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SHAC: Emergency Contraception should be more accessible on campus

This piece reflects the views of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), and not those of Emerald Media Group. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to bmanggala@dailyemerald.com.

Sexual health is a core aspect of overall wellness and needs to be treated accordingly. Integrating health products into our built environment can allow important health-related decisions to become realistic options. Installing a wellness machine in the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) will address access barriers and promote sex positivity by making emergency contraception (EC) and general wellness products available in a central location with extended hours and high levels of student activity.

College students frequently compromise their personal health as they face the mounting pressures of coursework, financial obligations and extracurricular commitments. Sexual wellness, in particular, is especially challenging to maintain due to factors including social stigmas, varied access to resources, upward trends of STIs on college campuses, rape culture and a lack of comprehensive sexual health education. College-age students report having unprotected vaginal sex at a rate of 50.9 percent, which increases the risk for unintended pregnancy. EC is a protective resource for college students that experience birth control failure, have an unprotected sexual encounter or seek additional assurance and comfort.

Research has also revealed that fears about pregnancy are consistently one of the top three concerns of rape survivors. Sexual violence is pervasive on campuses not only across the nation, but also at the University of Oregon. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 college women will be sexually assaulted and the statistics are even more alarming for women of color and people that identify as LGBTQIA+. It’s important for survivors of sexual assault and violence to have unobstructed access to EC.

Access to EC is a matter of reproductive justice. Increasing access to EC on campus would empower UO students and would contribute to a more sex-positive community. The Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) is in favor of installing a ‘wellness machine’ on campus that would make EC and other wellness products more accessible to all students. The University Health Center (UHC) – along with groups like the Women’s Center, Students for Choice, the Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team, the Sexual Violence Prevention and Education team and more – have already taken significant steps to improve the sexual climate at UO by making a variety of educational and material resources available. The wellness machine would be an additional way for the university and ASUO to affirm their investment in sexual wellness on campus.

UHC currently promotes sexual wellness by providing safer sex items (condoms, lube, finger cots, gloves, dental dams), emergency contraceptives (Plan B, Ella, and Paragard IUDs), access to the STI screening clinic, HIV testing and educational programming (Sex Café and additional events at the Duck Nest). The operational hours of the UHC (9 – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 – 1 p.m. Saturday) can make it difficult for students to access EC. Though Plan B is marketed as effective when taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, it has the highest efficacy when administered as early as possible. It’s important for EC to be accessible in a building with extended hours and weekend access because it is a time-sensitive drug and often needed outside of business hours.

While EC can be purchased in community pharmacies, this can be challenging for students who do not have access to personal vehicles to find off-campus transportation. Name brand Plan B  is also more expensive in community pharmacies, at an average of $45-50 in comparison to the discounted price of $25 at the UHC pharmacy. Additionally, many community pharmacies store EC in large, locked boxes that may make students feel exposed and/or uncomfortable to purchase in person. The idea of publicly purchasing EC can be stressful and prohibitive to individuals. The aforementioned access issues and social stigmas are components of the current barriers that make access to EC unduly challenging.

College campuses across the nation have already established precedence for making emergency contraception more accessible. In 2012, Shippensburg University made Plan B available in a health-vending machine in response to survey results where eighty-five percent of respondents supported making Plan B more accessible. Since then, vending machines with Plan B have been welcomed onto campuses including Stanford University, Pomona College, UC Davis, UCSB, Dartmouth College and more. Pomona College’s wellness room includes a vending machine that has everything from Plan B to vibrators, and the University of Maryland offers Plan B for $15 in their 24/7 student convenience stores on campus. Despite current legislation that allows EC to be sold over-the-counter in Oregon, ‘wellness vending machines’ that make EC more accessible have yet to be implemented in Oregon schools.

Our proposed wellness machine would dispense sexual health products (EC, pregnancy tests, menstrual hygiene products and gender-inclusive safer sex supplies) as well as general wellness products (first aid products, allergy medication and other over-the-counter drugs). The wellness machine would be installed on the ground floor of the EMU in a secluded hallway in-between the Duck Nest and the KWVA studio. The EMU is an ideal location for the machine because it is a hub for student activity and is a centrally located, ADA-accessible building with extended hours and weekend access. The hallway of our proposed location currently houses two vending machines, which would further normalize the use of our wellness machine.

