Journalistic Works

As an aspiring classical solo pianist, Alfie Ong’s future is never set in stone. Currently, Alfie is touring Yale’s School of Music. Two days later, he will be a complementary pianist to his friend in a performance at Yale. Following the performance, Alfie will return across the country to the University of Oregon to pursue his double major in comparative literature and piano performance. Where, under the tutelage of Dr. Alex Dossin, he spends 3-8 hours every day honing his skills with the piano.

Alfie hasn’t always wanted to be a solo pianist. Alfie’s parents started him on the piano when he was two, but he eventually got tired of it entering middle school. However, in 7th grade, Alfie was watching TV when Lang Lang came on. Lang Lang, a world-renowned classical solo pianist, has inspired so many musicians that there is a saying in China called the Lang Lang effect. After watching Lang Lang, Alfie picked up the piano again and fell in love.

A grand piano is a necessity for an aspiring solo pianist. Unfortunately, in his junior year of high school, Alfie had no room for one in his packed Hong Kong Apartment. Thankfully, Ong’s tutor, Dr. Dossin, had a connection to a high school in North Carolina that had a grand piano. Alfie immediately jumped at this chance and traveled across the world to finish high school in North Carolina.

Lang Lang is famous for being open-minded, extroverted, and trying new things. Inspired by his idol, Alfie did the same in North Carolina. “I’m an extroverted person,” Alfie said, “I never thought (the move to America) as an obstacle to overcome but as a natural process of change.”

Alfie’s future is unpredictable. 90% of musicians fail, and Alfie knows this. However, Alfie isn’t stressed by the uncertainty of his future. “Alfie is always positive and a hard worker I know I can rely on him.” Said Max Jaimes, Alfie’s friend and coworker. Alfie’s future is daunting, but like his idol Lang Lang, performing and traveling to new places is something he loves, and he doesn’t plan to stop.

Valentine Soca wins it all at the Morton 5000m

Oliver Bigman

DUBLIN – Valentine Soca outpaced second-place finisher Matt Strangio in a tight final lap finish at the Morton Games. Soca and Strangio swapped first and second the whole race until Strangio dropped into fifth during the second to last lap. However, late heroics had Strangio leaping back into second in front of third place Miguel Angel Martinez.

Soca, winner of the 2023 South American Championship 5000m and Uruguay native, finished with a time of 13:18. Strangio, a University of Portland senior and California native, finished with a new personal best, 13:20. Third place Martinez from Spain finished with a 13:21 time and kept solid pace never straying too far from third.

“Had to do a fair bit of leading today.” said Strangio post-race. “Not really what I’m used to for races. I’m more of a kicker, but I came here to run fast.” Strangio beat his personal best by three seconds.

“Valentine and I have been talking a lot. We definitely wanted to come here around 13:10,” said Strangio “Bit bum not to run as fast as we wanted.” However, this race had better results than his last 5000m. Where he was leading into the final lap but ended up finishing sixth. “

Third place Martinez was shooting for the 5000m Spanish world standard, 13:15. He didn’t reach his goal but was happy nonetheless. “I feel very good,” said Martinez. “I think the adrenaline from the race was a plus.”

Jack O’Leary, an Ireland native, came out of nowhere with a fourth-place finish. Coming back to Ireland after four years of the NCAA in America, he was looking to break the Irish world record, 13:03. O’Leary stayed near contention the whole race but was out-ran by Strangio’s final lap effort.

Headliner Marco Langon was a no-show at the track. Marco boasted the second-best 5000m time entering the race and coming off a win last week at Corks City mile. It’s currently unclear why he dropped out.

UO Undergraduate Research Symposium, changing what research means 

University of Oregon’s 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium marked the 15th anniversary and largest participation of the event in school history. It featured over 520 presenters representing 86 majors. 

By Oliver Bigman 

Samantha Guzman finished her presentation, Echando Raices: The Importance of Putting Down Cultural Roots in Dance Communities, to a roar of applause from the small audience in the packed Coquille Room at the EMU. Since October, Samantha’s been researching and interviewing her dance group for her presentation—a different approach to traditional symposiums. 

Samantha wasn’t the only one approaching the symposium differently this year. Inclusion was a focus for symposium staff. “Our planning committee has worked really hard” to expand our outreach to students involved in humanities and social sciences and arts, said Lanch McCormick, director of student engagement for the symposium. 

“Some of you will present your work through posters and others through talks, performances, exhibits, or even documentaries,” said Kevin Hatfield, Assistant Vice Provost for the symposium and Co-Chair of the Steering Committee. “What binds us together is the human desire to know.” 

This year’s symposium showcased the most majors and disciplines in school history. These presentations serve not only as a showcase of research but also as a way for students to gain confidence in themselves and their passions. 

“It feels good, putting myself in a position I’m not really comfortable with, and I’m growing; that in itself a big win,” said Samantha Guzman, a senior and dance minor, after her presentation. “[Bringing] my community and their voices and all of that into this space is something huge for me.” 

Payton Rosello, a first-generation college student and special archives worker, presented the ethics of being a special archive worker. “I never considered that research was something I could do as a humanity student,” she said. “Seeing that I’m actually able to engage with research in my major means everything to me.” 

“It’s been so wonderful. It’s been a lot better than I was expecting,” said Payton on her symposium experience. “I was a little bit nervous at first, but everyone is so nice.” 

However, the focus on inclusion doesn’t mean stem was forgotten. Joseph Nguyen, a third-year psychology student, presented a brief parent mindfulness intervention to reduce parent stress around child behavior problems.  

Joseph himself wasn’t all too worried about the symposium, but presenting with his classmates after eight months of research made it worth it to him. Seeing everyone “getting to present and showing off their work is really cool, I think,” he said. 

Research can also come to people in many ways. Camila Hess-Neustadt, a fifth-year psychology major, presented Immigration Salience and the Rise of the Swedish Radical Right: Testing the Flash Potential after she returned from studying abroad in Sweden. 

Camila talked about what her research accomplishes. “I hope that more research is done, and we get a better understanding of how we got in this mess,” she said. “I hope that this is part of a larger movement towards understanding the status quo.” 

Presenting research can also help students better understand their career aspirations. “People assume that dance is performative,” said Samantha. “I realized that there are so many different paths that I want to explore in terms of dance. That’s what the symposium meant for me.” 

Samantha plans to present her finalized work at a conference for the National Education Organization 

Research means something different to everyone, but according to co-chair Kevin Hatfield, there is one common factor. “Each project here today is an effort to discern things as they truly are,” Kevin said. “Research doesn’t always offer grand answers, but it offers something just as powerful. The joy of finding something new.”