3-20-23 Emerald Media Group - ODE

VOL . 124, ISSUE NO.

NEWSROOM

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Hannarose McGuinness

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

Brandon Roth

DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

Sarah Matlick

NEWS EDITORS

Alexis Weisend

Gavin Gamez

Caleb Barber

A&C EDITORS

Krista Kroiss

Evan Reynolds

SPORTS EDITORS

Aaron Heisen

Mojo Hill

OPINION EDITORS

Emma J Nelson

Sophia Cossette

PHOTO EDITOR Maddie Stellingwerf

SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Ian Enger

DESIGN EDITOR

Liz Blodgett

COPY CHIEF

Amanda Lurey

ASSOCIATE COPY EDITORS

Dylan Farrell Logan Robertson

VIDEO EDITOR Troy Munson

PODCAST EDITOR

Jamie Diep

SOCIALS EDITOR

Jennifer Singh

VISUALS EDITOR

Julia Stalnaker

BUSINESS

PUBLISHER & PRESIDENT

Bill Kunerth X317 bkunerth@dailyemerald.com

VP OPERATIONS Kathy Carbone X302 kcarbone@dailyemerald.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES & DIGITAL MARKETING

Shelly Rondestvedt X303 srondestvedt@dailyemerald.com

CREATIVE & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Annie Smith X327 creative@dailyemerald.com

STUDENT SALES MANAGER

Amy Mendez

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Riley Valle

Keaton Roberts

Max Goldenberg

Josh Delapena

ON THE COVER

(Photo Illustration by Hannarose McGuinness)

FOR YOU

CHECK OUT THE NEW PERSON OF INTEREST PODCAST

Student Recommends

BY KEYRY HERNANDEZ

TV SHOW RECOMMENDATION: “COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE” BY JERRY

Summary: “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (2012) is exactly what it sounds like. Creator Jerry Seinfeld collects vintage cars which he uses to pick up comedians, drive to a cafe or restaurant and give life to amusing conversations. Each episode features different comedians from all backgrounds and even provides information on the vintage vehicles.

Recommended by: Reaiah Kapadia, junior studying Advertising. “I find it very comforting, and it’s a show one can use as background entertainment. I get a chuckle from any of the episodes. Definitely give it a rating of 4.5 stars.”

SEINFELD

LOOK ONLINE

Top viewed story in the past week:

“Police investigate fatal shooting at the corner of 13th and Patterson” by Paul Robinson

(Paul Robinson/Daily Emerald)

Second most read story in the past week: “Bowman: The two sides of Nextdoor” by Shelton Bowman

(Stella Fetherston/Daily Emerald)

(Keyry Hernandez/Emerald)

Do you want your voice heard literally? Scan here to respond to our Voices of UO prompt with a brief voice message, and head to www. dailyemerald. com/ multimedia/ podcasts/ next week to listen to the replies!

We want to hear from you:

We want to hear from you: Email editor@dailyemerald. com to submit a tip or a letter to the editor. The ideal length for a letter is 200500 words, but we publish letters of various lengths online.

(Maisie Plew/Emerald)

For updated coverage of sports and digital-exclusive content, go to www.dailyemerald.com

TAPIA’S TAKE: UOPD’S FAILURES OF THE SRC SEX OFFENDER INCIDENT

Opinion: The UOPD’s gross mishandling of the incident at the Student Rec Center in February and the university’s lack of acknowledgment only continue to put student safety and security at risk.

BY CAITLIN TAPIA

On Feb. 23, Elijah Weber, a convicted sex offender, was witnessed masturbating in the showers of the women’s locker room at the Student Rec Center.

A witness said she had seen Weber and reported him to the staff at the front desk, who then called the police.

UOPD Sergeant Chris Phillips was the first to arrive on the scene, shortly followed by Officer Steven Barrett. They identified Weber and noted that he had no active warrants but was previously convicted of rape in the third degree and public indecency in 2013 and public indecency again in 2015.

Weber was issued a lifetime letter of trespass, prohibiting him from using all university property, and escorted out of the SRC. He was never arrested or charged with a crime.

This incident is the epitome of the UOPD’s skewed priorities and the university’s disregard for student safety and security.

But before I get into these failures, I would like to briefly address Weber’s claim to be transgender. It does not matter. This incident isn’t an issue of gender identity or expression. It doesn’t matter if this took place in a women’s, men’s or gender-neutral locker room. It doesn’t matter if this was committed by a cisgender or transgender person. The only things that matter are that it was wrong and that it is still a crime which violated those who were forced to witness it.

