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Mount Hood

A catalog of activities for graduates to complete

Rylie Horrall |  Lifestyle Editor

Graduation and Western’s virtual Commencement ceremony are approaching quickly, with important deadlines coming and going. While the deadlines for Grad Packs and registration for the ceremony have already passed — although the latter statement may have been extended, according to Western’s website — there are still some things seniors should try to complete before the final hurrah. 

Attempting to have professional graduation photos may be a struggle due to the current situation of the world, but that doesn’t mean they have to be skipped. Roommates, friends or family members may be willing to lend a hand to memorialize the coming occasion, or perhaps a timer on a camera or smartphone may be the way to go. Western’s campus is closed for courses, however it’s still a viable option for some last pictures at the university.

Continuing from that point, the deadline for submitting a graduation photo and personal statement for commencement is May 31. While it isn’t the same as an in-person celebration, this can give students a chance to still have a special final moment during the viewing at home.

This last term could have been draining for students; some may find themselves lacking motivation to finish or struggling to balance projects amid trying to ensure all graduation requirements are met. Nevertheless, it’s still important to finish the final term strong. For many, students will have the satisfaction of knowing, despite potential challenges from throughout the term, that they ended their college journey on a good note.

Before leaving Western, it wouldn’t hurt to start networking while on the hunt for jobs post-graduation. Professors in a chosen major field would be a great resource to turn to, or peers and former classmates who have already graduated who already went through the process. It would also be beneficial to obtain letters of recommendation for future job opportunities, which could come from previous professors, advisers and staff members. 

 

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

Photo by Caity Healy

Need ideas for gifts to give for your loved one’s graduation?

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow |  News Editor

Rylie Horrall |  Lifestyle Editor

Graduation is right around the corner, and for many graduates, that means being celebrated for their accomplishments with a graduation party. Traditionally, graduation parties include food, family and maybe some tears shed. They also include gifts, but, like any college student knows, not all gifts are equal. Here are a few of the most desired gifts among college graduates:

Let’s face it — money is always the go-to. Money or gift cards are useful for students who are short on cash and can go towards their savings for the future. Graduates are expected to make big decisions when it comes to where they are going to live and begin life in the workforce; a little extra cash goes a long way in making their dreams a reality.  

Another useful gift idea is household appliances; some graduates are just moving out of the residence halls and might not have the necessary equipment to keep their future dwelling clean or functionable. Consider buying a graduate a vacuum or any of the hundreds of kitchen appliances that make life a little easier. Keurig coffee maker, anyone? 

Subscriptions are another excellent gift idea because they can be personalized to fit the graduate’s hobbies. If a graduate loves to binge-watch Netflix, consider making that payment one less thing to worry about this year. Or maybe the graduate loves to read, and in that case, a subscription to Book of the Month might be ideal. Monthly subscription boxes are also a popular gift idea. For $10 to $50 on average, depending on the box, a graduate could essentially get a care package every month full of goodies like self-care items or new clothing. 

The last gift idea, and arguably one of the most important gift considerations for this day and age, would be upgrading the graduate’s technology. Whether that’s getting them a new sound system for their car, a new laptop or one of hundreds of other add-ons, they are sure to be appreciative. Technology isn’t all expensive either; items like portable bluetooth keyboards and Alexa-enabled car charges average around $50.

Consider sending this list as a little hint to loved ones on what graduates really want for graduation, or use it as inspiration for gift-buying for others.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

Duplicate recipes from your favorite places

Rylie Horrall |  Lifestyle Editor

Many restaurants have been forced to close temporarily or permanently due to the world’s current state. Because of this, many people may find themselves longing for their favorite foods from these establishments, but unable to obtain any due to the closures and social distancing. Luckily, multiple websites are providing copycat recipes for people to attempt to make their favorites from the comfort of their homes.

One restaurant that is closing for good is Sweet Tomatoes — also referred to as Souplantation in other states. This one hits pretty close to home for me, as this was an eatery my friends and I frequented often before COVID-19, so I was happy to learn that their website, souplantation.com, has recipes for many of their buffet dishes. For instance, a full list of instructions can be found for their popular seasonal Chicken Pot Pie Stew, which is packed with roasted chicken, red potatoes, mushrooms, celery, pearl onions, green peas and carrots in a creamy base. Other soups and stews can be found under their ‘Souplantation Recipes’ in addition to other beloved favorites of the establishment.

