Oregon Programming Languages Summer School

Sponsors:

June 20-July 2, 2016

Types, Logic, Semantics, and Verification

June 20, 2015
For those of you who have a Rec Center Pass, here are the rules for use of the facilities.
June 19, 2015
When using University of Oregon resources, such as wireless and wired internet connections, refrain from conducting any illegal activities. Copyright infringement is an illegal activity. Sharing any copyrighted movies, music or other media is a crime in the US, and the University, as well as you, may be prosecuted. Therefore, the University of Oregon will take swift action if it detects any sharing of copyrighted materials. The University of Oregon will also take swift action if they detect any malware being propagated throught the network. If this happens, I will inform you of the appropriate remedies.
June 18, 2015
The menu for the cafeteria is posted online. See April 27 posting about food. Our first meal is June 19 Dinner, if you arrive before 8pm.
June 17, 2015

Passes to the newly remodeled Student Recreation Center are available for $30. Orders must be placed with Jim on Monday 6/20 by Noon to receive your pass. They will maintain normal hours and services during the Olympic Trials, but they are in the security zone, so it may take extra time getting to the building (even though it is right across the street from our dorm).

If you are interested in renting a bike for the duration of OPLSS, you can contact Rent A Bike. He will drop off a bike for you at the dorm, or the lecture hall. If you want to rent a bike for a day, The Blue Heron, next to the UO Bookstore has bikes for rent.

June 16, 2015

I am told that the OPLSS lecture halls will actually be inside the Olympic Trials security zone, rather than bordering them as I previously thought. So, on June 30, and possibly July 2, you will have to pass through a security check-point in order to get to the lecture hall. Foreign students should have their passports ready. US students should have some sort of state driver's license, or other suitable ID. UO students can use their UO ID.

I am trying to figure out how to get you pre-screened, so that the security check-point will be as painless as possible. This will probably involve me giving your name and school to the security people. In the US, there are anti-stalker protections that allow you to opt out of me releasing your name to anyone. If you don't want anyone to know that you attended OPLSS, please let me know, but, again, I am trying to minimize the amount of time it takes you to enter the lecture hall.

I just passed the soccer fields, and they are already full of equipment. So, the good soccer fields, which also happen to be right next to the dorm, will not be available to us. We will have to use the fields near the river. On Monday's 8:00PM walk, I will point out the fields we can use.

June 15, 2015

Oregon is not a humid climate. If you are from the US interior Southwest, you may find it a bit humid, but if you are from anywhere East of the Rocky Mountains in the US, or some foreign places, you will find it very dry. This means that at night, there is a 20F or more drop in temperature. Because the school year runs from October to May, the dorms have heating, but no air conditioning. I usually get requests for extra blankets, which I can accommodate. The typical pattern in Oregon is to open the windows when the sun goes down, and first thing in the morning, but keep them closed in the heat of the day and when you are asleep. For safety reasons, if you are on the first floor, you should not leave your windows open when you are not in your room or asleep.

While you are in Eugene, the weather will be hot, and the river will be cool, but don't go swimming in the river. The rivers here are fed by snow pack melt in the surrounding mountains. Therefore, the water is barely above freezing. Each year, several local people jump into the river to cool off, and their bodies are recovered downstream. Wading is OK, but do not immerse yourself past your knees.

There are many outdoor activities to do in Eugene. Within a 30 minute walk from the dorms are

June 2, 2015

I found a better set of maps dealing with the street closure situation due to the Olympic Trials. The only change for June 19 is that 15th is one-way instead of two-way, which may be a surprise to your taxi driver, but doesn't affect the instructions. However, the check-out instructions will be influenced by the fact that basically all campus streets are closed on July 3. To catch a taxi, you will have to walk a few blocks. I would suggest telling the taxi company that you are to be picked up at the science parking lot on the South side of Franklin at Onxy Street. At some point, I will offer to give a campus tour and I will point out this spot.

Also, due to preparation for the Olympic trials, it looks like the soccer fields and the track will be closed during the run of OPLSS.

May 25, 2015
See the Detailed Check-In Instructions if you are staying in the dorms. We are in Sheldon and Morton; however, your check-in instructions will vary depending on what time you will arrive.

