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.

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.”

Freedom for the loo

By: Shaylie Pickrell
Freelancer

On the Western campus there are a growing number of locations in which we have all-gender bathrooms. The Equity Committee of the Associated Students of Western Oregon University are working towards making the bathrooms more visible and more comfortable for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether they’re using the restroom to make sure their outfit looks good or to actually use the restroom, it’s important to have a safe place for people in any situation. They recently added 20 more locations and hope to soon have a list or map available online, as well as in the Werner University Center.

All-gender bathrooms are family friendly, vary from single to multiple stalls and some locations even have showers available for use. These bathrooms are a way for those who identify outside the gender binary to feel safe and free from the pressures that can sometimes occur when having to use gender specific bathrooms.

If you have any questions about the growing locations of these bathrooms around campus, or simply would like to learn more about gender equality, you can stop by the Stonewall Center or email the equity president, Max Norr, at aswouequity@wou.edu. The Equity Committee is working very hard to make information about these locations more accessible around campus. In the near future, there will be updated maps around campus identifying different bathroom types and their new locations.

Things I want to highlight on the map:
There is at least one all-gender bathroom in every hall and in the most populated places such as the Werner University Center and the Hamersly Library.

Contact the author at spickrell15@wou.edu

The Art of Piercing

Piercings2Color

By: Megan Clark
Campus Life Editor

Body modifications, such as piercings and tattoos, are becoming increasingly popular as a way to further explore personal style.

Body piercing is an ancient art that has been around for a long time. According to The Human Touch of Chemistry’s website, nostril piercing has been documented as first occurring in the Middle East around 4,000 years ago.

Piercings have been used to signify sociopolitical status; in Rome, septum piercings symbolized a gladiator’s strength, while in Egypt, a belly button piercing signified godliness and was often worn by pharaohs.

In parts of Malawi and Ethiopia, women often wear discs in their lips that may act as a sign of social or economic importance in the tribe. Their lips are initially pierced with a small wooden peg in their teenage years, but they increase the size of the jewelry throughout their lives, the hand crafted clay discs used reach up to nearly eight inches in diameter.

This process of increasing the size of a piercing is called stretching or gauging and should be done slowly and carefully in order to not tear the skin.

While it’s not common to see people walking around with piercings as large as those worn by the Malawi and Ethiopian women, more unusual piercings, such as the septum and the philtrum (the dimple that sits above the cupid’s bow on the upper lip) are becoming more popular.

Now nearly every part of the body can be pierced or implanted with something called a “micro-dermal” or “dermal.”

While piercing involves taking a sterilized needle and inserting it through skin or cartilage, a micro-dermal involves cutting a tiny hole into the surface of the skin. This makes room for an anchor that goes below the skin and looks similar to a tiny screw with a flat base. The screw-end sticks out of the hole so that different heads (gems, studs, etc.) can be screwed on.

Dermals, however, have a high rejection rate and can easily get infected or ripped out since they are on the surface of the body.

You should be careful with most piercings, as getting infections or getting them caught on things is a very real worry. Proper care should be taken, even after the piercing has healed. The tiniest snag could result in an infection if not well-taken care of.

While piercings may hurt and could get infected, certain piercings have been thought to have medical benefits.

When the nostril piercing came to India in the 16th century it was believed that it would act as a form of acupuncture and aid in childbirth.

Recently, certain ear piercings called the “daith” and “tragus” have been believed to alleviate migraines, though little scientific research has been done to support this.

While these piercings may or may not have any health benefit, they have the added benefit of contributing to self-expression and personal style.

From choosing silver over gold to adorning with glittering jewels, piercings offer another jewelry choice that could add some sparkle to someone’s life.

