We at The Western Journal wanted to let you know that we’re out of the office from now until New Student Week begins on September 18. Thank you for your readership and support throughout the last year. If you think that this year was a big one for you, we cannot wait to show you what’s in store for next year. We can’t divulge anything yet, but we’re excited to share it all with you starting in the fall. Until then, have a great summer.
Love,
The Western Journal Staff
By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
The Western athletes of the 2015-16 school year have had a historically successful year, and for the first time in the school’s history, the men took home the GNAC Men’s All-Sport Championship. The honor is awarded at the end of each year to a school in the conference that demonstrates excellence throughout all three athletic seasons.
With a combined score of 92 points, the Wolves beat out Western Washington University, a team who won the prestigious award the last seven consecutive years. Western Washington tied with the University of Anchorage Alaska for second place, and each school had a combined total of 79 points.
The success of the men’s basketball team was just one of the reasons the Wolves took home the Men’s All-Sport Championship. After claiming the GNAC title, the Wolves surged into the NCAA Division II Playoffs and advanced all the way to the Final Four, just one benchmark the Wolves set in their historic season. Senior forward Andy Avgi was awarded the GNAC Player of the Year award, and head coach Jim Shaw was awarded the GNAC Coach of the Year award in his inaugural season at the helm.
Western’s football team defied the expectations placed on them before the start of the season and finished second place in the GNAC. The football team had an opportunity to take home the conference title on the last game of the season against Humboldt State University, but ultimately fell short in the second half of the matchup.
The men’s indoor track and field team also placed second in the conference, and the men’s outdoor track and field team finished in third place. A week before the GNAC Indoor Championships, sophomore Kaleb Dobson broke the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a blistering time of 8.30 seconds. In the same meet, sophomore David Ribich also bested the school record in the 400-meter with a time of 4:07.38.
The men’s baseball team finished the season in third place behind Northwest Nazarene University and Montana State University of Billings. Senior catcher/first baseman Trevor Podratz was awarded the ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-West Region award and the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award. Podratz led the Wolves in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, hits, runs batted in, and doubles.
Although Western only took home one conference title, the combined effort of all of the teams proved that Western is dedicated to success in their athletic program. Hopefully the Wolves can keep the momentum heading into next year, and this award is the first of many GNAC All-Sport Championships.
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
Never has a kick to the family jewels been more scrutinized than Draymond Green’s karate kick to the midsection of seven-footer Steven Adams.
The incident occurred in the middle of the second quarter in game three of the Western Conference Finals when Green, a third-year power forward with the Golden State Warriors, drove to the hoop to put up a shot but was met by Adams. In an attempt to draw a foul call, Green flailed his leg out and blasted Adams in the groin. The Oklahoma City center collapsed to the ground in pain, and Green walked away as if nothing happened.
Green was assessed a flagrant foul but the punishment was later upgraded to a flagrant two by NBA officials. Although Green was fined $25,000 for the play, he avoided a suspension that would have kept him out of the next game of the playoff series.
The kick led many sports analysis to debate whether Green kicked Adams on accident or on purpose.
Adams alluded to the fact that Green’s kick could have been intentional. “It’s happened before, mate,” Adams said in the post-game interview following the Thunders 133-105 beat down of the defending NBA champions. “He’s pretty accurate, that guy. It was straight to the jewels, you don’t think about any of that stuff. Yeah, it was rough.”
Green openly denied any wrongdoing. “I thought it would probably get rescinded,” he said in a post-game interview. “I followed through on a shot. I didn’t try to kick somebody in the midsection. I’m sure he wants to have kids one day. I’m not trying to end that on the basketball court.”
Whether or not Green had malicious intent when he booted Adams in the groin doesn’t justify his insensitive reaction. At the very least, Green should have apologized for the low blow. Instead he chose to play innocent, and even diverted the blame to Thunder point guard, Russell Westbrook, claiming he was one of the originators of flopping. One thing is for certain, opposing players better be cautious when going up against Green, at least if they don’t want to get scissor kicked in the family jewels.
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
By: Alvin Wilson Staff Writer
A new program that was recently approved by the city of Portland is trying to help solve the city’s homeless crisis.
The program’s name is Homeward Bound, and its mission is to provide free bus tickets to homeless who meet the qualifications.
According to the Oregonian, it was approved by Portland in mid-March, and will receive at least $30,000 from the city. The program began, and the first bus tickets were issued, earlier this month. On its first day of operation, 40 people had signed up.
The city of Portland doesn’t want to simply move its homeless problem to another area. KGW reports that the bus tickets only go to individuals who will have somewhere to stay at their destination, and who are prepared to have follow-up meetings with their caseworkers three months after their placement.
Marc Jolin, the initiative director of A Home For Everyone, another organization trying to address homelessness, told KGW this about the program:
“We had homeless people in the community who had other permanent housing options, but didn’t know to ask for the support. They wound up being stuck here for long periods of time, weeks or months.”
According to the program’s advocates, it will only serve to help people who are stuck in an area with no family or support.
However, Portland’s homeless crisis may have in-part been caused by similar programs across the country.
An investigation by KGW in 2013 found that participants in similar programs claimed to have a place to stay in Portland, but they ended up back in the streets.
