For basketball’s outward simplicity — the team that puts the ball in the basket the most wins — basketball is remarkably versatile, both in team strategy and individual technique. Some players have the tendency to quicken the pace, some to slow the game. Some prefer attacking with the offense; other players enjoy locking in on defense.

While all shapes and sizes of pick-up basketball players are welcomed, basketball apparel can be a contentious subject amongst players. Much like how each has their own playing style, each player prefers a certain fashion.

“I feel like you can tell a lot about a person by what they choose to wear when they play basketball,” Zach Garrison, a sophomore at the University of Oregon, said. “Like the guy wearing sweats — you’re usually either really good or really bad if you wear sweatpants playing basketball. People who are wearing more athletic gear tend to take it more seriously. I think everyone has their own choice of what they want to wear.”

University of Oregon junior Brent Kemp smiles for the camera while he warms up for some pick-up basketball at the Student Recreation Center. (Ben Green/Emerald)

Typically, the first piece of a basketball player’s ensemble that’s judged is his or her shoes. But players at the UO Student Recreation Center don’t agree as to which shoes are best.

“I’m wearing the Kyrie 2’s and yeah, I would say they’re my favorite to wear for now,” Jerome Pizzelli, a senior at UO, said. “They’re the only pair I have, so I have to wear them. Before, I had Hyperdunks because those have better support and grip on the court.”

“I really like the KD 8’s, except they broke,” Kilian Gray, a junior at UO, said. “I had two pairs of them, then I broke the first pair, then I got another pair because I liked them so much. Then I broke that pair too, so I’m not sure if I can recommend them — but I liked them a lot when they worked.”

Along with shoes, upper body garments are contested. Seth Murawsky, a freshman at UO, prefers long sleeves, but in a pinch, he will play in a t-shirt and compression sleeve. “I like to be comfortable when I am playing,” he said. “My performance definitely slips [if not wearing the right clothes]. It’s a mental game; it all messes with your head.”

Another debated aspect of the basketball player ensemble is the shorts. Historically, basketball shorts have trended from shorter and tighter to longer and baggier. Watch any film of 1960s basketball games, then watch where players wear their shorts in the early 2000s. Recently that trend has been bucked, as shorts length has regressed back up the thigh.

University of Oregon sophomore Zach Garrison displays proper brand consistency, a style preferred by many pickup basketball players. (Ben Green/Emerald)

Andrew Schmidt, a freshman at UO, likes to wear his shorts to the kneecap or slightly above. “I don’t think [very high-cut shorts] would be a detriment,” he said. “But like, no one wants to see your thighs. No one wants to see that.”

The only thing Rec center players reach a consensus on: high top socks.

“I only go with white,” Brett Kemp, a junior at UO, said “White just makes you look cleaner. There’s something about white shoes and white socks that is the best. If I have that option, I would always pick that.”

While all the players that were interviewed accepted most basketball looks, they had to draw the line on some. Jeans, jean shorts, slacks, Vans and running shoes are basic faux pas of court style, but there were some bizarre items, too.

“I saw one guy wearing boxers one time,” Garrison said. “He came [to the Rec] and didn’t bring shorts, so he just went down to his boxers and played. I mean, I’d wear something at least.”

“I’ve seen crop-tops every now and then,” Schmidt said.

“I’ve seen people wear turtlenecks,” Murawsky said. “You don’t need to wear a turtleneck on the basketball court.”

Another red-flag on the court: too many unnecessary accessories like headbands, arm sleeves or necklaces. Most of the players at the Rec feel over two or three such items is excessive. If someone is decked out in gear, they had better be good.

“Any accessories are too many,” said Pizzelli. “It’s freakin’ pick-up basketball. Like, you don’t need shooting sleeves or sweatbands or anything like that. Maybe a headband if you sweat like a pig.”

But regardless of what a player chooses to wear, as long as he or she plays well, their teammates could care less about fashion sense.

“You just have to own whatever you are wearing,” Murawsky said. “You gotta know that you look good and then play. It’s a confidence thing.”

The post Pick-up basketball fashion: the Emerald investigates appeared first on Emerald Media.

In this second episode of Spotlight on Science’s second season, Arts and Culture writer Frankie Lewis speaks with Dr. Avinash Singh, a professor of neuroscience and a member of the Takahashi Lab at the University of Oregon. The conversation covers Professor Singh’s work on barn owl neuronal performance, his transition from India to the United States and more.

Spotlight on Science is a series from the Emerald Podcast Network designed to spark conversations across disciplines with researchers at the University of Oregon, bringing in researchers to discuss their work in a way that is understandable to everyone.

This episode was produced by Alec Cowan. Our theme song is “Zombie Disco” by Six Umbrellas.

