news – The Western Howl

Written by: Hannah Field | Editor-in-chief

Western,

Welcome back, or maybe just welcome. Maybe you’ve been reading “The Western Howl” for years, or maybe this is the first issue you’re glancing at — either way, thank you. I’d like to introduce you to my wonderful team, whose names you’ve hopefully seen by now as you flip through, and the culmination of hours of hard work in this issue — our first of the school year — of “The Western Howl.”

We are a hand-crafted newspaper by students, for students. This year, we have more diverse perspectives than ever before, with sports covered by real student athletes, the news reported by an on-campus editor and the paper built by a team of devoted, passionate editors and designers.

This first issue, titled “Goal Season Incoming,” is, as you’ve likely guessed, representative of the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic school year here at Western. We hoped to encapsulate a winning season, not just for our school’s sports teams, but also for all students and staff who may be starting new things or returning to something familiar. We feel you, completely — we are trying to embrace the new and the old, to make something grand out of a historic school paper.

If you haven’t already noticed, the style of our front page is different. The design team and I scoured through nationally recognized publications as well as previous versions of “The Western Howl” — previously titled “The Lamron,” “The Western Star,” “The Journal” and more ridiculous titles — for inspiration. We wanted to draw attention to the heart of the paper — the writing and the creative mind of a designer at work — and offer a preview of what’s inside. A sneak peek, if you will.

So, expect change. Expect design elements you haven’t seen from us before. Look for new names, new faces, new stories, freelancers, photos and more. Maybe you’ll fall in love with our mock horoscopes, or maybe you’ll rock our new word search puzzles on our physical copies. Maybe you’re just interested to see what the college newspaper talks about — if that’s the case, I welcome you with open arms and invite you to stay tuned.

There’s so much we hope to give you this year.

If that sounds good to you, I’m excited to let you know we’re doing more printed issues than ever. This year, expect three printed issues a term, dispersed at campus and off-campus locations for your viewing pleasure. If you’re still dying for something to read, keep checking your email; you’ll catch our digital issues weekly. We have a website too — wou.edu/westernhowl — where we post individual articles and issues.

As a student-led publication, we want to highlight student engagement and involvement. We could not be here, creating this paper, if it wasn’t for not only Western but the community the school has garnered. We are here because you read. We are here because you want to write. We are here because you care. And we’re here to talk about the things that matter and impact you.

Because of that, we’ve opened a “Submit News Tips” section of our website under “Contact Us.” We are so lucky to represent the student community here at Western, but to do that, we must be honest and true. So, please — if you have even the slightest hint of a story idea — I ask that you consider submitting a tip. We have pledged to uphold your voices, and this is our opportunity to pull stories from our readers. Of course, I cannot guarantee that we’ll cover your suggestion, but still, I implore you to submit it regardless.

This year, I have a few goals for the Howl: that the viewers will feel consistently represented and accounted for, the work will be done well and we will be proud of each and every issue that is released and that, just maybe, we will finally make zero calls to Public Campus Safety while at Terry House. No promises on that last one, though.

Thank you for reading this letter from the editor as well as this issue of “The Western Howl.” And, to Public Campus Safety, thank you for rescuing us from an ice storm, taking care of the dead mouse in the bathroom and letting us borrow your drill.

I’m incredibly thankful to spend another year at Western doing what I love — writing and leading — for an amazing, hardworking team of talented individuals.

Sincerely,

Hannah Field

Contact the author at howleditorinchief @mail.wou.edu

The Western Howl

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Ten years later…

Written by: Gretchen Sims | Editor-In-Chief Hannah Field | News Editor

Western has been a key leader among Oregon Public Universities when it comes to sustainability practices. Ackerman Hall, as one example, was not only built to be sustained by solar power — Ackerman has two types of solar panels that reduce its residents’ energy consumption by 35 percent — but goes so far as to have a built-in, 30,000-gallon tank to harvest rainwater, reducing 50 percent of potable water usage by flushing toilets.

More recently, Western saw the implementation of the ReWOUsable To-Go Container program which has helped limit excess waste of to-go boxes. Additionally, Campus Dining has a Sustainable Dining Program that works to decrease its carbon footprint by buying from local vendors to support small businesses and sustainable practices, decreasing transportation costs, when possible, and opting to compost over throwing out leftover food.

University Housing has also moved to establish a comprehensive recycling program to decrease Western’s carbon footprint further.

However, Western has not always had a history of supporting calls of action for climate change or sustainability, whether coming from within the house — students, staff and faculty — or community members.

In 2014, Mark Van Steeter, a current Sustainability Professor but Geography Professor at the time, encouraged Western to take a step further in the fight against climate change and pushed to further its sustainability progressivism. Van Steeter began advocating for divestment from fossil fuels, alongside the Environmental Club on campus.

“Unlikely, but you may ask ‘why divest from fossil fuels?’ The reason is that industry must adapt rapidly to a lower carbon energy source in order to remain profitable and contain the potentially disastrous consequences of global warming. The science is extraordinarily clear. A warmer planet is not inherently a problem, the problem is that we have based industrialized society on the assumption of a stable climate and now our population numbers which increase by a quarter of a million a day cannot be sustained if significant climate disruptions continue and grow,” Van Steeter said in an email to Tommy Love and Former Western President Mark Weiss, Sept. 22, 2014.

The day after Van Steeter reached out to Love and Weiss, an email was sent out to students and staff that read:

“I believe it may be time to start a campaign at (Western). Since we are a small university with

minimal ties to the fossil fuel industry, it may be an easy statement for us to make regarding our

vision and integrity. It is an opportunity to give (Western) public attention regarding our investment in a prosperous future for our students.”

On Oct. 9, Van Steeter began to receive pushback for his persistence in the divestment plan. This was said in an email from James Baumgartner, the Chair of the WOU Foundation at that time:

“However, it is not appropriate, nor can I see it as anything other than a strategy to agitate, for you to make inquiries directly to the (WOU) Foundation’s investment advisor. No such firm would make disclosures about its client’s investments to random public inquiries, nor should they, and I can’t imagine me ever asking your advisors or PE(E)RS for your investment information (much less, expect them to provide it)… I will give your request appropriate consideration. However, at this point, the Foundation has decided it will not actively pursue a fossil fuel divestment policy.”

