Mount Hood

Bringing senior prom to the Monmouth community

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Sparkling prom dresses and classy tuxedos paid a visit to the Monmouth Senior Center on May 26. The second annual sock hop, hosted by Western’s Psychology Club and Gerontology Club, gave seniors the opportunity to dress up and hit the dance floor.

The theme for this year’s dance was ‘Spring Fling Senior Prom,’ encouraging community members to break out their prom attire and join in on the fun. Of course, a prom is incomplete without the crowning of prom king and queen, as well as tiaras and crowns for the winners.

Haley Morris, Psychology Club president, was involved in planning the Valentine’s Day sock hop in 2017. The organization was looking to get more involved with the senior center and jumped at the opportunity to help the Monmouth community.

“It’s cool getting more college students in the community and not just on campus,” Morris commented. She explained that many students go through college focusing on how their education will benefit themselves and not necessarily how they can help others.

“Maybe they see Monmouth as being pretty small and they don’t see a way of benefiting the community, but there’s a lot of different ways that people can reach out and the senior center is one of those ways,” said Morris.

Last year’s sock hop was such a success that the Gerontology Club decided to get involved in the event. Lila Gardner, co-president of the Gerontology Club at Western, is a gerontology major, herself, and has always enjoyed working with older adults. When elected president of the club, she had several goals that she wanted the organization to accomplish.

“I wanted us to be really involved with the Monmouth community,” Gardner explained. The club hosted Careers in Aging Week in April and several events educating the community about aging and working with older adults. Since then, the organization has been focused on outreaching to the Monmouth community.

“This term has been really focused on interacting with our older aging community and really making sure that we’re creating a better quality of life,” said Gardner. “There’s some places in Oregon that doesn’t have a senior center and (don’t) focus on quality of life for older adults and that’s something I think our club officers are really adamant about.”

The sock hop is just one way that the Psychology and Gerontology Clubs are reaching out and using their fields of study to benefit the community.

Morris expressed, “I think it’s becoming a community event and people are looking forward to it so I really hope it continues.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Fostering support, progress and hope

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Teal blue ribbons adorn the trees around Western’s campus, bringing to light a community that is often overlooked: foster students. The WOU Fostering Success initiative is hosting Foster Care Awareness Month throughout May to help inform the campus community about foster students and provide support for individuals that have been a part of the foster care system.

Senior Sean Stephen is a foster youth peer mentor with WOU Fostering Success. With a personal history in the foster care system, Stephen strives to reach out to prospective Western foster students and ensure that current students have the resources they need to be successful.

“Coming from a foster care system into college is a pretty big transition for most students, and for foster care students it’s a really big transition because a lot of foster care children don’t have the support that they need,” explained Stephen. “That’s one area that I want to be there for them where they have, if they need it, support and advocate to what they need to help them be successful.”

The initiative was established in 2015 by Dr. Emily Plec, a professor of communication studies. She was impacted by students at Western that had experienced the foster care system and felt that there was more she could do to support them. Teaming up with a representative from Polk Youth Services and the previously established Wolves Fostering Hope club, Plec introduced one of the first initiatives to provide resources for foster students on campus, help them navigate financial aid and give general support that they may not get from other people in their lives.

“We tend to assume that everybody’s got a family,” Plec acknowledged, whether that’s someone to provide emotional support, financial stability or just a place to stay during holidays. “There was a group of students that that just wasn’t the case for.”

Help with advising, learning about federal financial aid benefits and even putting together finals week survival kits can enhance a foster student’s life at Western. Plec commented that the initiative is “just trying to do the things that families do that are the intangible parts of just getting you through.”

WOU Fostering Success planned several events during May for Foster Care Awareness Month including a socks and shoes drive for foster youth in the community, educational tabling and a duffle bag and suitcase collection, as part of the No More Trash Bags movement.

“In the foster care system, usually when you’re being transitioned from home to home, all you have is a black trash bag full of your stuff,” Stephen explained. “We’re trying to give foster kids backpacks and luggage and suitcases and duffle bags so they don’t have to be carrying around a black trash bag because that’s really dehumanizing.”

One of the most recent accomplishments of the initiative is creating a Preview Day focused on high school foster youth in Oregon. The event on May 25 is open to all foster youth interested in attending Western and includes a campus tour, assistance from the Student Success and Advising Office on transfer articulations and a luncheon featuring a panel of foster students sharing their experiences at Western.