The post Spotlight on Science: Barn owl research with Dr. Avinash Singh appeared first on Emerald Media.

The Emerald is continuing its series on names of University of Oregon campus buildings this week with Chapman Hall. Check out the previous building stories on Friendly Hall, Collier House, Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, Lillis Hall, Gerlinger Hall and Condon Hall.

Traditionally the home of the Robert D. Clark Honors College, Chapman Hall today is surrounded by generators, power tools and chainlink fencing, signaling a metamorphosis for this slice of campus history.

Before this remodeling, Chapman Hall has served many roles for UO over the years.

According to the Chapman Hall historical assessment conducted in 2015, the building was constructed in 1939 to house the Humanities department and the university bookstore. Up until 1966, the bookstore was located on the first floor, while the English department was housed on the second floor. The third floor was reserved for Modern Home Economics classes.

Once the bookstore relocated, the lower level was converted to faculty offices. The Honors College officially moved into Chapman Hall in 1961, according to the UO Libraries website.

Chapman Hall has a “‘primary’ historic ranking” due to its “high historical significance and excellent integrity” according to the same 2015 historical assessment. Part of that significance is due to the building’s architect, Ellis Lawrence. Besides having a building named in his honor (Lawrence Hall), Lawrence designed nearly all of the red-brick, old-campus style halls and was highly influential in Pacific Northwest architecture during the 1930s.

As of summer 2016, Chapman Hall has been closed for renovation, jettisoning the Honors College to McArthur Court. But according to Gene Mowery, UO owner’s representative and project manager for the Chapman Hall renovation, the project is in its final stages, and the hall will reopen at the start of winter quarter 2018.

“The classrooms will be fully up to date with new equipment including the lecture hall on the second floor,” Mowery said.

Due to the original purpose of the ground floor (as the campus bookstore), it was isolated from the rest of Chapman Hall. But in the redesigned interior, the ground floor will finally be connected to the rest of the building so visitors can flow between all levels.

Mowery said another problem with the old design of Chapman Hall that was addressed with the renovation was a lack of natural light in the classrooms and hallways. More windows were installed above doorways, and the hallways were widened. The previously narrow hallways Mowery described will also be outfitted with study and staging areas, so students will have somewhere to wait before their class begins, a key problem with the old interior’s design. 

A rendering of the new Chapman Hall hearth.
(Courtesy of Hennebery Eddy Architects)

“I think the students are really going to enjoy the ambiance of the space: the day-lighting, the color selection,” Mowery said. “It still contains some of its historic fabric so there’s that connection with history, but it is also very modern now.”

On the outside, Chapman Hall still resembles a classic memorial quad structure, a throwback to old campus style. But behind the red-brick walls will soon lie a redesigned facility with little resemblance to what students knew once before.

The post Building Legacies: Chapman Hall overhaul to be completed by December 2017 appeared first on Emerald Media.

University of Oregon’s McArthur Court gives the appearance of a high school gym: rickety, wooden bleachers suspended over an ancient wooden floor. In the building’s prime it held just 9,000 people, and what the arena lacked in amenities and space it made up for in pure energy.

The bleachers would thunder and rattle under the feet of euphoric Duck fans. Rims on the basketball hoops would shake nearly four inches left to right with the crowd’s vibration. Fans felt Mac Court could come crashing down at any moment.

But to lifelong Duck fans like Corey Bickler, Mac Court — as it is commonly known — was a childhood home.

“When you go to the Rose Garden or Staples Center or some place like that you got these infinity ceilings,” Bickler said. “Mac Court was nothing like that. It’s raunchy, it’s old, it’s nostalgic.”

UO hosted the first game at Mac Court in 1927, and it served as the primary indoor arena for 83 years. Since the athletic department moved its facilities to Matthew Knight Arena in 2011, Mac Court has served multiple purposes, but to this day there is no long-term plan for the building’s future. On a campus which lacks space for internal growth, Mac Court is the rare opportunity to repurpose a prime campus location. But the now-empty arena is chock-full of memories — and it’s a piece of campus history that’s proving difficult to change.

Mac Court Memories

Once the home to all of Oregon’s arena sports (including basketball, volleyball and wrestling), Mac Court also served as a concert and event venue. Numerous prominent entertainment and political figures visited over its lifespan, such as Elvis, John F. Kennedy, the Grateful Dead, Barack Obama and others.

But it was the men’s basketball games that Bickler said were most memorable.

“When people would go nuts the lights up there would start rattling and the place felt like it was going to fall down,” Bickler said. “It was like an earthquake going on.”

McArthur court exterior on University Street. (Phillip Quinn/Emerald)

While Bickler himself never attended UO, his family had season tickets at Mac Court since the 1970s and are die-hard Duck fans. He said the chip-on-your-shoulder, underdog mentality that Mac Court represented has been lost in recent years due to the success of the athletic programs and the new facilities.

“A lot of the newer-wave Oregon fans can’t identify with that [mentality],” Bickler said. “It was really cool when Oregon would go [into Mac Court], no one even giving them a shot, and they would do things that would amaze people and get everyone talking.”

Vicki Strand, director of events for Oregon athletics since 1998, had a tough-love relationship with Mac Court. While she appreciated the raucous atmosphere the building induced, she said event coordination at Mac Court was hamstrung by its limitations.

“I don’t miss producing events in there,” Strand said. “I don’t miss having to explain for the 150th time that there is no elevator to go up, and I still feel sorry for all the TV crews that had to haul cameras up to the third balcony.”

The lack of an elevator was just the tip of the iceberg. Mac Court had only 17 handicap-accessible seats for a capacity of 9,000, according to Strand. The arena’s top floors lacked restrooms or food service, there was no loading dock for large concert-type events and the main basketball hoops could not be removed from the floor without taking off the shot clocks.

“I’ve heard stories of way, way back in the day when they would bring the circus to town and it was at Mac Court, that the elephants would have to crawl in,” Strand said.

She said all the lightbulbs needed to be checked about twice a year because the crowd’s  constant screaming and stomping would loosen the light bulbs to the point of falling out.

“If you spilled a Pepsi on the third balcony, it would seep through all the wood and drip on someone three sections away,” Strand said. “And it was just pure syrup by the time it got there.”

But despite the challenges the arena presented, Strand still appreciated Mac Court’s environment. One of her craziest memories of Mac Court actually came during a 1999 loss to USC when Adam Spanich hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot to beat the Ducks.

“He proceeded to jump up on the table where Phil Knight sits and do a slashing throat gesture towards our students and then run off the floor,” Strand said. “You could imagine; the students lost it.”

Meanwhile, the students had been issued white hard hats with the idea that they could collect stickers on their hats throughout the season for each game they attended. Strand knew this plan would backfire. She told the marketing department before the game that the students would inevitably throw the hats onto the court — which they did.

After Spanich made the gesture, “The hats start coming out,” Strand said. “And I managed to catch one of them. I said, ‘Knock it off.’”

The Oregon Duck mascot had it moments at Mac Court as well. Mal Williams, Duck mascot for Oregon from 1999 to 2003, said his most vivid memories are from the “Luke-to-Luke” years, when the Oregon men’s basketball team featured local stars Luke Jackson, Luke Ridenour and Freddie Jones. At that point, it was the highest-ranked team nationally in program history.  Williams remembers sitting in his dressing room in the basement of Mac Court and hearing the game unfold just five feet above his head.

“Because it’s an old wooden building you’re hearing ten basketball players going north in the building, and then south, and then north, and then south,” Williams said. “I really remember just listening to the sounds of that building while I was down [in the basement] because I knew very few people had that perspective.”

Williams acknowledges that the need for another large indoor arena is diminished but still sees value for keeping Mac Court around. Mac Court is now designated as a surge facility space for UO. The Robert D. Clark Honors College is currently using Mac Court while Chapman Hall, the traditional home of the Honors College, is under renovation.

He said that because the Honors College is still using the space, it is actually reconnecting those students with Oregon athletic history that they otherwise would not be familiar with.

“Any usage of Mac Court I think is a good thing because it is still getting some love,” Williams said.

After Chapman Hall’s renovation is completed at the end of this calendar year, Oregon Hall’s departments will move into Mac Court while Oregon Hall is under renovation. The UO club volleyball team and the physical education department also use the building.

Looking Ahead

John Much, an Oregon student from 2009 to 2013, said he remembers the transition from Mac Court to Matthew Knight Arena during the 2010-2011 season. He said the students were really excited for the new arena, but the novelty wore off as the men’s basketball team struggled.

“You had that first really big blowout of a night to open [Matthew Knight],” Much said, “but you need some success to keep it going. Oregon has really turned into more of a basketball school but back then you had the football team just destroying people.”

While the architects had the legacy of Mac Court in mind while constructing Matthew Knight Arena, it is impossible to recreate the thunder Mac Court wrought.

“At Matthew Kight,” Much said, “it feels a little more like an NBA game — a little more corporate.”

As Matthew Knight Arena begins to develop its own history, Mac Court’s legacy is beginning to fade away. But the question still remains: what to do with the physical space?

“Anyone who has been there in the last four years has only known Matthew Knight,” Much said. “So McArthur [Court] must seem like an old thing in the middle of campus that’s not really serving a purpose.”

Mac Court’s potential has not gone unnoticed by the UO Campus Planning department.

