Mount Hood

All is bright: Western hosts 51st Annual Holiday Tree Lighting

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Gathering together despite a cold and rainy evening, a crowd eagerly anticipated the 51st Annual Tree Lighting — a Western campus and community tradition that ushers in the holiday season. Decked with colored lights and a star on top, the Giant Sequoia was set to light up after a parade of student groups and local businesses had made its way down Main Street and Monmouth Avenue.

Some of the businesses and organizations who participated in this year’s parade included Monmouth Police and Campus Public Safety, Western’s Greek organizations, the 2018 Homecoming Royalty, local elementary schools, WOU Drumline, WOU Dance Team, Polk County Fire District and many more.

After the parade and tree lighting, spectators were invited to participate in a number of events that were held in the Werner University Center. Upstairs, students and families had the opportunity to meet Santa Claus, witness the cookie baking and tree decorating competitions, color a variety of holiday pictures and visit an informational display that provided information about the numerous holidays that are celebrated by different cultures around this time of year. Moving downstairs, attendees could hear the music of a local school choir concert that was open to the whole community.

Additionally, just down the road, “Wine, Warmth and Music at the Historic Gentle House” was a free event that featured a variety of holiday food, wine tasting for those 21 or over, live music, free portraits and cookie decorating.

When reflecting on her years attending the Holiday Tree Lighting, senior education major Natalie Sassaman shared that she appreciated sense of unity that the event offered.

“My favorite aspect of the Monmouth tree lighting is the community from Monmouth, Independence, and (Western) coming together to celebrate an incredible tradition,” said Sassaman. “Even with cold rain, everyone was able to come together to enjoy watching the parade and tree light up.”

Similarly, Erin Roan, another senior education major, valued the fact that this event — which occurs between Week 10 and Finals Week — gives students the chance to slow down and focus on positive things in the midst of a hectic time.

“I loved going to the tree lighting for the fourth year in a row because it’s such a great time to see the WOU community come together in the middle of a busy, stressful time,” said Roan.

If students missed this year’s Holiday Tree Lighting, they still have the opportunity to witness the tree’s beauty each night during the holiday season.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Kyle Morden (Car) & Ashlynn Norton (Tree)

Aid for Super Typhoon Yutu survivors

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

On the morning of Oct. 25, a super typhoon with Category 5 sustained winds of 180mph hit the Northern Mariana Islands in the U.S Pacific territory, according to NPR. Impacting the islands of Saipan and Tinian, meteorologists at Weather Underground affirmed that Super Typhoon Yutu has been the strongest storm anywhere in the world for 2018.

“Roadways were littered with downed power poles and tree branches,” stated journalists for the Washington Post. “Parked cars were smashed by debris, some overturned by the powerful winds. What used to be buildings were reduced to haphazard piles of tin and wood.”

Hearing about this at Western, ASWOU decided that it was important to give students the opportunity to help those in Saipan and Tinian who are currently without electricity and water and have had their homes destroyed.

“ASWOU was contacted by two students who are from the Island of Saipan and wanted to see if there was a way to set up a fundraiser to donate items that are needed to join the bigger efforts in Salem,” said ASWOU president Evelyn Guzman. “Since students directly contacted us asking for help we found it of importance to help out in whatever form we could.”

For two weeks up until the end of November, ASWOU placed a donation bin in the Werner University Center for people in the Western community who wanted to help those impacted by Super Typhoon Yutu. Some of the items that people were encouraged to donate were bottled water, canned food, clothing, hygiene products, mosquito coils and flashlights, among other things.

At the end of the month, the donations were collected by the larger efforts in Salem so that they could be sent to the islands that were affected.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Deciphering election results

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

On Nov. 28, a group of Western’s faculty and staff filled the lecture hall of the Health and Wellness Center to hear from professionals about the implications of the 2018 Midterm Election. By the time that the presentation started, a number of students even stood in the back of the room since so many people were in attendance.

Dividing the presentation up by first focusing on Oregon ballot measures and then looking at the larger cultural shifts that were suggested by the national results, Dr. Earlene Camarillo and Dr. Ed Dover shared insights with the community.

Starting off, Dr. Camarillo, a political science professor at Western who is a specialist in American government, spoke about each of the five ballot measures that were voted on in the most recent election and what Oregonians should glean from these results. Camarillo looked first at a few of the measures that failed which she saw as being more straight-forward: Measures 104, 105 and 106.

Then, after addressing the reasons why each of these failed, she went on to address the more confusing of the failing measures: 103, which proposed banning a tax on groceries.

“We often see a lot of similar pieces of legislation come through Oregon and Washington — often similar values — so it’s kind of curious as to why Washington passed this, and Oregon didn’t,” said Camarillo. She hypothesized, however, that one reason why this might be the case is that the purpose and extent of the measure was unclear to a number of Oregonians.

“There is no grocery tax in Oregon, and so I think that confused a lot of voters. They didn’t see why it was necessary,” said Camarillo. She added that people generally vote no on measures that they don’t fully understand, since they don’t want to be stuck with the negative consequences of an ambiguous law.

Camarillo also touched on Measure 102, the only passing measure which was successful due to the bipartisan support it received.

All in all, Dr. Camarillo shared that even though this year had comparatively fewer measures on the ballot, they were largely issues of national importance, which led to a significant investment of 11 million dollars from out-of-state donors being invested in them.

After discussing these local implications, Dr. Dover, a retired political science professor from Western, talked about the national trends that were highlighted through various congressional races.

