UO officials say they haven’t received a request to return Grayson donation
Nearly a month after a court-appointed state officer released a report demanding the University return donations made by Jeffrey Grayson over the past five years, University officials say they have yet to receive a written request for the money.
Melinda Grier, the University general counsel, said University officials will consider any official request.
“Obviously, we would take something like that seriously,” Grier said. “But until we get a letter we couldn’t speculate about what would happen.”
Grayson donated $800,000 to the University, according to receiver Thomas Lennon. Lennon believes that the money should be returned to the state because it was taken out of fees charged to clients by Capital Consultants, a Portland investment firm.
Grayson, the former chairman of the company, is accused of using money taken from Capital Consultants clients to fund personal expenses and philanthropic projects.
The U.S. Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Capital Consultants several months ago after investigators began to suspect the firm of mishandling union pension funds and making fraudulent investments.
In 1997, the University renamed Grayson Hall in honor of Grayson and his wife, Susan, after the couple promised to donate $1.5 million to the University.
Officials with the University of Oregon Foundation, which handles donations made to the school, have not publicly commented on how much of the money pledged by the Graysons has been received.
-By Kara Cogswell
Erb Essentials adopts stricter policies on checking ID
Graduate students and high school students alike now need identification in tow every time they buy tobacco at the Erb Essentials store in the EMU.
EMU Director Dusty Miller said the store recently applied for a new tobacco license from the city, and with the new license came strict rules on checking identification, even though most students are over 18 years old. Miller said the license also carries heavy consequences for stores that sell tobacco to minors.
Erb Essentials’ counters and windows are now adorned with stickers declaring the store part of the national “We Card” program.
-By Jeremy Lang
Vineyard kicks off classic film series
Hinman Vineyards begins its first classic film series Wednesday with “Adam’s Rib,” starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The show starts at dusk and will be presented on a large screen on a sloping grass field at the vineyard. “Dial M for Murder” will follow on July 25, and “The Seven Year Itch” on Aug. 29. Admission is $8, which includes the film, wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres.
On other Wednesday nights, the vineyard will feature a variety of musical entertainment, and admission to those events is $5.
The vineyard is located at 27012 Briggs Hill Road, 10 miles southwest of Eugene. For more information, call 345-1954 or visit silvanridge.com.
-By Jeremy Lang
Northwest Film Center seeks student productions
The Portland Art Museum’s Northwest Film Center is looking for student films, shorts and documentaries for its 28th annual festival. Students in western states and British Columbia are eligible. The deadline is Aug. 1. For more information and entry forms, log on to nwfilm.org.
-By Jeremy Lang
Coquille Indian Tribe donates funds for new library collection
The Coquille Indian Tribe has donated $10,000 to create a new collection of documents, maps and microfilm at the Knight Library. The documents, recently discovered among the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives and National Archives in Washington, D.C., detail the history of Northwest Indian tribes and their interactions with the United States. The documents can be found in the library’s Division of Special Collections.
-By Jeremy Lang
