Join us for our annual Best of Campus Event Wednesday, April 24th where there will be free food, raffle prizes, cotton candy, music and more!
Sponsored by:
As the demand for cybersecurity in the educational system grows, the College of Arts and Science’s cybersecurity major is evolving to include more student groups
BY JASMINE SABOORIAN • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHARTA new cybersecurity major was launched in the College of Arts and Sciences in fall 2023, and has since evolved to include prospective students and students in the job market.
Computer Science Department Head Reza Rejaie co-proposed the CAS cybersecurity major with professors Jun Li and Joe Li when they saw a lack of targeted training for cybersecurity in the education system.
“There are a lot of folks who get a degree in other fields and have cybersecurity knowledge or learning and they can do things,” Rejaie said. “But training people directly for cybersecurity-related jobs and skills has not been a major activity in many institutions.”
According to Rejaie, the demand for professionals with cybersecurity training has increased immensely with the boom of digital technology.
There are several thousand cybersecurity position openings in Oregon and hundreds of thousands across the U.S., according to Rejaie.
“There is a huge demand for cybersecurity channels at different levels and we created this program in order to respond to that need because if that need is not addressed, we are all exposed,” Rejaie said. “You know everyone who uses these cyber systems is exposed.”
go and compromise more entities grows,” Rejaie said. “But with that, the sophistication of their attacks also grow.”
According to Dominguez, cyberattacks are increasing nationwide, and higher education institutions like UO are among the targets.
“The reality is that there’s been an increase in cybersecurity attacks overall,” Dominguez said. “Higher education is not immune to cybersecurity attacks, and in fact, it tends to be considered an easy target.”
UO currently has positions in place with the Cybersecurity Operations Center to give students a sense of professional practice while still in university, Dominguez said.
Cori Caplinger
Chief Security Information Officer José Dominguez had checked cyberseek.org, a site for cybersecurity jobs, and saw a great deal of positions in Eugene.
“Just the other day, I was checking and there were about 500 jobs around Eugene,” Dominguez said. “So the idea is we have a deficit of cybersecurity practitioners. So the expectation is that increasing our workforce will help alleviate some of the challenges that many of our institutions are having when it comes to cybersecurity attacks.”
As the Internet and cyberspace have grown, the risk and magnitude of cyber attackers have grown, as well, Rejaie said.
“As the attackers become more and more active and more and more sophisticated, their ability to
“We are in the process of creating a security operation center within the university called the Training Security Operations Center,” Rejaie said. “So this is an operation center that monitors entities outside the school. So for example, it may monitor a school district, a city, a county [or] a tribe.”
TSOC will likely be operational by early fall 2024, Rejaie said.
According to Rejaie, the funding for the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, certificate degree and improvement and expansion are through the Oregon Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a joint center with UO, Portland State University and Oregon State University to combat cyber threats.
“The initial design and development of the degree happened before the state funding,” Rejaie said. “But when the Oregon Cybersecurity Center of Excellence was established, we were given some funds to expand.”
According to Rejaie and Dominguez, they are both hopeful for the future and growth of the cybersecurity industry and major at UO.
“There’s an opportunity for us here to really contribute to the development of workforce and talent in the country,” Dominguez said. “And that is culminating with the creation of the program, so we’re very excited to do that.”
Fifty-two pro-Palestine protesters, including at least three UO students, were arrested on April 15 after a demonstration that blocked I-5 traffic.
Oregon football defensive back Daylen Austin was arrested on April 15 following a fatal hit-andrun. He will appear in court on April 22.
We want to hear from you:
A new president and vice president for the Associated Students of the University of Oregon have been elected. They hope to update the budgeting process as well as look into how to create accessible transportation for students.
BY HANNA KALAN • DESIGNED BY GABRIELA MARTINEZMariam Hassan and Kikachi “Kiki” Akpakwu are not only ASUO’s newest presidential duo, but they are also good friends outside of their work together. When they met, they bonded over having similar views for how their ideal student government would be run. Hassan, the newly elected 2024-2025 president for the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, did not have any prior experience in student government, nor a plan to run for president, until she met Akpakwu.