After these email exchanges, both a student and Western Alumni requested to present before the WOU Foundation concerning the divestment, but both were denied.

On Nov. 13, 2014, Weiss divulged in an op-ed article for the Statesman Journal that, while climate change needs immediate action, divestment was not the solution. Van Steeter responded Nov. 19, also via an Opinion piece in the Statesman Journal, urging Weiss to divest.

A few days later, Nov. 22, student activists collected over 250 peer signatures in support of divestment.

The Foundation responded to pressure from students and staff by conducting a hearing Jan. 9, 2015, with Baumgartner and Tommy Love, executive director of the Office of University Advancement and WOU Foundation at that time. Former Western student, Beth Bello, was in attendance at this meeting. Bello founded the Environmental Club in the fall of 2014 and acted as president until she graduated in the spring of 2016.

Both Van Steeter and Bello reported that, in this meeting, Baumgartner informed the group that he was a paid lawyer for Tar Sands Oil extraction from Canada and the Keystone Pipeline. He then went on to tell the divestment group that fossil fuel divestment would not be on the Foundation’s meeting agenda due to an incomplete proposal.

Van Steeter attests that “All information regarding questions was provided, but not in the appropriate format.”

Baumgartner recommended the divestment advocates present before the Planned Giving and Finance Committee of the Foundation which, if found favorable, could land them back on the agenda.

The Western Howl, known at that time as the Western Oregon Journal, reported on previous meetings discussing divestment in Nov. of 2014. “…in attendance at the meeting was Tommy Love, executive director in the Office of University Advancement and WOU Foundation. Love said divesting is a complicated issue and the foundation wants to make sure they do what’s right,” wrote Laura Knudson, a former Editor-In-Chief.

Also in that article, Love reportedly said, “‘I don’t want students to think that the foundation and myself do not recognize the issue of climate change…’ Divesting is ‘one way to do it, but let’s have a campus-wide conversation to address global climate change.’”

“Unfortunately, I am not surprised that (Western)’s Board has chosen to ignore student voices and undeniable scientific evidence on the issue of climate change. During our meeting with the board in January of 2015, the chair of the WOU Foundation, Jim Baumgartner, revealed that he was a paid lawyer for Tar Sands Oil extraction from Canada and the Keystone Pipeline. He made it abundantly clear that he was worried about his personal investments and had no intention of voting to divest due to this conflict of interest. I think the entire divestment team lost hope at his words,” said Bello.

Bello is now a teacher at North Salem High School and teaches AP Human Geography, following in Van Steeter’s footsteps.

“At the time of our meeting, (Western)’s mission statement included the assertion that (Western) ‘Continuously improves our educational, financial, and environmental sustainability.’ One of our main arguments in the divestment campaign was that (Western)’s board was not living up to its mission statement. Nine years later, the university has removed all mention of environmental sustainability and global citizenship. I have to admit, I think it’s because they realized we were right,” said Bello.

While the Board meeting did not end in the divestment group’s favor, Bello still managed to take something away from the experience.

“In a way, the board’s decision not to divest from fossil fuels has empowered me. It took time, but it helped me to understand the terrible cost of human greed and how insignificant my efforts were in combating that. If we had gotten what we wanted, I might have thought that creating change is easy — all you have to do is collect signatures and wave signs and point out hypocrisy — but that’s not true. Change has to come from the top. Only constant economic pressure from citizens will force governments and industries into changing,” said Bello.

This meeting was not wholly unsuccessful for those in favor of Western’s divestment from fossil fuels.

A Socially Responsible Fund was established in 2016, which promised a divestment from fossil fuels when the fund reached $20,000.

“(The WOU Foundation) did make a fund that does not invest in fossil fuels or tobacco, but to my knowledge, it’s just sitting there with a small amount of money in it. And not promoted at all,” Van Steeter said.

Van Steeter, himself, donated to the fund alongside a small group of colleagues however, no changes have been spotted in regards to the promotion of the Socially Responsible Fund from 2016, the same fund that Mark and two other colleagues donated to close to eight years ago.

“On the divestment scene, I submitted to the faculty senate (a proposal) and the faculty senate passed it, approved it. But the faculty senate is simply an advisory body. And the foundation, more or less, kept telling me to get lost and would agree to meet with students, but then basically do nothing. It was a pretty interesting experience seeing how you can play like you’re acting with integrity, but you aren’t… It was a little humbling,” said Van Steeter.

More recently, a member of the Monmouth-Independence Climate Task Force, a community group, approached Western with an idea that could both make the campus more sustainable and save the the college money — all at little or no cost due to federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act One task force member, Skip Wenz writes a column for several newspapers in the Willamette Valley titled “Your Ecological House.” While this column first started as a sustainable home renovation guide, it has now turned into a discussion about climate change.

Wenz also was the founder and Director of the Ecological Design Program at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture, and has worked in the sustainability field for several decades.

Wenz first met solar expert, Dan Orzech of the Oregon Clean Power Cooperative, at a church in Salem that had recently installed solar panels — Orzech led this project, as well as a project to install solar panels at Oregon State University.

In 2022, President Joseph Biden signed the IRA, providing major tax incentives for not-for-profit institutions to switch to clean energy. Wenz thought that this might be a good opportunity for Western.

“He and I, and a couple of members of our little group actually scoped out a map, a Google map, of the campus online. And he had a couple of ideas of where, you know, just from looking at the map, where some (solar panels might go),” Wenz said.

It was around this time when Wenz began to correspond with Western’s Current President, Jesse Peters. Wenz pitched an IRA funded solar panel installation idea to Peters.

“He gave me the name of somebody there that he wanted me to write, who I did write two or three times and never heard back from,” Wenz said.

