When stopping a man on campus for a suspected bike theft, a University of Oregon police officer’s search turned up with a stolen bike, multiple stolen parts, marijuana and heroin. Despite his multiple offenses, the man was simply cited and released. No Eugene police officers could respond to the call at the time to book the suspect and transport him to jail. And because UO officers were unarmed at the time, they did not have the authority to do so themselves.

That was fall 2012, but this year UOPD will not have to face the same situation. With a new school year comes new jurisdiction for the department. Since the Oregon State Board of Higher Education approved UO officers carrying guns on campus this June, the department’s 10 police officers are now allowed to carry Glock 21 handguns when they patrol campus and beyond.

“(Now) if a bike thief takes a bike, we’ll be able to do something more than just observe,” said Sgt. Michael Matchulat, who made the transition from public safety officer to a police officer in March 2012 after serving for two years in the former job.

With armed police officers on duty, UOPD will now have staff to perform duties such as traffic stops, transports to jail, responses to potentially dangerous subjects and the ability to follow an investigation off campus. According to UOPD Communications Director Kelly McIver, the ability to practice these duties will help deter criminals from coming on campus to commit crimes.

Seven of the 10 armed police officers regularly patrol campus, along with the department’s team of 13 public safety officers. The other three officers mainly serve in supervisory positions, including UOPD Chief Carolyn McDermot.

The transition to an armed force is not yet complete and won’t be for another five to six years when public safety officers are completely replaced by a 25-person police force. Currently, the department is working to hire more officers, but the process will take time as police have to go through extensive background checks before being hired and put through an eight month training program.

McIver said the transition to an armed police force won’t significantly change the way UOPD operates in the near future, as the department is in a transitional phase. UOPD and the Eugene Police Department are in the process of negotiating interagency jurisdiction and public safety officers will continue to perform the majority of duties on campus.

“A lot of people have the misimpression that the police are policing the members on campus. And often that’s not true — what you’re dealing with is people from off campus who want to come on campus and engage in illegal behavior,” McIver said. “We’re hoping with more of a police presence we can actually transport people to jail and that will help create a deterrent for that.”

Some students are wary of having armed police officers on campus. When UOPD met with the ASUO about the proposal in February, many students were vehemently opposed. Since then, the opposition has been less vocal, but ASUO Senator Helena Schlegel still believes arming officers is unnecessary.

“For me, personally, the idea of a gun in a school setting is uncomfortable,” Schlegel said. “I understand the UOPD has had training, but I feel like it could get out of hand.”

Schlegel worries that the additional cost of arming campus officers will affect students. Once the transition from public safety officers to police officers is complete in five to six years,  it is estimated to cost the UO an extra $100,000 per year, including the cost of the higher pay for officers, range training time, sidearms and ammunition.

McIver said that the extra costs are not expected to create an increase in fees or tuition for UO students.

“In light of the department budget and university general fund, these cost differences are extremely minor and are not anything that would come close to generating an increase in fees or tuition for UO students,” McIver said.

It’s not unusual for a campus of UO’s size to have armed officers. Before the state board’s approval to arm UOPD, the UO stood with Portland State University as the only two schools in the nation with more than 15,000 students lacking an armed police force, as well as the only Association of American Universities member without an armed force.

According to Matchulat, despite the changes to his job, his first priority is still to protect the UO campus. As an armed police officer, Matchulat said he can focus on investigating and preventing crimes instead of worrying about where his jurisdiction lies. 

“My job hasn’t changed in my own head,” Matchulat said. “I think the stress has gone down with having to think of so many jurisdictions.”

As President Michael Gottfredson’s new chief of staff, Greg Rikhoff’s job description is a lengthy one. Rikhoff was appointed to the position on May 20, after working as the University of Oregon’s community relations director, and less than a month into it, Rikhoff has been busy coordinating events, setting meeting agendas and trying to answer requests on behalf of Gottfredson.

However, Rikhoff believes his duties aren’t exclusively to the President.

