The second event of the Freedom of Expression Series continued battling the nuances of campus discourse and the First Amendment on Monday at noon in the Knight Law Center.

This event was titled “Freedom of Speech and Expression Across the ‘Rural-Urban’ Divide,” and featured a panel of six University of Oregon alumni or students.

The group explored topics such as free speech on social media, trigger warnings in classes, the anti-abortion group that came to campus in October, the white nationalists who came to campus in April and the student collective’s protest of UO President Michael Schill’s State of the College address. The hour-long panel also took questions and comments from the audience of about 15 people.

Attendee Julia Mueller said she doesn’t think the small turn out reflected the relevance of this topic.

“Everyone has a stance, everyone has an opinion, so I think this is a really important thing to be discussing,” Mueller said.

Although this is her first event of the series, Mueller said she thinks these events are needed to help continue the complex conversations people are having about who should and shouldn’t be allowed to come to campus.

The next event in the series, “Global Perspectives on Freedom of Speech and Expression,” will take place March 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Knight Law Center.

Todd Milbourn and Lisa Heyamoto kicked off the series last Friday with the “Your Campus, Your Voice: Student Roundtable.” That event will happen again March 9 at noon at the Many Nations Longhouse near Global Scholars Hall.

The post Panel talks about free speech but draws small crowd appeared first on Emerald Media.

Dutch Brothers Coffee on West 11th Avenue and Chambers Street was robbed at gunpoint around 7 p.m. on Friday, and police are searching for the robber who ran from the drive-through window with the cash.

Multiple police units and a K-9 unit have not found the reported 20- to 30-year-old black man, according to a press release by the Eugene Police Department. The report stated he was wearing a black, hooded sweater, black pants and green baseball cap with red writing on it.

If anyone has tips, they are asked to call Eugene Police at 541-682-5111.

The post Dutch Bros on West 11th Ave. robbed at gunpoint Friday appeared first on Emerald Media.

One of the University of Oregon’s most forgettable buildings sits just outside of campus and is an example of post-World War II architecture. Although it looks abandoned and dilapidated now, a passing student used to be able to see a glass-paneled showroom featuring vintage Chevrolets.

The University of Oregon is seeking development of the “Romania lot” located at 2020 Franklin Blvd., east of Matthew Knight Arena and Market of Choice. The university purchased the building and the four acre lot in 2005, which has since been used as storage for university property. Now, UO real estate analyst Patrick Hyland said the university is looking to make some money off the property.

The building was formerly known as the Joe Romania Chevrolet Dealership, and before that, it was named the Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership and the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant.

Despite its location being removed from central campus, the unique building garners attention because of its architecture — enough attention to become a registered local historic site with the National Park Service in 2011.

The Romania Warehouse is located off of Franklin Blvd, by University of Oregon campus. (Ben Green/Emerald)

The NPS Registration Form states, “The dealership has served as an icon of modern design in the Eugene area since 1960 when the display pavilion was built as an attachment to the front of a 1949 Coca-Cola bottling plant and the dealership opened for business. It has a flying roof, locally known as a ‘potato-chip’ style roof.”

On Feb. 1, Hyland said the university sent out a request for qualifications seeking developers and their ideas for the property.

Due to the historic landmark status, there are limitations to what can be done with the building. It cannot be demolished without prior approval from the city or have its qualities earning it historic recognition altered. Hyland said some changes can be made, like improvements or updates to a degree, and it can be moved in its entirety.

“We feel there’s a lot of reason not to demolish it,” Hyland said.

One of those reasons is that the community likes it.

The deadline for the request of qualifications is Feb. 28, and after that, the UO will open a request for proposals. At this step, Hyland said they are looking for more specificity in the proposals and they will decide from there if they will proceed with the development.

Hyland said a crucial part of the proposals is a plan for what to do with the showroom, the portion of the building outlined in the National Register for Historic Places. Here he said there is “community interest to consider.” Hyland offered an example of building around the showroom as an idea they would consider as opposed to altering the character or unique qualities of the showroom.