He stressed that it is important to not only look at the number of seats that each party currently has, but also how many that they had before, in order to get a fuller understanding of the way that beliefs are shifting. In this sense, the democrats were very successful both with governor seat and representative seats, as they experienced a net gain of 40 in the house of representatives alone.

The biggest shift that can be observed, Dover claimed, is in the realignment of the way that a lot of women are choosing to vote.

“College-educated women in urban and suburban areas have moved overwhelmingly to the Democratic Party. It is significant, and it is what caused most of the change in this particular election,” said Dover.

Keeping this shift in mind, Dover predicted trouble for President Trump in the 2020 election.

“Donald Trump has not really gained any support from what he had before — people who were against him are generally still against him and some of the people who were for him have turned against him,” said Dover.

All things considered,  it will be interesting to see how these trends play out as the United States moves toward the 2020 election cycle.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Monmouth spreads holiday cheer with first ever “Making Spirits Bright”

Caity Healy | Editor-in-Chief

‘Twas the week before finals, and the town of Monmouth was ready to make spirits bright. As a way to celebrate Small Business Saturday as well as kick of the holidays, the Making Spirits Bright committee held their first annual event on Saturday, Nov. 24. 

“We decided that Western Oregon University and the city are in a very good partnership, and we wanted to do more. (We) tied that in with Small Business Saturday…so we brought in this event this year to bring our community back in a little more,” said Chuck Thurman, one of the planners of the event and a member of the Making Spirits Bright Committee.

The committee chair who was in charge of putting the entire event together was Susan Fuller, who participated in several of the games and made the event an enjoyable one for all involved.

The event itself was held in Main Street Park, and it incorporated several smaller events, such as a Central High School’s Mainstreet Singers performance, games like bingo and limbo, a kids craft corner held at MaMere’s carriage house and a conclusion to the night which was the lighting of Santa’s Workshop and the Gingerbread Village.

The events didn’t stay within the boundaries of Main Street Park, however. Those in attendance were invited to take part in a Polar Express Passport activity. The objective was to visit each of the small businesses that had been listed on their passport, get a stamp at each, bring it back and be entered into the drawing. Walking down Main Street, participants made stops at businesses including Yeasty Beasty, Fine Pickens, Petals and Vines, Windermere Real Estate and much more. There were several prize packages available to those who filled their passport, each comprised of a collection of donations from the small businesses who made this event possible.

Several smaller businesses took part in the event as well, with small booths set up throughout the park, by selling bags, some baked goods, beverages and more. With a steady flow of attendance, the event proved to be a success for its kick-off year.

 

Contact the author at howleditor@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Caity Healy

Engaging in undergraduate research

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Focusing on academics the week before finals, Western’s Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences, or PURE, organized an event called Sharing Undergraduate Research Experiences, or SURE, that was designed to help students brainstorm ideas for future research projects and learn from the experiences of people in their community. For this particular event, which was the first of its kind, five faculty and four students shared their wisdom with students on Nov. 26 in the Willamette Room of the Werner University Center.

In turn, these different pairs of faculty and students shared a bit about their research processes and topics that they had researched — from food insecurity to measuring creativity to early childhood development and more.

In discussing her research with food insecurity, senior Paula Waldron described why she appreciated the research she had performed.

“I think the most valuable part of this whole thing is being able to use the skills,” said Waldron. “It’s something I’ll be able to take with me when I go to graduate school, and it’s definitely helped to boost my self-confidence.”

Amongst other things, the presenters stated that getting to work on research can be beneficial to students as a resume-builder, a networking opportunity, an opportunity for collaborative learning and even things like the possibility of publication and traveling.

Reflecting on what had led to this event, Gregory Zobel, an education professor and the director of PURE, stated that the inspiration to organize such a gathering had come from wanting to offer more occasions for Western students to be exposed to the research that is already being conducted in their area.

“One of the greatest things about Western is that we have a very low student to faculty ratio and we have a lot of faculty doing really interesting things and they have opportunities to do research,” said Zobel. He added that “even if your research interests don’t align exactly with what (the presenters) are doing, they may very well know other faculty that can help you out with an interesting research project or experience.”

Since professors tend to be very excited about the research that they conduct, Zobel conveyed that it was easy to find faculty who would be willing to share their wisdom with interested students.

If students are interested in pursuing a research project, the number one thing that Zobel suggested was to start talking with faculty and peers who they think might be valuable to their project and who they get along well with.

“Knock on doors and talk to people,” said Zobel. “It is possible to do interesting, meaningful research — all you have to do is reach out and find people. There’s no special qualification that you need.”

If students would like to learn more, the next SURE event is scheduled to occur in March of 2019.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Get to know a major: Humanities

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

With finals week approaching, senior humanities major Madeleine Hannah set aside time on Nov. 26 to talk in Hamersly Library about the impact that being a humanities major has had on her college career.

With the humanities major at Western, students are able to choose two different focus areas from a variety of language-related departments: communication, English, French, German, Spanish, Philosophy and Religion. In doing so, the goal of the humanities department is for students to learn about language, “not only for communication but also in culture, literary art, and philosophical and religious thought,” according to the mission statement found on their website.

For Hannah, two of her greatest passions are English and Spanish, so she is grateful for a major that has allowed her to focus so heavily on both.

“I find that a lot of people (in humanities) start out doing other things,” said Hannah. “I was a linguistics major and I thought about being a Spanish major, and I feel like most people who wind up in humanities start somewhere else but realize that humanities is a better option for them.”

In terms of the community within the humanities major, Hannah shared that she has grown close with her classmates and professors in both her concentration areas, but that her major itself is actually quite intimate due to its small size.

