The website says you must pay your registration by May 19
to hold your place at OPLSS.
Also you must arrange or cancel your housing
by May 19 or be liable for the cost.
If you have a fellowship and do not cancel by May 19,
you will have to pay for cost if you do not attend,
because our sponsors only pay for costs incurred by people who attend.
UO guest and eduroam will work well in your dorm
or on other places on campus; however,
the classroom is configured to have fewer than a dozen guests
and fewer than a dozen eduroam users when classes are in session.
So, you will have limited bandwidth.
I suggest you take the following steps:
During lectures, use only text-based services on your laptop.
Download any software used by the lecturer before attending the lecture.
Details of software used in the lectures are contained on the
topics page
under the entry for each lecturer.
May 5, 2022
Please don't pay for things that don't appear on your invoice!
If you want to change your accomodations,
please email me and I will send you a corrected invoice
which you can pay.
Make sure that the amount you pay is the total that says
"pay this amount"
It looks very bad to auditors if you pay more money than your invoice shows.
If you have extra money lying around, book a trip to
Trinidad and Tobago,
but do not send it to me unless I have sent you an invoice
that indicates that amount on the "Total Due" line.
If this is not clear, please ask me before paying.
Things to bring to the summer school:
A laptop
Soap or shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and other personal grooming items.
The dorm does not have hair dryers or irons.
I think of these as "personal grooming items,".
Hot plates. water kettles, and other cooking appliances are not allowed
in your dorm room.
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.
Typically, the grass pollen count is worst in June, with the level
tapering off as summer progresses.
Some students travelling to OPLSS 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 one of the better, non-prescription alternatives.
I suggest you not bring your own sheets and towels since
housekeeping will probably throw them in with the hall's linen
when they change your room linens.
In the past, this has lead to much consternation,
especially if your linens are white, or slightly off-white
as you look through the campus collection of laundry trying to find your sheets.
If you do need to bring your own sheets, I suggest you put a sign on your door
asking that your linens not be laundered.
Also, talk to me so I will talk to the housekeeping staff.
I thought this would be obvious: the dorms have
laundry facilities
.
Currently, laundry cost $1.50 and dryers are free.
This price is subject to change when the contract is renewed
at the beginning of summer, but should not be drastically different.
If you have a housing package, the meals will be served at the Cafeteria.
The hours are:
Breakfast 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Lunch 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Dinner 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
If you are not staying in the OPLSS housing, you can pay at the cafeteria door
and eat with the other participants.
The item labels in the serving area
contain markings for problematic food ingredients,
including milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts,
wheat, soybeans and sesame seeds.
Some common concerns:
Food Allergies
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, there is an extensive salad bar.
There is also a large selection of fresh and once frozen fruit,
although some frozen fruits may have been blanched
(heated briefly) before being frozen.
Halal
I do not know of any halal butchers in Eugene,
and the cafeteria does not order halal meat.
In general, my Muslim friends find plenty to eat at the cafeteria,
by sticking to the vegetarian offerings.
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 a Jewish-American, not-very-strict, kind-of-kosher,
by abstaining from certain foods.
In the cafeteria, asking "Is it kosher" is probably not as good an idea
as asking for the ingredients, which the chef will be happy to share with you.
Anyway, the answer to "Is it kosher?" is always no,
since the cooking utensils and serving vessels are not kosher.
Jhatka
Since the meat in the cafeteria is neither expressly halal nor kosher,
it is unlikely to be Kutha, but American butchery practice is not guaranteed
to be strictly Jhatka either.
Chickens are often killed with much suffering,
for example, having their feathers removed prior to death.
Cows and pigs can suffer as a result of unintentional mechanical failures.
If you have strong ethical beliefs,
you might want stick to the vegetarian options.
(This is a general observation about US meat production.
Our facilities maintain best practices within the US system.)
Free-Roam/Cage-Free Livestock
Since US
law does not specify what it means to raise livestock cage-free,
and the University 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 independently certify that any animal products were
or were not produced in cage-free environments.
May 1, 2023
Happy May Day!
Oregon was the first US state
to create a day honoring labor, although it was in June.
There are links on the
Venue page
about the other great May Day tradition: Morris Dancing.
Acceptance has been established and grant funding has been allocated.
You should have received a letter of invitation and an invoice from me.
