Born from mud: How the Disciples of Dirt shaped mountain biking in Eugene
From a band of “rogue outlaws” to a non-profit, the Disciples of Dirt have proven to be the keystone the Eugene mountain biking community needs
By Mark Munson-Warnken Arts & Culture Writer
Almost 30 years ago, the organization Disciples of Dirt was formed in Eugene, changing the trajectory of mountain biking in the Eugene community for decades to come. This organization has played a hand in the construction and maintenance of every trail in the greater Eugene community, and laid the foundations for the explosive growth of mountain biking in the last five years.
In the early days, the group was known by hikers as “rogues” or “devils on wheels,” but they shifted community perception through thousands of hours of volunteer work and over $100,000 dollars in private funds spent on trail renovation.
Disciples of Dirt built over 20 miles of illegal trails by hand at Carpenter Bypass in the late 90s and early 2000s, and hosted key events that have introduced new bikers to the budding sport. Over the last 30 years, the Disciples have been silent stewards of greater Eugene, working tirelessly to build, protect and maintain trails for people of all walks of life to enjoy the outdoors.
Their end goal? To have trails accessible to all mountain bikers in Eugene, their city of origin.
The Disciples of Dirt began after Dave Hallock, 71, bought his first
road in Heckletooth, Willamette NF, Middle Fork RD. (Courtesy of Peter O’Toole, Disciples of Dirt trail work coordinator)
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Investigations: Frats see two-event per term limit under new safety plan
Beginning Winter Term, the UO Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life will implement phase two of its new safety plan, introducing a two-event limit to both fraternities and sororities in response to rising drugging incidents
By Sydney Seymour Investigations Reporter
Winter Term 2025 marks the second phase — out of three — of the University of Oregon Fraternity and Sorority Life’s new plan
PeaceHealth Riverbend grapples with dissatisfaction and long wait times
A recent survey by two Oregon medical associations highlights the struggles facing Eugene-Springfield’s last Sacred Heart facility
By Kellan Quinn City News Reporter
A recent survey of PeaceHealth patients reveals that an overwhelming majority have experienced what they consider excessive wait times and unacceptable conditions.
The Oregon Nurses Association and Pacific Northwest Hospital Medical Association released the survey results last Thursday,
New UO Beach Volleyball court plans approved
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Ruth’s cottage Market now permanently Closed
By Riley Fox Campus News Reporter
On Nov. 15, 2024, the University of Oregon Campus Planning Committee, also known as the CPC, approved plans to build new beach volleyball courts as part of the Hamilton Walton Transformation Project.
The courts will replace Hamilton Hall, with construction set to begin in the fall of
The owner of the Market, Ruth Yi, told the Emerald she has decided to go into retirement, closing the tiny market hidden away on E 16th Ave. and Hilyard Street
By Ashley Davidson City News Reporter
Cottage Market, commonly referred to as “Ruth’s,” a small market tucked away on E 16th Ave. and Hilyard Street in Eugene, has closed. Owned by Ruth Yi, Cottage Market is a store that provides a selection of local and artisanal goods loved by many students and Eugene locals with an owner adored by so many.
Yi, 79, began Cottage Market after 18 years of washing and folding clothes at a drycleaning business. She converted the garage of her home into a business and created what came to be an iconic part of the Eugene and University of Oregon community. However, after roughly eight years of owning Cottage Market, Yi has decided to go into retirement.
Customer and UO student Evan Sach-
er said, “I’m very happy for her, but I’m very sad to see her business go, (Cottage Market) is a staple of Eugene and it is going to be different without her store.”
Yi held a special bond with most of her customers. She would refer to her college customers as her “grandchildren” and some customers would refer to her as “Mama Ruth.”
Yi spends time getting to know her customers personally. Some students even bring their parents to the market when they are in town just to meet her. The store’s walls are covered in fraternity and sorority composites as well as photos from many student organizations. Yi finds the student support unbelievable.
“I remember when I first was introduced to my sorority freshman year, one of the first places my big took me to was Ruth’s because she means a lot to our sorority family and my big said you can’t have a real college experience in Eugene without meeting Ruth,” customer Estelle Long said.
UO student Elijah Acosta added by saying, “everyone I’ve known that has gone to UO has talked about Ruth’s and told me it was always the place to go.”
Yi was born in 1945 in South Korea and after relocating to California in 1968, she
and her spouse purchased a cafeteria five years later. For 13 years, Yi and her husband ran the cafeteria.
In 1986, after losing her business, she relocated to Eugene. Yi worked at a dry cleaning business once she was in Eugene. She claimed she mostly has positive memories of her 18 years of employment at a dry cleaner. However, she is still astonished by what happened afterward.
