THEFT
At 4:20 p.m. Sept. 24, in Butler Hall, Public Safety responded to a reported theft of a refrigerator.
At 3:15 p.m. Sept. 25, at the Ackerman bike rack, Public Safety was contacted about a potential bicycle theft. The bicycle was located and returned.
At 4:50 p.m. Sept. 25, from Heritage Hall, Public Safety was contacted in reference to a theft.
MEDICAL
At 1:24 p.m. Sept . 12, Public Safety responded to assist a patron suffering from heat exhaustion.
At 11:58 p.m. Sept. 23, in Heritage Hall, Public Safety responded to a medical assist.
At 12:09 p.m. Sept. 24, in Ackerman Hall, Public Safety responded to a call for medical attention.
At 7:40 p.m. Sept. 24, in Heritage Hall, Public Safety received a report of an allergic reaction.
CRIMINAL MISCHEIF
At 11:30 a.m. Sept. 19, in Parking Lot K, Public Safety discovered vehicle damage.
At 10:32 a.m. Sept. 25, in Todd Hall, Public Safety responded to a case of criminal mischief.
MARIJUANA VIOLATION
At 10:50 p.m. Sept. 19, in Heritage Hall, Public Safety was contacted about a possible marijuana violation.
At 2:34 a.m. Sept. 25, in Barnum Hall, Public Safety was contacted about a possible marijuana violation.
At 9:50 p.m. Sept. 26, in Heritage Hall, Public Safety contacted two males in reference to a marijuana violation.
ALCOHOL VIOLATION
At 12:12 a.m. Sept. 23, in Heritage Hall, Public Safety was contacted about an intoxicated individual.
At 12:31 a.m. Sept. 27, in Barnum Hall, Public Safety was contacted regarding an alcohol violation. Officers were clear at 1:07 a.m.
Despite an efficiency measure added to the deferment process this year, those students who submitted their financial aid application past the priority deadline are feeling the financial crunch.
By submitting the FAFSA after the priority deadline, a delay is created in the processing of financial aid, which in turn causes trouble for students who may face a series of late fees.
“I submitted my FAFSA after the priority deadline, and I received an email from the financial aid office saying that I could defer,” stated Berenice Gabriel, a fourth year psychology major.
Gabriel’s financial aid has yet to come in due to this delayed submission. With the deadline for the initial payment swiftly encroaching, Gabriel and many other students have filled the Financial Aid Office in hopes of deferring payments to a more reasonable date.
Deferment is used to avoid late fees and allow extra time for students to pay their current term’s bill. One third of a student’s bill must be paid by Oct. 2, 2015, or else a $100 late fee will be charged.
Paying the $12 deferment charge will save students from being charged the $100 while they wait for delayed financial aid to come in, or if they do not receive aid, to save up enough to pay the third of their bill.
Students who need to apply for an emergency loan may do so in the Business Office. These loans are for emergencies that a student may have other than institutional charges.
A separate promissory note is required for these loans. A more detailed statement of this policy is available at the Business Office.
The Financial Aid office has developed a new online payment system for students, allowing students to pay for their term or request deferment online through the WolfWeb system.
“I believe this streamlines the process for students to do their deferments,” states Darin Silbernagel, the Director of Business Services.
If students are interested in paying online rather than in-office, the process is as follows: after accessing the student menu in WolfWeb and choosing Account Summary by Term, there will be a link to the deferment and payment options at both the top and bottom of the page.
This system was created as a tool to meet short-term needs while simultaneously minimizing fees for the students.
“Students who need to defer or who do not want to be charged the late fee I would strongly urge to take action before this Friday at 5,” Silbernagel encouraged.
The second payment is due by November 1st, 2015, and the final payment for the term is due by December 1st, 2015.
The Financial Aid Office also reassures that this situation is a very rare occurrence. For those students needing more information, the Financial Aid Office is happy to assist with any questions and clarification.
A shooting broke out on Umpqua Community College (UCC) campus in Roseburg, Ore. on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015 just before 10:40 a.m.
Reports say that there were at least 13 fatalities, and upwards of 20 people were injured.
The unnamed suspect, a 26-year-old male, was confirmed deceased by the Douglas County Sheriff at approximately 1:43 p.m. Officials did not confirm if the suspect was shot by law enforcement officers.
No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.
There are unconfirmed reports that the alleged shooter posted on the social media site “4chan” about his intentions the night before.
Agencies present at the scene included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the U.S. Marshals Service to contribute to the investigation.
The shooting at UCC is the second one to occur in Roseburg. The last shooting happened at Roseburg High School back in 2006, where one student was fatally shot by another using a pistol with hollow-point rounds.
