Mount Hood

City Manager hesitant to call homelessness an issue in Monmouth

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  | News Editor

An ongoing issue in Monmouth’s neighboring city of Salem, aspects of homelessness are beginning to become apparent here, as well, with several instances of homeless and transient camping observed in the Monmouth-Independence area. 

According to an article published by the Polk County Itemizer-Observer on Dec. 2, language has been changed to the exclusion ordinance in order to discourage both vandalism to city property, as well as homeless camps from setting up. Despite this, the ordinance changes are not explicitly anti-camping, and according to Monmouth’s interim City Manager, Chad Olsen, the city has no plans to design anti-homeless protocols. 

“I’ve seen instances, but I wouldn’t categorize homelessness as an issue in Monmouth,” said Olsen, citing a few occasions where people camped on city property and one where a transient person was travelling through town. 

“Typically, you would see more of an issue in terms of homeless or transient populations in the county seat, because we just don’t have the services here to provide for those groups,” Olsen stated.

Despite Olsen not anticipating homelessness becoming an issue, a warming center has opened in Monmouth, and the council is currently looking at creating a group with a set of bylaws eligible to become part of the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance. The group would make a request to Housing and Urban Development — which allocates funds across the state for eligible groups — and is looking to become an independent organization, according to Olsen.

Olsen also assures that homelessness is on the City Council’s radar as a potential issue and that there are currently discussions being had about what strategies to utilize in the future.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Western’s 52nd annual Holiday Tree Lighting lit up the night

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  | News Editor

Despite the rainy atmosphere present on December 6, students gathered together for Western’s 52nd annual holiday tree lighting, lining both sides of Monmouth Avenue with anticipation. Some stood with hands wrapped around the free drinks offered by Student Engagement, huddling with fellow students to escape the cold while waiting for the parade to start. 

Beginning at 6 p.m., the parade was led by Western’s American Sign Language Club, later followed by the sirens of the Monmouth Police Department not to be outdone by Western’s own marching band. During the procession, both the Director and Associate Director of Student Engagement, Patrick Moser and Megan Habermann, respectively, opted to tell holiday-themed jokes before the crowning moment of the parade — Santa’s arrival. 

Afterwards, Western’s president, Rex Fuller, addressed the crowd, calling for students to “treat each other and ourselves with care and compassion” during this season of giving. Then, he invited everyone to participate in the countdown whereupon, finally, the famous giant sequoia that sits next to Todd Hall — which, prior to the event, had been strung up with lights — was lit, indicating that the parade celebrations were over, but the holiday season was only beginning. 

Students looking for further celebrations congregated at the Gentle House for snacks and wine, while others headed into the Werner University Center to meet with Santa and get into the holiday spirit. 

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Through student demand, new support groups have developed

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  | News Editor

Though many are still in the process of being formulated, students seeking community on campus now have the ability to participate in one of Western’s various new support groups. The support groups were created based on student initiative and are run by fellow students with a faculty supervisor — usually a professional from the Student Health and Counseling Center. The following are just a few examples of what is currently being offered.

 

The Building Resilience in College Workshop Series:

 

This 10-week workshop series beginning in winter term is open to all students and does not require consistent attendance. It focuses on building life skills while balancing all of the responsibilities required as a college student. Each week focuses around a specific topic ranging from how to be a critical thinker to maintaining healthy friendships and relationships. In addition to this workshop, there will be a separate four-week course on healthy relationships during winter term, run by Megan Miller, a mental health counselor at Western who hopes to “increase student’s communication in relationships and allow a deeper understanding of what they wish to gain in a relationship … through personal reflection, discussion and group activities.” Dates and times for both events are to be determined.

 

The Men of Color Support Group:

 

Run by Miguel Gonzales, a mental health counselor at the SHCC, the Men of Color Support Group was created with the intention to “discuss cultural barriers, successes, discrimation, empowerment, acculturation, and … other topics that group members are interested in discussing,” said Gonzales. It is designed for men of color to receive peer support while being able to discuss both personal experiences and overarching issues. The winter term meeting time is to be determined, so students interested in joining can look for a future email from Gonzales.

 

The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Support Group:

 

Focusing on “psychoeducation surrounding autism, shared and common experiences people with autism face as well as skill building and coping skills to manage thoughts, emotions, and behaviors,” as reported by mental health counselor, Katie Endersby, the ASD Support Group is open to all — no diagnosis required. Any student interested in learning about the autism spectrum can join, but meeting times are currently to be determined. 

 

It is particularly important to note that groups may not run all year. To find groups operating during the current term, visit the Student Health and Counseling webpage. Additionally, some groups require an intake appointment with a counselor through the Student Health and Counseling Center before approval. However, there are many groups that do not have this prerequisite and any student with an idea for creating a group can reach out to the Student Health and Counseling center by calling 503-838-8313.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

An Accessible Pedestrian Signal has been implemented after conversations about accessibility for Monmouth’s DeafBlind community were sparked.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  |  News Editor

As the DeafBlind population increases within Monmouth, discussion about accessibility has increased, and small changes have been implemented to promote that accessibility. One such change is the addition of Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 99, which was made possible through the advocating of several parties, including Jelica Nuccio. 

