Ethiopian runner Dureti Edao approached her coaches on July 25, requesting access to her passport. Edao, who was competing at the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Eugene that week, signed a contract with Adidas earlier that day and needed a copy of her passport to finalize the agreement, according to a University of Oregon Police report (Edao’s teammate, Zeyituna Mohammed, signed with Nike that day, as well).

The coaches gave Edao the key to the room that stored her passport.

That evening, several Ethiopian athletes saw Edao, Mohammed and two of their teammates carrying luggage and getting into a white Ford Taurus with an unknown driver. Around 11:45 p.m., University of Oregon Police officer John Loos received a call for service at the Hamilton-Boynton residence hall. Ethiopian coaches Dube Jillo and Mear Ali Sirro told him that the four Ethiopian athletes who entered the Taurus had been missing for about half an hour. The UOPD reported the athletes missing the next day.

The four runners – Edao, 18; Mohammed, 18; Meaza Kebede, an 18-year-old woman; and Amanuel Abebe Atibeha, a 17-year-old boy – remained missing for several days. Three of them were found safe on July 28 in Beaverton, Oregon at an acquaintance’s home by local police. The remaining missing athlete, Mohammed, resided with an acquaintance in Federal Way, Washington, where she was located by police on July 29. On Friday, The Oregonian reported that the athletes defected from their home country, confirming what many people, including the Ethiopian coaches, suspected.

Negina Pirzad, a UO ambassador for the World Juniors, told the Emerald on July 27 that ambassadors were taught during preparation classes that some athletes might try to remain in the U.S. following the championships. If any athletes did try to stay, the ambassadors were told to inform the UOPD.

“(Ambassadors) were told that they should prepare for it in case it does happen, because it is an international event and we are hosting people from developing countries and places with war,” Pirzad said.

Mohammed told Federal Way police that she and her three teammates decided to defect because they were too afraid to return to Ethiopia, according to The Oregonian’s report. Numerous terrorist attacks and violent protests have occurred throughout the athletes’ home country in recent months and years.

In October 2013, a bomb detonated in a residential area of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia’s capital), killing two people who were reportedly members of the militant group, al-Shabaab. Those two people had intended to attack fans at an Ethiopian World Cup pre-qualifying match.

A month after the failed attack, the Ethiopian government issued a warning that al-Shabaab was planning to carry out attacks in several areas of the country, including Addis Ababa.

Civilian demonstrations have occurred in Addis Ababa, as well, and some have involved violence. In recent months, thousands of students have protested the “Integrated Development Master Plan,” which intends to expand and develop Addis Ababa. At least 11 people have been killed by police during these protests due to what the Ethiopian government said were unruly demonstrators.

Mohammed told authorities that she isn’t certain if she’ll seek asylum in the U.S., according to The Oregonian. The other three athletes’ plans are equally murky as of Monday.

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A small fire occurred in the Erb Memorial Union Ballroom Sunday afternoon, causing a brief evacuation.

The fire started around 4:30 p.m. during a play performed by the Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team (SWAT) at IntroDUCKtion, an orientation for incoming freshmen. A stage light was in contact with a backstage curtain, and it was running too hot, according to IntroDUCKtion coordinator Angelyn Hall, who was in attendance for the play. The curtain caught on fire but was quickly extinguished by an IntroDUCKtion supervisor.

“I’ve never run a show with that happening,” Hall said.

A Eugene Fire truck and several University of Oregon Police officers arrived as the EMU was being evacuated. The curtain was still smoldering when law enforcement arrived, according to a UOPD officer. People were allowed to reenter the EMU about 30 minutes after evacuation, and maintenance workers recommended nobody enter the ballroom due to smoke.

SWAT finished its play in the EMU Amphitheater while the fire fighters and police officers tended to the fire. Sunday marked SWAT’s final play this summer for IntroDUCKtion, which concludes Monday.

