Mount Hood

Thanks, Obamacare

By: Stephanie Blair
Editor-in-Chief

On March 24, fewer than 20 days after its initial release to the public, the bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and replace it with American Health Care Act was pulled from the House floor before being put to a vote.

“We did not have quite the votes to replace [Obamacare],” said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-WI. “We are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.”

The Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010 and has provided insurance coverage for 20 million adults in its first six years, as estimated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The proposed bill would have discontinued the individual coverage requirement, which would also provide the demise of the ACA’s famous penalty for those who can afford coverage but do not have it. As stated on healthcare.gov, “The penalty is 2.5% of household income or $695 per adult … whichever is higher.” Penalties are paid through federal tax returns.

Students do not receive a special exemption from the aforementioned penalty. For students who are not listed on their parents’ insurance plan, finding healthcare coverage is required. Because Western does not offer a student health plan to domestic students, any uninsured U.S. students should either attempt to be added to their parents’ plan or fill out an application for insurance using the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Regardless of Oregon residency status, students should apply for insurance in the state they attend school in. The Oregon Health Plan has open enrollment, year-round.

Special coverage is available for those who cannot afford insurance and meet certain criteria: Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. These programs, “… provide free or low-cost health coverage to millions of Americans, including some low-income people, families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities,” as stated on healthcare.gov.

The Oregon Health Plan and Medicaid can both be applied for online at oregonhealthcare.gov.

For more information about healthcare penalties, exemptions and more, visit healthcare.gov.

For information about resources specific to Oregon, visit oregonhealthcare.gov.

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Reflecting on the life of Mary Maples Dunn

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

March 19, 2017 marked the death of 85-year-old educator, scholar and historian Mary Maples Dunn. She is regarded as, “… a champion for women- and women’s history” according to Smith College.

Dunn did her graduate work in U.S. colonial history at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and began teaching there as she worked to complete her Ph.D. Her career at the women’s liberal arts college was extensive. Among other positions she held, Dunn took on the role of Dean in 1978, and ultimately became Academic Deputy to the president in 1981.

From 1985 until 1995 Dunn served as Smith College’s eighth president. During her time at Smith, she faced multiple challenges but left a positive impact by the end of her presidency.

The Smith College Archives note that the time of Dunn’s presidency was, “… an economically troubled period for the college. Campus diversity, internal communication flow, and socially responsible investment were also significant issues.”

Dunn’s hard work at Smith paid off: she helped the women’s college raise more than $300 million during her time there, which helped allow the opening of the Bass Science Center and the Young Science Library on campus. Five majors were added to the curriculum as well as the improvement of on and off campus communications. Her tenure at Smith saw the introduction of the internet, email and voicemail on campus as part of her process of getting Smith on the “Information Highway,” explains the Smith College Archives.

Approaching retirement in 1995, Dunn stated that, “… it’s true that acquiring budgetary accountability is among my most important achievements, but I hope I’ll be remembered as a president who helped open the college up to a more diverse population,” according to Grécourt Gate, Smith College news.

The New York Times reports that her work in diversity at Smith was partially prompted by a number of racist incidents that had occurred on campus. Following those incidents, Dunn’s administration instilled a number of programs, one of the most notable being the 1988 Smith Design for Institutional Diversity.

“By the time she stepped down in 1995, minority enrollment had risen to 571 from 342, out of a student body of about 2,800. And minority representation on the faculty had increased by about six teaching positions,” the New York Times stated.

The programs primarily dealt with race, but also touched on derogatory language, race and physical disabilities as noted in the Smith College Archives, adding, “… Dunn maintained a cheerful image and a sense of humor throughout, and persevered through the trials of her difficult position.”

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Sanctuary city proposal update

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

On Feb. 21, the proposal to make Monmouth a sanctuary city was brought to the City Council for a third time.

Unlike the two previous city council meetings where the proposal for sanctuary status was met with less than two motions, and as a result further discussion was unable to take place, a promising turn of events took place for those pushing to have the proposal go into effect. This time, many members of the community were present and ready to discuss the topic.