Yi and her husband were offered the house where Cottage Market stands by a friend to rent out for a profit, but the city let them run their store out of the garage. Yi decided to launch the market because she saw the chance as a gift from the city. She remarked that she considers it a gift from God that she owns one of the busiest stores close to campus. Now, with eight years of memories for Yi and her customers, the store has come to a close. The talk of “Ruth’s” and the leading lady behind the business will not be forgotten by students and customers, for Cottage Market has been a vital piece of the community.
CAMPUS NEWS
Thor hammers down on campus
A deep dive into the Clery Act
The Clery Act has a major impact on how the University of Oregon discloses any campus safety and criminal activity
By Annie Biondello Campus News Reporter
Throughout the fall term, University of Oregon students and community members received nearly 14 UO Crime Alerts from the UO Police Department via email. The university is required to disclose campus crime activities because of the Clery Act.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act is a federal law requiring colleges and universities in the United States to disclose campus crime statistics and security information.
“That (sending out UO Crime Alerts) process still takes someone to either open up their computer, turn on their computer, type out the message and hit the send button,” Wade said. “So there’s a bit of (a) delay that can sometimes occur between when they (UOPD) get the information to when they can send it out.”
UO student Edan Resendiz said that she’s had a positive experience with UO Crime Alerts, mostly experiencing the extent of these alerts by email.
By Corey Hoffman Campus News Reporter
For the University of Oregon Police Department’s Explosive Detection Canine Handler Anthony Button, every day is bring your dog to work day.
Thor, a four-year-old silver Labrador retriever, arrived at the University of Oregon in 2022, fully trained to detect explosive devices.
“I got Thor when he was a little under two years old, and we got him fully trained,” Button said. “I went to a training facility in Washington that had four fully trained dogs at the time. I got to play with all of them for a couple of weeks, learning how to use the dogs, and then I got to pick the one I liked the best.”
Thor and Button typically work 12-hour shifts, arriving on campus at 7 a.m., where, according to Button, the pair train, go on walks and do “normal dog stuff.”
“I’ll try to do at least an hour to two hours of training every day. That’s basically like playing a game of hide and seek where I’ll go into buildings and hide his training aids somewhere in the building like an enclosed drawer or a cabinet,” Button said. “Then (I) just walk him around the building, and it’s up to him to find his training aids.”
Once he finds the aids, Button said, Thor is rewarded with a toy or a game of fetch. When he’s not training or playing, he takes naps in the office under the supervision of other officers while his handler is out on call.
According to Button, during bigger events, like football games, the routine changes.
“Our primary responsibility is to do a pregame sweep,” Button said. “For football games, we get there four hours before kick-off. Because Autzen (Stadium) is so big, it’s always Thor and one of his co-workers.”
For large events, a second bomb dog will come in from either Portland or Salem to assist, Button said.
“We always try to have two dogs at football games, and we try to sniff and search as much of the stadium as we can before kickoff and then we’re available to respond to anything that might be called in, (such) as a suspicious or unattended backpack,” Button said.
Football, Button said, is mandatory for the pair, but they try to attend as many UO sporting events as they can, including soccer, basketball,
tennis, lacrosse and softball, both when they’re on and off duty.
One of the biggest challenges with Thor, according to Button, is keeping him away from the concession stand at games.
“Working athletic events where there’s popcorn and nacho cheese on the ground, he’s still a dog, so he tries to eat everything that he can.”
The pair have been called out a couple of times for a bomb threat.
“It was last year or the year before, South Eugene High School had a bunch of bomb threats that were called in, so we responded there to go sweep the school,” Button said. “We’ve had to go to Oregon State University a couple of times for some bomb threats they’ve had.”
According to Button, sniffer dogs typically work until they’re about eight years old before they start looking at retirement.
On campus, Thor is a minor celebrity, and with over 4,000 followers on Instagram, he’s a big attraction for students, Button said.
“He’s pretty popular, which is really cool. Any time I take him for a foot patrol or just walking around campus doing our dog walks, people will always call his name when we walk by or people will ask if they can pet him,” Button said.
Button encourages students to come say hello when they see the pair on campus.
“I always tell people when you see us just walking around on campus, 99% of the time we’re just doing dog walks, so it’s fair game to come and say hi and give him pets,” Button said.
Besides keeping campus safe, Thor can act as a comfort for homesick students, according to Button.
“I think students that are here on campus, most of them have dogs at home that they miss, and so (there’s) good chance people just miss petting a dog, and so Thor’s a good outlet for that,” Button said.
Button describes Thor as a “big goofball.”
“He’s no different than a normal house dog. He’s got the full run of the house. He’s an only child at home, so he gets anything he wants and does whatever he wants. He has a million toys that are all his companions. He’s just a big goofball, and I love him to death,” Button said.
