Mount Hood

Straight from the source:

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By: From the desk of The Journal Editorial Team

As more accessible and innovative means of technological communication and research become better developed and implemented into mainstream use, it can be easy to get caught in the vices of factual inaccuracy.

“If it’s on the Internet, it must be true” is a sarcastic saying that has somehow found its way into the minds of individuals that are seemingly more willing to accept a claim as fact if it is placed in the foreground of a picture featuring a well-known political figure or a celebrity.

For example, in the past few weeks, a picture of a decades-younger Donald Trump has made the rounds on social media with a quote that makes the attention-seeker seem even more flamboyantly outspoken than he already is.

The quote is claimed to have been sourced from a 1998 interview in People magazine, and says, “If I were to run [for President], I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.”

While the quote fulfilled its intended goal of stirring the liberal pot and further fueling their disdain for Trump, the fact remains that the quote is entirely made up. Trump never said anything of the sort during his interview with People magazine almost two decades ago.

Such pictures and quotes can be powerful tools for furthering political ideology, especially on social media sites like Facebook where people can press the “share” button and spread the message in a matter of seconds, or on Twitter where the retweet option has turned into an almost subconscious reaction.

This can become a very slippery slope as more and more people share these ignorant/factually inaccurate posts to validate their existing biases; they accept statements as truth when said statements further their own ingrained beliefs without fact-checking them for accuracy.

It does not matter if we agree with a statement or not; the focus of our efforts should be to fact-check everything we see on the Internet.

In a digital age where it is incredibly easy to create and send messages through multiple mediums of communication, we need to be especially cautious when we take someone’s word on a given subject.

Besides, what does it say about our own ideology if it is founded on falsified statements and inaccurate claims?

It says that we are easy.

It says that as a society and as a community, we have drifted from searching for the best information available, to simply searching for the information that suits our needs for the situation.

There is a term used in psychology that perfectly describes this trend: confirmation bias.

Simply put, confirmation bias is the tendency for people to recall or prefer information that supports their viewpoint, and to discount or pay less attention to information that doesn’t.

Confirmation bias, combined with an out-of-control attitude towards compromise has created a wealth of misleading memes, blurbs, and faux inspirational fodder on both sides of the aisle.

In our fast-paced world, surrounded by the incessant want (or need) to instantly share our views with the world, it is imperative to check the facts before the share button comes into play.

After all, your “real world” views are more important than the views you typed up for your last paper, so why use less rigorous standards when analyzing your “real world” sources?

Where is the information coming from?

With the prevalence of background organizations like Super PACs in the American political process, memes and blurbs are often originally shared through profiles linked to shadow organizations.

Try to find out who initially made the post and understand that all organizations are only going to cultivate content that supports their candidate or their viewpoints. This is not dissimilar to researching the background of an author on an academic source.

If the author of a research paper conducted the vast majority of their research at a private, mainly religious college, their findings will naturally be influenced by their surroundings, and must be viewed in that context. It is no different for social media sources.

Can the quote be verified?

A cursory Google search of the terms “Donald Trump” and “People Magazine Interview” revealed that the Donald Trump meme was not an actual quote. The search pulled up the original article, in addition to several news stories about how it had already been discovered to be a false attribution.

The internet is forever, and in most cases (especially when dealing with recent quotes), the original source is easy to find.

That doesn’t mean you will be able to find the appropriate sourcing all the time, but obvious mistakes like the Trump incident will become immediately apparent.
Does it really need to be meme?

Recently, the Internet’s intention for creating memes has shifted to sharing shortened version of more detailed communication. In the beginning, however, memes were mostly limited to inconsequential communications like jokes, and pithy inspirational quotes.

Shouldn’t we be striving to take the memes out of the political sphere (unless it’s a well crafted joke)? Shouldn’t we hope that our political views are more impressive and complicated than two sentences?

Memes simply provide another way for us to further chunk up our politics into sound bites, but the sound bite culture removes any sense of context, background, or viability. It cheapens our incredibly complex system of democracy, and it makes it entirely to easy to polarize our fellow citizens.

So the next time a Donald Trump or politically related meme spreads across the internet, take into account the context and credibility.

The trend towards immediate assumption of internet truths into our personal viewpoints is dangerous. Never take something as a fact, or share your support, without assessing the evidence first.

Basketball hype and expectations

By:Jamal Smith

Are you getting excited for basketball? Lucky for you, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are currently preparing for the start of the season.

The GNAC coaches’ poll, released on Thursday, Oct. 15, ranked the men’s team no. 2 out of the 11 teams in the conference.

The expectations for the men’s team are high on the shoulders of last season’s successes.

The Wolves finished the season with a program best winning record of 23-7 and reached the NCAA Division-II West Regionals for the first time in school history.

