Mount Hood

2 New Digital Production Rooms in Library

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

Hamersly Library recently constructed two new digital production rooms, found in HL 221 and HL 222. The first specializes in audio production, and the second in video. Both rooms come equipped with a Mac and Dell for user preference, and each computer holds various programs for manipulating audio and video.

“This whole space is a work in progress. We plan on opening up the area for a full service desk so that people can receive help whenever they need it,” said Scott Carter, digital production and publishing specialist for Hamersly Library.

There are also several other computers set up in the alcove with media production software on them, in case a full production room is not necessary.

“This is one place that anyone on campus can come without needing special permissions,” said Carter.

If you would like to reserve a room and experience the brand new production centers, go to wou.edu/dmc

Better Safe than Sorry

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor


The first documented case of drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) occurred in February of this year.

Despite daily adherence to Truvada, a preventative drug against the contraction of HIV, a gay man has tested positive for HIV. The strain of HIV was reported as one that was multidrug resistant, which explained how it was contracted regardless of the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis.

This drug allowed people who are at very high risk of getting HIV to prevent infection by taking a pill every day. This included exposure to HIV through either sex or the use of injected drugs. 

The failure of this drug had not yet been reported in any other individuals, which made this case an exceedingly rare one.

According to POZ.com, none of the 1,400+ high-risk individuals taking pre-exposure prophylaxis through the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis program have contracted HIV to date, despite their very high rate of other sexually transmitted diseases.

“[Pre-exposure prophylaxis] has done very well so far with helping reduce the spread of HIV, and I think that what it’s done well also needs to be recognized,” said John Goldsmith, senior English major and Triangle Alliance President for Western.

On campus, Triangle Alliance partners with the Stonewall Center for World AIDS day on Dec. 1 to help raise awareness. Both of these organizations have also partnered with the Peer Mentor program for sex education programs.

In future years, there may be more events hosted by Triangle Alliance that focus on this topic. For Spring Term, Triangle Alliance meetings will occur in Ackerman 141 at 5 p.m. 

With any sexually transmitted disease, chances of being infected are severely reduced when precautions are taken. It is recommended that one get tested frequently and with every new partner, and to know your partner’s HIV status. 

Use condoms, avoid injecting drugs, and limit the number of sexual partners, if possible. And use other preventative measures, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis or sterilized injection tools, as needed.

“I think that this issue is not isolated to the LGBT*Q+ community, as anyone has the potential to contract HIV,” Goldsmith said. “All people who are sexually active need to take their sexual health more seriously.”

“My heart goes out to the person afflicted, and I hope they will receive all of the treatment they need,” said Goldsmith.

It can take three to 12 weeks for an HIV- positive individual’s body to produce enough antibodies for a test to produce correct results. Many individuals do not show signs or symptoms of HIV until much later, although some may experience flu-like symptoms within two to four weeks after infection.

HIV testing most commonly takes place in three forms: as a blood test, urine test, or as an oral swab. Testing is also highly confidential and is often paired with a consultation regarding HIV itself.

The Student Health and Counseling Center offers HIV testing for roughly $17. The result turnaround for an HIV test averages two days.

To schedule an appointment for testing, please contact the Student Health and Counseling Center at 503-838-8313.

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

Healthy food on a budget

recipe layout online

 

Caramel Apple Salad
By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

Ingredients:
2 Apples
2 Dates
½ Lemon

This salad makes a quick, easy, and healthy snack, or the foundation for a creative creation. It requires two apples (I prefer Granny Smith for the tartness, but any will do), two to four dates (depending on how sweet you want it), and lemon. The lemon is optional, but helps the apples from turning brown and also adds a sour to the sweetness of the dates. I would suggest soaking the dates for a short period of time beforehand to make them easier to cut – and remember to remove the pits as well. A simple slice down the center of the date will do to remove them and splay open the fruit. Dates are a great source of fiber, potassium, and copper, while lemons and apples are both cleansing foods great for detoxifying. This salad takes around 10 minutes to prepare, and can take on different flavor flares depending on what you’re in the mood for – try adding dried coconut for a contrasting texture and more tropical flavor. This snack is also easily adjustable for portions and taste preferences, all while costing under $10.

Lifter's Bowl
By: Conner Williams
Editor-in-Chief

Do you want to gain weight? Lose weight? Or maybe just actually have some food available to you when you have to be on campus for hours at a time so you don’t die? Then look no further!

This recipe isn’t anything flashy; it’s literally chicken, green beans, and rice. Exciting stuff, I know, but it’ll beef you up or lean you out depending on how much and how often you eat it. It’s also super cheap to buy in bulk and prep your food ahead of time, and if you’re like me, you’re a cost-conscious college student. Or maybe not. Kudos to you. If you do it right, each meal comes out to less than $2. If you eat three or four times per day, that’s pretty cheap. I recommend shopping at Costco, since they hands-down have the best deals, and you can buy in major bulk. you’ll also want some tupperware for storage and transportation. I recommend ones that hold at least 16 ounces of food. Now let’s get started.