For Chick-Fil-A lovers, there are a few recipes that can be found to recreate their sandwiches and various chicken meals. On damndelicious.net, the full recipe for a Chick-Fil-A sandwich for two can be found; to recreate the taste, a person needs to marinate a chicken breast in pickle juice for 30 minutes before coating it in milk, egg, flour and powdered sugar and frying it up. The same website also provides a link to a recipe for Chick-Fil-A nuggets.

In the interest of those craving something sweet while stuck at home, the-girl-who-ate-everything.com posted a recipe for Cinnabon’s famous cinnamon rolls. The copycat recipe recommends making the dough for the rolls the night before and letting them rise on the counter overnight, and to change the amount of cinnamon in the recipe if the 2 ½ tablespoons would be too intense. Moreover, it says to pour the icing over the cinnamon rolls while they’re still hot so the icing seeps into the roll, then to add more once they have cooled down.

Finally, for Disney enthusiasts who are missing the park, a few have taken to recreating the famous Dole Whip sweet treat. On homemadehooplah.com, it states it can be made using coconut milk, sugar, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and, of course, pineapple chunks — preferably Dole brand, but any works. Once it’s all blended together, it can be dished up in a glass and eaten with a spoon or sipped through a straw.

 

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

Photo by Rylie Horrall

Book review of Xander Blue’s debut Western fictional novel

Never Retallack |  Entertainment Editor

During the wrath of quarantine, I have longed to be in a different time; reading Xander Blue’s “Whipping Up a New Past” certainly allowed for that.

Blue lives in Phoenix and has always had a passion for history in different eras and decided to write his debut novel in “The Goddess of Death Series.”

This American Western fictional book had some familiar elements when it comes to time travel. An old and eccentric scientist, Doc Brown — “Back to the Future” anyone — selects the chosen one to have the power of time travel; in this novel, it is through a futuristic bracelet that his star pupil, Janet Sun, can go back to the 1800s to educate Native Americans and kill the men who would murder her ancestors.

Janet Sun is the 64th richest person in the world, an Olympic bullwhipper, Taek Thai expert, gymnast, ex-military and college graduate. All around, she feels like someone that you imagine being when you grow up: she’s a superhero. 

After receiving a bracelet that allows her to time travel, she uses several different inventions Doc Brown provides her to enhance her knowledge of languages. He also offers her complex technology that works as bear and wolf repellant.

Sun’s mission was never fully explained or discussed; it felt more like a roller coaster of cutting heads off in the name of her family. An interesting part of this book is how much Sun alters the past — saving a baby from a burning building, murdering several men who were going to kill her ancestors, and even developing a romantic relationship with the sheriff.

In most time travel movies or novels, it is highly stressed that altering the past could have dire consequences. This story is centered around all the ways that Sun could alter the past.

Her character is caught up with helping others and creating knowledge, a noble goal for her mission, but one that was often not explained.

Much of the book was spent discussing how life was in the past, a specific way something was cooked or washed, or how trading or renting wasn’t an option. Some of the book felt like a way to showcase knowledge and research Blue had done in the time period, rather than focusing on character and story development.

The novel had good core elements, a strong main character who never waivered, an unstoppable mission and thorough information on the time they were in. I think the novel would have improved more if there had been more conflict for Sun — a book with only smooth sailing can feel flat. 

Overall Rating: While there is some room for improvement for this novel, I believe that there are some interesting and compelling moments throughout the book. For those who like a unique story about time travel, they should check out this novel; it is a quick read and more information can be found at https://XanderBlueBooks.wixsite.com/mysite.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Xander Blue

Learn more about Western poet Cylinda Neidenbach

Never Retallack |  Entertainment Editor

Last week, The Western Howl published an article titled “Arms, revenge and flower crowns”

about the top three winners for the Peter Sears Poetry Prize. It’s time to get to know the first place winner, Cylinda Neidenbach — a senior at Western majoring in English with a focus on writing.

 

Q: How long have you been writing poetry?

