1-9-24 Emerald Media Group - Week of Welcome

Week of Welcome Edition

JANUARY 9, 2024

Emerald Media

LANE COUNTY

LAUNCHES COMMUNITY SAFETY INITIATIVE

The Lane County District Attorney’s office has resumed prosecuting low-level crimes with a revitalized team of lawyers

NEWS: Dorm prices over winter break frustrate students PG 9 • OPINION: Take a trip to Special Collections PG 10 • SPORTS: Phillipina Kyei’s dominant start PG 22 T U E S D AY, J A N UA R Y 9 , 2 0 2 4

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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

EDITORIAL: HELP SAVE EUGENE WEEKLY Our community needs Eugene Weekly.

Daily Emerald VOL. 125, ISSUE NO. 20

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ON THE COVER

Eugene Police Department Chief Chris Skinner examines a map of Eugene’s different districts. (Sarah Northrop/ Emerald)

For those unaware, on Dec. 28, 2023, the Weekly, announced that it would not send an issue to print, for the first time in over 20 years, after discovering years of embezzlement from a former employee that forced the paper to lay off its entire staff just before Christmas.

Under any circumstances, the news would be shocking and devastating. For Eugene, the end of the Weekly would be a death blow to highquality local news.

In the wake of the announcement, the community’s response has been substantial. Its GoFundMe page has raised well over $70,000 as of this writing. Yet it may not be enough.

That’s why we are urging the UO community to donate to the Weekly — either via their website or their GoFundMe — because we need all hands on deck to save a beloved local institution.

The troubles at other Eugene-area publications, like the Register-Guard, have been well-documented in recent years. But

high-quality local reporting has survived, in large part thanks to the Weekly.

In 2021, the Weekly set out to write obituaries for people who died homeless in Lane County.

The practice has continued ever since.

Last year, the Weekly’s top story was an indepth profile of a local restaurant owner, Sang Joo “Joy” Knudtson of Basil’s Restaurant, who passed away in 2022.

Eugene Weekly is the only local news outlet that provides election endorsements, particularly for niche local races and ballot measures that many voters haven’t tuned into. And they do it every year — even off-years like 2023.

There has been no greater supporter of Emerald student journalists than the Weekly.

Numerous staff members — including several writing this letter — have published their first professional articles in the paper; countless former alumni can recall the Weekly being their first job out of college, or a Weekly staff member taking a chance on an inexperienced student.

The Weekly also regularly publishes investigative reporting from the student-driven Catalyst Journalism Project, including reporting on the city’s lackluster response to homelessness, behind-the-scenes changes at the 4J School District and more.

These are just a handful of the resources and articles that the community would lose should the Weekly shutter. There is more where that came from. These projects aren’t just anecdotal — they’re a testament to how much the Weekly uniquely cares for the community it serves.

The Emerald now finds itself in a strange position. While we are a student publication, whose goal first and foremost is to serve the UO community, we also recognize we are among a dying breed of local news publications. In coming weeks, we will be considering our responsibility to the Eugene community — and how events like this might influence our coverage of the city moving forward.

Make no mistake, though — any increased city coverage by the Emerald will not fill the void the Weekly would leave behind. That’s why we urge the community to support the Weekly however they can, in ways big or small. The city needs it. The Emerald needs it. And UO students need it, too.

The Daily Emerald is published

by Emerald Media Group, Inc., the independent nonprofit media company at the University of Oregon. Formerly the Oregon Daily Emerald, the news organization was founded in 1900.

IN OTHER NEWS

(Alex Hernandez/Emerald)

The Oregon football season ended with a resounding Fiesta Bowl victory over the Liberty University Flames, 45-6, on Jan. 1.

(Alex Hernandez/Emerald)

Protesters gathered on Dec. 28, 2023, outside of Rep. Val Hoyle’s office to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

We want to hear from you: Email editor@ dailyemerald.com to submit a tip or a letter to the editor. The ideal length for a letter is 200-500 words, but we publish letters of various lengths online.

- The Daily Emerald Editorial Staff

THE DAILY EMERALD

Once filled with newspapers, a Eugene Weekly stand that is located in a shopping center is now left empty. (Jonathan Suni/Emerald) T U E S D AY, J A N UA R Y 9 , 2 0 2 4

LOOK ONLINE

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NEWS

TEMPERATURE SET POINT POLICY BALANCES COMFORT, ENERGY MANAGEMENT

BY GREY KAMASZ • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHART The University of Oregon’s Campus Planning & Facilities Management established a temperature set policy in 2021 to make buildings on campus more comfortable for occupants and save energy as part of the UO Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.

