Mount Hood

The internet, and how it’s failing us

Paul F. Davis| Photo Editor

The age of information is upon us and we are wholly unprepared for it. This newly dawned age is made possible via the internet, this is leading to a change wherein the concept of reality and truth are being challenged which has lead to the tarnishing of the user’s mind.

The internet instantaneously connects us to all of the people that exist on it through social media. But this sort of “connection” is not what humans have been evolutionarily programmed to thrive on. Humans need un-posed face-to-face contact in order to be healthy and well-adjusted, and our current internet-based social heading is not giving us that. The faces you see on the internet are not real; they are carefully choreographed to make the poster feel the best they can in the competition that is social media — a competition that makes others feel less because they don’t have that thing or could never have that experience that they are looking at.

This lack of real connection is starting to be reflected in the rates of mental illness seen in the most internet-integrated of people: the young. This comes about due to the constant comparison of them to the user, the loss of sleep associated with late night technology usage and the further isolation of the already socially isolated. This leads to an increase in mental illness. Young people, aged 18-25 years, are the most likely to have mental illness and are 45% more likely to have mental illness than those aged 50 and over, according to research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Social interaction isn’t the only thing that has been tainted by the touch of the internet. Sex has been changed for countless people because of the ease of access to instant sexual stimulation. For most, their idea of sex has been shaped by porn, which people are being exposed to at younger and younger ages. Porn gives the unprotected young mind a mindset that says if your body does not look a certain way you are not normal or good enough.

Sex is not porn, sex is physical give and take between consenting adults that will be great sometimes and just okay at other times, and the internet doesn’t show that. The internet has reduced sex and all of its intricacies to an eight minute video on Pornhub.

The internet is a space made for anyone and anything but we are not made for the internet. So realize that it is okay and not weird to separate yourself from it because you don’t have to be defined by it, even when you are surrounded by it.

 

Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu

 

Oppression in the name of ‘patriotism’

Lake Larsen | Digital Media Manager

On May 23, Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League, announced a new policy for the next football season; it is now required that all players must stand for the national anthem or face a penalty and fine. If anyone objects to the anthem, they may choose to stay in the locker room. This change is in response to league-wide protests of the anthem due to racial injustice. But are the NFL’s actions overstepping their bounds?

The political statement of taking a knee for the national anthem has sparked great controversy over the last two NFL seasons. Many see the kneeling as disrespectful to the flag and those who fought for it, while the protesters began the kneeling as a way to show disapproval with the systematic racial injustice in modern day America. Regardless of how you view this act, the NFL passed a rule that says this is no longer allowed on the field. This shows that the NFL, in my opinion, is more worried about their image than they are about social change.

Thanks to far-right commentators such as Tomi Lahren, the meaning of the protests during the national anthem have been twisted and bent. Far-right advocates saw peaceful protest of racial injustice as nothing more than black players disrespecting our troops. These extremist voices rang loud enough in the ears of the NFL to pass a rule saying players are no longer allowed kneel for the flag and must act in a respectful manner.

If you simplify the kneeling for the anthem into just the act of protesting, you will see that the NFL is not allowing players their first amendment right. By saying the players need to “act respectful” for the flag, the NFL and those who oppose the protests show that their feelings matter more than facts. The national anthem and American flag represent freedom from the oppression of tyranny. Forcing a player to stand for the anthem and flag is not freedom; it is saying a player cannot be free to think and act how they feel.

Saying a player should leave politics out of the workplace is a gross misunderstanding of the situation. An NFL workplace requires players to listen to the national anthem before work. Does a normal workplace do that? The NFL is telling an athlete not to be political while forcing them to be political and patriotic. If it is so hard to watch players kneel for the flag, don’t sing the anthem before games. If it hurts the feelings of the NFL so much to see players exercise their American rights, don’t put them in a situation to need to in the first place.

The NFL’s move to disallow a player’s right to peaceful protest is not only wrong but unpatriotic. Nationalism is standing for a flag because that’s where you were born. Patriotism is choosing to stand or kneel because our flag represents freedom. Stripping players of their constitutional rights by forcing them to stand shows that the NFL does not care about their players. If the NFL wanted their players to be respectful to the flag they would allow them to peacefully protest however they please because, after all, the national anthem stands for freedom, not oppression.