The words of a loving friend

By:  Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

“He was one of the nicest, most selfless and caring people I have ever met. He was always there for his friends whenever they needed help,” said Emma Henry, friend of Brandon Lin. “Brandon and I were very close. We spent hours talking about anything and everything. We talked almost every day. He was a great listener and very supportive, every time I was upset or bawling my eyes out he was always there to talk, even when he couldn’t talk right at that moment he would always make sure to call me or text me when he was free just to make sure I was okay. He was super caring.”

On May 9, Western student Brandon Lin died after a car accident in Portland. Lin majored in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in literature. He lived on campus in Ackerman Hall and was preparing to serve as a peer mentor in the fall.

“It was easy to talk to him. He was always fun to be with. He made even the most simple and mundane task fun. His goofy nature always brought a smile to his friends. He was a great team player that was always ready for a new adventure,” explained Henry.

When asked what message Brandon left with his friends and family, Henry replied, “I think Brandon’s message would be ‘just do it.’ He was always very adventurous and was willing to try almost anything at least once. I think this would be his message because he had told me how before coming to Western he had a hard time making friends, especially at a community college, and also being on the shyer side,” explained Henry.

“When he first got here he was determined to make the best of his college life and have fun. By making a friend in his hall he was able to branch out and meet new people and try new things.
Whenever we would go out and try something new he was always the first to try it, he encouraged his friends also to be open minded and always try something new.”

“There are too many wonderful things and memories I wish could share about Brandon, but at the end of the day what I really want people to know about Brandon is that he was a very, sympathetic, sincere, reliable, generous and adventurous guy,” said Henry.

“He was very much loved by all his friends and family. To put it simply, he was a great son, brother, friend and guy. Although he may not be here with us physically he has left a mark on everyone he met and will always be in our hearts,” concluded Henry.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Mad Hatter’s Dancing Tea Party

By: Jasmine Morrow
Staff Writer

The Mad Hatter’s Dancing Tea Party was an event put on for Western’s students by the Akerman Hall Student Government. The tea party was put on for anybody who wanted a break and wanted to enjoy themselves.

The Ackerman Hall Student Government played music while the tea-party-goers enjoyed their cupcakes and tea, but they also had a space for students to dance if they wished to. The committee members that put on the Mad Hatter’s Dancing Tea Party were: Morgan Montoya, Bridget Parker, Chase Culm and Ellen Moore.

Montoya, a first-year psychology major, organized the event, which was Alice in Wonderland themed. That being said, Parker, a sophomore biology major, is the President of the Ackerman Hall Student Government and helped Monoya decorate. They put on the event because they wanted some students to have some fun.

There were sunglasses waiting to be given to the guests and a small photo booth that tea-party-goers could get their picture taken looking like the Queen of Hearts. The table clothes were different colors, there were smiling Cheshire cats hanging on the wall, there were tea cups, flowers and clocks sitting on the table and pink plastic flamingos standing around the room.

One of the guests, Sarah Tran, a first-year biology major, said that she went to the event because she loves Alice in Wonderland, dancing and cupcakes.

“I would definitely go to something like this again, but it would have to be a different theme,” said Tran.

There were a handful of people that showed up at the very start of the event. As the evening progressed, more people started to show up. Everyone had a smile on their face, they were taking pictures of the decorations, with their friends and of the cute cupcakes. It appeared that the tea-party-goers were enjoying the evening.

Contact author at jmorrow16@mail.wou.edu

Researching Sister Genevieve Lantz

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

The current exhibit in Hamersly Library is one for the books. After four journals that dated back to World War I were donated to Western, student Max Norr, senior social science major with a history focus, got the chance to research them and turn them into an exhibit.

“They’re four journals that belonged to a nurse in World War I, named Sister Genevieve ‘Birdie’ Lantz, and she was from Canada,” explained Norr. “She moved to Boston to study nursing, and then when the war started, she went over to France with a Harvard Surgical Unit. [The journals] weren’t her diaries, she had her patients, from all of the wards that she worked in and managed, she had her patients write in them. So they would write their experiences, they wrote jokes, they wrote stories, they drew pictures, there’s some amazing art.”

