University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Dean Juan-Carlos Molleda has joined 15 other university journalism schools airing their concerns towards Sinclair Broadcast Group and its chairman, David Smith in this letter.

The letter comes after Sinclair, which is the largest owner of television stations in the U.S. forced its news stations to air a ‘must-run’ statement condemning fake news and biased reporting. The statement caused an immense backlash from local news anchors.

The letter reads:

“Certainly, no news organization is beyond critique. And, as the Sinclair stations noted, social media have been used all too often to spread “false news.” But these are two very different things – the work of professional journalists who produce real news and the false accounts on social media. In making the leap to disparage news media generally – without specifics – Sinclair has diminished trust in the news media overall.”

The concern also comes after Sinclair promised a $25,000 donation to The National Press Photographers Association last week and then retracted their donation.

KVAL, Eugene’s local news station is owned by Sinclair and was one of the few stations whose co-anchors refused to read the controversial statement.

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As the second week of spring term starts up, some students are wondering about their safety on campus after a string of robberies during the weeks leading up to spring break have still gone unsolved.

The Eugene Police Department reports there have been eight robberies near campus between Jan. 1 and April 2 this year; three more than in the same time period last year.

Another robbery occurred on April 5 near 14th Avenue and Patterson Street. Eugene police reported that a 22-year-old woman was pushed to the ground by a male suspect who was trying to steal her purse between 1 and 1:30 a.m..

One of the biggest issues the EPD has encountered is the uptick in social media posts about the robberies.

“We’re really asking people to be careful about their social media posts because it creates panic, and a lot of cases it just didn’t happen,” Eugene Police Department Sergeant Wayne Dorman said. “If they see something and they’re a victim of something, call the police immediately. I wouldn’t tell people not to post, but what’s happening a lot of times is people are hearing something that happened to a friend of a friend and then posting it, and people are getting scared.”

Dorman said the campus robbers seemed to be after whatever the victim had in their pockets and warns against walking alone at night around the time many are leaving bars.

“If you’ve been out drinking, it’s really important that you plan ahead of time for a way to get home,” Dorman said. “If you’re walking, make sure you walk in groups, don’t be out and heavily intoxicated by yourself, stay away from dark areas. We haven’t had any incidents where people are in groups of even two or three have had an issue, so it’s all been sole victims.”

Dorman also said a good way to stay safe is to take a self-defense class rather than carrying a self-defense weapon like pepper spray.

“I’d recommend that they take some self-defense classes, that way they have a clear understanding of what the limitations to those are,” Dorman said. “What I don’t want to see is somebody getting robbed with a gun to have them pull out pepper spray and get hurt.”  

There are a few different options for self-defense classes on campus. The Warrior Sisters, a Eugene-based organization, offers self-defense classes in Eugene twice a week. UO offers a two-credit women’s self-defense class. Students can also request a self-defense workshop for a group through the UO Recreation center.

As the weather warms up, many students may find themselves outside later to enjoy it. If they do, Dorman says to reach out to the resources that UO provides, like the UO Campus Shuttle, which just recently added two more stops to its off-campus route.

With the primary robberies still open, Dorman emphasizes that people should do everything they can to protect themselves.

“The biggest thing is safety in numbers — stay together, don’t be out wandering in the dark and put yourself in a vulnerable position,” Dorman said.  

Braedon Kwiecien and Frankie Benitez contributed reporting to this story.

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“She just really knew how to love life. She really knew how to live.”

This sentiment and many others like it echoed to the crowd of hundreds of students that collected at the EMU amphitheater for a candlelight vigil to mourn the death of University of Oregon student Nicole Panet-Raymond, 19, who was found on Mt. Bachelor on March 2.

Panet-Raymond, a sophomore, was part of the Clark Honors College and a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Friends spoke to Panet-Raymond’s kind demeanor and cheerful personality, and how she always wanted to make you laugh.

Nicole Panet-Raymond’s friends and classmates share stories about her life. University of Oregon students gathered for a candlelight vigil to celebrate the life of Nicole Panet-Raymond in the Erb Memorial Union Amphitheater on Mar. 7, 2018. (Natalie Waitt-Gibson/Emerald)

“You knew that she was this powerful, fierce woman,”  said Hannah, a friend from St. Mary’s Academy where Panet-Raymond attended high school.

