Mount Hood

Student reactions to the presidential election

Western students speak their mind on the results of the 2020 presidential election

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

 

“Tbh kind of shocked but I’m not mad”

Name: Kendra Acker

Year: First-year

Major: Education

 

“I’ve cried, cheered, and created an endless cycle of worry in my head.”

Name: Maddie Endicott

Year: Sophomore

Major: Political Science 

 

“THANKGODTHANKGODTHANKGOD”

Name: Abbie Funk

Year: Junior

Major: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences 

 

“I feel like I can breathe again and I hope for our country. I’m no longer afraid.”

Name: Felicia Martinez

Year: Junior

Major: Communications Studies

 

“Beyond ecstatic, I didn’t know just how excited I was until I heard the breaking news!”

Name: Chris Smith

Year: Junior

Major: Public Policy and Administration

 

“Oh thank god”

Name: Steve Richmond

Year: Senior

Major: Communications Studies

Editorial: Current information keeps our staff and students safe

Increased communication is crucial to the community 

The Editorial Board

It has been a little over nine months since students from Western and around the world have adapted to a new, virtual lifestyle. All things considered, Western has done as much as they can to provide us with a safe environment. However, there is a need for more transparency with information regarding positive cases, and further precautions to be taken on campus.

Some of the controversies started when Western took a long time to announce that fall term would be taught virtually, leaving students abroad scrambling to prepare for another stressful term. And then, Western failed to be clear with their community about the number of COVID-19 cases. 

Information regarding the number of positive coronavirus cases has been notoriously hard to track down due to privacy concerns. However, the university can disclose these numbers while still respecting the patient’s privacy. Plenty of other universities disclosed their numbers to the community, all while respecting the boundaries of privacy. Oregon State University reported a total of seven confirmed cases as of Nov. 4; and, Southern Oregon University has 19 confirmed cases — they even specified if the individual lived on or off campus. Additional information is posted on both of the university’s websites, under “OSU-Cascades Dashboard” and “SOU COVID-19 Cases.”

Eventually, Western followed suit. Now, as of Nov. 16, there are less than 10 confirmed cases in the community. This information, while originally hard to find, is now updated and available at wou.edu/coronavirus/.

While it is reasonable to respect the privacy of positive patients, Western shouldn’t have left their community in the dark for as long as they did. These numbers inform whether or not safety protocols are working or if they need to change.

With those things out of the way, it’s safe to assume that some students of Western appreciate the improved effort. But now, a new problem has arisen in regards to COVID testing for both staff and students. When further researched, it is inconclusive if free testing is offered for staff. 

If you were to look on the COVID-19 webpage — which is ridiculously difficult to navigate by the way — they detail the steps you can take if you are seeking testing. However, the webpage doesn’t help you understand whether or not you should seek a test in the first place. How are students who may be asymptomatic supposed to know what to do? None of this is specified.

The problem is if you check “yes” on the CDC’s survey that you’ve been in contact with someone who tested positive, they will tell you to wait out the 14-day isolation, and if you develop symptoms at the end of that period, you go take the test. While there’s quite a bit of information regarding symptomatic cases, there’s not a lot of specification for asymptomatic cases, which leaves folks uninformed.

Western is a smaller school with already limited funding and budget cuts left and right, so we may be tight on funding, but that doesn’t mean that people deserve to be uninformed. Transparency with Western students and the greater community is what establishes a trusting and close-knit feeling for everyone, especially for a small town like Monmouth.

Students who are looking for information on testing can find it at wou.edu/coronavirus/students. If an appointment needs to be set up, call the Student Health and Counseling Center at 503-838-8313.

Opinion: WOU students are treated like a joke

WOUmemes is more informative than WOUnews 

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

It has been said many times before and needs to be said again: WOUnews is just a PR team that endorses the university. They have a couple of grown a-s adults sitting behind their computer and phone screens telling students how to wash their hands, when they should be informing them about what is actually happening on campus.

Rex Fuller leaving in a crisis, confirmed COVID-19 cases on campus, money being used to shut student run organizations up, upwards to a $1,000 added hidden fee, almost getting rid of the food pantry which feeds whole a-s families and WOUnews has said nothing about it. The only thing students do not have to pay for is the anxiety and depression that they will be too poor to get help for once WOU is finished draining students pockets. They siphon young impressionable students and their s—-y income to pay for their Netflix accounts and Amazon Prime. 

WOUnews is the official Instagram account for the university, but despite idiotically claiming this handle, they do not seem to post a lot of news. One glance at their mediocre feed displays the sheer lack of decency towards the students of Western, as they have posted nothing in regards to IFC, increased tuition, or the godforsaken online course fee. They do not respond to comments from eloquently spoken students expressing their concern and only reply to ones that blindly praise the school (most of them from parents). WOUnews forcibly bird feeds its students with posts about how campus looks during the fall and to bring “your own frisbee (and) try out the WOU disc golf course” all while ignoring the devastated students weeping in its corridors.

