May 2020 – Page 2 – The Western Howl

Never Retallack | Entertainment Editor

Spending time stuck at home can leave many people feeling as if they have nothing left to do. English major Ali McCarthy, a Western Alumni, has decided to use her free time creating content on YouTube. Get to know more about her process and what her channel is about in this Q&A.

Q: How have you been handling the quarantine?

A: Quarantine has been… interesting. I spend pretty much all of my time watching videos/shows/movies or finding something to do. It’s an equal balance of laziness and productivity, but I’m definitely missing my friends. I try to stay on track with a bullet journal and try to write down things that can help me be productive or creative. I figured since I’m stuck at home, I’ll make the best of it and maybe test out some new hobbies or skills.

Q: What made you start your YouTube channel?

A: I was going through a bit of an existential crisis going into my last real year of college, feeling like everything I thought I knew about myself wasn’t actually what I was, and just feeling really lost. Back in high school, I took a video editing class and I really enjoyed editing. So during my crisis, I tried out a bunch of hobbies to kind of find that passion I once felt for writing and found it in video editing. I figured since it was fun and I thought I was good at it, I’d post it somewhere. It was mostly montages and compilations of my snapchats with friends or times I’ve traveled, but then I wanted to kind of dive into challenges and more entertainment and find a way to laugh at myself to take my mind off the stress of school and relationships and the future. Kind of like finding control in a world I couldn’t control.

Q: What are your primary focuses for the channel?

A: My videos mostly consist of me failing at something but still somewhat having success at it. I’ve learned to laugh at myself a lot, and I just kind of responded naturally to things like challenges, DIYs, cooking, etc. I just wanted to have fun, and I’m incredibly sarcastic and have a dry sense of humor. I feel like I don’t see a lot of that. Even now, I don’t make these videos expecting to blow up. It’s just a temporary thing because it’s fun for me. I’ve turned myself into Joe Exotic from the “Tiger King,” I’ve talked about my craziest and embarrassing stories, I’ve put on 100 layers of clothing, I’ll do a makeup tutorial; it’s all pretty sporadic but fun, and I usually just record in the comfort of my own bedroom — mainly because my mom would be super confused and interrupt if I recorded in the kitchen.

Q: What’s your favorite part about producing videos?

A: The editing process is my favorite. Once I get started, I just zoom through it. It’s incredibly therapeutic for me and lets me zone out for a while. Then when I’m done, I’ve spent hours creating something that I’ve envisioned and it makes me feel pretty good. Finding background music and sounds, adding effects, playing around with all the tools my program has — it’s creating art.

Q: What are your hopes for producing content?

A: I guess for right now, I’m just making videos just to make videos. I don’t really expect to make it big or have thousands of subscribers and have a career from this, I know it’s possible but it isn’t a priority. I’m not good at drawing or have a sport I’m killer at, it just became something that took me out of some anxiety and made me feel in control. If I happen to go somewhere with this, that’d be cool, but I know sooner or later I’ll have to figure it out and either commit or move on. But right now, it’s me finding enjoyment and possibly spreading a little enjoyment to someone else. But life’s pretty crazy and you never know what could happen.

Q: What has been the general response to your channel?

A: Generally, it’s my friends or acquaintances, basically anyone who follows my Snapchat or Instagram because that’s where I advertise my videos. It’s always a good response, people tell me I’m funny — which is a huge compliment to me — or they say they loved how my video went with all the comical effects I add into it. It’s been great responses but then again, it’s from people I know, so I would hope they’re nice about it, but I also always appreciate the feedback.

Q: For those interested in your content what should they look up?

A: If anyone’s interested just look up Ali McCarthy or RallyAli, one “L” and one “I”, that’s a pretty common mistake. I try to do videos based on the trends going around or what I find is most interesting or entertaining, but YouTube’s algorithm is weird so it’s best just to look up my name.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: I mean, any feedback is always welcome. Subscribe for new videos every Wednesday. I feel weird self promoting myself but you gotta do what you gotta do, am I right? We’re all just trying to have some fun before life gets too serious, so don’t be afraid to just do what you want to do.

