Mount Hood

Hall of Fame: Club Sports

Caity Healy | Editor-in-Chief

This year proved to be a successful one for Club Sports — each team had something to be proud of, and each had players worth recognizing. The coaches of each sport were asked to nominate their top player and their top rookie of the year; here is a look at the female and male athletes that were chosen, along with the reasons that their coaches nominated them, in the words of their coaches.

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Male Player of the Year

Joey Caver

Sport: Rugby

Class: 2019

Performance: “Joey is a strong athlete. He works very hard at practice and on game-day. He

runs hard, he tackles well and he motivates people around him to be better. I played with Joey during my time here and now I am his coach, but even as a first-year he always had a drive to get better everyday. From when he first came out, to the year he had this year, he made a massive change. It was a pleasure having him as a teammate, and as a player.”

Character/Work Ethic: “Joey is a very humble person. He puts in the work without fussing and drives people around to push themselves through the hardships. I mentioned more above

before I read this question.”

Achievements in the Sport: Selected first team all conference; he was selected to play for the NorCal All-Star team; he was selected to join the Pacific Coast All-Stars

Other Noteworthy Achievements: Joey Caver is also a mentor for at risk middle school children.

Female Player of the Year

Amber Haslinger

Sport: Soccer

Class: 2020

Performance: “Amber started with the team when the club was formed … She has always exceeded the expectations and goals given by myself or one of the other coaches. Fellow players look towards her as one of the leaders in the team — she’s not a vocal leader, but instead an actions-speak-louder-than-words leader. Amber has been one of our most consistent forwards throughout this season and last season as well.”

Character/Work Ethic: “Amber has always been a hard worker on and off the field. She is always one of the first players to arrive to practices and games. Amber will make any of her teammates feel welcomed and will always make sure that her teammates are doing okay if she notices them not acting the way they normally do.”

Achievements in the Sport: Co-Captain; scored 9 Goals so far this season, 5 last season; contributed three goals during the OSU tournament where the team earned 3rd; part of the NWCSL Small School Division Championship Fall 2018

Other Noteworthy Achievements: Works at the Child Development Center on Campus; recently completed her licensure exams to be part of the ED Program

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Male Rookie of the Year

Jonathan Williams

Sport: Lacrosse

Class: 2022

Performance: “Johnny led the team in total points and in goals scored as a first-year. He also was very important to our transition game and consistently improved defensively.”

Character/Work Ethic: “His work ethic is second-to-none. Even though he could rely solely on his athleticism and probably be better than most, he works hard every day in practice and

never complains. He is also very encouraging of his teammates which I think speaks to his character.”

Achievements in the Sport: Williams was named 1st Team All-League Midfield; he scored 58 goals and led the team to Semi-Finals in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) Tournament; Williams was named Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) 3rd Team All-American

Other Noteworthy Achievements: Williams also helped lead practice for West Salem High School during their preseason workouts early in winter of 2019.

 

Female Rookie of the Year

Hannah Greene

Sport: Soccer

Class: 2020

Performance: “She will give maximum effort in practices and games. Has always risen to the

occasion during big games and tournament play this year … has become one of the first players I will pencil into the starting 11 team sheet week in, week out; due to her being one of the most consistent defenders but being as well a versatile player where she can step into the center midfield or forward role when needed.”

Character/Work Ethic: “Hannah is a hard worker … she has a high soccer IQ, she will give opinions or suggestions to myself or one of the other coaches that we may not see during the game that she might see as a pivotal observation that can help in us winning that specific game. Hannah will always play with high intensity. ”

Achievements in the Sport: Two goals, three assists this year; part of the team that won the NWCSL Small School Division Championship fall 2018; part of the defensive backline that has helped in only conceding 10 goals and having an extraordinary goals-against average of 0.935 this season

Other Noteworthy Achievements: Assistant coach for the Girls’ soccer program at Central High School; part of semi-pro team, CFC Atletica

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Photos courtesy of Andy Main

Carlos Chairez: Delmer Dewey/Julia McCulloch Smith Award winner 2019

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I’m a first-generation student from Hood River, Oregon. I have three older siblings, and I’m the first in my family to graduate … My parents migrated from Culiacán and Jalisco, Mexico. And growing up with Mexican and American culture is like two different worlds colliding all the time … I’m a business major, too, graduating with a concentration of management … and I’ve been working here as a Multicultural Representative Coordinator here since my freshman year.

How do you feel about having been chosen for the Delmer Dewey/Julia McCulloch Smith Award?

Honestly just surprised … I honestly never saw myself as a distinguished leader like that. I always saw myself as someone who wanted to see others go beyond what I feel like I could ever reach. I’ve always had self-esteem issues, and if I know if I can’t do it, I hope others can do it … So even being nominated, I was just surprised … It’s just an honor for me, coming from where I come from, because not many Latinos have gotten this award. I see all these Honors students constantly getting this award … and I started getting the imposter syndrome a little bit. I thought other people deserve it more than I do … but getting this and having it is just amazing. And I hope that it inspires other people that, regardless of where you come from, you can get this award if you put the time and dedication in.

Can you tell me a bit about what your experience has been like at Western in general?

I’ve transformed in so many ways. Looking back, it’s like “I don’t know that person” … I went through a big self-identity crisis and had fallen into depression a little bit, suicidal tendencies and stuff like that, because in my culture — having also come out as LGBTQ and bisexual — where I came from, it was hard to grasp at. I was raised in a Catholic environment … so the topic was never brought up … And, coming here, it seemed kind of taboo to me. Also, when I go back home, hearing constantly in the Latino culture ‘gay’ and ‘fag’ is just in their vocabulary all the time in a derogatory way … So, I would just go to class and fly by them and put on my headphones. Then I would just go home and sleep or watch TV, and that’s it.  And that was freshman year for me … But having this job gave me purpose in a way. And I blossomed up when I started connecting with other people and finding my place here … So, I’m so grateful that Western was so inclusive and so welcoming like that.

What are some of the ways that you have been involved here at Western?

I got the Diversity Commitment Scholarship … Then I became an MCR coordinator, and that’s where my whole leadership journey started. Then I got into PLUS+ Team … I was an interim ambassador, so I helped during the summer doing tours when no one was around. And I was also a part of the Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference, so I help with that annually … I was in the Tuition and Fees Advisory Committee this year … and that was really cool because my major is business, but I haven’t gotten that much experience with business, so this was cool, and I loved it … I was in the Multicultural Student Union, and I was on the Student Activities Board for a little while. And my first club that I joined here was the Running Club … I was nominated for Wolf Royalty this year and won that, too.

What is the thing that you are most proud of during your time at Western?

Finding myself — just having the courage to be like, “Hey, I’m bisexual. And I’m proud of it.” Even just saying that, and how easy it is, is an accomplishment for me. Before, I couldn’t even think about it. So, looking back on what I went through, that alone is an accomplishment … I can represent people more, and I can give a voice to something that some people don’t ever think about. So, just empowering students in general to feel comfortable and proud of who they are.

If you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?

I should’ve talked to someone sooner … I always felt alone, and I wish that I had reached out. I should’ve gone to the Student Health and Counseling Center or talked to my Peer Mentor. So, that’s my biggest regret is just isolating myself.

What advice do you have for underclassmen at Western?

During New Student Week, a lot of the speakers say to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that’s definitely the best advice that I could give … This is where you make mistakes and improve on your deficiencies and weaknesses. Do stuff that you’ve never done before and join stuff that you’ve always wanted to join. And if you don’t like it — okay, let’s move on. Let’s find something that you want to do. Get acclimated and integrated with the university. There are so many opportunities here, and all the staff and administrators want to see you succeed. I think a lot of first-years are just scared to fail, and honestly college is the best time to fail, learn from it, reflect and then try it again.

What are you going to miss most about your time here?

I’m going to miss all of the administrators, staff and faculty here … I know Western isn’t the most extravagant … but the people here make it. And that’s who I’m going to miss the most. I’m going to miss the people who’ve helped me find myself and who’ve empowered me, and … all of my friends, too.

What are your plans for after graduation?

After graduation I’m moving to Beaverton — that’s where my brother is. I went from Hood River, which is a small town, to Monmouth, which is a smaller town, and I want to try the city a little bit. I was very caught up in (deciding) whether to take a gap year or going to get my MBA … and right now I’m being really picky about where I put my time into. So, after this, I’ll be moving, finding a job, figuring out what I want to do. And, after a year, I’m going to get my MBA.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Academic Excellence Showcase highlights arts and sciences

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

One day a year, Western students and faculty are given the opportunity to showcase the research that they have been doing throughout the year. From dance to biology to computer science and more, students from every program got dressed up and presented in nine different buildings across campus.

To start the morning, before the eight primary sessions of the day began, the Academic Excellence Showcase hosted its third-ever Presidential Plenary, a session that faculty and students from any discipline could participate in. To honor this year’s theme, the presenters all shared their research surrounding a specific topic.

“This year’s theme, Interplay of Arts and Sciences, hopes to encourage the interaction of the arts and sciences via the inspiration of the STEAM program,” read the AES program for the event.

During this featured session, presented discussed conceptions like performance anxiety, multilingualism, optical illusions and more — highlighting the wide range of topics that were possible given the theme.

After this session, an equally wide variety of poster sessions, presentations, performances and award presentations took place between 10:15 a.m. and 8 p.m.

One group of presentations that started off the day was English Studies. First, students presented their project before the crowd, and then they entertained any questions that they had.

Sean Tellvik, a junior English major, shared a bit about his experience presenting on “conlangs,” or constructed languages.

“To be surrounded by peers and faculty from the department encouraged me to push myself to complete my best work and share in the English community’s discourse in a way I never have before,” said Tellvik. “The amazing support of our mentor, Cornelia, and other professors I’ve had classes with left me feeling accomplished and inspired. But the best part about the whole experience by far is getting to see the fascinating scholarship of my peers — people really blew me away with their presentations.”

A different style of presentation that was showcased throughout the day was the poster session, and one that was especially engaging was the environmental awareness session during the afternoon. In this session, students tackled important topics like endangered species, recycling, reusable straws, the impact of plastic, honeybees and more.

Throughout the course of the day, 386 students were scheduled to present at the 2019 Academic Excellence Showcase.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Bailey Thompson

Previewing Black and Lavender Graduation

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Before the graduates of 2019 prepare to walk at Commencement on June 15, some of these students will also get the chance to walk on a smaller stage with their more intimate communities. On June 13, the 9th Annual Lavender Graduation will celebrate the journey of LGBTQ+ graduates at Western. Then, on June 14, the 6th Annual Black Graduation will honor Black and African-American graduates who are preparing to leave Western.

Hosted by Student Engagement in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center, Lavender Graduation is an event that LGBTQ+ student register for in advance, and they can invite their close friends to come and support them.

“Lavender is important to LGBT history,” explains Western’s Lavender Graduation webpage. “It is a combination of the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps and the black triangle designating lesbians as political prisoners in Nazi Germany.  The LGBT civil rights movement took these symbols of hatred and combined them to make symbols and color of pride and community.”

At this event, students will also receive rainbow graduation cords and tassel that they can wear to Commencement.

Then, the following day, Black Student Union and Student Engagement will host Black Graduation in the Willamette Room of the WUC.

According to Western’s website, the event “reinforces the bonds of scholarship and extends the sense of community” among Black and African-American graduates. For their graduation regalia, students will be presented with a Kente cloth stole — a symbol from Ghana, which “is a visual representation of history, philosophy, ethics, oral literature, religious beliefs, social values, and political thoughts,” according to the event webpage.

As someone who has a hand in organizing both events, John Wilkins, Coordinator of Leadership & Inclusion for Student Engagement, shared why he believes these events to be an important part of these students’ graduation experience.

“Honoring and recognizing our students’ accomplishment of completing their degrees is important, and taking time to acknowledge their experience is valuable,” said Wilkins. “Our hope in hosting these events is that students feel they are seen, heard, and appreciated. These intimate ceremonies honor heritage and cultural elements that reinforce bonds of community and scholarship.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Humor: Personality quiz — which Western building are you?

