Around 50 University of Oregon students, alumni and faculty gathered in the Woodruff Gym in Gerlinger Hall on Friday for the first annual Black student convocation, organized by the Black Student Task Force and the Black Male Alliance. The event provided Black students with the opportunity to network, listen to speeches and connect with Black student groups on campus.

President of the Black Male Alliance, Noori Cherry, started the event with welcoming remarks. Andiel Brown, Instructor of Gospel Choirs and Ensembles, followed. Imani Dorsey from the ASUO, UO alum Dr. Carla Gary, and keynote speaker Drue Edney were among the other speakers.

Bryan Roja-Arauz from the university counseling center reminded students to be aware of their mental health, and take advantage of the resources available on campus.

Kendaris Hill, Academic advisor and Black/African-American student retention specialist, and Andre Colas, President of Colas Construction and member of the UO Board of trustees, also spoke.

Dorsey, ASUO Internal Vice President, said that she moved to Oregon from California shortly before she started high school.

“The stark difference in the racial makeup of Oregon caused me to become immediately and deeply conscious of my identity as a Black person in a way that I had never experienced before,” she said.

She said that she felt that she was missing a sense of community. “I did not realize how being the only Black student in class would affect my education,” she said. She described wanting to explain her experience as black woman to her peers but also feeling isolated.

“Personally, I got over these feelings of loneliness once I turned to action,” she said. “You can take control of your own experience as a student and affect change to make this university a safer place for you and our community,” she said.

Dr. Carla Gary, a UO alum, spoke next. She emphasized the importance of Black students supporting one another, even on the basic level of saying hello when they pass each other. “I implore you, make every moment count with each other, for each other,” she said.

“We have fought all of our lives to be visible. Acknowledge each other’s presence because you matter, and if you don’t matter to each other then how can you possibly matter to anyone else,” she said.

Dr. Gary spoke on many aspects of succeeding as a Black student at UO, like remembering the history of success and change from past generations, holding each other accountable, and remembering that the fight for equality is not over. She even quipped about the importance of not partying too much and not skipping class.

“I am looking at future leaders right here, and it begins by leading yourself first to class,” she said, receiving laughs from the audience.

“Don’t ever believe that those of us who came before are not watching and proud and humbled by your presence and always remember that there are those who you can’t see who are waiting up ahead for your success,” she said.

Keynote speaker Drue Edney, who represented the Black Student Task Force, closed out the event.

She highlighted the accomplishments of the Task Force, including the soon-to-be-built Black cultural center and the introduction of Black studies courses. Some of the demands have been met from the Task Force’s 2015 list of demands written to the administration.

“We are here to celebrate many of our successes as Black students on this campus and we want you to know that it’s an exciting time to be Black and a student at this university,” she said.

She said that the Task Force will continue to monitor the progress of the unmet demands.

“Although we have come together in celebration, let us not forget that there is work to do. You have work to do. Our success is your success and your success is ours,” she said. “Let’s work together to ensure that we can continue to be proud of our Blackness, to achieve excellence as students, and work together to achieve equity for black students at the University of Oregon.”

The post UO welcomes new students at the first annual Black student convocation appeared first on Emerald Media.

This year was full of change for the University of Oregon. It’s impossible to sum up a whole year, but here’s a look back on some of the biggest stories that impacted the campus community.

Tuition increased and differential tuition was introduced in Lundquist College of Business

This year, the Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition, support differential tuition for the Lundquist College of Business and reduce differential tuition for the Clark Honors College at its meeting last March.

Students were faced with increases in tuition totaling to $270 annually for residents and $810 annually for non residents.

The estimated revenue from the increase is approximately $1.4 million annually. President Michael Schill plans to allocate 20 percent of that, or $280,000, towards need-based financial aid.

These increases were met with some opposition from students who shared their testimonials at the meeting last March.

University of Oregon administration said these increases come after a $16.7 million budget deficit.

Campus is forecasted to grow by 3000 students over the course of eight years to make up for the budget deficit, along with lobbying for state funding and further budget cuts. You can read more about that here.

