04/06/18 Emerald Media - Friday Edition (Week of Welcome)

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FRIDAY

RYNE NELSON IS OREGON’S TWO-WAY THREAT SPORTS PG 13

UO HEALTH CENTER WANTS APPROVAL FOR EXPANSION NEWS PG 5

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EUGENE-NATIVE LAUREN BURKE’S

journey to local softball stardom began with a childhood connection to Oregon head coach Mike White.

‘TRIPLE D’ DRAG SHOW TO PERFORM IN EUGENE A&C PG 6

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NEWS

Rendering of the University Health Center expansion.

(Courtesy of the University of Oregon Board of Trustees)

BY HANNAH KANIK • TWITTER @HANNAH_KANIK

square foot addition to the The University Housing health center, as well as department proposed renovating 11,000 square expansions and renovations feet of the existing structure to the University Health to improve confidentiality, Center at a Board of expand services and update Trustees meeting last deferred maintenance on month. The project will the building. According to be approved or denied Griffel, they plan to break once the budget for the ground in June of 2018 and renovation is finalized and complete the renovation reviewed by the Board. The and addition by fall 2019. budget, anticipated to be “There just isn’t capacity between $17.8 and $19.2 in the current facility. We million, is scheduled to be don’t have enough clinical finalized in April. space,” Griffel said. The The student population proposed renovations has grown significantly include updating the since the last Health heating, ventilation and air Center remodel in 2007 conditioning as well. and now the center is The renderings of the failing to meet the needs building show a large, of students, according to L-shaped addition to the Michael Griffel, director health center. Griffel said of University Housing. the building is expected to The student population be “quite attractive.” has grown by over 2,000 According to Griffel, they students since 2007, are still working on how reaching nearly 23,000 best to conduct business in in fall 2017. He said the Health Center during students are also using the renovations. One of the the health center services ideas now is to construct more than they the addition first and move were before. operations into it while The objectives of the the existing structure remodel include increasing is renovated. the amount of space in• AFFORDABLE the WALK TO CAMPUS • PRIVATE BEDROOMS RENTS • BRAND NEW • GRANITE The Health Center’s last center to accommodate the COUNTERTOPS • WASHER & DRYER IN UNITS • HEATED SWIMMING POOL • GATED update in 2007 cost $10 amount of students who use ACCESS • MONTH-TO-MONTH ORcenter.

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ON THE COVER

Oregon Ducks utility Lauren Burke warms up in between innings.

Photograph by Devin Roux

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A NEWS TUITION, SAFETY AND TRANSPARENCY: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THURSDAY’S ASUO TOWN HALL DEBATE

ASUO Town Hall Debate. (Adam Eberhardt)

BY RYAN NGUYEN • TWITTER @RYANJJNGUYEN Ducks Together and United UO took questions and pushed their platform points at the ASUO Town Hall Debate in the EMU on Thursday.

Ducks Together emphasized tuition, the food pantry and transparency and took a more aggressive approach pushing its platform points.

United UO highlighted safety, health, and parking.

Maria Gallegos is the presidential candidate running under Duck Together with external vice presidential candidate Ivan Chen and internal vice presidential candidate Imani Dorsey. Chen was not debating and was livestreaming the event. On the United UO slate, presidential candidate Jacob Faatz is running with vice presidential candidate Karishma Shah. ASUO Elections Board member Ram Sharma moderated the debate.

The 2018 ASUO election polls open on DuckWeb on Monday, April 9 at 9 a.m. The polls will close on Thursday, April 12, and election results will be posted on DuckWeb the same day by 6 p.m.

Tuition The administration’s decision to increase tuition has generated much debate this election season between the two candidates about effective solutions.

United UO wants to build strong relationships with UO administration and state legislators to find a solution that will satisfy students. “Without a doubt, students can count on me, as well as the rest of United UO, to make sure that tuition is not raised any more,” Faatz said.

Gallegos said that because enrollment is down, she “doesn’t know” how to promise that tuition will not increase.

“I can work with administration, but I can also work against,” Gallegos said. “I want to be on the side of the students and make sure that we can do whatever is possible to make sure that students have the same tuition.”

Food Pantry The Episcopal Campus Ministry Food Pantry on 19th Avenue has been a major PA G E 4

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topic of debate in ASUO elections.

A major plank for Ducks Together is accessibility, and Gallegos wants to secure funding for student services such as the food pantry so that these services can be accessible to all students. With the food pantry, Gallegos said that its hours are not accessible for all students.

