Mount Hood

Emergency ASWOU election comes to a close

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

Last week brought with it the result of the Associated Students of Western Oregon University’s emergency election. Due to the death of Alma Pacheco, president of ASWOU, the role of vice president needed to be filled.

ASWOU is the student government at Western; their role is to advocate for student’s rights on campus, as well as in the state of Oregon.

Samantha Dunaway, a junior majoring in biology with an emphasis in zoology will be taking on the role of vice president; her new responsibilities will include organizing meetings, and completing tasks assigned by the new president of ASWOU, Cynthia Olivares.

Samantha Dunaway is already very familiar with Western’s student government. Before being elected as vice president, she was working as the ASWOU director of student organizations, overseeing all of the student clubs on campus. Her work with the organization has included training student clubs to use OrgSync and financial policies, and giving them the tools to be successful.

When asked what plans she had for improving student life at Western, Dunaway replied that, “My main goal is to support all students on campus. My door is always open for students to voice their concerns about our university, and I will always be open to addressing those concerns. I know how many students struggle with paying for college, pay tuition out of pocket and work multiple jobs to make it through college. I will do everything in my power to support these students and work to decrease tuition rates. My other goals include making Western more environmentally sustainable, increasing involvement in clubs and organizations on campus and helping to create a strong team environment within the ASWOU cabinet so that we can better serve the student body.”

As a final note, ASWOU Vice President Samantha Dunaway added, “I want students to know that my door is always open. I love Western Oregon University, and the best part of this school is the students. I want them to know that I am always available to address questions, concerns, and ideas on how to improve our school. Also, everyone in ASWOU is here to serve the students. Come by our office and say ‘hi!’”

Students with concerns regarding Western can contact the Associated Students of Western Oregon University at aswou.@wou.edu, or they can stop by their office in Werner University Center room 122.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Month One in Trump’s America

By: Alyssa James
Staff Writer

When President Trump took office on Jan. 20, he immediately began to take action on issues that he spoke about during his campaign. On that day, per United Press International, he expelled an insurance rate cut for new homeowners which was set by the Obama Administration. He also began the process to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. UPI.com states that, “Trump’s order asked federal agencies to ‘prepare to afford the states more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market.’”

Since that first day in office, he has been working left and right on presidential duties. For example, he has taken action against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, abolishing the deal that America made with Asia. According to UPI.com, this was done due to the fear that the TPP had the possibility of killing U.S. jobs. Along with that decision, President Trump made a change toward federal workers, bringing about a temporary hiring freeze; the freeze excluded military and some security positions.

A very well-known order that President Trump has put into action is the prevention of U.S. funds being used toward select health charities that aid with abortion. This order has been on and off in America since the Reagan Administration.

Another important decision that was made was in regards to the Supreme Court. As of recent, Judge Neil McGill Gorsuch has been nominated to be the replacement of Antonin Scalia.

Considering the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has received a lot of attention, an executive order was signed making the completion of the pipeline possible. With that signed, the process of creating the pipeline from Canada will begin again. In a release on Feb. 8, 2016, Energy Transfer Partners stated that, “The Dakota Access pipeline … and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline… (together, the “Bakken Pipeline”) are expected to be in service in the second quarter of 2017.”

Within the Trump Administration, there has been a number of executive orders pertaining to immigration. Federal grant money has been stripped away from “sanctuary cities,” which are cities that protect immigrants who are not authorized and giving them access to city services. It is noted on UPI.com that President Trump, “also seeks to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers, build more detention centers and prioritize immigrants for deportation.” Not only that, but many have heard and are aware of the infamous Trump Wall. Building the wall has not begun; however, he has taken action by signing an order to begin the preparation for building the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The United States visa vetting process is being reworked as well due to Trump’s presidency. This executive order demands for a thorough security check for people from foreign nations who desire to obtain a U.S. travel visa.

President Trump has initiated an order to strengthen the U.S. military. This legislation wants to rebuild our armed forces in order to increase our national and global security. Along with this, he has restructured the National Security Council, which will aid the President in choosing the best course of action on security issues. Within this new NSC, President Trump added the CIA to be a part of it.

It has been a just over a month of Donald Trump being President.

Throughout the past few weeks, there have been a large number of orders signed. If anything is certain, President Trump has been an active president since being inaugurated last month.