I cook about 1.5-2 pounds of chicken per day and eat 4-5 of these per day, excluding breakfast. I weigh out all of my food so I can distribute it evenly, but eyeballing it works too. So, each meal has about 6-7 ounces of chicken in it, bringing in around 45 grams or so of protein. Keep in mind that raw chicken weighs a bit more than cooked because of the loss of retained water and salt. That takes care of our protein. For carbs, I usually stick to rice (brown or white is left up to your preference and goals) because it’s easy to cook and store. I eat about 1 cup of white rice per meal, which is about 40 grams of carbs per meal. I recommend getting a rice cooker/steamer because it will make your life a hell of a lot easier when preparing food, but steaming in a pot on the stove works as well. For veggies, I do green beans because they’re pretty cheap, and all you’ve got to do is toss 2 cups in the microwave for 5 minutes and you’re good to go. For healthy fats, add about 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil into each meal.

Ingredients for 4 meals:

Chicken breast: 16 ounces – $2 per pound at Costco (buy frozen)

Rice: 4 cups cooked – about $8 for a 25 pound bag at Costco

Green beans: 2 cups – about $1.25 per pound at Costco (buy frozen)

Extra virgin olive oil: 8 tbsp – about $12 for a gallon at Costco (will last forever)

Seasoning – your discretion, but I use stuff with low sodium

Now cook your food. For the chicken, you can toss them in the oven or grill them on the stovetop. I choose the stove because I think it tastes better and cooks faster. Chop the raw meat into cubes first, and it’ll cook in about 8 minutes. Start the rice beforehand, because it’ll take about 20-25 minutes to cook, and the veggies will take about 5 minutes. Once you become a pro, you’ll be able to time it all out.

May the gains be with you!

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

Musings from a woman on the edge

By: Katrina Penaflor 
Managing Editor

It’s dead week and, yes, I’m completely, 100 percent, totally dead.

The burnout of week 10 has hit me the hardest this year. Maybe it’s because I’m a senior, maybe it’s because I only have one more term left after this, or maybe it’s because the work load for my classes has piled up so high I can’t see past it.

I always thought dead week was the time where classes basically stopped and my only focus was worrying about my upcoming finals the following week.

But sadly, that isn’t the case. I’m still chipping away at a paper due in two days that I have a substantial amount of work left to do, organizing a term’s worth of homework for a 100 level LACC—yes, I am the senior who put these kinds of classes off until the last minute—and struggling to start or even think about any of the things I have to turn in next week, or the tests I have to take.

I can only imagine the struggle of the students who are graduating at the end of this term. By week 10 of spring term I imagine the last thing on my mind will be the homework and projects I need to turn in before graduating.

I understand my column this week is basically me just complaining—okay, it’s totally me just complaining—but sometimes when it comes to school, students just run out of juice.

I can only handle so many eight page papers and class projects. I can only handle so much reading and writing. I have all this to worry about and work on top of that, as well as everything else going on in my life.

Just a week’s more worth of work before spring break. That’s it. Dead week you’ve temporarily killed me again, but I’ll be up and running again at the start of week term.

Countdown to graduation: three more months.

Contact the author at kpenaflor12@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalkatrina

Death by degree

Seniorits2Color

By: Conner Williams
Editor-in-Chief

The disease is spreading at an alarming rate. Nearly 25 percent of all college students have become infected and top-level scientists have yet to develop a cure. Students across the country are exhibiting frightening symptoms, and there doesn’t appear to be any way to treat them.

This terrifying disease is not one that has appeared in the major news headlines; it’s not Ebola or the swine flu, it’s something much more infectious and threatening.

Senioritis.

I know, just seeing the word makes me shudder too. In fact, just writing this very account has caused my symptoms to worsen even more; I’ve had to stop and put my face in my hands in defeat at least a dozen times. That’s right, I am a victim of senioritis, and my case might be one of the worst I’ve seen.

Senioritis causes extreme feelings of laziness, tardiness (and, often times, complete absence altogether), insomnia and/or lethargy, sudden alcohol overconsumption, and a complete lack of motivation. The only thing that keeps these symptoms from keeping one completely incapacitated is the debilitating fear of not receiving his or her degree in time, and even that is becoming less and less of a motivating factor.

In all seriousness though, it’s starting to become a serious problem for me. In a completely honest and conservative estimate, I’ve probably skipped 60 percent of my classes this quarter. Yeah, I get it, I’m a bad student. Whatever. Look, this isn’t a personal shot at my professors (if you’re reading this, know that I think you’re awesome and the work you do is amazing), I just really don’t find much use from going to class. In the increasingly technologically-driven world our educational system thrives in, I don’t see the need to go to class when all materials and information are provided for me online. I simply can’t handle sitting through lectures anymore.

