2016 – Page 48 – The Western Howl

#BHM

By: Rachael Jackson
Staff Writer

Amongst playful banter of competition and gnashing on pizza crust, students gathered to learn about African American history.

The Black Student Union hosted the game of trivia and provided the refreshments. Students provided their brain power as they played through four rounds of 40 total questions.

One student, Keevontye Collier, business major and senior, was enticed by the games because of the importance of the history.

“It’s the history of my race, it’s important to learn how far we’ve come along. Knowing the history is the stepping stone into the future,” Collier remarked.

Want to test your own BHM knowledge? Here are some questions to get you started!

Contact the author at rjackson13@wou.edu or on Twitter @rachaelyjackson

1. True or False: Martin Luther King Jr. received his doctorate from Boston University?
a. True
b. False

2. In 1968, who was the first African-American congresswoman?
a. Shirley Chisholm
b. Alice Walker
c. Henrietta Lacks

3. Name this founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People:

(http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0511/images/gaz_08_dubois.gif)

a. Frederick Douglass
b. W. E. B. Du Bois
c. George Crum

4. In what year did Black History Month become a month-long celebration?
a. 1946
b. 1986
c. 1976

5. This ground-breaking performer sang “Strange Fruit” in 1939. Who is she?

(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/325/MI0001325116.jpg)

a. Nina Simone
b. Billie Holiday
c. Rosa Parks

6. What bridge is tied to the events of Bloody Sunday in Selma, AL?
a. Alfred Washington
b. Ernie Davis
c. Edmund Pettus

7. Who are the two pictured that saluted to Black Power during the 1968 Olympics?

(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/3/28/1332936684595/OLYMPICS-BLACK-POWER-SALU-008.jpg?w=1200&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=096160e0cae7106eda4e94ad5f37a883)

a. Tommie Smith and John Carlos
b. William Carlos and Thomas Smith
c. Thomas Carlos and John Smith

8. What is the name of this university that was founded in 1866 to train black preachers?

(https://hbcustory.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/howard-university-founders-library-everett.jpg)

a. Wilson University
b. Western University
c. Howard University

Answers:
a
a
b
c
b
c
a
c

(http://www.iemoji.com)

The Western Howl

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Obstructionism on both sides of the aisle

By: Conner Williams
Editor-in-Cheif

So, big bad Obama thinks he has the audacity to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court during an election year of all times? Who does he think he is; the President or something? Oh yeah…

As it turns out, the President doesn’t have the option to opt out of appointing a justice to the SCOTUS just because it’s an election year, as many GOP members of the Senate have claimed. Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the President “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint…Judges of the Supreme Court.”

Interesting. Maybe I didn’t read it correctly, but I didn’t see anything that said the President may appoint judges, it said that he or she shall do so. There is also nothing in the Constitution that states the President may not appoint a justice during an election year, either. Which means Obama has to appoint a justice.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and a large amount of Senate Republicans, including some presidential hopefuls, have publicly voiced that they will block any nomination that Obama proposes.

Many congressional members on the left side of the aisle have publicly condoned this act of “obstructionist politics,” saying that to block any nomination just for the sake of it is to sacrifice the entire system of checks and balances under which our democracy operates. The situation has led to an escalation of yet another feud between the two parties, and I, for one, am sick of it.

Firstly, the Democrats can stop pointing fingers. Many Senate Democrats refused to confirm any justice appointed by President Bush back in 2007, and Obama himself even voted to filibuster one of Bush’s nominations when he was in the Senate. So, what’s with all the outcry when the Republicans do it this time?

I’m a firm believer that much of the debates stirred up by our elected officials are simply to increasingly polarize the country and dig us deeper into the rigged two-party hole that we have created for ourselves. There is no compromise anymore; it’s all about public demonization over which side is trying to ruin the country more. Since when did our legislative system become a jousting match?

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

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Musings from a woman on the edge

ShiaColor

By: Katrina Penaflor 
Managing Editor

Shia LaBeouf is back at it with his performance art.

Remember his last performance, where he stayed in a theater and watched all his movies with a rotating crowd of fans? Silly question: of course you do.

Well, the newest one “#Elevate,” yes, the hashtag is to stay with the title, is the name of the actor/artist’s latest endeavor. LaBeouf stayed in an elevator on Feb. 19 for 24 hours at Oxford University with two other performers: Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner.

It’s there so that visitors were welcomed to enter and exit the elevator to talk, question etc. with the three performance artists. But, really, I’m pretty much 100 percent positive everyone went to talk to just LaBeouf.

Oxford Union’s video description read, “Visitors will be able to join LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner inside the elevator during this time, and are invited to address the artists, the debating chamber, and the internet, so that their collective voices may form an extended, expansive, and egalitarian Oxford Union address.”

If I was there I would obviously have asked an endless stream of questions about the show “Even Stevens,” and the movie, and of course if he still talks to Beans. Oh, and how can I forget about my grade school television crush Twitty, LaBeouf’s best friend on the show.

Seriously, where is that guy now?

