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Western’s winter festivities

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

As students return from Winter Break, the numerous events of Winter Term are just getting started. Although not all events for this term have released information yet, there are several that Western students can put on their calendars now to look forward to during the rainier months in Monmouth.

 

Western’s 163rd Birthday — Jan. 18

From 12-2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, Student Engagement is going to be hosting a celebration in the Werner University Center in honor of Western’s 163rd Birthday. To commemorate this occasion and all that has been accomplished since the school’s founding, students can enjoy free cake and a photo opportunity with Wolfie.

Anti-Hate Planning Committee and March — Jan. 26

In response to the hate speech found near campus Fall Term, several campus organizations and Monmouth PD are coming together to organize an anti-hate march that will take place on Jan. 26 from 10:30-12 p.m. To prepare for this, there will be a planning committee that meets Jan. 9, 16, and 23 from 3-5 p.m. in the Werner University Center’s Santiam Room that anyone is welcome to join.

Lots of Love for the WOU Food Pantry fundraiser — Feb. 1-28

For the whole month of February, the Student Veterans of America at Western Oregon University will be hosting a food drive competition that will benefit the WOU Food Pantry. Various clubs on campus will compete to raise the most non-perishable food items for the food pantry on campus.

Out and Proud — Feb. 5-8

The Multicultural Student Union is presenting a number of events from Feb. 5-8 in celebration and support of the LGBTQ+ community. Amongst these events, there will be a Queer People of Color Panel, a night of presentations and dinner with keynote speaker Mia Vargas, a movie screening and the Black and Red Ball.

Women of Culture Celebration — March 4-8

Aiming to honor diversity in women from a variety of different communities, the Multicultural Student Union is hosting its annual event that will feature presentations and activities throughout the week. For their 2019 event, Shelaswua Bushnell Crier will be the keynote speaker at the Women of Culture Celebration Dinner on March 6 from 6-8 p.m. in the Columbia Room in the Werner University Center.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

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

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