The wellness machine bypasses concerns about barriers and social stigmas related to these products by allowing students to privately and anonymously purchase sexual health and wellness supplies. We urge UO students, faculty and staff to sign our online petition in support of this wellness machine and encourage higher education institutions across Oregon to consider taking steps to follow suit.

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Guest: BDS resolution debate proved that students can have difficult conversations

This piece reflects the views of Elysa Gurman, and not those of Emerald Media Group. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to bmanggala@dailyemerald.com.

Last Wednesday night, I was shaking. I was nervous to speak in front of the 200 students that showed up to express their support for either side of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment Sanctions) resolution which the ASUO senate voted on. I had everything I was going to say to oppose the resolution meticulously scripted out, and I was terrified that if I was interrupted or heckled I would panic and throw up in the middle of the room.

If you look at student government meetings discussing BDS from other schools, you might find a common theme. In so many of these meetings, speakers are interrupted, heckled, bullied and verbally assaulted. Recently, a video from UCLA went viral in which a group of Pro-Palestine students disrupted the meeting, chanted hateful words and intimidated other students. Going into our own discussion, I prepared for the worst.

In some ways, the worst did happen. We lost, and the BDS resolution went through with exactly a two-thirds majority. At the beginning of the debate, a member of ASUO who is affiliated with SUPER (Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights), who wrote and sponsored the resolution, had an altercation with another member of the ASUO who was supporting the pro-Israel students. That really sucked. There’s no other way to say it. Before and after the hearing, rumors were spread on social media that pro-Israel students were a “Super PAC,” that we were getting paid to speak, that specific pro-Israel senators should “shut the fuck up,” and other nonsensical accusations and assaults. Several times throughout the night, that same student spoke out of turn and targeted students on the other side of the argument. Several times, pro-Israel students were interrupted by pro-Palestine students while speaking.

However, I would like to be optimistic. Those interruptions represented only a small minority of  students at the meeting, and most of them seemed to be well intentioned. More often than not, the interruptions were seeking some form of clarification, and more often than not, those interrupting attempted to use Parliamentary Procedure to make their interruptions.

In a conflict as controversial and deeply emotional as this, it is impossible to expect anyone to be perfect. On my side of the room, I know we were doing our best to hold back our emotions, to control our facial expressions and to respect all the speakers that stepped up that night. We called each other out on making faces, we sent messages to each other to stay strong and we actively did the best we could. And I am proud of that. But everyone fails sometimes and I’m sure our emotions and reactions on our faces exposed us from time to time. On the other side of the room, it appears that they were doing the best they could as well. For the most part, everyone in that room was doing all they could to show mutual respect for every student who spoke.

It’s really frustrating that a few students interrupted speakers repeatedly. However, in comparison with other schools — in comparison to what I was prepared for — I was extremely impressed. There was no intimidation. There was no attacking people purely for existing. And there was no long-standing disruption to the meeting procedure. Given the circumstances, I think that the vast majority of those 200 students in the room last night did everything they could to show mutual respect for one another.

Judaism teaches that debate and discussion are important, especially concerning a difficult topic. It teaches that we should listen with open minds and hearts, that we should show respect and that we should be kind to one another. It teaches that a debate can be successful even if no party changes their minds. Simply understanding the point of view on the other side of the table is a success.

I felt that a majority of the students in that room upheld those Jewish values the best that they could. We proved that we, as a campus community, are capable of having this difficult discussion. And, I’m excited to see where this discussion goes in the following weeks and months. I feel lucky to be on a campus where these discussions are possible.

For me, it’s really important that I do not blame the general student population for the frustrating vote last night. I singularly blame the senators who sat in that room, listened to our speeches and still voted for the resolution to go through. They do not represent the students that elected them, as evident by our petition, which gained over 850 signatures in under four days. I hope that next year’s senate listens to their constituents and exhibits the same kind of mutual respect that we all showed last night. And I hope that the small minority of students, especially the most outspoken ones, take a moment to reflect on last night and see how much more successful the others were with having such a difficult conversation.

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Guest: BDS juxtaposes ASUO’s values

This piece reflects the views of Jonathan Rifkind, and not those of Emerald Media Group. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

When I was 14 years old, I traveled to Israel for the first time. I dabbled in all the tourist attractions the country had to offer  —  learning about the history of Roman theater in Tiberias, defying gravity in the Dead Sea, scaling the sides of Mount Masada and connecting to my ancestors at the Western Wall. Needless to say, I fell in love.