“I’m not sure what, if anything, could happen (because of The Inflation Reduction Act). From what I know, the best way for this college to get its hands on federal money (is) to do more solar stuff. (Western could) hire (Orzech) as a consultant to plan a solar installation with IRA funding, because he’s an expert and he’s done it on several (occasions). Western Oregon is qualified, it’s a type of institution that they specifically designed this money to go to,” said Wenz.

After not getting a response to his numerous emails, Wenz stopped pushing.

“I didn’t wanna push too hard because I didn’t wanna alienate anybody, especially Jesse Peters… he did what a good administrator does, which is, send me to somebody else… And for all I know, you know, somebody over there is already working on it, but I haven’t heard anything about it,” Wenz said.

Sustainable practices are usually associated with climate change, but there would be other benefits that Western could gain by switching to a local power source such as solar panels.

“If you are replacing a consumable, like electricity, that you are buying from someone else, with what we could call capital expenses, which is equipment you buy once, and then you can use it for 20 years, you’re stabilizing the costs of the power you generate, and so the fluctuations in the electricity market won’t affect you as drastically. If you either set it up as a microgrid to be independent from the larger grid, or you add local storage, you buy resiliency in the case of natural disasters,” said Stephen Howard, a member of the Monmouth-Independence Climate Task Force.

Howard’s interest in climate issues began when he was a student studying architecture — which led to an interest in urban design. During his nearly 25 years in the industry, Howard has learned that “…a lot of the solutions, certainly not all of them, but many solutions, to the climate (are) in the urban design space, in terms of how our buildings are built and how we access services and work and school. Where you live and how it’s developed (has) a lot to do with your personal carbon footprint, more than what you choose to buy or what you own.”

Howard mentioned that the Monmouth-Independence community that surrounds Western would also benefit from the university generating its own electricity with the installation of solar panels.

“This is an indirect benefit to Western, but the amount of electricity that our community pulls from Bonneville, we pay a certain rate, a wholesale rate to Bonneville, and as the amount of electricity our community demands goes up, we will eventually hit a higher tier price for that electricity, so the more electricity we generate locally, the more we push off that date of having to pay more for our power. So whether it’s Western, or the local governments, or the school district, or individual homeowners, the more local power we generate, the cheaper we keep our electricity,” Howard said.

Upon contacting President Peters for a comment, he offered one statement and redirected the rest of his questions to the Director of Marketing and Communications, Maureen Brakke, who also acts as the Public Information Officer for Western.

“Though it can be a slow and difficult process, (Western) has taken steps over the years to address sustainability. This is particularly important in a time of rapidly changing climate, and even small actions can make a difference. I have no doubt that the students and employees in our community will continue to find ways to be part of the solution,” Peters said.

Brakke commented on some ways Western Students have previously practiced sustainability. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, (Western)’s residence halls had a Green Team whose purpose was to implement and coordinate the residence hall recycling program which included collection and maintenance of centralized recycling locations throughout the residence halls. Additionally, they provided educational programming that increased environmental and sustainability awareness within the residence halls. This program isn’t currently active but it is a sustainability initiative that they plan to bring back soon,” said Brakke.

It has yet to be seen who is in charge of the initiative or when it will be revived.

“Regarding your foundation investment question, the WOU Foundation Board established a Socially Responsible Fund in 2016, and we will continue to seek growth in that account. The leadership at the Foundation has changed a lot since then, but we are exploring new ways to promote and grow the fund,” Brakke said.

The WOU Foundation did not respond to Van Steeter’s emails or calls in his effort to provide accurate, up-to-date information regarding the fund.

“We hope to continue to make ongoing improvements to reducing, reusing and recycling on campus, and become more energy efficient, looking at using more efficient appliances, lighting, etc. Our community is also engaged in more walking, biking, carpooling and using our local Trolley, we encourage our community to continue to utilize these more environmentally friendly modes of transportation when possible. We also actively plant new trees where we have to remove trees on campus. As a public university, we follow Oregon state laws and policies regarding environmental regulation,” said Brakke.

In the end, it’s important to foster open, productive conversations about climate change. It’s easy to advocate for climate change by sounding alarms about the negative consequences of not taking action, but “…that’s really only half the conversation. We need to spend at least as much effort imagining how much better things will be when we get this right,” said Howard.

“I think as much as we need the warnings of what could go wrong, we also need something to look forward to. And without both, I think it’s a lot harder to get people on board, avoiding something that seems sort of nebulous and negative versus having a goal to reach for. And so I would encourage the campus, whether it’s the student body, or the staff and faculty, or everybody combined, to really think about the positives and what we could have if we put the work in now to build a better future,” Howard continued.

“For a while, losing the fight for divestment made me feel hopeless, but I don’t feel that way anymore. It taught me about the insidious and pervasive reach of the oil industry. The whole experience taught me that I have a voice that can be used for change, and even if that change doesn’t happen overnight, I am one of countless people that will collectively use our voices to transform the world,” said Bello.

“I’m not saying that we should throw all our money into sustainability and then have the rest of the university collapse,” said Van Steeter. “But we need to start putting it on the agenda whenever we’re making decisions… I would love to have Western be this icon of a small public university that focuses on sustainability and offers these really high-quality programs with small class sizes. We have all the tools to do that — (Western is) really just beautiful.”

Van Steeter remains hopeful that someday the college will divest from fossil fuels.

Contact the authors at howleditorinchief@wou.edu and howlnews@wou.edu

The Western Howl

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Psychology grad school fair

Written by: Forest Schostalo | Freelancer

The Psychology Peer Advising Center, PsychPAC, will hold a graduate school fair on May 21 in the Werner University Center. The event will run from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Columbia Room and will have at least 13 programs in attendance.

When asked about the importance of this event, John Thoma, PsychPAC’s graduate school coordinator, said, “Many people don’t know how to go about grad school; this is their very first time showing interest. The mystery creates a lot of questions, but you don’t always know which ones you are supposed to ask.”

This will be the second-ever graduate school fair that PsychPAC has hosted, following the success of last year’s event. According to Thoma, the event will be a great way for students interested in graduate school to not only learn more about graduate school but also become acquainted with the people who work at these schools. “Go in representing yourself and the best person that you are. These are the people who could be interviewing you when you apply, that’s how it was for me at Geroge Fox,” said Thoma.