The vigil was put on by UO’s Fraternity and Sorority Life, and it was emphasized that the vigil was a safe place for everyone to share their stories and celebrate the life of Panet-Raymond.

“I’ll remember that she really loved Shakira,” a friend said, causing a ripple of laughter through the crowd.

Another vigil was held at Panet-Raymond’s elementary school Rieke Elementary School on March 3.

Panet-Raymond was found on Mt. Bachelor by the White Bark run and was one of two skiers to die that day from falling into a tree well.

Students are encouraged to contact the counseling center if they need emotional support at 541.346.3227.

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Acting Executive Director of the new Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, Patrick Phillips released an update about the Knight Campus via the new site for the campus, Accelerate.

In his letter, Phillips illuminated on many of the recent developments for the Knight Campus, including that the Oregon State Legislature approved the first $50 million phase in the school’s request for $110 million in bonds and the hiring of the new executive director Robert Guldberg, a medical engineer from Georgia Tech since 1996.

They’ve also made progress in the educational programs, including their professional development programs.

“[…] our professional development programs have begun to take shape under the direction of Professor Jim Hutchison, Director of Educational Programs for the Knight Campus,” Phillips wrote. “This fall we launched two new programs in cooperation with faculty from the School of Journalism and Communication and the Lundquist College of Business.”

The Knight Campus has made progress on their internship programs, called Knight Campus Internship Program (KCIP), which intend to “train scientists in an accelerated academic format and provide opportunities for the real-world knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in an industrial environment.”

The design of the building will feature training laboratories and classrooms specifically designed for graduate studies, which will be in use when the building is completed in 2020.

The construction for the new campus has started, along with building relationships between sister universities like OHSU and OSU.

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University of Oregon Provost Jayanth Banavar has very full days. Meetings with faculty, with students and with deans from different schools and colleges — all with the aim to solve as many issues as he can.

“The job I have is really to be a champion for our students, for our staff and for our faculty,” Banavar said. “And being a champion therefore means hearing what their problems are and trying to come up with solutions.”

Banavar grew up in India, and at a young age wanted to go into physics. He would eventually become a professor at the University of Maryland.

“I was brought up in India, and in India people sort of begin to specialize in a given subject at a somewhat young age,” Banavar said. “So when I was about 16 years old, I had to specialize in some subject, and I chose physics. Since then I have been studying physics, so it started a long time ago and continues to this day.”

Banavar replaced former provost Scott Coltrane in July, after he was attracted to UO’s open provost position.

“I had a terrific meeting with [UO President] Michael Schill and I really liked his values and I had heard some lovely things about the University of Oregon, how good the people are, how promising the future is,” Banavar said. “I had also heard about this magnificent gift of the Knights to create the Knight Science Campus. It seemed to me that there was a real opportunity for me with a background in science, but a desire to really help others to come here and try to make a difference.”

One of Banavar’s biggest projects is to improve the diversity at UO, in which he found a striking difference from his time at Maryland.  

“It’s very different in the sense that one of the things I have found is that Maryland, which is very close to D.C., was a lot more diverse than Eugene is, and one of things I think makes a university or an institution better is to be more diverse,” Banavar said. “I believe that diversity and inclusion are pillars of academic excellence, and so that’s one of the things that I want to do here, is to bring in people with all kinds of ideas, all kinds of backgrounds, because that makes our university and our student experience better.”

One of the ways Banavar has listened to students was by staying at the recent protest at the State of University address. He felt this was important to do, and wanted to understand the full scope of the protest.

“When people are in anguish, or when they were trying to speak up and are trying to say something, it’s very important that as a member of the university and a representative of the students and of Michael Schill, I just felt that I should try to hear what people have to say and I should try to help in whatever way I can,” Banavar said. “I just care and I wanted to listen and I wanted to communicate whatever I learned to Michael Schill, and if I got a chance I wanted to talk to the students and hear directly about their concerns and try to help.”

One of the biggest things that Banavar looks forward to is the development of the Knight Science Campus. He looks forward to working with other universities to develop a stronger scientific presence at a university that historically has been stronger in the liberal arts.