“The season is just a journey and we are starting out 0-0 just like everybody else, and last season doesn’t mean anything,” stated head coach Jim Shaw. “We have to approach this year as an opportunity to get better every day, and then we will be all right.”

The men’s team has four returning starters, and two First Team All-GNAC selections in redshirt: senior Andy Agvi (F) and senior Julian Nichols (G).

Agvi was also selected for the GNAC pre-season All-American Team. In his junior year, Agvi averaged 18.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. He also was named the 2014-15 GNAC player of the year.

“Our foundation comes back to four things: our attitude, our work ethic, our leadership and our ability to work as a team,” added coach Shaw. “I expect them to compete every night, no excuses. We have to leave everything out there on the floor and let the results speak for themselves.”

Last year, the women’s team had an overall record of 8-18, and 5-13 in GNAC conference play. In the GNAC coaches poll, the Wolves were ranked no. 10 in the conference.

The women’s team looks to the return of three starters from last year, including GNAC preseason team selectee junior Jordan Mottershaw (G). Last year, Mottershaw led the Wolves in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game.

Returning sophomore Sami Osborne (G/F) had a great second half of the season last year, and started 13 games for the Wolves. Last year, as a true freshman, Osborne averaged 8.8 rebounds per game.

The men’s team faces a huge test in an exhibition game against the Oregon State Beavers on Thursday, Nov. 5 in Corvallis at 7 p.m.

The first exhibition game for the women’s team is also on Thursday, Nov. 5, on the road against Weber State University at 7 p.m.

Cross country competes in GNAC championships

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

Western’s cross country team competed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships Saturday, Oct. 24, in Bellingham, Wash.

Out of 11 schools, Western’s men’s team placed fourth overall, and the women’s team placed sixth.

The men were led by sophomore David Ribich, who tallied 122 points and finished fourth out of ninety-one athletes on the 8K course. Ribich ran a personal-best time of 24:59, which was 57 seconds faster than his run in the 2014 GNAC Championships.

Senior Stephany Stuckey placed thirteenth out of ninety-seven with a spectacular time of 22:40 on the 6K course.

“I went into the race and felt fantastic and had so much fun with it,” stated Stuckey. “I talked with my teammates before the race about believing that the people behind us on our team was really going for it and putting their best foot forward.”

“I’m really proud of my work, but also of my teammates work,” Stuckey added. “We just did really well as a team.”

Next up, the Wolves will host the NCAA West Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. The women will start at 10 a.m., and the men will begin at 11:15 a.m.

MSU Yellow Jackets sting Wolves on senior day

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By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The Wolves women’s soccer team lost at home to Montana State University-Billings (MSU) 1-0 on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The loss brings the Wolves overall record to 7-7-1 and 3-6-1 in GNAC conference play.

A large crowd was on-hand to cheer on the pack for senior day, the last home game of the year.

“Senior day is a very exciting day and it’s a really emotional day,” stated head coach Steve Ancheta. “It’s hard to keep all of those emotions in check and come out and play well against a good opponent.”

Western fed off the energy from the crowd and pressed the Yellow Jacket’s defense.
Controversy arose in the 15th minute after the Wolves sent a cross into MSU’s 18-yard box which should have been a hand ball on one of MSU’s defenders. However, the referee chose not to award Western a penalty kick.

MSU took the lead in the 36th minute on a shot from the top of the 18-yard box which sailed over Nicole Tejada’s (GK) outstretched arms.

In the second half, the Wolves continued to press MSU but couldn’t find the back of the net. Western’s best chance for a goal came in the 56th minute when junior Mariah Konyn (M) just missed the top right corner.

The Wolves would outshoot MSU 14-4, but the Yellow Jacket’s stingy defense held their clean sheet.

“Although we lost, we still worked really hard as a team, and I’m really happy for our seniors,” stated Ancheta. “They brought a lot to this team and I will miss all those guys.”

The Wolves hit the road for the final two games remaining on their schedule. The first is against Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, Oct. 29, and the final game of the season is against Simon Frasier University Saturday, Oct. 31.

Braxton leads Wolf Pack to victory against Simon Frasier

By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor

In a clash north of the border, the Wolfpack headed to Canada on Saturday, Oct. 24, defeating Simon Frasier University (SFU) 37-26.

The Wolves were led by freshman Malik Braxton (RB) who had a record-setting game, and was awarded the GNAC Football Offensive Player of the Week. Braxton finished the game with 199 yards of all-purpose yards: including 179-yards rushing, two rushing touchdowns and a touchdown pass.

Redshirt sophomore Phillip Fenumiai (QB) got the start for the Wolves and would show his dual threat abilities on Western’s first possession, rushing on third down for a 45-yard first down. Fenumiai tallied 81-yards rushing for the game, adding another 55-yards through the air.

