Mount Hood

Club Sport highlight: Get to know Western’s Dance Team

Caity Healy | Editor-in-Chief

How long has Western’s dance team been around?

WOU Dance Team has been a part of the WOU Club Sports for about 4 years.

What does an average day look like for someone who is on dance team?

The great thing about the dance team, (it) does not typically interfere with a student’s school schedule or ability to participate in other extra curricular activities at school. We practice three times a week in the evening Tuesday through Thursday.

How many people are involved with it?

For this academic year, we had 21 girls involved with the team by the end of basketball season. That has been the largest amount of participation and positive growth I have seen since I have been involved with the team in the past four years.

Is dance team currently doing anything on campus?

Spring Term is usually considered our “off season”- it is much more relaxed regarding our practice and performance schedule, but right now we are prepping for our upcoming kid’s clinic on May 25.

If someone is considering joining or trying out for the team, what is your advice?

Something that is really cool about our try-out process, is that we have two per year. One during Spring Term for the following fall and one at the end of Fall Term in the current academic year for basketball season in the winter. For somebody considering joining … my best advice is to have a positive attitude and have fun. Of course the dance team values somebody who is committed and a harder worker, but all we can ask is for  an individual who is willing to learn and have fun. We are not a competition team, so our schedule is not as rigorous as some people may think. We encourage people who have a background in dance such as other previous dance team experience, hip-hop, jazz, or pom to try out, but it is not required.

Where can students go if they are wanting to join, or wanting more information?

If you want to stay updated on current events, you can like our Facebook page “Western Oregon University Dance Team” or follow us at “WOU_danceteam” on Instagram. We have tryouts coming up at the end of May for football season of 2019. Follow our social media for updates if interested.

 

Contact the author at howleditor@wou.edu

Photo by Paul F. Davis

Introducing the ASWOU candidates

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

 

Kevin Figueroa: President

“I am running for this position because I believe I can bring forward the advocacy students deserve and even beyond that. I believe that I am the best for this because of my experience within the ASWOU student government and have seen the inner workings of the government and administration and believe I can continue the amazing service and dedication for the following year. Entering ASWOU was one of the most exciting moments for me to begin my journey of having a position where I can amplify the students around me to better represent their desires and have all their voices heard within our community… In the event that I am elected, I will improve the diversity and communication between every clubs to ensure they have a voice among the campus.”

Photo courtesy of Kevin Figueroa

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Erik Morgan Jr.: President

“As a third-generation WOU student, I have come to love the WOU community and wish to continue serving the students of WOU as President of your student government. As a member of the ASWOU government for two years, I am the most experienced candidate running for President. As President of ASWOU, I will work to bridge the gaps between ASWOU and other advocacy departments on campus. This includes having regular meetings with organizations and their leaders such as the Veterans Resource Center and the Stonewall Center, co-organizing events with other departments, and working with the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and WOU administration so that we can be united in our messaging and mission. In this spirit of cohesive government, I am proud to be running alongside a group of dedicated individuals to serve the WOU student body. As such, I hope you will join me in voting for Monica Cerda Ortiz for Vice President, Abe Garibay for Senate President, and Daniel Woolf for Judicial Administrator.”

Photo courtesy of Erik Morgan Jr.

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Monica Cerda Ortiz: Vice President

“I am excited to be running for ASWOU Vice President! As the Vice President of your student body, I will work within the executive branch to advocate for student rights. I have a lot of experience working as a student leader and I look forward to using that experience to be an effective Vice President. I have served as a Multicultural Representative Coordinator for the past two years, an Unidos Executive member for two years, and have been the President of Unidos for the past year. You may also know me from PLUS Team, WOU Ambassadors, Multicultural Student Union and many other activities around campus… I encourage you to also vote Erik Morgan for President, Abe Garibay for Senate President, and Daniel Woolf for Judicial Administrator.”

