Mount Hood

Monmouth’s housing problems laid out in recent open house

Paul F. Davis | Managing Editor

Housing problems wouldn’t seem to be a thing in small-town Oregon. Monmouth is lacking the current culprit that is causing housing problems in large towns, gentrification, so what problems could there potentially be in Monmouth?

To discuss these issues, Suzanne Dufner, community development director, led an open house on March 20 which delivered an analysis of Monmouth’s housing needs. Approximately 25 people attended the event, located at Volunteer Hall, which was made up of both local citizens and city council members.

A majority of the information given came from Matt Hastie and Brendan Buckley, who work at  Angelo Planning Group and Johnson Economics, respectively. Hastie explained how the buildable land survey, a survey that shows how much land can be used and what it is zoned for,  was completed and commented on how much land is available for future housing.

Afterwards, Buckley provided an overview of housing needs in Monmouth and explained current housing trends and future needs that may arise in the area.

Hastie and Buckley’s analysis showed an overall surplus in the low-density housing, or traditional homes, and medium-density housing, or condo-style houses. However, there is a slight deficit in the high-density housing, or apartments. There is a projected shortage of available residential land within the city limits.

Brian Sparks, a citizen of Monmouth in attendance, asked, “Is a (urban area) expansion an option?” Hastie responded by saying under the state land use requirements require you to demonstrate a need to expand the UGB and currently there is a surplus of useable land. But, due to private owners unwillingness to sell unused land for high density housing, this creates a false surplus.

After Spark’s question, no other citizen’s asked any questions, but Councilor Christopher Lopez asked several clarification questions. When Lopez asked if the buildable land analysis took into account student growth expectations, Buckley replied that the student population was taken into consideration when developing the analysis.

After this question, the Monmouth Housing Needs Open House came to a close. More information on the open house or information from the open house can be found on the city of Monmouth’s website www.ci.monmouth.or.us.

 

Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Campus spotlight: WOU Food Pantry

Natalie Dean | Freelancer

Western Oregon University has many support programs for students, staff and community members. One of these impactful resources is the food pantry, operating since 2012 and serving over 50 households and 120 individuals per month.

The WOU Food Pantry is open to Western students and staff, as well as local community members; data shows that 65 percent of their customers are students and 30 percent are community or staff members.

“(The food pantry) is a resource for individuals facing any level of food insecurity; so whether you need something before school or your meal plan ran out, anyone can come in for any reason and use our services,” said senior Libby Vigil, the outreach coordinator for The WOU Food Pantry. “Our motto is: take what you need, but be mindful of other customers.”

Their hours of operation, which change every term, can be found by checking on the door of the food pantry, their Facebook page “WOU Food Pantry” or by checking their website, wou.edu/foodpantry.

When going to the pantry, people either use reusable bags or the bags provided and then they take needed items from the shelves, two refrigerators and two freezers. After finding the items they’re wanting, everything is weighed on a scale and complete a quick three-minute survey is given on your experience.

“The survey has been very helpful so far. We’re partnered with Marion Polk Food Share, so every month we provide data on the number of customers and volunteers,” said junior Rachel Bayly, the student director for The WOU Food Pantry. “It also allows us to ask more questions, like if we’re helping students primarily on or off-campus. This lets us know what type of items to look for and how to best serve our customers.”  

For people looking to support their efforts, any non-perishables or hygiene product donations can be brought directly to the food pantry, located at the corner of the Oregon Military Academy building; or left in the barrels, which can be found downstairs in the Warner University Center, the Hamersley Library entryway or the second floor of Bellamy Hall.

Food items must be sealed, labeled, non-expired and USDA approved if applicable. Any cash or check donations should be brought to Abby’s House, located in WUC 106.

One way that the Western community has supported The WOU Food Pantry recently is that, during the whole month of February, the WOU Student Veterans of America hosted a food drive competition to benefit the pantry. Nine campus organizations — including WOUSVA, ASWOU and Kappa Sigma, amongst others — faced off to see who could bring in the most donations for the pantry, with colored collection bins housed in the Veterans Resource Center.