When I was 15 years old, I journeyed back to Israel, but this time itching for a new experience, one that would expose me to the political issues present in the region. After spending six weeks traveling across the country, speaking with Israelis and Palestinians from every political background, and understanding the issue from primary sources, I came to understand the enormous complexity of the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians.

I understood that Israel is not perfect, but I also learned that the Palestinians struggle under their own government’s rule. I felt the fear that many Israelis live in because of the constant threat of terrorism right on their door steps. I ate sushi with the first Arab family to move into the French Quarter of Jerusalem, and listened as they described to me the embrace they felt from their Jewish neighbors after they fled the West Bank.

My eyes were opened. I had a much deeper understanding of the issues at hand and a better grasp of the fact that I could disagree with some of Israel’s actions, advocate for change and still feel a deep connection with and love for my ancestral home.

On Wednesday, May 23, ASUO will vote on a resolution endorsing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) movement, and prohibiting the purchase of products from companies that do business with the State of Israel.

As a Jewish student at University of Oregon, I find this resolution deeply troubling for two reasons.

First, I care about keeping our campus environment open and welcoming for all students — even those who vehemently disagree with one another — and the BDS movement supported by this resolution is grounded in anti-Semitism and demagoguery. The movement tries to take a nuanced situation and make it black and white. It fails to recognize that Israel, while not above legitimate criticism for some of its actions, also faces very real threats from terror groups like Hamas, which controls Gaza and explicitly calls for Jewish genocide in its charter.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex, but BDS seeks to place the entirety of the blame on Israel. This approach not only prevents constructive dialogue that could lead to real change, but it also creates conditions for increased anti-Semitism and the targeting of Jewish communities on campus. There is a reason that so many other universities around the country have rejected similar BDS efforts on their campuses  —  they recognize that BDS creates a toxic, destructive environment.

Secondly, I am also concerned about the timing of this resolution. The resolution was intentionally proposed when senators known to be supportive of the State of Israel will not be present; when many students are participating in the annual trip to Lake Shasta; and when Jewish students are focused on one of the holiest Jewish holidays, Shavuot .

The timing of this proposal is not a coincidence, it is petty politics   intentionally designed to silence student voices, and we should expect more from our elected representatives. We cannot allow a vote on this bill when students are not physically present to express their concerns, and when communities deeply concerned about BDS are excluded from the process. Tactics that seek to remove student voices from student government should not be accepted on this campus.

As UO students, we pride ourselves on creating diverse and inclusive spaces. We know that we are stronger as a community when we allow all voices to be included at the table, and listen to each other’s perspectives when faced with difficult situations. A one-sided, discriminatory resolution, intentionally brought to a vote when Jewish students and dissenting voices will be excluded from the conversation is no way to resolve a conflict, and has no place in our community.

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Guest: Hold the university accountable, vote yes on the climate plan advisory measure

This piece reflects the views of Dylan Plummer and Matt Stephens, and not those of Emerald Media Group. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

In 2010, the University of Oregon worked with students from the UO Climate Justice League to adopt its Climate Action Plan. This document, while non-binding, promised to make realistic cuts to the university’s carbon dioxide emissions, aiming to have the institution become carbon neutral by 2050. In the years since the plan’s inception, the UO’s carbon emissions have continued to increase, and many of the original ideas that were laid out in the plan have been ignored or labeled as too inconvenient to implement. The University of Oregon, despite its efforts to utilize policies such as the Climate Action Plan to brand itself as a green institution, has unequivocally failed to follow through and act on the promises it laid out in 2010.

The university’s blatant failure to act on these promises has forced the UO Climate Justice League to take matters into our own hands, just as we did in 2010. Throughout the year, the UO Climate Justice League’s CAP the Carbon campaign has worked to put pressure on the university to follow through with the promises it made to take action on climate change and to be more aggressive and thorough in the implementation of this plan. We have reached out to the student community to help educate them about the UO’s contribution to global climate change, maintained contact with the administration in an effort to find feasible ways to take steps to reduce climate emissions and have organized protests to put direct pressure on the UO to put its money where its mouth is.

Our latest effort is a referendum on the ballot in this year’s ASUO elections. This advisory measure is an essential piece of a much larger campaign and is a perfect platform to demonstrate continued student support of a climate neutral campus, and that students care about this issue and recognize the dangers of global climate change. It is an effort to hold this institution responsible to its biggest stakeholders — its students.

