June 2015 – Page 4 – The Western Howl

By Jenna Beresheim
 Staff Writer

Students and Monmouth community members recently attended a trip through the Polynesian islands, eating authentic meals and watching traditional dances, all for under $20.

Saturday, May 16, Western’s Hawai’i club hosted their 9th Annual Lu’au, in tandem with the Nesian Club.

The Lu’au hosted over 20 dances ranging from Tahiti, Samoa, Aotearoa, and more. The evening started off with a dinner full of traditional foods such as Kalua pork, Poke, Mac Salad, and coconut cake.

Between rounds of dances, volunteers were called to the stage to participate in fun games, such as trying to pronounce Pidgin – an accent based off of English with its own Hawaiian flair.

“Performing at this year’s Lu’au was a really great experience for me, especially as a first year student,” Erica Sanchez, first year dance major, said. She choreographed three dances for this Lu’au.

Other choreographers were Kamaka Keawekane, Tolu Tafai, Nikki Ki, Tavae Sina, Melody Andrada, Kaua Kauahi-Daniels, Courtney Costa, and Gianne Pabustan.

“I feel that we did great, but the main thing is that we had fun,” said Tafatolu Naea, a junior pre-fire service administration student and president of the Nesian Club. “It’s always a pleasure to show others a taste of our Polynesian culture and dancing is a big part of it.”

Naea has participated in both Lu’aus the two years he has attended, saying that, “I’m glad we got to represent some of the different Pacific Islands such as Fiji, Aotearoa, Tahiti, Hawai’i, but especially my home land and the heart of the pacific islands, Samoa.”

The club’s energy and passion was showcased in smiling faces and powerful dancing, even with a few whooping “Cheehooos!” from the crowd and dancers alike.

“Shout out to a good friend Alyssa Carvahlo who’s a senior and in the Hawai’i club,” Naea added. “She played a huge role in putting the Lu’au together. You the one!”

This was the final year of Carvahlo’s participation as a Western student, as she will be graduating in a few weeks with the class of 2015. Carvahlo even created a dance as tribute to all of her friends and connections as a parting gift to the club.

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Not your average fairy tale

By Katrina Penaflor
 Campus Life Editor

Hamersly Library will host a book signing and reading of Kate Ristau’s young adult novel “Shadowgirl,” Wednesday, May 27, from 4-6 p.m. in room 107.

Ristau is a former writing instructor at Western who has always harbored passions for teaching and writing.

Some of her former works include a collaboration with multiple professors from the English and writing department on the coffee-themed anthology Coarse Grounds, and the book Commas: An Irreverent Primer, which she wrote with literature and writing instructor Maren Anderson.

Ristau said she enjoys writing young adult and middle grade fiction and loves incorporating her background in folklore into her work.

“Shadowgirl” was originally published by Lycaon Press and later by Parenthetical publishing. It was released May 21.

The novel is a young adult fantasy with incorporated elements of Irish folklore, and tells the story of a fey named Áine, whom Ristau said “crossed over from the fairy world to our world.” The book follows Áine’s journey to finding the truth about her family and past.

“It’s not a light fairy tale,” Ristau said and adding that the novel’s tagline is “this is not a fairy tale.”

Ristau said the novel raises the question: “if a fairy came to our world what would it really be like?”

Ristau’s “stories are tight and have a forward momentum that makes them fast, exciting reads,” Anderson said.

“Shadowgirl” is already raking in rave reviews on Amazon. One reader, Pam Killebrew, wrote in her review, “I inhaled this book — from the first chapter I was hooked; I couldn’t put it down. Interesting setting, intriguing characters, and a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”

Aside from the upcoming signing in Hamersly Library, Ristau will also be at Annie Bloom’s Books in Portland May 28 from 7-8 p.m.

Ristau’s advice for students and writers is to continually write.

“Get a draft and get something out on the page,” she said. The next step is “you have to revise and edit,” and then: “you have to send it out.”