“I’m kind of the guy that helps everyone look for the win,” he said. “My job is making sure that anyone who walks into the president’s office is successful.”

With Gottfredson’s turbulent first year as the university president, Rikhoff’s job of responding to requests to the president could be particularly important. Students and staff have expressed displeasure with Gottfredson’s perceived lack of communication with them. During Gottfredson’s investiture on May 30, students protested the increasing tuition and complained that Gottfredson had not been responding to their requests to meet with them.

UO economics professor and UO Matters blogger Bill Harbaugh is one of the staff members at the university who have expressed concern with the lack of communication between Johnson Hall and staff.  Since Rikhoff has been in office, Harbaugh has not seen an increase in communication from Johnson Hall.

“I think Gottfredson is a good administrator but he needs allies,” Harbaugh said. “He has to get out and talk to people to build that kind of trust, and he hasn’t done that. Somebody needs to start doing that.”

According to Rikhoff, the complaints of not receiving enough of the president’s time are not unique to Gottfredson. During his time at the UO, Rikhoff has worked with four different presidents and said he had heard similar complaints with each one.

“The reality is with running a large public research institution, those will always be challenges for the president,” Rikhoff said.

That doesn’t mean Rikhoff and the president’s office aren’t working to remedy the issues. Rikhoff said he is looking to help set up partnerships with Gottfredson and student and faculty leaders to ensure more communication between Johnson Hall and the UO community, and the president’s office is trying to find more ways to open communication.

“We’re going to continue to look at how to continue to keep President Gottfredson engaged and accessible,” Rikhoff said. “It’s something we’ve actively been looking at and working on. There’s no simple answer.”

Rikhoff put emphasis on the importance of seeing the University through the eyes of students. Rikhoff has a daughter who is a junior at the UO, giving him an insight into the experiences of students that he said will affect the way he approaches his job.

“I feel very fortunate to see the university through the eyes of students. It helps remind me of the times students are under stress and having challenges,” Rikhoff said. “It helps make me more responsive when students are asking for my time.”

Because of distrust towards Johnson Hall, Harbaugh believes Rikhoff’s job could be particularly important in fixing communication issues from administration.

“He’s in a tough spot. He’s not the president’s spokesperson. But because President Gottfredson clearly doesn’t like to talk to staff or students, and Greg is pretty outgoing, he’s probably going to end up taking over that role,” Harbaugh said. “That’s a good thing. Someone from Johnson Hall needs to start communicating.”

Rikhoff agrees that serving the entire university is part of his job description.

“My job is to assist the president,” Rikhoff said, “but the bottom line is it’s about helping the UO succeed and helping everyone succeed.”

Only a year into his tenure as Oregon’s chief education officer, Rudy Crew could be leaving the position for a new one in New York City, cutting short his three-year contract in Oregon. The New York native announced on Monday that he is a finalist for president at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn after he applied for the position at the urging City University of New York chancellor Matthew Goldstein.

Crew was appointed Oregon’s chief education officer by the Oregon Education Investment Board last May as part of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s plan to reinvent Oregon education. Though Crew told The Oregonian that he has no desire to leave Oregon and is committed to the state’s goals to renovate education, which include getting better results from low income and minority students.

During his first year in the position, Crew pushed schools to set higher goals for raising student sucess and closing the achievement gap. He also advocated for legislative funding for four education initiatives, including early reading outreach to young children and programs to train aspiring teachers and principals.

It is uncertain whether Crew will be offered the presidency at Medgar Evans, as he has no experience as a college president.

Regardless of whether he leaves, the Oregon Education Investment Board plans to pursue the same goals of improving student success, The Oregonian reported.

The 2012-2013 academic year marked the start of significant overhaul in the education system both statewide and at the University of Oregon. From tuition increases to the ongoing push for independent university boards, here’s a look back at the academic year:

Deliberation of Independent Governing Boards: This year, the Oregon University System deliberated installation of independent governing boards for the UO and Portland State University. If installed, these boards would transfer power to make decisions for the schools from the Oregon University System to boards personalized for each school.

