4-3-24 Emerald Media Group - Week of Welcome

After a stellar 4-year career as an athlete, Karly Nowak is back — but this time it’s a little different

CREATIVE

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(Alex

Oregon women’s golf placed 11th in the PING/ ASU Invitational, ranking sixth best out of the nine Pac-12 teams competing.

I bet Trump could easily pay bond if he just put that hairpiece on eBay.

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Joy Hano jumps near the end of the 100m hurdles. (Eddie Bruning/ Emerald)

Contestants leap during the women’s 110m hurdle race. (Lulu Devoulin/ Emerald)

The Cal Poly Humboldt 4x400 runners embrace after finishing the race. Their 4x400 team took second place overall in the event. (Eddie Bruning/Emerald)

Oregon’s J Kai Yamafuji vaults over the 4.55m bar. The PNW Invitational took place on March 16, 2024 at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. (Eddie Bruning/Emerald)

FORMER UO EMPLOYEES CALL FOR PERS DIVESTMENT

BY YSABELLA SOSA DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN

UO RETIREES SAY THAT THE OREGON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT FUND IS CONTRIBUTING TO “WAR CRIMES” IN GAZA

University of Oregon retiree Molly Sirois and former affiliated faculty member Mary King are calling for the immediate divestment of the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund from holdings that they believe are complicit in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

“The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund are [sic] directly linked to companies, to entities [and] to industries that are causing harm to people and to places, and so I know these, I know people that are harmed by my investments, my very retirement earnings,” Sirois said.

Sirois first came across the OPERF holdings in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement System oversees the Oregon state retirement and disability plans for public workers. State and local governments, public schools and community colleges all across Oregon participate in PERS, assisting 95% of public employees including

UO’s.

OPERF is the pension fund that PERS members receive their retirement pensions from. OPERF is managed by the Oregon State Treasury by policies set by the Oregon Investment Council.

In 2023, OPERF Public Equity Holdings showed that the Oregon Treasury maintains investments in Elbit System LTD, a weapons manufacturing company that both Sirois and King say has caused the killings of Palestinians in Gaza during the IsraelHamas war. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since Oct. 7.

“In the last two months, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 civilians, including more than 6,000 children, using munitions and other weapons of war made by Elbit [Systems],” King said in a public comment to the OIC in January.

In 2023, the Treasury occupied 341 shares in Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems is a defense contractor company based in Haifa, Israel, that manufactures defense and homeland security systems for the Israeli military.

The numerous holdings in the OPERF supporting the Israeli occupation, including Elbit Systems, have affected the lives of multiple family members and friends of Sirois, according to Sirois.

“My retirement earnings are invested in [Elbit Systems] and I know, I have witnessed, and I hear what Palestinians who are living under occupation are subjected to, and now I think the world knows,” Sirois said.

Oregon State Treasury Public Information Director Eric Engelson said in an email statement

that OPERF “has no holdings in Elbit Systems. All of our decisions regarding investments are guided by our fiduciary duty to pension beneficiaries, outlined in Oregon Revised Statute 293.721 and 293.726.”

Divest Oregon, a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations including unions with PERS members, has called on the Oregon Treasury to shift away from holdings of risky fossil fuels to environmentally-safe investments.

“The Oregon Investment Council values comments submitted by pension beneficiaries and appreciates their participation at meetings. We recognize the complexity of the issues involved in these matters,” Engelson said in an email statement. “We will continue to engage with the necessary legal and governing bodies on these important matters.”

As a last effort to get her retirement earnings out of OPERF, Sirois sued the Treasury, the OIC, PERS and Governor Tina Kotek.

“I contacted PERS and tried to get my money out. I tried to get out of PERS because it was so egregious to me that my retirement earnings were funding harm, and I couldn’t get out,” Sirois said. “I can’t get out. I’m in it ‘till I die.”

Sirois also called on the University of Oregon to put “pressure” on the state to assist with the call for divestment.

“I believe that universities can put pressure on both the Legislature and the Treasury,” Sirois said. “I think the university can put pressure on the entities that can make those changes.”

King believes that Oregon public universities are a good place for activists to call for the divestment.

“The university is a good place for education and people getting together, so universities are good places to organize,” King said.

