Mary Geanelli Bernardo, Author at The Western Howl

Our name: The name Abby’s House was chosen in honor of Abigail Scott Duniway, who fought for women’s right to vote and to own property in Oregon and nationally. She was the first woman to register to vote in Oregon.

Our mission: To provide the WOU community with educational programming, information, and referral services designed to promote equity and non-violence. We embrace a feminist model that empowers all people to actively stand against all forms of violence, harassment, verbal abuse, discrimination, and hatred.

Our services:

Resource and Referral Center

Resource and Gender Studies Library

Educational Programming

Located: Werner University Center

For more information: 503-838-8219 – abbyshouse@mail.wou.edu – wou.edu/abbyshouse

Weather your home is half a block away or half a world away, everyone can use a home away from home. That’s what Abby’s House is about. It’s a place to relax with a cup of tea, to meet with a group or to find the resources to overcome obstacles.

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Election Day 2016: take measures to be informed

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

Election Day is coming up fast and many Oregon voters have already been and will continue to receive their ballots in the mail. The key to voting for both first-time and experienced voters is taking time to read the Voter’s Pamphlet and do some additional research in order to make informed decisions on your ballot.

Measure 95 is one of those decisions that could potentially have an impact on students, therefore it would be beneficial to research all sides before voting on it. As stated in the Oregon Voter’s Pamphlet, Measure 95 is a proposed amendment to the Oregon Constitution that, “allows investments in equities by public universities,” in order to try to reduce financial risk and increase investments to benefit students. The measure would allow all seven of Oregon’s public universities, Western Oregon University included, to invest in stocks which is currently prohibited by the Oregon Constitution. Summarized on oregonvotes.gov, the measure itself would place zero financial requirements on the state or local government; it would be the responsibility of each individual university to invest or not as they see fit.

According to Michael Shill, Edward Ray and Tom Insko, Presidents of University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University, the goal of the measure is to, “create more opportunities for middle-class Oregonians to access a college education,” by using investments to minimize tuition increases and reducing the amount of student debt. Currently there are no officially stated oppositions to Measure 95, but there have been reports of concern about risky investing and whether or not tuition costs would actually be lowered.
It is important that you do your research and make your own decision when it comes to voting on any issue. Make sure to find reputable resources and look at all sides before sending out your ballot this week.

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“Together we fight to take back the night”

By: Shaylie Pickerel
Staff Writer

Oct. 25 was the annual Take Back the Night event held by Abby’s House on the bottom floor of the Werner University Center.

This event is held on campus every October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Take Back the Night began with an informational piece about the origins of this event.

The first Take Back the Night rally started in 1975 in response to the murder of Philadelphia-based microbiologist Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone.

During the event, a gong is struck every nine seconds, representing how often women are beaten in the U.S. During this everyone is silent-showing respect and reflection for the event and victims lost to domestic violence and sexual assault. The power of the silence intensified after every gong ring.

Western’s President, Rex Fuller, was invited as a guest speaker. He expressed his feelings on the subject and shared some statistical facts surrounding campus safety and reported attacks. “Only 70 percent [of students] know where to go or what resources are available [after an attack],” said President Fuller.

Mary Ellen Dello Stritto, the coordinator for Abby’s House, also spoke about her opinion on the matter and how domestic violence and sexual assault affects Western students. She shared details about Green Dot and the training information that Campus Public Safety receives. Dello Stritto also shared educational facts about on-campus resources, including the three sexual assault nurse examiners on campus.

During the speaking portion, we also learned about the fears of the dark and human tendencies to blame victims. Following this, they had a portion called the speak out. The speak out is to give those who came to the event the chance to share their opinions or personal experiences.

Domestic violence and sexual assault are things that impact people’s lives and can be next to impossible to overcome. Take Back the Night participants marched through campus holding signs and candles to break the silence and to take back the night. “We are women, we are men. Together we fight to take back the night,” chanted students.

Aislinn Addington, the director of Abby’s House, discussed some of the actions that Western students can take to break the silence surrounding domestic violence. “The most important step is bystander intervention,” said Addington, “the incident [any form of domestic violence or sexual assault] doesn’t just affect the immediate parties, but all of us. It’s our job to talk about it and raise awareness.”

