**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature an essay from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Shannon Carroll, assistant sports editor at the The Daily Californian.**

This year’s Cal football season shows that absolutely anything can happen in college football, no matter what all the old-white-guy pundits say about college rankings and favored teams.

Coming off a one-win season a year ago, Cal was supposed to be awful again this year, but has already posted four wins — sometimes in the most surprising ways imaginable. Cal won one game when an opponent missed a game-ending field goal that was shorter than an extra point. Cal won another when the opponent missed three — yes, three — field goals of around 40 yards. Any one of those would have cost the Bears the game, one they were expected to lose, but that’s not how Cal rolls this year.

On the other hand, against Arizona, Cal gave up 36 points in a fourth quarter and lost a game on a 47-yard Hail Mary as time expired. Cal trailed for exactly zero seconds during regulation, but lost. In another game, against UCLA, Cal gave up 567 yards of total offense and only lost by two.

So, how will Call beat Oregon? Ha. It won’t. There is no freaking way Cal walks out of Levi’s Stadium with a win against Oregon. It’s just not going to happen. In any universe.

The basic problem for Cal is that, while the Bears’ defense is better than it has been in the past couple of years, that isn’t saying much. Cal’s season started with two pretty easy wins against Northwestern and Sacramento State, so fans jumped on the “oh, look how good we are” bandwagon, but the defense was lackluster, at best, even in those games.

The team just hasn’t been able to tackle. Last week, against UCLA, Cal made the Bruins look like they had smothered their jerseys in butter. A UCLA player would have three Bears near him, but still escape for at least five more yards.

It’s true the Cal offense can look very good. Quarterback Jared Goff, a sophomore, looks like he could be a Heisman candidate in coming years (Man alive, that arm!). And the wide receiver corps is one of the deepest and most talented in the Pac-12 — “Vicinity Kenny” Lawler can grab any ball within about 10 yards of him.

Cal even has a semblance of a running game, with Daniel Lasco lining up behind center and getting crucial yardage that has turned head coach Sonny Dykes’ “Air Raid” offense into a true “Bear Raid” offense that can get yardage on the ground as well as in the air.

But the offense still isn’t totally clicking. Cal scored so much in some games that fans, looking for 50 points a game, created a #drop50 hashtag only to see the team go out the next week and #drop7 against Washington, a team the Ducks killed 45-20.

Still, maybe the pilot gets confused as he brings the Oregon team to the game. There are a lot of schools in the University of California system beyond UC-Berkeley. Maybe the Ducks end up at UC-Santa Barbara. Or what about the Cal State schools? Even Cal State Sacramento is far enough away that the Oregon team might get to the game late. Better yet, what if the pilot goes to Berklee, a college of music in Boston?

Hey, a forfeit still counts as a win — and would even fit with the rest of the weird Cal season

The Emerald wants you to join us.

Emerald reporters and photographers are tagging their posts #UOvUW to share their thoughts on the game, play-by-plays and any fun Washington GameDay traditions.

This is a big rivalry: The last time University of Washington beat Oregon Marcus Mariota was 11-years-old.  We want know what your GameDay traditions are, especially when it comes to the Huskies. Tweet a picture of your seat, Instagram your favorite homecoming tradition or share a photo from the pep rally.

So join us — Saturday, keep your eye out for live feeds and post-game updates and use our hashtag: #UOvUW.

Treating marijuana use as a crime has failed. Last year, over 11,000 adults were arrested or cited for marijuana use in Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police. One in every 14 arrests in Oregon is for small marijuana offenses; that’s 7% of all arrests in the state. It is distracting police and sheriffs from taking on violent crimes, and it perpetuates a system run by organized gangsters and cartels.

One of the best ways to understand how the mechanics of Measure 91 works is to compare the current system of prohibition to a regulated system we could have by passing this measure.

Right now, marijuana is sold in back alleys and on playing fields. The sellers — drug dealers — don’t ask for ID and aren’t held accountable when they sell to young people. Also, any drug prevention or education program is not provided. Nobody really knows what they’re getting because the product is untested, unlabeled and unregulated, while gangs and cartels turn a tax-free profit.