State Bill 270, which would implement these changes, is currently undergoing deliberation in the state senate.

OUS chancellor Pernsteiner resigns: OUS chancellor George Pernsteiner announced his resignation on Jan 25. Pernsteiner, who served since 2005, caused a public outcry in 2011 when he recommended the state board fire then-UO president Richard Lariviere over a variety of issues.

Melody Rose is serving as the interim chancellor, the first woman in the position.

New president takes over: This year began with the institution of a new man in charge at the UO: President Michael Gottfredson. Over the past year, Gottfredson has made the revision of UO’s governing system a key goal of his administration. At his official investiture as president on May 30 he indicated his intent to continue the push for independent governing boards, describing them as “a tremendous opportunity” for higher education.

Tuition increases 6 percent: Tuition continued to rise this year for both in-state and out-of-state students. Statewide, the Oregon University System proposed a 4.8 percent increase in tuition for in-state students, and the University of Oregon tuition is proposed to rise 4.5 percent. Once mandatory fee increases are added to the costs, the total rise in cost of attendance at the UO will be 5.8 percent, equal to over $500 in additional costs. For out-of-state students, the increases came to 3.5 percent.

The board will make its final decision on tuition increases on June 21.

Provost Jim Bean resigns: After serving as the chief academic officer at the UO for four years, Bean announced his resignation with the intent to return to a faculty position in early February. Bean’s duties will continue through the end of this month, at which point interim provost Scott Coltrane will assume the position temporarily, until the provost search committee and President Gottfredson elect a permanent replacement.

Faculty union fights for contract: UO faculty union, United Academics was formed in the fall to negotiate with administration for the UO’s first faculty contract. It was announced in April by the Association of American Universities that UO faculty were among the lowest paid in the AAU. United Academics has been pushing for a 3.5 percent salary increase since fall.

However, UO administration was slow to make a deal with United Academics. Tensions increased between administration and United Academics when it was revealed that the university had paid more than $300,000 to Harrang Long Gary Rudnick P.C. law firm to lead the administration bargaining team in negotiations with faculty.

As of June, no contract has been decided.

While students enjoy their months in the sun, administration and public officials will continue making decisions that will shape the future of higher education. By fall term 2013, students can expect to see significant progress toward the acquisition of a new provost, the likely imposition of new fees and further state deliberation toward UO’s personal board.

UO chief bargaining delegate Kurt Willcox (facing away) speaks in front of protesting employees at an SEIU demonstration in front of OUS offices in Eugene.

Protesting employees gathered outside of the Oregon University System office at Riverfront Research Park in Eugene on Thursday as bargaining continued between the Service Employees International Union and OUS bargaining teams for classified employees’ two-year contract.

University of Oregon chief bargaining delegate Kurt Willcox had been at the bargaining table all morning. However, when he came out of the offices in the afternoon to speak at the protest, little progress had been toward reaching an agreement. He told the crowd of employees that very little movement had been made on key issues in the contract, which includes the proposed low-wage increases and the decrease in employee benefits, including health care.

The proposed contract has been called the worst in nearly 20 years by SEIU members, and employees have threatened to strike if the proposal does not improve.

According to local SEIU president Gary Malone, classified employees have accepted decreased benefits in their past two contracts due to the poor economy. However, he said, the economy is improving and employees are still being offered less in their contracts.

“I think if things continue like this,” he said, “we will have to strike.”

The low-wage increases and cuts to employee benefits could cause UO employee Daniel Mundra to consider leaving. He has worked as an analyst programmer for the past two years and could find higher pay in the private sector. However, he said that the benefits and job security of working at the UO help to make up the difference.

“I’ll have to look at my options because the private sector has better pay but not better benefits,” he said. “But if those benefits are going to go away, then it’s not balanced anymore.”

Additionally, he said the low wages and decreasing benefits offered to UO employees is making hiring more difficult.

