The University of Oregon Police Department notified students via email of two crimes reported on UO property Thursday evening.

The email described the first incident as a man touching himself inappropriately on Wednesday between 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. by the Knight Law Center on East 15th Avenue and Agate Street, as observed by a woman in the library.

In the second incident, a male student encountered a man in the parking lot of Autzen Stadium just before 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night. According to the email, the man asked the student what he had in his possession, but soon walked north after the student turned away.

The first perpetrator is described as “a white man in his 20s and sweatpants.” The second suspect is a white man in his “20s to early 30s,” 5-foot-10 with average build, wearing a black zip-up hoodie with “possibly an emblem on the chest,” and blue or black pants.

Investigations are still being conducted. Anyone with information about either of the crimes are asked to call UOPD: (541)-346-2919.

More to come.

In an effort to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Delta Tau Delta hosted the dog-themed event Delt Dogs at their house on Thursday.

“What do people like a lot?” philanthropy chairman David Crinnion said. “People like dogs.”

The event had many dogs on DTD’s lawn, as well as plates of hot dogs inside for the taking. If attendees brought their dog, they had free admission as well as free hot dogs. Guests could take a picture for a dollar with their favorite DTD member fully dressed in a hot dog costume. A hot dog eating contest also took place about halfway through the event.

“In preparation for the event, we bought 2,000 hot dogs from Cisco,” said Isaac Rauch, a member of the philanthropy committee. “We had over 1,000 accepted invites on the Facebook page, and we wanted to make sure everyone would get at least two hot dogs.”

The fraternity also sold tickets and gave out informational flyers about Delt Dogs in front of the Erb Memorial Union the week prior.

“This year we’ve almost doubled in size from last year’s philanthropy,” Crinnion said.

First year Iva Hart said she brought her dog Sammi to the event because she heard about it through the DTD members advertising. Likewise, junior Marisa Lebouitz said she brought her dog Niko to Delt Dogs because she would get free admittance and a hot dog.

Junior member Ryan Bottimore said he brought his dog Lily to help support the event in its first year running.

“My dad found (Lily) when he was working on the shelter, and he just fell in love with her,” Bottimore said.
While DTD does not know what philanthropy they will be doing for winter term, they are likely to conduct a barbecue and volleyball tournament in the spring.

Brandon Austin, a former basketball player for the University of Oregon, filed a $7.5 million lawsuit against the UO, previous university President Michael R. Gottfredson, Director of Student Conduct & Community Standards Sandy Weintraub, Assistant Dean of Students Chicora Martin and Vice President of Student Life Robin Holmes, according to the Oregonian.

The filed lawsuit claims Austin was unjustly suspended in June 2014. In the suit Austin claims professional and personal harm, emotional hardship, future income depletion and a reduced chance of getting to play for the National Basketball Association.

UO dismissed Austin, as well as former teammates Dominic Artis and Damyean Dotson, after they had a sexual assault allegation filed against them in spring 2014. The university prohibited the three from returning to campus for at least four years.

The university responded to Austin’s suit on Friday.

“It is unfortunate the Mr. Austin has decided to pursue this type of lawsuit, and we intend to vigorously defend the university,” Tobin Klinger, a university spokesperson told the Associated Press. “We’re confident Mr. Austin was afforded fair and consistent due process that fully complied with the university’s legal obligations. We cannot provide further comment because this is pending litigation.”

The full lawsuit can be viewed here.

“Today is not the end, it’s a beginning,” charge speaker Justin Kirk said to the Delta Upsilon colony at their chartering ceremony.

DU colonized in March 2014. To charter, fraternities must have a certain number of members required by its headquarters and a higher grade point average than the university, said President Hayden Rahn. They must also have a charter, constitution and bylaws in place.

“You can almost think of this period as a colony as like a probationary period, where we’re really just going through a phase to establish our policies and procedures, making sure we’re recruiting quality guys and just setting up the chapter to be successful, not only in the near future, but in the long run,” Vice President of Membership Education Mitchell Parks said.

Chartering provided relief to Vice President of Recruitment Bhavin Patel.

“A slight weight is off of my shoulders,” Patel said.

Internationally, DU’s colonies charter in about two years, but University of Oregon’s colony did it in a year and a half, Rahn said.

“I can’t stress enough how much of a group effort this whole process has been and how it will continue to be a fraternity effort in order to continue to grow and to continue to change all sorts of communities,” Rahn said.