“It’s only open two days a week,” Gallegos said.

“If you had to go and do your grocery shopping at the food pantry, how would you go only for two days with only three hours in the day to do that?

That’s not accessible.”

United UO wants ASUO to be able to go beyond simply being an advocacy group and make “real change,” and Faatz said that investing in these sorts of programs will improve students’ living experience.

“I think that investing in a lot of those programs … is going to be the key to making students lives better on campus,” Faatz said.

Safety Last month’s series of robberies and assaults near campus appeared early in the ASUO debates.

United UO pushed for more lighting on campus, according to Faatz, to “make students feel safer,” and Faatz also mentioned that he thinks investing in “ways to lock classrooms from the inside to hold a violent person” is a wise investment.

Gallegos pushed back on United UO’s lighting policy, saying that campus had enough lighting and that it was an inefficient use of money.

Parking United UO wants to make more parking available on campus, and Gallegos called having a car a “luxury.”

“The administration is ready to just increase their tuition without providing more resources like scholarships for students,” Gallegos said.

“That to me is a basic necessity.”

Faatz responded, saying that parking is a necessity for some students who live far from campus.

Inclusivity When asked by a student how Ducks Together will advocate for students of color, Gallegos said that she has already been doing that as a senator in the ASUO Senate. “Sometimes people think it’s too aggressive,” Gallegos said, “but that’s OK. I’ll tack that onto my name.”

Shah pushed for a diversity workshop mandatory for all freshmen, as well as for town halls, aimed at LGBT students to address their questions and concerns.

Transparency On the topic of transparency, both sides emphasized making ASUO more transparent.

Ducks Together advocated for ASUO to be more approachable by the general student population.

“We’re meant to serve students and we are not gatekeepers of funds,” Gallegos said. “I want to make sure that we are accessible and easy to work with … because we’re supposed to be a catalyst for students, not a gatekeeper.”

Faatz said that because he is not in the current ASUO administration, he is able to have some different ideas about how confusing ASUO can seem to a general student.

“Trying to make sure that students know exactly what’s going on with the student government is really important,” Faatz said, “and coming from the outside is going to be a positive feature.”

In response to a question asking Ducks Together why changes had not been made in the current ASUO administration, Dorsey — who is also the State Affairs Commissioner on the ASUO executive branch — said that Ducks Together wanted to “plant seeds” for change.

“One thing I feel like this university takes advantage of is how quickly students come in and out of this university,” Gallegos said. “The work won’t end once this slate is out of office.”

Frankie Benitez and Michael Tobin contributed reporting to this story.

A NEWS

VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING SURVIVOR RECOUNTS HER STORY AT LECTURE

BY FRANKIE BENITEZ AND BRAEDON KWIECIEN

Virginia Tech shooting survivor Kristina Anderson. (Couresty of Kristina Anderson)

On April 16, 2007, Kristina Anderson chose closed-toed shoes over flip flops and got to her French class at Virginia Tech a little late. The same day, another student chained the doors shut in the same building so no one could escape. He walked to the second floor and began shooting students one by one. Anderson was shot three times, yet she survived.

The date is remembered as one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. The number of fatalities reached 32 that day, the deadliest mass shooting until the shootings in Orlando in 2016 and Las Vegas in 2017, in which there were 50 or more fatalities each.

On April 4, 2018, Anderson retold her story to an audience at the University of Oregon.

She recalled the smells, the temperature in the classroom and the sound of gunshots echoing in the halls. She remembered how SWAT patrol officers originally said she was in bad condition and then critical condition as she lay wounded in the classroom.

Anderson travels around the country talking about her story as a survivor of a mass shooting to teach others what it’s like to go through a shooting and what they can do to prevent one from happening.

“I want our event to be remembered not just as one of the worst mass shootings ever; I want it to be remembered as a place for hope and learning and inspiration as well,” she said.

At her speech at the University of Oregon, she played a video someone took from outside the building she was in during the shooting. Audience

members heard the sound of gunshots and the sirens as police arrived to the scene. Knowing the video played the sound of students dying was terrible, but Anderson plays it to help people understand the horror of a school shooting without having to experience it.

She made sure never to mention the shooter’s name in her speech and likely never will.

She believes that as a community, we have a responsibility to elevate the names of the victims and responders over the shooter out of respect.

Another reason for keeping the focus off of the shooter, she said, is to prevent copycats.