The letter of invitation has specific language for the
US State Department
during your visa interview, and specific language for the
US Customs and Border Protection
officers.
Whether you go for a visa interview or obtain clearance
through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization,
you should have the letter of invitation ready at the border,
and pay attention to my March 15 remarks about what not to say
during a visa interview and at the border.
Also, your registration charge is determined by me and listed on your invoice.
When you go to the payment site, you need to pay the amount of money
shown on your invoice.
Do not pay for things that add up to more than your invoice shows you owe.
April 20, 2025
Anyone who applied for OPLSS should have received an email from me
telling them of the acceptance status.
If you have not heard from me, please email summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu
to tell me I have lost your application.
April 12, 2025
If you have a housing package and want to share a room with a roommate,
please let me know by May 19th.
The State of Oregon
does not have laws determining a person's gender identity,
aside from what the person reports.
Thus, there is no particular law enforcement authority
to determine who should be using which bathroom;
although, lewd, sexually motivated or harrassing behavior
in the bathrooms or anywhere else is prohibited
by Oregon law and
University policy.
April 1, 2023
There are many outdoor activities to do in Eugene.
Within a 30 minute walk from the dorms are
On Sunday during OPLSS, we won't have any lectures,
so participants are free to find something to do.
In the past, groups have done various things (listed below).
If you want to lead one of these activities, please let me know,
and I will give you the particulars (where to go, etc) and list you
as the person others should contact if they are interested.
Hike
the ridgeline trail,
4 miles along city streets and running path, and 3 miles in forest to Spencer Butte peak.
Walk back 7 miles
Walk 3 miles and take city bus
Continue on for 5 miles in forest and 4½ miles on city streets
Bus to
Cascades Raptor Center.
Admission is $13; before hours guided tours $40. Normal hours: 10am-5pm.
If you are interested in outdoor pursuits, and are not from around here,
talk to me about bear and cougar safety.
There have been very few cougar and bear attacks in oregon,
but there have been many cougar and bear sightings.
At present, local cougars and bears do not associate humans with food.
Keep it that way!
Do not leave garbage along the trails, and
do not feed wild animals.
When wild animals start to associate humans with food,
they must be killed.
So, if you leave garbage along the trail, you are killing our bears.
The general safety tip is to talk about your research
while you are moving through the forest.
The cougars and bears will hear you coming and move away.
March 31, 2025
As you make payments, I will send you a receipt.
The receipt contains a line for each payment with the date, transaction type,
and reference number.
The dates are written in the American way.
For example, the line
03/31/2025 credit card #999191111 $1000
means that on March 31, I received a credit card payment to your account for $1000.
999191111 is not the number on your credit card.
It is illegal for me to ever know your credit card information.
Do not tell me your credit card number in person,
over the phone, or via email,
unless you want the FBI to come and arrest me,
in which case, my heirs will hunt you down like a dog.
When you conducted your credit card transaction over the secure website,
you should have received a receipt from the website.
999191111 is the confirmation number the website
should have listed on that receipt.
If there is a problem, this number allows me
to query the credit card website without learning your credit card information.
March 20, 2025
If you completed the registration material before March 14,
by the end of today, you will receive an email from me
informing you of acceptance (or not) to OPLSS.
In most cases, attached to the email will be some documents.
If you do not get any additional documents, it is explained in the email.
If you have any questions, or do not get an email from me by tomorrow morning,
(Hey, you in Austalia and Singapore,
tomorrow morning means 6/21 AM to me, not you.
I don't have any idea how your timezones work,
or anything else.)
email me and I will see what happened.
In the email, I will tell you how I intend to write your name on "official documents."
In particular, if you are using the document to enter the US, please make sure
that the name I list matches the name on your passport, as the border guards
may want to see both, and the letter I send you will only be accepted
if it matches your passport.
You should see as you arrange travel,
that it is usually much cheaper
to fly to Portland and then take a train to Eugene.
The cost of a train from Portland to Eugene
is approximately the same
as the cost of a taxi from the Eugene airport to campus,
but book the train when you book your flight,
because people have been stuck overnight in Portland,
because the train was full.
If you are sharing the taxi, of course it will be cheaper for you,
but you should find that although it takes a few extra hours
to fly to Portland and take a train down, it will save you money.