“It’s a little bit hard, and it’s less competitive,” Mundra said. “What I’ve been seeing a lot is that we’ve been having trouble hiring because we can’t give them as much as they want, and we can’t compete against the private sector. So, we can’t get the cream of the crop. We can’t get the good workers to come to the UO because we have nothing to give them except job security and benefits.”

He said he does not know what the outcome of the bargaining will be, and an employee strike is possible.

“The chances of a strike is fifty-fifty right now,” he said.

Bargaining will continue in Eugene on Friday. The current contract will expire on June 30.

Approximately 100 students, staff and faculty gathered outside the Knight Library on Tuesday in a solidarity demonstration for Turkish protesters. Turkish protesters endured excessive police brutality after a sit-in on Friday for the preservation of a public park escalated into violence and mass protests. Hundreds of protesters and police have been injured, making this the most violent riot Turkey has seen in decades, according to Reuters.

For UO graduate student and native Turkish citizen Baran Germen, the issue is close to home. Though Germen moved to the United States and began attending the UO two years ago, his family and friends are living in Turkey and were involved in the protests.

“I was really psychologically distraught that my people were suffering and I couldn’t join them in their resistance,” Germen said. “I thought this isn’t just a local issue, this is a global international issues that works on universal values and the universal violation of human rights.”

Germen organized the demonstration through social media with the help of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation.

According to Germen, though the events in Turkey are happening on the other side of the world, they are relevant to students at the UO because of the many international students at the university and the violation of universal human rights.

“These are universal values and we need to gather together to support them,” Germen said. “By doing this, we are reaching out to a lot of people.”

Political Science GTF Mehmet Celebi spent most of his life in Istanbul, Turkey and attended a high school close to Gezi Park where the protest began.

Back in Celebi’s home town of Istanbul, a lot of his friends from high school and college are right in the middle of the protests. Celebi is experiencing the protests against the Turkish government through photos and information that his friends have posted on their Facebook pages, which pushed him to do something to help support them.

“I feel angry. I feel that the government in Turkey is just not respecting the basic human rights of everyone in Turkey,” Celebi said.

Celebi believes in his friends, and said he would certainly be on the streets with them if he was there.

“The government cannot challenge protestors and cannot use brutality against it’s own people,” Celebi said.

You can view a video of the demonstration here.

Peter Buckley still remembers what a community college student said to him when she visited him a few years ago.

“She said, ‘Every year I’ve been going to school in Oregon, I’ve had less,’” the Democratic representative  from Ashland said during a budget town hall meeting at Lane Community College on Tuesday night. “And that just knocked my socks off.”

Buckley opened the meeting with that anecdote, and it proved to sum up the problem Oregon higher education is facing — every year there is less money in the system to go around.

For University of Oregon students and staff in attendance at the hearing, the cuts to higher education are felt deeply. With the proposed 5.8 percent rise in UO attendance costs and low faculty and classified staff salaries, employees and students have suffered from the state’s disinvestment in higher education in recent years.

Worries over funding for higher education and rising costs have sparked over the issue of independent governing boards for the University, as proposed by Senate Bill 270. If passed, the bill would separate the UO and Portland State University from the Oregon University System.

The bill has received mixed reactions from students and staff, and UO community members gathered at Tuesday night’s budget hearing to speak in opposition of the bill.

According to Service Employees International Union Vice President James Jacobson, the governing boards could create issues for UO students and staff because of the lack of representation proposed in the bill and the additional costs of maintaining the boards, which OUS estimates to be between $1 and $4.5 million per year. Jacobson worries about the lack of language in the bill designating student, faculty and staff representatives to the governing board.

“If there’s going to be a governing board for the UO, we want to see people represented who work and go to school at the University,” Jacobson said. “The University wouldn’t be there without any of us. It’s unfair not to have those voices on the board.”

UO student Jeremy Hedlund echoed Jacobson’s concerns with the lack of representation on the proposed governing board, as well as the cost of the board.