School just caught fire. Welcome to introDUCKtion. #callmeaduck

— Brittnee✨ (@BrittneeDawn) August 3, 2014

You will for sure remember your #IntroDUCKtion experience. RT @BrittneeDawn: School just caught fire. Welcome to introDUCKtion. #callmeaduck

— UO Orientation (@UOorientation) August 4, 2014

EMU is being evacuated because a curtain caught on fire during the SWAT play at IntrDUCKtion. Fire is small. pic.twitter.com/0UcKalSlEt

— Emerald (@DailyEmerald) August 3, 2014

They moved us outside cuz fire #callmeaduck pic.twitter.com/OuWeFSNWFZ

— Elizabeth Hill (@Elizabeth_hhill) August 3, 2014

The SWAT show goes on in the EMU Amphitheater after a curtain caught on fire in the EMU Ballroom: pic.twitter.com/j0qdSEQszL

— Victor Flores (@vflores415) August 3, 2014

The Eugene Police Department arrested a man late Saturday night on E. 12th Avenue and Alder Street for disorderly conduct.

The Eugene Fire Department requested increased response from EPD after the man intended to assault multiple fire fighters stationed near E. 13th and Alder, according to police sergeant Julie Smith.

“He tried to attack the fire fighters, then proceeded to walk down (Alder) street and confronted other innocent bystanders,” Smith said.

Smith said the man took a fighting stance as if he was going to hit the fire fighters but didn’t attack. More than five police cars arrived at the location of the arrest.

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Zeyituna Mohammed, the last of four Ethiopian track and field athletes reported missing from the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene this past weekend, was found safe in Federal Way, Washington by Federal Way Police Tuesday night, according to University of Oregon Police Department spokesman Kelly McIver.

Federal Way Police located Muhammed, 18, at an acquaintance’s residence. UOPD received information from someone in Federal Way that Mohammed was there and asked Federal Way Police to do a welfare check.

Two Ethiopian track and field coaches reported late Friday evening that Muhammed and three of her fellow Ethiopian athletes had not checked into their rooms in a UO residence hall. Muhammed’s teammates – Amanuel Abebe Atibeha, 17, Dureti Edao, 18, and Meaza Kebede, 18 — were found safe in Beaverton, Oregon by police Monday afternoon.

The missing persons case is now closed, and the UOPD and UO will no longer be involved with these athletes’ situation.

“Law enforcement’s only interest was in confirming the safety of the individuals reported missing,” McIver wrote in a press release.

Some have speculated that the four athletes sought asylum in the United States, but that has not been confirmed. Ethiopians were the third largest group of people to receive asylum in the U.S. in 2012, behind China and Egypt.

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Michael Posner, 77, is the professor emeritus for psychology at the University of Oregon. He has done extensive research on cognitive science, mainly in the area of attention, and has received multiple honors as a result of his findings.

Last week, Posner was named a corresponding fellow by the British Academy. He sat down with The Emerald to discuss this honor and several past awards, as well as his use of technology in his professional and personal life.

Note: The following Q&A has been edited for accuracy and brevity.

You were named one of the 15 corresponding fellows from universities around the world by the British Academy. What does that entail for you?

“I’ll mainly be asked to write letters of evaluation for some of the British candidates who come up. I know a lot of people there. I probably won’t be doing much else. It’s mostly just an honor for people outside the country who have some relationship to British science.”

How honored are you to get this fellowship?

“I’m happy to get it. It was very nice. I know a lot of people in the organization from the UK who were in the psychology group. I’ve written for a lot of them over the years, so it was very nice that they also did this for me.”

You’ve received numerous other awards. What would you say is the best one you’ve received?

“No question that would be the National Medal of Science because I got it from President Obama, a man who I admire. That was great. That was nice to shake his hand.”

Describe that moment when you shook Obama’s hand.

“It was very exciting and he gave a very nice talk to us, in which he recognized working cognition and cognitive science as being important.”

You went to a conference in Vatican City, correct?

“I went twice, actually. Once was the 400th anniversary of what they called the Foundation of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. That was several years ago (in 2003). They had a symposium on brain and education and I gave a paper there. And then, about a year or two ago, they had another meeting on that topic and I also gave a paper there. The first time, we met Pope John Paul (II). The last time, it was Pope Benedict (XVI).”

What occurred at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences conference?

“There was this meeting on brain and education, to which I went, but I also went to a meeting on stem cell research. I stayed for that. I didn’t give a paper, of course, because I was an outsider. But it was very exciting to listen to the scientists attempt to make their case. The Vatican isn’t very excited about stem cell research. So, the scientists made their case, and there were objections, there was debate. It was interesting to see scientific effort there clashing a little bit with religion.”

You received the John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science in 2012. You said at the time that honor was “the first time that cognitive science has been explicitly recognized for inclusion in this award.” How meaningful was that award to you?

