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ON THE COVER

Kundai Kapurura, Danny InfantePardo, and Eliana Kertzner use their unique backgrounds and perspectives as inspiration for the clothing they create. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

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Top viewed story in the past week:

“Dayton Clarke, Oregon Ducks’ Hockey forward passed away, on Sunday morning” by Nina-Grace Montes

PERSON OF INTEREST PODCAST

Student Recommends

BY KRISTA KROISS

MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: BLACK SABBATH ALBUM “TECHNICAL ECSTASY”

Summary: As one of the most iconic bands formed during the Rock N’ Roll age of the 60’s, Black Sabbath is considered a “pioneer” for heavy metal music. With 19 studio albums in the bank, the band has provided music listeners with a unique sound for 49 years. It will take you right back to nights danced away in the house show scene of Eugene. Amaya Gomez, Junior at the UO, recommends the 1976 album “Technical Ecstasy” for its distinctiveness. She says that it’s different compared to a lot of the band’s music.

Recommended by: Amaya Gomez, Art and Technology and Environmental Science major. “The album flows in the way you wouldn’t typically think Black Sabbath would flow, but it’s very soulful. It makes me feel like I’m going on a journey. One where I’m reacquainting myself with a younger version of me.”

(Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

Second most read story in the past week:

“Four new members lead in 4J School Board race” by Mathias Lehman-Winters

(Emerald Archives)

Voices of UO

Scan here or visit the Emerald’s social media to participate in our next Voices of UO. “Do you currently own any stuffed animals? What stuffed animal do you own?”

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

We want to hear from you:

We want to hear from you: Email editor@dailyemerald. com to submit a tip or a letter to the editor. The ideal length for a letter is 200500 words, but we publish letters of various lengths online.

(Maisie Plew/Emerald)

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

(Courtesy Image by Amaya Gomez)

PEACEHEALTH ANNOUNCES STAFFING AND CAPACITY REDUCTIONS.

BY: MATHIAS LEHMAN-WINTERS

PeaceHealth, Lane County’s largest medical provider, will once again reduce its available beds and nursing staff.

The hospital announced in April that it would not renew the contracts of 36 full-time travel nurses. Travel nurses are registered nurses who take temporary assignments for varying lengths of time, and because of their flexibility and frequent movement they often receive a higher amount of compensation. With the reduction of nursing staff, the hospital will not be able to provide care for as many patients, and as a result the number of available beds will be reduced by around 30. This will bring the total amount of beds PeaceHealth has cut to nearly 20%, according to the Oregon Nurses Association.

In a statement, PeaceHealth said, “Reducing reliance on high-cost temporary workers and strengthening our local recruitment efforts takes time, and we are working to minimize impact to patients while continuing to meet the health needs of our communities.”

With over 200 vacant nursing positions, PeaceHealth has been relying on travel nurses to fill in the gaps.

The Sacred Heart Medical Center ONA

Bargaining Unit believes that if the hospital gave current staff better working conditions, it would attract more permanent nursing staff — ultimately reducing PeaceHealth’s reliance on travel nurses.

Chris Rompala is a staff nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend. He is the chair of the Sacred Heart Medical Center ONA Bargaining Unit, which is currently bargaining with PeaceHealth for better staffing conditions and benefits.

Rompala said that these cuts will likely bring greater wait times in emergency departments, as there will be fewer staff to provide care to patients. Rompala also said that these cuts have the potential to delay local emergency services. For example, there may not be room for more patients brought in by the fire department, and consequently the department’s response time may be delayed while they wait for the hospital to have the capacity for them to unload patients.

Emily Appleman previously worked as a nurse at Sacred Heart Medical in the University District. “I think that cutting patient beds will negatively impact the community and the community’s health,” Appleman said.

Appleman said the cuts have already taken their toll. On several occasions, she has been sent down to

the PeaceHealth Riverbend location to help manage staffing shortfalls. She said that PeaceHealth claims there’s a focus on recruiting and retaining nursing staff, but she’s seen colleagues of hers leave due to changes made by PeaceHealth.

Rompala said employing so many travel nurses is not a sustainable system, and that travel nurses are sometimes paid as much as twice the amount as regular full-time nurses.

Rompala says that the ONA is currently trying to negotiate for safe staffing in Oregon PeaceHealth locations. If the ONA successfully gets safestaffing language in nurses’ contracts, it would make it so that each nurse would have a specific number of patients that they’re allowed to take care of in one period.

“The amount of work that is being tasked to our nurses now does not allow them to provide the level of care that they know they can provide and that our patients deserve,” Rompala said.

Rompala said he believes that if PeaceHealth agrees to implement these changes, more nurses will be attracted to its facilities and it would help PeaceHealth with their goals of reducing reliance on travel nurses and recruiting healthcare workers from the community.

PeaceHealth announced that it will be reducing the number of full time travel nurses employed at its University District and Riverbend locations.

