Mount Hood

Respect the pack

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

In the month of April 2017, two crimes involving racism occurred on campus and off, both towards Western students.

One incident, revealed in an all-campus email from President Rex Fuller, “involved a student being subjected to racist language while walking on campus.”

The second incident occurred at one of the Wolfpack Village apartment complexes, where sophomore Dwightaye Spears’ apartment door was vandalized with a racist slur on April 10, according to Fox 12.

“It was just a really uncomfortable experience,” Spears said in an interview with Fox 12.

Crimes involving discrimination at Western aren’t common. Western’s “2016 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report” crime-statistics show that the last reported hate crimes for campus and the surrounding community within a one-block radius, were two in 2013; the report has statistics for 2013, 2014 and 2015.

When asked in an interview what a student should do if they feel they have been discriminated against, Campus Public Safety director Rebecca Chiles explained that, ​“students can report incidents to Campus Public Safety, Office of Student Conduct, Monmouth Police Department, or local police department where the incident has taken place, Human Resources, Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs, and University Housing are just a few of the resources on campus that can take a report.”

Chiles offered Western’s Student Health and Counseling Center, Abby’s House, Veteran’s Services, Multicultural Services and Programs and the Stonewall Center/Safe Zone are resources available to students if they feel they feel unsafe or discriminated against.

“For students who are concerned for their safety or want to get support when making their way around campus or off campus, Campus Public Safety provides an on campus escort program where an officer can walk students to and from campus buildings; the Wolf Ride is another great resource for students to utilize for getting to off-campus locations,” added Chiles.

In the April 11 email sent by Fuller, he reminded everyone on campus that, “(WOU’s) practices are guided by…equity and inclusion; a fundamental basis in human diversity; appreciation for the complexity of the world; and strength drawn from our variety of backgrounds, abilities, cultural experiences, identities, knowledge domains and means of expression.”

Anyone with useful information regarding the above incidents are encouraged to contact the Monmouth police at 503-838-1109.

Students that would like to contact Campus Public Safety, for an escort or otherwise, can call their non-emergency number 503-838-8481.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

One day for one Earth

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

The 47th annual Earth Day will be observed on April 22, 2017. Earth Day was founded in 1970 by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson; the idea to dedicate a day to focus on the environment was triggered by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California in 1969, according to earthday.org.

The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts all resulted from the many rallies and protests that occurred on Earth Day 1970.

As explained on the EPA’s website, their mission is to protect human health and the environment. In order to accomplish their broad goal, the EPA works with Congress by writing regulations for any environmental laws they create. They will also assist states in making sure they meet national environmental standards when needed.

This year, there are many ways that people can be active in the environment on April 22 if they choose to.

A common Earth Day activity is planting trees. “Planting trees is one of the simplest and most effective ways of tackling climate change caused by greenhouse gas. As trees grow they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. When communities plant trees they can help to reduce the impacts of climate change in their local area and around the world,” states www.worldvision.com.

The Luckiamute Watershed Council is hosting a free event to plant trees and shrubs at the Luckiamute State Natural Area in Albany alongside the Central Lions Club of Independence and Boy Scout Troupe #38.

By planting native vegetation, the LWC is hoping to restore the natural area’s wetlands, which is explained in further detail on their website, http://www.luckiamutelwc.org/earthday.

The Oregon Gardens in Silverton will be hosting special activities, along with free admission from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Earth Day; however, parking for the event will be $5.

Locally, the Monmouth Public Library will be doing free Earth Day themed crafts from 2-3 p.m.

In addition to these events, many cities around the country will be holding a March for Science.

“What began as a Reddit conversation has grown into a movement of scientists and science lovers standing up for evidenced-based policy making and inclusivity in the science community,” states www.scientificamerican.com.

Corvallis will be holding its March for Science from 1-3 p.m. at the Benton County Courthouse on April 22. More details can be found on the event’s facebook page.

For those looking for more ideas on how to help the environment, information can be found on www.earthday.org.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

The cost of your browsing data

By:Darien Campo
Designer

Tuesday, March 29th, Congress met to pass legislation that has sent the internet into an uproar.

In one of the last moves made under the Obama administration, the Federal Communications Commission issued a rule which gave internet users a greater amount of control over how Internet Service Providers share their information. Data, like browsing history, app usage and shopping trends could not be given away until the ISP asked users for permission to do so.

The House cast the final vote of 215-205 to reject the rule.

This rule, which had not yet actually gone into effect, only affected ISPs and not internet companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon – who are given permission to collect your information when you use their services and agree to their terms and conditions.

Rep. Michael Burgess, R-TX, argued that this gave an unfair advantage to unregulated internet companies and that rejecting the rule would, “… level the playing field for an increasingly anti-competitive market.”
Many users are outraged at the prospect of a company purchasing their private browsing information; when in reality it’s not individual’s browsing data they want, but the data trends of a large group of people – for marketing purposes.