“There have been a number of assessments about how possibly to reuse Mac Court as a structure,” Campus Planning Manager Christine Thompson said. “But it is a challenge given that it was built for a very specific use.”

One option is an underground parking lot, as shown in the Campus Physical Framework Vision — a document of professional suggestions for the future of campus buildings. While Thompson acknowledged there is a need for increased parking on campus, she felt that other locations could serve this purpose better, like north of Franklin Boulevard.

Removing Mac Court could also provide increased open space for a more pedestrian-friendly area. Thompson hopes to move away from the car-centric, street-oriented layout that exists today.

“There is a lot of discussion about how to help make that part of campus integrate better with our open space framework,” Thompson said.

“Of course we are going to try to continue to make [Mac Court] a useful structure,” she said. “But in the long run it is clearly a building that was built for an arena use and we now have a new arena. So the goal would be to use that land for academic use.”

While the arena is a historic reminder of what the environment in Mac Court used to be like, the clock is certainly ticking toward a full overhaul of the space.

The post Sleeping Giant: The past, present and future of Mac Court appeared first on Emerald Media.

The Duck’s entrance to the 2014 football National Championship — one of the most widely beloved memories in college mascot history — was actually an accident.

“They originally had said ‘Hey you’re not running out with the team’ so I was expecting the team to run by and I would just stand there and clap,” said Matt Triden, the Duck mascot from 2013 to 2016. “And I remember standing there and someone yelling ‘Move!’”

Triden thought he was in somebody’s way, but after moving back into the tunnel where the cheerleading team had just emerged from, the same voice screamed, “Run!”

“I look over and I see the football team coming, and I just panicked,” Triden said. “I sprinted out to catch up with the cheerleading team. I was lucky I didn’t get knocked over.”

Many generations of Ducks have donned the suit, but the student inside remains a secret. Over the last decade the mascot has exploded in popularity, taking on a life of its own.

“The Duck is appealing to people who don’t have an allegiance to Oregon because of the personality that the Duck exhibits,” University of Oregon alum and “SportsCenter” anchor Neil Everett says. According to Everett, the Oregon Duck is the best mascot in college sports.

“That’s not even a question open for interpretation,” he said. “I don’t even have to think about it.”

Adam Eberhart/Daily Emerald

The demands of the suit

Other schools tend to favor a macho, aggressive mascot; the UO icon uses its charm, hilarious mannerisms and facial expression to win fans’ affection.

“I think that’s what makes mascots special is that persona,” said Connor Eggerman, Duck mascot from 2011 to 2014. “It’s not a person — it’s what the character represents.”

Eggerman feels satisfaction from seeing various internet memes of the Duck, and knowing it was him in the suit. He also appreciates the legacy created by his predecessors.

“There is a secrecy around mascots,” Eggerman said. “But through all the years of different mascots it creates this family of really tight-knit people. I don’t think you get that in a lot of other college groups.”

Students must audition to gain access to that exclusive club. A secret tryout is conducted every spring term to identify potential mascots. New Ducks are understudies to the “lead” Duck.

Ducks-in-training must prove they can communicate without speaking and show personality and charisma in the suit. For example, trainees try to obtain a student’s phone number while wearing the suit — forcing them outside their comfort zone.

Being the Duck also involves an incredible amount of physical stamina. During football games, the Duck typically takes one break at halftime to hydrate and cool down, and returns to the field. During warm weather, this rigorous duty can cause some serious side effects for the mascot.

“There have been moments when people have puked in the suit with the head on,” Eggerman said. “There is limited ventilation in the head, so when you’re in California for a game and it’s 90 degrees, hot as hell, it feels like 120 degrees in the suit. You get exhausted and you vomit.”

Eggerman also said some mascots have needed IVs and paramedic attention during games.

“If you needed [a break], you could get one,” said Triden. “But I think that’s what was fun about football games — everyone wants to see you. You’re bigger than yourself. You represent the university.

How did the Duck rise to such prominence?

UO officially transitioned from the Webfoots to the Ducks in 1932. In 1947, Athletic Director Leo Harris made an agreement with Walt Disney that Donald Duck could be used as the school’s mascot, according to GoDucks.com. It gave the university a stable mascot, but hindered the exposure of the Duck.

“Because they were still working through the copyright for marketing the Duck, you had to ask for permission for everything, from appearances to using the logo,” said Mal Williams, Duck mascot from 1999 to 2003.

But that didn’t stop Williams from establishing the Duck as a force to be reckoned with, especially when it came to competition with other mascots or rowdy fans.

“I got lit on fire at Autzen,” Williams said. “Someone held a lighter to the back of the Duck suit and the suit caught fire in our student section.”

