Mount Hood

Power Puff keeps tradition alive with Off-Campus victory

Caity Healy | Managing Editor

In 1978, one of the first recorded Powder Puff games — now referred to as the Power Puff game — made its way to Oregon College of Education. Off-campus, dressed in all black, took on On-Campus, sporting lighter colors. In an intense match — with the male cheerleaders hyping up the spectators — the Off-Campus team took the win 22-0. Flash forward to 2019, and the scoreboard looked pretty similar.

Although this is being referred to as the 40-year anniversary, the game actually goes back at least 41 years. 41 years of On-Campus versus Off-Campus with a very obvious trend — the win typically goes to Off-Campus. 2019 was no exception. 

The cold weather and rain couldn’t put a stop to the energy of the two teams on Oct. 18. As the black-shirted Off-Campus went head-to-head against the pink-shirted On-Campus, it was clear that the ones in black wouldn’t hold back. Immediately, player D-Dre Wright caught a pass and ran the ball all the way into the end-zone without being touched by a single player. The Off-Campus team took the first touchdown of the game just 20 seconds into the competition. In 2018, when On-Campus narrowly lost to Off-Campus with a tight score of 7-6, D-Dre Wright was one of the On-Campus MVPs. 

After the first touchdown, the play continued to be one-sided with On-Campus constantly on defense. Score after score, the game went into halftime with Off-Campus up 19-0.

The teams huddled at the half to figure out adjustments needed for the second half. After a lengthy break, the teams made their way back and the play began again. Similar to the first half, Off-Campus was on offense for most of the remainder of the game. However, On-Campus was able to hold them off, preventing them from scoring again in the entire half. But, On-Campus wasn’t able to find the endzone either, leaving the final score 19-0 in favor of Off-Campus. In the common theme of Power Puff competition, Off-Campus was once again victorious.

Senior Mikaela Wong, a fourth-time Off-Campus player and fourth-time winner, shared how the win felt for her and her team.

“You’d think I’d get used to it by now but it’s the same level of excitement every year,” Wong said. Wong went on to explain how the team was able to secure the win more easily this year, rather than the narrow win in 2018. 

“We really just settled in and had three really simple plays and kept running those over and over again. Last year, the plays were more complicated,” Wong explained. Player Rachel Koljesky added that, “everyone was definitely open with communication if they didn’t know or if they weren’t comfortable with their position so we could change it.” 

To close out, Koljesky explained, in brief words, how the team felt after securing the win: “Oh, fantastic. Four-peat, let’s go.” 

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photos by Caity Healy

Western Football defeated in Homecoming nail-biter versus Central

Caity Healy | Managing Editor

Packed stands and a mix of sun, rain and wind made for a day of intense competition as Western Oregon prepared to take on Central Washington University for their annual Homecoming game. Taking place on Oct. 19, fans of all ages watched in anticipation with high hopes for the Wolves, who were riding the high of a four-game win streak. Prior to this game, the last time Western played Central was Sept. 28, where it ended in a 36-26 win in favor of the Wolves. 

The sound of the marching band and the cheers of the audience could be heard all around Monmouth right from the start; just 18 seconds in, quarterback Ty Currie found wide-receiver Jarren Ford with a 75-yard catch-and-run that gave the Wolves their first score of the game. With 14:42 left on the clock, Western was up 7-0. 

The energy kept up throughout the first quarter, as nearly three minutes later, the Wolves found themselves in the end zone again. Spirits were high and Wolves were up 14-0. But right before the end of the quarter, Central Washington answered back and found themselves on the board 14-7.

The competition was intense as the game continued with a back-and-forth momentum that led the two teams to the half with a score of 28-21. Coming out of the half, the game continued in this trend; the Wolves would score and the Wildcats would answer immediately. With just 58 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Western’s defense struggled to put a stop to Central, who brought the score to a tie 35-35. The Wolves and the Wildcats went into overtime — the first time Western had gone into overtime since Sept. 23, 2017, and the first time since 2012 for Central.

The Wildcats were quick to score in OT, pulling ahead of the Wolves for the first time in the game 42-35. The Wolves weren’t ready to give up and answered back with a touchdown, putting the scoreboard 42-41, with the Wolves behind by just a single point. Following the touchdown, the Wolves decided to go for the win and missed the conversion, ending the game in favor of the Wildcats 42-41.