“I was super, super lucky to have Kiki by my side and have her willing to run with me and just kind of have our ideas come to light,” Hassan said. “That was just super exciting.”
Hassan and Akpakwu campaigned with the OurUO slate. The campaign prioritized food accessibility, parking, representing cultures and creating a student-led festival. OurUO aims to “seek something better.”
Hassan was born in Egypt and raised in Portland, Ore. A psychology major with double minors in Arabic and legal studies, Hassan has held several leadership positions throughout high school and college.
One of Hassan’s top priorities as president is to look at the current budget process now that she has the resources to fully understand it. She wants to implement positive change by increasing the communication between the finance committee chairs and student organization leaders. She hopes to update the system so cultural organizations will be better supported.
“I’m really excited to fully dive deep into that process and see what we realistically can change,” Hassan said. “To make sure that the money that’s being distributed to [cultural organizations on campus] is equitable, not equal.”
She aims to make transportation more accessible to students as well as collaborating with city officials to provide students with earlier warnings to prevent students from having to pay high parking ticket fees.
Hassan and Apakwu both believe in creating a strong foundation with their executive cabinet. She believes in order to best accomplish her goals of updating the budget system and working with transportation services she must first have a solid team behind her.
Hassan wants to be not just someone who holds
a position of power but someone who students feel comfortable talking to about change they wish to see.
Although Hassan has not previously been a part of ASUO, she is excited to bring a fresh vision and new ideas to the organization. While she was running, Hassan did not always know how everything worked in the electoral process, such as what she could and could not do, but said that Akpakwu — an ASUO senator — was there to guide and support her.
“I had Kiki there with me to really help explain to me what is achievable and what isn’t achievable,” Hassan said. “Honestly, it was a saving grace.”
Akpakwu is from Torrance, Calif., and is a neuroscience major with minors in computer science and chemistry. Akpakwu has held Seat 13, arts and science undergrad, on the ASUO senate this year.
Akpakwu was her freshman student body president during high school. At UO, she was a Get Explicit facilitator, which is a program aimed to educate first-year students about sexual assault on campus and resources. She also was the assistant director of leadership for the Residence Hall Association.
“I also hope that people can be open-minded to change,” Akpakwu said, “and to somebody that they haven’t seen before.”
Akpakwu is looking forward to changing how ASUO connects with campus and generally switching things up. She expects there will be a shift in the culture of ASUO once she and Hassan begin their time in office. Akpakwu wants to add more positions to the executive board who advocate for the needs of housing and labor on campus.
Akpakwu highlights the importance of supporting the newly elected officials and making sure they feel adequately trained and prepared for their new role.
“There is this standstill of inaction, because a lot of people don’t really feel like they know what to do with their position,” said Akpakwu.
Hassan and Apakwu faced controversy in the closing weeks of the election after
revelations that they met at a conference sponsored by a right-wing organization called the Campus Victory Project, an affiliate of Turning Point USA. The organization has targeted and recruited potential and current student leaders at many universities around the U.S., including UO. Hassan and Akpakwu claimed they were unaware of the convention’s ties. Accusations about OurUO’s funding were not substantiated by the Elections Board.
Initially, the election had gone into a run-off between the OurUO slate of Hassan and Akpakwu and the UO Student Power slate of Max Jensen and Maxwell Gullickson. Jensen and Gullickson dropped out of the runoff election shortly after it was announced, resulting in a win by default for Hassan and Akpakwu.
“I think that when we found that we won, we’re just like, oh my gosh, it was all worth it,” Akpakwu said. “We believe so firmly and truly in what we’re doing here.”
Do you know an exceptional student worthy of recognition and an award?
Help celebrate the twelfth annual 25 Ducks and nominate a deserving student.
Taking nominations until April 30th.
“Changeling” is part of an anthology dedicated to queering the supernatural. Each story is a love letter to cryptids, monsters and all who have been cast out of society, human and inhuman alike.
Drugging is nothing new in the Greek life community. Every woman hears the same protocol: never take drinks from strangers and cover your open containers. And don’t even think twice about the jungle juice.