King believes that the Treasury underfunded OPERF, therefore the Treasury invested in the weaponry holdings to acquire funds.

“I think there’s pressure on them to get the highest financial return they can and that’s because the state has made a choice to not put as much money as it should into the retirement systems,” King said. “So therefore, there’s pressure on the state to get a lot of money from the investments that they do have in order to meet their obligations to retirees.”

“We will not be complicit, and we will not be silent. Divest now,” King said in the statement.

UO retiree Molly Sirois carries a sign into the Board of Trustees meeting on March 12, 2024. (Alex Hernandez/Emerald)

GTFF STILL PREPARED TO FIGHT FOR ALL MEMBERS

After successfully avoiding a strike, GTFF members are still prepared to ensure that every union member receives fair compensation for their work BY

Within the past six months, the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation at UO has negotiated and won a contract all without having to strike.

Out of the members who voted, 95% voted in approval of the contract with UO. The remaining 5% were in favor of striking in hopes that a better contract would follow.

Despite this success, the union says its efforts are not finished. Álvaro Del Pozo, a graduate educator in the School of Journalism & Communication, said that there’s still work to be done.

“We already have plans for what’s going to happen [in March] because we got the contract with the university,” Del Pozo said. “Now each GE department team — each GTFF subdivision — now we have to start negotiating with each of our schools and departments so that we can change the internal, general duties and responsibilities.”

Leslie Selcer, the GTFF President, said that the contract is a great achievement for the union.

Having successfully won a contract with UO without having to go out on the picket line for six months is a huge success, and Selcer — along with many other members of GTFF — is hopeful about the future of graduate employees at UO.

“We really tried to divide the labor amongst us, and we really tried to decentralize power. We wanted to make the president’s role less central so that other people could step up and share the weight equally so that we all have equal power,” Selcer said.

Selcer, who was elected in spring 2023, acknowledged the work that other members of the union have accomplished.

“We often say in GTFF ‘We don’t win contracts at the table, we win it with our members.’ It’s about creating a situation where it would be more expensive for the employer to say ‘no’ than it is for the employer to say ‘yes,’” Selcer said. “That’s what we really mean about building worker power.”

Logan Kazarian, a fourth-year undergraduate student studying biochemistry, has seen the struggle that GEs have gone through during her time at UO.

“I think we need to make being a

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GE, or even an undergraduate researcher, more accessible,” Kazarian said. “The pay is so low that you couldn’t support yourself even if you wanted to do it, so making that more accessible for people who can’t afford to just do an essentially lowpaying internship.”

Following the bargain made with the university, the average pay was increased by 1.5% percent. According to the bargain, the average nine- month annual base rate for GEs was raised to $46,828. The monthly salary was raised to $5,203.11. However, salaries for GEs are dependent on FullTime Equivalent. The maximum FTE falls at 215 hours per quarter, translating to approximately 21 hours per week.

Looking back at the contract, many members are still not entirely satisfied with the results according to Selcer. Across all programs, there is a difference in pay due to the needs of the program and of graduate educators themselves. Following the contract, higher-paid GEs — especially those in

• DESIGNED BY GABRIELA

MARTINEZ

STEM programs — did not receive the same salary increase as GEs whose programs do not receive the same level of funding. According to Selcer, many were unsatisfied by the difference in raises; however, the contract was designed to be equitable for all members.

Both Selcer and Del Pozo said that in the coming years there is still work to be done, as the needs of graduate educators will change with time.

Selcer added that across all departments, GEs are worried about the future of their programs and what those departments need. Depending on whether UO is willing to meet those needs, GTFF is not afraid to make sure that every member of the union is heard.

“I think we’re really concerned to make sure that, especially that supervisors and people in positions of power over GEs, really understand what’s in the contract,” Selcer said. “The contract is settled, and I don’t think they’re looking to continue fighting with us for the most part.”