The Clery Act was enacted after a young woman named Jeanne Clery was sexually assaulted and murdered in her dorm room in 1986. Following her death, Clery’s parents lobbied with the United States Congress to require universities to disclose any safety and criminal activity to prevent similar crimes from happening on a university campus.
According to UO Clery Coordinator Shelly Clark, she has worked at the university for nearly four years and holds the responsibility of touching base with students to understand their comfortability levels while living in the residence halls.
“There’s the people part of University Housing which is everyone living in the halls, and you’re kind of figuring out who they are and how they get along with their roommate and what kind of events they want to go to,” Clark said.
UOPD Chief Jason Wade said the UO Crime Alerts are specified based on the location and severity of the threat on campus.
Wade also said that this alert system is updated as often as possible but there sometimes could be “delays” with communicating information to the public.
But Resendiz also said she feels that it may be easier and more efficient to send the alerts as a DUO Push notification, a security feature of the DUO Mobile application.
“To my current knowledge, our school sends them (UO Crime Alerts) out in an email form. I think them being a push notification and/ or something that can be quicker to access would be more beneficial,” Resendiz said.
Resendiz said she sometimes felt the information in the alerts were lacking specific details or important information.
“I don’t remember getting any kind of information about the druggings happening at the frat (houses) ..., just hearing it from multiple different people,” Resendiz said.
Similar to Resendiz, UO student Ivan Biskis said the alerts were not very accessible and occurred once a situation had worsened, which left many students who had to walk or drive to campus stuck unaware of the alerts until they opened their email.
“I don’t think the (UO Crime) Alerts really help keep people safe because they are rarely released on time and people rarely talk about them,” Biskis said.
UOPD’s bomb-sniffing dog, Thor, works to keep campus safe for the third year
Former Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis reflects on her eight year tenure
The now former mayor said the hardest challenge the city faced during her tenure was homelessness
By Lucas Hellberg City News Reporter
On Jan. 6, Lucy Vinis left office after serving eight years as Eugene’s mayor.
Vinis opted not to run for reelection. She was replaced by longtime University of Oregon instructor and architect Kaarin Knudson, who she endorsed.
Vinis said her favorite accomplishment as mayor was creating the Eugene Youth Advisory Council in 2020 for high school students to “learn more about the city government and weigh in on issues that concern them.”
Vinis said her work over eight years as mayor includes major accomplishments in homelessness, housing, public safety, transportation and climate.
“We passed the transportation system plan (and) the (Community Safety Payroll Tax). We have invested in a range of solutions to homelessness, including coordinating with the county for a permanent Shelter Navigation Center (and) our own Safe Sleep sites that we set up to help people get into a better setting off the street to transition into housing,” Vinis said. “We've invested in zoning changes to enable us to get on top of our housing needs.”
Navigating challenges during a pandemic
During the coronavirus pandemic, Vinis said that the city did “double duty” by continuing to move Eugene forward amidst the global pandemic.
“We did double duty (during COVID). We adopted our Climate Action Plan in 2020 in the middle of COVID. We completed a brand new city park along the Riverfront District during COVID in time for the Oregon 2022 World Athletics Championships,” Vinis said. “We did all of the work that we were going to do anyway on road infrastructure, refurbishing parks, swimming pools and developing a new Riverfront District … (while) also (addressing) challenges of COVID.”
Homelessness was the toughest challenge
Vinis said the toughest challenge that the city faced when she was mayor was addressing homelessness. In Eugene, Vinis said that homelessness is a housing problem.
“The fact is that we live in a community (where) there's a huge gap between the wages and the cost of living,” Vinis said.
Vinis said the city has made significant progress in ad-
dressing homelessness.
When she first came into office in 2017, Vinis said the city had 200 shelter beds and one person working part-time for the city on homelessness. Now, she said that the city has more than 1,000 beds, a sophisticated homeless services team that works across different city departments, a permanent Shelter Navigation Center in collaboration with Lane County and several Safe Sleep sites throughout the city.
“I think the city has been extraordinarily innovative and successful in developing alternative sheltering programs,” Vinis said. “Our Safe Sleep sites … (have been) very successful.”
However, despite the city’s efforts to address homelessness over her tenure, Vinis acknowledged it remains an escalating issue in Eugene.
“We’ve done an enormous amount of work and yet we have not as a county, state or nation actually been able to stem the flow,” Vinis said. “Even though we're serving more people, better than ever before, there are more people falling into homelessness (in Eugene) than ever before.”
In Eugene, Vinis said that homelessness is “kind of too great and beyond the city's capacity to address.”
Vinis’ approach to her work as mayor
Reflecting on her approach to her work as mayor, Vinis said she prioritized mutual respect and understanding, even in moments of disagreement.
