MAXED-OUT LOANS
EUGENE MAYOR VINIS SPEAKS ON SCOTUS HOMELESSNESS RULING
BY JESS CORONADO • DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS
EDITOR
DIGITAL
Lehman-Winters
Ellerbruch
PODCAST
Giordano
SOCIALS EDITOR Sydney Wolfe
VISUALS EDITOR Stella Fetherston
PUBLISHER & PRESIDENT Eric Henry X317 ehenry@dailyemerald.com
VP OPERATIONS Kathy Carbone X302 kcarbone@dailyemerald.com
DIRECTOR OF SALES & DIGITAL MARKETING Shelly Rondestvedt X303 srondestvedt@dailyemerald.com
City of Eugene officials, including mayor Lucy Vinis, comment on how the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v. Johnson homelessness ruling could affect unhoused communities in Eugene
Following the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling that camping regulations aimed at the homeless are not “cruel and unusual punishment,” some City of Eugene officials comment on the effect it will have in Eugene. One official said the ruling will not change Eugene’s regulations and enforcement.
On June 28, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Grants Pass, ruling that city ordinances punishing sleeping outside do not violate the Eighth Amendment and can be considered illegal. The deciscion was made in a 6-3 vote.
The case took prominent consideration to a former homelessness advocacy lawsuit, Martin v. Boise, in which six unhoused plaintiffs sued the city of Boise. The decision made in Martin also rested on the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual punishment” clause.
In Martin v. Boise, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled it was “cruel and unusual punishment” to criminalize camping on public property without providing an adequate amount of shelter beds.
The city of Grants Pass filed Martin v. Boise for certiorari, meaning it was sent to the Supreme Court for review.
According to Kelly McIver, communications manager from the unhoused response in Eugene, the result of Grants Pass v. Johnson is “unlikely to result in changes to the City of Eugene’s current regulations and enforcement practices.”
In Eugene, some city codes fall in line with the Oregon State Legislature, namely ORS 195.530.
This statute states that regulations around “sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry” on public property needs to be “objectively” reasonable and in regard to the unhoused.
Eugene city codes complying with this law are 4.815 and 4.816. These city codes outline regulations on where exactly people are permitted to camp or sleep on public property
or private property, sanitary expectations and when city involvement is warranted.
“I am not happy with that ruling,” Lucy Vinis, mayor of Eugene, said. “I am grateful for the Oregon State Legislature for HB 3115, which the city has followed to create clarity around where we will allow people to sleep overnight and where they can’t because of public safety issues.”
HB 3115 is a 2023 house bill that proposed ideas around camping laws that are now state law in the form of ORS 195.530.
According to Vinis, there are no plans in the coming year to change that law or how the city already enforces camping on public property.
Vinis said there have been “targeted” approaches to how the city has been addressing the issue of homelessness in Eugene where the homeless rate is the highest per capita in the United States.
According to Vinis, these efforts include safe sleep sites, emergency shelters and a housing implementation pipeline with a five year goal that addresses the “full spectrum of housing needs for people who are currently unhoused.”
“I am grateful we are in a state that has created greater protection for people who have no place to go and greater clarity for municipalities managing this really terrible humanitarian crisis,” Vinis said.
Although efforts have been made by the city government to address the issue of homelessness, one unhoused individual has expressed concern with the current laws and lack of programs available.
“The officers out here have been really hard to deal with. They are saying ‘you are trespassing and you need to move on,’ where the hell am I supposed to go,” Donna Lynne, an unhoused person, said. “There’s not enough room in any of the programs. It’s very discouraging.”
Former Oregon Football cornerback Khyree Jackson was killed in a car accident on July 6. Days later, his team held a vigil in honor of him.
ASUO and NASU members point to miscommunication and a lack of oversight for ASUO’s twice-over decision to schedule its concert the same day as NASU’s Mother’s Day Powwow.
Emerald Media Group, Inc., the independent nonprofit media company at the University of Oregon. Formerly the Oregon Daily Emerald, the news organization was founded in 1900.
