Taking control of your holiday stress
Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Or, at least that’s what the holiday tune tells us. In reality, the winter season can be a mixture of some fun, and a lot of stress. While that stress comes in many forms and for many reasons, in order to enjoy your time this break, you’ll have to learn how to cope with it. That way, you can make the most of the holidays.
If you’re a first-year, you probably missed your loved ones while you were away and couldn’t wait to see them again.Then, once you were finally reunited for a couple weeks, there’s a good chance you had the realization that there’s a stark difference between when you’re at home versus when you’re at school. For the first time, you may have understood what every other student had to learn their first time going home for a long break: being on your own is kind of nice. That’s when the holiday stress kicks in.
The first type of stress I tend to deal with this time of year is learning how to get along with my family all over again. When I first get back home, it’s always great. Then, I begin quickly butting heads with my parents and many siblings. Whether it be about curfews- something I didn’t even have to think about while at school, or why my sister is wearing my shirt and pretending like it’s hers, the family arguments can be exhausting and make me wish I was back at Western already.
When I begin feeling this stress, I cope with a few different techniques.
First, I remind myself how lucky I am to have loved ones who support me and care about me at all. Then, I go on to reminding myself that break is only a few weeks. If I was able to survive my first 18 years with these people, then I can surely do four weeks. And then, if all else fails, I just go somewhere else for a while to calm down.
The next type of stress that I come across is holiday financial pressure. Trying to buy presents while remembering that you’re about to start a new term and have to deal with the cost of that can be daunting. My gut tells me to buy everyone I love a gift, while my bank account tells me the exact opposite. When this type of stress arises, I remind myself that nobody I love will actually care about how much their present costs. It’s true what they say- it’s the thought that counts. While we all want to do extravagant things for the people we care for, sometimes it’s just not possible. If you find yourself in this predicament, a good option would be to opt for DIY gifts. For some DIY inspiration, refer to our previous issue.
Another thing I tend to find myself stressing about is travel. Getting to and from campus can be difficult if you don’t have a car. However, I always find myself to be okay if I put some time into planning it extensively weeks prior to leaving. Getting those plans figured out well ahead of time will save you some immediate stress.
While this time of year can cause a high amount of stress, finding ways to cope can make it enjoyable again. Some pressure is unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean it should be distressing. It’s your break; don’t let the stress turn your holiday into a time you dread versus a time to relax.
Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu
NFL playoffs: bloom or gloom for the ‘legion of boom’
Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
With an 8-6 record, the Seattle Seahawks football season is in flux. With only a few weeks left until the playoffs, they lie in the flock of many other teams contending for the Super Bowl. Their season’s still in the air but as the phrase goes: any given Sunday, any team has a chance.
Up until this point for the ‘Hawks, it’s been any given play, any given athlete and any given will towards pushing them through to postseason play. But the season’s been anything but a given.
Quarterback Russell Wilson has been tasked with more to give from his shoulders this year. He has accounted for 82% of Seattle’s offense this season, a first in NFL history, which means he’s been passing and running for most of the teams plays.
Consider the next hypothetical miraculous play as a summation to the Seahawks’s season: After an opposing defensive lineman caught a stitching of Wilson’s jersey in efforts to tackle him down, the elusive Wilson would free from the grips of the 6-foot-4-inch 270-pound lineman, keeping the play alive. Before anyone on the field, in the stands or at home watching knew it, the “scramble drill” was in effect whereby Wilson then ran towards the sidelines evading more defenders, and finally threw a 30-yard dash across his body out towards receiver Doug Baldwin, who then snagged the ball for a first-down in tight coverage.
That pretty much sums up Seattle’s season so far. They’ve found ways to win, and at other unfortunate times, came up short.
For as long they’ve had success, it’s been through the heart of a player like Wilson and through such unbelievable plays. One could say Seattle’s had many other players like the MVP potential through his first six seasons. Many would argue defensive safety Earl Thomas being the heart and soul of the defense, as he has been for as many games he’s played. But he went down with a broken leg last year, which also helped break Seattle’s hopes at a second Super Bowl.
For a long while cornerback Richard Sherman was also the backbone of the defense. Now Sherman’s out for this season with a torn achilles. And many other key defensive ball-hawkers of the famed “legion of boom” defense have gone down with him. For most of the season and because of the injuries, Seattle’s also had play around a depleted running back crew, a few young and inexperienced offensive lineman whose main job is to protect Wilson and block for those ‘backs, and an ailing defense, the latter of which most successful teams have.
Many argue that, without a running game or key impactful players like those aforementioned, it would be insurmountable for the ‘Hawks to reach a plateau as high as the Super Bowl — playoffs even.
