Mount Hood

Dear Esmeralda

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Dear Esmeralda,

I live with two other girls and one of them is always eating my stuff from the fridge and pantry. I have caught her on like five occasions this month and I have told her this is not cool. But she keeps doing it! This makes me wonder what else of mine she has took/used without my knowledge. I know school is almost over but we planned on living with each other over the summer … What in the heck should I do?

Sincerely,
Stolen Meatloaf

Dear Stolen Meatloaf,

GUUUUUUUUURL, if anyone tried to eat my food I would eat them! Ain’t nobody taking my food. I have gotta say your patience is something out of this world! Goodness, I nearly become superhuman! So there are two routes you can go; my preferred route (the petty af route) or the more mature (and boring route). So because I am a petty queen I’m going to tell you about the petty way first. I would start by eating her food and then playing dumb. Then I would start hiding her things, don’t go big at first. Start with one of her makeup brushes, or a spare hair brush. Then take a surge protector. Then the connector of her phone charger, not the cord itself of course. That is the last thing to go. You see the pattern, you may need to adapt it for her but I say you can wreak lots of havoc over the next few weeks.

Now for the mature way (AKA the boring way). One thing you can do is eat food she doesn’t like, make it spicy that is a good way to get people to stop eating your food. OH! I thought of a petty version! You will have to waste food and I hate that but it will teach her a lesson. Over salt, like way too much salt, your leftovers. Then when she eats it she will be in for a surprise! Now back to our regularly scheduled maturity! Another thing you could do is talk about it with her again and explain that if she is gonna keep eating your food she had better help pay for it or if she wants to do the dishes after you make food that could be a fair trade off.

Another serious note: because it is the end of school year your roommate could be out of money. If so I would mention the on campus food pantry located in the lowest floor of the APSC. It’s on the side closest to the town’s main drag.

Serving the underserved students

By: Jasmine Morrow
Staff Writer

On April 11, Western mathematics instructor and developmental math coordinator Dr. Sylvia Valdés-Fernández gave her presentation, “Math: The New Civil Rights Issue.” Though the presentation was only an hour and a half long, attendees of the event were given something to think about regarding underserved students in math courses.

Valdés-Fernández and her father co-founded the Valdés Math Institute in San Jose, California; a seven-week program, that helps underserved students with mathematics, which was honored by the Obama administration with the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence.

Valdés-Fernández believes in creating fair and understanding classroom environments for students who feel that they’re treated like they can’t understand math.

According to Dr. Valdés-Fernández, underserved students have a more difficult time when it comes to math literacy. They are told that they can’t do well in this area and that it’s their fault when something is hard to understand.

When Valdés-Fernández was asked why math is important to her, she responded, “To me, it’s not so much about the math, but it’s about what math affords people. Jobs, a position in society. It opens up a lot of doors, since there are so many careers that are closed to you if you don’t have a certain amount of math literacy.”

Everyone should have a chance to learn something that’s going to be very crucial to make a living. One of the problems about achieving equity that Dr. Valdés-Fernández mentioned was the “belief that not all students can learn math.”

If educators keep looking down on students who have difficulty understanding math, then the students are just going to give up. When a student is having difficulties, the educator can’t make the whole class simpler, but they should be able to accommodate for all students.

“Math needs diversity for new ideas,” concluded Valdés-Fernández.

Contact the author at jmorrow16@mail.wou.edu

“Ace in Wonderland”

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

Triangle Alliance proudly presented the 21st annual drag show in Western’s Rice Auditorium on April 12 and 13. The drag show is known as one of the biggest events on campus, and has been known to sell out the entirety of seats available. This year was no different.

The show was created by the collaborative effort of The Force, a group of students who plan and work together to make sure the show can be scheduled and run smoothly, and Triangle Alliance.

“It’s really a group effort,” said Casi Healy, sophomore pre-nursing major and Triangle Alliance President.

When asked why it’s important that Western has drag shows on campus, Healy said, “I think everybody can learn and experience new things from the LGBTQ culture in general, and I think it exposes people to a lot that they haven’t seen before.”

The theme of this year’s drag show was, “Ace in Wonderland,” a play on the plot line of “Alice in Wonderland.”