After the ceremony, member Steven Dewey said he was proud of DU for receiving the chapter title.

“When I joined, I was really excited about the prospect of starting something new, of bringing something back to campus,” Dewey said, “so that’s really exciting that after a year and a half, we’re finally here.”

DU also has more volunteer hours than any other UO fraternity—over 3,000.

DU focuses on community service to enhance its fraternity image, Parks said.

“There’s so much more to life than just being a frat guy,” Parks said. “We don’t just see ourselves as that and we don’t want to be seen as that because that’s not who we are. We’re just 67 guys that just happen to be fraternity brothers. Best friends for life, but we’re not frat bros.”

DU’s philanthropy raises money to buy supplies in Jamaica for constructing lunchrooms, schoolhouses and more. Each year, DU men are sent to Jamaica on endowments and scholarships for a week to rebuild.

“We spent four or five days working there with a Jamaican construction crew. No power tools, just manual labor, just serving our fellow global citizens,” Parks said.

DU also contributed to a 2014 spring break beach cleanup with the Oregon State University DU chapter, along with book and blanket drives to help support impoverished neighborhoods in Washington D.C. and gardening at Food for Lane County.

“Our whole idea is that we’re here to serve and that’s just what we do,” Parks said.

Now that DU is a chapter with official administrative support, the fraternity can better interact with the community, Patel said.

“Our goal is to reach out to the community, not just other Greek Life organizations, because we want them to know that we are here as a support system for them, not just ourselves,” Patel said.

The chapter has received a warm welcome from the communities at the UO, in Fraternity and Sorority Life and in Eugene with opportunities to volunteer, resources and advice, Rahn said.

“We’d also like to thank the FSL community as well as the Eugene and UO communities,” Rahn said.

An established chapter, the fraternity plans on looking at the future as room to grow, Parks said.

“We’ve been striving to be the best since day one, and we’ll continue to do that,” Parks said.

In the local Eugene area, on Monday the 911 service was unaccessible, first reported by The Register Guard.

A severed cable on Sixth Avenue and Garfield Street caused the outage. The Eugene Police Department established a back-up system and the cable is now repaired.

Noel Roberts, a former kitchen worker for the Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta, has filed a lawsuit against the sorority after reportedly being unjustly terminated, according to the Register-Guard.

According to the suit, Roberts was fired in September 2014 after her supervisor, Diane Carroll, failed to turn off the gas valve during a leak in the sorority house.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday to the Lane County Circuit Court, Roberts is pursuing at least $50,000 in damages.

More to come.

The calendar read Columbus Day, but the Native-American Student Union chose to mark the date in a different way — holding “Indigenous Solidarity Day” in the Erb Memorial Union amphitheater to honor indigenous people of Oregon.

Indigenous Solidarity Day has been celebrated on campus for several years, and NASU co-director Mary Johnson said turnout at the event increases every year.

“More people are wanting to get involved with Indigenous Solidarity Day,” Johnson said.

NASU started by replacing the flags around the EMU amphitheater that memorialize the consolidated tribes of Oregon. After that, speakers and performers presented throughout the rest of the day.

“It’s important to celebrate indigenous people of this land,” Eva Murtaugh, another NASU co-director, said.

The Chinook Indian Nation from the mouth of the Columbia River also conducted a “Fun Dance Song” to celebrate the day.

Khahlela Reif, a junior UO student, said she loved the event last year, which made her more inclined to attend again. From her perspective, this is a day to educate people on what truly happened before Columbus arrived.

“There’s a lot of misinformation on how many people were here with homes and families before this person came,” Reif said.
The NASU, which strives to educate more people on issues pertinent to indigenous people, meets every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Many Nations Longhouse.

At 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5 a candlelight vigil will  take place at the Erb Memorial Union Amphitheater to honor and provide support for those affected by the tragic shooting that took place Thursday morning at Umpqua Community College.

During the candlelight vigil, there will be three speakers who are currently not identified.

“This tragedy is far too close to home for all of us,” Dean of Students Paul Shang told AroundTheO on Friday. “We seek to support our students who are grieving and honor our friends and colleagues at Umpqua Community College by this vigil.”
There is also an opportunity to write personal notes on a card for the community of Rosberg, located inside the EMU this weekend. The card will be given to the faculty, staff and families at UCC next week.