“We knew nothing about Sister Lantz, except that her name was Lantz, because she wrote ‘G. Lantz’ in the journals,” said Norr. “The owners of the journals found them at an estate sale or an antique shop, they found these four books, and they were just looking for somebody to research them. So Dr. Jensen was like, ‘hey, this would be a really cool, I think you should research these. I think that we could make a really good practicum for it.’ So that’s what we did.”

“The goal was to create an online blog exhibit, website, type-thing , and I would find certain entries within the books that I wanted to research further, so I did five, and then one extra for Sister Lantz herself,” Norr said passionately. “I found one on the 1914 Christmas Truce, I did an exhibit on all the art that was in the books, one on propaganda and one on neutrality, and a few other ones. It was amazing because no one had ever seen them before. Nobody had ever researched these, it was all new information, all new material. So it was just me using Ancestry.com, corresponding with other researchers, I’ve talked to people in Australia, Canada, Britain, all these different people, I scoured newspapers for information about the Harvard Surgical Unit. No one knew about this stuff.”

After countless hours of research Norr created a blog called “The Record Keeper,” which you can visit at www.record-keeper.blogspot.com. The journals themselves were found in Klamath Falls, Oregon at an estate sale for one of Sister Lantz’s grandson or son’s home.

“She died in the mid-1960s, so she’s been gone for a while, but it was right here in Oregon. So that’s what’s really cool, we got to make that connection,” said Norr. “She came all the way from Canada, and France from all these different places and her journals ended up in Oregon.”

The exhibit will continue to be in Hamersly Library until summer break begins.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Get to know a major

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

Western offers a wide variety of degrees that students can major in, many of which students don’t know are offered or know next to nothing about. This week, take a look at what receiving a Bachelor of Arts in humanities with a linguistics focus entails, and the fields of work it can lead to.

Rachel Gries is a senior at Western who is currently in the process of receiving a degree in humanities with a Linguistic focus.

When asked why she decided to become a humanities with a linguistic focus major, Gries replied, “I started doing English actually, because what I really came here for was linguistics. But I’m not really into lit and all that, and most of the English major is all lit classes, which is not great for me.”

“Humanities is just kind of like everything. Some of the focus areas you could do could be Spanish, communications, French, German, linguistics, philosophy, writing. There’s all kinds of stuff humanities encompasses,” explained Gries.

When asked what job she wants to pursue with her linguistics focus Gries replied, “I want to work for Google and work on speech recognition or speech to text.”

“Like with speech to text there are so many words, like merry. Am I saying merry, like joyful, or am I saying marry, like marriage, or am I saying someone’s name?” said Gries.

According to Western’s website the, “Humanities majors and minors explore that unique human creation, language–not only for communication but also in culture, literary art, and philosophical and religious thought.”

Some fields that can be pursued after study linguistics include: teaching English as a second language, education, language documentation, fieldwork, being a consultant on language and teaching at a university level. This is just a short list of the kind of jobs one can pursue as a career after studying linguistics.

When asked what her favorite class that she’s taken for her major was Greis replied, “I really liked Corpus Linguistics, which is like computerized. I put all of the text of Jane Eyre into a corpus, because I had to write a paper about it for another class,” explained Gries. “It was about the supernatural aspects of Jane Eyre. I went through the corpus and used an online tagger, so it finds every word related to religion or the supernatural. So, instead of having to reread the book, looking for every example, I can just search it.”
“I also loved the class Structure of English Grammar. It’s literally about how the English language works. Like, what’s a noun, what’s a verb. I really like the professor for it, and she taught really well, so I looked forward to going to that class. It’s taught by Cornelia Paraskevas.”

When asked why she thinks linguistics is important, Gries replied, “Linguistics applies to a lot of stuff. It changes the way you think about the words you’re saying. Imagine not being able to say ‘in this’ or ‘on that,’ it’s the littlest words that give us the most information about our language.”

