Note: Major spoilers ahead. 

Within about five minutes of the How I Met Your Mother series finale, I was already tearing up. Ted Mosby, who we’ve followed for nine years through multiple failed relationships on his way to meeting his future wife, stood outside with his five best friends. It was the night before he was moving to Chicago, and the gang was saying goodbye. After nine years with these characters, the end was finally here.

It’s been a rocky road to meeting the mother (whose name was revealed to be Tracy tonight) for Ted. He’s dated countless women over the course of the series, and been in love with his best friend and on-again-off-again girlfriend Robin Scherbatsky the whole time. However, the show implied, his true love was still out there.

Like Ted’s road to romance, there have been similarly rocky patches for HIMYM. Critical reception of the show has declined steadily in recent years, and the show has begun to rely more on its fans’ nostalgia to make its jokes land and its emotional moments stick.

So when the finale began, I was excited to see that in many ways the final episode was a return to form for the show. The acting felt genuine and moving (in part a result of the close bond the actors have developed over the nine years working together). The jokes stuck. And though at times disorienting, the pacing was engaging and interesting, jumping throughout the years to significant points in the gang’s future.

In many ways, the finale was a love letter to HIMYM’s loyal viewers. We got to witness events that had been teased to us for years — Marshall becoming a judge, Barney finally cleaning up his act in an unexpected way and, of course, the iconic moment that Ted and the mother meet. After loving these characters for nine seasons, seeing them reach their potential and finish their story lines was moving and bittersweet.

However, as the hour-long finale continued, I began to feel that I was being cheated. After spending an entire season on Barney and Robin’s wedding (and countless more episodes establishing them as a couple), the pair was broken up within 15 minutes of the finale.

Though I had mixed feelings about some aspects of the episode, seeing Ted finally being with Tracy was enough to make the finale worthwhile for me. After watching cycles of Ted declaring his love for Robin only to be rejected for nine seasons, finally seeing him with the right girl felt, well, right.

Then, HIMYM revealed that Tracy had died six years before Ted started telling the story of how he met her to his kids. The real reason he was telling the story, as Ted’s kids joyfully declared, was to tell them that he loved Robin.

As a viewer, it was hard not to feel like I had been conned by the writers. After nine seasons of building up to how Ted met his wife, to have him end up with Robin felt like all of it had been for nothing. As Lily said during Ted’s wedding, the road had been long, but he finally got there. The same can be said for HIMYM. However, sometimes the end isn’t always worth the wait.

The following was submitted to the Emerald by the Felts’ family friend Larry Sokol.

I was present at Griffin’s birth and knew him well his whole life. He was until his last hours as you knew him — happy, loved, loving, infectiously endearing and kind. To everyone in his life Griff was the kind of friend you are lucky to have even one of. Griff was a best friend.

Griffin had many hopes and plans for his future. He looked forward and had, like you have, many dreams. He loved every moment of his life. Like all of you reading this, Griff believed he was invincible. He, like every young adult, did not imagine or think limits, biology, science, or warnings really applied to him. In short he was a normal 20 year old college student with his shining future stretched out in front of him.

Griff had prescription medications which were not compatible with alcohol. If you’re 20, being told something is not the same as believing what you’re told. This is you too, isn’t it? You know better. Griff knew better. Then Griff got a sore throat and was given some pain pills. They were small – didn’t look like he would be swallowing a cyanide pill. The pain pills were all given like the others, with warnings.

But you’re in college and know the score. You know alcohol, sleep aids and pain pills are depressants. In sensible dosages they suppress the central nervous system- a measured amount- predictable if used as directed.

Did you know they can each slow respiration? Did you know they unplug part of your brain that tells you there’s too much Co2 and tells you to breathe? No brain, no breath.

Using any depressant knocks out some part of your consciousness so you are impaired from realizing what is happening. Sure your brain can take a few punches. But what if there are three head shots all at once? Out like a light that won’t turn back on is one real possibility. You’ve seen it now. It’s real.

Do you imagine anyone expects to not wake up from a few small pills and some shots? You can get away with this, and then you don’t.

Please honor this radiant young man. Please make his life have possibly a lifesaving meaning in yours. The next time you start down this path remember Griff. Say to yourself I am going to respect his memory, and help myself or someone else at the same time.

Griff loved you. He’ll be watching from your own hearts and minds.

Larry N. Sokol

Editors Note: Griffin Felt’s cause of death has not been confirmed by the Lane County Medical Examiner’s Office. 