“Perpetrators of violence – they study each other and they look for inspiration from other shooters,” she said. “When we put their names and faces above the victims and the families, we almost make it seem like an aspiration-worthy goal for others. That might motivate someone who is already going down that pathway of violence to act upon that,” she said.

As Anderson has prepared for her speeches, she has met with other survivors of mass shootings and first responders. When she met with a responder to the Virginia Tech shooting, she said the officer began to cry. He said he was sorry they didn’t get there fast enough.

As awful as the day was, Anderson doesn’t hold a grudge against police who came to their rescue.

She’s grateful and knows they did the best they could. What Anderson said failed in preventing the shooting was the school’s ability to watch out for the student’s debilitated mental state.

In her speech, she said the shooter was very

creepy, had been writing dark and gruesome poems and had few to no outlets to vent his anger. She said his roommate, classmates and professors could tell something was wrong, but nobody shared information or realized what he was planning. In her speech, she congratulated Virginia Tech and UO for currently having channels of communication to take care of students in that condition.

She then turned the lens on safety at UO. While she was here, she took a tour of the school and found that UO and the UOPD are thoughtful in their approach to prevention and preparedness for shootings and other tragedies. Anderson mentioned the systems UO has in place for faculty and staff to monitor and take care of students they are worried about; however, she had disdain for all the glass in the newer buildings, saying glass walls are simply not secure.

Anderson encouraged students to think about what they would do in the event of a shooting.

“They say ‘Your body will never go where your brain hasn’t before,’ so at least you have some mental game plan,” she said.

She also hoped students would consider what they would do if they noticed something suspicious that could be a warning sign.

In the event of an emergency, students should call 911. Students can also report any potential danger that isn’t an immediate threat to UOPD. Students can report small things they may notice, even if they think it might not mean anything, to the Office of the Dean of Students, through the tip line here.

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ARTS & CULTURE ANNUAL DRAG SHOW BENEFIT FOR HIV ALLIANCE HITS THE STAGE SATURDAY

(Courtesy of Melissa Nolledo)

BY MIA VICINO • TWITTER @MIACINO “Damsels, Divas and Dames: 19 and Facing the Bronze Age,” or “Triple D” as show producer/ director William Sullivan calls it, is the 19th annual Eugene drag show extravaganza promising twoand-a-half hours of singing and dancing. It’s all for a good cause too. The show’s net profit goes directly to a general fund for HIV Alliance, a nonprofit organization founded in Lane County with locations in Eugene, Roseburg and Salem dedicated to eradicating HIV. Founded in 1994 after the AIDS epidemic reached its height in the U.S., HIV Alliance aims to raise awareness through youth and adult education and implement prevention programs to help those who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Some of these services include needle exchanges, food banks and low-cost dental care.

The Imperial Court, the second-largest LGBT organization in the world, is another beneficiary of

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“Damsels, Divas and Dames.” Putting on a show at the Hult Center can be expensive due to labor costs, deposits and the booking of the stage itself, but Sullivan said the large venue is worth the money, as the event usually earns around $5000 - $7000. A sold out show totals around $7500.

“Being producer and director, you see the show from start to finish,” Sullivan said. “Once the curtain opens, it’s going. If something happens, it happens, and you’ve got to flow with it.”

Sullivan also said that drag culture is thriving in other parts of downtown Eugene, even after the recent closing of the Wayward Lamb, the city’s only LGBTQ bar. Local drag queens such as the Glamazons, Facisha Farce and Cookie have found a new home at the cafe-by-day/dance club-by-night Cowfish (62 W. Broadway), where they perform in drag shows and participate in drag-themed karaoke and bingo.

Some of these queens, as well as some local dancers from the Work Dance Company, will be performing in “Damsels, Divas and Dames,” lip-syncing and dancing to pop music and other medleys. Trai La Trash, a queen who made it big in the New York drag scene, will sing live for his farewell performance — La Trash is retiring this year. Special guest Sabel Scities will also be flying up from Austin, Texas to perform.

“If you’ve never been to a drag show, this is the one to go to,” Sullivan said. “It’s in a professional theater setting, it’s for a good cause and you’re gonna have fun.”

“Damsels, Divas and Dames” hits the stage for one night only at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 at the Soreng Theater in the Hult Center (1 Eugene Center).

Tickets are $30 for adults and $25 for college students and youths, and are available to purchase on the Hult Center’s website.

