Mount Hood

Delicious Combinations offers a new take on Monmouth cuisine

Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor

A problem that I tend to come across when trying to find something to eat around Western is that it’s all the same. I’ve become so tired of eating the same things every time I go out that it started to feel like I was just wasting my money. When I noticed the food truck “Delicious Combinations” sitting off of Main Street, I was instantly intrigued.

On a beautiful, warm sunny day, my boyfriend and I decided we should go ahead and give it a try. So we made our way over without knowing anything about any of their dishes. Luckily, the woman who was taking our order was incredibly kind and willing to answer all of my many questions, and even gave me free samples when I asked which of two items she recommended.

At first, I was a little disappointed because even having only two types of meat on their menu, chicken and lamb, they had already run out of chicken. However, I figured I should probably try something new anyways and I ordered the lamb shawarma entree, which came with hummus and tabouleh, a salad with ingredients such as parsley, mint, onion and tomatoes. My boyfriend ordered the lamb shawarma wrap.

I found my meal to be pretty good. I wasn’t super impressed, but I enjoyed what I ate and never found myself disliking anything on my plate. Perhaps it just wasn’t my thing; my entree didn’t have a ton of flavor and felt kind of boring. The sides were more flavorful, yet I simply didn’t love  the taste. Though my boyfriend enjoyed his meal more than I enjoyed mine, both of us were satisfied. However, I wouldn’t really say anything more than that. It was good, not great. The servings aren’t super large, but it also really isn’t expensive so I wouldn’t expect them to be. You definitely get what you pay for.

Overall, I would say that everything was cooked well, and the presentation was pleasing which I enjoyed. But I don’t think it’s somewhere I’ll be returning to frequently. The best part about it was the customer service, as the person who took my order was always bearing a smile and wanted to make sure we were enjoying every bite. She almost makes it worth returning again.

I think it’s something I would recommend to students in the area who want to give something new a try. It was definitely unlike anything else I’ve had around here, and I’m still glad that I decided to eat there.

Contact the author at chealy16@mail.wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Lowering your electric bill made easy

Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor

A milestone in the lives of many students comes after living on your own for the first full month- receiving and paying your very first electric bill. Typically, that one is easy enough to pay. But suddenly, you find yourself in the winter months. The heat is coming on more frequently, the lights are coming on earlier and staying on longer, and your bill is increasing dramatically.

Luckily for you, there are ways to save other than opting for keeping the heat off and freezing. Little tricks can keep you from paying an arm and a leg each month, and you’ll still be able to live happily in your home — just with a smaller bill.

The first spot to look into is your dishwasher, if you have one. Think about how you load your washer before running it. If you find yourself having to rewash things, you’re likely loading your washer too full. Or, if you find yourself running the dishwasher constantly because the loads are too small, you’ll also run into problems. Running your dishwasher repeatedly can get expensive, so save yourself the trouble and do it efficiently. Load your dishes in correctly, wash it all once it’s full enough to run, but not too full, and do it less frequently. Or, you can even opt to just washing things by hand if you only have a few dishes.

In response to ways she chooses to save, sophomore Maria Krueger commented that “little things help. Just keeping appliances off, turning off the lights and heat before I leave. Things like that.”

According to lifehacker.com, “appliances and electronics account for about 17 percent of energy use in the average American household.” However, they also mention that some appliances do use more energy, such as gaming systems, electric kettles, desktop computers and television sets. While remembering to constantly turn off and unplug everything can get annoying, you can easily fix this by using power strips. Then, instead of having to turn off every device everyday, you can just turn off the power strip when you don’t need it on.

Do you have a washer and dryer in your home? Using the dryer will crank up your bill an incredible amount. If you can, air drying is the way to go. However, this isn’t always easy to do. So if you want to keep using your washer/dryer, measure your loads well. Similar to the dishwasher, doing too many loads or doing ones that are simply too large will just end up getting expensive. So save yourself the time and money, and measure how you wash your clothes efficiently.

While these tips may seem small, I’ve managed to use many of them to save me a ton each month. The biggest thing to remember is to be aware of the energy you are using. Keep the lights off when you don’t need them, use blankets before you crank up the heat, turn off appliances you aren’t using. Make some small changes in your daily habits to save yourself the pain of a sky-high bill at the end of the month.

Contact the author at chealy16@mail.wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Men’s team extends streak to 16

Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer

This past week was another showing of why the Wolves’s men’s basketball team is one of the premier groups across the country, as they picked up another two wins on Feb. 8 and 10 to add to their streak.

On Thursday, Feb. 8, Seattle Pacific was the next team tasked with the challenge of stopping the Wolves’s winning streak. Although the game was tied at halftime, the Wolves were able to capture a 95-81 victory.

During the first half, the Wolves received an offensive explosion from senior forward Tanner Omlid, who dropped 22 points in the opening 20 minutes. With Omlid shouldering the load in the first half, the Wolves started off the second half tied, 48-48.