“I’m in the capstone class now and there’s three people including me,” said Hannah. “But, because of that, when you find another humanities majors you’re instant best friends.”

And while there are a number of people who may dismiss the humanities major because they don’t know very much about it, Hannah shared that the things she has learned because of her major have already helped her in academic and professional settings.

After having taken a poetry class with Dr. Henry Hughes last year, Hannah remarked, “I had worked on the craft of poetry and so I felt more confident entering the Peter Sears contest. So, I entered the contest and I wound up winning first place. And that was a really cool experience for me as a writer.”

In addition to her scholarly work, Hannah has also proven that she can be successful in the workforce with the help of her major.

“People kind of write humanities off, but I’ve gotten several jobs,” said Hannah. “I’ve worked at a publishing company for a while as an internship, I work at the Writing Center right now and it is, without exaggeration, the best job I’ve ever had.”

Looking to the future, Hannah is set to complete her undergraduate degree at the end of Fall Term and to begin her MAT at Western in the Winter Cohort.

“It’s exciting to see where that goes because I never would have done that had I not taken the classes that I took and been around the professors that I was around,” said Hannah. “Humanities is something that transfers over to a lot of other areas, so regardless of what you’re interested in, humanities gives you a really good start.”

For any students who would like to learn more about the humanities major, information can be found on Western’s website at wou.edu/humanities.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Honoring trans individuals whose lives were lost through hate

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Trans women of color have a one in eight chance of being murdered, according to Trans Student Educational Resources.

Aiming to shed light on sobering statistics such as this, Western’s Stonewall Center set up a table in the Werner University Center on Nov. 15 to observe Trans Day of Remembrance — a day which occurs annually on Nov. 20.

In order to honor those who have been murdered because of their trans identity, Stonewall Center sought to spread awareness and love within the Western community by distributing flyers and having students write notes of encouragement and support on paper hearts that would later be joined to create a transgender flag.

In the midst of the tabling, Stonewall Center Coordinator and junior communications major Susannah Doepkin shared the reason that this day is commemorated each year.

“It’s to remember those whose lives have been lost due to acts of violence against people in the trans community,” said Doepkin.

When asked about how she hoped that this event might impact Western’s students, staff and faculty, Doepkin shared that her wish was for it to first make them uncomfortable — and ultimately allow them to grow.

“I hope it’s a sobering thing because a lot of the time people don’t even think about it,” said Doepkin. “And I think that acknowledging it and making you slightly uncomfortable is a good thing.”

With the current political climate of the United States, Doepkin shared that a number of transgender individuals’ rights are in jeopardy, so it’s more important now than ever to offer love and support to that community.

“Even things like having gender-neutral bathrooms is a huge thing for people just to feel comfortable in,” said Doepkin, discussing actions that can be taken to support transgender people. Building off this idea, Doepkin also stated that “one of the big things I’ve noticed is pronouns — addressing pronouns and respecting pronouns — and even if that’s being an ally to the community and putting your pronouns in your email signature or in a Twitter bio, I think that immediately shows support to the trans community that you’re a safe space for them.”

Although it can be disheartening to hear about the number of transgender people who are still killed in hate crimes every year, Doepkin shared that she has hope for the way things could move in the future.

“There were two less names (on the list of trans people killed) than last year, and although that may not seem like a lot, that is at least a small step forward,” Doepkin said.

If students are interested in learning more about Trans Day of Remembrance and what they can do to support the trans community, they can visit the Stonewall Center in Werner University Center Room 110 or they can utilize web sites such as glaad.org to learn more about transgender issues.

The names of 23 transgender people who have lost their lives in the US so far in 2018 due to acts of violence

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton. List by Brittany Figueroa.

 

WOUCSSA connects community and Chinese culture through dance

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

While the majority of students passed unwittingly through Hamersley Library on the evening of Nov. 12, a group from the Western Oregon University Chinese Students and Scholars Association prepared to perform a flash mob for the passersby.

“This week is International Education Week in the U.S, so our WOUCSSA students (wanted) to do a flash mob to spread Chinese culture,” said Justin Wang, an early childhood education major and leader in WOUCSSA.

When students from China come to Western, Wang shared that WOUCSSA’s job is to help them adjust to life in the U.S. and the new culture in areas like shopping, eating, and even safety.

“We organize Chinese students and Chinese scholars to make lots of activities and some student clubs,” said Wang.

With this flash mob in particular, there was a student in WOUCSSA who had experience choreographing dances, so she taught and performed a routine with a group. Then, after they performed, another group of students sung a medley of three Chinese songs: the first is a sweet and popular song by an artist from Hong Kong, the second is a traditional song many Chinese students know and the third is a song that talks about missing someone close to you. For the group, this final song was particularly powerful because they miss their families in China, and it reminded them of that.

If Western students missed this flash mob and would like another opportunity to see WOUCSSA perform, Wang and Odelia Zhao — another early childhood education major and leader at WOUCSSA — shared that the next opportunity to see and support them will be at the longer show, filled with song and dance, that they are putting together on Feb. 1 in hopes that the Western community will attend.

Further down the road, the group is also planning on having a fashion show towards the end of the year where they will get the chance to wear their traditional Chinese garments and share the beauty of the culture with the greater campus community.

Watch WOUCSSA’s performance at wou.edu/woutv.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Lam Lin. Video courtesy of Deborah Rezell.