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Alison McCarthy

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Find out who won the Peter Sears Poetry Prizes this year

Never Retallack | Entertainment Editor

While school life has shifted to remote learning and creating, the university is still allowing opportunities for students to showcase their work. As such, the Department of English Studies has announced the winners of the 2020 Peter Sears Poetry Prize.

Peter Sears is an esteemed poet in Portland and has obtained degrees from Yale and the University of Iowa. He was named the Oregon Poet Laureate from 2014 to 2016 and remains an important and influential writer in the state.

Sears also worked as a community services coordinator for the Oregon Arts Commission where he aided writers in their work with the National Endowment for the Arts. All of his hard work has earned him awards from the Oregon State Library, Willamette Writers and Literary Arts. Along with the Poetry Prize he has also founded the Oregon Literary Coalition and the publishing press Cloudbanks Books, along with their poetry journal, Cloudbank.

For the Peter Sears Poetry Prize, the first prize for the contest was $200, second prize was $75 and the third was $25.

The first prize winner went to Cylinda Neidenbach for her piece “To Bear Arms.” This piece was short and takes one’s breath away, seemingly a love ode to someone who has been through violence and hard work.

Cheyan Swan took the second prize with their powerful poem “a spell for revenge.” Between lines of strikingly intense spell weaving and casting, Swan intertwined who the spell was for — revealing hardships they have been through.

Third prize went to Katherine Sutton for their piece “Flower Crowns.” This poem compares the different experiences between that of a child and those who are older, all through creative metaphors using a flower.

Those who are interested in reading the full poems can find them here. https://wou.edu/wouportal/email_attachments/allstudents/msg-1588262462-25662-0/PeterSearsWinners2020.pdf

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

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Esports available through Campus Recreation

Hannah Greene | Sports Editor

Due to COVID-19, not only were Spring Varsity and Club sports put to a halt, but the recreation department had to stop all Intramural Leagues as well — resulting in the creation of the Esports League.

“We researched and talked about an expansion into Esports for a while. We wanted to make sure we knew how to effectively run an Esports league, and if Esports fit into the Campus Recreation mission and values. You could say we fast tracked the implementation when the pandemic arrived, but I’m happy to say they have gone well,” stated Andy Main, the Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Intramural and Club Sports, on the decision to proceed with Esports leagues.

As of right now, there are multiple leagues offered for both Xbox and Playstation 4 including FIFA 20, NBK 2K20 and Madden 20.

“We’ve tried to stick to games that at least one of our Intramural Supervisors had experience playing,” said Main on the decision of which games and leagues to have — this way they could be confident in what they were doing.

Currently there are five people working on the leagues to ensure quality and capability, including Main and four Intramural Supervisors: Shariff Youngblood, Noah Jones, Jonny Watt and Sarah Texter. Each Intramural Supervisor works on the league from the start to the finish, actively managing each aspect — GroupMe conversations have been started to keep all participants up to date and to make sure everyone follows the rules and how the matches are set up. GroupMe has also helped the Intramural Supervisors by giving feedback, allowing for improvements to newer leagues.

“Some of the difficulties we’ve had at WOU with the leagues is being able to get more people to sign up, it’s a small school and sometimes people don’t know we offer some things,” stated Shariff Youngblood, an Intramural Supervisor, on the subject of helping create the Esports leagues.

Right now through May 24, students are able to join the leagues for Madden 20 on PS4 and Xbox, which can be done through IMLeagues. For more information and regular updates, follow the Intramural Sports page on Instagram, wou_imsports.

Contact the author at hgreene18@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Andy Main

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UFC, first professional sport to air during pandemic

Hannah Greene | Sports Editor

COVID-19 put a temporary end to all athletics; NBA, soccer, baseball and more. On May 9 the Ultimate Fighting Championship 249 was held in the VyStars Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida — the first sport to come back during the pandemic.