H MUSIC

FRIDAY PLAYLIST:

BEST MUSIC RELEASED DURING WINTER TERM

BY ZACH PRICE • TWITTER @ZACH_PRICE24 Rae Sremmund. (Creative Commons)

Now that spring is upon us, summer is just around the corner, which means many artists will start releasing music in hopes of landing the coveted “song of summer.” But before we look forward to those upcoming releases, let’s first reflect on how winter term has come and gone and take a look back at some of the best tracks released during the first quarter of the calendar year. January, February and March saw an abundance of releases from megastar artists such as The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Drake and more. Go to dailyemerald.com to check out the Emerald’s full playlist.

Here are a few highlights from the list: “Big Shot” — Kendrick Lamar with Travis Scott Just when everyone thought Lamar couldn’t get any cooler, he decides to produce and curate a musical score for one of the year’s most popular and influential blockbuster films, “Black Panther.” Lamar’s record, “Black Panther: The Album,” produced a slew of hits from a variety of music’s biggest stars — not to mention that it perfectly fits in with the essence of the movie. The record is nothing short of terrific from top to bottom, making it hard to choose just one song, but “Big Shot” takes the cake. The track starts with a powerful scream — “Wakanda” — which is the fictional country where Black Panther takes place, and

then busts into a rambunctious, rhythmic beat that Lamar and Scott ride with creative spits.

“Bodys” — Car Seat Headrest Maybe the most energetic track on the Seattle-based band’s most recent album, “Twin Fantasy,” “Bodys” features frontman Will Toledo dissecting oddities of dancing while simultaneously finding himself enjoying the act. In many ways, the song serves as an anthem for all who have ever felt the awkwardness of organized fun but also felt left out when not included in such activities.

And as Toledo always does, he finds a way to capture the essence of a 20-something-yearold’s social anxiety in an upbeat and catchy melody.

“Look Alive” — BlocBoy JB feat. Drake How Drake continues to make absolute banger after banger will never cease to astonish me. In a one-month period, the prolific superstar released two of the year’s biggest hits: “God’s Plan” (Don’t worry, God’s plan made the online playlist) and “Look Alive.”

After a brief intro, the track’s beat drops and Drake begins riding it with the fast-paced chorus that leads right into his own verse. And as usual, Drake finds himself flexing on the

haters and hanging with the squad. Sounds like a pretty good life.

“Ghost Voices” — Virtual Self This song comes from the “Virtual Self EP,” marking the first release from North Carolinabased DJ and producer Porter Robinson’s alter ego, Virtual Self. Much of the EP is both musically and thematically intense, but this track makes its way back into the dancy realm of neo-techno with a brighter and happier tone. Overlayed synths and a pounding bass keep the track moving forward in and out of breakdowns, and Porter was still able to fit in his signature clunky drum and bass breakdown about halfway through the song.

“Powerglide” — Rae Sremmurd feat. Juicy J When thinking of contemporary artists who exclusively like music to party to, no one comes close to touching the polarizing hiphop duo Rae Sremmurd. Comprising Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi, and exclusively produced by the now legendary Mike WiLL Made-It, Rae Sremmurd glides (pun intended) over the bumping beat. And that’s not even to mention Juicy J’s perfect feature verse on the track, which produces some extremely quotable bars that are far too inappropriate to put in print.

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. COVER Oregon Ducks utility Lauren Burke (4) warms up in between innings. (Devin Roux)

A PLAYER-COACH CONNECTION 12 YEARS IN THE MAKING

BY MAGGIE VANONI • TWITTER @MAGGIE_VANONI

Howe Field was built in 1936. It was a small stadium, only fitting 1,400 fans in its bleachers.

It was outdated and run-down, but to Lauren Burke it embodied Oregon softball.

And playing in that stadium, playing for that Oregon team, was her dream.

“This was really the only Oregon sport that I watched,” Burke said. “When I was super young, we went to the basketball games and the football games, but softball games were always the ones I wanted to go to.”

Years later, Burke achieved that dream.

From watching on the Howe Field bleachers, to wearing the Duck uniform out on the

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diamond at Jane Sanders Stadium, she is now a utility player for Oregon — thanks to an initial spark from head coach Mike White when she was a child.

Burke may only be a freshman for Oregon, but she’s no stranger to Eugene or its softball community. Her career began when White gave her one of her first opportunities on the field, one that would launch her through early club teams and a breakout career at Marist Catholic High School. And along the way, Burke left a lasting impression on her community.

