March 2016 – Page 5 – The Western Howl

Dear Esmeralda,

I want to get involved with some clubs on campus, meet some people with beautiful, sculpted faces and equally beautifully, sculpted future plans, and build up my resume — but I don’t know where to start! There are so many to choose from, so are there any good places you would recommend to get the gossip on them?

From,
Beautifully Sculpted Gossip Girl

Dear Beautifully Sculpted Gossip Girl,

What an eloquent and oddly poetic question! There are many places you can go, where you can meet all sorts of people, it depends on what you are looking for. I hear there are many as you so fantastically put it “beautifully sculpted faces” at the gym, however, as the beautiful and perfect human that I am, I have no need to go to places like that.

If, like me, exercise isn’t your thing, there are a lot of clubs you can join: Triangle Alliance (the LGBT* club on campus) is a good one to attend, plus the gays are a friendly and practical people. (I hear they even have a fairy princess mermaid there from time to time!) There is also the Multicultural Student Union (MSU for short) they do all sorts of events all around campus. Even if you don’t join the clubs, go to the events! Sometimes there are even people there (weird, I know!). Many clubs also coincide with academic interests, so find one for yours. Protip: many, if not all, of these clubs have Facebook pages, so look them up on there!

Finally, the best way to meet the perfect human specimen is to simply hang out on campus. It’s a small school, and you will always start to recognize someone.
Try the old razzle dazzle! If this fails and you still have no friends, just adopt thirty or so cats, dogs, or both, and join the cat/dog-person life. Cats and dogs are always solid, and beautiful, future plans! If animals aren’t your thing I remember hearing of a tale where a beautiful young girl was kidnaped and fell in love with her captor. What can go wrong with trying out what you see in movies or tv? Good luck on your résumé building work!

XOXO Gossip Gi… Wait that’s not me!

XOXO Esmeralda

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Chin Up, Dreamboat!

By: Rachael Jackson
Staff Writer

Nawwal Moustafa, a Western graduate, brings a fresh page to the adult coloring book genre. Rather than mandalas, Moustafa explores lost loves and broken hearts with her companion piece for lesbian breakups, “Chin Up, Dreamboat!”

The book, slated to release in May, focuses on lesbian relationships because they are rarely represented in popular culture.

“I have never seen a Disney coloring book with two princess. There is always a glass in between you and pop culture in the sense of straight media,” explained Moustafa. “If you’re like me, if you’re gay, then with this at least you have something there for you in your corner.”

Moustafa has been gaining national attention with a Buzzfeed article and support coming from across the Atlantic.

“The Buzzfeed article was unreal to me. That was kind of a dream situation,” Moustafa admitted. “I thought in the 30 days I could reach my goal of 1,200… I didn’t know it would happen the first day!”

Western also played a part in the creation to this book; during her junior year, she came out.

“It was all brought to my attention and I figured it all out very quickly. Probably a year before I came out,” she said.

“It was a little scary, but I knew there was a lot of support with Triangle [Alliance] and Safe Zone. When I did come out, it was the best decision I ever made,” she said. “I remember right after I came out and a professor walked by and I said, ‘Hey man, I’m coming out!’ and he came and gave me a hug. It was a great feeling.”

Donate to her Kickstarter by March 13 by way of her website: http://chinupdreamboat.com.

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Avgi and Shaw get highest GNAC honors

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

Senior forward Andy Avgi can add another accomplishment to his collegiate career: the 2015-16 GNAC Player of the Year award.

On Tuesday, the conference passed out their honors for the season, and Avgi wasn’t the only Wolf to take home an award.

In his first year at the helm, head coach Jim Shaw was named the GNAC Coach of the Year. Senior Julian Nichols (G) and sophomore Tanner Omlid (G/F) also earned the All-GNAC second team honors and senior Jordan Wiley was named as an honorable mention.

The GNAC Player of the Year honor, voted on by the coaches in the conference, is Avgi’s second honor in as many years. This season, Avgi averaged 20.6 points per game, second best in the conference, and tallied 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in each outing.

“[Avgi] is our best player,” said Shaw. “He’s a hard worker and he’s got a great attitude, so he’s the definition of what you want out of your best player.”

What makes Avgi so dangerous to his opponents is his ability to hit shots from anywhere on the court. This season, the 6’5” forward hit 41 shots from distance, placing him 16th in the conference in three-pointers made and 16th in three-point percentage.

“I appreciate the honor, but it really comes down to my team,” said Avgi. “They honestly make me better. A lot of the stuff I can’t do by myself, and I know it’s an individual award, but to me it’s a team award.”

Speaking of team ball, Shaw’s Coach of the Year honor provides a testament to how he got his team to buy into his system in his first year as the Wolves’ head coach. Under Shaw’s leadership, the Wolves have remained in the top 25 rankings of Division II basketball for the entire season, peaking at No. 1 in the latter part of the season for the first time in school history.

To be recognized for their achievements is great for the players, but the Wolves want more: a shot at the Division II Championship.

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“BUSHel and a peck”

bushes by alvin

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Wolves bball hungry for more

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The Wolves have chewed up and spit out their competition, dominating almost everyone in their path. With cohesive team play throughout the season and stellar work from the 2015-16 GNAC Player of the Year, Andy Avgi, the men’s basketball team claimed the GNAC title and is salivating at the potential of a deep post-season run.

“Our guys have done an incredible job accomplishing a lot of historical things this year,” said head coach Jim Shaw. “I’m really amazed at the level of consistency that this group has showed.”

Western finished the season with a record of 25-3 and 18-2 in GNAC conference play. With the regular season in the books, Coach Shaw reflected on the team’s accomplishments of the season.

