Mount Hood

Landers closed as enrollment stalls

2014

The closure of Landers was occupancy-driven, according to Associate Provost David McDonald. Last year, Gentle hall was shut down for the same reasons.

“We peaked and kind of stayed right there,” McDonald explained Western’s admissions trajectory. For the last four consecutive years, he added, Western’s enrollment has been relatively stable. “Last year was a one-student difference; you can’t get much more stable than that,” McDonald said.

Western lost 30 students from 2011 to 2012, but added one between 2012 and 2013 according to the Oregon University System (OUS) Institutional Research Services. This is a fairly stable trend, said McDonald; he calls this a plateau Western has reached.

Western’s retention rate for freshmen is 75.1 percent, compared with the OUS average of 82.1 percent, and Western’s graduation rate is at 51.2 percent, while the OUS has a 60.5 percent rate.

The goal, according to McDonald and Tina Fuchs, dean of students, is to have full residence halls on campus. When there are fewer people, shutting down one hall means that the others have higher occupany.

“It’s better for our students this way,” McDonald said. With Landers closed, buildings are fuller and students live in larger community groups.

“Students living on campus are highly successful academically,” said David Sundby, the interim associate director of housing. “That’s why we have that first-year living requirement.” Part of the goal, according to him, is to get freshmen connected to campus. “The best we can do is make the experience as positive as possible,” Sundby said.
With Landers closed, the Housing Office and Physical Plant have a chance to inspect that facility, said Fuchs; this is also a chance to evaluate the entire residential system.

“We want to take a step back, evaluate out facilities and see what it means for the future of housing,” said Fuchs. “What it comes down to is, ‘What are we going to do?’”
Landers was constructed in 1970, making the building 44-years-old this year. According to Fuchs, the rule of thumb is that a building has between 30 and 50 years of good use, so Landers is due for an overhaul. Nevertheless, it remains structurally sound.

“That’s a long time for a facility to be operating without major improvements,” said Fuchs.
A committee will be formed soon to decide what to do with Landers. They will be looking also at Barnum, Butler and Gentle Halls. Fuchs will be on the committee, as well as representatives from the Physical Plant as well as student representatives.

“Trying to build housing without student input, that would be ridiculous,” said Fuchs. “The goal is to get feedback going on.” She hopes to update one floor of Landers and then get input on the improvements before continuing.
According to Fuchs, the group will be guided in part by Western’s master plan, which gives some goals and objectives for housing, but won’t be tightly restricted.

“It’s a good roadmap for us to at least use as a guide, but I also recognize that we have limitations in terms of what we can do,” said Fuchs. Some of those are fiscal limitations, but there are also challenges in dealing with older buildings as well.
For example, Landers was constructed with cinderblocks, which makes full renovations challenging, since those walls are difficult to work with.

“This is not a decision that I would take lightly,” said Fuchs.
According to Fuchs, students tend to gravitate towards the newer residence halls on campus, Heritage and Ackerman, so it makes sense to shift everyone into those locations.

“We went through last year with a lot of empty beds in all our buildings,” said Fuchs.
Plans for the following year are made from projections that are based on numbers of applications for housing received each week. Over time, said Sundby, those estimates become clearer, yielding more accurate predictions for the future.

“More students leave over the course of the year than come in,” said Sundby. This attrition means that, even by the end of the year, fewer people live in on-campus housing; according to Sundby, that makes it important to start with fuller rather than emptier buildings.

The closure of Landers is projected to save Western about $200,000 dollars over the course of this year.

“It helps offset any other expenses,” Fuchs said. “We don’t have as much revenue because we don’t have as many people living on campus.”

SPEAK: Raising Awareness about Eating Disorders

2014 | Katrina Penaflor

Nearly 20% of women and 10% of men on a college campus have an eating disorder

The organization, SPEAK, which stands for Students Promoting Equity, Activism and Knowledge, put together a special presentation Wednesday, Oct. 15, to bring awareness to students about eating disorders. The two speakers, Amy Hammermeister and Emily Swart, helped dismiss common misconceptions about eating disorders and shared their own personal insight.

The presentation began with a video of poetry slammer, Katie Makkai, defining the word “pretty”. Katie spoke with passion and enthusiasm and made it known that the word “pretty” should not define a woman and society needs to stop enforcing what they think makes a person “attractive”.

Following the video, Hammermeister, a professor of Nutrition and Human Sexuality, presented. She presented a PowerPoint on disordered eating and eating disorders. The difference between the two is that disordered eating, for example chronic dieting, is a precursor for an eating disorder. It can have severe health risks, like poor nutrition and low energy.

Commonly undiagnosed by doctors and physicians, disordered eating is typically not considered a severe enough condition or problem to be labeled a disorder. The issue with this is that not enough people receive the help needed when dealing with disordered eating. An eating disorder, as defined by Hammermeister is, “[a] psychiatric disorder that must be clinically diagnosed by a physician.” Some examples are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating.

Eating disorders can be set off by a variety of triggers like family stress, off handed comments about a person’s body, unrealistic media images, body image or sociocultural values. Hammermeister provided some valuable information on ways to offset these triggers. Intuitive eating is one, respecting a body’s signals of hunger, gentle nutrition and learning to reject a diet mentality can all help a person make peace with food and keep their body healthy.

The next speaker was Swart, a receptionist at The Cottage and a board assistant. She gave an emotional and powerful talk about her personal experience with an eating disorder. She spoke openly about her battle with anorexia and how she was able to recover from it.

It took strength and support from friends and family to learn that, “self-care is not selfish.” Swart finds it important to bring eating disorders into the light, so that people can become more aware and knowledgeable about them.

Loving and learning to be comfortable with one’s body is immensely important, like Swart said, “life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks”.

Flashback Friday: Living on Campus in the 19th century

Alisha Wenger | Freelancer

Western Oregon University has changed in a variety of ways, including what the school used to be titled, since its foundation in 1856.

When it was originally founded as Christian College, Abraham Lincoln was not yet president, and the Civil War had yet to take place.

Campus life and the student body, at what was then Christian College, looked much different back in the late 1800s than it does today.

Men wore suspenders and nice pant suits, and women wore dresses that covered the neck and reached all the way down to their shoes. Fashion was modest and practical at that time.

Three societies were held on campus and “neither sex was allowed to participate in the exercises of the other,” the Centennial Story of Monmouth said.

Despite the segregation, however, Christian College prided itself on being a mixed school, having both male and female genders in the same classroom.

“Young gentlemen and ladies exercise a refining, restraining, yet stimulating influence over each other, which nothing else can supply,” the Christian College Catalogue of 1871-72 said.

According to the same catalogue, students were to stay in their rooms at night unless given permission to leave. They were not allowed to leave class without faculty permission and they were not to go “beyond the immediate precincts of the village, without permission of the president or faculty.”

Classes offered in the beginnings of Christian College were much different than today. Students in their first term would take: “Latin Grammar and Caesar, Greek Grammar and Reader, Algebra (University), Geometry, Plane and Solid and English Grammar,” the catalogue said.

A regular morning consisted of reading “the Holy Scripture, singing and prayer, followed by a lecture on some theme connected with sacred literature.” Morals were enforced by biblical examples.

An anonymous student’s late 1800s scrapbook showed the importance of poems, music, traveling and death in this early college campus society.

According to the Jerrie Lee Parpart, Western archives and exhibits coordinator, people used to memorize poems and enter into poem recitation contests on a regular basis.

“The pride of Monmouth in the 1870s was the Silver Cornet Band,” The Centennial Story of Monmouth Oregon said. The band, which consisted of solely men, had concerts in the college chapel and in other neighboring towns.

