Mount Hood

IFC Debates Budget Allocation and Student Fees for 2015-2016

By JACK ARMSTRONG
 News Editor

The Incidental Fee Committee (IFC) is one of the most important student organizations on campus that many probably don’t know much about. Most students who are not heavily involved in extracurricular
activities or athletics don’t have much of a reason to come into contact with the IFC, but the committee’s decisions affect each and every student on campus.

The group meets during the winter quarter of each academic year to decide on a budget for the incidental fees that are a part of tuition for everyone who attends Western.

As IFC Chair Quinn Forner explained, the fees cover “enhancements for student life that are outside of academics.” In other words, these fees fund the parts of student life that aren’t covered under general tuition such as athletics, campus recreation including Health and Wellness, and student services such as Wolf Ride.

This year’s fee of $322 per term was decided upon last year during a series of annual meetings and debates.

The council meetings are observed by a small group of faculty advisers including Dr. Gary Dukes, vice president of student affairs and Darin Silbernagel, director of business services.

While faculty and staff are present on the council, the only members who can cast a vote and make a decision are current Western students.

This means that student leaders such as members of the Associated Students of Western Oregon and the student senate have the final say in what gets funded, and in turn, how much the incidental
fee for the upcoming year will be.

It may seem that a student-run council would have vastly different opinions about the budget, but to ensure that these meetings stay on track, everyone follows the rules of order used in all official
U.S. congressional proceedings.

Among other things, these rules govern who can talk, when they can talk, and provide a clear structure of command for healthy debate.

In addition, the meetings are required to abide by Oregon state law since they are open to the public
and concern state funds that utilize general public tax dollars.

Even during heated debates, the proceedings are easy to follow and understand.

Each meeting follows the same general procedure: the meeting is called to order by the Chair and
general business of the committee is dealt with. This usually encompasses decisions about future meeting times and agendas for the current meeting. Once these items have been discussed, it’s time to
move onto the budget presentations.

During the initial round of meetings each group on campus that is funded by IFC is allowed to give a
short presentation to the committee concerning their budgetary requirements for the upcoming year.

This usually includes the possible consequences of suffering a budget cut, and any additional money
that they are requesting for their organization.

Most groups are represented by their faculty/staff advisers at these meetings, but students who
are a part of the club are also allowed to speak with the committee to make their case.

After each presentation, the floor is opened to questions from the IFC members and others in attendance. They can ask anything they like concerning the budget, the requests, and the possible effect of any cuts. Usually the questions concern the importance of particular items requested
through additional money since not every item can be granted.

The Journal attended the meeting on Jan. 26, 2015, that saw presentations from Athletics, Student
Access and Disability Services, and Student Media (full discloser, student media funds The Journal).

Student Access presented first asking for enough money to hire an extra full time translator for
students with difficulty communicating.

Athletics asked for more financial support from IFC for traveling teams and keeping Western compliant with NCAA regulations.

Student media focused on funding for replacing old technology within KWOU and The Journal. After the speeches and question sessions were completed the meeting was adjourned.

The session of IFC held on Jan. 26 was the last session where clubs were able to make their arguments,
and now the committee looks to preliminary decisions and then the final vote. However, students
can still make an impact on the final call.

After the meeting, Forner encouraged all students with an interest in the budget to attend the
two open committee hearings.

These sessions will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in the Summit Room, and Monday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pacific Room, which are located in the WUC.

Both are open to the public, including students and community members, giving both groups a chance to ask questions and show support for their favorite clubs and activities. Individuals who wish to present are offered 3 minutes, and groups are offered 5.

For more information, visit wou.edu/wp/ifc or contact Adela Aguilar, IFC secretary, at guilara@wou.edu or 503-838-8303. Committee hearings are at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5 and Thursday, Feb. 9 in the Pacific Room.

Thefts Increase Sharply on Western’s Campus

By JACK ARMSTRONG
 News Editor

 

The campus community at Western has been experiencing a recent rise in reported thefts.

The Public Safety Office issued a campus-wide email earlier in the week detailing some basic measures that students can take to ensure that they are not the victims of theft. Students should always try to keep belongings on their person at all times; items like backpacks, purses, phones, and gym bags are easy targets when left unattended.

Both students and faculty with assigned offices are encouraged to close and lock the door while not in the office; even stepping out for a minute can be enough time for a potential thief to snatch belongings.

Drivers are asked to make sure that car doors are locked when parking for the day, and always leave any valuables in the trunk or out of site so they are not catching the eyes of a passerby.

One of the biggest issues on campus in recent terms has been the increased theft of bicycles. Public Safety recommends that riders should purchase a U-Lock like a Kryptonite if possible, as these types of locks are much more difficult for thieves to remove. Remember to always lock both the front wheel and the frame to the structure to avoid a thief simply removing the front wheel and taking the frame.