Trans rights, even more so recently, have been under constant attack from right-wing politicians and media. While I acknowledge that it is not my place to tell someone how they identify, to falsely claim to be transgender in a moment like this only further leverages the blocking and removal of trans rights.

Back to the issue at hand, the UOPD had every opportunity to arrest and charge Weber with public and private indecency but refused to do so.

In the police report, Officer Barrett stated that he “had reasonable suspicion for Public Indecency, Private Indecency and Criminal Trespass, but had not developed probable cause,” which, as defined by Oregon Public Law, is “a substantial objective basis for believing that more likely than not an offense has been committed and a person to be arrested has committed it.”

According to Kay Jarvis, senior director of media relations and issues management for the university, this lack of probable cause was due to the fact that the witnesses did not want to press charges.

One of the witnesses said she was hesitant to press charges because “UOPD told me that this person [Weber] would have my full name and address, I would

have to see them in court and the whole process would stretch out over a year. I didn’t want it to be that long.”

To press charges and go through the entire legal process is terrifying regardless of the crime, but particularly for a crime such as this. It is entirely valid and respectable for a witness to not want to press charges. But it’s not a witness’ job to bring charges upon a person; it is the job of the state. And it is that job the police failed to do.

“In our criminal justice system, while crimes may have a human victim, the illegal act itself is considered a crime or wrongdoing against society or the public…it is the government’s job to seek justice on behalf of society and victims,” Erika Valcarcel, a criminal defense lawyer, stated on her website.

Similar to instances of domestic violence, if the police arrest a perpetrator because they have established probable cause, the case is then transferred to a prosecutor who begins an investigation. Part of this investigation is speaking with a witness. Even if the witness does not want to cooperate, the prosecutor may press charges anyway, especially if there is an interest in protecting the public or if the perpetrator has a criminal history in which they’ve committed this offense before.

Officer Barrett made the statement that he had developed reasonable suspicion for the aforementioned crimes after having been told by Sgt. Phillips that the witnesses had declined to press charges. his, in combination with Weber’s previous convictions, should be sufficient for the police to arrest and charge Weber.

Beyond the UOPD, the university never made the situation known to the campus population and has yet to make any noticeable changes in preventing a similar incident from occurring in the future.

Members of the SRC staff were unaware that this happened at all.

All of this ignorant response set aside, students shouldn’t stop using the SRC or other campus facilities because an incident has happened. Rather, we remind ourselves that we have to look out for one another and call out when harm is being done.

“I didn’t want this person to ruin my happy place. The gym is my happy place and I wasn’t going to let him ruin it,” a witness said.

The UOPD has since returned to the SRC and closed the women’s locker room on March 9 at 7:30 a.m.

In an email from Jarvis, she said “The UOPD visited the Student Rec Center today [March 9] as part of its investigation into the Feb. 23 incident.”

A UOPD vehicle is regularly parked at the intersection of 13th and University. (Summer Surgent-Gough/Emerald)

CHATGPT BECOMES A CONCERN AND A RESOURCE IN THE CLASSROOM

CHATGPT BECOMES A CONCERN AND A RESOURCE IN THE CLASSROOM

ChatGPT raises concerns with faculty on how to prevent plagiarism and promote critical thinking.

BY ALICIA SANTIAGO

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot, has opened up conversations about academic misconduct and learning opportunities at the University of Oregon regarding the power that technology holds in the classroom. ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot from the AI lab OpenAI, was released at the end of 2022 and allows users to generate text. Two months after its release, ChatGPT reached over 100 million users according to the MIT Technology Review.

Thien Nguyen, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at UO, said the appeal is not about the technology itself but rather the accessibility.

“It’s not about the revolution of technology but it is about how accessible it is to the public user,” Nguyen said.

With discussion of academic misconduct and the ethics of ChatGPT, professors at UO are expressing their opinions.

Maxwell Foxman, assistant professor of ...story continues on page 9

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot that learns from input and generates human-like text responses. (Photo illustration by Riley Valle)

Media Studies and Game Studies in the SOJC, said ChatGPT will naturally complicate things but also believes there are interesting aspects to dive into with the emerging technology.

“I think it’s important to balance the advantages of ChatGPT with the requirements of teaching,” Foxman said.

Foxman said ChatGPT is just as appealing for educators as it is for students. He has been using ChatGPT for his own research. He asked ChatGPT to generate questions and he was able to critically appraise those answers.

“It is yet again another technology that will change the classroom,” Foxman said.

In his classes, Foxman said some of his assignments are too complex to use ChatGPT. He also leaves room for student reflection in his class assignments that ChatGPT is unable to aid.

But when AI or ChatGPT is used, it’s done with his permission.