Contact the author at llarsen13@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of: Dallasnews.com

 

Professional Sports’s best playoffs

Lake Larsen | Digital Media Manager

The NFL draft was a few weeks ago, the MLB season just began and the NBA is deep into their playoffs — but there’s one major sport missing from the discussion: hockey. The final three teams left in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, duke it out to hold one of sports’s most historial trophies, the Stanley Cup. While all sports have their fair share of amazing feats of athleticism, hockey takes those highlights to the next level.

Of the four major sport leagues in North America, the National Hockey League seems to be forgotten. But, if you’re a true fan of sports, then there is nothing like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Seemingly every minute of every game is filled with superhuman-like efforts to win or unbelievable underdog stories. And this year’s Stanley Playoff race is no stranger to such events. Here are a few reasons why hockey playoffs make for the best sports playoffs.

 

Giving everything for the name on your sweater:

Hockey, as with all sports, sees many players fall victim to injuries each season. However, the players in the Stanley Cup Playoffs simply don’t hesitate to put their bodies on the line for their team. Against the advice of doctors, in this year’s playoffs fans saw Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers suit up for, play in, and score the game winning goal in game five while skating on an MCL he tore less than a week before.

 

An underdog story for the ages:

The brand new Las Vegas Golden Knights are the 29th team added to the NHL. They hosted their first game as a franchise mere days after the Las Vegas shooting. The horrific tragedy led the Golden Knights to retire the number 58, in memory of the 58 lives lost in the shooting. As has happened in the wake of many tragedies, a town in pain looked to their hometown team for hope. The Golden Knights set record after record for new franchises as they stormed their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the backs of players that were picked up after other teams deemed them unworthy of a roster spot.

 

The fans:

Every sport has its fair share of crazy fans, but the fans in hockey adhere to some awesome — if rather strange — traditions. This playoff season has seen some of those traditions carry on into the finals, and some are yet to come. In Winnipeg, home of the Jets, the fans dress head-to-toe in white for a white-out at every home game. The sea of fans throughout the crowd sends a chill down the spine of the teams entering the frosty Winnipeg stadium. But once the winner of “Lord Stanley’s Mug” is announced, one of the strangest traditions takes place; each member of the winning team gets to spend one day with the trophy over the summer.

 

Whether you watch sports just to pass the time or because you’re a true fan, check out the Stanley Cup Finals. You’re sure to see some history in the making.

 

Contact the author at llarsen13@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of: nhl.com

A week that needs to be amended

Lake Larsen | Digital Media Manager

This week is second amendment week, a week to heighten awareness on the subject of and advocate for the second amendment and gun rights. But does this highly-discussed amendment actually need — and, honestly, deserve — a full week of recognition?

The second amendment is one of the most controversial amendments due to an epidemic of gun violence in the news in recent times. Because of this, there are very vocal protesters on both sides of the argument fighting for their views. But I don’t see these pro- and anti-amendment arguments as equals. This is why I believe the pro-second-amendment rhetoric on our campus is undeserving of a full week of recognition.

In the gun debate, the sides can be reduced to two basic arguments: the right to bear arms and the need for major gun control. Yes, I realize there is an ocean of grey area to this argument but for the sake of time, let’s try to condense arguments into the following groups: one side fights for the right to be able to attend your class without the fear of an ex-student entering the room with a firearm with the intent to kill, the right to go see a movie without thinking in the back of your head an escape plan for how to get out in a shooting or even just the ability to attend a concert without needing to worry about seeing your loved ones gunned down by a weapon that can be bought by a high-school-aged kid. Meanwhile, the radicals on the other side argue that because a handful of old white men wrote on a paper 227 years ago that the “right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,” anyone can own any gun at any time with any amount of ammunition to do with what they please. That the right to own a gun is given to American citizens no matter what their past is like. That no matter how many innocent lives are taken by guns, people still need them.