According to Williams, when the Duck interacts in large crowds like Autzen’s student section, he is usually accompanied by a “Duck-guard”: either an alternate Duck not in costume or a male cheerleader. His guard put out the fire quickly, but Williams wanted to stand up for himself.

“I like the whole self-deprecating, slapstick, ‘let’s have fun’ portion of the mascot,” he said, “but if you think you’re going to pull a fast one on the Duck, you’d better bring your lunch because the Duck is about to put in work.”

Williams found the arsonist and took some swings before letting the fan go. He emphasized taking matters into his own hands in these situations because he viewed the Duck as a symbol for the university.

Despite the mascot’s significance, Disney still controlled the Duck. Unable to market its own mascot, the athletic department needed a figurehead it had the rights to market and sell to the fan base. In 2003, the athletic department literally hatched a plan: Mandrake.

Mandrake, or as he was nicknamed, Roboduck, was created as the more athletic, tougher version of the Duck, and accompanied a shift in Oregon uniform style to a futuristic look. But Mandrake was a dud.

“There was also buzz that [the athletic department] was trying to replace the Duck,” said Williams. “I’m going to tell you right now, most likely that’s the truth, because at that point — and that was never stated — they could not market the Duck.”

While the athletic department at the time said they had no intentions of replacing the Duck, the experiment was a turning point. Mandrake’s failure proved the Duck could not be challenged.

In 2010, the athletic department gained full marketing rights to the Duck. From there, the stage was set for national recognition of the Duck, provided the athletics garnered that audience.

Mikey Navarro, the Duck mascot from 2008 to 2011 and the Duck’s manager from 2011 to 2014, capitalized on the success of Duck football under Chip Kelly.

“I brought Tostitos chips to the Civil War game,” Navarro said, in honor of Oregon’s impending appearance in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. “Photographers love that. When we went to the [2011] Rose Bowl for the first time I bought a dozen roses that morning from Safeway because I knew that would make the perfect image.”

During Navarro’s tenure, the Duck made countless appearances in commercials and TV shows like ESPN’s College Gameday. Navarro believed the Duck resonated with so many people because it was something different — a type of mascot they hadn’t seen before.

It’s all about character

“Look at him,” Navarro said. “He’s just an overweight waterfowl. That’s his own thing. He’s a guy who doesn’t listen to much authority. He’s a college kid who feels like a child. He gets excited about licorice.”

Navarro said his personality inside the suit did not match his everyday personality.

“You can’t go to class and throw a coffee at the wall but if the Duck does it it’s funny,” Navarro said. “There’s things you can and can’t do when you’re a person. But I was OK with that. I was OK with being mellow, being me and having this platform to completely go 100 percent.”

The Duck nowadays has shifted towards a more cute and cuddly mascot compared to its earlier years, but the Duck has always stayed true to who he is at heart: an “overweight waterfowl” who can’t stop having fun.

“You look at the Duck’s face, and I’m not intimidated at all,” said Zach Silva, Duck mascot from 2013 to 2017. “So if [the Duck] was trying to be intimidating it wouldn’t work. It’s more fun to have a lovable and silly mascot.”

Silva said that he understands why the identity of the Duck is secret. But at the end of the day, it’s really just the Duck that matters.

“I think there is something to keeping the Duck as a character,” Silva said. “There is something to be said about letting the character be what’s important, not the person inside.”

Adam Eberhart/Daily Emerald

The post Fire, Fights and Feathers: An inside look at the Oregon Duck mascot appeared first on Emerald Media.

As you prepare for your first year away from home, you must be wondering what Oregon is really like. You have visited campus, participated in IntroDUCKtion and bought your first Duck shirt, but maybe you’re still curious what to expect. Many have walked in your shoes before, and the Emerald has compiled some recommendations to help you adjust to your new home.

Don’t use umbrellas

If you haven’t heard by now, rain is a big deal in Oregon. While Northern California gets its fair share, Oregon has more. You might be thinking, “I need to invest in an expensive umbrella.” Stop! You are wasting packing space. Oregon rain is consistent, but not overpowering. Most of the time it is nothing more than a mild sprinkle. Oregonians take the rain in stride, and you should too. Lose the umbrella and make sure you have a trusty rain jacket. In fact, the absence of a clunky umbrella is liberating.

Don’t try to pump your own gas

This one takes some getting used to. When you pull into an Oregon gas station, resist the urge to hop out of your car, pop the gas cap off and begin the routine you’ve mastered since you were a mere high schooler. By law, Oregon gas stations are full service, meaning the gas station attendant has to work the pump for you. Even if there are eight pumps and one attendant, you just have to sit there. Instead of festering with the knowledge that you could have been on the road ten minutes ago, get creative. Use this newfound time to clean out that disorganized glove compartment, call your parents or text your friends to avoid texting and driving. Just don’t get out of the car. You will be ridiculed.