Traveling was a luxury to be had. An early 1900s School of Norm said that it took an hour and a half by train to get from Monmouth to Salem, and according to the 1911 edition when traveling in Portland, it was important to “chew gum freely on the train to prevent sickness.”

In the anonymous scrapbook, the places that the student visited were shown only by black and white postcards, since people were unable to easily snap pictures on the go.

This scrapbook also contained obituaries of students, explaining cause of death and their age.

Living in a small town

Jennifer Halley | Campus Life Editor

Whether you live in Monmouth, Corvallis, or Dallas, you know what it’s like to live in a small town – a place that is just a blip on the map.

But small town living, despite its slow pace and lack of variety, can be a rewarding place to be a part of: less noise, everything is nearby – you don’t have to drive everywhere – and small, local businesses offer originality.

This does not mean that small towns aren’t associated with the tell-tale signs it is, indeed, a small town. But that’s what it makes it fun, right?

Here are 6 signs you live in a small town:

1. You have to drive 20 minutes just to go to the mall, and the nearest Taco Bell is 15 minutes away.

Generally speaking, small towns are secluded from everything else. And surrounded by rural land, it is a drive just to get to the next town or city. While shopping at Bi-Mart can be a convenient, one-stop trip – and you can buy everything from light bulbs to nail polish – it just isn’t the Salem Center Mall.

2. Almost everything closes after 9 p.m., and the midnight munchies are put on hold.

With small towns come early closing hours, the exception being one or two restaurants, and the corner quick stop. And from 9-midnight, those places are packed with the late-night owls, the student trying to pull an all-nighter, or the people trying to find something stimulating to do. But other than those few open-till-midnight-or-later places, your choices are limited.
Ashleigh Hawkins, a senior at Western Oregon, grew up in Medford, Ore, a city that is considerably larger than Monmouth.

“At home I am used to Fred Meyer being open until 11 p.m. and having a 24 hour Winco about five minutes from my house,” Hawkins said.

3. Everyone knows everyone.

“There is no such thing as anonymity,” Mary Eiswerth, a woman who has lived in Monmouth for 15 years, said.
Eisworth has it right. And depending on how you look at it, that can be a blessing or a curse. Everyone knowing everyone can give one a sense of community, and for Alyssa Loza, who used to live in Corvallis and now lives in Monmouth, that was what she liked about a smaller town.

“Personally, I enjoy living in a small town. I like the environment and living here to go to college helps me stay focused on school.”
That is not the case for everyone, though. Andrea Byars, a former student at Western, said that small towns are crowded and that it is “either a blessing or a curse, depending upon you, your lifestyle and where you want to be.”

4. You will get stuck driving behind a tractor. Multiple times.

Yes. You’ve all been there – just driving along, music blasting through the speakers and all of a sudden, traffic is backed up due to a tractor. Although by this point, it’s a common thing and you’re used to it.

“If you’re going to live in a small town,” Byars said, “I hope you’re prepared to stare blankly at the back of a tractor for 15 slow miles.” Small towns are known for their slower ways of life; tractor traffic is just an aspect of that.

5. “Where’s that at?” is a common question when you explain where you live.

Being a small town means that not everyone knows where you are located. Confused looks, raised eyebrows and “huh?” follow the “where do you live?” and it’s a feat to try and get them to understand where your little town exists.

Stefanie Mathers has lived in Lebanon, Oregon for the past 20 years and said she gets confused looks from people when they ask where she lives.
“I have to explain that it’s by Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis,” Mathers said.

6. You are a part of the community.

College towns such as Monmouth and Corvallis host community festivals for the 4th of July, according to Westerndays.net and downtowncorvallis.org. Monmouth has had an annual tree lighting celebration every December since 1967, the archives at Western said. You really get to know people and for Randy Caamel – a Monmouth resident – he actually knows who his neighbors are, something not seen in bigger cities.

Ashley Sigl, who lives in Amity, similarly said, “It’s kind of like growing up with a huge family. Some members are quite distant and estranged, whereas others are at your house every weekend for a beer and a campfire. But regardless of how close you are, when you need them, they’re there.”

Living in a small town can be a different experience for everyone.
“Big cities stimulate [and] small towns nurture,” Eiswerth said.
It just depends on the experience you want to have.

Building relationships, sandwich by sandwich

JENNIFER HALLEY | CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR

Valsetz Dining Hall is always bustling with people throughout
the week, especially during lunchtime.

Students mill around, trying to decide what to eat, while employees hustle to get everyone what they need. Voices rise over one another in an effort to be heard, the tinny whine of silverware echoes throughout the crowded building, and the drilling ring of the cash register all mix together in a raucous din.

Lunch time at Valsetz is a chaotic couple of hours. Through it all, however, one person stays constant. She spies her regulars right as they come through Valsetz’ double doors and waves at them, beckoning them over.

Once they arrive at the deli counter, she begins to make their sandwich, already memorized in her head – even if that student has only been to get a sandwich once.

As she makes their sandwich, she talks to them, genuinely curious about how their day is going, about who they are as a person. She interacts this way with every student she comes across, every day.

Lovingly dubbed as the Sandwich Lady by her regulars, Cathy Clark works as the deli production assistant for Valsetz Dining Hall.

She has worked there for the past 28 years, and in those 28 years, she has never missed a single day of work. “I enjoy what I do,” Clark said. “It’s not a job, it’s a privilege.”

“When I went in [to get a sandwich], she immediately said hello and asked my name before I picked up a tray,” Lara Valachovic, a sophomore, said. “It was finals week, so she asked how they were going and reminded me not to let myself get too stressed.”

“It’s definitely obvious she loves her job, or at least talking with students,” Valachovic added.

Clark’s passion for people is apparent in the way she interacts with her customers. She understands how hard college can be, and how big of a transition it can be.

“To have played a small role in making that transition a little easier, that’s special,” Clark said. “That’s why I like what I do.”

She added that everyone wants to go somewhere that they feel remembered, and where she works, “the NW corner of Valsetz”, Clark knows it is a place where students feel acknowledged and special and, ultimately, remembered.

She can tell by the students who become her regulars, or just by the student “that comes in and beams and says thank you.”

Students are not the only people Clark impacts, though.

“Cathy is great to work with; she is very reliable,” Ashleigh Hawkins, a senior who works with Clark at Valsetz, said. “She is really very funny and has a great sense of humor. [She’s] a great person to be around.”

Clark is quick to recognize her fellow co-workers in how hard they contribute to making Valsetz an inviting place for the students. They also put their hearts into their work and for Clark, that is what keeps her going.

“We are a supporting team, a community spirit,” Clark said of her co-workers. Before Clark began work at Valsetz, she went to Northwest Christian University (NCU), intending to study social work.

Even though attending NCU did not work out, “this job has kind of evolved into that,” Clark said.

She said that she can learn more from the outside world, than in a classroom, and everything she has learned in her life is valuable.

She added that, each job can be an area of opportunity, in that “we should never stop fine-tuning [ourselves].”

Growing up with a father in the Air Force, Clark has seen a lot and met a variety of people. She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, started the first grade in the east coast and even lived briefly in Okinawa, Japan.

According to Clark, she is a certified firefighter for the forestry department and worked there for a year.

Eventually, she settled her roots in Monmouth when she started working for Valsetz and has lived here ever since. Outside of work, Clark busies herself with her two cats, interacting with her neighbors, and enjoys doing anything with her hands, whether it is landscaping, gardening or building something.

Clark has two policies she lives by: “to do no harm in my words and actions,” and “to leave it a little better than the way we found it.”