Hyland also mentioned the interior of the building, saying it is odd and the building is just not used as much as initially expected. He said the primary purpose for developing the lot is to provide financial revenue for the university.

The roof of the building was something Hyland laughed at as well, saying, “we call it the potato chip because it looks like a Pringle.”

Follow Becca Robbins on Twitter: @brobbinsuo

The post UO’s “Romania Lot” looks for proposals for use, improvement of historic building appeared first on Emerald Media.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact is set for March 2 at 1 p.m. near the construction site at 1399 Franklin Blvd. across the street behind the Lokey Science Complex.

UO President Michael Schill; chair of the UO Board of Trustees, Chuck Lillis; and acting executive director of the Knight Campus and professor of biology, Patrick Phillips, are slated to speak at the ceremony. They will be joined by representatives of the construction and architecture teams.

The Knight Campus project was announced in October of 2016 and is scheduled to open in 2020.

This announcement follows an update from Phillips in January which included the approval of $50 million in funding from the Oregon State Legislature and further development of the Knight Campus Internship Program.

The $50 million in approved funds is the first wave of a $110 million bond request. Phil and Penny Knight donated $500 million to the estimated $1 billion project in October of 2016.

In the announcement via AroundtheO, Schill said, “We launched the Knight Campus more than a year ago with the generosity of Phil and Penny Knight. Now, our dedication takes physical shape, as we put shovel to soil and start to build. The University of Oregon, the community, region and state will benefit for generations.”

The post Knight Campus groundbreaking set for March 2 appeared first on Emerald Media.

Sarah Case and her 9-year-old Sheltie, Coco, were crossing Agate Street in front of Hamilton Hall on their way to class in October last year when Case noticed they were being followed.

The things pursuing Case and Coco were turkeys.

“They crossed the street super slowly then they followed me into the crosswalk,” said Case. “I kept walking and then I walked a little faster, and then they walked a little faster, and then some nice random lady had to grab a stick to poke them away.”

Although they make for funny pictures, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the turkeys are becoming a problem by moving into city limits. ODFW biologist Christopher Yee said they risk damaging people’s properties, causing traffic accidents and, of course, chasing people and pets. Nonetheless, the city has not taken action like Yee said ODFW hoped they would.

Case said she hopes something will be done with the turkeys so she doesn’t have to be afraid of something like that happening again. She still remembers having to calm down after the turkeys left and made her late to class that morning.

“And then I hid behind a trash can for like five minutes,” said Case. “I was pretty much hyperventilating and laughing at the same time. I’ve been emotionally scarred since.”

She said her dog is about the same size as the turkeys, but Coco didn’t care much. This situation is something that Yee warned is a risk of having the turkeys in Eugene.

“It’s a pretty serious issue and there are people who have been dealing with it for years,” said Yee. “During the breeding season, the toms (males) can get quite aggressive and chase people, and they will sometimes get you with the spurs on their legs.”

He also said turkeys are often particularly attracted to chasing around pets.

The turkeys were introduced into Oregon in the 1990s as a game bird, according to Yee, amid some debate about whether the animals were native to the state or not.

Yee said the turkeys were initially placed in areas where they wouldn’t interfere with homes or businesses. Since then, because of population growth, people transporting them and people feeding them, the animals have found their way to Eugene. And he sees no reason for them to leave anytime soon since they are so easily fed.

One way to help get the turkeys out of the city is to reduce the instances of people feeding them. Yee said ODFW is working with the city of Eugene to create a no feeding ordinance as they have in other cities like Corvallis and Veneta.

Yee said these ordinances only prohibit people from feeding the animals if feeding them is causing damage to others’ properties.

He emphasized a difference between intentionally feeding the turkeys and unintentionally feeding them.

“People should definitely not feed them intentionally,” Yee said. “However, a lot of people like to feed deer and the same grains you would feed a deer, you can feed turkeys. Or you can also have people with bird feeders and if they don’t clean up underneath the bird feeder, the turkey will come in and do it for them. There’s also people who leave pet food or food outside.”

