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ON THE COVER

Oliver surveys the scene below the couch prior to his jump. University of Oregon students share about living with pets during college. (Skyler Davis/ Daily 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, the news organization was founded in 1900.

NW NATURAL PUSHES TO PUT

NW NATURAL PUSHES TO PUT

LOOK ONLINE

EUGENE’S NATURAL GAS BAN UP FOR PUBLIC VOTE

EUGENE’S NATURAL GAS BAN UP FOR PUBLIC VOTE

The natural gas ban is the first adopted by an Oregon city.

BY ALISA DOUGHERTY

Eugene Residents for Energy Choice— a political action committee financed by NW Natural, a natural gas distributor— has successfully gathered enough signatures to put the new city ordinance banning natural gas in construction of new buildings under three stories to a public vote.

On Feb. 6, the Eugene City Council voted to ban natural gas in construction of new buildings under three stories.

“We believe this is a disservice to everyone who lives in Eugene and to our shared climate goals,” NW Natural said in a statement.

The referendum the PAC petitioned for puts the measure up for a public vote as soon as May 2023, delaying the previous set start date of June 2023.

According to the Eugene city recorder, the PAC has gathered enough signatures to put the natural gas ban to a public vote. Canvassers have been knocking on doors and petitioning on the University of Oregon’s campus to collect the signatures. NW Natural donated over $1 million to this campaign since February according to ORESTAR.

“The real concern there is just that they’re going to be flooding the community with misinformation,” Danny Noonan, a climate and energy strategist at Breach Collective, said. “They already have a track record and a demonstrated capacity to misinform the public.”

The Eugene coalition Fossil Free Eugene has been working toward electrification in Eugene, with the goal of pushing the city to move away from reliance on fossil fuels for energy.

“The scientific evidence is pretty clear that we have to move away from fossil fuels and stop the spread of fossil fuel infrastructure,” Fossil Free Eugene Coalition Coordinator Aya Cockram said.

The ban would only apply to residences under three stories tall. It would not include businesses or apartment complexes exceeding three stories, or any existing residences using natural gas as its energy source.

The use of natural gas has not only been a concern for the environment, but a concern to public health. Gas appliances emit the greenhouse gas methane and pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide, into the home even when not in use. These pollutants are known to damage the respiratory system. According to a study conducted by the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute, 12.7% of asthma cases in children have been linked to gas appliances in residences due to their effect on indoor air quality.

Gradient Corps, a consulting company that works with companies in the tobacco, natural gas and chemical companies to defend their practices as clean and safe, has been a consultant for NW Natural, and testified to Eugene city council decrying these studies.

Paige Hopkins, climate justice organizer for Beyond Toxics, said there have not been enough studies on the effects of indoor pollution coming from gas stoves.

Looking ahead, Fossil Free Eugene hopes to expand electrification ordinances to new high rise construction for buildings three stories and over.

Top viewed story in the past week:

“Fisherman’s Market brings the flavors of the Pacific Northwest to Eugene with the freshest seafood around”

By Lauren Leone

(Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

Second most read story in the past week:

“Welcome back: Oregon’s star sprinter Micah Williams” by Keiji Patterson

(Molly McPherson/Emerald)

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Scan here or visit the Emerald’s social media to participate in our next Voices of UO. “If you were an animal for the day, which one would you be? And why?”

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Protesters march down University Street to protest fossil fuel use through Northwest Naturals. (Riley Valle)

SLATES, DEBATES AND RUNNING MATES

SLATES, DEBATES AND RUNNING MATES

ASUO starts its spring term elections cycle.

BY PAUL ROBINSON

ASUO is holding its spring term elections where students can vote and run for different positions within the student government.

According to ASUO’s website, voting will be open to students on April 11 at 9 a.m.

ASUO President Luda Isakharov said all students who pay the Incidential Fee and are at least part-time students can vote on Engage, a website where University of Oregon students can get more information about events and organizations on campus.

The I-Fee is included in students registration fee and provides ASUO with a budget to distribute to different student organizations and clubs throughout the year, according to ASUO’s website.

