Emerald THE DAILY
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM PRODUCED BY STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS
MONDAY, OCT. 13, 2025 SPORTS
Athlete of the week: Valentina Vaulet
Read story on page 15
OPINION
ARTS & CULTURE
Local 10-minute plays offer slice of life at Tsunami Books
Nag: The attack on mail-in ballots
Read story on page 10
ECONOMY
Tariffs and slower growth squeeze Lane County businesses
Amid a slowing economy, local businesses face rising costs and uncertainty as new U.S. tariffs take hold.
Opinion: President Trump's attack on mail-in ballots especially hurts UO students, so it’s important to protect access to the ballot and fight misinformation. By Aishiki Nag
Opinion Columnist
Oregon has a rich bipartisan history behind mail-in ballot initiatives, with Oregon voters approving mail-in ballots for all biennial elections and general elections in 1998. This made Oregon the first U.S. state to have all major elections be determined by mail-in ballots. The 2000 presidential general election, the first major election with statewide mail-in ballots, had a 79% turnout, one of the highest voter turnouts in the country. Mail-in ballots provide more people with the chance to participate in elections. Those that have school, university or work a full time job often struggle to make it to the polls. Mail-in ballots provide Continue story on page 5
NEWS
Composting in Eugene
By Lucas Hellberg
By Sasha Love
News Reporter
Senior News Reporter
Oregon’s economy is losing momentum just as new U.S. import tariffs drive up business costs, reducing profit margins and increasing consumer prices already strained by inflation. State economists say Oregon is trailing the nation in growth, and that job losses are mounting across several industries. The state in July had nearly 25,000 fewer jobs than it did a year ago. “This is economically unprecedented territory,” Oregon Chief Economist Carl Riccadonna said.
Food waste amounts to 92 billion pounds annually, according to the nonprofit group Feeding America. Though food doesn’t last forever, throwing scraps in the trash doesn’t have to be your only option. Eugene residents with household recycling and trash bins are also provided with gray bins for composting by the city. Disposal of food waste in this gray bin comes at no additional cost and is processed through the Love Food Not Waste® program. The program partners with Rexius, a landscaping and waste management company, to turn the food into compost. Continue story on page 8
Continue story on page 4