She added: “after you send something out, keep writing more.”

Ristau is currently drafting a sequel to “Shadowgirl,” and has two other novels in submission.

For more information about Ristau’s work, go to her website http://kateristau.com/

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100 Years of Never Ceasing to Learn

By Elizabeth Lowry
 Freelancer

Withstanding the test of time, Western’s Information Technology Center is celebrating its centennial this year.

In 1882, the Oregon State Legislature — according to John C. Almack’s History of Oregon Normal Schools — passed a law that created state normal schools. Derived from the French term ecole normale, normal schools were institutions that provided training programs in the “norms” of teaching.

Western, named Christian College at the time, renamed to Oregon State Normal School. Four other normal schools were opened in the cities of Ashland, The Dalles, Weston and Drain.

However, 16 years later in 1898, legislature would pass The Daly Bill which took away the power to grant teaching certificates from both denominational and state normal schools. While the plan was to eventually give authority back to state schools, in 1909 state funding was pulled completely and all five normal schools closed.

Through the support of the Monmouth, Independence and Polk County communities, the Monmouth school was able to open its doors once again, renaming to Oregon Normal School (ONS) in 1911.

With the new lack of normal schools, ONS found itself in the predicament of raising student enrollment and decreasing space.

With only four classrooms in their model school, dubbed “the Patch School” due to its differing colors of exterior paint on its original floor subsequent addition of a second floor, ONS approached the Oregon State Legislature to request funds for a new training school.

In 1915, Legislature awarded ONS $50,000 and development for the Monmouth Training School was put on the fast track.

Under the supervision of skilled state architect John Virginius Bennes and Corvallis contracting firm Snook and Traver, construction for the two story building, which included a basement, began on Aug. 11, 1915. Using many Oregon-based materials, including stones mined from Oregon quarries, the Training School officially opened Feb. 14, 1916.

The finished building was comprised of a 210-seat auditorium, 7 classrooms with attached recitation rooms, restrooms, administrative offices and a 2,000-book library. The basement contained two playrooms, domestic science and art rooms and a children’s lunch room.

As the campus population continued to increase, the Training School went through several major changes in its 100-year history, including the addition of its northeast and southeast wings for increased classroom space in 1949 and 1959 respectively. In 1964, the Training School changed its name to Campus Elementary School (CES) to avoid confusion with the new Monmouth Elementary School. By 1986, CES had closed and the building underwent a structural remodel before being repurposed as the Instructional Technology Center (ITC).

Currently the ITC is home to Western’s computer and audio/visual centers. An architectural staple, the ITC holds a rich historical past and a bright indispensable future to Western’s campus.

The ITC exhibit “100 Years of Service: Never Cease to Learn” exhibit is located on the second floor of Hamersly Library and is available for viewing until June 30.

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RUN THIS TOWN

By Rachel Shelley
 Staff Writer

Born and raised in Ethiopia, Badane Sultessa and his 11 siblings walked to and from school, sometimes as far as five miles away. In a place with no transportation, they relied on their feet.

“It was really crazy. You’re on your own there,” Sultessa said. Because Sultessa and his five brothers and six sisters experienced a lot of fighting in schools, his family decided to travel to a new home in Portland in 2008.

It was within the walls of Centennial High School where Sultessa experienced the struggles of moving to a new country. Adapting to cultural differences, language barriers, an entirely new cuisine, new faces and, most importantly, a change of pace.

“Running helped me make a lot of friends; in my free time I hung out with my teammates,” said Sultessa. “It helped me learn English and get an education at the same time.”

Sultessa found solace in his high school running team.

“If it wasn’t for running, I don’t think I would have even gone to college,” Sultessa said.

Running didn’t just help his transition into a new country. His feet, which he relied on to get from home to school and back, were going to take him even farther than he ever thought possible.

In his first 800-meter race on the junior varsity track team freshman year, Sultessa won in 2 minutes and 17.01 seconds. By hissophomore year, he placed fourth at the Mt. Hood Conference Championships in 2:02.25. He also participated in the 1,500 at the OSAA 6A State Championships.