From White’s club team to Oregon Seven-year-old Burke was sitting in a dugout

watching her sister Shawna’s softball practice when the team realized it was short players that day. White, the coach, saw Burke and told her to pick up a glove and get in the outfield.

It was her first introduction to fast-pitch softball, and she was hooked.

After joining White’s club team, the Eugene Thunder, it wasn’t long before she earned a nickname that the White family still refers to her by to this day.

“We called her ‘Crazy Legs’ for years because when she ran she looked like the roadrunner,” said Sidney White, Mike’s daughter who played on the team along with the Burke sisters. “She

has these long, little skinny legs and they would just turn and flail when she ran.”

Her father, Jon Burke, helped White on the field as an assistant coach, The two families grew close and later became neighbors in Coburg. Even when White took the head coaching position at Oregon in 2010, the families remained friends.

Eventually, Burke joined two other club teams, the Northwest Bullets and the Beverly Bandits.

The Bandits, a selective high school summer travel team based out of Chicago, took Lauren around the country as she formed friendships with her future Oregon teammates Miranda Elish and Alexis Mack.

In the summer between her sophomore and junior years of high school, she got a chance to play for White again. Burke didn’t have to think twice when White offered her a spot on the Ducks’ roster.

“When he offered her her scholarship, she committed on the spot,” Jon said. “She didn’t even look at me or think about it. She said, ‘I’m in.’ There really wasn’t anything to think about.”

Burke is the team’s first Eugene-native player in 12 years. In fact, Burke was so set on Oregon that there really was no plan-B. According to Jon, they weren’t even going to look at other schools unless they heard a “no” from Oregon.

“Everyone in Eugene knew who Lauren Burke was just because of how well she did at softball,” Ariel Carlson, a former teammate of Burke, said. “It’s really cool seeing her now play for Oregon because when she gets up to bat, you can tell everyone is rooting for her and everyone is like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s Lauren Burke. She went to Marist High School.’ And the whole vibe in the stadium changes when she gets up.”

So far this season, Burke hit a home run, four RBIs and scored nine runs in her first four games.

Dedicated from childhood to high school As a kid, Burke imagined herself sprinting to a base

while she ran down the hallways at her grandma’s. On the carpeted floors, she would practice sliding under chairs as if securing her safety on an imaginary base.

She spent countless hours in the family’s homemade batting cage. Underneath an extended covering of the family’s barn, Jon strung a fence and laid down some turf to create a personal hitting and pitching facility for Burke and Shawna.

The barn became a place of bonding for the girls.

“We were there all the time, just having fun and talking,” Burke said.

With the help of her former hitting coach, Alabama All-American and Eugene-native Kayla Braud, Burke focused on becoming a triple threat at the plate. She could bunt, and she could make contact, but she wanted to hone-in on becoming a power hitter.

All the practice slides at her grandma’s and all the days spent in the barn paid off. In her junior year, Burke hit 21 home runs and batted 0.701 over the course of the team’s 30 games.

Burke’s offensive surge became evident to Jon when she hit four consecutive home runs in a single game, a record that placed second in the nation.

“We were just shocked, couldn’t believe it,” Jon said.

“I knew she was a good hitter, but to do that, it was pretty cool to see.”

For Missy Doerr, a Marist assistant coach at the time, Burke’s hitting was more than just a way for the team to score runs; it was what made Burke stand out.

“She just goes up with so much confidence. For me, that’s the most exciting thing to watch,” Doerr said.

“She’s knowing that she’s going to get a hit, I mean not in a cocky way, but it’s great to have that mentality when you go up the plate.”

Capping her career at Marist, Burke helped the Spartans earn the 5A Oregon State Championship against Dallas in June of 2017, for the school’s first

Ducks utility player Lauren Burke (4) slides into third as Bulldogs infielder Jessica Gradillas (3) touches the bag.

(Ben Green)

state championship title since 2009 (when it was 4A).

Becoming a local mentor Burke’s confidence and passion for the sport are contagious.

Carlson first met Burke at an Oregon softball clinic for high school players during Burke’s sophomore year at Marist, playing two seasons together as Spartans. In a couple years, the two will be teammates again when Carlson joins Burke at Oregon.

“It was kind of this surreal thing,” Carlson said of seeing Burke teach Oregon’s softball clinics this past fall. “Because it was like, ‘I’m going to be doing that in two years.’ So, it just made my commitment to Oregon seem even more real, seeing it lived out by Burke.”