One could say roofieing is embedded within the community. After all, an estimated 8% of college students reported being unknowingly drugged and later assaulted, according to the Psychology of Violence journal. Yet it’s always disheartening to hear when it comes to your own college campus.
In January and February, the University of Oregon encountered numerous drugging instances in its fraternities. Three chapters — Theta Chi, Delta Sigma and Phi Delta Theta — faced alleged drugging accusations, were investigated and were put on interim suspension.
One of the druggings happened on Jan. 19. A Eugene police officer found two women on the corner of East 19th Avenue and Onyx Street, clearly “out of it,” he reported.
In a UOPD report, the officer went on to say the students were “possibly drugged while attending a party at a fraternity.” Further evidence found that all of the allegations were pointing toward these students being “roofied,” according to Eugene Weekly’s reporting.
The UO Safety and Wellness Board just announced that Rohypnol, the commonly known “roofie” drug, was not detected. Instead, gammahydroxybutyrate and ketamine were present.
The three fraternities were temporarily suspended while the Dean of Students conducted an investigation. This prohibited members of the fraternities from hosting any events with alcohol, as well as other events such as recruitment, new members and service.
Following the suspension, each fraternity could petition for exceptions. Phi Delt received an exception for Dad’s Weekend in March, with attendees strictly consisting of brothers and family members.
Theta Chi also contested in their preliminary meeting, claiming “the chapter does not pose a threat to the community,” according to Dianne
Tanjuaquio, the Associate Dean of Students.
The chapter received numerous exceptions to the suspension. But in terms of philanthropy and service events, Tanjuaquio said they would be considered on a “case-to-case basis.”
The suspension against all fraternity social events was lifted on April 15.
The Interfraternity Council shared its thoughts on the suspension. In a written statement to the Daily Emerald, the IFC president said the board has “developed a standard new member presentation on party safety and alcohol use, an in-depth sober monitor training and a detailed guest list system.”
IFC believes improving community education on these topics will improve overall safety for attendees.
“It is important for all students to be aware of their surroundings when attending parties and for everyone to look out for their fellow peers,” the IFC president said.
Overall, any action at all against drugging is favorable. Too many cases go untold or are silenced. So, it is crucial for the Dean of Students and Fraternity and Sorority Life to hold these chapters accountable.
However, the dynamic of druggings and suspensions in Greek Life is not straightforward. It’s a complex issue with many benefits and pitfalls.
Like I said before, the connection between frat boys and roofieing is nothing new. It’s built into the culture. During my freshman year, there was a similar instance. Sigma Alpha Epsilon hosted a party and around a dozen women were drugged.
Unlike the three aforementioned fraternities, SAE didn’t want to undergo an entire investigation. Instead, they decided to disaffiliate from UO, meaning they are no longer registered as a UO fraternity. This raises numerous concerns.
When a fraternity is disaffiliated from the university, it becomes free-range — the only higher-ups holding SAE accountable are the police department. They receive no education on sexual violence and prevention, allowing them to act freely with little consequence. There are also two other unaffiliated frats in Eugene: Alpha Sigma Phi and Kappa Sigma.
BY MONICA HOBBS DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWSSo yes, suspending fraternities for drugging instances is important, but it also pushes college women to attend unaffiliated frats’ events and parties where the risk of roofieing and assault is just as probable.
Cameryn Salinas, a UO third-year, reflected on the dangers of disaffiliated fraternity events.
Two years ago, a friend of Salinas was drugged at a SAE party after the frat had disaffiliated. The young woman had numerous friends in the organization and felt safe attending their events.
Unfortunately, just because you know one member doesn’t mean you can trust the chapter. Salinas’ friend was served her first drink at the event’s “open bar.” She immediately felt off and a peer took her to the PeaceHealth emergency room. She was drugged.
“If it’s your best friend and he’s in this frat and you’ve known him for 20 years, I still wouldn’t trust it,” Salinas said. “You don’t know who had the drink before him or who poured it.”
According to Salinas, the friend never attended another frat party after that night. Aside from her boyfriend’s parties, Salinas also stayed away from other fraternities.
“You have to assume the worst,” Salinas said. “The best thing that can happen to you at a frat party is nothing happens at all.”
