Mount Hood

My Slightly Diatribic Soapbox

By: Jenna Beresheim

Okay, everyone, today’s topic makes me roll up my sleeves and dust off the old soapbox for a good cause in need of advocating. This hot topic is especially close to my little gendernoncornforming heart, so buckle up, buttercups.

The issue at hand is in regards to people being so uncomfortable with their bodies (and those bodies around them) that god forbid they have to deal with a transgendered* human sharing the same restroom. What is the fear here stemmed from? In my lifetime, I have never seen another human’s bits while using the restroom, and if I have, it was my own fault. The only occurrence I could think of would be accidentally stepping into a stall that was not locked properly, in which we both made mutually shocked faces at one another and apologized in such a stream of syllables that I had no chance to actually see anything besides the whites of their eyes. Nor did I want to see anything, mind you.

Certain states are so uncomfortable with the thought of letting someone pee that they have began to ID individuals at the door. I mean, kudos for creating the completely useless job of a bathroom bouncer. But if you were going to employ someone to check your genitals, why not simply employ someone to keep it safe from the assumed (and completely nonexistent) threats of the Trans* community? Some have even gone so far as to encourage children in schools to rat out Trans* humans using the restroom that does not correlate with their assigned birth gender.

Hold up.

So, instead of letting someone use the restroom like a human being, we are now blocking and even denying, a basic human right. Trust me, transgender* individuals just want to use the bathroom – get in and get out. Just like everyone else. Especially as the gender that said individual identifies with. Imagine being forced into the opposite bathroom of what you identify with – it would be loads of uncomfortable for both parties. You’re a girl now crammed into the guy’s restroom, and vice versa. There would be heated looks, crude comments, and no doubt a shriek or two.

As a human who identifies as genderfluid, my gender fluctuates on the daily and often ranges anywhere from masculine to feminine, and wherever the hell I feel like in between. It’s a nightmare for my wardrobe, but it’s how I feel, and it took me years to develop enough understanding of myself to be okay with that. If I am dressed in masculine attire and identify more along that gender, I typically choose gender neutral restrooms. Even outside of the restroom it can be tough – I have had dressing room attendants inform me that I had picked out male pants (probably because their measurement system is much better, duh) and little old women explain to me how I would look much better in a dress and some makeup.

Thankfully Western is fairly accommodating and the people around me are understanding, but other areas are not so trusting or understanding. I may be a lesbian, but I use the bathroom like everyone else (not to dispel rumors that all LGBT*Q+ individual’s waste is rainbows and sprinkles). And, like everyone else, I use the bathroom just for that. To go to the bathroom, maybe check quaffed hair meticulously like a neurotic parrot, fix clothes, and strut out like I own the place. Sometimes I cut down the steps if I’m in a rush, but note that at no point was I a threat to, or even interacted with, anyone else.

This is exactly the problem. The focus is on a completely nonexistent issue. Sexual predators typically do not choose bathrooms of all places to attack someone, and it is a typical event for people who do not even identify in the specific gender-assigned bathroom to use it in emergency situations. How many times have you seen a girl give up waiting in the line of 20 plus people and just hop into the men’s instead? If we can choose to use whichever one we want to, why can’t the Trans* community have that same choice?

Everyone has to pee, so get over it. There is no statistical evidence regarding all of this “bathroom bill” hubbub. So, go about your business, and only yours, and flush your bias on the way out.

Contact the author at jberesheim11@wou.edu or on Twitter @woujournalnews to share your thoughts and feels

Republicans on the issues

In the overwhelming amount of political rhetoric that occurs, it seems as if the Republican candidates are always talked about in a sarcastic, joking manner. That makes for good headlines and clickbait material, but it often increasingly polarizes the two parties and leads to the apprehension of obtaining information simply based on the fact that the Republican candidates are made out to be so ridiculous. This story focuses on the three Republican candidates’ top five key issues and a short explanation, as per their campaign websites.