The newly built PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District medical center serves the downtown portion of Eugene. (Mary Grosswendt/Emerald)

PeaceHealth Rides stations are located in numerous areas in Eugene and around the University of Oregon campus. (Mary Grosswendt/Emerald)

EUGENE CONSIDERS POLICIES TO REDUCE INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION AFFECTING BETHEL

One-and-a-half years after chronic polluter JH Baxter shut down, city council is considering two policies to curb future industrial pollution, one to ensure polluters pay for cleanup costs and one to rebuild the Bethel neighborhood.

BY ALAN TORRES

code, according to the city of Eugene.

“Health problems are huge out in west Eugene,” said Arjorie Arberry-Baribeault, Community Organizer at local environmental group Beyond Toxics. She said Beyond Toxics has seen high rates of asthma and cancer in west Eugene, including in her daughter who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was 13.

The Oregon Health Authority’s 2021 West Eugene Cancer Analysis determined Hodgkin’s was more common in west Eugene than the rest of Lane County.

Now Arberry-Baribeault and other Beyond Toxics employees are working with the City Council on four policies meant to help the community recover from J.H. Baxter and curb further industrial pollution.

“Nobody should have to go through cancer because of where they lived,” she said.

PUBLIC HEALTH OVERLAY ZONE OR LAND USE CODE UPDATE

Eric Dion was sick. He was feeling constant migraines and throwing up regularly for the past few days. One morning, “He woke up really, really early, throwing up, in extreme pain,” Eric’s wife, Lisa Dion, said. “And he just started talking gibberish to me.”

Lisa rushed Eric to the emergency room, which turned into a seven-week hospital stay. His doctor diagnosed the 33-year-old with no family history of cancer with diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumors, an extremely rare brain and spinal cord cancer.

“I had periods of being at the hospital for days that I don’t remember,” Eric said. “It just changes how you do things. It’s painful.”

Because of his cancer, Eric has experienced dementia-like memory loss and a surgery that saved his life but nearly paralyzed him, Lisa said.

Eric grew up next to J.H. Baxter, a wood processing plant in the Bethel neighborhood. After decades of receiving pollution violations, the plant was shut down by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in 2022.

A variety of toxins were found in the properties surrounding J.H. Baxter, including dioxin, a family of chemicals used to treat wood. Dioxin has been tied to adverse health effects, including cancer.

“It’s not just Baxter,” Lisa said. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found dioxin in Trainsong Park nearly a mile away, but couldn’t determine its source. It could have come from J.H. Baxter, but there are also 34 other industrial polluters in the west Eugene 97402 zip

“Driving down Roosevelt Boulevard, there’s J.H. Baxter on one side and houses on the other side of the road,” Lisa said. “All the chemicals that are spewed or that were spewed from J.H. Baxter, these people living on the other side of the road don’t have any protection from that.”

Following Eric’s diagnosis, Lisa has advocated for a public health overlay zone, an extension of city zoning designed to limit activity that harms public health within it like industrial pollution.

Beyond Toxics has advocated for such a zone. Its original proposal would draw a zone around the industrial areas in west Eugene. New facilities in the zone would be banned from 28 specific uses linked to negative health effects, including wood preservation.

New or expanding facilities would be required to manufacture indoors if they’re within a quarter mile of schools, parks or homes; keep structures 25 feet from property lines; follow stricter standards around emissions, vibration and noise; and hold public meetings.

So far, city councilors have leaned toward city-wide protections by changing city land use code instead of drawing a public health overlay zone. City councilors said the effect would be the same, but citywide.

Arberry-Baribeault’s daughter is now cancer-free, but not everyone has made this recovery, including Eric, who has a GoFundMe to pay for cancer treatment and missed work.

“The public health overlay zone is a great start, and then having a health code into city law regarding industrial pollution like in the public health overlay zone is part of that,” she said. “I’d like us to get stricter with industrial polluters.”

FOSSIL FUEL RISK BONDS

As environmental fines piled up at J.H. Baxter, the company declared bankruptcy, allowing it to shut down and saddle the state with cleanup expenses.

“After decades of polluting the west Eugene community, we have this large industrial polluter that’s essentially trying to walk away from the site and say that they don’t have any money to pay for any cleanup,” Beyond Toxics employee Zach Mulholland said.

These proposed risk bonds are a way to combat that. Details are preliminary, but city staff used the analogy of an insurance policy. Polluters would pay into a fund which would then be used to clean up after an incident like J.H. Baxter.

Most city councilors were receptive to the idea at a May 10 work session and voiced support for broadening it.

BETHEL NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN

Neighborhood plans are a tool for the city’s planning division to rework an area. For example, the current neighborhood plan focuses on River Road and Santa Clara and outlines 18 goals for the neighborhoods, ranging from encouraging multimodal transportation to cultivating local habitats, all with corresponding policies to achieve those goals.

The policies “vary in their scope and implications” according to the plan and include specific actions, directives to address when outlining land use and “aspirational calls for collaboration.”

At the beginning of 2024 they plan to switch to a new area. Shortly before then, the City Council will choose which neighborhood to focus on next.