“I don’t see another reason to add another $1 to $5 million to the costs,” Hedlund said.

Buckley says the Oregon Legislature is struggling with the bill. Phil Barnhart, who represents Lane and Linn counties in the House of Representatives, agreed.

“I wish we had some great news for you,” Barnhart said to Hedlund in regard to the increasing financial burden on students. “But I don’t.”

Jacobson said during the hearing that the SEIU would not support the bill until it improves and its language becomes more specific.

“Momentum is building more and more against the bill,” Jacobson told the Emerald. “Even if on paper it sounds like a good idea — it’s a way to raise money for the University — there’s a lot of pitfalls.”

Victoria Moran first noticed the smell in February of 2011.

The floor she worked on had recently been remodeled and a strange scent filled her office in Oregon Hall. It was sickly sweet and chemical-like, similar to concentrated bug spray, and it left Moran with burning eyes, nausea and a metallic taste in her mouth. When a co-worker came by, he commented that Moran didn’t look too well. After a few minutes, her co-worker’s eyes also began to burn. In April of that year, Moran’s symptoms worsened. By July, she was in the emergency room. Her nausea had turned into pain so severe that when she checked in, her doctor believed she had appendicitis. However, he could find no definitive cause for Moran’s pain, and she was sent home.

Moran then took a 10-day vacation from working at Oregon Hall. While away, her symptoms disappeared.

“I thought, ‘That was weird. Alright, I’m better. Everything’s going to be fine,’” Moran said. “Then I went back to work, all the symptoms came back.”

Nearly two years later, Moran still experiences severe stomach pain, burning eyes, nose and throat at work. However, when she exits the building or returns home for the weekend, her symptoms subside only to return when Moran starts again on Monday.

Over the past two years, Moran has racked up medical bills surpassing $2,000, paid out-of-pocket. Her doctor hasn’t been able to pinpoint the cause of her symptoms. But there was one thing he did believe — the cause of Moran’s health issues could be environmental.

Moran’s health complaints are not the only ones coming from Oregon Hall and they certainly were not the first.

In 2006, 68 Oregon Hall employees signed a petition detailing the symptoms they were experiencing in the building — the same as those Moran experienced — and asked the UO for help.

However, despite the number of employees suffering, many are afraid to come forward.

Carla McNelly, who serves as the steward of record for employees’ health issues in Oregon Hall and works in the building, has had employees from every floor report health issues to her.

After Oregon Hall underwent construction in spring 2007, McNelly went to Urgent Care for respiratory issues and hives. She was out sick for six weeks.

A co-worker experienced similar health issues during the construction and was also out sick. However, when McNelly and her co-worker returned to Oregon Hall, they were told by their then-vice provost that the health issues were all in their heads. From what other employees have told McNelly, this dismissive attitude from supervisors is not uncommon.

“I’ve been told it’s me because I’m heavy. Others have been told it’s them because they smoke,” McNelly said. “There’s been all kinds of things we’ve been told where people have not believed us.”

Other employees from Oregon Hall and other buildings on campus declined to speak to the Emerald on the record for fear of having it used against them.

According to industrial hygienist Adam Jones, who was hired in August 2012 to investigate the air quality issues in Oregon Hall, employees’ fear of speaking out is evident. Jones has been working to collect data to diagnose the cause of Oregon Hall’s problems. However, Jones has only been able to collect data on symptoms from two or three employees. Without more information, he says, it’s difficult to draw a conclusion.

“I can’t even get them to talk to me,” Jones said. “I’ve only been here eight months, but there’s a lot that’s happened here before I came that I had nothing to do with. Most of what I do involves input. I need to hear from people.”

In lieu of a complete data set, Jones has been inspecting the building from floor to ceiling. He hasn’t found a conclusive cause for the building’s issues.

“Most of the time, we’re able to figure out what it is and fix it,” Jones said. “Oregon Hall is unusual in that we haven’t been able to fix it yet.”

Jones is not the first to take on Oregon Hall.