Today, the policy could help make building temperatures more comfortable for students and allow them to concentrate on their studies. The policy will also help the university achieve its CAP 2 goals and guidelines.

The temperature set point policy is led by the Building Automation Group, which “coordinates with Facilities Services, Design and Construction, the UO Registrar’s office and the Utilities and Energy Department to gather data related to the performance of building automation systems,” according to the UO Strategic Energy Management Plan FY20-21 Edition.

The temperature setpoints are between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit for occupied hours and between 66 degrees and 78 degrees Fahrenheit for unoccupied hours, according to the Thermal Conditioning Operating Standards document.

Occupied is when the buildings are unlocked and accessible whereas unoccupied is when the buildings are closed and inaccessible. The UO Strategic Energy Management Plan FY20-21 Edition defines occupied hours as when the campus buildings are unlocked and accessible; 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The established set points follow guidelines set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

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Operating Standards, the policy applies to most buildings on campus, specifically all General Funded university buildings. Buildings in this criteria include main campus buildings and grounds. The policy does not apply to housing and athletics facilities as they are governed by separate policies.

“I feel like a lot of buildings are either really hot or really cold, and there’s not a happy medium,” Makenna Phillips, a UO freshman majoring in anthropology and geography, said.

“Gerlinger Hall specifically is often really hot and then at Knight Library I feel cold all the time.

Despite the uncomfortable temperature,

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The set points, established by UO’s campus planning team, will help the university manage energy consumption, heating and cooling costs

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Phillips said the policy is a step in the right direction and will help prevent buildings from being excessively hot or cold. Phillips said that the policy could also help improve students’ comfortability levels during classes.

“Having a set of conditions laid out will make it easier for students to be in learning environments,” she said. “When you are more comfortable, it’s easy for you to learn.”

The policy is currently in effect and aims to continue making the building temperatures on campus more comfortable for occupants.

The Daily Emerald reached out to Steve Mital, UO Office of Sustainability director, for an interview, but he was unavailable at the time of publishing.

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“IT’S F—ING RIDICULOUS”:

NEWS

UO RESIDENTS SPEAK ON WINTER BREAK AND Housing charged UO residents up to $980 for room fees HOUSING FEES University during winter break

BY YSABELLA SOSA • DESIGNED BY LIZ BLODGETT

Similarly, UO student Mia Gaviglio believes that the fees were too extensive to not have any access to the dining halls. Gaviglio paid a fee of $105 to stay in her dorm, located in Hamilton Hall, for three nights.

“We are going to have to go and get food anyways because the dining halls will be closed, so on top of paying $105, I also have to pay for food,” Gaviglio said. “$105, come on. [UO Housing is] devious for that.”

The Basic Needs Program provided a limited list of food resources available to residents during the break, including two Produce Drops by the Student Sustainability Center and LGBTESS. “The bottom line is that the parameters are that the dining halls are closed for that entire time,” UO spokesperson Angela Seydel said.

“There’s other food options around town.”

In addition, residents who live in the New Apartment-Style Residence Hall were exempted from paying the $980 fee.

“Those who are in the New Apartment-Style Residence Hall, winter break is included because they’re apartment style, very similar to apartments,” Griffel said. “The Apartment-Style Residence Hall building includes winter break as part of the contract fee.”

Griffel said the reason why those residents were exempted from the winter fee was because the costs are included in the contract beforehand. Residents in the Apartment-Style rooms also don’t have access to the dining halls.

Like Gaviglio, many residents stayed behind because they had no other form of transportation.

“The reason why I’m staying here extra is because there were no University Housing is located in Justice Bean Hall. The department houses thousands of UO students and employs over 1,200 staff members. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald) flights that we could take, so I have to stay,” Gaviglio said.

“When winter break comes around, finals week, especially when you’re already stressing about everything else, you have to either already pay for a flight or be prepared to pay to live in the dorms, which is UO students who requested to remain in their dorm rooms from Dec. ridiculous,” Coppola said.

9, 2023, to Jan. 5 were charged $35 a day, or a total price of $980, to Gaviglio and Coppola both agreed that residents should not have paid a high room over winter break. fee because of transportation issues. Simultaneously, Gaviglio and Coppola called on the university to better inform residents about the winter break fees Many residents have expressed their frustrations over the substantial fees. before the start of the fall term.

“It’s completely a rip off,” UO student Ava Coppola said. “The school tries to Upon signing the Residence Hall Contract, residents are agreeing to the suck out a lot of money from us in any way they possibly can.” terms and conditions of the contract; if residents requested to room during Coppola emphasized how the winter break fees were just another tactic for winter break, there was a room fee. the university to bill students.

According to Griffel, “The contract doesn’t include any costs. All fees According to Michael Griffel, director for university housing, the fees were “a and costs are listed on the website.” However, the room and board fees are prorated version of the overall cost for room and board.” “communicated pretty clearly. There’s the page related to holidays and breaks Additionally, Griffel said the costs helped to pay for the maintenance of each in general and then the web page for each of the breaks individually.” residence hall and for staff.

Residents who are experiencing financial difficulties may pay their winter “A facility still needs to be maintained while [residents are] there and the staff break fees in installments. still needs to be here to be able to provide a level of safety and support. We have Less than 2% of UO residents requested to room during the winter break. staff that are on call and on duty when there are folks who are here,” Griffel said.

Residents who are leaving UO indefinitely had the opportunity to request Residents did not receive any boarding amenities, as the $980 fee only to room until Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. If they chose not to request a room, those covered rooming. former UO students were charged $35 a day for the extra days passed.

“We [UO Housing] take what the most modest room and board rates are for “It’s sad,” Gaviglio said. “Just [do] not charge us.” the year and prorate that on a daily basis,” Griffel said.

Regardless of the fees, the dining halls were closed over winter break, forcing residents who were living in the dorms to seek off-campus food options.

“If the dining halls are not open, and nobody’s staying in the dorms, are you paying to wash the toilet and turn the light on,” Coppola said.

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OPINION

TRESNIT: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IS WORTH A VISIT Opinion: Don’t waste a golden opportunity to look into the past

BY SADIE TRESNIT • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHART As silly as it sounds now, I admit I was afraid of the Knight Library when I first came to UO. I’m a lifelong library lover, and my childhood was full of weekly trips to my local branch in Portland, but something about the Knight Library felt different.

Maybe it was the imposing brick exterior covered in Latin and Bible verses, or maybe it was just because I was a puny little freshman terrified of running into people and places I didn’t know. Whatever the reason, I’m happy to say I’ve overcome my fear and discovered one particularly underappreciated part of the library: Special Collections.

This happy introduction took place last term when I was in a class on the history and importance of reading and note-taking. My professor announced we would be visiting Special Collections to see firsthand how people had processed and recorded information in the past. Even though I’m interested in history, I was expecting a collection of dusty old business records that wouldn’t hold my attention for a minute. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My classmates and I filed through the cavernous Paulson Reading Room, which looked like it could’ve been a college movie set, and into the much cozier Ken Kesey Classroom. Here, various books and journals were laid out on tables, each more intriguing than the last. As the department’s curator of manuscripts, Linda Long, explained each item, I couldn’t wait to start reading. We only had a small selection of what the archive offered, and I looked at medieval illuminated manuscripts, early 20th-century journals and 1950s children’s books.

It was like a buffet for the mind. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before my junior year.

Later that week, we returned and had the opportunity to hold a letter written by George Washington as well as experiment with writing cursive with feather quills and steel nib pens. As we worked on our projects, my classmates requested boxes of old photographs, archived PA G E 1 0

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An overview of the Special Collections reading room. (Lulu Devoulin/Emerald) A document on display in the Special Collections reading room. Students are able to access documents dating back to medieval times, as well as more recent works by authors such as Ken Kesey. (Lulu Devoulin/Emerald)

correspondence, and even vintage comic books.

Special Collections had it all, and a cursory glance at their website reveals even more forms of media. Words can’t describe how grateful I am to Long and the other librarians who provided such a unique experience. It was so different from any class activity I had done before and it opened up a whole new part of the library for me. I couldn’t wait to come back.

Out of everything I read that week, I was most excited by the George Allan Dyson papers. This gigantic box contained journals and ephemera accumulated throughout his life, and I read them so intensely that he began to feel like a friend (but in a normal way, I swear).

I found his journals from the 1860s particularly striking as he was my age, writing about his life as a miner in Virginia City and San Francisco.

Access to such personal accounts brought his story to life and made me feel more connected to that moment in history. It was interesting to discover that we kept notes the same way, filling notebooks not only with diary entries, but also fun facts, news headlines and doodles.

Because I’m me, which apparently includes being afraid of the unknown, I thoroughly browsed the Special Collections website before my visit. I was a bit intimidated by the special rules concerning this department of the library (requesting materials

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five days in advance, leaving my backpack in a locker, and only taking notes with a pencil). The rest of the library seemed so much more accessible in comparison. However, when I was there in person, the librarians immediately put me at ease. I appreciated that they explained the reasoning behind all the rules, and the extra steps were definitely worth it for all the unique papers I got to read.

Learning about the past through lectures and textbooks is all well and good, but holding a piece of history in your hands raises the stakes. It humanizes the past, full of people just like you and I, in a way no presentation ever will. We’re lucky enough to have hundreds of years of fascinating archival material right under our noses, and we walk past it every day. You could be like me and have no idea it was there or only have heard about it in passing, but one thing’s for certain: Special Collections deserves your attention.

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COVER

Eugene Police Department Chief Chris Skinner examines a map of Eugene’s different districts. (Sarah Northrop/Emerald)

LANE COUNTY LIFTS YEAR-LONG HIATUS FROM PROSECUTING LOW-LEVEL CRIMES

BY TAREK ANTHONY

DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS

In November 2023, the Lane County District Attorney’s office announced it would be ending its pause from prosecuting low-level crimes. The announcement stated that it had hired nearly 40 new attorneys, allowing crimes that were previously being placed on a “no-file” list to now be prosecuted.

For over a year beginning in July 2022, the LCDA’s office did not prosecute low-level crimes such as trespassing, first-degree criminal mischief and theft due to staffing shortages. This frequently led to the Eugene Police Department using its limited staff to arrest people on lowlevel crimes, only for them to be released due to the DA’s office not being able to prosecute.

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Lane County Jail continues to suffer from capacity shortages as the District Attorney’s office resumes prosecuting low-level crimes

“[LCDA] had a terrible turnover problem beginning in 2021 continuing through 2022, where 15 lawyers out of 24 in the Criminal Division resigned,” Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow said. “Every time someone left, their caseload had to be assumed by the other lawyers who remained and it became untenable to just keep dumping more and more cases on the lawyers that were remaining.” Perlow cited this as the main reason for halting low-level crime prosecution.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Parosa said that the mass exodus of lawyers increased caseloads and longer work hours. “[Lane County lawyers] were overworked and overwhelmed and decided to go to jobs that

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either paid more money or ultimately required a little less of their time,” Parosa said.

According to Perlow, in addition to a significant pay increase, new legislation in spring 2023 put Oregon Deputy District Attorneys into the Public Employees Retirement System benefits program, granting DDAs retirement pensions, among other benefits. Perlow said the new legislation has helped bring in experienced prosecutors, ultimately allowing LCDA to begin prosecuting low-level crimes once again.

While the effects the LCDA’s announcement will have on jail inmate numbers are still too early to tell, Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner expressed optimism.

“It’s absolutely critical, having [the DA’s office]

COVER fully staffed is critical to a healthy criminal justice system,” Skinner said.

15 jail beds for Oregon’s second most populated city: “We want the right 15 people” Eugene –– Lane County’s largest city –– has only been allotted space to hold 15 offenders from Eugene at any given time. These beds serve all of Eugene’s 175,000 residents.

According to Skinner, who described beds in the Lane County Jail as a “static resource,” LCJ has long struggled with a lack of capacity to hold offenders. This forces jail employees into a constant triage process of deciding who to hold and who to release.

“Most of the time there is no jail time at all for low-level offenders,” Skinner said. “If we only have 15 beds at Lane County Jail for our misdemeanor crimes then we want the right 15 people in jail. Most of those 15 people are more violent misdemeanors.”

Skinner suggested that the lack of capacity, and subsequent little to no punishment for lowlevel offenders, could be to blame for higher crime recidivism.

“It [no jail time] certainly doesn’t deter [recidivism]. When you engage in crime and you make a victim out of somebody else, you get arrested. There’s no sanctions and then you’re back out doing your thing, and so it certainly doesn’t deter crime,” Skinner said.

Even though LCJ is located in Eugene, the city of Eugene is strictly allocated 15 beds to ensure space for every other arresting agency in Lane County.

“We [LCJ] have a contract with the city of Eugene and they essentially rent 15 beds from us,” LCJ Lieutenant Jason Moore said. Moore said that should LCJ reach its capacity, it will then give arrested individuals a priority code; individuals with the lowest code are then given a court date and released pending trial.

According to a study conducted by the Oregon Judicial Branch, just one-third of the 740,000 people currently held in jails around the country have been convicted of a crime. People who have not been convicted and have been denied or can not afford bail await trial and are unable to work. They are also removed from their families and communities as they await trial.

The practice of removing people from society during pre-trial detention has been shown to significantly increase

the likelihood that they will re-commit a crime once they are released, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

To combat pre-trial injustice, many states and jurisdictions have adopted a form of Risk Assessment Tools. RATs are used to determine the safety risk or flight risk an individual poses and help to decide whether they are related pending trial and if so what pretrial condition they must follow. Lane County is one of six counties in Oregon to use a form of an RAT for determining pretrial release.

According to Moore, when an individual is booked into LCJ, they are given a 84-question risk assessment weighing multiple factors including:

- Charge Type (ie. mismendamor, felony, etc.)

- Criminal history - Number of failure to appear listings on one’s record - History of substance abuse - Housing status - Employment status - Family support

The assessment, in combination with an interview between pretrial officers and the offender, produces a score used to determine the “risk level” of an individual. This score is used to dictate which offenders are released pending trial and which are held for pre-trial detention.

LCJ uses several jail alternatives for offenders that are deemed to pose no public safety threat. The programs include a GPS monitoring program, a Community Service Program, a Sheriff ’s Work Crew Program and Drug Court. Drug Court is used to help offenders with substance abuse disorder by providing treatment.

“There’s alternatives rather than coming into custody, that’s allowed us to kind of manipulate who stays here, so we are only keeping the folks that really need to stay in a locked facility,” Moore said. “By sending those other folks out on release agreements … we are seeing, I think it’s in the mid 80% success rate of them coming back to court.”

Police officers bike down the street during a demonstration on Dec. 16, 2023 in Eugene, Ore. (Alex Hernandez/Emerald) T U E S D AY, J A N UA R Y 9 , 2 0 2 4

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OPINION

BYRD: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WOMAN IN CATHOLICISM Opinion: When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary really does come to me

BY BEATRICE BYRD • DESIGNED BY LIZ BLODGETT “There has been an issue processing your prescription,” my pharmacy told me. “I wonder if it’s because we’re Catholic,” my sister responded.

being welcoming and inclusive.”

Perhaps my past Sunday school teachers told me not to deal with rage. Still, to me, the most sacred part of religion is the emotional and welcoming principles, and I’ll be damned — literally — before I step foot in a parish of noninclusivity. And if we use Walsh’s logic, that’s where continually male-dominated parishes will lead us.

Walsh’s comments, however, only pose a

I was angry. In fact, I was furious. I was most of the hateful, ungodly characteristics that my childhood Sunday school teachers had warned me about. More than all of this, however, I was in need of hormonal birth control to soothe symptoms related to Premenstrual Syndrome, or PMS. But I have Catholic health (Julia Stalnaker/Emerald) insurance, and my symptoms were not covered by Catholicism’s “medical reasons” for hormones.

My Psalms told me, “I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy,” but my causes did not feel religiously upheld.

My Proverbs told me, “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,” but the greatest defense I found was a coupon site for prescriptions if your insurance didn’t cover them.

I grew up in the aisles of churches. Having parents who both became church workers helped form my ideas of community, presence and communication. I wrote an article during my first year at the University of Oregon about the struggles of revealing my Christian beliefs while in college.

But now, more than that discomfiture, I feel uneasy claiming my belonging to fiercely one-sided argument against women’s an institution that has patterns of oppressing positions in the church. women — as my sister makes jokes that she The current problem we face lies within the will one day be the pope, or at the very least, a modern interpretation of Scripture and the way it member of the clergy. gets translated into oppression against women.