A: I was prone to writing whimsical poems when I was about nine years old, a la Shel Silverstein. My parents used to read “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic” before I even knew how to read. I’d be four or five years old, reciting “The Loser,” (“Mama said I’d lose my head, if it wasn’t fastened on,”) and for a moment my parents thought that I had somehow learned to read. To this day I can still recite it from memory. After grade school, however, I’m afraid I seldom wrote poetry — unless it was something witty to amuse my friends. I took Dr. Hughes’s poetry seminar last term and was dismayed to find that he didn’t encourage goofy, half-baked poems. They were all I knew. I wrote the “rough draft” of my winning poem the first day of class, when Doctor Hughes told us to “describe something.” I had just hugged my lover goodbye, and his arms were the first thing that came to mind. Misunderstanding the instructions and somehow forgetting that I was in a poetry class, I wrote a small paragraph that later became, through many revisions, my poem “To Bear Arms.” You can imagine my surprise that it won.

 

Q: What got you interested in writing?

A:  I do love writing. It’s one of the few things I do for myself. I have been writing short stories and novellas since I could read. It’s a passion of mine. (My current novel was started in 2011 and I have been writing it forever. I hope to be done around the time I graduate.) As far as poems go, I never considered poetry my jam, but rather something I should know at least a little about as a future English teacher. (Many thanks to Dr. Hughes for helping me whittle down my natural tendency towards long windedness. Constant Vigilance! Word Economy!)

 

Q: What does it feel like to write a poem?

A: What does writing a poem feel like? I don’t know how to answer this. I started to notice moments of remarkable beauty or connection with things: people, nature, the world. Moments that made me feel present, and I would try to get them out on paper. Often a single line would form itself right then, and I would try to hang on to it, press it in my memory, be the conduit. That’s how it worked for me.

 

Q: Anything you’d like to add?

A: Serious poems, while not as fun as the lively, fickle, frivolous poems of my childhood, are rewarding. They serve as snapshots of memory, moments in time preserved.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photos courtesy of Tristram Kerrigan

Online Wolves’ Athletics auction to support athletes

Hannah Greene |  Sports Editor

This year marks the 34th annual Western Oregon University Athletic Auction. This event was created and implemented to benefit the current and future athletes and athletics of Western Oregon University. The goal for this year is to raise $100,000, and as of May 26, almost $34,000 has been raised. On May 30 at 7 p.m. (PST), a live event will be held where viewers can watch the live auction. 

Every item sold and donated through the auction will go directly to and support the athletics here at Western. Through their site, https://wolvesauction2020.asimobile.net/#/index, supporters are able to create an account to bid during the auction or watch the live event for free, scroll through and view the items available to auction, purchase raffle tickets and virtual tickets, register for regular updates and even “Raise the Paddle for Student-Athletes” — money pledges from $100 to $5,000.

The items being auctioned range from signed jerseys to signed footballs, from a brand new Traeger Pro 22 smoker to a tour at the Rogue Hop Farms. 

After a year cut short for Western Athletes, this auction delivers an excellent way for fans to support their hometown heroes and help propel them and future stars into their upcoming seasons.

 

Contact the author at hgreene18@wou.edu

Online workouts for Western students and community

Hannah Greene |  Sports Editor

With the recreational department closed, along with all other athletic facilities, working out and staying in shape is a little more difficult — luckily Western offers options for students and the Western community to work out at home. These classes are available through the Health and Wellness Center, giving full-time enrolled Western students free membership. For Western community members, a free trial period is offered with the options between a daily pass or a term membership which costs $108 per term and $105 for the summer term.

Registering is quite easy and risk free; by emailing hammerlez@wou.edu “Add Me,” your information is then verified and an email confirmation is sent with instructions on how to register for a fitness class.

Campus Recreation Assistant Director, Zachary Hammerle, is the creator and initiator behind having online fitness classes for Western, giving students and the community the option to continue to workout from the safety of their own home. 

For the rest of spring term, classes will be offered until May 29 with an unknown schedule for the summer term. Currently, multiple class options are there to choose from like yoga, meditation, zumba, spin and more.

There are many other free options out there for students and community members to join to stay active and interactive, while keeping a safe distance. Instagram offers a safe way to workout, giving users access to Instagram Live, where followers can join a profile’s live stream — this has also worked with live music events and gaming. Orangetheory, a popular workout studio, offers free 30-minute daily workout routines that are available to anyone. Youtube, another great source for free at home workouts, offers endless videos of workouts that people are able to view and follow easily.

Most free at-home workouts take into consideration that not everyone has access to a lot of workout machines, making the workouts focused on bodyweight training — strength training workouts using one’s own bodyweight — and resistance-type exercises. 

And now, with the capabilities of Zoom, FaceTime, Instagram Live and more, working out together is easier than ever.

 

Contact the author at hgreene18@wou.edu

Photo by Hannah Greene

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