“It’s just a whole day to meet students who are making the dream of college happen,” Plec expressed. And, for the first time ever, graduating foster students will be presented with graduation honor cords during the luncheon. Stephen, who is involved in the Wolves Fostering Success club that made this possible, believes this is a big achievement for foster students.

Stephen explained the difficulties that he faced coming to Western as a transfer student from the foster care system and not knowing anyone in the school. He encourages everyone to reach out to people that may need a hand.

“If you see somebody and you know that they might be struggling, just reach out and say ‘hey, how are you?’” Stephen suggested. “Don’t let somebody slip into the cracks.”

To learn more about the WOU Fostering Success initiative and Foster Care Awareness Month, visit wou.edu/foster.

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Latino culture takes the spotlight at Western

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

The sound of Latin music and the smell of tacos filled the air outside of the Werner University Center on May 18. Multicultural Student Union’s annual event, Nuestra Fiesta Latina, encouraged students and community members to come together and experience Latino culture with a variety events and activities throughout the week.

The union’s collaboration with several organizations around campus transformed the typical day-long event into a week-long celebration. The week’s events kicked off with dance lessons instructed by members of the Omega Delta Phi fraternity, a Lip Sync Battle hosted by the Kappa Delta Chi sorority and stand-up comedian Jesus Trejo was sponsored by the Student Activities Board for a Thursday night of laughter.

Friday brought the traditional Nuestra Fiesta Latina day event with food, music, piñatas and a jalepeño-eating contest on the WUC plaza. The celebration continued during Freebie Friday with Lotería — a traditional Latino game similar to bingo — and pan dulce. The evening brought dinner and entertainment by Karol Posadas, a tribute artist that portrays the popular Mexican-American artist, Selena.

Sophomore early childhood education major Blanca Miranda-Aguilar worked behind the scenes to plan for Nuestra Fiesta Latina as MSU’s Public Relations officer. Miranda-Aguilar experienced the festivities of Nuestra Fiesta Latina in 2017 and was eager to step up as co-coordinator this spring.

Miranda-Aguilar noted that MSU strives to represent various cultures with annual events such as Women of Culture, Out and Proud, Dia de los Muertos and the Pow Wow.

“It’s just a way to show respect toward that culture,” said Miranda-Aguilar. She explained that many people view cultures through a stereotypical lens, and events like Nuestra Fiesta Latina aim to break those stereotypes and educate the community about a diverse array of cultures.

As a part of the Latino culture herself, Miranda-Aguilar is excited to have an event like this on campus.

“We’re being seen and recognized,” she expressed.

Miranda-Aguilar encourages everyone to venture out of their comfort zone and explore all the events and activities planned by MSU.

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Encouraging unity, celebrating diversity

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

“Diversity” is a term that covers a broad range of topics including race, gender, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status and other components of a person’s identity. ASWOU aimed to educate the Western community on these topics during Diversity Week.

“I think a lot of people get divisive on things that involve politics, race, class — those are all big issues,” said ASWOU Director of Equity Natalie Dean. “But I think people get really hung up on the things that divide us, and I think that this was just to highlight the ways that we are all together. And not to ignore those differences, but rather to address them and recognize that they do happen.”

The week-long event, spanning from May 14-18, was hosted by ASWOU and involved several student-led organizations on campus, including: Unidos, Student Veterans of America and the D.R.E.A.M. club. Each club provided their own unique perspective and informed Western students about different aspects of diversity.

Unidos and MEChA teamed up to host a film screening of the movie “Food Chains” which discussed the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in Florida, the D.R.E.A.M. club presented information about the disabled community and accessibility on Western’s campus and the Student Veterans of America organized an open house in the Veterans Resource Center that encouraged students to learn about the various branches of the military.

ASWOU worked with the Oregon Student Association to provide workshops centered around diversity including Intro to Queer and Trans Justice, Intro to Disability Justice and Understanding Your Privilege.

Western’s Food Pantry hosted a cooking tutorial, led by former Foodservice Director Karen Nelles. The presentation demonstrated basic baking and knife skills as well as nutritional meals to make in a mason jar. Additionally, senior community health major Paula Waldron discussed topics of food insecurity and socioeconomic status to tie the event back to Diversity Week.