ON THE COVER (Stella Fetherston/Emerald)
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“No Camping” is written on a freeway post in Washington Jefferson Park in Eugene, Ore. (Lulu Devoulin/ Emerald)
ROOKIE RUNNER RETURNS: RACING MY FIRST TRIATHLON
When I was rehabbing stress injuries from training for the eugene marathon, I fell in love with cross-training. A few months later, I was on the start line of my first Olympic-distance triathlon.
BY JESS MCCOMB • DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN
While training for the Eugene Marathon, I was a magnet for stress injuries, and while cross-training for rehab, I accidentally fell in love with swimming and biking. Already hooked on racing, I decided to sign up for the Pacific Crest Endurance Sports Festival Olympic triathlon — a 800 meter swim, 25 mile bike and 10k run. I had only six weeks to train after finishing the Marathon, and I was committed.
The event was held in my hometown of Bend, Oregon, and on race morning, it was only 38 degrees Fahrenheit. By 7 a.m., I was standing waist-deep in the Deschutes River with the other participants — 81 women wearing yellow swim caps, wetsuits and goosebumps.
When the race horn blared, I dove headfirst into the current. I couldn’t see anything but murky, weeded riverbank and bursts of sky as I came up for air. Halfway through the swim, I switched from freestyle to breaststroke for a better view, and I saw a swarm of neopreneclad bodies ahead.
“Shit,” I thought, “I’m losing.” But behind me was a sea of yellow caps. I wasn’t losing; I was in front of the pack, pulling towards the men who had started before me.
As I finished the swim and scrambled out of the water, my feet had gone numb and it felt like I was running on overstuffed bags of flour. The transition to the bike was a struggle. But as I began to chug up the 1,900 foot climb from Riverbend Park to the Virginia Meissner Sno-Park,
I was in the zone.
At the turn around, I settled into my drop handlebars for the long descent. The only thing I could see from my aerodynamic stance was a narrow scrap of pavement
disappearing under my front tire and my speedometer approaching 40 miles per hour.
I was making good time when I reached the first roundabout, and after two more, I could see the bike finish. I slammed on my brakes, and my back tire skidded below me as I kicked out of my clip-in pedals.
“I think I have frostbite,” I yelled to my dad as I hobbled into the transition area. My fingers and toes had lost sensation during the ride, but I slowly regained feeling in my feet as I ran, easing into a fast but comfortable pace. The run course climbed 400 feet in the first three miles, and I was wheezing when I crested the last hill. By then, I had counted five women in front of me. I was in sixth place. But when I reached the turn around, there was one woman hot on my heels. I began to push my pace, and my legs cycled like wheels below me as I descended.
Around mile four and a half, the woman passed me, but I didn’t care. I knew I had left everything on that course. My legs wobbled as I sprinted towards the finish line, but I felt strong and confident gliding through.
I was hooked. Ironman 70.3, I’m coming.
(Noa Schwartz/Emerald)
HOBBS: HOBBS: HOUSELESS UNSUPPORTED IN OREGON HEATWAVES
BY MONICA HOBBS • DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS
OPINION: The extreme heatwaves disproportionately affect the houseless community due to a lack of resources
There’s no denying that climate change is the cause of heat waves in Oregon. In recent years, the Pacific Northwest has reached extreme temperatures in the summer months. Yet, it wasn’t always like this.
The 2021 “heat dome” was a prime example, with temperatures soaring up to 118 degrees Fahrenheit. An estimated 1,200 people were killed in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia because of the heat. The 27-day-long event would’ve ended sooner if it hadn’t been for pollution and climate change.
Due to the drastic change, Oregon is still not up to date with supporting citizens in the heat waves. Air conditioning is not a common amenity in a typical Oregonian household.
The most vulnerable group is the houseless community. With a lack of shelter, houseless people are at a high risk of heat exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke.
“The houseless community is a prime example of the unfairness of climate change,” Jack Dodson, a member of the University of Oregon Climate Justice League group, said. “They already have fewer resources, so when there is something big like a heat wave, it only harms them more.”
To aid houseless members during the summer months, Oregon counties offer cooling centers and more bed spaces in shelters. Some shelters even offer air conditioning.
