Why I love the UO
The UO sucks at many things, sometimes quite horribly (the behaviour that Ian just experienced from the graduate school). However, this is overshadowed (at least for me) by the total awesomness of it being a research institution.
Because of this focus, the UO has a large, thriving research library, complete with an entire staff of expert librarians in various subjects who are will to meet with you and help you find resources and explore possibilities that you may have never considered, especially in the realm of cross-departmental research.
For instance, I recently was trying to figure out the best method of ranking legal documents in comparison to each other and was hitting a brick wall. However, a single email to the linguistics librarian produced a response brimming with references to research (apparently there is a organization that studies exactly that problem), which were exactly pertinent.
Way to go UO!