While the Homecoming loss was heartbreaking for the fans, it was still a lively game with Western finishing with a 497 total yards and Central with 503. The Wolves play again Oct. 26 at home against MSU Texas. Kickoff is 1:05 p.m.

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photos by Caity Healy

Dance and Cheer Teams deliver a halftime to remember

Caity Healy | Managing Editor

With the scoreboard showing the Wolves on top, the spirit was high on Oct. 19 as the Homecoming game went into the halftime break. Following the announcement of the Homecoming court, the energy from the bleachers was kicked up a notch as the Dance Team took to the track for their annual Homecoming performance. 

The sound of silence consumed the crowd as the Dance Team got into formation, partnering with the Cheer Team. With the dancers donned in Western red and black, the music began and the performers started their routine to “Lose Control” by Missy Elliott. It was clear that the dancers were showing the spirit of the Wolves through their high energy. 

“I think the homecoming performance had a lot more energy than the first performance we had,” said senior dancer Jenn Romadka, a public policy and administration major. “With twice the amount of people on the track, it was just a lot of fun to know that both teams were kind of rocking out.”

But on top of the energy felt by the dancers, the high spirits of the crowd were palpable as well.

“I think everyone in the stands always gets more excited during Homecoming, too, so I felt a lot more energy coming from the back of the stands than I have in the past,” Romadka added.

This year, rather than performing alone, the Dance Team decided to work with the Cheer Team. However, the cheerleaders were added to the routine a bit late — Romadka explained that they learned “over half the song the Thursday before the performance,” and the performance was on Friday. As for the Dance Team, they practiced their routine for two weeks before the performance, and practiced together with the Cheer Team just twice before the performance in order to get the spacing down.

For those wanting to see more of what the Dance Team has in store, they perform at home football and basketball games, so they can be watched next on Saturday, Oct. 26 at MacArthur Stadium for the football game versus MSU Texas. For those wanting to learn more or are interested in joining, they can contact Kayley Kildea at kakildea17@wou.edu.

Romadka closed by saying she would, “encourage anyone to join if they want to, the whole experience is just really supportive and about continuous growth, rather than how much dance experience you have when you try out.”

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photos by Caity Healy

Made by students and for students, the ASWOU Book Exchange recognizes the perils of textbook costs and decided to do something about it

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

There is a general consensus among college students and that consensus is this: textbooks are extremely expensive. Luckily, Western’s student government, ASWOU, developed the ASWOU book exchange. Operating all year under the ‘My Programs’ tab in the student portal, it exists as a way to buy and sell textbooks for comparatively less than through the bookstore. 

According to an email sent out on Oct. 8, by ASWOU’s director of internal affairs, Danielle Campbell, “Selling a book is easy, fill out the info online and we will hold your book for up to 365 days. After that, you can come pick it up, or leave it to become ASWOU property. Once you choose to purchase or sell a book, you have 24 hours to either drop off your book or pay and pick up at the ASWOU office in WUC 122.” 

In a personal interview, Cambell suggested that searching by ISBN would be the most efficient way to find the right books through the portal.

The cupboards in front of ASWOU are filled with over 500 books. 

“Some are really outdated,” Campbell admitted, “there’s no way of really knowing what’s going to be used this year or next year because professors are always changing their materials, so we don’t want to get rid of any of them.” Campbell also stated, “the system that we have online was created only a few years ago for a senior project for the computer science program and it’s made by students, so it’s a very basic system.” She also hinted at a desire for the system to become more advanced in the next few years.

 Nevertheless, ASWOU book exchange exists as “a way for students to set their own price of what they think is fair,” and a way for “students … (to) help other students,” says Campbell.

For more information, contact ASWOU’s Director of Internal Affairs at aswou@.wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

The history of homecoming on Western’s campus from 1939 to 2019

Caity Healy | Managing Editor

Homecoming — it’s common to see U.S. schools celebrating it, but the history behind the festivities isn’t usually made explicitly clear. As it turns out, the etymology of the term is about as literal as it gets. 

According to Vice, homecoming “got its start on college campuses as a fall celebration of the first football game of the season, for which alumni would return to their alma maters.” While the first homecoming allegedly happened in 1911 at the University of Missouri, the tradition as we know it now didn’t hit Monmouth until nearly two decades later.