This is something that I think is a major flaw in our education system. To me, there’s a big difference between gaining an education and going to school. I don’t think the two go hand-in-hand. I’ll be completely honest: I despise school. I don’t believe that the traditional classroom setting is an optimal learning environment, at least for me. I don’t learn well by sitting there listening to someone 30 years my senior talking in monotone to me (Bueller … Bueller …). I’ll pass. I’d rather just teach myself the material in the comfort of my own home.

Not to mention the fact that I have to take classes that have absolutely nothing to do with my career just so that I can get a “well-rounded” liberal arts education (aka: keep students in school longer and suck more money out of them), I just dislike going to class. Students have almost zero input for course curricula and are forced to complete arbitrarily important assignments that usually don’t do much for them; it’s simply one going through the motions so that a professor can have something to grade and then assign a subjective value to a student. And, once again, this is not a shot at my instructors; it’s a shot at our education system as a whole.

I think this is the root of my senioritis: a lack of a reason to care. Yes, I know my education is important, and I do take it seriously for the most part. But really, why should I care about half the stuff I’m taught? I’m going to have to be trained to do whatever job I end up with anyways, so what’s the point of learning all of this information that I’m just going to forget over spring break?

I think Peter Gibbons from “Office Space” said it best: “It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care.” So, I ask you, my faithful readers, why should I care? If you feel the need to berate/celebrate my claims, please contact me.

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

A letter from Donald Trump’s penis

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By: Katrina Penaflor
Staff Writer

It’s been a big week for me. I mean, huge.

I’ll begin by saying hello. My twitter followers have nearly tripled in the last four days on account of this penis-gate and, as a very busy penis, I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Let me start with my weekly penis recap. This is super important for me as I often have many things to discuss, but I feel like now I have the ideal platform for people to willingly listen.

First off, did you notice Donald has been wearing slightly shorter ties? I have reason to believe this is to put me back in the spotlight.

Second, hello Marco Rubio, you hater. I heard what you had to say about Donald’s hands, and as someone who is very closely acquainted with both his hands I have to say they also are huge. P.S. Donald told me you wear a wig.

Third, have you noticed how beautiful Melania looks? How she’s always smiling? Yeah, you’re welcome.

Fourth, back to Marco Rubio, notice how he couldn’t even say the word penis? How can you vote for a guy who doesn’t say the word penis? I mean, come on.

Also, I wanted to discuss that aside from the very important job of being Donald Trump’s penis, I’m also his fact checker, chief advisor, and Twitter writer on Thursdays.

Remember his idea to build the wall? Yeah, he asked me about it and I said, “Erect it, definitely. Make it the biggest, thickest wall possible.”

Remember everything he’s ever said during every debate? Yup, those points went straight through me first.

Remember how he always calls people a loser on Twitter? Well, that wasn’t me because I think calling people a loser is mean, but I definitely once tweeted a complaint about how short Marco Rubio is.

Oh, and how can I forget, I co-authored “The Art of the Deal” with Donald. Greatest business book of all time. Seriously, bring me a copy and I’ll be happy to sign it for you.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with a Mr. Christie at four.

Contact the author at kpenaflor@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalkatrina

Horoscopes

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Aries 3/21-4/19
Oh, Aries, even though you’re super nice and you’ve done nothing but praise the universe this week, I have a bad horoscope for you. Totally unavoidable, but you will step on a Lego tomorrow. I’M SORRY.

Taurus 4/20-5/20
I know that failed test has you super bummed out, Taurus. But cheer up, an unexpected visitor will stop by this weekend, and bonus, they’re super sexy.

Gemini 5/21-6/20
Remember last week, Gemini, when I asked you to bring $50 to the offices of The Journal? Yeah, I’m still waiting on that. And if you’re a new reader and missed last week’s horoscope, bring $50 to our office, ask for Katrina.

Cancer 6/21-7/22
Major ED this month, Cancer. Yikes.

Leo 7/23-8/22
Leo, you had a rough week with all my predicted coffee shop drama. I’m here to help you out. A $50 Starbucks card resides at this location 35.6833° N, 139.6833° E

Virgo 8/23-9/22
I don’t have a fortune for you this week, Virgo. The moons just ain’t alignin.’ So instead I’ll recommend one of my favorite reality shows. Go watch “Vanderpump Rules” it’ll turn your week around.

Libra 9/23-10/22
6, 33, 21, 2, 17, 45

Scorpio 10/23-11/21
For all your good deeds this week, Scorpio, I have a very special fortune for you. Despite what you’ve been led to believe, and question, Jon Snow is not dead. You’re welcome.

Sagittarius 11/22-12/21
Ah, Sagittarius, such a gentle soul. And for that I will tell you that never again will you be charged for extra guacamole. Bless.

Capricorn 12/22-1/19
Still pregnant.

Aquarius 1/20-2/18
Not really a fortune, but I’ve just got word from the universe that every single Aquarius has hands larger than Donald Trump’s so … congrats?

Pisces 2/19-3/20
Go buy a wedding dress, or tuxedo, or whatever on earth you want to wear because Leonardo DiCaprio will marry you on 5/21.