Mount Hood

Top nine dishes in close proximity of Western

Karlene Curtin | Freelancer

Almost everyone has had the, “well, where do you want to eat?” debate. Usually these debates end up with you sitting in the drive-through of the nearest McDonald’s, unsatisfied and craving more than just home-cooked food. But, rather, craving expertise on what places around this small university have the best plates and atmosphere.

After four years of living in Monmouth and attending Western Oregon, many others and myself can recommend the best plates at different restaurants that we swear by.

Going to Western makes one more than just a visitor to this wonderful small town; it makes one a major contributor to small local businesses that thrive on producing quality food and experiences for their customers.

Here is a list of my top picks, based on personal experiences and opinions.

 

Recipes to use up your berries

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

They’re colorful, delicious and everywhere during the sunny months. Berries are one of the best parts of spring and summer, and one of the great things about them is that they can be used for so many things besides just being enjoyed by themselves. Here’s a list of just some of the ways to throw them into the mix for when there’s no shortage of berries, but maybe a shortage of ideas.

 

Snacks:

For something to take on the go, berries can be prepared in a few different ways. They can be dried in the oven and added to a granola mix, which is perfect for taking along to class or on a hike. Left undried, they can also be added to yogurt for a quick and easy parfait for breakfast or a snack. Another easy way to use them when time is short is to throw them in the blender with a bit of juice and ice and make a smoothie.

 

Desserts:

Berries can be incorporated into almost any dessert. For one that has berries as the central ingredient, there’s popsicles that can be made by freezing juice and berries in molds that can be found in most grocery stores. Additionally, strawberry shortcake is a classic dessert that can satisfy a sweet tooth.They can also be used in homemade ice cream or sprinkled on top of cheesecake.

 

Other:

A fresh berry-centric fruit salad is incredibly easy, and can be a great addition to a picnic or potluck event. If there happens to be fruit punch at said event, a fun way to keep it cool and beat the heat is to use ice cubes with berries frozen in them. For a different setting, such as a homemade brunch, heating some berries with a bit of water and sugar makes an easy and awesome syrup to go with pancakes or toast.

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Meyers

How to get started with spring cleaning

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle Editor

Spring — it’s all fun and games until the topic of spring cleaning comes up. For many students, the answer to the question of how much spring cleaning they plan to do is whatever their spring class schedule will allow. However, spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a huge, daunting task — it can be broken down into much more manageable parts that can leave living spaces feeling much more spring ready.

Start with the car. If your house, apartment or dorm is a little intimidating, start with the vehicle that has endured a Monmouth winter’s worth of snow, mud and rain. There’s also the fact that there will soon be many more opportunities for driving with the windows down, and the satisfying sensation of wind blowing through your hair, an experience that shouldn’t be dampened with the sound of loose trash blowing around as well.

One smaller thing to tackle is the backpack or desk where loose papers from every term this year tend to accumulate. Winter Break was met with students focusing on holiday plans and sometimes traveling, with little time to sort through papers and forms from the fall. There’s always at least a few loose leafs that could stand to be dumped in the recycling instead of the bottom of a backpack.

Another good starting spot is the closet. Taking a good look at it might reveal one or two things that have not left their spot throughout the whole season. While it’s understandable that tank tops, shorts or dresses might not have been touched, any winter clothes that managed to last the whole, long Monmouth rainy season might be worth reconsidering.

As for other living spaces, one way to start is by making a list of what needs cleaning the most or what’s been put off and become a bigger problem than it needs to be. Maybe the floors have been swept but not mopped for some time? Or, maybe the pile of clean laundry has been getting bigger but never been put away. Perhaps the clutter in one room has never been organized, or you’ve been avoiding looking under the furniture and facing the mess that’s there. There’s almost always something, especially considering the busy schedules of students.

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Camping trip essentials

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle Editor

Spring: the season when Oregonians jump at the chance to enjoy being outdoors when it’s not gray and raining. As the sun starts showing up more often, people start showing up to various campsites around the Pacific Northwest. Fortunately, there’s usually no shortage of them, though sometimes reservations go quickly.

Like any trip, however, camping requires some preparation. Here’s a list of the basic necessities that will make camping breezy.

