All SUNA Families are Cordially Invited to Edison’s Annual Spring Fling

• A silent auction, with lots of terrific prizes, including gift certificates to local restaurants, handmade jewelry, vacation getaways, Ducks ticket packages, gardening services, and more - and all the proceeds benefit the educational programs at Edison.
• A children’s carnival, with games, a cake walk, pizza and ice cream - so bring the kids or grandkids!

Although SUNA takes pride in being a safe community we are not immune to the problems that dog neighborhoods everywhere. Sadly we have had a report of a flasher in the first weeks of 2010. Tom Maloney, Principal of Edison Elementary School sent home this note to Edison Parents which outlines steps the school has taken to date and encourages us all to heighten our safety awareness:

I wanted to let you know about a situation that occurred at Edison on Tuesday, January 26 during the 1st/ 2nd grade afternoon recess period. Three students reported seeing a man expose himself while standing on the sidewalk on east 23rd street. The students were playing on the playground near the fence line when the man got their attention and intentionally exposed himself. The students ran towards the building and the man rode east on his bicycle.

After school was dismissed, one of the students informed their parent, who in turn informed me that a man had exposed himself to them during their afternoon recess. I met with the students on Wednesday morning then reported the incident to the Eugene Police Department. Officer Stefan Zeltvay interviewed the students and assured them that they did the right thing by talking to an adult about strangers who act in inappropriate ways. He also encouraged and reinforced Edison’s policy of telling the nearest adult if you see a stranger on school grounds or a stranger behaving in an inappropriate manner.

Needless to say the incident has heightened our awareness concerning stranger awareness and student safety at Edison. We take a great deal of pride in the quality and level of supervision offered our students, however we plan to conduct a thorough review of our current supervision practices. We are particularly interested in reviewing supervision and safety practices at drop off and pick up times and in the immediate areas surrounding Edison School.

On Thursday, January 28th we informed the entire student body that three students witnessed a man on the sidewalk on 23rd street behaving “inappropriately” We applauded the students for reporting the incident to their parents and encouraged students to notify the nearest staff member if they see a stranger on school grounds or if they witness an adult behaving inappropriately. In addition each classroom teacher followed up with an age appropriate discussion focusing on stranger awareness and student safety.

In summary here is how we responded to the incident:
* Filed a formal report with the Eugene Police Department
* Increased Police presence around Edison School and the Edison Neighborhood
* Informed the Edison student body and Edison families that the incident occurred
* Reviewed and discussed stranger awareness procedures with all classes K-5
* Will conduct a thorough review of our existing supervision plan

Please take a few minutes to discuss stranger awareness and general safety precautions with you child and don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me if you have questions or concerns.
541.790.8900, maloney@4j.lane.edu

Sincerely,

Tom Maloney

RADIO STORY NPR

SUNA would like to share with you a December 2009 episode of NPR’s ’This American Life’,  entitled “#1 Party School”, which investigates college drinking and its effects at Penn State.  Since our neighborhood is so close to the University of Oregon campus, many of our neighbor have experienced both the pros and cons of  living snuggly with the UO student body. For the most part we are happy co-existers. However, when it comes to drinking and the dangers that accompany it, we have had disappointments. You will recognize many of the dangerous anecdotes in this story–including the thoughless removal of stop signs (a removed sign at Kinkaid and 20th nearly caused a fatality). This is a fun and interesting listen with many perspectives. Great for students, neighbors, university officials, city officials and police — especially “Act Four: A Drinking School with a football problem,” which outlines some strategies pursued by University of Nebraska.  The comments box is open on this post and we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about encouraging the most harmony in the neighborhood in this area.
LISTEN : This American Life College Drinking and the effect on the surrounding neighborhoods

Thanks again to one and all for contributing to a major victory for the neighborhood last night.  You should all feel great about our collective contribution to the protection of the neighborhood.

Thanks to all who put in very long hours over the last two  years!

JANUARY 1ST 2010!

Hi Neighbor,

Happy 2010! Here’s SUNA news about a large-scale wood poetry event, our zoning victory and our January 27 meeting. For more neighborhood information, please visit our website, http://www.sunaeugene.org, or come to our January meeting.

As always, contact me if you have questions or ideas for our neighborhood.

Thanks,

Marilyn Milne, SUNA Chair, 541-344-7989/mm@prpr.com

Create Neighborhood Poetry:  The Du’ma Community on Alder Street invites everyone to help them create a neighborhood poetry table. We’ll write words on pieces of a tree that had to be cut down and use them like giant word magnets to form poems on stump ‘tables’. Refrigerator poetry for all of SUNA! Join us on Sunday, Jan. 3 from 11 a.m. to noon at 2244 Alder. Questions? See more info in one of our kiosks or on our website, or call Allen at 541-343-1926.

Meeting on Transportation, Parking and Pedestrian Safety:  Our January 27 SUNA general meeting will be a brainstorming session on neighborhood safety issues. Help us identify problem areas for vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle safety – and where parking could be improved. Share your ideas for possible solutions. Let’s get started tackling these issues! See you at 7 p.m. at Edison’s library.

Building Heights Made Reasonable:  Years of work resulted in a December City Council vote to adopt the building heights along 18th and 19th, as recommended by SUNA. Our planning group, with the input of neighbors and the city’s Infill Compatibility Study committee, led the way. The new zoning places limits on building heights south of 19th in R-3 and R-4 parcels to 35 feet; 50 feet for the first half block north of 19th; and 65 feet from that point north to 18th. Developers may still build student housing adjacent to campus, but the limits are very helpful in preventing gigantic, out-of-scale developments and the impacts they would create. To read more details, visit sunaeugene.org and click on South University Neighbors Planning Group.

Welcome to SUNA online! From meeting minutes to events and opportunities, you’ll find the business and pleasure of the South University neighborhood here. For more information, contact us at info@sunaeugene.org

Thanks for stopping by,

Marilyn Milne
SUNA Board, Chair

541.344.7989

The SUNA website is independently funded and maintained. No public funds are involved in the design or operation of this site.