Daniel Meyers is a Eugene local and has been houseless for the past six years. He’s been moving around different shelters in Lane County. He started staying at the Navigation Center in Eugene in the past month.
“It does alright because we have air conditioning. The services here look out for everyone particularly well; that’s just a given,” Meyers said. “The staff genuinely care about people individually.”
Meyers has been on the path to sobriety through the shelter programs. His next goals are career building and personal housing. But, some
things are completely out of his control, such as access to safety and protection.
Before moving to the Navigation Center, an indoor facility, Meyers was staying at Dusk to Dawn. This shelter is a more outdoor setup with tents. Unlike Navigation, Dusk to Dawn doesn’t provide air conditioning.
Richard McCarthy is the manager of Dusk to Dawn. In response to the heat waves, the shelter provides fans, sprinkler systems and misters,yet the insides of the tents are undeniably hot. Heat exhaustion is an ongoing issue McCarthy and his team try to avoid.
“A problem we have is getting the funds and donations for bottled water. We do the best we can to keep them cool and hydrated[...] Probably the biggest factor is keeping them in the shade,” McCarthy said.
In the past few summers, Meyers didn’t always utilize the cooling centers. Sometimes the best
option was jumping into the river.
No matter how many fans or A/C units the city provides, the houseless community is at a disadvantage. Their health is threatened. Cooling centers are only a temporary solution.
It’s time Oregon starts looking at long-term strategies. Whether it’s passing new legislative plans or developing greater opportunities, action must be taken. The houseless crisis and global warming aren’t going away overnight.
In the meantime, the houseless community bands together in times like this. Meyers said they always look out for one another, whether it’s a heat or cold wave.
“Say if you were to become houseless tomorrow. The first person you meet would be more than welcome to give you a place to sleep, clothes to wear on your back and food in your stomach, immediately. And that’s just the atmosphere,” Meyers said.
Informational papers and snacks sit on the table at the Black Thistle Street Aid monthly clinic during a heatwave on July 10, 2024. Black Thistle Street Aid is an outreach program in Eugene and Springfield that provides services to the unhoused. (Alex Hernandez/Emerald)
SUMMER OLYMPIC TRIALS
Fan favorite, Nikki
bites their gold medal as they look to get USA on the podium in a very competitive race at the olympics.
With complications leading to her absence in the last Olympic Games, Sha’Carri Richardson looks to earn the sport to compete in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Hiltz,
Legendary west coast rapper, Snoop Dogg, takes in the Hayward atmosphere with Noah Lyles’s mom as the excitement of the men’s and women’s 100 meter race takes over the Olympic Trials.
Gabby Thomas and McKenzie Long embrace with emotion as they both make it onto the highly competitive 200m women’s team. Long was racing with her mom watching over her as she passed away from a heart attack at 45.
Sha’Carri Richardson cruises past her semi-final heat as she looks to book her trip to Paris after competing in the final later that day. The most elite athletes in the country meet at Hayward Field for the 2024 Summer Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. on June 22, 2024.
Photos by Jonathon Suni/Emerald
Designed by Ryan Ehrhart
WEIGHING THE COST OF SUMMER TUITION
BY REILLY NORGREN • DESIGNED BY EVA ANDREWS, RYAN EHRHART
“Not many” scholarships are available from the Office of Financial Aid as students look at taking a summer term of classes
As school ends and temperatures rise, most students have left the University of Oregon campus for summer break. For some, the summertime heralds the start of yet another academic term — but the cost can be high.
Hundreds of courses are being offered during the summer both on campus and online for UO students. Financial aid during the summer term can be more limited than the school year, leaving students with fewer payment options to choose from when paying tuition.
During this summer, 684 courses are being offered on campus at UO, 335 being online or asynchronous.
According to Heather Gustafson, senior assistant registrar for registration and records, 5,686 undergraduate students are enrolled for the summer as of July 9. Gustafson said this number may increase later in the summer due to the different sessions that classes can be held in.
Summer term consists of different sessions students can take – either a fourweek, eight-week or 12-week session. The sample student budget, estimated by UO’s financial aid department, is based on the eight-week period of enrollment and with 15 credit hours for undergraduates.