Underage students seeking medical attention for alcohol poisoning may now do so without worrying about receiving alcohol possession charges, thanks to a bill signed into law by Oregon governor John Kitzhaber on March 3. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Doherty, passed unanimously through the Oregon Senate on Feb. 20.

The policy, known as medical amnesty or the “Good Samaritan” policy, has been long been a topic of discussion at the University of Oregon. In 2012, the ASUO, with support from the student group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, passed a resolution stating that if a minor is showing symptoms of alcohol poisoning, they or their friends should not hesitate to call 9-1-1.

In fall 2013, ASUO senator Chrissy Hardesty began working with Director of Substance Abuse Prevention Jennifer Summers to discuss how the policy could be implemented at the University. 

Though the UO student code of conduct prohibits minors in possession of alcohol, its main goal is already to prioritize education about substance abuse over punishment. Nonetheless, Hardesty was pleased when the bill passed through the Oregon legislature and signed into law because the UO does not have an official medical amnesty policy.

“(Medical amnesty) is something the ASUO looked into all year,” Hardesty said. “We were beyond happy to see it taken on by Rep. Doherty.”

Oregon is the 18th state to adopt the medical amnesty policy. Supporters of the policy say that is a potentially life-saving one, as many minors avoid calling medical officials in alcohol-related emergencies because they are afraid of legal consequences. In 2006, Cornell University released a study that found that though 19 percent of undergraduates surveyed considered calling for help for an intoxicated friend, only four percent made the call.

Summers believes that the policy is important in preventing alcohol-related deaths of minors.

“I personally support anything that helps keep a student alive,” Summers said. “We don’t want a senseless death because of inaction.”

UO spokesperson Julie Brown said that the new law will not impact the way the UO deals with minors in possession of alcohol, as its focus is on prevention and education and not giving citations. Whether the law will affect the UO’s student code of conduct remains to be seen, according to Brown.

“It would be a longer term discussion,” Brown said. “Our student conduct code is based on university policies and input from students. It is not a typical process for it to change in response to a new law.”

University of Oregon Police Department’s public information officer Kelly McIver said that the UOPD already prioritizes educating students over giving them a citation.

Sam Chapman, a 2012 UO graduate and founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said that the new law is an important step forward, though he argues that it should be extended to include drugs aside from alcohol.

“What passed on the state level is a huge step in the right direction,” Chapman said. “Not only for college students but for those across the state who find themselves in those situations.”

The policy’s implementation is only the first step, however. Both Chapman and Hardesty said that in order for the policy to be effective, educating students about their rights is crucial.

“It will have an impact as long as students are aware of the policy change,” Hardesty said. “It’s important that both the UO and the ASUO make a concerted effort to educate students on the change and the new rights they have.”

It was sunny most of the day on Friday, Feb. 28. But by 4 p.m. an unexpected rainstorm had set in. Nevertheless, by 5 p.m. about 100 people gathered near Autzen Stadium to remember University of Oregon student Griffin Felt one week after his death.

Against the gray sky, people huddled in small groups, sharing memories of their friend. They gathered on the Autzen footbridge, bouquets in hand. They threw roses and flowers dyed blue, green and orange into the river, the colors brightly juxtaposed against the gray waters.

Felt, a junior pre-journalism major, was found in his apartment and confirmed dead on Friday, Feb. 21. He was 20 years old. His cause of death is still under examination by the Lane County medical examiner’s office. There were no signs of foul play.

Sophomore Haley Coveny lived on the floor below Felt in their apartment complex. After meeting him the summer before her freshman year, Coveny considered him her best friend at the university.

“He defined my college experience,” Coveny said. “He was a magic person. He lit up my life.”

Coveny and Felt had a morning routine — Coveny would go upstairs to wake Felt (he often slept through his alarm). The pair would then make a Starbucks run, where Felt would usually order a green tea iced lemonade and a toasted chonga bagel with two cream cheeses. Often, the two would end the day in Coveny’s apartment, binging on episodes of “The O.C.”

On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 19, the two spent the morning together as usual. That night, Coveny stayed in to study while Felt went out with friends.

The next morning, Coveny didn’t hear from Felt. It didn’t seem unusual — Felt suffered from insomnia and would periodically spend a day catching up on sleep.

By Friday morning however, there was still no word from Felt. Coveny began to worry.

As she did nearly every morning, she went upstairs to wake him. As she reached his apartment, she noticed packages piled at his door. She could hear his alarm blaring from outside.