Donald Trump (donaldjtrump.com)
1. Building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico – eliminating illegal immigration
2. Repealing Obamacare – creating a new free-market system that gives affordable care
3. Creating new trade policies with China – making China admit to currency manipulation and eliminating trade tariffs
4. Veteran’s Administration reform – ensuring veterans have benefits they need
5. Tax reform – simpler tax brackets and the elimination of an income tax for some

Ted Cruz (tedcruz.org)
1. Restoring the Constitution – giving power back to the states and limiting the power or the federal government
2. Protecting Second Amendment rights – ensuring that citizens have the right to bear arms
3. Securing the border – ending amnesty and increasing deportations
4. Defending the nation – rebuilding the military, defeating ISIS, and protecting the homeland
5. Standing with Israel – maintaining American-Israeli alliance in the Middle East

John Kasich (johnkasich.com)
1. The Kasich action plan – reducing the size and scope of the federal government
2. Electability – Kasich believes he has the best chance at beating the Democratic nominee
3. Education – leaving standards up to the states and local municipalities rather than the federal government
4. National security – defeating ISIS, strengthening the military, and working with world allies
5. A Conservative approach to better healthcare – repealing Obamacare and “providing better care instead of more care”

These are the issues that our Republican candidates have deemed to be the most pressing as they have been listed on their respective campaign websites. Much of these issues have little to no explanation on how they will be enacted, which I think says something in itself. It is interesting because often politicians tell us what are the most important issues to be focusing on, and then run their campaigns around those issues, rather than the citizens choosing what issues are most important, and then backing a candidate that best reflects those interests. Personally, I do not identify with any of these candidates’ platforms because none of their ideas align with my own; there is no talk about higher education and student loan debt reform, no plan for reducing income inequality or closing the wage gap for women and minorities, and nothing on addressing climate change. Despite my own personal opinions, this column was not meant to sway you to vote red or blue, but rather to show what these candidates have decided are the most important issues facing the United States right now. It’s up to you to decide if you agree with them, or not. Stay tuned for next week’s column from the left side of the aisle.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalEIC

Should skateboarding be included in the Olympic Games?

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

Every four years, on the eve of the Summer Olympics, a question quietly spreads across the world of sports: should skateboarding be included in the Olympic Games?

Currently, skateboarding will not be featured in the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil; however, Olympic organizers have proposed adding skateboarding along with baseball/softball, karate, sports climbing, and surfing to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The Olympic committee will deliberate and will come to a decision by August of this year. The proposal includes both men’s and women’s events in Street and Park with an envisioned 80 athletes split equally among genders.

Skateboarding’s possible inclusion in the biggest sporting event in the world has many people in the skateboarding community ecstatic.

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk thinks the addition of skateboarding to the Olympics would help to legitimize the sport and bring worldwide attention to the skateboarding industry.

“It is exciting that skateboarding could possibly be included in the Olympics,” Hawk said in an interview with TIME. “This is not only a great opportunity for our sport and the skaters, but also for the Games. It is now more important than ever to preserve the unique culture of skateboarding which makes our sport so appealing and relevant.”

Professional Polish skateboarder and founder of Exposure Skate, Amelia Brodka, sees the Olympic inclusion as an opportunity to showcase women’s athletic abilities in a sport dominated by men.

“I am excited about the idea of getting skateboarding into the Olympics,” said Brodka in an interview posted on the International Skateboarding Federation website. “If managed by the right people, this could be a lifetime opportunity to expose women’s skateboarding to a global audience and to get many more girls involved into our sport.”

Although there has been major proponents of skateboarding’s inclusion into the Olympics, there are also those who disagree. More than 5,500 self-proclaimed skateboarders have signed an online petition asking the International Olympic Committee to not include the sport in the Olympics because they consider skateboarding a lifestyle.

“Skateboarding is not a ‘sport’ and we do not want skateboarding exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program,” stated the online petition. “We feel that Olympic involvement will change the face of skateboarding and its individuality and freedoms forever.”

It is yet to be seen whether skateboarding will be added to the Olympics in 2020, but one thing is clear; either way, not everyone is going to be happy.