“I have always approached the work by just assuming that your colleagues are trying to do their best work for the community,” Vinis said. “If you start from that place, even if you disagree with them, you're more inclined to listen to them carefully and be respectful of their ideas and opinions.”
Learning from setbacks: Eugene’s natural
gas ban
In July 2023, the Eugene City Council repealed an ordinance banning natural gas hookups in new low-rise residential construction that the council approved five months earlier. The now repealed ordinance sought to reduce greenhouse emissions and improve air quality. The council decided to repeal the ordinance and step back because of a successful legal challenge to a similar ban in Berkley, California, Vinis said.
Reflecting on the now repealed ordinance, Vinis said there is wisdom in knowing when to step back and change direction.
“When you're in city government, you make choices based on your priorities and your urgent needs and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't,” Vinis said. “There's wisdom [being in] elected office and recognizing it's not going to work and you don't want to continue pushing it. You need to step back and try a different strategy.”
Black Lives Matter protests
In the summer of 2020, as the Black Lives Matter protests drew thousands of protestors and sparked riots in Eu-
gene, Vinis found herself confronting a city in turmoil.
“I was reelected a week before George Floyd was murdered and our city was torn by nightly demonstrations. I remember reaching out to young Black leaders in weekly meetings that summer asking what it would take for us to turn the corner from demonstrations to change on the ground,” Vinis said in an exit interview with the Eugene City Club. “We turned that corner by convening a searching, painful, and often angry Ad Hoc Committee on police policies to scrutinize and recommend changes to better and more fairly serve our Black, Indigenous, and people of color community.”
Vinis’ legacy
Amid the challenges of the past eight years: a global pandemic, racial justice protests, and devastating wildfires, Vinis said that she is proud that she was able to help the city navigate through all of the turmoil.
“My greatest legacy is that I helped this city navigate all of (the) turmoil. We still continued to move forward on the important work that needed to happen,” Vinis said. “We didn't lose our way. We didn't lose our vision. We didn't fall apart with disagreement over the next path forward. The city council continued to function well (and) the city government continued to function well.
(Anna Liv Myklebust/Emerald)
A homelessness encampment is seen here next to the Mobil gas station on Highway 99N in Eugene in September 2024.
(Kimberly Harris/Emerald)
Demonstrators gather at a Black Lives Matter protest at the Eugene Municipal Courthouse on May 31, 2020.
ON THE COVER
Born from mud: How the Disciples of Dirt shaped mountain biking in Eugene
Continued from page 1
mountain bike in the mid-80s. Mountain bikes, called ballooners or clunkers in the early days, were a novel invention. Hallock confessed that at first, he hated the idea of leaving the thin tires of his road bike for the wider rougher ones of the novel dirt jumper mountain bikes. But when he finally took the chance, he was hooked.
“From the first day I got on a mountain bike, I was almost laughing out loud,” Hallock said. “I don't think I rode my road bike 100 miles that year. I lit up; I had found my place.”
As an early adopter of the sport, Hallock had no one to ride with for the first few years. When he finally found a small group to ride with, he was inspired to create a social club dedicated to mountain biking, and in 1985 the Disciples of Dirt was born.
At first, the only paper trail and way into the club was via a newsletter called “Lets Talk Dirty.” Written by Hallock, it contained local biking news and a calendar for rides. At first they rode in the Coburg hills area, on old logging roads.
Lee Wilkinson, 62, described his fight club-esque initiation to the club in 2002. New to Eugene, he went into Bicycle Way
of Life, a local bike shop, and they pointed him to “Lets Talk Dirty.”
“It was cryptic, (and) it was hilarious,” he said. “I introduced myself, and told them what I was into. I mentioned I used to poach a lot of trails down in California and they immediately got back to me. I got a message saying, ‘Meet us off I-5 at 6 p.m., bring beer and peanuts.’”
While people continued to show up for the rides, the Disciples faced the problem of finding a consistent place to ride. So, in 1993, when a friend of Hallock’s happened upon a prime piece of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, untouched and unwatched by the city, the Disciples began building their first cathedral. The land later became known as Carpenter Bypass, and while it is now an established trail network, in the mid- 90s the area consisted only of locally built motorcycle trails.
“We just lit up, and started building like mad out there,” Hallock said. The current trail system reflects over 20 miles that the Disciples built by hand. The extensive building was highly illegal and sometimes on private land.
(ABOVE) Disciples of Dirt volunteers fix up a tree at Turmoil, Carpenter Bypas.
(Courtesy of Peter O’Toole, Disciples of Dirt trail work coordinator)
“Because we were illegal, we were flying under the radar out there,” Wilkinson said. “The Disciples told me, ‘You hear a truck coming by, (and) you hit the ground. Don't let anyone see you.’”