Contact the author at ajames16@wou.edu

Weekly update: Incidental Fee Committee

By: TK  Layman
Staff Writer

Week two of the Incidental Fee Committee took place on Jan. 27 for on-campus programs to present their proposed budgets for the upcoming school year. The committee heard presentations this week from three organizations: Creative Arts, Student Media and Campus Recreation.

The previous week’s presentations included proposed budgets for accessibility through the Office of Disability Services, Abby’s House, Childcare through the Children’s Development Center, WOLF Ride and Service Learning and Career Development. Of the organizations who have presented, they’ve proposed their internal budget in relation to on and off-campus events to take place, as well as compensation for the workers involved in the departments.

Week three begins on Feb. 3 with the final round of budget presentations for student organizations: Athletics, Student Engagement and ASWOU. Following the final set of presentations, the Incidental Fee Committee will make their preliminary decision of the proposed budgets and the fee for the 2017-18 school year on Feb. 10.

For students looking to keep up with proposed budgets for on campus groups and organizations they are encouraged to go to wou.edu/ifc.

Contact the author at tlayman16@wou.edu

Creating an inclusive community

By: TK Layman
Staff Writer

Inclement weather and blustering winds showed a small but intimate turn out for speaker Kerani Mitchell’s community discussion “Exploring What Makes Us Oregonian.”

Ten people total showed up to talk about community inclusion and how they can, as a group, share stories of how they have all felt included or excluded from their particular community, and explore options to help those who may not feel welcome to be a part of their surroundings.

Kerani Mitchell, a graduate of Seattle University with a degree in international studies, started the group by leading them through a quick reflection and having them consider what brought them to the discussion. By laying out the guidelines of creating a safe inclusive space and keeping an open mind, Mitchell got the audience thinking.

Introductions led way with participants stating their name and one thing they love about their community in Oregon.

During introductions, one audience member prompted the question, “When can someone call themselves an Oregonian?” As participants pondered on what makes someone an Oregonian, they all came to terms; an Oregonian is one who lives in Oregon.

Mitchell had the audience break up into two groups to discuss times they felt included in their community, and how they can identify ways to help others feel included in their daily lives.

One member, a teacher within the community, spoke about the difference between the “golden rule” and a different concept called the “platinum rule,” giving a description of treating others how they wish to be treated, rather than how one would want.

Mitchell ended the conversation with a recording of Maya Angelou’s poem “Human Family.”

By the end the group came back together to discuss ways they can help someone who may feel excluded from their community feel more welcome. Several of the ideas discussed included having themselves step outside their comfort zones and immersing themselves in a new culture, or searching for community involvement opportunities and above all treating everyone with human decency. As the conversation died down, the words of Maya Angelou resonated over the crowd: “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

Oregon Humanities Conversation Project continues Thursday, Feb. 16 with the next installment, “The Space Between Us, Immigrant Refugees, and Oregon” by speaker Manuel Padilla. Starting at 7 p.m. in the Anderson Room at the Salem Public Library
Contact the author at tlayman16@wou.edu

Social media backlash to the new administration

By: Zoë Strickland
Managing Editor

On Jan. 24, the Trump administration ordered the employees of multiple federal agencies, including the EPA, USDA, HHS and DOI, to halt external communication with both the public and the media.

According to the New York Times, the communication halt is in place “… while the Trump administration struggles to put political appointees into position.” The moratorium on communication from those departments came after the administration began re-doing the White House website on Jan. 20, during which they deleted any mention of climate change.

As a result of these combined events, the Twitter account of Badlands National Park began posting scientific facts relating to climate change. The National Park Service then came forward and admitted that the information was being posted by a former employee who had hijacked the account and proceeded to delete what they had tweeted.

Though the National Park Service attempted to correct what had happened on their Twitter, the tweets sparked an onset of unofficial ‘resistance’ government accounts. Among those accounts are @altUSEPA, @RoguePOTUSStaff, @RogueNASA, @altNOAA and @NotAltWorld, which was originally used for the unofficial National Park Service but has since been handed off to non-government workers.

Since all of the Twitter accounts being made are working against the orders of the Trump administration, it’s unclear which accounts are being run by people inside of the the organizations. Some, like @NotAltWorld and @RogueNASA, publicly admit to being run by non-government employees.