For resident undergraduate students, the price of tuition and fees for an eight-week session is set at $4,466. For non-resident students, the cost is more than double, at $9,586.
The sample budget also estimates that students will spend an additional $4,048 in room and board, books and other miscellaneous expenses.
In total, the cost for an undergraduate student to take a 15 credit eight-week course during summer at UO, for a resident, is estimated at $8,618. For a nonresident student, the estimated cost rises to $13,970. These numbers are based on the 2023 student tuition cohort.
According to 2023-2024 tuition and fees, the cost of one credit hour for a resident student is $289.17 during the school year, compared to $245.79 during the summer. For non-residents, the cost per credit hour is $903.24 during the school year and $587.11 in the summer.
But after a 3% tuition raise for the 2024-2025 school year, the price per credit hour for residents this summer will be raised to $253.17. For non-residents, the cost stands at $604.72.
According to Gustafson, the resident undergraduate summer tuition cost for students is 85% of their academic year rate. For non-residents, the rate is 65%.
Though the price per credit hour is cheaper in the summer, students are still left with the task of figuring out how they will pay their tuition, as some financial aid programs are left unavailable during the summer.
Financial aid programs available to students during the summer include the federal Pell Grant, federal work study, which is “limited” and student loans. Fullride scholarship programs, like the Stamps and PathwayOregon scholarship, do not offer tuition coverage during a summer term.
“THERE’S NOT A LOT OF SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS THAT ARE MADE FOR THE SUMMERTIME. MOST OF OUR [FINANCIAL AID DEPARTMENT] SCHOLARSHIPS ARE FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR. THAT’S WHEN MOST STUDENTS ENROLL.”
“I WOULD RATHER MY COLLEGE EDUCATION BE LONGER THAN WORRYING ABOUT STRUGGLING TO PAY FOR BILLS OR FOOD. I’D RATHER WORK IN THE SUMMER.”
CAYLA VAN SICKLE communications disorders and sciences major
during the summer term. Zhang will be completing the organic chemistry sequence this summer at UO and will be finishing her core education and elective requirements at a community college.
Zhang will have three terms of chemistry courses this summer, each lasting four weeks. She said UO should provide more financial support to its students during the summer, and to make scholarships “more accessible” in return.
“Tuition is always going to be a barrier,” Zhang said. “But at least through community college, the courses are significantly less expensive than university.”
According to Zhang, she is taking out student loans to pay for courses at UO for her summer tuition and pays out of pocket for her community college courses.
According to the university’s summer aid website, the total amount in federal direct loans that a sophomore who is a dependent, or a student who is assumed to have financial support from their family, can receive for the summer term is $2,167.
For a junior or senior, that amount is $2,501.
Based on the sample budget, the maximum amount of federal loans a dependent undergraduate student is eligible for in the summer is only half of the total amount needed for their tuition if a student is taking the estimated 15 credits.
The only other loan option that isn’t a private loan is a Parent PLUS loan, which requires parents of dependent undergraduates to borrow a loan for their student.
According to the University of Oregon’s “Oregon Guarantee,” tuition and fees at UO are “locked in” for student cohorts based on what term a student first enrolled in — meaning that a student’s tuition will not change for at least five years after their enrollment. This tuition guarantee includes the summer term.
Jim Brooks, director of student financial aid and scholarships at UO, said that most scholarships from the financial aid department are ones for students enrolled during the academic year. According to Brooks, some departments still may have their own scholarships that are available to students taking summer courses that are not part of the financial aid office itself.
According to Brooks, $9,719,799 in financial aid was given to 2,625 students during the 2023 summer term.
Kaylan Zhang, a multidisciplinary sciences major, is taking seven courses and two labs
Cayla Van Sickle, a communications disorders and sciences major, said that summer is a time for students to work and “get a break from education.”
“If you’re able to go to school during the summer and not work, that’s a privilege,” Van Sickle said.
Van Sickle said that if she had to take summer classes in order to graduate within her four-year timeframe, she would consider it, but might not take them otherwise.