When they were happened upon by the sheriff in 2010, the Disciples knew something had to change. Facing the destruction of 10 years of work, the majority of club members decided it was time to go legit. So the Disciples, after creating official bylaws and gaining 501c3 non-profit status, met the BLM on their own terms.
The BLM not only agreed to adopt and sanction the trails, but they applauded their work. The city, however, was far from granting them free reign to build responsibly. On multiple occasions, the city approached the Disciples, offering incentives of bike access on local trails in exchange for the Disciples volunteer efforts, only to withdraw their promises at the last minute.
““Because we were illegal, we were flying under the radar out there... The Disciples told me, ‘You hear a truck coming by, (and) you hit the ground. Don't let anyone see you”
“
Hallock described the disappointment after a mass effort to improve the Ridgeline Trail, “I felt like we had been hoodwinked,” he said after the city turned around and enforced usage that only allowed hikers.
The prior lack of mountain biking trail access in Eugene, though largely blocked by bureaucratic entities, is also a result of animosity towards mountain biking in the Eugene community itself. During the first two decades after the sport was popularized, mountain biking was extremely dangerous.
“Traps were set on the trails we were riding,
literally people setting branches across blind corners,” Jack Hill, a 31-year-old semi-pro downhill racer, said. “They set booby traps, it's really insidious, they do things like point sharp branches up the trails.”
Faced with the consistent vandalism of their trails and danger to their personal health, the Disciples relied on their passion for the sport to remain optimistic. They continue to push the pedals in hopes of establishing separate areas for mountain bikers and hikers so everyone can enjoy the outdoors in their preferred mode.
Luckily, it seems that 2025 could finally be the time the Disciples envisioned, with the finalization of Susan Arlie Park. The land was donated to the city by John Musumeci, an entrepreneur responsible for land sales and development including PeaceHealth's Riverbend campus and Springfield's Regional Sports Center. Musumeci donated over 300 acres of land, with only one caveat: that the park be named after his deceased wife.
The park lies between southeast Eugene and Gosha and is funded by a $1.2 million dollar grant from Rebuild America. During the development of the park, the city has taken no small expense at perfecting the design. Not only have they outsourced top trail designers, consultants and builders, but they have hired a committee of city residents, including some Disciples, to advise the building process.
Hill, who is on the oversight committee, thinks the plan in place is the best option. “Of all the trail building companies, maybe only 15-20% of those people I would trust to build advanced trails,” he said.
Once the park is built, the Disciples are a top candidate for adoption and maintenance of the trails. With the home stretch looming, the Disciples are “100% behind it.” “We’re all chopping at the bit, let’s go break ground at Arlie,” Wilkinson said.
As Susan Arlie Park is finalized, the Eugene community looks forward to a brighter future, courtesy of the Disciples, who believed in the vision before everyone else knew it existed.
- Lee Wilkinson Member of Disciples of Dirt
It’s a New Year. Will it be the same democracy?
Despite concerns about polarization and democratic backsliding, trust in our democracy’s resilience and a push for respect of all political affiliations amongst Americans is apparent
By Claire Nowicki Opinion Columnist
Our all-too-familiar former President Trump will be back in office in the new year, but what should we expect? The party switch from a Republican administration to a Democratic one is a consistent pendulum of back-and-forth, but could this presidency mean a permanent change to our democracy?
Here is how some University of Oregon students and alumni feel about the next four years.
“I am curious as to how the political landscape is going to change over the next four years and how foundational American values of democracy and freedom may be contested under the new Trump administration,” senior Shealy Gibbs said.
Shireef Hussein, a UO graduate from the class of 2024 said, “Everyone is just very reactive and not very logical” in today's political climate. However, he noted that “people think that we’re doomed, which I understand, but that’s been the feeling for almost every decade and here we still are.”
“I am confident in our country. My grandpa ran for governor in the state of Oregon and explained the times differently," UO senior Joshua Martin said. "Candidates would debate on the stage and right after, they would shake another one’s hand, win or lose with respect for the other, and respect the views of all voters and the people. I think that is where we need to be in 10 years.”
Julia Woolf, a UO senior, expressed that although she identifies as “liberal-leaning,” she said, “I don’t feel I identify with the Democratic Party’s views of the right or the doomsday narrative. It feels like our democracy is set up to be divisive because a lot of people cannot have healthy debates anymore.”
Claire is an opinion columnist for the Daily Emerald. She is in her final year at UO, majoring in political science and comparative literature. Her work focuses on government, philosophy, and literature.
From these students, numerous recurring questions and concerns appeared:
Electric Scooters: Miss them or
don’t miss them?
Polarization and extremism are pressing concerns. Will Americans move toward compromise or will polarization separate us further?