Braxton would finish out the first drive with a bit of trickery, throwing a touchdown pass to sophomore Paul Revis (WR) which evened the score at 7-7. Revis finished the game with five receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

On the next drive, Braxton would break away for a ridiculous 75-yard touchdown run which would give the Wolves a 14-7 lead.

In the second quarter, SFU would outscore the Wolves 10-3 and take a 20-17 lead going into half time.

Midway through the third quarter, senior Trey Shimabukuro (QB) made his return to the field after a three week absence due to injury. On his second drive, Shimabukuro would throw a 56-yard touchdown strike to Revis which gave Western a 24-20 lead, and would be the only points scored by either team in the quarter.

Just seconds into the fourth quarter, and on the first play of the drive, Shimabukuro would connect with redshirt sophomore Katakana Apelu (WR) for a 50-yard touchdown pass which increased the Wolves’ lead to 31-20.

SFU answered the Wolves’ touchdown on their ensuing possession with a seven play, 73-yard touchdown drive to bring the score to 31-26.

With 8:05 remaining in the game, the Wolves started their drive from the one yard line.
On the first play, Braxton broke through and raced past the SFU’s defense, running for a 99-yard touchdown, which set a GNAC record for the longest rushing touchdown and sealed the victory for the Wolves.

The impressive win improves the Wolves’ overall record to 5-3 and 3-1 in GNAC conference play. This is Western’s fourth consecutive victory.

Western’s next game is at home on Saturday, Oct. 31, against GNAC opponent Azusa Pacific University at 1:00 p.m. at McArthur Field.

Volleyball secures dramatic four set victory

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The women’s volleyball team edged out Saint Martin’s University (SMU) in a tense four sets on Saturday Oct. 24.

The scores for the four sets were 25-19, 25-23, 21-25 and 29-27.

After winning the first two sets, WOU looked to sweep SMU with a win of the third set.

With the score tied at 10-10, the Saints would go on a five point unanswered run and would pull away from the Wolves, eventually winning the set 25-23.

SMU continued to build momentum in the fourth set, going up on WOU 11-5. But the Wolves clawed their way back, eventually tying the score at 23-23.

Seeing the score tied at 25-25, the Wolves buckled down and took their first lead of the fourth set at 26-25 on a long back-and-forth volley. SMU wouldn’t go down without a fight though, and responded by leveling the score twice before the women would put SMU away with a kill from redshirt sophomore Sydney Blankinship.

“I was really happy at how hard we fought today, especially in that last set,” head coach Brad Saindon said.

Redshirt sophomore Alisha Bettinson (OH) led the Wolves with 14 kills and 6 blocks, and redshirt sophomore Sydney Blankinship (MB) and redshirt freshman Amanda Short (OH) each added 9 kills.

“We are improving each game and our confidence is coming around,” added Saindon. “I think we can be a really threatening team for the rest of the season, and the future looks bright for us as well.”

The conference victory improves Western Oregon’s overall record to 7-14, and 4-8 in GNAC conference play, and is the Wolves’ third consecutive victory.

The Wolves hit the road on Saturday, Oct. 31, to play Northwest Nazarene University before returning home to play Western Washington University on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m.

It’s no myth

By: Ashton Newton
Staff Writer

Discovery Channel announced last week that “Mythbusters” will officially go off the air in 2016 after its 14th season.

Some of the favorite memories my dad and I share are watching “Mythbusters” all through my childhood.

Like many kids, I was inspired by the science that was made awesome by hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.

The beauty of “Mythbusters” is that there is always something to take away from it, whether it’s not to use your toaster in the bathtub or how fast you need to shoot at a tree to go directly through it. “Mythbusters” managed to perfectly merge science and entertainment.

The busters also appealed to TV fans and moviegoers alike with specials for “Breaking Bad” and “Star Wars.”

Last Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, Discovery Channel announced the news in a statement, saying “After 248 episodes, 2950 experiments, 1050 myths, and 900 explosions, hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will say goodbye to the series this winter.”

Last season saw Kary Byron, Tory Belleci, and Grant Imahara leave the show following drops in the show’s ratings. With them gone, the final season will feature Savage and Hyneman by themselves.

Hosts Savage and Hyneman have known about the shows’ ending for over a year now, and have been planning on how to make the final season the most intriguing season yet.
‘Mythbusters” will still play in syndication on Discovery Channel’s sister network, the Science Channel, after the show’s end.

Fans can also mark their calendars for the “Mythbusters” marathon that is going to play every episode chronologically on the Science Channel starting Dec. 23rd, 2015.

Savage and Hyneman have one more Mythbusters Live Tour coming up in November, with a stop in Eugene on Dec. 12, 2015. Tickets are on sale at www.mythbusterstour.com.

The 14th and final season of “Mythbusters’ starts in Jan. 2016, with an explosive series finale that Adam Savage promises will be amazing.