Mount Hood

Who’ll stop the rain?

By: Burke​ ​De​ ​Boer
Sports​ ​Editor

Wolves baseball is eager to get its season started, but the season doesn’t want to start for Wolves baseball.

A slated double header against Concordia in Monmouth was rained out at the start of February. In last weekend’s trip to Fresno, the rain allowed only two games to be played out of a scheduled four.

Western Oregon garnered a 1-1 record out of the scheduled six games.

The first game of the season saw Western trail 5-4 before putting up a three-run eighth inning to rally over Fresno Pacific.

Sophomore shortstop Garrett Anderson scored two runs in the 7-5 victory. Sophomore first baseman Koty Fallon hit in two RBIs.

The second game had excellent pitching blaze five scoreless innings. Senior right hander Elias Bedolla was pitching a no-hitter going into the sixth inning when everything went upside down. The first run came on an RBI when Bedolla hit the Fresno batter with bases loaded.

Western Oregon would commit two errors and give up a total of seven runs, three of which were unearned.

Western lost the second game, 0-7.

The Wolves are in San Diego this weekend. NBC San Diego reports rain in the forecast.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

“Out and Proud,” a time for the LGBTQ+ community to shine

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

The Multicultural Student Union and Triangle Alliance came together to create the event, “Out and Proud,” an event that is described on Western’s website as one that, “celebrates and explores the various cultures and ethnic backgrounds that are within the LGBTQ+ community and recognizes their challenges as well as celebrates their achievements and success.”

In the late morning of Feb. 8, there was a Queer People of Color panel in the Willamette room of the Werner University Center to create a discussion about queer people of color and the difficulties and achievements they face as a double minority.

That evening at 6:00 p.m., there was a dinner themed “Let Your Colors Burst,” with keynote speaker, Maria Peters Lake, who dubs herself a “Lesbian drag queen.”

One of the planners for the event was, Katherine Macias-Torres, a sophomore nursing major, who is a campus advocate for the Multicultural Student Union. Their job is to work with other clubs and organizations on campus to see how they can work together to bring awareness to campus.

“‘Out and Proud’ is an annual event that we throw and it’s in cooperation with Triangle Alliance.” Macias-Torres stated, “It’s an important event because being a person of color within the LGBTQ+ community is like a double minority, it’s definitely something that is overlooked by a plethora of different groups. I really like the idea of having an ‘Out and Proud’ event because it’s like, ‘hey, we see you and we acknowledge you and you’re important.’ I think it’s important to bring that to light.”

After dinner was served, Maria Peters Lake took to the microphone to discuss what her life was like growing up gay in a family that didn’t acknowledge or discuss the LGBTQ+ community, and growing up to become accepted and loved by those around her. Lake is a big figure in the LGBTQ+ community and has served many different positions in the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court, one of Oregon’s oldest LGBTQ+ organizations. Lake also had various fundraising efforts to benefit the Audria M. Edwards Scholarship Fund: a scholarship for undergraduate students in the LGBTQ+ and allied community.

On Feb. 10, Triangle Alliance hosted the Black and Red Ball in the Pacific room of the Werner University Center to finish the “Out and Proud” event with a slam-bang finish. This event was to create awareness as well as to raise money for the Cascades AIDS Project.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Wolves on a hot streak

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Men’s basketball continued its dominant streak with two wins at home last week.

This extends the winning streak

The Wolves beat St. Martin’s 82-73 in a Feb. 2 home match. Junior forward Tanner Omlid lead the scoring with 23 points.

The defense shutting St. Martin’s down opened the door for a lot of points, as the
Wolves forced 16 turnovers and scored 22 points off of turnovers. Junior forward JJ Chirnside grabbed 8 rebounds and made 3 blocks, while Omlid added 5 rebounds, six steals and 2 blocks of his own.

Chirnside also contributed 15 points of offense.

The game saw a few lead changes as the teams sparred through the first half. But after halftime it was all Wolves. Western Oregon lead by as much as 16 throughout the second half on their way to the 9-point win.

Three dunks were slammed in by Omlid and Chirnside through the second half.

