MAY 27, 2021
Thursday Edition
Emerald Media
TAKING A SHOT Students share their thoughts on UO’s vaccine mandate and exemptions
NEWS
FACULTY TRAINING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS PG 2
A&C
ART THERAPY WITH GRACE FLETCHER PG 4 T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
|
EMERALD
|
PA G E 1
NEWS
FACULTY WANT ADDITIONAL TRAINING FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS UO participates in national study, reveals worsening student mental health takes a toll on faculty
VOL. 122, ISSUE NO. 54
GET IN TOUCH
EMERALD MEDIA GROUP 1395 UNIVERSITY ST., #302 EUGENE, OR 97403 541.346.5511
NEWSROOM EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Nguyen MANAGING EDITOR
Francis O’Leary ENGAGEMENT EDITOR
Ashley Ng
NEWS EDITORS
Jack Forrest Duncan Baumgarten Ardeshir Tabrizian A&C EDITORS
Sarah-Mae McCullough Grace Murray SPORTS EDITORS
Shane Hoffmann Mojo Hill Charlie Gearing PHOTO EDITOR
Maddie Knight DESIGN EDITOR
Kira Chan
BY JOANNA MANN • TWITTER @JOANNA_MANN_
COPY CHIEF
Sophia Edelblute Capps MULTIMEDIA EDITORS
Suzie Stadelman works to provide suicide prevention services for the University of Oregon. Suzie Stadelman is the Education and Prevention Outreach Coordinator at the UO Health Center. (Will Geschke/Emerald)
Meaghan FitzPatrick Sarah Miller DIGITAL EDITOR
Jordan McMinn
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
Sam Rudkin X327
creative@dailyemerald.com STUDENT SALES MANAGER
Stella Kalomiris
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Patrick McCumber Keaton Roberts Amy Menendez
THE DAILY EMERALD
The Daily Emerald is published by Emerald Media Group, Inc., the independent nonprofit media company at the University of Oregon. Formerly the Oregon Daily Emerald, the news organization was founded in 1900.
ON THE COVER
A patient is being prepared to receive the vaccination inside one of the walk up tents. University of Oregon begins to distribute Vaccines to Students and Faculty on April 21, 2021. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald)
PA G E 2
|
EMERALD
|
Higher education faculty members have an increasing role in responding to student mental health concerns. This has been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, as professors say there has been an uptick in students who come to them with feelings of isolation and loneliness due to a lack of regular socialization. UO was part of a study that revealed 87% of faculty nationwide think student mental health has worsened over the pandemic. Just under three-fourths would welcome additional professional development on the topic, and about one-fifth agree that supporting students in mental and emotional distress has taken a toll on their own mental health. The study, “The Role of Faculty in Student Mental Health,” looked at 12 universities in January 2021 and is from the Boston University School of Public Health, the Mary Christie Foundation and the Healthy Minds Network. UO Associate Professor Autumn Shafer said she has at least one student per course come to her with a mental health issue. Most of the time it is about feeling stressed and needing more time on an assignment, but other times the issue pertains to sexual assault, eating disorders or domestic violence. “When I have had students who are in crisis, I will think about it. I will think about it as I wake up, I'll think about it through the day, I'll be looking at things online trying to accommodate or send the student resources. Just worrying about it, checking in on them,” Shafer said. “But it doesn't bother me. I'm honored to be a part of students' lives.” Shafer, who studies health communication, is on the Mental Health Advisory Council—a task force made up of around 30 faculty and staff across campus who work on mental health-related projects. The council was created in 2018, thanks to a Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention grant, and is co-led by Suzie Stadelman and Mariko Lin. Stadelman, who works in UO’s suicide prevention efforts, listed off some of the projects the council has worked on, which include an optional mental health statement for faculty to include in their syllabi, a free online mental health training program called Kognito, drop-in therapy sessions and a program called Don’t Cancel Class. If a faculty member knows they will not make it to work that day, they can bring in someone from UO Counseling Services to give a presentation rather than canceling class.