The Active Bethel Community Neighborhood Association has been pushing to be that neighborhood. Some councilors were receptive to this idea at an April 19 work session. “Bethel is a very unique area that deserves attention,” Councilor Jennifer Yeh said. “When we have council goals around equity, I find it hard to not figure out a way to address this neighborhood’s needs.”

Other councilors wanted to instead focus on the university neighborhoods, their reasoning being that they need to address the housing shortage caused by the University of Oregon’s growth, and that these neighborhoods started asking for a neighborhood plan before Bethel did.

Lisa, who watched the work session, said she was frustrated at the councilors who argued against Bethel going next. “We’ve got to get this done now,” Lisa said. “They have a moral and ethical obligation.”

Arjorie Arberry-Baribeault is the West Eugene environmental justice organizer for Beyond Toxics — a non-profit organization that has advocated for clean air and environmental justice for Oregonians. (Emerald Archives)

TONG: EVERYONE NEEDS A STUFFED ANIMAL IN COLLEGE

Opinion: Feeling embarrassed for owning a stuffed animal is so last year.

BY OLIVIA TONG

I understand most elements of the transition from childhood to young adulthood. Saying goodbye to recess (heart-breaking, but understandable), learning the truth about the Tooth Fairy (still kinda hurt about this one) and having to get your first minimum wage job (I will never work in food service again).

But, I never understood why we had to get rid of the soft, fluffy animals sitting on our beds.

We can give thanks to Margarvete Steiff for creating stuffed animals. Steiff was a seamstress living in Giengen, Germany, when she began sewing felt elephants. In the 1890s, Steiff started to sell them to the public. They were the first commercial stuffed animals to hit the market and they were a huge success. Steiff’s company grew exponentially and continues to produce toys today.

The famous teddy bear can partly be attributed to the Steiff company. In 1902, former U.S. president Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt spared a bear during a hunting trip. His action went viral after the Washington Post published a cartoon of the story. Morris Michtom was a shop owner who had been creating replicas of the Steiff company toys. Michtom saw the cartoon in the paper and made a stuffed bear in inspiration. He named it the “teddy bear” after Roosevelt.

The social stigma surrounding plush toys is a big reason why college students leave their teddy bears back at home. That, and the

fact that there is only so much room on a twin XL bed.

Stuffed animals were an important part of my childhood, so I associated them with my childhood self — an innocent yet immature girl who wouldn’t go anywhere without her plush cat hanging from the crook of her arm. As I grew up, I wanted to shed that version of myself. I wanted my interests to align with my peers and the contents of my room to reflect my newfound maturity. Having a stuffed animal seemed too childish all of a sudden.

So, why was it so hard for me to let go of them?

My favorite teddy bear, Marshmallow, has been with me since I was six years old. He watched me put my first tooth under my pillow, he moved with me to a new house, he sat through my first awkward Facetime with a boy and he listened to my high school friends and I plan our futures together.

It’s funny to think how an object made from cotton and stuffing has been one of the most stable sources of comfort throughout my life.

Stuffed animals are proven to ease loneliness and anxiety, both within children and adults. In fact, some researchers refer to stuffed animals as “transitional objects” that help people find stability during a change in their lives.

I had a real “Toy Story” moment when I debated bringing Marshmallow to college with me. I was close to giving into that tiny

bit of embarrassment and leaving him at home, but as I stared at his raggedy, worn-down form, I realized that I shouldn’t feel ashamed to want to hold onto one of the purest sources of joy from my childhood.

I brought Marshmallow to college and I’m glad I did.

Stuffed animals help ground you — plus they’re adorable. In addition to aiding in mental health, the plush toys can serve as decor or collectibles in your room.

Jellycat has become my favorite brand of plushies. The London-based company offers a unique variety of plush toys ranging from animals to food to plants — you name it! Every time I look at the fuzzy chocolate croissant sitting on my bookshelf, my day brightens just a smidge.

So what are you waiting for? Go out and get yourself a stuffed

animal, a stuffie, a plushie, whatever you call it! While silent and unmoving, a little stuffed animal can spark a whole lot of joy.

Olivia Tong is an opinion writer for the Daily Emerald. She is a secondyear student studying journalism and English. She has opinions on a variety of topics, but most passionately discusses pop culture.

Sponsored Content Sponsored Content The Duck Store: SnackMagic

Written by: Lauren Leone

One of my favorite things about being a college student is the care packages I receive from my family and friends. Those little surprises really brighten up my day, and the snacks and treats go a long way, especially for someone on a college budget.

Whether you’re a parent looking to shower your hardworking student with love, or a fellow student yourself, SnackMagic is a great way to send delicious snacks and treats to your college student.

SnackMagic, America’s #1 college care package, is tuned in with UO’s academic calendar, allowing them to create the perfect care packages for every student on every occasion. They offer more than just your average munchies with a wide variety of snacks and treats that let the student pick and choose what they want to be sent in their care package. With a menu consisting of more than 2000 different snacks and drinks, SnackMagic is able to cater to every student no matter any food allergies or dietary restrictions.

