Mount Hood

Mental health grant brings resources to Western

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Beginning on Nov. 7 and into mid-December, Tim Glascock — the project director for WOU CASA and Suicide Prevention — encouraged Western students to participate in the Healthy Minds Survey. Having received the three-year Garrett Lee Smith Campus Grant in Fall Term of 2017, Western sought to use this evaluation tool to better understand mental health and service utilization on campus.

“This gives our campus a better understanding of the health issues that need to be addressed on campus,” said Glascock. “This initial use of HMS was meant to provide a baseline on these topics.”

In the future, Glascock imagines that the data collected in this survey will be used to better serve the mental health needs of those in the Western community.

According to Glascock, specifically, there are four main areas that are focused on with the grant: “Increase gatekeeping behaviors,” or in other words, encourage bystanders to notice and reach out to someone struggling, “increase educational events that focus on mental health or life skills … increase marketing and campaigns that focus on addressing many of the topics that HMS addresses, and finally updating or proposing new policies or procedures related to suicide and mental health.”

With this grant in place, Glascock expressed that one of the most significant accomplishments that has resulted from it so far is “the implementation of a new website focused on suicide prevention and mental health promotion.” Students can explore the website wou.edu/mental-health and the variety of resources that it has to offer.

Another success that has come from this grant is the creation of a new campus organization.

“A new student club called Wellness Advocacy Group (WAG) formed at the beginning of this year and will focus on mental health promotion efforts,” said Glascock. Amongst these efforts, this group is in the process of organizing an Out of the Darkness walk in May.

An additional outcome of this grant is that 14 staff members on Western’s campus have been trained to conduct trainings on QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade, Refer.

“QPR is a bystander intervention training that teaches folks how to recognize someone in distress, how to reach out to them, and how to refer them to services,” said Glascock. “It is just like CPR — the more people who are trained to recognize someone in distress, the higher the chances of folks being recognized and utilizing services.”

Upon reflecting on these changes, Glascock also had a few words of practical advice for any individuals in Western’s community. A couple of the major things that he emphasized are that it is important for people to continue working on their own mental health and to continue talking about these issues so that they are normalized in our society.

“There is a difference between mental health and mental illness,” said Glascock. “Mental health is a generic term just like physical health; it can be good or bad, regardless of whether there is a mental illness present.  It is also worth mentioning that someone with a mental illness can be just as successful as someone who doesn’t.”

Finally, Glascock encouraged any students to seek help if they or someone they love needs it.

“Reach out, both if you suspect that someone is struggling, but also if you are struggling,” said Glascock. “The worst thing that can happen if you reach out to someone is that they may get mad, but at least they know you care about them.  Saving a life is more important than saving a relationship.”

If students are interested in learning more about the mental health resources available on campus, they can go to the new webpage or email Glascock at glascockt@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

How to protect yourself from measles

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

In the first month of 2019, 79 cases of measles have been confirmed across 10 states in the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Amongst these states, both Oregon and Washington have had confirmed cases.

Before attending school at Western, students are required to have two documented doses of the measles vaccine, which must be reported in the health history form that is submitted to the Student Health and Counseling Center. This requirement can be waived if a student has a medical reason, such as pregnancy or breastfeeding, or a religious or personal conviction.

However, Beth Scroggin, the director of the SHCC, sent out an all-student email on Feb. 1 explaining that this waiving of the requirement could impact students if there were to be a local outbreak.

“Please be aware that waived students may be removed from classes if an outbreak of the disease occurs,” stated the email.

If students are unsure of their vaccination status, they can go to the SHCC and check their immunization records. There are also vaccinations there for students who would like to get one.

“(We) encourage you to be vaccinated not only protect yourself but to protect others that are unable to receive the vaccine as well,” said Scroggin.

For any who are unaware, measles generally starts out with a high fever, cough, runny nose and irritated eyes, according to the CDC. Furthermore, within a few days, tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth, and later on a rash develops and spreads throughout the body.

“Measles is a serious respiratory disease (in the lungs and breathing tubes) that causes a rash and fever. It is very contagious. In rare cases, it can be deadly,” said Scroggin.

Although measles is most dangerous for younger children, the CDC reports that one in every four people who get measles will be hospitalized, so it is something that ought not to be taken lightly.

If anyone has questions about measles and how it could affect them, visit www.cdc.gov/measles or call the SHCC at (503) 838-8313.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Western hosts annual Chinese New Year celebration

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

The final year in a 12-part cycle, 2019 marks the Year of the Pig in Chinese culture. In order to commemorate this occasion, the WOU Chinese Students and Scholars Association and the Office of International Education and Development hosted Western’s annual Chinese New Year Celebration on Jan. 31 in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center.

Having thoroughly packed the room and fed their guests an authentic Chinese dinner, the organizers of the event started off the night’s performances with a lion dance by visiting performers from White Lotus Crew in Portland. Emerging from the back of the room, the two lions made their way into the room while dancing and interacting with the crowd. They launched oranges and lettuce out at the audience, and their performance concluded with confetti and banners saying, “Happy New Year” and “Best Wishes To All.”

With the audience engaged, the emcees then took the stage and introduced themselves as Jenny Yang, Ankit Shrestha, Jingxiong Soh and Qiong Luo.

While sharing the traditions she remembers of celebrating the new year in China, Luo said that her experience involves eating, spending time with family and one other notable thing.

“The fun part is the younger kids can get a red envelope which is always filled with money from their parents or relatives,” said Luo.

Before the other performances would begin, the emcees introduced President Rex Fuller, who made a few remarks about the significance of this particular year.

“This year, 2019, is especially important that we take a moment and really thank and welcome our visiting students and scholars from China and Nepal and other parts of the world,” said Fuller. “You make our lives brighter, you make our campus better and you portray a global atmosphere for all our students, faculty and staff.”

Dr. Fuller also went on to talk about the personalities of people who were born in pig years: 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 and 2019.

“What are some of the characteristics of those born in the years of the pig? They may not stand out in the crowd, but they are very realistic,” said Fuller. “Others may be all talk and no action — pigs are the opposite. Though not wasteful spenders, they will enjoy life. They love entertainment and will occasionally treat themselves. They are a bit materialistic, but this motivation for them is to work harder.”

Fuller then concluded his description of those born in pig years by highlighting the harmony that pigs strive for, which is also something he also emphasized that our world needs.

“Pigs are gentle and rarely lose their temper, and when they do, it’s never dramatic. They’ll always try to compromise and settle things quickly because their goal in life is for everyone to live in harmony,” said Fuller. “What a nice thought, everyone living in harmony.”

After this speech, the main entertainment of the night began. Moving through the program, there were fourteen different songs and dances that were performed, ranging from Beijing Opera to a modern hip-hop routine. And, while many of the performers were traditional college-aged students, there were also a couple of routines that featured Chinese women of a variety of ages dancing together.

Another highlight of the performances was a dance called “The Journey of Chasing Dreams,” which was accompanied by an artist creating Chinese calligraphy onstage. As the dancers moved around her, the artist wrote out four Chinese words which she said could be translated to say “better wishes for all in the pig year” in English.

“As you know, the calligraphy is a very big part of Chinese culture,” said the artist. “The words I write today is called official script. This is a very well-known and classic style of words, but in China most people now write with regular script — from left to right — but in ancient times people would write their names in right to left.”

One dance which had a familiar story for many was titled “Butterfly Lovers,” a dance with a story that was similar to one very well-known in America.

“I heard it was like the Chinese version of Shakespeare’s tragic classic Romeo and Juliet,” said Soh.

As a finale to the night, a number of Western’s current Chinese students and scholars came together to sing “Love My China,” donning matching Western t-shirts.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Men stand up to toxic behavior

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

In her New York Times article, Maya Salam defines toxic masculinity as “what can come of teaching boys that they can’t express emotion openly; that they have to be ‘tough all the time’; that anything other than that makes them ‘feminine’ or weak.”

Aiming to discuss this concept with the Western community, Abby’s House and Omega Delta Phi joined together on Jan. 24, seeking to start a conversation.

Leading the two-hour discussion, Aislinn Addington, director of Abby’s House, and Tim Glascock, director of the WOU CASA and Campus Suicide Prevention programs, shared the vision they had for the conversation.

“It’s about exploring what it means for all of our campus men to play a positive role in preventing sexual assault, dating violence and stalking,” said Addington. “It’s about what that means for our whole campus community.”

Glascock then communicated that people can start by simply listening to the experiences of those around them.

“We want to recognize that everyone has a story to tell, and we’re here to hear those stories and to connect with one another,” said Glascock.

Individuals then shared stories of how toxic masculinity has impacted their lives. And, while each person had their own unique story, there were some ideas that could be tracked throughout many: toxic masculinity is often used as a defense, intersectionality can contribute to the different masculinities seen in various communities and identifying harmful gender stereotypes is necessary before people are able to combat them.

After the discussion I spoke with Keith Mathew, a senior community health education major and Abby’s House advocate, who shared his perspective that toxic masculinity is not a problem exclusive to heterosexual men.

“It is apparent in all kinds of relationships, and the example I shared about another man who was messaging me for romantic reasons had such a narrow definition of masculinity,” said Mathew. “I think it’s important to show that gay men — we’re not all perfect. We’re not the perfect woke community. We still have our issues that we’re figuring out.”

Additionally, Erik Morgan, senior philosophy major and ASWOU Vice President encouraged men to realize that there are others out there who looking to engage in these conversations.

“Men helping other men overcome toxic masculinity — that’s one of the most important drivers,” said Morgan. “It just can’t be any single person. It has to be an entire movement: not just one, but the many.”

If students would like to learn more about toxic masculinity or contribute to the conversation, they can contact Addington at addingtona@wou.edu or Glascock at glascockt@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Christopher Coleman speaks on living life to the fullest

 Bailey Thompson | News Editor

A sold-out event: fried chicken dinners, award-winning essays and a keynote speaker. On Jan. 23, the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center was filled to the brim for the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Dinner. This event, which was sponsored by the University Diversity Committee, benefited the WOU Food Pantry.

After dinner, the top essayist in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Essay Competition, Natalie Gomez, read her essay “I Don’t Give up on the First Try” before the crowd.

Gomez’s essay challenged those present to be strong and to stand up for the same values that Dr. King sought to protect while he was alive.

“Modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to a scientific and technological abundance; We’ve learned to fly the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven’t learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters,” said Dr. King in a speech on Feb. 27, 1967.

“Society has come so far in science and technology; however, my mother and I cannot walk down the street without sideways glares or stares for using our Spanish,” read Gomez. “Something was made very clear to me, not for my own doing, that I was brown. Labeled like a crayon. I wasn’t the only one.”

After sharing her story, the final element of the event was the keynote speech by Christopher Coleman — a man with a story of triumphing over life’s circumstances.

Shortly after birth, Coleman was brought back from being declared dead, and his parents were told that he would live in a severely confined manner with what they thought were both physical and mental disabilities. 45 years later, he has become the first person in his large family to graduate from college, and he works as a life coach, keynote speaker and author.

In his speech, Coleman emphasized that, even though there are obstacles that some people have to face, it is vital for them to not let it define who they are.

We cannot conduct ourselves as second-class citizens,” said Coleman. “We cannot let our circumstances dictate our character … to rise above expectations, we must embrace who we are.”

With this mindset, Coleman explained how it can be dangerous to see ourselves as unequal to others because this can lead to either pride or low self-esteem.

“Equality is understanding there is no one in the universe more important than we are and no one in the universe is less important than we are,” said Coleman.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about Coleman’s life story can find additional information at christophercoleman.net.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Bailey Thompson

Western community rallies against hate

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Back in November, an instance of hate speech graffiti was found in the Monmouth community which consisted of swastikas and the words “Proud Boys” and “MAGA.”

The following day, organizations at Western began releasing statements that renounced the behavior and promised action.

“We had two students — Logan Jackson and ZZ Braatz — suggested that we do a march in response to this. So, we started planning late November or early December, and it was a three-step process,” said Kelsey Murray, Ackerman Hall Resident Director and one of the march’s organizers. “The first part was that we put up ‘End Hate’ signs that link to the bias-motivated incident response form, we did tabling for a week where we advertised the campaign as well as the march and then the third part was the march.”

Leading up to the march, a committee was formed, and they tabled to spread awareness in the community for the upcoming event.

On the morning of the march, Jan. 26, members of the Monmouth and Western community came together to listen to speakers as they made signs.

“The graffiti placed here is not only a manifestation of a larger act, but an escalation of hate that must be conquered,” said Monmouth City Councilor Christopher Lopez. “To oppose bad things in this world, we must not only feel the good and embrace it, but act upon it. This togetherness, love, caring, openness, kindness and understanding only has power when it is paired with action.”

Building off of this idea, Linda Williams read sentiments in a letter from Representative Paul Evans about how vital it is for people to combat hate that they see around them.

“Something has happened in our nation, state and community. Somehow, we have drifted into treacherous waters,” wrote Evans. “We have tolerated a downward spiral in our basic civility and…respect. We have allowed the fragile fabric of our union to unravel.”

Moving forward, though, Evans also offered a message of hope.

“Hate has no place in America, in Oregon or in our community…we are one — together against bigotry, intolerance and racism. Together we can defeat hatred through compassion and empathy,” said Evans.

The final speaker before the march was Nathan Soltz, ASWOU Senate President, who shared his perspective on the act of hate.

“I thought it was really difficult to put into words what my visceral reaction was because, as a Jew, when these events happen I feel compelled to remember the hatred that the generations before me faced,” said Soltz. And while…gross ignorance isn’t really as noticeable today, the bigotry persists. And it can be seen really obviously in the graffiti, but it can also be a lot more subtle.”

Soltz then explain how this bigotry can take a number of forms.

“It can take the form of someone crossing the street when they see a person of color walking towards them on the sidewalk,” or “an unqualified man telling a qualified woman how to do her job … someone thinking that someone with a disability is somehow less important … not recognizing that someone’s gender is what they say it is, not what you think it is,” said Soltz.

Rounding out his remarks, Soltz shared how disappointed he was that the Monmouth Police didn’t acknowledge this incident of graffiti to be “threatening.”

“I hate that we have to actually have a march against hate — that we have to stand up and say that being a Nazi is bad, because apparently today that’s no longer a given,” said Soltz.

At this point, the marchers practiced their chants and were ready to head out. The whole group marched through town and all the way to the site of the graffiti near Southgate Park, where city officials had agreed to let participants write countering messages in chalk on the sidewalk.

“I’m sure that the incident of vandalism really made them feel isolated, and I hope that the community feels a little less alone,” said Murray at the end of the march. “And I hope that the people who attended the march feel more empowered to be the active bystander and to stand up to hate that they witness. Especially in our current political climate, I hope that they feel that they can make a difference.”

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

A blast from the past: 163 years of Western

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

As an institution, Western Oregon University has a rich history that extends back to 1856 — three years before Oregon even became a state. Starting out as Monmouth University, the school as it is known today has experienced a great deal of growth and development since its founding with a total of seven different name changes.

On Jan. 18, Western commemorated its 163rd birthday with free cake and a visit with Wolfie for anyone who was interested in celebrating with their community.

According to Western’s website, the university as it is today has 5,382 students in total enrollment as well as 52 majors and 74 registered student organizations.

But it hasn’t always been that way.

Looking back at the earliest yearbooks in Western’s archives, there are a number of notable ways in which the dynamics and culture of the organization have evolved over time.

“A brief perusal of the roll of graduates published in the annual catalogue will disclose the fact that 780 men and women have completed the course during the past 22 years,” stated The Courier, Western’s oldest yearbook on record that was published in December of 1905. This number, when compared with even just the current enrollment of the school, briefly highlights the extent to which the university has grown over the last century.

However, even though Western has developed a great deal since its founding, it can be observed that there are activities and values that have persevered over time:

“One afternoon in early June the students were all out on the campus, the boys playing lawn tennis and the girls promenading in the shade of the magnificent grove that shadowed the school building, while peals of merry laughter rang out, mingled with the voices of the tennis players,” said the December issue of The Courier from 1906. This description, although worded more formally, does not sound unlike a typical spring afternoon in the Grove today.

So, while students from the early days of Western often participated in literary societies like “The Delphians,” “The Normals” and “The Vespertines,” students today frequently feel connected to the community through a Greek organization, an intramural team, a club or a leadership group.

Fundamentally speaking, the values and goals that the city of Monmouth has held haven’t seemed to have shifted all that much throughout the years.

“Enter heartily into the student affairs,” suggested President E. D. Ressler in 1906. “To be sure these are the incidental of your school life, but they also form the centers around which in after years cluster the fondest memories.”

The university president also went on to describe the integrity that students and faculty alike ought to work towards in the pursuit of higher education.

“Strive to attain the ideals presented both in the class room and on the play ground,” said Ressler. “The good opinion of instructors and fellow students is worthy of all honorable effort and is usually the reward of straight forward conduct and unselfish effort for the good of the school.”

Despite all of the ways that Western has evolved since 1856, there are still a number of ways that the original spirit of the university has been preserved through the people who live, work and attend school here.

If anyone is interested in learning more about Western’s history, there is a wide variety of resources available on Hamersley Library’s website in the digital commons.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of omeka.wou.edu

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