T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
“It may or may not be directly related to the class content. It might be Math 201, and then we come in and do an anxiety and stress and anxiety management workshop or something like that,” Stadelman said. “So it's not like the guests teach algebra, but we can come in and kind of infuse wellness into the classroom.” While the Mental Health Advisory Council mainly focuses on student mental health, faculty members can access the Employee Assistance Program through Human Resources, which provides five therapy sessions and helps them find a therapist to continue seeing after that. Stadelman said she thinks most insurance plans UO offers covers therapy. Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Janet Woodruff-Borden said that it became clear early on in the pandemic that faculty members were the first point of contact for many students with mental health concerns. In response, the Office of the Provost partnered with Counseling Services and other groups across campus to create a syllabi statement, slide decks of coping resources for faculty to put in their Canvas page, and spoke to faculty about how to have conversations with students about getting them connected with resources. “Our goal really was to create a community of care, to help faculty to help students but also to recognize that faculty needs support through this as well,” Woodruff-Borden said. She said she was unfortunately not surprised by the survey’s findings, but she was encouraged to see that UO had already implemented some of the professional training practices respondents said they wanted from their institutions. “We're looking all across the country at different schools, having essentially the same experience,” Woodruff-Borden said. “It's not just here. And we know that this is a systemic issue across the country.” Shafer said having conversations around how to talk to students about their mental health benefits everybody. She said the best time to have these conversations is during a faculty meeting so people don’t have to carve out extra time in an already busy year. “I anticipate there'll be students in every course I have for eternity with mental health issues or things that are affecting their coursework or personal life that they want to talk about,” Shafer said. “Whether there is a pandemic or not, I think it's an important issue to address.”
15 Largineg 5 Large 1 Single Topping Topp
$
Single
Mention this coupon to receive offer. Not valid with any other offers or promotions. Valid for walk-in or deliveries. Expires 6/30/21
ERY FREE DErs LIV over $10) (on orde
Order online TrackTownPizza.com | 1809 Franklin Blvd. | 541-284-8484
University
Health Services
Visit the Duck Nest Wellness Center in the EMU! and Remotely at https://health.uoregon.edu/ducknest
OUR SERVICES Primary Care Acupuncture Allergy/Asthma Birth Control Colds/Flu Dental Diabetes Management Energy Healing
Massage Therapy Medical Lab Tests Medical Records Meditation Nutrition Pharmacy Physical Therapy Psychiatry
Sexual Health Sports Medicine STI Screening Clinic Stress Management Tobacco Cessation Travel Clinic Vaccinations X-ray
Follow us: @healthyUO (Facebook and Instagram) and @HealthCenterUO (Twitter) University Health Services
health@uoregon.edu • 541-346-2770 EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity
T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
|
EMERALD
|
PA G E 3
A&C
HEALING THROUGH ART THERAPY WITH GRACE FLETCHER BY BRANDON ROTH
(Courtesy of Dana Vion and Grace Fletcher)
Fletcher, a licensed art therapist and counselor, helps clients get in touch with their emotions. Art therapy is more than a creative process — it explores the mind through a nonverbal approach. Licensed art therapist Grace Fletcher says many people “struggle to communicate their emotions with words.” Fletcher welcomes children and adults of all ages to work with her in a safe environment and express themselves without feeling judged. Clients may mold clay to convey an action or sketch to revisit a memory. “Art therapy is helpful for adults and kids, because it bumps them out of how they articulate something,” Fletcher said. “It helps them gain new awareness by drawing out the imagery of what is going on within them.” Fletcher’s education began with a bachelor’s degree in fine art with a concentration in social work. After graduation, she volunteered with an art therapist at a hospital oncology unit where she realized she had a passion for combining her love of art with healing people. Following her experience at the hospital, she attended graduate school to become a licensed art therapist. She has worked at her own practice
since 2012. “It was a personal journey for me,” Fletcher said. “Working with the art therapist showed me how art can externalize our own experiences and process through things that need to be healed.” Art therapy provides comfort to those dealing with difficult circumstances such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorders. Fletcher said art therapy can be used as “a therapy within itself and to explore what is emotionally going on.” Fletcher practices her therapy through meditation by having her patients create simple sketches or watercolor strokes, allowing them to relax and be in the moment. Part of her art therapy includes illustrating feelings and having individuals describe what their illustrations represent. “When somebody is creating an image, there is a lot of feeling there,” Fletcher said. “Words tend to bring people to a cognitive place. Art offers the opportunity to tell about an experience without having to find words.” Fletcher enjoys working with people and using creative methods such as clay, marker and paint to heal and relax her patients. She says art therapy takes people on an empowering journey to overcome and live with their emotional struggles,
Grace Fletcher is a licensed art therapist and counselor. (Courtesy of Dana Vion and Grace Fletcher)
PA G E 4
|
EMERALD
|
T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
insecurities or mental health issues. Fletcher believes everyone has the potential to use art to face everyday struggles and that people do not need to be talented artists to express themselves. “Art therapy allows subconscious processing to come forward,” Fletcher said. “It is very good for folks that are linear and analytical thinkers who don’t normally express what is going on. It also offers creative expressions for those who want to be grounded.” Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Fletcher has held her sessions through Zoom. Although it was a rough transition for her in the beginning, she said she has been able to communicate with her patients without any problems. “A lot of the folks that come to me already have some form of basic materials at their home,” Fletcher said. “Some people are just using pens or pencils. We are still offering folks prompts by having them draw on the table and then holding it up for us to talk about it.” Art therapy offers an alternative way for people to reveal their inner emotions through a creative process. Fletcher believes nobody is too old or unimaginative to try out art therapy. “We are often told we can be creative or not at some point in our school journey,” Fletcher said. “Art therapy really likes to remind folks that we are all creative people. Making expressions is who we are as humans.”