Jelica Nuccio is a DeafBlind individual who moved to Monmouth a year ago from Seattle, Washington, bringing her business “Tactile Communications” with her. Tactile Communications focuses on, “providing education to individuals that are DeafBlind as far as adaptive skills and reading in Braille. 

“For many people, if they’ve grown up visual, then when they become DeafBlind, they need to incorporate touch-based strategies to get information. So, we do a lot of training…” Nuccio said, likening the training to learning how to drive a car. 

Training also includes learning how and when to cross the road safely — now made easier through the APS system.

Nuccio credited Amy Parker, the coordinator of the Orientation and Mobility program at Portland State University, with garnering support from the City Council and the Department of Transportation to implement the APS system.   

“It became much more complex than originally anticipated,” Nuccio stated.

Despite this beneficial addition, there are still more ways to improve accessibility in the community. Nuccio mentioned adding additional APS systems along Main Street, more stop signs to increase driver awareness, bumps on the road serving as tactile markers, English and Braille combined menus and mats in front of doorways acting as signifiers as improvements that could be made. 

“We’re hoping that with more visibility, that will create more awareness, and that will create a more unified front and we can actually start making some of these significant changes, but they haven’t happened yet,” said Nuccio. 

Despite the need for improvements, Nuccio relayed feeling welcomed in Monmouth, saying that “there’s a different kind of patience here … people are just very welcoming, and they’re immediately talking about what they can do to change the community and make it more accessible.” 

She said that she moved from Seattle to Monmouth after visiting Monmouth for work-related purposes where she was surprised to enter a restaurant and have a waitress immediately begin communicating with her in protactile. 

“I immediately felt so comfortable and comforted in knowing that people understood that I communicate through touch,” Nuccio said.

For students interested in learning about DeafBlind culture and protactile communication, Nuccio recommended they take Professor CM Hall’s class in Winter Term and Nuccio’s own class taught in Spring Term, which is entirely taught in protactile. 

“Protactile is not the same as hearing a language or seeing a language — there’s no book on it. You can’t write a book on how something feels or how to communicate tactilely, so it would be very difficult to explain even in a video. So, all of the instructions has to be done in person,” Nuccio said.

For those seeking a creative, immersive experience, a PT play will be held on Dec. 14.

“In protactile theater everything is communicated by touch, so you don’t see anything or hear anything — this is a brand new thing that has just occured in our community and it’s blossoming,” said Nuccio.

Those interested can RSVP at TcPTPlays@gmail.com.

To conclude, Nuccio stated, “I’m just as human as everyone else, I just have different means of communication. But different, doesn’t mean separate. We can all communicate with each other.”

For more information on who Jelica Nuccio is and what she does, visit https://www.tactilecommunications.org/.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

After months of preparation, Western launched several new program options in 2019.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  |  News Editor

This year, many new majors and minors — as well as degree options — have been added to Western’s official catalog, and future additional options are underway. Three additions in particular have opened up new pathways for student success: a master’s in Organizational Leadership, an Applied Baccalaureate in Liberal Sciences and the new major of English Studies. The following will offer descriptions about each program and detail the benefits related to obtaining a degree through these new options. 

 

M.A. in Organizational Leadership

 

As an interdisciplinary program unaffiliated with any one academic department featuring instructors from a variety of related fields, obtaining a master’s in Organizational Leadership would benefit “anyone who wants to enhance their leadership skills and be prepared to effectively lead in any type of setting,” as stated by psychology professor David Foster. Continuing, he said that the program “is designed to help people build the behavior, cognitive and social competence necessary to be an effective leader,” developing qualities sought after by human resources.

After first developing the organizational leadership minor with fellow professors Nick Baccus, of communication studies and Paul Disney of business, the three collaborated to design the master’s degree program which co-adhered with President Rex Fuller’s plan to “expand WOU’s graduate offerings by developing programs that would be appealing for people living in Salem,” said Foster. While taking courses based at the WOU:Salem campus targeted towards working adults, students have the ability to gain Operational Leadership and Executive Leadership certificates, furthering their workforce qualifications. 

“(Businesses) need programs like ours to help their people develop the competencies they need to be effective leaders,” said Foster. For more information about this program, students can follow the link to the graduate program’s page through Western’s webpage. 

 

Applied Baccalaureate in Liberal Sciences

 

Also offered at Western’s Salem campus, the Applied Baccalaureate in Liberal Sciences degree was created to provide further education to adults who have already acquired an Associate of Applied Science degree. It’s designed to give working adults the advantages of a four-year degree without them having to repeat coursework, letting them build upon their previous education. Students will “complete foundations courses, dive into the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences, explore interests, and tie it all together in small seminars with fellow students,” stated a video published by wouTV titled “WOU:Salem: What’s Next.” The video also describes the program as essentially an “upside-down degree,”  giving students who have already mastered specific trades the ability to take broader educational classes. 