WOUmemes on the other hand, should have love letters pouring into their DMs as this is where students actually gather information about what is happening on campus. News about the COVID cases did not emerge until they openly and gallantly posted about it. They always respond to students who comment on their posts with questions — reaffirming and agreeing with their beliefs as well as consoling them in times of need — all while providing a spark of joy in unprecedented times. This student-run Instagram account, which only started a few months ago, has garnered more attraction and respect amongst students than the university’s legitimate account. 

Of course, The Western Howl has its own personal beef with WOUnews, as prior articles by Stephanie Blair stirred up controversy regarding the topic. But I am not talking about previous arguments or petty rivalry the school created to have its way, what I am saying is that this is not the first time this has happened. There has been a first, second and third, yet the school chooses to not do anything about it, to sit complacent and watch the students tick away the days left before they get to leave. A factory of students that is essential to it continuing; yet they act like we are all disposable, expendable, unnecessary.

WOUnews is not providing adequate information to their students. Students desperately need it during these uncertain times because they are already anxious about their livelihood due to COVID. WOUmemes is the one supplying more actual information that students care about whilst maintaining a humorous ease amongst students in comparison to the inadequacy of WOUnews. Right now, anxiety and depression in students are at an all-time high and WOUnews is not fulfilling its purpose at satiating the nerves of young students who have never encountered a worldwide pandemic. 

Anyways, go follow @wou_memes on Instagram.

Contact the author at smoschella20@mail.wou.edu

Midterm letter from the Editor

A midterm look at the changes the Howl has made since issue one

Cora McClain | Editor-In-Chief

Well Western, we’ve made it halfway through the term and now stand on the precipice of a monumental election. As a way to manage my staff, I conduct what we call “midterm reviews,” where I sit down with each member of staff and talk about their progress so far, things that have changed and need to change. Think of this letter as a midterm review for The Western Howl, to you, our most valued readers.

More than most years, beginning this term and finding a routine has been difficult. Here at the Howl in particular, we have made some changes from what I had laid out for you in “The Western Howl: Vol. 3 Issue 1.”

Rather than reduce our content through only designing bi-weekly, the Howl staff have adjusted to continue designing each issue through the year. We are very happy with this, as we can continue to bring to Western the feeling of a produced, printed paper in an online format. 

These designed weekly issues can be seen on the right side-bar of the main page of our website and like always, the stories will still be uploaded online on the website.

With administration announcing that winter term will have similar modality to fall, the Howl will be distributing just as it has this term — we once again will not be printing. 

While IFC is still in deliberation and has not yet made their preliminary decisions, it is looking like our operating budget will not change much from fall. We will most likely be operating at the same capacity as we are now. This means we will only have the News, Entertainment and Lifestyle editor sections. Along with those, we will unfortunately not be able to meet one of our goals to expand to a 12 page paper by 2021, and continue to produce an 8 page paper into the new year. While I wish we could give you more content, Western, I hope that our current reporting is up to your standards.

Thank you, Western, for your continued support through these difficult weeks. Being able to serve this community and keep everyone informed makes all of this difficulty worth it. The Howl staff and I, appreciate you, Western; without you, our work would be meaningless. 

Once again, thank you Western, for making us at the Howl feel like we aren’t alone.

Contact the author at howleditor@wou.edu

Press Release: WOU Employees Reject President Rex Fuller

The staff and faculty of WOU press release on the vote of “no confidence” against President Rex Fuller

Dr. Scott Beaver | WOUFT Communications Officer

On Oct. 28, WOU faculty and staff unions initiated a vote of “no confidence” in President Rex Fuller in response to concerns raised by employees across the campus. Fuller recently implemented layoffs and announced plans for program elimination, after several years of declining enrollment and eroding shared governance under his leadership. More than 85% of the 240 respondents stated that they had no confidence in President Fuller’s leadership. The no confidence ballots also included a question asking respondents whether a survey regarding possible censure of other members of the upper administration should be conducted. The unions (WOUFT and SEIU Sub-local 082) cited failures of leadership, persistent management problems, and damage to the campus climate as primary reasons for conducting the no confidence and censure vote. The censure question indicated that 91% of the 240 faculty and classified staff wished to conduct a survey of possible censure for one or more members of President Fuller’s administration. This is the first time in institutional memory that a vote of no confidence has been conducted at WOU. Employees expressed their desire for the WOU Board of Trustees to take seriously their concerns about WOU’s leadership team and to take decisive action to correct the problems identified with the university’s upper administration. 

For more information, contact Dr. Scott Beaver, WOUFT Communications Officer by email at scottforrestbeaver@gmail.com or by phone at (503) 871-5444

Opinion: stan culture surrounding Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 Ruth Bader Ginsburg wasn’t the revered feminist superhero everyone is suddenly remembering her to be

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

Branding Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the epitome of feminism is an insult towards women of color, transgender women and women of the LGBTQIA+ community. RBG has done little to advocate for minorities and disadvantaged communities; she shouldn’t be this revered icon so many people are making her out to be. 

