Traditional Vietnamese noodles loaded with tasty herbs is the menu of the night at the Vietnamese Student Associations’s Pho Night on Feb. 20 at the Wesley Center located at 1236 Kincaid St. From 6-8 p.m. students can enjoy this traditional cuisine among other Vietnamese traditions and help benefit the Sunflower Mission, a nonprofit that supports educational opportunities for Vietnamese youth.

The VSA is an organization on campus that strives to blend Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American culture and awareness into the University of Oregon and Eugene community. The VSA strives to educate the community about history, culture and people through various means, whether hosting weekly meetings or coordinating events such as Pho Night. Most of all, the VSA focuses on gathering students together and creating a sense of acceptance for one’s background.

Pho Night, sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, Multicultural Center Board, Associated Students of the University of Oregon Senate and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion will serve the traditional pho noodle dish that consists of beef broth, rice noodles and thinly cut chicken or beef for $5 a bowl.

Sophomore Kim Pham, co-director of the VSA, helped organize and plan the event and distribute tasks among the rest of the team.

“I look forward to the gathering of our community whether they’re students, staff members or just community members,” Pham said. “It’s nice to host an event where we can see old faces but also new ones as well. Students should expect to eat some cheap, but very yummy authentic pho noodle soup.”

Pho Night will be completely run by students, and they are looking forward to welcoming students and community members to attend a night full of food and laughter which also helps support a beneficial cause.

“The executive team and volunteers will work together to cook and serve this traditional Vietnamese dish,” VSA’s External Affairs Coordinator Elliott Tran, said. “This is a great learning experience for those involved. It is a chance for our members to immerse in the Vietnamese culture and be part of a community.”

Due to the accumulation of ice on trees and power lines the University of Oregon has issued a UO Alert that encourages students to stay inside and avoid traveling if at all possible. The ice can increase the weight on branches by 30 times and with a half inch accumulation on power lines it can add an additional 500 pounds of extra weight, according to the alert.

“We encourage students to avoid the winter conditions it at all possible, stay indoors and avoid outside travel,” UO Senior Director of Communications Julie Brown said. “If students do need to travel we encourage them to do so on foot, we advise students to avoid walking under trees and stay away from buildings due to falling ice. The most important thing is we want students to stay safe.”

Students are encouraged to take precautions if they do need to travel but the most important thing is for students to avoid walking around in these weather conditions.

Oregon Hillel’s Shabbat on Campus on Feb. 7 at Global Scholars Halls has been cancelled and rescheduled due to weather conditions. For more information and updates check oregon.hillel.org

Hillel is an organization on campus that works to bring together Jewish students and serve as a home away for students. Hillel strives to provide many opportunities for students and explore their Jewish identity. Shabbat on Campus is one of their many events meant to make students experience at UO a more memorable one.

Shabbat on Campus happens once a term where anywhere between 150-160 Jewish and non-Jewish students gather around. Hillel host their Shabbat on campus every Friday of week of five at the GSH. All the cooking, serving and setting up will be done by the students.

At the event Hillel will showcase the different Jewish leaders on Campus: Alpha Epsilon Pi, the Jewish Student Union, Oregon Hillel student board, Sigma Mu Omega, Oregon Hillel student board and QuackPack leaders. The students will lead a blessings and share dinner together. Hillel will not hold service on this Friday.

For sophomore Eve Hirschman, being away from home and finding Hillel has made her experience at the UO a lot more enjoyable.

“Now that I’m so far away at school, celebrating Shabbat at Hillel keeps me connected to the traditions I value,” Hirschman said. “It helps create a home away from home and I look forward to coming together with everyone.”

At Shabbat on Campus students can expect to meet a lot of people, coming together as a community in experiencing Shabbat in their personal way. Since there will be blessing over candles and grape juice Hirschman will be giving a d’var Torah a speech of teaching that will discuss the formation and connection of student life.

“I love Shabbat on Campus because it’s a time for all students to come together,” Oregon Hillel Director Student Engagement Amanda Weiss said. “Whether that’s by planning, speaking, greeting, tabling, cooking, baking or eating, it really shows what can happen when a strong community of students work towards an event that they love.”

Dinner options will include a kosher dairy meal where they will offer Hillel-made baked ziti, plain pasta with potato sauce, garlic green beans, salad, brownies, pumpkin cake and refreshments.

“It’s usually a great place to showcase our Jewish student leaders on campus and often it’s an inspiration for students to check out upcoming Hillel events,” Weiss said.

For many student unions, building interconnections with one another is a key component in sustaining campus relationships. For the Asian Pacific American Student Union, this plays out in terms of both participation with other Asian-oriented student groups and engagement within the general union community — anything to further an atmosphere that upholds their mission to support and serve the Asian Pacific American students, faculty, staff and their allies at the University of Oregon.

APASU strives to pinpoint issues that affect the Asian American community on a local, national and global scale by promoting awareness for those problems within the university community. Among the topics the APASU tries to address are important issues like racism, stereotypes and issues surrounding identity and culture.