Photo courtesy of Monica Cerda Ortiz

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Conner Price: Vice President

“I would like to make sure that everything behind the scenes is running smoothly, and that the students are getting the best benefits possible. I would like to make sure that everyone is receiving the best education possible.”

Photo courtesy of Conner Price

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Abe Garibay: Senate President

“For the past two years, I have worked as a cabinet member in the executive branch of (ASWOU). In that time, I have witnessed the advancements that have been made to help represent the student body through two different administrations. Although ASWOU has come a long from where it was two years ago, there is still progress to be made in truly representing the student body. The Senate has been the driving force of so much of the change in ASWOU and I am resolved to keep it on the track of becoming an active voice for students on our campus … Alongside Erik Morgan as President, Monica Cerda Ortiz as Vice President, and Daniel Woolf as Judicial Administrator, I will work to make the student senate a deliberative body which genuinely works alongside and fights for students.”

Photo courtesy of Abe Garibay

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Daniel Woolf: Judicial Administrator

“I am excited to be running for ASWOU Judicial Administrator. As the head of the Judicial Board, I will enforce effective policies that benefit all WOU students. I will personally work with clubs to ensure they understand and have input on the policies affecting them. I am currently the ASWOU Senate President Pro Tempore, so I am very familiar with the ASWOU governing documents which will allow me to successfully lead the Judicial Board interpreting them.

I am also running alongside A New ASWOU. I proudly endorse voting for Erik Morgan for President, Monica Cerda Ortiz for Vice-President, and Abe Garibay for Senate President. Together, we will work towards an ASWOU that better represents students and works to enact positive change within the WOU community.”

Photo courtesy of Daniel Woolf

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Rachel Bayly: IFC

“The Incidental Fee Committee is an opportunity for students to be directly involved in decisions about tuition and services at WOU, but few students know about what the fee does or how the process for setting it works. I have two years of experience on the Incidental Fee Committee, and I’ve seen that in reality a very small number of students are influencing this decision. If elected for a third year on the committee, I plan to seek out and encourage more student involvement, so next year’s IFC can make a decision that is truly reflective of WOU students’ desires.”

Photo courtesy of Rachel Bayly

 

This week in completely made up horoscopes

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[fruitful_tab title=”Aries 3/21-4/19″] Just when Aries season was starting to get good, Taurus had to come along and end it. Thanks a lot, Taurus. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Taurus 4/20-5/20″] Cereal is just breakfast soup. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Gemini 5/21-6/20″] Hello, Gemini. Friendly reminder with this sunshine to please keep knees covered at all times. Thighs are fine. Shins are fine, also. But cover the knees!!!! [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Cancer 6/21-7/22″] Want to hear a sad story? My parents asked me what I am doing after I graduate. Yep, you know. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Leo 7/23-8/22″] Stop caressing your succulents. They need sunlight and water. Not your filthy, sweaty hands. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Virgo 8/23-9/22″] Your tip for the week: try doing homework. Give it a go. You never know — it might just help your grade, or something. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Libra 9/23-10/22″] Y’all hear somethin’? [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Scorpio 10/23-11/21″] ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Sagittarius 11/22-12/21″] HERE COMES THE SUN, DOO DOO DOO DOO [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Capricorn 12/22-1/19″] What if your sign was capriKorn? Rock on. [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Aquarius 1/20-2/18″] Pisces knows what’s up. Can’t a b’ just get lost in the sauce? [/fruitful_tab]

[fruitful_tab title=”Pisces 2/19-3/20″] Did you know that the leading killer in the pasta kingdom is too little sauce. So y’all get lost in the sauce, not for you — but for your carbohydrates. [/fruitful_tab]

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Opinion: Six tips on how to be environmentally-friendly

Paul F. Davis | Managing Editor

Human-made environmental problems are showing — climate change and severe contamination — and they are killing our planet. Luckily, the solution is here — ban single-use plastic bags. Nope, sadly our earth’s human-made contamination is much too multifaceted to solve just by making plastic bags fly into the past like they fly away in a slight breeze.

