Mount Hood

Let’s paint the town teal

By: Katrina Penaflor 
Managing Editor

Every year on Oct. 31, millions of children take to the streets dressed as their favorite super heroes, monsters, or fictional characters to celebrate Halloween and go door to door asking for candy.
But what seems like a regular and fun-filled occurrence for most kids can actually pose as a problem many people don’t realize.
The issue lies in the treats being handed out: the candy.

What many children consider to be the best day of the year – because, let’s face it, candy is delicious – can be troublesome as not all kids can enjoy the treats being handed out to trick-or-treaters.

Food allergies can prevent children from being able to ring on all their neighbors’ doorbells and replay Halloween’s famous phrase of “trick or treat.”

Whether it’s a peanut allergy, gluten intolerance, or an inability to incorporate candy into their diet, houses should consider the best way to keep their house trick-or-treat friendly for all kids.

The Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) organization launched a national campaign in 2014 called the Teal Pumpkin Project, which “raises awareness of food allergies and promotes inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season,” according to their website.

The goal is to get households to start giving away non-food treats to trick-or-treaters in hopes of including more children into the holiday. Houses can identify as distributing friendly, non-food treats by placing a painted teal pumpkin outside their home.

The choice of the color teal is to represent food allergy awareness, and has been recognized as such for the last 20 years.

I think the teal pumpkins are a much needed addition to Halloween.

For most of us growing up, Halloween was such a carefree holiday where you ran around your neighborhood and grabbed handfuls of candy from every house. But think about the kids who can’t run door to door because they have a peanut allergy and every other house has a bowl full of Reese’s peanut butter cups or peanut M&M’s.

I was surprised when I brought up the purpose of the Teal Pumpkin Project to friends that the opinions weren’t all positive. Many of the responses were that they thought the project was trying to change Halloween and take away candy, or they thought kids wouldn’t make the choice of a non-food item over candy.

Those opinions are both missing the point of the Teal Pumpkin project.

The point of the project is not to eliminate the inclusion of candy in the holiday; the website actually encourages people to continue passing out the sweets.

FARE is just trying to get people to offer an alternative.

Some of their suggestions include bubbles, Halloween themed rings and jewelry, stickers, or toys. FARE does ask that people are careful with their non-food treats as some can still contain food products or allergens, like modeling clays made with wheat or anything involving latex.

These ideas are simply an alternative. Yes, a majority of the kids who are faced with the option will pick the candy over the toy, but for the kids who can’t pick the candy, they’ll be grateful for the non-food item.

For people purchasing multiple bags of candy for trick-or-treaters this year, I encourage them to switch one out for a non-food item. Even something like a packet of glow sticks for a dollar could make a difference by allowing more kids to be able to pick something from your house.

Join the Teal Pumpkin Project and offer trick-or-treaters the choice of the alternative. For more information about the project and FARE organization visit www.foodallergy.org or contact Anna Luke at aluke@foodallergy.org.

Huge Waste of Cash

By: Conner Williams
Editor in Chief

Weight room: a room where weights are stored and lifted – usually in a vertical fashion – for the intent of building strength and muscle

HWC weight room: a huge building on campus which houses weights that aren’t allowed to be moved or touched for fear of making the slightest bit of noise

While I know this is a hyperbole, it is what it feels like every time I attempt to lift at the HWC.

I don’t claim to be the biggest or the strongest dude around, but I can move around some significantly heavy weights. And when heavy weights are moved around, they have to be set back down once the reps are completed, unless you’re a freak of nature and can just hold onto them forever.

The HWC has a policy that says, “Dropping weights is harmful to the facility, equipment, the lifter and bystanders.”

While the first part of the policy may be true in some circumstances, it isn’t the case when the weights and the floor are both made out of rubber. So, we can take this part of the policy with a grain of salt.

I’m also not sure how dropping weights can hurt the lifter, since the whole point of dropping them is to avoid injury that could result from attempting to awkwardly set the weights down silently.

In fact, it is quite difficult to set down the 100-pound dumbbells after completing a set without making any noise at all. But I suppose the HWC officials would prefer that I tear a pectoral muscle or a rotator cuff ensuring that no noise is generated. There goes the second part of the policy.

Next up: injury to bystanders. Sure, if I toss the weights across the floor right at someone, something bad could happen. But nobody is going to get hurt if nobody is around; I always make sure to create a lot of space for myself when lifting heavy.