In preparation for the Grad Fair, PsycPAC curated a list of Dos and Don’ts for students attending the event. They suggest preparing several questions in advance to get a full picture of what the school has to offer. They also suggest talking to the school one is most interested in last to get some practice before seeing them. Finally, they suggest wearing something that is more professional. If one doesn’t have anything professional, the Stitch Closet on campus can help.

PsychPAC also puts forward some don’ts. Don’t only look at the information on the table, instead talk to the attendants to obtain a full understanding of what they have to offer. Don’t leave mid-conversation if you discover you aren’t interested in the school, finish the conversation, and politely excuse yourself and thank them for their time. Finally, don’t save questions for a later time —this is a good opportunity to ask any questions, including about topics like financial aid or what they are looking for in an application, as some topics are better off not mentioned in an interview.

PsychPAC serves as a way for psychology majors at Western to get advice from their peers who are also involved in the psychology program. The advisors include people at various levels within the major, with varied career aspirations and who have taken different courses within the program. They can help with registering for classes, removing advising holds, understanding degree tracks and more. They are located in Todd Hall, Room 339, and are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Several advisors from PsychPAC will be at the event ready to answer questions from students. “This is a perfect opportunity to gain information about grad school. You can then immediately come over to our table to make a plan to make that goal happen,” Thoma said. “We can help make a schedule for next year or figure out what classes or volunteer opportunities you should focus on.”

The center will also be open during its normal hours on the day of the event for people who have any questions.

Many of the colleges with psychology-related graduate programs from across the state will be in attendance at the fair: private universities like George Fox and Pacific University, Public universities like Oregon State and the University of Oregon and even Western Oregon and its new Occupational Therapy Program will be represented.

A full list of the universities that will be represented at the fair, what programs they offer, if they are accredited in any way and what makes these programs unique and special is available on the PsychPAC website.

For anyone who may be nervous about attending an event like the Graduate School fair, Thoma has some advice. “It’s okay to not know everything, that’s why we do these things. You can talk to these people and say it’s your first grad school fair and just by doing that you’ll learn what kinds of things you need to ask, don’t be afraid to not know.”

Any questions about the event can be directed towards the PsychPAC email: peeradvising@mail.wou.edu or can be asked in person during their operating hours.

Contact the author at fschostalo21@mail.wou.edu

The Western Howl

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Sidney Spencer on news reporting

Written by: Liberty Miller | Lifestyle Editor

Content warning: this article contains mentions of homicide and shootings.

Sidney Spencer is a 2021 graduate from the University of Alabama and a current news reporter on CBS Channel 42, based out of Birmingham, Alabama. The Howl was able to get an exclusive interview with Spencer regarding her career, experiences in the field and words of advice she may have for Western students wanting to get into broadcasting and news reporting.

When asked about her upbringing and what brought Spencer into news broadcasting, she answered, “I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the midwest, but my family is from the South so after I graduated high school in 2016, we moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Prior to me attending and graduating from the University of Alabama, I went to Western Kentucky University for a year and a half or so and ended up transferring to the U of A.”

“To describe me, I would say I’m very shy, I’m not the typical reporter, I’m not this overly extroverted person, sometimes I don’t even like to talk which is funny for a reporter. But I’m very shy, very goofy, very fun, and my humor is a little off sometimes — I find anything funny and I tell people that, that’s another characteristic about myself that people find funny because I don’t take anything serious. To some people, that might be bad but I don’t know. I find humor in everything, but still very shy and in person, super soft-spoken, when I’m talking to people they say ‘Huh? What are you saying?’ and that’s something I’m still working on,” said Spencer.

“I work at CBS42, here in Birmingham. This is my second station, so I’m still kind of new to the industry three years in. My first station was in Evansville, Indiana. As soon as I graduated college in 2016 from the University of Alabama, I accepted a job at 44 News in Evansville. I signed a two-year contract — worked hard, and got out –- and now I’m here in Birmingham. My one year here will be June 12,” said Spencer.

Spencer went on to discuss what she experienced growing up and how she became inspired to pursue broadcasting as a career.

“I grew up just watching the news because me and my family are very close-knit, we would just sit at the table or in the living room watching television together. Our family was a family that would just watch the news, so I grew up watching Fox 8 and Channel 19, and I would see them and being super shy, I still thought that it was cool. I would see how they would show their personality, and it was kind of hard for me to show personality so seeing that, it was almost like they were forced to show who they are. I kind of just wanted to see if that would bring it out of me,” Spencer said.

Additionally, she added that she experienced a pivotal moment while watching a reality television series. “I had a moment, I was watching Basketball Wives in middle school, and I can’t remember her name, but she had long brunette hair and she was talking about getting into broadcasting. I was like, what is that? I remember watching the episode, and I went over to the computer in the kitchen and typed broadcasting. It came up as being a reporter and I was thinking ‘Oh, that is what I want to be.’”

Spencer then touched on challenges people can face in her career path. “This industry is very vain, so you may face some adversities when you get into the business. Appearance is a big thing. I’m gonna keep it real — sometimes if you look a certain way you might get up higher and become a favorite. I probably have, I wouldn’t say gained anything, but in a sense, some people might look at me and say she may have gotten a position because of the way she looks or because she’s more poised, or something in that nature, but I will say this career is very vain.” said Spencer.

Spencer’s typical day is busy, with many work-related tasks transcending the hours she clocks in and out. “I work night-side, which is a shift that I’ve pretty much always worked. So I come in at 2 p.m., but I wake up around like 10 p.m. to do my makeup and hair, which is exhausting too sometimes. I usually spend around an hour, and if I don’t already have story ideas from the day before or thought of, or texts from sources or anything, I sit and try to find some stories that I could do. I’ll sometimes watch national stories and see if I can localize it, or look at my phone and look on Facebook. We’re required to at least have two story ideas. Usually, everything needs to be a lead story, but sometimes we can do fluffy pieces or people and enterprise stories. I come into work around 1:50 p.m., sit at my desk and look over what I had written down. I go over to our conference table, we all sit down and have our pitch meeting -– we have two producers, two photographers, a news director, a meteorologist and two anchors. So all of us have to pitch stories.”