“We’re focusing on the asexual spectrum,” explained Healy. “Our main character, Ace, is going to be the theme of the show talking about asexuality. With the theme of this show, we’re trying to bring out things you haven’t seen before or haven’t heard about. I mean, lesbian, gay, transgender; those are all things that are more well-known in the community. So, this year we decided that we really wanted to teach you more about the community and show you more about the culture.”

The drag show is an entirely student run show, from the performers to the tech crew. But it’s no small task to create a drag show. Sydney Culpepper, a part of The Force, scriptwriter and stage director of the show, explained just how long the process has been.

“This is the biggest event of the year, and that means it takes an entire year to plan. The Force has been working on this show since April of last year,” said Culpepper. “Our choreographers have been working on it since June, our dancers have been working on it since January.”

The program for, “Ace in Wonderland,” described it as, “A unique kind of drag show. Here at WOU, we take drag culture and infuse it into a musical-style show with a plot that’s driven by the songs.”

Full of energetic, funny and sexual jokes and movements, this year’s drag show did not disappoint. The crowd roared and applauded continuously throughout the performance, showing their admiration and support of the performers and the LGBTQ+ community.

The program perfectly explains that, “The Drag Show is a space where people can challenge the norm and challenge themselves. It gives everybody a chance to explore themselves and their self-expression.”

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Creating resources for undocumented students

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

On April 17 in the Willamette Room of the Werner University Center, Emily Plec, professor of communication studies, held an unveiling of the Alma’s Project website for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival students.

“Alma Pacheco Santamaria began an ambitious project during fall term of 2016–a website of financial, academic, and psychological support resources for undocumented (DACA) Students,” stated the Alma’s Project flyer. “This spring, volunteers and students in COM 325: Intercultural Communication continued Alma’s efforts by researching and compiling relevant information. With the help of participants from the Cesar Chavez Leadership Conference, we have created a website aimed at recruiting and supporting DACA students.”

The website contains links and resources for DACA students who are looking for information with regards to paying for college, clubs and organizations, student resources, immigration policy and faculty and staff resources.

The website also contains videos of, “Current and former WOU students telling their stories, and sharing with us their experience,” said Plec. The videos contain anonymous speakers discussing what it is like to be an undocumented student, and what they wish to pursue with their educations.

President Rex Fuller attended the event, and had a few things to say about making Western a sanctuary campus.

“It’s great to see the progress that is being made with regard to the resources that exist for our students. As you know our campus is fully committed to that,” said Fuller. “We had a robust discussion last fall following the election around what we needed to do. Students came and really talked about the need to be supported, it challenged us to think about, ‘what would we do if we were in their shoes?’”

The Alma Project website for DACA students is now available at wou.edu/daca.

“This wouldn’t of happened without Alma, we are very grateful for her,” concluded Plec.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

A night of culture, food, music and dance

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

This year, Hawaii Club hosted their 11th annual Luau on Western’s campus. A night of culture, food, music and dance, the Luau is one of the most popular events on campus. This year was special, according to the Hawaii Club President Nolan Arasato: “This is the first time in history that the Luau has sold out all of its tickets.”

On April 15, the Luau began in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center. Event goers were piling up waiting for the doors to open so they could get some Hawaiian food. While participants were eating, Western’s female a cappella group, Suspended, performed a few songs and members from the Hawaii Club had a jam session for people to enjoy while they ate their dinners.

When asked why the Luau is an important event to have on campus, Arasato replied, “I
think it’s important to learn about other cultures. I think that we can benefit from each other, and being that WOU is big on diversity, the Luau is a great cultural program for people to watch.”

Once dinner was finished, the crowd moved to the New P.E. building to grab seats for the Polynesian performances, such as Hula, Fijian, Tahitian and Samoan dances.

“I love watching my peers dance onstage,” said Cassidy Bek, senior exercise science major and Luau helper. “All of my friends, you know, they’re so pretty and I just love watching it. It’s a beautiful art.”

“They’re telling a story in their dances, and I think that’s something that we often look past, they’re telling a story, it’s not just a dance,” Bek added, “They’re speaking through their motions.”

All performances were performed by students in the Hawaii Club and the Nesian Club. The crowd was constantly filled with cheers and applause throughout the performances. Some members of the audience even threw money on the stage, in a show of support, while the students were performing. There were several different dances, including a performance by the graduating seniors of Hawaii Club.

At the end of the night, Arasato asked everyone to stand up and hold hands while the Hawaii Club performed a song to thank everyone for participating in the Luau.