A right-wing political commentator, Matt Walsh, One example of this is in a Bible verse from discussed his view about women holding positions Corinthians that says women should remain of power in the churches, saying, “The last thing silent in churches. This verse, by itself, sounds we need here is more women in church leadership antiquated and misogynistic. And it is if you use it positions. The church is already too feminized, too as a passage that exists in a modern context. But at soft, too focused on feelings and emotions, and PA G E 1 4

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the time this was written, it was saying something much more powerful and radical: women were allowed in churches.

Churches encounter issues when they take these messages and make them exist in a context they weren’t originally meant for. The power and ratification need to travel along with the verse, or else they become weapons rather than teachings.

They become oppressive instead of welcoming.

They pin man against woman and create a dichotomous environment full of hegemonic structuring.

Abigail Favale, a writer and professor of English at George Fox University, talks about the book of Genesis and the presentation of male and female creation.

“Our identities as men and women matter, they carry sacred significance, and they occupy a prominent place in this worldview,” Favale said.

She continued, saying, “Men and women’s sexual differences in Genesis uniquely foreground the importance of the malefemale relationship, and this is a relationship not of domination but of reciprocity,” Favale said.

“There’s not a hierarchy of value, no dynamic of superiority or inferiority sexual differentiation.

It is not a mishap but a cause for celebration and wonder.”

While these statements rely on gender dualism, they also provide a modern and religious understanding of complementary principles. Men and women should be viewed as equals. And the simplicity of existing as such should be applied to our churches.

It remains, at times, difficult to be part of an institution that sometimes uses old-fashioned translations to repress women and prioritizes the potential of new life over my hormonal use of contraceptives. But I remain hopeful for further, future developments.

Maybe someday my sister really will be the pope. And I’ll get my prescription for free.

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JOY DIVISION’S DESOLATE BEAUTY STILL RESONATES Listening to this legendary post-punk band provides unknown pleasures

BY DAVID CHANDLER • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHART Joy Division, a quartet of young men from Manchester, U.K., formed in the ashes of punk rock’s musical and cultural inferno. The fire lit by The Ramones, fanned by The Clash and accelerated by The Sex Pistols blew up in the late 1970s.

The conflagration sparked the creation of countless bands around the world. From the cinders arose legendary groups such as The Cure, U2, Siouxie and The Banshees and The Birthday Party. Others, like the equally legendary and influential band The Smiths, also arose out of the fertile Mancunian post-punk scene. But Joy Division is first among equals.

Composed of Peter Hook, bass; Stephen Morris, drums; Bernard Sumner, keyboards and guitar; and Ian Curtis, vocals, Joy Division was formed in 1976 and came to a tragic, premature end a mere four years later. Their slim discography consists of an early EP; two full-length studio albums, “Unknown Pleasures” and “Closer”; and a couple postdissolution compilations.

Joy Division has been described as the first “goth” band, but that label is constricting. Like all great bands that create a new sound, they both exemplified and transcended it. Where goth often lapses into camp or parody (all those black clothes, graveyards and bats), Joy Division was earnestly their own

uncategorizable musical force.

Unique music can be difficult to describe, as it’s hard to draw comparisons. The words cold, bleak and spare come to mind for Joy Division — but so do moving, transcendent and profound. It has been said that listening to sad music can be cathartic, and Joy Division proves the maxim.

An innovation of the group was giving the bass a lead role, often carrying the melody, as in “Transmission.” Morris’ sputtering drumming engendered a sense of unease. Icy washes of synths and jagged guitar lines pierced the musical fabric.

The indisputable focal point of the band was Curtis, whose signature spastic dancing evoked the seizures that racked him as an epileptic. His baritone voice was haunting and mesmerizing, intoning unsettling, impressionistic lyrics: “Mother I tried, please believe me / I’m doing the best that I can / I’m ashamed of the things I’ve been put through / I’m ashamed of the person I am,” he chants in “Isolation.”

“In the shadowplay, acting out your own death, knowing no more / As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor,” go the dark, enigmatic lyrics of “Shadowplay.”

“Beyond all this good is the terror / The grip of a mercenary hand / When savagery turns all good reason / There’s no turning back, no last stand,” Curtis sings in “Heart and Soul.”