At Spencer’s current station, CBS 42, she went into depth about how pitches are chosen at the conference table. “Sometimes, my stories don’t get picked up, because news directors have their own view of what news is, and usually the news director just says ‘no, I don’t want that.’ They’ll usually have their own stories and pitches that they want in mind, and they’ll just assign us to a story — if it’s an event, then I’ll sometimes make calls, and ask if there’s anyone we can talk to. Usually, they say yes and we can get all of that lined up. If it’s a story that they want us to pursue we’ll then have to make calls and just call around to the people that we need to talk to. Whenever we get our stories together, what sticks, we’ll go out, and I have a photographer that I’ll go out with to shoot the interviews. We’re required to at least have two to three interviews within our packages. We come back to the station or stay out in the field, depending on how far we are from the station. We’ll edit and write out scripts, and then before we submit our package, we need to have our scripts in by 9:15 p.m. After scripts, I edit everything, put it together, and it needs to be on the rundown by 9:45 – 9:50 p.m. Our photographers set us up and we do the live shot. Whatever our package is, we have to cut aside a bit of our piece for the morning, and then we also upload it onto our video platform, and we also have to write our web articles. We have a web team that looks over our articles in the morning and makes some tweaks, to make it more professional. I usually don’t finish until 10:50 p.m. –- but it’s nonstop work, a 24-hour thing, even though we don’t really get paid for 24 hours.”

Spencer has covered a vast array of topics as an on-site reporter, working on topics varying from sports to community projects. She also speaks on difficult subjects including homicide investigations, crime and vigils. When asked about how she works with potentially troubling stories, Spencer stated, “Personally, I’m not super religious but I am very spiritual. I’m a Christian, so I pray every day and I pray whenever I’m going into a hard story. I ask God to just help me to make the people that I’m talking to feel better or to help them get through the situation and just put my feelings aside with it. With that though, I will say I’ve done a lot of shootings — I’ve witnessed somebody get murdered at my last station, I’ve been around situations where the police shot at animals right next to me, and I almost got shot. Being in this industry will make you a little bit insensitive at times — so with that comes, at times when you’re in a scary situation or a tough story, it’s not healthy, (you will) mentally just take yourself out of it or just pretend like it’s not happening. When I do hard stories, sometimes it becomes too much at that moment, and I usually tell the photographer that I need a moment. If it doesn’t hit me at the moment, it hits me a few days later. I usually go into it praying, and ask God to help me to not get too emotional, but still be empathetic and understanding of the situation. But with that, also asking for me to be a blessing to the people who are actually living that, and help them out in some way. I’ve done shootings back-to-back, and murders back-to-back, going to vigils back-to-back, and I just think, let me just try to get this done, and try to be a blessing to the people that I’m talking to. Then once the weekend comes around, I think, that was a hard week. I don’t know if I’m coping with it healthily. As news reporters, we’re not directly affected like those in the situation, but we are on the scene, right there with the first responders. As I said, at my last station, I witnessed somebody get shot and killed right in front of my face, and in the moment I had to walk away – it’s not normal. A lot of us journalists and reporters are trying to learn how to cope with the situation. I have coworkers that I talk to and friends in the industry that I talk to all the time. I had a friend who worked at a competitor station to my last job, and she was there too during the shooting situation. We talked about it together and she took it a little harder at the moment, and I don’t think it hit me until a few days later. We just bond — I don’t know if it’s a trauma bond — not just over the tough stories but just the industry in general, and we just talk about the amount of work that we have to do with the pay that we have to deal with sometimes. If we didn’t love it though, we wouldn’t be doing it, because life is way too short to continuously be doing something that you don’t like or you aren’t happy with.”

Spencer also gave advice to Western students who aspire to pursue a career in news and broadcasting.

“I would say work hard, and nowadays, it doesn’t seem like it but hard work pays off. Do your research and don’t let anyone discourage you if you want to get into TV because pretty much anybody can do it. I don’t want to say everybody can do it but if you work hard, and if you really have a passion for wanting to be in broadcasting and journalism you can do it. Every day is not smooth – I hear no at least six times a day and you have to have thick skin with that. If the story works out, that is good but sometimes stories will fall through. I’ve had two or three stories fall through in one day, and it happens. You have to have tough skin to get through that. Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to look a certain way or be a certain way. With that, you have to want to be a voice for people who may not have one. That is ultimately what we are, we work for the community, and we’re not doing this for ourselves. It may come across as reporters just wanting to look pretty on TV, but that is not the case. You have to have a passion for talking to people, for one, because you’re talking to people every day, and then you have to want to tell their stories. You have to learn that you’re not always going to be liked. You’re going to get pushback, especially when you’re telling controversial stories, or you’re telling stories of people that don’t have a voice. You have to be willing to speak up for them because nobody else will.”

Contact the author at howllifestyle@wou.edu

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Recent campus closure announcement

Written by: Gretchen Sims | Editor in Chief, Jaylin Hardin | Sports Editor

Fall of 2021 marked the completion of the initial steam pipeline construction project; however, due to the lack of efficacy of the current pipeline, the vaults are now being replaced.

In an email sent on March 19, students were notified that “Work on the steam pipeline project will impact vehicle and pedestrian travel on Monmouth Avenue, starting March 26 through September 2024.”

Also noted were the crosswalk closures on Church and Jackson Streets, as well as the parking closure on Church Street — all construction pathways will meet the Americans with Disabilities Act., ADA, specifications.

Western, along with many other higher education institutes, uses steam to heat its campus, which runs through a series of pipes, vaults and boilers. What Western lacks for this system is tunnels to run the pipeline through every building, something that is vital to the system’s stability and maintenance.

Due to the absent tunnel system, Western must bury the steam pipes directly in the ground. The steam system initially relied on cast iron pipes, which are durable and resistant to abrasion but not flexible and are prone to rusting. Due to the high acidity in Oregon soil, the pipes experienced rapid corrosion, and the initial project to repair this corrosion was compromised, prompting the new construction project.

Groundbreaking begins on April 14. To prepare for this, 3,000 feet of fencing was put up over Spring Break to ensure student safety — with students getting trapped in the fenced off areas being a point of concern.

Starting the second week of the spring term, signage will be posted around Western, breaking it into different quadrants. This signage is intended to direct people around campus so they don’t find themselves at a dead end and be forced to backtrack.

“I find it interesting, first of all, that this notice went out to campus about it being closed over spring break through September, but it’s open right now, which is confusing to me. Church Street parking is completely open when they said it was going to be closed from spring break,” said Sarah Lockwood, Western’s facilities scheduling manager.

Jason Krawczyk, director of capital planning and construction, oversees all projects that require bringing in a contractor to campus or projects that are over a certain price threshold.

Krawczyk clarified the timings of the closure stating that access to Church Street from Monmouth Avenue is currently inaccessible, but Church Street will be fully fenced off, and the parking closure will be enforced, in the upcoming weeks — Jackson Street access, however, will be accessible until Summer Term.

Krawczyk stated that the reason they ultimately decided to close Church Street is due to his staff’s commitment to student safety. Trucks will have to run from behind the New PE building up through Church Street, thus moving against the flow of traffic and posing a danger to not only vehicles, but also pedestrians and construction workers. If cars were parked on both sides of the road, vehicle operators would not be able to see pedestrians easily and pedestrians might not expect the vehicle to be there.

Notice of the closure was not announced until the end of finals week, just days before the intended start of the project. Due to this short notice, questions were raised regarding the lack of information and prior notice.

The first closure announcement was made through the @westernoregonuniversity Instagram page, four days before an email was sent out to the general student body.

“We don’t put out any communication that hasn’t been approved and the approval process takes a long time. So it might seem like it is coming out last minute, but it’s because we only put out information that is 100 percent accurate,” said Krawczyk.

Many voiced concerns came from student veterans on campus regarding both students and community members who have served. Veterans already have limited exclusive parking spaces on campus — four spots for the one-hundred-plus veterans that Western serves — and usage of these spots requires both a Zone One parking pass and Veteran or Armed Forces license plates.

One anonymous student veteran was concerned about how late the information was shared with the general student community.

“The only official communication that I heard was through the Instagram post,” said the student veteran. “The rest was word of mouth from staff that were notified before us.”

The Veteran Resource Center, the VRC, puts on events throughout the year for all members of the Veteran community and those with connections to the Armed Forces. Another concern that arose from this is the parking access to the Werner University Center and, thus, the VRC, for disabled veterans from the community and their family members who attend these events.

Mike Hanson, associate director of campus public safety, put the concerns regarding disabled veteran access to the VRC to rest. “The disability spots campus wide are reserved for any person who has a valid disability placard. They are able to park in any lot with any (Western) permit. That includes a guest day pass. If a person is a guest and is not eligible for a guest pass but has a valid disability placard they also have the ability to park at any meter without paying the meter. This is in accordance with state law ORS 811.635,” said Hanson.

However, some students have a better vision for the future of parking. “A few veterans have said that they wish they could park anywhere as long as they had the veteran plate and the parking pass,” said the student veteran.

Employees who live on campus also spoke on various concerns about the closure of Church Street.

“I can’t afford a parking pass because my wages don’t equal out to ‘just buy a parking pass,’” said one anonymous student employee. “You’d have to have another job… that’s the only spot I can park.”

Some Western employees who commute simply do not want to pay for a parking pass, as they may only spend a few days a week on campus — not making the cost of a parking pass worthwhile. Other students, staff and faculty concerns revolve around access to locations needed for commencement. Because Church Street will be fenced off during June, access to the New PE building and the football stadium will be limited.

Krawczyk wants to reassure any event planning committees that “During any construction project, we’re willing to work with groups that have events happening on campus as long as we know about them ahead of time and can plan for them,” said Krawczyk.

Access to Church Street will be made available for commencement.

Additionally, the closure of Church Street has caused a parking crisis among students and staff alike over the loss of free street parking.

“I went for a walk today and I counted (the) parking spaces… there are 54 just normal parking spaces, there are four handicap-accessible parking spaces and there are three to four — depending on how many cars fit — 20-minute parking spots that are right by the front doors (of the WUC),” said Lockwood.

Students share many concerns about the closure of Church Street, some of them include the fact that, because the announcement was so late notice, purchasing a parking pass was not an expense these students planned for.

Church Street is city property and, therefore, Western is not responsible for the replacement of these spaces. However, the parking options now available to students are not comparable to the number or type of parking spaces lost due to the closure.

Lockwood reached out to Parking Services in an attempt to request a suitable alternative for the loss of parking. “Parking services, when reaching out to them about the street being closed, they were very matter-of-fact about there not being any replacement parking. The street was going to be closed and the options were for students to use metered parking… or pay for a parking pass, or find street parking on the perimeter of campus,” said Lockwood.

On Lockwood’s walk around campus, she noted that there were approximately ten metered parking spaces and a few empty street parking spaces around the perimeter of campus, but these numbers will not make up for the 54 lost spaces that were filled.

Addressing student concerns regarding the loss of handicapped spaces, Hanson said, “For any person to park in a disability spot anywhere on campus there are two requirements. The first requirement is having a valid WOU permit (this includes guest permits) and a valid disability placard.”

Despite the losses of the parking spaces on Church Street, Krawczyk and the construction crew on this project are doing their best to alleviate the issue.

“With the student success center, I think it’s important to note that we worked closely with parking and actually paid for thirty spaces so that the construction people on that job site would not be taking the free public parking on the road. And the same thing is happening with this. By taking Lot E, for our laydown area and construction worker parking, that means that all of the added people brought to campus by this construction project will not be taking free parking from students. We know that we will have an influx in people and we try and make sure that they don’t… anger the community by parking in front of their houses at 6 a.m. in the morning with loud diesel trucks, and don’t anger our student population by when they show up for an 8 (a.m.) class and all the free parking is gone,” said Krawczyk.