If she can still work at Valsetz when she’s 80 years old, then “let’s do it,” Clark said.

Thanksgiving food drive seeks donations for families in need

Allison Opson Clement | News Editor

Dozens of families in the Monmouth and Independence communities are unable to afford a Thanksgiving dinner for themselves. Western’s Residence Hall Association (RHA) works with other student organizations to raise donations of money and specific items to the Ella Curran Food Bank in Independence, helping to provide a turkey basket to families that request it for the holiday.

The food bank would not be able to supply everything without the support of Western student donors and volunteers.

“We put everything in there except the turkey,” said Michael Mann, coordinator of leadership programs with university housing and advisor to the RHA Executive Board. A turkey basket consists of all the other items that are needed for a Thanksgiving dinner, including the fixings for cooking the bird, and a desert. “They tell us what they need, and we work to supply it.”

“It is hard to get specific items donated,” said Olivia Kunkel, president of the RHA Executive Board

Often, people will donate money instead. Volunteers purchase items from local stores with these funds to compile the necessary items.

“Some of our students or some of our community members could have come from these households,” said Mann, adding that for the rest, “It’s a moment when we’re able to pay forward a lot of the opportunities we’ve received.”

A turkey basket costs less than $16 to fill, an easy donation that can have a powerful impact.

“Any way that anyone can give, we will find a way to make it work,” said Mann.

Donations of food items, paper bags and money can be brought to either the University Housing Office or the RHA office in South Sister Annex under Valsetz Dining Hall.

“It really helps that we can give them the largest amount possible so that the most people can get served,” said Kunkel.

Not only is there a great need for assistance, but the experience is also highly beneficial to those who volunteer and support the turkey basket drive, she added. The students have a chance to get connected to the community, and it is also a valuable opportunity for getting involved.

“Having this experience does really play into their leadership role,” said Molly Hinsvark, RHA Executive Board publicist and historian. Western Oregon University is responsible for sending people out into the world, she said, adding, “Volunteering does really help become a better person in general.”

Although the focus on donation typically comes around the holidays, food insecurity is a year-long issue.

“It’s really important that we’re supporting it,” said Kunkel. “We want to help better the community.” Western students are involved with the community, she added, and this is one way to show appreciation for that.

RHA Executive Board National Communications Coordinator Giovanna DiFalco said that one important feature of this effort is to help make resources not only accessible, but also socially acceptable, since there may be stigma associated with asking for help on such matters.

“It’s exciting,” said DiFalco. She is working with local stores in preparation for buying the supplies that are needed for the turkey baskets, letting them know what items the drive is looking to purchase.

“Our part kind of stops when we take it to the food bank,” said Kunkel. The Ella Curran Food Bank keeps a list of people requesting turkey baskets and distributes them when they are ready.

Starting Friday, Nov. 21, volunteers from hall government and the RHA will sort out the food, and will deliver the bags to the food bank that weekend.

“We’ve seen a steady increase to now,” said Mann. “They tell us every year how appreciative they are.”

Mann estimates that about 100 baskets were made last year. This goes a long way to helping community families, he added, but there are always more people who need help.

“We don’t know all the ways that this will have an impact for everyone,” said Mann. “It’s a tradition we’re happy to keep up.”

Fallout shelters? A history lesson of Western Oregon University

Jennifer Halley | Campus Life Editor

A former central hub for the public in case of nuclear threat, Western Oregon University established fallout shelters on campus to keep people safe if need be.

Throughout the 50’s and 60’s, the threat of nuclear attack was imminent and the Federal Civil Defense Administration, now known as Homeland Security, named Oregon College of Education (OCE) – what is now Western Oregon – a headquarters for people seeking a safe haven.

To prepare for an attack, OCE designed a variety of fallout shelters throughout campus containing food such as crackers, carbohydrate supplements, giant tubs of water that paired as toilets and other supplies to keep people alive until the threats were over.

According to Tony Kment, assistant director of the Physical Plant on campus, only buildings made out of concrete could be subject to a fallout shelter. Many doomsday websites also say that fallout shelters need to be built with materials that offer strength and support in order to withstand the gamma rays and radiation.

Fallout shelters were prominent in that era as the Federal Civil Defense Administration instructed homes and businesses on how to create shelters, according to U-S-history.com. Instruction pamphlets were published as guides for families to build home shelters.

It was intense time for the government as they fought to respond to heightened public anxiety that coated much of America, the article added.

Kment, who was a child during the Cold War, remembers doing drills at school – such as ducking under his desk or a cafeteria table – in case an attack was ever to occur.

“It was scary for a young kid during that time,” Kment said.

In 1974 an article was written about the fallout shelters in OCE’s student newspaper, called Lamron2.

The article, written by Liz Alcarez, describes the campus fallout shelter locations that still exist today, but are being used as storage.

According to Alcaraz, one fallout shelter is in the lower floor of the Humanities and Social Sciences building. Two others are in the basements of the library and Administration building. Many of the mechanical rooms in the residence halls, as well as in Maaske Hall, the education building and the Food Services building could have been used as shelters as well.

Some of the signs used to announce where the fallout shelters were located are still posted around campus. These signs alerted students and staff as to where they could go if an attack occurred.

In the education building, a sign can be seen on the double doors of the mechanical room. Beyond its doors are the boxes of crackers, candy and bins used for water and waste.

Taking Action

Shannen Brouner

The Journal spoke with Green Dot about their mission on campus and how students can become active bystanders to help diffuse high-risk or potentially harmful situations for others.

Bystander intervention involves indentifying high-risk situations and acquiring the knowledge, tools and confidence to act.

“Confidence holds a lot of people back from acting,” said Stephanie Delker, co-outreach coordinator for Green Dot, a club working to reduce power-based violence.

Bystander theory supports the idea that the more bystanders present in high-risk situations, the less likely they are to take action, she said. However, if even one person stands up, it gives others the courage to do the same.

According to Green Dot, being an active bystander can take many different forms. For example, if you are at a party and happen to see someone add any substance to an unattended drink, you could react by “accidentally” spilling the drink.

In a similar situation, if you saw a friend who had had too much to drink, you could make sure they get home safely, Delker said. Or if you heard a group of people verbally harassing someone you could tell them to stop. In any high-risk situation you can make a decision to do something, and this action, no matter how large or small is what Green Dot advocates for.

Delker explains that being an active bystander can also involve making simple choices about “stepping away from rape culture” and consciously avoiding language and actions that perpetuate rape culture in society.

For more tips about how to be an active bystander, view the October edition of Student Health 101, attend Green Dot meetings on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in Hamersly Library Room 107, or attend one of Green Dot’s bystander intervention trainings.

A world without privacy

May 13, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

 

Content warning: this article discusses physical, mental and exploitative abuse and crimes against children

 

Social media is both a blessing and a curse. Many use it for entertainment purposes, posting important life events, endless scrolling, connecting with people from all over the world and maybe learning a recipe or two. 

I personally don’t post a lot on my own social media, but I know plenty of people who do and are quite active on it. I mean, a lot of people make money off of their media by being influencers. They make different kinds of content, some simple and some more complicated. One of my favorite TikTokers makes different kinds of sandwiches by using dice. 

However, I have been noticing a growing trend of people using social media to basically trauma dump. They talk about how they come from terrible homes. They show videos of family members insulting them or having terrible experiences at work. 

Many of them are entertaining in their own ways, and they’re often done to point out a problem or raise awareness of a certain issue, but it got me thinking about how much of our lives are on display on the internet. 

