Cadet training
Students prepare to become officers and leaders

House of Records
A local shop offers a tactile experience in a digital age

Making a business of love
Wendy Strgar works to change society's view of intimacy

Slow and steady wins this race
Developmental delays are no match for Tegan Wright

Celebrating Spielberg
The English Department showcases the director's work

A celebration of culture
The Elmira Pow-Wow honors veterans, elders and diversity

A fresh approach to cocktails
It's the ingredients at Bel Ami Lounge

From Quito to Eugene
A student's journey from the Universidad to the University

Death Saddle
Three students try a new sound in a new band

Behind the scenes
What goes on to make the show go on at the EMU

Baseball is back
The sport returns to the university after 28 years

Thompson's Mills
The oldest water-powered grain mill in the state

A chance to shine
Intramural basketball provides an equal opportunity

Lessons in teamwork
YMCA youth basketball molds future athletes

Making the right call
Students find that officiating isn't as easy as it looks

A soccer tradition
Local players get together to keep the game alive

A fresh approach to cocktails

It is fair to say that Bel Ami Lounge in Eugene, Ore., would not be the cutting-edge bar it is today if it weren't for Jeffrey Morgenthaler. Bel Ami Lounge opened its doors about four years ago inside the Midtown Marketplace, at 1591 Willamette St., and Morgenthaler came on board a little over a year ago. Morgenthaler, together with his bartender friend Scott Butler, reinvented the place with an innovative style of mixology.

Although Morgenthaler recently left Bel Ami to become the head bartender at Clyde Common, a trendy restaurant in Portland, Butler and one other bartender continue to mix high end, handcrafted cocktails.

It's almost a misnomer to call the style innovative because much of it is a return to the basics. Many of the drinks are variations on classic cocktail recipes. What makes them more innovative is the use of freshly squeezed juices (as opposed to pre-made mixes) and house-infused spirits. Behind the bar is a large glass jar with huge chunks of pineapple and orange peppers soaking in a clear liquid. It turns out it is Smirnoff vodka infused with fresh pineapple and habanero chili peppers. The bartenders use this mixture predominately for one of their original cocktails, the Pineapple-Habanero Gimlet, a concoction of vodka shaken with lime and sugar. Their version of the classic gin and tonic consists of a local, organic gin and housemade tonic water (which they sweeten with organic agave syrup).

Morgenthaler is so obsessed with the art of bartending that he has a blog (www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com) devoted entirely to bartending and mixology. Recent posts include a recipe for egg nog and headings such as "TEN BOOKS EVERY BARTENDER SHOULD OWN" and "HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN GINGER BEER." Last year Playboy magazine, for its Drink of the Month column, published a recipe for one of Morgethaler's original drinks called a Bourbon Renewal. Describing Morgenthaler, the magazine writes, "Jeffrey Morgenthaler is our kind of guy: an obsessive practitioner of lost arts and an inventor in his own right."