Isakharov said that while it may be too late to file as a candidate on the upcoming ballot, students can still be a write-in candidate. She said students can still make an impact by joining ASUO through open positions and working for different committees and branches later in the spring and next fall.

Candidates can run individually or as a part of a campaign slate alongside other candidates.

“Slates are not at all required and are not

formally recognized by the elections board. Some candidates choose to associate themselves with each other as is their first amendment right,” ASUO election board chair Nathaniel Leof said.

The two candidates that will be on the spring ballot are Max Jensen and Chloé Webster. Webster is running under the campaign slate Amplify UO. According to Jensen’s campaign biography on the ASUO website, the main issues he wants to tackle include addressing student power and autonomy, holding the UO Board of Trustees more accountable, high tuition, housing insecurity, food insecurity, access to mental health resources and University Administration Neglect and Exploitation of Students.

Webster’s main issues listed in her campaign biography stress tuition cost, feelings of disconnect from the UO administration, poor pay periods coupled with pushback against unionization efforts, confusions about the ASUO student organization financial processes, lack of trust in Eugene police and student pressure to attend classes even when sick or unwell.

On April 3, ASUO held a debate, moderated by the Daily Emerald, where Jensen and Webster’s

running mate Finn Jacobson, prompted by questions from debate moderators and audience members, spoke on their visions for ASUO and the university as a whole.

During the debate, candidates talked about their approaches to navigating ASUO’s relationship with the Board of Trustees, strategies for interacting more equitably with student groups, and their ideas on how to deal with policing on campus.

Leof said the spring elections affect the direction that students want their programs to go towards and who represents them.

“These elections really do change how our campus operates for not just a year but potentially two years or longer,” Leof said. “It’s really important to show off our voices, be heard and help determine a course our campus will take.”

Isakharov will be stepping down as ASUO president May 25 and will not be seeking reelection. She said she was burnt out, but she was hopeful for the next president.

“I think it’s the right time to give other people the reins because it’s good to have turnover in ASUO,” she said.

ASUO presidential candidate Max Jensen and ASUO vice presidential candidate Finn Jacobson prepare to debate. (Alexis Weinsend/Emerald)

It’s made you self-conscious before, hasn’t it? Maybe you’ve been working in the EMU while a crowd of parents and budding students shuffles by, and you can feel the stares scan you. You immediately realize how hunched your back is over your laptop, how trash your outfit is that day, how greasy your hair is and now you’re overthinking the Panda Express carton next to you. To them, you’re the picture of academia: a model college student they hope to become.

For the people on these tours, what they’re seeing is a simulation. They see an average day on campus unfold and imagine themselves or their child fitting into this picture. They’re eyeing up every student they see because the students are a representation of what they might look like if they went to this school.

What they don’t see is that the student they’re observing is not an actor paid to reflect them. It’s a real 18-year-old hiding a very real panic attack about being the 300th student to not pass Math 111 (this term). That isn’t a model feverishly researching for a term paper on their laptop. That’s a senior responding to a text from their roommate saying they somehow ran through their house’s drywall playing Beer Pong.

We didn’t sign up to put on a show for these tourists, but there you are being watched while you try to get a research paper done on the last day before Canvas locks the assignment. Being looked over by a tour guide group can be a stressful experience for any student on campus, so I’ve made a list of things you can do to better blend in and avoid the embarrassment.

Look like a scholar

These tours are expecting to see intelligent young minds blooming at this institute of knowledge, so don’t disappoint them. Wear a gown and your graduation cap while you study in the library before you even graduate. Hold an open book in each hand, one being “Fahrenheit 451” and the other being “Jane Eyre.” Look pensively into

IVERSON: GROUP TOURS ARE WATCHING YOU

Opinion: Going about your day-to-day campus life while a group tour walks by can feel awkward. Here’s how best to handle the anxiety of being observed.

BY BRAYDON IVERSON

the distance and mutter to yourself about Plato. Wear a monocle. Grow a beard. Be the scholar they expect to see. It may help to carry around a lab coat and goggles with beakers of chemicals to blend in more.