Rachel Kleinfeld’s paper, “Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States” highlights that while Americans are less ideologically polarized than perceived, emotional polarization (or “affective polarization”) remains high. Politically engaged individuals often misjudge the extent of polarization, contributing to divisions.
That is not to say that our country is in a downward spiral. We now have an opportunity to rethink biases and prejudices against people with different political beliefs and find a middle ground built on respect rather than blame and finger-pointing.
Martin notes that our political climate is “divided and still (has) a long way to go but I think we are on the right track, regardless of the outcomes in elections, coming together and removing the extreme sides of things.”
Woolf said that “We will probably never agree about some things…and we need to accept that and coexist in peace.”
How much of an effect will Trump’s presidency have on our democracy?
Author and professor at the University of Georgia, Cas Mudde, argues in “Will Donald Trump destroy U.S. democracy? Unlikely,” that the United States political system is “complex and rigid…largely set up to prevent tyranny” and “it is almost impossible to change the constitution.”
He adds, “This does not mean that Trump cannot significantly weaken liberal democracy, but he will have to do it with weaker instruments (like executive orders) and with significant judicial pushback.”
AP News journalist, Calvin Woodward, points out in “Trump has vowed to shake some of democracy’s pillars,” that “by early measures, it was a clean election, just like 2020,” and therefore “if some or all of these tenets of modern democracy,” such as government power to enforce statutes, keeping judicial and presidential power separate, “are to fall, it will be through the most democratic of means.”
2. 1. 3.
How can Americans overcome ideological differences and engage in respectful conversations?
Among the students I interviewed, most expressed concern over Americans' inability to respect people of another party, and how it has become normal to “hate” people based on their vote. I don’t claim to have the perfect solution, but I urge readers to look inward before pointing fingers.
We are all part of our democracy and its problems, regardless of how politically uninvolved or outspoken we are.
To be respectful is the first social norm we should re-normalize in our daily lives to get our political climate back on track and allow for more peaceful conversations and respectful cross-side political discourse.
In Eugene, electric scooters used to rule the streets. However, last winter, the green scooters that used to be seen zipping down the streets, disappeared after Eugene’s e-scooter program shut down.
I’ve never ridden one myself. At their height of popularity, I felt too proud to step on such a loudly colored scooter.
It seemed to me that the reputation of these scooters also dropped as some students discovered the dangers of the speedy vehicles and others found out you can obtain a DUI from riding one while intoxicated.
Some electric scooters still roam the Eugene streets, however, so it’s time to finally figure out the answer to the question we’ve all been asking: what does the Daily Emerald Opinion desk think of electric scooters?
— Beatrice Byrd, Opinion Editor
“Personally, I don’t like them. I was hit by one once and my knee wasn’t the same for almost three months. I agree that they’re fun to ride but I don’t think electric scooters and college towns mix.”
— Milly Gamlen, Opinion Columnist
“I’m a huge fan. Without the constant threat of being mowed down, where else can you feel the exhilaration of being hunted for sport? Despite their innovation, electric scooters truly return us to our predator-prey roots.”
— Gracie Cox, Associate Opinion Editor
“Electric scooters are an inconvenience. I’ve never ridden one, but I have narrowly dodged getting hit by them plenty of times around campus. Why use an electric scooter when you can walk or bike through campus instead?”
— Abby Kohler, Opinion Columnist
“Setting aside my vendetta against electric scooters and being hit by one on campus, the exponential rise of head injuries related to improper safety precautions around electric scooter use speaks for itself. They aren’t going away anytime soon, but consider a helmet next time.”
— Aishiki Nag, Opinion Columnist
“No disrespect to our amazing student-athletes, but if I have to try and avoid another electric scooter speeding past me as I walk to class — especially during busier times on campus — I might lose my mind. Limiting access to those was a good idea, even though I also enjoyed having them. It’s bittersweet, but I don’t think our campus is ready for that kind of responsibility.”
— D Ortega, Opinion Columnist
(Libby Kylie/Emerald)
(Sebastian Flores/Emerald) Superpedestrian scooters line up in one of the many designated parking zones in Eugene.
ARTS & CULTURE
Book clubs in the digital age
Book clubs have always fostered community amongst readers. With social media as a home base for many of these clubs, building connections with others has only become easier.
By Bella Graham Arts & Culture Writer
In a world that often feels divided and disconnected through the onset of social media, book clubs are a solution to bring people together. From casual gatherings among friends who enjoy reading to structured and scheduled meetings, book clubs help people connect over shared interests. Joining a book club is more than just an opportunity to work on your reading list — it’s a way to meet new people and learn from them, expose yourself to new things and explore literary themes through conversation with others.
