Crime alert: Robbery early Friday near Pioneer Cemetery

The UO Police Department reported that a male UO student was robbed at knifepoint at about midnigh this morning (Feb. 22), east of the Education Annex and Parking Lot 20, and just west of Pioneer Cemetery. The student was approached by an unknown man who displayed a knife and demanded money, UOPD said.

The student pushed the robber and ran away. He described the assailant as being in his early 20s, about 6-feet tall with a medium build, wearing a dark-colored hooded jacket and dark jeans.

OIMB's Charleston Marine Life Center gets funding bonus

The Charleston Marine Life Center – a museum planned as part of the UO's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology – received an unexpectedly generous contribution this week from the Coos County Board of Commissioners.

OIMB Director Craig Young went to the board seeking $120,000 in economic development funding from Oregon Lottery proceeds. But commissioners instead voted 2-1 to contribute $151,896 toward what is projected as a $981,000 construction project.

FACULTY PROFILE: Expert in queer media studies arrives by way of Qatar

Quinn Miller’s arrival in Eugene last year brought a new expert in the field of queer media studies to the University of Oregon.

Prior to arriving at the UO, Miller spent two years in Qatar serving as a visiting assistant professor of media culture in Northwestern University in Qatar’s (NU-Q) School of Communication.

In his current position as an assistant professor in the UO’s English department, Miller is focusing on queer and trans forms of media representation.

Unfounded report of gun on campus

Earlier this afternoon (Feb. 21), UO Police Department dispatchers received a non-first-person report via telephone of a person with a gun in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall. Eugene Police officers responded and UO Police Department officers assisted.

It was discovered that the report was untrue.

UO Police and Eugene Police are continuing to follow up on the mistaken report.

UO's SAIL program seeks volunteers for school visits

The University of Oregon's Summer Academy To Inspire Learning (SAIL) – a pipeline program that helps make higher education a realistic goal for disadvantaged middle school and high school students – is looking for UO professors, GTFs and students to conduct visits at local schools.

Volunteers will visit Eugene-Springfield high schools to share their expertise and college experiences. Those who are interested in helping with the program can e-mail Lara Fernandez, the SAIL program's director.

Schafermeyer named director of International Student and Scholar Services

Abe Schafermeyer has been appointed director – on a permanent basis – of the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) unit in the University of Oregon's Office of International Affairs.

Schafermeyer has been in the position on an interim basis since January 2012, after serving as Associate Director and in other roles since joining ISSS in 2002.  

Vice Provost for International Affairs Dennis Galvan described Schafermeyer