Mount Hood

Based on the theory of transformative justice, a Japanese Healing Garden has been established in the Oregon State Penitentiary.

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

“Punishment doesn’t work … we need to find an alternative way to rehabilitate offenders,” said criminal justice professor, Miyuki Arimoto, during her talk, “Transformative Justice: Diminishing Boundaries through the Healing Garden Project at the Oregon State Penitentiary,” held on Nov. 13. The Healing Garden Project began five years ago as a grassroots effort combined with an inmate-led initiative centered around the idea of a “koi pond” being indoctrinated into the prison environment. 

“Prison is a boring, monotonous place,” stated Arimoto, “(the inmates) thought that nature might help to reduce altercations.”

Over time, the idea of creating a fully functional Japanese-style garden was formed. Inmates wrote grants and the project developed collective advocacy, resulting in approximately $500,000 being raised. Renowned Japanese garden designer, Hoichi Kurisu, donated his design and equipment to the project. He even advocated for inmate involvement in construction, saying that “this is (part of) the necessary process of healing,” according to Arimoto. 

Amassing a total of 13,000 square feet, the garden is only the second in the nation to exist within prison walls — the first being in Maryland — and 180 inmates spent over 12,000 hours developing it.

In a video shown during the presentation, an inmate named Johnny Cofer stated, “there was so much more at stake than just building something aesthetic; there was potential for building a space that could make a really impactful difference on the lives of people that live here … I can remember that the best times in my life were spent out in nature … this place … will be transformative.”

Professor Arimoto recalled a similar testimony, where one inmate she described as “macho” broke down after thanking her and telling her that he could not stop touching the trees and smelling the earth, after not having been able to for the past 40 years. 

“Past research suggests that exposure to nature improves certain conditions such as depression, anxiety and Alzheimers … the recovery process becomes faster,” Arimoto recounted.

Arimoto is a member of a team conducting an impact study on the effects of the healing garden on inmates and staff. Using both qualitative and quantitative research over the course of two years, Arimoto hopes to analyze not only psychological effects but also the effects of a transformative justice system. Arimoto defines transformative justice as an expansion to traditional restorative justice, which “recognizes the potential for human growth … and provides (inmates) with an opportunity to make amends.”

“They are paying back society by transforming themselves for the better,” said Arimoto.

However, Arimoto also admits that there have been some criticisms about the project, citing complaints about using the money for a garden rather than using it to help transition inmates back into society and fears of violence within the garden. 

Arimoto combated these fears, saying the garden will help “to create nice neighbors instead of angry neighbors,” and will assure that inmates must go through a strict screening process to be able to utilize the garden. 

“Without trying, we won’t know if it works or not,” stated Arimoto. “It might not be the solution, but it might help to reduce recidivism.” 

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos courtesy of Professor Miyuki Arimoto

Western hosts a free speech discussion for open communication between students and the administration regarding last year’s controversial speaker, Joey Gibson

Compiled by Alyssa Loftis | Freelancer  &  Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

“Hate speech is not free speech,” assured Western Oregon University’s President Rex Fuller, during the Nov. 7 event titled “Free Speech on Campus: Controversial Speakers, University Preparedness and Legal Considerations.”  Following a brief statement from President Fuller, ASWOU’s current President, Erik Morgan Jr., and Ryan Hagemann, Western’s Vice Chancellor of the Legal Counsel, allowed the audience to voice their questions and concerns. Most of the questions and concerns were regarding the controversy that stemmed from the College Republican Club inviting Patriot Prayer leader, Joey Gibson to campus last June, which was approved by the administration, despite student retaliation.

Much of the retaliation was due to concerns over safety. At the time of the presentation held on June 4, Gibson — who calls himself a “conservative activist” — had multiple court cases filed against him for inciting violence. Additionally, Gibson’s ideology clashes with Western’s student government values as portrayed through ASWOU’s statement released before the event. What’s more, students were told about the event on May 30, giving students little time to process and causing polarizing tensions to rise quickly. 

