There isn’t enough parking, people don’t obey the laws, the laws are unclear, it’s completely unsafe. These are only a handful of the public comments offered to Eugene’s public works officials at a meeting Wednesday night regarding the creation of safer bicycling routes along the main streets from downtown to campus.

City officials aimed to gauge community members’ opinions on the current facilities and create conversation about improvements they would like to see. Additionally, the public was introduced to LiveMove’s proposal to add a two-way bicycle track along 13th Avenue.

LiveMove, an interdisciplinary group based on the University of Oregon campus, has began to push its proposal in earnest since receiving a $150,000 donation for the project from the family of David Minor, a UO graduate who, while riding his bicycle along 13th Avenue and Willamette Street, was hit and killed by a motorist in the summer of 2008.

“Having a two-way bike freeway from downtown to campus, where the lines are clear to both bicyclists and motorists could potentially help save some lives,” John Minor, father of David Minor told the Emerald in a previous interview.

On Dec. 4, the corridors of the Eugene Public Library were filled with the echoed voices of more than 70 attendees – cyclists, drivers and pedestrians alike – who all have a desire to make Eugene streets safer for everyone.

“The large turnout was not a surprise,” Emily Eng, planning associate for the UO, said. “But it reinforced the fact that people in the community are generally very supportive of this proposal. It seemed like the main concerns were about parking loss and potential impacts to the businesses, so I think more outreach needs to be done in this area.”

Since receiving LiveMove’s proposal, the transportation department for Eugene’s public works has taken the idea two steps further by suggesting that the project not just be limited to 13th Avenue, but that it should extend to 11th and 12th avenues as well.

Lee Shoemaker, bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the city, said, “There is huge interest in improving biking between campus and downtown Eugene. People identified issues related to biking on 11th, 12th and 13th avenues. There were many suggestions for infrastructure improvements but also ideas to improve safety through education and enforcement.”

Eng and many other community members agree that education on safe bicycling is a necessary component.

“I think students need to be aware of bicycle rules and how to ride safely,” Eng said. “I think much of the unsafe behavior could be remedied with education and enforcement. A cycle track on 13th would make the conditions much safer, but it wouldn’t remove the need to know the rules or ride defensively.”

Nick Meltzer, president of LiveMove, was encouraged by the comments he heard at the meeting. Community members expressed concern about the existing facilities and were supportive about making improvements, which Meltzer said reinforced LiveMove’s design.

Going forward, the transportation department will look at all the information they obtained from the meeting and begin efforts to put this plan into action.

“What we need to do now is the technical evaluation. We’ll bring that analysis back to the public in February 2014,” Shoemaker said.

People can track this study at www.eugene-or.gov/bikecampustodowntown.

Imagine coming back from a relaxing homework-free winter break to a home that’s been broken into and your valuables are gone or your apartment flooded with water, ruining furniture as well as floorboards and cabinets. As finals finish up and you anxiously wait for the three weeks of winter break, remember to take some time to get your residence ready for your absence.

From prepping your home for the cold to securing it to fend against burglars, property management companies and the University of Oregon and Eugene police departments have advice on how to prepare for extended time away from Eugene.

While it may seem logical to turn off the heat while the house is empty to save money, Eugene Rentals and Jennings Group disagree. Both companies urge tenants to keep heat between 55-65 degrees to make sure pipes don’t burst.

Jennings Group front desk receptionist Maggie Rolicheck also recommends tenants leave cabinet doors open in order for more heat to reach pipes. If pipes burst, the residence could flood, leading to damage.

Property managers recommend locking all windows and doors, cleaning out cars if they are staying in town and taking all valuables with them or hiding them.

Last December, approximately 12 burglaries were reported in the West University neighborhood and Kinsrow area. In January, 21 burglaries were reported in the same areas, which is slightly higher than normal, according to EPD Crime Prevention Specialist Steven Chambers.