While it is against the law for students or staff to bring guns and other weapons onto the campus of any public school in Oregon, those with concealed handgun permits are allowed to bring guns onto campus, but not inside buildings
Those interested can use the hashtag #UCCShooting to join in on the conversation.
This is a breaking news story. We will update this post with developments.
The 11th annual WOU Mania will be held on Friday, June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Werner University Center. This year’s WOU Mania has a sports theme; students are encouraged to wear their “finest sports jersey” to the event. Students who RSVP ahead of time via Orgsync will be entered to win door prizes.
In addition to offering alluring free food, WOU Mania will also have multiple sports that students can participate in, such as one-on-one basketball and inflatable bouncy boxing.
This year’s WOU Mania will feature two comedians: Byron Bowers will be performing at 9:45 p.m., and Kendra Corne will be performing at 10:30 p.m.
Kya Rasmussen, a first-year early education major, said WOU Mania sounds “awesome.”
“I’ve never really been one for sports, but it sounds like a fun time,” Rasmussen said. She also mentioned her interest in the henna that will be offered at the event.
From its humble beginnings in 2004, WOU Mania has grown to be composed of multiple free events including a competitive eating contest, photo booth, caricatures, henna artists, a surf machine, and one-on-one competitive sports, just to name a few.
The event is sponsored by Student Leadership and Activities/Werner University Center with the intention of drawing students to participate in on-campus events.
WOU Mania was one of the Student Activities Board’s highlight events of last year, and in 2013 Mike Winfield, from Comedy Central, was invited to perform at the event.
“The mechanical bull [last year] was fun but really tough. It was better if you didn’t wear socks,” said Clifford Mullen, a junior social science major.
Previous years also included a Cat in the Hat photo booth as well as one-on-one competitive sports. Pictures from previous years are located on the SLA Orgsync page.
For more information, contact Ed E-Nunu at enunue@wou.edu.
By Jerry Creasy
Business and Economics Club President
ARTWORK CREATED BY Carly Fister
The continued rise in inflation-adjusted college tuition over the years has been a systemic problem, creating huge financial burden for students across the country. On average, tuition increases more than it should when adjusted for inflation. Inflation occurs when the average price for all goods and services increases from what they were the year before. This would also include wages, which hypothetically should be going up along with inflation. However, this has not been the case, but that is another matter altogether.
Between 1994 and 2003, inflation-adjusted tuition rose by about 4 percent per year, meaning that compared to all other goods, it increased 4 percent more than everything else. This is astronomical and leaves a devastating burden on the country’s educated workforce.
Educated people are often the most productive, and creating such a disincentive for people to pursue a higher education will have a negative impact on the country as a whole. If it doesn’t stop them from getting a college degree, then it will leave them financially strapped afterwards so that they will not buy a house or consume as much as they would have otherwise, thereby hurting the economy due to less aggregate consumption.
In addition to the economic cost of tuition, the impact is also felt emotionally. Students are often left stressed out and unhappy in their daily lives due to the financial burden that they are required to take on in order to receive an education in the first place.
The next question we need to ask, and probably the most important one, is: why is tuition going up so much? As with most problems facing social scientists, and especially economists, there is usually more than one simple answer. Unfortunately, the real world is not a math equation.
This question is rather hard to answer and is not as simple as many might think. There are a few different theories as to why this has been happening. Historically, many have thought that a decrease in state funding over time has caused students to foot more of the bill than they would have otherwise. However, this does not fully answer the question because in reality, public funding has grown, but the overall cost of education has also increased, and it is felt by a wider audience than just college students.
Another explanation is that increases in student loan limits have caused more demand for education than would have normally occurred in the market. This causes universities to justify raising tuition since students can pay for it with loans.
Under this theory, universities charge more for tuition than they otherwise would have because they know students can afford it. Increased competition between universities may also be another explanation. When one university builds a nice new building, other universities feel inclined to do the same. This causes costs to spiral as they compete to outdo each other with little real benefit to students’ education.
Also, administrative costs continue to increase due to constant expansion. According to a recent article by Paul Campos of The New York Times, between 1993 and 2009, administrative costs expanded by 60 percent. Over time, more administrators have been hired and salaries have increased tremendously. Tuition then must go up in order to pay for rising costs in both of these sectors.
Still, others argue that education is a bubble that has been expanding because people overvalue the benefits of higher education. Everyone wants to buy it, which then causes prices to escalate over time. High demand for anything can cause prices to increase because supply struggles to meet demand.
This concept would be similar to the housing bubble that we all experienced a few years ago when everyone wanted to buy and sell a house, thereby causing prices to go up drastically. These are just a few educated guesses as to what is causing tuition rates to rise so rapidly. There are still other theories up for debate.