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

21 and up

By:  Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

With a nice atmosphere and wide variety of cocktails and wine, the restaurant Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room gives patrons a place to relax and have a drink. Even college students get tired of the bar scene, and Crush gives customers an opportunity to have a drink without yelling over music. This week I tried one of Crush’s signature cocktails called the Marionberry Whiskey Smash. The cocktail contained muddled mint, lemon, simple syrup, marionberry whiskey and blackberry puree.

When I first got the drink, I expected to be able to really taste and find the whiskey, but was pleasantly surprised with a much stronger taste of mint and lemon, with only a hint of marionberry. Honestly, the mint was my favorite part of the cocktail. Crush used mint that smelled so fresh, as if it had just been picked for my drink.

It took me back to my home laying in my front yard with my nose right next to the fresh mint growing next to our flowers. I’d take a mint leaf and chew on it. Distinctly tasting sweet at first, and then a strange earthy aftertaste. That’s exactly what I was tasting when I was enjoying Crush’s Marionberry Whiskey Smash. I assumed it would taste overwhelmingly like marionberry, but I was excited to taste nostalgia from my childhood in the form of mint.

I give this cocktail five stars and two thumbs way up because of its minty freshness and easy to drink qualities.

Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room is open Monday through Thursday from 12-10 p.m., Friday from 12-11 p.m. and Saturday from 3-11 p.m. They’re located at 105 Main St. E., in Monmouth. If you’re of age, make sure to pop in and give the Marionberry Whiskey Smash a try.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

A day of celebration

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

On May 19, the Multicultural Student Union hosted their 26th annual Nuestra Fiesta Latina on Western’s campus. The event lasted all day for the community of Western to enjoy. During the day the Werner University Center’s plaza was filled with people who surrounded booths and food carts.

“During our day event, we had churros with ice cream, we had tacos by catering, carnival games that we put out, we had airbrush tattoos and a photo booth that printed actual pictures,” explained Katherine Macias-Torres, a sophomore psychology major and campus advocate for the Multicultural Student Union.

All of the food was fairly inexpensive, for instance the $2 tacos, but some lucky passerby-students received coupons for free churros or tacos. However, the carnival games, photo booth and airbrush tattoos were free to those who wished to enjoy their splendor. The Nuestra Fiesta Latina had three parts in total for the event. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Multicultural Student Union held the festival in the Werner University Plaza. Then from 6:30-8 p.m. they hosted a dinner with comedic entertainment and dancing entertainment and then to finish the celebration, the Multicultural Student Union hosted a dance, or “Baile,” to end the night with a bang.

During the dinner portion of the Nuestra Fiesta Latina, there was live entertainment in the form of Traditional Mexican Dancing and comedians.

“We usually have a mariachi band, but this year’s coordinators wanted to have something else, and something more interactive,” explained Macias-Torres. “So they decided to go with comedians.”

When asked why they think it’s important to have events like this on Western’s campus, Macias-Torres replied, “Because it helps students that identify in these different cultures. It helps them feel more connected to our community. I personally felt more connected last year. Not only did it get me involved in school, but it made me feel more connected as a Latina person, because somebody is acknowledging my culture and not only that, they’re celebrating it.”

“I think that it’s important to note that this event is for everyone it’s not just for Latin identifying people,” said Macias-Torres. “It’s open to the community, so you can come from anywhere and still participate in the event. A lot of people assume it’s just for one demographic, but it’s for everyone.”

Participants of the 26th annual Nuestra Fiesta Latina event got to fill up their stomachs, have some laughs and dance the night away. But in the process, they also got to celebrate and learn about different cultures.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Helping Western students help others

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

On May 16, the Alternative Break Teams and Service Learning and Career Development Center teamed up to put on the Flea Market for a Cause on the Werner University Center Plaza. The Flee Market contained gently used, donated professional and semi-professional clothes for students of Western to buy.

