14,200 served at Free Cone Day I 5a
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper
www. dailyemerald. corn
Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 138 j Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Authorities
arrest man
posing as
professor
Vaifale allegedly pretended to be a
student or professor for two years
BY EMILY SMITH
NEWS REPORTER
A Eugene man impersonating a University
psychology professor was arrested April 13 af
ter a student discovered he lied to her about
his position.
Checklin Jonathan Vaifale, 35, has been an
active member of several campus clubs over
the past two years under the guise of a stu
dent and a professor by the name of Jonathan
Vaifalc-Valdez , according to Eugene police.
EPD Officer Dallas Hall said Vaifale “alleges
it was strictly for social interaction and
to make himself
feel important.”
Hall arrested Vaifale
between the EMU and
Straub Hall while he
was standing with his
“props” — a briefcase
and several files — in
hand. Hall said Vaifale
allegedly created a file
labeled “Human Neu
ropsychology,” the
name of the class he
pretended to teach.
“He even had the
class number written on it,” she said.
International Studies Association Coordinator
Ryohei Ishii said he remembers working with
Vaifale last year during International Week.
“He cooked in the kitchen for three days,”
he said. Other members of the group also
noted that Vaifale had been an asset to
their organization.
University graduate Toby Hill-Meyer, a vol
unteer of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans
gender, Queer Alliance, said that Vaifale was
an active community member and a member
of the LGBTQA’s sub-group, Bi and Beyond,
since fall 2003.
“He participated in discussions and was in
the drag show,” Hill-Meyer said. “I know peo
ple he’s been in relationships with so I’m go
ing to trust that most of what I know of his
life to be true. That’s not the kind of thing you
can fake.
“I feel awkward from my interaction, but I
value what he has brought to the community.”
Vaifale also allegedly danced with the
Hawaii Club for several years, posing as a stu
dent, according to police.
Vaifale has allegedly been spending time
around Straub Hall and using the computer
lab there to bolster his image as a psychology
professor.
According to the female student who
turned him in, he told her he could get her a
job in the psychology lab, but after not find
ing him in the directory and discovering that
the other faculty members had never heard of
him, she became suspicious and alerted the
Department of Public Safety, Hall said.
“I heard he was a grad student last year .
and then from others this year that he was a
professor, but last month I heard some people
saying he had been less than truthful,”
Hill-Meyer said.
EPD spokeswoman Kerry Delf said Vaifale
is being charged with Criminal Imperson
ation, a Class A misdemeanor, but the case is
CHECKLIN
JONATHAN VAIFALE
SUSPECT
IMPOSTER, page 3a
Task group tackles property issues
Courtesy
Left to right: University Housing Director Mike Eyster, former housing director
Marge Ramey, University Vice President for Administration Dan Williams and
former housing director H.P. Barnhart in 1994.
The east campus neighborhood is among contested
areas into which the University used housing money
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
University officials say updat
ing the residence halls is a press
compensation for properties pur
chased with student housing
money and then converted for
other University uses would help
that past and
present housing
officials say has
become a dire
need resulting in
part from the
history of ad
ministrative and
PART TWO OF TWO
Tuesday: Officials’ financial and land
repayment policies hinder residence halls.
Today: Financial consultants offer opinions
and a task group addresses the transition of
property management.
e r n i z a t i o n
possible.
The East
Campus Task
Group formed •
in the fall to ad
dress issues per
taining to the
uregon university bystem poli
cies toward housing.
Housing officials are particular
ly concerned about modernizing
the residence halls and say
management oi
properties in the east campus
neighborhood, most of which
were purchased with student
HOUSING, page 7a
Big business increases campus presence
Companies like EA and Sports Illustrated employ
student representatives to target young consumers
BY AMANDA BOLSINGER
NEWS REPORTER
Throwing parties. Testing out
the newest games. Giveaways.
It might sound like fun and
games, but for University senior
Nick Stoolman, it’s all a part of his
job description.
Stoolman is the University’s EA
company representative.
Stoolman represents EA Sports,
EA Games and EA Sports Big. His
job is to make sure the company
has a presence at the University.
“The experience has been^n
second to none and^^l^1^
unparalleled to any^^^
other internship,
Stoolman said.
Stoolman’s job is part of a
growing trend on campuses
across the country.
“It has certainly been going on
for eight or nine years,” said Mari
an Friestad, Lundquist College of
Business associate dean and asso
ciate professor of marketing. “It’s
not new, but I think as mass me
dia gets more expensive, the use
of it has grown.”
Summer Bradley, a project
manager with EA, said her com
pany started the project as a way
to reach a large consumer base.
“We want to get out there with
the consumers,” Bradley said.
“We want to play with them, not
just sell to them. We want to
engage people.”
EA isn’t the only company with
a representative on campus.
Sophomore Eli McCarrel repre
sents Sports Illustrated On Cam
pus; Colleen McClure is a Nike
representative. Other companies
such as Red Bull and Playboy also
have a presence here.
Axe, a company that sells body
spray for men, has recently
strewn women’s thong under
wear around campus in an at
tempt to attract a campus repre
sentative for next fall. Last week,
about a half dozen thongs were
placed in a McKenzie Hall class
room and more were placed in a
hallway in the building.
Advertising is generally
allowed as a display of free
speech unless it is done in a
classroom, office or residence
hall, University spokeswoman
Pauline Austin said. The Univer
sity has no policies about stu
dents working as representatives.
“Companies come to me all
the time, but I don’t help
certainly don’t help^^^
them.”
Stoolman has been involved
with EA since his freshman year
at the University when he met
the then-current representative
at the Warsaw Sports Business
Club. He immediately helped
putting up fliers and posters
around campus to publicize
events, eventually working his
way to his current position.
“I was set on becoming the
rep,” Stoolman said. “As soon as
I found out about it I went back
and told my roommate, ‘I’m
gonna have that job someday.’”
The job, which he has now had
for two years, keeps him busy. He
said he works an average of about
20 hours per week planning and
executing different events.
Stoolman, two interns and a
marketing team are constantly
planning tournaments around
campus in the residence halls, at
Big City Gaming and at the frater
nity houses.
Last fall, Stoolman and his
team organized a 64-player
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Architecture major Jon Winger sits beside thongs placed outside McKenzie Hall
by a student representative for an Axe advertising campaign. University
students represent companies from EA Sports to Red Bull and promote their
products on campus.
“Madden” tournament. He is
currently organizing the 2nd-an
nual EA Sports Fight Night Fra
ternity Challenge, a tournament
involving several of the fraterni
ties on campus. At the event,
Stoolman will give away T-shirts,
stickers, hats and games to
participants. One participant will
receive 13 EA games.
EA has also provided Stool
man with a summer internship
at EA headquarters as a project
marketing intern.
“They take care of me,” Stool
man said. “EA has been a really
good relationship to have. I have
two years’ experience with a For
tune 100 company.”
Sports Illustrated’s McCarrel
has had a similar experience. He
is the company’s first representa
tive at the University.
McCarrel had just finished his
senior year of high school
when his brother who worked at
Sports Illustrated told him the
company was looking to launch
a new magazine: Sports Illustrat
ed On Campus.
COMPANY, page 8a