Mount Hood

A new governor for Oregon

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

With the 2018 Midterm Elections approaching fast, Oregon voters have a limited amount of time before Nov. 6, the day they must elect Oregon’s next governor. Although Oregon has not had a Republican governor since 1987, Knute Buehler’s moderate social views have recently made this race a toss-up, according to Real Clear Politics and the Cook Political Report. On the other hand, Gov. Kate Brown, after being elected the first openly LGBTQ+ governor of a U.S. state in 2015, is looking to be elected for her first full term.

Kate Brown

Oregon’s current governor, Kate Brown, is the Democratic gubernatorial candidate who is also endorsed by the Working Families party. During her time in office, Brown raised Oregon’s minimum wage, signed a law to phase out coal power and signed the bill for Oregon Promise, among other things. The main issues Brown emphasizes on her official website: economy and jobs, government efficiency, healthcare, education, the environment, public safety and strong communities.

Brown has a background as a family law attorney, but she has also held a number of governmental positions such as representative, senator and secretary of state.

According to an Oregon Public Broadcasting article, however, Brown’s critics have complained about her time in the governor’s office, stating that “the state faces massive problems, yet…the governor hasn’t articulated a clear vision or unveiled a comprehensive plan to solve them.”

Her supporters, on the other hand, assert that Brown simply has a different leadership style that isn’t as assertive as people are used to seeing in a governor.

Knute Buehler

Republican candidate Knute Buehler hails from Bend, Oregon and has, until recently, worked as an orthopedic surgeon. In 2015, Buehler was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, where he has since served two terms. The four issues that Buehler lists on his campaign site are education, health care, homelessness, and bridging Oregon’s rural/urban divide.

Even though, in many ways, Buehler’s fiscal conservatism aligns with popular expectations for Republican candidates, some of his progressive social beliefs have taken some voters by surprise — in both positive and negative ways. Buehler, unlike some traditional Republicans, is a pro-choice candidate who both believes in climate change and supported the legalization of gay marriage. While these views are may be a deterrent to a number of conservative Republicans, there are others for whom this is a selling point. For instance, according to the Oregonian, Nike co-founder Phil Knight — who has supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past — has contributed $2.5 million to Buehler’s campaign, which breaks the record for a single political donor in Oregon’s history.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Western’s trustees compare retention strategies

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

At their Oct. 17 meeting, the Western Board of Trustees wrestled with a number of critical issues to Western’s future success. Regularly featured in these meetings, the Board heard reports from groups such as Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, ASWOU, President Rex Fuller and numerous university committees.

One thing that was unique to this meeting, though, was the October discussion theme: enrollment.

Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Gary Dukes, presented on this topic, sharing with the Board that Western enrollment is down by three and a half percent this year, mirroring the trends of other Oregon universities. He also informed the Board about steps currently being taken to improve in this area: the university aims to attract more first-year students by improving affordability, more transfer students by reaching out to those in the Oregon Promise program, more graduate students by developing new programs and more international students by adding new countries to Western’s outreach.

Dukes also discussed a number of other strategies that Western is implementing to increase retention and new enrollment.

After the meeting, Board of Trustees Faculty Representative Dr. Gavin Keulks, English professor and Honors Program Director, shared his theory about the cause of enrollment decline.

“There just aren’t as many people going to college because…some people who can go to the job market are choosing to do that,” said Keulks. “Also, the tuition promise with community colleges means that more people are going to community colleges and then transferring in…and our enrollment has been going down.”

Commenting on the gravity of the situation, Keulks continued by saying, “I don’t think it’s an alarm, but it’s certainly not a little thing because this is where it impacts students. If enrollment keeps going down…there will be pressure to increase tuition.”

In the end, however, Keulks remarked that “everyone (on the board) has a deep love of the university and a genuine to concern that the university is thriving,” meaning that “if we fight about something, it’s because we want the school to make the right choice.”

If students are interested in learning more about this meeting, Keulks suggested looking on the university’s website, as there are a number of documents and statistics that can be reviewed far faster than it would have taken to attend the entire six-hour meeting.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Homecoming at Western

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Beginning on Monday, Oct. 15, and continuing through Saturday, Oct. 20, students gathered together to celebrate another year at Western. Throughout the week, events sponsored by Student Engagement, SAB, ASWOU, Weekend Programs and Western Athletics provided Wolves with numerous opportunities to relax, have fun with friends and show off their school spirit with this year’s “Across the WOUniverse” theme.

The highlighted events on Monday were the 2nd annual Homecoming Carnival, an event with games, face painting, a human gyro machine, food, a palm reader and informational booths for a number of campus organizations. The second Western tradition that was held on Monday was Paint the Wolf, a time for students to help re-paint the school logo that lies on Church Street.

Then, on Tuesday, a number of Western clubs and organizations contributed to Paint the Town Red by decorating the windows of participating business around Monmouth with out-of-this-world “Across the WOUniverse” designs. On Tuesday evening, the intergalactic fun continued with a screening of Space Jam in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center.

Wednesday brought a special edition of SAB’s WOU Wednesdays, where SAB executive members drove around Western in a “rocket ship” and delivered swag to any students wearing Western apparel. The campus itself even reflected the students’ school spirit through the Office Decorating competition. Although many groups captured the space theme well in their décor, the winners of the competition were the Center for Early Learning & Youth Development, Business Services and the Criminal Justice Department.