 

Knowledge is power — so are connections

Jamari Gilbert | Freelancer

The Business and Economics club at Western was given a valuable opportunity in being able to have Shelli Honeywell, an Alumna, come back and speak to the club about her experiences after college. She emphasized how she continued to persevere until she eventually found the place where she felt she could make the greatest difference: The Department of Corrections in the state of Oregon.

“I get to change the world every single day” Honeywell said.

This is not the way that many people get to feel in their job, so how did she get that point in her life? How did she get to a position where she can interact with inmates and change their lives for the better? The answer might not be as complicated as it seems.  Although, as Honeywell described her journey, she shared that there were many lessons she learned before reaching the point where she is now.

“Each job and each thing that you do is a life lesson,” Honeywell said, capturing the heart of what it takes to succeed as a professional.

Honeywell’s address also highlighted how, in life, it is sometimes unclear where exactly we will end up going.

“I would never have told you that I would work for Corrections,” Honeywell said when sharing with the audience about how she tried different careers, looking for one that she knew that she would love.

Honeywell’s advice did not end there, though, as she offered many other food-for-thought experiences to the club members as well.

Describing what led her to a career which allows her to change lives as, “one of those small detours,” Honeywell made a powerful statement that shows how just one “small detour” can set your life down a completely different path than what you could have imagined. But one of the most crucial ideas that Honeywell told the audience is that “the connections you make… will get you where I am.”  

This event was a great learning experience that the Business and Economics Club was able to capitalize on; an opportunity to meet and interact with someone who is out in the field — someone who has both influence and connections — was truly one of the best results from the address.

“If I can get anything from it, it would be a (story of) success” said Jesse Honeyman, a junior and business major who attended the event.

For any students who are intrigued by this event or like the sound of a business and economics club, Western’s Business & Economics Club meets on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. at the Werner University Center, in the Ochoco Room.

 

Contact the author at jgilbert16@wou.edu

Turkeys for Thanksgiving

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, The WOU Food Pantry compiled 50 Thanksgiving dinner baskets for families in need in the community. After assembling the baskets on Nov. 19 and 20, The Food Pantry was ready to pass out the baskets on Nov. 21 in the Werner University Center. Students and community members alike were able to sign up for baskets ahead of time which would be ready to pick up later on.

Leading the efforts to organize the event, Libby Vigil, senior sociology major and WOU Food Pantry Campus Outreach Coordinator, explained why WOU Food Pantry had hosted this outreach program for a number of years.

“We like to do events for people, and we know that the holidays can be kind of hard,” said Vigil. “So just being able to provide a meal for those in our community is the most important thing.”

Vigil explained that the centerpiece of the meals — the hams and turkeys — had been donated by an anonymous source who has done this for a number of years. For the rest of the items in the meals, however, Vigil explained that the food was provided by a number of individuals in the community.

“We send out an email to faculty and staff, as well as retired faculty and staff and alumni,” said Vigil. “We ask if they are interested in donating items to our Thanksgiving baskets…(and) they can do a monetary donation as well.”

With the proceeds from this year’s Thanksgiving baskets, Vigil was able to go with her supervisor to the grocery store and fill two shopping carts with any elements of the baskets that were remaining: stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole supplies, potatoes, cranberry sauce and more.

Although The WOU Food Pantry was able to help a number of families in years past, Vigil shared that the donations for baskets this year had exceeded their expectations.

“There’s 50 of them, which is 20 more than there was last year,” said Vigil.

In discussing the hope that she had for this event, Vigil shared the value she perceived in distributing these baskets.

“Food is a really big thing that brings people together in general — no matter if it’s this holiday, or a family dinner, or if you’re not family but you really care about each other,” said Vigil. Furthermore, she explained that “It takes the weight off (of families); there’s a social pressure during this holiday to have a big meal, but we do have a large problem with food insecurity — not only in this community, but also as a country and in the world,” said Vigil.

Then, in discussing the way that The WOU Food Pantry hopes to continue reaching out to the community beyond this holiday, Vigil shared some of the things that she wishes Western students knew about their resource.

“A lot of pantries limit people according to their income or how many people they have…but we don’t really keep track of that since we’re a smaller pantry,” said Vigil. She also wanted to remind people that WOU Food Pantry is “not only for students, but also for community members as well.”

Moving forward, Vigil wanted Western community members to know that she and the rest of the staff are so grateful for their generosity, and that if they are interested in volunteering, the WOU Food Pantry is a very rewarding opportunity. If students would like to volunteer, they can email Vigil at foodpantryvolunteers@wou.edu. And, if anyone is would like to visit the pantry, they are located in the Oregon Military Academy Building and their hours are posted on Western’s website.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Western leaders react to hate speech in Monmouth

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

On the evening of Nov. 8, a demonstration of racist and hateful graffiti was found near Western’s campus on Southgate Drive. Within the graffiti, the responsible party had written “Proud Boys MAGA” and had drawn a number of swastikas on the road. Images of this nature are in direct opposition to Western’s official values of community, diversity, respect and empowerment, and it is crucial to the future success and safety of the university that students, faculty and staff are able to come together to take a stand against such forms of injustice.

With this particular form of hate speech, the vandals represented the ideals of the Nazi party as well as those of the Proud Boys — a hate group established in 2016 who denies any connection to the alt-right, but who claims to adhere to an “anti-political correctness” agenda.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that focuses on civil rights issues, the Proud Boys are a group known for creating misogynistic, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic propaganda, amongst other forms of hate speech.

Reacting to this display of hate in Monmouth’s community, the ASWOU executive board released a statement on Nov. 9 that announced and condemned the graffiti, offering support for Western students who are impacted by this event. The ASWOU senate also passed a resolution during their meeting which officially condemned the recent act of hate.

