Mount Hood

Wolfie’s Bowl action

Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

For the 2018 Homecoming week, the ladies were the first to step foot on the gridiron for the Wolves. The 39th Annual Powerpuff Game: Wolfie’s bowl was gearing up to be a powerful start to this year’s homecoming football festivities. With female students lining up for the On-Campus team and Off-Campus team, this year’s participants were ready for a fight.

The first half of action was a defensive struggle as neither team gave the other an inch. Blows were traded back and forth but neither team found the endzone.

“I was worried because I had class until 6 (p.m.) in Corvallis and I didn’t get here until halftime, but I knew we could hold them off,” said junior criminal justice and exercise science major Mikaela Wong on the Off-Campus team.

Within minutes of the start of the second quarter, Wong torched the defense on a trick play, finding the endzone to put the first points on the board. Due to tight officiating, the points ended up coming off the board. Forcing a turnover, the On-Campus team took possession and marched their way down the field.

Off the power of junior chemistry major D-Dré Wright’s arm, the On-Campus team was the first to put points on the board.

“I just know I’m throwing to the left half of the field. I don’t aim or anything, I just put it up and let my receiver get the ball,” said Wright on her touchdown bullseye.

After falling behind, the Off-Campus team knew they needed to score.

“We called a Mac-Daddy 3, that’s the name of the play. I knew (the ball) should be going to me, I just (have to) streak down the field (and catch it),” explained Wong on how the play was to be executed.

Wong sprinted past the defense and caught the game-tying touchdown pass. After a successful one point conversion, the Off-Campus crew led, 7-6.

Defensive stops came back and forth, but after a missed first down, the Off-Campus team kneeled out the clock to mark their third straight win. Hoisting the trophy high, the crowd cheered and made their way to the bonfire pep rally.

 

Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Caity Healy

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

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