Coveny went downstairs and called the police.

In the days following his death, one look at Felt’s Twitter page proved how many lives he touched. “RIP Griffin,” many tweets read.

Jim Felt and Jody Hills, Griffin’s parents, said they are proud their son impacted so many. Jim Felt believes that the reason Griffin had so many friends was because of his kind and open nature.

“Griffin was, in my mind, so different than most people in that he was totally open and totally trusting,” Jim Felt said. “He couldn’t believe there might be bad people out there.”

Felt was something of a celebrity around campus. Coveny said they could not walk through campus together without Felt stopping to say hello to at least 10 people.

“He’s a bit of a socialite at the UO,” Coveny said. “Everyone knows him. That was just him, and I loved watching him be him.”

This popularity was what Felt was known for.

“Trying to say hi to Griffin is like trying to say hi to Obama on his day off in the streets,” a tweet from UO Bro Code read, posted a week before Felt’s death.

Felt was known to carry two phones — a Blackberry for close friends, an iPhone for acquaintances. He often had 20 text messages in his inbox at any given time.

Despite the number of friends he had, Felt found time for every one of them.

Junior Samantha Garcia remembers Felt bringing her chocolate cake and Starbucks at 3 a.m. whenever she was pulling an all-nighter at the library.

“He was the most selfless person in the entire world,” Garcia said. “Griffin had the most friends of anyone I knew. There were so many people in his life that he cared about so deeply.”

According to family friend Greg Shantz, people were drawn to Felt because of his postive nature.

“He was a kind and gentle soul, which anyone could recognize immediately,” Shantz said. “He didn’t have that wall of filters and biases. He reached out to everyone. He accepted people for who they were and just gave to them. That’s unusual. Most people aren’t like that.”

Felt dreamed of becoming a celebrity publicist — Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears were two with whom he had a lifelong obsession. Shantz doesn’t doubt that he could have achieved his goal.

“I tell a lot of people I saw an image 10 years from now of turning on the TV and seeing him reporting for Hollywood for ET,” Shantz said. “I wouldn’t have been surprised because he could accomplish anything he wanted.”

Spears and Lohan would not have been Felt’s first encounter with a celebrity. In 2012, Shantz gave Felt tickets to see David Beckham play against the Portland Timbers for the last time.

“(When I dropped off the tickets to him), he said, ‘I am going to have dinner with David Beckham tonight,’” Shantz recalled. “And I said in disbelief, ‘Okay, Griffin. Have a lot of fun.’”

As Shantz was climbing into bed at 10 p.m., however, his phone went off. It was a text from Felt. Shantz opened it to find a picture of Felt with Beckham.

Griffin Felt poses with David Beckham.

“That captures everything Griffin was about,” Shantz said. “He had an energy and purity that made him believe anything was possible. And for him it seemed like it was.”

For those who knew him, these moments are what they will remember most about Felt.

“He brought so much joy to my life and so many people’s lives,” Coveny said. “He’s made me see the world so differently.”

When Jim Felt remembers his son, Griffin’s obsession with lights as a child stands out. From Christmas lights to lanterns, Griffin would hang anything with a power cord on the walls of his childhood home. As Griffin grew older and lost interest in them, however, Jim collected the lights and hung them on a wall for him.

Nowadays, Jim is keeping them lit more often. As long as he lives in the house, he plans to keep the light installation intact.

“It’s both comforting and hard to see them now so merrily carrying on without a care in the world,” Jim said.

The light installation Jim Felt made for Griffin Felt.

Jennifer Summers sits at a large desk in a small office. A large stack of files and papers sits next to her computer — studies on college drinking, notes on programs she wants to implement, data that she’s analyzing for the best methods of substance abuse prevention.

Summers, three years out of grad school, is often smiling and dressed in stylish clothing, her freckled face and blue eyes framed by long black hair. But when she starts talking drinking and drugs, she’s all business. She easily rattles off facts from her studies — Summers knows her stuff. She has to. She’s responsible for looking at substance abuse for the 24,000 students who attend the University of Oregon.

As the university’s director of substance abuse prevention and student success, Summers has been the driving force behind efforts to control alcohol and drug abuse since 2011.

Supported by partners in Eugene and on campus, Summers is responsible for coordinating the prevention efforts for the campus community.

It’s no small task.