“I would rather my college education be longer than worrying about struggling to pay for bills or food,” Van Sickle said. “I’d rather work in the summer.”
Brooks said that during the summer, there is a lot more “individual review” when it comes to building a financial aid offer based on a student’s period of enrollment and how many credits they are taking.
Brooks described the summer term as an “ongoing process” as the financial aid department puts together aid offers and disburses payments to students based on when their summer session begins.
According to Brooks, most students taking summer courses are using the federal Pell Grant, if they are eligible for it, or student loans.
He also said that there are some situations where a student who is receiving a scholarship during the academic year may ask for an exception to get the scholarship awarded in the summer too, but he said “Those are few and far between.”
“There’s not a lot of scholarship offers that are made for the summertime,” Brooks said. “Most of our [financial aid department] scholarships are for the academic year. That’s when most students enroll.”
AFTER DOMINANT SEASON, OREGON’S JAIDA ROSS HEADS TO PARIS OLYMPICS
BY OWEN MURRAY • DESIGNED BY ADALEAH CARMAN
Oregon track and field’s Jaida Ross never cries during meets.
In fact, she said she’s never cried “happy tears” during competition before — not even when she broke the collegiate record in the shot put, nor when she won the national title a few weeks later. That changed when she qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team at Hayward Field.
“Usually, I try to hold myself together the entire meet,” she told Runnerspace. “It was hard after that throw … when they announced, ‘These are your top three’, it just kind of hit me.”
Ross has spent the better part of three years in Eugene, a few hours away from Medford, Oregon, her hometown. A month ago, when she competed for, and won, the NCAA shot put title, her house was packed, wall-to-wall with air mattresses for her visiting family.
Oregon is undoubtedly home for Ross. Now, for the first time, she’s going international.
“I felt like my series was really good, and I felt strong,” Ross said after qualifying for the Olympics. “I really, really, really wanted that 20-
ROSS QUALIFIED FOR THE U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM AT HAYWARD FIELD LAST MONTH AFTER A RECORD-BREAKING SEASON WITH THE DUCKS
line, so that’s what I was going for every throw. Every time I came short, I wanted to come back stronger.”
“Shout” played inside Hayward Field as the best of Ross’ three throws qualified her for this summer’s Olympics. Just as she did three weeks earlier, she stepped into the circle near the stadium’s south end. From there, three flags flew in the distance: the Oregon “O”, the state flag and the Stars and Stripes.
They’re the places she’s been. What’s next is where she’s going.
“Coming from a small town — and what I’d say is a majority White state — I really held my own as a Black woman and used the resources that I could,” Ross said. “I’m proud of my roots and I’m proud of where I’m from. To be able to represent Oregon just means everything to me.”
Though she won’t wear Oregon’s green at the Olympics, the legacy she’s left behind in Eugene is unmistakable. Ducks head coach Jerry Schumacher knows it.
“Her athletic accomplishments speak for themselves,” Schumacher said. “What she is
around our team and as a team leader … she leads everybody on the team. But I think really a part that a lot of people don’t get to see on the athletic field is just really the quality person that she is.”
Ross’s Olympic shot put companions, Chase Jackson and Raven Saunders, are 29 and 28, respectively. Ross is just 22, but even so, she is more than ready to compete in Paris.
“These are elite women,” Ross said, “and to be just standing next to them…I feel super grateful.”
Ross wrote a letter to herself during her freshman year at North Medford High School. Seven years later, on the day of the Olympic Trials, her high school coaches delivered it to her. Inside, Ross said she wrote, “‘Do what you want to do, love what you do and go for anything that you want.’
And I’m here doing that,” Ross said.
“Here” is Hayward Field, of course — “here” has been Oregon for a while. Ross, though, may have finally outgrown the state that raised her. Now, “here” is Paris, on August 8 and, if all goes to plan, August 9, 2024. It’s time for Ross to take the world stage, with just a few happy tears.
Jaida Ross signs the iconic Eiffel Tower as all the Oregon fans celebrate her success. The most elite athletes in the country meet at Hayward Field for the 2024 Summer Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. on June 22, 2024. (Jonathan Suni/Emerald)
