2-27-23 Emerald Media Group - ODE

HOFFMAN: GENDER INCLUSIVITY MEETS THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES

Opinion: Romance languages have no gender-neutral rules, but universities are hoping to adopt new pronoun practices.

NEWSROOM

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Hannarose McGuinness

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

Brandon Roth

DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

Sarah Matlick

NEWS EDITORS

Alexis Weisend

Gavin Gamez

Caleb Barber

A&C EDITORS

Krista Kroiss

Evan Reynolds

SPORTS EDITORS

Aaron Heisen

Mojo Hill

OPINION EDITORS

Emma J Nelson

Sophia Cossette

PHOTO EDITOR

Maddie Stellingwerf

SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Ian Enger

DESIGN EDITOR

Liz Blodgett

COPY CHIEF

Amanda Lurey

ASSOCIATE COPY EDITORS

Dylan Farell

Logan Robertson

VIDEO EDITOR

Troy Munson

PODCAST EDITOR

Jamie Diep

SOCIALS EDITOR

Jennifer Singh

VISUALS EDITOR

Julia Stalnaker

BUSINESS

PUBLISHER & PRESIDENT

Bill Kunerth X317 bkunerth@dailyemerald.com

VP OPERATIONS

Kathy Carbone X302 kcarbone@dailyemerald.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES & DIGITAL MARKETING

Shelly Rondestvedt X303 srondestvedt@dailyemerald.com

CREATIVE & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Annie Smith X327 creative@dailyemerald.com

STUDENT SALES MANAGER

Amy Mendez

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Riley Valle

Keaton Roberts

Max Goldenberg

Josh Delapena

ON THE COVER

Rhone Geha has been a French instructor at the University of Oregon since the Fall of 2021. Romance languages’ emphasis on gender excludes non-binary individuals, but some countries are altering their vocabulary to include more gender-neutral articles and nouns. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

THE DAILY EMERALD

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,

LOCAL BUSINESSES AFFECTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS BY THE LOCAL BUSINESSES AFFECTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS BY THE CONSTRUCTION ON EAST 13TH AVENUE

Construction of the new student housing building, Flock 13, has limited most of East 13th Avenue, decreasing some businesses’ salessale revenue.

BY: JASMINE SABOORIAN

Some local businesses on East 13th Avenue say they are affected by the construction of new student housing but are looking forward to the increased business it may bring once it is completed.

The Duck Store and the deChase Miksis development firm have moved forward with their construction plans for Flock 13, a new seven-story, transit-oriented development on East 13th Avenue.

This plan included the demolition of East 13th Avenue’s Toxic Wings X-Press, Bobahead, Caspian Mediterranean Cafe, Oregon Colors Boutique, Simply Mac and the former location of Dudley’s Kampus Barber Shop. The floor plan for the Flock 13 project consists of a ground floor with restaurants and retail stores and student apartments on the above floors.

There is construction work on East 13th Avenue that has taken up much of the street, which has affected traffic, students walking and some businesses on the avenue.

“We have definitely seen a slight decrease in business, as fewer people have been choosing to walk through 13th Avenue onto campus,” Espresso Roma barista Corey Sharr said. “It has brought less attention to our coffee shop.”

Most of the sidewalk on Espresso Roma’s side of the street is blocked off with high fencing due to the construction.

Sharr said the construction has caused major traffic issues and the elimination of parking on the street as a whole. However, once the construction is finished, Sharr said he thinks it will bring more attention to Espresso Roma.

Since the construction is only occupying one

side of East 13th Avenue, some of the businesses on the opposite side are experiencing an increase in customers due to their perceptible availability.

“Since the construction is on the other side, people tend to come to our side of the street more and come in our stores,” Nekter Juice Bar shift leader Jasmyn Anderson said. “We have been getting more customers, and it’s been a little busier.”

Anderson said she expects the completion of the student housing building to improve the business of Nekter Juice Bar and other retailers significantly because of its convenient location. Students living in the new housing will benefit from its proximity to campus, restaurants and stores, Anderson said.

According to The Duck Store CEO Arlyn Schaufler and The Duck Store Marketing Director Eric Breitenstein, The Duck Store Board of Directors had been in contact with the deChase Miksis development firm to best utilize their project proposal without taking away business from The Duck Store’s neighboring retailers.

“We do not have any complaints,” Schaufler and Breitenstein wrote in an email. “While we hoped that street parking on East 13th would remain during construction, we understand the need for the protected pedestrian path to keep the area safe for students and others visiting the University District.”

The remaining retailers on East 13th Avenue are holding on to the hope that once the limitations from the construction are completed, the business in their stores will increase significantly.

Second

(Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald)

Do you want your voice heard literally? Scan here to respond to our Voices of UO prompt with a brief voice message, and head to www. dailyemerald. com/ multimedia/ podcasts/ next week to listen to the replies!