It seems to me, then, that the whole point of this policy is to try and limit the amount of noise generated by people that are actually trying to work hard. I’ve been approached numerous times at the HWC and told to make less noise, which is strange, since the last time I checked, the second floor of the HWC is a weight room, not a library. And if the concern is disrupting classes going on in HWC 110, maybe they shouldn’t have built the weight room directly above a classroom, but I suppose that just makes too much sense.

The HWC is one step away from becoming Planet Fitness, in which literal alarms are set off in the gym if someone makes “too much” noise by dropping weights or grunting.

Seriously, alarms go off and then the person that made the noise is asked to leave. Planet Fitness users are also not allowed to lift heavier than a certain amount (another HWC policy) and they are not allowed to do certain power lifts (also a rule at the HWC).

The HWC has platforms specifically designed for these kinds of heavy, compound movements – complete with bumper plates that are made for dropping – but users aren’t permitted to use them for their actual intended purpose for fear of making too much noise.

By now, I’m sure many of you are under the impression that I’m some loud, obnoxious meathead whom purposely goes out of his way to make a scene in attention-seeking behavior.

I may make noise from time to time, but that’s because I genuinely work hard when I lift weights. The body tends to make involuntary noises when under duress, like lifting heavy weights. I don’t groan as loud as possible to try and draw attention to myself, nor do I throw weights around to get everyone to look at me.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less if people approve of how much I lift.

So when employees approach me multiple times during a workout session over the fact that I made any noise by setting the weights down on the ground or letting out a grunt, it frustrates me.

It also irritates me that it seems as if that is the sole responsibility of every employee at the HWC: constantly telling people to be quiet.

That, standing behind the desk, wandering around the gym, and … Well actually, that about covers it. It’s nice to know my student fees are going to good use: paying people to stand around.

I don’t mean to lay this blame at the feet of the student employees themselves; policies start at the top, and it is simply the responsibility of the employees to enforce those policies. They’re just doing their job, and I can’t blame them for the policies that the officials of the HWC chose to conceive.

I signed up at a local gym around April in response to the HWC’s unyielding attempts to keep me quiet at all costs. I have used the HWC several times since then when I didn’t feel like driving to Independence to work out. One thing that I wish I could do is defer my membership at HWC – which costs about $70 per term in IFC fees – and get a refund.

However, the business office told me that this is not possible, since fees are automatically charged and disbursed at the hands of the IFC. I believe this is unfair; students should be able to defer their membership at HWC if they do not wish to use the facilities.

The HWC is a great environment to exercise if one if interested in using some of the nice facilities and equipment that it offers: the rock wall, indoor track, pool, or excessive amount of elliptical trainers. However, it is not a good place to work out if the goal is to actually lift weights. If you want to lift heavy and have the ability to work hard without noise limitations and being harassed, do yourself a favor and go sign up somewhere else in town.

Costume crazed

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

JennaColumn1

Everyone has that friend – the one who decorates for Halloween the first day of October and prepares to party on several separate occasions throughout the month. Out of those who enjoy Halloween, there are some who take our costuming a little more seriously.

As someone who falls into this category, and also cosplays on the side, I have compiled a few tips and tricks from my own personal trial and error through the years.

1. Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3
Always test your makeup and costuming accessories such as latex prosthetics before the night you intend to wear them. It would be best to know if you are going to have an allergic reaction beforehand rather than ruining your party plans. Also, most Halloween makeup rubs off easily onto clothes, furniture, and so forth, so plan accordingly.

2. You get what you pay for.
From the dollar store makeup to the thrift store wig – you get the quality of product that you pay for. The cheaper the makeups, the worse reactions your skin may have to them.

3. Know your comfort level.
In the end, it’s all about your enjoyment of the holiday. If you do not feel comfortable wearing certain items or showing skin, then don’t. Get creative with your costuming and be what you want to be, sexy version or more subtle.

4. Use your resources!
For those who wish to do their own makeup or costuming, there are hundreds of online resources, from Pinterest to Youtube. There are tutorials that will show you the most basic techniques for makeup, or completely transforming your look with latex and prosthetics.

5. Support small businesses.
There are many stores that stock higher quality products and know their stuff, rather than the major Halloween warehouses that open up seasonally. These stores are open year-round and are full of enthusiasts willing to help you figure out the best pieces for your costume.

6. Prepare for mishaps.
Uncomfortable shoes, straps breaking, seams bursting, makeup melting … the list goes on. Just be ready for them, and know your costume’s limits.

