will host participatory Balkan folk dance, as well as a public master class with celebrated violinist Stefan Jackiw. The school will also host the opening event of Eugene’s annual Irish Cultural Festival with a traditional Irish music concert by international artists the Paperboys, and will welcome Adam Unsworth, a hornist from the University of Michigan, for a concert and master class.

The second of three open campus forums to discuss the issue of arming University of Oregon police officers drew 30 people on Tuesday. The final forum will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in the Knight Library Browsing Room. The fourth of five small group discussions with interim UOPD Chief Carolyn McDermed is from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, March 1, in the Bean Residence Hall Moore Dining Room; the final session is from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, in the EMU Walnut Room.

The UO Duck Store is showcasing Oregon’s people, artisans and entrepreneurs at “Proudly Oregon” – a one-day, trade show style event – from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28. The purpose of the event is to draw attention to homegrown businesses, highlight Oregon success stories and support the local economy. A range of product categories will be represented, including apparel, electronics and art supplies. There will also be local food, beer and wine samples, authors, artist demonstrations and poetry readings.

Amanda Wojick, an associate professor of art and head of the sculpture program at the University of Oregon, will have her new work featured in a solo show at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland from March 7 through March 20. There will be a First Thursday opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 7. Her exhibition consists of a series of 12 welded steel sculptures, each painted a different solid color. The sculptures are made of hundreds of hand-cut steel blossom silhouettes, welded to “prickly angular structures that are human scaled.”

Members of the UO campus community turned out at a recent event to learn about the needs and concerns of student veterans and their families, and how to support them.Speakers discussed the issues veterans face when they transition from active military duty to campus life and the readjustment they must move through.Breakout sessions in the one-day symposium included topics such as facing trauma and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), family life and how to transition from the military to academia, and into a career.

Applications are being accepted to the University of Oregon’s 2013 Croatia Conservation Field School, a hands-on experience in the conservation of vernacular settings and more. The field school will accept applications through March 1 for the program on Croatia's central Dalmatian Coast June 21-July 19. Registration priority will be give to students in historic preservation, architecture, landscape architecture, and other A&AA majors and programs.

The UO-based Network Startup Resource Center helped build some of the initial Internet infrastructure more than 20 years ago, providing hardware, networking support and technical training on campuses in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and, later, several other African countries.