Mount Hood

Tips for managing finances and credit

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

As many students are stuck in the limbo between living with their parents or guardians and becoming fully fledged adults out on their own, there are many life lessons they need to tackle between point A and point B. Of these lessons, learning how to manage personal finances and a credit score is one of them. This task can seem intimidating, but breaking it down into main points to deal with can help with avoiding a crisis.

Knowing the basics is an important first step in credit management. Future purchases, such as cars and houses, are affected by financial decisions made now. Student loans, for example, are one way that many students are faced with the need to understand personal finances and credit. This often leads to questions like the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans or which credit card to get, as most people at some point will apply for a credit card.

Plenty of scary stories about the dangers of credit cards have been passed around, but these stories are worth telling if it means those new to credit approach their finances with caution. Part of the above mentioned education on the basics should include the tip that it’s not necessarily a good idea to get a credit card with the intention of paying off only the minimum amount each period or of adding more expenses to daily life with the acquisition of a credit card rather than using it to help with existing expenses. It all has to be paid back eventually, and spending more than can be paid back immediately can be risky.

If there’s uncertainty still about financial and mental preparedness for adding more bills to the pile, reconsidering which are really needed can save some time and effort. If the main goal for getting a credit card is to build up good credit, keep in mind that there are other ways to earn a good credit score. Paying rent and making payments to student loans are both other ways that credit will build up without a credit card.

On the other hand, another thing to consider for those needing to apply for a loan or a credit card is that people with little to no credit will likely have trouble getting approved without a cosigner. This means, for example, that students needing an extra loan may not be able to get one unless a family member signs on, and that it would be a good idea to discuss plans early on.

Asking for help in situations like this may not be everyone’s first choice, but it’s not an uncommon necessity. When it starts to feel overwhelming, remember that, though it does take personal effort and educating to nail money management, there are plenty of resources to consult.

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Illustration by Rachel Hetzel

Wolves women’s soccer club goalie gets honored

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

Less than one year ago Western club sports added a new sport to its offers — women’s soccer. Starting out as just a collection of athletes wanting to play a version of soccer more competitive than just intramurals, Westerns women’s soccer club is now a dominant force in Oregon’s club soccer scene.

One of the stand out players from the roster is D-Dré Wright, junior chemistry major and the goalkeeper for the Wolves. In the goal, Wright may look like a season veteran due to her athleticism and ability to turn away a majority of the shots she faces. However, Wright hasn’t been playing for as long as some may believe.

“I started playing soccer practically last year. I did play 1 season in high school, my freshman year…but other than that just here in college recreationally,” said Wright. “I was interested in soccer in college because it was a way to get exercise on a (regular) basis while still competing against other schools.”

Joining the women’s club soccer team in its inaugural season, Wright seemed to gravitate toward the position of goalie for an unusual reason.

“I am very uncoordinated with my feet and I was well aware of this so I chose to play the only position that doesn’t really use their feet with a ball,” said Wright.

Despite this, Wright was a natural in the goal. On Oct. 20 the Wolves faced off against the University of Oregon Ducks. Before the game started, nerves were high. Wright and the rest of the team did their best to keep calm before the first whistle.

“I honestly get pretty nervous especially under pressure, but I try my best not to think and psych myself out. Instead, I just let my body go and do the actions it knows how to do. Ultimately, I just react,” said Wright.

As the game wore on, the Ducks kept testing the defense of the Wolves with shot after shot. But Wright and the Wolves stood tall.

“Although U of O did not score any goals, my defense (was) what made me look good. They always protect me at all costs,” noted Wright.

After the final whistle Western was victorious with a final score of 2-0. It was no doubt that the lights out play aided the Wolves to the win. In the week after the match, Wright was surprised to hear that her dominating play was being recognized. Western’s Club Sports named her as their “Player of the Week” and the Northwest Co-ed Soccer League as their “Player of the Week.” These honors showed that after only a short time in the goal, Wright is already making heads turn.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Matt Cornish

Cross country meet displays men’s continued strength

Lake Larsen | Sports editor

The echo of the speakers could be heard shouting out the colors the runners were donning. The wind seemed to calm and the seconds counted down to the start of the men’s 8000-meter GNAC Cross Country Championship. A tight group of Wolves bunched together in their white tops and red shorts, ready to fight the rest of the GNAC for long distance running supremacy.