One proposed resolution to the loss of parking spaces due to the closure is the opening of P Lot as a free parking Zone. There are a comparable amount of parking spaces in the lot as were lost from Church Street, and it is usually fairly empty.

“In general with the road closure, like there should be a safe spot to park if there’s nowhere to park on Church Street. They should have everybody park in P Lot, but then have an officer on standby to walk everyone back,” said the anonymous student employee.

Lockwood also recommended a few spots in H Lot be converted into 20-minute parking spaces for easy access to the WUC.

Hanson reasoned against the handing out of free parking spaces saying, “…we were not able to just give out free parking to those that do not have (parking) permits. (This) would cause issues with the spring events that occur on that portion of campus including, but not limited to, Baseball and Track and Field events. The other issue would be the equality for those who have already purchased permits. The free parking would cause the issue of why some people have to pay for permits while others do not have to pay to park on campus.”

“We understand the effect that this closure has on the parking. (Western) Parking has worked with the city of (Monmouth) and Independence to provide an alternative resource to students, staff and faculty. The parking near campus and the nearby neighborhoods have had a longtime pressure on available street parking. The Monmouth Independence area was given funding to research and implement the MI Trolley service. This is a free ride service that travels from (Western)’s campus all the way to Riverfront (Park) in Independence. This service gives those without a permit a free option to ride to campus,” said Hanson.

“Unfortunately, the project is too long, it can’t just happen over the summer months, and we can’t do it, also, during the rainy season. So doing it spring and summer was really our only option,” said Krawczyk.

Contact the authors at howleditorinchief@wou.edu and howlsports@wou.edu

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American football in Tunisia

Written by: Gretchen Sims | Editor-in-Chief

It’s hard to imagine the world of football outside of America, without the billion-dollar industry, massive stadiums and enthusiastic fans. However, American football is played across the globe with leagues in Germany, Canada, France, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands and, recently, Africa.

While American football was established in Egypt and Morocco in the early 2000s, newer teams have begun to take over the scene as the sport works to make itself a recognizable sport across Africa.

One of these African teams, the Carthage Eagles, sprung out of Tunisia and has secured its place as the National American Football Team of Tunisia. However, creating an American football team in Tunisia was not easy, nor did it happen overnight. The idea was first put forth on social media and grew from there by word of mouth.

While the program grew slowly at first, the Eagles now consist of players from all over the world — most based out of Germany, France, Italy and Turkey — who are of Tunisian descent. This does, however, lead to obstacles in team building such as language barriers, travel challenges and differing levels of play.

Amine Ben Abdelkarim, an Eagles’ linebacker and the current program President, founded the first Tunisian team in 2014. Abdelkarim reflected on this as well as what inspired him to pursue building the team.

“…I started practicing football when I moved to France in 2013. I joined a French team, Garches Kiowas. In 2014 I heard that Morocco and Egypt played two games to reach the World Cup, so I said to myself how come there’s no Tunisian team? Starting that day, it became my aim. Building a Tunisian national team based on experienced players who have Tunisian origin,” Abdelkarim said.

To many, the thought of an American football team in Tunisia was implausible. Additionally, Abdelkarim, the linebacker with a dream, had many obstacles stacked against him.

“I started football at the age of 32… The age players end their careers…” said Abdelkarim. “(It was also crucial to) convince Tunisian authorities that we can practice that sport in Tunisia and it can attract people.”

The Tunisian government was persuaded to accept American football after the team hosted a program for over 70 Tunisian children, where they demonstrated their passion and love of the sport to the next generation. The camp was observed by the sports minister and mayors of the country. After the camp, approval was granted for the sport to integrate itself as a part of Tunisian society.

The team’s success, however, can not be credited to just the players’ passion and love for the game. None of this would have been possible without Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Cevin Conrad, who assimilated players of all different levels, molding them into a cohesive team.

Conrad was born in Oregon and moved to Germany after meeting his wife. It was there that Abdelkarim approached him about coaching the Tunisian team.

“I started by looking for Tunisian players and at the same time a HC (Head Coach) who could be interested (in) the project. And this is how I met Cevin Conrad — the godfather of my daughters now,” said Abdelkarim.

Conrad was interested in the idea of a Tunisian national team.

“It seemed like such a crazy idea — and I helped build up football in Germany — I knew how tough something like that would be and I kind of wanted to hear what it would be about because it sounded kind of strange. That’s how I got in contact with Amine,” said Conrad.

One of their main obstacles was finding players and then bridging language gaps and distance between them.

“Amine told me about his dream to have football in Tunisia — have the Tunisians come together — and how they were a minority and how difficult it all was. I thought, well if I didn’t help them, probably nobody else would or could. So I decided to help Amine realize his dream.”

Soon after, Defensive Coordinator, Rene Hesse, was brought on board. The Eagles also occasionally host guest coaches from America.

In 2017, the newly fledged Tunisian team faced off against the established Morrocan team for the Africa championship. This was the first African v. African game. Tunisia, who hosted, was far from taken seriously. American football in Morocco had been an established program for 10 years and their national team had played before, while this was the Tunisian team’s first game.

The Tunisian team knew that putting up a good fight in this match would cement the validity of their program.

Many of the players sacrificed much to be at the game. They left their families, their homes and, often, their countries to chase a dream that many didn’t think possible — the true underdogs.

There was no extravagant stadium waiting for their arrival, nor millions of spectators, yet the enthusiasm that day rivaled that of an NFL game. Abdelkarim led his team onto the field, not knowing this game would put them in the history books and solidify the Eagles’ position in Tunisian sports.

Yassin Ouarghi, a defensive tackle for the Eagles, was there in the 2017 game against Morocco.

“It was a great experience. The victory was an amazing feeling because we worked so hard to become a close-knit team. It was our first official national game, and then we won by such a large margin. Additionally, the game was a home game, which made it truly special. Despite the sport not being very well-known in Tunisia, quite a few spectators came. Some relatives from both abroad and within the country came to watch the game. During the week leading up to the game, we held a workshop with children from the region. They also attended the game and were really enthusiastic and cheered along with us,” said Ouarghi.