 

First aid kit: A basic pre-made one from a sporting store or a homemade one can work. A few things it could contain are bandages, antiseptic wipes, extra water bottles or emergency thermal blankets which are compact and can easily fit into any kit. These items can all be purchased at stores like Walmart or Fred Meyer.

Firewood: Most official campgrounds will have firewood for sale, but the front office selling it closes after certain times. So if you arrive too late, it might not be an option for the first night. Firestarters are also a helpful shortcut to get a campfire going quicker. It’s important to note that it is suggested that you buy firewood where you are planning to burn it, to prevent the introduction of invasive species in new areas.

Lanterns or flashlights: Ever tried to find the bathroom in an unlit campground at night? Would not recommend.

Cooking utensil: Not only will you likely need dishes and utensils, you’ll also need something to wash them with, especially for long trips. Since s’mores are bound to happen, this should also include roasting sticks. Portable burners for cooking can be found at stores like Target or Walmart as well as most sporting goods stores.

Directions: It’s not uncommon to lose service on a camping trip. If you’re going somewhere you’ve never been, or just somewhere you haven’t been enough to know the way by heart, relying on spotty cell service might be risky. Remember, “maps” isn’t just an app — you can take the “old school” version with you wherever you go.

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Western hosts high school bands from across Oregon to compete

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Once a year, flocks of well-dressed high schoolers walk in groups through campus, untethered and without a tour guide. That’s because every Spring Term, Western hosts high school bands from across the state of Oregon to compete in preparation for their state competition. Outside of league festivals, the event at Western is one of the bigger festivals in Oregon. This year’s competition took place over two days, April 4-5.

Josh Mendoza, a sophomore music major and president of the band council, is in charge of the band festival this year. Mendoza kept in contact with band directors, scheduled the bands and coordinated the volunteers. “It’s a good experience for high schoolers to compete,” said Mendoza.

“I didn’t do it alone. I have Dr. Nail’s help, and (Josiah Glaser),” commented Mendoza. Glaser was the student responsible for the competition last school year.

Mendoza headed the competition this year because he is the president of Western’s band council.

“Usually the band council takes charge of the festival. It’s been like that for the past few years,” said Mendoza about the festival, “once I’m a band director, I’m going to have to host the festival for my school. It’s a learning opportunity. It gets you connected with band directors across the state, it gets my name out there for networking. It’s just an all around a really good experience.”

Usually, Western invites 32 high school bands to compete. This year is slightly different, however: 36 bands were included in the festival.

“(The bands) kind of move from place to place; they’ll show up, we’ll take them to storage … and then they’ll go warm up …” described Mendoza. “They’ll do their performance, where they’ll get critiqued by judges.” After being critiqued, each band will go with one of their judges to a clinic, where they’ll be given pointers and the opportunity to practice with the judge. Their judge will also tell them ways they can improve or things they may want to try doing differently when they go to competition.

“In Oregon, there is six different (school) classifications, there’s 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A,” said Mendoza. Each band gets judged on a variety of different things.

“Their quality of sound, that’s out of 30 (points), technique is out of 30, musicality is out of 30 and then other factors which would be appearance, their choice of music… the total score is out of 100,” Mendoza read off the scoring sheet. Each band is evaluated by three different judges, who all add up their scores. In the end, each group receives a score out of 300.

Choice of music can be important in terms of score.

“If you’re a really high level band, you want to be challenged” Mendoza said. If the pieces chosen by a band aren’t seen as challenging enough to the judges, it will negatively affect their scores. Each band has 30 minutes maximum to perform, and they are required to be playing music for at least 18 of those minutes.

Mendoza closed stating that, “If people want to get involved in (the festival), they can come volunteer.” Willing volunteers can contact Dr. Ike Nail at naili@wou.edu or Josh Mendoza at jmendoza17@wou.edu if they are interested in volunteering next year.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Vocal performance major Virtue Cornelison discusses his passion for music

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Virtue Cornelison is a second year vocal performance major studying classical music. Hailing from McMinnville, Cornelison was drawn to Western because of its comforting environment. “Doing high school music stuff, there were a couple times that I actually got to perform in Rice here,” said Cornelison, “so I kind of knew already that I felt comfortable with the town.”

