Lifestyle – Page 46 – The Western Howl

Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

It can be easy to forget to turn off the lights in the house, or even to turn the water off when answering a text while doing the dishes. While little things like these don’t seem too big at the time, they can unfortunately add up to a larger bill — and ecological footprint. However, it’s easy to keep track of a few simple things to save electricity and water.

Keep unused appliances unplugged. When the coffee is done brewing or the toaster is no longer in use, make sure it’s unplugged. Even when the contraption isn’t being utilized, it will still use up electricity just from being plugged in. This also applies to extension cords, chargers and similar plugins.
Turn off the lights when leaving a room. While some people may have heard this multiple times from parents and guardians growing up, it does have its benefits. By remembering to switch off the lights, up to $15 can be saved on an energy bill, according to bchydro.com. If it’s daylight, open the curtains or blinds and bask in some natural light until it’s necessary to turn on the lights inside. On another note, switch to LED bulbs if possible, as they use over 75% less energy.
Air-dry clothes when it’s possible to do so; dryers can consume a lot of energy, so try hanging clothes on a rack or in the bedroom to air-dry. Avoid putting clothes on a radiator, as it restricts the heat from warming up the room and causes it to work harder, according to goodenergy.co.uk.
For those who own a dishwasher, only run it when it’s completely full. According to sustainability.ncsu.edu, the dishwasher only uses about four gallons of water during its cycle, but handwashing can use up to 20 when there’s a large load of dishes. Alternatively, shutting off the water in between rinses or filling up one side of the sink with water also work for those who don’t have a dishwasher.
Turn off the water while brushing your teeth. It’s recommended that brushing your teeth for two minutes is best, but by shutting off the water while doing so, up to 200 gallons of water can be saved per month.
Shower instead of taking a bath; while baths can be relaxing for some, they can also use much more water than is necessary to get clean. Now that doesn’t mean that baths should be completely cut out — especially for those who use them to relax. That just means maybe limit the amount of baths taken each month, or just get the most out of one when it’s used.
Use cold or warm water when washing clothes, and make sure the setting size is correct for the load. Continuing from that, try to do laundry when there’s a full load like the dishwasher. Running one large load can save more water than multiple small loads. Flip off the ‘extra rinse’ option if there is one as well.

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

Photo by Rylie Horrall

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Six nearby coffee shops for Western students

Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

Getting up in the morning can be a challenge, especially when the previous night lasted into the early hours of morning. For some people, the best pick-me-up for this is a cup of coffee, whether it’s brewed at home or picked up from a coffee shop. Here are some locations in the Monmouth-Independence area to try and start the day off with coffee.

On campus, students have access to Caffé Allegro — located in the Werner University Center — and The Press inside the Hamersly Library. Both have smaller areas for patrons to sit and do work, and have a container of sweets and breakfast goods for early mornings. Caffé Allegro is open 7:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Fri., and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. on Saturdays. The Press is open Mon.–Thurs. from 8 a.m.–8 p.m., and 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on Fridays.

Bugles Espresso is a drive-through coffee shop located at 444 Pacific Ave S. It’s a small establishment that’s located in a private parking lot, and their menu changes monthly. For the month of January, some of the drinks offered are The Avalanche, the Icicle White Mocha and the Frosted Chai — the beverages being a play on the cold weather usually experienced during this time. Bugles Espresso is open 6 a.m.–6 p.m. on Mon.–Fri., 7 a.m.–6 p.m. on Saturdays and 7 a.m.–5 p.m. on Sundays. More information can be found on their Instagram @bugles_espresso and on Facebook.

Java Crew is a sit-down establishment near Western, just off the corner of Main Street and Monmouth Avenue. In addition to regular coffee, Java Crew offers premium drinks that contain a large amount of caffeine — their coffee containing between three to six shots. The menu has a few basic drinks with an extensive list of flavors that customers can add in, and a variety of ways to drink the beverage, such as hot, iced or blended. It’s open Mon.–Fri. from 7 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Additional information can be found on their Instagram @javacrewmonmouth and their website javacrew.com.