“I’m most excited about it because it is something that is going to determine the future of our university,” said Banavar. “We have a magnificent $500 million gift, and it allows one to go from innovation to impact because the whole notion of the Knight Science Campus is to accelerate impact. We can work with our sister institutions in the state and elsewhere. Oregon State University has a really good engineering program, the Oregon Health  and Science University has a fine medical program, and we can take innovations in the basic sciences and go all the way to impact and changing people’s lives.”

For the time being, Banavar is focused deeply on improving the lives of faculty and students, and has been enjoying doing so.

“I feel very happy to have the job that I do,” Banavar said. “I really am trying hard to make it better for our students and every day that something good happens, I feel very grateful.”

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For some University of Oregon students, stalking is not a plot in a Netflix movie that goes away when you shut off the TV.

UO’s Title IX Annual Report for 2016 reported 44 disclosed cases of stalking for the calendar year. Oregon’s Department of Human Services reported that sexual and domestic violence programs had 106 stalking-specific calls made to their programs in Lane County in 2016.

Stalking is characterized by someone’s obsession with another person through following them or contacting them, even if the person has requested that they stop. Through the years, it has come to include social media and text messaging, often called ‘telephonic’ stalking.

Each year, the UOPD and the Crisis Intervention and Sexual Violence Support Services office work with students through cases of stalking on campus.

Renae DeSautel, the interim assistant dean of students for Crisis Response and Prevention, meets with students about situations that they might not consider stalking.

“There’s a few different types of stalking,” DeSautel said. “Most people think of an unknown person who finds someone and starts stalking them. But really, oftentimes it’s an ex-partner or someone who is known to the person, and they’re receiving ongoing contact that is unwanted.”

The idea of being stalked is something that goes under the radar of many college students, but it’s more than just following a student to class and it doesn’t just happen when they’ve recently ended a relationship. It now occurs often through social media, according to DeSautel.

“Maybe they matched on Tinder and suddenly now find all of your information and start contacting you,” DeSautel said. “Maybe you sent them one message, and now they’re flooding your inbox or contacting you with other things. So it’s not always relationship based.”

At the forefront of the issue is making sure the student is safe, says Kasia Mlynski, UO staff attorney. Mlynski has worked with students to navigate their legal rights in stalking situations.

When the stalking situation is between two students, the route often taken is a mutual no contact order, according to Mlynski.

“Any student can go to the Office of Student Conduct or can work through my office or any of the advocates we have on campus to request a mutual no contact order,” said Mlynski. “It’s a two-way order that tells both people, ‘Hey, if you see the other person, you’re required to walk away.’ If you violate the university’s no contact order, then the university can sanction you under the student conduct code.”   

UOPD detective Kathy Flynn has a few tips to ensure that if a student finds themselves in a stalking situation, they can remain safe — including making sure their phone is charged and walking in well-lit areas.

“We always tell people not to scare them but take threats seriously,” Flynn said. “If you’re in a situation and you feel alarmed and you try to talk yourself out of it, don’t. Trust your instincts. It’s better to overreact. It’s better to have the police come and get you somewhere safe at any time of day than to take any risk.”  

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UO President Schill’s State of the University speech was suspended after a group of protesting students swarmed the stage after it started. Hundreds of audience members left the EMU Ballroom after Kevin Marbury, interim vice president of student life, announced the suspension about five minutes into the protest speech. Marbury told the protesters they were being disrespectful and infringing on the University administrators’s right to speak.

About 45 protestors chanted and spoke about a variety of issues.

“Nothing about us without us,” and “Shame,” Protestors chanted. They called Schill a “CEO” and the university “a business firm.”

Charlie Landeros, a fourth-year planning public policy and management senior student, gave a speech, at times yelling into a megaphone on stage. He spoke about indigenous rights, minority student safety and oppression, and tuition increases.

“Our demands will be heard, we will be heard, we are the students, we will not be ignored,” Landeros said. “Expect resistance to anyone who opposes us.”

Interim Vice President of Student Life Dr. Kevin Marbury watches as University of Oregon students storm the stage before Michael Schill’s state of the university speech in the EMU Ballroom on Oct. 6, 2017. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

Landeros also stated that fascism and neo-Nazis are the reason for the protest, and that students are no longer safe on campus.

The students violated the “amplified noise” policy, according to Marbury.