Nowadays, people get access to social media at a young age. I remember I first got on Facebook when I was in fifth grade. I didn’t think about privacy or potential dangers that I could face by adding random people to my friends list. I responded to every single comment made on my posts, whether or not I knew the person commenting. I was very lucky that I didn’t experience anything weird, but many of my other friends who were also on Facebook would talk about getting random messages from people. 

According to an article posted by the American Psychological Association, around the age of 10, the brain goes through an essential shift that makes a child more prone to attention-seeking behaviors. Oxytocin and dopamine, the hormones that the brain makes as a reward, have a stronger reaction when we get approval from those we desire it from most. It’s the reason why, at that age, peer pressure is so effective and wanting to be noticed by others is the biggest deal in the world. 

What makes being exposed to social media at a young age problematic, though, is that the brain then begins to get trained to get the exact same response in the online world. We do anything to try and get approval, even if it means sacrificing privacy or moments that should have stayed private. 

One of the most well-known topics of debate is vloggers. A vlogger, in general, is a person who records their day-to-day lives, whether it be mundane or eventful, usually trying to do the latter in order to make the videos more interesting. They make their entire lives public and the more important an event is, the more likely they are to receive attention. This leads to posting impactful things like surprises, proposals and weddings. 

While recording these kinds of videos is normally pretty harmless, sometimes it can become a bit of a gray area when it comes to family vlogs. They are usually filmed by parents showcasing their kids from a young age and showing them grow up throughout their lives. It’s a sweet idea in concept, but has led to many controversies for several family vloggers. 

An article written by Rachel Cailin Abrams, posted in the Chicago Journal of International Law, describes the various problems that come up for children who grew up in front of a camera. The first is monetization. Parents who run social media where they broadcast their kids are often given sponsorships and brand deals in exchange for promoting products. As Abrams puts it, “these parents are building their brand, and in turn their wealth, off of their children.” They post about their kids’ physical and mental health while also having them become promoters at a young age. 

Then, there’s the issue with the privacy of these children. Many have pointed out that while kids may be okay with being filmed, they aren’t capable of giving informed consent. Maybe the video of them having a tantrum over not getting a toy they want isn’t harmful right at that moment, but what happens when they get to high school? Could they be subjected to bullying and harassment? 

There are also other legal issues with this genre, such as internet privacy concerns, child labor law infringements and even human rights violations, as posting a lot of videos about children online can lead to a higher risk of child exploitation. An example of this comes from a TikTok page run by Jaquelyn Paul, who would post daily about her toddler daughter. She came under critical fire after posting two videos of her daughter in questionable circumstances, which led to weird comments by questionable men. 

Yet I think the worst case I’ve heard about in the family influencer space is the case of Ruby Franke, known for her YouTube channel 8 Passengers. She is a horrifying example of someone who used their children not only to monetize their lives, but also went to extreme lengths to do so. She was a family vlogger who was known in the community of that genre for being controversial for her strict parenting style. In one of her videos, she is heard saying to her two kids who were play-fighting that they would “lose the privilege to eat dinner” if they continued to do so. 

In late August of 2023, Franke’s 12-year-old son knocked on a neighbor’s door, asking for food and water. He had visible injuries and duct tape on his ankles, with hospital staff saying that he was suffering malnourishment and lacerations from a rope. The investigation by the police revealed that Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt, a licensed therapist who worked with Franke to create an online self-improvement program, had subjected two of the kids to a work-camp setting. They denied them food, forced them to do manual labor and didn’t provide either of them the ability to interact with their siblings. 

Franke and Hildebrandt were both arrested and pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse. Each of them was sentenced with one to 15 years for each count, though according to Utah law, the maximum sentence for consecutive terms is 30 years. However, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide how long both women will be incarcerated. 

I have seen a lot of stuff I don’t think I should have. I witnessed a woman give birth to a kid in a hot tub, thankfully censored, and hand the baby over to the dad, who, like me, was in shock. I’ve seen parents shove cameras in the faces of their kids, despite the fact that they ask not to be recorded. I think there are some things that should be kept private, especially when it comes to young children who don’t know that the internet is going to hold onto all of their moments. Keep a child’s life private and place the photos of them in an album, not a Facebook page. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

Summer in the Willamette Valley

A photo of the artist Taimane holding a ukulele. | Photo from @taimanegardner on Instagram

May 13, 2026 |

Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

For those who are planning on sticking around during the summer, here are some upcoming events that are definitely worth looking into. 

Monmouth Has Pride — A family friendly celebration held every year on the first Saturday of June, pride month, the Monmouth Has Pride event is set to take place June 6, 2026 at the Main Street Amphitheater Park. The event is scheduled to last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and there will be vendors, exhibitors, food and performances. I personally have attended this event and it was not only really fun, but a very welcoming and loving experience. For more information about the event, visit monmouthpride.com. 

Taimane concert — The Smith Fine Arts Series is tasked throughout the year with bringing in world-class performing artists. The final artist they will host for the 2025-26 school year is Taimane, an American ukulele virtuoso and composer. She is described on the Smith Fine Arts Series website as someone with “the fierceness of a rocker and the grace of a dancer.” She is known for her enormous range on the ukulele, being able to play a variety from Bach to Led Zeppelin. She won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano award for favorite entertainer of the year in 2019. Her most viewed YouTube video is her rendition of Carmen/Phantom of the Opera, which she played on the ukulele. The video itself has over 4.1 million views. She will perform June 6, 2026 at Rice Auditorium. The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. and tickets for her performance are $30. To purchase tickets and view more information, visit https://wou.edu/smith/. 

The Witch’s Princess — The Apple Box Children’s Theater is a community theater program that allows kids to be a part of a production, with their mission being that regardless of the background of a child, they will be put “on stage in order to boost their confidence, enhance teamwork skills, and build responsibility and accountability in their characters.” They partner both with Western and Central High School to provide opportunities to educate beyond their performances. 

Every year in July, they host a summer play that anyone can come see for free, though they do accept donations. This year, they will be performing The Witch’s Princess. They recently did auditions for this production in late April, but the performance dates are TBD. Historically, though, the event takes place around the week of July 10, so keep an eye out for more information about this production. Audience members are encouraged to bring either chairs or picnic blankets to be able to enjoy the performance comfortably. 

Fourth of July festival — The city of Monmouth sponsors and plans out a July 4th Festival every year that takes place July 3 and 4. While there will, of course, be food, craft vendors and live entertainment, the festival particularly celebrates the arts, such as dance, music and theater. The city of Monmouth is currently calling for vendors to submit applications for the event by June 30, but they have confirmed a few of the events taking place. 

There will be children’s arts and crafts that will provide the opportunity for kids to be able to make their own art pieces. 

There will also be a mini-marathon that is 2.6 miles long, starting outside of the Monmouth Fitness Club and ending at Main Street in Independence. The mini-marathon will begin at 11:30 a.m., with participants being instructed to line up at 11:15. Race entry fees for those 9 and under are $10 until June 30. Ages 10 and up are $20 until June 15, $25 on June 16 till July 3 and $30 on the race day. 

A tennis tournament that has been a part of this celebration for 46 years will also be happening, along with a vintage car show that will drive any car enthusiasts crazy. 

The star of the show, without question, is the grand parade. The parade goes throughout town from Monmouth Avenue to Main Street to Riverview Park in Independence. For anyone wanting more information about this event or to register for any of these, please visit the city of Monmouth website. 

Free music and performances — Music is very much loved in this area, along with parks, food and alcoholic beverages. 

In Monmouth, an event known as Music in the Park occurs, where every week, a different artist or band will perform live music. The event is free, and those who come are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets, though pets are asked to stay at home. It takes place on Wednesdays from the second week of July to the end of August in the Main Street Park Amphitheater. Food, beer and wine are available at the park for the performances. 