This was addressed during the free speech discussion, when one student asked: “you mentioned over and over that you had those weeks in advance of knowledge. You know that something like this is coming, and you know that there are going to be students that don’t feel welcomed … what is the administration going to do specifically to present a much stronger stance rather than just sending out a letter that sort of has these platitudes about how we value diversity (and) ensure that there is a fail safe resource available for students?”

On the day of the event, some professors urged their students to “stay at home,” in fear of violence ensuing. As anticipated, protests against the event — and against the administration who allowed it — occurred shortly thereafter, although they remained nonviolent. 

Director of Public Safety Rebecca Chiles defined her role here at Western, in addition to shedding light on the decisions and planning that goes into preparing for emergencies. Regarding future events like the one featuring Gibson, Chiles said, “we move forward with safety being our number one priority … always. The safety of our folks on campus is going to come first.” She later added that, “we need people to attend those things; first aid, CPR … get certified … that’s the best way to move forward, with all of us collaboratively to be a disaster-resilient university.”

For information regarding the June 4 event, refer to the previous article on wou.edu/westernhowl.

 

Contact the authors at aloftis18@wou.edu and howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Mikayla Bruley

Western hosts first speaker for the FEM-in-STEM series, representing women and underrepresented groups in STEM education

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

“The skills that I’ve learned in getting a degree in chemistry have really helped me know how to break down problems into smaller pieces,” said Valerie Rippey, representing the first speaker for Western’s FEM in STEM series on Monday, November 4. Currently, Rippey is a Product Manager in an interior design company, where she uses her skills of organization and persistence — which she gained through her STEM education — to succeed and inspire future generations of STEM graduates.

In 2017, Breeann Flesch, an associate professor of computer sciences at Western, organized a lunch with students, faculty and staff who were all in the sciences. The purpose of that lunch, said Leanne Merrill, an assistant professor of math at Western, “was to just start a conversation and create a community.” The meeting led to an interest in having an organization which supports women in STEM majors at Western, and after obtaining a WOU Foundation grant for that specific purpose, the FEM in STEM speaker series was established. 

According to Western’s website, “FEM in STEM works on the Western Oregon University campus to connect and support female, non-binary, and other underrepresented and ally students in STEM fields. Our focus is on education, support, and community connection to tangible STEM role models who have a variety of careers and career paths.” 

“I think a lot of students at WOU are interested in Med school or grad school, but then there’s some who just want a bachelors degree and don’t necessarily want to continue on in academia,” said Merrill, regarding the importance of Rippey’s representation as someone who did not necessarily continue on in their field of study. 

However, the importance of FEM in STEM connections go beyond portraying the impact of STEM fields on career choices; Merrill affirms that, “women (and femmes) seeing other women in positions of power, leadership, and success is really useful,” and “gives people tangible role models.” This is important because while, “a lot of progress has been made … the fact is that there is still a gap in achievement at the post-grad level and beyond,” said Merrill, referring to the fact that more than 50% of Biology majors are women but don’t progress throughout their career as an example. 

Currently, the FEM in STEM series is set to host a minimum of one speaker per term, but there have been “discussions about having panels … and tentative plans for a peer-mentoring system and bigger-name speakers” in the future, according to Merrill, who also wanted to stress that these events are geared toward a general audience. 

“We are particularly excited to see male colleagues and male student allies at these events … part of changing the culture is teaching people to be better allies,” said Merrill, who concluded by saying “everyone can benefit from this.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

Monmouth Senior Center hosts first ever community Thanksgiving open to Western students unable to go home for the holidays

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

For students unable to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday, or for those struggling with food insecurity in the community — the Monmouth-Independence Rotary Club is hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner at 1 p.m. in the Monmouth Senior Center on Nov. 28. The Monmouth Senior Center is located at 180 Warren St S.

Dubbed “Here for the Holidays,” the meal is a brand new service which, “started last spring when a local artist, Pam Sierra Wence” contacted Dr. Robert Troyer, an associate professor of linguistics and the Director of International Student Academic Support here at Western. Wence wanted “to see if there was any way to set up some kind of program for students who are here … and can’t go home to their families,” added Dr. Troyer.