The Board also reduced differential tuition for the Clark Honors College by 35.6 percent from $4,194 per year to $2,700 per year.

The Board implemented differential tuition for the Lundquist College of Business adding $20 per credit hour. Of the increased tuition, 20 percent will be allocated to financial aid within the school.

Former ASUO president Amy Schenk passed a resolution through the senate to create a task force focused on evaluating how the university grants differential tuition.

Schenk said the task force will discuss differential tuition and the “moral questions” surrounding it. The task force will make recommendations to President Schill by Nov 15.

Red Wagon Creamery closed amid scandal

Red Wagon Creamery owner Stuart Phillips, pictured with UO president Michael Schill and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. (Red Wagon Instagram)

When students returned from winter break and walked through the EMU, something was missing. Red Wagon Creamery, the Eugene start-up ice cream shop which had received national media coverage for its creative flavors, was no longer in the EMU.

The Emerald learned from UO that Red Wagon’s lease had been terminated due to a sale and failure to pay rent on time. But it quickly became apparent that there was more to the story.

Through interviews with employees and analysis of public records, the Emerald learned that Red Wagon, a darling of Eugene’s up-and-coming food scene, was a business in disarray.

Red Wagon was being sued by creditors, former-employees complained of unpaid wages, the owners owed back taxes, and multiple women, all employees of Red Wagon, accused owner Stuart Phillips of sexual harassment.

At the time the Emerald story ran, Red Wagon’s downtown location was still operating. It has since closed.

The Emerald found records of lawsuits against the owners, wage and hour complaints filed with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, and an internal sexual harassment complaint. The complaint was filed by a then-19-year-old employee who said that owner Stuart Phillips told her she had “nice, big tits,” and that they should make a porno of her bathing in ice cream.

In an interview with the Emerald, Phillips admitted to making an “inappropriate comment,” but denied other sexual harassment allegations.

This story was awarded first place for “best news story” by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Awards in May 2018. 

Multiple robberies near UO

A map of all the reported robberies near campus. (Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

In March, a string of armed robberies and muggings shocked campus. Robbers targeted two different Subway restaurants, Tom’s Market on 19th and Agate, Home on Hilyard on East 24th Ave. and Dutch Bros on West 11th.

Between March 15 and 19, there were four incidents that involved students. The robbers stole whatever the students had in their pockets, and in one case three assailants pushed a student up against a car and tried to cut the straps off the student’s backpack, according to a UOPD alert.

Some students were threatened with a gun, while some were physically assaulted. UOPD has not alerted the community of any more incidents.

As a result of the robberies, UOPD held free, 90 minute self-defense classes in the first two weeks of April and added two routes to its campus shuttle program. UOPD also advised students not to walk alone and to avoid dark areas.

Construction all over campus

This year, construction workers, bulldozers and a massive crane crowded campus to construct new buildings.

Construction began on the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact March 2 on Franklin Blvd. behind the Lokey Science complex. The campus project was announced October 2016 and is scheduled to open in 2020.

The University will gain a 3,200 square foot Black Cultural Center by fall 2019 located on East 15 Ave and Villard Street.

Construction began on the Tykeson Hall College and Career Building between Johnson hall and Chapman hall last December.

The residence hall, Kalapuya Ilihi held its first class of first year students this year.

Changes in community businesses

The restaurant Papa’s Soul Food closed its doors last October after 15 years in the Eugene community.

Standing on benches and singing “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond at 2 a.m., a tradition commonly known as “Closing Max’s,” will no longer be the same. The popular campus bar banned standing on the benches in February following an incident in which a patron was knocked unconscious by a pint glass.

A new ASUO slate steps up in student government

After a lively election race between Ducks Together and United UO, Ducks Together won by a landslide. Maria Gallegos will be the 2018/19 ASUO President. The Ducks Together slate is a slate comprised entirely of queer people and people of color.

Deaths in the UO community

The Emerald mourned the loss of four UO community members this year, including School of Journalism and Communication Professor Tom Wheeler in February.