A large percentage of the university’s out-of-state students hail from the Golden State. (Kelly Kondo/Emerald)

Do watch the lingo

Many Californians take pride in the unique vocabulary and linguistic style cultivated in the Golden State. Even though your local language is fun to use, check the lingo at the state line. Southern California folk: Nothing says “I’m a California transplant” like calling Interstate 5 “The 5.” Simply replace with “I-5” and you’ll fit right in. Northern California folk: No one besides you knows what “hella” or “finna” or “out of pocket” means. Try to remember how you describe things with other English words found in a dictionary. Alternatively, you can attempt to teach some of the lingo to your new Oregon friends, but they will most likely judge you.

Don’t get intimidated by how friendly Oregonians are

The social generosity you will experience in Oregon is something California does not prepare you for. Maybe it’s Oregon’s natural beauty — from the Columbia River Gorge to the rugged coastline and beaches, to the striking deserts and rock formations of Eastern Oregon — that mediate any pent up hostility Oregonians might have. Perhaps the hospitality is a coping mechanism for the constant rain in the wintertime, collectively bonding people together. Or maybe it’s all the legal weed. Whatever the source, kindness in Oregon is the state’s best quality. You will receive friendly smiles at the grocery store and help finding your classes on the first day of school. You will even notice complete strangers joining your “Sco Ducks” chants on the bus. Don’t get weirded out by all the positive energy people have here. If you buy in, you might share in the Oregon spirit.

Feeling like the rain is getting you down? Check out the Emerald’s podcast about songs for the rain here.

Follow Frankie Lewis on Twitter: @flewis_1

The post Lewis: Lessons for a future Oregonian from a former Californian appeared first on Emerald Media.

ALBANY, Calif. — Clam chowder is often grouped with New England-area food staples. But to Ryan Murff, owner and bar manager of Cafe Eugene in Albany, California, a warm bowl of chowder encapsulates Pacific Northwest cuisine.

“Clam Chowder was such a large part of my childhood,” Murff said.

Growing up in Eugene in the 1980s, Murff explained, his parents would take the family out on weekend trips to the Oregon coast, where they had a routine: first stop, Honeyman Park to play on the dunes. Next, out to the ocean to take in the scenic coastline and get some smoked fish for lunch.

“And then once we were all too freezing cold,” Murff said, “we would go to Moe’s which was back in the day a more local place, super special. We would end the day with a big ol’ pile of onion rings and clam chowder.”

He attended the University of Oregon in the early 2000s. His Oregon upbringing eventually became the foundation for Cafe Eugene. While at UO, he worked for campus-area classics like Caspian Mediterranean Cafe, McMenamins North Bank and Metropol Bakery. Murff noticed he was comfortable in the culinary industry, but he did not have the idea to open his own restaurant until later.

“I was the head line cook [at Mcmenamins],” Murff said. “The fast pace, the multitasking, I was just good at it. It wasn’t necessarily a creative thing for me at that point. I was fast, I could keep things in my head really well and I loved the pace of the business and the social abilities that you had to have.”

After graduating from UO, Murff moved to Hawaii for three years. His passion for cooking began to flourish as he worked under celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi at his restaurant in Maui.  

Cafe Eugene owner Ryan Murff enjoys a beer in front of the pine tree forest mural. (Courtesy of Cafe Eugene)

Later in California, Murff found a creative outlet working as a caterer for his real estate agent-mother-in-law. He was happy to feed her prospective buyers at her open houses and they noticed his culinary expertise. “People just started asking for my card,” Murff said. He started an official catering business and got a job at the former Berkeley, California, restaurant Café Rouge. Eventually, he opened his own establishment, paying homage to his Oregon roots.

But to say that Cafe Eugene is exclusively “Eugene cuisine” would be misleading.

“Calling it ‘Café Eugene’ and having this Pacific Northwest theme was a place to start,” Murff said. “The overall idea behind calling it Eugene was we wanted to make it American fare.”

The cafe is a microcosm of Pacific Northwest style and culture in general, with the food fitting the “vibe” that Murff and his staff have crafted.

“We get a lot of people who are trying to connect to the Pacific Northwest,” Murff said. “And they love to come introduce themselves and say, ‘Oh, my kid went to Oregon’ or ‘I grew up in Eugene.’ A lot of people have connections to it. It’s definitely something that has brought people to our restaurant.”

Murff’s decor choices and the restaurant’s layout also contribute to the familiar atmosphere. An intensely colored, psychedelic image of a woman that looks right out of the Oregon Country Fair hangs above a small table near the door. In the far left corner of the restaurant, a photograph Murff purchased from the Register-Guard shows runners reaching the top of Spencer Butte during a 1970s Butte-to-Butte race. A UO beanie hangs over a coffee maker behind the bar.