At the 1000-meter mark of the race, Western was spotted splitting into two packs of Wolves, one fighting for the top spots, the other falling just a few meters behind. A group of University of Alaska Anchorage runners led the charge but the Wolves were hot on their heels.

The 2000-meter mark saw several single racers sneak their way to the front of the pack. The Wolves’s male runners started to split up as the leading group shrank smaller and smaller. By 3000 meters only two Wolves were spotted toward the front, surrounded by a team of Seawolves.

With the race halfway over, the leading pack of runners had shrunk to just 10 athletes. The Wolves had a single runner in the mix, but Simon Fraser University and University of Alaska Anchorage both maintained groups of three and four runners respectively at the top.

After the 6000-meter mark, the group of leaders grew smaller with every stride. The Seawolves and Clan were all that was left with less than 1000 meters to go.

In the final push the Seawolves and Clan shot to the top, but a group of well-placed Wolves finished not too far behind. As the results were compiled, the Wolves hoped their final push was enough.

The women’s 6000-meter mirrored the men’s race with the leading runners being a team of Seawolves. Unlike the men’s race, the Wolves’s women were unable to challenge the leaders, falling into a pack in the middle of all the racers.  

At the 2000-meter mark the Seawolves maintained their dominating lead. The closest Wolf to the front was nearly 50 meters behind. As the runners neared the 3000-meter mark a pair of Seattle Pacific runners stole the lead away from the Alaska Anchorage runners.

As the runners took to the straight away of the course again, the leading pack of four runners were all but gone as the next closest runner was over 70 meters behind.

After 5000 meters of running, the race was nearly over and the Wolves women were falling further and further behind. Only two Western runners were spotted in the top 30 as the runners neared the finish.

As racers crossed the finish line not a Wolf was in sight. Only three Wolves finished inside the top 50. While the women’s race left more to be desired, ending with a 7th place overall finish, the official placing for the men’s race showed Western had captured a 4th place spot.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

From the Sports Desk

Lake Larsen | Sports editor

In the weeks since my last installment of “From the Sports Desk,” I have received some comments and concerns about my coverage of the financial difficulties of the athletic programs on campus, my ethics as a journalist and my coverage of NCAA sports on campus. Because of this, I would like to take a moment to clarify myself and help resolve any questions other readers may have.

One of the most commonly mentioned criticisms I have received in regards to my columns are about my lack of mentioning the athletic accomplishments achieved by the student athletes at Western. While I do understand that my non-coverage of these facts may seem misleading, there was a purposeful intention as to why I did not include them — they are irrelevant to my story.

When I stated in “Opinion: From the Sports Desk” from Issue 4, that football was killing off the sports around it, my intention of this was to highlight how football was pulling funds away from other athletics, causing those other athletics to struggle financially. It was not meant to downplay the achievements of the other varsity programs.

However, these achievements play no part in my research for this story. In 1991, Western cut the wrestling program due to funding issues. In the final season of the wrestling program four members competed in the national championship. I bring this up because the size of the trophy case of a team means nothing if the team cannot afford to exist.

The other complaint I’ve received in regards to my coverage is how the sports section doesn’t cover enough of the NCAA sports on campus. This lack of coverage is also done for a reason.

The number of club sports being offered at Western is the same as the number of athletic teams yet the media coverage is nearly non-existent for club sports.

The argument that’s been voiced to me about needing to cover more NCAA sports has to do with the amount of work Western’s student athletes put into their teams. It has been told to me that they work very hard thus earning the right to be covered. However, this point is mirrored by the club sports on campus. Western’s club sports all work tirelessly to put together competitive teams and rarely a whisper is heard about them.

While many of the comments I have heard in regards to my opinions have been negative, I welcome the feedback. The more I hear back from readers, the better I can educate myself and others. But it is important to remember that the opinions in my column are based on research into the finances of an athletics program, whose director himself referred to as underfunded.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Greek organizations rally in support of survivors

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Alpha Chi Omega sisters in black dresses and purple ribbons welcomed guests on Nov. 1 to their event with Kappa Sigma, “My Little Black Dress Doesn’t Mean Yes.” The Greek organizations joined together to raise funds for The Center for Hope and Safety, a domestic violence shelter in Salem.

“We help victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking,” said Stephen Broncho, the Community Engagement Manager at The Center for Hope and Safety. “Last year, we had over 26,000 contacts to our program.”