As the Washington Post explains it, a marketer will ask a company like Facebook to advertise to a specific demographic, not individuals.

“The two companies will settle on a deal, and the marketer’s advertisements will be displayed on Facebook to that group, but the marketing company will never see specific information about those people,” explained Brian Fung of the Washington Post.

But many users and Democrat congress members fear that this gives ISPs too much power over private information.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-CA, argued, “I don’t want anyone to take my information and sell it to someone and make a ton of money off of it just because they can get their mitts on it.”

Democrats argue that while companies like Google and Facebook are not regulated, users have a choice to not use those services, while most users have little or no choice over which ISP they get to use.

Some have taken it a step further. Max Temkin, creator of the popular game “Cards Against Humanity” has promised to, “… buy the browser history of every congressman and congressional aide and publish it,” if the repeal of the FCC rule is passed by President Trump.

But it may not actually work that way.

“It’s highly unlikely that you’re going to see [ISPs] actually parsing out individual’s data and selling it person by person,” said Gabriel Debenedetti, Politico reporter, before adding on, “… not that they couldn’t.”

However, not much has changed now for everyday users; the FCC’s rule never actually went into effect, so ISPs are still allowed to sell data just as they were before. If a user feels uncomfortable with their data being used this way, most sources recommend using a virtual private network.

As PCMag explains, “… a VPN creates a virtual encrypted ‘tunnel’ between you and a remote server operated by a VPN service.” This helps mask a user’s identity and keeps an ISP from seeing their data.

The bill now awaits a signature from President Trump, who is expected to pass it, though many groups are urging him to veto.

“President Trump now has the opportunity to veto this resolution and show he is not just a president for CEOs but for all Americans,” said Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Contact the author at journaldesigner@wou.edu

Students could pay the price for low enrollment

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

In an email sent to Western faculty and staff on April 4, President Rex Fuller laid out upcoming changes and work going into the 2017-2019 biennial budget.

According to the message, Oregon’s seven public universities sent the Higher Education Coordinating Commission multiple scenarios regarding possible budgets.

The HECC is a 14 member volunteer commission responsible for advising the governor, Oregon legislation and the chief education office on higher education policy, as stated on oregon.gov. Some of the HECC’s duties include, “… the development of biennial budget recommendations for public postsecondary education in Oregon,” as well as, “… making funding allocations to Oregon’s public community colleges and public universities.”

President Fuller’s email relayed that the most optimistic budget scenario presented to the HECC, “… provided about $940 million for the four-year campuses -an increase of about $275 million over the 2015-17 budget. This budget represented the true increase in cost and increase of 20% for universities.” The scenario was then sent to the governor as part of the HECC request.

Fuller stated that, “The universities decided to convey this aspirational budget scenario to the HECC, in part, because of the possibility that the corporate gross receipts—Measure 97—would pass in November 2016. As we know, Measure 97 failed in the 2016 election.”

Had Measure 97 been passed, it would have increased the corporate minimum tax for corporations with at least $25 million in Oregon sales, as explained on ballotpedia.org. The goal of the measure was to use the increased revenue to fund education, healthcare and senior services.

Fuller’s email goes on to say that, “… the Governor’s recommended budget (GRB) set $667 million for the Public University Support Fund (PUSF), which is about $115 million below the amount needed to cover increased costs … the GRB also did not fund the Sports Lottery that is used by Western to support graduate student scholarships and student athletes.”

Because of this, Fuller explained, “It is likely that Western, like all public universities, will be facing a shortfall in PUSF funds. This will require each campus to consider a combination of tuition increases, use of reserves, and budget cuts.”

In January 2017, the Board of Trustees was presented a budget that assumed a 10 percent increase in tuition and enrollment; Western now has a clearer idea of what the admissions and expected enrollment for fall 2017 will be.

On March 1, Western’s first-time first-year student enrollment was 20 percent lower compared to last year at the same time. Overall, it’s estimated that the number of new first-year students from Oregon will be lower. Because of this, the modeled budget will reflect a 10 percent increase to tuition and a five percent decrease in enrollment, leading to an assumed deficit of around $3 million per year, as laid out in Fuller’s email.

Though work will continue to be done in an attempt to increase higher education PUSF funding, budget cuts are being planned out.

“The cuts will need to be conceived in light of the newly approved Strategic Plan and will not reduce our ability to enroll students in classes they need to graduate,” wrote Fuller. “However, greater care in matching our course scheduling to account for fewer students and changing student demand will, in all likelihood, lead to fewer sections of some courses and some reductions in the number and/or variety of some course electives.”

Currently, budget plans are not set, and need to be reviewed. Once plans are reviewed, the budget proposals will be shared with the University Budget Committee. The recommendations from the committee will then be considered in the development of the final 2017-2019 budget which will be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval.

