Matthew Carmichael, a candidate for the next University of Oregon Police Chief, is visiting campus today to give a public presentation and hold a forum for questions.

The events will be in the Knight Library Browsing Room, and include a powerpoint presentation from 2:30 p.m to 3:30 p.m. It is open to the public.

There is also a Q&A with faculty and staff from 3:30 p.m. to 4:24 p.m.

Carmichael is one of three candidates applying for the position. The next candidate will visit on July 25. About 35 people attended the first presentation, on July 12, according to UOPD Communications Director Kelly McIver.

In February, the former UOPD Chief Carolyn McDermed left the position unexpectedly.

Pete Deshpande is the current interim UOPD Chief.

The Oregonians who earn minimum wage, many of whom are students, will see a bump up in pay to $9.75 an hour this month — increasing from $9.25 on July 1. This is just the first of a series of increases that will continue until 2022.

Oregon employers have had to adjust to the new laws, which were signed by the Oregon Legislature in March. The law categorizes Oregon into three separate regions, each with its own specific increases and minimum wages. Oregon is the first state in the U.S. to use this kind of tiered system.

Eugene is in the “Standard Counties” region, where minimum wage will cap at $13.50 in 2022. Other rural areas will see a minimum wage of $12.50, with the highest region within the Portland Metro Area, where the minimum wage will be $14.75 by the same year.

Some local businesses in Eugene have been planning for these changes. Papa’s Pizza, a Eugene-based business, is one of them. Their workforce is made up of about 60 or 70 students at their two locations, according to manager Brandon Moniz.

“Minimum wages have gone up so rapidly, that’s it’s basically caught up with our own increases,” Moniz said. Papa’s Pizza has proactively increased employee wages.

According to Moniz, Papa’s Pizza hasn’t had to stop their hiring process due to the increases. Moniz doesn’t expect to see any change in the number of staff.

Papa’s pizza has had to raise the prices of their buffet, salads, and wine, as well as limit employee hours, according to Jacob Heilbronner, another manager at Papa’s Pizza.

Heilbronner also said that the differences in pay between employees will be wiped out; new employees will now earn the same as employees who have works at Papa’s Pizza for longer, and who have earned raises.

“It’s unfair for people who have worked here longer to have to get paid the same as people who just walk in the door,” said Heilbronner.

Other organizations, like the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, initially voiced concern over the speed in which the increases would take place.

Brittany Quick-Warner, director of business advocacy for the Eugene Chamber of Commerce said the small, incremental increases would be easier on businesses than one large increase.

The highest minimum wage increases in the nation belong to New York State and California, which will be $15 an hour by the end of 2022.

The increases come a time when tuition raises have caused a concern for many students. Fall term will see a 4.8 percent increase in tuition rates.

Kathryn Fortner, a UO business student who works at the Duck Store earning minimum wage, will benefit from the increases. Along with the tuition hikes, Fortner thinks the result will be inflation. “Everything will start costing more,” she said.

When asked what she will do with the extra 50 cents an hour, Fortner says she will “put it towards rent, food, and I’ll stop asking my parents for so much money.”

Update (9:30 p.m.): Power is being restored to all campus buildings.

Nineteen buildings at the University of Oregon have been without power since around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, according to UO Alerts.

Fixing the issue could take up to four hours, said Kelly McIver, UOPD’s public information officer at approximately 4:00 p.m.

The list of buildings affected includes Allen Hall, Chapman Hall, Chiles, the Computing Center, Deady Hall, Fenton Hall, Friendly Hall, Gerlinger Annex, Gilbert Hendricks Hall, Johnson Hall, the Collier House, Knight Library, Lawrence West, Lillis, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the School of Music, Peterson Hall, Susan Campbell Hall and Villard Hall.

After the lights went out in Knight Library, a steam pipe burst in a lower-level room and Knight Library had to be evacuated. Knight Library will be closed for the night.

The power outage may have caused the steam pipe to burst, campus operations workers told the Emerald, but it’s unclear if there’s a link between the two incidents, according to McIver.

Eugene-Springfield Fire Department and UOPD have responded.

The cause of the outage is unknown, and electricians are investigating, according to McIver.

The original version of this story said there were only 18 buildings without power, because UO Alerts originally reported that. UO Alerts updated the list at 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday to include Allen Hall.

Tran Nguyen contributed to this report.

The University of Oregon’s geological sciences department received a booming gift of $10 million for volcano research from Chuck and Gwen Lillis on Tuesday.

UO has been at the forefront of volcano research, and this donation will help lift its reputation even higher.

The department plans on hiring two new faculty members for ventures such as “new technologies for monitoring volcanoes and their eruptions,” according to Professor Paul Wallace in an interview with Around the O.

Chuck and Gwen Lillis have been frequent donors to the University of Oregon, having donated $12 million —30 percent—of the funds to build Lillis Business Complex in 1999. The couple donates to other parts of the university, including arts and scholarships.

“Gwen and I have been inspired by the great work of our volcanologists,” said Lillis in a statement. “We see this as an investment that will accelerate their research here and will ultimately lead to greater safety for those that live in the arc of active volcanoes.”

A previous version of this article stated that the grant was given to UO’s “volcanology department.” The UO has no volcanology department; only geological sciences.