He is not aware of students that have been caught plagiarizing with ChatGPT at the UO but said citing the usage of it is important.

“Students need to recognize that keeping track of that process is going to be as important as citing or referencing a quote,” Foxman said. “Referencing and citation are going to come along with this.”

Sophomore Jillian Gray said she has used ChatGPT to generate ideas and brainstorm but still has reservations about it.

“I don’t trust it. I have too many fears and questions about it to use it outside of a classroom assignment or just for fun to see what all its limitations are,” Gray said.

She believes that people may overuse the technology without understanding some of the potential consequences..

“I’d be scared for people who just type in the prompt of their assignment into the site. What if ChatGPT just rips off another person’s work and spits it out to you and you’d never know?” Gray said.

Although some students may use ChatGPT to cheat on assignments, Gray doesn’t think it’ll become a norm.

“I think that some may overuse or abuse it but for the most part, students thrive on academic validation and success, and that’s something a site like ChatGPT can’t provide,” Gray said.

Dan Morrison, professor at the SOJC, said he’s been doing research on ChatGPT and other forms of reality-altering AI by collecting articles on the uses and effects of AI. He’s concerned about AI’s potential as a source for plagiarism.

“If you turn in work you did not create, whether you steal it from someone else or whatever other means, that falls under the definition of plagiarism,” Morrison said.

Plagiarism does not change but how people do it will, according to Morrison referencing new AI devices.

The line between what is ethical with ChatGPT is thin, according to Morrison. “It’s here. Everybody’s going to use it but again, it’s a tool and if you use it ethically, fine, but it will never be ethical to use it to create an image or for a story. Never,” he said.

Morrison said journalists or writers who use AI run the risk of ruining their career.

“The biggest concern, of course, is that it’s incredibly easy to use. It’s not fail-safe, it makes mistakes, but it is powerful and is very quick,” he said.

As a result, plagiarism policies stand stronger than ever, with some professors filtering assignments through the Canvas plagiarism detectors and then AI detectors like Grover.

“If we catch students using it, and we probably will, they’ll flunk that class for sure and will probably be thrown out of the SOJC,” Morrison said.

There is no school-wide response to AI, but UO spokesperson Kay Jarvis said

professors are encouraged to establish an explicit policy in their course syllabus specific to the use of AI tools, UO spokesperson Kay Jarvis said in an email.

Plans are being developed to add AI-specific content such as advanced detection software through the Academic Integrity Canvas modules, Jarvis said.

These canvas modules talk about measures to take to ensure academic integrity. “These resources are based on current research around why students engage in academic misconduct and what strategies have effectively increased academic integrity,” a recently published page on AI by the Teaching Support and Innovation website says.

As far as how the UO is going to be tracking students, the website says that detection software could be used on students’ assignments and students should be aware of this.

A recently published page on AI by the UO Teaching Support and Innovation website suggests professors have clear policies about AI. But it also recommends using it as an educational resource for students.

It lists opportunities for AI assignments and activities, such as generating essay outlines, creating icebreakers and evaluating arguments in AI-generated essays with peers.

For some teachers, ChatGPT is encouraging more out-of-the-box and complex thinking when it comes to crafting assignments and writing prompts.

Mattie Burkert, an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, said assignments should be designed with the knowledge of AI and its capabilities.

“From the instructor’s point of view, it means crafting assignments that invite forms of thinking and writing that are complicated enough that the computer couldn’t do them well,” Burkert.

Students can learn how to think critically even with the role of AI in this generation of content, Burkert said. Burkert used another version of ChatGPT for the course’s midterm assignment.

Students co-wrote a take-home essay on the dangers and ethics of new technology in the novel Frankenstein with the AI and reflected on the experience.

“I wanted them to reflect on the aspects of that novel that were applicable to that information and the ways we approach technology today,” Burkert said.

For the computer science department, ChatGPT is a learning tool for how technology is developing and how it can help the public.

Ngyuen said ChatGPT has brought up research opportunities.

“In computer science classes, we talk more about how it works and the fundamental issues. It’s more about the technical issues and how it links to the social issues that it has,” Nguyen said.

AI sources like ChatGPT give students the opportunity to see how much technology has evolved over time and allows for hands-on experience, Nguyen said.

“If this is going to stay with us for a long time, then it’s about teaching the students how it works and getting them to use it in a more efficient way,” he said.

However, people must be aware of the setbacks the emerging technology might have, Nguyen said.

“With every 100 answers, 99 of them could be correct and one of them could be wrong,” Nguyen said

Nevertheless, Nguyen goes forward with an optimistic outlook on ChatGPT. “We are lucky to be in a critical moment for technology development where we start seeing it can reach the public really quickly,” he said.