The state of our planet’s vital natural resources and ecosystems are dire, and countless scientific reports have shown we are overdue for radical action to begin to mitigate these impacts. The slow violence perpetuated by unseasonal droughts, flooding and other mechanisms directly related to human-caused climate change grow in magnitude every day, and are felt inordinately by marginalized communities.

This referendum gives the student body a chance to express our commitment to addressing these concerns, and to urge the university to take more aggressive action in mitigating its carbon emissions, laying out a number of mechanisms through which these changes could be made. These changes, including changing from our current liquid natural gas-powered heating infrastructure to a more efficient electric boiler system, are effective solutions to reducing our university’s contributions to climate change and to save the school money long term. It is the university’s civic responsibility to stop fueling climate change and to follow through with its commitments to its students by doing everything within its power to limit its carbon footprint.

Voting yes on this referendum is essential in a broader effort to hold the university accountable to its promises, to directly pressure the UO to take direct action to reduce its carbon emissions and to utilize the power of our student voices to demand a safe and sustainable future for us all. Please vote by logging on to Duckweb before 4 pm on April 12, going under the student menu, and selecting the voting option, lending your voice to the multitude of others calling for change and for a safer, more equitable and more sustainable future.

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Guest: The normalization of school shootings

This piece reflects the views of Patience Greene, and not those of Emerald Media Group. The piece is part of a series of op-eds from Peter Laufer’s Reporting I class at the SOJC. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

A friend with self-diagnosed “senioritis” once described to me a common fantasy he had of shooting everyone in his history class one by one. We were walking home from high school with another friend. They joked about teacher reactions, discussing who was most likely protect the students.

After knowing both these boys for several years, I would argue that neither is a real safety hazard. They don’t own guns or show violent tendencies. But they joked about the horrific issue because it has become so normalized in society.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a fund formed after the Newtown shooting to research and create policy around guns in the U.S., recently compiled a list of all firearm incidents on school property since 2013. Looking only at school shootings intended to cause others harm, data shows shootings usually happen in clusters close together.

For instance, in January 2013 there were seven school shootings, but the most any other month that year had was four. Most months had at least two attacks, and these were usually close in time to one another.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point,” a book on how epidemics spread, wrote an article in The New Yorker comparing the contagious nature of school shootings to sociologist Mark Granovetter’s explanation of riots. Granovetter theorized that people riot because others are rioting. Everyone has a different “threshold,” or number of people around them who need to riot first.

The more regular shootings become in society, the more people will join in.

If this is true, what can be done to deter school shootings other than precautionary measures with gun laws and mental health? Does the media in control of the story have an obligation to protect America from this epidemic? Or do citizens have a right to know any available information?

Charlie Deitz, a UO doctoral student who completed his masters thesis on media ethics covering school shootings, described the standard shooting coverage. After the first official statement, journalists go to the scene and seek information – they go on what Deitz calls a “news carousel.” Then media focuses on the victim or the shooter’s profile.

Deitz said some theories push against naming the shooter because it encourages copycats, but instead he focuses on this news carousel.

The time spent dwelling on the unknown plays up the drama and suspense of the story. Sticking to the facts and keeping people informed without excess coverage could help avoid normalizing the issue.

Another ethical issue of media coverage comes from handling traumatized sources.

Stephanie Domurat, a Eugene journalist at KMTR NBC, said being a local station comes with advantages when handling trama. They have the option to look back on the reunion of a tragedy, but in Domurat’s case, they didn’t feel the need to revive the pain. Local journalists are part of the community, and because of this personal investment, they are more likely to treat victims with respect.

Perhaps if media took a less-is-more approach to tragedy, teenagers wouldn’t feel so comfortable joking about commiting massacre.

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Guest: Do our politicians care for our lives?

This piece reflects the views of Kezia Setyawan, and not those of Emerald Media Group. The piece is part of a series of op-eds from Peter Laufer’s Reporting I class at the SOJC. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

There is a cancer in our political system. It seems as though the folks elected to public office care more about money than people. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has given Representative Greg Walden $39,250 in total since 1998 as reported by the Washington Post. Walden represents Oregon’s 2nd district, covering Medford to the entire east side of the Willamette Valley.

I wanted to follow the money trail so I called his office. I was redirected from the legislative office in Washington D.C. to the local office in Bend to the press contact, and was then left on voicemail at the campaign office. I called repeatedly for two days. The lack of transparency creates distrust between those in office and everyday constituents.

