Mount Hood

Western celebrates Black History Month

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

As February comes to a close, students reflect on events that stimulated engaging conversations, provided an artistic outlet and aimed to educate the public during Black History Month.

Organized by Black Student Union, Western’s Black History Month events were a time to engage in discussion and awareness of issues within the black community at Western.

“I think, in our culture, we can be passive about marginalized communities and minorities in general,” explained BSU president Marnasha Fowlkes. “I definitely think Black History Month is needed because that continuously happens. And until we can break out of that, this is definitely a time where black culture needs to be celebrated or else oppression is going to be this continuous cycle that is super detrimental to the community.”

Events during Black History Month included a poetry slam, Don’t Touch My Hair student panel and a display in Hamersly Library. The display was an arrangement of books and DVDs contributed by BSU members that highlight black authors and additionally raise awareness regarding the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Don’t Touch My Hair panel featured six black identifying students that shared their experiences, struggles and triumphs with black hair. The panel discussed topics like natural hair versus styled hair, being treated differently because of their hair, feeling self conscious about how it’s styled and others inappropriately touching their hair without asking.

Aminna Ackridge, a second-year psychology major, explained that her hair is a way that she expresses herself. “My hair is a huge part of my identity because it is part of what makes me black and what makes me look black,” Ackridge explained. “I spend a good portion of my life dealing with my hair. Your hair is part of what makes you unique, what makes you stand out, what makes you different.”

Fowlkes encourages all individuals, not just those who identify as black, to attend upcoming BSU meetings and get engaged in these conversations.

“Education is power,” Fowlkes stated. “Even though we do live in a predominantly white community, different perspectives and perceptions of the world throughout the various communities are always welcome at BSU meetings. The information is universal, whether it’s just learning and consuming that information and using it out in the world or giving your input in those discussions … We want to invite people in rather than exclude people out.”

Check out BSU meetings on Mondays at 5 p.m. in the Santiam Room of the WUC.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Dorm room guide for first-years

Caity Healy | Lifestyle editor

For those living in a dorm, you know that the atmosphere and the living situation feels entirely different than if you were living somewhere else. You now live with a roommate that you may or may not know, your space has been condensed into a cramped room, and for many, you have to learn how to share this small space with someone you’d never experienced living with before.

While ultimately this can lead to conflict, some unavoidable, there are ways to best navigate the issues or minimize the amount that will arise.

When it comes to living with a roommate, the most important thing to maintain is respect. “Respect is really the baseline for a healthy roommate relationship,” commented sophomore education major Kaiana Bradley, who is an RA at Western, “treat them and their things how you would want to be treated.”

As for the biggest ways for keeping the relationship between you and your roommate civil, she noted that it really comes down to two points: compromise and communication. “People are raised differently and live differently,” said Bradley, “but talking about differences and issues and finding compromise is the best way to avoid conflict.”

Finding compromise with your roommate can come in many forms. Set guidelines between each other that you need to follow. There are many important questions that you should be asking your new roommate to get a sense of how they’d prefer things to go, and so that they can hear your perspective as well. How do you feel about guests coming over? When do you want it to be quiet? Are there any foods that you just can’t stand the smell of and would rather me not microwave in here? How do you feel about people spending the night? Things like this, while the answers might not always be in sync, will still allow you to both have a voice in how the rest of the year will go.

If conflict does arise, though, it’s best to tackle it early on. You can try to work it out with your roommate, but if that’s proving to be ineffective, take it to your RA.

“If the resident feels uncomfortable addressing their concern directly to their roommate, they can let their RA know what is happening and the RA can help them through the process from there.” Bradley added.

Lastly, realize that dorm room etiquette means more than just within the bedroom; it also includes the shared bathroom. This single bathroom is shared between you and everyone in the dorm, so keep a few things in mind. There are limited showers, so try to cut down your time as there could likely be people waiting. Also, make the janitor’s job easier and pick up after yourself. “Remove hair from the shower after you get out, remove soaps from the shower … and pick up your trash,” noted Bradley.