ASWOU Vice President and senior philosophy major Erik Morgan shared that ASWOU is in the process of determining what further actions should be taken moving forward.

“We… realized that unfortunately there was likely at least one student who did not feel safe on campus at this point in time,” said Morgan. “So, we started immediately brainstorming ideas about how we can reach out to those students, the community at large, the administration and the city council community leaders to make sure we can come together as a community.”

Morgan also encouraged students to reach out for support, and he said that ASWOU was a resource available to any student who would like to talk.

On Nov. 13, President Rex Fuller sent an email to the Western community which included a letter signed by President Fuller along with the mayors of Monmouth and Independence and the Superintendent of Central School District.

“As community leaders, it is our goal to ensure everyone is welcome and is provided with a welcoming community that allows each of us to thrive,” stated the letter.

If students would like to talk with someone in light of this event, there are a number of resources on Western’s campus they can reach out to such as the Student Health and Counseling Center at (503) 838-8313 and Abby’s House at (503) 838-8219.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Oregon’s election outcomes

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

 

National Offices

U.S. Representative District 5: Kurt Schrader (54.98% to 41.89%)

Democrat Kurt Schrader has been serving as a legislator since 1996. After working in both the Oregon House of Representatives and Senate, Schrader has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in six consecutive cycles. Congressman Schrader uses his experiences to serve of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

 

State Offices

Governor: Kate Brown (49.99% to 43.75%)

Governor Kate Brown was elected to serve her first full term as Oregon’s Governor after first assuming the position in 2015. In running for reelection, some of Brown’s major focuses included increasing Oregon’s high school graduation rate, ensuring healthcare access for Oregonians and protecting the environment for future generations.

State Representative District 20: Paul Evans (53.35% to 46.38%)

A candidate who graduated from Western, Democrat Paul Evans has been serving House District 20 since 2015. During his time working both as senator and as an instructor at Chemeketa Community College, Evans has pushed to pass legislation supporting higher education and veterans services.

State Senator District 10: Jackie Winters (53.98% to 45.81%)

Minority leader in the Oregon Senate, Republican Jackie Winters has been serving as District 10’s senator since 2003. In the 2017 legislative session, Winters served on the Transportation and Economic Development Committee and as Vice Chair on the Ways and Means Committee.

 

Local Offices

Monmouth Mayor: Cecelia Koontz (61.13% to 37.99%)

Cecelia “Cec” Koontz serves as Vice Chair on Western’s Board of Trustees and as business manager for the Central School District. After years of dedication to the town, Koontz has been elected as Monmouth’s first female mayor. Koontz priorities are to increase citizen engagement, economic opportunity and collaborative partnerships.

 

Monmouth City Councilors:

Roxanne Beltz (1736 votes)

Roxanne Beltz was re-elected as a Monmouth City Councilor after having been appointed in March 2018. Beltz has worked in the fields of transportation and marketing and her primary goal in running for city council was to ensure community livability for Monmouth residents.

Jon Carey (1321 votes)

Jon Carey has served on the Monmouth City Council since 2008, he was Western’s Athletic Director from 1993 to 2010 and he has worked on the Minet Board of Directors for the last four years. Carey’s goal is to develop a comprehensive growth strategy for the community.

Stephen Howard (1317 votes)

As a member of Monmouth’s planning commission since 2011, Stephen Howard is a self-employed software developer who creates software for businesses and non-profits and is passionate about shaping a city that will prepare for Monmouth’s future needs.

 

Ballot Measures

Measure 102: Yes (56.77% to 43.23%)

Approving this measure amended the state constitution by allowing local governments to use bond revenue to support the construction of affordable housing without needing to retain full ownership of the projects. Advocates for Measure 102 claim that its passing will allow affordable housing to be built faster.

Measure 103: No (57.34% to 42.66%)

If Measure 103 would have passed, it would have preemptively barred taxes on the sale or distribution of groceries. Although its failing doesn’t mean that there will be any taxes on groceries at this time, it is possible that such taxes will be proposed in the future.

Measure 104: No (65.22% to 34.78%)

Measure 104 sought to make it more challenging for revenue to be raised in Oregon through means including taxes and changes in tax exemptions by requiring three-fifths, or a supermajority, of the vote. This measure was ultimately defeated because enough voters felt it gave legislators in the minority party too much power regarding the ability to raise revenue.

Measure 105: No (63.39% to 36.61%)

The “no” votes on Measure 105 led to the upholding of Oregon’s sanctuary state law, which has been in place since 1987. This law prohibits local officers from apprehending individuals whose only violation is being in the country illegally. This law is supported by many because they believe it reduces racial profiling.

Measure 106: No (64.44% to 35.56%)

The defeating of Measure 106 upheld Oregon’s public funding for abortion. This measure would have impacted government employees as well as those on Medicaid. In this way, many of those opposed to 106 argued that its primary effect would have been to deny access to low-income women.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Western students network at Career and Grad School Fair

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After inviting recruiters to participate in Western’s annual Career and Grad School Fair, the staff at Service Learning and Career Development was eager to welcome students to engage with members of their community on Nov. 7. Inside the Pacific Room, 55 different organizations set up booths with flyers, business cards, and merchandise from their organizations — ultimately hoping students would come to them with inquiries and interest.

The Career and Grad School Fair is organized each year by Jennifer Hansen, the Career Development Coordinator at SLCD. Hansen reaches out to all of the employers who are currently associated with the university, then they are able to sign up to participate.

