Emerald THE DAILY
INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM PRODUCED BY STUDENTS, FOR STUDENTS
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2025
CAMPUS NEWS
ARTS & CULTURE
In between seams: balancing the difficulties of smallscale clothesmaking By Cass Morrison Arts & Culture Writer
Growing up surrounded by the Los Angeles fashion scene, Niko Freedman was exposed to the challenges and opportunities of the modern clothing industry long before he started making clothes. Now, as a student at the University of Oregon, he creates unique pieces on a small scale, designing clothing for himself and friends. Freedman was raised by a single mother who worked in the creative industry for a media production company, and he was brought along to showrooms and factories while she worked. “I would get dragged after school to my mom’s work to these huge warehouses where they’re making clothes,” Freedman said. Exposed to such a potent fashion environContinue story on page 12
CITY NEWS
Jennifer Reynolds named dean of UO School of Law Read story on page 5
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CAHOOTS SHUTDOWN
LOOKING AHEAD TO Community urges City Council WHAT’S NEXT FOR to “do something” CAHOOTS about CITY NEWS
By Ceci Cronin City News Reporter
At first glance, the Willamette River flows smoothly through Eugene, a scenic stretch of water often seen as the city’s natural heart. But to Michelle Emmons, co-executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, what lies beneath the surface tells a very different story. “The biggest issue the Eugene area is dealing with is urban stormwater,” Emmons said. “And that’s not just runoff from the streets—it carries oil, heavy metals, microplastics, and other debris into the river.” Stormwater runoff—essentially everything that flows off roofs, roads, and lawns when it rains—picks up harmful substances along the way. And when that runoff isn’t filtered or managed properly, it goes straight into the Willamette and its tributaries. Eugene may not have a designated Superfund site (a designation given by the Environmental Continue story on page 10
CAHOOTS
The sudden departure of Eugene’s most utilized crisis response program, CAHOOTS, has posed more questions than answers. For some, it’s “hard to say” what the community’s future will look like without the program.
By Joseph Chiu City News Associate Editor
What’s flowing into the Willamette?
SPORTS
No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling set for familiar NCATA Championship run
With the exit of CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets) on April 7 from the city of Eugene after 35 years of operations, questions and uncertainties are being raised throughout the community. Clients, workers and former employees are searching for answers as to what the next steps are.
Read story on page 10
(Courtesy of Robert Scherle) Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson listens to public comment about CAHOOTS at an April 14 City Council meeting.
CAHOOTS, a mobile crisis intervention program, is operated by White Bird Clinic, which is a federally qualified health center that provides primary care services in the communities it serves. CAHOOTS saw drastic reductions from its operator, White Bird, that resulted in over 20 employees being laid off and its service hours reduced to one shift a week. The city of Eugene, seeing that CA-
HOOTS could no longer fulfill its contractual obligations, came to an agreement with White Bird to terminate its contract with CAHOOTS effective April 7. Research and discussions about CAHOOTS’ overall impact on the community and the challenges they’re currently facing were introduced during a pre-planned town hall meeting on April 10 at the University of Oregon, three days
Continue story on page 6
OPINION
CAHOOTS’ impact was widespread By Aishiki Nag Opinion Columnist
Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, or CAHOOTS, was abruptly halted on Monday, April 7, cancelling essential services and laying off staff. The abrupt closure not only is negatively im-
pacting our community, but also services that emergency responders can tend to. This service provided essential healthcare and on-site assistance, taking on significant responsibilities that would have gone to the Eugene Police Department. In 2024 alone, there were 16,800 recorded requests for service, averaging 46 calls a day through the program. Currently, CAHOOTS is still operating in Springfield and the Helping Out Our Teens in Schools (HOOTS) program and the White Bird local crisis line are still operating, but no vans are operational in Eugene. On April 10, CAHOOTS hosted a town hall to discuss the program’s financial challenges and research that showed
some of the notable successes; however, they did not anticipate the program would abruptly stop beforehand. Nonetheless, the town hall shed light on the program’s importance in our community. Nathan Burton, a recent University of Oregon graduate studying data science, presented research on diversion rates and predictive models, highlighting the major milestones the program has reached. Burton started his presentation with, “I believe this is a terrible mistake, because it means walking away from one of the most effective and passionate methods in our country.” Diversion rates measure the redirecContinue story on page 11