Catch up on what you missed

While most of UND was away on summer break, campus organizations, committees, faculty, staff and students were making news. Here are the top headlines from the summer:

UND nickname committee settles on five choices

What started as a list of thousands of nicknames was reduced to five prospects by a UND committee in July.

Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, North Stars, Roughriders and Sundogs are proposed to replace the longtime Fighting Sioux logo and will be put to a public vote this fall.

The committee eliminated a sixth option, continuing to use UND/North Dakota, which sparked public outcry and led UND President Robert Kelley to say he’d consider putting it back on the list.

A date for the vote, the method of voting and who is eligible have not been set.

Medical school chairman arrested on child porn charges

A tip from a national organization led to the arrest of a former UND department chairman on charges of distributing and collecting child pornography.

Police served search warrants at the home and office of Robert William Beattie, 55, in early August and discovered pornographic images and videos of children on a flash drive found plugged into his work computer. Beattie, then chairman of the UND Family and Community Medicine Department in the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, was placed on paid administrative leave following his arrest.

The university has declined to comment on the case while it is ongoing.

Alumni association announces $48 million in donations

More than $48 million made its way to the UND Alumni Association and Foundation this past fiscal year.

A majority of the money came from alumni, which constituted more than $21 million of the amount raised. Nearly a quarter of the donations were used to help fund construction projects occurring on campus.

This past fiscal year, which ended June 30, marks the fifth in a row that fundraising topped $40 million.

Campus safety report show increase in alcohol-related arrests, slide in drug arrests

More alcohol-related arrests were made at UND during 2014 than in previous years.

The Annual Fire and Safety Report, released by the university’s Department of Public Safety on July 1, showed the number of alcohol violations resulting in arrests on campus increased to 213 arrests — up 22 percent from 2013.

While those arrests climbed, the number of drug arrests made on campus came to 31 arrests — a decrease of 51 percent from 2013.

The full report is available on the UND Department of Public Safety’s webpage.