Smile and laugh in a diverse friend group

If you really want to meet expectations and not be embarrassed by a staring tour group, become a poster for the campus website. The tour group will be thrilled to see they stumbled by such a great group of friends who all completely coincidentally each represent a different ethnic identity and sexuality. The university values diversity so much that they’ll be right on time with that check they promised you.

Scatter

As soon as a tour group wanders by where you are, immediately get up and run away. Leave your things, as well. If the entire EMU fishbowl immediately evacuates when a group walks in, maybe they’ll begin to understand that they’re upsetting the vibe.

Spread a rumor

I saw an article by College Raptor that gave advice to touring college students to approach the students of the university they visit and ask them their genuine thoughts on their life on campus. I think this is bad guidance for two reasons. The first is you’re not supposed to tap on the glass of the exhibit because you freak out the zoo animals. The second is you give too much power to a possibly disgruntled Oregon student.

Maybe I’m evil, but it would be all too easy to come up with a story to freak out a 16- or 17-yearold. “Yeah, the classes are cool and whatever, but did you hear that Riley Hall is haunted?” All of the sudden you aren’t anxious about being asked a question and now they’re freaked out about the rats that crawl around the Student Rec Center you told them about.

Stare back

Even out the tension of being observed by returning the puzzling look back to that kid who’s been watching you sit on your phone while the tour stops. Blink a bunch of times; make them think you’re trying to send them a message.

Ask if anyone has a lighter

I would bet the tour guide will lead everyone away from you if you loudly ask everyone. Don’t mention what it’s for.

“Get out!”

The most awkward situation I’ve heard of is people wondering if they were in the frame of someone taking a picture of campus on their phone as the tour walks by. However, there is a canonical and completely understandable response to this. Widen your eyes, run up to this person and grab them by the shoulders. Start yelling “Get out! Get out of here while you still can!” Someone will pull you away eventually, and you can get back to what you were doing.

Braydon is a second year opinion columnist for the Daily Emerald and fourth year student. Covering sports, student life and broader national trends, sometimes he doesn’t even know if his opinion is genuine or not.

Jackson Elliott gives a tour outside of the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

AN INSIDE LOOK INTO THE LIVES OF UO STUDENT PETS

Having a pet in college can be a lot of work. But for those that make the time, the payoff is well worth the effort.

BY JESS MCCOMB

Living in dorms and apartment buildings with strict no-pet policies limits many students’ social circles to a furry-friend-free zone. But for some, having a pet is worth the extra effort. And for those that make it work, having an animal around the house has been instrumental in supporting their mental health.

GILLIAN MILLER AND HER CAT OLIVER

Oliver Miller has fur the color of cream with dark brown markings, piercing blue eyes and that meltinto-your-lap plushness of most older cats. Gillian Miller, Oliver’s owner, is a sophomore geography and environmental sciences student at UO and has had Oliver since she was four. At the beginning of her sophomore year, Miller moved Oliver out of her family home and into her apartment in Eugene. Miller has to pay an extra fee each month to keep Oliver at her apartment but she said he is worth it.

“I’ve known him longer than all of my friends,” Miller said. “When I come home and none of my roommates are here, Oliver is always around, and he’ll come out to say hi. It’s like having a very low maintenance friend.”

Miller said having a pet at school has made school feel more like home, and being a pet owner has made her feel more like an adult — or as she would describe it, a single mother. Miller recently had to take Oliver to the vet and said it was a cool experience because she had never been so in charge of his health before.

“Your life becomes very selfcentered in college. You’re only taking care of yourself and your dayto-day life mostly depends on you and your decisions,” Miller said. “It’s sort of a nice change of pace to take care of someone else.”

Miller said taking care of a cat is pretty low maintenance, but there

have been some aspects of pet care that have been challenging. Oliver is a very attention oriented animal and likes to spend a lot of time with his people. Because of this, Miller feels guilty when she spends too much time out of the house.

“I can tell he gets frustrated when I’ve been out of the house all day a few days in a row. ‘Oh god I have to get home to my cat,’” Miller said.