Still, feel-good laws like these don’t actually have a large enough impact on future environmental issues. Even so, Oregon State Legislature passes bills like House Bill 2509 into law. Chiefly sponsored by Carla C. Piluso, the bill states that retail establishments statewide can only provide recycled paper bags for customer use. This will reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags consumed in Oregon. However, with the requisite reduction of plastic bags, there will need to be an equal increase in paper and reusable bags. According to the UK’s Environmental agency, “paper bags must be used three times” to neutralize its environmental impact, relative to plastic.

With that in mind, paper bags are objectively worse than plastic bags. This conclusion was made because the United Kingdom’s Environmental Agency found that paper bags require four times as much water to produce than plastic bags, and the trees that are used to create paper bags are contributors to acid rain. Not to mention, it requires seven trucks worth of paper bags to equal the number of plastic bags carried in on one semi-truck carrying plastic bags. But most importantly, have you used a wet paper bag?

What needs to be known is that being “environmentally-friendly” is much more complicated than “will it compost or not?” True environmentally-friendliness comes from what is called a life-cycle assessment of a good.

These life-cycle assessments take into account all facets of a product’s environmental footprint, including but not limited to: water usage, the toxicity of after products, the energy necessary to produce, what it took to manufacture the raw materials needed and the transport after production.

We already know the best and basic steps to at least work towards a more environmentally friendly attitude: reduce, reuse, recycle.

Reduction is accomplished mostly by asking yourself, “do I really need this?” Do I need these takeout utensils, or should I use my own that I have at home? Am I buying this new phone because I need it, or because I want to look a certain way?  

Reuse can be as simple as using your new fancy paper bag as a trash bag or by buying refurbished technology — which is cheaper, too.

For those that don’t know how to recycle, the most important thing you can do is contact your local recycler and ask what you can and cannot recycle; some recyclables can be recycled but some areas don’t have the technology to do so. For example, even though paper cups given to you at Starbucks or Dutch Bros say that they are recyclable, most areas cannot actually recycle them because there is thin plastic layer on the inside of every cup that requires a special technology to remove said layer.

Being environmentally-friendly can be hard, but if you work on being intentional with your choices you can make huge difference in your environmental footprint.

Tips based on information provided by the Environment and Ecology website

  • Buy refurbished technology rather than new technology
  • Drink vegetable-based milk instead of cow’s milk
  • Go paperless for your bills
  • Invest in reusable utensils
  • Reduce the amount of meat you eat
  • Reduce the single-use food and drink containers you use

 

Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Don Bigote’s food truck opens in Salem

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle Editor

Along the stretch of Portland Road in Salem, a small market’s parking lot is currently home to two food trucks: one selling classic street tacos and another with a complementary array of desserts unlikely to be found in many other places. Don Bigote is something I didn’t know I needed: a churro-and-ice cream-centric range of desserts.

To be clear, there are not just desserts on this menu — there are a few wraps and fry options — but they do make up a bulk of it. And for good reason; this is clearly Don Bigote’s specialty. Ice cream sandwiches made with fresh churros, churro banana splits, plantains doused in chocolate sauce whipped cream, crepes filled with fruit and whipped cream and churros rellenos — or filled with creams or jellies — are just a few items on the list.

In short, this is the perfect place to go when you’re craving the kind of ridiculous sweet and fried goodness you’d find at a county fair.  

Deciding I couldn’t not try one of their advertised handcrafted churros, I ordered a churro ice cream sandwich, because go big or go home. The two fresh fried treats sandwiched a generous scoop of Oreo ice cream and was also drizzled in fudge and, interestingly, fruity pebbles, which I found surprising but didn’t object to.

Obviously, it was quite tasty. I found the ice cream to churro ratio perfect, and the additional toppings not overdone so that the two main flavors were what really stuck out.

Overall, the ambiance is quite nonexistent and there’s not much to be said about location. However, the next time I have a reason to drive up Portland Road, I would gladly make a slight detour to pick up a milkshake with a churro as a straw from a very pleasant staff. I would, however, advise anyone doing the same to check their hours, as they vary by the day.

 

Overall Rating: I would recommend Don Bigote.  

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Meyers

Where to find farmers markets in Independence

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

Despite the pouring rain, two farmers’ markets have officially opened in downtown Independence. On Saturdays, you can now attend either one and find plants, produce, baked goods and handmade crafts, either behind Umpqua Bank or where the street meets Riverfront Park.

The first to open was the “original” Independence Farmers Market behind the bank, which served free coffee and cinnamon buns to celebrate the first day open for business. This market, which has been running since 1993 according to their website, offers a small variety of herbs, plants and flowers and also features a stand of affordable jewelry.

Near the river, the Riverview market offers a similar variety but has some unique features. The market manager Sue Barker explained that some vendors’ attendance depends on the weather. For example, textile-selling booths are less likely to be present when their merchandise is in danger of getting drenched by the ever present Oregon rain. Fortunately, a few attend rain or shine, so you can count on finding farm fresh greens, homemade jams, baked goods and even a blown-glass display.

Joshua Vincent of Vincent Glass Works brings a portable workshop to the Riverview Market, where shoppers can observe the artwork in progress. Vincent is married to a recent Western graduate who studied art, and therefore encourages any and all art students at Western to continue their studies.

“I would be proud to have (Western) students learning from me,” Vincent stated.

The Riverview Market has been open for seven years now and has slowly been growing.

As for the question as to what one should do if they are interested in selling their wares, Barker has a simple answer: “Come talk to me,” she said. Barker’s booth is easy to find — it’s the one with all of the brochures about local events.

The markets are a great way to support local farmers and businesses, as well as a great way to shop outdoors and enjoy the sun once it finally appears. The markets are both open from April to November, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy Rebecca Meyers

Safety on campus and services provided to students

Karlene Curtin | Freelancer

When picking a school or place of employment, we hope that our “dignity, diversity and civil liberties are honored and protected,” as stated by Campus Public Safety. According to The National Council For Home and Security, Monmouth, Oregon ranks as the third safest city in Oregon. With Western’s population just over 5,000 students, safety on campus is critical.

Campus Public Safety officers care about Western’s students and faculty.

I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with the office manager, Kevin Thibeault, of CPS.

 

What are the benefits of having student workers at CPS? Is it only for those who want to pursue criminal justice?

Student workers provide many benefits for Campus Public Safety. CPS student workers help with traffic and event control during big events such as commencement, New Student Move-in Day, and sporting events. CPS student workers also help keep campus safe by providing after hour support while working dispatch for the university. CPS encourages students from all different backgrounds and educational degrees to work within our department.

How do CPS Officers honor the civil liberties of students and staff?

The following is our mission statement found on our website.

“The mission of the Campus Public Safety Department of Western Oregon University is to engender a sense of safety and security by providing an environment in which students, faculty, staff and visitors can learn, work, and live. This is accomplished by a professionally trained corps of officers and staff that honor the individual dignity, diversity, and civil liberties of all people.”
CPS also plays a role in WOU’s ongoing efforts to shape an inclusive university environment. We recognize the various dimensions of diversity, including, but not limited to: race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, age, religion/spirituality, size, abilities and disabilities, and gender expression/identity.
CPS has an obligation to treat all members of our campus community with courtesy and respect.

What services are provided to students and faculty?

CPS provides various services to Student, Faculty, and Staff. Some of the services that we provide include:
Vehicle Jumpstarts; vehicle access when keys are locked in car; will air up your tire if it is low; Loaner Gas Can Program; lost and found; safety escorts; First Aid/CPR/AED trainings; ALICE Trainings; loaner fatal vision impairment goggles (alcohol and marijuana)

 

For more information about services provided, visit wou.edu/safety, or contact their main office at 503-838-8481.

 

Contact the author at kcurtin14@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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