For anyone searching for additional information on The WOU Food Pantry’s services, check their Facebook page for regular updates or reach out to one of the community coordinators at foodpantry@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at ndean17@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

How students can get involved in city government

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

For anyone interested in expanding their leadership experience or giving back to their city, one option can be found as near as Main Street. The City of Monmouth has 10 Boards and Commissions, all of which Western students are eligible to serve on.

Phyllis Bolman, Monmouth City Recorder, shared that this opportunity is one that the city would be happy to have students involved with. However, Bolman fears that many college students don’t know that these groups exist, or they don’t know that there aren’t any specific restrictions for applicants based on age or qualification.  

“(Students) have always been able to, but getting the word out is the hard part,” said Bolman.

Amongst the possible Boards and Commissions that students can apply to be a part of, some of the options include the Arts & Culture Commission, the Library Board, Monmouth Engaged Community Gathering Committee, University/Community Connections Committee and the Senior Advisory Board.

One of the benefits about being on any of these boards is that there is a relatively low time commitment involved.

“Most of our boards and commissions meet once a month for an hour … Traffic safety is once a quarter for an hour, so it’s pretty minimal,” said Bolman. “This is just putting your toe in the water a little bit, but it still gives you a feeling for what it’s like.”

While a number of the Boards and Commissions listed say that the positions are two or three-year terms, Bolman stated that this is not something students should worry about if they are wanting to apply.

“They don’t have to be here for the three years, honestly. We do have turn-over because some people move or pass away,” said Bolman.

Reflecting on some of the benefits of students being involved in these various groups, Bolman shared that having younger voices is valuable because it provides a distinct outlook that could be missing.

“It gives the people already on the board a different perspective, bringing in somebody different with a different way of looking at things,” said Bolman.

Scott McClure, Monmouth City Manager, also chimed in that taking advantage of this kind of opportunity can have a number of benefits for students as well.

“I think this is a good leadership opportunity. That’s a huge one,” said McClure. “If you go out and you’re working your way towards applying for scholarships or a job, and you’ve actively participated in a city committee, you’ve set policy, you’ve made decisions and participated; I’d play that up.”

If anyone would like to learn more about any of the Boards or Commissions or apply for one of them, there is both additional information and applications on the City of Monmouth’s website, monmouth.municipalcms.com. They can also contact Bolman at pbolman@ci.monmouth.or.us if they have any questions.

Completed applications can either be emailed to Bolman or turned in physically at Monmouth City Hall.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

RWEC unveils multilingual signage

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After a great deal of planning and hard work, the Richard Woodcock Education Center unveiled several multilingual signs on Feb. 14. All of the signs for elevators, lactation rooms and restrooms were replaced with new signage, along with the glass windows outside each department office in the building.

The idea for these signs was one that a number of people shared, but it was largely spearheaded by Dr. Rob Troyer, linguistics professor and the director of the Office of International Student Academic Support, and Dr. Mark Girod, Dean of the College of Education.

In talking with Dr. Troyer about how this project came about, he reflected on an honors linguistics class that he taught last year titled “Language in Place”. He explained how he was able to use the class as an opportunity to reach out to people on campus about the idea, and it was also how he learned that Dr. Girod had already been thinking the same thing he was.

“It was really fortuitous that I had this class at the same time,” said Troyer. “I think that us inviting Mark to class and having (a) discussion motivated him to be a little more proactive about getting it done.”

With both parties on the same page, Troyer stated that it wasn’t hard for Dr. Girod to put the plan in action, being the dean of the college.

“That’s one good thing about a small institution is when someone has an idea, and other people think it’s a good idea, it’s pretty easy to make it happen,” said Troyer.

When asked about the value he saw in having multilingual signage around campus, Troyer shared that there are two primary reasons to value these signs.