With Portland’s Homeward Bound program requiring follow-up meetings with caseworkers, the city hopes it won’t have the same results as other programs. If a participant is found homeless during their three-month check-up, the program will help the participant find similar organizations.
You can learn more about Portland’s Homeward Bound program by dialing 2-1-1.
Contact the author at awilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @awilsonjournal.
By: Alvin Wilson Staff Writer
Last week was the 11th annual Academic Excellence Showcase at Western, but you may still be asking yourself what it was all about.
The Showcase started in 2006, and it is a way for Western students to show off their hard work from the year. It was created when the Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences decided to expand on the academic excellence awards that Phi Kappa Phi organized annually.
Over 350 students present material they’ve been working on, whether it’s academic research or creative activities. It is interdisciplinary, and includes anything from scholarly research papers to the performance of a dance routine.
“The PURE Task Force identified many ways to help facilitate and enhance undergraduate research experiences,” the Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences said in their message to the audience during the first Academic Excellence Showcase. “One of the proposed mechanisms was to facilitate greater participation by the entire campus in celebrating our students’ accomplishments.”
Dr. John Minahan, Western’s president during the first Academic Excellence Showcase, also had a message for the audience.
“There is no better way to demonstrate the value of a Western Oregon University education than through the work of our students,” he said.
“These abstracts of student presentations represent the outcomes of a university that knows the importance of research and scholarship,” Minahan said.
“Through this year’s Academic Excellence Showcase, Western Oregon University is demonstrating that undergraduate scholarship and creativity are distinguishing characteristics of our university.”
The event was planned in 2006 to be a part of Western’s 150th anniversary, but it has been an annual event ever since.
Contact the author at awilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @awilsonjournal.
I’m here to predict the future for all you graduating students. And for those of you who aren’t graduating, please reference back to this in the six or so years it will take you to complete your undergrad.
Aries 3/21-4/19
You will be the proud owner of five Taco Bells, Aries. 
Why not six? Nobody ever said you were an overachiever.
Taurus 4/20-5/20
Every day for the rest of your life you will consume 11 Choco Taco’s. This has nothing to do with what you will be doing for work, but I just wanted to let you know that you will be living the exact life you always dreamed of.
Gemini 5/21-6/20
I checked with the stars and not one single Gemini is graduating. There aren’t even any Gemini that go to this school. So if you’re reading this, “Gemini,” you’re a faker, and you’re tacky and I hate you.
Cancer 6/21-7/22
Did you know that it’s actually someone’s job to test video games? Wouldn’t that be the dream, Cancer? Well, that’s not going to be your job. Sorry.
Leo 7/23-8/22
I’m looking way into the future for you, Leo, like ten years’ time. What’s to come? Well, hmm, how do I break the news to you? You’ll be in jail. Yup, that’s probably the only way I can say that sentence.
Virgo 8/23-9/22
Virgo, you will get into law school. Congrats. Will you get a job after that? I don’t know, do you think I know everything?
Libra 9/23-10/22
Somewhere between your vegan Kashi binge and your hunt for the perfect partner for your hairless cat, you’ll stumble into a trendy start up and they’ll offer you a job.
Scorpio 10/23-11/21
November 1, 2031, and I’m not telling you what this date means, but I will tell you that it involves some juicy news.
Sagittarius 11/22-12/21
Well, Sagittarius, I see you entering a job that I am completely jealous of. Is it an movie star? A CEO? Nope, nope. You’ll be involved in testing new brands of wine. You don’t even have to do anything besides drink it and say if it’s good or not.
Capricorn 12/22-1/19
You will rise up and become president of all the Salt Queens and all the Trash kids of this fine world.
Aquarius 1/20-2/18
You forgot about a course. Totally not graduating.
Pisces 2/19-3/20
You will be graced with the job of wiping the sweat off of Chris Hemsworth’s face in between takes of him filming the next “Thor” or “Avengers” or whatever those movies are that he does.
By: Katrina Penaflor Managing Editor
Many students who are graduating at the end of this term are faced with the fact that they have a large amount of student loans to take care of after graduation.
This debt, which for some students is in the tens of thousands of dollars, is appearing to be nearly impossible to pay off.
After looking closer at the variety of payment options, and weighing their severity, one student, Gary Traynor, has decided to go for the actual “arm and a leg” option.
“I always thought that was just a saying, you know, a phrase people would use to give emphasis to how much something cost them, but then I really started considering if this was the better option,” Traynor said.
“I’m definitely sticking with my decision. I thought about it, and do I really want to be paying off loans for the next thirty years? Nah, man, just take my arm and leg, you debt-collecting savages.”
The man who issued Traynor his loans, Quentin Wesley, who was asked about the taboo nature of this payment option.
“Well, initially this was only ever listed as a joke. An intern added it in and everyone in the office laughed about it. I never thought anyone would actually choose it,” Wesley said.
He went on to comment, “But we’re in the business of making money, and surprisingly there is a lot of money in the arm and leg business, so we aren’t writing this off as a loss.”
Wesley was then asked if he was worried about the illegal nature of this form of payment. He quickly started to sweat and said, “I hadn’t really thought about it,” before he added, “can you actually keep me anonymous in this article?”
To which I quickly replied, “No.”
Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu or on Twitter @JournalKatrina
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