And what I’m really curious about is how La Beouf comes up with this stuff? Never would I ever consider filming myself in an elevator for twenty-four hours. Because one, I could never stand for that long, and two, my anxieties about who is actually entering the elevator would be through the roof.

What if a crazy person entered the elevator and tried to attack me? Or what if a person tried to carry on a conversation about something super boring, and I was literally bored to death during the 24-hour time period.
Whatever the actor/artist chooses to do next I’ll, of course, have to comment on it because the list of priorities for my column include: ridiculous purchases, stuff I find to be outrageous, and, of course, all things Shia La Beouf.

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

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“Deadpool” is Dope

By: Ashton Newton
Staff Writer

Superheroes have been huge in movies lately. A little too huge, some might say, but they’ve been wildly successful nonetheless.

Marvel’s “Deadpool” brings a new kind of superhero to the big screen; One which comic lovers know as an “anti-hero.” For him, the lines between good and bad are very blurry. So, obviously, when I found out everyone’s favorite “Merc with a Mouth” was getting his own movie, I was skeptical and afraid we’d get a watered down version.

By far the best part of “Deadpool” was the R rating. If comic Deadpool is known for three things, it’s blood, language, and chimichangas. The R rating allowed all three of those to be expressed in full. There was no holding back in the language or the gore, so the comic Deadpool was really well portrayed on film.

Ryan Reynolds did an incredible job as Deadpool, he didn’t hold back at all in his portrayal of the character. Even under a thick red suit, Reynolds was able to bring so much emotion out of the character through his masterful use of dialogue.

“Deadpool” was also a chance that Fox took to poke fun at itself and the entire superhero genre. Deadpool makes fun of Ryan Reynolds’ “almost Deadpool” from “X-men Origins: Wolverine” and his Green Lantern. The movie also jokes about the low budget being the cause of the lack of X-Men characters and the very confusing X-Men Universe timeline.

The movie is a very easy to understand story of revenge. Set in the larger universe of the X-Men movies, the film seemed a little underwhelming in its small scale. I mean, there’s a guy named Apocalypse who’s about to try destroying the world in a few months. But at its core, “Deadpool” is a fun and entertaining debut of the beloved character on the big screen.

Comedy outweighed action in “Deadpool”. Whether it was breaking the fourth wall or one of his many one-liners, Deadpool had the audience laughing from start to finish. Comedy worked most of the time. As expected, a few one-liners fell flat, and some jokes were placed at awkward times, but “Deadpool” was still an extremely funny and entertaining movie.

A major weak point in the film was the side characters. Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead played the role of the voices of reason for Deadpool and Colossus trying to recruit him to the X-Men. The characters were undeveloped and provided nothing but some extra muscle for Deadpool and a few X-Men jokes.

The action was very fast paced and fun. I found myself wanting more of it in slower moments. The R rating allowed the action to be filled with blood and gore. The film didn’t hold back at all when it came to blood or dismemberment, and it was fantastic.

Overall, Deadpool was a fun but small film that managed to bring a fan favorite character to the big screen while parodying the entire superhero genre. The film didn’t disappoint and left me wanting more.

The Western Howl

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Kanye West: Living “The Life of Pablo”

Kanye-WestColor

By:  Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

This may end up as my favorite Kanye album.

I dig his first three albums, but “808s and Heartbreak” is the first album of his I really, really dug, and I’ve only dug each subsequent one more and more. “The Life of Pablo” is the latest in a line of really great records. I love the gospel sound with all my heart, plus it keeps the weird industrial synths and sudden tone shifts of Yeezus, and lyrically speaking this is an album of a man struggling with his faith, his fame, his marriage, his baser urges, his fans, and his own mythology. It’s heavy and weird and—somehow—a little bit inspirational.

Look, my boy Kanye is a bit of a polarizing figure. For people who don’t listen to his music or his interviews or anything, all they’ve got is the award show outbursts and the Twitter rants. And while it’s unfair, it’s understandable. But that’s Kanye West the Public Figure.

I recommend listening to “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” and “The Life of Pablo” to get a good idea of who Kanye West the Man is. I get this vibe from much of this album, and some of the tracks on “Fantasy” and “Yeezus,” that he is uncomfortably with finding himself happy.

He’s married to a woman who loves him and has guided him through his darkest times, not to mention mothered his children, and yet he still dreams of the destructive rock star life. He’s one of the biggest names in music, but can’t allow himself to take a break from work to tend to the rest of his life. On “Wolves,” the beautiful and haunting closing track of the album proper, he worries that his deceased mother would disapprove of his life and art, that he’s “too wild.”

He is a man deeply troubled by a great many things (not the least of which is his ego, which he freely admits), and his level of unabashed honesty on “Pablo” makes it really easy to empathize with a man who should be, by all rights, impossible to relate to.

Currently “The Life of Pablo” is only available on Tidal because who the hell knows, but just snag dat free trial, and I would be really, really surprised if it never found its way to a real release.

Incomplete and Miscellaneous Thoughts I Wrote While Listening to this Album Stoned:

Ultralight Beam:
Oh man when the gospel backing comes in, blew my damn mind for a second. Chance the Rapper’s verse is dooooope. Apparently this was why the album’s release was delayed initially, I can see why.