7. Better safe than sorry.
If you’re walking across town to get to your event, bring an extra jacket and a comfortable pair of shoes you can switch into for the journey.

8. Know your strengths.
Do you excel at styling hair but falter at false lashes? Focus on something that accentuates your skills, or pair up with a friend to use both your strengths!

9. Don’t be offensive.
We’re a culture, not a costume. This message has become even bolder in the past few years, focusing on how it is inappropriate to dress up as a culture for a costume.

10. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Ultimately, it’s about having fun. Whether you’re going all out or taking the store bought route, don’t worry about what others think. That “Sharknado” costume is definitely a good idea.

What are you really funding?

By: From the desk of the Journal Editorial Team

October has been branded National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in America.

All month long, we are provided with endless opportunities to support those in our country affected by breast cancer, and even more opportunities to buy pink merchandise that purports to support further research into the disease.

The force behind the Pink-Out cause is noble, and it is building. The ravages of a disease that will affect one out of every eight women in America (according to the breast cancer society) can be debilitating for friends and family as well as the actual patient.

Creating a network of survivors and supporters who drive a fundraising machine aimed at eliminating a possibly lethal disease sounds like a great plan, but the leaders in the charity research movement are frequently less scrupulous than their cause.

The most prominent example of research money going astray in recent memory is the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure.

It has been reported by Reuters that in 2011, a mere 15 percent of the money donated to the foundation actually went to fund research, with 43 percent going to education, 18 percent going towards fund-raising and administrative costs, and 17 percent to help with screening and treatment of the disease.

Even if this report isn’t 100 percent accurate – not-for-profits are subject to more relaxed financial reporting standards than for-profits – it still points to a larger, disturbing trend of misdirection used by large-scale charity organizations.

In fact, some of the most trusted charitable organizations like the American Red Cross have been embroiled in funding mismanagement scandals recently.

National Public Radio exposed the American Red Cross’s financial misdoings in a 2015 article. According to the article, after raising around half a billion dollars to build homes in Haiti following the devastating earthquake of 2011, they reported that they had built 130,000 homes, but in actuality, the total number of homes built by the Red Cross in Haiti totals just six.

Where did the rest of that money go? The debate falls somewhere between wildly out of control administrative spending, and simply an increasing cost of purchasing materials and labor to build.

Whatever the reason, it doesn’t even begin to make up for almost half a billion dollars in missing funds.

However, a few bad apples doesn’t mean that there is a shortage of reliable ways to donate to charity knowing that your contribution isn’t simply going to pay for administrator’s expenses or producing more charity gear for you to buy.

Our intention is not to dissuade you from making a donation, but we hope that our suggestions below will help you make the most impact you can.

Donate your time, not your money.

One of the simplest ways you can make a safe donation is donating your time and your abilities to charity. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity and The Special Olympics are always in need of able-bodied individuals to help in construction of houses, and set-up/breakdown of sporting events.

Donating your time is especially valuable because you get to experience your effect first hand. You know exactly what you did, and you can work confidently that your contribution made a difference. Conversely, you can simply leave if you become uncomfortable with how a charity is using its resources.

Donate physical goods when you can.

Places like the American Red Cross frequently ask for money because it is easier for donors to simply send a text or make a quick phone call to complete their donation. However, disaster relief organizations, halfway houses, and family shelters are always happy to accept physical items like canned or non-perishable food, blankets, and sealed personal hygiene items.

Playing devil’s advocate, it is difficult for physical items to be misused in the same way that money is. While money can be funneled around under the guise of “administrative expenses” or “education,” physical goods are of little value to the organization but they hold high value to the individuals on the receiving end of your charity.

Look at the publicly posted financials for charities.

All charities and not-for-profits are required to post their financial statements like any for-profit company. While these statements can be confusing at times, it is important to consider the proportion of donations that actually go to the mission of the organization.

Financial statements can be doctored to show a higher proportion of cash donations going to the cause like with Komen, but most local charities do not have the time or the resources to create the same detailed level of smoke and mirrors. This brings us to our final suggestion.

Donate to local charities rather than large-scale organizations.

Once you decide to donate, look for a charity in your area that deals with the issue you wish to address. For example, if you want to help with food insecurity, consider donating to the Marion-Polk County Food Share rather than the national Meals-on-Wheels program.

While Meals-on-Wheels is a reputable charity, their large-scale focus can create difficulty in reaching local communities. This is where Marion-Polk County Food Share steps in, and they are better able to address the specific needs of a Salem and the surrounding area.