Caity Healy | Editor-in-Chief

1. By some miracle, you have a ton of free time on a weekday. What do you do with it?

  1. Nuzzle up by the fire, maybe read a book about human rights.
  2. Work on a project I’ve been putting off. It’s fine if I make a mess, it’ll be cleaned up.
  3. Hit up someone I haven’t talked to in a bit, see how they’re doing.
  4. See if my friends need any help with their work.

 

2. Nobody’s perfect. How would you describe your biggest flaw?

  1. Hard to say. In some cases, I struggle to open myself up. Other times, I’m too transparent.
  2. I can be too focused on my past. I’ve had to rebuild myself multiple times, it’s hard to let that history go.
  3. I keep forcing people out of my life. I let them in for short periods, but at the end of the day, I can’t keep them around.
  4. I don’t really know who I am. There are so many parts to me, I struggle to really explain myself.

 

3. Sure, you’re not perfect. But you’re pretty great. How would you describe your best trait?

  1. I care about people. I strive to make the world a better place, where everyone has equal rights.
  2. I inspire people to express themselves honestly. And people can depend on me to be there.
  3. I’m not sure, but I must be doing something right. People care about me a lot. Like, a LOT.
  4. I provide support to my friends whenever I can, in whatever way that I can.

 

4. You’re having a movie night with your friends, what kind of movie are you watching?

  1. Something really inspiring that will definitely make me cry.
  2. A documentary of some sort — some history, or maybe an artistic biography.
  3. A supernatural thriller. I love horror.
  4. Something about best friends who have each others’ backs.

 

5. One of these songs comes on the radio during a road trip. Which one has you belting the lyrics out?

  1. “Formation” by Beyonce. Makes you feel powerful af.
  2. “Skyscraper” by Demi Lovato. You might not have Demi’s range, you’re gonna try.
  3. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. We love a good soundtrack.
  4. “Fix You” by Coldplay. Sometimes you just have to cry a little bit.

 

Mostly A’s:

You’re the RWEC! You’re super comforting, and beautiful inside and out. You consider everyone and inclusivity is a goal of yours. However, you have a really hard time letting people in. Some days, you shut people out completely.

 

Mostly B’s:

You’re Campbell Hall! You’ve been around forever and people can depend on you. You’re definitely a work of art, but you’re also definitely a lot of work. Yes, you have a lot of history. But people can only help build you up so many times.

 

Mostly C’s:

You’re Todd Hall! People really care for you. Some care a little too much. There’s a lot of ghosts in your past — it’s important that you don’t let these ghosts stop people from feeling welcome in your life.

 

Mostly D’s:

You’re the APSC! Look, you’re confusing. There are a lot of levels to you. So many that often people can have a hard time navigating through them. You’re there to support people, and that’s great! But if they can’t even find their way in, it’s pointless.

 

Contact the author at howleditor@wou.edu

Opinion: Accurate captions should be a right, not a privilege

Caity Healy | Editor-in-Chief

The other day, I came across a video about a 14-year-old gamer name Danik Soudakoff. Soudakoff is Deaf, and she is working to make Overwatch a more accessible game by creating signs for specific aspects of the game. For the first part of the video, I really enjoyed it. She was signing, but for those who don’t know ASL, there were captions. About half way through the video, though, her teacher began speaking. There were no captions. So, essentially, the video was only captioned at the benefit of the hearing, not for the Deaf. Or, in other words, a video about Deaf accessibility wasn’t even accessible for Deaf viewers — it wasn’t even accessible for Soudakoff, the subject of the video.

It should be noted that at the point of the video where there was English but no captions, an interpreter was (slightly) present. However, it’s important to understand the concept of décalage time, which essentially means the lag time between what is said, and what is interpreted. Every interpreter has a different décalage time based on the way they process meaning. In this video, what the English-speaker was saying did not correlate with what the interpreter was signing at that exact moment, due to that interpreter’s décalage time. So, once again, the video was not accessible. And, not only that, but due to the unclear interpretation, the viewer was receiving different information all together.

The issue at hand here is larger than this single ESPN video: closed-captioning is seen as an option or a convenience for hearing people, when in reality, it’s a way for Deaf people to have a fraction of the same accessibility that hearing people have.