Two Alpha Chi Omega members shared their personal experiences with domestic violence, and the President of Kappa Sigma and senior computer science major, Brandon Linton, conveyed a number of statistics about the prevalence of domestic violence in the United States, particularly amongst college-aged women. However, he also stated that there is no one type of person domestic violence targets.

“Domestic violence does not care about your age, your race, your skin color, your religion or your sexual orientation,” said Linton. “Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.”

Linton then stated that the biggest problem survivors of domestic violence face is not being heard. Although survivors have many reasons for not reporting, he shared that some of the most common ones include not believing the police could help, not wanting to get the abuser in trouble, not feeling their experience was important enough to report and being afraid of retaliation.

“I’m here to tell you that there are people in this room and on this campus who care about you,” Linton said. “It is up to us to change the stigma and stereotypes about domestic violence and expose domestic violence for what it is. Too often these terrible crimes go unnoticed — unseen and unspoken — and the cycle of violence continues thriving.”

Although there is still a long way to go, Vice President Philanthropy of Alpha Chi Omega and sophomore ASL/English interpreting major, Serenna Galloway, shared that she has hope that events like this will make a positive change in Western’s community.

“It’s something that’s so prominent right now, and to have a fraternity join with a sorority and break the stigma of that is awesome,” Galloway said. “We hope that other survivors will be able to speak up, or if they need someone to rely on, they know that they can come to us and we’ll find resources for them…we know sometimes it’s harder  to come up yourself, so when you have support it’s a lot easier.”

Through their 50/50 and prize basket raffles, Alpha Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma ultimately raised $779 for Center for Hope and Safety.

If anyone is in need of resources provided by Center for Hope and Safety, their 24-hour hotline is (503) 399-7722.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Polk County 4-H hosts 56th Annual Holiday Fair

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Walking into the Polk County Fairgrounds and Event Center, a number of local children called names for door prizes and those involved with Polk County 4-H sat at a greeting booth in the entryway. Roughly 130 vendors gathered on Nov. 2-3 for the 56th Annual Polk County Holiday Fair — a time to share homemade items and help support the local 4-H program.

Paintings, dolls, holiday decorations, wooden items, jewelry and ceramics: all things that could be found at this year’s bazaar. Along a multitude of rows sat vendors of all ages, talking with prospective customers about the products they had made.

Back at the entrance to the fair, however, event organizer Suzi Busler sat and managed several volunteers in order to make sure that the event was a success.

“We’re a holiday fair that started before Christmas bazaars were the in-thing to be,” said Busler. “About nine years ago (an extension study group program) turned it over to the 4-H program. And we’ve expanded and added quite a few things to the program since then.”

In discussing the impact that this annual event has on the local 4-H children, Busler remarked that the holiday fair is one of their biggest fundraising events — drawing close to 3000 people from the community — and it also helps the kids to grow and develop in their leadership skills.

“This is an opportunity for them to be able to market and use those skills that they’re learning in the 4H program,” said Busler.

When asked about whether or not groups of college students are able to rent booths in future years, Busler responded, “Absolutely…maybe a college student doesn’t have enough time to be able to have enough product to staff their own booth, but a collection of students could easily join together to be able to have enough products to sell.”

If any Western students or organizations are interested in being a part of the Holiday Fair next year, Busler advised that they contact the Polk County Extension Office at (971) 612-0028 after information comes out next August. It costs $40 for crafters to participate in the fair, and this money goes to funding the Polk County 4-H program.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Update: The results of Oregon’s Midterm Election

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

[fruitful_tabs type=”accordion” width=”100%” fit=”false”]
[fruitful_tab title=”National Offices”]U.S. Representative District 5: Kurt Schrader [/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”State Offices”] Governor: Kate Brown

State Representative District 20: Paul Evans

State Senator District 10: Jackie Winters

[/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”Local Offices”]

Monmouth Mayor: Cecelia Koontz

Monmouth City Councilors: Roxanne E. Beltz, Jon Carey and Stephen Howard

[/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”Ballot Measures”]

Measure 102: Yes

Measure 103: No

Measure 104: No

Measure 105: No

Measure 106: No

[/fruitful_tab]
[/fruitful_tabs]

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-success”] Stay tuned for more information on these results. [/fruitful_alert]

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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