Matt Carroll, a junior economics who was studying economics and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity died in February. Nicole Panet-Raymond, a sophomore studying at the Robert D. Clark Honors college died after falling into a tree well at Mt. Bachelor in March. Dylan Pietrs, a 21-year-old studying business administration, died at Shasta Lake and the cause of his death is still under investigation.

The post Looking back, moving forward: the biggest news stories of 2017-18 appeared first on Emerald Media.

What began as a normal night in the KWVA DJ studio for University of Oregon student Sterling Baraquio ended with several UOPD officers drawing their guns on him.

UO spokesman Tobin Klinger explained that late on the night of May 11, UOPD officers were responding to a suspect who tried to break into the Tykeson Hall construction site with bolt cutters. Officers tried to stop the suspect, but he refused to stop and ran away.

Klinger said the suspect was described as: a white male in a dark hooded sweatshirt with a slight build, approximately 6 foot, 170 pounds and between 18 and 25 years old. Klinger said the suspect has still not been identified.

Police believed that the suspect may have run into the EMU, so they began clearing the building.

Sterling Baraquio was the only one in the KWVA studio when the police arrived. (Photo courtesy of Sterling Baraquio)

It was 12 a.m. on Saturday morning when Baraquio, a 21-year-old UO junior, was in the EMU hosting his radio show in the KWVA studio. He said that about 40 minutes into his show, a UOPD officer entered the station.

Baraquio quickly put on a playlist of songs so the broadcast wouldn’t be interrupted.

“He comes into the studio and says that I have to leave with him right now — immediately,” Baraquio said. He was the only one in the station.

Baraquio said that he asked the officer repeatedly what was going on and if he was being arrested, but the officer offered no further information. He also said the officer seemed agitated and just repeated that he needed to leave.

Baraquio said the officer then left the recording booth. He began gathering his belongings before the officer returned moments later, this time with his weapon drawn and pointed down — not directly at him — and told Baraquio to exit the station immediately. Baraquio said that he complied and was escorted toward the exit without his belongings, but the officer said he could return to get them later.

“Finally he tells me that I’m not being arrested or anything — he’s just escorting me out of the EMU just for precaution because they lost a suspect,” Baraquio said.

According to Baraquio, the officer did not escort him all the way to the exit by the large lawn outside the EMU. Baraquio said that when he exited the building by himself, two or three officers with flashlights and weapons ran in his direction, loudly commanding him to get on the ground.

“They’re just screaming at me to ‘get on the floor,’ ‘get on the ground,’ ‘put your hands up.’ They think I’m the suspect,” Baraquio said. “I have never been put in that situation before or anything close to it. It was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. Having weapons drawn on me, I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

He said the officers did not let him up until the original officer who had escorted him out of the radio station arrived a couple minutes later and told the other officers that he was a DJ and not the suspect.

“There was no communication with the cop who escorted me through the EMU and with those other cops. I thought it was really poorly executed,” Baraquio said.

He said that he asked for information about why the EMU was being cleared, when he could go back in for his belongings, and for the names of officers, but was given no information.

UOPD Chief Matthew Carmichael is currently reviewing the interaction between the officers and Baraquio for “skill development” according to Klinger, and UOPD refused to comment on the interaction until the review is completed.

The interaction left Baraquio feeling frustrated and confused.

“I don’t want to assume that it just happened because I’m a person of color. I don’t want to just say that, but I really do think that part of it has to do with it. Why didn’t he walk me out? Why didn’t he communicate with the other cops? Does he not value my safety over someone else’s safety?” Baraquio said.

An officer from UOPD met with Baraquio and recorded his recollection of the incident on Thursday morning, and the same officer met with a group of about 15 students who work at KWVA to answer their questions.

Baraquio said the officer explained that UOPD will be reviewing all the footage, including the footage from the bodycam on the officer who interacted with Baraquio in the radio station.

Even though he feels that the meeting was helpful and it seems like UOPD “wants to make a change,” he is still left troubled by the situation.