Many changes had to be made to ensure COVID-19 would not intervene with the event, including testing the fighters and their corner team before allowing them to travel and fight; no mingling of any sort was allowed and daily temperature readings and symptoms checks were also imposed. The fight was televised so fans were able to view it, but physical presentation was not allowed, making a different atmosphere for the fighters to have to compete in — especially for athletes who feed off of the crowds reactions.

To start the card was Ryan Spann versus Sam Alvey in the Light Heavyweight bout, followed by Bryce Mitchell versus Charles Rosa in the Featherweight bout. In the Welterweight standoff between Vincente Luque and Niko Price, Luque took home the win with a TKO — a technical knockout where the referee has to step in due to a fighter not protecting themselves. Following the Welterweight came the women’s Strawweight bout where Carla Esparza fought Michelle Waterson, with Esparza winning by decision. Four more fights took place after the women’s match before the final three events — Aleksei Oleinik versus Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis versus Donald Cerrone, Greg Hardy versus Yorgan de Castro, and Jeremy Stephens versus Calvin Kattar. The next match, Heavyweight, where Francis Ngannou knocked out Jairzihno Rozenstruik in the first twenty seconds of round one. Afterwards the Bantamweight Title was on the line, where Henry Cejudo took the title with a TKO against Dominick Cruz during the second round. For the final match of the card and fight of the night, Tony Ferguson fought Justin Gaethje for the Lightweight Interim title — temporary — due to Khabib Nurmagomedov, the current Lightweight title holder, being stuck in Russia. During the fifth round Gaethje finished Tony Ferguson by TKO, winning the main event of the night. Although Gaethje defeated Furguson to win the Interim title he will now face Nurmagomedov for the Lightweight supremacy.

Contact the author at hgreene18@wou.edu

Photos courtesy of John Raoux Photography

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Out of the darkness and into the light: Western hosts second annual Out of Darkness walk

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Disclaimer: This article discusses the topic of suicide. For those who are sensitive to this topic, please refrain from reading and instead peruse other articles.

Last year, Nicholas Ertsgaard, a member of the newly-established Wellness Advocacy Group at Western, proposed that Western participate in the annual Out of Darkness Walk, an event based around suicide prevention. Now, one year later on May 14, Western opted to participate in this event again, largely organized by WAG members Tim Glascock, Shaylie Pickerell and Lea Sheldone — except this time, the event was held virtually because of COVID-19, a pandemic that is undoubtedly affecting mental health worldwide.

In fact, according to NPR, “The U.N. found that even before the emergence of the virus, depression affected some 264 million people worldwide, and suicide was the second leading cause of death in people aged 15-29. The numbers were especially stark in regions beset by violence, poverty and other conditions akin to — and likely exacerbated by — those created by the coronavirus.” The topic of mental health during times of crisis was addressed during the Out of Darkness Walk, as well as many other aspects of wellness.

The Out of Darkness walks were developed by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention whose goal is to “reduce the annual suicide rate 20% by 2025,” according to their website. The event’s name is a double entendre — coming “out of darkness” refers to both mental wellbeing as well as destroying the stigma, or the darkness, surrounding discussions about mental health. Western’s 2020 virtual Out of Darkness walk was organized as a presentation, with live interaction from participants via a chat room.

The first third of the presentation included various resources — both local and national — for those struggling with their mental health. Western’s Acapella group, The West of Us, then performed a rendition of the song “You’ll be Okay” by A Great Big World followed by a quick introduction from Ryan Price, the Area Director of AFSP, and testimonies from other Western students and community members.

Ryan Price encouraged social engagement in discussions about mental health and sharing resources with those who may be struggling. He reminded the attendees that “suicide is preventable” and that checking in with community members is vital. Towards the end of the presentation, he also challenged participants to do something intentional to take care of their own mental health or to promote it in general.