I’d argue: the New England Patriots. Out of the five championships won by the ‘Pats in the Tom Brady era, three of those championships are also included as three of the four worst Super Bowl-winning rushing performances ever. Brady’s rarely ever had a lethal rusher playing behind him.
The New Orleans Saints have also had successful seasons, around their lone 2010 championship, primarily provided by a pass heavy offense.
But what New England’s had is what Seattle could potentially have — a system where a passing and running game work in tandem. In other words, quick short throws and yards gained after the catch.
Seattle has shown glimpses of that system this year. With the defense struggling and not bringing the boom like in years past — a top five defense since 2012 — mostly due to injuries, they’ll have to rely a lot on that system. Added to it is an offensive line also struggling. And so it is that very scramble drill mentioned earlier that they’ve become accustomed to. With Wilson’s vital organs still intact, the team has managed and have worked around their weaknesses, and the scramble, from what it looks like, is something they’ll continue to use to their advantage.
Seattle, and in particular Wilson, is fortunate to have something Brady doesn’t have. Brady’s never been a threat on the ground running with the ball, something Wilson clearly has had under his belt. With many disadvantages, Wilson, the scramble, along with his canon of an arm, and the rest of the ‘Hawks are all still viable assets.
Seattle’s also fortunate to have a record that places them just outside of a wildcard position for the playoffs.
The question is, can the ‘Hawks successfully and consistently be pass oriented? How many more magic tricks does the boom have up their sleeve in time for the potential playoffs that’s soon ahead?
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Wolves volleyball goes down 0-2
Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
On Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 volleyball action shared many woo’s and woe’s, but the Wolves fell short both games, finishing at 3-0 and 3-2, respectively.
Playing at home on Oct. 31, the 3-0 overall set scores against Concordia was a recurring deficit through half of the first set.
Whenever the game was tightly contested, Concordia would nudge just a little bit ahead in the score. At times the scores would be 5-8, 8-8, 9-12, 14-17, then 17 all. But, inevitably, Concordia had the advantage.
It seemed whenever the Wolves would tie it up, a service error, a faulty set or simply someone making illegal contact with the net would eat at the Wolves’s chances. Indeed, the blocking of Concordia at the net would make all the difference needed to edge out the Wolves in the first set 25-23.
The second set was tight, back and forth action throughout but Western would only see their largest lead of the game at two when they went up 4-2 in the score. With the game as tight as it was at 15-16 in the second set, the Wolves would see their deficit slowly evaporate until Concordia blew the score open onto a 17-25 win.
The Wolves also had their chances at taking advantage in the score when similar mistakes made by the Wolves would make its way onto Concordia’s end. But Wolves failed to realize any positive outcome in the end and would lose the third set in similar fashion to the previous set with a score of 19-25 and a 3-0 loss to Concordia.
November 2’s second match and the first set at Montana State would take a roundabout turn to the similar sets given up to Concordia. Western would lose the first set, but was more valiant in its efforts.
Western showed promise in the heart of their senior outside hitter, Alisha Bettinson, when she surpassed a school record of 1,065 kills — set by former Wolf Danielle Reese — in the second set to tie the knot in the match at 1-1. Bettinson would end the night with 18 kills, and for her volleyball career thus far: a DII school record of 1,075 kills.
Montana State would win the third set by a hair at 25-23. Western then battled back to even up the match at 2-2.
In the final set, MSU would prevail in the clinch winning 16-14 to a match total of 3-2, surrendering the Wolves winless through three days.
Next up, on Nov. 9, the Wolves schedule a trip to Alaska where they will face the University of Alaska Anchorage. Toss-up is set for 7 p.m.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Radium Girls stand in the spotlight
Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief
On the mainstage of Rice Auditorium currently sits a simple set of three platforms and a plain black backdrop, obscured by a massive, reflective window. It’s on this little set that a big story is going to be told: “Radium Girls” by D. W. Gregory.
The premise is less simple.
“Three girls die and sue a company,” said Mindy Mawhirter, a junior acting BFA major who plays Kathryn at the start of the show.
“In that order,” added first-year theatre and mathematics education major Andi Moring, the play’s lead.
The play takes place over the course of 20 years but begins in New Jersey in 1921, following a small group of girls who work in a factory painting watchfaces with glow-in-the-dark paint for the soldiers of World War I. It’s the radium which makes this paint glow, and claims the lives of so many workers in this factory.
In one of the opening scenes of the play, the forewoman informs the girls that they have to go back to licking their paint brushes to form a point rather than wiping them in cloths due to their budget. When Grace, portrayed by Moring, objects, saying that her doctor warned her not to, she is snapped at and told that she must have misunderstood the doctor.
“We know now that (radium) is very poisonous and radioactive, but they didn’t know that back then,” explained Moring. “It was the miracle drug, it was incredible.”