Let’s paint a picture — you just sat down with a snack on your couch to catch up on your show. You start it, and over the sound of you chewing your chips, you realize you can’t hear the TV. You turn on captions. All better — you can eat, watch, and read captions all at the same time now. Sure, the captions aren’t always accurate, and sometimes specific sentences aren’t captioned at all. But it sure does help as an aid. Isn’t it great that captions are readily available to benefit hearing people?

Let’s paint another picture  — a Deaf person just sat down to catch up on their favorite show. Unfortunately, it isn’t available in ASL, so turning on captions will have to suffice. So, that’s what they do. Now, they’re jumping from watching the screen, to reading the captions, and tying that information together. If it’s their only option, it will work. But for whatever reason, the captions just disappeared for a few seconds. Then, it reappeared for a millisecond. What did it say? Was all of the information there? A curse word is spoken in English. The captions decide to censor it — wouldn’t want to taint anyone’s vocabulary. A word is whispered in English and is pretty clearly understood. The captions just leave it as “PERSON WHISPERS.” A word is spoken in English. The captions omit the word entirely. And don’t even get me started on the automatic captioning that YouTube features. Might as well have none at all at that point. Yes, this “equal access” is great, right?

As they are now, captions stand to benefit hearing people, and are rarely a tool for the Deaf. This needs to change. Independence Cinema hosts some open-captioning nights, and that’s a great step in the right direction. But other theater’s should be doing this, and they should be doing it often. As a hearing person, I know that it wouldn’t bother me at all to sit down at a movie and have captions. And, knowing that it could benefit an entire other community makes it all the more worth it. Because as of right now, if a Deaf person wants to see a film and missed one of their open-caption nights, they either have to wear specific glasses that have captioning, or have no captions at all. Don’t get me wrong — I know a lot of Deaf people who are grateful for that technology. But, I also know a lot of Deaf people who are embarrassed to have to use it. Would it really be that hard to have additional open-caption nights?

An argument that I hear on occasion comes from people at sport bars. They’ll say, “I don’t want captions — it’ll interfere with the game.” First of all, there’s no way that you can even hear the commentators in the game clearly over the clinking of glasses, the chatter around the bar and the occasional “EVEN I COULD PLAY BETTER THAN THAT!” or “WHERE’S THE REF?!” from an enthusiastic sports fan. Second, the captions are not going to interfere with your game. I promise, you’ll still be able to see the action if there is a tiny bit of text at the top. And, third, stop being so selfish for a second and consider the fact that there are other people in the bar who want the same access that you have. The whole world isn’t about you, Sports Guy.

Yes, there are steps in the right direction right now. More and more videos are being captioned than ever before. But, entirely accurate captions on every single video is what we should be striving for. Because until that happens, captions are still only a benefit for those that can hear.

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

Photo by Paul F. Davis

How to make gluten-free vegan protein smoothie popsicles

Morgan Taylor | Freelancer

This simple sweet treat is sure to be the perfect snack for after a workout, or just to cool down. All you need is a blender, some popsicle molds, which can be purchased at your local grocery store or Amazon, and freezer to whip up these delicious popsicles. While they are full of protein, they are also gluten-free and vegan. You can’t go wrong with this refreshing treat.

 

STRAWBERRY PROTEIN PACKED POPSICLES

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Freezer Time: At least 5 hours

Servings: 10 Popsicles

Ingredients:

3 cups of frozen strawberries

1 banana

1 1/2 cups of almond milk

3/4 cup of juice of your choosing (I used strawberry apple)

2 scoops of Vanilla Orgain Protein Powder (or any other vegan/gluten-free brand)

½ pound of fresh strawberries

Instructions:

Add frozen strawberries, banana, and the almond milk to the blender.

Blend until frozen strawberries are chopped up.

Add protein powder and juice.

Blend until smooth.

Slice fresh strawberries and line the inside of the popsicle molds.

Pour in protein smoothie and place in freezer.

Freeze for at least five hours.

Enjoy.

 

Contact the author at mrtaylor14@wou.edu

Photo by Rebecca Meyers

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