How does a 20-year-old band produce fresh, innovative material to pull in new listeners and keep up its momentum? For Jimmy Eat World, the answer is simple: Ditch the innovation, stay the course and refine what you’ve been known for over the last two decades. Simply put, “Damage” is the band having found its identity and doing what it does best. This is Jimmy Eat World all grown up.

“Damage” takes the moody ambiance of “Clarity” and “Static Prevails” and intertwines it with bits of later efforts in a way that makes this a perfect a summation of what the band is capable of. Although “Damage” shines in certain areas, it likely won’t win the band many new fans. It lacks a distinct standout, such as a “Lucky Denver Mint,” “The Middle” or even a “Here It Goes.” But there’s nothing wrong with that.

The album kicks off with “Appreciation,” a song that surrounds itself with the aura of semi-existential thought and hard guitar riffs emblematic of the band’s early days. “Strange we come to find ourselves not knowing we’re lost,” croons Jim Adkins in the chorus, reminding us all of what drew us to the emo scene to begin with. Or is it even adequate to classify any collection of songs as such anymore?

Moments of “Chase This Light” and “Invented” pervade the title track. Soft melodies and an upbeat acoustic guitar track start a light-hearted intermission of sorts for the rest of the LP. ”Lean” and “Book of Love,” the next two songs on the album, compliment “Damage” greatly. As a trio of songs, the three do a great job of setting and maintaining a consistent mood for the middle of the album, allowing Jimmy fans to shut off for ten minutes and experience a sentiment that pervaded the latter half of “Futures” and much of “Chase This Light.”

“I Will Steal You Back” breaks that ethereal sense and moves into pop-infused territory that escapes much of the rest of the album. If there were one stand-out, radio-friendly hit on “Damage,” this would be it. The chorus is incredibly catchy and steals your attention with its sharp tone.

“Please Say No” and “How’d You Have Me” start a four-track sequence that moves from moody to upbeat, culminating in the closer, “You Were Good.” That final song sums up just what makes “Damage” a summation of Jimmy Eat World’s career: An optimistic acoustic tune that appeals to our sense of nostalgia.

Although this isn’t going to be the Jimmy Eat World album that’s remembered as the one that defined the band’s sound or reinvented it for a new audience, it definitely fits the themes and sentiment we’ve come to expect from Adkins and company. Love it or hate it, this is Jimmy Eat World.

They said he tried to stab them with a knife.

When Iris Becerra was walking to 7-11 in the adjacent parking lot for her break, she heard police sirens. Upon exiting the convenience store to head back to work, she saw a man running toward the taco shop where he and another were later handcuffed once police arrived.

Eugene police officers say the two were involved in a dispute wherein one of the suspects says the other menaced him with a knife. Names have not yet been released.

“It just started as a dispute. One person pulled out a weapon, menaced a group of individuals. As soon as officers arrived, the suspects fled on foot,” said Sgt. Kyle Williams. “That’s why it turned into a significant police response.”

The suspect detained near the western entrance of the restaurant, who was wearing blue shorts and no shirt, told police the other man pulled out a knife when he approached. The suspect wearing blue shorts was responding to a dispute between the other man and two women. That’s when the shirtless man says the other pulled out the knife and menaced him.

Becerra, the Burrito Boy employee, says she saw police swarming to the parking lot by the time she got back to the restaurant to resume her shift.

Police say there’s no official word yet on what the charges will be.

“It’s looking like it’s going to be some charges regarding failing to stop for the police, essentially, menacing and some low-level dispute stuff,” Williams said. “We don’t know what that actually looks like or what the charges are going to be yet.”

I have a confession to make: When I was young, I’d start two-player “Mario Bros.” games by myself so that I could play as Luigi. In “Super Mario Bros.,” I’d kill off Mario immediately so that I could control Player 2 and fly through the game’s eight worlds as his green palette swap. In “Super Mario Bros. 3,” there was something about a green Raccoon Suit that made my 5-year-old heart flutter. There was really no rhyme or reason to it. I just liked green a lot.