If we catch students using it, and we probably will, they’ll flunk that class for sure and will probably be thrown out of the SOJC”

Dan Morrison, SOJC Professor

From the instructor’s point of view, it means crafting assignments that invite forms of thinking and writing that are complicated enough that the computer couldn’t do them well”

Mattie Burkert, Asst. Professor for College of Arts and Sciences

SYNESTHESIA: A SHOWCASE OF THE SENSES CREATES AN UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE ‘SYNESTHESIA: A SHOWCASE OF THE SENSES’ SHOWCASE CREATES AN UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE

The Performing Artists Collective Academic Residential Community’s showcase was the congregation of months worth of work for performers and organizers alike.

BY MIRANDAH DAVIS-POWELL

Tucked into the Burgess wing of the Hamilton residence hall is a group of around 50 students who come from an assortment of performing arts backgrounds. Together, the students make up the Performing Artist’s Collective Academic Residential Community. Often referred to as the PAC ARC, the group lives and learns together, sharing classes along with their shared living assignment. The combination of the two has allowed students to create a network of likeminded students whose interests lie within performance art.

This term, the PAC ARC set out to create a showcase to demonstrate their collective skills to the wider UO community. After deliberating on a theme for a couple of days, the group ended up electing “Synesthesia: a Showcase of the Senses” for their final theme.

The performance took place on Monday, March 13, week 10 of the winter term, and consisted of performances ranging from acting to singing, videography and dance. Students also had the opportunity to work behind the scenes, including management and organizational roles for planning the event. There were 10 performances in total, with the entire event lasting just over an hour and a half.

“It went a lot better than I was kind of expecting it to,” Ian Simpson, first-year student, member of the PAC ARC and organizer for the Synesthesia event, said. Only having 10 weeks to put the event together was initially worrisome for the organizers, but everyone’s individual commitment really made the event come to life, according to Simpson.

Ashley-Rose Bellendaine, first year english major and member of the PAC ARC, worked on marketing and stage management for the Synesthesia event. “Everybody had all different schedules, all different classes, some of us had jobs we had to plan for,” she said.

Taking up the stage managing role for the Synesthesia event made sense for Bellendaine after having lots of experience with stage management and theatre tech in high school. However, she noted this experience was much different due to the time constraint.

“We didn’t have a week of rehearsals, we had one rehearsal,” she said. Not to mention that during the rehearsal, they didn’t have all the equipment necessary for the final performance, and they weren’t allowed to mark their places on the stage. Missing lighting and sound equipment that would be present in the final performance

made for some challenges. “Loose cords on stage take years off my life,” Bellendaine said, emphasizing how hard it was to make changes on the fly the night of the performance.

She expressed her gratitude to the marketing team – which was very helpful, as she had never been in marketing for an event before – and to her stage hands for helping make everything run smoothly. “They were all ready to go, ready to be a part of it, give 100%, it was awesome,” she said.

Wren Ingber is a first-year student and member of the PAC ARC who performed her original music at the Synesthesia event. As a singer-songwriter, she described performing as sometimes being intimate and personal.

“I love songwriting as an art form, telling a story through a song,” she said. “I know that it’s powerful to share personal stuff, it’s always just a little bit scary.”

Ingber performed her song “Half Broken,” choosing the song because it has lots of different sections. She intended to perform a variety of musical qualities to pertain to the sense of sound and the Synesthesia theme. She also created a video compilation to accompany the song performance which contained several clips she recorded herself, mostly of nature, to accompany the themes in her song.

She’s drawn toward creating music that is introspective, confessional and honest. “It’s ultimately so rewarding afterwards,” she said, describing how her performance allowed her to connect with her audience.

Ingber was also in a short play performed at the Synesthesia event. Having a theater background from high school, it was easy for her to jump into the role. Being in the play with her peers allowed Ingber to connect with individuals whose areas of expertise are different from hers.

“That’s what’s fun about the ARC is that it’s a bunch of different performers in

different arenas, and people with all different skills,” she said.

Collaborating for the Synesthesia event allowed members of the PAC ARC to connect with one another in new ways. “The first term, I was a bit of a hermit in my dorm and, I didn’t really get to know a whole lot of people before this,” Simpson said. He added that it was really beneficial to see individuals leave their niche friend groups to join in on the bigger projects and that it allowed him to deepen his connections with his peers.

Bellendaine agreed that the community-building aspect was a success from the collaborations built over the term. The Synesthesia event allowed for growth and connection for the students within the PAC ARC by showcasing what they know how to do best as a collective.

