Mount Hood

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

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

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