“Food insecurity affects millions of people in the United States — with college students being no exception,” Waldron explained. “Addressing food insecurity is important because hunger has the ability to negatively impact other areas in life and, as a result, may diminish one’s quality of life.”

Dean believes that Diversity Week provides a good opportunity for students to ask questions that they might not otherwise ask and explore the various topics of diversity.

“Learning can be scary, especially dealing with topics like this,” said Dean. “People don’t really want to talk about it … (Diversity Week) is a space that’s inclusive and is open to educating people in a way that’s not demeaning.”

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Western’s outstanding leaders

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

Leadership Recognition Night is an annual event that celebrates leadership and service at Western. The Delmer Dewey Outstanding Graduating Student award and the Julia McCulloch Smith Outstanding Graduating Student award are prized to two graduating individuals that show excellence in leadership, academics and contributions to Western.

 

Delmer Dewey Outstanding Graduating Student

The Delmer Dewey Outstanding Graduating Student award was presented to Carter Craig. Craig is a senior history major and member of the honors program. During his four years at Western, Craig was a Resident Assistant for one year, president of the Residence Hall Association for two years, a three-time member of the Incidental Fee Committee and chair of the committee in 2017 and a recent Alternative Break team member for the Costa Rica team. Craig notes that one of his favorite involvements on campus was with the Residence Hall Association.

“I have really enjoyed intentionally programming for my fellow students and the comradery among the other RHA Exec members,” commented Craig. “I think that same sense of community is also one of Western’s huge strengths.”

In his honors thesis, ‘‘To the Dishonor of God’: Religious Roots for Puritan Morality Laws During the Interregnum,’ Craig investigates the influence of religion on laws during the English Interregnum between 1653 and 1659.

“I am grateful to everyone who has supported me,” said Craig.

 

Julia McCulloch Smith Outstanding Graduating Student

 

The Julia McCulloch Smith Outstanding Graduating Student award was presented to Sara Madden. Madden is a senior social science major and member of the honors program. She is a student athlete who has competed in indoor and outdoor track and cross country for four years while sitting on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. Madden is the president of Western’s chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Chi Alpha Sigma honor societies. Over all else, Madden has enjoyed being a student athlete at Western.

“It has such a family feel to it and has been very rewarding from the time and effort I have put in,” she explained.

Madden’s honors thesis, “The Secret War of WWII: Emmanuel Ringelblum and Jewish Resistance to Nazism in Warsaw 1943,” examines Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

“I feel incredibly honored to receive this award,” Madden expressed. “Never in my wild dreams did I imagine receiving such an honor at this level; it’s truly remarkable.”

 

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Admiring diversity from around the globe

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa | Staff Writer

Western’s International Night aimed to break culture shocks and express the diversity of students from around the world. The event was hosted on May 11 by the International Club, an organization that promotes cultural awareness and fosters friendships with students from around the world.

“This club helps international and domestic students broaden their horizon and perspectives on cultures, individuality, and life,” said junior and International Club Vice President Berlyn Buncal. Buncal has been a member of the club since her first year at Western. “[Our purpose] is to share and let other students make friends with people they never thought they would click with too.”

Junior Faafili Papalii agreed, stating that, “the club is worldwide. It means that anyone can welcome to join and share with us.”

This is Papalii’s third year participating in the International Night as a dancer. “We help each other and the new students who need friends, directions and education,” said Papalii. “The club thinks that students are away from their families and they are far away from home, so International Club is home away from home.”

This annual event provides the audience with a wide scope of diverse cultures and acknowledges a variety of backgrounds.

“International Night is about sharing different cultures with the university and the community at an evening,” said Buncal. She believes the event helps create visibility of the wide variety of international students attending Western. “It is where people from other parts of the world can feel at home. They get to see that there are other international [students] and share their culture, something that not many have the opportunity to do.”

The event had Arabic entertainment booths such as Henna artwork, samples of tea and treats, displays of handcrafted clothes and a person that wrote guest’s names in Arabic. It gave people the opportunity to explore the lifestyles of people from Saudi Arabia.

The dinner consisted of specialty dishes from around the globe, such as ye’abesha gomen from Ethiopia, beef bulgogi from South Korea, yakisoba noodles from Japan and vanillekipferl from Germany.