Tanner Omlid continued to put on a clinic when Seattle Pacific came to Monmouth on Feb. 4. He scored 18 and made 15 rebounds on his way to a double-double.

The Wolves took down Seattle Pacific, 84-70 in the GNAC Game of the Week.

Junior guard Ali Faruq-Bey and JJ Chirnside both put up 17 points. Coming off the bench, junior guard Demetrius Trammell scored 11 to make it four – Wolves with double digit points.

Trammell lead the much stronger bench performance, which saw the Wolves’ reserves score 27 while the Seattle Pacific bench was held to four. Senior forward Yanick Kulich also contributed 8 points in 10 minutes off the bench.

“We are just playing a lot harder and we’re all on the same page now,” JJ Chirnside said on the team’s recent form. “We’re moving the ball well and getting better on the defensive end. We’re getting stops which leads us to transition points.”

The Wolves are on the road this week, and will face Western Washington, one of the last teams they lost to before going on the win streak.

“We’ve learned a lot from them,” Chirnside said. “We just need to keep getting better everyday ‘til then.”

Western Washington are the top-ranked team in the GNAC, but have only a single game advantage on the third-ranked Wolves.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Get to know a major

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

Western offers a wide variety of degrees that students can major in, many of which students don’t know are offered, or know next to nothing about. This week, in “Get To Know a Major:” receiving a bachelor of science in community health.

Maressa Milat, a junior, is working towards receiving a bachelor of science in community health with a minor in human biology. Although she didn’t come to Western for that specific major, she knew she wanted to come here. “I came to Western to attend a small school rather than a big state school,” Milat stated.

Originally Milat was going to major in nursing, but she didn’t like how competitive it was, so she switched her major to community health. “You can do so much with a major in community health,” she said. “There are a lot of careers available to someone educated in that field.” According to Western’s website, those fields include: medical care facilities, colleges and universities, public health settings, non-profit community health organizations, private businesses and building a foundation for beginning advanced/graduate level work.

“I’m thinking about taking more of a social worker job, that checks in on families, children and the elderly,” she said. “That’s something that I think is a really important job in our society.”

The community health major is described on Western’s website as a program that, “… prepares students to work with individuals, groups, and communities to promote health and prevent disease and disability. Students develop professional skills and competencies that include: assessing individual and community needs, planning and implementing health education programs, evaluating the effectiveness of health education programs, coordinating health education services, acting as a resource person for reliable and valid health information,advocacy and communication of health needs and information to multiple audiences in socially and culturally appropriate ways.”
When asked what her favorite course she had taken so far was, Milat replied, “Human sexuality is my favorite so far. I like how open everything is and there’s no judgement.” She added, “Most of our classes are taught in a lecture style, and our class size is fairly small, so it’s easy to communicate with other students and my professors, I like that a lot too.”

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Dispatches from the sports desk

By:Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Korean Zombie earned a first round knockout of ninth-ranked Dennis Bermudez in his return bout.

Bermudez opened the Feb. 4 fight with strong blows, but found the inevitable lurch of Chan Sung Jung to be inescapable.

A bear of an uppercut took Bermudez to the ground. Jung was on him, delivering hits, when the fight was called.

Knockout. 2:49 in the first.

Probably a bit of an early stoppage, all things considered. But the bell was rung and what’s done was done.

I’ve been a fan of The Korean Zombie since I first found out there was a fighter with the nickname “The Korean Zombie.” A few years ago, he was one of the most exciting, rope-a-dope fighters out there.

The prevailing theme across fight media is “The Korean Zombie is back!” He didn’t have as much as ring rust as many predicted and he picked up a win in his classic style.

Belal Muhammad tweeted, “There was three years of anger in that uppercut.”

We shouldn’t be this surprised.

We may remember that he missed his fights in 2014 following a shoulder injury he suffered in his championship fight. But he’s not returning from that injury. He’s back from serving mandatory time in the South Korean Military.

That time serving not only gave him time to heal, but it was time spent keeping him fighting fit.

South Korea raises one of Asia’s strongest militaries. And in the case of Chan Sung Jung, one of the world’s toughest fighters. The soldier’s return has put his division on notice.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Happy Valentine’s Day?