“The first recorded Homecoming was in 1939,” said the 1968 edition of The Grove, Western’s 1940–1941 yearbook. With that said, this is likely talking about the festivities we celebrate now. The first mention of a Homecoming football game came in the 1930 edition of The Norm, the 1911-1939 yearbook, which means homecoming began in 1929. On top of this, according to the 1979 edition of The Grove, “the tradition at Oregon College of Education dates back as far as the 1890s,” and also added that “after World War I Homecoming was changed from spring to fall, with an added emphasis on football.” 

In the likely inaugural 1929 Homecoming game, Oregon Normal School — the name of Western at the time — went head-to-head against Southern Oregon Normal School, and it ended in a score of 0-0. However, in our next Homecoming game against Eastern Oregon Normal School, ONS capped an undefeated season, 50-0 under the leadership of Coach Wolfe — the inspiration behind Western’s mascot. Since then, several traditions aside from the football game have graced Western’s campus; some stuck around for years, while others phased out. 

The year was 1951. For the first time, the idea of a “Homecoming Court” hit campus. Since then, it’s been an integral part of the festivities — the announcement of the court was even televised in 1966. How the royalty was presented, though, has changed over time. For several years, the court, wearing their full homecoming gear, was driven onto the field in convertibles. In 1987, when the theme was “The Great Pumpkin Homecoming,” the royalty was driven onto the field in orange Volkswagen bugs to look like pumpkins. On top of this, the royalty used to be assigned by halls — there would be a “Butler Princess,” a “Landers Princess,” and so on.

It’s been a theme in recent years to burn the “W” following the Power Puff game. However, this tradition is one that ages back to early days of Western. Although we burn the “W” now and usually a bonfire as well, back then, the goal was just to build a bonfire as big as they could. Competitions were held between different halls to see who could collect the most wood to keep the fire burning.

For years, students would also have tug-of-war competitions in the mud as part of the festivities of the bonfire. 

On top of these traditions, it’s clear to see how some have evolved. For years, each hall would participate in a “lawn display competition” to match the theme of the year — perhaps that’s how we have arrived at the current office decorating competition that occurs now. The rose planting that the Homecoming queen takes part in was a tradition started by Jessica Todd in the early days of Oregon Normal School. And the homecoming dance has always been around — though, in the ‘60s it was deemed the “All-American Ball,” and students also attended a “Grubby Dance” where they were asked to look filthy. 

Some traditions didn’t make it to 2019. For years, the school put on a homecoming concert, often with a talent show preceding it. They’d bring speakers to campus — in 1986 the speaker was Adam West, the original “Batman.” For several decades, a much-loved tradition existed: the noise parade. Students would decorate their cars and ride all through Monmouth, making as much noise as possible until they reached the bonfire, and in later years, until they reached either the powderpuff game or the football game. Then, before the games began, fireworks would go off in Western’s colors to signal the start. 

Homecoming has been around this campus for longer than a good number of the buildings. 

While some traditions didn’t last too long or simply disappeared, some became an essential part of the week’s celebration. And each year, new history is made as new traditions are created and revered.

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photos courtesy of WOU Archives

 

Western’s annual homecoming was full of “wild” delights with a Western-themed twist

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Homecoming is an important week-long community-building event at the heart of Western’s traditions. This year, the homecoming theme was “Wild, Wild Western.” Western began their “wild” festivities with the 3rd annual Homecoming Kickoff Carnival and Paint the Wolf event on Monday, Oct. 14, and ended with the Western football game against Central Washington, where homecoming royalty was crowned during halftime. Although Western eventually lost during overtime, students had many opportunities during the week prior to participate in and enjoy the homecoming festivities. Here are some highlights:

3rd Annual Homecoming Kickoff Carnival & Paint the Wolf celebration: Even though the air was a chilly 44 degrees on Monday Oct. 14, the sunshine filtering through the clouds brought groups of students to participate in the start of homecomings’s activities. The homecoming theme was blatant in the fair-like games — ring-toss and the high-striker — which drew students in. The free cotton candy put a smile on student’s faces and a few students were even brave enough to ride the bull (a mechanical one, of course).  Finally, the annual tradition of repainting the Western logo on Court street was a crowd favorite. 