Demonstration attendees yell out chants. Around 100 graduate researcher employees participated in a walkout demonstration on Nov. 29, 2023 in Willamette Hall. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

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NAG: THE HISTORIC WINS FOR OREGON’S DEMOCRACY

Opinion: The 2024 Oregon legislative short session brought many historic wins for the state, including limits on campaign finance reform and increasing transparency within electoral donations

BY AISHIKI NAG • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHART

Oregon has historically been a champion for passing reforms to make democracy more accessible, and this trend continued through a period when many other states have imposed legislation directly attacking fundamental freedoms, like access to the ballot box.

One of the most historic initiatives lawmakers took in Oregon was to pass House Bill 4024, a law limiting campaign contributions from individuals to political candidates to $3,300 and political action committees to $30,000.

This requires some disclosure of the original funding sources to pay for political advertisements and requires political ads to tagline their original sources of funding. The limits would lower the amount of campaign funds available to nonstatewide legislators, such as state legislators, district attorneys and others. These financial changes are scheduled to start in 2027.

Oregon saw an unprecedented amount of corporate and individual influence within the 2022 midterm elections, with independent political donors spending over $70 million on the gubernatorial race. Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, single-handedly donated over $3.7 million to unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson and $1.5 million to Republican Christine Drazan — HB 4024 would now limit him to $3,300, like every other Oregonian.

The bill received mass community support, with influential groups such as Common Cause Oregon and Honest Elections Oregon stepping in to amend

aspects of the early bill to create a holistic reform. This initiative ultimately passed with bipartisan support, with 22-6 in the Senate and 52-5 in the House.

Cheryl Conway testified in favor of the latest bill, stating, “This bill is the culmination of years, even decades, of work by good government groups who were joined in their efforts this year by business and labor organizations and legislators who refused to give up on reforming campaign finance.”

Conway was one of the many independent community members who voiced their support for financial reform within elections and called for good governance.

Senator Tim Knopp, the GOP minority leader, voted in favor of this bill even though he opposed certain aspects, stating on the Senate floor, “Nonetheless, it is, I think, a step forward that Oregonians support.” Although the majority of the Republican coalition voted in favor of the bill, a notable minority of seven state senators voted against it.

One Democrat, Senator Jeff Golden (D-Ashland), also voted against House Bill 4024, stating that the legislation didn’t do justice to the campaign reform needed to protect the democratic standards Oregon wants to uphold, and stated to OPB, “I hope we have opportunities down the line to give Oregonians something much closer to what they want in campaign finance reform.”

Another critical aspect of House Bill 4024 is creating an online dashboard that discloses a candidate’s top 100 donors, which is

scheduled to be set up by 2028. The online dashboard hopes to create further transparency within the sources of funding, which can often be hidden through the protections of 501(c)4’s and PACs. This legislation was generally agreed to serve as the beginning of Oregon’s commitment to reforming campaign finance laws; legislators, community members and community groups have agreed that it is a step in the right direction. Campaign finance reform is needed to ensure that the community has a say in democratic choices.

Attendees file into the amphitheater in crowds prior to the 9 a.m. Democratic rally. en. Bernie Sanders of Vermont joined Oregon’s Democratic Party leaders at the Erb Memorial Union in support of gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek on Oct. 27, 2022. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald).

Democrat and Oregon gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek hypes up the over 3,000-person crowd. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald)

FORMER A&T ATHLETE KARLY NOWAK TURNS ASSISTANT COACH

BY OWEN MURRAY DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS

With acrobatics and tumbling on the rise, Nowak returned alongside her former coach to teach her old teammates the art of staying calm

It’s been almost a year since 23-year-old Karly Nowak graduated from UO. It’s been almost a year since she said her goodbyes to moody, cloudy mornings in Eugene, and it’s been almost a year since she wrapped up a student-athlete career that rivals any other you’ve heard of.

That, of course, is why she came right back for more.

The Oregon acrobatics and tumbling assistant coach knows what it’s like to be a college athlete. She knows what it feels like to face an arena filled with eager faces — to lift a national championship and to hear the roar of a thousand supporters.

Remember, she was one, this time last year.

But she also knows what it feels like to stand in that very same place and face every challenge the world can throw at her. And that might be even more important to what she’s doing now.

A&T is an “emerging” sport in the eyes of the NCAA — in fact, it’s not even a fullyfledged competition in the eyes of college athletics’ governing body. Instead, the sport likened most often to competitive high school cheer is overseen by the

National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association. The sport draws most of its athletes from cheer, too. They’re able to receive scholarships and continue competing at the college level without committing to the cheer squad.

Nowak, a 2023 NCATA All-American, spent four years in Eugene as a student athlete — time that convinced her to return when her old head coach, Taylor Susnara, called. “Coming in after my senior year and just jumping right into it was an experience that I couldn’t pass up,” Nowak said. It’s not a foreign path; Susnara has helmed

Oregon’s team since 2021, but both she and Nowak previously attended school in Eugene, where they competed as athletes in what’s been one of the premier A&T programs in the nation. Susnara, a UO athlete from 2015 to 2018, had a trophy cabinet to rival Nowak’s before joining the university’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2019. She accepted the head role after the 2021 season.

It’s been a journey of self-discovery for her, too.

“[The athletes] trusted me and my background,” Susnara told UO Alumni. “As the years went on, it got easier. I gained real-life experience, had some coaching development opportunities, and I got more confident in my coaching ability.”

Those are qualities that she saw in Nowak.

“As a student athlete, Karly and I connected well — we just kind of understood each other,” Susnara said. “It’s been really fun … she knows my good qualities [and] the qualities that I could work on as a coach. I think that she challenges me in different ways that are very helpful to connecting and relating to the athletes.”

For Nowak, working with Susnara has provided a new look at an old friend.

“I think that throughout my four

Assistant coach Karly Nowak cheers on her players as they perform their tumbling routine. Oregon acrobatics and tumbling defeated Hawai’i Pacific in the season opener at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore., on Feb. 10, 2024. (Kemper Flood/ Emerald)

years [as an athlete] I had a really great connection with Taylor — a really great relationship,” Nowak said. “I think that was also one of the drivers … something that I considered when taking the coaching position here.”

What they’re building in Eugene is about more than just a championship. Both of them know the toll that being an athlete takes on being a student. So, for these coaches, it’s all about the mental health of their team.

That’s where Nowak comes in.

“Karly, coming from the student athlete side just this past year, [is] able to give some insight on what the team atmosphere was — how it could change and what could be better,” Susnara said. “Coming in as the head coach, I felt like that was an area that we were weak and something that we needed to continue to hone in on.”

North of Oregon’s campus, across the drifting Willamette River and nestled in the shadow of Autzen Stadium lies the Casanova Center. This is where Nowak and Susnara spend most of their working time together. There’s a ping pong table in the lobby, where Oregon Athletics employees host rambunctious tournaments in their free time, but the two coaches aren’t playing around.

“We plan everything out down to the wire,” Susnara said, sitting in a conference room off the lobby. “From our practice plan timing to what we’re doing within each of those practices.”

That Tuesday, they were breaking down

film from the season’s first meet against Hawaii Pacific University.

“We’re going through our deductions — we’ll go over that with the team today,” Susnara said, “and then we’ll focus on the pieces that we need to work on from our last meet.”

When they’re in the enormous, harsh confines of Matthew Knight Arena — the antithesis of the soft couches across the water — Susnara is the one giving the team talks mid-meet. She’s the one who organizes the big huddle of 40-plus athletes and details their plan of attack. Nowak, meanwhile, takes athletes aside one-on-one, maybe before they draw the attention of the crowd and judges with a solo pass, to provide her advice.

“I think that I have a good connection with a lot of them and I know them really well,” Nowak said, “and I think I know how to get to them and know how to talk to them and what they need at certain times.”

Their mannerisms are remarkably similar— the hand on the shoulder, seemingly making that crowd of athletes disappear, or the squat that allows them to get as close to the mat as possible while staying out of the television cameras’ line of sight. They nimbly manage the emotions of a frantic group in a sport that demands absolute focus as they govern their own emotions on the mat: with aplomb.

“I think that we’ve always had a lot of talent on this team,” Nowak said. “A lot of the time it really

just comes down to the mental piece and going out there and doing it when it counts. Just showing up every day, ready to attack every skill.”

That’s what she and her coach-turnedcollaborator mastered during their time as athletes. Now it’s what she’s trying to teach her friends-turned-students.

“I feel like, at the start of the season it was a little bit tough, obviously, being friends with some of the girls last year and teammates with them,” she said.

It’s fulfilling, too, she says.

“I think it’s really cool to go out there and watch them do their thing and watch them grow as athletes,” Nowak said. “[I’m] seeing them now, on the other side of it, just getting to watch them succeed and do the things that they love.”

And she’s still in love with Eugene — so much that she’s comfortable staying where she is, at least for the moment. “I wouldn’t say that my ultimate goal is to be a head coach,” she said. “I think that I like where I’m at right now. I like this position — and I think it’s more so the environment and not so much the job. … Staying here is more important to me than becoming a head coach one day.”

It doesn’t get much better than that. The students have their teacher. Their teacher has her mentor. And Oregon — soon — could have a national title.

Karly Nowak (20) spots the ground with her hands. The Oregon acrobatics and tumbling team took on Baylor on April 10, 2022, at Matthew Knight Arena. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

EXPLORE DOWNTOWN EUGENE WITH FIRST FRIDAY ARTWALKS

VISITORS ARE INVITED TO “CHOOSE THEIR OWN ADVENTURE” AND GO ON A SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF ART GALLERIES, STUDIOS AND PUBLIC ART SPACES

BY HARPER MAHOOD • DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN

Members of the Eugene community will flock downtown April 5 for the First Friday ArtWalk, a once-a-month opportunity to immerse oneself in Eugene’s vibrant art scene.

First Friday ArtWalks came into fruition over thirty years ago when Fred Crafts, a local storyteller and radio personality, decided to do guided tours of downtown Eugene’s art galleries.

“They began as really three to five stops on any given art walk evening,” Tara Wibrew, Lane County Community Arts Coordinator, said. “Now, ArtWalk has grown over the course of many decades to include more than two dozen locations throughout downtown.”

These days, First Friday ArtWalks average anywhere between 500 to 1,250 participants depending on the weather. Due to the large volume, the walks are less structured than they were thirty years ago. Participants can pick up an ArtWalk Guide at the Farmer’s Market Pavillion before heading off to “choose their own adventure,” Wibrew said.

to expand each and every year, and for that matter each and every month,” Wibrew said. “So you’re always finding new venues or

features innovative products made by local middle and highschoolers, including fashion items, 3D models, digital art and biomimicry.

Some of the businesses involved in First Friday ArtWalks are FUSE Jewelry Collective, FLUX Crystals, Karin Clarke Gallery, The New Zone Gallery and OSLP Arts and Culture Center.

“When you look at the map, it continues

venues that might be seasonal.”

One of the facets of the upcoming art walk that Wibrew is most excited for is the Lane Arts Council Design Arts Apprenticeship Showcase at Spark on 22 W 7th Avenue. The exhibition

“It’s really incredible to see students working in tandem with professionals to help guide their own artistic creations,” Wibrew said. “And it becomes their opportunity to really show that off in a public space as a part of ArtWalk.”

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the student designers at Spark and speak with them about their artistic process.

Another highlight of the upcoming First Friday ArtWalk is a sewing circle hosted by HIV Alliance and Eugene PRIDE to create a new pride flag. No experience is necessary to participate.

“Lavender Landmarks: Touring Eugene’s Historically Queer Sites” is another new addition to the First Friday ArtWalks. Created by University of Oregon student organizer Shayna Meltzer, the tour is designed to connect people with Eugene’s lesserknown queer history. The tour combines the past and the present and focuses on downtown Eugene.

Whether it be for the queer history tour, student showcases, art galleries or simply to spend an evening in charming downtown Eugene, visit the next First Friday ArtWalk on April 5. There is a little something for everyone.

(Holly Huynh/Emerald)

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CHOOSING FRIENDS DELICATELY

What’s the culture around cutting someone off?

We assess dating as a realm in which we continuously engage with someone in order to see if they’re the right fit for us. Through this relationship, we may go through hardships to discover whether it’s a dynamic we should nurture or let go of.

What if we applied the same method to friendships? Sometimes people are simply not going to align within our lives. As a culture, what fears are innate within us that prevent us from cutting off

BY SAMANTHA LOZANO • DESIGNED BY GABRIELA MARTINEZ

friendships? As a society, have we written people off in order to sidestep confrontation?

A common phrase I’ve heard over the years is describing people as “toxic,” a term originally coined from therapy to describe someone who is causing one a lot of pain and unhappiness over a period of time. I’ve asked my friends, “Well have you addressed this issue with the person?”

Commonly the response is a simple “no.”

One can argue we promote communication

within romantic relationships but not always friendships. Is this lack of communication leading to impulsively cutting people off that could have benefited from the feedback if given the chance? Have we diluted the meaning of “toxic” in order to avoid working out an issue?

It is natural to have different expectations from a partner rather than a friend, solely based on the nature of the relationship. However, there is something to be said about holding one more accountable for their actions than the other. Have you ever been in a relationship with someone and tolerated certain behaviors from them that you would not have accepted from a friend, or vice versa?

Consistently holding people accountable in different types of relationships can create little gray areas within other relationships. A common experience is allowing behaviors to continue with certain people based on innate fears — fear of losing them, of how they will react or how they will perceive you.

On the other hand, when are we too forgiving of people’s bad behaviors? UO senior Nicole Mccutcheon spoke about her internal struggles with cutting off certain people.

“I often worry that if I distance myself, I am prematurely dismissing them as a person and being mean,” Mccutcheon said. “‘Oh, this person messed up once — I’m done with them.’ I want to be a forgiving person. Is this a thing we can talk about, or this is a repeat problem and let go and move on?”

Being able to differentiate between an action that is worth a conversation or not can be difficult at times. There have been multiple situations where I have had to quickly assess if this is the hill I am going to die on. It’s about being able to fit these questions into the equation: How has this person reacted in the past to feedback? Is this a friendship I want to mend or grow from? Am I cutting someone off based on impulsive emotions or thoughtful decisions?

UO junior Jocelyn Johnson stated her reasons why she decides a friendship may have to end: “When somebody actively doesn’t put effort in communicating with me at a regular level and doesn’t reach out for a long time.” Being able to understand the value of setting boundaries is something we either find out early or later in life, but will save time sifting through our relationships.

It is hard letting go of certain people within your life, especially during a pivotal time in one’s life like their early 20s. Truly being able to acknowledge that not every person is deserving of your time is a crucial element in letting go.

(Stella Fetherston/Emerald)

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Low on a spiciness scale

5 Presidential thumbs down

9 Future JD’s exam

13 Over again

14 Villainous

15 Commuter boat

16 Post-it scribble

17 Matching cups, saucers, sugar bowl, etc.

19 Starting point

21 “Luncheon of the Boating Party” painter Pierre-Auguste

22 Colorful hard confection

25 “Bowwow!”

28 Fr. holy woman

29 Pep squad cheer

30 Alex Morgan’s sport

32 Back, at sea

35 “Good heavens!”

36 Apt time for pranksters to do the starts of 17-, 22-, 50-, and 57-Across?

40 Antioxidant berry in fruit bowls

41 Tranquil

42 Not exactly

45 Mariska Hargitay series, familiarly

46 Small amount

49 Citrus drink suffix

50 Legumes in some chili recipes

54 Extra charge for a sci. class, e.g.

56 Quick bite

57 Mojave Desert yucca

61 Share a side with

62 Anticipate 63 Rhyming tributes

64 Train segments

65 Terrarium pet 66 Norway’s capital

67 Job

DOWN

1 Grand homes

2 Part of the plot

3 Doesn’t interfere with

4 Uncool sort

5 Nov. 11 honoree

6 Festive night, often

7 Prom queen’s crown

8 Elizabeth of “WandaVision”

9 Jeans maker Strauss

10 Hot sauce often mixed with mayonnaise

11 Path of a lobbed ball

12 Sheridan who plays young Cyclops in the “X-Men” films

15 Soft serve ice cream alternative, casually

18 Wraps up

20 Upper bodies

23 Countrywide: Abbr.

24 Gourmet cooks

26 “Ratatouille” rat

SUDOKU

27 Cook in hot oil

31 Programmer’s output

32 Dry as a desert

33 Fish eggs

34 Like Vikings

36 Battery fluid

37 Carpentry tool that cuts plywood sheets

38 Tax

39 Oscar season oversights

40 Sometimes called, for short

43 “True. However ... ”