A&C
UO STUDENTS RESPOND TO MANDATORY VACCINES FOR FALL TERM BY SAMMY PIEROTTI • TWITTER @SAMMYPIEROTTI
“We didn’t kick and scream when we needed to get measles, mumps and rubella [vaccines],” UO sophomore Freya Rhodes said.
On May 10, UO announced that it will require mandatory vaccines for students, faculty and staff who will be on campus this fall via its Instagram. The Instagram page, which averages two to five thousand likes per post, raked in a whopping ten thousand likes and one thousand comments. People expressed both joy and concern in the comments. Some feel that vaccines will keep students safe during in-person fall classes, while others expressed their dismay and think students should get to make their own decisions about the vaccine. UO President Michael Schill said in an email announcement that “requiring vaccinations is critical for public health.” UO is not alone in requiring vaccines for the fall term. Many colleges around the country, including Oregon State University, Lewis & Clark College and Southern Oregon University, have ruled in favor of mandatory vaccines. “I am not anywhere near getting vaccinated,” said UO first-year Ainsley. Ainsley, who prefers to only use her first name, had a bad reaction to her first round of vaccines as a baby and hasn’t been vaccinated since then. The Centers for Disease Control does not recommend getting the COVID-19 vaccine if you’ve had an adverse reaction to vaccines in the past, since it contains the same base ingredients as most other vaccines. UO will not enforce vaccine requirements for those that receive medical, religious, philosophical and personal exemptions. “I really want to get vaccinated, but I don’t want another bad reaction,” she said. “I don’t think it’s deadly if I get it. I just think it’s a few days in the hospital, which no one wants,” Ainsley said. She isn’t sure which vaccine gave her the initial reaction, so to play it safe, she’s steering clear of all the COVID-19 vaccines for now. “As someone who can’t get vaccinated, I think it’s really important that people keep wearing masks if they can,” Ainsley said. “Just be selfless, I guess, and care more about those around you than yourself.”
Not being able to receive vaccines has not affected Ainsley’s life like this in the past. She considers herself fairly lucky and, despite never getting a flu shot, has only had the flu once. Despite her allergies, Ainsley likes that UO is requiring vaccines for the fall. “It’ll make me feel comfortable,” she said, “and for other people that are maybe immunocompromised, knowing that others around us are vaccinated makes me feel ahead of the game.” Ainsley knows that the vaccine isn’t the end-all of COVID-19 but thinks UO is taking a step in the right direction. “I have to do a lot of medical paperwork on my end, having to explain my situation to the school, because it’s such a unique circumstance,” Ainsley said. But other than the paperwork, her plans for next year have stayed the same. She will be living off-campus in an apartment complex that enforces mask-wearing. UO sophomore Freya Rhodes has been fully vaccinated for over a month. “I was really happy when I got the email,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we’re vaccinated for fall.” Rhodes acknowledges that some of the pushback is people wanting the freedom to choose what goes in their bodies, but she said that vaccines have been required to go to school for a really long time. “We didn’t kick and scream when we needed to get Measles, Mumps and Rubella [vaccines],” she said. Rhodes is living with her sorority next year, Kappa Delta, which she said follows UO’s lead where things like vaccines are concerned. “I feel really good in knowing that people are going to have to get vaccinated before they live in,” she said. Rhodes hasn’t heard any negative backlash about the vaccine within her friend group or sorority. Students like Ainsley and Rhodes are excited about the fall term and feel that the vaccine will help them get their lives back to normal.