Eugene offers many opportunities to find this community, both on and off campus, and these clubs draw people in with social media, reshaping the way we connect with others in the process.
These local book clubs, like Chapter 54 book club, Silent Book Club Eugene and Eugene Bookish Babes, take advantage of the ease of social media without letting it overpower the connections.
These clubs, although all based in Eugene, have online home bases on TikTok or Facebook, which allow members to share their reading goals, swap books and coordinate meeting times with ease. The clubs then meet in-person at cafes, bookstores or members’ houses to discuss their most recent reads.
If meeting in person is not possible, members turn to the internet to meet
A handful of fragrances to color your winter
These fragrances may not make you a lover of Eugene’s rainy winter season, but they’ll make gloom a bit more colorful
By Aidan Eckhardt Arts & Culture Writer
As the winter sets in, the mornings grow blue and sharp with cold and the wetness of the air crystallizes in frosted scales on the blades of grass. Inside, many of us sit by our domesticated fires, which bring us echoes of the warmth that the turning of our planet's axis has robbed us of, leaving us only with shorter days and longer nights. We fight the cold with any weapons we can get our hands on from warm coats to warm soups. In that arsenal as well is warm fragrances.
Spicebomb Extreme (Viktor and Rolf )
Top Notes: black pepper and cumin
Mid Notes: saffron and cinnamon
Base Notes: vanilla, bourbon and tobacco
If you can get past the tackiness of the bottle — which is shaped like a hand grenade and will only spray after you pull the pin — Spicebomb Extreme is actually quite good.
It’s hard to capture the concept of winter coziness any better than perfumers Carlos Benaïm and Jean-Christophe Hérault have in this fragrance with its thematic warmth. The cinnamon, pepper and cumin add a high pitched zing of spice that catches the nose with just enough strength to be exciting rather than annoying. If these spices are the sopranos of this choir of scent, the bass singers come in the form of the tobacco, bourbon and vanilla to balance the whole thing out.
and slightly nutty from its almond note. Where it differs though, is through its defining note: cherry. This isn’t the cherry you know from the drinkable kids Tylenol or a Dum Dum lollipop. This is an amaretto cherry. It's dark and syrupy and heavy and it gives the scent a magnetic allure of mature sweetness. The blend is smooth and even, as is to be expected from any Guerlain, and it projects off the skin with a healthy vigor for hours. The cherry certainly dictates its personality, but exercising the sophisticated etiquette this scent exudes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and in its final hours the leather, tonka bean and sandalwood step forward for a pleasant conclusion.
Haltane (Parfums de Marly) & Oud for Greatness (Initio Parfums)
Haltane:
Top Notes: sage, lavender and bergam
Mid Notes: saffron and praline
Base Notes: oud and cedar
Oud for Greatness:
Top Notes: saffron, nutmeg and lavender
Mid Notes: oud
Base Notes: patchouli and musk
Parfums de Marly’s Haltane and Initio Parfums’ Oud for Greatness come in as a joint entry for a couple of reasons
online to maintain the same connection, even if that connection is hundreds of miles apart.
Platforms like TikTok and Facebook, along with Instagram and Fable (a social app for bookworms) have made it easy to find a book club that fits your interests and availability — and it’s all thanks to the internet.
Social media has helped build connections easily with others and leaves room for people to take that next step to further the relationships. Whether that’s by starting a book club, or meeting up in person, social media has changed the way readers find community.
While reading can be a solitary activity, it doesn’t have to be. Book clubs allow members to see the words they read through a new perspective, and thought-provoking conversation can change the way members see the books they read.
From Eugene to across the world, social media has revamped the book club and made it easy to connect with others, no matter the distance. While book clubs push readers outside of their go-to genre’s, the connection with other people is what makes the experience compelling, and social media has only made that easier.
Groups like Chapter 54, Silent Book Club Eugene and Bookish Babes are building communities that go beyond state lines and are a place for connection in a world that often feels quite the opposite.
Guerlain L’Homme Idéal Eau de Parfum (Guerlain)
Top Notes: almond, lavender, rosemary, bergamot and thyme
Mid Notes: cherry, vanilla, incense and bulgarian rose
Base Notes: leather, tonka bean and sandalwood
Slightly similar to the previous entry, Frustration, L’Homme Idéal Eau de Parfum is sweet
They smell incredibly similar, and both Liebman and I chose Oud for Greatness and Haltane as the ultimate winter fragrances, respectively. Without any hesitation, Liebman said, “it has to be Oud for Greatness” as he identified the best winter fragrance, which should testify to both of these fragrances' undeniable charisma. These fragrances are loud, and where Oud for Greatness takes the oud in a more harsh and animalic direction, Haltane’s blend smooths out all the rough edges and adds the sweetness of praline to soothe the beast of oud. Haltane smells like the most expensive christmas tree you can imagine. Green and woody and rich from the oud and cedar, but also inviting and soft and glimmering from the praline, saffron and sage.