“I think there definitely needs to be resolution and somebody needs to be held accountable,” he said. “I don’t want anything like this to happen again.”

The post UOPD officers drew weapons on student they mistook for suspect appeared first on Emerald Media.

ASUO voting opened today at 9 a.m. and will close at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

ASUO, Associated Students of the University of Oregon, is UO’s student government and controls a student budget funded by the Incidental Fee, a mandatory fee that all UO students pay. ASUO funds student organizations, programs, and large contracts like UO’s contract with LTD.

ASUO elections have slates, groups of students who run together, similar to a political party. Two slates are running this year. The Slates are UO United and Ducks together. The Emerald editorial board emphasized the importance of voting in an editorial here.

Read the Emerald’s break down of the ASUO debate here. There are also two opinion pieces about the election, one by Ted Yanez, and one by Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado.

Check out this video showing you how to vote on Duckweb.

The post Voting is open for the ASUO election, here’s how you can vote appeared first on Emerald Media.

On April 16, 2007, Kristina Anderson chose closed-toed shoes over flip flops and got to her French class at Virginia Tech a little late. The same day, another student chained the doors shut in the same building so no one could escape. He walked to the second floor and began shooting students one by one. Anderson was shot three times, yet she survived.

The date is remembered as one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. The number of fatalities reached 32 that day, the deadliest mass shooting until the shootings in Orlando in 2016 and Las Vegas in 2017, in which there were 50 or more fatalities each.

On April 4, 2018, Anderson retold her story to an audience at the University of Oregon. She  recalled the smells, the temperature in the classroom and the sound of gunshots echoing in the halls. She remembered how SWAT patrol officers originally said she was in bad condition and then critical condition as she lay wounded in the classroom.

Anderson travels around the country talking about her story as a survivor of a mass shooting to teach others what it’s like to go through a shooting and what they can do to prevent one from happening.

“I want our event to be remembered not just as one of the worst mass shootings ever; I want it to be remembered as a place for hope and learning and inspiration as well,” she said.

At her speech at the University of Oregon, she played a video someone took from outside the building she was in during the shooting. Audience members heard the sound of gunshots and the sirens as police arrived to the scene. Knowing the video played the sound of students dying was terrible, but Anderson plays it to help people understand the horror of a school shooting without having to experience it.

She made sure never to mention the shooter’s name in her speech and likely never will. She believes that as a community, we have a responsibility to elevate the names of the victims and responders over the shooter out of respect.

Another reason for keeping the focus off of the shooter, she said, is to prevent copycats.  “Perpetrators of violence – they study each other and they look for inspiration from other shooters,” she said. “When we put their names and faces above the victims and the families, we almost make it seem like an aspiration-worthy goal for others. That might motivate someone who is already going down that pathway of violence to act upon that,” she said.

As Anderson has prepared for her speeches, she has met with other survivors of mass shootings and first responders. When she met with a responder to the Virginia Tech shooting, she said the officer began to cry. He said he was sorry they didn’t get there fast enough.

As awful as the day was, Anderson doesn’t hold a grudge against police who came to their rescue. She’s grateful and knows they did the best they could. What Anderson said failed in preventing the shooting was the school’s ability to watch out for the student’s debilitated mental state.

In her speech, she said the shooter was very creepy, had been writing dark and gruesome poems and had few to no outlets to vent his anger. She said his roomate, classmates and professors could tell something was wrong, but nobody shared information or realized what he was planning. In her speech, she congratulated Virginia Tech and UO for currently having channels of communication to take care of students in that condition.

She then turned the lens on safety at UO. While she was here, she took a tour of the school and found that UO and the UOPD are thoughtful in their approach to prevention and preparedness for shootings and other tragedies. Anderson mentioned the systems UO has in place for faculty and staff to monitor and take care of students they are worried about; however, she had disdain for all the glass in the newer buildings, saying glass walls are simply not secure.

Anderson encouraged students to think about what they would do in the event of a shooting.

“They say ‘Your body will never go where your brain hasn’t before,’ so at least you have some mental game plan,” she said.