Seattle Pacific showed that this game was not going to be easy in the first half, but the Wolves were able to make adjustments. During the first two quarters, both teams were shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.

The second half was a different story defensively, as the Wolves locked down and forced a 34.6 field goal percentage. Offensively, the team was lead by another outburst, this time by the hands of senior Ali Faruq-Bey. Scoring 17 points in the second half, Faruq-Bey was able to push his total to 25, and along with Omlid’s 32 points, the combo’s firepower proved too much to overcome.

During Saturday’s game against Saint Martin’s on Feb. 10, the Wolves were able to grab their 16th straight win. After jumping out to a 45-37 halftime lead, the lead extended to 25 just ten minutes later.

Saint Martins cut the deficit nearly in half as the game went on, but nothing close to what was needed to get the upset. Faruq-Bey had another high scoring game, this time netting 24 points.

On Thursday, Feb. 15, Western travels to Idaho to take on Northwest Nazarene.

And on Feb. 17, Central Washington will get a chance took take on the Wolves as their win streak looks to continue. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Ribich and Rufener outrun school records

Simson Garcia | Sports Editor

Multiple Wolf track and field athletes set new personal bests and division marks at the Husky Classic at the University of Washington from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. Seniors David Ribich and Kennedy Rufener finished first in their distances on Feb. 9 and 10, while three milers ran under times of 4:20 at the Husky Open on Feb. 11.

Sprinters and sophomores Devon Fortier and Grayson Burke got out quick in their heats. Fortier finished second in his heat of the men’s 60-meter dash with a time of 7.09, a season best. Burke won her heat in the women’s 400-meter, clocking in at 58.56, and recorded the fifth best time in Wolves’s history.
Moving to the 800-meter, junior Olivia Woods placed fourth with a time of 2:11.38, just shy of her personal best set two weeks prior.
The milers also ran two personal records as sophomore Justin Crosswhite and senior Parker Marson finished first and second, with times of 4:15.02 and 4:16.48.
While seniors Nicole Maurmann and Suzanne Van de Grift got out and ran in their mile run, Van De Grift barely missed the school record, but nabbed a provisional qualifying time of 4:48.95. Maurmann won her heat with a time of 5:04.40, also a personal record.
Going further to the men’s 3k, senior David Ribich broke not only the school mark by more than 20 seconds, but the all time Division-II mark by six seconds. Right behind him and also reordering the school record book were juniors Dustin Nading with 8:10.92 and Tyler Jones with 8:21.2.
Going just a bit further to the 5k, senior Kennedy Rufener took charge since the gun in her heat and earned a provisional qualifier mark while obliterating the school record with a time of 16:53.96. “I had to set the pace early … if I wanted to run around the time I was thinking that I would,” said Rufener.
Moving from track to field, first-year Nick Seiber achieved two personal records when he was measured at 14.40 meters in the shot put and 15.45 meters in the weight throw.
An accomplished personal record of 15.16 meters by sophomore Mariah Gronbach in the women’s weight throw placed her at eighth in school history.
Next stop for Wolves’s track and field are the GNAC championships that are to be ran from Feb.17-18 in Nampa, Idaho.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Wolves played to high standard while hosting Alaska conference foes

Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer

On Feb. 8, the women’s basketball team captured one of the largest wins of the season, dismantling the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks, 76-49.

During the first half, the team played airtight defense. The Nanooks were only allowed to score 21 points while shooting 25 percent. The Wolves not only made scoring the basketball difficult, the defense just made keeping the ball a challenge, forcing Alaska Fairbanks into 10 turnovers in the first half.

Offensively, the first half was lead by junior guard Kaylie Boschma, who scored 11 points in just 12 minutes off the bench, shooting 80 percent. The team went into the second half having a 37-21 lead, and the gap only increased.

The second half was much of the same, as the Wolves eventually pushed the lead to 34 with seven minutes left in the game. The Nanooks had no response, allowing six Wolves players to score eight or more points.

With a 76-49 win to their name, the team tried to ride that momentum on Feb. 8, while taking on GNAC conference leaders, Alaska Anchorage. The game ended in a 86-78 loss.

The Wolves jumped to an early 23-19 first quarter lead, giving the 22-2 Seawolves troubles offensively and defensively. Only two starters scored for the Seawolves in the second half, as the Wolves were able to minimize the impact from key players. Heading into the second half, the team was hanging on to a 38-36 lead.

In the second half, the defense was not able to replicate the same amount of success. The Seawolves came out hot in the third quarter, erasing the deficit and jumping out to a four point lead heading into the fourth.

From there, the Wolves failed to recover and secure a lead, falling in the end by eight.

After playing well during both home games this past week, the team will look to do more of the same on the road.

On Feb. 17, the team will then be traveling to face off against the Montana State University Billings Yellow Jackets.

Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Wolves drop one, but prevail to three wins

Simson Garcia | Sports Editor

Western softball started the season on a positive note, winning three of four games at the West Texas A&M University on Feb. 9 and 11. They attached two wins versus Southwestern Oklahoma, 15-7 and 5-3, and split against the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs, 7-4 and 8-2.
Day one provided a sweep, with the first victim being the Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs. A left-field homer by junior catcher Nicole Miller brought in two to score, making it 3-0 in the third inning.
Up 3-1 at the bottom of the fifth, the Wolves continued to fill the scoreboard adding two more, one off an RBI single and one off a wild pitch by Oklahoma.
With the Wolves defense only allowing two more runs to finish the game, senior pitcher Lizzet Dominguez also completed the game, earning her a win to move her pitching campaign to 3-0.
The day’s sweep and wind gusts up to 20 mph, didn’t prevent the Wolves from opening the second game with the bases loaded against No. 13 ranked West Texas A&M. Western scored two from there, and continued their route at the top of the fourth, scoring five runs off of six hits, making it 7-0. The Lady Buffs loaded the bases in the fifth and managed to score one but the Wolves defense locked down minimizing the Buffs from ever getting too close in the upset. First-year Wolf pitcher Maddie McClelland earned the win before retiring in the fifth.
A rematch with Southwestern Oklahoma ended the day. Western’s 17 hits allowed for 15 total runs. At 4-3 in the fourth, a triple by first-year infielder Sydney Bowers strung in two runs to go up three.
The Bulldogs hit back in the next inning on a 3-run homer to tie.
But the back-and-forth action concluded after the Wolves scored nine straight to end the day.
Western faced off against the Lady Buffs for a second time the next day.
A different theme played out as the Buffs limited the Wolves to two runs by the sixth inning. Up 3-2 in that frame, a WTAM grand-slam and a single homer soon after ended the Wolves’s weekend.
Keeping with the road schedule, seven games at the Tucson Invitational await the Wolves. The games will be played from Feb. 16-18.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

A slow start for baseball at 0-4

Simson Garcia | Sports Editor

The Wolves’s baseball action commenced as the team started out their 2018 season with four games. The Wolves were left 0-4 after three days of cross-conference play from Feb. 8-10 in Azusa, California. Having lost 8-1 to the Biola University Eagles to start, they followed that up with a three game slide against the Azusa Pacific University Cougars, 7-1, 4-3 and 7-6.   

The Wolves versus Eagle game on Feb. 8 was slow to begin as both teams were left scoreless after two innings.

But it was the Eagles who finally got things going in the third and kept it going from there. Western found themselves in a bevy of defensive mistakes that cost them three runs in the frame. The Wolves got familiar with Biola’s Colton Worthington, a senior infielder, who run batted in two to score, off a single up the middle, and then ran himself in off of junior outfielder Jerron Largusa’s RBI to make it 4-0.

After two innings, the score was 8-0 following Worthington’s score off a Largusa RBI.

The Wolves got their only score of the game from senior infielder Jay Leverett in the eighth, to avoid a shutout.

Western forwarded to a three game series with the Cougars on Feb. 9 that concluded on Feb. 10.

Azusa kicked things off in game one, home running to put up three in the first and looked to defend the homefield throughout the weekend. The adversarial Wolves fought back by scoring two, but a succession of two more homers from Azusa followed by two more runs tacked on by hit-by-pitches put the game in jeopardy for Western.

Western was serviced by three pitchers but couldn’t get by the Cougars’s offense, who locked in on the strike zone. Sophomore Wolf pitcher Connor McCord was dealt the loss following five innings while allowing two earned runs.

Game two switched gears and was tightly contested until extra innings. Both teams home-runned by the sixth, putting the score at 1-1. Azusa followed up with another homer propelling them up by two at the home-half.

Senior infielder Nyles Nygaard made sure the Wolves didn’t go quietly. He scored the first home-run, RBI singled in the seventh and then tied it up after scoring himself off a single from first-year outfielder Griffey Hall.   

After three more innings, the score was nil and the game went into extras. Going three and out in two extra innings, Western gave up a double to Azusa in the final frame.

Game three finished off the series in what was a game of five lead changes. With a bit of trickery in the first, the Wolves got the first run via an attempted steal from first to second base, which abled senior outfielder Jacob Martinez to score from third. After falling behind 4-2, the Wolves got back in front, 5-4, with back-to-back homers by Nygaard and junior catcher Jared McDonald.

The Cougars got a two run homer of their own to nudge ahead again but the Wolves resiliently fought back to tie it again and 6-6. But it was a home run by Azusa’s outfielder Sean Aspinall to end matters and get the sweep.

Martinez had a batting average of .417 in 16 at-bats in the four games while McDonald hit 6/16 in the contests.

Next up is two games at California State-Monterey Bay from Feb. 16-17. Opening pitch for the first game is set for 2 p.m.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

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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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