Drive-up patients await their vaccines/ University of Oregon begins to distribute Vaccines to Students and Faculty on April 21, 2021. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald) T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
|
EMERALD
|
PA G E 5
Eugene’s Premier Student Housing VOTE FOR US ON Best of Campus
You’ve never lived like this. Walk or bike to class
Academically oriented environments
Private bedrooms and bathrooms available
Swimming pools with sun decks
Fully furnished apartments
Individual liability leases
Hardwood-style flooring
Self-service roommate matching powered by RoomSync
Amenities for a fit and healthy lifestyle
FIND YOUR OWN HOME MILL ST
OVER 100 LISTINGS TO CHOOSE FROM.
WILLAMETTE RIVER
DAILYEMERALD.COM/DUCKSHOUSING
E BROADWAY MILLRAC
ONYX ST
KINCAID ST
PATTERSON ST
ALDER ST
E 11TH AVE
GARDEN
Miller Theatre Complex
FR A N
The Duck Store
E 13TH AVE
E 13TH AVE
KLIN
AVE
BLVD
E 15TH AVE
ORCHARD ST
Matthew Knight Arena
VILLARD ST
THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
AGATE ST
UNIVERSITY ST
Bijou Art Cinemas
E DR
Learn more and apply online at AmericanCampus.com/Eugene
Amenities are subject to change. See office for details. PA G E 6
|
EMERALD
|
T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
Tthe Emerald Presents
FOOD FUMBLE HOTLINE
Skyla Patton Editor in Chief Special Sections
PODCAST
Join Em Chan and Jamie Diep every other week as they answer your cooking questions and handle your kitchen mishaps on the Food Fumble Hotline. They believe food is best served hot and takes served even hotter. To ask a question, go to bit.ly/ FoodFumble, email them at foodfumblehotline@gmail.com or find them on Twitter at @catchuptoemily and @jdiep2.
“Everyone affiliated with UO in any way should subscribe to the DailyE because it’s THE BEST way to keep the university on its toes. Accountability has to come first and there’s no better way to hold institutions accountable than good journalism and a dedicated readership.”
Email Newsletter dailyemerald.com/dailye
Everything you need to know, Everything UO T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
|
EMERALD
|
PA G E 7
THE HAYWARD MAGIC SHOE COMES ALIVE! STORY BEGINS Hayward had a fascination with shoes that began long before he arrived in Eugene. Before one of his professional races, Hayward came out for his warmups wearing striped socks over his shoes. As soon as the gun went off, Hayward ripped off the socks, revealing a new pair of shoes with spikes on the soles — one of the first known pairs of spiked shoes to ever be used in a track meet. He won by a landslide.
From the first spiked shoes to record breaking moments, read all about Hayward’s rich history in Hayward Field: Legends and Legacy
During the race, a number of nearby retail stores were robbed by a suspect who’d climbed in through the roof. Because of his spiked shoes, Hayward was briefly held and questioned by the local police. He was released soon after, free of any charges.
ORDER TODAY!
dailyemerald.com/haywardbook
WONDERFULLY WRITTEN
IMAGE RICH
140 PAGES, HARDCOVER
ORDER TODAY AT DAILYEMERALD.COM/HAYWARDBOOK Legacy
Burrito sized sushi rolls Delicious Bowls and salads Famous House made sauces
WINNER THE ORIGINAL NORTHWEST SUSHI BURRITO
SUSHI BURRITOS
AND BOWLS STARTING AT
$8.50
2019 2020
TRY OUR
FAMOUS GARLIC & CAJUN CHICKEN
Order online at eatsubo.com for exclusive Specials
PA G E 8
|
EMERALD
|
T H U R S D AY, M AY 2 7 , 2 0 2 1
3
LOCATIONS TO SATISFY YOUR
CRAVINGS
SPRINGFIELD 42nd and Main EUGENE 3rd and Van Buren NEW LOCATION 2568 Willamette