If the plans of four University students go as expected, the EMU may soon be the largest solar energy user in the state.
Jocelyn Eisenberg and Ben Gates, winners of last year’s ASUO “Bucks for Ducks” contest, have teamed up with fellow architecture students Matt Larson and Jess Ellingson to design a set of solar panels they hope will produce more than 30 killowatts of energy per hour.
Eisenberg said the group set that goal in order to surpass the 30 killowat output of an array of solar panels operated by the City of Ashland. Those panels are believed to be the highest solar energy producing system in the state, Oregon Office of Energy spokesman Christopher Dymond said.
Last Friday, Eisenberg and Ellingson met with several University professors, students, and University officials involved with the project to discuss the design and location for the panels, which they expect to cover about 3,000 square feet.
The ASUO sponsered the “Bucks for Ducks” contest last spring to generate student ideas on how to spend a $100,000 surplus of student fee money. Contest winners Gates and Eisenberg were awarded that money to fund their solar panel proposal.
National journalism groups disfavor
University-proposed rule to limit sports broadcasts
A letter sent Monday by three national journalism groups to University administration is a sign broadcasters are refusing to quell their opposition to a University-proposed rule limiting sports highlights in news and weekend programs.
On Monday, The Radio Television News Directors Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent the letter that echoed complaints made by local broadcasters at a July 11 public hearing that the proposal steps on their constitutional ability to air footage.
“While we respect the University’s economic interest in promoting University athletics and preserving contract rights granted to its media partners,” the letter said, “your proposed restrictions have gone too far and represent an unconstitutional limitation on the ability of the press to gather and report the news.”
President Dave Frohnmayer, Vice President Dan Williams, and General Council Melinda Grier all received a copy of the letter, which urges the school to reconsider the rule, but stops short of threatening legal action.
Sacred Heart expansion to be discussed Tuesday night
Tuesday night might be the city’s last chance to woo PeaceHealth into expanding its hospital downtown.
Six lots near downtown that could become sites for a new hospital will be discussed in a public forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1062 Charnelton St.
Last week, after the forum was scheduled, PeaceHealth, which owns the Sacred Heart Medical Center, announced it would not consider building downtown and would focus only on expanding into north Eugene.
“I hope the options the city staff discusses will get enough public support to make PeaceHealth reconsider,” Councilor David Kelly said.
PeaceHealth spokesman Brian Terrett said hospital officials will listen, but are inclined to oppose any plans that require leveling existing structures.
Eugene resident files to recall city councilor
A resident of the west University area who calls himself the “Moss Street Defender” is pushing to recall City Councilor Bonny Bettman.
Still steaming over the city’s rejected plan to level six blocks for Sacred Heart Medical Center’s expansion, Zachary Vishanoff, 31, said Bettman’s drive to keep Sacred Heart in the downtown area threatens the livability of his neighborhood.
Vishanoff, a deliveryman who’s lived in the area for 20 years, filed last week for a petition to recall Bettman. He has 90 days to gather 594 signatures of registered voters living in Bettman’s ward. If those signatures are turned in before the deadline and are certified, the city would hold a special election in the ward within 35 days after certification.