Walden’s silence on the Parkland shooting and refusal to publicly take a stance on bills addressing gun control is weak. It illustrates the lack of concern he has for his constituents. While state legislature passed Oregon’s bill strengthening gun control by prohibiting any person with a domestic violence conviction from owning a firearm, nothing has been done on the federal level. How many more people have to die for us to see change?

Admirably, many organizations for gun control have put together data and numbers on who benefits from NRA donations and how it correlates to how public citizens vote for gun safety. However, this work for gun control should not just burden those who are dealing with the trauma of gun violence. The movement for gun control needs to be intersectional and to acknowledge the disparities between different communities that deal with gun violence. Those with privilege need to stand behind them and elect officials who represent these values. Imagine a campaign on a ticket which believes that people don’t deserve to die from gun violence. How would someone justify voting against that candidate?

Our political system continues to kill our children. Work happening within the political institution and in the community are both vital because our lives are inherently political. I hope that every politician who has accepted money from the NRA knows they have blood on their hands. The 2018 midterm election is approaching. Vote them out.

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Guest: The Parkland shooting made it clear: the youth will be the leaders of change

This piece reflects the views of Miguel Perez, and not those of Emerald Media Group. The piece is part of a series of op-eds from Peter Laufer’s Reporting I class at the SOJC. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

Growing up in Springfield, Oregon, I heard countless stories of the shooting that occurred at Thurston High School in May 1998. Since my days at Mt. Vernon Elementary School, it seemed that every year, one way or another, my peers and I would find a reason to converse about the shooting. But the topic always made me uncomfortable. I avoided talking about Thurston, because I could not comprehend the idea that a human being could do something so vile. As a child through my junior year of high school, I genuinely believed that the goodness in the world outweighed the evil.

In spring 2013, the year I graduated from Springfield High School, I was awarded the Bill and Faith Kinkel Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to college-bound high school students who are enrolled in foreign language classes in the Eugene/Springfield area. It was created to honor the parents of the Thurston shooter whom he murdered the night before the shooting. I knew exactly what those two names represented. Though I did not know Bill and Faith personally, I felt a tinge of guilt for taking too much of a passive stance to the issues of the world around me.

During my senior year of high school, I became more aware of the traumas that affected the world around me. It began with the Sandy Hook shooting of November 2012. The thought of such horrific acts aimed at young children weighed on my soul. This was also the time that I became aware of the raging gun debate in America. I knew something needed to be done – I was tired of simply debating the issue. The problem was, I had not yet fully formed my own opinions on guns. I understood their purpose as tools, but at best, a gun could be only considered a necessary evil. My acceptance of guns did not mean I wanted one anywhere near me. I agreed with statements like, “it’s a people problem, not a gun problem.” However, it begged the question – why make it easier for people?

Now, after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, we are faced with the same question. What do we do now? I have read countless headlines that only dispersed the blame and created more niche debates. This only allowed the world to continue to debate and spread the blame but never led to action. The way the survivors of the Parkland shooting reacted to this national attention is impressive. They are fed up with the back-and-forth debating and are taking action. They are part of a generation that is constantly overlooked by the older ones. They are called self-centered because they are active on social media. Their thoughts and opinions are cast aside because they are considered too young to have any sort of recognition. But they have risen to the occasion, and their voices are being heard.

While I do not know if their activism will lead to any change, or even the “right” kind of change, I am glad they are standing up and taking action. We have spent too much time debating and going back and forth, and this has led us nowhere. Though I may only be a few years older than these young activists, as a teenager, I never had the courage to stand up in the way they have done. I am certainly inspired by their actions. Because of the Bill and Faith Kinkel Memorial Scholarship I received, I have always felt a chip on my shoulder to do more. Now as an adult who will soon have a degree in journalism, I am in a position to make my voice heard as well. They say youth are the future. The future looks bright if they can continue to fight for what they believe in.

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Guest: The Parkland shooting made it clear: the youth will be the leaders of change

This piece reflects the views of Miguel Perez, and not those of Emerald Media Group. The piece is part of a series of op-eds from Peter Laufer’s Reporting I class at the SOJC. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

Growing up in Springfield, Oregon, I heard countless stories of the shooting that occurred at Thurston High School in May 1998. Since my days at Mt. Vernon Elementary School, it seemed that every year, one way or another, my peers and I would find a reason to converse about the shooting. But the topic always made me uncomfortable. I avoided talking about Thurston, because I could not comprehend the idea that a human being could do something so vile. As a child through my junior year of high school, I genuinely believed that the goodness in the world outweighed the evil.