“Love Will Tear Us Apart,” probably Joy Division’s most famous song, is a harrowing ballad of fractured intimacy: “Why is the bedroom so cold? / You’ve turned away on your side / Is my timing that flawed? / Our respect runs so dry / Yet there’s still this appeal / That we’ve kept through our lives.” For

anyone who has been in a relationship where love is not enough, this song will assuredly resonate.

“Atmosphere” and “Ceremony” are standout songs, both relying heavily on synthesizers to convey a mood of emptiness and despair, with lyrics including “Walk in silence, don’t walk away, in silence / See the danger, always danger / Always talking, life rebuilding / Don’t walk away” and “Oh, I’ll break them down, no mercy shown / Heaven knows, it’s got to be this time / Watching her, the things she said / The times she cried, too frail to wake this time.”

A sufferer of chronic depression, Curtis took his own life in May 1980 on the eve of Joy Division’s first North American tour. In the aftermath, the three remaining members reconstituted as New Order, adding Gillian Gilbert on keys. While they initially struggled to create their own unique, coherent sound, the release of 1983’s landmark album “Power, Corruption and Lies” put to rest any notion that they were a mere carbon copy of Joy Division. Credited as pioneers of synth-pop, New Order’s music is danceable — at times even effervescent — while retaining the austere tone and instrumentation of their predecessor.

Both bands are seminal and equally deserving of a larger audience. Joy Division, though, is the ideal soundtrack for this time of year as a chill creeps into the air.

Listen while it rains and the sun is setting early, in the stillness of an empty room. You will be immersed in a soundscape of desolate beauty and purified by the experience.

“hi, joy division” by Ho-Teng Chang is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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BATTLING COMPARISON

(Holly Huynh/Emerald)

BY JESS MCCOMB • DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS

It’s easy to belittle your own accomplishments by comparing them to others. In the whirlwind of my first weeks of training, I lost sight of the little girl who would have been bewildered to watch her 21-year-old self train for a marathon.

After I wrote last week’s column (which you can find online) about how slow of a runner I am, a few of my readers — my parents and my co-editor — told me I was far too hard on myself.

In that column, I complained that my pace now isn’t nearly as fast as when I ran a half marathon in November. I felt stupid for taking a week off after the race and “sacrificing” all my progress.

I’ve since realized that if I had kept training at the level I had been post race, I would have risked injury. So today, as I ran my 10-mile run at a pace nearly two whole minutes slower than my half marathon pace, I consciously decided to let go of comparison.

For me, ditching comparison is best accomplished by way of gratitude. This may be the corniest thing I will ever say in this column, but even if I’m running slow, I’m so grateful that I get to run. In fact, running has taught me more about gratitude than I would have expected.

As a teenage girl, the ultimate battle of comparison I’ve faced is that of comparing my body to others. The day after I ran my half marathon, I went to the UO Rec Center to get back into the groove of lifting after a two-week hiatus during my taper for the race.

Although at that moment I was in the best shape of my entire life, I found myself comparing my body to the girls in the gym with leaner frames and hating the way I looked.

I’m 5-foot-5 with a stocky build,

and unlike the lean standard I had assigned to runners bodies, I have bulky muscles and short legs. That day I was so disgustingly jealous of the girls in the gym with their toned, lean legs, and I decided it was extremely unfair that I could do all this training and still not look like an athlete the way they did.

Although I was having a massive self-pity party, I forced myself to employ gratitude. I realized it didn’t matter what my body looked like after running a half marathon because at least my body was capable of running a half marathon, and that is a thing many people will never have the privilege of doing.

Again today I was faced with comparison. Trudging along the Amazon Park running loop this morning, I had the joy of encountering a group of who I assumed to be UO track athletes four different times. The first time they passed me, I was embarrassed. I was sweaty and wheezing as I went uphill, and worst of all, I’m sure they could hear the One Direction song blasting in my headphones. It’s moments like these that I feel I have no right to call T U E S D AY, J A N UA R Y 9 , 2 0 2 4

myself a runner. But that statement is a whole load of bull. There is no pace or body type that defines someone as a runner, and for months now, I’ve refused to call myself a runner because I didn’t meet the standard I created in my head.

During all 10 of my very slow miles this morning, I decided it was time to ditch this self-created standard for good. By the fourth time I saw the UO athletes, I felt extremely proud because I had run the same eight miles as them.

I realized it didn’t matter if I was minutes or hours behind them – I was running all the same and therefore I, too, am a runner.