“Not only did my peers get a lot out of it from performing and creating something together, but they were able to share that with our community, with the wider UO community,” she said, “and I think that’s pretty great.”

Luna McKusick dances beside Harper Wheeler as they sing “Human” by dodie. ‘Synesthesia: A Showcase of the Senses’ took place in Global Scholars Hall on Mar. 13th, 2023. The showcase was comprised of students who are in the Performing Artists Collective residential community on campus. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)

RUTH: BEHIND THE SCENES AT 2023 OREGON FOOTBALL PRO DAY

A dozen of Oregon’s top athletes had one final chance to showcase their skills as the NFL Draft creeps closer.

BY BRADY RUTH • TWITTER @BRADYRUTH10

The NFL Draft is coming. Oregon’s guys are ready.

Alongside scouts, agents, coaches and the players’ families, I got the chance to attend and cover Oregon football’s Pro Day on March 14, and I was able to watch 12 players from this last 10-win season pitch their cases to the NFL on why they deserve a spot on a professional roster.

“I’m proud of myself for training to get here,” Oregon safety Bennett Williams said after his day concluded. “Showing out here today with obviously the emotions and the nerves and feeling it all. I feel good about it.”

Surrounded by dozens of media members, we speculated, critiqued and prophesied the futures of Williams and the other Oregon players participating in their special day. Fully knowing myself and most of those in attendance could never achieve what those young men were doing, I was lucky enough to just get to be in awe and witness Oregon’s Pro Day.

It was an experience I’d yet to cross off my list. It was a day of wide-eyed amazement, waiting around and collecting quotes from the players one final time.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had watched the NFL Combine on television a handful of times and seen Pro Day clips from various schools on social media platforms. But attending, I knew, would be a whole different perspective. Some of the logistics and operations of Oregon’s Pro Day were surprising.

For one thing, most of the specialized position drills were actually run by scouts. One set of NFL scouts directed Noah Sewell through his linebacker drills while a different group of professionally affiliated scouts led offensive linemen Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, T.J Bass, Ryan Walk and Alex Forsyth through several footwork, blocking and agility progressions. I’m not sure why I assumed Oregon’s coaching

staff would be running the show on their own turf, but I was surprised to see that Dan Lanning and the rest of his staff were primarily there for moral support.

I expected to see Christian Gonzalez in a similar role to Lanning.

Gonzalez, who’s projected by many to be an early first-round pick, already had a stellar day at the NFL Combine, and I didn’t think he had anything else to prove. But he participated in some defensive back-specific drills with Williams.

“I wanted to come out and show that [the NFL Combine] wasn’t just a one time thing,” Gonzalez said. “It’s what I do.”

Another surprise was how little the drills seemed to actually apply to football. Sure, they all displayed the players’ supreme athleticism and coordination. But there weren’t any pads, contested route running or covering, or much decision making that we all know is such a big part of the game.

“It’s a different type of training,”

Gonzalez said. “You’re going to train like a track athlete getting ready for that 40 [yard dash] and vertical and all that. You kind of get away from the in-game workouts and training, but you got to get ready for the Combine.”

Gonzalez said he has several meetings and tours with teams lined up over the course of the next month or so, and then he’s off to whatever team takes him.

It was incredible to see these athletes in their elements. Without the pads and fans and away from the intensity of a game, and without a helmet and face mask to cover emotion, I could see the players’ passion, drive and joy they get from this game we love so much at Oregon.

I watched DJ Johnson, Chase Cota, Sewell, Gonzalez, Williams and more pull off athletic feats that I could never dream of achieving. It was humbling and mesmerizing.

There was an undeniable tension as the futures of these young men rested on the opinions of the scouts in attendance.

But the themes of the day could be summarized as support and hope.

The players’ support systems were on full display with family, friends, coaches, trainers and agents in attendance. The Oregon coaching staff had the loudest cheers of the day, but they weren’t the only ones acknowledging the raw talent of these Duck athletes. The scouts would provide tips, encouragement and support for the players, their teammates were loud in their comradery and the parents’ nervous excitement was on full display.

With 31 of 32 NFL scouts in attendance (the Rams were the day’s lone no show), the former Oregon Ducks showed out one last time in Eugene. Now, they – and the rest of Duck nation – await their fates and futures as the NFL Draft looms near. Williams and other players mentioned they still have some training and traveling to do, while Gonzalez seems to think April 27 can’t come soon enough.

Oregon safety, Bennet Williams, and Oregon cornerback, Christian Gonzales, warm up together before participating in a drill. (Jonathan Suni/Emerald)