Hector Virgen-Marquez, one of the six Western students that have been working on getting the community involved with the proposal, said, “I am immensely proud at how quickly and efficiently our community is willing to mobilize for topics of this matter.”

The city council decided that rather than declare sanctuary status right then, a work session will be held on March 21, which will be open to all members of the community. During this session, the details on what a sanctuary city looks like, as well as what needs to be done to follow the proper procedures will be examined.

Following the work session, another city council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. to discuss whether sanctuary status will be implemented in Monmouth or not; community members are welcome to attend and speak their minds during this meeting.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Incidental Fee Committee reaches final decision

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

After the extensive process of preliminary decisions and open hearings, the Incidental Fee Committee has reached their final budget decisions for the 2017-2018 school year. The final meeting took place on on Friday, March 3 and was approved by ASWOU Senate on Monday, March 6.

At the start of the process, the IFC committee didn’t have a set plan on what they wanted to increase, with the fee or specific program budgets. However, they did respond positively to groups that focus on student employment.

The total incidental fee that students will owe each term for the upcoming school year will be $349, an $8 increase from the current academic year; the summer 2018 fee reflects a $20 increase compared to the summer 2017 fee, which will bring the total to $153. Regarding the club’s and organization’s individual budgets, only a few faced significant changes from the preliminary decisions to the final one. ASWOU received an $11,793 increase from the preliminary decision, giving them a total budget of $277,132 for the 2017-2018 year. Student Engagement received an increase of $6,570 from their projected budget, putting them at $1,289,707 for the 2017-2018 school year.

Rather than seeing a significant increase, Athletics faced a $5,841 decrease between the preliminary and the final decision. Athletics will have a budget of $1,284,159 for the upcoming academic year.

A big change that came up during the final decision process was the enhancement that was granted to Campus Recreation. The purpose of the enhancement was to upgrade an existing part time position to full time. This enhancement was one that was not included in the preliminary decision; it was also one that received no discussion from students during the open hearing process.

Campus Recreation was given the enhancement, which added $37,126 to the final incidental fee budget: this will reflect in a $3 increase to the fee paid by students each term in 2017-2018.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Western’s distinguished women alumni

By: Jade Rayner
News editor

March has been observed as Women’s History Month since 1987, as designated by Congress through Public Law 100-9. Since then, the National Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art and other notable locations use March to “… join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history,” according to womenshistorymonth.gov.

Western has had numerous alumni that have made a difference either as educators, politicians and artists among other professions. Actress and painter Ariana Richards is among Western’s distinguished alumni.
Ariana Richards attended Western in 2006. Her career as an actress is expansive; one of her most famous roles being Lex Murphy in “Jurassic Park,” she has also played parts in “Tremors” and “Spaced Invaders” to name a few.

She won the Young Actors Award for “Best Young Actress Starring in a TV movie” both in 1991 and 1992 for her parts in “Switched at Birth,” and “Locked Up: A Mother’s Rage.” The Internet Movie Database credits Richards as, “… one of the most accomplished young artists of her generation.”

In addition to Ariana Richards career as an actor, she is also recognized as an accomplished painter. She is a member of both the Portrait Society of America and the California Art Club. Artists that she credits for her inspiration include John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn and Mary Cassatt. She focuses on working in a more traditional style with oil paint as her primary medium.

Richards has earned the Art of the West Award of Excellence at the Oil Painters of America Western Regional Competition in 2006; in 2013 she was named the “Official Artist for the Children for Children Organization-Interpretational Painting of Music.”

She has created work for multiple exhibitions, although her current focus is on painting specially commissioned pieces for individuals. Her work can be viewed online at galleryariana.com.

Nawwal Moustafa, a recent graduate of Western, is the creator of Dreamboat Productions, and works as a teacher at Elevate Oregon, a program aimed at building relationships with urban youth to promote education and leadership skills through year-round mentoring.

Moustafa created and self-published a 54-page coloring book titled “Chin Up, Dreamboat!” in 2016. The production of her coloring book was completely crowdfunded on Kickstarter within five hours, according to chinupdreamboat.com. The coloring book gained recognition from Buzzfeed, The Daily Dot and Bustle to name a few.