(Maisie Plew/Emerald)

For updated coverage of sports and digital-exclusive content, go to www.dailyemerald.com

Construction on East 13th Avenue has blocked off part of the sidewalk (Alexis Weisend/Emerald).

SUPPORTING STUDENT VETERANS

The Student Veterans Center works to ease barriers student veterans, their dependents and current military personnel face.

BY ROMIE AVIVI STUHL

Jacob Pixler, the assistant coordinator of the University of Oregon Student Veterans Center, sits at the front desk as he welcomes students. In front of him are several informational brochures with resources for students and some free stickers. An American flag hangs from the ceiling and several military plaques line the walls.

The University of Oregon Student Veterans Center is located on the first floor of the EMU. It aims to provide resources and support to student veterans to ease barriers they may face, including trauma and financial barriers. Students are welcome to grab a free cup of coffee or look in the fridge for any food left from the weekly produce drop. To some student veterans, the space provides a space where they can be understood.

Pixler said the Student Veterans Center has a misleading name. Its name suggests it is only for veterans. However, it is open to all students who utilize the GI Bill, including students currently serving in the military and their dependents. According to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the GI Bill helps “qualifying Veterans and their family members get money to cover all or some of the costs for school or training.”

Pixler said that due to the center’s misleading name, many students who may benefit from the space don’t utilize it. He suggested switching the name, but said that he was met with opposition from his supervisor. According to Pixler, his supervisor said they tried to change the name in the past but were not successful. He would also like to change the name because “veterans have been stigmatized for a while.” He sees a real difference between how veterans were perceived after World War II and how they were perceived after the Vietnam War, with veterans receiving backlash upon their return from Vietnam.

“I think there’s an idea that there’s a certain type or like even class of people that will join the military,” Pixler said. “Most people that I’ve met aren’t what you typically think of.”

For students like Philip Highwood, the Student Veterans Center is a space for community, support and camaraderie. Highwood is a graduate student pursuing

a Master of Education in prevention science. While Highwood worked in suicide prevention in the army for 12 years, he hopes this degree will allow him to be more marketable and in turn have a more profound impact.

“Main reason for going back to school is to get that back to get that master’s degree,” Highwood said. “So that I can be a bigger voice in the community.”

Through the Peer Advisors for Veteran Education program at UO, Highwood leads roundtable Vet Talks. The participatory talks focus on issues veterans face today, rather than struggles that may arise from the past. It allows veterans to work in a group counseling session through their problems and concerns, which allows them to return to class ready to learn, Highwood said.

While Highwood feels like any other student in the class, he also said that others don’t understand what it means to be a veteran. At the Student Veterans Center, he finds support from students and staff that better understand his experiences in the National Guard and active duty.

“I don’t expect anybody that’s never been through it to even possibly comprehend [it],” Highwood said about his service in the military. “We go overseas and we go to combat so that we don’t have combat here.”

Veterans on campus face a different set of struggles than the average student, Pixler said. Stigmatization and misunderstandings are among these issues. Additionally, they may have dependents they care for or face disabilities.

“They have financial barriers and mental health issues that are unique to this population,” Pixler said about veterans. “Lots of anxiety that I think college campuses don’t necessarily have the resources to sort of help deal with.”

Through produce drops, vet talks and a variety of other activities, the Student Veterans Center works to create a supportive community for veterans, army personnel and their dependents on the UO campus.

The Student Veterans Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. For updated information on its current events and resources check out its Instagram page @uovets.

The Student Veterans Center is located on the ground floor of the EMU, in room 015. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

The Veteran Center supports students by providing basic needs resources, Vet Talks to facilitate community discussion and a comfortable space to take advantage of. (Riley Valle/Emerald)

GOVERNMENTS INSIST ON THEIR GENDERED ROMANCE LANGUAGES

GOVERNMENTS INSIST ON THEIR GENDERED ROMANCE LANGUAGES

Opinion: Language institutions in France are failing to adopt what universities are practicing: inclusive writing and gender-neutral pronouns. Activists in Argentina are throwing away the alphabet altogether.

BY TRISTIN HOFFMAN

The basis of Romance languages revolves around gender. Nouns, adjectives and articles are either masculine or feminine, or interchanged between masculine and feminine. The binary system within this language family isn’t necessarily related to sex or human gender, but nonetheless implies the importance of binary gender and undermines the nonbinary community in Romance language-speaking countries.

What are the languages under the Romance language umbrella? Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese are the most commonly spoken Romance languages. There are regional dialects, such as Catalan, a form of Spanish spoken in the Catalonia region of Spain, as well, but all require gender for their grammatical structure. Most Romance languages are spoken primarily in Europe but have made their way to Africa and the Americas through colonialism by the Spanish and French in the 16th and 19th centuries. The commonalities between each language are its origins in the Roman Empire (hence the “Roman” in Romance), its sharing of basic vocabulary and grammatical need for gender.