Faculty Senate Vice President Bill Harbaugh had not heard about the protesters until his walk to the speech today. He said the administrators should have tried to establish a dialogue instead of leaving.

“I think the administration should have let them say their peace and waited them out,” Harbaugh said. “Instead of promoting free speech, the administration hurt free speech.”

Not all UO administration left. Provost Jayanth Banavar stayed for the entirety of the protesters’ speeches. He declined to comment to The Emerald.

UO spokesman Tobin Klinger said that the administration knew about the protest, and had pre-recorded the speech, in a statement to The Emerald.

Klinger also said that Schill would’ve taken the stage after the protestors, but they wouldn’t relinquish the podium.

The State of the University speech was suspended, but was pre-recorded and posted on the President’s site moments after the room cleared.

You can watch Schill’s pre-recorded speech here.

This post will be updated.

Reporters Michael Tobin and Will Campbell also contributed reporting to this story.

Follow Erin Carey on Twitter: @erinlcarey

Protesters take the stage #schillspeech @DailyEmerald pic.twitter.com/sgmyISKLbH

— Will Campbell (@wtcampbell) October 6, 2017

POLL: During his tenure, how well has President Schill responded to the needs of all students on campus?

— Daily Emerald (@DailyEmerald) October 3, 2017

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When Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced on Sept. 25 that she would be running for re-election in 2018, she didn’t have much time to celebrate because her campaigning began immediately.

Brown has been on the campaign trail since Nov. 9, 2016 after she won her first election for Governor.

During Brown’s campaign, Oregon students and some of their collective concerns have made headway: lawmakers gave tuition waivers to community college students in need, and the state passed environmental protection and the economy grew. On the other hand, tuition has also increased, causing a penny-pinching struggle for some students. Also, stricter federal immigration laws have struck fear into some students. Their dreams of gaining citizenship and working in the U.S were put in limbo.

While Brown’s supporters say she’s had successes, she has also seen resistance from the Republican party on her support of abortion rights, gun control and immigration.

She has an approval rating of over 50 percent consistently but will face solid competition for a 2018 election from the Republican party.

Brown was the secretary of state in February 2015 when former Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned during a scandal, and Brown stepped up.

Here are five things that Brown’s campaign hopes to improve for Oregon students in her aspirations for re-election:

1. Halting tuition hikes

During spring and summer, students watched a teeter-totter of tuition increases.

The UO Board of Trustees approved a 10.6 percent in-state tuition hike in March, but the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission rejected the tuition hike the next month, per Brown’s recommendation. Then, the school appealed the decision and secured the 10.6 percent hike — but the University received a last-minute influx of money from the state, dropping the tuition hike to 6.6 percent after all.

According to Brown, the constant uncertainty of being able to afford higher education needs to stop.

“I am concerned that Oregon’s students are carrying too much of the financial burden of their own education,” Brown said in an email to the Emerald. “That’s why I worked this year with Oregon’s public universities to decrease proposed tuition hikes and make sure that schools are spending their resources wisely.”

This is also a large concern for the university’s student government. Amy Schenk, ASUO president, has made it clear that tuition increases is a primary concern for her team in the upcoming year.

2. Continue to grow Oregon’s economy

According to many state economists, Oregon’s job prospects remain strong, and have triggered a tax “kicker” because the tax revenues have exceeded what they originally projected.

Brown hopes to keep that growth going in 2018.

“Since I became governor, Oregon has added 130,000 jobs to the economy,” Brown wrote. “Our state has the fastest job growth in the country. We need to keep the economy strong and make sure every Oregonian has the opportunity to get ahead and stay ahead.”

The availability of jobs is a major concern for many students who face large student loans and uncertainty of being able to pay them after they graduate.

3. Defending minorities

Brown signed a bill in August that shields immigration information, and has been very clear on her stance of keeping Oregon as a sanctuary state.

Brown understands that this movement of protecting immigrants and minorities needs to keep going — and she relies on the student vote to make sure that happens.

“I look forward to earning the support of students and young voters across the state,” Brown said. “In the current troubled political climate, Oregonians need someone they can trust in the governor’s office — someone who will defend our progress on health care access, LGBTQ equality, immigrant rights and reproductive rights.”

Brown is also Oregon’s first openly LGBT governor to win an election.