Under the regulated system of Measure 91, marijuana would be sold at licensed, audited and inspected in properly-zoned facilities that are strictly regulated and away from schools. The sellers would be licensed salespeople who have passed background checks, who ask for IDs and who would be held accountable in sting operations to make sure they don’t sell to youth.

Only adults 21 and older could buy and possess marijuana. The product would be tested, packaged, labelled and made with child-proof containers. Money from purchases would go to legitimate businesses and taxes would be used for essential public services.

Under Measure 91, the new revenue from taxes will go to schools, state and local police, mental health and addiction services, drug treatment and drug prevention programs. This revenue will be distributed through a special account that, by law, must go to these programs.

When it comes to regulating, taxing and legalizing marijuana, Oregon has the benefit of going third. We’ve already learned a lot from Washington and Colorado’s legalization of marijuana. Measure 91 is designed to take advantage of lessons learned from Washington and Colorado’s laws and improve upon them. And Measure 91 has been designed with built-in flexibility to continue adjusting the law in the future, if needed. By the time the first licensed storefronts open in Oregon in 2016, there will be nearly a decade of combined experience and data to draw from the three states.

To quote former Oregon Supreme Court Justice William Riggs, “I think it’s inevitable that marijuana is coming to Oregon in one form or another, and I hope it comes in the form of a good bill like this one. If we are going to have marijuana in Oregon, this is the way to do it.”

Measure 91 is comprehensive — more than 35 pages long — and writing it was a huge project. We went through more than 50 drafts. We got input and help from parents, law enforcement, tax experts, legislative lawyers, drug treatment specialists, parents, Democrats, Republicans, independents, the governor’s office and many more.

We studied what worked in other states, and we based the current bill on one that’s already in effect in Oregon — the laws used to control beer, wine and liquor — because we wanted to use existing state infrastructure and not create a new agency. Yet, under Measure 91 marijuana is even more strictly regulated than alcohol including no public use, and limits on the amount one can buy or have on them at any given time.

It is inevitable that marijuana will be legalized – and if it’s going to happen, we need the right restrictions put into place. Measure 91 controls marijuana from seed to sale, penalizes access by minors, keeps drug-free workplace rules and prevents public use.

Measure 91 is by far the most restrictive and responsible plan for regulation, taxation and legalization of marijuana ever put before Oregon voters. Please read it yourself at www.voteyeson91.com.

Anthony Johnson is the chief petitioner and a co-author of Measure 91.

Like most people raised within the past forty years or so, I have developed an unhealthy, never-ending relationship with Star Wars. The bravery of Luke, the kind wisdom of old Ben Kenobi, the weeping broodiness of young Anakin – Star Wars provided me with the characters and stories that defined my childhood. It is a fandom that has failed me frequently, yet always leaves me crawling back for more, like the space opera equivalent of crack cocaine.

Following the acquisition of Star Wars by our once and future entertainment overlords, the Disney Corporation(™) , LucasArts announced that they were planning a number of spinoff films for some of the franchises’ most beloved characters, including Han Solo, Boba Fett and Yoda. Recently, rumors have been circling that a trilogy centered on Obi-Wan Kenobi is in the works, with many actors connected to the franchise voicing their support for the project. This announcement proves once again that the only universal truth in Hollywood is that Disney knows exactly how to take money out of my wallet and put it directly into their hands. I am 100% on board for more overly choreographed lightsaber fights, more desert homeworlds, and more of Ewan McGregor’s beard. It’s an absolute no-brainer, and I hope the rumors come to fruition.

But, as awesome as the Obi-Wan trilogy will undoubtedly be, the rumors got me thinking of the other, less revered characters in Star Wars history. Surely some of these characters have their own backstories to tell; why should only the cool characters get their own movies? Here are a few of my favorite ideas for Star Wars spinoffs that you probably won’t see at your local cinema anytime soon.