She also hoped students would consider what they would do if they noticed something suspicious that could be a warning sign.

In the event of an emergency, students should call 911. Students can also report any potential danger that isn’t an immediate threat to UOPD. Students can report small things they may notice, even if they think it might not mean anything, to the Office of the Dean of Students, through the tip line here.

The post Virginia Tech shooting survivor recounts her story at lecture appeared first on Emerald Media.

Valley River Center in Eugene will undergo construction soon, according to a press release from the center. Valley River Center will have a new front entrance and outdoor plaza, as well as 14,000 square feet of new space for retail stores and restaurants.

The construction aims to be done by fall 2018 and will begin late this week or early next week, according to a spokesperson for the center, Dani Olsen.

The new outdoor plaza will be built where a former Sports Authority was located and will have space for events, according to the press release.

None of the shops will be closed during construction, and according to Olsen, the interruption to shoppers should be minimal.

“Valley River Center is all about providing great experiences for people, and we are creating this appealing new entrance and beautiful outdoor space to bring our shoppers a fresh look and feel,” said Rob McOmie, property manager of Valley River Center.

The post Valley River Center will expand fall 2018 appeared first on Emerald Media.

Most students have no idea that much of the furniture at the University of Oregon is designed and built by prisoners.

For years, UO has purchased furniture from Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE), a semi-independent state agency that is self-funded. Last year, UO partnered with OCE to create new dorm furniture. Students designed the furniture, and OCE manufactured it.

The Emerald visited Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem to talk to inmates about their experience working with OCE and to see the facilities. Oregon State Penitentiary has an OCE furniture factory, industrial laundry center, metal shop, and contact center.

The penitentiary is the only maximum security prison in the state. Walking into the pastel yellow prison, it’s exactly as you might imagine. There are 10 guard towers, chain link fences and 25-foot walls. It houses 2,117 inmates.

OCE made $28.5 million in revenue in 2017, a record breaking year. The program employed 1,419 inmates in several prisons across the state.

There is a noticeable difference in the atmosphere inside the OCE facilities from the rest of the prison. Far from the image of prisoners with a ball and chain making license plates all day, it looks just like any work environment.

In the contact center, there are cubicles where inmates sit in office chairs and talk to clients on the phone. Some are giving information for places like the DMV, some are making sales for OCE. In the design office, inmates sit at spacious desks in front of computers, creating virtual 3D models of pieces of furniture.

OCE was created to meet the requirement of Measure 17, a law passed in 1994, requiring all inmates to work for 40 hours a week. Job training and education can count for up to 20 of those hours.

Prison labor has been a constant reality throughout American history. The thirteenth amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, has a caveat that allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. In some states, prisoners are not paid for their labor.

Inmate Lewis Larson sands the the edges of a table at the Oregon State Penitentiary. (Dana Sparks/Emerald)

In Oregon, inmates are paid on a merit-based point system. They make as little as $8 per month, but can earn upwards of $265 per month. Inmates earn points for completing tasks, including education and job training as well as work.

Recently on the UO campus, a group of students have protested the prison industrial complex and UO’s use of OCE furniture. Read the student protesters’ guest opinion in the Emerald here.

The student protesters call the requirement to work slavery, and demand that UO stops all interaction with OCE. There are similar protests across the country, including a national protest that took place in 23 states with at least 20,000 inmates going on strike and refusing to work, according to the LA Times.

But inmates interviewed by the Emerald say that working, especially with OCE, makes their sentence go by faster, keeps them out of trouble, helps them prepare for life outside of prison, and boosts their morale.

The inmates interviewed by the Emerald volunteered to share their experience working with OCE. Some of the names have been changed upon request of the inmate in order to protect anonymity.

James Sheppard, 42, is serving a 20 year sentence, and has been in prison for six years. He said that he thinks that calling the mandatory work hours slavery is misguided.  

“It’s very easy for people to make comments like that if they’ve never had to live on this side. I would have absolutely felt the same way, but here’s something to think about; people without purpose don’t survive. They don’t thrive,” he said.