If students must leave belongings somewhere, Public Safety suggests looking into renting a locker. There are many buildings across campus that have lockers available for rent to students. The Health and Wellness Center has both term and day use lockers available for gym goers looking to keep their items safe during workouts. Day use lockers in HWC are secured with personal locks supplied by the student.

The most important tool in theft prevention, however, is common sense.

If students must stand up from a table or leave belongings in a class room momentarily, it is suggested that they ask peers to keep watch. When leaving bags and backpacks at the bookstore entrance, keep as much reasonable eye contact with them as possible, and as always, students are asked to report any
suspicious activity to Campus Safety or the Police

Sexual misconduct survey aims to gauge campus social environment

By JACK ARMSTRONG
 News Editor

This coming Monday, Feb. 2, a randomly selected group of Western Oregon’s students will be surveyed via email concerning sexual misconduct on campus.

The survey is being conducted by the student affairs office at Western as a part of a school and nationwide effort to increase overall awareness and reporting of sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.

Student affairs representative Tina Fuchs hopes that the survey will give the university a better picture of the campus climate in regards to sexual safety of students. The information gathered by the survey is also intended to help local law enforcement and campus public safety protect students from being victim of sexual crimes.

According to the student handbook, sexual misconduct is defined as “non-consensual sexual contact of any kind, the attempt to have non-consensual sexual contact or the threat of such contact. Sexual contact shall be considered non-consensual if no clear consent is freely given.”

Western’s campus is experiencing a rise in reports of sexual misconduct, but Fuchs says that much of this escalation is not directly tied to more crimes occurring on campus. Much of the increase is due to the new systems on campus for reporting the crimes.

Anonymous Report Forms provided by programs such as Abby’s House and Green Dot in combination with extended awareness of mental health services available at the Student Health and Counseling Center
have all lead to more incidents being reported.

The survey is limited to a random selection of students, but Fuchs said students are already
inundated with email surveys from other groups on campus.

Students who do not receive the survey but have experienced sexual violence or intimidation of any kind are strongly encouraged to seek university support in reporting the crimes.

Fuchs stressed that Western Oregon is committed to providing a safe learning environment and eradicating sexual misconduct on campus. Every student is a part of the solution.

Pastega Award Nominations Now Open

By STEPHANIE BLAIR
 Staff Writer

Each year, three awards are presented to staff and faculty members of Western Oregon University and this spring will be no different as the 36th year that the Pastega Awards will be presented.

The Pastega Staff Excellence Award is one of the three awards given each year, the other two being the Pastega Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the Pastega Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The entire process is coordinated by Western’s Human Resources Department. Nominations are given by students and community members. Then, the potential recipients are then invited to submit a portfolio exemplifying their work and are considered by a committee who pass three choices on to the university president for final selection. Finally, those who are selected are presented with the award in May. The Staff Excellence Award is given at the commencement breakfast in June.

As stated on Western’s Pastega Award webpage, in 1979 the first Scholarship Award was presented to Dr. J. Morris Johnson, a biology professor who had distinguished himself through his work cloning carrot cells.

Six years later, the awards for Teaching and Staff Excellence were created and presented to Forrest Hiner and Pat Gallagher, respectively. Last year’s recipients were Ms. Sue Thompson (Staff Excellence), Dr. David Doellinger (Scholarship), and Dr. Katherine Schmidt (Teaching).

Additionally, each recipient receives a $1,000 honorarium along with the award. This is made possible each year through the generosity of Mario Pastega and his wife, Alma, who donated $40,000 in 1997, which was then matched by the Oregon State System of Higher Education.

Nominations are now being accepted for this year’s awards. An email was sent to all students on Jan.25 with the nomination forms attached. These forms can be filled out and either delivered by hand to the Academic Affairs Office or emailed to Kathy Hill, executive assistant to the vice president for Academic Affairs, at hillk@wou.edu.

For more information, please visit https://wou.edu/president/facultysenate/pastega/

Clubs come together for social issues

By AMANDA CLARKE
 Staff Writer

The Criminal Justice Club and the Black Student Union will be collaborating to host “Discussing Ferguson: Lessons Learned and Underlying Social Issues” on Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center (WUC).

“It represents all minorities,” said Dolan Kasnick, a member of the Criminal Justice Club who organized the event. “It is an uncomfortable issue; it is ugly, but it is time to have a reasonable conversation about it. But if we ignore this, who knows if we’ll see it again.”

Guest speakers include a representative from the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership, a police officer to talk about current events, a professor who was an officer during the Rodney King riots, and Dr. Dean Braa, from the Sociology department. They will be discussants at a roundtable format.

“I have some background on issues of race and ethnicity, specifically some thoughts and/or theories on racism,” Braa said. “One key issue is the history/evolution of predominantly Black communities as part of metropolitan areas”

The event will talk about historically similar events such as the Rodney King riots, and will speak about what can be learned from the past as well as what steps can be taken now.

It will cover various issues that caused the events that the United States is currently experiencing, such as Ferguson and other riots.