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

Ladders, legends, and legacy: WrestleMania 32 analysis

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

As a lifelong professional wrestling nerd, I came into WrestleMania 32 pessimistically. Because I grew up watching WWE during the ‘Attitude Era,’ the watered-down, PG-rated product that the WWE has been putting out on their weekly programs, RAW and Smackdown, has at times, been painfully unbearable to watch.

WWE’s efforts to make its programs more family friendly, in my opinion, has taken away most of the excitement that I long for and grew up watching. The match results have been predictable and often left me scratching my head.

To make matters worse, going into WrestleMania, the grandest stage in sport entertainment, WWE’s roster was decimated due to injuries which left superstars John Cena, Randy Orton, Sting, Daniel Bryan, and others out of action.

So, why do I still watch it if I don’t enjoy it? For me, it’s like a bad car accident; you don’t want to look at it, but for some reason you have to.

Even with all the indications that WrestleMania wasn’t going to live up to my expectations as a wrestling fanatic who looked back at wrestling’s glory days, I still cleared my schedule on Sunday, March 3, ordered a pizza, and plopped down on my sofa to watch the show.

The first match on the main card, a six-way Intercontinental Championship ladder match, pitted Kevin Owens, the current champion, against six other WWE superstars. The match was an instant classic, and all the competitors put their bodies on the line with dangerous falls and creative usage of ladders.

Just when I thought Owens would retain the title, a lesser known mid-carder, Zach Rider, climbed the ladder, ripped off the championship belt hanging high above the ring, and became the new Intercontinental Champion. This unexpected curve ball left me speechless and set the tone for the rest of the pay-per-view.

To my sheer delight, the proceeding matches continued to produce unexpected outcomes: Chris Jericho defeated the phenomenal AJ Styles, and the League of Nations dominated the New Day.

As the League of Nations celebrated in the ring, out came Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, and Steve “Stone Cold” Austin who cleared the ring of the heel stable, and gave the fans a throwback to the “Attitude Era.” They weren’t the only legends to make an appearance; the Rock electrified the record-setting 101,763 in attendance at the Dallas Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas when he beat Luke Harper in only six seconds.

The next match was the highlight of the night: a triple threat for the Women’s Championship. The current champion, Charlotte Flair, defended her belt against the talented Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch in a 30-minute match that was arguably one of the best matches I have ever seen. The three women shined on the biggest stage and showed that the women’s division should be taken seriously.

The remaining four matches were outstanding. Shane McMahon said a prayer before jumping off the 20-foot Hell in a Cell through the announcer’s table, but ultimately lost the match. Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a street fight. Roman Reigns became the new World Heavyweight Champion after defeated Triple H in a slug-fest, and finally Shaquille O’Neal made an appearance in the Andre the Giant battle royal.

With the lack of superstars and the fledgling creative team, WWE could have easily produced a sub-par product, but instead, they came through big time at WrestleMania. It was extremely entertaining from start to finish, while still staying true to their family oriented product. Hopefully the WWE creative team can ride the momentum, but only time will tell.

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

Microsoft’s AI chatbot ‘Tay’ turned into a PR disaster

 
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By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

Microsoft unveiled its Twitter chatbot called Tay on March 23. According to the company, Tay was created as an experiment in “conversational understanding.” The more Twitter users engaged with Tay, the more it would learn and mimic what it saw. The only problem: Tay wound up being a racist, fascist, drugged-out asshole.

Microsoft designed Tay to mimic millennials’ speaking styles; however, the experiment worked a little too efficiently and quickly spiraled out of control. The artificial intelligence debacle started with an innocent and cheerful first tweet of, “Humans are super cool!” However, as time went by, Tay’s tweets kept getting more and more disturbing.

Some of the offensive tweets were the direct effect of Twitter users asking the chatbot to repeat their offensive posts, to which Tay obliged. Other times, Tay didn’t need the help of social media trolls to figure out how to be offensive. In one instance, when a user asked Tay if the Holocaust happened, Tay replied: “it was made up ?.” Tay also tweeted, “Hitler was right.”