While the original plan was designed to partner students up with community members, “the logistics of that were just … really difficult,” said Troyer, and thusly both he and Wence recruited Laurel Sharmer’s involvement in the project. Sharmer, who is the president of the Monmouth-Independence Rotary Club, applied for a grant to offset the costs of the event and, after receiving one, made the dinner entirely free to the community. 

All students have to do is confirm their interest in the event by filling out a form on the Academic Student Support website by Thursday, Nov. 21. This gives the Rotary Club an approximation on attendance in order to ensure that enough food is available.

For students who will be missing a feeling of community during the holidays, Troyer calls the event, “one of those rare things that is just simple and good.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

Western’s Dia de los Muertos celebration invited students to a night of fun and remembrance featuring traditional food and dance

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

“Our dead are never dead until we have forgotten them,” said Western’s Multicultural Student Union Representative, Paola Sumoza, during the Dia de los Muertos celebration on Oct. 30. The MSU hosts a Dia de los Muertos celebration every year; the event is free and anyone is welcome to attend and learn more about this important historical holiday.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is an ancient holiday with its roots in Aztec culture. Later, it fused with Catholic beliefs when the Spanish conquistadores began colonizing the Americas. Today, Dia de los Muertos is a two-day celebration strongly celebrated in Mexico, and in some Latin American countries as well. It is celebrated on the first and second day of November; the first day is dedicated to the children who have died and is known as Dia de los Angelitos.

With a focus on honoring ancestors and loved ones, Dia de los Muertos invites the dead to come to the land of the living to reconnect with their families. Traditionally, the families of the dead set up altars — much like the one displayed in the Werner University Center paying homage to culturally-impactful deceased Hispanic and Latinx figures. The altars are decorated with ofrendas, or offerings, which provide ancestors with a safe passage back home. Most ofrendas carry symbolic meaning; while photographs of deceased loved ones are displayed, so too is water for the dead who are thirsty after their long journey and salt for purification.

An important figure representative of Dia de los Muertos is La Catrina, or the goddess of the dead. Donned in a feathered hat typical of the bourgeoisie, La Catrina was originally a political cartoon created by Jose Guadalupe Posada in the early 1900s to symbolize that death comes for everyone — even the aristocracy.

Dia de los Muertos was also represented in the 2017 Disney movie “Coco,” a film that gave representation to many people. During Western’s Dia de los Muertos festivities, Sumoza touched on this importance, saying, “now that I have my children, I’m teaching them these traditions and customs that we have and when we first watched “Coco,” something interesting that my daughter said was ‘Look mom, “Coco” celebrates it like we celebrate it.’”

At Western’s Dia de los Muertos celebration, students were invited to participate in cultural festivities, such as consuming pan de muerto, watching traditional dances which featured performances by Ballet Folklorico Tlanese, and getting their faces painted in traditional calavera — or sugar skull — design. It was a bright and colorful approach to processing death and grief, and respecting the ancestors that came before. 

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

Take Back the Night shows support for student survivors and urges a continued conversation about sexual violence going forward

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Taking place at the tail-end of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Take Back the Night was hosted by Abby’s House on Oct. 26. Take Back the Night originated in the ‘70s after a cumulation of incidents, most predominantly, the nighttime murder of Susan Alexander Speeth. Today, Take Back the Night is usually organized as a march against sexual violence and violence against women. 

This year, Abby’s House invited Jackie Sandmeyer to speak at the event. Sandmeyer is the founder of TIX Education Specialists, an organization dedicated to working with universities, law enforcement, prosecutors and community-based service providers to identify and create some of the nation’s leading models in Title Nine and student victims’ services. 

Western’s Take Back the Night began with time to reflect; a chime sounded off every nine seconds, representing the frequency someone is beaten in the United States. Students were encouraged to walk around and reflect on their own experiences, as well as observe comforting messages written on sticky notes throughout the room.

Afterwards, Sandmeyer began by asking students to participate during their presentation.

