Shooting suspect arrested
Eugene police arrested 19-year-old Venus Vishal Chand of Springfield on Thursday on two charges of first-degree assault in the shooting of a University student and another individual.
Springfield police attempted to contact Chand on Thursday regarding unrelated warrants issued in Multnomah County. After a brief standoff, Springfield police took Chand into custody at 889 Oakdale Ave.
“Upon his arrest (by Springfield police), we went and paid him a visit,” EPD spokeswoman Jan Power said. “We knew to do it based on information in the investigation.”
The assaults involved University journalism student Daniel P. Sullivan, 20, and Eric Richard Rauh, 21, both of Eugene. According to EPD, the two suffered gunshot wounds during a verbal altercation Oct. 19 at Hilyard Street and 17th Avenue in Eugene.
Sullivan was treated and released Oct. 20 at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Rauh was hospitalized Oct. 20 and released Friday from Sacred Heart.
A witness told the Emerald on Oct. 22 that an argument began among a group of people gathered at the intersection shortly before midnight Oct. 19.
Chand is currently incarcerated at the Lane County Jail. Power said he would be arraigned in Lane County Circuit Court.
— Sue Ryan
Plan outlines reductions
in University budget
University officials formulated the first part of a plan to incrementally reduce the school’s budget Friday, freeing financial room for an impending state budget shortfall that could top $290 million.
The short-term plan, due Friday from each of the seven public universities in the Oregon University System, targeted administrative reductions and detailed the impact each reduction would have.
On Oct. 19, Gov. John Kitzhaber ordered the seven OUS schools — including the University of Oregon — to have the plans ready for review by Nov. 2, University Provost John Moseley said. Moseley and Francis Dyke, associate vice president of resource management, spearheaded the University’s reduction plan and had it completed late Friday afternoon, Moseley said. It targets up to $1.5 million in administrative cuts, but it is unlikely the school will be asked to cut that much, officials said.
The universities also must complete a long-term reductions plan, which would target specific academic programs, by Nov. 19. Moseley has said the University can absorb a 4 percent reduction without academic programs being seriously affected.
The short-term plan, which was not available to the Emerald on Friday, trims up to 10 percent of the University’s administrative costs, Moseley said. It includes possible reductions in classified staff, non-classified staff and travel expenses, among other things, he said.
“I figured out the least painful way to make these cuts,” Moseley said. “But I can’t look at this as an accomplishment.”
— Eric Martin
Special Education professor recieves award
Hill Walker of the University’s College of Education won the 2001 Outstanding Service to the Field of Education award.
Walker, a professor of special education, accepted the award at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Oct. 13th. He also delivered the keynote address at the Lehigh’s education alumni day.
“Hill Walker is without question one of the most outstanding members of the University faculty,” said University President Dave Frohnmayer. “His groundbreaking work in special education and youth violence prevention is a source of pride to this institution, but more important, an immeasurable service to children, parents and educators everywhere.”
Walker, who is co-director of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior, recently contributed to a book called “Safe School Design: A Handbook for Educational Leaders,” which outlined methods to make schools safer without turning them into fortresses.
— John Liebhardt
Religious scholar to speak
on Jewish, Arabic relations
An expert on Jewish and Arabic relations will speak today about the many parallels between the two religions.
Judith Romey Wegner, a former associate professor of religious studies at Connecticut College, will discuss “Medieval Jewish and Islamic Exegetical Traditions: A Comparative Approach” at 4:30 p.m. today in the Browsing Room of the Knight Library. The free lecture is sponsored by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies.
Wegner will show how medieval Islamic and Jewish texts interpreting the Bible and the Koran trace the history of the two religions.
“Not only does the Quran have much to say about Abraham, Moses and many other figures in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament,” Wegner said, “But the two religions exhibit much similarity in doctrines and ritual practices, as well as in Jewish and Islamic law and oral traditions.”
— John Liebhardt
Grayson dollars may have
helped fund fraternity house
Some of the money donated to rebuild a University fraternity house two years ago may have come from Jeffrey Grayson, the former president of the bankrupt Portland investment firm Capital Consultants.
According to an article in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity’s Winter 2000 newsletter, Grayson spoke at the opening ceremony for the new chapter house Sept. 27, 1999. Grayson is described as a “generous contributor.”
The U.S. Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Capital Consultants last year for making bad loans and allegedly embezzling $355 million from investors.
Thomas Lennon, who has been appointed by the court to liquidate the company’s assets, believes Grayson’s many high profile donations over the past five years came out of money obtained illegally.
In June, Lennon asked the University to return an $800,000 donation by Grayson. The donation helped pay for the renovation of the former law school building, which was renamed after Grayson and his wife, Susan.
University General Counsel Melinda Grier is currently in negotiations with Lennon. The University has not announced whether it will return the money.
Shelley Sutherland, coordinator of the University Greek Life office, said she did not know of any request made by Lennon for Beta Theta Pi to return donations made by Grayson, nor did she know any details of when such a donation might have been made. Greek Life doesn’t keep records of donations, Sutherland said, only the individual chapters do. An agreement between the University and Lennon would not affect the fraternity because it is a private organization, she added.
The president of Beta Theta Pi did not return the Emerald’s phone calls.
— Kara Cogswell
Public library hosts
discussion on Islam
The Eugene Public Library is inviting community members to a public discussion tonight beginning at 7 p.m. Panelists at the discussion, “Keep the Dialogue Going: Perspectives on Islamic Culture and History,” will answer questions about Islam, said librarian Ilana Ferris.
“We’re trying to show Islam as a world religion, not merely a Arabic one,” she said.
Four Muslims will serve on the panel — one from China, one from Syria, one from America and one from Indonesia, Ferris said. Professor Jonathan Katz will serve as the moderator and answer questions about Islamic politics, history and economics.
— Sue Ryan
Lecture focuses
on career outlook
The University Career Center is sponsoring “Crouching Economy, Hidden Career: Job Outlook in the Current Economy” today from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Gerlinger A
lumni Lounge.
The event will feature two speakers: Ed Whitelaw, an emeritus professor of economics, and Margaret Hallock, a professor in the Labor Education and Research Center. They will address the current economic state and its effects on the Pacific Northwest as well as gender issues in the labor market.
The event is open to all students, faculty and staff. For more information, call the Career Center at 346-3235.
— Katie Mayer