In Independence, there is the River’s Edge Summer Series. The city of Independence hosts this series of events at the Riverview Park Amphitheater in downtown Independence, which sits along the Willamette River. This series begins with free movies in the park, which, as the name suggests, allows for outdoor movie nights under the stars. Then there is the summer concert series, which, similar to Music in the Park, has live music, vendors and a beer garden. Tickets for these concerts are $5 and children 10 and under can get in for free. The gates open at 5 p.m. Opening bands begin at 6 p.m., while the headliner begins at 8 p.m. The first date for concerts is July 10, although the bands are still to be determined. 

In Dallas, there are Dallas Nights, which have actually started and will continue till October. On certain Fridays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., there will be a local market, activities, local food and live music at the Rotary Amphitheatre at the corner of Academy and Main Street in Dallas. The market is available the entire time and the concerts start at 6 p.m.

The event is free to attend, though there is a VIP package that one can purchase for either $20 a show or $150 for the whole season. The package gives the purchaser a reserved spot in the beer garden (if the person is 21 or older), a VIP lanyard, a meet and greet with the band/artist if applicable and special perks with each concert. 

The next Dallas Night will happen May 22 with the theme being Grooves and Goods. The band playing will be Skip Jones & The Spirit of New Orleans, who are described to play vintage R&B “with a New Orleans twist.”

I strongly recommend any of these events and encourage all who read this to take it easy this summer. This year has brought many challenges for students, professors and faculty alike. I think that all of us deserve to have some fun this summer. Drink responsibly. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

At the crossroads, don’t turn left

A photo of an ominous hallway in Minecraft. | Photo from @tthevo1d on Instagram

April 29, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

A YouTube channel by the name of Wifies uploaded a video Oct. 24, 2025 titled “Searching For A World That Doesn’t Exist.” The video depicted a story of a Minecraft player named Avery who finds a computer in a storage locker and plays on a premade world that has some strange qualities to it. It’s revealed later on with hidden links and videos in a Google Drive that this world had another player by the name of “d3rlord3” who discovered something so horrifying that it made him leave warnings around the world with phrases like “at the crossroads, don’t turn left.” 

I watched this video a few months after it came out, and I was very much absorbed in this type of content. I have been fascinated with the world of unseen entities stalking and messing with the player. As someone who grew up watching creepypastas on YouTube, I have always been fascinated with internet horror, despite being a chicken at movie theaters every time there’s a jumpscare. There’s something that’s really disturbing about reading horror rather than watching it because it allows the mind to imagine the worst-case scenario. It’s why “The Blair Witch Project” was so terrifying despite never seeing the actual witch in the movie. The unknown is horrifying, especially when there is no proof, no data and no science to back it up, only the chilling documentation of what happened to someone. 

I also happen to be someone who grew up watching and playing a lot of Minecraft. It’s a simple game where the player mines and crafts their way into surviving the dangers of the world they live in. Despite the day being moderately peaceful, the night is when all sorts of creatures come out to attack the player. It’s also a game that inspires endless creativity, where one can build pretty much anything they want to, from a replica of Elsa’s ice palace from “Frozen” to a working telephone that can order pizza. 

Wifies’ video isn’t the first Minecraft horror mystery that I’ve seen. As a kid, I was sucked into Minecraft creepypastas like Entity 303 and Herobrine. I spent hours watching every single “Herobrine sighting” video despite knowing deeply in my heart that he wasn’t real. Yet, the question still remained in my head: “What if he is?” 

So why are Minecraft ARGs scary? 

An ARG, also known as an alternate reality game, is a form of narrative storytelling that uses an interactive network and the real world to tell a story that may be altered depending on the actions of the person participating in it. These usually involve things like videos, hidden links, websites, puzzles, encryptions and much more.

Despite the actual gameplay of Minecraft being rather simple, there’s this unspoken horror that the game has in its design. There are certain elements that make the player feel unsettled, especially when in a single-player world. As the name suggests, mining is an essential part of the game. It’s how the player finds resources to upgrade their tools and armor in order to fight more difficult enemies. The caves the player finds themselves in are programmed to provide cave ambient sound effects, which play at random. Any Minecraft player will personally tell anyone that the cave ambient sounds while mining in the dark will not only throw them off, but also actively spook them. 

Another one of the reasons is the amount of effort that it takes to make them. In Wifies’ videos, there are all sorts of environments and puzzles that are created in order to make the ARGs seem legitimately real. While the video “Searching for a world that doesn’t exist” seems to take place in a modern version of Minecraft, many ARGs of this style are created with older versions of Minecraft. A big reason for that is that it plays with our nostalgia and twists it into something new, something much more eerie and terrifying. It takes something that we viewed as peaceful, just making a house and mining blocks, and twists it into a supernatural appearance. The knowledge that we are not alone in this world. That something much more powerful than the player is stalking them. 

After all, what player in their right mind would go to all this effort to create such massive and detailed environments, as well as hide links in the videos that lead to others? It makes the viewer think that whatever is happening is supernatural or something beyond what a person can do. 

An ARG is perfect for this type of game, which looks calming and, for the most part, is, until someone stumbles upon the darker parts of the game. Abandoned mineshafts. Signs that no one can remember placing. A newly generated world that should not have remnants of other players, but somehow does. Then add in hidden links that lead to websites talking about experiments and secret government departments. Even though these are all fake and made solely for entertainment purposes, it’s no different than playing a horror game. Only this time, the player does take much more control. 

The best way to do an ARG is to experience it by oneself. However, I am actually terrible at puzzles, especially ones like these that can get really complicated fast. For example, one of the solutions to finding a Google Drive link in the video is to take the first letter of every block in Avery’s inventory and capitalize the letter if there is more than one block. I never would have found out how to solve that and that is not the only puzzle that is that complex. 

While Wifies made the ARG for “Searching For A World That Doesn’t Exist,” he said in the description of his video that the rest of the ARGs he’s covered in the past are “in the wild.” In the others, he provides walkthroughs of how he found each of the hidden websites and videos. So, if someone else is also terrible at solving complex puzzles like I am, there are many YouTubers like Wifies who do similar things. I personally recommend the XtremeGamer11 ARG and the xXCraftykingXx ARG, both of which Wifies has made videos on. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

Breaking bread and building bonds

Graphic by Addison Watts

April 29, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

My husband and I are not from this part of Oregon, so many of the local restaurants we grew up enjoying are not over here. Yet in our time being in Monmouth, we found ourselves falling in love with many of the nearby businesses and, in particular, restaurants. We both love food, and we enjoy going on dates together, so I thought I would bring some much-deserved love to some of the local places someone could take another on a lunch date, whether it be romantic or platonic. After all, eating alone in public is kind of awkward. 

Luna’s Cafe — This is one of the first places I went to when I moved to Monmouth. A friend of mine took me there and opened my eyes to an amazing local cafe that is only a few minutes away from campus. Luna’s Cafe offers coffee, pastries and “hearty breakfasts” to its customers. The environment inside is very homey with plenty of seating for those who want to bring entire friend groups there. I love getting coffee there, but the thing that always has me in a chokehold with this place is their apple bread loaves. I had never had apple bread prior to coming to this place and I am so thankful I tried it. Their bread is soft, tastes amazing and is served with or without nuts. 