The Bias Education and Response Team is under scrutiny from professors and staff after 15 years of operating at University of Oregon. A task force meant to collect information and enact policy on BERT has been formed by the UO Senate, a democratic body representing faculty, staff and students on campus. The formation of the task force was announced in an email from Senate president Bill Harbaugh to university senators.

The Bias and Education Response Team aims to assist students who feel uncomfortable about speaking up to offensive remarks in the classroom. The BERT takes reports of offensive remarks in class and informs the offending party—in many cases, faculty at the UO. Many faculty have recently voiced discomfort with the existence of the BERT, saying they feel policed by the administration.

“The faculty needs to regain oversight of what the administration is doing here,” Harbaugh told the Emerald. “It’s important for administrators to discuss things that could be reported, and make sure that we don’t leave them with responsibility for determining policy on what is taught in class.”

There is no clear policy on what is considered “offensive.” BERT has been the focus of national headlines over the last few years, and it’s raised some voices of concern, especially in the journalism school.  Vice President of Student Life Robin Holmes said she was reviewing the team and expected to make changes, according to Harbaugh, at a journalism school town hall earlier this month.

The Bias Education and Response Team includes in their updates mission statement, “The fundamental role… is to respond to situations that affect the larger University of Oregon community through education about current and historical issues surrounding bias.”

The new task force responsible for observing the Bias Education and Response Team was announced June 30^th, and will be chaired by University of Oregon faculty Chris Chavez and Chris Sinclair.

“The goal is to see what (BERT) has been doing,” Sinclair said. This includes what the BERT investigates, what materials they collect, what they do with those materials, whether there has been disciplinary action, and what impact the BERT has on freedom of speech in the classroom.

Sinclair is a math professor at the UO. He contended that the University of Oregon has to somehow respond to such incidents, and doesn’t expect a complete dissolution of BERT.

“I think it’s important to have something at the university to evaluate bias,” Sinclair said.

The task force has not yet held a meeting, but is in the process of recruiting new members, which will total about 10. The first meeting will be held before the start of fall term, according to Sinclair.

A peaceful crowd of upwards of 400 students and community members gathered at the University of Oregon EMU amphitheater to protest and raise awareness against racism.

A protester at the UO Black Lives Matter march. (Chris Trotchie/Emerald)

Kim Mcgrew, youth pastor at Powerhouse Worship Center in Eugene, spoke before the crowd about the recent shootings in Minnesota, Louisiana, and Texas.

“We want to bring awareness to the activities that have taken place and the change that we need to see,” Mcgrew said. “Regardless of who has fallen, many lives have been affected.”

Mcgrew is from Dallas, where five policemen were killed during a protest on Thursday.

The crowd then marched toward Hamilton Hall, chanting, and arrived at the intersection of E 13th and Agate Street, the crowd stood at the corners of the intersection to allow more speakers to voice their thoughts and concerns. The intersection was also closed due to the Olympic track trials, with many of the track fans in observance of the speeches.

(Kylie Davis/Emerald)

Blair Barnes, a UO journalism student and ASUO senator, was one of the many students in attendance. Having grown up in South Central Los Angeles, he wasn’t surprised at the violence around the country.

“Protests like these are powerful,” he said.

Barnes’ friend Chandler Carroll, a UO advertising major, found out about the march from a text, joining the rally in an effort to support. “It doesn’t matter what race you are. People here stand for justice,” he said.

Pictures of those who have passed away from police shootings, including Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, John Crawford, Dante Parker, Freddie Gray and many others, were planted in Hamilton Hall lawn as a memorial. The pictures will be left until Monday, according to Black Student Union member Jessica Brown.

“This is pretty tremendous and encouraging to see so many UO Students at this march,” said Dr. Jane Irungu, UO Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement. She expressed her satisfaction with the community coming together in times of distress, and in such short notice.

Protesters marched to 13th and Agate Street (Chris Trotchie/Emerald)

“This wasn’t just a UO march, it was a community march,” she said.

The Black Student Union director of last year, Nicole Dodier, spoke to the crowd as well, saying, “all lives cannot matter until the black community matters,” which was met with applause.

Photos here.

For live coverage of this event, follow Tran Nguyen on Twitter @tranngngn.

A memorial will be held at 1:45 on Friday afternoon at the UO Amphitheater for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. It will be hosted by the UO Black Women of Achievement Group.

The University of Oregon Black Student Union will also be marching to 13th and Agate Street following the vigil, and planting posts in the Hamilton Hall lawn, according to a recent Facebook post.

“We will give everyone a black bow to wear, hold photos, and plant stakes to represent the countless lives lost under the hands of police officers. If you can, please wear a black shirt,” the post also stated.

The two African-American men suffered fatal gunshot injuries from police, causing an uproar from the public. The footage of the shootings appeared in videos on social media.

Alton Sterling, 37, was shot by Baton Rouge police who were reportedly responding to call about an armed black man on Tuesday morning.

The next night, Philando Castile was shot by St. Paul police in Minnesota after being pulled over for a broken tail light. His wife streamed the aftermath on Facebook’s live video-streaming feature. Castile’s daughter was also in the car.

UO students and faculty have responded to this tragedy with an outpouring of anger, sadness and resignation on social media.