Emerald THE DAILY
TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2026
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM PRODUCED BY STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS
ARTS & CULTURE
Eugene music shops cater to community The people behind Buy & Sell Center, Beacock Music and McKenzie River Music tell the stories of their stores. By Vinny White
Arts & Culture Writer
With the prevalence of large chains and online retailers, music stores need to stand out now more than ever. Whether it’s the history of Buy & Sell Center, the customer service of Beacock Music or the culture of McKenzie River Music, music shops in Eugene are steadfast in serving their community.
Buy & Sell Center Nestled neatly in Eugene’s downtown, Buy & Sell carries just about any instrument that a single person can carry, granted it’s not too heavy. “(We carry) most musical instruments,” proprietor Daniel Kaplan said. “If it takes more than one person to lift it, we usually don’t like it. Rock n’ roll instruments, keyboards, (music) books. Whatever we think we can make a buck on.” The walls and displays of the center are plastered with guitars, flutes, mandolins, sitars and even a sizable accordion collection. First opened as a general pawn shop by Jim Newell in the 1970s, Kaplan purchased the store in 1993 and transitioned it to purely music. Music always made up the bulk of Buy & Sell’s sales because, as Kaplan put it, “Musicians are always broke and selling gear and then buying it back again.”
ASUO works to rebuild Oregon Student Association Members of ASUO are working to bring back the Oregon Student Association, a leader in student advocacy. By Corey Hoffman
Senior News Reporter
In fall 2024, Oregon universities lost their biggest tether to advocacy at the state level when the Oregon Student Association shuttered. Fast forward nearly two years, and OSA is set to make its return with the support of students and legislators alike. Several members of ASUO, the University of Oregon’s student government body, including Vice President Max Jensen and Executive Director of Advocacy Amaya Peralta, are working to restart OSA, a student advocacy nonprofit.
OSA, initially founded in 1975, worked with institutions across Oregon to provide a collective student voice to the state legislature. The organization had faced structural and funding challenges since 2019, which were later heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization also lost a member of its core staff in a fatal car accident in July 2024. During its nearly 50 years in operation, some of OSA’s advocacy wins included helping to register tens of thousands of students to vote each election cycle, including more than 50,000 in
2012. It helped pass the tuition equity bill in 2013, which gave undocumented students in Oregon access to in-state tuition and helped establish ethnic studies programs in kindergarten through 12th grade curriculums. OSA was also responsible for helping expand financial aid coverage such as the Oregon Opportunity Grant, Oregon’s largest state-funded, needs-based grant for college students, and securing tens of thousands of dollars in education and scholarship funding. “The Oregon educational system is shifting in the direction of privatization Continue story on page 14
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