At the fair, a variety of fields — including law enforcement, education, health services, business and more — had recruiters who were excited to speak with students about their organizations.

Waiting to help students check-in, senior psychology major and SLCD Peer Career Advisor Ashley Johnston shared why this event continues to be hosted each year at Western.

“As we’ve been doing this more and more, we find that it’s super beneficial and that the students have given great feedback,” said Johnston. She added that, In the past, students have “met someone they eventually got a job with or (learned about) grad schools they didn’t know about.”

When asked what was the most beneficial thing that students could take away from this event, Johnston replied without hesitation: networking.

“Networking is huge — I think it’s the biggest thing,” said Johnston. Related to this, she emphasized how important it is to have the skill set “to talk to someone and make a face-to-face contact because a lot of people don’t do that. And it’s hard to do that outside of school, too, which is why it’s really important that it’s here.”

Additionally, Johnston stated that going to the Career and Grad School Fair gives students the chance to build connections in a manner that would be easier than if they were to approach these companies and schools elsewhere.

“People are here to talk to them specifically,” said Johnston. “They’re meant to be networking, so they don’t have to work as hard.”

Finally, Johnston wanted Western students to realize that there are number of reasons why employers are interested in hiring students, so there is no need to be scared to talk with them.

“Employers want (students) to reach out,” said Johnston. “I know we’re younger…but students are really beneficial employees in a lot of ways — fresh minds, being able to learn,” etc.

Although the Career and Grad School Fair has passed, Western students can make appointments to discuss careers or graduate school with SLCD, which is located in Werner University Center 119.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Greek organizations rally in support of survivors

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Alpha Chi Omega sisters in black dresses and purple ribbons welcomed guests on Nov. 1 to their event with Kappa Sigma, “My Little Black Dress Doesn’t Mean Yes.” The Greek organizations joined together to raise funds for The Center for Hope and Safety, a domestic violence shelter in Salem.

“We help victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and stalking,” said Stephen Broncho, the Community Engagement Manager at The Center for Hope and Safety. “Last year, we had over 26,000 contacts to our program.”

Two Alpha Chi Omega members shared their personal experiences with domestic violence, and the President of Kappa Sigma and senior computer science major, Brandon Linton, conveyed a number of statistics about the prevalence of domestic violence in the United States, particularly amongst college-aged women. However, he also stated that there is no one type of person domestic violence targets.

“Domestic violence does not care about your age, your race, your skin color, your religion or your sexual orientation,” said Linton. “Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.”

Linton then stated that the biggest problem survivors of domestic violence face is not being heard. Although survivors have many reasons for not reporting, he shared that some of the most common ones include not believing the police could help, not wanting to get the abuser in trouble, not feeling their experience was important enough to report and being afraid of retaliation.

“I’m here to tell you that there are people in this room and on this campus who care about you,” Linton said. “It is up to us to change the stigma and stereotypes about domestic violence and expose domestic violence for what it is. Too often these terrible crimes go unnoticed — unseen and unspoken — and the cycle of violence continues thriving.”

Although there is still a long way to go, Vice President Philanthropy of Alpha Chi Omega and sophomore ASL/English interpreting major, Serenna Galloway, shared that she has hope that events like this will make a positive change in Western’s community.

“It’s something that’s so prominent right now, and to have a fraternity join with a sorority and break the stigma of that is awesome,” Galloway said. “We hope that other survivors will be able to speak up, or if they need someone to rely on, they know that they can come to us and we’ll find resources for them…we know sometimes it’s harder  to come up yourself, so when you have support it’s a lot easier.”

Through their 50/50 and prize basket raffles, Alpha Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma ultimately raised $779 for Center for Hope and Safety.

If anyone is in need of resources provided by Center for Hope and Safety, their 24-hour hotline is (503) 399-7722.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Polk County 4-H hosts 56th Annual Holiday Fair

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Walking into the Polk County Fairgrounds and Event Center, a number of local children called names for door prizes and those involved with Polk County 4-H sat at a greeting booth in the entryway. Roughly 130 vendors gathered on Nov. 2-3 for the 56th Annual Polk County Holiday Fair — a time to share homemade items and help support the local 4-H program.

Paintings, dolls, holiday decorations, wooden items, jewelry and ceramics: all things that could be found at this year’s bazaar. Along a multitude of rows sat vendors of all ages, talking with prospective customers about the products they had made.

Back at the entrance to the fair, however, event organizer Suzi Busler sat and managed several volunteers in order to make sure that the event was a success.

“We’re a holiday fair that started before Christmas bazaars were the in-thing to be,” said Busler. “About nine years ago (an extension study group program) turned it over to the 4-H program. And we’ve expanded and added quite a few things to the program since then.”

In discussing the impact that this annual event has on the local 4-H children, Busler remarked that the holiday fair is one of their biggest fundraising events — drawing close to 3000 people from the community — and it also helps the kids to grow and develop in their leadership skills.

“This is an opportunity for them to be able to market and use those skills that they’re learning in the 4H program,” said Busler.

When asked about whether or not groups of college students are able to rent booths in future years, Busler responded, “Absolutely…maybe a college student doesn’t have enough time to be able to have enough product to staff their own booth, but a collection of students could easily join together to be able to have enough products to sell.”