I’m sure this won’t be the last time I battle with comparing myself to other athletes or my better, faster past self. But moving forward, I think it’s extremely important to accept myself at my current best and be grateful for all I have in the moment. I may not be running eight-minute mile 5Ks or 9:30-pace-long runs anymore, but I am still on my feet running, and now I get to experience the joy of improving all over again. |

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SPORTS

DOMINANCE AT THE FIVE Phillipina Kyei is a bright spot in Oregon women’s basketball this season During a December matchup, the fans inside Matthew Knight Arena finally had something to celebrate.

8.6 minutes a contest and never started. After losing starting forwards Sedona Prince and Nyara Sabally to the transfer portal and the WNBA draft, her average jumped to 24.5 minutes last season.

Since the start of her sophomore year, she played in 50 games and started in all of those. Still, the time she’s spent on the floor this season – especially during that four-game streak – is greater as a senior.

“She had played 35 minutes [against Southern]. She couldn’t have done that last year,” Graves said after that game. “Physically she couldn’t have done it, but I don’t think mentally she could have done it.”

Kyei came out of the Jaguars game after her 21st board, which was also a Pac12 season-high. She was met with an ovation from the crowd.

“I think they appreciate just two short years ago what she looked like out there. I mean, to see what she’s doing now,” Graves said.

Unfortunately, while Kyei’s play has steadily improved since her first year, the team has not. Last season, Oregon failed to make the NCAA Tournament and was bounced in the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. This season’s outcome looks even bleaker, with the Ducks struggling even against teams like Santa Clara and the University of Portland.

The Pac-12 season has gotten off to a rocky start for Oregon with consecutive losses. If it’s going to start racking up wins, it will need Kyei to be at her best.

Center Phillipina Kyei had just snagged her twenty-first rebound of the night against the Southern Jaguars. Even better, the Ducks had a 28-point lead with two minutes left.

Moments like those have been rare throughout the lackluster start to the Oregon women’s basketball season. The Ducks finished 9-4 in their nonconference schedule. Fans have witnessed a 39-point home loss, poor shooting performances and devastating injuries.

But Kyei’s performance on both sides of the floor that night against the Jaguars gave the crowd something to cheer for. It was also evidence of who Oregon can go to if it wants any chance of contending in a highly competitive Pac-12 conference.

Standing at 6-foot-8, Kyei is the tallest player in program history. She also is tied for the tallest in the Pac-12 conference this season. Kyei’s size gives the Ducks a mismatch in the paint and a force to reckon with on the glass.

When Kyei is at her best, so are the Ducks. In their nine non-conference wins, she averaged a double-double. Her 21-rebound performance was part of a four-game win streak, Oregon’s longest of the season. During that stretch, Kyei scored 16+ points and 17+ rebounds in three of those games.

Oregon head coach Kelly Graves said they’re Phillipina Kyei (15) fights through defenders “a different team” when Kyei plays like she did to take a lay-up. The Oregon Ducks women’s throughout that streak. He added that she’s “selfish” basketball team took on the Santa Clara grabbing boards.

Broncos on Nov. 18, 2023, in Eugene, Ore. (Molly McPherson/Emerald) Kyei usually has a quiet demeanor. When asked about her rebounding dominance and Graves’ comments, though, she couldn’t help but grin.

“I know I’m selfish when it comes to the rebounds,” Kyei said after the Southern game. “Just got to do what you got to do.”

Kyei played 27+ minutes in all four games of the non-conference win streak. Those are hefty minutes for a player her size. Part of her statistical rise and her ability to be on the floor longer is due in part to a change in mentality.

“I think she sometimes puts limits on herself and those are starting to go away,” Graves said at a practice.

The longer Kyei is on the floor, the more opposing teams have to deal with her physicality. It doesn’t hurt that her confidence has grown mightily since she first began playing with the Ducks.

“I think she’s figuring out that she can really do some damage inside,” forward Grace VanSlooten also said at practice. “I think that confidence is the most important thing right now.”

This season, Kyei has eight double-doubles, the second most in the Pac-12. She is also second in the conference in rebounding and eighth in blocked shots. Her averages have gone up in almost every category every season.

Some of her growth has to do with the fact that she’s seen the floor more between her freshman and junior seasons. As a freshman, she only averaged PA G E 2 2

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