A University of Oregon student filed a lawsuit on Thursday against a Eugene medical clinic for a misdiagnosis of the student’s meningitis case in 2015.

In 2015, the student, Christina Jenkins, checked in to the Oregon Medical Group Clinic on Crescent Avenue. The lawsuit says that “she had experienced a sudden onset of sore throat, body aches, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, sweats, headache, cough and congestion.” She was 19 at the time.

Jenkins’ mother specifically asked the physician’s assistant, Elizabeth A. Struble, to administer a test for meningitis. Struble administered a nasal swab test to check for the flu. Jenkins was later informed by Struble that she was suffering from a “viral syndrome” and instructed to rest and increase fluid intake, but according to the lawsuit, it was a misdiagnosis.

Jenkins then visited a different medical facility, where she was diagnosed with meningococcal disease and transferred to Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

According to the lawsuit, Jenkins was left with a $500,000 medical bill from her time spent in the hospital. She also suffered from “permanent” damage to her heart and lungs, the lawsuit stated, and she also experienced emotional distress.  

Jenkins seeks a total of $3 million for both “economic damages” and “non-economic damages,” as well as any money spent on legal fees.
The 2015 meningitis outbreak killed another UO student, Lauren Jones, an 18-year-old Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling student athlete.

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**A previous version of this story said there was no increase for higher education in the proposed budget.

Gov. Kate Brown released her proposal for the 2017-19 Oregon governor’s budget on Dec 1. The proposal shows a large increase for K-12 spending over the next two years. However, Brown’s proposed budget does not address the $100 million request for higher education made by the presidents of Oregon’s public universities.

This morning, in an email to students, University of Oregon President Michael Schill stated that UO will face at least a $27.5 million shortfall in the coming year without increased funding.

The proposed budget is focusing on access and affordability, expanding opportunity grant coverage to 85,000 students — 5,000 more than last year.

In March, Schill, along with the presidents of Oregon’s six other public universities, requested that Brown earmark $100 million for higher education.

The presidents’ first petition was made in response to increased Public Employee Retirement System costs. Increased PERS costs are set to cost UO about $6 million next year.

Another request came after the failure of Measure 97 — a gross receipt tax that would have added an estimated $3 billion to the state’s coffers.  The presidents wrote a letter to Brown, emphasizing the importance of higher education funding in the state.

The initial request made no mention of the increased funding helping to keep tuition costs down, but the letter last month addressed PERS costs as well as tuition increases.

“As our elected leaders weigh difficult budget decisions, we urge them to invest a minimum of $100 million for Oregon’s university students to continue to clamp down on student costs and debt,” the joint letter said. “This investment will allow all campuses to keep tuition increases to a manageable level for the next two years and ensure that students can graduate without taking on a lifetime of debt.”

The state must generate $900 million in new revenue in order for the current funding of public universities to remain constant, according to Schill’s email.

In the coming weeks, Schill plans to appoint an “ad hoc budget advisory task force to provide advice and ideas for raising additional revenues and reducing expenses,” according to the email.

Senate Budget Committee members, administrators, faculty, staff members and students will be a part of the committee that will have its first meeting in January.

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University of Oregon Police Department arrested an individual this afternoon for possession of methamphetamine and trespassing across the street from the University of Oregon at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Onyx Street. Another individual was cited to appear in court.

“They were both previously arrested on campus for trespassing,” said UOPD Sergeant Scott Geeting.

The person arrested had a warrant out for their arrest, and the police department must take someone into custody in that case, according to Geeting.

Both individuals remain unidentified.

Before being searched and placed into the police car, the arrested individual was treated by medics. UOPD was not allowed to release any information about the nature of the treatment.

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The ASUO Men’s Center has found a new director, and they are set to begin work Jan. 6. The hire comes after the center’s proposal to expand its budget was approved last spring.

Quantrell Willis, the Associate Dean of Students for University of Oregon was the supervisor of the hiring committee in the search for a new director. He cannot release their name at this time because of a pending background check and paperwork that is not yet completed; however, Willis is excited about what this means for the center.

According to Willis, he and a hiring committee of several others went through approximately 40 to 50 applications for the position and then narrowed their search from there down to two candidates who came to campus to interview. The process included getting feedback from students and faculty members as well as a few community members.

The Men’s Center is one of very few in the nation, and Willis believes that the new director will not only benefit the UO campus but also put the center on a national level as an example for other universities.