Here are some student testimonials:

“The snack boxes are such a great way for parents to say ‘thinking of you’ to their kids through the year. They’re convenient, priced well, and packaged perfectly for any student.”

- Amy Menendez

“Usually all of the other care packages have basic, generic brand snacks, but this is a different, fun, and healthier group of snacks. The diversity of products makes opening the box an experience within itself”

- Keaton Roberts

Parents can start ordering care packages for this spring term and have options of themed boxes like the late-night snacks box, the bbq cookout box, the congratulations box, the finals week box, the take 5 box, the caffeine lovers box, and the ultimate snack mix box.

Additionally, you can start pre-ordering for the fall 2023 term with boxes like the back-to-school box, the ultimate snack mix box, the dorm essentials box, the happy Halloween box, and the organic sustainable box. If your student wants to keep the goodies a surprise, each box has its own curated snacks and sips perfect for its theme.

Each box is priced at $45 and parents can also add a personal touch to each box with a heartfelt note or a picture to remind them of home! These awesome care packages can be purchased on The Duck Store website, or at edu.snackmagic.com/university-of-oregon.

TRESNIT: THE FEAR OF SHAKESPEARE

Opinion: It’s time to stop reading Shakespeare, but not the way you think.

BY SADIE TRESNIT

I can still practically hear the groans from my high school English class when the teacher announced we would be reading Shakespeare. I remember being affronted at the time (I was kind of the worst, don’t tell anyone) as the proud owner of a Shakespearean insults book. How could anyone not like his work? But when I made it to college, I finally started to get it. The way that his plays are taught now goes completely against his original intention and, as a result, students see reading his work as a chore

I was dismayed in one of my English classes last fall when Hamlet popped up on the syllabus. Instead of reading the play aloud or watching a performance of it like I had done in previous classes, we were supposed to read it on our own before class and then come together to be pedantic about various parts of the text. I know there are those who would argue that that’s essentially what being an English major is, but trust me when I say it was a lot less engaging than other assignments I’ve had. I remember the professor encouraging us to read out loud to ourselves, but obviously there was no way to make sure everyone was doing this.

So what made the experience so uninspiring for me? Part of it is that it was the complete opposite of how the play was meant to be consumed. Shakespeare’s plays, as the name suggests, were meant to be performed for an audience. Particularly during his lifetime, the audience was a very active part of the experience. Watching a play at the time was not something that happened to you, but something you participated in. Additionally, organic interactions between the performers were emphasized. In other words, plays were active displays of writing, not passive.

And instead of experiencing any of the spectacle that makes the work so

interesting, students today are assigned to read Shakespeare’s plays silently, alone and in small chunks. Does it even count as a play if it takes you two weeks to get through it? It makes at least some sense to read a regular book this way, giving students time to focus on small details and their impact while still enjoying the plot of the story. But the very nature of plays is short and active, two qualities that are completely ignored by the current system. All of the excitement is completely removed.

I was recently reading a paper by an instructor who uses pop culture to teach Shakespeare to his students, and I would encourage other educators to adopt this approach. To really make the words come alive as intended, we should emphasize not only the innovative ways Shakespeare used and furthered the English language, but also the performance aspect of his work. I have a theory that most students wouldn’t “hate” Shakespeare like they say if they were enabled to experience his work as intended. I hope that going forward, the standard English class curriculum will change enough to allow that theory to be proven right.

Sadie is an opinion columnist for the Daily Emerald. She is a second-year English student from Portland. In her free time she reads and plays music, and she likes to write about little inconveniences and trends that disproportionately bother her.

Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London (Julia Stalnaker/Emerald)

UO STUDENTS’ CLOTHING BRANDS AND THE OPTIMISTIC FUTURE OF FASHION

How some students have grown their unique fashion brands as product design majors

In recent years, streetwear has seen a trend of diversifying and individualizing fashion that has encouraged individuals to make, thrift and up cycling clothing.

Though all UO product design students are taking similar steps in their careers, Eliana Kertzner, Danny Infante-Pardo and Kundai Kapurura have vastly different clothing companies, aesthetics and inspirations. Their major has fostered a community where students flourish and find their niche in the world.

ELKE | ELIANA KERTZNER

When she was young, Kertzner fell in love with Belle from Beauty and the Beast, more specifically Belle’s dress. The gown is flowy yet gathered and structured, which intrigued her nine-year-old self. She pleaded with her mom to take her to the fabric store to create her dream princess dress. Through trial and error, over the years Kertzner became able to recreate it and more.

“I was kind of obsessed with Disney princess dresses and was totally convinced I could make one,” Kertzner said.

ELKE is a commission-based clothing business in which Kertzner brings new techniques and inspirations and applies them to older silhouettes — the shape of the outfit and the way it lays on one’s body — and mediums such as quilting, corsetry, women’s medieval fashion and, of course, Disney princess dresses.