Yeasty Beasty — On the same street as Luna’s Cafe, there is this lovely pizza place that I’ve had nothing but good experiences with. The people who work at Yeasty Beasty are polite and patient with customers, even remembering a lot of locals by name. Their focus at this restaurant is pizza and craft beer, with the former being referred to as “beasties.” In my opinion, the pizza there is divine. It’s cooked perfectly with the cheese being perfectly gooey in that way that all pizza lovers enjoy. They not only make typical large pizzas, but also make personal beasties and sell individual slices, though I usually get a personal one. I’m basic, so I enjoy a simple pepperoni pizza. My husband did try the margherita beasty — which has basil and grape tomatoes. He said it was pretty good, and I did try a piece. It tastes surprisingly good, but it isn’t what I look for in a flavor for pizza. 

Grain Station Brew Works — My husband took me here for our anniversary, and I have to say, I am very grateful he did. It’s a very nice restaurant with comfortable seating and very attentive staff. Our waitress was really friendly, checking in on us every once in a while while we ate. I ordered the cheesecake-stuffed French toast, which was really good. It did come with a lot more berries than I wanted, but the overall experience was enjoyable. I also enjoyed the large amount of whipped cream that came with it. My husband ordered the “not your average nachos,” which were, in fact, not average. They were really well made, with the cheese being perfectly melted and the meat well seasoned. 

Casa Burrito — This is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants that I’ve been to in the area. They sell tacos, enchiladas, toastadas, tamales, flautas, tortas and, as the name implies, they also sell burritos. I personally haven’t had any of their burritos as I’m more of a tacos girl, but I’ve heard from a couple of friends of mine that they enjoy them. I have had the tacos they sell, and they have always been super good. They’ve always been well-cooked when given to me. I’ve also had their aqua de horchata, and it has been so long since I’ve had a legitimately good version of that drink, so I was very grateful to have bought it from them. 

Overall, all these places offer great food and good service. I highly recommend all of them. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

A spring bucket list

An image of a red bench in a park. | Photo from @reverie.rewa on Instagram

April 29, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

Spring is a season that is undeniably bright and colorful, a breath of fresh air in comparison to the previous season of darkness, also called winter. The blooming environment makes it perfect to find reasons to leave the dorm room and head outdoors. In the spirit of the season, here are some fun activities that are on my spring bucket list this year. 

A picnic — This is probably one of the most cliche things to do during the spring, but honestly is a very fun activity. When I was younger, my mom would occasionally plan out a large picnic day for our family at a park that was roughly 15 minutes away. We would have sandwiches, fruit plates, bags of chips and various drinks. Then, we’d play around for a while with some frisbees and, on occasion, a volleyball. So, I would definitely recommend having a picnic during this warm weather when possible. Be advised though that flies and possibly bees may be interested in the food, so prepare for battle with some bug spray just in case. 

Rock painting — As someone who used to collect rocks growing up, I am very passionate about this option. It’s a very simple activity, yet very colorful and creative. Rocks are typically abundant, free to whoever finds them and are a very nice alternative to a blank canvas. Paint can also be pretty inexpensive to get, such as at a local dollar store or at certain libraries. Painting is always fun to do and there isn’t really a limit to what kind of designs can be painted onto a rock. Some ideas that I can think of include but are not limited to floral designs, cartoon characters, fruits, bugs and the list goes on. 

Flower arrangements — As spring is the season that allows the flowers to bloom, what better time to try a hand at creating some beautiful flower arrangements? This activity is an art form that focuses on arranging not just flowers, but also the foliage and plants into vases in a way that makes them have a pleasing appearance. Those who are professionals at this art put a lot of work into ensuring that the color, shape, structure and balance of the bouquet is satisfactory for whatever occasion it’s being made for. Something that I find personally interesting is that a lot of flowers have different meanings attached to them. Most know that the red rose is the flower of love. However, that’s not the only flower with a sentimental meaning attached to it. There’s also the edelweiss flower, which is a symbol for loyalty, or the hyssop flower, which is believed to represent sacrifice. There are entire pages giving various meanings to thousands of flowers, so whether a person wants to make a bouquet displaying their love or create an arrangement that expresses their anger, flower arrangements may be a good thing to try out. 

Berry picking — The saying that says something along the lines of “growing your own food tastes better than buying it at the store” was pretty accurate in my own experience. When I was a kid, there were a few strawberry plants that grew in our yard. The fruit that grew on them was tiny, but delicious. To this day, they were the best strawberries that I’ve had and I’ve eaten a lot of them. Yet, it was the act of picking them off the plant that was really fun to me. There’s something so satisfying about physically going out and picking fruit that just scratches the brain in a way that feels good. However, if someone kills every plant they try to grow like I do, there are a couple of local berry farms in the area. There’s Perryhill Farm in Dallas, Blueberry Meadows in Corvallis and Smith Berry Barn in Hillsboro. 

I’m not typically a person who enjoys going out very much. I personally prefer to be a happy homebody. However, I have been more open to trying new things recently and I strongly encourage anyone else who is shy or hesitant to do at least one of these activities this spring. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

There’s still time

Graphic by Addison Watts

May 6, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

I think all students, at one time or another, have felt that slow-creeping feeling of tiredness suddenly latch onto us and make us unable to find the motivation to do an assignment. It then leads to that terrible spiral of procrastination where the work slowly begins to pile up and there is not a drop of motivation in the body to do any of it. 

Unfortunately, many college students, in particular, have been guilty of not doing their work. According to Yale Daily News, over 80% of students procrastinate when it comes to completing assignments. Whether it be the “perfect time” to clean out the car instead of doing homework or having zero motivation to open the laptop, we all have our reasons for putting off our work. 

Something that continues to bother me is why everyone continues to procrastinate, despite knowing the consequences of doing so. Despite the popular belief that procrastination is just a person being lazy, it usually isn’t. I’ve put off papers for classes till the day they were due, but spent many hours actively working on and putting in the effort to finish them up to the best of my ability. 

Some say they procrastinate because they believe they make better quality work while “under pressure.” However, this raises the problem of not only being able to plan out their assignment properly, but also being unable to proofread or check their work. This means that they have exactly one attempt to churn out an assignment and hope that they didn’t commit any sort of errors or structural problems in their work, which, when the brain is stressed, is unlikely. 

I think one of the main reasons for doing this is that the benefits of putting off work are short-term, while costing us in the long-term. We feel the immediate relief when not doing an assignment, as it gives us a much-needed break from work. However, the experience of a person’s eyes snapping open a few hours away from midnight is a feeling that many have undergone in seeking the pleasure of enjoying a moment of peace. 

It also doesn’t help that we live in an age where it is so easy to not only put off work but forget about it completely. The internet has made it possible for us to look up any sort of information we want at the press of a button. However, it has also become the home of many streaming sites and social media platforms. These forms of entertainment are designed to grab the attention of people, using both short and long form content to suck a person into a sort of hypnotic state. Many, myself included, have had the experience of scrolling through TikTok for a “break” from our assignments and ended up doomscrolling for almost an hour. Distractions are so easy to find and wanting to delay work makes it that much easier to allow ourselves to fall into that trap. 

Another reason why procrastinators avoid their work is usually a combination of being anxious and a perfectionist. Many people want to delay doing their work in fear that they won’t be able to do it to the standards expected of them. They wait till it’s the “right moment” to start doing something. Ironically, though, most get inspired once they start doing their work. 

Procrastination has been tied to mental health issues like poor self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Similar to how we might avoid getting checked out at a doctor for fear of what they find, procrastination is a way we avoid getting diagnosed with a bad grade. However, all that does is hinder one’s ability to provide a good quality assignment and is also a form of self-sabotage should someone not be able to break the habit. 