4. Access to information

Oregon has had consistent issues when it comes to access to public information. Critics say obtaining public records is a difficult process. Brown understands that and she has tried to make this process easier.

On May 9, 2016, a task force assigned by Brown came to Allen Hall to discuss how to make public records requests easier. The governor has moved on the issue since then, with Senate Bill 481, which was signed by the governor on June 22. It will take effect on January 1, 2018.

“One thing I’m proud of is the work I’ve done to improve accountability and transparency in state government,” Brown said. “My administration has enacted the most significant public records reform in in forty years.

Brown publicly posts all public records requests and their responses online and has hired a staff attorney whose job is to deal with requests. She also posts her weekly calendar online, along with employees’ conflict of interest forms when they’re filed.

5. Maintaining Oregon’s individuality

Part of what makes Oregon unique is its ability to be attractive to all types of people who love its inclusiveness and progressive thinking.

While the governor has a lot of issues that still need to be addressed and many who oppose her, Brown wants to keep that feeling of progress alive, and wants to be the governor that is able to do that.

“Oregon is a special place. Let’s make our state an even better place to live, work and raise a family.”

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People who suffer from a certain kidney disease may soon be testing a UO-patented drug. And if approved by FDA, the drug would bring revenue to UO.

Jim Barlow, the director of Science and Research Communications said the drug, CXA-10 reached “phase two” of clinical trials, and it’s an enormous step towards getting it on the market and into the hands of doctors. Phase two allows researchers to test the drug’s effectiveness under real conditions and the side effects it may have.

“Phase two is a vitally important step in the process of drug approval in the United States,” Barlow said in an email to the Emerald. “Only a small number of volunteer subjects, who have been diagnosed with the disease involved, receive the drug, while others in the trial do not.”

Bruce Branchaud is the professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and, starting in 2004, was was part of a six-person

Bruce Branchaud is the professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

team that worked to develop the drug.

The drug treats people suffering from one of two different diseases. One is a focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a cause of nephrotic syndrome in children and adolescents and kidney failure in adults. The second disease is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which causes high blood pressure in the arteries that connect the heart to the lungs.

The drug could extend the life expectancy of patients, according to biopharmaceutical company Complexa, owner of the patents for the drug.

UO invested $22,000 to the drug, according to AroundtheO, a university blog.

CXA-10 could be a nonsteroid option for FSGS, which can be potentially toxic in high doses and unresponsive to the disease.

The current treatment for FSGS needs vasodilators in order to improve drug flow, and the steroids are needed to reduce any inflammation. If it passes trials, CXA-10 could be a replacement for the steroids. It could also be used to treat PAH with the use of vasodilators.

The development of the drug could have large impacts in the community when it comes to treating these diseases. Complexa, the company that owns CXA-10, hopes to test the drug’s safety and effectiveness early next year.

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On August 26, Paleontologist Ted Fremd received one of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s (SVP) highest awards. The Morris F. Skinner Award acknowledged Fremd’s contribution to the paleontology world by collecting fossil vertebrae.

Fremd has also had five separate fossil species named after him. A researcher with the university’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History, he also works in the Department of Earth Sciences.

Fremd was the first Chief of Paleontology at the John Day Fossil Beds in Kimberly, Ore., and credits his work as a National Park Service worker as the main inspiration.

“Personally, it’s cool to be the first National Park Service person to ever win something like this,” Fremd said in an email to The Emerald. “Indeed, any staff of any federal land-stewardship agency — many of those who watch over and try to protect the landscape while studying the entombed biotas — have often been disregarded. Some of us are considered a threat by those who would like to just blow off the ecosystems we are supposed to be mindful of.”

The Morris F. Skinner Award was established in 1990 by SVP, named after one of the greatest contributors to the paleontology of vertebrates — animals with a skull or cranium and a spinal column including fish, reptiles, mammals, amphibians and birds.

Fremd bested award candidates from around the world, including Australia, China, Germany and Japan.

Winning the award hasn’t changed Fremd’s mindset on what’s important about paleontology, he said.

“It is our job as paleontologists to get out there and study the fragile traces of ancient ecosystems — more often than not publishing our results in very technical, obscure meetings and journals — and then put some of this in perspective,” Fremd said.

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