(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University Student Recreation Center continues to be a resource for both SOU employees and community members seeking a refuge from wildfire smoke and unhealthy outdoor air quality. The SRC offers free admission to its elevated, indoor walking and running track – a popular, smoke-free haven – from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., whenever Ashland’s air quality is at unhealthy levels (101+ AQI).

Photo ID and a signed waiver will be required at check-in.

The SRC features high-efficiency air filtration and air conditioning systems, and is a good option for walking, jogging or visiting with others after work.

SOU has made its Student Recreation Center available as a community resource during local wildfire smoke events over the past six years. Community members who want full access to the SRC during regular operating hours can purchase day passes onsite. More information on SRC passes and memberships at recreation.sou.edu/memberships.

The SRC’s will be closed for annual maintenance from Saturday, Sept. 7 through Saturday, Sept. 21.

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Travis Campbell, an assistant professor of economics at Southern Oregon University, is the lead author of a collaborative research paper that suggests providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth reduces their risk for suicide attempts.

The paper, “Hormone Therapy, Suicidal Risk and Transgender Youth in the United States,” was published in the most recent edition of the American Economic Association’s Papers and Proceedings. It found that hormone replacement therapy appears to result in a 14.4 percent decrease in the likelihood of those transgender youth ever attempting suicide.

“By comparing transgender youth who begin hormone therapy to those who begin one year later, our research provides evidence of hormone therapy meaningfully improving the mental health of the recipients,” Campbell said. “This insight suggests that legislation restricting access to gender-affirming care may have large, negative impacts on the lives of transgender youth.”

The study comes as many states have tightened restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Bans on such care for minors have been enacted in 20 states – most of them this year – and similar legislation is pending in at least eight others.

In their study, Campbell and co-authors Samuel Mann of Vanderbilt University, Duc Hien Nguyen of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Yana Rodgers of Rutgers University analyzed data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey – the largest-ever assessment of transgender people. More than 27,700 respondents across the U.S. participated in the survey.

Survey data indicated that gender-affirming care reduces what is known as “gender dysphoria” – a sense of distress among some who feel their assigned sex at birth does not match their gender identity. Reducing gender dysphoria, in turn, decreased suicide risk – particularly among those for whom therapy is initiated at ages 14 or 15.

The research found no statistically significant relationship between gender-affirming care and suicide risk among transgender adults – potentially because some transgender youth who are the most at-risk have already attempted suicide, the study’s authors have suggested.

Campbell and Rodgers published a separate study this year – “Conversion therapy, suicidality and running away: An analysis of transgender youth in the U.S.” – in the Journal of Health Economics. That study, which is also based on data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, found that the controversial practice of “conversion therapy” increases the risk of suicide attempts among transgender youth by 55 percent, and increases the likelihood of running away from home by 128 percent. Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation – or gender identity or expression – to conform with heterosexual norms.

Campbell joined the SOU Economics faculty after earning his Ph.D. in economics last year from the University of Massachusetts. His research applies microeconomics to social justice issues, including economic inequalities based on race, gender and sexuality. His classes at SOU include Micro and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Methods and Application, Healthcare Economics, Labor Economics and Gender Issues in Economics.

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University will extend in-state tuition benefits to members of all federally recognized Native American tribes beginning this fall, regardless of where they live. Annual savings under the policy change for Native American students from outside Oregon will range from nearly $5,000 to more than $18,000, depending on where they live.

“SOU has deep respect for the cultural heritage that our Native American students embody,” SOU President Rick Bailey said. “The university is also committed to providing opportunities for all first-generation and other non-traditional students to pursue their academic dreams. We believe that our entire university community will benefit from encouraging the enrolled members of tribes across the country to join us at SOU and enrich our campus.”

SOU joins Portland State University and Oregon State University in creating new opportunities this summer for Native American students nationwide to receive in-state tuition. Those changes follow Oregon’s recent investment in college access for in-state Native students through the Oregon Tribal Student Grant Program, which covers the average cost of attendance after all other federal and state grants or scholarships are applied.

A simplified process at SOU will allow Native American students from outside Oregon to apply for in-state tuition during the admission application process by submitting documentation of their membership in any of the 574 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. Those students will still be considered out-of-state students, but will be assessed in-state tuition rates. Current students who may qualify for the discounted rates may submit tribal documentation to the registrar’s office, and any student with questions about the new policy should contact the admissions office.

SOU offers a variety of opportunities for Native American students and is involved in ongoing efforts to strengthen its ties with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes and those of northern California, developing memoranda of understanding with some that recognize mutual educational interests and spell out benefits ranging from financial aid opportunities to mentorship programs.

The Native American Studies program at SOU has added both faculty and course offerings in recent years, and was instrumental last year in initiating an Indigenous Gardens Network to restore areas where “first foods” and other culturally significant items can be cultivated, harvested and made accessible to Indigenous people. SOU’s Konaway Nika Tillicum residential summer program for Native American Youth has grown to include an online program for families, and the Native American Student Union has remained active throughout the pandemic.

The university also adopted a “land acknowledgement” last year, recognizing that the SOU campus lies on the ancestral homelands of the area’s Native American tribes; the full acknowledgement may be read at meetings or gatherings on the SOU campus.

The number of existing SOU students who may be affected by the changed policy on in-state tuition is unclear. A total of 251 SOU students identified as being American Indian or Alaskan Native when they enrolled last fall, and 167 of those were from Oregon. However, the “ethnicity tags” on enrollment documents are self-reported and non-exclusive – students can choose multiple, single or no ethnicities. Of those who identified as being American Indian or Alaskan Native, just 11 chose the additional option of identifying themselves as being affiliated with any of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes.

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