A language like English can easily use the pronoun “they” and has virtually genderless nouns, adjectives and articles given the structure of West-Germanic languages. Though using the pronoun “they” is grammatically incorrect, it still works within the realm of using words already spelled out for English speakers in the dictionary. For instance, if I were to ask for the email of a professor I didn’t know, I would naturally ask, “what is their email address?” Then, using the singular pronoun “they” in the context of saying

“they are a responsible student” feels more natural because I have already used this pronoun before, and in quite similar cases. The only difference between the responsible student and the professor is I am respecting the students’ nonbinary identity, and must consciously use “they/them/theirs” pronouns to refer to them.

Now back to Romance languages. There have

been recent movements to make a gender-neutral pronoun in many Romance language-speaking countries. In Argentina, a country whose official language is Spanish, there have been pushes for a

Amara Chubbic is a first-year French student at the University of Oregon. Romance languages’ emphasis on gender excludes nonbinary individuals, but some countries are altering their vocabulary to include more gender-neutral articles and nouns. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

gender-neutral language by teachers and students alike. Instead of using gendered letters such as “o” — masculine — or “a” — feminine — young Argentinians and their professors have replaced these gendered letters with gender-neutral letters or symbols such as “e,” “x” or “@.” Muchachos — which means young men — turns into muchaches —young people. Todos — all — becomes tod@s. In French, the masculine pronoun “le” often dominates the feminine pronoun “la.” For instance, if a group of 99 women and one man were to be talked about, the plural form of this group would change to the masculine form instead of feminine, despite the clear majority of women in the group. The French language has had its linguistic revolutions over the years, mainly by feminists who wanted the grammatical favoritism of men to cease,

but now the revolution against gender has come to the forefront of young French society and is taking the form of gender-neutral and inclusive writing.

“For me personally, since I don’t care which pronouns I have, [French’s genderless exclusivity] doesn’t really affect me,” Amara Chubbic, a sophomore student in their second term of first-year French, said. “It does seem like it can be [a struggle] for the nonbinary, that they have to pick one gender.”

Auriéle Bertin, a French instructor at UO from Montélimar, a town in southeastern France, has been teaching inclusive writing for about three years now.

“In my classes, I [teach] the pronoun ‘iel.’” Bertin said. “As a whole, there are masculine agreements over everything. [However], there are many different ways now in the French language to be more inclusive, even with the feminine and nonbinary pronouns with different agreements.”

“Iel” is a combination of both masculine and feminine pronouns in French. Quite literally, the new pronoun brings the masculine pronoun “il” and the feminine pronoun “elle” together to even sound like both genders. Pronounced like “yell,” “iel” has taken the academic world by storm in France and universities worldwide.

“It’s exciting. I present these teachings to my students and they can choose and see what works for them,” Bertin said. “French teaching is changing. At the university level, I’ve seen emails and talked with friends, and it’s [been] inclusive. ”

Inclusive writing, another facet of recent pushes for change within the French language, seeks to combine genders much like “iel” does. Instead of focusing on the pronoun, inclusive writing focuses on neutralizing the gender of nouns altogether. This is completed through using an interpoint (a bullet point, if you will) between a masculine noun’s form and the feminine suffix. For example, “un professeur” — the masculine form of a professor —

turns into “un∙e professeur∙e” in inclusive writing. This way, there is no exact gender for this professor, and clarifications are not needed.

Even though gender-neutral pronouns and inclusive writing are becoming commonplace within institutions that welcome changes in language, such as universities, not all language institutions are welcoming recent protests and teachings for change. The Academie Française, the French council whose purpose is to preserve and promote the French language, has publicly spoken against the push for gender-neutral pronouns and inclusive writing.

“This recent change is not set or written within the Academie Française, but it didn’t prevent it from being common in everyday language,” Bertin said.

Rhone Geha, a French instructor at UO, believes that the Academie Française might view the changing of grammatical genders in French as too big of a change to make.

“In fact, a famous French dictionary, Le Petit Robert, actually added ‘iel’ to their dictionary. It was disturbing to see the reaction from highranking French public officials,” Geha said. “Emmanuel Macron’s, the president of France, wife had a whole tirade on the news [regarding] how she believed that ‘iel’ was too confusing for everybody and isn’t something crucial or needed.”

Romance languages as a whole have to overcome many hoops to become gender-neutral. Since their grammatical structure relies on nouns that have a gender assigned to them through articles (el, la, le, o, a), it would require serious planning and change to fully implement official changes.