The psychedelic woman painting hangs over a small table toward the front of the restaurant. (Courtesy of Cafe Eugene)

The Pacific Northwest is embodied best by the striking mural of a pine tree forest displayed on the right hand wall.

“The trees on the wall is what really did it for me—really makes it feel like home,” Murff said. “If you talk about one thing that most Oregonians who aren’t living in Oregon miss, it’s the forest.”

Over a year after its opening, Murff now understands the restaurant’s direction. Though, the cafe’s ascent was not without its hiccups. Murff needed to completely remodel the restaurant’s interior before opening and had to change chefs just months into the start of service. He sometimes struggled to keep the restaurant financially feasible.

“[My chef and I] just got done with a meeting about how we can make a better connection with the community and really serve the community what they want,” Murff said. “You find out that a business isn’t always — actually it’s never about you.”

This customer-first mentality is something Murff has come to cherish. To him, running a restaurant is a celebration of life.

“We’re talking about eating food. We aren’t talking about brain surgery,” Murff said. “To be part of a special time when people sit down and treat themselves and relax and eat and laugh — facilitating that is really satisfying.”

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Spotlight on Science is a new series from the Emerald Podcast Network in which we bring in some of the members of the University of Oregon science community to explain what their research is in simple language we can all understand.

In this episode, Franklin Lewis speaks with Scott Fisher of the UO Astronomy Department, about his research at Pine Mountain Observatory near Bend, the upcoming solar eclipse this August and why it is important to fight science illiteracy.

Fisher has been Mr. Astronomy at the UO since 2012. He teaches classes, serves as outreach director for the Astronomy and Astrophysics department and is associate director of the Pine Mountain Observatory.

This episode was produced by Emerson Malone. Our theme song is “Zombie Disco” by Six Umbrellas.

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Although many architects think of themselves as artists, John Yeon did not; he viewed himself as a landscape painter who could see the inner beauty of a site. Yeon (1910-1994) worked to bring out the beauty of a location rather than to create beauty within the space. 

“He was really adept at manipulating,” said Randy Gragg, curator of Portland Art Museum’s new exhibit, “Quest for Beauty: The Architecture, Landscapes and Collections of John Yeon.” “He didn’t see conservation as habitat preservation only; he saw it as composing beauty. He was perfectly fine manipulating the landscape to make a more beautiful view.”

The exhibit is open now until Sept. 3. The Portland Art Museum’s exhibit on Portland native Yeon will feature photos of Yeon’s architecture, selected pieces from his extensive art collection and a large-scale model of Yeon’s famed Watzek House. Gragg said the exhibit is designed to showcase Yeon as a person, rather than just as an architect.

Architect John Yeon completed one of his best known works, the Watzek House, in Portland, Oregon, in 1937. (Courtesy of the Portland Art Museum)

“Yeon was involved in three spheres of influence,” Gragg said. “He was a prominent architect and he was an extremely prominent conservation voice as he helped preserve some important landscapes in Oregon. He was also a very studied art collector, so the goal of the exhibition was to showcase these three somewhat overlapping spheres of thinking and of influence.”

Yeon’s architectural style was revolutionary for his time. He was mostly self-taught, spending just a semester at Stanford University before returning to his hometown of Portland. Despite his lack of formal training, Yeon rocketed to stardom in his field. Completed in 1937, Yeon designed The Watzek House — which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — when he was just 26 years old.

“At the time there were two strains of architecture,” Gragg said. “There was very traditional architecture and then there was a sort of avant-garde modernism that was mostly being imported from Europe. And then you have people like Frank Lloyd Wright who were off doing their own thing — that was considered to be fundamentally American architecture. The Watzek [House] broke with all of those traditions.”

The Watzek House essentially laid the groundwork for the “Northwest regional style” that became popular in the Pacific Northwest by relying on wood and large windows in his projects.

“John applied a level of innovation that was equal to, if not surpassing, any residential architecture of the time,” Gragg said. “But he did it using local materials … it was basically taking the notion of innovation in architecture, but knitting it to the local landscape.”

Gragg recalled hosting one of the world’s top architects, Glenn Murcutt from Australia, and touring some of Yeon’s buildings. Murcutt was fresh off winning architecture’s most prestigious award, the Pritzker Prize, and the admiration Murcutt showed for Yeon’s style solidified Yeon’s place among the architecture greats for Gragg.

“[Murcutt] essentially led me on the tour as he discovered the [Watzek] House,” Gragg said. “And [Murcutt] is such an architect whose details are so beautiful. He saw Yeon’s work and afterwards he looked at me and he said, ‘Everything I’ve ever tried to do is here.’”