In recent years, the UO has developed a reputation — fairly or not — as a party school. In August of 2013, the university landed at No. 20 on the Princeton Review’s list of party schools. According to violations recorded by the 2012 Clery Act, the UO was ninth in the nation for its rate of on-campus alcohol violations among universities with enrollment of more than 20,000, with 38 of every 1,000 students cited for violation.

In the past two years, both the numbers of on-campus violations and alcohol-related medical transports have decreased, with violations going from 1,030 in 2010-2011 to 932 in 2012-2013 and alcohol-related transports going from 64 to 32 between 2011 and 2013. However, it’s still a pressing concern. Fifty-nine percent of medical transports on campus in 2012 involved alcohol, according to UOPD. The number of alcohol-related transports is worrying for Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Holmes.

“There’s certain times of the year, there seems to be more and more transports,” Holmes said. “That’s really concerning me and concerning our staff that students are not only deciding to utilize drugs or alcohol but they’re using so much that they’re in physical danger.”

As the UO’s student body grew rapidly between 2009 and 2011, so did the issue of alcohol abuse. However, as enrollment increased rapidly, the number of administrators to address the problem has remained small.

The problem became apparent in 2011, when the number of alcohol-related hospital transports on campus jumped to 64 from the previous year’s 36.

It was then that the UO realized the need to enlist someone to help curb the increase.

Nearly 500 miles away at Boise State University, Summers noticed the announcement for the UO’s new position — a position to promote responsible behavior around alcohol and substance use. After working as a health educator of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at Boise for three years — where she would work up to 60 hours a week — Summers had the experience for the job. Two years before, she had been integral in implementing the school’s smoking ban, and through years of training, had developed a passion for public health.

Summers applied. From a nationwide pool of candidates, the UO awarded her the job.

Christina Berg was Summers’ manager since Summers began at Boise State as a grad student and witnessed her growth as a health educator. That growth was driven by Summers’s combination of knowledge and her passion for her work, Berg said.

“She’s very open-minded and willing to learn,” Berg said. “The part that augments that is her passion.”

Summers had an interest in health and was interested in ways to improve care for the body since her days growing up in Alaska.

“I had always wanted to help people,” Summers said. “I was fascinated by how to take care of the body better.”

Summers was set on the path to public health at the UO, where she studied psychology her sophomore year and worked as a peer health educator before transferring to the University of Idaho to pursue a degree in nutrition. But her passion for prevention began when she was working at a hospital as a nutritionist her senior year of college.

Lower your fats, lower your salts, she told a triple-bypass patient one day. In response, the man put his hand on her arm.

“And he said, ‘Oh sweetheart, save it … I’m going to stop at McDonald’s on my way out of here,’” Summers said. “And I remember feeling so heartbroken and thinking … there’s got to be a way we can educate people about health before they get to the hospital.”

That instance taught Summers the importance of preventing an addiction before it began — the same mentality she applies in her job now.

Prevention, however, is a tricky field. Substance abuse prevention is usually reactive. In the field, solutions are too often triggered by tragedies. Though the UO’s prevention efforts were not launched in reaction to a tragedy, Summers works tirelessly to prevent them.

The majority of her work involves community outreach, research and education. Summers conducts research on campus through programs like AlcoholEdu to quantify the issue of substance abuse among students and identify high risk behaviors. Additionally, she works with students to educate them about safe drinking behaviors.

This year, Summers worked with Fraternity and Sorority Life Director Justin Shukas and student peer health educator Ashley Penington to implement an education program for organization leaders to recognize signs of an alcohol emergency. The program, meant to teach students skills like CPR to address emergency situations, started this winter and will continue into the spring.

One of Summers’s main focuses is understanding the problem on campus in order to understand how to prevent it.

“Since I’ve been here, one of my main goals has been to look at what is the problem? How do we define it? A lot of the conversations have been very qualitative (before my position was established),” Summers said. “When I first got here, it was stepping back and saying, ‘What is the problem? How do we start?’”

The problem is still difficult to define. Since Summers’s position was established, high risk drinking, transports and alcohol violations have decreased. However, these numbers only represent part of the issue. The UO’s records of transports and violations only include on-campus incidents, and it is estimated that 70 percent of first-year students drink off-campus, according to AlcoholEdu.

Summers is continuing to try and define the issue.

“It’s always an ongoing process to continually evaluate UO culture and ways to decrease high-risk behavior,” she said.

Though it’s difficult, Holmes does not doubt that Summers is perfect for the job.