In an interview with metro.co.uk, Moustafa stated that, “I had this idea after I ended a relationship where we rushed into some serious commitment … It was a typical, over-committed too soon relationship. So, I created this. As a tool for others, and a tool for myself.”

She went on to explain that she chose a coloring book as an outlet to share her story because it’s interactive, and that “… coloring in the images works as the perfect self-therapy to process all the crappy parts of a breakup – gay or otherwise.”

More information about “Chin Up, Dreamboat!” including how to purchase the book and other available products can be found at chinupdreamboat.com.

Another distinguished woman is Western’s College of Education Alumni of Special Note Kate Dickson. Since graduating from Western in 1977 with a master of science in education, Dickson has had an active career as an educator.

Her work as vice president of education policy for the Oregon Chalkboard Project has led her to become head of an initiative to instill what’s learned through the Chalkboard Project to teacher preparation programs.

Oregon’s Chalkboard Project is an initiative of Foundations of a Better Oregon. According to their website, the project’s mission is, “… to help create systemic transformation in the quality, accountability and stable funding of Oregon’s K-12 public schools.”
Previous to her work on the Chalkboard Project, Kate Dickson has also been in the roles of Oregon Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, principal and teacher in the Salem-Keizer school district.

Reflecting on her education, Dickson noted that, “… my graduate work at Western was high quality and established a strong foundation for valuing intellectual rigor, critical thinking, and problem solving complex public education issues.”

More information about her, and other distinguished alumni can be found at wou.edu/education/alumni.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

National Women’s March takes Salem

By: Stephanie Blair
Editor-in-Chief

On Jan. 21, protesters around the world gathered in major cities to join in sister marches of the Women’s March on Washington. Despite the thunderstorm warning, approximately 4,200 people gathered across the street from the capitol steps to join the Salem Women’s March. Men, women, children and dogs filled the crowd holding up nearly as many signs as umbrellas.

An hour long rally was held before the mile-long march began. Speakers, such as Gov. Kate Brown and Salem city councilor Cara Kaser, advocated to the crowd about LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights and health care reform, as well as other women’s issues.

Though the Portland march lost attendance due to racial tensions and a dropped NAACP endorsement, the Salem march’s numbers were bolstered by hiring ASL interpreters for the rally and choosing a level march route.

Those in attendance ranged in age; some marchers were unable to walk because they had yet to learn how, while others were restricted to wheelchairs in their old age. At the front of the rally, one such woman held a sign which read, “Proud to be 94 and ‘nasty.’”

Haley Morris, a junior psychology major, was also in attendance. When asked why she chose to march, Morris replied, “I think it’s extremely important as the “building block” generation to be involved in the national and global conversation, especially on topics of injustice and inequality.”

Many signs at the event held messages such as, “Hate has no home here,” “Hear our voice” and “We must be vigilant, not vigilantes,” which held to the goal of the march as set by the organizers. On the Facebook event page organizers stated that, while signs were welcome, no hate speech would be permitted.

Political commentary and satirical caricatures, however, were rampant in the crowd’s signs. Some held fairly general statements, for example, “It’s not about politically correct, it’s about mutual respect.” Others were more pointed towards President Donald Trump, with signs reading, “Keep your tiny hands off my healthcare!” and “Make America think again.”

Similarly, the crowd was smattered with pink: eared hats referred to as “pussy hats” and signs that read “this pussy grabs back” in response to the president’s comment made in 2005.

“For me personally, I went to the march with less of an anti-Trump sentiment and more of a pro-people and pro-rights standpoint,” said Morris. “You can argue about who you think is the best leader, but you can’t argue over someone’s human rights.”

The event was coordinated with the Salem Police Department and was entirely peaceful; no arrests and no property damage occurred.

“All in all, I think the march went great. Almost double the number of people expected to come showed up and marched and cheered and danced in the cold and the pouring rain,” said Morris. “I think we accomplished our mission to peacefully but assertively stand together in solidarity to show our leaders and the world that we will not back down or remain voiceless in times of uncertainty and fear.”

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu