4-2-21 Emerald Media - Monday Edition

APRIL 5, 2021

Monday Edition

Emerald Media

ACFC member Jenna Travers said the committee saw huge inequities in the athletics tickets agreement.

Tackling Tickets ASUO is moving away from funding student athletics tickets NEWS

EMERALD’S NEXT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PG 2

A&C COVID-19 HAS CHANGED OUR STREETS PG 8

OPINION DITCH DOCS FOR CROCS PG 10

SPORTS

HAYWARD FIELD REOPENS PG 11 M O N D AY, A P R I L 5 , 2 0 2 1

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NEWS

SARAH-MAE McCULLOUGH WILL BE EMERALD’S NEXT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

VOL. 122, ISSUE NO. 44

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McCullough is the first woman Emerald EiC since 2015 and leads the arts and culture desk.

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ON THE COVER

Jenna Travers, shown just outside the ASUO offices inside the ERB Memorial Union, is a member of the ASUO finance committee, which helps oversee the University of Oregon’s incidental fees. The University of Oregon is implementing changes to the prices of student tickets of sports games. (Will Geschke/Emerald)

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Sarah-Mae McCullough will be the 2021-22 editor-in-chief of the Daily Emerald, starting in summer 2021.

McCullough is double majoring in journalism and planning, public policy and management. She began working for the Emerald her sophomore year as an arts and culture reporter, writing reviews on local artists and feature stories on mental health and social justice issues.

This past year she was the editor of the A&C desk, where she implemented a peer editing program, restructured meetings for more community building time and established a clearer publication schedule.

“I’ve really loved being a desk editor more than I was expecting to. I love the process where you have all the information out, and it’s just playing with language,” McCullough said.

“But also, I’m getting to work with writers in a sort of mentoring role, and providing that guidance has been really enjoyable.”

The last woman editor in chief of the Emerald was Dahlia Bazzaz in 2015-16.

McCullough said she did not even consider applying (Courtesy of Sarah-Mae McCullough) for the role until current Editor-in-Chief Ryan Nguyen encouraged her to go for it.

“I think that a lot of times when we don’t consider opportunities, it’s because we have some sort of unconscious bias about it,” McCullough said. “If we don’t see people like us in a certain role, we aren’t as likely to consider ourselves as viable options, even if we’re just as qualified as anyone else who might go for the role.”

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Nguyen said he is sad to leave his role as editorin-chief, but he’s happy that he gets to leave it in the hands of someone as capable as McCullough.

“She’s going to be really great as EiC — really reliable and able to push the newsroom into a new decade,” Nguyen said. “I’m really excited to see the work that she’s going to be doing.”

McCullough’s current associate A&C editor Grace Murray said McCullough is the best person for the job because of her ability to approach everything in a calm nature.

“Sarah-Mae is one of the most reliable, organized and levelheaded people I have ever met,” Murray said. “Every issue that has ever come up that I’ve had to deal with, I messaged her, and I know that it’s going to a person who’s going to approach it from an objective point of view.”

McCullough said she is looking forward to improving the student experience at the Emerald. She wants to increase staff training, develop a mentoring program between incoming and seasoned writers, hold open houses, expand multimedia content and incorporate editorial cartoons in the opinion section.

She also wants to continue to improve diversity at the Emerald by bringing a community and diversity reporter onto the news desk and building off of current managing editor Francis O’Leary’s idea of forming an ethics board.

“I’m really honored to take on the position and the Emerald provides such a unique source of coverage, telling stories that don’t get covered anywhere else,” she said. “I’m very excited to be involved and continue contributing.”

Around OR REGIONAL AND STATE NEWS HUNDREDS OF POUNDS OF DRUGS, GUNS AND CASH SEIZED IN LANE COUNTY: The Lane County Sheriff’s Office raided a large-scale, illegally operating hash oil production center in Elmira, about 15 miles west of Eugene. Deputies found a “large amount” of cash packaged in $10,000 bundles, 16 firearms, 450 bags of psilocybin mushrooms, 20 pounds of hash oil, hundreds of pounds of dried marijuana and a stolen truck, The Oregonian reported.

– JACK FORREST OREGON FOOTBALL BEGINS SPRING PRACTICE: The Oregon football program has officially began their spring season. This year, the schedule is slightly different, beginning in April rather than March. After several opening practices over the course of the last week, the Ducks will practice Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of each week throughout the month before culminating in a spring game in Autzen Stadium on May 1.

– SHANE HOFFMANN

(DL Young/Emerald)

ASTORIA WARRENTON 39TH ANNUAL CRAB, SEAFOOD & WINE FESTIVAL: The Astoriabased crab, seafood and wine festival will have virtual and limited in-person options. The virtual festival will be held over Eventbrite and participants can buy from online vendors. The Festival Feast Dining Passport is a partnership with multiple restaurants in Astoria to showcase the “unique taste of the Oregon coast.” Participants can sign up for a free “passport” before April 9 and then go on a “guided tour” from April 23 to May 9.

– EM CHAN

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For more information, call the Emerald at 541-346-5511, ext. 302, or email kcarbone@dailyemerald.com.

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UO Alumni share career lessons they’ve learned

Kevin Yamaka

Job Title: Business owner and entrepreneur Major: B.S. in Economics and Business and Society Graduated: 2012

Kevin Yamaka, founder and owner of Soko Coffee in Eugene, started his business venture in March 2020 with his wife Leslie, a UO alumna. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter drive, what started as a coffee cart is soon to become a permanent shop.

Graduating in 2012 with a B.S. in Economics and Business and Society, Kevin held several jobs in finance and accounting, before a layoff in 2020 motivated him to start his own coffee company.

What skills and key takeaways did you gain from your time at the UO that you now implement in your career?

One of the biggest things I took away was being open minded to what options and new ideas are out there.

I also learned to tune out what’s going on around you, focus on what my interests and needs are, and navigate the world based on where my interests are leading me. I started off thinking I was going into the business program at the UO and then because of my Freshman Interest Group (FIG), I started taking anthropology classes. I was surprised at my interest in those classes, and started taking more social science classes. I ended up with a general social science degree, and I was able to take those business and economic classes and tie it into something that I loved. It’s important to try out new things and see what works and what doesn’t. The UO does such a good job offering a wide variety of classes and because students are required to take classes in different fields, it really opens your eyes to what’s out there.

Read the full interview at uoalumni.com/careerprofiles

Alumni Spotlight is a collaboration between UOAA and Emerald Media Group.

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NEWS

OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY ADVISORY BOARD DISCUSSES PLAN FOR LEGAL PSILOCYBIN

(Makena Hervey/Emerald)

The Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board had its first meeting on Wednesday to discuss the specifics of the legalization of medicinal psilocybin.

BY COLE SINANIAN • TWITTER @COLERS928 The Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board convened for the first time Wednesday to begin the long process of integrating legal psilocybin therapy into the state’s mental health care system.

Wednesday’s meeting marked the first major milestone since Oregonians voted to pass the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act in November. The act, also known as Ballot Measure 109, directs the Oregon Health Authority to begin regulating the manufacture, delivery and sale of medicinal psilocybin products after a two-year development period.

The Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board operates within the OHA and consists of 16 members elected

by Gov. Kate Brown who work with the OHA during the development period to establish rules and regulations regarding the use of psilocybin services.

Some of the board’s responsibilities include making recommendations to the OHA on the available scientific studies relating to the safety and efficacy of psilocybin therapy, the necessary training for psilocybin service providers, the requirements for a provider to receive a psilocybin license and the specifics for how and where psilocybin should be administered to qualifying patients.

Psilocybin is the hallucinogenic compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. It was given a “breakthrough therapy designation” by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 after it was shown to demonstrate “substantial improvement over available therapy” for treatment-resistant depression during clinical trials run by a company called COMPASS Pathways. In a 2016 study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that a single dose of psilocybin provided significant relief to symptoms of depression and anxiety in a majority of terminally ill cancer patients.

Each of the board’s 16 members volunteered for their positions and were appointed by the governor’s office. The board primarily consists of health care and law professionals from around Oregon and includes epidemiologists, hospice nurses, clinical psychologists, a mycologist, lawyers, psychopharmacologists and physicians. The board’s three OHA representatives are non-voting members, meaning the board maintains full decision-making autonomy from the OHA. Psilocybin services will not be available to the public until at least January 2023, according to the text of the act, after which the OHA will issue psilocybin licenses to healthcare providers and drug manufacturers. According to Sam Chapman, the executive director of the Healing Advocacy Fund — a nonprofit that supported the implementation of measure 109 – psilocybin products will remain illegal for retail sale, as well as for unauthorized PA G E 4

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consumption, possession and cultivation. He also said that there will be no branding or advertising for psilocybin products.

“You’re not going to be driving down I-5 and see an advertisement for mushrooms,” he said.

Board member Tom Eckert said the specifics surrounding the implementation of the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act will differ from those of other newly approved pharmaceutical drugs. He is a Portland psychotherapist who, along with his late wife Sheri, spearheaded the initiative to legalize therapeutic psilocybin as the chief petitioners and principal architects of Measure 109. Eckert said that the board must acknowledge the cultural history of therapeutic psilocybin as it establishes a regulatory framework and ensure that all qualifying community members have equal access to psilocybin therapy.

“You’re not going to be driving down I-5 and see an advertisement for mushrooms.”

SAM CHAPMAN Executive Director of the Healing Advocacy Fund

“Psilocybin is not exactly a pharmaceutical drug,” he said. “It shouldn’t necessarily be regulated like it’s some new pill that’s created in a lab with unknown side effects. We must respect the deep history and knowledge of psychedelic use, plant medicine and ceremony dating back thousands of years.”

The members spent a specific portion of the meeting discussing the internal structure of the board itself. They debated whether to elect a chair and vice chair or two co-chairs to preside over future meetings, before Dr. Andre Ourso — an administrator from the OHA’s Public Health Division who led the discussion — decided to push their decision to the next meeting. They also discussed how to divide the board’s work and proposed several subcommittees, including ones for equity, research, training and education for psilocybin facilitators and manufacturers. The board ultimately voted to approve the formation of the research and training subcommittees.

Dr. Jessie Uehling, a mycologist and botany professor at Oregon State University, called attention to the specific types of psilocybin products that the state would allow to be administered to the public, which she said will affect the kinds of research she conducts for the board.

“Are we talking about providing whole mushrooms, psilocybin extracts, synthetic psilocybin, or a combination of these products? That would really guide a lot of the research I would do,” she said, “and would also shape the thinking about safety and concerns in the clinic as these therapies are being administered.”

As the board discussed the different types of research that should be included in its recommendations to the OHA, Dr. Angela Carter — a primary care physician serving the Portland transgender community — asked the board to consider evidence that may not fit the standards of traditional western medicine.

“There are a lot of Indigenous, non-western ways of knowing around psilocybin therapy and psychedelic use in general,” they said. “Just because it’s not a double-blind randomized clinical trial that is western-modeled doesn’t mean that that evidence is not useful pertaining to the use of psilocybin.”

Dr. Rachel Knox is a cannabinoid medicine specialist and health equity specialist who served as the past chair of the Oregon Cannabis Commission.

Drawing on her experience from her work in regulating the recreational cannabis industry, she emphasized the far-reaching effects that a medicinal psilocybin industry could have on Oregon.

“Eventually we’ll want to tackle things like business, and law, and how the supply chain operates — how it flows,” she said. “We have to be honest with ourselves about this: It does create an industry. So how are we going to steward this industry with integrity?”

UO clinical psychology professor Nicholas Allen, who does not sit on the board, said that while he fully supports the implementation of therapeutic psilocybin programs in Oregon, the board’s recommendations must align with the latest scientific research. He said that for the Oregon Psilocybin Services Act to affect positive change, the board must recognize that psilocybin is an emerging mental health treatment rather than an established one, and that its implementation must be based on the same evidence standards as other new forms of mental healthcare.

“Whatever regulations are put around psilocybin treatment needs to recognize that in reality, there is an ongoing scientific process,” he said. “We don’t have the level of evidence on this treatment that we have on other mainstream treatments for depression and anxiety.”

The OHA has directed the board to submit its findings and recommendations on the available scientific research regarding the efficacy of psilocybin in treating mental health conditions by June 30, 2021, and to begin distributing its findings to the public no later than July 31, 2021.

NEWS

Who’s running in this year’s

ASUO elections?

Mostly incumbents

Although ASUO President Isaiah Boyd is running unopposed for a second term, there’s a handful of races for students to watch in the upcoming ASUO election.

BY LEO BAUDHUIN • TWITTER @NOTALEOBUTLEO There are 31 candidates running in this year’s ASUO elections, and most are running unopposed. Additionally, there are no ballot measures on the table after ASUO voted against putting OSPIRG’s reaffirmation on this year’s ballot, and OSPIRG decided against collecting the required signatures to put itself up for vote.

Of those running for office, there are only four races — down from five in 2020 — in this year’s election. ASUO Elections Coordinator Stasya Jackson said the high number of students running unopposed has been a pattern over the past couple years, although she said she’s unsure of the exact reason behind that trend.

ASUO President Isaiah Boyd is among those vying for a seat with no competition as he runs for his second year at the head of ASUO’s executive branch. In his candidate profile, Boyd wrote that he is hoping to build upon this year’s work during the 2021-22 academic year. “I am running for office to advocate for the needs of students across campus, ensure transparency in university operations, expand the student support programs established this year, and to continue to fight for a more equitable higher education,” he wrote.

Odalis Aguilar-Aguilar, a junior currently serving as one of ASUO’s secretaries, is running as Boyd’s vice president.

Her election profile emphasizes empowering historically underrepresented students and ensuring University of Oregon administration incorporates student voice.

Thirteen students are running unopposed for the ASUO senate. Only four of those students did not serve on this year’s senate and only two did not hold an ASUO position this year. No one has declared candidacy for four of the senate’s available academic seats.

The one senate race is for seat four — a one-year senator position, who will also serve on the EMU Board — where Kavi Shrestha is challenging current academic senator Nathan Waldman.

Waldman said they were inspired to run for a finance seat after the fallout from ASUO’s decision to cut its student ticket agreement with UO’s athletics department. “In a lot of the conversations I had with students, a lot of students didn’t even know what they were paying for and didn’t know what services they had access to,” they said. “That was frustrating to hear.”

As a result, Waldman’s platform centers around transparency and student outreach — both in negotiations they engage in and in ensuring students are aware of the services ASUO offers. They said they also want to ensure marginalized students have a voice in ASUO, hold UO administration accountable and work to implement ASUO’s new basic needs programming.

“I want to make sure that students have the ability to access support when they need it,” Waldman said, “because I think that’s something that the university should provide, but they don’t. That’s kind of what the I-Fee is for: to fill those gaps and make sure that students can do what they need to do and be successful.”

Shrestha said he also noticed that a lot of UO students don’t pay attention to ASUO until something big happens.

“I want to try and work toward changing that culture,” he said. Although Shrestha acknowledged a culture change isn’t something he can do immediately or on his own, he said student engagement is one of the things he wants to prioritize if elected to the senate.

“I don’t have a perfect blueprint to how we can make that culture change or anything like that,” he said. “But I want to try and focus on elevating the voices of students here at school and making sure what they want to be changed is centered in what ASUO does going forward.”

This goal of student engagement ties into the advocacy work Shrestha did in high school when he started a campaign to get the Tigard-Tualatin School Board to elect a member who would prioritize student voices.

Beyond student engagement, Shrestha said he also wants to focus on investing in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ student organizations, food security and access to free menstrual products. “There’s so much that needs to be done on so many different issues,” he said. And while he acknowledged that he — and ASUO as a whole — won’t be able to tackle everything at once, Shrestha said he and ASUO can try.

Kati Rodriguez Perez and Anna Jatsura are both running for the same seat on the EMU Board.

Rodriguez Perez’s platform centers around administrative transparency and uplifting student voice, according to her candidate profile. They have experience as an intern with the Oregon Student Association and work with the UO Women’s Center to combat sexual violence.

Jatsura wrote about the value she sees in community and highlighted her work with the Justice Bean Hall Council and mock trial in her candidate profile.

On ASUO’s Programs Finance Committee, Emily Chang and Katie Mayer are competing for the same seat. Chang served on PFC during the 2020-21 academic year, while Mayer sat on the EMU Board.

Chang’s voter profile centers her experiences as an international student and Mayer’s emphasizes advocating for student organizations.

Keaton Ibendahl and Kelly Keith are squaring off for a position on ASUO’s Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee.

Ibendahl wrote that she wants to represent student interests in negotiating contracts. She currently interns with OSPIRG and held a couple leadership positions in high school.

Keith’s ASUO profile also emphasizes the importance of advocating for marginalized students. She wants to use objectivity and empathy to foster open communication and equity, she wrote.

UO students can learn more about their future ASUO representatives at a Virtual Candidate Town Hall Event on April 8.

ASUO elections will run from 9 a.m. on April 7 to 4 p.m. on April 14. Students can vote on Engage, which can also be accessed through the ASUO elections website. Barring a runoff, the Elections Board will publish all results by 5 p.m.

April 14.

Isaiah Boyd (Courtesy of Isaiah Boyd)

Kavi Shrestha (Courtest of Kavi Shrestha)

Nathan Waldman (Courtesy of Nathan Waldman)

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COVER

AFTER OVER DECADES OF ASUO FUNDING, UO STUDENT ATHLETICS TICKETS NOW REST IN ADMINISTRATIVE HANDS

BY LEO BAUDHUIN • TWITTER @NOTALEOBUTLEO ASUO voted to end its student agreement with the UO athletics department in January, marking the end of a long history of student government funds covering athletics tickets ASUO’s Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee voted to reallocate the $1.7 million that previously paid for its student ticket agreement with the University of Oregon Athletics Department at a Jan. 19 budget hearing. After years of negotiation and months of ASUO activism, UO President Michael Schill settled on discounting season tickets for student purchase.

ASUO’s decision to remove all funding from its agreement with the athletics department marks the culmination of a long history of ASUO trying to redirect incidental fee funding toward various programs it believed would more equitably support students.

The I-fee is the mandatory student fee that ASUO directs toward various areas that support UO students, such as the EMU, student organizations and ASUO’s new basic needs programs.

Ron Eachus, who was ASUO president during the 1970-71 academic year, said directing incidental fee funds toward other programming was a “major battle” during his time in office as his administration worked to fund a housing office, a draft counseling office and student organizations like the Black Student Union.

“The people who don’t want it to happen always have the advantage because the student population keeps changing,” Eachus said. “It is hard to sustain.”

Although Eachus’ involvement with ASUO predates the formalized agreement between student government and the UO athletics department, the UO I-fee has supported football for as long as student government has existed on campus.

The current system — a written agreement between ASUO and athletics that delegates a sum of the incidental fee in exchange for a set number of student football and men’s basketball tickets for every home game — has formally been in place since 1987. That’s when ASUO and the UO athletics department negotiated a roughly $1.2 million I-fee payment in exchange for 6,000 “free” student football tickets, 3,583 men’s basketball tickets and admission to all other sports with a student ID card.

The years that followed were filled with negotiation. Ahead of the 2005-06 fiscal year, ASUO and athletics agreed to pay 50% of the tickets’ market value — a rate determined by adding a ticket’s face value price to any applicable donation fees that would ordinarily be incorporated in its sale. This broke down to a little over $1.3 million for 5,650 regular season student football tickets and 2,000 men’s basketball tickets.

Ahead of the 2010-11 academic year, ACFC agreed to a decrease in ticket quantity so athletics could separately sell roughly 1,000 season tickets to the student body at a discounted price. The 2010-11 agreement did not list a set price for these season tickets, but students who purchased them had to pay their share of the $1.4 million that funded the contract as well as their individual ticket costs.

At this point, athletics was giving students 4,445 tickets for Pac-12 football games and 1,600 for men’s basketball games.

“As time has gone by students have gotten a worse and worse deal from the athletics department,” 2014-15 ACFC Chair Andrew Lubash said, “when it should be going the other way.”

By Lubash’s senior year, the agreement had increased to just under $1.7 million.

Going into the negotiating process, the athletics department had asked for a 10% budget increase — not in itself an uncommon request, as former ASUO Finance Director Shawn Stevenson told the Emerald in 2015 — and threatened to cut tickets from students if ACFC did not agree to at least 3%.

“From the beginning I was frustrated with that,” Lubash said, “because it didn’t feel like they were negotiating with us in good faith.” He started a petition to foster student awareness and support about the conversations between ACFC and the athletics department.

To Lubash, this struggle also ties into the idea of I-fee autonomy. Student government bodies at public Oregon universities have the power to allocate I-fee money as they see fit under state law — with provisions made for an administrative veto.

“If we’re not allowed to change what we spend the money on, if we’re being forced

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to spend this money on athletics no matter what, do we really have control over that?” Lubash said. “Because it doesn’t seem like we do.”

Although ASUO ended up paying the same amount for the contract as it had in 2015-16, the athletics department cut 300 football tickets from the agreement and resold them separately as student regular season tickets. As a result, those tickets were unavailable to students who tried to go through the lottery system and instead went to those who were willing and able to pay money to the athletic department on top of the incidental fee, former Emerald reporter and current USA Today reporter Kenny Jacoby said. According to the agreement, full season tickets were priced at $325 and Pac-12 at $300 that year, not including processing fees.

In the 2020-21 agreement, ticket costs dropped to $120 for a full season and $100 for Pac-12 home games — even as the total money ASUO was paying for single-game tickets remained relatively constant.

Ahead of the 2016-17 academic year, athletics adjusted the payment model so that ASUO would now cover 80% of the tickets’ market value, but market value was calculated by just the ticket price rather than factoring in applicable donation fees.

This meant the overall price ASUO was paying remained at a flat rate.

In an attempt to smooth over tension, ASUO transferred a sum of $10,000 to the athletics department ahead of the 2017-18 academic year. Jacoby said ASUO was motivated by a fear of athletics leaving the agreement — in which case the Tuition and Fees Advisory Board would likely introduce a mandatory athletics fee to cover the cost of student tickets.

“At this point, they were controlling student tickets,” Jacoby said of ASUO, “and student tickets were a big political thing because it’s a big football school. People want to be able to go to games.” He said if the athletics fee were to exist through TFAB, then it would be TFAB members and not students who would control the number and price of tickets.

The Daily Emerald keeps extensive archives of its previous editions, with three of the volumes shown here.

According to the Emerald archives, the mandatory UO incidental fee has supported football for as long as student government has existed on campus. The ASUO Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee has voted to reallocate $1.7 million that was previously used to pay for student tickets as part of an agreement with the UO Athletics Department. (Will Geschke/Emerald)

COVER That threat of a mandatory fee through TFAB almost materialized this year when ACFC completely defunded the agreement between itself and athletics.

With student tickets up in the air, UO Vice President of Student Life Kevin Marbury asked the ASUO senate at its Jan. 27 meeting to consider transferring part of its stake in the EMU to free up money to fund its proposed basic needs programming.

Marbury presented a more formalized plan at the senate’s annual budget bonanza meeting that Saturday. The proposal asked that ASUO transfer a lump sum of roughly $2.3 million from its surplus to cover the ticket costs of all students currently enrolled at UO and “actively support” the implementation of a $29.50 mandatory athletics fee through TFAB. The senate unanimously voted against the proposition, with a number of members restating their shared belief that ASUO should not be the body paying for student tickets in favor of essential programs like housing subsidies.

Schill and ASUO senate President Claire O’Connor negotiated another proposal, which she brought to the floor in the form of a senate resolution at a Feb. 2 emergency meeting. The proposal again called on the senate to support a mandatory athletics fee, this time also requesting $1 million out of the $1.7 million that would have gone to the athletics contract in the 2020-21 academic year. Schill’s letter also proposed a student advisory board for the fee.

“I’d like to commend you on ASUO’s ideas for new programs and look forward to working with you over the next several months to make them a reality,” Schill wrote.

The resolution also fell short of majority approval, but this time with eight of the 21 senators voting in favor. “At the end of the day, a lot of us just couldn’t sign off that we supported that mandatory fee,” Travers said.

Lubash said he supported this year’s ASUO’s choice to redirect the athletics ticket money to basic needs programming. “Budgets are all about values,” he said. “When we spend money on something we’re basically saying this money spent on this thing is more important than anything else it can be spent on.”

From there, ASUO organized. It hosted a handful of student forums, reached out to the UO senate for its support in the form of a motion, started its own petition and encouraged students to testify against the proposed athletics fee ahead of the March board of trustees meeting where trustees would approve ASUO’s and UO’s budgets.

UO spokesperson Saul Hubbard told the Emerald via email that Schill chose to move away from establishing a mandatory athletics fee after hearing from students and faculty.

“But he also made clear that he did not think it was appropriate for athletics to fund the tickets,” Hubbard said, “given that the department is running a deficit in the tens of millions of dollars this year because of COVID-19 and all athletic department employees have taken salary cuts — pain that has not been shared by employees of the university more broadly.” According to projections shared at the board of trustees meeting, the UO athletics department will lose $63 million this year.

Although financial data for the 2020-21 fiscal year is not yet available, a $45 million revenue was projected for 2020-21 at the board of trustees meeting. In recent years, the UO athletics department has operated on a budget of roughly $130 million in revenue, making the student ticket money less than 2% of its total

funding.

Jimmy Stanton, senior associate athletic director for communications, said the $1.7 million from ASUO went to support the UO student-athlete experience and gameday operations. However, due to the pandemic, ACFC did not pay for the athletics contract for the 2020-21 academic year. ASUO is currently working to refund this money to students.

Instead of replacing the ASUO agreement with a similar mandatory fee, Schill proposed a plan to provide students with 5,000 season tickets for a discounted fee of $100 — a price consistent with that of a “Pac-12 Package” for football under the most recent ASUO and athletics agreement. Schill said he will subsidize the agreement by paying athletics $1.2 million out of UO’s licensing revenue.

“Only students who view premium athletic events as a critical part of their UO experience will have to pay to attend those events,” Marbury told the Emerald. It’s a significant change from the ASUO agreement’s lottery system, which ASUO senator and ACFC member Jenna Travers said was one of the driving factors in ACFC’s initial decision to defund the agreement.

“We had issues with the fact that students paid this fee and then couldn’t get tickets to the game,” Travers said. Under the agreement, everyone who paid the I-fee contributed to the athletics tickets, but only 65% of students made use of the agreement according to data provided at ACFC’s athletics budget hearing. Travers, like other ACFC members, said she saw this as a huge inequity.

While the distribution of these tickets is still being worked out, Schill’s memo at the board of trustees meeting implies that single-game tickets for football and basketball may also be an option for students going forward. Marbury said all other sports will be free to UO students.

As Schill and the athletics department figure out the details of student tickets, ASUO is working to plan for its basic needs programs. Its budget passed at the board of trustees meeting “with the caveat that each proposal would need to be reviewed to ensure they meet university policy and procedures before implementation could proceed,” Marbury said.

“We had issues with the fact that students paid this fee and then couldn’t get tickets to the game.”

Jenna Travers ACFC member

Jenna Travers, a member of the ASUO finance committee, poses in front of the ASUO offices at the ERB Memorial Union. The University of Oregon is implementing changes to the prices of student tickets of sports games. (Will Geschke/Emerald)

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HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED OUR STREETS A new book by UO faculty and students, “Rethinking Streets During COVID-19,” looks at people-focused city planning during the pandemic.

BY JENNAH PENDLETON• TWITTER @JENNAHPEN “Rethinking Streets During COVID-19,” a book by UO faculty and students, captures how communities in Eugene and around the world have reallocated street space during the pandemic. (Will Geschke/Emerald)

Beyond the many aspects of our lives that have had to change during the COVID-19 pandemic — like the way we work, study, eat, sleep and socialize — there are even more changes going on worldwide in ways that are not immediately visible to most of us. A recently published book by UO professors and students, “Rethinking Streets During COVID-19,” looks at how the pandemic has prompted cities all over the world to reconsider the way streets are structured.

Normally, the process of redesigning a street is a long one with a lot of political barriers, because locals tend to push back against that kind of change, city and regional planning professor Marc Schlossberg said. But, because of COVID-19, communities saw immediate need for local spaces that people could safely occupy.

The book’s authors said their intention with “Rethinking Streets During COVID-19” was to capture this moment in time and how cities have successfully and quickly made positive changes in their streets. Most of the case studies in the book feature streets that have been changed to accommodate more pedestrians and bikers and fewer cars.

“There’s knowledge about why designing our streets and transportation systems in ways that are not car-dependent are good things for our community,” Schlossberg said. However, the problem is convincing the public of the positive effects of these redesigns, because people in the United States are “socially engineered” to prefer cars, he said.

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third in the “Rethinking Streets” book series that is headed by Schlossberg and co-authored by associate professor Rebecca Lewis and several graduate and undergraduate students. Each of the three publicly available books features real-life examples of reimagined street designs that have benefited the surrounding communities.

The most local example is in Eugene on West Broadway, where several blocks were closed off from car traffic to create the Eugene “Streatery,” which allowed restaurants to seat people in public right-of-ways. This was part of the city’s effort to allow eateries to stay open and operate safely when restrictions on restaurants were at their most strict.

The book features a lot of similar case studies in which cities decreased car traffic and increased space for other modes of transportation, like biking or walking. Several examples featured more room for businesses to operate, while some were made for public use. Philadelphia’s Play Streets program offers a place for families to play with their neighbors and to keep children cool and nourished during hot summers, as public parks and pools were closed due to COVID-19.

In an era of many compromises made due to the pandemic, these newly designed streets are an example of change that serves the community well.

They provide a more equitable space that prioritizes people over vehicles and promotes economic recovery. Graduate student John Larson-Friend believes that the case studies represented in the

book are examples of ways cities can create a more equitable community.

“If we as city planners aren’t thinking about how to expand transportation and road access to as many people as possible, then I think something’s very wrong with how that planning is being done,” LarsonFriend said.

Environmental studies major and planning, public policy and management minor Natalie Kataoka also applied to the project because of her interest in how transportation methods can help create more equitable opportunities for the community. This was her first time participating in a professional research project.

“Hearing how passionate everyone was about transportation made me more interested in the topic,” Kataoka said. “I realized just how big a component it is in the public’s day-to-day lives.”

Those involved with the project hope the temporary changes they discussed in the book will be made permanent. One goal of the book was to demonstrate to others that positive change can be made efficiently, Schlossberg said.

“By limiting car throughput on residential streets, all of a sudden, those residential streets basically turn into public parks for people who lived on the street,” Schlossberg said. “So all of the sudden, you could be in your street, and just dance and socialize with your neighbors.”

Each of the “Rethinking Streets” books are available to download for free at rethinkingstreets.com.

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OPINION

DITCH

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Groening)

DOCS FOR

CROCS

BY ELIZABETH GROENING TWITTER @ELIZAGROENING

Life’s too short to blister inside of Docs when we have heavenly cushions like Crocs.

After an awkward first date at Vero Espresso, all I wanted was to get back home as quickly as possible.

The coffee shop is within a mere 15-minute walking distance from my apartment complex. Plus, I’m a naturally fast-paced walker, so I figured I’d be lying on my bed and FaceTiming with my mom in no time.

I was sadly mistaken. As I trudged down High Street, my toes and the tops of my feet went numb.

The only part I could feel were my heels, which started trickling blood through my Band-Aids and into my thick socks. I fought back tears with each slowing step, feeling as though a nail was being twisted into the backs of my feet. This was far from my first time enduring the excruciating pain of my Dr. Martens, hence the premature Band-Aids.

But when I finally made it to my room, yanked off the boots and saw the several layers of skin they’d ripped off, I knew it had to be the last.

This traumatic incident took place over a year after I’d excitedly invested $150 on a pair of the “smooth leather lace up boots,” as described on the Dr. Martens website. Back then, I’d justified the price, thinking I’d wear them 24/7. For years, I’d watched it-girls like Rihanna and Hailey Bieber effortlessly pair Docs with everything from overalls to ripped jeans. All I wanted was to look the slightest bit as cool as them.

Prior to my purchase, I was aware of the difficulties that Docs can evoke. I’d spent time researching which styles were the most wearable and reading articles like, “How to Break in Your Doc Martens: 11 Steps.” I was determined to conquer the challenging break-in period, but no WikiHow article could’ve prepared me for the pain.

During my year as a hopeful and oftentimes regretful owner of Docs, I spent at least $150 on different kinds of bandages, medications and socks,

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desperately trying to figure out a way to protect myself from the severe blisters they recurrently left on my heels. A month after that tough walk home, not only are my feet still in recovery — calling for Neosporin and Band-Aids on a daily basis — but my mental health needs healing as well.

My Docs are a lot like my ex-boyfriend. I love them. I always will, but they’ve also brought me a lot of pain and I have to leave them in the past. As I listed the boots — which ironically, also much like my ex, are seemingly unscathed — for sale on Depop, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever find shoes (and a man) that are both cute and kind to me.

Unexpectedly, my faith in footwear was renewed

by Justin Bieber’s collaboration with Crocs. I’d spent years thinking the foam clogs were hideous, but the $70 pair on Bieber’s feet were a sight for my sore eyes (and heels). The colorful, lightweight clogs appeared to be the exact opposite of the heavy black leather boots that entrapped my feet for so long.

Since buying a couple of pairs of Crocs, I not only walk around feeling confident, but am also comfortable. It feels like I’m walking on clouds. The air holes — many filled with adorable Jibbitz charms — allow my feet to breathe and make me happy. It’s like a party on my toes.

As I get older, I care more about the health of my feet than I do about what people think. I’ll happily sacrifice looking cool if “cool” means wearing boots that leave my feet hanging on by threads. No wonder nurses and doctors — who stand up all day — constitute 1/8 of Croc’s total profit. The clogs are waterproof, customizable and so soft that you forget you’re wearing them.

I’m not the only one jumping on the clog bandwagon. GQ style writer Cam Wolf details how the pandemic has led society to reorient what we

consider to be stylish footwear. Wolf argues that more people are copping Crocs because they’re “undeniably comfortable as hell.” Nearly every time I wear mine, I get compliments! On top of being cute and cushy, they’re affordable. You can buy three pairs of the $50 Classic Clogs for the price of a single pair of Docs.

Never again will I waste time or money on shoes to look “cool.” Life is hard enough. No matter what I’m wearing or where I’m going, I can trust my Crocs to get me there pain-free. I’ll never be as trendy as Rihanna — who must have feet of steel — but at least I know that even if I go on another bad date, I’ll get home quickly and in comfort.

Elizabeth Groening is an opinion columnist for the Emerald. She specializes in lifestyle, covering everything from fashion trends to K-pop. Follow her Twitter @elizaabeaar

SPORTS

HAYWARD FIELD REOPENS FOR FIRST MEET SINCE 2018 Oregon track and field shines in its new Hayward Field home

BY CARLY EBISUYA • TWITTER @CARLYEBISUYA

Located across from the William Knight Law Center, Hayward Field is the University of Oregon Track and Field team’s stadium. (DL Young/Emerald).

TrackTown, USA officially reopened its home on Friday afternoon.

After two years of remodeling and delays due to COVID-19, Hayward Field’s long-awaited reopening arrived. The newly renovated $200 million stadium reopened to track and field competition for the first time as Oregon hosted the Hayward Premiere meet in Eugene.

“Plush. Luxury. Welcome to the five-star resort at Hayward Field,” head coach Robert Johnson said.

The stadium was the first true track and field venue in the United States; it was designed for the athletes and sports fans alike — unparalleled indoor and outdoor training facilities, research areas, rehab rooms and even a barber shop all located underneath the seats provide the student-athletes with everything imaginable. Unlike other stadiums that were created for multifunctionality, Hayward is the first of its kind.

“The theater for track is real,” Johnson said.

The Hayward Premiere was the first meet that Hayward will host this outdoor season, with future meets that include the West Coast Classic, Oregon Relays, Oregon Twilight and the NCAA Championships.

On night one, the Ducks took home four first-place victories and 14 personal bests in the refurbished facility. For the first time in two years, athletes were cheered on by a limited number of friends and family in attendance. It provided a glimpse of what 25,000 fans in the future will look like.

Senior Austin Tharp kicked off the first event at Hayward with the men’s hammer throw, throwing a personal best of 59.44m/195-0.

“The feeling was unreal,” Tharp said. “Just walking in with all the officials and other competitors, it felt like Hayward magic was back. I’m from Eugene and my last home meet was the Oregon Twilight in 2018, so it was really nice to have family watching me compete at Hayward again for the first time in a few years.”

Redshirt junior Aneta Konieczek made her mark

on the first outdoor meet of her career in the steeplechase. The Poland native ran a 9:59.42 and moved to No. 3 on the top-10 all-time list for Oregon.

She is the first woman since 2016 to dip under 10 minutes in the event.

“It was amazing to be out there today and have a pretty good opener,” Konieczek said. “I was just really excited, not only because it’s been awhile, but also, it’s our track and I’d never raced at Hayward [Field] before. You could hear everyone and, even with the smaller crowd, the magic was there.”

As the sun set behind the 76 curved, soaring wood supports that encompasses the track, the stadium lights radiated. Under the Friday night lights, sophomore Cole Hocker won the men’s invitational 1500m in an NCAA-leading time of 3:38.99.

“It was definitely different and even though it wasn’t a full stadium, there was something different about the energy, especially with other teams being in there and in the mix,” Hocker said. “They definitely put on a good race, too. It was fun.”

Entering Friday, Hocker was No. 1 in the NCAA. With his competitors right on his heels, Hocker gave a late surge to create separation and win it in the first home meet of his career.

“I just went in with one goal — to win — and I executed that,” he said.

At one point, Johnson took a step back and sat in the stands for the first time not as a coach, but as a fan. He sat and watched from the green and yellow seats as the races and events unfolded before him.

Freshman decathlete Jett Kinder felt the presence of his fellow teammates and the fans in attendance, throwing six successive personal best throws in the javelin.

“You heard the fans and the team getting behind him, and he throws his hands up,” Johnson said. “You can see the excitement there too and that’s great to see.”

Up next, Oregon’s Tori Sloan took home a double win in the women’s long jump in first place and a

personal best of 5.92m/19-5.25, the Ducks’ fourth win of the night.

Capping off the opening day was senior Carmela Cardama Baez in the 10,000m, who finished in third at 32:57.01. The 2019 NCAA outdoor runner-up nearly topped her personal best of 32:55.50.

“I’ve really been looking forward to this race mainly to have people coming to Eugene and seeing how excited they are to be here,” Cardama Baez said. “I feel like this is my home and I’m welcoming everyone to my house to do my favorite things which are running and racing.”

On Saturday, the 156 national flags that extend as far as Jane Sanders Stadium swayed in the 8 mph winds as the Hayward Premiere began its final day of competition.

The men of Oregon dominated the 800m that included four runners all under 1:50. Hocker once again led the Ducks at 1:46.60 — No. 7 in program history — with sophomore Luis Peralta close behind at 1:47.55 — No. 5 in program history. Hocker and Peralta finished first and third overall, respectively.

Senior Cooper Teare was the third Duck under 1:50 at 1:48.99, while redshirt junior Reed Brown finished 1:49.95. Oregon’s Matt Wisner barely missed the 1:50 time at 1:50.31 and finished in fifth.

Oregon concluded its first outdoor meet at home with nine victories, and more than a dozen personal bests.

From a full indoor practice facility to a 3,200 square-foot weight room, a waffle shop nutrition area and a team auditorium, Oregon has all the tools under a world class stadium to pursue another national title.

“They’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” Johnson said. “But wait until we have the real Hayward and people are here, and you can’t hear the person next to you because it’s so loud. That’s the Hayward Field they remember, and the Hayward Field I want them to experience.”

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