Southern Oregon University's new president pays a visit to the basement AND we get a lesson in recycling the little fluorescent light bulbs.
Plus, the bull trout gets ANOTHER lawsuit on its behalf and the Oregon Caves may get to expand.
These are among the many highlights of The Exchange during the week of July 21st.
Minus the pictures and direct links, here's the list so far:
Jefferson Exchange for July 21-25, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014/8:00 Medford Considers Dog (Owner) Sanctions
Just because the Medford City Council backed down from a dog fight does not mean it's through with dog issues. The council chose not to enact a ban on certain aggressive dog breeds earlier this year, after hearing a fair amount of barking (sorry) from dog owners. But issues with dogs remain in town. And in a "it's the deed, not the breed" approach, the council is considering moves to provide heavy penalties for dogs and owners involved in multiple biting incidents.
http://www.ci.medford.or.us/
Monday, July 21, 2014/8:30 Southern Oregon U's New President
Roy Saigo stepped into the college president's office at a time of upheaval: both faculty and students were unhappy about many issues. And that was at his LAST job. Dr. Saigo inherits a similar situation as the interim president at Southern Oregon University, following program cuts and a faculty vote of no-confidence in the previous president. Saigo has work cut out for him in a time of change across the Oregon state university system. He visits the studio to look back and forward.
http://www.sou.edu/president/index.html
Monday, July 21, 2014/9:00 Smaller/Faster/Lighter/Denser/Cheaper
In a world of finite resources and a (so far) continually expanding human population, something has to give. The case is often made that people will simply have to get by with less... fewer creature comforts, more bare-bones lifestyles. Robert Bryce is having none of it. Bryce points to many cases in which technology figured out solutions that did not involve deprivation. He compiles the cases in his book "Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong."
http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/hardcover/smaller-faster-lighter-denser-cheaper/9781610392051
Tuesday, July 22, 2014/8:00 Suing To Help The Bull Trout
Environmental groups are keeping their own and government lawyers busy. Cascadia Wildlands and other groups recently announced plans to sue the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management over the bull trout. The groups say the land agencies need a "timeout" to consider how projects on the lands they manage would affect the threatened trout. The same groups are already suing wildlife managers for failing to come up with a recovery plan for the fish. We hear the arguments in favor of trout protection.
http://www.cascwild.org/
Tuesday, July 22, 2014/8:30 Where CFLs Go When They Die
We can certainly save a bunch of energy and money using modern light bulbs. They are uniformly more efficient than the old incandescent bulbs. And--in theory, anyway--they last long enough to cover the addition upfront expense of buying them. But the compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) contain some toxic substances that require more attention to disposal. We get the word on CFL bulb recycling from Denise Barnes at Rogue Disposal & Recycling.
https://roguedisposal.com/contact/
Tuesday, July 22, 2014/9:00 A Mind For Numbers--Yes, YOU
Okay, non-math students, stop making those gagging sounds and listen up. Your case is not hopeless. Barbara Oakley is now an engineering professor, but she's one of those people who flunked math in high school. Yet she turned things around as an adult, and points the way for other people to do the same. She adds recent developments in science to her experience in her book "A Mind for Numbers: How To Excel At Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)."
http://www.barbaraoakley.com/books.html
Wednesday, July 23, 2014/8:00 Expanding The Oregon Caves
It takes a very long time to make a cave. All that dripping and calcifying takes hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. But making the legal boundaries of the Oregon Caves bigger only takes an act of Congress. And Congress is on it; the Senate just passed the Oregon Caves Revitalization Act and sent it on to the house. We hear from The Friends of The Oregon Caves and Chateau.
http://friendsocac.org/
Wednesday, July 23, 2014/8:30 VENTSday
We do not schedule guests for Wednesday at 8:30, because that's the time for VENTSday, your chance to vent (politely, please) on a pair of topics in the news. We bring the topics, you bring the opinions. It's VENTSday on The Jefferson Exchange, and you participate by calling 1-800-838-3760 or 541-552-6782 or emailing JX@jeffnet.org.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014/9:00 Building Good Will At Goodwill
The inventory at Goodwill Industries of Southern Oregon will soon include a very large pair of shoes. Those currently belong to Gayle Byrne, soon to retire as the organization's president. During her 37-year tenure, Byrne more than tripled the number of stores and expanded the service area and number of people helped by Southern Oregon Goodwill. She joins us to talk about the mission and how she worked to carry it out.
http://www.sogoodwill.org/
Thursday, July 24, 2014/8:00 Small Business "Friendliness" Lacks In Oregon
Nobody likes getting a bad grade. Especially when it's a whole state. But Oregon just got below-average marks for its friendliness to small businesses from Thumbtack.com and a partner. The state got a C+ for overall friendliness and a D for the friendliness of its regulations. We delve into the meaning of "friendliness" in this context, and hear how the grades were assigned.
http://www.thumbtack.com/
Thursday, July 24, 2014/8:30 Plugging The Job Skills Gap
The recent findings that Oregon job openings are staying open for long periods because of under-qualified workers got the attention of political leaders. State Rep. Peter Buckley of Ashland and his Senate counterpart host a meeting this evening (July 24) to explore the factors in the "skills gap" and possible solutions. Rep. Buckley joins us for a preview.
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/buckley
Thursday, July 24, 2014/9:00 How To Stop Hating Yourself
It's one thing to be hard on yourself, and take setbacks and criticism to heart. It's another thing entirely to actually hate yourself. Author Anneli Rufus is one of many people who struggled with low self-esteem all her life. And while she does NOT recommend going all the way to the other end of the spectrum, she does think it's high time to close what may be an epidemic of self-loathing. Her latest book on the subject is "Unworthy: How to Stop Hating Yourself."
http://www.annelirufus.com/unworthy.html
Friday, July 25, 2014/8:00 Addressing Oregon's High Rate Of Drownings
Oregon can be a dangerous place for swimmers. The state ranks 10th in the country in the per-capita rate of drownings. That's not good, considering the state ranks in the second half of states in population. Efforts by Safe Kids Oregon and other groups are focused on reducing child injuries, including drowning. We hear about current and planned drowning-prevention programs.
http://www.safekidsoregon.org/
Friday, July 25, 2014/8:30 Picking A Hand Full Of ACEs
Not everybody gets to be an "American Idol," but there are jobs to be had in the arts field. The Oregon Arts Commission handed out grants to help minority and other students learn about arts careers. The grants include one to the Britt Festivals for its "ACE" program, Arts Career Exploration. Step one: name the students, which Britt just did. We hear what the year ahead holds for them.
http://www.brittfest.org/aceprogram