So how should one combat procrastination? The first thing to do is to be aware that it is happening, especially if it’s something that is increasingly getting worse. Maybe at first, someone puts off their assignment for an hour. Then it turns into several. Then it escalates to a day, then multiple days. 

After realizing the issue, analyze what is causing the habit to form. Maybe a person is overwhelmed and has too much on their plate. Poor sleeping habits, lack of food intake throughout the day or even anxiety forming much more easily could also cause procrastination. Whatever the reason may be, try to process what is going on in the mind as the procrastination is happening. 

Assess what environment encourages one to work better. It is highly recommended to not do schoolwork in the dorm or in bed as the brain is trained to view these spots as places to relax. Consider going to a library or a cafe. It’s also important to keep in mind who is around while trying to do the assignments. We all enjoy being around the company of others, especially those who make us laugh. However, there is a time and place to hang out with them and it is usually not when trying to make a deadline. Maybe plan a hang out session after completing the school work in order to view it as a reward. 

Honestly, there is no one-way solution to stop procrastination. It all depends on what works for an individual. My best advice would be to do schoolwork in a place that has as few distractions as possible and have headphones playing study beats in the background as loudly as possible. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

Red flag, red flag

April 22, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

We as humans are very social creatures; having a significant other can provide a lot of benefits. Being in a committed relationship, according to Northwestern Medicine, can lower the production of the stress-inducing hormone called cortisol. There have also been reports of living a longer life and having a greater sense of purpose when being with someone who can be described as a “better half.” As someone who is happily married, I can confirm that being in a healthy relationship is pretty awesome. 

However, not every relationship is meant to last, especially if the person isn’t a good partner. A lot of the time, we end up stuck in relationships that we think are healthy, but in reality can be extremely toxic. No one wants to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t going to treat them properly, so I thought I would provide the biggest red flags I’ve seen in many relationships, both my own and those of some close friends of mine, that eventually went sour. 

As a preface, I’m not a relationship guru. These are just some things that I think people should be aware of if they are unhappy with their partners. 

Overly controlling behavior — Possession over someone isn’t inherently a bad thing. After all, I am a little possessive of my husband and vice versa. Jealousy is one thing — control is another. Relationships should be a place where one feels free with the other, not feel chained to them. 

Controlling behavior from a partner can be a red flag, as it shows that they not only feel the need to be in control, but also want to control those who are closest to them. Some examples of overly controlling behavior would be forcing a partner to wear certain clothes, always being the center of attention, never accepting blame for situations they caused and consistently lying to their partner. I think a situation where this trait comes out a lot is whenever someone wants to go out, whether it be to a party or some sort of function, the partner gets jealous and tries to prevent the other from going. 

There is nothing wrong with going out with friends, but if one finds themselves wanting to avoid going out to “keep the peace,” that’s a big red flag, especially if they go out as much as they want. Now, if a partner wants to be controlling to the point where they want full control of the bank accounts and credit cards, that isn’t even a red flag — it’s a blaring alarm. Not only is it stripping someone’s ability to manage their finances, but it’s also a trap meant to keep the person tied to their partner. No one should ever feel trapped in a relationship. 

Narcissistic habits — Someone who is a narcissist or has the behavior of one has an extensive interest and admiration for themselves, likely believing that the world revolves around them. This often means they’re not able to recognize the needs and opinions of others. They may dismiss them or even overlook them, as they view their own interests or issues as more important. 

A good example is a lack of empathy, tied to invalidating their partner’s concerns and issues. At times, they may even make fun of their significant other when they’re visibly upset. It’s also important to be aware of gaslighting and manipulation. The narcissist can make their partner feel like everything is their fault, twisting their words to make them feel guilty over things that aren’t an issue. They’re also very egotistical, wanting constant compliments and what feels like worship from their partners. 

Narcissistic behavior can appear very differently. Oftentimes, those who are in relationships with people who have this sort of behavior don’t remember their partners being like this at the start. They were attentive, sweet, considerate and all the things that made someone want to be with them. That can lead to another red flag: love bombing. 

Love bombing — At the beginning of a relationship, there is something that most people refer to as the honeymoon phase. It’s when the relationship is exciting and new, people are getting to know each other and they learn about each other’s pet peeves and interests. 

However, love bombing is different. Love bombing is done with the intent of luring someone into a false sense of security. It could look similar to the honeymoon phase as it involves one person showering the other with attention, praise and even gifts in order to get their partner to be interested in them. They’ll say things like “we’re meant to be” and “no one else could be my partner other than you.”

However, instead of actually being in love with someone, narcissistic people love the idea of having control over someone. They try to make their partner dependent on them so that they are less likely to leave. Love bombing is done as a method of manipulation, not an act of love. 

Lack of communication — One of the most important parts of maintaining a healthy relationship with someone is to speak up whenever something is wrong. As the honeymoon phase ends and disagreements happen, in order to move forward with the relationship, there has to be clear communication between the two. This involves being honest and open with each other, which may not come easily for people depending on their backgrounds. What’s worse is when someone is finally able to tell their partner what the problem is and they react poorly or brush it off. 

It’s one thing if putting off an issue happens a few times, but if a significant other is unwilling to change and learn how to communicate with their partner better, that’s a major red flag. Not only is it showing poor emotional intelligence to not be able to recognize that a person’s feelings are hurt, but it’s a lack of respect for the person to not want to be better for them. 

My biggest advice for anyone who is in a relationship and is not sure if they’re happy is this: don’t tolerate mistreatment. Don’t make excuses for people who continue to hurt the person that they are supposed to spend the rest of their life with. As American poet Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu 

Cat in a box

April 15, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

As a proud mother of two cats, Freddy and Khalessi, I’ve noticed that my babies have enjoyed boxes more than the very expensive toys that my husband and I have bought. In particular, since we’re moving, they have loved throwing themselves into giant cardboard boxes. The bigger it is, the better and harder it is to get them out of it. 

As someone who has had cats throughout her life, I know that my babies aren’t unique. All of the cats that I’ve had in my life have enjoyed being in a box, whether it be to hide from us or take a very long nap inside of it. Recently, though, I’ve found myself wondering what it is exactly that makes the perfect killing machine so weak to enclosed cardboard pieces.

One of the reasons that cats enjoy being inside boxes is the safety that it provides them. Alison Gerken, a veterinary behaviorist at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, explains that in the wild, with predators lurking around, cats naturally have an instinct to find a “safe den.” They often choose an enclosed environment that doesn’t allow anything to sneak up on them from behind. It gives the cats a sense of safety and stress relief to let them be in a place where they can be hidden. Cats sadly don’t have a conflict resolution ability as we humans do, so when they’re upset, they like to hide from their problems — very relatable, honestly. 

Cats love to be in warmer environments. According to a study conducted by the National Research Council, cats prefer to be in temperatures of 86-97 degrees Fahrenheit. Most homes aren’t kept that warm, so our feline friends find small, enclosed spaces that will trap their body heat. Cardboard, in particular, is great at trapping heat, like a little mini insulator. The small space can force a cat to curl up into a ball, which in turn also helps preserve heat for them. I have noticed that cats love to huddle underneath the blankets on my bed or curl up next to the heater, especially during the colder months. 

As most know, cats are incredibly curious creatures. So, whenever something new appears in front of them, their instinct is to scope it out. They want to investigate what it is that has been brought, as well as the purpose of the new item in question. I remember the day I bought my cat one of those big cat trees that have scratchers and little cubbies they can hide in. He was more excited about the box than the darn cat tree, though he does use it a lot more than he used to. 