“The Men’s Center strives to create spaces and events where people of all genders and identities can work collectively towards reconstructing masculinity in a social justice-oriented manner,” according to the center’s website.

Started in 2002 by a counseling center staff member at the university, the center’s original mission was to assist men in leading healthier lives. However, when the founder retired, the GTF who had been working alongside him took over and wanted to make the center a more inclusive space, creating the broader mission in place today. Following the second director’s departure from UO, the current Interim Director Aaron Porter continues to care for the center’s mission.

In his time as director, Porter has been striving to engage people on campus with the center in numerous ways including The Men’s Starter Project, a production where men with different backgrounds come together in front of the community and share personal stories challenging different notions of masculinity. The center also holds various weekly meetings and has launched a Men of Strength Club, or MOST, which focuses on sexual violence prevention.

As the center moves forward and the new director comes in, Porter said, “My role will be doing what I always have known I will need to do, and have to do which is hard, that is to step back and let it go.”

While a formal announcement has yet to be made about the new hire, Porter spoke to the character of the new director and is excited about the transition. He thinks that the individual will fit in well on campus, he said, “I think that they have the skills and capacity to support our really amazing students […] I think they are personal, and relatable, and they are passionate.”

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If passed, Oregon Ballot Measure 95 would allow public universities to invest state funds in equities.

The proposed measure comes in response to Oregon Senate Bill 270, which passed in 2013. Bill 270 granted public universities the authority to manage much of their own finances, but a provision in the Oregon State Constitution prevents them from fully exercising that authority.

Currently, Section 6, Article XI of the Oregon Constitution contains a list of limitations to the state’s ability to hold or invest in stock. Measure 95 would amend the state constitution to exclude public universities from those restrictions.

“What the measure really allows the university to do is to take not endowment funds but regular state funds and essentially bring them out to the stock market,” said Daniel HoSang, an Associate Political Science Professor at the University of Oregon.

Investing in equities would allow universities to diversify their funding. The Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet terms this a ‘risk management tool.’

According to Richard Fisher, a financial advisor with D.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC, the term ‘risk management tool’ means universities would be using multiple ways of investing to optimize their return. However, because the money would be invested in different ways, only portions of the money could be lost at any given time, lowering the risk and doing away with an all or nothing situation.

Measure 95 has received support in the form of a written statement from three public university presidents, Michael Schill from UO, Edward Ray from Oregon State University and Tom Insko from Eastern Oregon University.

“Oregonians want our universities to provide a quality education and help more middle-class Oregonians access a post-secondary degree,” the statement reads. “Measure 95 will support this public mission.”

There are no opposition arguments to Measure 95 in the voters’ pamphlet, nor was there much opposition to Bill 270 when it originally passed. Bill 270 was passed by the Oregon Senate with a final count of 25 in favor and four against in July of 2013.

According to HoSang, the intent behind Measure 95 is for universities to raise part of their capital through investments, meaning they will be less likely to need funding from the legislature. However, HoSang also said there is reason to be concerned when “an institution that is supposed to be public is so heavily dependent on the private sector and the private market.”

The post Here’s how Measure 95 would affect UO appeared first on Emerald Media.

The University of Oregon is creating a proposal that will limit the time, place and manner of protesting on campus, according to a statement made Friday by UO President Michael Schill.

The policy is being drafted by the General Counsel, headed by UO Vice President Kevin Reed, and is currently gathering feedback from the community. The counsel will present the proposal to the Policy Advisory Committee in the coming weeks, according to Schill.

If no consensus is made in four months, Schill will enact a temporary emergency policy until he, the General Counsel and the Policy Advisory Committee reach an agreement, according to the announcement.

The new policy is in response to an April protest in front of Johnson Hall, UO’s administrative building. The protest aimed to sway the university from divesting stock in fossil fuels. Administration ordered the removal of a large banner which read, “Off Fossil Fuels: We call on President [Michael] Schill to urge the UO foundation to divest from fossil fuels,” according to an Emerald article from April.

In the announcement, Schill wrote that the protest was peaceful, but protesters “disrupted business at Johnson Hall.”

UO is not the first to enact such a policy, Oregon State University’s Time, Place and Manner policy restricts protests that “unreasonably disrupt regular or authorized activities in classrooms, offices, laboratories and other University facilities or grounds.” Protesters may also be required to stay 15 feet away from any exit, entrance, staircase, parking lot or roadway, according to the document.

