NEWS

DUCK RIDES' UOPD AFFILIATION CONCERNS SOME IN ASUO

ASUO’s executive and legislative bodies have both made statements against the UO Police Department this year, although it works with UOPD to provide Duck Rides services to students.

Ahead of the 2017-18 fiscal year, ASUO moved its Safe Ride and Designated Driver Shuttle services — now combined under the Duck Rides umbrella — to the supervision of the University of Oregon Police Department. Now, with both an executive memorandum and senate resolution against the UOPD, ASUO is evaluating how the partnership fits into its values.

“Safe Ride and DDS are essential to campus,” ASUO Senator Nick Keough said, “especially when it comes to reducing drinking and driving and sexual assault and harassment.”

Keough said they see Duck Rides’ services as a prime example of a way to keep UO’s campus safe without a police presence, which they said makes its association with UOPD disappointing. Echoing a central theme of both the ASUO executive’s memorandum to disarm UOPD in October 2020 and the senate’s March 10 resolution, Keough pointed to the history of distrust between police officers and students of color. They said that distrust extends to Duck Rides, too.

Duck Rides program manager Ashley Dougherty said ASUO’s statements against the UOPD and last summer’s protests against police brutality and systemic racism haven’t really changed the way the service operates. “It hasn't changed the way that we're operating in the sense that we're trying to be expansive and diverse and inclusive across the university,” she said. Dougherty said Duck Rides is specifically working with UO’s Accessible Education Center to ensure it is meeting student needs.

“I would implore anybody to reach out with their suggestions,” she said, “and we could see how we could meet the needs of the students better if that's something we're not meeting. That's a priority. You’ve got to hear from the students to be able to serve the students.”

Dougherty said Duck Rides operates relatively autonomously from the UOPD. Most of the employees are UO students, and Dougherty serves as a bridge between them and the larger department. Although the program runs out of the UOPD Station, Dougherty said most of the direct communication between student workers and UOPD is limited to emergencies.

Dougherty said the initial partnership between UOPD and ASUO allowed Duck Rides’ services to grow from student-run programs to a more formalized structure. Since UOPD has taken over Duck Rides programs, its ridership has increased to an average of over 40,000 students in a nonCOVID-19 year, Dougherty said. This number is an 18% increase from its pre-UOPD form. She said the number of students Duck Rides has had to turn away due to vehicles being at capacity has dropped by 66% and driving infractions have gone down by 80%.

Keough emailed ASUO’s Department Finance Committee — the group that determines Duck Rides’ funding, as well as groups like the Holden Leadership Center, the Mills International Center and the Women’s Center — and asked it to withhold budget increases until ASUO can find another group to house Duck Ride services. “It was going to be a topic this year,” Noah Savage, an ASUO senator and the DFC member assigned to work with Duck Rides, said. “And then it kind of got put on the back burner when we started focusing on our giant athletics redistribution.”

Savage said Duck Rides is generally transparent about how it spends money, with roughly 90% of its overall budget coming out of DFC incidental fee funding — the mandatory fee for UO students that pays for a number of on-campus services like parts of the EMU and student organizations. The remaining 10% comes from the UOPD’s budget and goes primarily to the salaries of its full-time staff, including Dougherty.

Still, Savage said he wouldn’t be surprised if UOPD’s connection to Duck Rides is a central focus of next year’s ASUO and he’s open to potentially reconsidering the partnership.

The senate started a safer transportation committee during winter term in direct response to the UOPD’s involvement in the program, and its Black Lives Matter committee’s resolution against the UOPD and prison labor specifically called for ASUO to end the relationship between the UOPD and Duck Rides.

BY LEO BAUDHUIN • TWITTER @NOTALEOBUTLEO

Duck Rides uses a variety of vehicles to carry out nighttime transportation across the UO for students, faculty, members and staff. Duck

Rides is the new transportation service at the University of Oregon. (Ian Enger/ Emerald)

OFFENSE PREVAILS IN OREGON’S SPRING GAME

A QUARTET OF YOUNG QUARTERBACKS AND OREGON’S DEEP RECEIVER ROOM IMPRESSED IN OREGON’S FINAL PRACTICE UNTIL FALL CAMP.