Students are urged to ask a friend or neighbor who will be in the area to check in on the house and look out for suspicious activity, said UOPD Communications Director Kelly McIver.

Rolicheck tells tenants to inform management if they will be gone for periods longer than a few days and Jennings Group will send someone by to check on the place during the absence.

Most burglaries happen through windows and doors, which is why Chambers recommends that students check all entrances, locking all doors with deadbolts and securing windows and sliding doors with a dowel rod.

“With roommates sometimes one will assume that the other will check and vice versa,” Chambers said. “So people should just go through the whole house and make sure all are locked.”

McIver and Chambers agree that people should hide or take all valuables and record all serial numbers for electronic devices. By recording the serial number, the chances of getting the item returned are much higher.

Make sure to close blinds so items inside can’t be seen. By not being able to see what is inside of the home, potential burglars are less likely to break in.

Chambers suggests leaving a radio on loud enough to be heard from outside the door but not loud enough to disturb neighbors, especially in apartments, as another way to throw off burglars.

To report suspicious, illegal or unusual activity on campus, call UOPD at 541-346-2919. For emergencies or to report a crime being committed off campus, call 911.

Last spring, junior advertising major Brandon Mai approached professor Deb Morrison with an idea. Uninspired by the other ad groups on campus, Mai wanted to form a smaller, more personal group that focused less on brands and more on humanity.

Encouraged by Morrison’s enthusiasm, Mai and now University of Oregon graduate Madeline Lambie formed Tortoise.

The name was inspired by the classic story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” but not in the cliche sense that slow and steady wins the race. It is about the Tortoise’s determination as he challenges the Hare to a race he’s most likely going to lose but ends up winning because he has more drive than the Hare.

Mai compared the Tortoise with how he feels about his career path and wanted to form a group of similar-minded people. Knowing he wanted to keep the group small, Mai and Lambie began first by recruiting friends they knew would work well with and have the same intrinsic motivation as themselves. This is how Ruby Lambie, sophomore digital arts major and sister of Madeline, got involved.

Despite not being an advertising major, Ruby was encouraged by the concept of promoting humanity.

“We look at what do the people need as opposed to what product can we make to solve a problem that isn’t there,” Ruby said. “So let’s take the problems that are here already and solve them.”

After recruiting friends, Mai expanded a little and recruited before some advertising classes. By the end of spring term the group was formed. After Madeline’s graduation, the final number was six. With only a few weeks left in the term the group decided to postpone a first project until the fall.

The first project was displayed in the EMU Amphitheater from Nov. 11-15. “One hundred of us” consisted of 100 Polaroids of different students on campus. Each student was given the opportunity to answer two questions: “What words do you need to hear most and from whom?” and “What do you need to say most and to whom?”

Mai explained that the purpose of asking questions that specifically target a vulnerability is to show that everyone has a story and to remind people of others’ humanity.

“I think when you understand that someone else is going through something and that anyone can be going through something, you kind of interact with others differently,” Mai said. “I think that’s really important. No matter who you are, you understand that people are going through things in their lives.”

Tortoise aims to complete a project each term. They have not began working on the next project, but the overall theme should be something similar to “One hundred of us” — producing something that has the ability to impact even just one person and show that people have stories.

“I love that kind of thinking. That’s beautiful,” Morrison said in regards to the messages Tortoise aims to create. “Truly great creatives want to inhabit and push the sense of connection that people have. I’m proud of them. I think it’s very cool what they’re doing.”

You got the call and saw the giant smiling red blood drop outside the EMU, advertising the 12th annual Civil War Blood Drive. Maybe you even donated. But after the needle was extracted from your arm, did you wonder where your bag of blood might go?

After donation, the blood is held in quarantine while small vials are sent up to Washington for testing. The blood is tested 13 times using viral marker tests, which include analysis for infections like HIV and Hepatitis C, according to the Lane Blood Center.