But those workarounds ended last week when Luigi finally got a side-scrolling platforming adventure all his own: “New Super Luigi U.”

For the first time in his 30 years playing second fiddle, the Eternal Understudy is finally in charge and it’s a beautiful thing. Serving as downloadable content for Wii U launch title “New Super Mario Bros. U,” this new game — currently available exclusively as a digital download through the WiiU eShop for $20 and later this year as a retail release for $30 — is a no-brainer for anyone who currently owns Nintendo’s newest console.

This title is not for the faint of heart. ”New Super Luigi U” distinguishes itself from its predecessor by taking the original 86 stages, imposing a 100-second time limit to each one and making most of them punishingly difficult.  I can’t remember the last time I finished a game in the “New Super Mario Bros.” series with fewer than 30 lives upon encountering Bowser for the final battle.

I ended this game with four.

In addition to grueling level design, “Luigi U” revives gameplay elements that have defined its protagonist since the American version of “Super Mario Bros. 2″ debuted in 1998. He jumps higher, lingers in the air and slides longer when changing direction while he’s running than Mario does. Although this is incredibly handy when it comes to finding the myriad secrets each stage offers, these new mechanics make it incredibly difficult to perform some of the tougher platforming segments in the game.

But that’s never a detriment to gameplay. If anything, it forces players to adapt to the nuances in Luigi’s mechanics. And once players finish the main story, they have the option of adopting the original “New Super Mario Bros. U” gameplay mechanics at the outset of each stage.

In addition to these gameplay tweaks, “New Super Luigi U” introduces Nabbit as a playable character. For those who haven’t played the original, Nabbit is a hooded rabbit who periodically appears throughout the course of “New Super Mario Bros. U,” stealing Toad’s loot and infiltrating stages. In “Luigi U,” Nabbit players cannot be harmed by enemies and, rather than powering up when he collects items, stashes them in his bag and dispenses them as 1ups at the end of the stage.

Although Luigi and Nabbit provide two excellent gameplay progressions, the two Toads who return from the original game play the same as they always have. This feels like a missed opportunity. What if Princess Peach joined in and added even more diversity to the gameplay?

Certain powerups that weren’t available in the “New Super Mario Bros. U” campaign also make a return, among those the Propellor Suit and the Penguin Suit. Don’t get too excited, though: Both of these powers fit into the theme of introducing variety in gameplay while simultaneously making stages incredibly difficult.

Nintendo’s approach in crafting “New Super Luigi U” echoes the various level editor projects fans have undertaken over the years. Level design defies the usual conventions Nintendo has applied in its “Mario” platformers over the years, with enemies popping up in unexpected places and several segments requiring incredibly specific timing.

Despite minor issues, this is a polished and well put-together title worthy of the “Super Mario Bros.” series. This is DLC done right.

In the early morning hours, it’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop on the University of Oregon campus. This is especially true during the summer, when the freshmen who usually inhabit the dorms are home for the summer and houses in surrounding residential areas are in-between renters.

The streets are deserted, save for the vehicle turning onto University Street from 18th Avenue. The speed limit along the stretch of road between Pioneer Cemetery and McArthur Court is 15 mph. This car’s speedometer displays a number twice that. In most jurisdictions, this driver would see flashing lights in his or her rear view mirror. But not in the UO Police Department’s territory — at least not immediately — not yet.

Routine traffic stops, such as speeding vehicles, are not situations the University’s police force is equipped to handle. That’s because there’s no way to tell what will happen once the driver is pulled over. In a worst case scenario, the person is armed and the average campus security patrol officer isn’t allowed to carry a gun.

“This is an important next step that allows us to respond to more types of calls,” UOPD spokesman Kelly McIver said.

Before the Oregon State Board of Higher Education meeting on June 21, the law prohibited on-duty officers from carrying firearms on the UO campus. Now it’s just a matter of protocol, policy and training. During that Friday meeting, the board unanimously approved UOPD’s long-standing request to arm its patrol force. But that doesn’t mean campus security officers will walk around with guns in a holster, at least not yet.

“Are people going to see 11 officers on campus who are armed? Nope,” UOPD chief Carolyn McDermed said. “We don’t have that capacity.”