He said that not all inmates think that way. Some agree with the protestors.

“Many folks believe that we’re being taken advantage of. That we’re assisting in our captor’s success,” he said.

He mused that victims of crimes probably don’t think that prisoners should get paid at all.

Sheppard worked in other prison jobs for two years, and with OCE for four. He worked in the metal fabrication shop for three years and now works in design. He said that there is a significant difference between other prison jobs and working with OCE.

“They’re not going to ask you for your opinion on something, they’re just going to ask you to mop the floor,” he said. Sheppard explained that with OCE, he feels valued as a team member, and that inmates are treated like experts in their fields.

“It’s the closest feeling I have to feeling like I’m free, and you can’t put a value on that,” he said.

Sheppard said that compared to the value of having a purpose, and something to focus on that makes the day go by faster, the money is not that important.

“I’m not going to get paid what I got paid on the street. But that’s part of acceptance of my life now. Would I do this job if they didn’t pay me? Most likely,” he said.

Positions with OCE are highly coveted, and inmates have to pass a rigorous interviewing process to be accepted. OCE has the best paying jobs in prison, and prisoners are able to learn skills like metalworking, design, fabrication, and more. Inmates are not forced to participate in OCE programs, but if they quit their job with OCE or if they are fired, they will be required to work somewhere else.

Michael Eric Nitschke, 58, is serving his fourth or fifth sentence, and has been in prison for 21 years for his current sentence. He has earned four college degrees while he has been in prison, and will earn a fifth from UO in general social science with a focus in crime law and society shortly before he goes on parole in May. He has worked with OCE since 1998, doing a variety of jobs.

Currently, he works with procurement in the tool room, making orders and checking in on projects. He has opportunities to mentor other inmates, and works at a computer for most of his work day.

He said that working with OCE has been a great opportunity for him and other inmates.

“I’ve seen criminals who over time, now own businesses. Own their homes and they’re tax-paying citizens and have good jobs and I think that this is a great service,” he said.

Inmate Michael Nitschke, who goes by his middle name, Eric. This is not the first time he has been in prison, but he said he is determined to make it his last. So far, Nitschke has earned four college degrees while serving time. (Dana Sparks/Emerald)

Nitschke said that the money he made with OCE helped pay for part of his college tuition in prison, and that the atmosphere of the job helps his morale on a day-to-day basis.

“You feel like you’re a human being. It’s the closest to being in the community while wearing blue, because you have purpose, you use your mind and you learn skills that will be transferable upon your release,” he said.

“Sure I’d like to get paid more money, but it’s an opportunity for people to change their lives.”

Prisoners who work with OCE make $158 per month on average,  according to OCE’s annual report. There are opportunities to earn more by working overtime, and there are bonuses that can be earned for meeting or exceeding goals or for excellent behavior.

Other jobs in the prison make between $8 and $82 per month, according to OCE records.

Jim Jones, 58, echoes Nitschke’s sentiment.

“I get to come to work, build things, be creative. I get out of my house all day long. I get a decent paycheck. Look at where I’m at. I’m a guy in prison and I’m actually happy to be here. Go figure that one,” he said. “House” is slang commonly used in prison to refer to a cell.

Jones has been incarcerated since 1996, and currently works at the furniture fabrication shop. He has worked with computers in the past, but prefers the active work of building things.

Jim Jones works quickly to remove excess glue before it dries. One aspect of the OCE job that inmates noted as important is the opportunity to care about and contribute to the design development their work. (Dana Sparks/Emerald)

He remarked proudly that the room where we sat for the interview was entirely his design. The wood used to construct the room was all reclaimed from scraps from furniture orders.

He pointed at the ceiling, which was made out of a pattern of different colors of wood.

“The student desks you have at the university, well those are the fall-off pieces from them.” He explained the problem-solving process of finding ways to build with the scraps.

“Most people have to go to work, like they got to go to work in the kitchen, they got to go wipe tables, they have to go sit over there and make phone calls, and I did that,” he said of the room.