The COVID-19 pandemic allowed ELKE to really flourish. Though a difficult time for most people around the world, for Kertzner, it was time for individual growth. She spent her time alone sewing, and sewing and sewing. Kertzner now finds herself at a point where she can create almost anything.

BY: Adrian Cardenas-Mejia

“Part of creating my brand was COVID and having not much to do,” Kertzner said. “Part of it is the human need to create, but another part of it for me is the agency to create my own clothing and feeling like if I see something that I like, I can make it.”

ELKE focuses on the creation of entirely new pieces of clothing. Kertzner’s favorite project was creating outfits for Big Wild’s 2023 Coachella performances this year while being a third-year product design student. Kertzner was most proud of the blue, silk outfit with circular mirror and gold accents throughout the outfit for Big Wild’s first Coachella showing.

“His stylist reached out to me and was like, ‘We wanna make a custom piece for Coachella,’ and I totally exploded,” Kertzner said.

In five years, Kertzner “optimistically” sees herself traveling nationally working on projects with commissioners around the country months at a time. She wants to live at a fast pace while taking her time with each project alongside customers to make their visions come to light. For now, ELKE’s commissions are open on Kertnzer’s website, but can also be found on Instagram at @elkedesigned with the website in the biography.

“It would be so cool to get to live somewhere for a period of time,” Kertzner said. “If I were able to live in New York City for five to six months and be like, ‘Hi, I’m in New York City if you wanna commission me and pay my bills, commission me.’” NPTN! | DANNY

Eliana Kertzner is a third-year product design major who owns and operates the brand ELKE. Many students at the University of Oregon are putting their passion for fashion to use by creating their own clothing brands. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

Kundai Kapurura, Danny Infante-Pardo, and Eliana Kertzner use their unique backgrounds and perspectives as inspiration for the clothing they create. Many students at the University of Oregon are putting their passion for fashion to use by creating their own clothing brands. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

Since high school, Infante-Pardo showed interest in product design. After expressing interest, his high school teacher helped him find the UO product design major, which would soon allow him to flourish. During the same time, Infante-Pardo had also taken up fashion with heavy influence by early 2000s media, which was the basis for the clothing brand he started last year: NPTN!

“What inspires my style is definitely a lot of things I was surrounded by when I was younger,” Infante-Pardo said, “a lot of nostalgic and early 2000s stuff.”

Infante-Pardo is a third-year product design major at the UO but also has other passions in media creation. He continues to find ways to incorporate his many passions into bringing to life his brand with graphic design and photography becoming as important as the clothing to NPTN!

“I wanted to find a way to create a whole world with my clothing and brand,” Infante-Pardo said, “I wanted to make sure that every single aspect was fully realized, which is why I spend a lot of time planning photoshoots and creating graphics.”

In terms of clothing, NPTN! focuses on embodying nostalgia through streetwear and currently has printed hoodies, sweaters, hats, etc. Infante-Pardo describes his brand as “playful, calculated and immersive.”

One of Infante-Pardo’s greatest influences is his own childhood, specifically healing his inner child. This inspired his favorite project so far: InnerChild Collection. Comprising a turtleneck, hoodie, mini-skirt and hat, this project was an amalgamation of everything he has learned from school and himself.

“First time I fully made the clothes from scratch,” Infante-Pardo said about the collection. “It was the most I’ve learned in terms of designing clothes.”

In 5 years, NPTN! aspires to having a physical location and being selfsufficient, but the creator, Infante-Pardo, wishes to continue to play a role in the entire process. He wishes for the brand to gain traction and make it big, but still wants to keep it feeling personal to him and his customers. In the meantime follow @_nptn_ on Instagram for popup shop information and new projects.

“I came into college like, ‘I wanna be as big as Nike,’ but I just wanna get to the point where I can fully support myself with my brand,” Infante-Pardo said, “but still know what’s being produced and have connections to everything.”

VANA DENIM | KUNDAI KAPURURA

Vana Denim is a clothing brand focused on upcycling denim apparel, mostly in terms of re-imaging existing jeans. Vana is a brand started by UO’s third-year product design major, Kapurura. Her passion for fashion and product design didn’t start in college, though.

In high school, Kapurura honed an eye and likeness for fashion. She started feeling passionate about streetwear. Through the product design major, Kapurura was capable of intertwining many of her great passions: fashion, design and sustainability. She started Philanthropy Phabrics in September 2020 with peer Sophia Cobb over their shared passions and decided to create change.

“In quarantine is when I really started to take it seriously,” Kapurura said. “During that time it was the Black Lives Matter movement, the Oregon wildfires, the pandemic, so much civil unrest and I saw this as an opportunity to contribute to those issues and mitigate them through funding and donating.”

Though an important part of her life, Philanthropy Phabrics became less of a priority towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. It changed Kapurura’s perspective on fashion and helped her decide to focus on her own brand. She created Vana Denim as an “original and raw” perspective on fashion.

“My parents are from Zimbabwe and so our heritage tongue is Shona, which is a dialect of Swahili, and in the language “vana” means “children,” Kapurura said. “In that culture children are expected to take care of their elders, parents and families and that reflects what the brand is doing: taking care of our people, planet and animals.”