If any Western students or organizations are interested in being a part of the Holiday Fair next year, Busler advised that they contact the Polk County Extension Office at (971) 612-0028 after information comes out next August. It costs $40 for crafters to participate in the fair, and this money goes to funding the Polk County 4-H program.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Update: The results of Oregon’s Midterm Election

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

[fruitful_tabs type=”accordion” width=”100%” fit=”false”]
[fruitful_tab title=”National Offices”]U.S. Representative District 5: Kurt Schrader [/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”State Offices”] Governor: Kate Brown

State Representative District 20: Paul Evans

State Senator District 10: Jackie Winters

[/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”Local Offices”]

Monmouth Mayor: Cecelia Koontz

Monmouth City Councilors: Roxanne E. Beltz, Jon Carey and Stephen Howard

[/fruitful_tab]
[fruitful_tab title=”Ballot Measures”]

Measure 102: Yes

Measure 103: No

Measure 104: No

Measure 105: No

Measure 106: No

[/fruitful_tab]
[/fruitful_tabs]

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-success”] Stay tuned for more information on these results. [/fruitful_alert]

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Western’s LGBTQ+ club holds their fall dance

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

While some people might have expected the middle of the term to involve overwhelmed college students staying in their rooms and eating instant noodles, this wasn’t the reality for all — a fact which Triangle Alliance recently proved. Dancing under a disco ball and playing card games with friends, the Western club hosted Pajama Jammy Jam on Nov. 2 as a time for LGBTQ+ community members and allies to come together and enjoy a night of wholesome fun in the Werner University Center.

With a fairly open structure to the event, attendees were free to socialize, dance, play games and enjoy a variety of refreshments. During the second half of the event, club members held a drawing and gave away five different prize bundles to those in attendance.

When asked what the goal of the event was, Triangle Alliance Club President Sam Shoemaker, a sophomore theater history major, said that their aim was pretty simple:

“It’s to get people from Triangle Alliance, our club, out and having fun on a Friday night where we would not normally be out and about and partying,” said Shoemaker.

Shoemaker shared that the club is always looking to involve new members. If someone goes to Pajama Jammy Jam who doesn’t normally go to Triangle Alliance, Shoemaker hoped that they would meet people and want to get more involved.

“If you like the people you should come to the club,” Shoemaker said. “It broadens the horizons of the club members and it gives more opportunity for people who might be like, ‘I don’t know if I would like this club’” to get involved.

In addition to social events like Pajama Jammy Jam, the Black and Red Ball and Triangle Alliance’s Annual Drag Show, Shoemaker expressed that there are also a number of informative events that Triangle Alliance has been hosting in order to educate its member about important issues in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Last Thursday (Oct. 25) we put on a talk with the LGBTQ+ class about the trans memo that came out that weekend about what President Trump allegedly might do in the trans community,” said Shoemaker. “There’s a really good quote that I heard from somebody: ‘Being gay is being political. Being queer is being political.’ And so, first thing for me this year with the club is that I don’t want to just be a fun social club — I want to talk about the issues.”

For anyone who might be looking for resources to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community, Shoemaker had a couple of suggestions for where to go.

“The Stonewall Center is the resource center for the LGBTQ community. Suse Doepken is the coordinator of Stonewall, and she’s amazing,” said Shoemaker. “If somebody wants to know about things, go to her. Also, Abby’s House is a great resource about advocacy and the feminist mindset.”

If Western students are interested in becoming involved with Triangle Alliance, Shoemaker advises that they start by going to Triangle Alliance’s Midnight Movies event on Nov. 16, which will be showing Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and looking out for auditions to be in the annual drag show, which will occur during Winter Term.

For more information, Sam Shoemaker can be reached at sshoemaker17@wou.edu and the club can also be contacted through trianglealliance@wou.edu. Triangle Alliance meets on Thursdays in Ackerman 141 from 4:30-6 p.m.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Abby’s House hosts Take Back the Night during Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Despite the rain pouring outside, a room full of Western students and staff came together on Oct. 25 —­ in the midst of Domestic Violence Awareness Month — to offer community and support to those affected by domestic and sexual violence. Paper hearts with messages of hope and Abby’s House Advocates dressed in blue vests were spotted throughout the room.

To open the event, Abby’s House Director Aislinn Addington and a number of the student advocates explained that Take Back the Night was first held in the United States in 1975 when a young microbiologist named Susan Alexander Speeth was murdered while walking home from work.

“Today, we know that attacks and assaults do not only happen in the night,” Abby’s House Advocate Gisela Ayala shared. “Data shows that women are at risk at all times of the day because women are most likely to be abused or attacked by people that they know, not just strangers in the dark. We also know that folks of all genders experience interpersonal violence and we are here to support all survivors.”

Then, advocates led the crowd in a silent reflection where attendees listened as a gong sounded every nine seconds — a sound that symbolized the amount of time that passes between each instance where physical violence occurs in the United States.

At this time, Addington introduced Carli Rohner, the Campus Advocate Coordinator from the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force.

“Violence is preventable, and we all have a role to play in that,” said Rohner. She shared that their goal is to figure out how to “build communities that…can respond and take care of each other better,” and to “make sure that (domestic and sexual violence) doesn’t have to happen.”

Rohner also encouraged those present to think about a reality in which violence is not rampant, although she acknowledged that this can be hard for many to do.

“Culture is not stuck,” said Rohner. “When we think about it over time, our humanity, collectively, has done some really wildly different things if we look back 40, 50, 60, 100, 200 years ago. We’re doing things differently now…and most of the change that we see, especially with in the United States context, is driven by students.”

If Western students want practical, tangible steps they can take, Rohner emphasized that most things that are interruptive of negative behaviors really don’t take long to do: go to a Green Dot training, share campus resources like Abby’s House or the Student Health and Counseling Center, support people with marginalized identities and don’t be afraid to take time for self-care.