“Lots of questions, but not so many answers,” Braa said. “How is it that Ferguson evolved into a mostly Black suburb? Is residential segregation part of the problem in race relations? Why has the predominant Black population of Ferguson not taken control of city government? Will this happen in the future? How do
we connect issues of race and class in understanding problems in communities like Ferguson?”

The purpose of the event is to hopefully reach a conclusion and learn from the past events in American History.

There will be a table in WUC Thursday and Friday as well as Monday and Tuesday regarding the event.

The event is free and open to all students, faculty and guests.

For more information,
contact Dolan Kasnick at
dkasnick11@wou.edu

Monmouth Momiji open for business

By KATRINA PENAFLOR
 Campus Life Editor

The much anticipated sushi restaurant, Momiji, finally opened its doors last Friday, Jan. 16.

Momiji already holds a popular location in Salem, but the new restaurant, located on the corner of West Main Street and Monmouth Avenue, is the ideal spot for students.

“You don’t have to drive far,” said Shauna Fansler, an education major.

Much of the buzz amongst students can be credited to Momiji’s active presence on Facebook and Instagram.

Jeff Berneski, the manager of Momiji, has been the force behind the strong social media presence. He actively posts photos of sushi dishes and video updates about the restaurant and credits a lot of the anticipation to the timing and content of the posts.

“You have to know when to post,” he said, “[and] what will grab people’s attention.”

And the “people’s attention” has definitely been grabbed, with lines forming out the door. The overall consensus: the food and atmosphere are a hit.

“Best decision Monmouth ever made,” said Jessica Esparza, an English and psychology major.

Students trying Momiji for the first time said the service is fast, friendly, and efficient. And if fortunate enough to be seated at the bar, you can watch the sushi be made right in front of you.

“As a junior, I’ve waited three years for a sushi restaurant to open in Monmouth,” said Janessa Rook, a communication studies major. “I could not be happier.”

The menu suits a large variety of tastes, with options for fresh sushi rolls, tempura dishes, bento boxes, crepes and more.

Students who have never had sushi, or are perhaps hesitant, are encouraged to come in and give it a try. Berneski is confident he can form a roll to suit someone’s individual tastes, and the menu is diverse enough to have something for everyone.

Lunch specials are also available, with combo choices of select rolls, salad and soup for $8.95.

Aside from the regular sit-down dining experience, customers will also be able to call ahead and order meals to go: a convenience that is always helpful for students.

Jeff says the restaurant is excited to show students and the community their great food and service.

“Come in and be ready to have some of the best sushi you have ever tasted,” Berneski said.

For restaurant hours and more information head to over Momiji’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Momijimonmouth, check out their Instagram @momijimonmouth, or call 503- 837-0111.

ASWOU presents “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

By KATRINA PENAFLOR
 Campus Life Editor

The Associated Students of Western Oregon University organized a performance of the cult hit “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 6p.m.

The movie adaption centers on the couple Janet Weiss and Brad Major, famously played by actors Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. The two stumble upon the mysterious mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and are immediately thrust into a world of transvestites, human creations, and of course, music.

Fans of the live performance know the production to be a wild and interactive good time. Full of music, dancing, sexual innuendos, and the tradition of throwing things at the stage. Prop bags were available to buy for $2 each. They were filled with cards, glow sticks, and more to throw and wear during the show.

Tony Young, the emcee for the evening and actor of the character Dr. Scott, got the crowd riled up and ready for the show. He welcomed all Rocky Horror “virgins” to come forward and participate in several saucy and hilarious activities. From a duel ended Slim Jim eating contest to “how many sex positions can you reenact in 30 seconds,” the emcee made sure all new-comers were laughing, comfortable, and ready for the show to begin.

Tony even facilitated a faux wedding between audience members Janessa Rook and Felice Lilly.

The performers were a group called The Denton Delinquents from the Kiggins Theatre in Vancouver, Wash. They donned classic Rocky Horror costumes and acted simultaneously with the movie playing in the background.

The audience was included throughout the whole performance. Actors, while singing and dancing along to the movie, would sing and connect with audience members while performing.

“It’s really interactive,” said early education major, Tianna Flannery.

Playing cards and glow sticks were among some of the items thrown and used during the performance, all playing along with the tradition of the show. People also donned newspapers on their heads during the rain scene of the film. The emcee encouraged people to shout “slut” and “asshole” when the characters named

Janet Weiss and Brad Major were mentioned.

During the famous Time Warp song, the crowd all stood up and danced along with the performers.

The show was outrageous and fun. Die hard Rocky Horror fans were impressed and first time viewers enjoyed the lively show. ASL interpreting major, Gabriela Guzman, said the show was, “very enjoyable, unless you are conservative.”

Lilly, a public relations and graphic design major, loved having the opportunity to attend Rocky Horror on campus.

“I think it’s really great to have a student organization who can bring a show like this to the university,” Lilly said.