She said this can be challenging on days she has a lot to get done, but coming home to Oliver makes it all worth it. Above all else, Miller recognizes the emotional support benefits of having a pet in college.

“It’s really nice to just pick him up and hold him if you’re having a rough time of it,” Miller said. “Sometimes my roommates will come home and be like ‘I need some cat time!’”

LAMAR DAVIS AND HIS DOG CLOVER

Clover Davis is a perky little 6-month-old pomeranian chihuahua. When asked to describe her, owner Lamar Davis used one word in particular: derpy.

“My dog is pretty weird. She just has a really funny personality,” Davis said. “She makes the weirdest faces and talks to me all the time. I swear she’s like a human being.”

Davis is a sophomore environmental studies student at UO. He grew up with pets at home and missed the comfort of having animals around while in Eugene. Davis and his roommates were debating getting a foster dog in the fall of 2022, so when his boss offered to give him Clover for free last November, Davis happily obliged.

“Animals have always made me happier and boosted my mental health,” Davis said. “I wanted a dog because I was feeling a little bit depressed, and I knew a dog would make me happier and create more balance in my life because I would be

Oliver actively calculates the most effective escape route while posing for this photo. University of Oregon students share about living with pets during college. (Skyler Davis/Daily Emerald)

Coco stares off into the distance dreaming of warmer days and unlimited treats. University of Oregon students share about living with pets during college. (Skyler Davis/Daily Emerald)

forced to follow more of a schedule.”

Davis lives in an apartment building which can be difficult for some dogs, but Davis said Clover was born and raised as a city pet and is perfectly happy sitting in the window and watching cars and people go by. While Clover is less demanding than some more active dogs, Davis said it can sometimes be challenging to make time for pet care.

“At first it was a little stressful having Clover because I didn’t really know exactly what I was signing up for,” Davis said. “I knew the gist of taking care of a dog, but there are things people don’t talk about like taking her to the vet, training her and unexpected expenses.”

Davis maintains that creating a routine is the best way to get in the groove of pet care and balance college responsibilities with Clover responsibilities.

“Even if I just have 15 minutes to play with her and train her, if I make that time it works out,” Davis said.

Davis also said following that schedule has presented challenges for his social way of life. Davis considers himself an extrovert and spends a lot of time outside of the house. He said prioritizing coming home to check on Clover took some getting used to, but it has become more manageable now that he has established a routine. Davis said him and Clover’s routine provides him with a sense of accomplishment.

“I’m proud of myself for being able to take care of Clover,” Davis said. “ It makes me believe in myself because I’m doing good with something.”

CHLOE SCHEID AND HER DOG COCO

Coco Scheid, a 7-year-old shih tzu, can be found curled up with her nose wedged into a beanbag chair, her light brown fur nearly camouflaged in the suede fabric.

Coco’s owner, Chloe Scheid, adopted Coco four years ago as an emotional support animal. Scheid said when she got Coco she hadn’t even thought about how she would be leaving for college in a year, but when the time came to make the move, bringing Coco along seemed like a no brainer.

Scheid is a junior psychology student at UO and was in college

during the pandemic. For Scheid, the lifting of the freshman dorm housing requirement was a relief because it meant she could skip the complications of dorm pet paperwork and move Coco into an apartment with her.

“It was really hard to make friends that first year, and it got kind of depressing,” Scheid said. “There were days where I really didn’t want to leave my apartment, but because I had to take care of Coco, she encouraged me to stay active and get out more. I don’t know how I would have made it through that first year without her.”

Scheid echoed the same complaints of Davis and Miller concerning the difficulty of having a pet in college. She said sometimes it is hard to check up on Coco on busy days, but she has a network of friends who volunteer to give Coco some love when Scheid can’t make it home.

“It’s super fun to have friends over who don’t have pets in college and miss their pets at home because they can get the comfort from Coco they have been missing,” Scheid said.

Unlike Davis and Miller, Scheid said she is a homebody and an introvert so spending enough time with Coco is super manageable. In fact, Scheid relies on spending a lot of time with Coco to provide comfort and stress relief.