For now, as most revolutions do, the change for a more inclusive language has begun with the citizens of each Romance language-speaking country. Though their governments may be slow to change, it’s a government’s responsibility to aspire for social progress, not linguistic neutrality. Ultimately, the power of language can outweigh the power of the government.

“I don’t think it has to be the government [who recognizes nonbinary people]. As long as it’s incorporated into the language, and that it’s inclusive: awesome,” Chubbic said. “Language changes. That’s how it goes.”

Tristin is a sophomore student studying journalism. This is her first year writing for the Emerald and couldn’t be more thrilled. She loves a good debate and plans to carry this into her opinion columns.

“In my classes, I teach the pronoun ‘iel.’ As a whole, there are masculine agreements over everything. However, there are many different ways now in the French language to be more inclusive, even with the feminine and nonbinary pronouns with different agreements.”

AURIÉLE BERTIN French instructor

at UO

Illustration by Ryan Ehrhart

OREGON WOMEN’S TENNIS EARNS WEEKEND SPLIT AND FINISHES 4-1 ON HOMESTAND

A 6-1 win over Boise State and 3-4 loss to Fresno State capped off the Ducks’ remaining home non conference games.

BY BRADY RUTH • TWITTER @BRADYRUTH10

It was nearly perfect.

Oregon women’s tennis (6-3) had a great opportunity to build some serious momentum before conference play with a five match non-conference home stand. Two weekends ago, the Ducks played their final two matches of the aforementioned sequence as Boise State (6-3) and Fresno State (4-5) came to Eugene.

The Ducks entered the weekend on a three match win streak after collecting home victories over Portland on Feb. 4, Iowa on Feb. 10 and Saint Mary’s on Feb. 12. The weekend against the Broncos and Bulldogs provided the chance to remain undefeated at home in 2023.

It started off with the Ducks whooping the Broncos 6-1 last Friday. Oregon snagged the doubles point with set wins by Sophie Luescher and Uxia Martinez Moral 6-2 over Nicole Discenza and Lorelyz Marruffo and Jo-Yee Chan and Ares Teixido Garcia 6-2 over Joana Baptista and Holly Stewart.

In singles play, the Ducks were dominant again. Luescher had Oregon’s lone singles loss on the day to Boise State’s Pauline Ernstberger. But the rest of the Ducks were victorious on Friday. Tiexido Garcia picked up a two-set win over Marruffo; Karin Young defeated Stewart in three sets; Martinez Moral swept Baptista to earn her sixth singles win of 2023; Chan took down Discenza in two sets and Misaki Kobayashi shut down Shauna Heffernan for her second win of the season.

It was a great match for the Ducks and a huge first step in accomplishing their goal of a perfect weekend. But a stumble in doubles play against Fresno State put an end to Oregon’s four match winning streak.

Chan and Teixido Garcia improved to 7-0 together in 2023 with their

doubles win. But Kobayashi and Martinez Moral lost 2-6 to Pang Jittakoat and Matilde Magrini, and Lillian Mould and Myah Petchey lost 2-6 to Carolina Piferi and Carlotta Nonnis Marzano.

After losing the doubles point, Oregon needed to win four of the six singles matches to beat the Bulldogs, but were only able to capture three.

Teixido Garcia, Martinez Moral and Chan all picked up wins over Fresno State opponents. Teixido Garcia used three sets to defeat Magrini, but Martinez Moral and Chan needed just two to take down Piferi and Mariya Vyshkina.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, Luescher’s rough weekend continued with a three set loss to Jittakoat. Young lost in three sets to Cristina Flaquer, and Kobayashi was swept by Nonnis Marzano. Had just one of Luescher or Young’s sets gone differently, the Ducks would have defeated the Bulldogs. Instead, the Ducks fell 3-4 to Fresno State and suffered their first home loss of 2023 snapping their win streak.

Regardless, Oregon has one more match to get back in its groove before conference play begins on March 3. The Ducks are set to play UC Santa Barbara (1-7) on Feb. 26 for their final non conference play winds down.

The Ducks will look to improve their records as Pac-12 play looms.

Currently, in singles play, Luescher is 2-3, Petchey is 0-3, Teixido Garcia is 7-2, Young is 3-3, Martinez Moral is 7-1, Kobayashi is 2-2 and Chan is 6-1.

Maybe the loss to Fresno State was just a bump in the road. Sunday’s match against the Gauchos will tell for sure. Either way, Pac-12 play is coming, and Oregon needs to be ready.

Myah Petchey smiles and high fives her teammate, Karin Young, after finishing off a great rally with a point. The Oregon Women’s Tennis team hosts Portland State at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Ore., on January 20th. (Jonathan Suni, Emerald)

Sophie Lutscher tracks down the ball and prepares to hit it back to her opponent. The Oregon Women’s Tennis team hosts Portland State at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Ore., on January 20th. (Jonathan Suni, Emerald)