I am not trying to throw all second amendment advocates into one generalized, gun-crazed group. What I am trying to say is that one side wants the peace of mind to not worry about whether they, or a loved one, will come home safe. And the radicals on the other side think some ink on a paper means everyone should own a gun, any type of gun, for hunting or killing a robber or whatever they please.

This gross difference in the value of a human life is what disqualifies this week as appropriate for a college campus. If we want to be the kind of college that condones speech like this, at least match it with dialogue that actually follows what the second amendment says. Because a true second amendment week would preach about the need for regulation on guns, because after all, the second and third words in the amendment are “well regulated”. Instead, the events for the week involve playing with Nerf guns.

 

Ignore the voices pushing  this week of second amendment worship on campus. This campus is for education, not preaching for ownership of weapons that cause the deaths of almost 13,000 Americans every year. While diversity of thought helps grow society, the lack of empathy for human life slows progress.

Enough of this “good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun.” Instead, realize that the lack of a gun means there’s a lowered ability to kill anyone. Preach love and unity, not protectionism and violence. If there is one thing that the founding fathers said that needs to be repeated, it’s that every American has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” So, stop these lies of needing a gun to be safe and, instead, educate about how we can come together to create a peaceful society.

Lastly, I’d like to leave you with some facts that should carry the most weight during this pro-second amendment propaganda week: per everytownresearch.org, on average in America every 15 minutes someone is killed by a gun; there are approximately 36 homicides by a gun everyday; every other month on average a child or teen is murdered with a gun; as of May 13, there have been 39 gun related incidents at a school in 2018 — that’s an average of two per week.

Now ask yourself: do we really need this week?

 

Contact the author at llarsen13@wou.edu

Photo by: latimes.com

A minor problem

Stephanie Blair | Copy Editor

On March 29, Western’s Registrar announced the Faculty Senate’s decision: it was voted that Western Oregon will no longer require students to graduate with a minor.

Western was the last public university to require a minor, and was in the minority of universities in the nation. The adults in my life have always been surprised by this requirement. And for good reason: it’s a ridiculous requirement.

Had it not been required when I started here, I would have avoided taking 16 credits that I didn’t need — a full term’s worth, for many — simply because I kept trying to force myself into a minor that fit. I love my major — it’s what I’ve wanted to pursue for almost my entire life — and so, finding something else that I wanted to put my tuition and time into almost as much was a struggle. I ultimately ended up enrolling for a humanities minor, because it has no real structure and made the most of my random grab bag of upper divisions.

In fact, with no minor required, I could have graduated two or three terms earlier than I am. And so, future graduates will be far better off than I am and get out earlier. Or, at least, they would, if the minimum credit requirement hadn’t remained the same.

It’s true that my minor plan was a mess and I would have benefitted from not being required to complete one, but it’s also true that I needed every credit I took along the way to graduate. With all of my wandering through the course catalog, I’m graduating after attending for four years — 12 terms — and taking 187 credits. That number is, as I’ve been informed by past graduates, current classmates and professors, extremely low for a Western student.

All of this to say: dropping the minor requirement is a start, but Western’s graduation requirements need an overhaul. If Western wants what’s best for it’s students, rather than what will make them the most money, they need to stop telling students that it’s “perfectly normal” to take five years to graduate and start examining why students are getting trapped for an extra year.

Contact the author at sblair13@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

Staying out of politics is a privilege

Sam Dunaway | News Editor

A few weeks ago, I was driving around with my boyfriend and began thinking about the upcoming midterm elections.

“Have you registered to vote?” I asked him. He didn’t respond.

I asked, “Did you update your current address online?” He replied with a small shrug.

“Are you voting at all?” I inquired.

“I’m just not interested in politics,” he replied. And we left it at that.

If you’re curious, my boyfriend is a white, cis-gender, middle-class male — one of the most privileged groups out there. So, it’s no surprise that he can turn a blind eye to politics because he’s “not interested” or doesn’t “get into politics.”

But, for some people, politics aren’t something that they can brush aside and choose not to participate in. For many, if not all, minority groups, politics govern their lives and well-being. Politics determine whether or not they have to stand in front of a capitol building and ask to stay in a country that they’ve lived in since they were children. Politics govern whether or not they can get married, own a home or get a job, based solely on their sexual preference or gender identity. Politics can dictate if a person’s religion will ban them from their home country and label them as a terrorist. Some individuals don’t get the choice to ignore politics.

It’s easy as a white male — or even for me, as a white female — to not have to worry about politics taking away our rights. So, if you’re a person who is generally not affected by federal and local policies, why should you care about politics?

It’s the same reason that men stand alongside women during the Women’s March, why I witnessed a room nearly full of white, older adults demanding support for DACA recipients at a town hall with Ron Wyden and why individuals living 2,000 miles away showed solidarity for members of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation — to look past your privilege and stand up for those that need it. That support begins with the candidates you choose to represent you and your community.

It’s one thing to be slightly uncomfortable when the name “Trump” comes up at family dinners, but if you’re actively not voting because the outcome of the election wouldn’t affect you, you’re turning away from the minorities in your community that are fighting for their lives because of politics.

It’s a choice not to vote, and not voting is relying on your privilege to protect you. I just hope you consider the people around you who don’t have that luxury.

Contact the author at sedunaway13@wou.edu

Who taught you how to drive?

Zoë Strickland | Editor-in-Chief

I can count on more than two hands how many times in the past month I’ve almost been hit on Western’s campus — as a driver, as a passenger and as a pedestrian. I’ve never been in a car accident, but it seems like the drivers in the commuter/staff lots on campus are trying to change that. Add to it the fact that a quick look at the most recent public safety report shows that of the four on-campus calls that CPS received between April 24 and April 28, three were in regard to automobile-related incidents.

Instead of the usual calls for alcohol use and bike thefts, our campus has apparently taken to running amok in cars.

The transgressions happening with drivers aren’t ones that would be fixed with a refresher course on how to drive. Rather, people are just failing to pay attention to their environment — or they’re just completely lacking consideration for pedestrians and other drivers.

As a driver, I get it — pedestrians have no problem with walking into the middle of the street at the last possible second. However, in environments like parking lots, last-minute walking is less of a problem. Instead, undefined walking spaces make it so pedestrians can pretty much go anywhere. Because of this, the problem is rooted in both a lack of awareness on the part of the pedestrian and a similar lack of caution while rounding corners or trying to snag an open spot on the part of the driver.

According to research performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding pedestrian accidents, there were 5,987 pedestrians killed in traffic accidents in 2016. Though the NHTSA doesn’t have statistics regarding pedestrian injuries in 2016, their 2015 report stated than an estimate 70,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents. For Oregon specifically, the NHTSA preliminary data for 2017 estimates that there were 1.81 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 people in the state, or 75 pedestrians killed in traffic accidents. Frankly, these statistics are absurdly high.

The problem with reckless driving around campus isn’t just a pedestrian-centered issue; though people do need to watch for pedestrians, they also need to watch for fellow drivers. I’ve been in empty lots on campus and have still somehow been nearly t-boned by cars that are speeding around corners. More often than not, this happens when people are first entering parking lots. It can be difficult to remember to slow down from the street, but it’s safer for all of those involved.

For people who are in a rush to make it to their class or job on time, I have some tips for you. First off, when you turn a corner while snaking around a parking lot, know that there is most likely either a car or a person that will be around that corner. Western doesn’t have many students, but it has enough to have moderately populated lots, particularly during the in between-class periods of the day. Second, when you come bounding into a parking lot, try and take a survey of the area and take note of any cars that may be pulling out. I’ve seen numerous people back into other cars as they drive past looking for a spot. And third, for the pedestrians: be smart about when you decide to walk places. Wait until a driver stops before barrelling across the street. We all joke that drivers can ‘pay our tuition,’ but none of us really want that to happen.

I’m sure everyone will agree that they don’t want to pay for hitting another car, so it’s time to weigh what’s more important: making that meeting or protecting yourself and the people around you. As the term begins to come to an end and everyone gets more stressed, try and take a break before rushing around campus — a CPS report shouldn’t be just a catalog of car accidents.

Contact the author at zstrickland14@wou.edu

Photo by: Paul F. Davis

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