During that time, the center processes the blood. White blood cells are removed and the blood is separated into condensed whole red cells, platelets and plasma.

Whole red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body and are essential for trauma patients and individuals going through chemotherapy, which damages bone marrow and is responsible for producing red blood cells.

Platelets are also produced in bone marrow, acting as blood clots that prevent bleeding when necessary.

Plasma makes up 55 percent of blood and is used for patients losing significant amounts of blood. At Lane Blood Center plasma is processed even further to create cryoprecipitate, which is a frozen blood product of plasma that contains special clotting factors, which are vital for controlling bleeding.

This is where the slogan saving three lives comes from. Each bag of blood is able to produce these different components, which are able to go to different people and even different states.

Lane Blood Center supplies blood to all the hospitals in Lane County as well as some in other states.

“We partner with communities beyond Lane County because we have such generous donors,” said Marshall White, marketing and donor recruitment director. “Specifically communities in southern California who just can’t meet the need for their communities alone.”

Once the tests from Washington come back negative, the blood can be released to hospitals. While there are many things happening to prepare the blood for transfusion the whole process takes only about 48 hours.

At the hospital the blood is held in the blood bank. The shelf life is 42 days, but it’s unlikely for it to make it that long before getting used. According to White, in the United States a blood transfusion happens every two seconds and in Lane County every 33 minutes.

“There is nothing out there that can replace human blood,” Cindy Clover, blood lab manager at Sacred Heart RiverBend said. “People have tried but as of right now there isn’t anything so it’s very important to have donors.”

Chelsie Wong, mobile recruitment supervisor for Lane Blood Center sees a big benefit to the Civil War Blood Drive because of the increase in donations.

“The UO students are doing that,” Wong said. “Every year more donors and volunteers return to make an even bigger impact on Oregon’s blood supply.”

Wong says last year’s Civil War Blood Drive brought in around 900 donors and while the totals from this year are still being added up, she is enthusiastic about the numbers.

Outside the EMU, bike racks line the perimeter packed full with bikes, abandoned tires and frames and cut cables and chains. Seven could be scattered around just one rack.

Bike theft is nothing new to Eugene and the University of Oregon campus. Students lock up and head to class. Fifty minutes later, the chain is cut and the bike is gone.

Spending a few extra dollars on a quality lock will help deter thieves. According to Kryptonite Locks Channel Market Manager Daryl Slater, the first bikes singled out are the unlocked bikes, then those improperly locked up and then bikes locked with cables and chains. It’s the food chain for bike thieves: Go for the weakest link first.

While there is no official data breakdown of the types of locks used in most bicycle theft cases, UOPD has a good idea.

“The vast majority of bikes stolen were using some type of chain or cable,” UOPD Communications Director Kelly McIver said. “Rarely do we see successful attempts at breaking through a U-lock.”

Chains and cables are generally less expensive and more flexible for students when commuting around campus. Most cables are cheap and are long, so securing a bike to a thick lamp pole is easier. However, a cable can be easily cut with a pair of bolt cutters, especially if there is slack in the line — that’s if there’s enough of a gap between the chain and the bike to pry it loose.

The same goes for chains. Heavier duty chains can do a decent job of keeping bikes safe and intact, but inexpensive ones don’t have the strength to fend off bolt cutters. High security chains are heavy and bulky, which is why the U-lock is ideal for students.

Alex Nordenson, manager of Paul’s Bicycle Way of Life on Alder Street, recommends all customers to purchase a U-lock rather than a chain. A sign placed on the lock rack states that chains are less effective in securing bikes. Along with the sign, Nordenson strategically places the chain locks on the rack in an effort to focus attention on more secure locks.

“We kind of hope people just don’t see them,” Nordenson said regarding the pile of chain locks on the bottom shelf.

An important step to remember if using a chain is to make sure the chain is tight. If the chain is cinched tightly around the bike frame and the rack, it is harder to get tools in between to do the cutting.