White feminism is a difficult concept to explain when the people that want a definition ⏤ so that they can exclude themselves from it ⏤ don’t want to listen. At the basis of it, it exists to benefit the comfort and safety of white women, centered around the failure to consider other women. The lesson taught shouldn’t be that white people should feel guilty about being white, since nobody cares unless you’re directly contributing through harmful actions; what it comes down to is that just existing as a white person means you’re unintentionally contributing to institutional racism even if you don’t want to. 

Skin color changes how people perceive you, how people treat you, how you live in this world — if you’re something other than white, race is the annoying younger sibling you can never get rid of. RBG’s feminism is folded into believing that white privilege has ceased to exist, convincing people that the power dynamic between whites and people of color aren’t prevalent in daily life. This kind of feminism is about the erasure of how race is something that is debilitating and tiring, something that has to be played down by “smoothing out” your edges. That makes her 0-1. 

She has no doubt become a staple name for women’s rights, ironically so considering she had displayed no respect towards survivors by supporting Brett Kavanaugh. Despite being known as a Chief Justice that was accused of rape, Ginsburg referred to him as a decent and smart man at an event hosted by Duke Law in 2019. No matter how much of a cuck it makes me, I believe survivors and their testimonies regardless of who the perpetrator may be. So when another woman in a high position of power like Ginsburg speaks highly about an accused rapist, it immediately destroys any ounce of respect I had for her. It doesn’t matter how much she’s “done” for women; admiring someone who associates with a rapist demonstrates their weak, like-minded attitude that groups them with all of the rest of the s—-y politicians. That makes her 0-2.

Okay, so your feminist role model defended a rapist, at least she worked toward racial justice right? Well if that means calling Colin Kaepernick’s protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement dumb and disrepectful ⏤ which she stated in an interview with Yahoo in 2016 ⏤ then sign me up for the next war. She also voted in favor for fast-track deportations in which America can force alleged undocumented immigrants out of the country with little to no review from government. This was a devastating loss for immigrant rights and left critical executive powers unchecked and domineering. 

While some people choose to turn a blind eye to her racist history, there’s no looking past an actual ruling that was made. The Appalachian Trail gas pipeline was a major environmental case that allowed this 600 mile pipeline to go through indigenous peoples’ land and protected forests. It was an act of cultural and ecological annihilation considering there is only a 1% Native American population but 13% of Natives live in a mile proximity of the pipeline route. Despite this, RBG still chose to vote in favor of the gas pipeline, proving she really didn’t give a s–t about helping marginalized people. That makes her 0-3.

So why should we celebrate the life of someone that has destroyed so many? 

Contact the author at smoschella20@mail.wou.edu

Guest Opinion: Young voters: make a voting plan and follow through

Governor Brown implores everyone to vote on Nov. 3 2020

Submitted by Governor Kate Brown 

Every day, young people like yourselves take action to better communities all across Oregon. Since becoming your Governor, I’ve worked with students who demand action on climate change by coming to the capitol and testifying in record numbers, making phone calls, and holding walk-outs on their campuses. I’ve held the hands of grieving students and their families in the wake of the Umpqua Community College shooting. I’ve seen college students put their lives on the line to fight wildfires. I’ve been humbled to see recent graduates enter the medical field so they can serve their communities in the midst of this global pandemic. And I’ve seen thousands gather across our state from Portland to Pendleton, Bend to Eugene, in a clarion call for racial justice. 

You all are living, learning, and contributing to this state and this country. You will not just inherit this world – you are already actively building it. 

I have also met countless young people who tell me they feel that this world is damaged beyond repair, and that the world’s problems are too big for any one of us to solve. And with the way 2020 has gone so far…I know the feeling.
I hear you when you say that you don’t feel represented in politics. I hear you when you say you’re afraid of what the future might hold. 

While it’s true that I carry with me every single day the privilege of white skin and cisgender, I know what it’s like to be scared to go to work every day. Years ago, when I was a young lawyer, I was afraid of losing my job if someone discovered that I was in a relationship with a woman.

I know what it feels like to look over at the man in the office next to mine and know that he is treated differently. That he is paid more for the same position. Even though I knew I was doing a better job.

I’ve worked my entire career to make Oregon a more equitable and welcoming state to everyone who calls this place home. Our nation’s problems — racism, homophobia and transphobia, sexism, climate change, health care, immigration — are all addressed in major ways at the ballot box.

They’re addressed in your vote for President, members of Congress, Governor, and state legislators. They are also addressed by your vote for county sheriff, district attorneys, judges, city council, county clerks, bond measures, and local taxes. 

This election will have big impacts on America, but also your local community. I hope a lot of people turn out and vote. We anticipate seeing record-breaking turnout across the country and here in Oregon. 

It’s critical to have your voice heard. Whether your issue is gun reform, climate change, police reform, racial justice, or reproductive justice, your voice makes a difference. 

So it’s time; the deadline to vote is Nov. 3. But, don’t wait — make a plan with your friends on how you’ll vote. It’s critical to get your ballot in early. Will you walk it to a drop box location? Will you mail it in the first week? Have you set a calendar reminder? I plan to vote early, and take advantage of Oregon’s paid postage to get my ballot to the county clerk. 

I can’t say it enough: your vote is your voice. And every voice counts.