Points of interest on the map:

  • Earl Complex - possibly where you will check in
  • LLC North - possibly where you will check in
  • Carson Hall - where we will be eating
  • Knight Law - where the lectures are
  • Deschutes Hall - where the student talks will be
May 24, 2016
During the beginning of July, the US Olympic Track and Field Trials will be held on campus. In particular, this means that a security zone will be erected between our dorms and the lecture hall. In this map (copyrighted by Google, and defaced by me), our dorms are indicated in light blue, the dining hall is indicated in orange, and the lecture venue is indicated in purplish blue. The olympic trials security zone is the red line, with the pink areas being the festival. The festival is open to the public; other areas in the security zone are for athletes and ticket holders. For the majority of OPLSS, we will be having lectures in the law school. However, once the olympic trials begin, the security zone will be inforced, and the law school will be used as a staging area for the workers and volunteers, so we will move to the other venues. More specific instructions will be given during OPLSS.
May 6, 2016
Things to bring to the summer school:
  • A laptop with the recommended software installed and an ethernet cable.
  • Soap, shampoo and other personal grooming items.
  • Typically, I tell everyone to bring allergy medication. The main agricultural products in the Willamette Valley are grass seed and mint, so if you are allergic to grass pollen, expect to feel the effects while you are here. Some students travelling to the summerschool experience pollen allergies for the first time. You can see a complete pollen report at www.weather.com, zip code: 97403 (pay attention to the grass number). Pseudofed is a prescription drug in Oregon, so if you intend to purchase it here, either bring a prescription, or use a non-prescription alternative.
  • For Foreign Participants: If you are not from North America, bring a power converter for your laptop. US power outlets are not compatible with European power cords. If you come here without a power adapter, it may take you a number of phone calls and missed lectures to figure out where to get one, so it is probably easier to obtain one from your local apothecary (or whoever sells them in your country) before coming. To operate at the lecture hall, power adapters must have a profile that allows you to plug into an outlet like this:
  • You should not bring pillows, blankets or towels
May 4, 2016 (edited May 6)

You can get a guest wireless account while at OPLSS. The lecture hall has

  • 10 wireless access points for Oregon university students
  • 1 wireless access point available for guest accounts
  • 1 wireless access point for eduroam

Each wireless access point in the lecture hall supports 12 connections. There are approximately 125 participants in OPLSS. You may want to check with your institution to see if they participate in eduroam. On the other hand, every chair in the lecture hall has an ethernet jack which requires no authentication.

Similarly, the dorm has a wired connection on each desk, but the wireless connections are exclusively for Oregon students.

So, to review: using wireless, you are unlikely to have good internet access, but with an ethernet cable, you are guaranteed to have good internet access.

If you want a wireless account, from campus:

  1. Select UO Guest wireless network.
  2. Select Create an account.
  3. Fill in the information and click Register.
  4. Have the system send your password via email or SMS.
  5. Click Log in and use the username and password just sent to you.

You will notice that the preceeding assumes you can get email or SMS without using wireless (for example, a phone or wired connection). A guest account lasts 7 days, but there is no limit to the number of times you can re-register. You must use the randomly assigned password. You cannot change it. You should only re-register when the account expires; otherwise, you will be creating a second account.

