Mount Hood

Exploring the final frontier

By: Zoe Strickland
Managing Editor

In 2024, just 55 years after the moon landing, we could be setting foot on Mars. Despite it being a mere eight years into the future, Elon Musk, CEO of aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, is convinced that he will be able to send a rocket full of passengers to Mars.

Traveling to Mars wouldn’t be an easy feat; the process would involve creating a vessel that is reusable, while also developing a way for the vessel to refuel while in orbit.

On Sept. 27, Musk spoke at the 67th International Astronautical Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico about his long-term plans for eventually colonizing the fourth closest planet to the sun.

In a video of his speech released by Bloomberg.com, Musk spoke about the logistics of how often we would be able to send new people to Mars, “The Earth-Mars rendezvous only occurs roughly every 26 months”.

If we can only send rockets to Mars every two years, how long would it take to fully colonize the planet? “If we say the minimum threshold for a self sustaining city on Mars…would be 1,000,000 people… and you can only go every two years. If you have 100 people per ship, that’s 10,000 trips…From the point at which the first ship goes to Mars, it’s probably within 20 to 50 Mars rendezvous. It’s probably somewhere between 40 to 100 years to achieve a fully self-sustaining civilization on Mars”, Musk said in his speech.

The idea of going to Mars could soon be a reality, but achieving self-sustaining life on Mars will still be a long-term work in progress.

Despite how alluring the concept of colonizing a new planet is, SpaceX, as well as other privatized companies that are looking into creating spaceships, is hitting a major roadblock when it comes to making their plans a reality: proper funding. Receiving sufficient funding for space exploration has plagued both public and private space exploration organizations for years. According to Musk, part of curbing the funding issue is to try and find a way to allow for more than 100 people to be sent in a single rocketship. By finding a way to allow more passengers, he hopes to eventually decrease the amount that one has to pay to be sent to Mars from $10 billion, to a mere $200,000.

Though SpaceX’s plans put them at the forefront of innovative space technology, they would not have made such significant strides without the work done by public aeronautical agencies, such as NASA, who have provided contracts and funding to SpaceX.

NASA’s continuous efforts to further space exploration take form in the information gathered by Spirit and Opportunity, the two Mars rovers that were sent to explore the planet. The two rovers have provided information that has been integral in deciding if Mars would be a habitable planet; the Mars rovers have discovered water, as well as gathered information regarding the atmospheric make-up of the planet.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu.

Didn’t Watch the Olympics? No Problem!

By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

 

If you didn’t have time to watch the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, we’ve got you covered.

So, just how many medals did team USA win this year? NBC News reported: 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze medals, for a total of 121 medals. American swimmers won a total 33 of those medals, our track and field athletes won 32 and our gymnasts won 12.

The USA won a few medals in every other sport, but the majority of medals were in these events. Team USA has always done well in the Olympics, buscreen-shot-2016-09-28-at-7-11-51-pmt this year we had a few record breaking wins in the mix. The amazing Simone Biles from the women’s gymnastics team, a member of, “The Final Five,” was the first gymnast ever to win four gold medals. She placed first in vault, team all-around, floor exercise and individual all-around. Biles even has a move named after her, aptly named, “The Biles,” because she was the first to successfully execute it in competition. Biles is currently the only gymnast in the world able to do this.

Simone Manuel of the women’s swimming team was the first African-American women to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event. Katie Ledecky (also of the women’s swimming team), beat four world records, two of which were her own from the previous Olympic Games.

Overall, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games was a good year for team USA.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu

Obama implements new FAFSA changes

By: Zoe Strickland
Managing Editor

Last year, President Barack Obama announced that there would be changes made to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. According to the FAFSA website, there are two changes that students should be aware of.

Starting this year, the FAFSA will be available to fill out starting Oct. 1. However, the completion deadline of June 30 has remained the same.

In addition to the new opening date, President Obama has announced that students and families will report earlier income information. In the past, students have been required to report their tax information for the current school year as a part of the FAFSA application process. Starting this year, students will report their tax information from the previous year.This means that for the 2017-18 FAFSA application, applicants use their tax information from 2015.

According to the FAFSA website, these changes have been implemented so that “more students and families will be able to complete their FAFSA using income information imported electronically from the IRS […] rather than submitting applications with income estimates that may need correcting, or […] waiting until the previous year’s tax return has been filed.”

Western will be hosting FAFSA completion workshops in room 108 of Hamersly Library from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Oct. 3-6. If you’re interested in attending one of the workshops, bring your FAFSA username and password, as well as your 2015 tax information.

To begin your FAFSA application independently, visit fafsa.ed.gov.

More information about the changes to the FAFSA can be found at studentaid.ed.gov/sa.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Summertime news (or lack thereof)

We at The Western Journal wanted to let you know that we’re out of the office from now until New Student Week begins on September 18. Thank you for your readership and support throughout the last year. If you think that this year was a big one for you, we cannot wait to show you what’s in store for next year. We can’t divulge anything yet, but we’re excited to share it all with you starting in the fall. Until then, have a great summer.

