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Gender disparity in the tech field: It's still there. That's why Portland-based Janice Levenhagen-Seeley, an alum of Oregon State University, created ChickTech, a group dedicated to fostering opportunities for women and girls to pursue robotics, coding or any other aspect of the computer science world that is traditionally dominated by men. Continue reading
Music teacher Tim Walter swings his arms through the air with gusto, directing a throng of Madison Middle School band members as a jazzy rendition of “Oye Como Va” rings from their instruments. Walter’s junior high students are performing the song for eighth-grade procession, where family members and friends pack the bleachers of the gym. Continue reading
• The ACLU of Lane County’s “Civil Conversation” series is holding a public discussion on the “Eugene Police Department’s Policy on Biased Conduct” from 5:30 to 6:45 pm Thursday, Aug. 14, at the Eugene Public Library downtown. Speakers will include Juan Carlos Valle, a former Police Commission member, and Eric Richardson, president of the NAACP of Eugene and Springfield. For more information, email lanechapter@aclu-or.org. Continue reading
Traditional glassblowing is returning to the Whit. The Gudger Hot Shop announced this week the opening of a studio in the Cornerstone Art Studios, 1068 W. 2nd Ave. Andrew Glenn Gudger and his fellow hot glass artists will be on the First Friday ArtWalk and the public will be able to watch them work. Continue reading
At a June 25 board meeting, 4J Superintendent Sheldon Berman asked the school board to release him from his contract a year early, stunning many in the room. According to parent and private math tutor Gina Graham, “The whole room went silent. Everyone just looked at each other.” Continue reading
When the abruptly former UO president Michael Gottfredson first took office in 2012, even the university’s resident muckraking blogger, economics prof Bill Harbaugh of UO Matters, was hard-pressed to dig up dirt on the unassuming administrator. Barely two years later on Aug. 6, Gottfredson announced he was stepping down immediately, and the next day the UO’s new independent governing board voted to give the man, who was giving up the presidency as well as a tenured professorship, a nearly $1 million buyout. Continue reading
National high school graduation rates are on the rise: A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education found that high school graduation rates in 2012 marked an unprecedented high of 80 percent. However, last year in Eugene, roughly only 64 percent of high school students graduated in four years in the 4J School District. Continue reading
Spencer Butte Middle School’s garden program has grown from the seed of an idea to a self-sustaining garden with its own economic income. The garden, managed by students, sells its lettuce and other veggies to the Eugene School District, which then uses them in the cafeteria at the school. “Kids run the entire garden, though we do have a volunteer who helps get the starts going,” says BJ Blake, principal at Spencer Butte. “But the plants are taken care of and harvested by our kids.” Continue reading
Back when George Russell served as superintendent of 4J, he had to deal with racism on a regular basis. During a 4J Board of Education meeting about school closures, he says, a man who he assumes was a student’s dad “came up to the podium and said, ‘That’s what happens when you hire the n-word for affirmative action reasons.’” Continue reading
Oregon DEQ followed up on the pre-enforcement notice it sent to Keven Cruickshank in June for operating a failing septic system since at least February at 82855 N. Butte Road in Creswell (EW 7/10, goo.gl/KbsSuw) with a $9,305 civil penalty on July 31. DEQ also assessed a $4,707 penalty against Albany-based Dave Hunter Company on Aug. 4 for hazardous waste law violations at its industrial machine shop in Albany. Continue reading