Outsiders might rebut by saying not to attend frat parties. Not only is this unfair, but it puts the blame on victims rather than the fraternity’s members. Like Salinas said, “People want to experience that college experience.” It’s not their fault.
As a fourth-year student approaching graduation, I can reflect on my “frat era.” I was a naive 19-year-old. There were times I was smart, while in other moments, I thank god nothing happened to me.
I followed the buddy system. I went with a group of friends and always left with them. I brought my own drinks and covered the opening. Current
college students have learned drink etiquette through the experiences of older generations.
Yet, with alcohol consumption comes vulnerability and bad decision-making. Running up and down the frat halls alone? Not safe.
Chatting with fraternity brothers in their secluded rooms? VERY unsafe.
Greek Life and fraternity parties played a huge part in my college experience. But now that I’m older and looking back, there were things I could’ve done differently. Here’s my biggest advice: these men are not your friends. Drugging can happen to anyone — no matter who you know.
The transition from fraternity parties to the bar scene is another time when drinking safety becomes invaluable. Rennie’s Landing is a college bar located on Kincaid Street right by campus. The workers recognize their crowd is young and new to public drinking, and thus they are vulnerable.
Bar manager Holly Caswell said she keeps an eye out for people’s level of intoxication. Throughout the night, she’ll observe how people are interacting.
Why is this man alone and approaching different groups of people? This girl is falling over — does she have a friend who can walk her home? Why does this man only want to buy pretty girls drinks?
To reduce the chances of drugging, Rennie’s staff removes drinks that are left alone. Experienced adults would never take a full drink sitting on a table. For young drinkers, it’s a coin flip.
“A lot of people coming to Rennie’s are new and would maybe [say] like ‘Oh woah, free drink,’ and drink it,” Caswell said. “But what if something was put into it?”
If “somebody calls us a few days later saying they had a drink and blacked out after,” Rennie’s management will “go and review cameras to see if anything happened to their drink,” Caswell said.
Despite the recent fraternity druggings, the college bar hasn’t come across any incidents. Yet Caswell has worked in the bar scene for years and acknowledges it’s an ongoing issue.
“The goal is to have a good time and make good memories,” she said. “Unfortunately, there are people out there who will take advantage of you in moments when you have your guard down.”
Most date-rape drugs have no taste, no scent and no color, according to Caswell. She advises having your drink on you at all times. Even letting someone sip your drink is a no-go. Druggers are now hiding substances in their mouth and spitting them into drinks.
Caswell, along with the other college bar
owners in the area, wants young drinkers to have a good experience. If you ever need your drink watched, they have your back. Yet there is only so much our favorite bouncers can do.
Roofieing is a part of our reality. No matter how many suspensions and police calls we make, there’s always going to be that one bad apple. It’s on the community to look out for one another and stay safe. An early night home is always better than falling into the wrong hands.
“Be a good friend and treat her like a sister,” Caswell said.
This week’s picks...
The Women’s Center is holding its annual “Take Back the Night” on Thursday at 6 p.m. The event consists of a rally, march and speakout against sexual and domestic violence. Meet at the EMU Amphitheater!
The Community Center for the Performing Arts is bringing DB. Boutabag to WOW Hall on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. with tickets starting at $21.50 online and $25 the day of.
(Image: Madi Mather/Emerald)
These five foods can be had year-round, but spring is the best time to enjoy them
BY AIDAN ECKHARDT • DESIGNED BY GABRIELA MARTINEZThe modern grocery store has a wider selection of foods than most people in history would have thought possible. If you were to go back in time and tell a medieval peasant they could have carrots, blackberries and figs year round, they would think you’d lost your mind. Besides, if that luxury were even possible, it would be reserved for the most wealthy and pompous members of their fief.