“Partly it’s because of her passion for educating students and partly it is her expertise,” Holmes said. “I think you can be someone who’s really smart, but without that passion and commitment, it’s not as effective. She really lives and breathes this.”

In the future, the UO plans to hire more assistance for Summers.

“We need to continue to build out her office, because she’s fantastic but she’s one person,” Holmes said.

In the meantime, Summers’ work is far from done.

“You’ve got to recognize the small accomplishments but still know you’ve got your work cut out for you,” she said.

Seats were far from empty in Columbia 150 when students met to discuss the Ordinance on Unruly Gatherings, commonly known as the Social Host Ordinance, on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The forum was an opportunity to clarify the ordinance’s stipulations and consequences, especially in light of recent arrests related to unruly gatherings.

Panelists explained that you cannot be arrested as a consequence of the ordinance and said arrests were the result of other violations.

Mack Smith, the ASUO community affairs coordinator, led the forum. The panel included faculty from the Office of the Dean of Students, including Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students Dr. Paul Shang, and members of the Eugene Police Department. Smith explained that the goal of the forum was to make sure that students are educated about the Social Host Ordinance.

Students asked questions about cost, reporting and consequences of the ordinance.

The Eugene City Council approved the Social Host Ordinance Jan. 28, 2013. The ordinance defines an unruly gather as any gathering where alcohol is served or consumed and where there are violations of either state or city laws relating to alcohol or “party” type incidents including disorderly conduct, noise disturbance, public urination and more.

Ryan Donlon, a member of the ASUO Executive staff, attended the meeting with a group of his fraternity brothers.

“I thought it was a really great opportunity to for the guys in our fraternity to come by and really learn more,” Donlon said.

During the forum, Donlon asked officers about past situations involving the Social Host Ordinance.

“We had a couple incidents last term where if guys had known their rights, or if guys had been compliant and known that it was better to be compliant it would have ended up a lot better for them,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure that we could all come by and learn a lot from the university officials as well as the Eugene Police Department officers.”

Officer Adam Steele emphasized the importance of student cooperation with the police department.

“Maturity an responsibility goes a long way,” Steele said during the forum.

One person has been confirmed dead in a shooting on the Purdue University campus in West Lafeyette, Ind. on Tuesday. Police have taken one male into custody following reports of the shooting.

One person was reportedly shot around noon in the university’s Electrical Engineering Building, according to WLFI-TV.

The victim is believed to be a teaching assistant, the campus newspaper Purdue Exponent has reported.

Purdue Exponent editor-in-chief Saran Mishra said that the paper could not confirm who the victim was. However, it is known there is only one reported victim and one suspect.

“We’re all in a little bit of a shock,” Mishra said.

The campus lockdown has been lifted after two hours. All classes have been resumed except those in the Electrical Engineering building.

After playing tennis since age 12, Michael Schaeffer and Alex Rovello visited the University of Oregon as high school seniors — recruited for their high school tennis careers. After their recruiting trip, Schaeffer decided to attend the UO. Soon after, Rovello followed suit. Throughout college, the two were teammates on the men’s tennis team, as well as neighbors in the residence halls and, subsequently, apartments.

“We would hang out every single day with the team and without,” Schaeffer said.

Last May, Rovello invited Schaeffer on a trip to Tamolitch Falls. Schaeffer, however, was driving to Portland that day and declined.

That afternoon, Schaeffer received the news that Rovello had died in a cliff diving accident. Rovello jumped from a 60-foot cliff into the Blue Pool at the Tamolitch Falls, hitting the water face and chest first.

“It was a shock,” Schaeffer said. “I didn’t believe it.”

The men’s tennis team will name the center court on the north side of the student tennis courts — where Rovello played most of his indoor matches — after the deceased standout athlete. The ceremony will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. and is expected to draw a large crowd, including the entire men’s tennis team.

Rovello won 60 singles matches and 53 doubles in his three seasons on the tennis team. Men’s tennis head coach Nils Schyllander said that Rovello had a tremendous impact on the team as one of the great native Oregon players to attend the UO.

Associate head coach Jonas Piibor said that the court dedication is the department’s best way to honor Rovello and his legacy, even after those who knew Rovello are no longer at the UO.

“It’s a way to have him there,” Piibor said. “He’ll forever be a part of the UO Ducks and the men’s tennis team.”

Senior tennis player Robin Cambier was Rovello’s doubles partner during their freshman year. He said that each tennis match mattered immensely to Rovello.