May 1, 2016
Smokers: Oregon cities are largely non-smoking. In Oregon, it is illegal to smoke inside a building or within 20 feet of a building entrance, or on State owned lands, such as a beach or park. The city of Eugene does not allow smoking in city-owned places, such as parks or transit facilities. The University of Oregon is a Smoke and Tobacco Free University, which includes your dorm room. If you are staying at a hotel, it is probably smoke-free — ask the hotel. This means that you will be hard pressed to find anywhere to smoke conveniently. You can stand in the middle of Agate street, and while it is not technically illegal to smoke there, it is strongly discouraged for safety reasons, and leaving a cigarette butt in the street is illegal. In most places in Eugene, smoking does not include ecigs, but University of Oregon policy considers them a prohibited tobacco product. Chewing tabacco is similarly prohibited by the University, but not the city or the state; however, most restaurants, bars and taverns will not allow chewing tobacco. Therefore, if you are addicted to nicotine, you should plan on bringing nicotine gum or patches, or you can obtain them here.
April 27, 2016
If you have a housing package, the meals will be served at the Cafeteria. The hours are:
  • Breakfast 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
  • Lunch 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Dinner 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Some common concerns:
Free-Roam/Cage-Free Livestock
Since the Univesity does not have resources to investigate the source of animal products past the USDA oversight at the packing plant, asking for cage-free animal products would just be an invitation for suppliers to lie. Therefore, the dining hall cannot certify that any animal products were or were not produced in cage-free environments.
Vegetarian/Vegan/Raw Foodist
If you are vegan or vegetarian, there should be no problem finding adequate hot and cold food in the cafeteria. If you are raw foodist, you should not eat the hot food, but there is an extensive salad bar. There is also a large selection of fresh and frozen fruit. We should have enough vegetarian meals on the Sunday excursion, but if you want vegan, you should let me know before OPLSS starts.
Halal
In general, my Muslim friends suggest there is plenty at the cafeteria, if you stick to the vegetarian offerings. However, Ramadan runs straight through OPLSS this year. In Eugene at that time, the sun rises at 5:30AM and sets at 9:00PM, which is the entire time the cafeteria is open. Please let me know if you intend to celebrate Ramadan, and we will make arrangements.
Kosher
Kosher is tricky. This surprised me since I know many Jews in town. Talking to my friends and the Jewish Student Union and Hillel and several Rabbis, it seems to come down to "if you live in Eugene, you have to make compromises." It is certainly possible to observe an American, not-very-strict, kind of kosher, by abstaining from certain foods. The chef will know the ingredients of all the foods, so be sure to ask lots of questions. By the way, the chef may not understand kosher, per se, so be sure to ask about the ingredient list, not "is it kosher?" Anyway, the answer to "is it kosher?" is always no, since the cooking and serving vessels are not kosher.
April 26, 2016
I put the information on student talks on the schedule page You should let me know if you want to give a talk. The point is to get other participants interested in collaborating with you in the future. The point is not to scoop PLDI. A talk should consist of a short presentation of your research followed by an off-the-cuff dialog with the audience. At OPLSS, there will be about two dozen undergrads, about two dozen industry professionals, and the rest grad students. The hall for student talks only holds about a third of the OPLSS participants, so if you want to give a talk, you should send me a title that describes your research and also specifically identifies why someone would be interested in listening to you.
April 25, 2016
The rates page says the check-in is after 5PM, but I understand that planes arrive at random times during the day. If you need to book a flight that lands significantly before that, you can make arrangements with me for arrival earlier in the day. However, due to the Olympic trials on campus, we cannot accomodate participants staying after July 3.
March 17, 2016
As stated here and in your acceptance message, the registration fee is due by May 1, but the housing and meals charges are not due until you show up in Eugene. If your accounting people prefer, you can make a single payment by May 1 to cover all of your account. The registration fee is non-refundable, so it would behoove you to not pay it until you have obtained travel documents, if there is a question about whether you can travel to Oregon. By the way, the non-refundability of the registration fee is not our idea — unless you are a student or employee of the University of Oregon, we really cannot refund your money.
March 5, 2016
This year, the group will be housed in Sheldon and Morton Halls, located in the Earl Complex. Here is the statement from Housing:
All restrooms in Earl have been converted and modified to a Gender Inclusive option which allows any gender to use it at any given time. The bathrooms are individual units that have separate spaces within it that house the toilet and the shower area as the sink is located in the middle. All bathrooms are secure (in which they can be locked) and have doors separating each of these individual spaces. I believe there are support bars in the shower and toilet area and there may be further ADA mods in the restrooms on the first floor to accommodate additional needs — if something needs to be checked such as a stool or seat area — I can request a review by our custodial and live-in staff.
For the benefit of foreign participants, "ADA" refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is the American law that says that all reasonable accomodations must be made for people with disabilities. In particular, the first floors of the dorms are wheelchair accessible, most of the dorms have only stair access to rooms above the first floor. Please let me know if you have mobility problems, so I can put you on the first floor.
March 4, 2016

Address for Visa Documents

When you get here, the building you will be staying in is:

1327 E. 15th Avenue
Eugene OR  97403
                  

However, do not send mail to that address. Mail addressed to university buildings is returned as undeliverable. Do not have things dropped off at the dorm by other couriers because there is nobody there but us, and we will not be there during the day. There is no phone number at the dorm.