The University of Oregon is creating a proposal that will limit the time, place and manner of protesting on campus, according to a statement made Friday by UO President Michael Schill.

The policy is being drafted by the General Counsel, headed by UO Vice President Kevin Reed, and is currently gathering feedback from the community. The counsel will present the proposal to the Policy Advisory Committee in the coming weeks, according to Schill.

If no consensus is made in four months, Schill will enact a temporary emergency policy until he, the General Counsel and the Policy Advisory Committee reach an agreement, according to the announcement.

The new policy is in response to an April protest in font of Johnson Hall, UO’s administrative building. The protest aimed to sway the university from divesting stock in fossil fuels. Administration ordered the removal of a large banner which read, “Off Fossil Fuels: We call on President [Michael] Schill to urge the UO foundation to divest from fossil fuels,” according to an Emerald article form April.

In the announcement, Schill wrote that the protest was peaceful, but protesters “disrupted business at Johnson Hall.”

UO is not the first to enact such a policy, Oregon State University’s Time, Place and Manner policy restricts protests that “unreasonably disrupt regular or authorized activities in classrooms, offices, laboratories and other University facilities or grounds.” Protesters may also be required to stay 15 feet away from any exit, entrance, staircase, parking lot or roadway, according to the document.

The University of Oregon is creating a proposal that will limit the time, place and manner of protesting on campus, according to a statement made Friday by UO President Michael Schill.

The policy is being drafted by the General Counsel, headed by UO Vice President Kevin Reed, and is currently gathering feedback from the community. The counsel will present the proposal to the Policy Advisory Committee in the coming weeks, according to Schill.

If no consensus is made in four months, Schill will enact a temporary emergency policy until he, the General Counsel and the Policy Advisory Committee reach an agreement, according to the announcement.

The new policy is in response to an April protest in font of Johnson Hall, UO’s administrative building. The protest aimed to sway the university from divesting stock in fossil fuels. Administration ordered the removal of a large banner which read, “Off Fossil Fuels: We call on President [Michael] Schill to urge the UO foundation to divest from fossil fuels,” according to an Emerald article form April.

In the announcement, Schill wrote that the protest was peaceful, but protesters “disrupted business at Johnson Hall.”

UO is not the first to enact such a policy, Oregon State University’s Time, Place and Manner policy restricts protests that “unreasonably disrupt regular or authorized activities in classrooms, offices, laboratories and other University facilities or grounds.” Protesters may also be required to stay 15 feet away from any exit, entrance, staircase, parking lot or roadway, according to the document.

The University of Oregon Faculty Senate met on Wednesday night in the Crater Lake room at the EMU. Here’s what they discussed:

The interim Director of the Knight Campus, Patrick Phillips, addressed the senate with certain details about the new campus and the 10 year program that goes with it. Phillips also made the Senate aware of two town hall meetings that have been set up to discuss the campus and address questions about the progress: one on Oct. 26 at 11:00 a.m. and another Nov. 29 at 9:00 a.m.

The University of Oregon Police Chief, Matt Carmichael, also addressed the senate and described his plans for keeping campus safe. He made it very clear that serving and connecting with students and the community is a priority for him.

“My vested interest, quite frankly, is not just here,” Carmichael said. “It’s in the city of Eugene and Springfield where we also live, and our students live.”

A new proposal was brought to the Senate to create a new bachelors degree: Spatial Data Science & Technology in the Department of Geography.

Provost Coltrane gave a presentation on IT reorganization at the university. Coltrane addressed the university’s current IT structure, discussing the problems with the lack of a central structure.

“We have great IT professionals, but not necessarily the best funding mechanism or organizational structure.”

This morning, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown received an endorsement from President Barack Obama.

” There are good things going on in America,” the President said. “That is especially true in Oregon, where my friend Kate Brown is getting things done.”

The President highlighted all that Gov. Brown has done in her time in office, including passing legislation in order to transition to renewable energy.

He went on urging Oregonians to vote in the upcoming election. He said, “When your ballot comes in the mail, don’t set it aside with the mail […] open it up, fill it out.”

February 2015 marked the beginning of the governor’s time in office. Brown is currently campaigning to keep her office against her opponent Republican Bud Pierce.

Watch the full video here.