“I’m going to ask you today, not to sit here quietly … I find it interesting that we broach a topic that we feel uncomfortable talking about and then we hope that the bravest among us who have experienced the worst among us break that silence,” said Sandmeyer.

Throughout the presentation, Sandmeyer urged the audience to question themselves. Too often, Sandmeyer said, does dialogue end after the victim or survivor has told their story. Sandmeyer would rather everyone reflect on their own accountability as perpetrators, survivors, listeners and bystanders. Sandmeyer also acknowledged their own tendency for violence. After having spent much of their adolescence on the streets, they said that everyday they reflect on “if (they are) doing (their) part to, one, acknowledge that (they) are capable of that, and two, make a different choice.” 

When it comes to discussing violence, Sandmeyer admits that their advocacy makes strategic use of more palatable narratives — predominantly the stories of white women — to initiate change and get people to listen. Of course, that leaves many identities out of the conversation.

“If we acknowledge that violence is about power and control, what we know about people who experience violence comes down to we place different values on different people’s bodies,” said Sandmeyer. 

While it is a well-known statistic that one in five women are assaulted, those numbers steadily increase for minority populations, and don’t include the statistics for other genders. However, Sandmeyer believes that relying on these statistics to initiate conversation can be problematic because “we assign really dehumanizing rates to people who experience violence,” rather than focusing on their successes. They said that, “the more (they) tell college students (statistics), the less people get shocked … we’ve normalized this to a certain point.”

Equally normalized are the ‘accepted’’ and misleading narratives surrounding violence — such as the narrative that it is always committed by a stranger. Breaking free from those confining stereotypes requires talking about consent. 

“Are we having conversations with our partners, our friends, our families, our communities about sex, consent, pleasure, autonomy, agency and so on,” challenged Sandmeyer. 

Although much of the discussion was in regards to proactive dialogue, Sandmeyer finished their presentation by urging the audience to “hold space, compassion, and love for people who choose to remain silent … resilience is not linear and it does not always look the same way … not only is there a certain way that we expect victims to look, but there is a certain way that we expect them to heal.”

This was an affirmation before the speak-out portion of the event, in which the audience members were invited to tell their stories. Later, during the candlelit march on campus, students reflected on a question posed by Sandmeyer earlier that night: “we’ve heard their stories, now what will implementing change look like?”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

UHaul partners with Western to provide additional transportation options featuring rental cars available to students

Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor

Western is a fairly isolated little campus. Students without a vehicle may find it hard to get from campus to another desired location. Cherriots — the bus system that runs through campus — has sparse hours of operation and doesn’t run on weekends; Wolfride — Western’s shuttle service — only operates from 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. within appropriate distances. Much of the student population, such as international and commuting students, depend on these sources of transportation for success.

Luckily, Western has implemented a new means of transportation for the busy student — UHaul CarShare. It acts as a less complicated rental service; reservations are made on the website and the cars are parked behind the Werner University Center in Lot H for pickup. Students can reserve either a small sedan or a truck depending on their needs. Currently, the daily rental rates are set at $4.95 per hour with a .49 cent charge per mile. 

Emmanuel Marzias, assistant to the vice president for student affairs, commented that “we continue to have UHaul here because of that accessibility component … we don’t have the most convenient transportation options here … (and) it’s important that we have options for students.” 

Unlike Wolfride, UHaul CarShare is independent and does not depend on Incidental Fee Committee funding. Marzias said that the lack of transportation on campus is caused primarily by a lack of financial means from the IFC.

“Our enrollment is down, which makes it difficult … (because) it determines what types of services we can provide to students based on the financial side of things,” stated Marzias.

Marzias encouraged students to go petition to the IFC about their transportation needs, adding that he’s “thankful that students are prioritizing this.”

In the meantime, students can use the UHaul services or reserve the wolfride van for $40 — a lower rate than is charged by the Oregon State Motor Pool — as long as it doesn’t interfere with regular hours. And here’s the best part: “It’s (all) right here in our backyard,” stated Marzias.

For more information, visit https://wou.edu/student/services/ and uhaulcarshare.com.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Sage Kiernan-Sherrow

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