During the 2010 outdoor season, Sultessa joined the elite under-two-minute squad, breaking through the two-minute barrier of his 800 to win the 6A state championships in 1:57.04.

Three years after he started his journey as a distance athlete, Sultessa finished his high school career on the fast track to a promising collegiate career. He finished second at the state championships in both the 1,500 and the 800 races, with times of 3:59.64 and 1:53.75, respectively. His 800 performance at the state championships qualified him for a spot at BorderDuel Classic. At the BorderDuel, Sultessa ran the fastest 800 time of his career to place third in 1:53.42.

Although Sultessa’s high school career was impressive, it was only a preamble. His journey as an elite 800 runner was just beginning.

After leaving Portland State on a full ride, he headed to Clackamas Community College where he received his associate of arts Oregon transfer degree but struggled to excel as a runner.

Sultessa was given the opportunity to walk on as part of the University of Oregon track team but didn’t want to withdraw any loans. Finally, Sultessa was offered a scholarship at Western where he fell in love with the program and felt it fit with his goals.

“I like how the team is really close and really small,” Sultessa said. “It’s not a big university. We share everything; it’s like a family.”

Within his first year at Western, Sultessa qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships where he became the third All-American in Western track and field history. He entered the finals as the top-ranked runner and finished in fourth place overall with a time of 1:51.36.

Eager to earn a spot at the NCAA division-II outdoor championships, Sultessa spent the outdoor season racing towards a qualifying time. At the Mt. Hood Track Festival, Badane finished second overall but after a time mishap he was left unqualified for outdoor nationals, with just the GNAC Conference meet left.

“I was trying to qualify at Mt. Hood but they messed up my time; it might have gotten me in, but I was mad about that,” he said. “I told myself I was going to qualify at home at conference.”

As a result, Sultessa captured the Great Nothwest Athletic Conference 800 title in 1:52.31, which was .60 seconds shy of qualifying for outdoor nationals.

“The race went out slow, so I didn’t qualify,” he said.

Just missing the qualifying mark, Sultessa accepted that his season was over. Returning for one more year of school and athletic eligibility at Western for the 2015-2016 year, he continues to train and run.

“I was really mad and sad,” he said. “I tried to give everything I had. If I gave everything I had and ran 1:51 I would be happy, but it wasn’t everything I had.”

On May 17, Sultessa traveled home to Portland to race at the Portland Twilight Track Meet. Unable to use this meet to qualify for the national meet, Sultessa used the Portland Twilight Track Meet for training.

However, he finished the 800 race in 1:47.59 and become the No. 1 D-II runner in the country. His performance lifted himself higher into a slimmer category of 800 runners: ranking amongst the top 25 in all NCAA D-I rankings and hitting the B standard for the Olympic Trials.

“I always believe that everything happens for a good reason,” Sultessa said. “I was really mad and sad and went out to race to see what I can do. This is the first time running with the elite runners; the one thing that is different is this isn’t all I have left, I have more coming.”

With the Olympic trials now in sight, Sultessa has a new goal: qualify for Olympic trials.

“That’s my goal, to get into the Olympic trials. I want to race at a big meet and get a feel [for] running with the elite runners in a big place.”

Before his career concludes, Sultessa has dreams of breaking the 1:42 barrier. His family members also have dreams in the 800 realm as well. His younger brothers, Roba and Jalato Sultessa, are also elite 800 runners at the high school level.

Roba is a two-time state champion in the 800 at Cleveland High School. After winning his 6A PIL District meet, Roba prepares to race toward a three-peat this weekend at the state championships.

His youngest brother, Jalato is a junior at Parkrose High School and finished second in the 5A NWOC District Championships. Jalato will also race at state.

“The Voyage of the Hokule’a”

Not your average fairy tale

100 Years of Never Ceasing to Learn

RUN THIS TOWN

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