In spring 2013, the year I graduated from Springfield High School, I was awarded the Bill and Faith Kinkel Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to college-bound high school students who are enrolled in foreign language classes in the Eugene/Springfield area. It was created to honor the parents of the Thurston shooter whom he murdered the night before the shooting. I knew exactly what those two names represented. Though I did not know Bill and Faith personally, I felt a tinge of guilt for taking too much of a passive stance to the issues of the world around me.

During my senior year of high school, I became more aware of the traumas that affected the world around me. It began with the Sandy Hook shooting of November 2012. The thought of such horrific acts aimed at young children weighed on my soul. This was also the time that I became aware of the raging gun debate in America. I knew something needed to be done – I was tired of simply debating the issue. The problem was, I had not yet fully formed my own opinions on guns. I understood their purpose as tools, but at best, a gun could be only considered a necessary evil. My acceptance of guns did not mean I wanted one anywhere near me. I agreed with statements like, “it’s a people problem, not a gun problem.” However, it begged the question – why make it easier for people?

Now, after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, we are faced with the same question. What do we do now? I have read countless headlines that only dispersed the blame and created more niche debates. This only allowed the world to continue to debate and spread the blame but never led to action. The way the survivors of the Parkland shooting reacted to this national attention is impressive. They are fed up with the back-and-forth debating and are taking action. They are part of a generation that is constantly overlooked by the older ones. They are called self-centered because they are active on social media. Their thoughts and opinions are cast aside because they are considered too young to have any sort of recognition. But they have risen to the occasion, and their voices are being heard.

While I do not know if their activism will lead to any change, or even the “right” kind of change, I am glad they are standing up and taking action. We have spent too much time debating and going back and forth, and this has led us nowhere. Though I may only be a few years older than these young activists, as a teenager, I never had the courage to stand up in the way they have done. I am certainly inspired by their actions. Because of the Bill and Faith Kinkel Memorial Scholarship I received, I have always felt a chip on my shoulder to do more. Now as an adult who will soon have a degree in journalism, I am in a position to make my voice heard as well. They say youth are the future. The future looks bright if they can continue to fight for what they believe in.

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Guest: What the nation can learn from Oregon’s gun reform history

This piece reflects the views of Carly Armendariz, Clare Malone and Jordan Vargas, and not those of Emerald Media Group. The piece is part of a series of op-eds from Peter Laufer’s Reporting I class at the SOJC. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to letters@dailyemerald.com.

Is the Parkland shooting simply another media cycle that will pass in a few weeks, or are we experiencing a movement towards tangible change? The Parkland shooting has stirred up political debate regarding America’s current regulations on guns. This event has created momentum around activism for gun control. History has a tendency to repeat itself, and when we look at the history of gun control in Oregon, this would not be the first time that a school shooting elicited a change in gun regulations.

In 1989, a similar mass shooting occurred in Stockton, California. Patrick Edward Purdy killed five children, wounded 29, and killed himself in a school yard using a semi-automatic rifle that he purchased legally. In response to the Stockton shooting, Vera Katz, then-Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, drew up House Bill 3470. The actions Katz took with the bill made Oregon in accordance with the U.S. regulations and is the basis for many of the gun laws we have in Oregon today. For example, the bill required longer waiting periods for gun purchases, stricter regulations around convicted felons and a thumbprint on the dealer’s record of sale. Oregon’s history around gun control indicates that school shootings can be the catalyst for change in the nation.

The Parkland shooting created the extra attention on gun laws that was needed for Oregon Governor Kate Brown to request a change in one of the state laws regarding firearms. House Bill 4145 was passed by the House on Feb. 15, 2018 and by the Senate on Feb. 22, 2018.  This bill focuses on helping people who are victims of domestic violence, while also preventing people who are not fit to be purchasing guns from getting them.

On Feb. 21, a representative from the office of representative Phil Barnhart stated that the bill would be voted on the next day. HB4145 is just a revision of a bill that already existed. The current bill is more specific, stating that it only applies to people who live with their abuser. It is necessary for the bill to be revised because there are many people in abusive relationships who do not live with their partner. People should not have to fear that their abuser could enter their home at any time with a gun in hand.