The biggest and most basic things she suggested — to believe survivors who come to you.

“No matter what they tell you,” said Rohner. “I’ll give you two phrases: ‘I totally believe what you’re saying’ and ‘It wasn’t your fault.’ When folks hear that…they are 80 percent more likely to get help and assistance moving forward and much less likely to experience some of the bad things we talk about in terms of like PTSD and other effects of trauma.”

Following the talk, students were given the microphone and a platform to share their stories and experiences with violence. An emotional time for all, a number of students gave accounts that moved them and the audience to tears. For many, these memories were hard to share, but freeing to not carry alone anymore.

To conclude the event, marchers took up signs and glow sticks and chanted in unison as they walked through campus. With empowering statements including “we won’t take it anymore,” “violent acts have got to go” and “survivors unite,” they joined together to take back the night.

After marching, the group gathered in a circle, lit candles and shared why they wanted to end domestic violence — daring to dream of a brighter future.

If students would like to talk with someone about these issues, they can contact Carli Rohner at carli@oregonsatf.org or visit Abby’s House or the Student Health and Counseling Center on Western’s campus.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Visiting lecturer Dr. Asoa Inoue discusses white language in education

Natalie Dean | Freelancer

Imagine if the pressure to perform to the highest standard in school was completely removed. An “A” could be earned through the amount of effort put into the material, rather than frantic memorization. A “D” was no longer reflective of things done wrong, but rather of the amount of labor put into an assignment. By exploring these alternative grading methods, Dr. Asoa Inoue, a professor at the University of Washington Tacoma argued, it is directly challenging institutionalized racism within education.

These are themes that Dr. Inoue spoke about on Oct. 29. As a professor and the Director of University Writing, Dr. Inoue is well-versed in the impact of unchanging grading systems. He elaborated that the current grading system is failing students — specifically students of color — through hidden white supremacist values. This is due to the fact that our grading policies for writing and linguistics prioritize enunciated speaking, formal tones and rigid dialects — and the opposite is seen as “uneducated” or lazy.

He explains this as a direct result of the colonization of the US, which favored white-centric ideals early on. Code-switching, the act of flipping from one language to another midway through during a conversation, such as from English to Spanish, has been looked down upon as a failure to fully assimilate into American culture. American culture is often referenced and made an example of in our education systems; language and culture hit the same vein.

Dr. Inoue reminds students that these values are not set in stone and that institutional change can happen. By analyzing where these expectations of writing and literature come from, it can allow for alternative grading methods, such as labor-based grading contracts.

Labor-based grading is an agreement between the students and professor that states if students meet specific criteria, they will earn a certain grade. It focuses on the content of the course and how it’s evaluated and “graded.” So if a student fails, they are held directly responsible for the effort put into the project.

With this method, students can take an active role in their learning, while fully understanding the work and dedication that goes into an “A.” When asked about students’ reaction to this program, he stated that 8/10 students are willing to at least try this alternative method and many have found it helpful for their writing overall.

“I’m going to go into High School Education for English,” said senior humanities major Madeline Hannah, who was in attendance. “And it definitely opened my eyes to some of the problems that affect a lot of students of color. I’ve been looking into different ways to assess and grade, and this gave me an option that could be more equitable for everyone.”

If students or faculty have any questions regarding the impact of white supremacist language in today’s educational systems, Dr. Inoue can be contacted at asao@uw.edu.

 

Contact the author at ndean17@wou.edu

Math major profile

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Of the 52 majors offered at Western, sophomore Josh Salsbury has chosen to be a math major. After finding success and being awarded Outstanding Freshman in Mathematics last year by the Math Department faculty, Salsbury currently works as a tutor in The Math Center and as the Finance Director for Western’s Residence Hall Association — both positions that relate directly to his major.

When asked about his motivation in becoming a math major, Salsbury reflected back on experiences he had before coming to Western.

“I had a really awesome calculus teacher when I was in high school,” said Salsbury. “It was that combined with learning that the way math is taught in schools isn’t a good reflection of what math actually is. Learning that there was a lot more to (math) really inspired me to learn more about it.”

In learning about math, Salsbury shared that there is more to the process than many people initially think.

“With a math major, it’s not just about being able to do math,” Salsbury said. “A lot of what it teaches you…is doing things efficiently or finding the best way to do something.”

According to the Mathematics page on Western’s website, there are a number of career opportunities that are available to a math major. Amongst them, a few options listed include computer scientist, cryptographer, business operations specialist, elementary and secondary math teacher and financial analyst.

Salsbury is still deciding which pathway to pursue within mathematics.

“I was originally going to go for a career in software engineering because I’m also getting a computer science minor…but I’ve been talking to a couple of professors and they think I’d make a really good professor…(and) it’s something I’ve been considering.”

Besides the future possibilities the major holds, Salsbury also values the Math Department for another reason: the people involved.

“The Math Department is one of my favorite communities on campus,” said Salsbury. “And that’s a combination of both the faculty and the students. It’s a small enough department that it’s really easy to make friends and get to know people.”

Salsbury also praised the math faculty who help make the program what it is.

“I don’t think I’ve met a group of professors so dedicated to getting to know their students and helping them succeed in life,” said Salsbury.

Whether students are interested in math or not, however, Salsbury offered a piece of advice:

“If you look hard enough you will find your community. There are always more places to explore, people to get to know. And, in my experience, it’s been really easy to make close friends. And the more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to find those people that you really care about.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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