Brew Coffee and Tap House, located at 211 S Main St. in Independence, has both indoor and outdoor seating for patrons, and serves food in addition to coffee and drinks as the name suggests. Founded in 2016, the business provides an extensive menu to choose from, with their coffee taking up one page on it’s own. Their social media pages — Instagram @brewcoffeeandtaphouse, Twitter @BrewCoffeeTap and Facebook — show the lively atmosphere the site appears to have. Brew Coffee and Tap House is open from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. Mon.–Thurs., 7 a.m.9– p.m. on Friday, 8 a.m.–9 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–8 p.m. on Sunday, with more information found on their website brewcoffeeandtaphouse.com.

Rick’s Place is a coffee franchise that has been open since 1995, and can be found at 123 Main St. E. Along with a diverse selection of flavors for their espresso, they have many different sandwiches, salads, soups and bakery sweets to grab on the go. If a customer comes in on their birthday, they can receive a free $3 drink if they have their I.D. as proof. It’s open Mon.–Fri. from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m.–11 p.m., and can be found on Facebook.

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

Photos by Kay Bruley

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Study areas available on campus to Western students

Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

Want to start studying but aren’t sure where to go? Western has multiple areas on campus for students to comfortably do classwork. From residence halls to the public buildings, here are some areas to check out.

Hamersly Library is located in between the Old Education building and the Richard Woodcock Education Center, and has three floors available for students to study. The main floor contains small study areas along with a small computer lab. In addition, the Press is located towards the back for students to grab a cup of coffee before working on homework. People can talk at a normal volume on this floor, while the second and third floors are reduced to whispering and total silence, respectively. Both floors have open areas to sit and work and tables with desktops, as well as private study and conference rooms that can be reserved for larger groups. For late night studiers, there’s a 24-hour computer lab area near the front entrance.

The Werner University Center is near the center of campus; the top floor consists of a few dining options for students as well as the WolfStore, but the lower level has a large area for students to lounge and study. The bottom floor has many couches and chairs situated around tables in clusters of four to six. There’s also taller counters sprinkled around, along with smaller tables pressed against the walls. The upper floor does provide a little group of couches and chairs to study, and students are free to work on assignments in the Wolf Grill dining area.

The RWEC, located next to the library, serves as the building for most of the ASL and education classes, but also has compact study areas at each end of the building on both floors. At the front entrance, there are couches near a fireplace, so students can stay warm and cozy while studying. Upstairs, there is a large wooden table for bigger study groups to gather, swinging egg chairs to sit in and a little corner nook with a wrap-around couch and a table — great for secluded studying. At the far end of both floors, there are couches, tables and chairs placed miscellaneously around for use.

Various residence halls on campus — such as Ackerman Hall and Heritage Hall — have multiple study areas for students living in the building. For instance, Ackerman’s lobby area has private rooms that people are free to claim for individual studying or for groups, and can be accessed when the residence hall is unlocked for those who don’t live there. The doors lock at 10 p.m.

Try exploring the other buildings on campus as well, as there can be other areas students find ideal for studying that aren’t mentioned.

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

First photo by Cora McClain

Second photo by Rylie Horrall

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How to utilize time gaps in a class schedule

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

In a perfect world, our classes would always align with our preferred times and schedules. As many students know, however, schedules rarely end up as such. The “awkward class gap,” usually an hour or two, is a common experience in which there’s just enough time between classes for it to drag on, but for most, it’s just barely too short to dive into something more productive. There are options, though, that don’t require too much focus for those that aren’t sure how to use the in-betweens.

Read over notes: Sometimes full on studying doesn’t feel like an option during this time, especially for those that might study better at home and live off campus. Just taking a quick glance at notes, however, will help the information sink in, leaving less studying to do later.

Update your planner: The syllabus usually has a calendar, but it’s not uncommon for unforeseen circumstances to change the schedule up a bit. Things can change often in personal and professional lives as well, so taking a few extra minutes to make sure everything is still set straight can help with feeling more prepared.

Browse classes for next term: An option for pretty much everyone except seniors in their last term, making a rough drafts of schedules to come may not be very pressing at all times, but it may come in handy when the next registration date rolls around. Spring Term registration starts on Feb. 25.

