Mount Hood

Giving the play-by-play

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

The Gate River Run, the US National 15k championship, is scheduled for Saturday, March 2, in Jacksonville, Florida with at least one Western student in attendance.

Wyatt Smith will graduate from Western at the end of the Spring term of 2024 as a Political Science major. Commentating for the upcoming event is another huge step in Smith’s future.

“Commentating is what I’ve always wanted to do,” said Smith. “I’ll be in the back filming the race, and then every mile we’ll be checking in. I’ll be discussing main storylines of the race, the prize money, the USATF pool, who’s in the lead, who’s falling off, expected winners — that sort of thing.”

Listed on gateriverrun.com, the website boasting the event alongside Smith’s employer Runnerspace, is a prize fund of $58,000. 2024 will be the 30th year of Gate River Run hosting the event — which Smith will be in attendance for thanks to Runnerspace.

Smith, with a history of directing race events, will still be jumping headfirst into new territory with his first commentary ever on the world-class event.

“I’m pretty invested in the sport,” said Smith. Smith himself is a track athlete — running the 15 and 8.

The first pro athlete to win first place in either the women’s race or the men’s race will win a grand prize of  $12,000, decreasing in funds until tenth place at a prize of $500. All finishers in the 15k will receive a medal.

The event will not be hosted live, but snippets will be uploaded afterward to www.usatf.tv.

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu

Netflix policy change causes chaos

Written by: Sierra Porter | Staff Writer

Netflix is an American subscription streaming service that was created in 1997 by founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. By 2007, they launched their streaming service to compete with Blockbuster which implemented several different family plans. Recently, Netflix has been cracking down on their single household and password sharing policies — making it an absolute nightmare for travelers, large families and especially college students.

The cheapest plan is the standard plan with ads which allows for two devices to watch TV shows and movies for $6.99. 

The standard plan is ad-free, full HD, allows for access among three devices and has the option to add an extra member– for an additional cost of 7.99 a month. The premium plan is also ad-free but offers ultra HD, is accessible on four devices and has the option to add two extra members for $7.99 each. 

The new ability to add members at an extra cost has encouraged Netflix to crack down on password sharing outside of a single household. This means that if one attempts to log in to their Netflix account outside of the designated household, it will log out all other members; regardless of if it is still within the device limit. This policy seems to be a desperate money grab, as it forces members to either buy more expensive plans or pay additional costs. 

Why is this a game-changer for so many? For many students, the full college experience includes living in the dorms, but that also means all funds usually go towards those expenses. Tremendous amounts of students report being forced off their family plans during the months they are on campus — either forced to live without the streaming services or ponying up the extra cost to be an additional member. 

Avid travelers also face this issue from time to time as they lose the ability to log into Netflix in the many places they stay while traveling. Again, one will have to log out the rest of the family in the household and deal with the wrath of streaming rights rage, ball up the extra fees or drop Netflix overall. 

This policy change has been a pain for many and up to 62% of password borrowers said they would rather stop using the streaming service in total than purchase their own account. Netflix’s attempt to force watchers to buy their services, especially the more expensive services, has thus far not been as successful as they hoped. Immediately after these changes, Netflix lost almost 1.2 million subscribers — their biggest loss in over a decade. 

Many are canceling their subscriptions and switching to other streaming services, and we can’t blame them. 

Contact the author at howlstaffwriter@wou.edu

Budgeting tricks: the cash envelope system

A quick guide to budgeting effectively

Sarah Austin | Lifestyle Editor

Being on one’s own can cost a lot of money; from big items like rent and other bills to miscellaneous things such as a night out or the latest video game, saving can seem impossible. Budgeting with spreadsheets can be difficult or feel like another homework assignment, so a simpler technique is the cash envelope system. This system helps teach mindful spending habits while ensuring the user stays on budget. Here is a guide to start saving money with the cash envelope system. 

To begin, a good rule to follow is the 50/30/20 method: 50% of funds go to needs, 30% wants and 20% to financial goals.

Make an envelope for each category that applies: rent, utilities, phone bill, gas, groceries, emergency, savings and leisure.

Put aside cash in each envelope corresponding to the amount used. For example, rent gets $500 each month, the phone bill gets $75 and so on. To plan for gas, look at past months to see the average spending, or take the miles driven in one week divided by the mileage of the car and multiplied by the price of gas. 

Anything left over after bills are paid can be distributed through the other categories, such as setting a certain amount towards a savings goal for the holidays or wanted item. 

Carrying cash may be an unattractive option for some due to safety or the time to set it up; luckily, there are free applications that follow the same concept and use the 50/30/20 rule. 

“Mvelopes” is a website and app that takes approximately 15 minutes to set up budgeting goals. Another website and app with a similar tool to track spending habits is called “Goodbudget.” More popular in the budgeting category, “Clarity Money” is a free, easy to use tracker that can also be connected to bank accounts.

Trying this trick? Send in photos to be featured on our Instagram, @thewesternhowl.

Contact the author at lifestyleeditor@thewesternhowl.com

Learn all about adulting this spring term

Student Success and Advising hosts “#Adulting” seminar series

Allison Vanderzanden | Lifestyle Editor

This spring term, Student Success and Advising is hosting a seminar for Western students called “#Adulting.” Starting on April 9 and recurring every Friday through week nine, different life skills will be explored over Zoom sessions. 

Each seminar will involve a discussion period of the week’s topic and a range of material, including worksheets and activities students can keep for future reference.

“It’s going to be interactive so we can make sure everyone is getting exactly what they need,” Academic Success advisor Gabbi Boyle added.

This series was originally offered as a first-year seminar class in 2020, but it was converted to be available for all students due to its success. Boyle said they are excited to teach any and all students some new life skills.

“Anyone can learn new things or new ways of approaching ‘Adulting’ from the topics we are covering,” Boyle said.

From skills such as time management and self-care, to major and career exploration, to financial information, the “#Adulting” series covers a wide variety of important things for college students to learn as they begin navigating through life. Aptly timed, the first seminar will cover time management as students jump into the new term. The final three weeks of the seminar — which cover finance topics like budgeting, debt and investment — will host a special guest financial coach to provide professional advice.

In the future, based on the success of this term’s seminar series, Student Success and Advising is considering hosting similar seminars and workshops in person as health guidelines permit.

The “#Adulting” seminar series will be held every Friday of weeks two through nine this spring term from 2 to 3 p.m. on Zoom. Find the full schedule of events on the Student Success and Advising page, wou.edu/advising. Contact Gabbi Boyle with questions a boyleg@mail.wou.edu.

Contact the author at avanderzanden19@mail.wou.edu