The thickness of the steel and the type of steel has a lot to do with how easy it is to cut. U-locks generally have very thick steel that regular bolt cutters struggle to cut through.

U-locks and other higher security locks provide time to cyclists. Thieves aren’t going to take the time to try and break through a higher security chain and U-lock.

“Any lock company that says their locks are unbeatable is lying,” Slater said. “Any lock can be defeated but we just make sure it takes a lot of time to defeat our locks.”

With K-12 class sizes growing kids don’t get hands on experience in subjects like science that help them learn concepts. One teacher to 25-30 kids doesn’t allow for much personalized attention.

University of Oregon environmental studies students, along with others have been working alongside community members to make positive impacts in environmental education.

School Garden Project is a local nonprofit that provides resources to elementary schools in and around Eugene. The organization sprouted from an old UO class where students went to local schools for a term and helped teachers set up gardens. Each week UO students would visit their assigned school and teach kids about science, healthy eating and gardening skills.

After the term ended many teachers still sought help finding supplies and needed assistance in the garden so the School Garden Project was formed in order to provide continuous help.

Today, the program extends to over 10 schools around Eugene and is growing with the help of the university. While it is no longer directly connected to the university, many of the volunteers and interns are students.

“It’s amazingly helpful to have the university around,” program director Jenny Laxton said, “it really helps nonprofits thrive.”

Another program benefiting the education community is environmental studies Environmental Leadership Program. This two term class is designed to serve community partners through conservation, community involvement and environmental education programs.

Students in the environmental education program spend winter term learning education theory and building a curriculum for grades 1-5. This curriculum is later given to the school to ensure concepts that are learned in one grade continue on in later grades.

Having college students teach helps inspire younger kids and allows for hands-on learning. According to Katie Lynch, co-director of ELP, university students become role models for these children, specifically in areas where they may be the first generation in their family to attend college.

Senior environmental science major Madison DeLong taught at Adams elementary school last spring with ELP. DeLong and partner Kailyn Haskovec taught first graders about where their water comes from and the animals found around the McKenzie Watershed.

DeLong and Haskovec taught the kids a game to learn about the food chain, where there were predators and prey. At the park one day DeLong saw some of her students playing the game while teaching family and friends about the food chain.

“They ran up to me and were like ‘Madison, you’re the water lady!” DeLong said. “’Look, we’re playing the game!’ That was really, really amazing.”

Along with teaching experience, ELP students also gain professional development skills like public speaking and group collaboration.

Both DeLong and Lynch agree that ELP is work that contributes to the community and is also very demanding.

“That’s the most proud I’ve ever been in my college career,” DeLong said, “and it’s also the most work I’ve done and you can see that reflected in the students learning … It gives a lot of hope to teachers and parents and sets an example for everyone about how a productive community partnerships can work.”

If you’ve ever been out on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night in Eugene, you’ve seen the police patrols on bike, in car or on foot. If a party gets too big or loud, these patrols intervene by issuing tickets and shutting the party down.

These patrols, deemed the “Party Patrol,” focus on calls from neighbors regarding unruly gatherings and prohibited noise. According to Melinda McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Eugene Poilce Department, between the late 1990s and 2012 there were seven riots or crowd-related issues.

“The issues include riots of up to 1,500 people, street parties, damage to public and private property, noise disturbances and assaults resulting in injuries to partiers, bystanders and police officers,” McLaughlin said.

On Sept. 24, 2010, a riot of more than 400 people erupted on East 14th Avenue and Ferry Street. The party patrol was the first to respond to this incident. When students failed to comply with officers’ orders to disperse and the crowd began gaining intensity, throwing bottles and tearing down signs, tear gas was used to break up the crowd.

While this is an extreme case, it bring awareness to the intensity parties can reach.

Many University of Oregon students have seen or potentially interacted with the party patrol, but many people don’t know when the extra efforts of the patrol began.

“I don’t think anyone really knows,” said David Natt, a Eugene police officer involved with the party patrol for the last 10 years.

The party patrol has been around for at least a decade and it has evolved over the years to respond to specific behaviors, according to Natt and McLaughlin. More officers have been hired to focus on alcohol-related issues in certain campus areas that, based on historical data, have had issues in the past.

Based on past editions of The Register-Guard, the late 1980s were when police and UO students began to see a change in the party scene and police began to crack down.

In an article published on Oct. 15, 1989, UO graduate and former fraternity president Eric Ochs said, “There’s no doubt that the atmosphere is changing for the worse.” This statement was in regard to a riot the past May where police and students engaged in an altercation.

When the party patrol officially began is unknown, but the efforts began a little over two decades ago. The article presents crimes rates from 1988 to 1989 showing liquor violations shooting from 46 to 113, a 146 percent rise. Disorderly conduct numbers went from 27 to 29, a 44 percent increase.

Have the efforts since then helped? According to Natt, it isn’t as easy as saying the party patrol has decreased crime rates since there are many other factors that could play into those numbers.

The party patrol is just one aspect of a focused effort to decrease alcohol-related crimes around the UO.

“The party patrol isn’t a solution,” Natt said. “It is just a response effort.”

University of Oregon business major Adam Rosling and his roommates picked up keys from the check-in table at the new 13th and Olive complex and headed to the door labeled 2103. They were met with surprise and excitement as they entered and saw that they were in a poolside unit. It came as a surprise because the group had signed the lease for a non-poolside apartment.

Two hours later, management knocked on the door and informed Rosling and his roommates that the numbers on the doors had been misplaced. Then management told them they were in the wrong room and needed to move their belongings across the hall to the unit currently labeled 2104. According to Rosling, managers explained the painters had put the wrong numbers on the doors. The group was compensated with $25 gift cards.

On Sept. 25, when new tenants began moving into the new downtown apartment complex, signs of construction were still apparent: holes in the ceiling where lights should be, an unfinished fitness center and a light layer of sawdust coating the hallways.

The building was said to be finished five days prior to the start of classes on Sept. 25 and while the rooms were mostly completed, some amenities and communal spaces were not. The fitness center was unfinished and hallways were still under construction. Residents were sent an email on move-in day explaining that the amenities were behind schedule but many students such as Kristina Rouse, UO family and human services major, didn’t think it would take almost a month.

Pat Walsh, Eugene Capstone representative, told The Register-Guard on Sept. 26 that construction would be finishing up in the next few weeks but there are still hallways under construction.

Despite the amenities taking some time, overall people are relatively happy with the actual units. Tenants enjoy the furnished living rooms and the appliances in the kitchens. Although some issues of leaking dishwashers, rushed paint and installation jobs have been reported.

Madison Vilhauer, UO double major in sociology and psychology, said that there are bound to be problems with new buildings.

Vilhauer’s electricity has shut off twice since she has been in the building because of circuit breaker issues, but she is optimistic based on the customer service she has received.

“When (the electricity) went off I called the maintenance line because the office was closed,” she said. “And not 10 minutes later a guy showed up to fix it.”

However, not every tenant feels that service is that responsive. Communication is what tenants agree is the main issue. While most people working in the new complex are friendly and try to help, residents feel that they never get a definitive answer on completion dates and feel the work orders go unaddressed.

“The apartments themselves are really nice,” Rouse said. “But there are a lot of things that construction and management got behind in that resulted in them putting off resident maintenance requests because they considered them of ‘lower priority.’”

According to Walsh, staff is going around this week to each unit and making sure all work orders have been addressed and to help meet all other tenant concerns.

The University of Oregon Police Department hired three new police officers out of a pool of 104 applicants after almost five months of interviews, exams, background checks and screenings.