The Rogue POTUS Staff twitter claims to be run by people within the government. Their website identifies them as the “Official White House Resistance Operation,” saying that they “are White House staffers, working at various levels, operating in secrecy to reveal hidden truths of the Trump administration to the American people.”

However, since all of the Twitter accounts are openly resisting the new administration, none of the account managers have come forth to identify themselves.

The Twitter accounts join together as part of a larger movement that draws attention to the communication halt as well as the “… recent proposals from the Trump transition team for drastic cuts in environmental science in federal agencies,” as reported by Scientific American.

Most recently, on Feb. 3, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-F.L., introduced a bill into congress that seeks to completely terminate the EPA.

The recent setbacks to the scientific community have helped draw attention to the work that has already been done by each agency. People are drawing attention to old research, such as the database that NASA introduced in August of 2016 where they post the peer-reviewed articles of research that NASA has funded. Articles on the database range from studies about how spaceflight may increase certain clinical symptoms in astronauts to if it’s possible to inhabit Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The rogue twitter accounts, government employee run or not, are starting a conversation that helps spread awareness for government-funded scientific research.

The science community is planning the Science March on Washington on April 22 for Earth Day. A satellite march is currently set to take place in Portland.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Weekly update: IFC Meeting #3

By: TK Layman
Staff Writer

Friday, Feb. 3 the IFC meeting took place in modular 101 outside Rice Auditorium. After the committee saw presentations from all other campus organizations, the remaining – Athletics, Student Engagement and ASWOU, presented their budget proposals for the 2017-2018 school year.

Student Engagement included budget proposals for campus structures such as operations and student employment, leadership, inclusion and the Student Activities Board. With their proposed budgets for the year, they look to re-up their contract with OrgSync, the web application hosting all on-campus organizations.

Athletics holds the highest budget on campus and is looking to add safety improvements to the Women’s Softball field, adding an NCAA required safety netting to the dugouts. Their fear is that if the IFC cuts funds, they will have to reallocate funds to make sure equipment is kept up to date in terms of safety standards, as well as reducing the number of athletes who attend road games. Teams attending road games typically fly to their locations. The Athletics department stated if the budget was reduced, they would have to travel by bus, increasing the number of hours traveled and the amount of class missed for student-athletes.

Before ASWOU gave their presentation, they asked to reallocate funds from their non-specified account to cover their trip for Student Lobby Day, a day for student’s to speak with state representatives about their school experience and encumbrance of student loans. ASWOU asked for $500 to cover the travel costs, and it caused some trepidation from the IFC Committee. After discussion, the motion passed to reallocate travel expenses for Student Lobby Day 7-1-0.

The next meeting is Friday, Feb. 10 where the committee will make their preliminary decision on the budget before opening the floor to hearings.

Contact the author at tlayman16@mail.wou.edu

Helping the environment: don’t just talk about it

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

Many people talk about the importance of helping the environment but few know where to start. For those wanting to put their words into action, the Luckiamute Watershed Council is there to help.

“We’re a non-profit and our mission is to engage and assist landowners in restoration of the Luckiamute and Ash Creek Watersheds,” stated Kristen Larson, Council Coordinator of the Luckiamute Watershed Council in our interview at the council’s Burgerville fundraiser on Tuesday, Jan. 24.

A watershed is an area of land that drains to a common body of water; Ash Creek Watershed starts in Dallas, travels through the Polk County communities of Monmouth and Independence and drains into the Willamette River.

When asked what the council does in the area, Larson explained that they, “do things like controlling invasive weeds to allow the native vegetation to thrive; we plant native trees and shrubs along stream banks and the rivers. We do restoration projects to help fish habitats …”

Volunteering for the Luckiamute Watershed Council can include a variety of jobs.

“We participate in the Fourth of July parade, and help clean up the litter after the parade: we always need help for that. In the summer season we have field opportunities to help with our temperature monitoring program, and also weeds, so in our planting areas there’s often times we can use people helping us clip weeds so they don’t drop seeds and spread,” added Larson. “We have space on our committees, and on our board and we’d love to have student engagement and organization itself.”

For those interested in learning more about the Luckiamute Watershed Council, meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.; locations of the meetings vary and can be found on www.LuckiamuteLWC.org. Volunteer interest forms can also be found on their website.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

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Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Luckiamute Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians.

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