“There was something great in him,” Cambier said. “You could really see in his eyes that it mattered to him.”

This year, Cambier said it will be an honor for him to play on the court that will be dedicated to Rovello. Cambier, a Belgian native, said that Rovello taught him about American sports and he considered him to be his American brother.

Rovello had a similar personal impact on many others, Cambier said.

“When he passed away, so many athletes went to his funeral or the ceremony here in Eugene,” Cambier said. “He just had a big impact on everyone.”

Rovello’s parents, Jim and Geri, said that Rovello’s greatest dream was to be a UO athlete and the court dedication is a great honor for him.

“The court dedication on Saturday is a tremendous honor that would have meant the world to Alex. He had hoped he would be able to have an impact on the U of O team and their standings,” Jim and Geri wrote in an email to the Emerald. “For the experience Alex had at the University of Oregon we are eternally grateful.”

Schaeffer said that he believes Rovello was always going to have an impact on the UO tennis team. The court dedication, he said, just makes things a little more official.

“Now it’s just going to be a little more lasting because his name is going to be up there,” Schaeffer said.

The University of Oregon Reserve Officers Training Corps may be in danger of losing academic credit through the UO if a University Senate notice of motion is passed.

The notice, sponsored by biology professor emeritus Frank Stahl, proposes that the UO stop granting academic credit to military science classes and that ROTC credit not be given to any course offered by any other department. The motion would not prevent ROTC students from taking UO classes, but it would essentially make ROTC an extracurricular activity.

The decision would impact 120 ROTC students, but until next week the ROTC will not have a prediction of the motion’s impact to the program, according to ROTC Office Specialist Cindy Youngman.

ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz opposed the motion and said that students need to have a voice in the decision, as it will directly impact them.

“Students have fought long and hard to earn the right for a seat at the table of decision-making here at the University of Oregon,” Dotters-Katz wrote in an email to Stahl. “While that role is advisory in nature, the scope of our involvement grows when the issue being discussed has a direct impact on students.”

For this reason, the notice of motion has been temporarily withdrawn until student membership on the senate is finalized, according to University Senate President Margie Paris.

“As far as I know, it will not appear on our next agenda,” Paris said.

After nearly nine months since it passed, Eugene’s Ordinance on Unruly Gatherings — also known as the Social Host Ordinance — is still on the minds of Eugene residents. There have only been 11 citations since the ordinance went into effect last April — a small percentage of overall party-related citations. However, the ordinance, which makes hosting an unruly gathering a criminal offense punishable by a $375-$1,000 fine, was a large point of contention for students when it first passed last January. ASUO Senator Lamar Wise attempted to repeal the law and had no result, though he collected 2,000 signatures and presented his initiative in front of the Eugene City Council.

On Monday as part of the annual “Your Neighbors and U” event, UO President Michael Gottfredson, ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz and members of the University of Oregon Police Department and Eugene Police Department went door to door across six blocks near the UO, reminding residents of the ordinance and its consequences.

According to EPD spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin, because this fall is the first that the ordinance has been implemented, Eugene police don’t know how many social host citations to expect. Typically, party citations — along with EPD party patrols — increase during fall with students returning to campus. Last weekend, there were a total of 67 citations, 55 of which were UO students; however, none of the citations were related to the Social Host Ordinance.

Jennifer Summers, UO director of substance abuse prevention, was part of “Your Neighbors and U,” and said that all the students she talked to were aware of the ordinance. Because the ordinance has many different aspects that it uses to classify an unruly gathering, Summers said it is important that students understand the ordinance. Because of its high level of accountability for both the party’s host and the landlord of the property the party takes place on, Summers believes the ordinance has been effective in teaching students about responsible parties.

Some UO students, however, still worry about the ordinance’s consequences. Senior Ellie Richardson, who lives in the West University neighborhood with eight roommates, worries that she could be put at risk of being punished simply because of the number of people living with her. Under ordinance rules, if Richardson and her roommates were watching a football game, drinking a few beers and received a noise complaint, they would be in violation and could be fined. Though she believes it’s unlikely that this would happen, Richardson said the possibility is worrying.

“It doesn’t really make sense,” Richardson said. “That it could even happen is kind of absurd.”

Regardless of community opinion, Summers says the ordinance has changed party culture around the university.

“Mainly, it’s just gone through and educated students on the threshold of responsibility for a party,” Summers said. “I think it’s a learning tool for students to recognize what it means to party responsibly.”