The UO has spent nearly $42,000 between 2010 and 2012 trying to solve the issue, from work on the HVAC system to cleaning ducts. In addition to having its own Environmental Health and Safety department investigate the problem, the UO had the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as Portland-based air inspection company Wise Steps, conduct investigations of Oregon Hall’s air quality. Tests came back negative for any potential cause for employees’ health complaints.

“This has been going on a long time,” Jones said. “There’s definitely been an effort made, and I would consider it to be a respectable effort.”

Despite inconclusive results in the past, McNelly believes hiring Jones was money well spent and she hopes he can solve the problem.

“They have spent thousands of dollars trying to make a difference in Oregon Hall, and it hasn’t made a significant difference,” McNelly said. “But knowing he’s there and he’s trying to do something is amazing.”

Since she was hospitalized two years ago, Moran’s symptoms have continued to worsen. Sometimes, she is in so much pain that she has to go home.

Despite her health issues, Moran says she loves her job and wants to keep working with the University. For the last year, she has tried to transfer to a different building. She has taken her story to Human Resources and her director, but for now, she remains in Oregon Hall.

While Moran said she is less afraid than others to speak up about her symptoms due to the support of her department, she is not unafraid of the consequences.

“My contract could not be renewed. I am scared — I’m not going to say I’m not,” she said. “But at the same time, I know what’s right, and this is right. I just think it’s wrong to allow people to be harmed in this way. It breaks my heart to see sick co-workers and to walk into Oregon Hall and know I’m going to be sick that day.”

A 1 percent wage increase over two years. No guarantees employees would be paid above the poverty line for a family of four. A doubling of health insurance charges. This is what classified employees in the Oregon University System could face over the next two years if the contract proposed by OUS is accepted. It is not likely, however, that it will be accepted without a fight.

“We’re clearly telling them at the bargaining table that this is unacceptable,” University of Oregon chief bargaining delegate Kurt Wilcox said. ”This is not the way to show respect for the folks who work here.”

In its May newsletter, the classified employee bargaining team called the OUS proposal for classified employee contracts the worst in nearly 20 years. It certainly is different from the employee union’s proposal, which asked for a 4.3 percent wage increase each year, regular step increases and a guarantee employees would be paid more than $2,498 a month — placing them above the poverty line.

Instead, the OUS bargaining team proposed no wage increase for one year, followed by a 1 percent increase the second year, no step increase and no guarantee employees would be paid above the poverty line for another year, which is $23,350 for a family of four as determined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, the OUS team proposed employees pay 10 percent of their own health insurance, twice as much as the five percent from the previous contract.

The OUS receives less money from the state than it did 10 years ago, despite the growing number of students in the system. Because of this, says OUS spokesperson Di Saunders, students are paying more just to cover the cost of their education and increasing employee salaries could mean increasing costs for students. This is also why the OUS is proposing low wage increases and asking employees to contribute more to their health insurance payments.

“We respect all our employees and want to pay them as fairly as possible,” she said. “But we also need to respect our other stakeholders, who are the students paying the costs.”

Since the contract was proposed, employees have staged protests at Johnson Hall and at the Portland State University campus. Another demonstration is planned for June 6, less than a month before the deadline for contract negotiations on June 30.

According to Saunders, the disagreement between the bargaining teams is a natural part of the bargaining process, and OUS is trying to move toward a settlement.

“Part of the process is a back and forth negotiation,” she said. “It’s very natural for bargaining teams to have disagreements.”

If the OUS and classified employee bargaining teams cannot reach an agreement by June 3o, the current contract will stand until August. Then, if no agreement has been reached, OUS can push forward with its contract and employees can go on strike. Only two strikes have occured since contract negotiations have been established, and Wilcox is hopeful a third will not be necessary. However, he said the union cannot accept the OUS’s current proposal. Instead, he hopes the employees and the OUS can reach an agreement.

“People are pretty unhappy about what’s been offered,” he said. “We are hoping our voices will be heard, and the OUS will provide a better offer.”