Kapurura sources jeans from local thrift sites for the desired fit and size for the project at hand. The creation process varies on the project whether it calls for painting, embroidery, distressing, etc, but the basis is similar in sourcing and focuses on upcycling and sustainability.

In five years, Kapurura sees Vana Denim being a point of influence for Black women in fashion design. Vana Denim business Instagram is soon to come, but in the meantime you can catch Vana projects and Kapurura’s other work at @ivanakundai.

All three have built their brands on their own, but that wasn’t without each other’s support. NPTN!, ELKE and VANA Denim grew from the same batch but offer unique interpretations of today’s fashion.

Kundai Kapurura stands with a pair of pants she designed and created. Kundai Kapurura is a thirdyear product design major who owns and operates the brand VANA DENIM. (Molly McPherson/ Emerald)

Danny Infante-Pardo, a third-year product design major, recently created a backpack called The HaloPack. The HaloPack is made of cotton canvas and jacquard woven fabric. Danny Infante-Pardo owns and operates the brand NPTN!. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

BY JESS MCCOMB

THE MASTER OF FINE ARTS SHOW HAS RETURNED TO CAMPUS

This year, The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is showing the Master of Fine Arts graduate exhibit for the first time in over two decades.

For its 100 year anniversary, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is displaying the Master of Fine Arts program graduate exhibit. In the exhibit, five selected graduates showcase their final works of art before graduation. From 1995 until its renovation in 2002, JSMA annually hosted the MFA graduate exhibit. This year, the exhibit returns for the first time in over 20 years.

“The MFA show has always been a favorite of mine,” Kurt Neugebauer, the Art Associate Director of Administration and Exhibitions at JSMA, said. “It’s not like most other exhibitions we put on at the JSMA, mostly because we’re working directly with the students. We don’t have a collection of works of art sitting and waiting to be displayed, so the artists are creating as we’re going through this process.”

Each year, through a lengthy application process, the MFA program chooses five artists to show their work at an exhibition. With the MFA program being interdisciplinary, this year a large portion of the artists are displaying multimedia works with elements of video, animation, sculpture and painting. Since JSMA stopped hosting in 2002, the exhibit has been held at galleries in Portland. And for some, the transition from a gallery space to a museum was a surprise.

“I do wonder if my work belongs in a museum space because I like to do more installations and experiential work, and so I feel like it works best in my mind in a more DIY space,” Lily Brennan, one of the MFA artists, said. “But it was a good opportunity, and it was kind of fun to problem solve how to rework my concept for my thesis.”

For David Peña, an artist who works in multiple mediums, showing his art in a museum is also a different experience. Peña is a community organizer and believes in making art accessible to all people by displaying it in communal spaces. Although museums don’t necessarily fit Peña’s definition of a communal space, the JSMA makes itself an accessible resource by being free to students, which Peña said, “is a big thing, and I appreciate it.”

Anastasiya Gutnik, who has previously shown her work in galleries, said it has been really exciting to show her art at a major museum amongst many well-known artists such as Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh.

“There’s a lot of work at JSMA that I really admire, and it’s really exciting to be in conversation with and in a space with those people,” Gutnik said.

Gutnik’s piece is a multimedia display that conveys the relationship between

humans and nature through a three-channel video of scenes from Dexter Reservoir and a steel and wood structure. Gutnik focuses on environmental issues often in her work and focuses on the idea of relationships to place. Gutnik is originally from Russia and said she felt a connection to Dexter Reservoir as it represents a place she grew up visiting in Russia.

Brennan’s work also uses multimedia displays to convey stories and deeper messages about personal experiences. The piece she is showing at JSMA is about an experience she had with a stalker. Brennan focuses on issues of violence towards women and female-presenting people with specific representation of BIPOC. As an Asian American, Brennan said she feels honored to be a part of JSMA, a historically Asian art museum.

“I think it is really important to get my voice out to be relatable for people who have similar experiences to mine,” Brennan said. “Eugene is a very predominantly white space, I think it’s really important to have more BIPOC voices being seen and heard.”

Peña, who is a Mexican American and has worked within his community in Mexico, also spoke on the importance of representation in museums. Peña’s piece was inspired by a photograph of a fence his grandfather welded in front of his grandparent’s house in Mexico. Peña said the photo was sitting in his mind for a long time, and as he reflected on his family’s history, Peña decided he wanted to convey his Grandfather’s trade of welding as an art form. Peña began to learn welding at the beginning of the spring term of 2023 to show his piece, a distorted interpretation of a classic wrought iron fence, at the JSMA at the end of the term.

“I think it’s really important to see art and see yourself in artistic spaces,” Peña said. “Having access to those spaces is vitally important because you can see your history archived. I think it’s important that the public see themselves represented, and I see a lot of that within the JSMA, which is exciting.”