It is almost impossible to say which of these theories is driving tuition up. It is more than likely a combination of them all with some playing a stronger role than others. It is hard to say what can be done to solve the problem.
Reducing competition between schools might be detrimental to education. In addition, it is difficult to say how any reform might take effect without actually implementing it. One thing is for sure though: making it harder for people to get an education and thus reducing the percentage of the population holding a bachelor’s degree is probably more harmful than it is beneficial.
In an economy so bent on knowledge and skill rather than brute strength or endurance, we can see how a more educated society will be a more productive one. In developed countries across the world, having a well-educated workforce is strongly associated with having a sturdy economy. Knowing this, it may be inadvisable to do anything except encourage higher education, but the cost must be lowered if we want to see a more educated society.
At the beginning of fall term, 2015, Western will become a tobacco-free campus — like many other universities in Oregon.
On Tuesday, May 26, President Mark Weiss sent out an e-mail to all students regarding the tobacco policy change.
Weiss said that “[the] use of tobacco on campus-owned property” will be banned at the beginning of next year. This includes any and all tobacco products including e-cigarettes and vaporizers.
First-year theatre major AJ Saddler is a part of the Heritage Hall Government, a division of the Residence Hall Association. On behalf of Heritage Hall residents, Saddler and his co-workers were asked to vote on the issue based on what they thought was best for the campus.
“I was in favor, personally, of doing smoke-free, and that’s what I voted for. The vote that passed was tobacco-free and I realized that tobacco-free was the best option for this campus,” Saddler said.
Even some current smokers like Brandt Van Soolen, a junior philosophy major, saw some benefit to the policy.
“In a way [the policy change] is kind of a problem, because I smoke. And in another way, I don’t disagree with it,” Van Soolen said. “Not only did they address the problem, but they saw other problems that would come about from it and took care of that too.”
This policy has been under debate for more than five years. As the last public four-year university in Oregon to allow smoking on campus, some faculty felt that the change was overdue.
“[The policy] has been on the table of discussion for about five years, but faculty and student turnover—such as graduation — has impeded the process,” said Craig Wimmer, health education coordinator.
Some concerns raised regarding the policy change are the consequences for noncompliance and what smokers/tobacco users can expect next year.
“What future consequences occur for those not in compliance will be determined as appropriate,” Weiss said.
Weiss emphasized that even in his absence, the policy “will be implemented the WOU way —that is, with respect and consideration of those that need help complying…We will make sure to have on-campus resources in place to help our students and staff.”
“As a former smoker, I know quitting or regulating tobacco use is both stressful and can feel like an infringement on liberties we all share in America… I have seen up close and personal the effects of tobacco use,” Weiss said.
According to the Western Website Policies and Procedures page, the tobacco-free policy will become effective on September 16, 2015 and will be up for review in September 2020.
While smoking or the use of any tobacco products will not be allowed on campus, those who choose to will still be allowed to go off-campus in order to use their tobacco products.
President Weiss requests that those who do choose this option will be respectful of the residents of Monmouth.
“[Western] needs to be good neighbors to our bordering residents,” Weiss said.
An entire day of classes was canceled for Western students in recognition of the 10th annual Academic Excellence Showcase.
Students were heavily encouraged to participate in the event by their professors, including the canceling of class, or the requirement of small slips handed out during presentations to show attendance. Certain classes require that students see presentations related to the typical course material, while others encourage branching out to view whatever catches the student’s eye.
“I’m nervous and honored,” stated Caitlin Masterson, a fourth-year ASL studies major who presented “Battle of the Sexes: Gender’s effect on ASL learners.”
Masterson said, “I became curious why there were so few men in ASL classes. I did a bunch of research to try and figure out if gender played a role in our ability to learn languages.”
Both the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences hosted this year’s Showcase.
The event is typically structured by areas of focus, such as music, computer science and philosophy. This allowed for students to pick areas of focus and attend many presentations in a row without running around campus frantically between presentations.
Presentations took shape in poster board productions, spoken presentations, and replicated performances of dance numbers and plays.
Brenda Puhlman and Sarah Pettigrew presented one of the spoken presentations in tandem. Their presentation was titled “The Adventures of Two SSP’s: Seabeck to Oklahoma” and discussed their personal experiences working with Deafblind individuals in that area.
“I had a phenomenal overall experience with Academic Excellence Showcase,” said Puhlman, a third-year in the ASL/English interpreting program. “It was an awesome opportunity to share my experiences and to share about a culture that not many people are familiar with.”
There was even an entire showing of the play “Frankie’s Flights of Fancy” for students to partake in for free. After the production, the cast members stuck around to answer any questions or take comments from the crowd as feedback.
Ultimately, it was another successful year for students to showcase the work that made them stand out from the rest.