“The Luau can never be successful without everyone’s support,” stated Arasato, “Mahalo nui loa! [Thank you very much!]”

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Looking for new recruits

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

The Greek life on Western’s campus is slowly starting to grow, and the sorority Alpha Chi Omega is still recruiting for members.

“The Greek life here on our campus isn’t super large like OSU or U of O,” said Meghan Doerfler, sophomore Bachelor of Fine Arts major and Alpha Chi Omega assistant vice president of philanthropy. “So, having Alpha Chi Omega being able to recruit in the spring and winter is a good opportunity for girls who are interested in joining Greek organizations to see, ‘oh, hey, I can join this organization if I want to.’ It gives them that opportunity to be a part of Greek life without having to go to a large school.”

From April 3-6, the sorority held tables in the Werner University Center to let students of Western get a peek into what Alpha Chi Omega is like. They also held small socializing events from April 4-6 in the Santiam Room of Werner University Center for those who were interested in learning more information about Alpha Chi Omega.

Alpha Chi Omega’s website describes the sorority as, “An organization about you: unique, talented, genuine women looking for a fun and meaningful way to enhance your college experience.” Alpha Chi Omega has been a part of Western’s campus for almost two years, and has been spreading information not only about their sorority but also about violence against women.

“Every Greek organization has a philanthropy service part of their organization, and ours is domestic violence awareness,” said Colette Thomassians, junior exercise science major, and Alpha Chi Omega vice president of recruitment. “Basically, we table, we work with the Center for Hope and Safety in Salem, to just make sure that women feel safe in their lives.”

Alpha Chi Omega will be hosting an event on April 26 on Western’s campus called “Denim Day” to support women who were blamed for their sexual assault because of what they were wearing. This is one of the many events that Alpha Chi Omega puts on for their philanthropy services.

The sorority will continue to table in the Werner University Center from April 10-13. If interested and looking for more information on Alpha Chi Omega, visit them on facebook at facebook.com/wouaxo, on instagram @wou_axo, or contact Alpha Chi Omega by email at wouaxo@gmail.com.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Being a better leader and establishing your “WHY”

By: Shaylie Pickerel
Staff Writer

On April 8, the day-long Focus on Leadership conference was held in the Werner University Center. This year, it was mixed with the Greek Summit event for fraternities and sororities on campus. The whole day was set up to give students the opportunity to attend multiple sessions, lunch and listen to the keynote speaker, Justin Jones.

Megan Habermann, the associate director of Student Leadership and Activities, discussed what her hopes were for the annual event. She hoped, “That students learn new leadership skills and to allow them to improve on anything they hope to improve on.”

This event underlined the importance of going outside of comfort zones and pushing those limits to better oneself. When asked what advice she would give to aspiring leaders, Habermann replied, “Don’t be afraid to try something you may not normally try.” This piece of advice was an important and recurring theme throughout the conference.

After the introduction, students had the choice to attend two different sessions before the keynote speaker presented, one of which was “the Importance of an Introverted Leader.” During that session, Marlene Lopez-Cruz went over the difference between being introverted and extroverted, what introverted leaders bring to the table and how to push introverts to their full potential.

She emphasized a few important strengths that introverted leaders have; they think first and talk later, they embrace solitude, they have great listening skills and they are very task-focused.

When asked what the importance of being a leader was, Lopez-Cruz said, “To develop leadership skills and to be able to communicate effectively and work with a wide range of people.” In her opinion, to further leadership skills, one should, “Attend workshops, conferences, clubs and organizations, even classroom groups can give you a good opportunity to further your skills.”

After the first session ended, students gathered to listen to Justin Jones, the keynote speaker for the day. Jones emphasized the importance of the “WHY:” why we do things and how that impacts what we do, which impacts when we do it which, in turn, impacts how we do it. He also emphasized how your “WHY” shapes the type of leader you are and how you’re going to continue doing what you do to benefit you best.

“Don’t just be like anyone, be better for everyone by being the only you,” Jones stated. He went on to explain the many kinds of leaders there can be, and how people often react to certain leadership roles.

After the keynote speaker presentation, students attended lunch and then had the opportunity to attend six more smaller sessions before the end of the conference. This event not only emphasized how to improve leadership skills, but also pushed the ideas of why leaders do the things they do, as well as taking chances to ensure a better leadership path.

Contact the author at spickrell15@wou.edu

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