The MFA exhibit is currently open to the public and will be taken down after June 20th. Students at UO and Lane County can see the exhibit for free, and the general public will be charged a $5 entry fee. The museum is open TuesdaySunday 11-5 and until 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Additionally, JSMA will be open on graduation day, June 20th, for the final day of the MFA exhibit.

Architecture designed by artists can be seen around the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) as a glimpse of what the museum is offering inside. The JSMA is located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Ore. (Kevin Wang/Emerald)

An employee reads a book outside of the entrance to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. (Will Geschke/Emerald)

A SPACE FOR SUPPORT AND VULNERABILITY

The Men’s Resource Center provides students a safe space to explore male identity and masculinity.

BY ROMIE AVIVI STUHL

Photos of Freddie Mercury, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other men line the wall of the Men’s Resource Center. They are meant to showcase the endless possibilities of male representation to students.

Arian Mobasser is the coordinator of the MRC. He said that during his time as a graduate student at UO he, like many other male students, had a lot of access to resources. But he said he didn’t know how to be vulnerable and take advantage of the resources available to him.

“There was something about sort of my feeling of connection and feeling engaged and feeling safe enough to go engage with [the resources] that was missing,” he said.

Mobasser focuses his work at the MRC on “creating a safe channel through which guys can feel empowered to access the resources that are available to them.”

The MRC aims to be a safe space for students to explore their identity and masculinity. For Aidan Kent, a UO sophomore studying journalism, and mental and sexual health specialist at the MRC, it allowed him to explore his masculinity without “feeling judged or feeling like I’m less of a man.”

Practice Makes Progress is a project the MRC hosted this year in collaboration with UO fraternities and an on campus organization called Rehearsals for life. This is the second year the event took place. The program, which took place on Zoom, focused on sexual assault and harasment bystander prevention. Participants developed skills to better understand when they need to intervene and how to best take care of a situation.

The MRC is located on the top floor of the EMU. The room is about 15 by 15 feet which makes it challenging to have private conversations. Additionally, being located on the top floor of the EMU and having glass windows makes it hard to be vulnerable as students walk by, according to Mobasser. Still, Mobasser said he is thankful for the space they do have.

Mobasser said he hopes spaces like the MRC continue to grow and expand around the country. He said it is important to understand the systemic influences on men’s expression of feelings, referring to social expectations and the difficulty for men to share their feelings. Reaching an understanding, Mobasser said, will help better understand and support individuals.

“We really not only invite you but encourage

you to come and be a part of the conversation,” Mobasser said in relation to mental health and relationship conversations that often take place in the MRC.

The MRC is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additionally, the MRC hosts a variety of programs throughout the term. For more information, visit the MRC website or Instagram.

Filip Serban, a Staff Member at the Men’s Resource Center and first year Prevention Science grad student supports students by offering them a safe space. (Brandon Roth/Emerald)

15

ACROSS

52 Picture book?

56 Cobra pose, e.g.

58 Area with trees

59 Without much warning, with “on”

with

4 Anne who was the mother of Elizabeth I

5 Prefix with gram

6 Aquarium fish

7 Initial bets

8 “Sans”

opposite

9 Dad-blasted

10 Move like a bunny

11 Hubbub

12 “Hamilton”

Tony nominee Phillipa

13 Load

19 “Well, __-di-dah!”

21 Sch. group

24 Summon

26 Cassini of couture

27 Some attentionseeking students

28 Tease

29“Understand?”

41 Analogy words

42 Suggested intake, on some labels

43 Clickable link

46 Less reputable

47 Musical with the songs

“Carrying the Banner” and “The World Will Know”

50 “Animal Farm” writer George

51 Blurry craft in tabloid pics

53 Eponym of a Chinese tunic suit

54 Bury

55 Easily duped

57 Sour mood

59 Winter runner

60 __ Solo of “The Force Awakens”

61 Cries of pain

2 Some folks who fish

34 With 36-Down and 38-Across, Blink-182 hit song, and a description of four long answers in this puzzle

35 Farm pen

36 See 34-Down

39 List of options

40 Fragrant

62 Singer Carly __ Jepsen

63 Hush-hush org.

SUDOKU

BY LILY CRANE TWITTER @LILYCRANE23

OREGON SOFTBALL DEFEATS ARKANSAS TO ADVANCE TO SUPER REGIONALS

The program reached its first Super Regional since Melyssa Lombardi took over as coach.

Oregon head coach Melyssa Lombardi has been preaching to her team all season long that it needed to play with a postseason mentality early on. The team has treated every inning like it is its last. That mentality has paid off in the NCAA Tournament as Oregon advances to its first Super Regional under Lombardi.

The Ducks defeated No. 11 Arkansas 14-4 on Sunday, May 21 in the regional final. The Ducks played in the Fayetteville regional in 2022 but suffered a disappointing loss to Arkansas that ended their season.

“Last year, it didn’t go our way, and I remember standing on the field with Allee Bunker and Terra McGowan and we made a promise at the time to each other that this was happening for a reason and that this is what’s going to drive us to next year,” Lombardi said. “To be standing on that field and not getting what we wanted but then to hear our name called and for us to come back here, it was a part of our journey and we accepted it.”