Good riddance Christopher Columbus

By: Jenna Beresheim 
News Editor

For over 80 federally recognized years, Native Americans have watched our country celebrate a day commending Columbus, a historical figure who induced indigenous peoples’ genocide and European colonization. But it is not only the United States – other countries observe the day, such as Italy and Spain.

Now, though, there may be hope for our native peoples.
Recently, the Portland City Council officially joined the slow-moving bandwagon by declaring a shift from Columbus Day, typically recognized on the second Monday of October, to Indigenous People’s Day.

Portland joins at least seven other cities around the country that are making the change. The movement began with the International Indian Council in Berkeley, California as a protest against Columbus Day in 1992.

This shift directly ties into the fact that the Portland area reportedly has the 9th-largest indigenous population in the US.

Amongst that population are nine different federally recognized tribes, such as the Burns Paiute Tribe, Coquille Indian Tribe, and Klamath Tribes. There are at least 11 more Oregon tribes and clans that are not federally recognized.
Growing up, my elementary teachers taught our class the familiar mnemonic “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” While this was helpful to remember the date of Columbus’ so-called “discovery” of America, we were fed the sugar-coated version of what this truly meant.

We need to understand the real version, not only for our history, but for the history of those who had already inhabited the land before immigration to the area.
A key point to note is that historians are actually unclear as to who first discovered America.

History occasionally becomes blurry in the sense that there is little documentation of certain events, or those said documents come up against questions of validity.
An example would be John Smith – an English explorer who wrote of his tales in America. While some bits and pieces of his writings are fairly accurate, such as what Native Americans wore, other chapters became more about primping Smith’s ego than portraying an accurate account of his explorations.

Competing theories of who exactly discovered America are as follows: Irish Monks in the 6th Century, Vikings in the 10th Century, and The Chinese in the 15th Century. However, that last one is admittedly lacking in credible evidence.
Regardless, Columbus came, saw, and conquered.

By taking on the Western Hemisphere, good old Christopher brought the disease party train with him, complete with smallpox, measles, and influenza – effectively destroying 90 percent of the native population. The cherry on top of the smallpox sundae was that Columbus even had a hand in the transatlantic slave trade.

Maybe that is why Oregon has never officially observed the “holiday.” Hawaii, Alaska, and South Dakota must have also caught the memo of Columbus’ nefarious deeds, as they also refused to have a day off in recognition of something clearly corrupt with the celebration.

Slowly, entire states are making the change by either renaming the day to Native American Day or Indigenous People’s Day, or not even observing the day at all. For Native Americans, this proves that our country is willing to cease a celebration of mass genocide and give a tip of the hat to our predecessors on this land.

Now if only it was that easy to remove novelty Native American costumes and headdresses from Halloween or the runway.

So whether you find yourself in the Leif Erikson boat, or one of the many other possibilities for the discovery of a land already populated, remember to celebrate responsibly: sans the mass destruction of an entire race.

Democratic debate discusses the issues, not the candidates

By: Conner Williams 
Editor-in-Chief

The first Democratic debate of the 2016 Presidential Election aired on CNN Tuesday night as the five candidates took the stage to hash it out over some of our nation’s biggest challenges.

The debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper and saw a record-high 15.3 million viewers, shattering the 2008 record when Barack Obama debated Hillary Clinton towards the end of the primaries.

And that’s what made the debate such a joy to watch: it was actually about the issues, rather than about exchanging personal attacks and calling people losers.

“On this stage … You didn’t hear anyone make racist comments about new American immigrants … You didn’t hear anyone speak ill of another American because of their religious beliefs … What you heard on this stage tonight was an honest search for the answers that’ll move our country forward,” said Martin O’Malley (D), former Governor of Maryland.

O’Malley then went on to commend millennials by saying “talk to our young people under the age of 30, because you’ll never see among them people that want to bash immigrants, or people that want to deny rights to gay couples. That tells me that we are moving to a more connected, generous and accomplished place.”

Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also addressed millennials, saying, “If we want free tuition at public colleges and universities, millions of young people are going to have to demand it.”

And we have the power to demand it. We make up the largest denomination of people in the United States, and we need to make our voices heard.

Every American needs to be concerned about the state of our crumbling infrastructure, our disgustingly broken for-profit student loan system, the notion that we have more people currently incarcerated than any other country on earth, and the fact that tens of millions of Americans currently do not have healthcare coverage.