The folks who have gone through the training necessary to carry firearms don’t do regular patrols — they all hold supervisory positions. And McIver doesn’t anticipate the department will define processes and protocol for anybody on duty to begin carrying before Tuesday. Line police officers — patrol officers within UOPD who are authorized to carry a firearm — won’t be on duty until Oct. 1 at the earliest, McIver said. By the time the department is fully staffed, there should be 25 armed patrol officers.

The department began hiring those line officers in May and is currently accepting applications. Once hired, they go through the same training as Eugene police and other agencies in the state. There’s background checks, followed by field training, firearm training, multicultural training, the list goes on.

“It’s not like you can wave a magic wand and say, ‘OK, you’re a police officer now,’” McIver said.

Reciprocal response

The weekend before classes start is notorious for its parties. Throw a football game into the mix and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Situations like that of Sept. 24, 2010, the day the Ducks won their first conference game of the season against Arizona State, will be more manageable for UOPD.

Several parties in the West University neighborhood near 13th Avenue and Ferry Street were thrown that night. As time went on, partygoers spilled into the streets and, before long. things got out of hand. Some partiers began boxing. Others broke into cars. And groups began pulling street signs out of their foundations.

Eugene, Springfield and Oregon State police all responded. UOPD, at the time still known as the Department of Public Safety, couldn’t reciprocate. Providing complimentary responses to EPD is just one thing McIver says an armed UOPD will be able to do.

The incident occurred months after the UO and Oregon State University approached the state legislature seeking permission to institute police departments on their campuses.  Officials from both schools cited the fact that Oregon’s two largest universities were the only schools in the Pac-10 without such a force. That legislation passed in June 2011 and the UO sought to implement its own police force immediately.

The Department of Public Safety began its transition into the University of Oregon Police Department Jan. 1, 2012.

Since then, UOPD has purchased 20 Glocks and holsters — priced at $494 and $116, respectively — and begun firearm training for its supervisory personnel.

UOPD officials met with ASUO in February of this year to discuss the proposal.

Students were vociferous on the matter, from Twitter to comments sections in The Emerald, that an armed police force worked against the best interest of students. When UOPD hosted public forums to address student concerns, attendance was far lower than that dissent may have suggested: 10 students showed up.

Sophomore Rudy Zarosinski, although he couldn’t make it to the open forums because they were scheduled when he had class, is one such student opposed to UOPD carrying firearms on campus.

“I don’t see any reason why we need firearms on campus,” he said.

Citing situations in which students get rowdy, even violent, Zarosinski says non-lethal force would be the way he prefers security handle those situations.

Prior to the state board’s decision, Oregon was the only Pac-12 school without armed security personnel and one of two Association of American Universities schools with enrollment totaling more than 15,000 bearing that distinction. The other was Portland State University.

The Oregon State Board of Higher Education today approved the University of Oregon’s request to raise tuition by 5.8 percent beginning fall term, confirmed Oregon University System spokesperson Diane Saunders.

“It’s a Sophie’s Choice,” she said in a phone interview with the Emerald, explaining that had tuition remained at its current rate, services and faculty at Oregon’s seven public universities would have faced cuts.

Saunders also said that, with an additional $50 million on top of the $744 million budget the Oregon Legislature approved earlier this week, the board would have been able to freeze tuition for resident undergraduate students.

During its meeting today, the board approved a 5 percent increase for all seven public universities, 10-3. Full-time students can expect to pay approximately $542 more per year (PDF). That’s based on a 15-credit, three-term year for a resident undergraduate. The increases were approved despite the Oregon House of Representatives approving additional funding for the state’s colleges and universities earlier this week.

Lamar Wise, former Senate president and a candidate for ASUO president during the most recent election, testified against the tuition increase with a handful of students from the UO. He related his struggles paying for his education — Wise spent some time couchsurfing to make ends meet and at times was unsure he’d be able to continue with his education at all.

“Tuition, currently, is pricing out students,” he said, adding that the increases will keep even more folks from enrolling.