Love,

The Western Journal Staff

Homeward Bound buses people out of town

By: Alvin Wilson
Staff Writer

A new program that was recently approved by the city of Portland is trying to help solve the city’s homeless crisis.

The program’s name is Homeward Bound, and its mission is to provide free bus tickets to homeless who meet the qualifications.

According to the Oregonian, it was approved by Portland in mid-March, and will receive at least $30,000 from the city. The program began, and the first bus tickets were issued, earlier this month. On its first day of operation, 40 people had signed up.

The city of Portland doesn’t want to simply move its homeless problem to another area. KGW reports that the bus tickets only go to individuals who will have somewhere to stay at their destination, and who are prepared to have follow-up meetings with their caseworkers three months after their placement.

Marc Jolin, the initiative director of A Home For Everyone, another organization trying to address homelessness, told KGW this about the program:

“We had homeless people in the community who had other permanent housing options, but didn’t know to ask for the support. They wound up being stuck here for long periods of time, weeks or months.”

According to the program’s advocates, it will only serve to help people who are stuck in an area with no family or support.

However, Portland’s homeless crisis may have in-part been caused by similar programs across the country.

An investigation by KGW in 2013 found that participants in similar programs claimed to have a place to stay in Portland, but they ended up back in the streets.

With Portland’s Homeward Bound program requiring follow-up meetings with caseworkers, the city hopes it won’t have the same results as other programs. If a participant is found homeless during their three-month check-up, the program will help the participant find similar organizations.

You can learn more about Portland’s Homeward Bound program by dialing 2-1-1.

Contact the author at awilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @awilsonjournal.

Academic Excellence Showcase: a brief explanation and history

By: Alvin Wilson
Staff Writer

Last week was the 11th annual Academic Excellence Showcase at Western, but you may still be asking yourself what it was all about.

The Showcase started in 2006, and it is a way for Western students to show off their hard work from the year. It was created when the Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences decided to expand on the academic excellence awards that Phi Kappa Phi organized annually.

Over 350 students present material they’ve been working on, whether it’s academic research or creative activities. It is interdisciplinary, and includes anything from scholarly research papers to the performance of a dance routine.

“The PURE Task Force identified many ways to help facilitate and enhance undergraduate research experiences,” the Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences said in their message to the audience during the first Academic Excellence Showcase. “One of the proposed mechanisms was to facilitate greater participation by the entire campus in celebrating our students’ accomplishments.”

Dr. John Minahan, Western’s president during the first Academic Excellence Showcase, also had a message for the audience.

“There is no better way to demonstrate the value of a Western Oregon University education than through the work of our students,” he said.

“These abstracts of student presentations represent the outcomes of a university that knows the importance of research and scholarship,” Minahan said.

“Through this year’s Academic Excellence Showcase, Western Oregon University is demonstrating that undergraduate scholarship and creativity are distinguishing characteristics of our university.”

The event was planned in 2006 to be a part of Western’s 150th anniversary, but it has been an annual event ever since.

Contact the author at awilson15@wou.edu or on Twitter @awilsonjournal.

Discover MI Town encourages community engagement

 

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

An overcast Saturday was not enough to stave off participants of the Discover MI Town event hosted between both Monmouth and Independence on May 21.

Colorful plastic bags boasting the logo of the event were held by many as individuals moved from one shop to another, led by a Monopoly-inspired map of various places around both towns.

This reporter’s route consisted of the following stops: Arena Sports Bar & Grill, Three Legged Dog, Petals & Vines, Rogue, Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, and Crush Wine Bar & Tasting Room.

Screen Shot 2016-05-23 at 7.32.15 PMShops each hosted their own unique way of welcoming players of Discover MI Town Monopoly. While Arena Sports Bar & Grill offered a triple-threat sampler of beers with a side of their famous hot wings, Petals & Vines offered buttons and pins from a basket on their counter.

“Personally, my offer is just letting you sample whatever drinks I have in stock right now,” stated Joshua Brandt, the owner of Crush Wine Bar & Tasting Room.
Over 27 businesses participated in the spotlight and helped to sponsor the event, ranging from eateries to larger businesses such as Goodwill Industries.

The event was hosted by the Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center and managed by Jean Love.

A free shuttle service was also offered between both towns’ focal points to encourage visiting all possible pitstops mapped out for the day. This also supported individuals who wished to partake in the multiple opportunities to imbibe throughout the day without worrying about transportation between stops.

To sweeten the deal, a grand prize raffle was offered to individuals once they purchased tickets – filling out a small business card once they were given their wristbands.

The winner of this raffle would take home an entire table of goodies ranging from bottles of Rogue to shirts and soccer balls – an estimated worth of over $700 in tangible goods. Owners of shops were to donate a physical item and could donate gift certificates on top of that if they wished.

For a full breakdown of the shop’s that participated, go online to: http://bit.ly/1s27XXS
Contact the author at Jberesheim11@wou.edu or on Twitter @WOUjournalnews