Take Back the Night occurs on campuses across the nations and serves as the, “hallmark event of Abby’s House.” Addington recommends that all students should, “take the pledge to take action.”

Contact the author at spickrell15@wou.edu

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Review: “Skyrim: Special Edition”

By: Ashton Newton
Entertainment Editor

“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” is a five year-old game that has remained very popular with a huge fan base behind it. Fans have been asking for years for “Skyrim” to come to modern consoles, Bethesda responded by releasing the “Skyrim: Special Edition”, which brings the original game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with revamped graphics, mods and add-on content.

“Skyrim” is a massive role playing game where players take control of the Dragonborn, the only person who can truly kill a dragon. As Dragonborn, players venture off into the province of Skyrim, doing quests, fighting monsters, slaying dragons and collecting weapons and armor.

The world of “Skyrim” feels very much alive. Walking through villages, there are blacksmiths working at their forges, children playing, bards singing and so much more that just makes you feel like there’s a living world around you. It’s easy to get completely immersed.

Part of playing in a world as alive as “Skyrim” is that there are consequences for your actions. Strangers will have conversations about things your character has done. If you wrong someone, they might send mercenaries to teach you a lesson. No wrong deed in “Skyrim” goes unpunished.

In the special edition, the graphics are stunning. A lot of “Skyrim” is wilderness, so players spend the majority of their time in caves, forests and tundra’s. With the graphical revamp, these landscapes are brought to life more than they ever were before. As you wander through the picture perfect world, every still is worth a screenshot as you wander through a picture perfect world.

Mods in “Skyrim” have been around on the PC for a long time, but just got put onto consoles with the special edition. Mods are user-made and can range anywhere from improving effects to adding new characters and buildings. Mods can sometimes give players an unfair advantage, so trophies are disabled while using them. Since modders have been hard at work for years creating content, the mods added onto the PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game give players a lot of new things to try out.

The special edition includes add-on content that costs money in the original version. There are two add-ons that give new quests and content, “Dawnguard” and “Dragonborn” and one called “Hearthfire” that allows players to adopt children and build a house. Each of these packs adds hundreds of hours of new content, but requires players to be a higher level to start, so players just starting out won’t see it for a while.

Some may not like the game’s immersion, requiring lots of walking and reading dialogue. It’s definitely not a “pick up and jump into action” game, so it’s for more of a role-playing experience and less of a casual one. For players looking to get lost in a game though, “Skyrim: Special Edition” is one of the best games out right now to do that. I’ve had hours of fun and I’ve barely scratched the surface.

“Skyrim: Special Edition” is a fantastic game. One of the most beloved and immersive games in the last five years, “Skyrim” is back as one of the richest and most beautiful games out on modern consoles.

Contact the author at journalentertainment@wou.edu

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ASWOU on Campus

By: TK Layman,
Staff Writer

When you think student engagement on Western Oregon’s campus, The Associated Students of Western Oregon University should be a name that comes to mind. On campus, ASWOU plays a major role in creating new and exciting opportunities for students to not only get involved in campus life, but to also be a part of the school’s decision making process. Multitudes of positions can range from volunteering in committees, interning with the executive cabinet, or becoming an elected official on campus.

Western Oregon’s ASWOU organization is the student government organization on campus that headways changes for students. “ASWOU… its mission is to protect and advance the interest of the students of the university,” Student Body President Alma Pacheco said in an interview. “(To) represent students of WOU in the affirmation and application of institutional policies that are both affecting academic and student affairs.” On campus their main mission is to create awareness of any policy changes that may affect its student body, as well as be a communication tool to raise student awareness. “Not only are we representing them, but we are educating and communicating to them,” Alma said. “We’re supposed to (tell them) what is happening on campus, what policies are going to affect them, and changes that might happen.”