Another problem with animals brought to the area for hunting is that hunting is illegal inside city limits. Yee said the birds also risk causing traffic accidents and damaging landscaping and property.

UO facility services landscape supervisor Phil Carroll said they “don’t do anything” in terms of the groundskeeping crew, and there’s no specific management actions they take because of them.

“They are just out there on campus like any other two-legged creature, and we go about our business in our usual way and they go about their business,” said Carroll.

If students cross paths with turkeys on campus, Yee warned it’s important not to attempt to chase them off.

“When people chase turkeys out of their yard, technically they need what’s called a hazing permit from our department,” said Yee. “It is illegal to harass wildlife.”

Yee said in terms of traffic accidents, if drivers hit a turkey, it’s treated the same as a driver hitting a deer or a raccoon on the road. Unless intent can be proven, there is typically no ramifications for the driver.

While the Eugene Police Department said they don’t have any record of any incidents involving the turkeys, UO Police Department public information officer Kelly McIver said they were called on Wednesday to help move two turkeys from the parking garage outside of the HEDCO Education Building.

“The city needs to step up and take [the turkeys] seriously or it’s going to get worse,” said Yee.

The post Campus turkeys pose threat to duck country appeared first on Emerald Media.

University of Oregon English instructor Avinnash Tiwari spoke to a crowd of about 20 students in Straub 145 on Wednesday night for the UO Organization Against Sexual Assault’s second Coalition for Consent event of the academic year, this one titled “Men’s Edition.”

Following in the strides of their first event in November, this coalition focused on recent pop culture sexual misconduct cases, this time analyzing Aziz Ansari and the role of social media in framing perception.

OASA Logistics Director and facilitator of this event Melinda Gonzalez said she saw this coalition as a follow up from their previous event.

“The viewpoint of males kept coming up in conversations we had during that event. I thought that since it came up so much it’s something that needs to be addressed, needs to be talked about in our next event,” said Gonzalez.

Tiwari broke Wednesday’s conversation into three facets and related questions: Personal Narrative, “What am I?;” Ideology, “How do I see the world?;” and Culture, “How do I want to live in the world?”

After 10 years in the marine corp, Tiwari said he has a very strict view of what masculinity was and felt the need to emphasize framing the question as what am I, instead of who am I?

As a former student and mentee of Tiwari’s, Gonzalez said she immediately thought of him after deciding on the topic of this event.

“I thought it was very important, since it’s men’s edition, to have a male speaker,” said Gonzalez. “And he already has such and interest and such a passion for feminism, as should everyone, but because of those two things I thought he was perfect for this event.”

OASA members (left to right) Anna Ritchie, Melinda Gonzalez, Gabby Farland, and Sophie Bange open the discussion. The University of Oregon’s Organization Against Sexual Assault hosted Prof. Avinash Tiwari for the event “Coalition for Consent: Men’s Edition” on Feb. 7, 2018 in Straub Hall. (Natalie Waitt-Gibson/Emerald)

Despite its titling of “Men’s Edition,” Gonzalez said she didn’t want that to deter any women from coming, saying she wanted to have an open conversation between genders. The attendance was split between men and women, which Gonzalez later called a “good thing.”

A sophomore who attended the talk, Silas Lobnibe said he felt this was a “much needed conversation, especially with this wider social backdrop.”

He said he especially appreciated Tiwari’s emphasis on intersectionality as a fellow man of color.

This was his first Coalition for Consent event, yet he said he’d definitely attend future events.

Gonzalez said OASA is hoping to have another event toward the end of the term while they gear up for their annual speaker series in spring term in which she said they hope to feature a transgender person of color.

Tiwari closed his speech by thanking everyone for engaging with him in the complexities of this issue, saying, “This doesn’t fit on a meme, it doesn’t fit in a tweet.”

You can find coverage of the November Coalition for Consent here.

The post Coalition for Consent group explores discussion of sexual assault and harassment appeared first on Emerald Media.

University of Oregon President Michael Schill’s portrait was finished and unveiled over winter break in a private showing in the faculty club space of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

The artist of Schill’s portrait, Eugene native Lynda Lanker, requested The Emerald to not publish a picture of the portrait, but you can find it on Lanker’s website here.

Portraits are commissioned for all the university’s presidents and paid for with donations. Lanker was also responsible for the portraits of four of Schill’s predecessors.

According to Faculty Club Board Chair James Harper, who is also a professor of History of Art and Architecture, the showing of Schill’s $20,000 portrait was small and appropriate.  

“I don’t think President Schill is the kind of egomaniac who wanted to have a kind of public unveiling of his portrait,” said Harper. “He just wanted to have a sort of quiet moment.”

Lanker’s previous works include William Beaty Boyd, president from 1975 to 1980; Paul Olum, 1980 to 1989; Myles Brand, 1989 to 1994 and Dave Frohnmayer, 1994 to 2009.

Most portraits are hanging in Johnson Hall with a few located in the faculty club area of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, where Schill’s was unveiled.

Schill’s portrait will sit in storage until he leaves the president’s office, said UO spokesman Tobin Klinger, as “it’s about honoring a legacy.”

Despite portraits not being as common as in the time of the university’s early leaders, Harper noted the ritual of lining the walls of Johnson Hall with these paintings.

“I think it’s a very fine and good tradition,” said Harper. “I think it is dignifying to the university, and I think it’s nice for everyone who’s involved with the university — students, faculty, administrators — to kind of sense that they’re surrounded with the history of the place. And I think that having a good, solid, unbroken sequence of presidents’ portraits — it’s just one more way in which the university remembers its history.”

Schill’s decision to have his portrait done in his second year at UO is not unusual, said Harper.

“Sometimes presidents don’t get around to it right away,” he said. “It would be a little weird to commission one the moment you get there, but it’s also good to get that work done so it’s not neglected.”

Harper cited the photo of former UO president Richard Lariviere, who was the UO President from 2009 to 2011, saying that he never got around to having his portrait done, so instead Johnson Hall remembers Lariviere with a photo of him with students.

Klinger agreed that presidents usually sit for their portraits fairly early in their terms. “The president has been jokingly saying that if he had to sit for a formal portrait, he wanted to do so while he still had his hair.”

The post UO gets custom portrait of President Schill, but it will remain in storage until he leaves appeared first on Emerald Media.

Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis announced Wednesday that PeaceHealth Oregon will be the title sponsor of a city bike share program at a press event at the Hilyard Community Center.

PeaceHealth Oregon CEO Rand O’Leary joined the mayor on stage to unveil the blue bikes with the hospital’s white dove logo adorning the frame.

The 300 bikes and 35 stations are expected to be open for riders in spring term across the University of Oregon campus, downtown Eugene and the Whiteaker neighborhood. There is no set date yet.

ASUO contributed nearly $200,000 dollars toward this project, with another $900,000 of the $1.3 million coming in grants from the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The bike share company the city chose is called Social Bikes, the same company operating the orange bikes of the Biketown project in Portland.

The project was originally intended to be confined to the UO in 2012 but was not approved by Campus Risk Management, according to UO Bike Program Coordinator Kelsey Moore.

In 2015 the city received enough interest from the community, along with the ODOT grant, to pick the project up again and include more of Eugene.  

Students can receive 15 minutes of free ride time each day using the bike share system this spring term, after which they will pay $1 for every 15 minutes using the bike. If students buy a $5 monthly pass, they receive an hour of free ride time per day.

PeaceHealth is excited to announce that we’ll be the lead sponsor of a bike share network that launches in Eugene and Springfield this spring. This in collaboration with @jumpbikes, @cityofeugene, @uoregon and @LaneTransit. For more info https://t.co/MhfoKHiZES #PeaceHealthRides pic.twitter.com/loKAiBupup

— PeaceHealth Oregon (@PeaceHealth_Ore) January 31, 2018

The post Here’s a look at the new PeaceHealth bike-share bicycles set to launch on campus next term appeared first on Emerald Media.

ASUO is accepting applications for a new executive position called the Veteran Student Advocate. ASUO Chief of Staff Will Iverson hopes this will create a new space on campus for supporting veterans.

The position was posted before winter break and is still open for applicants. The candidate chosen will also serve as an officer with the Veterans and Family Student Association to advocate for the community.

Iverson said they’re looking for someone well-informed and plugged in with the veteran community, as well as someone with a desire to advocate and improve relationships with non-veteran students.

“A lot of times people don’t know student veterans, so I think that might be part of the root issue,” said Iverson.

VFSA Public Relations Officer Shea Kvintus said he thinks this position will make a difference.

“We’re excited about this position because whoever becomes the Veteran Student Advocate is going to have time scheduled into their day, as a job, to advocate for us,” said Kvintus. “The connections they’ll be able to make being on the ASUO staff is also a lot more than we can do as a student organization.”

Iverson is currently the only veteran student to serve on ASUO and said he’s been trying to get a bigger voice for veterans closer to administration since 2014.

“I’d been thinking if there were an ASUO position created to focus on veterans’ advocacy, they might be able to get more of a foothold and accomplish more in the coming year,” said Iverson.

“Support usually comes in the form of surplus funds from the senate, but as far as campaigning and advocacy, there hasn’t been a lot of work done on that front.”

Kvintus said he feels the University of Oregon could be an ideal place for veterans if there was more focus on them

“The top degrees veterans get here are [like] business, biology,” Kvintus said. “It could be a better place for vets.”

Iverson echoed this, saying, “As far as veteran support, in general, University of Oregon is not considered to be a great place. [Whoever fills this position] can help make UO a leader instead of following.”

VFSA is the only ASUO-recognized veterans program.

Find employment opportunities with ASUO, including details about the Veteran Student Advocate position here.

Follow Becca Robbins on Twitter: @brobbinsuo

The post ASUO seeks to fill new position for veteran support appeared first on Emerald Media.

The Red Wagon Creamery ice cream shop in the EMU basement closed on Jan. 1 due to not meeting the financial obligations of its contract, according to school officials.

Dan Geiger, assistant director for retail services at the EMU, said they didn’t do as well as they hoped.

“The EMU is disappointed it didn’t work out,” he said.

Geiger said the contract between the creamery and the EMU was for a minimum base rent or a percentage of their sales, whichever was higher. Because they could no longer meet this, Geiger said it was a mutual decision between the EMU and Red Wagon to close their shop on campus.

Red Wagon opened on campus in September 2016 and was in the EMU for the building’s reopening that fall.

“We like their ice cream,” Geiger said. “It just didn’t sell.”

Red Wagon could not be reached by The Emerald and its website is also unavailable.

EMU seeks replacement

According to Geiger, the EMU is seeking another vendor for the location, preferably a local option to neighbor Townshend’s Teahouse.

Keeping in mind students’ price points, Geiger said having a variety of options on campus is an important factor.

“Students have a diversity of palates,” said Geiger. “So we’re not going to put in another burger place.”

Looking to drive sales later into the evening, Geiger said the new vendor would preferably appeal to students beyond traditional lunchtime hours like other national chains in the building.

One challenge in the search to fill the location is the space itself.

“It’s a great location, but it’s small,” said Geiger.

The space doesn’t have a hood for cooking things like burgers, he said, so that’s why an ice cream shop was initially appealing.

Geiger said they are seeking input from students on what should come next and are consulting the EMU board, which is comprised of students.

If you have ideas for something you want to see replace Red Wagon in the EMU, email dgeiger@uoregon.edu.

The post Red Wagon Creamery closed in the EMU and now the school is looking for replacement suggestions appeared first on Emerald Media.