“This event specifically is to help students who are trying to enter the professional world,” said Courtney Cunningham, a junior early childhood education major. “It helps them start off with a set of attire that’s going to help them be successful in the professional world. It really helps out the students, and we’re thinking of them when we hold these events. Like, ‘what do they need, what do they want and what is going to help them the most?’”

All of the money made from the Flee Market will go towards sending students from the Alternative Break Team to help in different countries around the world. Along with reselling clothes, the Alternative Break Team also made baked goods to sell.

“We have three teams,” explained Cunningham. “We have our Costa Rica team, a Peru team and a Thailand team. The Costa Rica team works with at risk youth, in one of the poorest communities in Costa Rica, and then Peru works with animal care and Thailand specifically helps with education. These events in general are to help our students who are on the teams, be able to go on these trips and experience these new things, and help people all over the world.”

If one felt like they missed the chance to donate or help the Alternative Break Teams travel around the world, it’s okay, because they are always accepting donations.

“This happens every year, so if anyone else still wanted to donate, they can contact Kathryn Plummer in the Service Learning and Career Development Center,” explained Cunningham. “She’s kind of the one running this. You could also contact any of the Alternative Break Team Leaders.”

All clothes donated now can be used for next years Flee Market for a Cause, so feel free to get rid of professional and semi-professional clothes that are no longer needed, to help Western students help others.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Fighting to improve the lives of Oregon women and girls

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

On May 11, Abby’s house hosted guest speaker Emily Evans, the executive director of the Women’s Foundation of Oregon, to present her lecture, “Count Her In.” The director of Abby’s House at Western, Dr. Aislinn Addington, introduced Evans to the full crowd of the Willamette Room, who were eager to hear the presentation.

The Women’s Foundation of Oregon’s “mission is to focus the power of women’s collective resources to improve the lives of women and girls throughout Oregon,” explained Addington. “The ‘Count Her In’ report is the first comprehensive research on this topic for more than 20 years, and now is the most expansive, actionable and inclusive analysis of Oregon women and girls to date.”

Evans explained that the “Count Her In” report was information compiled from different towns in Oregon.

“We made 14 different stops all around the state. We heard from a thousand women and girls. We had sessions in Spanish, Somali, Russian and we heard from a really good cross section based on race, education level, income, geography and age,” explained Evans. “What we heard was a really resounding understanding of what the challenges are for women and girls in Oregon. Turns out women and girls in Oregon know exactly what’s wrong, and what they told us matched up perfectly with the data.”

“If there is one thing, one single sentence that you take away from this session here today, it’s this: women and girls in Oregon are contributing an extraordinary amount to communities all across the state, and in return they’re facing some of the starkest gender inequities in the country,” stated Evans.

Evans wanted to begin with the great things that Oregon women and girls excel at in comparison to other states, rather than begin with the things they lack. So Evans began discussing the, “Eight to Celebrate,” which include: civic engagement, caregiving, minimal violent crime, highest rate of physical activities than any other state, education and health care jobs, generosity with money and time, elected at higher rates in public service than other states and Oregon girls met the state’s 2025 goal for college graduation rates in 2014.

Though these eight achievements are something to celebrate, there are still many things that need to be worked on to improve the lives of women and girls in Oregon, and those are “The Eight that Can’t Wait,” which include: violence against women, systemic racism, the cost of caregiving, gaps in reproductive health access, wage and wealth gap, economic fragility, mental health challenges and the public/private glass ceilings.

“These are the eight issues that rose to the top in three ways,” said Evans. “The first is there was a discrepancy between how men and boys in Oregon were doing, and how women and girls in Oregon were doing. The next is there was a discrepancy between how women and girls in Oregon were doing versus women and girls nationally. And the final one is that these eight were the ones that rose to the top in every single community we visited.”

The “Count Her In” report has put together a list of five things that every Oregonian can do to help make life for Oregon women and girls better, and they are, asking questions, voting, donating, sharing information and recognizing the struggles Oregonian women and girls face.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

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