With her community connections and her knowledge of the sport, Burke is a mentor and an inspiration to local softball players.

“Softball has given me so much that I want to give a lot to younger kids who are playing it too,” Burke said.

Lindsey Stripling, a junior on Junction City High School’s softball roster, had never hit a home run.

In her first nine years of playing, Stripling got nervous every time she stood at home plate watching the pitcher staring back at her.

That was until she met Burke.

Once a week for three years, Stripling met Burke at the Marist softball fields for hitting lessons. Burke rebuilt more than a hitter. She made Stripling a confident, passionate softball player.

Now, when Stripling, a Southern Oregon University softball commit, steps up to the plate, she wants to be there. She looks at the pitcher and hears Burke in her head: “You are just going to hit it as hard as you can.

You want to hit it right back at that pitcher. She does not deserve to be facing you right now.”

“I would probably not be the player I am today if it wasn’t for Lauren,” Stripling said.

Lauren Burke, on the Beverly Bandits, rounds third base during a high school game.

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SPORTS

MIKE WHITE’S PITCHING:

A GAME CHANGER FOR OREGON SOFTBALL

BY AUGUST HOWELL • TWITTER @HOWELL_AUGUST

Before Mike White ever set foot on the Oregon campus, he was already an International Softball Congress Hall of Fame pitcher and had coached for 30 years.

White was considered one of the best male softball players in the world in his heyday. He pitched for the New Zealand and U.S. national teams, winning two gold medals at the world championships.

In 1996, playing for the New Zealand Black Sox, White pitched a perfect game in a 4-0 win during the world championship final.

A quick YouTube search and a visit to White’s website will show just the tip of the iceberg in terms of White’s pitching knowledge. He has dozens of videos demonstrating technique and the use of various tools such as the Softball Power Drive plate.

White’s coaching philosophy revolves around mastering the basics, not just in pitching but in overall performance.

“We have an offensive blueprint and a defensive blueprint. It all comes down to little parts of the game,” White said. “It’s down to just the basics. Do the basics better than everybody else.”

White’s pitching skills benefit both sides of the plate. He can teach his pitchers different techniques and improve their form. For the hitters, he can simulate opposing pitchers with incredible accuracy.

“We’re definitely lucky to work off him,” senior catcher Gwen Svekis said. “I know that when coach White is in the

circle, my success depends on how he’s feeling that day, not on how I’m feeling.”

The players know just how talented White is; they see it everyday in practice. For veterans like Svekis, she uses that practice as a challenge to learn from one of the very best.

“When I go against coach White, my thought process is just to compete. … I’m not thinking home run. I’m not even thinking base hit. I’m strictly thinking compete against him – don’t let him outsmart me,” Svekis said.

“And also don’t think too much because that’s when he gets in your head.”

The work White invested in the team has paid off.

During White’s first year as head coach for Oregon softball, the team went 16-34, including 3-18 in the Pac12. By his sixth season, he became the team’s all-time winningest coach, with second place nowhere close. After the Women’s College World Series, his winning percentage was .79 percent, with No. 2 at .571.

White, who grew up playing soccer in New Zealand, has established Oregon as one of the best softball teams in all of the NCAA. “He’s the best pitcher in the world,” outfielder Shannon Rhodes said. “For me to get in that box and see the best stuff that anybody is ever going to see every day is an amazing opportunity. I know that no pitcher out there is gonna throw better than him, so if I can hit coach White, I can hit anything.”

Coach Mike White of Ducks Softball receiving a victory shower from team managers Jack Wauson and Anthony Aresco.

(Ben Green)

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Q SPORTS Oregon quarterbacks participate in drills during their spring season practice. (Adam Eberhardt)

OREGON’S YOUNG SECONDARY GROWS DURING SPRING PRACTICE

BY JACK BUTLER • TWITTER @BUTLER917

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert is the undisputed leader of the offense. He is the man. He runs the show.

Leadership at the quarterback position is built-in and part of the job description. But for a defensive safety, that’s extra. That’s the role that senior Ugo Amadi fills — a role that is especially vital for a team wielding a young secondary.

“He’s like a quarterback of the defense,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “He can do a really good job of lining us up. … He’s like a traffic cop making sure guys are in the right spots.”

Oregon secondary will be young this upcoming season. They lost cornerback Arrion Springs and safety Tyree Robinson, two players with talent and experience. So the secondary could have two sophomores as the starting cornerback, and one of the safety positions is up for grabs. Stopping passhappy Pac-12 offenses is a challenge that a new secondary will face in 2018.

The young players will have to learn quickly,

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but there are opportunities. The depth chart is fluid and spring practice is a time for coaches to experiment and develop players.

Amadi will stay at safety for spring practice. He made the switch to safety last season after playing cornerback for two years. The Ducks need him there. It also allows Oregon to develop depth at the safety position with players like Brady Breeze, Mattrell McGraw, Nick Pickett and Billy Gibson, who all played last season.

It also allows the cornerbacks to get reps and build skills. Right now, it seems two sophomores are in the lead: Thomas Graham Jr., who started last season, and Deommodore Lenoir, who got significant playing time last season as well.

The Ducks are thin and untested at the position, so the spring reps are important.

“It doesn’t matter who it is, you know?” safeties coach Keith Heyward said. “I’m happy to have Ugo. … But we still have to find that right mix of safeties and corners to have the right guys on the field.”

They might be young, but they are following Springs and Robinson who taught them along the way.

“I know they all stay in touch. Those older guys did a great job helping groom these young guys,” Cristobal said. “They’ve learned a lot, too, just watching themselves on tape.”

Pickett, a sophomore, played early last season, but he is sitting out of spring to heal a torn labrum he’s had since high school. He will compete for a starting safety position come fall, but for now, he needs to workout his brain.

“I keep his mind sharp,” Heyward said. “We kind of have like a jeopardy in the meeting room and I’m asking questions. I don’t do a lot of monologue talking. I’ll ask and they have to answer.”

They all might be fighting for playing time, but they are still always on the same team, which helps for each of their development.

“We all just pretty much help each other,” Pickett said.

Q SPORTS

RYNE NELSON THRIVES ON THE MOUND AND AT BAT

Oregon infielder Ryne Nelson (29) tracks an incoming pitch. Ryne Nelson can be slotted in for relief, and at shortstop . (Kiara Green)

BY AARON ALTER • TWITTER @AARONALTER95 For a sport that isn’t exactly known for its flexibility, Ryne Nelson moves around a lot.

On any given night, there’s a chance you’ll see him hit and pitch. Not only is the sophomore Oregon’s starting shortstop — he also steps onto the diamond as a reliever.

The history of two-way players in baseball is a peculiar one. Babe Ruth, widely considered to be one of the best of his time and one of the most iconic players to ever step on a baseball field, is renowned as both a pitcher and a power hitter. So is the MLB saturated with dazzling, doubly-talented players?

Not exactly. Since the Babe, the two-way player has become nearly extinct. Until recently, they were seen as something of a novelty in the big leagues, with Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani being just the third one of this century.

In college, however, these players are far more common. Last season, Louisville’s best power hitter and starting pitcher Brendan McKay took home the Golden Spikes award for college baseball’s top player. The Cardinals would go on

to lose in the College World Series to a Florida team that used three two-way players.

For his part, Nelson goes into every game ready for anything. In a March 10 doubleheader against UC Davis, he notched four hits, two RBIs and five strikeouts over the two games.

“I love pitching. I love striking people out,” Nelson said. “But I love doing each (hitting and pitching) as much as the other.”

On the mound and in the nine games where he’s seen action this season, Nelson has been efficient, racking up a 2.97 ERA to go with 17 strikeouts on the year. On the batting side of things, his .222 average and .584 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging), while not exceptional, place him solidly in the middle of the pack.

While he enjoys his versatility, Ducks coach George Horton has a clear idea about where Nelson’s real strength lies.

“He’s probably got the brightest future of anybody that we have,” Horton said. “And it’s not as a shortstop – he’s gonna be a major league pitcher someday.”

Ducks infielder Ryne Nelsono (29) catches an easy pop fly. (Ben Green)

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OPINION HOW A BETTER SCHEDULE CAN

LEAD TO BETTER GRADES

BY TED YANEZ

Spring term is upon us at the University of Oregon! For many students, spring can be distracting. The weather is warming up and some are starting to burn out. Luckily, there’s a way to keep ourselves focused and maintain, if not improve, our grades. Before getting too far ahead of ourselves, it’s important to understand two things: 1. This schedule doesn’t cost anything extra. 2. It takes real effort.

This method is a way of micromanaging your personal schedule to give it structure.

This way of scheduling is modeled after the schedule Mormon missionaries follow for two years. The beauty of it is that it can be tailored to anyone’s schedule, but I have found that it works especially well for college students. In a nutshell, it acts like a budget for the time you spend while you’re awake. For simplicity, it can be made into

a generalized list of how your day should go.

1. Wake up, exercise and get ready for the day Typically, you want to wake up three and a half hours before you have to leave for work or your first class. Do some easy, but meaningful exercise for 30 minutes. You could do cardio, strength training or a combination of the two on different days. The reason why missionaries exercise in the morning is two-fold: not only does it get you energized, but it makes sure you get at least a little exercise if you don’t workout at all. If I lived in the residence halls, I would take full advantage of the Rec center, if it’s available during your exercise time.

Getting ready for the day should take no longer than an hour. This includes breakfast. If

you live off campus and you have roommates, it’s worth noting that missionaries often have one person making breakfast while the other one hops in the shower. Of course, whoever doesn’t cook does the dishes.

2. Personal study and academic study This is where waking up three and a half hours before class starts to come together. Once you’ve had breakfast and are ready for the day, you should take two hours to study. The first hour of study is personal study, which should be a book that you want to read and isn’t related to any classes you’re currently enrolled in. This hour of study will invigorate your mind and get you ready to think a little clearer.

The second hour of study could be called

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9 OPINION “academic study,” where you could do your assigned reading that you usually don’t. If you do the readings and get caught up, you could use this time for homework. Of course, you could always give yourself a couple hours here and there in your weekly schedule to do homework.

3. Lunch Take a full hour for lunch, even if you aren’t eating the entire time. Use the entire time to clear your head and just relax. Silly as it may sound, doing something this simple may help you feel less stress throughout your day. The afternoon may be taken up by classes. If not, consider scheduling some time for homework.

This will help you later in the evening.

4. Afternoon dead space, dinner and bedtime Some days will have this dead space in our schedules in the afternoon. Most of us justify doing nothing during this time by telling ourselves that we’ve earned some time to rest.

It’s a good idea to get in the habit of having that rest time throughout entire days, if possible. If you have several hours between your classes, consider scheduling time for homework for the next class. This gives you more time to yourself in the evenings to relax. The same rules for lunch apply to dinner –– one hour of personal time to relax.

Generally, you should go to bed 16 hours

after you wake up. So if you wake up at 6:30 a.m., lights out should be at 10:30 p.m. An hour and a half before your bedtime, you should take 30 minutes to plan the next day. This might sound a little basic, but 30 minutes can feel like a short amount of time when you start thinking about what’s due tomorrow, what you’re going to study and what you’re going to do to be productive in case of dead space.

The last hour of your day should be spent getting ready for bed. It’s important to follow this closely; don’t go to bed early or late.

Take the hour to brush your teeth, change into nightwear and to give yourself some you time. Think about your personal life and maybe even think about home a little if you’re from out of town. It’s important to do this for several reasons, but perhaps one of the most important reasons is so you don’t get homesick. Trust me –– it can happen to anyone.

Preparation Day You need to plan time to tidy your living space, do your laundry and maybe go grocery shopping. The easiest way to do this is to take an entire day where you have nothing going on aside from the morning and nighttime routines and just get it all done, like the weekend. It may seem daunting at first, but you can get to the point where you’re having a hard time finding things to clean.

Once everything is done, just relax and do

whatever you’d like until dinner. You should schedule some extra study time or attend a club starting after dinner until it’s time to plan for tomorrow. This is very important because it helps build a mindset of continuous productivity. If you take the time to just relax and never get anything else done, then you will subconsciously slip into thinking it’s okay to flounder on other parts of your schedule.

Bottom Line In the long run, this is nothing more than a time budget with a morning and evening routine. Can this seriously help your grades?

Well, yes and no. It can help your grades if you’re being sincere and putting in an honest effort to study and give yourself that time to destress. It can hinder your grades if you’re not giving an honest effort and just whine about it to yourself the whole time. I would know; I did this for two years in Japan. The whole idea is to give yourself some structure and consistency to help you always have a plan for your own edification no matter what.

The format of “early to rise, early to bed” may sound horrible at first — and it probably is, to be honest — but there is the promise that you will eventually wake up energized and ready to go, as well as tired when bedtime rolls around.

Giving yourself that time to relax, sleep and recharge mentally is crucial to your success in college. Don’t let yourself flail during this last term of the school year!

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