Take a power nap: It’s not uncommon to hear at least one person say “I’m so tired” at least once a day, or hear stories of a term paper that took most of the night. Power naps may not be a solution, but they can certainly temper the problem. Many students live on or near campus, and even some that don’t are willing to crash for a few minutes in their car or reserve some time in the Rest and Relaxation room on in the Student Health and Counseling Center.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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Stylizing learning

Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

If school teaches it’s attendees anything, it’s that the same thing doesn’t work for everyone. Whether it’s studying, writing or creating presentations, different people choose to tackle the task differently. These usually relate to learning styles and how they’re used. For students, understanding personal learning style can be especially helpful when finals come around. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that learning styles can be assessed and therefore utilized.

VARK is one way of assessing learning style. According to vark-learn.com, the acronym stands for Visual, Audal, Read/write and Kinesthetic. The website offers a questionnaire to help determine which of these most effectively conveys information to different people. Though it doesn’t explain how each type should study, it does give an idea of how studying a topic might make it stick more.

For example, visual learners would learn better from charts or diagrams while a read/write person would absorb it better by reading about the topic. For audal students, they learn best by hearing information — for example, during lectures — and kinesthetic learning students benefit most from demonstrations.

Another theory is that of human behavior specialist Scott Black, according to skillsyouneed.com. This way of approaching learning styles is slightly more complicated, with eight instead of four. They are: linguistic, or writing, reading and listening; naturalist, or interacting with and observing the environment; musical/rhythmic, or using rhythms such as whistling or tapping to focus; kinesthetic, or learning by doing; visual/spatial, or using visual aides; logical/mathematical, or categorization and finding patterns; interpersonal, which relates information to others; and intrapersonal, or processing better alone.

This longer list delves slightly deeper into psychology. While learning and separating all the terminology may be more intimidating, it might be especially beneficial to look into for students who are undecided or questioning their major or career as each learning style includes a description as the types of jobs that correlate strongly with it. For example, a kinesthetic learner might consider a job that requires hands-on experience, while a logical learner could thrive in a technical field.

College life is known by many to be a time of great stress, but also of self-discovery. For some, this just means adapting their method of studying — for example, watching a demonstration video instead of reading more paragraphs on a subject. Once an understanding is reached on how information is best processed for each individual, it may help ease the stress that comes with acquiring new knowledge.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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Which WOU Instagrams to follow

Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

DISCLAIMER: There are some Instagrams I may have missed, so this shouldn’t be treated as a completely comprehensive list. I also opted to not use pages that have not been updated within the last year or so.

Instagram is a very commonly used app for people, businesses, schools and more. This applies to Western as well, as the university has many different handles it uses for multiple things that occur on campus. Here is a list of the Instagram handles that Western has.