The Cantina Band: Behind the Muzaak

For those who have forgotten, the Cantina Band is the in-house entertainment during Star Wars: Episode IV‘s iconic Mos Eisley tavern scene. Composed of five “bith,” a race of bulbous-headed, fish lipped beatniks, the Cantina Band plays a rousing ragtime number that you’re probably already humming in your head. In the frequently confusing, now irrelevant Star Wars Extended Universe, the Cantina Band is actually named Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, which is also the name of the ironic indie surfpop band you’ll be seeing at Sasquatch next year. Who wouldn’t want to watch a “Behind the Music” mockumentary starring the Modal Nodes? Late nights with Twilek dancers, gambling all your money away in high-stakes sabaac games, getting beat up by Mandalorian thugs for missing your loan payments. I could easily see Figrin D’an as an arrogant, John Lennon-esque megalomaniac. I’m already pumped for the DVD extras.

Kyle Katarn: Jedi Knight

Transitioning from a lowly Stormtrooper to a high ranking Rebel spy is no easy task. Neither is becoming a revered and powerful Jedi Knight. Overcoming the dangerous allure of the Dark Side is even harder still. The subject of two separate video game series produced in the late ’90s, Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars: Jedi Knight, Kyle Katarn is perhaps the most famous Star Wars character to never appear in any of the films. His narrative arc, although now non-canonical after Disney’s Extended Universe purge, is filled to the brim with complex characterizations and anti-hero brooding. Everyone loves a good redemption story, and no one does redemption better than Kyle Katarn. With five classic games to pull from, surely there’s enough backstory to fill out a spinoff or two. George, I know you’re reading this – you owe us one. Make it happen!

Lando Calrissian a.k.a. Shaft in Space

As anyone who followed the casting for Episode VII will tell you, the majority of the original cast is returning for this installment, with one notable exception: Billy Dee Williams! Yes, Williams’ swagger-walkin’, smooth-talkin’ space pirate Lando Calrissian will be conspicuously absent from the new installment, despite the actor’s impressive 10^th place finish on Dancing With The Stars earlier this year. But I still hold hopes for a Lando spinoff in the distant, distant future. In my poorly written fanfiction world, we see our lovable con man gamble his way to the top of Cloud City, seducing alien babes and knockin’ out all the jive-turkeys who get in his way. The world needs more righteous spice smugglers who play by their own rules. We just need to resurrect Isaac Hayes to compose a funky theme song, and the movie practically writes itself!

Jar-Jar Binks: Hero of the Republic

Just kidding! Although, when Disney inevitably takes over the world and enslaves us all, a series of Jar-Jar films would make a great torture device. Here’s hoping they spare us all.

By Kenneth Mullins

Thank you for the opportunity to write to the university community about the school’s decision to discontinue a free figure drawing workshop for local artists.

A number of media reports have confused this workshop session with our regular courses. We continue to offer figure drawing in our courses and enable our students to engage in this longstanding and important artistic tradition. Reports of the UO cancelling figure drawing classes involving nude models are erroneous.

As for the figure drawing workshop session, let me share some of the facts. For a number of years, the Department of Art hosted this offering for the community. The sessions have been unmonitored, with costs for managing the space, recruiting and paying models, and responding to general inquiries being generously provided by the Department of Art.

Very recently we grew concerned about how the workshop had been promoted and the volume and nature of inquiries we received. In early September, a flier was circulated locally advertising both the workshop as well as the call for nude models. After the flier went out, the number of inquiries went from one to two per week to 20 or more per day. Although most of those inquiries were innocuous, our front line staff received a number of inappropriate and troubling comments regarding the sessions. What had always been a low key offering turned into something quite different.

The decision to discontinue the workshop is based on an imperative that we utilize resources in ways that will provide the greatest benefit and that we ensure a safe and respectful environment for everyone in our learning community.

We continue to support the arts and arts education in the community through activities such as an active exhibition program of student work in Eugene and Portland, free public lectures by visiting artists and curators, and through faculty and student participation in cultural projects.

The school plays an important role in the health and vitality of the arts community and we are proud of the many ways we have and will continue to support the arts and creative expression.

This letter was submitted to the Emerald by Brook Muller, acting dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts.

Here at The Emerald, we do GameDay right. At least we’d like to think so.

Last year, our photographers began documenting the sights and scenes leading up to games at Autzen Stadium and around the Pac-12. Those photos of fans were a wild success, often getting over 7,000 views on game days.

Our coverage of last year’s Stanford game even got a nod from PBS in the MediaShift blog’s write-up of the nation’s best college photography.