(Noa SchwartzEmerald)
(Noa Schwartz/Emerald)
The future is bright for Oregon volleyball
The Ducks’ underclassmen showed why the next couple of seasons are promising for the program
TODAY:
How Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling Can Take the Next Step
The Ducks have one rival they’ve yet to overcome under head coach Taylor Susnara’s tenure. The leap will take something new.
By Owen Murray Sports Reporter
To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. It’s a simple rule. In one of college athletics’ newest sports, the Ducks have dominated everyone, except for one team: the eight-time defending champion Baylor Bears. To win a first national championship since 2014, they’ll have to take that step.
What the Bears do better than any other program in the sport is execute well enough at a difficulty no one else can reach. They’re always within a chance of a win: The last time the program lost a meet by more than two points was a 2017 matchup with the Ducks. Their start values generally exceed those of the other program’s — because no other program has been able to do what Baylor head coach Felecia Mulkey’s has.
Last season, Oregon head coach Taylor Susnara raised her group’s start values gradually throughout the season. A February matchup with Baylor, then, required near-perfection for a shot at victory. The Ducks managed 271.585 points, but still fell to Baylor’s 278.935. The difference was the Bears’ two-point advantage in available points and a five-point differential in points scored.
Oregon’s first matchup with its rival comes knocking early once again in 2025. The two are scheduled to face off at Matthew Knight Arena on Feb. 22 after a single warm-up meet against Morgan State University. Susnara will have a
choice to make: risk execution errors with a high start value or trust in her group’s strength to absorb the disadvantage.
A packed 2025 slate includes four total 2024 National Championship finalists, each scheduled in succession after the February matchup with Baylor. Odds for the Ducks to qualify for the 2025 edition of the tournament are high, but the regular season will determine seeding — an all-important factor. Teams compete three back-to-back meets
in a single four-day period over the course of the Championships, and facing a tired Baylor with renewed technique could be the key to victory.
Susnara preaches mental fortitude: it’s what carried her group through multiple rebound victories in a four-win, national semifinal season last year. This year, it’ll be belief they pursue: Trust in ability, faith in execution and confidence in one more shot at one of the most dominant teams in sports.
Comeback Keeshawn
How Keeshawn Barthelemy has come back stronger from his injury
By Max Koebel Sports Reporter
Oregon men's basketball guard
Keeshawn Barthelemy has had his fair share of injuries since transferring from University of Colorado, Boulder in 2022. The most significant was an ankle injury that he suffered last season in late January and did not return for the remainder of the season. In the 18 games prior to his injury, Barthelemy averaged 7.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while scoring in double figures eight times.
The amount of time Barthelemy missed last season gave him another year of eligibility, and he has relished the opportunity. In his fifth season on the court, Barthelemy has stepped into a leadership position, and at times, has carried the Ducks on offense.
“It’s a new opportunity,” Barthelemy said, “and any time you get an opportunity at something like basketball, you take it.”
The early season struggles for sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad did not affect Oregon’s ability to win games, which in a large part was thanks to Barthelemy picking him up. In the Nov. 12 game against the University of Portland, the Ducks appeared to have their first loss of the season, but Barthelemy’s clutch 3-point shooting helped send the game to overtime, and they never looked back.
“I want to put my imprint on the team as best as I can and help the team get to an even higher stage than we did last year,” Barthelemy said.
As a whole this season, Barthelemy has recorded a .431 field goal percentage and .472 from beyond
the arc. His most outstanding performances came in the Players Era Championship Game in Las Vegas against the University of Alabama, and the Big Ten opener against University of Southern California. Against Alabama, Barthelemy recorded 22 points with five 3-pointers, four assists and two steals. In the USC game, he recorded 18 points with four 3-pointers, five assists, three steals and a block. The Ducks are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation. They haven’t always played the cleanest basketball, but they have still found ways to win consistently. After making a surprise run in the Pac-12 Tournament last year, Oregon is looking to make an even bigger impression in its first season in the Big Ten, and there’s no doubt Barthelemy will be in the middle of it all.
(Jonathan Suni/Emerald)
The team joins at the center of the mat and yells “Go Ducks!” to the judges and home crowd to cap off the meet. The Oregon Acrobatics and Tumbling team took on Baylor on March 8th, 2023, at Matthew Knight Arena.
(Rowan Campbell/Emerald)
Keeshawn Barthelemy (9) looks to pass the ball. The University of Oregon Ducks Mens Basketball team defeated the SFA Lumberjacks (79-61) in a home match at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene on Dec. 15,2024.