“I picked up a lot of valuable information just working here,” he said. “I’m learning everyday something new. Another way to do something or how to improve, how to interact with people, how to mentor, how to do whatever.”

Jones explained that focusing on your work and learning new skills can not only give inmates opportunities to use upon release, but prevent them from getting involved in what he called “prison politics” or associations and conflicts with groups of inmates.

“When you come in here you basically leave your blue shirt outside the door. You’re coming here to do a job and you can put that aside,” he said.

If an inmate is not seeking a job for himself, he will be assigned one. These jobs are usually more menial. If an inmate does not find another job before he is expected to be at the job that was assigned to him, he will be expected to be there. If he is not there, he will be written up for conduct violations for being in an unauthorized area. Conduct violations can lead to penalties including time in segregation. Segregation is not the same as solitary confinement, but it is a higher security situation, like a jail within the prison.

Larry Reid, 71, has been in prison for 22 years and will be released this December. He has worked with OCE for 19 years, and has worked as a purchasing clerk and in the contact center making sales. He said that he applied to OCE to learn new skills.

“One thing OCE has done also is my standard of living has gone up. The other jobs don’t pay as well as OCE does and I’ve been able to save $6,000.” He hopes to use the money to set himself up for a good start outside of prison.

Reid said that he tries to tell younger inmates to find opportunities to go to school or learn job skills like he did through OCE.

“There’s too many kids who don’t have anything to do in here except get in trouble,” he said. “You can make a little money to support yourself in here and you can learn a job skill but you have to stay out of trouble.”

Inmates must have six months of good behavior before they qualify to apply to OCE, and conduct violations will result in the loss of their position.

“What scared me the most was the idea of going 20 years in prison and leaving with less knowledge than I came here with,” Reid said. “I wanted to make something of myself before I left here.”

Jim Jones stops from his work, but only for a moment, while he waits for the glue on his project to dry. He says that his work through OCE gives him a reason to be happy despite his circumstances. (Dana Sparks)

Follow Frankie Benitez on Twitter.

The post Voices from behind bars: Inside the prison where UO’s furniture is made appeared first on Emerald Media.

After seven robberies in the last two weeks near the University of Oregon campus, students are taking to social media to report even more incidents and to question why police aren’t sending out more alerts to warn people about the crime spree.

One of the complaints came from Taylor Holman, who on Thursday wrote on Twitter, “@UOPolice why aren’t there more UO alerts being sent out when robberies and attacks are continuing everyday?”

But University of Oregon Police Chief Matthew Carmichael said that none of the incidents being reported on social media since Tuesday have been reported to the police. He is urging students to notify police of any robbery or suspicious activity.

“I just want to urge UO students, please report,” Carmichael said. “If a friend shares something with you that happened, talk to the friend and say, ‘Hey, did you call the police?’”

UOPD spokesman Kelly McIver said that no robberies were reported to UOPD since Tuesday when a student filed a report of a mugging from the previous Sunday.

UOPD has increased the number of officers on patrol on campus and in near-campus areas, according to Carmichael’s official statement regarding the on- and off-campus crime on UOPD’s website.

Carmichael urged students to call UOPD if something happened on campus, and Eugene Police if something happens off campus. Or if a student feels more comfortable calling one or the other, either department is better than neither.

“I promise we’re working really hard to message out as much information as we can,” Carmichael said.

He said that students should always report to the police as soon as possible when something happens to them or anyone they know. He said he knows students are eager to feel safe on campus again.

“Students are getting frustrated and I hear it directly from students,” he said.

He said that even if nothing of value is taken from you, it is still vitally important to report an incident or anything suspicious that you may witness.

“You could be providing a description that matches other descriptions. There might be that little thing that you saw that someone else didn’t that could crack the case open,” he said.

How UOPD alerts students to crimes

UOPD has two methods of alerting students to crimes or emergencies: UO alerts and Campus Crime Alerts.