BY KAI KANZER • TWITTER @RIVERKAIKANZ

Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown (13) searches for an open member of offense to make a pass to. Oregon Ducks football host annual spring game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., on May 1, 2021. (Maddie Stellingwerf/Emerald)

The Oregon Ducks’ annual spring game marked the start of what will be a long offseason before Fresno State comes to Eugene on Sept. 4. Team Yellow (first-team offense) squared off against Team Green (first-team defense).

Team Yellow won, 35-34, in dramatic fashion.

On the final drive, dual-sport athlete Robby Ashford completed a 44-yard touchdown pass to freshman Dont'e Thurston, closing the gap 34-33.

On the next play Ashford ended the game, scoring a two-point conversion by diving for the pylon: a play that would make Autzen roar if fans had been in attendance.

The 2021 spring game was played Saturday at Autzen Stadium without spectators, which completely contradicted what fans, family and the players were told back in April.

The news that Lane County will be moving to “extreme risk” came last week on April 27.

“It was pretty brutal to hear that news,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “We haven’t seen [our fans] in a while and you know how much we love our fans and they love us. We wanted to put on a great show, live, in person. So the news was rough. It was hard to take. But like everything else in the pandemic year, you roll with it.”

The lack of fans has been the new normal over the past year, so the team was able to adapt well. Loudspeakers pumped in crowd noise and the national anthem performance ended with a flyover.

For the first few drives, Team Yellow took charge, scoring two touchdowns in as many possessions.

Quarterback Anthony Brown was able to move the ball well all day, both in the air and on the ground. Brown, as suspected, took the bulk of the first-team reps, passing for 230 yards and a touchdown. Brown was efficient, completing 20 of his 29 attempts.

As for the rest of the quarterbacks, there wasn’t a distinct number two, although Jay Butterfield impressed. On his first drive, Butterfield was backed up on his own 17-yard line. On firstand-10, he showed off his arm strength, completing a 41-yard pass to freshman receiver Troy Franklin. Later in the drive, Butterfield displayed his ability to throw on the run as he threw a perfectly placed ball to Kris Hutson for a touchdown to put Team Yellow up 14-0.

“I feel like competition is huge,” Brown said of the quarterback room. “It is important for the progression of the team, and we have a lot of competition.”

Ty Thompson was the odd man out in terms of touchdowns thrown, as Ashford and Butterfield both threw for one.

The passing offense was rolling thanks to Hutson, Franklin and the rest of Oregon’s young receiving corps. Franklin had four catches to go with 93 receiving yards, which was 31 more yards than Isaah Crocker who had the same amount of catches. The receivers were making good plays all day. Midway through the second quarter, Dont’e Thornton’s speed gave way to a 39-yard reception that set up an Oregon touchdown.

With Oregon down four of their scholarship running backs, it was the walk-on freshman Aaron Smith who stole the show. Smith led all running backs with 15 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. Junior CJ Verdell, who is just one of seven returning players to rush for 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons, had just 15 yards on six carries and played sparingly.

Both defenses had their moments, and a multitude of players saw significant snaps. Safety Marko Vidackovic led all in total tackles with seven.

Coach Cristobal was impressed with Justin Flowe, who posted five tackles and a sack. The second-year player is looking for a strong bounceback after he suffered a torn meniscus last season.

“We have been increasing his reps over the last six practices,” Cristobal said. “It is awesome to see him out there. That guy is explosive, brings a lot of energy and makes a ton of plays.”

As spring football comes to an end, players and coaches enter the summer with their minds on getting better each day as they transition into the regular season. Fresno State comes to Eugene on Sept. 4 and will be the Ducks’ first opponents of 2021.