“One reason is access, and to me that’s the secondary reason. If people are using English as their second language, it may be really helpful for them to have their native language, so they can find their way around and know what things are,” said Troyer.

He also shared what he believes to be the most important reason: “It’s really symbolic … it represents — from the authority’s perspective — the valuing of other languages and an inclusion of multilingualism.”

With the multilingual signs that were put up in RWEC, Troyer shared that, while it was impractical to list every language that is spoken at Western, their goal was to include a number of the most widely spoken languages: Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and some of the signs have ASL icons as well.

While Spanish has by far the largest group of speakers on campus, Troyer shared that these other languages also have a significant representation in the community.

“Out of 215 international students, currently about 60 percent are from China. And even though there are different languages in China, they use the same written language. So, anybody from China is going to be able to read written Chinese, whether they speak Mandarin or Cantonese or a different Chinese language,” said Troyer. He continued by stating that “about 20 percent of our international students are from Saudi Arabia.”

In reflecting on how he hopes that having more multilingual signage will make a difference at Western, Dr. Troyer had modest expectations.

“I don’t expect it to make a huge impact. It’s a subtle impact, and it’s a subtle reinforcement for the university’s mission for inclusion and multilingualism and globalization,” said Troyer. “It’s a way to make the face of the university match the goals that we have.”

Moving forward, Troyer shared that he has hopes of finding many other ways to incorporate multilingual signage at Western. He also has one other plan actively in the works: to have multilingual signage at the 2019 commencement in June. In addition, he intends to conduct research about the way that this new signage in RWEC is being perceived by different cultural groups around campus.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Caity Healy

WOU Students for Life hosts guest lecturer

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

WOU Students for Life Club welcomed Jim Schultz, a pastor and Ph.D. candidate, to speak on Feb. 22 before a group of community members, opening a scientific and philosophical conversation about abortion on Western’s campus.

Addressing a number of pro-life arguments and offering a time for questions, Schultz shared a presentation titled “Making the Case for Life on Hostile Turf” that was designed to equip individuals to engage in civil discourse at a time when a number of people are quick to dismiss pro-life arguments.

Before beginning any sort of conversation about the legality and morality of abortion, however, Schultz emphasized that it is important that people on either side of the debate have a full understanding of the science of the unborn and the process of having an abortion.

“When the abortion issue gets brought up, pro-choice people don’t usually want to talk about ‘what is the unborn’ and ‘what happens to the unborn during an abortion’ as much as they want to talk about privacy, women’s equality, reproductive rights, reproductive health,” said Schultz. “Those are the euphemistic terms used to take us off the scent of … what happens to the unborn during an abortion. We are saying that that is the primary issue and those other issues, although important in themselves, can’t rise to the level where it makes it okay to kill an innocent person.”

Schultz also emphasized the belief that, ultimately, the majority of arguments that are made in favor of abortion are grounded in the belief that a fetus is not a human person. Using what he referred to as the “trot out the toddler” test, Schultz shared that arguments such as “anti-choicers want to force poor women to bring another child into the world” and “abortion allows women freedom to pursue careers” would not seem logical if it was being offered as justification for killing a two-year-old. As he described it, very few people would morally support the killing of a child just because they are living in poverty or interfering with their mother’s career opportunities.

From this point, Schultz said that it is necessary for a pro-life individual to provide evidence for the personhood of the unborn. To this end, Schultz presented a number of quotes from leading, secular embryology textbooks that affirmed this notion.

“The development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote,” wrote T.W. Sadler in “Langman’s Medical Embryology”, one of the works cited by Schultz.

Schultz also offered a number of quotes of those who practice abortion, conceding that abortion intentionally kills living human beings.

“I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don’t know that abortion is killing,” stated former Planned Parenthood president Faye Wattleton in a MS Magazine article titled “Speaking Frankly”.

If these things can be established, then Schultz concluded that “there is no essential difference between the embryo you once were and the adult you are today that justifies killing you at that earlier stage of development. Differences of size, level of development, environment and degree of dependency are not good reasons for saying you could be killed then but not now.”

However, Schultz repeatedly emphasized one thing: there is never a good reason not to be loving and gracious to people when you talk with them about abortion. Whether someone has had an abortion or holds a strong contrary opinion, it is better to approach the situation in a way that is loving people, not judging them.

If students would like to learn more about the WOU Students for Life, they can contact the club’s president, Gemma Cowan, at gcowan15@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Incidental fee proposed for 2019-2020 school year shows widespread cuts

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

When students receive their bills from the university each term, there is a charge entitled “incidental fees” that appears.

According to Western’s webpage, every student who is enrolled at the university for at least 12 credits is required to pay an incidental fee, and this fee is lessened for students who are only enrolled part-time.

While this fee may seem random and frustrating for those who don’t understand its purpose, it is actually something that students can have a say in creating.

For the 2019-2020 school year, the Incidental Fee Committee met on Feb. 15 to determine the preliminary budget for this fee: $375 per term per full-time student, a $12 increase from the 2018-2019 academic year.

Rachel Rhodes, a senior communications major and one of the seven members of the IFC, shared what the purpose of the IFC is at Western.

“We do a review of the budget proposed from all the department heads. And then we decide where the money should go,” said Rhodes.

When looking at the budgets for different organizations by various department heads, Rhodes also shared that there are two different types of budgets that can be proposed.

“There’s their operating budget, and then they can ask for enhancements… outside projects, an extra travel trip, an upgrade to their building, whatever that is for them,” said Rhodes.

With the 2019-2020 IFC budget in particular, Rhodes shared that there was a significant outside voice who helped to determine how much money would be spent: President Rex Fuller.

“We were actually asked by the president not to up the fee more than five percent, and he said that if it was up more than five percent than he wouldn’t approve it. So that was our goal,” said Rhodes.

Having constructed their preliminary budget, Rhodes also noted that people who look over the spending plan may notice significant cuts.

“We cut almost every budget operationally, and that’s because the inflation was so much that, if we fully funded everyone, the fee would have gone up way more,” said Rhodes. “I think becoming the most affordable school in Oregon means you have to make cuts that scare people — like cuts to ASWOU or cuts to athletics — cuts to areas that people might question or that people might not like, but we had to make some hard decisions.”

In addition to the rising costs for both building operations and student workers, due to an increasing minimum wage, Rhodes noted another cause for the fee’s increase.

“It’s a rough subject to talk about right now, but enrollment is down,” said Rhodes. “So, we’re looking at ways to bring in more students, but it’s hard for the same number of students to pay for what more students paid for last year.”

In looking at the new funding sources that they approved for the upcoming year, Rhodes stated that IFC was very selective in their enhancements.

“We wanted to be mindful that we’re cutting operational budgets but we’re giving other organizations money to enhance their programs,” said Rhodes. “So we granted some enhancements to new clubs … because we wanted to help foster those new clubs.”

Having decided the preliminary budget, the next step for the IFC is to host hearings so that members of the community could advocate for programs that are important to them. With this process ahead, Rhodes encouraged all students to make their voices heard so that it will not merely be those directly benefitting from a certain fund who are making their voices heard.

The two open hearings will be held on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center, and Friday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. in RWEC 101. After these hearings, the IFC will present their budget to the ASWOU Senate, the Board of Trustees and President Rex Fuller before it can be finalized.

Students can also voice their opinions through a survey at wou.edu/ifc/news.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Infograph by Brittany Figueroa

RHA hosts first ever Sustainability Month

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

For the entire month of February, Western’s Residence Hall Association has been hosting events as part of their first ever RHA Sustainability Month with the help of both Green Team and National Residence Hall Honorary.

“Eliza (Sleezer, RHA president) was the person who spearheaded this project. What we wanted to do was, as a part of our sustainability theme, we wanted to get a lot of input from Green Team on this,” said Josh Salsbury, sophomore math major and RHA finance director. “It’s really just been a huge collaboration effort.”

As two members of the RHA Executive Board, Salsbury joined with Kaiana Bradley, junior elementary education major and RHA publicist, to talk about all that went into planning this inaugural event.

For the first week’s event, each member of the Executive Board participated in a challenge.

“Last week we had a zero-waste challenge, so everyone on Executive Board carried around a bag for the day and whenever they had to throw something away — whether it was food waste, paper towels from the bathroom, … wrappers and things you would physically put in the trash can — you put in a bag,” said Bradley. “And we all made posts as a social media campaign about how that experience was for us, challenging other people to be conscious of how much waste they produce in a day and how they could change that.”

Salsbury then shared why he actually enjoyed partaking in this challenge.

“When I did mine, I think the biggest thing I noticed was that it was really fun since I had to physically carry around a bag that my friends, when they saw me around campus, could ask what I was doing,” said Salsbury. “And I was able to explain to them about what we’re doing for sustainability month.”

Reaching out more directly to the Western community, a few of the events from the month involved the team providing students with resources that could help them be more sustainable: on Feb. 7, NRHH posted sustainable living tips in the various residential communities; on Feb. 11, RHA gave out five Hydroflasks; and on Feb. 25, RHA will be passing out reusable bags in Valsetz Dining Hall from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Finally, a couple of their more interactive events are their Sustainability Craft night on Feb. 21 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Mt. Jefferson Room in Valsetz Dining Hall and a recycling competition between each of the residence halls that is continuing throughout the entire month of February. As of Tuesday, Feb. 19, Landers Hall and Barnum Hall are in the lead for the competition.

Throughout this process, Salsbury and Bradley stated that their hope was to help provide students with tools and to cause them to think about how they can make sustainable choices.

“I’m just hoping that inspires people to maybe make changes to their life and be more conscious, and hopefully with the craft night people can see that you can upcycle and make things for your house — whether it’s decor or storage — out of things that that you already have,” said Bradley.

“It’s really important just to be aware of your impact on the environment. So, anything that we can do to make people just actively think about how they’re affecting the area around them is going to be beneficial,” said Salsbury.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Grand opening of Western’s new Child Development Center location

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Western’s Child Development Center has been open since 1980, but on Jan. 7, it began its relocation to a new home behind the Campus Public Safety Office, where Western’s ROTC program used to be located.

To celebrate the move, the CDC hosted a grand opening event on Feb. 13 with a treasure hunt for students, tours of the new facility, a cake, visits with Wolfie and a speech from President Rex Fuller.

“This whole project came about because of a question I was asked during the State of the University Address a couple of years ago,” said Fuller. “’Hey, what about a better space for the child development center?’ After that, we did some analysis and started the project.”

Currently serving 51 students from the community ranging from ages 18 months to 12 years old, the CDC is open to children of Western students, staff and faculty as well as other member of the community.

When asked about the reasoning behind the move, CDC Director Tammy Gardner shared that Todd Hall was lacking some amenities and safety qualifications that the new site has.

“We were just finding it very cramped over there in Todd Hall. The building is very old, so there were some earthquake safety issues with us there to be able to evacuate a building,” said Gardner.

With their new facility, which has been heavily remodeled, Gardner celebrated a number of new amenities: big bathrooms, a spacious backyard, a lobby and nicer classrooms, amongst other things.

In addition to the facility, Dr. Fuller added that another strength of the CDC is its staff.

“We currently have a director, five teachers, 11 student staff, and six volunteers,” said Fuller. “They really do great work and go above scale in terms of providing a safe and welcoming learning environment for our students. It’s exciting to see that.”

Gardner added how excited she is to have staff members who are able to connect with the diverse group of children that they serve at the CDC.

“We’re very multicultural,” said Gardner. “We’ve got three bilingual staff members that are Spanish-speaking, and we’ve got two bilingual volunteers who speak Mandarin, so that’s really helped with some of our visiting scholars.”

Throughout her remarks, Gardner reaffirmed a number of times how caring and helpful different people and organizations from the university have been towards the CDC, and how grateful she is to be a part of this community.

“We feel very very supported and loved by the WOU community, from facilities to Valsetz and President Fuller. They’re our champions who really got this project going. It’s amazing.”

Gardner also shared that, for anyone who would like to get involved with the CDC, they can email her at gardnert@wou.edu or visit the volunteer link on their webpage.

“We’re open to volunteers, suggestions, or invitations,” said Gardner.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

I <3 Female Orgasm comes to Western

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After much anticipation and hard work from the numerous campus organizations who sponsored the event, renowned sex educators Lindsay Fram and Marshall Miller brought the program “I <3 Female Orgasm” to Western on Feb. 7. This event packed the Columbia Room in the Werner University Center, with a number of seats being added and still having several people standing in the back of the room.

“Presented over 500 times to over 100,000 people in 44 states, the female orgasm program has become one of the most popular college sex-education programs in the country,” said Abby’s House Peer Advocate and senior community health education major Keith Mathew while introducing the program.

From the get-go, Fram communicated that this event would cover things that were lighthearted, but also serious at times.

“This is a fun topic, but it’s not only a fun topic. There are a lot of really important health reasons that we all need access to good information about our bodies and our sexuality,” said Fram. “There’s this lie all around us that there’s just one way to be sexual. That all of our bodies work the exact same way — that we all want the exact same thing. Or even the lie that says that we’re all interested in being sexual. Because if we can reclaim our pleasure … that’s a huge act of resistance.”

In this way, the talk began by acknowledging the diversity of experience that would likely be in the room — both in terms of sexuality and gender identity.

“One of the questions that some people may have had even before they got here tonight is ‘how are they going to define female?’ And we define it super inclusively,” said Fram. “We’re going to talk about people who were assigned female at birth, people who identify as women — we know sometimes those categories overlap and sometimes they don’t.”

With this established, Fram and Miller set out to explain a variety of things about the female orgasm: the science behind it, the different strategies to achieve it and the myths that surround it.

One thing that the presenters said was valuable for people to note is that there is a physical difference that exists surrounding orgasms for males and females, which some women may not fully realize.

“On average, it takes someone with a vulva and clitoris about 20 minutes of direct stimulation in a way that feels good to them to reach an orgasm,” said Fram. Miller then contrasted this idea by saying that, “it takes a person with a penis two to five minutes.”

Taking this into consideration, Miller and Fram expressed that it is important that partners are willing to take the time to make sure that they are both being fulfilled when they are intimate.

“It’s really important to do the hard work and listen to what your partner is trying to say and to try and see things from their perspective. That can really give a huge boost to your sex life,” said Fram.

However, the pair also emphasized that this kind of experimentation with pleasure is also something that people can pursue on their own.

“If you have never had an orgasm before and you are interested in learning how, a lot of people say that masturbation is the fastest and easiest way to learn,” said Fram. “By the age of 15, only about half of people with vaginas have figured out how to have an orgasm, but a lot of people with penises have figured that out. So, it’s totally normal to be college-aged and still figuring out how to have an orgasm.”

The overarching message of this presentation was that there are many ways to experience pleasure, so people should not get too caught up in the rules and limitations that they have heard from society.

“We really hope that you’ll say goodbye to taboo and hello to more pleasure because, whether it is by yourself or with someone who you respect and respects you back, orgasms are awesome,” said Fram. “They reduce stress, they relieve headaches and menstrual cramps, they burn calories, they relieve junk food cravings and they are a great way to spend a Thursday night.”  

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the “I <3 Female Orgasm” program, they can find additional information at ilovefemaleorgasm.com.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

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