Eugene weekly., March 19, 2020, Page 8, Image 8

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Communication is Key
RESEARCHERS AT UO RECEIVE FUNDING TO STUDY
HOW INFORMATION ABOUT COVID-19 AFFECTS PEOPLE
By Taylor Perse
A
s the world dives deeper into the un-
precedented battle against COVID-19,
people are becoming more inundated
with information about the virus every
day. In looking at this, researchers at the
University of Oregon are figuring out
how this information affects behavior.
Professor Ellen Peters and other faculty received the
funding to conduct research on communication during
the coronavirus pandemic. The research is funded by the
National Science Foundation, which can provide rapid
funds in situations where the research is time-sensitive.
Peters is the Philip H. Knight Chair at UO’s School
of Journalism and Communication and the Director of
the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR).
“This is nothing like we expected,” Peters says of the
coronavirus. “What we are interested in doing is [this
research] during a national crisis.”
Peters and the other researchers are looking into
people’s emotional reactions and their behaviors over
time. In studying these factors, she will observe outside
influences, like the news.
The goal of the research is to better understand the
psychological processes that are involved in people’s
reaction to a pandemic like this. They are hoping to see
a link between what people are exposed to in the media
and how it affects the brain, especially because there is
a lot of fear floating around right now.
Peters says they will be sending out surveys and are
already beginning to collect data. In addition to Peters,
ELLEN PETERS
other members of the SCR help with the research include
Brittany Shoots-Reinhard, Michael Silverstein and Raleigh
Goodwin. Two journalism faculty members, Senyo Ofori-
Parku and Scott Maier, will conduct a content analysis of
the media involved in the study.
One of these behaviors we’ve seen already, Peters says,
is people stocking up on food and other items in fear of the
virus spreading. This can cause a chain reaction, leading
to others wanting to stock up as well.
As of right now, Peters says, people are being exposed
to a ton of information regarding the coronavirus. Much
New to You Gear
A NEW STORE IN EUGENE WANTS TO LET YOU TRY
SPORTS GEAR BEFORE INVESTING BIG MONEY
By Corrin Avchin
A
new sports consignment store wants
to make sports gear environmentally
friendly by recycling gear — and make
sports gear more affordable. Eugene
Gear Traders, owned and managed by
Bevin Helm, opened March 1.
Helm grew up in all over the U.S.,
including Eugene, and now she says she has come back
to town with a goal of helping people try new sports, get
gear and not break the bank.
“Don’t buy an expensive mountain bike before knowing
if you even like the sport,” Helm says.
Customers can consign gear and apparel — meaning
sellers make a deal with the storeowner who sells the item
and then both consignee and the store itself make a profit.
Born in Bellevue, Washington, Helm quickly started
a life of travel. At eight, Helm moved to the Big Island of
Hawaii with her parents, where she soon became an athlete.
Helm had an untraditional childhood — her father was a
triathlon trainer and the family grew up in a sports hostel
on the Big Island. When she was 16, the family picked up
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M A R C H
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2 0 2 0
BEVIN HELM
and moved to Eugene.
Helm has been involved in sports throughout her life,
and that influenced her decision to open a sporting goods
consignment shop.
“I was 19 when I managed and was a buyer for a surf
shop in North Bend,” she says, “The shop was called
Oregon Surf Shop. I began saving, traveling and surfing
during that time. I spent a lot of time in Mexico and also
of this information, she says, is necessary because people
need to be prepared. But a lot of what is out there scares
people.
“It’s a lot of negative and scary information for people,”
Peters says. “Sometimes the information can be helpful
and other times it’s overwhelming.”
So far, she’s observed that some information that is
being shared between people and the media often doesn’t
tell the entire story. Sometimes the numbers are not as
proportionate or accurate, she says. In order to mitigate
fear and assuage some of the panic, people should be
aware of what types of information they are seeing and
how it aligns with other numbers.
Peters and her colleagues have already published two
pieces in their early data collecting of the pandemic, one
with The New York Times and the other with the National
Science Foundation. She says they first were interested
in who people trusted more for information.
“People are more persuaded and act on recommenda-
tions by local sources. So we ask a series of questions of
who people trust or might not trust,” Peters says.
She says she found that, expectedly, who people trusted
during the early outbreak aligned with political divisions.
Republicans trusted President Donald Trump, whereas
Democrats trusted other groups more than the president.
They also found that everybody trusted other groups,
including doctors and the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC), more than the president.
If people are already feeling too inundated with the
amount of information regarding COVID-19, Peters rec-
ommends taking a little break from the news.
“Ask yourself if it’s helping you to prepare better,”
she says.
And if it is, she adds, think critically about the numbers
being presented. If you see how many people are hospital-
ized from the virus, look it at as how many people don’t
have to be hospitalized.
“Presenting both sides gives more context to people.
Because of the way our minds work, it gives both sides
of the story and helps people understand the greater
context,” she says.
traveled back to Hawaii and Indonesia.” Helm says she
returned to retail after moving to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Over the years, Helm homed in on her favorite sports to
participate in: skiing, mountain biking and surfing. With
the store opening, she hopes to make a small difference
not just in the community but also around the world.
“I believe in creating a business that will help as many
people as possible explore new sports and the outdoors,”
she says. “It is also really important for me to have an
environmentally friendly business. The apparel industry
has been very cruel environmentally.”
For the past five years, Helm and her family lived
in Bend, where she says there were already too many
consignment stores, so, when the opportunity came up
to move to Eugene, Helm took the chance to open a shop
on this side of the Cascades.
“The outdoor industry with brands like Patagonia,
Prana and Outerknown, are just a few that are leading
the way,” Helm says. “I hope to be a part of reusing all
the great, still very good gear that is more affordable so
people can start or try sports they may not know if they
want to invest in yet.”
Helm’s advice for those who may want to try a new sport
but are possibly intimidated is to start out with how com-
fortable you are, figure out what you want to do and then go
with people who are excited to show you.
“Rent the gear you are using before you buy the expensive
gear,” she says
The official grand opening of Eugene Gear Traders was set for March
16 but the store is already open. Eugene Gear Traders is located at 233
W. 5th Avenue. For more information, visit EugeneGearTraders.com.
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M