This point is further driven home in the show when Marie Curie claims that radium is the cure for cancer. And so, the girls continue to radiate themselves, making them sick and ultimately driving them to their graves. This same event sparks a lawsuit, the main focus of the show.
“It’s kind of just the story of the first real lawsuit against a company for how they’ve been treating their workers, and work conditions,” said Moring. “I don’t want to give away too much but, yeah. That’s our show.”
“This is a very different show than what we did last year — we did ‘Machinal,’ which was an expressionistic piece, and this is more of realism,” said Mawhirter. “So that’s been interesting to see: the differentiation between the two styles of theater — especially with having the same director (Michael Phillips).”
While the show isn’t expressionistic, it is a touch abstract in terms of its performance. The set, as mentioned, is fairly minimal, and so is the cast. The show is performed by 16 actors who portray a total of 36 characters on a single set.
Molly Duddlesten, junior theatre and English major, commented, “I die on page 27 so like, that’s cool. And then I’m other characters in the show, which is fun.”
The show opens on Thursday, Nov. 9, and runs for two weekends. Nov. 9-11 and 15-18, the curtain opens at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee performance will take place on Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. There will be no late seating once the show starts. Friday night performances will be interpreted.
Adult admission is $14; senior, faculty and staff admission is $10; for Western students with ID, admission is $8. Visit the box office at Rice Auditorium or call 503-838-8462 to purchase tickets.
Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu
Rugby is here
Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
Saturday evening, Nov. 4: cool, calm and then collected were the Western women’s rugby team as a few of the members, coaches and players, coalesced into a group to watch the men’s team rally to get a tough home win against Willamette University.
Despite the ladies losing earlier that morning to Willamette, spirits were high as both Wolf clubs have recently returned to the field from an offseason with lots to look forward to.
But even with the difference in outcome between the two teams, what was seen on the field on Nov. 4 was rather a family affair as the women’s team cheered the boys on.
While the men played, plenty was happening on the sidelines.
A confident expression of “no worries” was uttered by senior lock of the women’s team, Maddi Fagnani. Many of her teammates and coaches wore cheerful countenances, as did she. Many of them huddled together two or three at a time to keep warm in the frigid cold with large blankets.
And still, there was a battle, a game plan, something to work on and keep in mind for on and off the field.
“We need to improve on our defensive structure,” said assistant coach Emily Applegate. “(Willamette) didn’t break through our defensive line, but they beat us on the outside, and we need to improve on our scrums; we need to get a little bit lower.”
Perhaps something of a weapon for future foes, however, was the tackling.
“We were really nailing our tackles,” said Fagnani. “We had a lot of light bulbs click, and in rugby, it takes a lot to get the light bulbs to click. For that, I’m proud of my team.”
Chalk up a win from their spirits and motivation, but the battle was only half won until the men made due.
Close, up until the end, the boys would seal their victory with a final try, with two minutes left in play.
“This is a good starting point, and we’re going to build on it and hopefully become better each week,” said sophomore forward Matthew Cornish.
Still room for improvement, junior fullback Bernard Barber felt that the spreading needs to improve and that Willamette “capitalized and got out on the outside. But we were able to stop them and rally back.”
For what was a fight, battle, tooth and nail and eventual win, so too was a moral victory spread around to everyone that night.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Wolves stay close for a quarter before the Cougars pull away
Riley Buerk | Freelancer
Western got off to a strong start against the Azusa Pacific Cougars, scoring on two early drives of the game for a 13-7 lead. The Cougars would eventually get back on track en route to a 41-16 win.
The first scoring drive was quick, with the Wolves going 79 yards in 48 seconds. Sophomore running back Devon Fortier scored on an eight-yard run.
Azusa answered back right away, going 72 yards in just under two minutes with redshirt freshman quarterback Tyrone Williams Jr. finding sophomore wideout Darrell Adams Jr. for a 58-yard touchdown.
At the end of the first quarter, the Wolves struck again, with senior quarterback Nick Duckworth connecting with senior receiver Paul Revis for a two-yard touchdown pass, completing a drive that lasted seven and a half minutes.
The Wolves were outscored 21-0 in the second quarter, making the total tally at halftime 28-13, and Azusa never looked back.
The only score in the third quarter came on a 27-yard field goal by Wolf junior Adrian Saldana. The Wolves headed into the fourth quarter down 28-16.
Azusa struck quickly in the fourth, scoring on their first two drives and putting the game out of reach. Junior tailback Kurt Scoby would score both touchdowns, the first on a 19-yard run and the second on a one-yard run.
Duckworth finished with 243 yards on 20-47 passing with one touchdown, while Fortier had 105 yards on 18 rushing attempts.
Western looks to bounce back on Nov. 11 against Simon Fraser on senior night.
Contact the author at rbuerk17@mail.wou.edu
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