Contact the author at chealy16@mail.wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

“Wish You Were Here” comes to Western

Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

Religion, pop culture and politics all intertwine within the gallery halls of Campbell Hall. On Feb. 21, the Cannon Gallery of Art unveiled its newest winter term exhibition: “Wish You Were Here,” a posthumous display of the mixed media works of local artist David George Andersen.

Andersen’s work tends to incorporate multiple mediums — displayed in the gallery are pieces that feature found objects, photographs and, in one case, flashing lights.

“I think this work takes some time to fully comprehend, just as it took time for the artist to conceptualize,” said Paula Booth, director of the Cannon Gallery. “While it is exquisitely crafted work and looks beautiful in the space, some might be turned off by some of the imagery.”

The work shown in the Cannon Gallery doesn’t shy away from bringing up controversial issues. Through his art, Andersen used everyday items that are often found in popular culture as a means to explore religious symbolism, the way religion is played out through the separation of church and state, as well as religion-based slurs. In his work, exhibit goers can find references to advertising campaigns, paint by number layouts and spirit boards.

When asked what she thinks Western students can get out of this exhibit, Booth responded, “While I can’t say exactly what students will take from the exhibit, I do know that if they spend time with the work, they may be surprised by the depth of meaning and humor in the work, as well as its relevance to the current moment in history.”

Andersen, who passed away in January 2017, had signed up to show his work at Western but was unable to see the exhibit through to its inception. Andersen’s wife, Melanie Weston, chose the title and title piece for “Wish You Were Here.”

“Vacation,” the piece of art highlighted on all of the publicity materials, is comprised of a Ouija board that spells out the chosen title for the exhibit.

“Quija boards that spell out ‘wish you were here’ are, in and of themselves, kind of humorous and intriguing,” said Booth. “That combined with the fact that David is no longer with us just adds another bittersweet layer to the piece.”  

In addition to working on his own art, Andersen held multiple positions relating to exhibit design; he worked as an exhibit designer at both the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington and the Cheney Cowles Museum in Spokane, Washington. In a more local context, Andersen joined the team at Hallie Ford Art Museum in Salem, Oregon in 2007 and worked as both exhibition designer and chief preparator.

“Wish You Were Here” will be on display in the Cannon Gallery until March 23. Next term, the gallery will be showcasing a display of art from students at Linn Benton Community College, as well as the 50th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Open Letter to the students at Western Oregon University

Eric Frey | Incidental Fee Committee Chair

Dear students, I wanted to write to you first to inform you of where we stand as a committee after the preliminary hearings and second to ask you for your input on where you think your fees should go.

Some background — every term students pay an incidental fee to support student-funded activities and organizations. This year the fee is $349 per regular term and $153 for summer term, with projected enrollment next fall being 4,745. We estimate to receive $4,402,604 in revenue if fees do not change. For summer, projected enrollment is 800 students and $123,000 in revenue if fees do not change. For the 2018-2019 school year IFC funded areas requested $4,515,310 for their budgets and an additional $429,896 in enhancements to their budgets —  a total of $4,945,206 requested from the IFC. With the $542,602 difference between requested funds and projected available funds we have to find the balance between raising fees and lowering budgets.

Here is where we stand after preliminary decisions on the funding of the IFC-funded areas:

Abby’s House, Access, Creative Arts , Athletics, Childcare, Extraordinary Travel, Campus Rec-HWC, Campus Rec-Club Sports, Campus Rec-Intramurals, Student Engagement-LIA, Student Engagement-SAB, WOLF Ride, SLCD and the Computer Replacement Fund were all funded at the level requested.

ASWOU was cut by $28,000 with the intent to cut the Oregon Student Association membership, while the ASWOU cut package indicated cuts to Clubs & Orgs and travel funds. Student Media was cut by $3,229 with the intent to reduce printing costs in The Western Journal. Student Engagement Operations was cut by $3,887 with the intent to close the downstairs of the Werner University Center at 10 p.m. when the upstairs closes.