Educating members as well as students on campus is a major task that APASU tries to succeed in.

“One stereotype that we try to attack is the model minority myth,” programs coordinator and UO sophomore Wing Ng said. “Which basically is the stereotype that all Asians are doing fairly well in terms of academics, social status and income and that it’s our fault that other minorities don’t do as well such as African Americans or Latinos. Our union tries to educate students on stereotypes like that and explain to them why it’s wrong.”

APASU holds open weekly meetings Wednesdays at the Mills International Center from 5-6 p.m. and hosts various events throughout the year, such as bringing in guest speakers, fall and spring reception, spring retreat, opening ceremony for Heritage Month in May and culture night. All events are open to students of any racial background.

“We also aim to act as a resource for students to come and discuss social justice issues, as well as socialize with other members,” APASU Director Roseanna Ling said.

Historically, the APASU has had a close relationship with the Vietnamese Student Association on campus, even helping them with last month’s annual Têt Celebration. Both VSA and APASU share similar goals, and whenever one union needs help it’s common for the other to steps in and lend a hand

“Both VSA and APASU are really close in terms of helping one another when we need it, but also because some members are both in VSA and APASU,” VSA media coordinator and sophomore Thuc Vinh said. “Most of the unions try to maintain a connection with each other and jumping into the different events that each union has when asked.”

Ling has been a member of APASU for three years and as president, she hopes to create a reputation for the group as an important resource for change and progress within the UO society — a vision inspired by her reverence for collective learning as an education student.

One important detail that APASU wants to stress to students is everyone is welcomed and APASU isn’t just for Asian Americans and international students but to all students at the UO.

“We welcome everyone and the more point of views at our meetings the more it allows for more discussions leading to solutions and changes that the group can possibly collaborate together,” Ling said.

Oregon Hillel presents their monthly Falafel dinner series with West Coast Field Director, Nelson France from Israel Coalition on Campus on Feb. 6 at Oregon Hillel at 6 p.m. France will discuss various issues and trends facing Israel. Students will be able to ask questions, get informed about topics surrounding Israel in their community, and learn what the ICC is.

“We’re very excited to have Nelson France join us for our monthly dinner,” Oregon Hillel Executive Director Andy Gitelson said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to learn about different issues that face the Israeli community but also we want to let students know that it’s not just a one sided topic it doesn’t just strictly apply to the Jewish community so everyone is welcome.”

The dinner is open to all students and is completely free. France will also talk about ways to build community coalitions and answer questions that students may have in regards to their community at the university.

“For me, anytime we have a special guest speaker like Nelson France it’s a pleasure,” Gitelson said. “With this campus especially I feel students are very positive about issues that Israel faces and are respectful of it here on campus.”

Some food that will be served at dinner will be Falafel, a ball made out of chickpeas and spices, pita, hummus, Israeli salad that consists of lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes and tahini, which is a type of sesame seed sauce.

Students with questions for France who can’t attend are encouraged to contact Gitelson to set up an appointment at 541-343-8920 ext. 101, or to email him at Andy@oregonhillel.org.

In the last few days there has been a petition hosted on change.org that has been circulating around campus by the UO Coalition on a t-shirt design from teespring.com that reads “She Wants the D” with a duck logo on it. As of Jan. 30, the petition has reached 377 supporters and only needs 123 more supporters for this design to be removed.

The University of Oregon released an official statement in response to this t-shirt:

“The University of Oregon is aware of a t-shirt being sold and considers the message on the t-shirt highly offensive. The University does not own the trademarks for the letter “D” or the depicted duck image. We share the concerns expressed by students and others on the petition on change.org and support the efforts to have it taken down as soon as possible.”

Jolene Fisher, graduate teaching fellow from the school of journalism and communications, heard of the petition from friends and decided to check it out. When Fisher saw the t-shirt she felt that the design was inappropriate and disturbing. She also commented on the change.org petition.

“This shirt is sending a problematic message and it’s using a college to promote that message,” Fisher said. “Rape culture is a very serious thing and when they decide to use the duck logo it just reflects poorly on the UO and I would hope that the UO licensing would do something about this. Especially since I don’t think the UO would agree with this problematic message.”

The design has disturbed some students and many believe this t-shirt is promoting rape culture at the UO, specifically through this shirt’s message, by justifying men’s nonconsensual advances on women. UO Coalition is asking the UO’s director of licensing and brand management to take action toward this offensive design, according to the group’s petition.

The UO Coalition is a group of faculty and graduate students on campus that helps bring awareness about sexual assault on campus and advocates a safe experience at the UO, according to its website. The group hopes that with the help of students signing this petition it can help stop rape culture on the UO campus and among UO fans.

For Chicano students at the University of Oregon MEChA is more than a community, it’s a way to give back.

MEChA, a student union on campus, focuses on issues that face the Chicano community and finds ways to overcome those hurdles.  The Ganas program, a bi-lingual and bi-cultural mentorship program between MEChA members and local middle school students is one way University of Oregon students can focus on community improvement — by helping younger students succeed in education. Every Monday and Wednesday, Mechistas head over to Kelly Middle School for a few hours of academic and cultural engagement with some of Eugene’s hispanic youth.