By: Paige Scofield
Natural Disaster

Feb. 14th, otherwise known as Valentine’s Day, is a time of chocolates, cards, fancy dinners, broken hearts, love, frilly things, crippling self doubt, romance and candlelight. But people always seem to miss the most important aspect of the 14th, and they have been forgetting it for years. It’s Oregon’s birthday! Our beautiful state turns 158 this year, and I bet it didn’t even cross your mind. Every year I send invitations to everybody. Where were you when it was Oregon’s 150th? Making out and having fun with someone because of some stupid holiday?

Oregon was really hurt, and I was the only one at the party. It got really awkward, because it was a potluck, but all I brought was a 10 pound bag of ice for the drinks that weren’t there. We had to eat ice. There wasn’t even cake. Just ice. I also accidentally bought a block instead of crushed ice, so we literally had to use an ice pick to eat some of the worst ice I’ve ever had. I knew I shouldn’t have skimped and bought the off-brand ice.

Anyway, why do you keep taking Oregon for granted? You’ve literally lived together for years. Not to mention, who wouldn’t want to take Oregon out for a birthday/Valentine’s Day date? Oregon is absolutely stunning, and has a little bit of everything: beaches, deserts, hipsters, mountains, forests, cities and great restaurants. Valentine’s Day was created by candy companies too … Okay, I can’t do this anymore, I’m honestly just really hurt that nobody asked me out for Valentines Day. I mean I love Oregon’s birthday, but it’s too much state for me to handle and Oregon never calls back. I’m drowning in loneliness, and soon to be discount chocolate. WHY WILL NO ONE LOVE ME?

Contact the author?

Social media backlash to the new administration

By: Zoë Strickland
Managing Editor

On Jan. 24, the Trump administration ordered the employees of multiple federal agencies, including the EPA, USDA, HHS and DOI, to halt external communication with both the public and the media.

According to the New York Times, the communication halt is in place “… while the Trump administration struggles to put political appointees into position.” The moratorium on communication from those departments came after the administration began re-doing the White House website on Jan. 20, during which they deleted any mention of climate change.

As a result of these combined events, the Twitter account of Badlands National Park began posting scientific facts relating to climate change. The National Park Service then came forward and admitted that the information was being posted by a former employee who had hijacked the account and proceeded to delete what they had tweeted.

Though the National Park Service attempted to correct what had happened on their Twitter, the tweets sparked an onset of unofficial ‘resistance’ government accounts. Among those accounts are @altUSEPA, @RoguePOTUSStaff, @RogueNASA, @altNOAA and @NotAltWorld, which was originally used for the unofficial National Park Service but has since been handed off to non-government workers.

Since all of the Twitter accounts being made are working against the orders of the Trump administration, it’s unclear which accounts are being run by people inside of the the organizations. Some, like @NotAltWorld and @RogueNASA, publicly admit to being run by non-government employees.

The Rogue POTUS Staff twitter claims to be run by people within the government. Their website identifies them as the “Official White House Resistance Operation,” saying that they “are White House staffers, working at various levels, operating in secrecy to reveal hidden truths of the Trump administration to the American people.”

However, since all of the Twitter accounts are openly resisting the new administration, none of the account managers have come forth to identify themselves.

The Twitter accounts join together as part of a larger movement that draws attention to the communication halt as well as the “… recent proposals from the Trump transition team for drastic cuts in environmental science in federal agencies,” as reported by Scientific American.

Most recently, on Feb. 3, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-F.L., introduced a bill into congress that seeks to completely terminate the EPA.

The recent setbacks to the scientific community have helped draw attention to the work that has already been done by each agency. People are drawing attention to old research, such as the database that NASA introduced in August of 2016 where they post the peer-reviewed articles of research that NASA has funded. Articles on the database range from studies about how spaceflight may increase certain clinical symptoms in astronauts to if it’s possible to inhabit Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The rogue twitter accounts, government employee run or not, are starting a conversation that helps spread awareness for government-funded scientific research.

The science community is planning the Science March on Washington on April 22 for Earth Day. A satellite march is currently set to take place in Portland.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

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.