Allison Hart, John Loos and Steven Barrett left for Salem, Ore. on Oct. 14 to attend the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training Basic Police Academy. The training lasts four months and consists of classroom time, physical and written exams, defensive tactics, driving tests and simulated patrols. The academy is paid for by the State of Oregon but to attend an individual must already be hired by a police force, according to the DPSST website.

After returning from the training, each individual will be assigned to multiple field-training officers for another 16-20 weeks, after which they will be able to patrol regularly. UOPD has not decided whether the new officers will complete all the field training with UOPD or some time with other units due to the small number of supervisors available on campus.

The process began in April when UOPD and Human Resources started requesting applicants. Two exams, a physical obstacle course and a written test had to be taken and passed before the application was considered complete, according to UOPD Communications Director Kelly McIver.

The Oregon Physical Abilities Test was held in June. The 1,235-foot obstacle course is designed to test participants in aspects of agility, flexibility, strength, mobility and endurance. While ORPAT is meant to assess candidates on physical ability, a person who maintains a certain level of fitness can easily pass, UOPD Lt. Brandon Lebrecht said.

According to the DPSST website students will have two opportunities to successfully complete the ORPAT within a time frame of five minutes 30 seconds.

After the applicants successfully completed the physical abilities test they were required to pass a written exam the next day. Once both of the requirements were met the application was complete and interviews were scheduled.

During the interviews, panel members, including Lt. Lebrecht, looked for applicants who would be a good fit for campus — primarily someone with public speaking and interviewing skills.

Hart, Loos and Barrett were also required to go through extensive background checks, where former law enforcement officers were hired to interview all past employers, friends and family, investigate past activities and submit the findings to a hiring panel in a report. In addition, medical and drug screenings as well as a psychological exam must be passed. Finally, after all criteria were met, the job was offered.

While the process takes months to complete,it is necessary to acquire the best candidates as UOPD continues to transform from a public safety department to a police force.

“Even before it was a police force, the university public safety was hiring like this,” Lt. Lebrecht said.

After his GPS was stolen from his car and seeing neighbors around him become victims of the same crime, Colin Drane decided to start looking into the crime around his Baltimore neighborhood. He wanted a visual way to look at where crime was occurring in his community, so he took the data available from his local police station and mapped it on a Google map.

SpotCrime.com was created as a way to help people see exactly what crimes were happening in their community. Drane eventually expanded beyond Baltimore and now covers the entirety of the United States into Canada, parts of Mexico and other countries around the world.

While the main goal of SpotCrime is to make a profit, Drane also aims to encourage police stations to make crime data more accessible to the public. He believes this is an important step in helping community members make informed decisions when choosing where to live and work.

According to Drane, the City of Eugene has made crime data easily accessible, which helps him collect the data and put it on his nationwide map. The University of Oregon Police Department, however, has not. Campus police have a daily crime log both in the station and on its website, available in PDF form, located in the “Crime Info” tab.

Drane doesn’t think this is good enough.

“Using a PDF to make data available is very old school,” Drane said. “A better approach would be making the data available in a table format to geolocate the incidents.”

This process sounds easy enough, but UOPD communications director Kelly McIver said they don’t have the human power to establish this sort of system. According to McIver, UOPD is looking into getting new software that has the ability to map crime, but it needs to be something the university can afford and have the demand to warrant the expense.

Rebecca Litwiller, a UO sophomore double majoring in psychology and Spanish, has filed crime reports with UOPD regarding a stolen bike and her car being broken into. Litwiller would like data to be more accessible to students so people know what is happening around campus.

“It would be nice if it were easier for students to see where crimes are happening,” Litwiller said. “I would like that.”

While visual mapping of crime is a potentially useful concept, it isn’t in high demand just yet. Sophomore Chris Boyd, a non-traditional student majoring in material and product studies, thinks UOPD investing time and money into software for visual mapping is a waste.

“It may be good for some people,” Boyd said. “But I think for most people it isn’t really worth it.”