But GameDay is nothing without the fans. And we want your help to make the experience even better.

Whether you pack a car with a bunch of friends and drive to Pasadena this weekend or you’re at Rennie’s sharing a pitcher and some fries on Saturday, we’d like to share in your GameDay.

Our reporters and photographers will be tagging their posts with #UOvUCLA  to document everything from their trip to game coverage and everything in between.

Why don’t you join us? We’ll host a live feed of the pre-game festivities on dailyemerald.com and aggregate the best posts into pre-game and post-game coverage. Tag your Instagram photos and tweets with #UOvUCLA. You might just see your post on our site.

We’ll keep an eye out for ya.

By Emma Burke 

I have the exact same physical proportions as Taylor Swift.

A body that is too long and gangly to ever be appealing, a small head, pale skin and dance moves that rival Elaine Benes’ (the lady from Seinfeld for all those with sitcom deprivation) in both lack of self-awareness and just sheer badness.

Like Taylor, I’ve also been a scorned ex-girlfriend, a girl pining for a boy that likes someone else, and labeled “quirky” in lieu of an actual compliment—so why, with all of the material Taylor Swift has to relate to me, am I completely uninterested and not compelled by her new single while I’m obsessed and inspired by Nicki Minaj’s (with whom I have nothing in common with except for a dream to be “bossed up”)?

Recently, the world has been exposed to a pop culture dichotomy of epic proportions (pardon the pun): A white female pop star releasing a video intended to address her “haters” that have criticized her dance moves, and a black female pop star releasing a video that shuts down “haters” whose abhorrence carries much more weight.

Both Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift are inspiring examples of hard working female celebrities, but the differences between their new music videos highlight what it means to be a hard working black pop star versus a hard working white pop star.

Taylor put herself up against it (“it” being anyone with any awareness whatsoever) this week by choosing to release an elaborate music video during the horrific and monumental events occurring in Ferguson, Missouri. Her grievances listed in “Shake It Off” (people thinking she stays out too late, dates too many guys and is a bad dancer), were made to seem even more trivial once Nicki Minaj released “Anaconda” -— which plays upon some major themes that black women in pop culture are pigeon holed into (some of those themes are featured in Taylor’s video).

Over the past few years twerking, being a person of color and having a giant ass have been mocked and exploited left and right by white people, especially in the music industry. Twerkers and black women with curves have become a frequent backdrop for white musicians to either gain street cred or highlight how silly they are. Either way, it’s perpetuating old fashioned, minstrel-esque racism where “exotic” black women are used to draw attention to all the positive and “pure” things about being a white woman.

In the “Anaconda” music video, Nicki is center stage doing all the things back up dancers have been doing on stage next to Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Iggy Azaela and now Taylor Swift. Nicki twerks (really, really, really well), wears jungle garb, humps chairs and the ground and in a final act of reclaiming her sexuality gives notorious nice guy Drake an impressive lap dance that not only made me nervous for Drake’s penis and dignity (he made a bold choice of wearing sweat pants), but made me want to use my non-existent but hypothetical sex appeal to take down some misogynists disguised as “nice guys,” preferably with a knife like the way Nicki does in her video.

Initially, I was a little bit taken back by Nicki’s “skinny girl” rant because, well, I’m a skinny girl and I want to be taken seriously. But with skinny girls like Taylor Swift giving us such a bad rap, I get it Nicki, I really do. While I believe it’s possible to have confidence without explicitly putting down another type of person when your body type has been used as a prop for literally HUNDREDS OF YEARS, I think you should be allowed a little leeway and anger. I have faced approximately zero institutionalized hardships because of my race (a few more because of my gender, but again, being white really helps) and neither has Taylor Swift.

This lack of knowledge and perspective is what makes “Anaconda” a million times more inspiring and confidence building than “Shake It Off” to me. I know I’m never going to look like Nicki, instead I’ll look more like a pre-pubescent boy than a hot woman, but I want the self-worth and aggressive mentality that Nicki has in this video, not the “come on guys, liiiiike me, I’m fuuuun” whine that Taylor is emitting in hers.