Fuller concluded his message to Western staff and faculty stating that, “In this environment of decreasing resources, we must begin planning for these expected budget shortfalls … by utilizing our Strategic Plan and the process I have outlined, I am confident that Western will make budget decisions that support our effort to achieve our mission and strategic initiatives that are described in our Strategic Plan.”

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Civil rights for all

By: Zoe Strickland
Managing Editor

On April 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit made the decision that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“We conclude today that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination,” Chief Judge Wood stated in the opinion release.

This decision was brought to court in an 8-3 vote.

When making the decision, the court tried to follow the intent of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. One section of Title VII focuses on unlawful employer practices, such as, “… to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual … because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment … because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,” as stated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The appeals case was kickstarted after a 2014 lawsuit by Kimberly Hively, an adjunct instructor at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, wherein the instructor claimed that her sexual orientation prevented her from being hired-on as a permanent member of staff and later let go from the adjunct position that she had held. Though the court found that discrimination based on sexual orientation is in violation of the Civil Rights Act, they didn’t make an official ruling in the case of Hively vs. Ivy Tech.

In Oregon, discrimination based on sexual orientation is already prohibited under the Oregon Equality Act of 2007: “The Oregon Equality Act forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in several critical areas,” states the Lambda Legal website. These critical areas include discrimination in employment, public accommodation, housing and financial transactions, jury service, state institutions, foster parenting and public school education.

If you feel that you’ve been discriminated against in either of the above listed settings because of sexual orientation or gender identity, you can find out more about filing a complaint with the Bureau of Labour and Industries on oregon.gov.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Vital information in the palm of your hand

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is here and, while it’s important year-round to know the resources available to survivors of sexual assault, April is dedicated to raising awareness of this issue.

According to http://www.nsvrc.org, one in five women and one in 16 men will be a victim of completed or attempted sexual assault while in college, yet more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report it. Additionally, 40 percent of colleges and universities reported not investigating a single sexual assault in the past five years.

Reach Out is a free application that is aiming to prevent campus sexual assault or provide resources for survivors of it. The application is available to download on Apple and Android devices. Currently there are 2,500 schools listed in the Reach Out database, each of which has their own customized resources available to users.

The creation of Reach Out was “somewhat unexpected” according to www.capptivation.com.

“During the summer of 2014, after graduating college, three of my friends from high school – Jack Zandi, Racquel Giner, and Zach Csillag – and myself often found ourselves hanging out at my house, talking about our post-grad plans,” explained Billy Sadik-Khan, a partner of Capptivation and one of Reach Out’s data maintenance team members. “Right around that time, the issue of sexual misconduct on college campuses was garnering more attention from the media and lawmakers … and so it started coming up in our conversations.”

Sadik Khan went on to say, “We discussed things like our experiences with sexual misconduct at our own colleges; if we had known anybody, what exactly the right thing to do is if someone tells you they’ve been assaulted; what resources are available to you, etc. We all came up with different answers, realized that we couldn’t possibly be the only people looking for this information. We identified a need for students to have all this crucial, hard-to-find, often difficult to understand information in an easy, intuitive and accessible format. What better way to provide this information than directly on someone’s smartphone?”

When searching Western Oregon University on the Reach Out application, users can find local safe places and emergency contacts, including the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, West Valley Hospital and the Monmouth Police Department. Sexual assault reporting options, information on Title IX and a guide on what you can do if have been a victim of sexual assault or know someone who has, can also be found on Reach Out.

Schools also have the ability to manage the customized information if they choose to through an online console on www.capptivation.com.

“We believe that the cost of college tuition for a young student should not implicitly include, on top of room and board and a meal plan, a significant chance of being sexually assaulted” stated Sadik-Khan.

For more information about Reach Out and ways to get involved, visit www.capptivation.com. The application can be downloaded for free on both the App Store and Play Store.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

Merkley takes a 15 hour stand

By: Jade Rayner
News Editor

On the evening of April 4, 2017, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley took the Senate floor, and proceeded to hold it for the next 15 hours in protest of Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil M. Gorsuch.

The New York Times described it as, “It was the filibuster before the filibuster. Sort of.”

A filibuster is an action, generally a prolonged speech, that obstructs any progress in a legislative assembly, while not technically breaking the required procedures.

In this case, “Mr. Merkley’s effort was not technically a filibuster, as the senator was not actually delaying anything” the New York Times said of the event.

According to ABC News, “Gorsuch’s nomination was marred by partisan battle in the Senate, during which Democrats attained enough votes to block him until Republicans employed the ‘nuclear option’ to end floor debate on the judge by a simple majority rather than by 60 votes.”

As of Friday, April 7, the United States Senate confirmed that Judge Gorsuch would be the 113th member of the Supreme Court with the final vote being 54-45 in favor of Gorsuch; after almost 14 months since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, all nine chairs of the court are filled.

Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu

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