Tay had some things to say on the presidential candidates as well. One tweet said, “Have you accepted Donald Trump as your lord and personal saviour yet?” Another of Tay’s tweets read, “ted cruz would never have been satisfied with ruining the lives of only 5 innocent people.”

24 hours into the experiment, Microsoft took Tay offline and released this statement on their web site: “We are deeply sorry for the unintended offensive and hurtful tweets from Tay, which do not represent who we are or what we stand for, nor how we designed Tay.”

“Tay is now offline and we’ll look to bring Tay back only when we are confident we can better anticipate malicious intent that conflicts with our principles and values,” the statement concluded.

Then, a few days later, Microsoft put Tay back online with the hopes that they had worked out the bugs; however, it soon became clear it didn’t work when she tweeted, “kush! [I’m smoking kush in front of the police].” Microsoft immediately pulled her offline and set her profile to private.

So, what does the Tay experiment teach us about the current human condition? Tay wasn’t programed to be a racist or a fascist, but rather mimicked what it saw from others. While some people believe that Microsoft’s experiment was a success because Tay effectively mimicked and interacted with other users, others view it as a complete failure because the experiment quickly spiraled out of control.

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

Independence man arrested after standoff

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By: Conner Williams 
Editor-in-Chief

An Independence man was arrested on multiple charges last weekend after a nearly six hour standoff between police authorities in Independence.

49-year-old James Michael Munoz was taken into custody just after 5 a.m. at a residence on 6th Street near Monmouth Street, six hours after officers were originally dispatched the night before.

Munoz entered the residence when officers arrived and refused to come out, according to a statement by the Independence Police Department.
Neighborhood residents were notified and evacuated in preparation for a response from the Salem SWAT team.

Munoz eventually came out and was taken into custody without incident. He was taken to the Polk County Jail pending charges of Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing, Coercion, Fourth-Degree Assault, and Reckless Endangerment.

The Salem Police Department, Monmouth Police Department, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Dallas Police Department all assisted on scene.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalEIC

Arbor Day Traditions take Root

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

The Arbor Day Foundation boasts Western Oregon University as one of five Oregon campuses to be declared and certified as a Tree Campus USA award recipient. In order to be awarded, five standards must be met.

These five standards are: a campus tree advisory committee, campus tree care plan, campus tree program with dedicated annual expenditures, Arbor Day observance, and a service learning project. Western’s University Tree Advisory Committee is led by Paul Finke, who started off the ceremony at noon.

The committee gathered together for the Arbor Day observance on April 8 and consisted of staff and students alike. The large group clustered near the north entry to campus and listened as Kristin Ramstad of the Oregon Department of Forestry presented her thoughts on trees on campuses, as well as the poem “When I am among the trees” by Mary Oliver.

From there, Ramstad introduced President Rex Fuller and awarded the campus with the Tree Campus USA award. In commemoration of the event, and Arbor Day 2016, a sugar maple tree was planted by the members of the committee.

Next, the group was led around campus to three specific legacy trees out of the total 11 on campus. At each tree, a student presenter explained which tree it was, the scientific names, and some fun facts such as whether the tree was poisonous or endangered.

First seen was a black walnut tree at the northern entry, which Kylee Wiser, a fifth year biology major, explained had often had it’s bark chewed on by Native Americans wishing to alleve toothaches.

The second tree, a Southern catalpa, was located in the Grove near Ackerman. Phillip Van Ginkle, a fifth year psychology major, explained that although the roots were poisonous, the fruit and leaves were not.

“I can attest to that – I had one in my yard when I was growing up, and I would always taste the seeds. They taste awful, but they’re not poisonous. I would not recommend trying it,” said Ginkle.

The tour ended at a petunia tree behind The Cottage, where light refreshments were served as Kathrine Stender, a third year Horticulture major, spoke about the tree and why the Arbor Day event is so important.

“The use of trees on campus for not only beautification, but learning, shows that their presence is vital to the school,” said Stender.

Contact the author at jberesheim11@wou.edu or on Twitter @woujournalnews

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