 

English Studies Major 

 

Nine years in the making, the English studies major features a core of linguistics, literature and writing classes and offers students a way to virtually design their own program, while limiting the amount of credits needed to graduate. 

“We saw a pattern … that the average English major was graduating with 211 credits. That’s a lot … we were really creating barriers for our students” stated Katherine Schmidt, an English professor and the director of the Writing Center at Western. 

The English Studies program is now made of mostly classes counting as upper division credits and has gotten rid of the two-year language requirement consisting of 24 credits. The program also boasts a common core curriculum of 41 credits, allowing for students to take more electives specific to their interests. 

“Instead of being a mile wide and an inch deep, we’re encouraging students to go a mile deep and an inch wide … to do what (they) love and to spend most of (their) time doing that,” said Schmidt, providing an example of a student writing historical fiction taking history classes relevant to their craft. Although, of course, students still have to justify the course’s complementary connection to the program. 

In the future, the program is planning on reinstating a publishing class, and providing a Professional Writing Certificate, which will launch next year. The Professional Writing Certificate is 20 credits and is targeted towards “people who already have their degrees,” stated Schmidt. 

“Students have shown a desire to specialize in professional writing and we want to give that opportunity to them,” said Schmidt, citing the full grant-writing class offered Winter Term as evidence. 

Classes for the certificate will be based at WOU:Salem, and is “complementary to an Organizational Leadership degree,” said Schmidt.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Multiple new changes made to Western’s various technology outlets, a focus on security cited as cause.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  |  News Editor 

Recently, students have received multiple emails regarding changes to Western’s technology including student access to their portals, Adobe Creative Cloud and an upgrade to Windows 10 for all campus computers. Many of these changes have been initiated to reduce threats to security. Director of University Computing Solutions, Bill Kernan, said, “current news talks about election hacking, corporate attacks, and data breaches … It’s so easy to fall into the trap that is being set … Having another layer of protection that uses something the hacker can’t access is paramount.” 

To increase security, Western is installing the Duo program, which will act as a two-step verification process that works by sending push notifications to one’s smartphone asking for authorization. By accepting the notification, students are able to access their information; if they are not the ones attempting to gain access, they simply have to press “deny.” For students, Duo launches in February, and Kernan assures that it “doesn’t require any additional passwords … the only information Duo stores is username and the phone number associated with that username, so that authentication can work correctly.”

Similarly, Adobe has changed their login system “in attempts to protect their assets from abuse,” according to Kernan. Many individuals and departments across campus rely on Adobe for their jobs. Now, “users that use Adobe products will log in with their username@wou.edu which will redirect (them) to WOU’s portal,” stated Kernan. 

Switching to Windows 10 also benefits the university from a security perspective. According to Kernan, Windows 10 provides enhanced security through its operating system and access to improved software and apps, while also being mobile friendly. 

Kernan also said that students have the ability to learn about additional security procedures through the Information Security Training Tool that automatically notifies students through portal when there is a new lesson available. The lessons are three to five minutes long every two weeks, making “information easier to attain,” stated Kernan. 

“The training will include topics like SPAM, phishing, encryption, etc…” and, “ is totally responsive, so everyone can view it easily on phones, tablets or laptops” Kernan concluded.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

Western to participate in Congress to Campus program this February, two students will act as ambassadors

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  |  News Editor

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, assistant professor of politics, policy and administration, Earlene Camarillo, sent a campus-wide email advertising an opportunity for students to act as Western’s ambassadors during the Congress to Campus event set to occur from Feb. 11–13. 

According to Camarillo, President Rex Fuller and Provost Rob Winningham later collaborated with Dr. Mary Pettenger after discovering the program, stating that it “sounds like a great opportunity for Western, especially in today’s climate of strong partisanship.”

Congress to Campus is an existing government program which provides an “opportunity to interact with former Members of Congress through a program designed to attract young people to public service” and addresses “concerns about the lack of civic literacy among America’s young people and declining participation in politics,” according to its official website at stennis.gov.

Camarillo expanded on the idea of civil literacy, stating that it is “the idea that we engage with one another in conversation,” and that, in a democracy, “theoretically, everyone should feel comfortable expressing their opinions.” The Congress to Campus program supports this by sending one Republican and one Democrat representative to “promote the idea that you have to speak with one another,” said Camarillo.

Camarillo mentioned the media’s role in misinforming the public and framing the government as overly bipartisan, saying that “there is a lack of clarity on how our system actually works,” and citing the statistic that “only 30% of people can name the three branches of our government.”

Throughout the program’s duration on campus, there will be two events held on Feb. 12 that are open to the general student population. One is set to occur at 2 p.m. and will be an alumni panel dedicated to addressing the topic of public service, and the other is set for 7 p.m. and will be a public forum where students and faculty can ask questions of the president and former Congressmen. 

Camarillo hopes that this event will promote interest in public service careers and stated, “we really want to encourage people across all disciplines,” to apply and attend the panels, stressing that the information being presented will be “important regardless of what career you’re going into.” 

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

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