Today’s grocery stores carry plenty of products once reserved for royalty. But we’ve become spoiled by the readily available foods we can find in our grocery stores. It’s true you can buy nectarines in the dead of winter, but should you? It’s easy to forget how good a food can be when you eat it when it’s meant to be eaten. In honor of that sentiment, here are five foods that are currently in season, and some ideas of what to do with them. Arugula, rocket, eruca, whatever you want to call it — it’s in season. On its own, it has a simple bitter and peppery flavor, but it’s one of the best
supporting ingredients for salads and sandwiches out there. Originating from the Mediterranean, arugula has lots of important vitamins and is full of fiber, so it really can’t hurt to throw it in whatever you decide to make. My favorite use of arugula is with a nice steak sandwich. Toast some bread of your choice, sear and baste a steak with butter, garlic and thyme, and then caramelize some onion. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some salt on the arugula and put it all together. You get sweetness from the onion, rich umami from the steak and some light freshness from the arugula to balance it all out. Feel free to add some provolone or mustard, too, for a sharper kick.
Next up is artichoke. The best thing about artichoke is how easy it is to fully enjoy it. Just pour some water in a pot with a steam basket and let it boil. You can add a splash of white wine and a bay leaf to the water if you’re looking for some extra flavor. Steam the artichoke for around 30
to 50 minutes depending on the size. Once done, just melt some butter and add a squeeze of lemon juice to a small bowl, and you can enjoy the leaves and the tender, earthy heart. On the topic of simplicity, we come to mangos. An in-season mango should be soft, buttery and sweet with a slight sour tang. The two most common mangos in our grocery stores are the Tommy Atkins (bigger and reddish green) and the Ataulfo (smaller, kidney-shaped and yellow). Both are good, but I prefer the Ataulfo for its smoother texture. A ripe mango on its own is basically perfect, but one classic way to add on is simply sprinkling on some Tajín seasoning. The Mexican spice mix brings out the depth of the flavor with the chili flakes and the acidity of the lime.
Another in-season fruit is the strawberry. Sweet and juicy, the strawberry is full of antioxidants, vitamin C and potassium, making it a delicious and healthy snack. One of the easiest uses for strawberries is in a yogurt parfait. Your choice of yogurt, some granola, strawberries and honey is simple and refreshing. They also provide a lot of opportunities for baked goods, so don’t write them off as just a topping.
Finally, one of my favorite foods currently in season is beets. Their semi-sweet, earthy taste is so unique and provides a lot of opportunity for creative dishes. You can easily roast them in the oven with some oil and salt and pepper to go as a side, but my favorite thing to do with beets is make the beet salad they serve at Portland Indian restaurant Bollywood Theater. The recipe is too long to write down, but you can find it here with all the details. We’re lucky to have access to so many different foods whenever we want. Just don’t forget how good some of them can be when you eat them at the time nature intended.
TAKE BACK THE NIGHT, A RALLY TO MARCH AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST SEXUAL AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, IS HELD EVERY YEAR ON THE LAST THURSDAY IN APRIL
“People unite. Take back the night. What do we want? Safe streets! When do we want them? Now,” Eugene residents yell throughout the streets. Held every year on the last Thursday in April, Take Back the Night — an event to “rally, march And speak out against sexual and domestic violence” — allows people to come together to support survivors of sexual violence, educate the community and prevent future harm.
regarding how she operates the Women’s Center and the Take Back the Night event. “It’s extensive, multi-faceted and intense.”
Pervaiz said that the audience at the event will be filled with those who have experienced harm as well as those who have but can’t put it into words. “Hearing from their peers what they experienced, or [what] marginalized communities experienced, they can say ‘I’m a survivor’ and begin their healing journey,” Pervaiz said. The event will begin at 6 p.m. on April 25 with a rally in the EMU amphitheater, where a variety of speakers will talk about communities who are marginalized and often silenced. After the rally, speakers and audience members will take to the streets with signs and chants to protest the continuation of sexual violence.
BY SAMANTHA LOZANO DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMANCenter with Pervaiz has been an extremely transformative experience.
“As a person of color who is also disabled and has suffered my own forms of abuse, this event is the most radical vulnerable space that we hold because many of us live in a world with a culture of silence,” Bertrand said. “Families especially hold those practices, and so oftentimes we don’t have the ability to speak to those experiences or know what words to put to those experiences because we haven’t practiced it or ever knew it was okay.”
The upcoming rally will offer members of the community a platform to share stories that have long been overdue for acknowledgment. In the collegiate setting, there’s immense value in coming together through shared experiences and standing in solidarity with victims to wholeheartedly support their narratives. This event presents a distinctive yet potent opportunity to foster such unity.
Stay updated on the Women’s Center’s Instagram (@uo_womenscenter) for event details, and keep an eye out for posters around downtown Eugene.
This yearly international protest was founded in 1976 to raise awareness about the sexual assault realities on campus and in the
both for survivors of who want to support coordinator Maggie
This year’s Women’s March Madness was a sign of things to come
Fans flooded the stands inside the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Two iconic programs faced off in the Elite Eight, led by two massive stars playing each other for the first time.
The University of Southern California and University of Connecticut athletes stood on the shoulders of giants as they attempted to reach another spot in the Final Four. Their hopes of continuing to the national championship were in jeopardy. Viewership numbers and the hopes for a better future for women’s sports were also on the line.
The stakes couldn’t be higher.
But Trojans guard JuJu Watkins and Huskies guard Paige Bueckers both stayed poised under pressure. It’s the kind of composure that made the matchup compelling to so many fans.
Stars like Watkins and Bueckers brought a whole new wave of fans to women’s basketball. Women’s March Madness was a resounding success in 2024. Viewership numbers continued to break throughout the tournament, as did attendance numbers.
The same day that the Trojans and the Huskies faced off in Portland, so did the University of Iowa and Louisiana State University. The two programs were led by fan favorites Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. USC versus UConn averaged 6.7 million viewers. Outside of the 2023 National Championship, that would’ve been the mostwatched game in 28 years.
However, the Hawkeyes and the Tigers averaged 12.3 million viewers. More people tuned into that matchup than for any other college basketball game ever on ESPN. Then, UConn and Iowa
played. That one drew 14.2 million viewers — more than any NBA game on ESPN. Finally, the National Championship game averaged 18.7 million viewers — and peaked at 24 million.
For the first time in history, more fans watched the women’s title game than the men’s. These numbers don’t take into account the many watch parties that occurred across the nation.
The bottom line is that women’s basketball continued to reach new heights game after game this season. Recently-drafted Huskies forward Aaliyah Edwards called it “humbling” to be a part of the rapid growth of women’s basketball. Ahead of UConn’s Elite Eight matchup, she said continuing to focus on winning will draw in fans who are watching them play for the first time.
“We’re just going to continue to be dominant, continue to play together and continue to do what we do and try to win the game,” Edwards said. “By us just staying poised mentally, that attracts a lot of people to our game and attracts a lot of people who may not have watched or tuned into women’s basketball before this year.”
The University of South Carolina won the National Championship because it didn’t rely on one player. Still, fans tune into sports to see the stars. Generational players bringing in new fans isn’t a new phenomenon in sports. Essentially every successful sports league took off because of the narratives surrounding the biggest names.
“Star power drives narratives in athletics,” Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said ahead of their Elite Eight matchup. “It’s why the NBA took off when there were faces to it, going all the way back to Magic and Larry and Michael Jordan.”
BY LILY CRANE
DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS
Iowa’s Naismith Player of the Year in Clark has moved on to the next level. While she was the main attraction this season, the viewership numbers won’t necessarily drop in 2025.
Gottlieb added that when fans tune in to watch big names like Clark or Watkins, they also get to see less established players like Rayah Marshall or Kayla Padilla. The more people want to watch the stars, the more names they learn. And fans learned some new names to get excited about heading into next season.
Meanwhile, Clark, Reese, Edwards and other WNBA draftees will bring new fans with them to the professional level. Last Monday, 2.45 million watched the WNBA Draft where Clark was selected number one overall. That shattered the previous record of 601,000 set back in 2004.
More and more people are beginning to support women’s basketball like they have supported men’s basketball for decades. Longtime Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said that female athletes used to be compared to male athletes whenever they put on a big performance. Now the entire narrative around women’s sports is beginning to shift.
“Now they’re being appreciated for their incredible talents, the show that they put on, the excitement that they create on the court, the excitement that the fans feel,” Auriemma said after his team reached the Final Four. “It’s almost like they’ve made everybody come to the 20th century and finally catch on with what these people are capable of doing.”