Unlike the Republican debates, which centered on socially divisive and economically insignificant issues like abortion, illegal immigration and gay rights, the Democratic debate actually addressed some of the economic issues facing the American public, including income inequality, affordable college tuition, closing tax loopholes for the ultra-rich, and providing affordable healthcare.

I’m not downplaying the validity of discussions that center around social issues, but let’s be real, should we really be asking candidates if they would or wouldn’t attend a marriage between two gay people if they were invited, as was the case in the Republican debate? Are those kinds of questions really going to help us tackle some of the great issues facing us right now?

Probably not, but they tug at the emotions of the Republican audience and sound like they’re important issues. After all, campaign finance reform isn’t as flashy or divisive of a topic as, say, abortion or immigration, which Republicans use to hold negotiations hostage and that tend to become polarized discussions, meaning that they divide people rather than bring them together over serious issues that need addressing.

There are serious issues that need discussing, not the state of Donald Trump’s hair or Hillary Clinton’s “damn emails,” as Sanders so bluntly put it on Tuesday night.

In addition to defending his fellow candidate and treating her like an actual human being instead of attacking her character, Sanders also decided to explain his stance on our economic system of capitalism.

“Do I consider myself part of the casino-capitalism process by which so few have so much and so many have so little, by which Wall Street’s greed and recklessness wrecked this economy? No, I don’t,” Sanders said.

In the wake of the horrible tragedy that occurred at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., Clinton decided to take a risk and call out one of the largest lobbying powers in Washington.

“It’s time the entire country stood up against the [National Rifle Association],” Clinton said.

Clinton also called out the Republican Party’s sense of hypocrisy when it comes to denouncing the scope of the federal government.

“It’s always the Republicans or their sympathizers who say ‘you can’t have paid leave, you can’t provide healthcare,’ they don’t mind having big government interfere with a woman’s right to choose and to try to take down Planned Parenthood, they’re fine with big government when it comes to that, I’m sick of it,” Clinton said.

When it comes down to it, our greatest social and economic challenges will not be solved by closing the border and deporting hard-working people. In fact, we would be amiss to say that we are not dependent on the cheap labor that is supplied by a largely Latino-based workforce, like agriculture and service-based jobs that are essential to growing and supplying crops that feed the populace.

We will not fix the spiraling-out-of-control issue of income inequality by debating the Constitutional validity of the federal legalization of gay marriage, or the potential federal legalization of recreational marijuana use.

We will not change the broken higher education system that sends thousands of young people into crippling debt every year by threatening to shut down the government if a women’s healthcare organization is not defunded.

We’ve got to focus on the real issues at hand, not the click-bait surface material that the outlandish Republican Party so loves to provide the media.

Each one of us needs to properly educate ourselves about the issues facing all of us, and we need to make sure that we choose to elect a candidate that represents our interests, and not the issues of a few super-rich individuals.

ASWho?

By: Brianna Bonham 
Staff Writer

According to their page on OrgSync, ASWOU promises to encompass all students of Western Oregon University and to advocate for their rights to the administration, the state of Oregon, and to the nation.

I am a first year student here at Western and I, like many others, am starting to finally settle in here on campus.

I have been writing and taking photos for The Journal since I’ve been here, and I was to write an article this week describing specifically what ASWOU does for the community of Western, and the changes they are making this year to better serve our campus community.

I went down to the office on Monday morning to interview a member of ASWOU and walked back to my dorm empty-handed. There was no one available to talk to, and the president’s hours conflicted with my class schedule.

Tuesday was the same story. At this point I was nervous because the deadline for my article was fast approaching, and I had yet to write a single word.

Wednesday afternoon I finally found two members of ASWOU and felt a wave of relief. I talked to them and was then told to talk to the president, Corbin Garner, who was in a meeting at the time, or to talk to the vice president. Coincidentally, the vice president of ASWOU does not exist at the moment as they were previously unable to fill the position in the last elections.

ASWOU, like The Journal, is funded by the Incidental Fees Committee and receives a portion of the fees collected from students every term. However, someone from The Journal is always available upon entrance to Terry House, or can be reached easily with a quick phone call. I personally believe that if a student organization like ASWOU benefits from student fees, even if that amount is small, at least one person should be willing and able to serve the students of Western.

All I know about ASWOU is that they promise to be a representative voice of the students of Western, and they encourage students to let their voices be heard.

How are we supposed to be heard when ASWOU is not listening? The frustration of not being able to complete my job should not be an issue, especially when it involves people that promise to be leaders and communicators.

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