When Thursday rolled around, the main event of the day was a Galactic Roller Rink that was held in the WUC. The rink even glowed in the dark, and the first 20 students received a homecoming t-shirt.

On Friday, the 39th annual Powerpuff Game and tailgater saw an On-Campus team take on an Off-Campus team, and although On-Campus scored first, the Off-Campus girls ultimately won 7-6.

“As my second year coaching the On-Campus PowerPuff team, I am grateful to have worked with so many friendly students on our campus,” said Wenyin Metcalf, senior communications major who was also on the 2018 Homecoming Court. “Though it is only a one-game per year experience, the friendship bonds we create each year are irreplaceable.”

Immediately following this match, students walked over to the lawn near Campus Public Safety in order to watch the lighting of the “W” bonfire and pep rally. This event featured performances by the Western cheerleaders and band, and it finished with a pie-eating contest in the dark.

Saturday concluded the festivities with the Homecoming football game against Humboldt State University. Before the game, students gathered in the parking lot for a tailgater with food and activities. And at halftime, the Western Homecoming Court for 2018 was announced and the two Wolf Royalty from the senior class were named. This year, the two who earned this honor were Riley Bardes, an exercise science major, and Carlos Chairez, a business major.

The Wolves beat the Humboldt State Lumberjacks 45-24, providing an exciting end to an eventful homecoming week.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo Courtesy of Paul F. Davis and Caity Healy

Opinion: Western fails with its Percent for Art money

Paul F. Davis | Managing Editor

Art: it celebrates, reflects and critiques current times, something that is important now more than ever before, yet this idea is something that’s not reflected on Western’s campus. Western has a tradition of choosing pieces for building’s Percent for Art, a state law that requires all publicly funded construction plans with budgets over $100,000 to set aside 1 percent for art, requirements that are out of line with its students and the campus.

Future Percent for Art pieces should look to accomplish a few things. First, the art should not try to blend in with its surrounds but also not ignore them completely. For example, instead of choosing a bright purple and fuchsia color scheme as the piece in front of the RWEC did, it should have gone for a less saturated red and yellow palette to match and complement the red on the brick of the building.

Pieces should also attempt to symbolize the space for which it is contained within. The art within DeVolder, one of the few good examples on how spend Percent for Art money on campus, is a wonderful connected stained glass circle which contains multiple subunits that illustrate various parts of the human body and concepts from chemistry — a perfect representation of what the students are learning about within the building. Additionally, this can be used as a marker to reiterate what the building is used for and can show a person who is not accustomed to campus what is done within the building.

Campus art should also strive to reflect its students, showing their struggle, their success and for many the loss that occurs during their time at university. For example instead of gigantic flowers to symbolize students growth, create an interactive piece of art that the students can participate in. A good idea for this would be a massive glass and wood container where students can submit something they are thankful for and then once a year, say springtime, have an opening day party where some of the submissions are read to students and faculty to celebrate the new season.

Future sculptures, paintings and other art should most importantly be completed by former or current students. If Western was to seek out and hire a former student of the Western’s College of Art, they are saying not only are our students worthy of a degree once they graduate but we also believe in their education to the point that they are equipped enough to leave an actual mark on campus. But more than anything, this says that Western not only is here to teach their students but they are here and willing to invest in their students something which is severely lacking currently.

So next time Art Committee of Western Oregon, let’s attempt to reflect your students and your campus to show that’s what’s important — not show your afterthought metal and LED marker of your misunderstanding.

 

Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

The Tournées Film Festival screens “BPM”

Jamari Gilbert | Freelancer

“Beats Per Minute” or “BPM” is a movie directed by Robin Campillo. This dramatized historical piece was showcased here at Western during the Tournées Film Festival. The TFF brings French films here to Western and other American campuses. “(The movies) touch on a wide range of subjects, diverse perspectives, locations, and human experiences, all circling around themes of mobility, migration and global interconnections,” says the film festival page on Western’s website. There will be six movies in total every Thursday, from Oct. 11 through Nov. 15.

“BPM” delves into activities of the HIV/AIDS activist group, Act Up-Paris in the 1990s. They are faced with many challenges in the film: the majority believing that AIDS only affects homosexuals and the government not passing laws to help stop the outbreak. Their activism varies from throwing fake blood over pharmacies to throwing the ashes of departed members onto conference members and their food.

The audience is first introduced to the Act Up-Paris branch for the first half of the movie. This section of the movie is more of a celebration of the hard work that the many men and women of the Act Up-Paris performed to ensure a brighter future for those individuals living with AIDS. As the Act Up-Paris group is trying to decide the best means of getting their message across, infighting occurs, with some members even going so far as to openly sabotage other members work when they are unhappy. Bits of drama like this are sprinkled throughout the movie even though the premise alone is serious enough.

The last half of “BPM” focuses on how AIDS will destroy an individual once infected. Several characters portray the grim outcome, but the most prominent is the character Sean, a veteran of the Act Up Paris group who is already in the later stages of the disease. He forms a sexual relationship with one of the newest members Nathan. This half of the movie goes into their relationship and shows how AIDS will both affect the infected and those around them.

“BPM” is long, but it is worth it. Showing the fight against AIDS in two different ways: the political fight that demonstrates the hardships everyone involved must face and how AIDS changes the lives of men and women who are infected by the disease.

Overall Rating: I would recommend this movie if the viewer is interested in learning about the AIDS movement in countries besides the United States, or if they’re interested in an LGBTQ+ film.

 

Contact the author at jgilbert16@mail.wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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