The atmosphere wasn’t the only reason Cornelison was drawn to Western. Many students from his high school came to the school for its music program as well.

“I wasn’t the only one from my high school to come here for the music department. There’s actually quite a few people from McMinnville,” Cornelison explained.

Cornelison started choir in his junior year of high school. Back then, he was thinking of pursuing psychology, but wasn’t sure.

“As soon as I did basically the first thing musical that I’d ever attempted, it just kind of clicked,” Cornelison commented. “Like, ‘oh, this is that thing people keep telling me about where … you could do this for the rest of your life without ever waking up regretful.’”

When asked about long term plans, Cornelison had a simple answer: “Just to keep making music.” The vocal major is happy to continue what he is doing right now — learning and making music.

“I’m very happy to be learning what I’m learning. I’m making plenty of connections in the music business, as things are,” Cornelison said. “I’m just learning a lot of skills which, even if it’s just me and a few friends, the ability to make music is alone so fulfilling.”

Cornelison studies more traditional classical music, but also likes jazz.

“It’s something that’s a lot closer to what’s popular nowadays, just in terms of it’s not so formal, but there’s still so much technicality with it, it’s something you still really have to study,” said Cornelison.

Cornelison takes part in almost all of the musical groups on campus, including the Chamber Singers and Western Oregon Voices, who are going to perform in Reno, Nevada in June. “The only group I’m not really with is Acapella club, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep myself out of that,” Cornelison joked.

Cornelison only had positive things to say about his experience with the music program so far. “We have some amazing professors that are able to teach… a very small class and get to know you personally. That’s great. But they’re still very prepared to teach you the material. The music department is so tightly-knit it’s really like another home,” Cornelison said.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Chrys Weedon

Book review: Wilderness thriller “The River” by Peter Heller

Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor

Pinning down very specific and intricate details of the outdoors is often what makes or breaks a wilderness novel. In his new book “The River,” Peter Heller shows off his personal expertise and meticulous research cogently.

Heller, the best selling author of “The Dog Stars,” weaves the story of Jack and Wynn, two young men on their canoe trip down the Maskwa River, a remote stretch of water that slithers across rough Canadian landscape.

Jack is tough and gritty, raised on a ranch in Colorado, still struggling with his mother’s accidental death. Wynn hailed from Vermont, also tough but whose softness shone through his tendency to see the best in everyone and everything. Bonded over their mutual love of literature, the two boys decide to halt their studies at Dartmouth and take their dream trip 160 miles down the river to the Hudson Bay.

Heller writes these two characters much like the archetypes seen in old Westerns, which are often mentioned throughout the story. The skillful dark horse Jack, couples with Wynn who acts as a strong moral compass. The boys struggle against nature, quite realistically, as they coexist with a raging wildfire of seemingly unrealistic proportions. Safety and risk are always being balanced, as is true in any real-life survival situation.

However, nature isn’t the only threat. Jack and Wynn struggle against human forces as well: a pair of drunks and a couple heard through a bought of thick fog having a volatile argument. The boy’s wilderness capabilities are put to the test in a series of conflicts that build upon one another. Their flaws become more apparent through every hardship — hardships that at times feel unrealistic.

Tension is built exquisitely throughout the novel with Heller’s short, stream-of-consciousness style, but it seems a little too good to be true in a more morbid sense. It sometimes seems that through building suspense, Heller is layering so many terribly dramatic situations on top of each other that I was brought out of the story, interrupted.

Maia, the woman in the couple — whose fight become a central component of the story — is written very one-dimensionally, only being integrated to further the plotline. Throughout the story Maia is referred to as simply “she,” making her existence in the story seem flimsy, although Maia is meant to be one of the driving elements of tension. In this way, the plotline sometimes seems to get lost within the details of the story.

There are a couple more snags in Heller’s novel, such as a rushed feeling after reaching the climax of the action and some fogginess due to the third-person limited narration. However, the abundance of compelling details and Heller’s fast-paced style make the book a quick read. Although it doesn’t satisfy the “Hatchet” shaped hole in my wilderness-novel-loving heart, “The River” is a compelling read.

Overall rating: I would recommend this book to wilderness/suspense enthusiast, but anyone without a passion for the outdoors may become bored.

 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of peterheller.net

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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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