Five areas also requested enhancements to their base budget:

ASWOU requested $4,359 to support SVA National Convention Travel: Approved

Athletics requested $396,505 to fund travel, uniforms, equipment and pre-season expenses: $28,250 was approved — $2,500 for baseball helmets, $4,000 for Basketball Game Fees for not traveling to an opponent[ZS2] , $7,500 for volleyball uniforms, $5,692 for track to replace aging equipment, $2,148 for cross country meet fees for not traveling to opponent, $4,117 for cheerleading uniforms

Student Engagement-Leadership, Inclusion, Activities requested $3,759 to support Siblings Weekend and the Leadership Institute: Approved

Student Engagement-SAB requested $2,685 to fund new SAB location: Approved

WOLF Ride/SLCD requested $22,588 to fund a second driver/navigator and develop a WOLF Ride App: second driver/navigator approved for $17,292.

Overall IFC approved $56,345 in enhancements to the budgets

With the total of $4,536,539 budget and with the projected enrollment we are looking at increasing the Incidental Fee from $349 per term to $360 per term.

The summer budget was $133,674 — $3,975 less than last year, yet we need to increase the summer Incidental Fee from $153 to $167 due to lower summer enrollment projections.

Agendas, minutes, documents, forms and additional info can be found at wou.edu/ifc

Now that you have the facts, this is where I am asking for your input and help:

We want to hear from you.

How do you feel about the overall fee?

What do you feel strongest about in the budgets?

Do you think you benefit enough from the services provided by the fee? How?

What do you think could be improved in the Budget?

What budget item do you disagree with?

What would you like to tell the committee?

You can email the committee at ifc@wou.edu and ifcchair@wou.edu to give us your feedback or you can contact me personally at efrey15@wou.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to read through all this info, please take a few minutes to let us know your thoughts, because the more feedback we get, the better decisions we can make and together we succeed.

TL:DR  We are looking to raise Incidental Fees to $360 to fund IFC-funded areas, looking to cut funds from ASWOU, Student Media and Student Engagement. ifc@wou.edu would like your input and thoughts.

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Wolves looking to sneak into last playoff spot

Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer

Six women’s basketball teams will be eligible for the GNAC conference championships at the end of the season that are to be played from March 1-3, and there’s only one spot available. The playoffs are now in sight for the Western Oregon women’s basketball team.

The reason the team is in this position right now is because of a strong showing last week. After squeaking out a 65-62 win against Concordia on Feb. 13, the team was able to generate newfound momentum. Facing a schedule filled with must-win situations, last Saturday’s game on Feb. 17 against GNAC championship qualifier Montana State Billings may have been the biggest win of the season. While trailing by seven at the start of the fourth quarter, with the season possibly on the line, the Wolves responded forcefully. Outscoring the Yellowjackets by 19 in the final 10 minutes, the team secured a 77-65 win.
Though the Wolves do have a shot at making the playoffs, they do not control their own destiny. A couple key games this week around the conference will be another deciding factor. Four teams are currently battling for the final spot with two games left. As it stands right now, if Western Washington wins both games next week, the three teams sitting one game back have zero shot of the final GNAC conference tournament.
The Wolves’s next game will be on the road against the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Feb. 22. After starting 16-3, the Falcons have hit a rough patch, going 3-3 in the month of February. On Feb. 24, the team finishes out the regular season against Saint Martin’s. This game may be the biggest one of the season. If everything falls correctly for the Wolves, the game against the Saints (3-15 conference record) will serve as a win or go home situation in their last chance to grab the 6th GNAC conference championship spot. With a conference record of 7-11, Western is currently trailing Western Washington by one game for the last conference tournament spot. With three other teams tied with the Wolves, the last few games will be crucial to earn a spot to play in the GNAC championships.Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Men’s team hopes to avenge early season loss

Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer

As the season starts to wind down, every game is bigger than the last one. This proves to be no exception this coming Thursday, Feb. 22, as it is a crucial game where the Wolves basketball team will be hosting Western Washington, the only team this season that has beaten the Wolves.
The Western Washington Vikings defeated the Wolves 85-58 back on Dec. 2. It was a game early in the season, and since then, the Wolves now have an 18-game win streak.
“We are a more focused and mature team now, and we are ready to take on WWU Thursday,” said senior forward Tanner Omlid. This game is another huge matchup, and the team is focused and prepared.
“Definitely treating this game a little different with them being the one team to beat us so far. With our competitiveness we have on the team, this is a huge game for us, just like any other game we’ve competed in this season, ” senior guard, Janvier Alaby said.
The two teams have ran away with top spots in the GNAC division. With two games left in the regular season, the Wolves can clinch the conference with a win on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Coming into the game, both teams stand out in key statistical categories compared to other conference foes. Both teams lead the league in scoring, point margin and field goal percentage. This game will be a great stepping stone to get over before a hopefully lengthy postseason run. The GNAC Championships is just around the corner, starting March 1. Afterwards, the NCAA Regionals will start to take place on March 8.
This past week saw the Wolves streak improve to 18 and received votes as the number one team in the nation this past week, but not without some worry. On Thursday, Feb. 15, the team withstood a huge second half performance by Northwest Nazarene, winning 70-67. This past Saturday, Feb. 17, Central Washington was dealt a 89-59 loss.
Due to his huge performances the week prior, senior guard Ali Faruq-Bey was named conference player of the week.
Faruq-Bey commented on the anticipated Viking match up, “I don’t think we’re going to treat this game any different than any conference game we’ve played, just … added emphasis because we don’t want a share of the conference title, we want it outright.”

The big matchup on Feb. 22 against Western Washington will be at home at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Wolves host Simon Fraser to cap their weekend, with tip off also being at 7 p.m.

Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com

Rising against sexual violence

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Feb.14 was a day filled with love and cherished relationships, but it also marked the anniversary of a powerful movement called One Billion Rising. Abby’s House spent the afternoon educating Western students on this campaign to raise awareness on violence against women.

According to onebillionrising.org, one in three women in the world will be a victim of sexual or domestic violence in her lifetime. This adds up to one billion women and girls across the globe. The One Billion Rising movement began when people around the world came together to express concern and awareness of the issues that affect a large number of individuals. According to their website, One Billion Rising is the biggest initiative to end violence against women in history.  

Of the various issues that this movement addresses, Abby’s House advocates and volunteers chose three to focus on this year: refugee and migrant justice, gender-based violence and prioritizing education. They encouraged students to take action by writing one thing that they could do to further the movement on a balloon. The empowering balloons were displayed throughout the event.

Junior Kevan Maloney is an Abby’s House advocate and helped educate students on this movement. When asked why One Billion Rising is important, Maloney replied, “It’s super important because women make up half the population of the world. And almost more than half of them deal with problems like this every day. And that’s super huge because no one should have to live like that. Period.”

Volunteer advocate Jessica Lang addressed the importance of this event at Western. “It being out here and being presented like this, people who don’t want to come up and have been in these situations know that they’re supported.”

Go to onebillionrising.org or visit Abby’s House to get involved in the movement.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: onebillionrising.org

Western Oregon University

Facebook   Instagram   Twitter  YouTube

WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
345 Monmouth Ave. N.
Monmouth OR 97361

503-838-8000 | 1-877-877-1593

Tools

Campus Maps
Canvas
Find People
Portal
Virtual Tour
WOU Email
Technical Support

Resources

A-Z Index
Accessibility
Academic Calendar
Class Schedule
Jobs at WOU
Partnerships
Student Services

Western Oregon University’s Land Acknowledgement
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.

Accessibility    Public Records    Privacy    Student Consumer Information

WOU prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs, activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited by WOU.