The texture of cardboard boxes is also perfect for cats to scratch and bite, which makes them great toys. Fun fact: cats love to scent-mark boxes by chewing on the sides or flaps of it. When marking it, cats use pheromones to mark it as their own little palace. 

Overall, my babies have every right to find their way into the many boxes that I currently have overloaded within my apartment. If they are able to find joy, warmth and safety in something so simple, I can only view cats as an admirable companion that doesn’t need much to be satisfied. I suppose it saves me money on having to buy them toys and pet beds. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Red Bull drink review

A photo showing a stack of redbull cans of various flavors | Photo from @jcsswansea on
Instagram

April 15, 2026 | Belen Ponce Leal | Lifestyle Editor

Despite the article I’ve written in the past talking about the dangers of caffeine, I have enjoyed various forms of caffeinated drinks throughout my life. Particularly in the last few months, I have tried a good amount of the various flavored Red Bulls. I have since formed an opinion, or more accurately, an obsession with the flavor that these canned drinks contain. So, here is a ranked list of my favorite Red Bull flavors. 

Fifth place — Up first is the orange can with the flavor of strawberry apricot. It’s the first of the flavored Red Bulls that I tried back when I was a teenager, so there’s a bit of a nostalgic flair that I get when I drink it. The flavor itself starts out as a sweet strawberry with the hint of apricot being mostly an aftertaste. It’s not a bad combination at all, but out of the six flavors, it’s at the bottom. 

Fourth place — I had no idea what to expect for the spring edition flavor Red Bull was coming out with. The name on it is cherry sakura and as a lover of that specific tree type, yetI had no idea what it was going to taste like. As someone who loves cherries, I don’t think that this drink necessarily tastes like the fruit it’s based on. However, I do enjoy the drink. It kind of reminds me of what tea tastes like, except it’s carbonated. It’s a fruit-flavored drink with hints of strong tea-like accents. 

Third place — The Winter Edition Red Bull that came out roughly in late October last year was one that had me in a chokehold for the entire season. The flavoring is fuji apple with ginger. To me, the ginger wasn’t really that strong, but even so, it was a good combination in my opinion. I thought the drink mostly tasted like apples, so I would call it “apple juice” to my coworkers. However, my lovely husband thought that the ginger was way stronger than I thought it was and scoffed at me when drinking it in his presence. Everyone’s taste buds are different, so drink whatever tastes good.  

Second place — I love the color pink, and I love it even more when drinks associated with it taste good. The white peach-flavored Red Bull tastes so good, it single-handedly caused me to drink multiple times a day — which I’ve stopped doing because it’s super bad for a person’s health. Similar to the fuji apple one, it’s an energy drink that reminds me of juice. I think that if someone wants a sweet drink with caffeine, this is an amazing choice. 

First place — My top Red Bull flavor that I’ve been obsessed with since even before I moved to Monmouth for school is the juneberry flavor. This mystical drink in blue is the perfect combination of sweet and sour flavor in a drink that I’ve ever tasted. No juice or soda has come close to the harmony of this amazing drink. Full disclosure, I have never had juneberries before. Even without the prerequisite of trying the fruit that this flavor is based on, this Red Bull is my favorite by a landslide. 

While developing an obsession for energy drinks isn’t good for a person, if anyone ever wants to try one of the flavored Red Bulls seen in a gas station case, I recommend any of the ones on this list. In particular, I recommend the juneberry one. It is the best. 

 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Rush Week for Greek Life

By: Amanda Clarke
Staff Writer

Throughout the week, the Greek Organizations on campus have been putting on events to recruit new members for their fraternities and sororities.

Alpha Chi Omega held a social event on Wednesday night that included a photo booth and a short presentation on the sorority. Women who were interested in joining the sorority, which is new on campus this year, mingled with the sisters and learned more about the organization.

Kappa Delta Chi, a sorority established at Western in 2012, hosted multiple events including a Service Day on Tuesday, where they made pillows for survivors of breast cancer, a Karaoke and Social event on Wednesday, and a No Hazing event on Thursday in collaboration with Omega Delta Chi and Alpha Chi Omega
Cecelia Perez, a sophomore education major and Special Projects Chair of Kappa Delta Chi said, “We don’t haze and we have never hazed our members.”

Kappa Delta Chi is an academic and service based sorority. They have four focuses: Unity, Honesty, Integrity and Leadership.

“We really strive to get our women to graduate college and […] push them to pursue their dreams and goals,” said Perez. “We want them to grow within this organization and become great leaders.”

Greek Week is also in the plans. Every year, the Greek organizations on campus compete with one another. At the end of the week, a trophy is awarded to the winners. Kappa Delta Chi has won twice.

“If you’re wanting a place where you can find a family and a place where you belong, definitely join a Greek organization […] you’ll learn so many essential skills,” said Perez.

Squirrels of Western

By: Rachael Jackson
Campus Life Editor

Finding the campus empty of interesting people to interview for Humans of Western, the Journal turned to Ronnie Squeaker, local squirrel for a fresh take on life at Western.

Squeaker:

“You know, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life before moving here a year ago. Seeing all the young college kids sorting out their lives and finding a direction ignited something in myself. I realized that I wanted to be a squirrel of the world. The only thing holding me back is the sad fact that Squirrel School isn’t cheap.

I was in a pretty dark place, trying to figure out how to pay for school when I met Mister [“Fuzzball”] Malone. He set me up with honest work hassling the neighborhood dogs. I knew all about the heroin business. It’s nuts to think about, but in most college towns the heroin trade is dealt by squirrels. Seeing Malone go down really hit me hard, but hey, I still got my job. I still got my dreams.”

Dining out of town for date-night

Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor

While Monmouth offers several delicious quick-bites, if you’re looking to go somewhere a little fancier, your options are limited. I knew that I wanted to take my boyfriend out for a slightly more elegant dinner to thank him for helping me move — to be honest it was mostly because I had just purchased a really cute dress and needed an excuse to wear it out — and I found myself looking out of town, but still fairly close by for a nice eatery.

After some research, I decided I would take him to Bentley’s Grill in Salem. The reviews looked promising, the menu had my mouth watering and the prices looked doable for a college student budget, while not being as cheap as some chain restaurants. We set our reservations for 7 p.m. on a Friday, a typically busy day, and they were still able to get us a nice table for exactly when we requested.

Once we arrived, we found the restaurant in an extravagant looking lobby in the Grand Hotel. Immediately, we were greeted and seated by smiling faces who gladly took our drink orders — we had many options as the location also had a full bar — and were given our menus.

I started by ordering their calamari with lemon roasted garlic aioli. My boyfriend isn’t a huge fan of seafood, but we both still very much enjoyed the appetizer which came out to us quickly. The serving size was perfect for a starter and it was fried perfectly.

Not too long after, we were brought our dinners. I ordered their Fulton New York cut steak with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable side. My boyfriend ordered their special of the day, which was ribs with arugula, rice and a sun-dried tomato salad. My steak was cooked perfectly medium-rare, and his ribs were incredibly tender. Everything was cooked just as we had ordered it.

The waitress was checking up on us frequently, making sure everything was served to our liking. She was always incredibly kind and genuinely seemed as if she wanted to make the best experience for us as possible.

We finished our dinner by somehow making room in our incredibly full stomachs and ordering a crème brûlée dessert. This was probably my favorite part, as this is my absolute favorite sweet. My boyfriend didn’t love it quite as much, but he also had never had crème brûlée before and wasn’t sure what exactly to expect.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire night. The service was top-notch, the food was all cooked to perfection, and the atmosphere and ambiance was both comforting and appealing. I’d definitely go here again if I’m looking for a more elegant dining experience.

 

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu

 

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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.

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