March 17, 2025
While you are in the US, you may need either a US State issued driver's license,
or a passport as personal identification.
In particular, if you go to any establishment that dispenses alcohol,
they will want to see your identification showning you are at least 21 years old.
In most states, including Oregon, each tavern, bar and restaraunt owner is required
to inspect the identification of every customer
(at restaraunts, only if they are buying alcohol),
and credibly believe that the identification is valid and issued to that person.
Unfortunately, this may mean that whatever identification you are using
is unfamiliar to the bartender and therefore, rejected.
A tavern, bar or restaraunt can lose its ability to serve alcohol if they do not comply
with this requirement.
Undercover police often enter taverns to see if they
get carded,
and if not, they shut the tavern down.
For example, I am over 60 years old, and I must show identification to gain access
to a tavern.
If I were friendly with the bartender, it wouldn't make a difference,
unless I'm OK with my friends being unemployed.
An attendee of OPLSS once said, "It's my right as an Englishman to get drunk,"
and I pointed out that English Rights don't extend to America (c.f. 1776).
Febuary 28, 2025
To be clear: Housing on campus is arranged through me.
When I tell you you have been accepted to OPLSS,
I will tell you I have reserved housing in the dorm for you,
and ask you to tell me if you do not want it before May 19, 2025.
Some people will pay through the credit card website,
some people will pay through wire transfers,
and some people will obtain a fellowship that pays for housing,
so the credit card website is in no way linked
to obtaining housing.
Going to the credit card website and paying for housing
does not guarantee housing is available.
You have housing reserved for you
when I tell you I have reserved housing for you,
and send you an invoice with housing listed.
Similarly, not paying for housing does not cancel the housing
I have reserved for you.
Telling me to cancel your housing will cancel your housing,
and if you cancel housing, I will send you an invoice
that shows you do not have to pay for housing.
If I tell you I have reserved housing for you,
please let me know by May 19, 2025 if you do not want housing.
On May 19, I must tell the housing authority how many rooms
OPLSS will be occupying, and the housing authority will charge OPLSS
for the number of rooms I say, regardless of whether they are occupied.
In particular, if you accept a fellowship from one of our sponsors,
you must cancel the fellowship by May 19, if you do not want to use it.
Sponsors will not pay for empty rooms;
although, housing will charge us for empty rooms.
Thus paradoxically, you must pay for an empty room not cancelled by May 19,
even if the room is free to you if you occupy it.
February 24, 2025
The housing authority has not yet identified the residence hall
we will be occupying, but the room layout for the dorm will be either
"double" or "single"
here.
If you have a double room, there will be two beds, but you will be the only occupant.
There is one communal bathroom for women and one for men.
The showers have a small, private disrobing area next to the private shower,
and the toilets are in individual metal privacy stalls.
If you need to stay an extra day, or arrive a day early,
it would behoove you to tell me as soon as possible.
In the past, very few participants have chosen to stay elsewhere during OPLSS.
The dorms are not deluxe accommodations,
but there is usually lots of discussion that goes on in the dorm,
and participants who stay off-campus have felt isolated from this.
However, if you want a hotel room near campus, here are a few options that
are within a couple of blocks of the lecture hall.
There are, of course, more housing options in Eugene including AirBnB,
but the above hotels are within easy walking distance of OPLSS.
January 24, 2025 — For Foreign Participants:
It is never too early to work on obtaining travel papers
to the US.
The following are the guidelines I have offered successfully in the past.
OPLSS is a Conference, not a Course of Study
You are coming here on business
to attend a scientific conference.
OPLSS does not grant academic credit.
Although OPLSS takes place on a university campus, it is not a course of study.
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 in the
US",
you will never be allowed to come
to the US
unless you have been accepted
into a US degree-granting program.
Neither electronic pre-approval nor a visa guarantee
that you are actually allowed in the US.
On the day you arrive,
a US border guard will decide whether you are allowed in the US.
For that interview, the invitation letter I send will be useful.
For non-citizens of the US, you will need the following:
Travel papers to leave your country
Most governments do not care if you leave their country,
but you should check whether your government requires
you to file any papers.
Travel papers to enter the United States
The US has a
Visa Waiver Program
with many countries.
The Visa Waiver Program does not apply to all citizens
of Visa Waiver Program countries.
Travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program
A Passport from your country of citizenship
To enter the US,
your country of citizenship must issue you a passport.
Also, you may need your passport as identification while here.
When you fill out the electronic pre-approval form,
and when questioned at the border,
be clear that you are coming here
for a scientific conference.
Even though you will have to say University of Oregon
and OPLSS, you want to emphasize
that it is business purpose.
Do not write school, study or student.
Education purposes require a visa,
even from visa waiver countries,
and OPLSS cannot supply you with the required paperwork
to obtain a student visa.
Travel to the United States without the Visa Waiver Program
A Passport from your country of citizenship
To enter the US,
your country of citizenship must issue you a passport
Also, you may need your passport as identification while here.
The decision to grant a visa is left up to the
US ambassador to your
country and there is no appeal, so be prepared.
Talk to others from your country who have attended conferences in the
US.
Different Ambassadors require different levels of evidence.
The University of Oregon has no influence with
the US ambassador
to your country.
If your interview goes badly, and you are asked
to do another interview, plan to bring more evidence.
If you have no more evidence, then there is no point
in another interview.
Be prepared for your visa interview.
Do not have anything sent directly to the embassy.
Bring all materials with you to the interview.
If some piece of evidence is not in English or not in the interviewer's language
(the locally spoken language of that embassy), it must be translated
by a certified translator.
This means, if you are studying in a country which speaks a language
other than your native language,
documents from your country of citizenship must be translated.
Here are the things you may need at your interview
at the US embassy:
DS-160 Visa Application Form
Complete the form online,
but bring the confirmation page
showing you completed the form and paid the $185 application fee.
A valid passport issued by your country of citizenship
A photo
(a copy of the photo you uploaded as part of the DS-160 application
Be prepared to submit all details of social media that you use.
Bank statements or other evidence
that you will be able to pay all the costs of the trip.
Letters or printed social media showing you will not overstay your visa.
This is very important.
The interviewer must be assured
that you are not a "risk to emigrate to the US".
Evidence of this type can be communications with
local relatives and friends showing they are dependent
on your return and\or communications from your employer
or academic advisor showing it would be more advantageous
for you to remain in your country/program than relocate
to the US.
All things being equal, the interviewer will believe
that it is advantageous for you to remain
in the US,
So, you must bring evidence to the contrary.
It is not useful to bring evidence of relatives or friends
currently living in the US,
as this indicates you may be a risk to emigrate
to the US.
I will issue a letter of invitation which you may also take
to your visa interview, but it is not requried.
The letter of invitation is used when arrive in the US.
I will issue an invoice which may be useful to you
in showing what your expenses will be along with evidence
of how you will cover your expenses, including letters
from your institution or other source of funds you will use.
Travel papers to return to your country
Before you leave your country, make sure you have any papers necessary
to return to your country, probably, a passport.
Address for Visa Documents
When you get here, the building you will be staying in is:
1410 Agate Street
Eugene OR 97403
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
541-346-4448
ariola@cs.uoregon.edu
January 1, 2025
Here, I will be posting updates on registration deadlines,
when you should expect to be notified,
how to get here,
what to bring, etc.
If you apply (with a recommendation, if required) before March 14,
you should hear back from us by March 21.
If not, please send email to summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu
asking what happened to your application.
Your browser will look over the form
and make sure you haven't left anything blank
or included a Letter of Motivation that is longer than 1MB.
It will prompt you to fix that, if necessary.
If there are no blanks, clicking submit should result
in your browser showing a webpage from our server.
If our server is running normally, your browser will say
you have successfully submitted your application.
If there is a problem with our server, your browser will say
there is a problem with our server and you should email
the information to us.
You should immediately receive an automated email
to the account you gave us.
If you do not receive such an email, it probably means
you mistyped your email address; so, you should immediately
send an email to summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu telling us
you submitted an application but did not receive a reply.
An error encountered on our server will result in you receiving
an email indicating an error occured.
You should email summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu
with the information about the error, so we can fix it.
In the reply email, it may indicate that your advisor
must send a Letter of Recommendation.
If so, please make sure your advisor sends this
to summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu
before the registration deadline.
You should not hear further from us until about two weeks after the application deadline.
However, you can send email to summerschool@cs.uoregon.edu to inquire about your status
or modify your application.