UO Alerts are texts and emails, used when an active situation is developing and there is an imminent danger to the public. Examples would be a fire, an explosion or an armed robbery that is very recent, according to McIver. UOPD only sent out one UO Alert during the rash of seven robberies in the past two weeks because it was a developing search for the suspect. The other six robberies were too old and there was no threat to the public when UOPD first heard about it, McIver said.

Campus Crime Alerts are emails that UOPD sends to student email addresses. These alerts are not as pressing, but UOPD sends them to students only to inform, but not to alert of a situation. Six of the seven robberies have been sent to students using Campus Crime Alerts because UOPD found out about them after they had already happened.

Increasing transportation resources

In response to the robberies, the shuttle has increased its hours to operating from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week.

There is also Safe Ride and the Designated Driver shuttle that students can use rather than walking home alone at night.

Carmichael explained that even if there weren’t robberies going on, it’s still important to walk in groups. “No UO student walks alone,” he said.

He said that anyone can use the UOregon smartphone app to track the UO campus shuttle location and find the pick-up spot closest to them.

Students are urged to call 9-1-1 in case of an emergency, or the Eugene Police Department at 541-682-5111, or UOPD at 541-346-2919.

The post UOPD urges students to report robberies as unreported incidents circulate on social media appeared first on Emerald Media.

Another business in Eugene has been robbed at gunpoint.

Lucky Lil’s Casino on River Road was robbed at 7:16 a.m. this morning, according to EPD spokeswoman Melinda McLaughlin.

One suspect was involved, he was described as a white adult male, approximately 5’10”, wearing a grey hoodie, blue jeans and black and white skate shoes with large tongues, according to McLaughlin.

Register-Guard reported that the suspect had a bandana over his face, robbed the business of cash, and fled east.

Eugene Police responded to the robbery as well as the Lane County Sheriff’s office. Police flooded the area and used police dogs, but the scent was lost on Corliss Lane.

via Google Maps.

The post Eugene business robbed at gunpoint this morning appeared first on Emerald Media.

A protest against UO’s use of the Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE) to contract prisoners to build furniture was staged in the EMU today at around 10 a.m. It was hosted by the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP).

Protesters sat on the floor to represent a symbolic refusal of the furniture made by prisoners, according to members of SLAP, who were interviewed by the Emerald after the protest. 

The protests will continue in the classrooms this week, according to SLAP members. A few dozen members will be sitting on the floor in their classes while holding signs throughout the week. SLAP welcomes anyone to join their protest.

The signs at Tuesday’s protest read, “UO has spent millions on prisoner-made furniture,” and, “I oppose the prison-industrial complex.”

A different protest, also staged by SLAP, was staged last week. According to a press release sent to the Emerald the day after the protest, the group considered OCE to use prison slavery. The group held banners from multiple locations around campus that said “UO uses prison slavery,” and “end prison slavery.”

The press release stated, “We were forced to take this step after our letters and requests for meetings about the issue were ignored.”

Augustine, a member of SLAP, explained that protesters in SLAP are not providing their full names, and did not provide full names during the last protest, out of fear of retaliation from administration in the form of student conduct code charges.

The mission statement of the OCE states, “The Mission of Oregon Corrections Enterprises, in partnership with the Department of Corrections, is to promote public safety by providing adults in custody with work and training opportunities in a self-sustaining organization.”

OCE responded to the last protest, stating that the OCE has no current contracts with the UO, although there have been contracts in the past.

“UO has periodically submitted purchase orders to OCE for specific products and installation services. The only time AICs [adults in custody] are on UO grounds is when they are delivering or installing products,” according to the OCE statement.

SLAP’s press release stated, “The University’s partnership with this agency is extremely immoral, and contradictory to the UO commitment to ‘steward resources sustainably and responsibly’”

The release went on, “As such, we, as students at the University, demand that the University of Oregon terminates all current contracts and refrains from any future engagements with OCE.”

Protestors were gone by 12:30 p.m.

Casey Crowley contributed reporting to this story.

The post Second protest against prison labor staged in EMU appeared first on Emerald Media.