@wounews : the official Instagram page for Western
@westernoregonuniversity : Admissions Office
@wouhonors : Western’s Honors Program
@aswou : Associated Students of Western Oregon University
@woualumni : a page for Alumni to receive information on reunions and throwback posts
@woucampusrecreation : Western’s campus recreation
@woumail : Western’s mailroom and services
@woulibrary : Hamersly Library
@wou_shcc : Student Health and Counseling Center
@wouwolfstore : WolfStore
@wou.bites : Western’s Campus Dining
@thewesternhowl : Western’s newspaper
@nwponline : the Northwest Passage, Western’s art and literary journal
@wou.plusteam : information on PLUS Team, SOAR and New Student Week
@wouwolves : official Instagram for Western Athletics
@wouclubsports : official page for Western Club Sports
@wou_imsports : Intramural Sports
@woucheerleading : Cheerleading Team
@woulax : Men’s Lacrosse
@westernoregonmensrugby : Men’s Rugby
@wou_xctf : Cross Country and Track and Field teams
@wou_soccer : Soccer Team
@wou_danceteam : Dance Team
@wouwsocclub : Women’s Soccer Club
@wousoftball : Softball Program
@wou_mens_clubsoccer : Men’s Club Soccer
@wouwbb : Women’s Basketball
@woumarchingband : Marching Band
@woucolorguard : Color Guard
@wou_internationalclub : International Club
@unidoswou : Unidos Club
@mechadewou : MEChA de WOU
@woubsu : Black Student Union
@wou_environmentalclub_garden : Environmental + Garden
@wou_mun : Model United Nations
@woumitu : Monmouth-Independence Tenants Union
@wouhawaiiclub : Hawai’i Club
@wousab : Student Activities Board
@wougsa : Gerontology Student Association
@woumathclub : Math Club
@d.r.e.a.m_wou : Disabilities Rights Empowerment Awareness Mentoring club
@woucr : College Republicans
@wou_byte_club : Byte Club
@cruatwou : CRU Club
@wouasl : ASL Club
@msuwou : Multicultural Student Union
@wou_ta : Triangle Alliance
@woudanceinfo : official page for Dance Department
@woudance_dept : student based page for Dance Department
@wou_psychpac : Psychology Peer Advising Center
@westernoregon_arotc : AROTC
@wouband : Wind Ensemble
@wouinterpretingstudies : Interpreting Studies Program
@woufinearts : Smith Fine Arts Series
@thewestofus : The West of Us A Capella Group
@wou_knights : Omega Delta Phi Fraternity
@kdchibetadelta : Kappa Delta Chi Sorority
@wou_axo : Alpha Chi Omega Sorority
@wou_kappasigma : Kappa Sigma Fraternity
@woufsc : Fraternity and Sorority Council
@wourha : Residence Hall Association
@wouhousing : University Housing
@heritage_wou : Heritage Hall
@ack_pack : Ackerman Hall
@wou_veterans : Western’s Veterans
@wou_lab : Latino Advisory Board
@woumssp : Multicultural Student Services and Programs
@wousva : Student Veterans of America
@wou_sep : Student Enrichment Program
@wougreenteam : Green Team
@wou_tac : Tree Advisory Committee
@wouserve : Western’s Alternative Break
@student_engage : Student Engagement
@wounationalstudentexchange : National Student Exchange
@wouslcd : Service Learning and Career Development

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu

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Don’t compromise your health, practice safe sex

Rylie Horrall | Lifestyle Editor

College is a time for many people to start their journey to independence; most start making their own decisions — places they will be living, jobs they plan to pursue and various lifestyle choices, such as who they decide to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with. The majority of students had at least a small sex education lesson during their middle or high school years, but the information taught can be pretty basic without going into ways to safely practice sex.

The biggest lesson in sex ed — in my own personal experience — was to avoid pregnancy, and the easiest way to do that was through abstinence, because, to quote my high school health teacher, “it was the only way to 100% avoid pregnancy.” The topic of ways to safely have sex wasn’t touched on, but it’s important to know when deciding to participate in sexual activities.

Using a condom can be among the easiest ways to practice safe sex, as most can be found or bought generally without difficulty. The Health and Wellness Center has male condoms available for students at Western to take for free, located on a shelf in the main lobby area. Both male and female condoms can be purchased with ease at convenience stores, health centers and supermarkets.

It’s important to make sure they are being used effectively and correctly, as complications can arise if not. The risk for sexually transmitted infections increases dramatically, and potentially the risk of an unplanned pregnancy. Be sure to check the expiration dates and quality to make sure they aren’t damaged or compromised in some way.

Another way to stay on top of safe sex is to get tested as often as needed. If there’s an infection to be treated from previous sexual interactions but it goes unnoticed, it can lead to health problems. Some, however, don’t have any symptoms and people could be unaware of their presence, so getting tested will help an individual to continue to be up-to-date on their health.

While participating in sexual activities, another surefire way to ensure safety isn’t jeopardized is to avoid engaging in sexual activity when inebriated. Important decisions can be forgotten while under the influence, or actions — such as putting on a condom — can be done poorly and incorrectly.

It’s important to exercise safe sex if or when engaging in sexual activity, but a final key component is to communicate with partners to secure that everyone is on the same page.

Contact the author at rhorrall17@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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Ways to save electricity, water and money

Six nearby coffee shops for Western students

Study areas available on campus to Western students

How to utilize time gaps in a class schedule

Stylizing learning

Which WOU Instagrams to follow

Don’t compromise your health, practice safe sex

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