Just in the Eugene and Springfield area alone, obtaining a firearm is easy if you’re at least 18 years of age, have a valid state ID and undergo a subtle background check, according to the local shops in town. These local shop owners said that during these background checks, they are primarily checking if the buyer has a criminal background or is engaged in some type of criminal behavior. If the buyer is found to have some type of criminal history, the buyer may still be able to buy a gun; however, it’s dependent on the severity of their crime. The severity of a buyer’s previous crimes will determine what type of restrictions may be enforced during that transaction, whether that means they can’t purchase additional items like scopes or suppressors or they can’t buy a gun at all because federal or state law prohibits them.  

HB4145 shows that change concerning gun control after the Parkland shooting is already starting to happen. If Americans continue to focus our attention on this event to promote change, we will be making steps in the right direction. The Stockton shooting proves that tragic events can be the basis for change, so it’s important that we continue speaking up to make that change happen.

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Two students created an app to streamline process of hiring tutors

By Miguel Sanchez-Rutledge, For The Emerald

Two University of Oregon students are creating an app to make the process of hiring tutors easier. The app, Tutor Tree, is a free app that is being developed by two UO juniors, Adrian Martushev and Eli Ackerman. They are preparing for an early Spring term launch of their app that will work with various UO classes.

“It is essentially everything you want in a tutor,” Martushev said. “It’s like Uber, but for tutors. The whole concept is that we want to hire UO students. Basically, people that know this curriculum.”

Taking cues from Uber, the app makers are hoping to make the process of getting a tutor easier. They want to find people who are knowledgeable in specific topics but might not have the ability to teach others.

“We’re hoping to aggregate demand as well as supply,” Ackerman said. “We want to find those people that would tutor but can’t because they’re not going to be starting their own business or whatever. As much as we’re hoping to create ease of use, we’re trying to create a new way to get help.”

The app will integrate with tutors from the sciences; Chemistry, Physics and Biology. It will also include tutors who specialize in finance, economics and math. Scheduling, payment and contacting are all taken care of within the app so that it is as streamlined as possible.

“It’s like Uber, but for tutors.”

“We are trying to integrate with the UO community and eventually get endorsed by the university,” Martushev said. “The app will notify you of homework that is coming up, all sessions will be on campus and it is supported by all major payments apps including Apple Pay, Venmo and Paypal.”

They have tutors already in place but are seeking out more for hire that specialize in the offered categories. The goal for the developers is to eventually have tutors for every class type that the university offers.

Tutors will get paid by the hour, but the pricing policy is still in development, they said.

Martushev is a math and computer science major in his junior year and is a tutor for the UO math department. Ackerman is an economics major and also in his junior year. They entered TutorTree into the Quack Hatch Business Idea Competition and were finalists that eventually went on to place third for their app.

Meghan Loftus, a Human Physiology major, is in her Senior year at UO. She has been a student tutor with the Teaching and Learning Center for three years and is excited about the app, but she has her reservations.

“I have been tutoring for TLC [Teaching and Learning Center] for three years and it can be hit or miss whether I get students or not,” Loftus said. “I think the app will help me not have every student come to me for biology help because I am the only student biology tutor for 212.”

Loftus described how the pool of students needing help can be inconsistent, but that having tutors available is important for students who might need extra help. Some terms she may not have any students reach out to her for help. Other terms she might be overwhelmed with students.

“Being able to have one-on-one tutoring is nice. If I don’t get emails I won’t get tutoring. It’s nice to have the consistency and confirmation of an app.”

She voiced concern however about how the app makers will verify tutors and how they will come across to other students as not being a scam.

“The reviews will speak for themselves,” Ackerman said. “I think credentials are important. We will be hiring accredited tutors, but learning is a collaborative effort and you can learn from your peers. Your friend that just got an ‘A’ in a course last term will know how to do well in that course.”

Prices will vary based on “competence” of the tutor and their knowledge of the course, as Martushev described it. The rates vary per hour with prices ranging from 15-35 dollars. There is a possibility of surcharge rates during peak hours such as finals and dead week. It is free to schedule times a week in advance and the app makers are aiming for an early spring term launch date. The app will be available on the App Store first, with an option for Android phones soon after.

Miguel Sanchez-Rutledge is a senior at the University of Oregon. You can find his website here.

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