While art and architecture are often linked together as crafts, the methods for displaying art and architecture are quite different. For example, Yeon’s simplistic beauty and attention to detail can only be represented in photos, models and drawings in a gallery-type setting. This can pose some challenges for the curator.

“It is really hard to bring architecture to life because most people don’t know how to read architectural drawings,” Gragg said.

As to what value this exhibit might provide for a student, Gragg said inspiration can be found in the complexity and depth to Yeon’s thinking.

“There was really no difference in his mind between appreciating the curves of a Rococo sculpture, composing a view of the Columbia River Gorge on his property — that the university owns, the Shire — or deciding a beautiful door handle in the Watzek House,” Gragg said. “He saw it as a designer’s task.”

Today, much of Yeon’s architectural legacy is actually controlled by the University of Oregon. The John Yeon Center is part of the Portland branch of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Although Yeon received a Distinguished Service award from UO in 1977, he had few ties to the university during his lifetime.

After Yeon’s death in 1994, his life partner, Richard Brown, arranged a deal with the university in which Yeon’s drawings and buildings, including the Watzek House, were gifted to the UO for the enrichment of the architecture program.

For more information about the exhibit, visit the Portland Art Museum’s website here.

Follow Franklin on Twitter: @Flewis_1

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Matt Meyer first decided to ride for the rhinos a year ago. A lifelong safari guide in South Africa, Meyer said he felt his message needed a bigger audience. He heard about someone who had walked 1,000 miles for rhino conservation, but no one had ever biked the entire western US coastline hauling a nearly 350-pound rhinoceros statue before.

“I got tired of just reaching out to like ten people a week as a guide,” Meyer said. “I wanted to have a greater outreach and make more of an impact.”

Born and raised in South Africa, Meyer is riding down the entire Western U.S. coastline with Lunar the rhino sculpture in order to spread awareness and raise $250,000 for rhino conservation in Africa. He made a pit stop in front of the EMU Amphitheater on Monday to try to connect students to his cause. But Meyer hopes to educate people about rhinos and their role in the ecosystem, too.

“It’s more than just, ‘Hey give money and save the rhinos,’” Meyer said. “We want people to learn about it and why it’s important. You lose a rhino, you lose many other species that fall below them on the environmental totem pole. Everything that relies on rhinos and what they do for the environment will go if rhinos go.”

According to data from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs, 1,215 rhinos died as a result of poaching in 2014, and another 1,175 rhinos were poached in 2015. “That’s eight percent of a population in a year gone,” Meyer said in reference to these statistics. “They went over the tipping point of rhinos poached versus rhinos born. Even though the population, numbers-wise, is stable, it will be declining fairly soon.”

The practice of rhino poaching had nearly been eradicated from Africa in the early 2000s, but Meyer said an increasing demand for rhino horns in Asian markets fueled a poaching revival.

Meyer picked the Western US coastline to ride for a variety of reasons. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, Canada are home to some of the largest Asian communities in the world, so he thinks educating these communities about the poaching crisis could help curb the demand for horns. Plus, Meyer noted, many environmental activism groups are based out of the West Coast. Most of all, Meyer didn’t want his message to go unheard.

“People have heard enough of it in South Africa so we’d thought we’d do something here with fresh ears, fresh audience,” Meyer said.

Roughly a quarter of the way done with his journey, Meyer plans to resume his trek tomorrow by traveling to Florence beach, then getting back on the coastal highway and making his way toward San Diego, his final destination. Meyer is especially excited to ride with Lunar over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lunar, the rhinoceros statue accompanying Matt Meyer on a West Coast biking trip, parked in front of the EMU Amphitheater on Monday. (Franklin Lewis/Emerald)

His trip has not been without its wacky moments. As he was entering Longview, Washington, he noticed a large husky-like dog poking its nose out of the window of a passing car. The next thing Meyer knew, the furry beast was squeezing itself through the open window and leaping at Lunar while Meyer and his support team’s car were still moving. After the dog had been contained by its owner, Meyer had to ride well ahead of the car as the dog, Giant, wouldn’t budge until the rhino was out of sight.

“The next day as we were leaving town,” Meyer said. “I had already started peddling and [support van driver] Josh was gassing the rig up, and this car pulls in and there is Giant. He had just grazed his toe and groin a little bit, but nothing major.”

Meyer said despite not having a strong cycling background, he is loving being on the road and hopes that the fundraising efforts will keep up.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh I’d love to but does $1 really make a difference?’ — every bit counts,” Meyer said. That’s the message to get across to people.”

Those interested in donating can go to rhinoride.org. The site also has a live map where you can track Meyer and Lunar’s progress so far.

Follow Franklin on Twitter: @Flewis_1

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