“I was very excited by it because it’s an award in all of science. They started off giving it to people who made the greatest contribution in all of science. That’s pretty hard to do and they’re probably going to give most of the awards to the physical sciences. In recent years, they’ve begun each year to pick a field so they can maybe broadly the award winners. Two years ago, it was cognitive science and I was excited they gave it there, and, of course, I was excited to be the winner, too. I don’t know how that happened (laughs).”

What key accomplishment(s) do you hope to make in future studies?

“Right now, the focus of my thinking is our finding that by mental training, undergraduates were able to show changes in white matter connections — that is, in the axons that connect different parts of the brain and mainly in the self-regulatory system. So, now I want to know how that occurs, and I’m hoping to do some animal work that might test models of exactly how that mental training changes white matter in the human brain. That’s my goal right now.”

You and I talked months ago about technology usage. Can you discuss how you use technology?

“I have used a lot of technology in the pursuit of my research. For example, brain imaging technology, which is complex. But in my personal life, I wouldn’t say I’ve been a big follower of technology. I don’t own a cell phone, but, of course, I do have a computer.”

Has there ever been a point where you seriously considered getting a cell phone?

“For emergencies it’s clearly a good idea, but I’ve never liked talking on the phone very much. I suppose it’s because you can’t see the reactions of people. Sometimes, you can get it from their voice, but often you don’t really know what the reaction is.”

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The Lane County District Attorney rejected two newspapers’ appeal for the University of Oregon to disclose public records from the sexual assault case involving three former Oregon men’s basketball players: Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin. One newspaper, The Register-Guard, will sue the UO in Lane County Circuit Court as a result.

“The rejection of our appeal leaves us with no option but to file a lawsuit against the university,” Register-Guard general counsel Wendy Baker said in the paper Tuesday. “Oregon Public Records law exists to preclude this kind of secrecy among our public servants.”

The other newspaper involved in the joint appeal, The Oregonian, is considering its options, according to its managing editor, Therese Bottomly.

The joint appeal came in response to hundreds of heavily redacted records released to multiple news outlets, including The Emerald.

On May 9, The Oregonian requested “any emails, text messages or electronic or print records written or received by Oregon president Michael Gottfredson and Oregon athletics director Rob Mullens between March 8 to the present regarding sexual assault allegations against Oregon basketball players.”

The Register-Guard sought similar types of records from Gottredson and Mullens, along with head men’s basketball coach Dana Altman with regards to the alleged sexual assault in March. The Register-Guard also requested communications involving a UO athletic department employee named “Cassie,” who the alleged survivor referred to in the Eugene police report from the case.

Those records couldn’t be disclosed under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) because they involved UO students, according to the UO. In their opinion released Monday, District Attorney Alex Gardner and Chief Deputy District Attorney Patricia Perlow sided with the UO.

KATU-TV and The New York Times also appealed the UO’s redacted records. KATU requested to be added to The Register-Guard and Oregonian’s appeal and was also denied.

None of the three former players were charged with sexual assault, due to what Gardner cited as a lack of evidence. However, the players were dismissed from the team and suspended from the university in the subsequent months.

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Four Ethiopian track and field athletes were reported missing Saturday morning, and officials have reportedly come closer to discovering the athletes’ whereabouts.

The University of Oregon, which played host to the IAAF World Junior track and field championships this past week, released the names of these four athletes Monday afternoon. The lone male is also the only of the four under the age of 18 (he turns 18 in November). His name is Amanuel Abebe Atibeha. The three women — all 18 years old — are Dureti Edao, Meaza Kebede and Zeyituna Mohammed.

UO spokeswoman Julie Brown said that the four “are reportedly visiting family friends in the Portland area.” The University of Oregon Police Department, which is heading the search for the missing athletes, has talked over phone with the people reportedly in contact with the group, according to the department’s spokesperson, Kelly McIver.

“The problem is that when you’re talking to someone over the phone you can’t verify that people are who they say are,” McIver said. “We need them to come forward and positively confirm their identity to say, ‘Yep, they’re safe and they’re here by choice,’ and so they can continue what they want to do here in Oregon.”

Foul play is not suspected, according to Brown, but the UOPD is treating the situation as a missing persons case. The Eugene police, Portland police and FBI are assisting the UOPD with this case.

Officials have also not been able to confirm that the athletes are seeking asylum in the United States, as some have speculated. The four are in the country legally and the terms of their visas allow them to continue residing in the U.S.

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Follow Troy Brynelson on Twitter @TroyWB

Linebacker Rahim Cassell is departing the Oregon football program, the athletic department announced Tuesday morning. A spokesperson for the athletic department declined to comment further on the departure.

Cassell is coming off his redshirt sophomore season with the Ducks. He played in all 13 games last season, accumulating 32 total tackles, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble.

In May, Cassell was arrested by Eugene Police for driving under the influence.

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Former Oregon men’s basketball player Brandon Austin will not be admitted into Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, the Hutchinson athletic department confirmed to The Emerald Thursday morning. ESPN’s Jeff Goodman first reported the news, saying the school president made the final decision.

Former Oregon and Providence player Brandon Austin will not be admitted to Hutchinson CC — per reports. Told President make final ruling.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) July 17, 2014

Austin’s attorney, Laura Fine Moro, could not be reached for comment as of late Thursday morning.

Last week, multiple reports said Austin would be transferring to Hutchinson, but the school’s athletic department denied the reports the following day, saying Austin was interested in the school but he wasn’t on the team or even enrolled in classes at that time.

Austin transferred to Oregon in January after being suspended from Providence College, where he was later investigated for sexual assault. Austin was also involved in a sexual assault case at the University of Oregon involving two teammates (Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis). Austin was suspended from the school last month. He was not charged in either sexual assault case due to insufficient evidence.

UPDATE (3:29 p.m. July 17): Fine Moro responded with this statement:

“Regarding the president at the Kansas Community College getting cold feet on Brandon, I don’t really have anything to add. This is the toxic fallout to be expected when someone [the alleged survivor in the UO case] makes up a story and slanders people. All the eyewitnesses at the party and in the cab saw her willingly engaging with the three boys. Her first report to her roommate said nothing about sexual assault – she was bragging about her activities, but then she changed her story. By her lies, she has ruined three lives.”

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After a lengthy investigation from a Rhode Island grand jury, former Oregon men’s basketball player Brandon Austin was not charged with sexually assaulting a woman while he attended Providence College.

On Wednesday, the Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General released the Statewide Grand Jury’s report detailing its decision not to indict Austin or his former Providence teammate and roommate, Rodney Bullock, who was also charged with sexually assaulting the same woman as Austin on November 3, 2013.

“After presentation of the evidence to the Grand Jury with respect to Brandon Austin, it was determined there was legally insufficient evidence to ask the Grand Jury to consider charges against Austin,” the report said.

In Bullock’s case, the grand jury said “there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against” him.

The attorney general’s office said it could not legally release any more information surrounding the grand jury.

Austin, who transferred from Providence to the University of Oregon in January, was also investigated for an alleged sexual assault in March involving two of his Oregon teammates, Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis. Similar to the Rhode Island grand jury’s decision, the Lane County district attorney dropped the investigation of the three players due to “insufficient evidence to prove charge(s) beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The Rhode Island grand jury’s full report can be seen here.

UPDATE (12:16 p.m., July 16): Austin’s attorney, Laura Fine Moro, released a statement criticizing the University of Oregon for suspending her client:

“It’s upsetting that, in the matter of both allegations against my client, (Providence and Eugene) there was a rush to judgment and an abandonment of the presumption of innocence.

The accusers are cloaked in anonymity while the accused are plastered accross the internet. Even though my client is exonerated in the eyes of the law, justice was not served.

It’s especially troubling that the UO suspended Brandon on an ‘emergency basis’ solely because, through me, he exercised his rights, per Miranda, to decline to speak to the police.

I have it on good authority that this is standard practice on the part of Sandy Weintraub and Chicora Martin, who are charged with enforcing the Student Conduct Code.

It is truly appalling that an institution of supposed higher learning would punish students for exercising their constitutional rights.”

UPDATE (1:23 p.m. July 16): Weintraub responded to Fine Moro with this statement:

“The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards makes decisions on facts and evidence in any and all conduct matters. A student in a Student Conduct matter does not actually have Miranda rights as those apply only to criminal matters. However, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards has never made, nor would it ever make, a decision related to a student conduct process because a student declined to speak. We always encourage students to discuss conduct matters with us as that is the best educational process.”

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