“She’s very comforting and intuitive because she was supposed to be an ESA so when I’m stressed and upset I notice she spends more time with me,” Sheid said. “I think everyone feels school stress, and a lot of people will schedule more social time to deal with that stress which is hard to do when you’re studying. I don’t have to do that because I have Coco.”

Many places of residence including UO dorms require pets to be registered service animals or ESAs, but the process of bringing a pet to college varies between dorms, apartments and houses. Some landlords allow pets free of charge, others request a fee and some give a hard no unless that pet is registered as a service animal or ESA. Whatever the demand may be, for some the process of reaching out and making an arrangement is worth the emotional benefits of having a pet.

Coco checks the weather, confirming it will be a rainy afternoon in Eugene. University of Oregon students share about living with pets during college. (Skyler Davis/Daily Emerald)

RESURGENCE OF OREGON THROWERS

RESURGENCE OF OREGON THROWERS

Breathing life into a discipline after a three-decade lull.

BY ELLIOTT DEINS • TWITTER @ELLIOTTD_SPORTS

Oregon’s once iconic track and field program was in dire need of a revamp when new head coach Jerry Schumacher took the reins last summer. One of the tallest tasks for Schumacher would be to bust the rust off the throwing program. There has only been one Duck in the top 10 for shot put or discus in the last 35 years.

In hopes of reestablishing Oregon’s golden era that saw two brothers, Dean and Brian Crouser, sweep the 1982 national championships in shot put, discus and javelin, Schumacher brought on one of the most successful throwing coaches in NCAA history, Brian Blutreich.

The two coaches worked together over 20 years ago at the University of North Carolina. Since his time at Chapel Hill, Blutreich coached at Oklahoma and Pac-12 rival Arizona State. He guided athletes to capture 28 national championships, 81 conference titles and five Olympic appearances. After six seasons with the Sun Devils,. Blutreich needed a new challenge and Oregon was it, he said.

“Jerry (Schumacher) was the big draw for me,” Blutreich said. “We’re trying to make it more of a national/international situation. The level of the NCAA has just unbelievably grown. If you want to be in the game, you’re gonna have to expand your horizons in recruiting and how you approach things.”

The impact of Blutreich has been immediate. During the 2023 indoor season, Oregon had two women throw over 18 meters for the first time.

Jaida Ross threw a lifetime-best 18.23 meters to win the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invite. In her first appearance as a Duck, ASU transfer and defending national discus champ Jorinde van Klinken set the NCAA indoor shot put record with a 19.57m throw at the Don Kirby invitational in February. Van Klinken’s throw was an Oregon and Dutch record and currently the third-farthest in the world this year.

“They both had a really good indoor season,” Blutreich said. “They didn’t compete as well as they would have liked at the national meet; sometimes that happens too. We should try to get the consistency better. We’re gonna try to improve our outdoors.”

Throws take ridiculous strength and power, he said. But if you want to achieve maximum performance, the technique has to go with it. Changing motor functions is a difficult thing to do. The body typically goes back to what it was used to doing. It’s all about getting as many quality repetitions as possible.

Blutreich said outreach and connection to the community are important to him.

“People enjoy track and field here, and we’re trying to bring it back, to get people back in the stands again and kind of reboot after Covid,” he said.

Getting through the first year and adjusting is what Blutreich said are his goals in the program.

“The toughest thing is gonna be recruiting because there hasn’t been a lot, especially on the men’s side, emphasis on throws over the last 40 years, literally 40 years,” he said. “There’s been one person to make the top 10 list in the last 40 years, and that was back in 1988. So it’s been a long spell of not having a history of it.”

Oregon’s outdoor track season is currently underway and returning to Hayward Field on May 5 for the Oregon Twilights.

Oregon’s Jaida Ross winds up to throw during the women’s shot put. The second day of the 2022 PAC-12 Track & Field Championships took place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on May 14th, 2022. (Ian Enger/ Emerald)

OREGON BASEBALL EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO 10 WITH 9-1 VICTORY OVER PORTLAND

The Ducks’ bats stayed hot as they brought their winning streak to double digits.