**Editor’s Note: Each week during football season, we feature an essay from the opponent’s student newspaper on why Oregon will lose. This week’s edition is from Roberto Miguel Payne, a the sports editor at the The Daily Wildcat.**

I’m not quite sure what you guys in Eugene put in the water but something just doesn’t feel right.

The Arizona Wildcats have won in Eugene just twice over the past 30 years, with the most recent matchup resulting in a 42-16 shellacking. This isn’t the case for any other conference foe.

Again, what in the hell do you put in the water and where can we get some? I’m going to try my best to bottle some up once I get there on Thursday.

From Arizona’s perspective, that last matchup was highlighted by missed opportunities in the first half and a complete breakdown in the second half. The Wildcats failed to score a single point on five red-zone opportunities, including its first four drives of the game. Plain and simple, you can’t win that way.

This season, expect a much different Arizona team to come to town.

The 2014-2015 Wildcats are among the Pac-12 leaders in scoring offense (tied for third), total offense (first), rushing offense (second), passing offense (second) and field goal makes (first).

Leading a revitalized attack is the largely untested trio of redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon, true freshman running back David Wilson and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Cayleb Jones.

These guys had never taken a snap as a Wildcat before the season opener against UNLV, but have grown significantly since then. They have adapted a never say die mentality and are well equipped to roll with the punches that are bound to come when an explosive offense like Oregon is across the field.

That ability to bounce-back gives me confidence that this Arizona team can be the third team in the last 30 years to win in Eugene.

Ideally Arizona won’t even need to comeback but with the speed in which the Ducks score, Arizona is bound to trail at some point. Having a calm and collected quarterback like Solomon helps in that regard.

Solomon has been described by his coaches and teammates as unflappable and an all-around cool customer. He’s certainly better than B.J. Denker ever was. And that’s no disrespect to B.J., who’s now a part of the Arizona coaching staff. With lackluster arm strength, he just wasn’t very good at standing in the pocket and delivering. B.J. based everything off of his ability to scramble and the UA offense was predominately run-based for a reason.

While the run is still the primary focus this season, the team doesn’t have to worry about not being able to convert via the pass. This is a huge key when facing Oregon.

Notice I haven’t even talked about how to stop Marcus Mariota. That was by design. There is no stopping Mariota and his wizard-esque ability to make the right play at the right time. Mariota is one of the very best players in the nation and is the heart and soul of the Ducks. You cannot stop him, you can only hope to contain him.

Which is why Arizona won’t stress out if Mariota goes off.

You let him get his and instead key in on his weapons like Devon Allen and Royce Freeman. Limiting those guys will go a long way to an Arizona win.

You heard it here first: Arizona will upset Oregon 38-35 on a late fourth quarter field goal from UA kicker Casey Skowron on Thursday night. It’ll be the kind of signature, national television win the Wildcats desperately need to make this season memorable.

This is going to be one hell of a Thursday night matchup.

Thanks to the students and fans of the University of Oregon. What a fun game!

As South Dakota Coyote (kai-YOTE) fans, we were stunned by the kindness of everyone we encountered. I don’t recall a such a friendly welcoming anywhere. We stayed in downtown, and Oregon fans helped us find the stadium before the game, find fun nightlife afterwards, and made us feel at home.

Not only we did we get see a fun game between our Coyotes and the world-class Oregon Ducks — we got to see that kindness and good sportsmanship are alive and well in Eugene.

Go Coyotes!

and also…

Go Ducks!

Daniel H. Abbott, Ph.D.
(USD Class of ’04)

To the University of Oregon Campus Community,

Yesterday afternoon, the ASUO Executive was taken by surprise by President Gottfredson’s resignation. As unfortunate as it is to lose our President, we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his service to the University. As the search for a new President ensues, we strive to support the social, cultural, educational, and physical development of students by safeguarding the needs of students and ensuring an effective, inclusive approach that prioritizes student inputs throughout this transitional period.

As we embark on our first year with the Board of Trustees, we look forward to working closely in collaboration with the Trustees, Administration, Faculty, Staff, and other stakeholders in searching for the best interim and long-term Presidents to support us through this crucial chapter in our University’s history.

Go Ducks!

ASUO Executive,

Beatriz Gutierrez, ASUO President

Tran Dinh, Internal Vice-President

Patrick Kindred, External Vice- President