“We are the first team in the GNAC to win 18 conference games,” Shaw said. “We are the second school in the northwest ranked No. 1 in the country for Division I and Division II basketball, and we went undefeated at home for the first time since the 94-95 season.”

All season long, the Wolves remained consistent, playing great team ball and tough defense. Western led the league in steals per game, had the best turnover margin, and had the best assists to turnover ratio.

Aside from playing stifling defense all season long, WOU has had one of the most consistent seasons statistically in the history of the program. The Wolves rank in the top half of almost every team statistic, but more importantly, the Wolves have found ways to squeak out victories in close games.

“Our guys play with confidence,” said Shaw. “That’s one of the reasons we have been so successful this season.”

Because Western finished the regular season at the top of the conference, they earn the No. 1 seed going into the GNAC tournament. Today, Western will face Seattle Pacific University at the Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

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Portland Timbers host Columbus Crew in home opener

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

It seemed like just yesterday that the Portland Timbers celebrated their 2015 MLS Championship victory, and a city starved for championship gold rejoiced. In the December rain, tens of thousands of Timber Army fanatics packed downtown Portland for the Timbers’ victory parade to celebrate with their team; they sang, they rejoiced, and they cried.

But that was last season. Now, just a short three months later, the Timbers have to start all over.

“I think the really simple mindset our group has is, ‘Last year is over,'” head coach Caleb Porter said in an interview with ESPN. “This is a new year. It has nothing to do with last year. Teams will be fighting it out with each other as always. There will be ups and downs. There will be wins and losses. It’s going to be a tough season like it is every single year for every single team.”

Fittingly enough, the Timbers’ first regular season matchup on Sunday pits the reigning champions against the same team they defeated 2-1 in the 2015 MLS Cup, the reigning Eastern Conference champs, Columbus Crew.

Sunday’s match will take place at Providence Park in Portland with a kickoff time of 1:30 p.m., and already days before the event, the city is buzzing with excitement.

While Portland kept most of their core players from last year’s championship team intact, they did lose 2015 starters Rodney Wallace and Jorge Villanfana as well as supporting players like fan-favorite Will Johnson and Spanish striker Maximiliano Urruti.

With Porter focusing on preparing his team for the home opener, Portland’s general manager, Gavin Wilkinson, has been wheeling and dealing in an attempt to add talent to the positional voids left from the departed players.

Wilkinson’s efforts have paid off and this year’s squad, at least on paper, looks stronger than last years with the additions of league veterans Ned Grabavoy, Chris Klute, Jack McInerney and Jermaine Taylor.

“We replaced everyone we lost,” Wilkinson said to ESPN. “We had identified the likely players that we were losing, and we had a depth chart in every position of who we wanted to go after. We knew what we had to spend and what profiles we were looking for. Our focus was to get MLS-proven players.”

The new players have had limited opportunities to play with the team in the preseason, and the biggest question going into opening night is how they will fit into the team, who last year had a special chemistry.

“They’ve proven they can win it — they now have the blueprint to do it,” Porter said to ESPN. “That means when you get in that position in the playoffs the next time, there’s a positive psychology that helps you to do it again.”

Can the Timbers repeat? After the offseason moves, are they more or less talented than they were last year? Will the team still have the special chemistry that they had last year? Hopefully we will find some answers Sunday.

Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU

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ASWOU receives two percent budget cut

By: Alvin Wilson
Staff Writer

The Incidental Fee Committee plans to increase the amount of money students pay each term in fees while decreasing the funds for some programs.

ASWOU is one of the programs that will see cuts in its budget, but only by a small percentage.

This year, ASWOU received $294,239 from the Incidental Fee funds. This amounted to 6.9 percent of the total IFC budget.

Next year, the committee will only allocate $290,699—or 6.6 percent of the total budget—to ASWOU, which is a two percent cut from this year’s budget.
ASWOU’s budget gets distributed to many different areas, according to Sofia LeVernois, director of business and finance for ASWOU.

“All the clubs at the university fall under ASWOU,” said LeVernois. “You have funded clubs and non-funded clubs. Non-funded clubs are not funded by IFC, and then you have the other umbrella of clubs that are funded by IFC.”

Some student organizations that receive IFC funds from ASWOU are the Art Club, Triangle Alliance, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlánand (MEChA), and the Business and Economics Club.

LeVernois said the clubs can spend their money on anything from food and refreshments to guest speakers.

Other than that, she said ASWOU’s funds go toward sending their members to Oregon Student Association (OSA) meetings. OSA is a nonprofit student advocacy group that represents 110,000 Oregon students.

“We have our payroll account, and we have OSA. That helps our OSA representatives go to the different board meetings that they have to attend,” she said.

ASWOU also pays for a retreat for its members at the beginning of the year.

“It’s all to help the office function so we can be at our top point to represent and help students,” LeVernois said.

The budgets for all clubs and ASWOU departments will be reduced evenly, according to Levernois, so no clubs will be affected more than others.

She said the cuts won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible to work around.

“After talking with Corban, it was decided that we would be able to handle a two percent cut,” said LeVernois. “We have to cut back, but it’s not really preventative. It can be a burden, but there’s things to alleviate that. It’s difficult, but it’s about reallocating.”

Contact the author at awilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @awilsonjournal

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

Accessibility Public Records Privacy Student Consumer Information

WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.

Dear Esmeralda

Chin Up, Dreamboat!

Avgi and Shaw get highest GNAC honors

“BUSHel and a peck”

Wolves bball hungry for more

Portland Timbers host Columbus Crew in home opener

ASWOU receives two percent budget cut

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