The contact information for visa applications is

Zena Ariola
University of Oregon
Department of Computer and Information Science
1477 E. 13th Avenue
Eugene OR  97403
541-346-4408
ariola@cs.uoregon.edu
                  

Address for Mail Delivered by the US Postal Service

US Mail must be delivered to a specific person at a specific department. So, if you must have mail sent to you while you are here, you will have to address it to me:

[you] c/o Jim Allen
Dept of Computer and Info Science
1202 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1202
                  

Address for Mail Delivered by Other Couriers

If you are sending things through a courier service, such as lost luggage or FedEx, then you should give them the street addresss of the Computer Science Department:

Dept of Computer and Info Science
120 Deschutes Hall
1477 E. 13th Avenue
Eugene OR  97403
                  

Deschutes Hall is open 8AM-noon and 1PM-5PM Monday-Friday. The phone number for the Computer and Information Science Department is 541-346-4408.

February 11, 2016 — For Foreign Participants:
It is never too early to work on obtaining travel papers to the US. You may not need a visa, but you will need a passport and probably pre-approval. Check the Visa Waiver Program website to see if you need a visa. Be sure to pay close attention, because there have been recent changes to reflect not just your country of origin, but also the countries you have visited lately.

Since OPLSS gives no academic credit, the INS views it as a scientific conference. There have been cases of people coming from visa waiver program countries who have been held up at the border because they said "school" or "class" or "study" or "student" and were not allowed into the US because they did not have a student visa. So, do not use these words because the US government has a very limited semantic for them. Even participants from countries in the Visa Waiver Program would need a student visa to study in the US. Therefore, be very clear that you are NOT coming to the US as a student or to study. You are coming here on business to attend a scientific conference.

If you need a visa, please read and follow these instructions carefully.

  • Depending on your point of origin, the main thing they will want to know in your interview is that you are not a "risk to emmigrate" to the US. The State Department says:
    Evidence of your employment and/or your family ties may be sufficient to show the purpose of your trip and your intent to return to your home country. If you cannot cover all the costs for your trip, you may show evidence that another person will cover some or all costs for your trip.
    Different Ambassadors have different semantics of "evidence" and different attitudes about the phrase "may be sufficient". The University of Oregon has no influence with the US State Department. It is probably advantageous to bring evidence of round trip plane tickets, although without a visa, it would be premature to purchase non-refundable tickets. It is definitely required that you bring to your interview correspondence from your family members indicating that they expect you to return, and documents from your institution indicating that they expect you to return. It is not a good idea to have anything sent directly to the embassy, since it is usually discarded unless you bring it with you to your interview.
  • In general, you need to be clear that you are looking for a B1 business visa . Do not under any circumstances say or agree that you need a student visa. Once you say that you want a student visa or that you want to study at OPLSS, you will never be allowed to come to the US until you have been accepted into a US degree-granting program.
  • Notice that "study" is specifically prohibited on a B1/B2 visa. Be careful not to tell the embassy or border officials that you are going to "study" in the US. A B2 Tourist visa allows
    enrollment in a short recreational course of study, not for credit toward a degree (for example, a two-day cooking class while on vacation)
    But, do not try to use this provision because OPLSS is too long to qualify as short, and a short course is only something you are allowed to do as long as you are coming here primarily as a tourist on a B-2 visa. OPLSS is a scientific conference that requires a B-1 visa. You are here to listen to leading researchers present their findings, and meet other researchers in the field. OPLSS does not constitute a course of study.
  • It is illegal for us to issue you an I-20 or any other SEVIS document, because you will receive no academic credit from the University of Oregon. These are only required for a student visa. If you are asked for these documents, be very clear that you want a B-1 visa. You will not be able to attend OPLSS on a student visa.
  • The decision to grant a visa is left up to the ambassador to your country and there is no appeal, so be prepared. Talk to other students from your country who have attended conferences in the US.
February 8, 2016
If you are concerned about the Zika virus, the Oregon Health Authority has a page for communicable diseases. As of today, you will find on that page that Zika is not a problem for Oregon.
February 1, 2016
I will be posting updates on registration deadlines, when you should expect to be notified, how to get here, and what to bring. If you apply (with a recommendation) before March 1, you should hear back from us by March 7. If not, please send me an email asking what happened to your application.
Contact: summerschool at cs.uoregon.edu
© University of Oregon Department of Computer and Information Science, 1202 University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1202