 

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Paint the Town Red: On Tuesday, Oct. 15, participating businesses in Monmouth allowed students to decorate their windows with window paint fitting the “Wild, Wild Western” theme. Using mostly shades representative of the school’s colors, students grouped together to collaborate on their masterpieces, which included several Wolfie caricatures dressed in their Western-style best (literally). Yee-haw! PLUS team was announced as the winner of the contest on Tuesday, Oct. 22. 

 

Office Decorating Competition Judging: The office decorating competition was a hit among students and faculty alike and took place on Wednesday, Oct. 16, ending with three offices winning for different categories. According to an email from Student Engagement’s Coordinator of Organizations and Activities, Kelly Welch, Student Engagement won the “best overall” prize, but it was given to the 1st runner-up, the Accounting and Business Office, to avoid bias. The other two prizes were “best incorporation of Homecoming theme,” which went to the Criminal Justice Sciences office and the “best display of WOU spirit,” which went to the Heritage Hall front desk. 

 

Hoedown: Keeping up with the theme, on Thursday, Oct. 17, Western held the “Hoedown” dance in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center. Students donned primarily plaid flannels, bandanas and their best tattered jeans while they learned line-dancing choreography and enjoyed free popcorn. 

 

Bonfire Prep Rally: A personal favorite of many, the burning of the “W” took place on Friday, Oct. 18 during the Bonfire Prep Rally. Students gathered around to be awe-inspired by the flames and enjoy a sense of camaraderie while they discussed the upcoming football game hype. For more information on the Homecoming games’s results, check the sports section.

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Wolf Royalty Announcement: According to Western’s Homecoming page, “Homecoming Court and Wolf Royalty are traditions at Western Oregon University that recognize and honor outstanding student leaders who exemplify our values.” This year, there were five nominees for senior Homecoming court and out of those five, two were officially announced and crowned as Wolf Royalty during the Homecoming game’s halftime — students D-Dre Wright and Monica Cerda-Ortiz.

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Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Caity Healy

Opinion: Design should have more white space

Kyle Morden | Designer

In design, white space isn’t just unnecessary waste — it has a purpose. If used correctly, it will provide elements to ensure satisfaction to any viewer. It’s a simple and powerful tool that can be misunderstood by many.

As a student designer, going to the College Media Mega Workshop — hosted by the Associated Collegiate Press and held on July 11–14, 2019 to provide hands-on media training for college students — has given me a better understanding about design. Ron Johnson, a long-time contributor to the Society for News Design, explained to students at the workshop that white space “empowers adjacent elements, so use it to frame your lead package.” Therefore, designers use white space to captivate viewers. It’s something that every design should have to provide quality content.

For those who don’t have design experience, or don’t know much about utilizing white space, white space is more than the color white; it can be any color or background image. There’s two types of white space: micro and macro. Micro white space is the spacing between lines and paragraphs. Macro white space is the large amounts of space often found around the margins of books and websites. Together, they balance and organize content to provide positive experiences for viewers. However, for those who are unaware of this balance white space creates, it can come off as awkward and unclear.

Often times, white space cause problems between clients and designers. Clients may think that it’s a waste of space and that there should be other visual elements. They might say that it looks bland and useless. They might even ask to redo the entire job completely. Here’s what I think: remember why you hired a professional, and let designers do their thing.

Design isn’t about shoving large chunks of information into the viewers’ brains — that’s boring and cruel. Do you ever wonder why there’s white space around groups of text? Imagine reading a book that has text filling to the edge of the page. There would be so much clutter that it’d be hard to focus and retain information — everyone would hate reading. White space allows us to breath and be calm. It brings forth simplicity and keeps our attention to the content.

Not only that, white space can create powerful messages. On Jan. 10, 2013, The New York Times published a blank cover page followed by a headline that said “And the inductees are…” A clear and powerful message that translates to the denied induction of players into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

I understand that there are times when white space is used incorrectly. And, that it does look bland when there’s too much of it. Designers can solve this problem by readjusting their eyes. To do this, they can take their eyes off the screen then look back. They can then notice the first thing their eyes point to and ask if it supports the content. If it doesn’t, they’ll have to keep working until their satisfied.

So yes, white space is more than just emptiness. It provides balance and harmony; enhancing the content. Our goal as designers is to create simple designs that will deliver information to you as clear as possible. Because we don’t need more clutter in our lives.

 

Contact the author at kmorden17@wou.edu

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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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