State support for higher education has decreased steadily for the last 20 years. The Legislature once provided approximately 70 percent of the funding for Oregon’s colleges and universities while tuition covered the remaining 30 percent. Those numbers have since switched, with students footing the majority of the bill. Saunders said that since then, the OUS receives $100 million less from the state, yet enrollment in its institutions has increased by 34,000.

“That’s like adding another Portland State and Oregon Tech,” she said. “That’s the problem we’re facing.”

The three board members who opposed the increase are Brianna Coulombe, an Eastern Oregon University student, Farbodd Ganjifard, an Oregon State University student and Emily Plec, a communications studies professor at Western Oregon University.

In the end, for students like Wise it boils down to the investment they’re making in their future.

“I want to have a career where I can have a family and a stable income to provide for that family,” he said.

The Oregon State Board of Higher Education gave the University of Oregon Police Department the go-ahead to carry guns today, as confirmed by a tweet from the Oregon Student Association.

UOPD Chief Carolyn McDermed says that sworn officers will be allowed to carry firearms on campus soon.

“Are people going to see 11 officers on campus who are armed? Nope,” she said. “We don’t have that capacity.”

As of now, the only personnel on campus authorized to carry firearms in an official capacity hold the rank of sergeant or higher. UOPD spokesman Kelly McIver says those 11 officers serve in a supervisory capacity and that they only patrol when there aren’t enough public safety officers on duty. The first batch of line officers — UOPD personnel who would do regular patrols — should be trained by Oct. 1, McIver said. Protocol and directives for current officers to begin carrying is expected no earlier than June 25.

The decision came after years of appeal from the UOPD. The department had already purchased firearms in early 2012, a controversial move considering it had not yet received authorization from the board.

“The bulk of the reasoning for wanting to be armed is because it allows us to provide more services that a police department is really there to provide,” McIver told the Emerald in February. “We want the University to get more value out of having a police department, and (allow) us to be able to do more things that benefit a safe campus environment.”

For certain situations, such as traffic stops and domestic violence disputes, UOPD isn’t authorized to respond because of the possibility of violence.

“It’s a tool that police officers around the state are granted and I don’t think there should be  any reason why a police officer on campus shouldn’t have the same tools,” public safety officer Jared Davis said.

Turner Maxwell contributed to this report.

The School of Journalism and Communication has called off its search for a new dean. Tim Gleason will remain for now as the head of the University of Oregon’s journalism program while a new search begins.

The next search for a dean will be the third since Gleason announced he would step down earlier this year.

“I have concluded that we do not have sufficient consensus to make any of the current candidates successful here at this time,” University Provost Jim Bean wrote in an email.

Thomas Jacobsen from Temple University, Michael Evans from Indiana University were the two finalists in the first round of the search.

Carol Pardun of South Carolina, Kristin Gilger of Arizaona State, David Kurpius from Louisiana State University and Derina Holtzhausen from Oklahoma State University comprised the latest failed round of dean candidates.

The four candidates in the latter round visited the UO campus earlier in the month in two separate groups.

This story is developing and will be updated as the day goes on.

The Oregon House of Representatives today approved increased funding for the state’s colleges and universities for the first time in years, but administrators at the state’s institutions of higher learning still say tuition increases are necessary to defray rising costs.

University funding would increase by 8 percent more than is allotted for the current two-year budget cycle, which ends June 30. Community colleges would see a budget increase of about 14 percent. Even still, tuition increases, such as the University of Oregon’s proposed 5.8 percent increase, remain for the 2013-2014 academic year.

“Our students are bearing the brunt of that (education cost) on their backs,” Hood River Rep. Mark Johnson, told The Statesman Journal.

The university budget proposal passed 48-12, with dissenting Democrats and Republicans arguing that the increase was not nearly enough. The proposed budgets for both Oregon’s universities and community colleges go to the Senate for approval next. The state Board of Higher Education will meet on Friday to set tuition for the coming year.

This story is developing. The Emerald will update as the Senate and Board of Higher Education meet in the coming days.

The University of Oregon Police Department announced today that interim Police Chief Carolyn McDermed will continue to serve the force as the official chief of police.