BY MOJO HILL • TWITTER @MOJOHILL

The Oregon baseball train kept chugging Tuesday evening.

The Ducks’ offense had another fine day at the office in a home matchup against Portland, beating the Pilots 9-1 and extending their winning streak to 10 games.

“Seeing this offense hit its stride and start to really put things together, I think it’s really special,” Oregon left fielder Tanner Smith said.

Sabin Ceballos got the Ducks off to a frolicking start, crushing a three-run homer to left-center in the first inning. There was no doubt about it, with Ceballos pummeling a fastball right down the middle from Curtis Hebert for his sixth bomb of the year.

Jackson Pace got the midweek start after struggling badly in his last couple turns in the weekend rotation. He worked through the first two innings unscathed, allowing just a two-out single in the first. Pace cracked in the third, giving up a solo shot to leadoff hitter Jake Holcroft.

“I thought Jackson gave us a really good start,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said. “For Jackson to do what he did and hand the ball over to Turner [Spoljaric], it was fantastic.”

Portland went with a bullpen game, bringing in right-hander KJ Ruffo for the third inning. After he walked Drew Cowley, the Pilots elected to intentionally walk Ceballos. They curiously brought in another right-handed pitcher, Zach Johnson, to face lefties Tanner Smith and Jacob Walsh.

The strange decision did not pay off. Smith poked an RBI single to the opposite field — extending his hitting streak to 10 games — and Walsh walked to load the bases. Bennett Thompson drove one down the left field line for a two-run double, extending Oregon’s lead to 6-1. Owen Diodati drew yet another walk, but Gavin Grant flew out to strand the bases loaded.

Pace labored in the fourth inning, loading the bases on a single sandwiched by a pair of walks. The Ducks brought in Spoljaric for his first game action since March 15. He induced a scathing line drive, which was caught by Grant and swiftly flipped to Cowley for a fortunate inning-ending double play.

Oregon tacked on another in the fourth. For the second consecutive inning, Cowley and Ceballos both walked, and Smith hit an RBI single. Cowley

and Ceballos each walked three times and reached base four times on the night.

“You just stay to the middle,” Ceballos said of his approach. “That’s just a process we have. No matter if you went yard in the first AB, you go back to your work again and trust your process and trust your work… Every time I’m in the box, I try to make damage. If I don’t see a pitch to make damage, I just take it.”

Working with a 7-1 lead, Spoljaric settled in with his 12-6 curveball working nicely, as he retired eight consecutive batters before giving up a two-out single in the seventh. Cowley made a nice play at shortstop to end the inning, fielding a ball to his backhand and making a long throw with a scoop by Walsh.

“I’ve been working on everything,” Spoljaric said. “Just trying to throw with a little more intent, work on being in the zone more, attacking hitters and just showing them that I can pitch. If you put me out there, I’ll let the defense work and I’ll pitch to contact.”

Spoljaric wound up going 3 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and not walking anybody.

“Unbelievable. He was fantastic,” Wasikowski said. “That’s why he pitched for Team Canada. That’s what he showed on Team Canada when he was with them, and he showed it for the first time in a Duck uniform in front of fans and stuff like that tonight.”

The Ducks scored two more in the seventh. After Jackson Jaha came through with a pinch-

hit single, Walsh scored on a balk. Rikuu Nishida chipped in with an RBI double for Oregon’s ninth run.

Dylan McShane and Jacob Hughes each threw a scoreless inning to finish the game out. Hughes, albeit in a brief outing, showed perhaps the best control he’s had in an Oregon uniform.

“He got out there tonight, and he was on it from the first pitch,” Wasikowski said. “Really competitive, unbelievable kid and a real worker.”

The Ducks (19-7, 6-3 Pac-12) have scored 118 runs during this 10-game winning streak. They’ll look to keep the hot bats going in a critical rivalry series against Oregon State (18-10, 5-7 Pac-12) this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The Oregon dugout celebrate after a home run by infielder Sabin Ceballos (21). The University of Oregon Ducks defeat Xavier University 9-2 at PK Park in Eugene, Ore., on February 18th, 2023. (Kai Kanzer/Emerald)