44 World Cup org.

46 “__, black sheep ... ”

47 Acquires, as debts

48 “Tut-tut” kin

51 Half a “Star Wars” droid name

52 Uncool sorts

53 Put into effect

55 Take __: lose money

57 First mo.

58 Have bills to pay

59 Long fish

60 That, in Spanish

© 2023 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

GROWING PAINS AHEAD GROWING PAINS AHEAD

PREVIEWING OREGON WOMEN’S LACROSSE’S MOVE TO THE BIG TEN

BY LILY CRANE • DESIGNED BY RYAN EHRHART

Oregon women’s lacrosse’s goals are about to get even more ambitious.

The Ducks have repeatedly expressed throughout the season that they’re hungry to contend among the best of the Pac-12. They’ve shown that they’re a team on the rise with alumna Jess Drummond at the helm and with a set of strong performances early.

The problem is that Oregon is about to make the move to arguably the best conference in collegiate lacrosse — the Big Ten. Below are some of the top programs the Ducks will face starting in 2025, and what to expect for a young Oregon program moving forward.

RUTGERS

The Scarlet Knights gave the Ducks a taste of what the Big Ten will look like when they delivered Oregon’s only nonconference loss on March 3. The Ducks got off to a blazing start to their 2024 season and the defeat wasn’t just a wake-up call to the tough road ahead this season. A 15-7 Rutgers victory revealed what lies ahead in Oregon’s future.

While the Scarlet Knights looked dominant against the Ducks, they started their season 5-4, losing their first two conference games. A team that Oregon struggled against is currently at the bottom of the Big Ten standings.

NORTHWESTERN

If there’s any question about the strength of competition in the Big Ten, just take a look at the Wildcats. Not only has Northwestern won eight different national championships, but it’s made 24 separate NCAA Tournaments.

Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller built the program into a national powerhouse when she took over in 2002. Now, the Wildcats are both

the reigning conference champions and national champions. They don’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. Oregon may not be able to contend with Northwestern right away, but the Wildcats set the standard for the conference the Ducks aspire to conquer.

MICHIGAN

The Wolverines are currently atop the Big Ten standings early into the conference season. Michigan went undefeated in its first 11 games of 2024 to earn a spot at No. 2 in the Women’s Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.

The Wolverines only promoted its lacrosse team from club to varsity in 2011, so its accomplishments have been recent. Still, Michigan is rolling in this season and looks like a lock for another NCAA Tournament appearance. For an Oregon program that wants to work its way into the top 25 rankings in the coming years, the

Wolverines provide hope for what that may look like.

MARYLAND

The Terrapins are the most successful program in the history of women’s collegiate lacrosse with 14 titles. They’ve won three national championships since joining the Big Ten in 2015 and that success has continued this season. Maryland is the No. 2 ranked team in the nation after 10 games. The Terrapins’ only loss came in overtime earlier in the season against Florida.

The Ducks will also join Johns Hopkins, Ohio State and Penn State in the Big Ten. USC will be the other Pac-12 program moving to the Big Ten next season. Including the Trojans, five Big Ten programs currently rank in the top 25.

Oregon has struggled against Power Five opponents this season. It lost its first two games of the Pac-12 season, as well as the defeat to Rutgers. Soon, the Ducks will travel across the country to face the best teams in the country on a weekly basis. For a team that has the desire to win conference championships, a shift to the Big Ten is a major bump in the road to achieving that. At the same time, a program has to beat the best to be the best.

There will be a lot of growing pains in Oregon’s future. The conference change likely won’t be easy at first, but it provides the Ducks with the opportunity to learn from playing NCAA Tournament caliber teams on the regular. Some of lacrosse’s biggest powerhouses are Big Ten programs that quickly rose to national prominence. Now, Oregon has the chance to do the same by proving itself against those teams.

Oregon celebrates Anna Simmons’ (30) goal in the first quarter. The Oregon women’s lacrosse team walked away with a win over Merrimack College on March 6, 2024, at Pape Field in Eugene, Ore. (Alyssa Garcia/Emerald)

become better.”