Father, Stretch My Hands Pts 1-2

Damn Yeezy getting weird again. Dude’s got a hell of a relationship with his family. His flow on Part 2 makes me uncomfortable and I loooove it

Feedback:
Man what a cool song. Savage feedback-y synths warm my soul parts

Low Lights:
More weirdness. Love the gospel influence. Ye did say this was a gospel record, dude wasn’t lyin’.

Highlights:
Oh man that first hook is giving me flashbacks to Daft Punk’s “Discovery.” Love it.

Freestyle 4:
This song strikes me as uncomfortably honest. So dope.
I Love Kanye:

Heheheheh Yeezy knows what’s up, love the self-awareness of closing with “I love you like Kanye loves Kanye”.

Waves:
The almost-namesake song. Comes in SUPER HEAVY after “I Love Kanye”

FML:
This song is fascinating, trying to give up the rock star life he worked so hard for so that he can be good to his family. Way dark and a bit spacey

Wolves:
Ugh this song breaks my heart. I hope he “fixes” it like he said he was gonna. I miss Sia and the other dude.

The Western Howl

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Wolves hurdle over GNAC opponents

By: Jamal Smith
Sports Editor

The Western Oregon track and field team traveled to Nampa, Idaho on Friday, Feb. 19 to compete in the GNAC Indoor Championships, an event spanning both Friday and Saturday.

The men finished second place in the team race, behind the University of Alaska Anchorage, with a combined total of 93 points. The women finished the Championships in eighth place by accumulating 29 points.

On Friday, during the preliminaries, sophomore sprinter Cody Warner got Western off to a great start by finishing in first place in the 200-meter with a time of 21.89. Then on Saturday, Warner followed up his triumphant performance the day before with an even better time of 21.78 which earned the sprinter a league title in the 200-meter.

Warner also came in second in the 60-meter sprint with a time of 6.95.

Sophomore David Ribich, who set the Western Oregon school record for the fastest time in the mile the previous weekend at the Husky Classic, was edged in a photo-finish. Ribich finished in second place with a time of 4:10.14.

On the final day of competition, the men’s squad had seven athletes finish in top-three spots. In the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Kaleb Dobson followed up his record-setting performance last weekend in the Husky Classic with a time of 8.33 which earned him second place.

As for the women, senior Emmi Collier got second place in the shot put with a distance of 14.38-meters, and senior Stephanie Stuckey finished fifth in the mile run with a time of 5:08.05.

Freshman Olivia Woods broke the Western Oregon’s school record in the 400-meter during the Friday preliminaries with a time of 57.54 which slotted her into sixth place. Woods went on to finish seventh in the final on Saturday.

Next up, on Saturday, Feb. 27, the Wolves look to make an impact at the Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier.

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

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Blazer come away on top at trade deadline

By: Jamal Smith 
Sports Editor

For the past few years, the NBA trade deadline has come and gone without any notable moves for the Portland Trail Blazers. This trade deadline was much different as Neil Olshey, the Blazer’s general manager, made a few moves that have left Blazer fans scratching their heads.

Fans who had hoped that the Blazers would add a marquee name or a crafty veteran to the roster might have been disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things, the moves the Blazer’s front office made were brilliant.

Here’s what went down: the Blazers negotiated a three team trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic in which Portland traded a 2020 second-round draft pick for Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao and a future 2018 first-round draft pick (protected 1-10).

Then, later in the day, it was announced that the Blazer’s acquired backup point guard Brian Roberts and a future second-round draft pick from the Miami Heat in exchange for cash considerations. To make room for Roberts, Portland had to waive backup point guard Tim Frazier.

“We went into the trade deadline trying to be opportunistic. We wanted to gather assets,” said Olshey to reporters after the two trades. “Clearly this group is really overachieving. There’s a lot of young guys that have a future. We wanted to make sure we were giving them a chance to win. We didn’t want to touch that core group of guys that have exceeded expectations.”

Just an hour after the Trail Blazers acquired 33 year-old Varejao, the team immediately waived him and his $9.6 million dollar salary. Portland was able to dump his contract because the team was so far under the salary cap minimum. Essentially, the Blazers gave up money to get a future first-round draft pick.

“Go back and look at the transaction record of other teams and look at what level of player they had to give up to acquire a first-round pick,” Olshey added. “We gave up cap room. I think it’s really sexy.”

The young Blazers have defied most sports analysts pre-season predictions and are currently in the sixth spot in the Western Conference with a record of 30-27. While the team arguably didn’t get much better now, the future draft picks provide hope for the future.

This was possibly the best trade deadline move in the history of the Blazers franchise. Portland kept its young core of players together, acquired future assets, and most importantly sent a message to all the Blazer fans: “We want to win.” Bravo.

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

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.

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#BHM

Obstructionism on both sides of the aisle

Musings from a woman on the edge

“Deadpool” is Dope

Kanye West: Living “The Life of Pablo”

Wolves hurdle over GNAC opponents

Blazer come away on top at trade deadline

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