The entertainment portion of the event kicked off with a fashion show extravaganza that foreshadowed the upcoming performances. International Club members had the chance to show off traditional clothing from different countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and Thailand. Members had the opportunity to flaunt clothing from their own native countries and demonstrate what they normally wear in their hometowns.

Throughout the night were various performances that represented various cultures and rituals. There was the Yasugi Bushi performance, a famous folk song from Japan that involved two participants dancing while wearing face masks. Another performance was the Bollywood dance, a performance that demonstrated many different Indian dance styles. There was even a Rubik’s Cube performance where Lianhua Zhou solved the puzzle in a matter of minutes. The Rubik’s Cube is a popular puzzle that is well-known in western culture.

The event wrapped up with the emcees thanking the audience for attending and bringing all of the volunteers and performers to the stage.

“[Tonight is] a night that we invite everyone to celebrate and promote the unity of International on campus,” said Papalii. “It doesn’t matter what race, color, or language we are; we believe in equality.”

Contact the author at cnakatsukasa15@wou.edu.

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

$4 million surplus in university budget provides opportunity for growth

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

On May 8, a university budget update given by president Rex Fuller and interim Vice President for Finance and Administration Jay Kenton disclosed a new revelation to Faculty Senate: the university budget, which was previously thought to be in a deficit, is actually in a $4 million surplus.

This surplus of money arose from various sources. Though enrollment is still declining, the university is attracting more out-of-state students, who pay more for tuition than Oregon residents. This unexpected revenue cuts down the deficit. Additionally, the migration from the Banner software system to the cloud application saved the university a one-time savings of $450,000. And nearly half of the $4 million was money that was budgeted for various departments but not being utilized. Instead of re-allocating these funds halfway through the year, the administration decided to be proactive about their investments.

“It allows us to be a bit more investment-oriented,” explained Fuller. “We’re moving to a point where we’re creating our future as opposed to simply being in reaction mode.”

Now the question is: what will the university invest in? Fuller thinks it’s important to focus on increasing enrollment at Western.

“We need to be more creative and innovative about driving enrollment to Western,” Fuller stated.

One way to accomplish this is to establish a campus in Salem to appeal to students that are currently commuting from Salem to Monmouth. Another focus would be creating new programs with an emphasis in professional STEM fields and implementing more accessible degree paths through online classes.

An important change, what Kenton refers to as a ‘new paradigm,’ is decentralizing the budget and allowing individual departments to manage their own budgets.

“Everything was very centrally controlled here,” Kenton commented. “Most universities push responsibilities out — decisions are better made closer to their point of impact.”

The way it is now, departments only manage nearly 20 percent of their own budgets. Kenton aims to change this.

He explained that faculty are stakeholders in the university, stating: “You (the faculty) are part owner of this operation and you deserve to have this information to know how your organization’s doing and how you’re going to be impacted by decisions we make. We need to be inclusive and transparent.”

Dr. Kimberly Jensen, professor of history, believes that the administration should provide more information to the faculty and explain why this surplus was not found sooner.

“This was money, over time, that could have supported faculty and the wonderful students we teach in many ways,” Jensen explained. “I would like to see the administration provide us more information about the specific accounting, and I would like the administration to see that there is restitution for what has happened.”

Dr. Karen Haberman, professor of biology, suggested that these funds be used to provide competitive pay for open faculty positions.

“In light of budget surpluses going back many years, we need to prioritize filling tenure-track positions that were vacated due to retirements,” Haberman proposed. “Several of these positions have been open for many years, presumably due to budget constraints.”

The discovery of a budget surplus came in the middle of faculty bargaining, where faculty and administrators meet to explain their positions and come to an agreement regarding faculty compensation and benefits. Kenton believes that the budget will play a role in faculty negotiations going forward.

“This revelation may complicate bargaining,” Kenton remarked. “I think the expectations are high as a result.”

Jensen agreed, stating: “This has undoubtedly affected our collective bargaining processes as we seek to have faculty salaries that will recruit and retain faculty, decisions about replacing faculty who have left (Western), and funding for programs to benefit faculty and students here at (Western) as we seek to make this the best educational experience for students we possibly can.”

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

 

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