Tim Glascock said, “for many, the Out of Darkness walk is a journey of remembrance — a time to acknowledge the ways in which suicide and depression have affected our lives and our loved ones.” He introduced the final segment, in which individuals were asked to type the color of the beads that are representative to their individual journey with suicide. Typically, individuals would raise their beads as a sign of solidarity, but as this was a virtual event, that solidarity was communicated via the chat. For a description of each color’s meaning, please refer to the graphic provided by WAG.

Additionally, a full recording of the event can be found if on Crowdcast; students interested in viewing it should reach out to a WAG member for access. The event is complete with both subtitles and interpreters.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

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Soon-to-be graduates may be worried about their job prospects during the pandemic

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

The Service Learning and Career Development Center at Western is continuously sending out emails with various links to resources for career growth and strategies for career obtainment. From building a resume to executing a perfect interview, the SLCD is also available to deliver guidance and review one’s materials via appointment; students interested in this service can access it through Handshake in their portal and then clicking the black-and-white wolf head.

Recently, they’ve begun holding online seminars like “Life After College: Mapping Your Financial Future” and “Graduating During an Economic Downturn,” and will undoubtedly be offering more virtual events in the future. For the students who haven’t attended these events or who aren’t receiving the emails, here is a brief summary featuring advice from the professionals:

In an email sent out on April 20, the SLCD recommends updating resumes, creating a professional online presence, building new skills, practicing virtual interviewing and cultivating one’s professional network during this time. Since employers typically view a resume for roughly six seconds before deciding whether or not a candidate is a good fit — according to the SLCD — it’s crucial that an individual’s resume is clean, concise and representative of their goals and achievements. The SLCD also recommends googling oneself and making sure their online persona fits with professional standards; creating a LinkedIn account or developing an online portfolio is a good start. In addition, individuals can commit themselves to learning new marketable skills — like learning a new language or technology. Finally, reaching out to professionals in one’s desired career path for advice may open doorways and communicate commitment.

Besides the information recognized in this email, the SLCD has also sent out various LinkedIn articles about applying for jobs during the pandemic. Most of these articles emphasize patience and resilience; having a picture-perfect application doesn’t guarantee an offer. Students interested in gaining career guidance from the SLCD can contact them via the route previously listed in this article, or email them at slcd-staff@mail.wou.edu.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

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This week in completely made up horoscopes

[fruitful_tabs type=”accordion” width=”100%” fit=”false”]

[fruitful_tab title=”Aries 3/21-4/19″]All quarantine has taught me is that I’m a procrastinating disaster hamster. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Taurus 4/20-5/20″] Listen, I’m just trying to get through the day. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Gemini 5/21-6/20″] Now that quarantine has completely wrecked your sleep schedule, you can now hear your neighbors drag racing their cars at 4 a.m. What a time to be alive. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Cancer 6/21-7/22″] MIKE WAZOWSKI [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Leo 7/23-8/22″] I can’t think of anything. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Virgo 8/23-9/22″] .enitnarauq fo derit os m’I [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Libra 9/23-10/22″] *meme* [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Scorpio 10/23-11/21″] Have you tried just, making banana bread? [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Sagittarius 11/22-12/21″] Nygel Ian is pretty cool. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Capricorn 12/22-1/19″] Asdfghjkl;’ ? [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Aquarius 1/20-2/18″] Keeping it classy in these week-long pjs [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Pisces 2/19-3/20″] Beans!!! [/fruitful_tab]

[/fruitful_tabs]

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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Learn more about Ali McCarthy, senior student creating content

Find out who won the Peter Sears Poetry Prizes this year

Esports available through Campus Recreation

UFC, first professional sport to air during pandemic

Out of the darkness and into the light: Western hosts second annual Out of Darkness walk

Soon-to-be graduates may be worried about their job prospects during the pandemic

This week in completely made up horoscopes

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