The appointment was made public by Vice President for Finance and Administration Jamie Moffitt, who said in a release  that she was confident McDermed would “continue to implement and refine community policing strategies to meet the unique public safety needs of our campus community.”

McDermed was head of the University’s former Department of Public Safety for the last year after joining the department in 2008. She was part of DPS before its institution as a dedicated police force and has also presided over the department in its mission to acquire permission to carry firearms on campus. Prior to joining University security, McDermed served for 17 years with the Eugene Police Department.

“I’m excited and honored,” McDermed said. “Very few of us ever have the opportunity to help build a police department and lead it in the course of our careers. To do so at the University of Oregon is the opportunity of a lifetime. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”

McDermed assumes her duties as executive director and chief of UOPD July 1, pending a background check and the approval of paperwork.

Superman has long needed a do-over.

The third and fourth installments in the character’s original film series were critically panned. The 2006 semi-reboot, Superman Returns, attempted a convoluted solution to that problem — pretending they never existed and picking up right where Superman II left off, albeit several years later both on screen and in the real world, with a completely different cast.

Enter Man of Steel, the first true big-budget, live-action re-telling of the Superman myth. There’s a handful to enjoy in Zack Snyder’s version of the Last Son of Krypton’s tale — Amy Adams and Henry Cavill portray Lois Lane and Clark Kent excellently, large set-piece sequences are a sight to behold and Snyder’s bucking of the traditional superhero movie origin story sequencing is most welcome. But for everything that Man of Steel has going for it, there are at least four more that bog the film down and ultimately make this a listless and unenjoyable experience.

As stories go, the events that transpire in Man of Steel are pretty straight-forward. Krypton, the place Kal-El — later known as Superman — originally calls home, has a bit of a dilemma on its hands. The planet’s government obviously rallied behind a Kryptonian Sarah Palin at some point, given that much of the catastrophe awaiting the world can be attributed to “drill baby, drill” taken to the utmost extreme. An exhaustion of the planet’s natural resources have literally left it tapped out, with the core so unstable that it’s ready to explode.

Enter General Zod, masterfully played by Michael Shannon. He attempts to hold the government responsible for its destructive actions, but rather than suffering through a painful bureaucratic process, Zod stages a military coup. Although Jor-El (Russell Crowe), affectionately known as Superdad — well, not really — agrees with Zod’s sentiment, he’s not on board with the whole hostile takeover thing and in the fight that follows, Jor-El sends his only son rocketing off toward Earth before Krypton is completely decimated.

Without spoiling too much, Zod gains the upper hand in the ensuing struggle only to get caught and banished to the Phantom Zone. And that’s right before the entire planet goes kaboom (because perishing along with everyone you know and love is too light a punishment.) Instead, Zod and his fellow war criminals are sealed off to suffer together for however long 300 cycles is, presumably years.

And that’s the heart of what’s wrong with Man of Steel. Just like Zod’s punishment, that so much in the film is of little consequence is its largest fault. Flashbacks to Superman’s experiences as Clark Kent in Smallville and his interactions with his parents, played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, do little to engage. These short clips don’t do nearly enough to establish any meaningful relationship between the characters, and although Cavill and Adams play Clark and Lois masterfully when apart, put together they lack a legitimate connection that makes the kiss near the end of the film wholly unbelievable.

The DC universe carries a unique problem in that many of its locations are fictitious, requiring a bit of world building in order to forge any sense of attachment for viewers. Man of Steel doesn’t do much, if any of that, so the highly stylized and widespread destruction Superman and Zod wreak on Smallville and Metropolis doesn’t make an impact, particularly when the camera lingers on crashing buildings and explosions just long enough to capture the entire action before catching up with the Kryptonian flying through said landmarks.

Although the film excels in originality at times, such as its reversal of the now-standard heroic plot element of a virgin birth and its devotion to the sci-fi side of the Superman mythos, there’s just not enough there to maintain any sort of investment with the characters that fill this world. Maybe Superman isn’t relevant anymore. Or maybe it’s just impossible to put an indestructible man in a situation of any real consequence.