Students play a vital role in creating change around campus by becoming involved with ASWOU and its many committees. Students are able to become a part of a key organization that brings a new perspective for their generation. There are a few ways a student can get involved, and the first step is to elect their student body officials, such as the Student Body President, Vice President, President of the Senate and Judicial Administrator. Students are also able to become a part of ASWOU through internships, committees, and being a part of the executive board. As for applying to these jobs, Alma offered that, “The vice president recently finished an application for students on OrgSync and we’re going to start off by marketing by next week.”

Being involved on campus doesn’t have to be as time consuming as working in the ASWOU offices, as there are many events and activities for students to be engaged and network with their fellow classmates. ASWOU recently finished their “Vote or Vote” drive, a campaign run by students to help register students to vote. The campaign was incredibly successful by surpassing their goal of 300 students registered by over 500; they ended their campaign with a total of 859 total students registered.

Clubs and Organizations are a great way to get involved. “Coming up we are having a club fair next term. And continuing on letting folks know that these organizations are student led and student run are important for them to be involved because college, one, is already hard,” Alma said, “and being involved not only helps individuals grow but helps them have an opportunity to enjoy their student life.”

Upcoming student activities being put forth by ASWOU are events such as World Kindness Day on Nov. 14, Burgerville day running Nov. 18 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. The longest term activity being planned is the Spring Term Cooking Contest, being a cooking competition on campus to get people from around campus to come and compete cutthroat-kitchen style by paying someone in the food pantry to remove cooking supplies from the contestants.

To keep students engaged and involved on campus Alma stated, “This is an institution run and paid for by students, and folks don’t know the importance of being involved. It’s time consuming … but it’s not only an opportunity to enjoy their time but grow as an individual and find out the importance of finding their own voice. I’m bringing this from a perspective of a Latina woman who is also a DACA student and never in my life I thought I would have an opportunity to represent such a huge campus, so if I can do it, and I can be involved, I think this opportunity really helps them grow as an individual.”

To find more information on ASWOU students can check OrgSync through your Portal!

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College football’s biggest tease

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Big 12 expansion talks flared up and died down in reliable fashion again this year.

Next year the conference plans to add a conference title game.They are willing to do so with their current ten-team structure, rather than upping their number of affiliated schools to 12 or 14.

The concept of a title game came as a way to help Big 12 schools compete with other powerful conferences to get spot in the College Football Playoff. Ten teams might seem too small to demand a championship game, so schools looking to better their own ranking profiles tried to seize an opportunity to climb the conference ladder. big-12-houston-coloruh-edu

At the start of September this year, ESPN reported that BYU, Cincinn
ati, Houston and South Florida lead the dozen candidates. Houston and BYU in particular seemed to be increasingly viable as the time ticked towards announcement.

Bob Bowlsby is the commissioner of the Big 12, and he and his board of directors reportedly never discussed specific teams when they voted on the option of expansion.

Until the 1990s, the conference was known as the Big 8. Adding four powerful Texas schools increased its profile immensely. But in recent years, Texas A&M left for the Southeastern Conference and Nebraska left for the B1G, taking all their rankings value with them. These are only two of the moves that were made in a rash of re-conferencing through the early 2010s. And the Big 12 isn’t out of the woods yet.

The conference plans to announce within the next month whether or not they will split their conference into two divisions. This would help determine which teams play in the championship, in the style of the Pac-12 north and south or the Southeastern Conference west and east.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

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Volleyball by the numbers

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

2: The number of matches played last week.
0: The number of total sets won.
374: Miles traveled from Monmouth on the road trip.
7: The number of times the Wolves lead against nationally ranked Western Washington.
19: Kills recorded by offensive leader Mariella Vandenkooy over the week.
138: Average Wolves hitting percentage.
36: Digs recorded by defensive leader Christie Colasurdo over the week.
225: Average opponent hitting percentage.
4: Home games left on the season.
2: Length of the at-home winning streak.
3, 5, 8, 10: Dates in November to see Wolves at home.
7: The time each match starts.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

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.

Abby’s House

Election Day 2016: take measures to be informed

“Together we fight to take back the night”

Review: “Skyrim: Special Edition”

ASWOU on Campus

College football’s biggest tease

Volleyball by the numbers

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