One of those ways to give back to the community is the Ganas program. Ganas originally began in the ’90s and emphasizes the importance of bi-cultural and bi-lingual leadership programs for Latino students. Every Monday and Wednesday, MEChA members tutor students at Kelly Middle School.

“Ganas is a place where students can embrace their entire identity as bi-cultural students, and solidify an understanding of who they are in the midst of a culture that pressures students to fit a norm,” Kelly Middle School teacher Colleen Young said. “Its goal is to strengthen students, prepare them for leadership, encourage them in their academics and life and prepare them to go to high school and college.”

Co-founded by middle school teacher Roscoe Caron, Ganas started originally in Kennedy Middle School where Caron taught. Along with Caron, MEChA mentor Jim Garcia helped with the program as well.  When Caron began teaching at Kelly Middle School he brought Ganas with him.

Ganas sessions consist of an hour of homework time, then snack followed by a cultural and bonding activity. Once a term MEChA will bring the middle school students to campus and let them see what college is like.

Internal director of MEChA and senior Ricky Salinas describes his experience as an outlet for his stresses and a way to serve others as both a tutor and a mentor. His involvement with Ganas has taught him leadership skills and given him an opportunity to give back to students who are sometimes overlooked.

“I think the reason why so many members from MEChA want to participate and volunteer is because a lot of the members see themselves in the students,” Salinas said. “Many of the volunteers have been in that situation where they struggled in school and didn’t have a support program like Ganas and many wish that there would have been a program like Ganas when we were little.”

Newly appointed freshman Abel Cerros is one of three coordinators for Ganas. For Cerros, Ganas means the chance to help shape a young life.

“My favorite part of Ganas is the ‘ah moment’ when the kids begin to understand the material and you can tell because you can see it in their eyes,” Cerros said. “You’re making a difference in their lives and that’s the best part.”

Often, Ganas volunteers learn just as much as they teach.

“The Ganas students help the Mechistas see how important and powerful their mentoring is,” Young said.

Retail giant Hennes and Mauritz or H&M,  recently announced that in fall 2014 they will open a brand new location in Eugene at Valley River Center, a major shopping mall in the area. The retailer plans to open a 20,000 square foot store.

According to Valley River Center’s senior property manager, Robert Mcomie, the expansion into H&M to Valley River Center has been planned for almost a year and half now.

“We’re excited about this project, it’s a great fit to help fill the junior’s apparel section,” Mcomie said. “We showed them the demographics of the area and with their success in Portland and its attraction to customers we knew this would be a right move for them.”

The fashion retailer plans to expand throughout the northwest region in 2014 and provide Eugene citizens more access to the various collections H&M offers to its customers by opening a new store in Valley River Center. H&M offers different clothing lines including women’s, men’s, young women’s and young men’s collections. Customers can expect H&M to have separate “store within store” sections for accessories, lingerie, sports apparel, maternity and its plus-size line H&M+.

The Valley River Center location will also carry H&M’s children’s collection which features clothing for all ages from newborns to 14-year-olds.

H&M offers quality and affordable clothing for its customers through 308 locations across the country.

The Black Student Union will host its annual Kwanzaa event Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom. Though the evening celebrating culture, food, music and dance usually takes place in December, it was postponed this year due to weather conflicts before the end of last term and rescheduled for this coming Sunday.

The event is free to the public and everyone is welcomed to come and enjoy a good time with friends. Students in attendance can also expect to hear keynote speaker Dr. W. G. Hardy Jr. from Highland Christian Center in Portland. The BSU encourages anyone curious about the background of Kwanzaa and the heritage of the African culture to attend.

“All our events are open to the public and we get a lot of students from different races, gender and backgrounds,” BSU co-coordinator Godwin Nwando said. “Expect to enjoy some good food and soul music.  It’s a really good event that brings the community together.”

Every Friday at 6 p.m. Oregon Hillel proudly hosts Jewish Shabbat services, followed by a free home cooked meal in their offices at 1059 Hilyard street.  The services, hosted by student members of the Hillel group, are open for all students to come and enjoy — dress code and reservation free.

For Terra Zicklin, public relations officer for Oregon Hillel, the weekly Shabbat and dinner services are an exciting way to invite the curious to experience the Jewish tradition.

“I’ll bring my friends to it all the time, Jewish or not and the Shabbat service and dinner is open to everyone you don’t have to be Jewish to attend it,” Zicklin said. “There’s no dress code and it’s very casual and the atmosphere is very welcoming and it’s a good time to relax and enjoy some great dinner. Don’t feel intimidated if you don’t know anything about Judaism just show up and have a good time.”

Students attending the weekly event can expect a host of chef-prepared dishes including fresh Challah — a Jewish braided bread — various forms of chicken such as roasted chicken or apple chicken, salmon, fresh salad, potatoes, quinoa and dessert like brownies or cake. Vegetarian options are also available.