Ariel Carlson led the Ducks with seven runs batted in. She hit two home runs in the fifth inning, including a walk-off grand slam.

After winning Saturday’s matchup against Arkansas 10-4, Oregon was the home team in this game.

The Razorbacks scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. A pair of singles had Razorbacks on the corners. The runner on third was driven in on a sacrifice fly to right field. The bases were loaded with Razorbacks, but a flyout stranded the runners.

“We’ve talked about responding all year,” Carlson said. “Just having a postseason mentality and I think that’s what we were able to do when they got on the board early. There wasn’t one person that was afraid we wouldn’t be able to come back.”

The Ducks started the bottom of the inning with a pair of walks. Carlson drove in the tying run with a single to left field. KK Humphreys homered to center field to drive in three runs and take an early lead.

Arkansas got back into the game in the third. A homer to right-center drove in three runs to equal the score.

A sacrifice bunt in the fourth advanced Oregon runners to second and third. Kai Luschar singled to the left side to drive in Oregon’s fifth run.

Stevie Hansen continued to take care of business inside the circle. She ended her day with a strikeout to retire the Razorbacks.

The Ducks closed out the game with a nine-run fifth inning. Following a single up the middle by McGowan, Carlson hit a homer that soared over the wall in left field and into the parking lot.

Arkansas put in its fourth pitcher of the game after Oregon loaded the bases. Paige Sinicki followed it up with a double down the left field line to

tack on an additional two runs.

The Ducks batted around in the inning. McGowan recorded her second hit of the fifth and drove in a run.

Carlson stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded this time. She hit the walk-off grand slam to left field to run-rule the Razorbacks on their home field in five innings.

Carlson’s teammates stormed the field to celebrate the advancement to their first Super Regional in five years. They dumped a bucket of ice water over her head to cool off the player with the hot bat.

“We’ve been talking about a quote all weekend,” McGowan said. “It’s ‘Fate happens so redemption can follow,’ and I think ending last season with tears of sadness and coming back here and being on that same field with tears of joy was the way it was supposed to happen.”

Ariel Carlson rounds third base running towards home plate after a double base hit. The Oregon Ducks Softball team faces the Oregon State Beavers, on May 1st, 2022, at Jane Sanders Stadium. (Serei Hendrie/Emerald)

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

This week’s editor’s picks...

MAY 30

SSC Millrace Restoration Volunteer Event

Waddle down to the Millrace waterfront and participate in the area’s restoration project

The Student Sustainability Center and the University of Oregon landscaping team are hosting a weekly volunteer event this month at the Millrace waterfront across from the main campus. The goal of their project is to beautify and restore the area by planting native species and clearing out invasive ones. Volunteers are told to meet up at the Wilkinson House — a large, white house located on Onyx Street — and will walk with the group to the area. Volunteers will not be expected to bring equipment. Dress appropriately, as you may get dirty. The event will take place Tuesday between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

JUNE 1

Noon Talk: “Kitsch, Ornament, Allegory: Hello Kitty as Communist Art”

Don’t you love cute toys?

Professor Cheng, however, debunked how we idolize kitsch items.

Joyce Cheng, an associate professor and the Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of History of Art & Architecture, will be giving a lecture on how Hello Kitty has become a Japanese icon, a figure of stereotypical gender roles and feeding into corporate culture. Cheng will explain how Hello Kitty has become a kitsch aesthetic subgenre where objects of low quality are mass-produced, but perpetuating a form of cultural dominance. The event will take place Friday between 12– 1 p.m. and on Zoom.

MAY 30 XR for Good Lecture

Get immersed in Professor Chapman’s lecture where he will give a lecture on current XR features and capabilities

Visiting Professor Paul Chapman, the head of the School of Simulation and Visualisation at the Glasgow School of Art is visiting Allen Hall to give a lecture about Extended Reality (XR) technology that can help the planet. XR technologies include virtual, mixed and augmented realities which are modern tools that allow us to either immersive fully immerse ourselves into the digital world or to blend it with our real one. Chapman will explain how his projects could benefit historical and environmental preservations, public services, and other widening perspectives on how to incorporate our everyday life. The event will take place Tuesday at Allen Hall, 141 starting at noon.

MAY 25 - JUNE 4

Colonialism Is Terrible, But Ph Is Delicious

Through this play, learn how food appropriation affects Vietnamese culture

New York playwright Dustin H. Chinn, is showcasing his latest play “Colonialism Is Terrible, But Ph Is Delicious” at the Oregon Contemporary Theatre for its third incarnation following previous performances in Berkeley and Anaheim, California. This play speaks about how food culture in the United States has appropriated Vietnamese dishes. It calls out the larger question of who has the right to tell someone’s history. People should visit this play to understand how food can misrepresent cultural identity. The event will take place May 25-27 and June 2-3 at 7:30 p.m. and May 28 and June 4 at 2:30 p.m.