The Morrocan team assumed they had the game in the bag.

Before the game, the Moroccan coach informed Conrad that, when they were 30 points ahead, he would send in his second-string players out of mercy so the Tunisian team would have a chance at scoring.

“The statement from the Moroccan coach spurred me to push even harder to defend and represent myself, my team, and my country. The victory in the end was a real satisfaction. We were significantly superior to the Moroccans in every position and practically overran them,” said Ouarghi.

The final score was 36–0, with Tunisia pulling out the underdog win.

It wasn’t just a victory for the Eagles, it was a victory for the future of American football. Conrad, an advocate for expanding American football to the rest of the world, was ecstatic about this win.

“It was inspiring. A lot of things were riding on my back, but I just really wanted to help these people. So it was really moving to see the exuberation, the happiness, that these people, my team, the group, all together reached what they, at the beginning, considered an unreachable goal” said Conrad.

“I didn’t do it for me, I did it for them. It’s a beautiful thing to see when you give to people and see how they can grow, and it brings people together. It was very very very inspiring. One of the memorable moments of my life.”

Now, the Carthage Eagles only have the future to look forward to.

The Tunisian team held a training camp at the end of December 2023 in Gummersbach, Germany. There, many newly recruited team members from around the world met for the first time.

Skander Riou, an Eagles’ guard, was one of these recruits. Even though the team only had a few days together, they were able to bond ahead of the 2024 African Championship against Egypt.

“The team dynamic is pretty cool. It was my first time with the Tunisia team, but I had the impression I know everyone and we are all friends,” said Riou.

The next step for the team will be competing in the World Cup, but the Eagles have their eye on something more.

The year 2028 will be the first Summer Olympic Games to include American flag football, allowing the Eagles to compete on the world stage. The Tunisian team, however, is a full-contact football team with little experience with flag football. There is hope for future Olympic cycles to include tackle football, but for now, teams must adapt to flag rules.

To prepare for a potential bid for the Olympics, the Eagles have begun implementing flag football leagues into Tunisia’s established American football program.

Regardless of the challenges, the Tunisian team is currently planning to take their team to Los Angeles in 2028. The team paints themselves as the next Jamaican bobsled team — striving to achieve the impossible — and asks for any American football players of Tunisian descent to consider joining their cause as they work towards etching their names into history books.

Contact the author at howleditorinchief@wou.edu

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School strike

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

For some — if not most — kids, dressing up on Halloween, overindulging in candy and having school canceled the next day is a dream come true. Portland students found themselves in the same situation and, at first, it was fun — until the teachers’ strike began to threaten their summer and winter breaks.

Eighty-one schools in the district have not had a school day since Nov. 1, when teachers first walked out of classrooms. Since then, it has almost been a month of no school for the Portland school district. Thanksgiving break is expected to end Nov. 27 — with school days planned to continue as usual. However, it is uncertain whether or not the Portland teachers’ demands will be met by that date — a process that includes an agreement between the Oregon school district and the union.

It is required for Oregon students to reach a certain amount of instructional time in the classroom based on grade per year. Due to the strike, students have not met that requirement, and therefore, Portland is heavily considering extending the school year into the summer until the required hours are met — as long as the other vacations in the year do not provide the proper amount of days.

Teachers had multiple reasons for rallying. As listed by the Portland Association of Teacher’s website, it is for the students as much as the teachers.

“Our students deserve more one-on-one attention from dedicated and well-qualified educators … they deserve small classroom sizes and meaningful instruction and assessment.”

On the website, they have three goals listed. In summary, they are as follows: all needs and interests for students and educators should be dutifully met, education spaces should be safe, clean, well-maintained and fully staffed and, lastly, educators need better salaries as well as teams. Staff should have training and teams who are well educated in social issues, such as forms of prejudice and bias, to better serve the student population in Portland.

The website goes as far as to publish bargaining updates as the discussion continues. The petition initiated by the Portland Association of Teachers reportedly has over 7,000 signatures — but the petition itself does not showcase the number.

The Nov. 20 bargaining update summarizes a 24-hour meeting the Portland Public Schools team and Portland Association of Teachers had discussing the agreement. A settlement was reportedly met from both sides’ bargaining teams with good benefits and proper adjustments that the PAT desired – just before the PPS bargaining team returned to inform the PAT that the PPS board rejected the settlement — the settlement agreed upon by their own team.

“To have the deal pulled after working so hard, and making tough compromises to win on our key issues, was incredibly frustrating,” said the PAT.

The post goes as far as to say that the PPS has been posting proposals that are “…out of date and out of context.”

In a different update, the PAT’s update states, “This crisis of their own making unnecessarily prolongs the strike, and demonstrates the inability of district leadership to govern Oregon’s largest school district.”

However, multiple topics of interest, presented by the PAT, were acknowledged by PPS — such as class size, parent involvement, expanded overage pay, more planning time and planning days, adjusted cost of living adjustments, added mental health staff and safer education facilities. Seventeen articles in the contract were agreed upon by both sides, but three more remain, as well as two appendices.

If both parties sign all articles, it will then be reviewed and then a comprehensive, tentative agreement would be signed. Union members would then vote to ratify the contract, validating it.

The PAT reported with hopeful spirits that big wins were secured in that discussion, and they are waiting on the PPS to consider approving the deal they laid out for them.

PPS has already made moves on cutting winter break short for Portland students — Dec. 18–22 a full school week starting two days before Christmas Eve.

Portland Public Schools Board Chair Gary Hollands’ car was struck by vandalism, with the word “SHAME” written on three sides of the vehicle in spray paint. Beyond that, leaflets and papers were stuck to the car, broadcasting messages about funding classrooms and giving students the classrooms they deserve.

The Portland Association of Teachers condemned this act and vandalism as a whole.

As tension continues to rise between both sides, it remains that over 40,000 students have been out of school since the beginning of November.

Students remain the objective of the strike according to both teams. Students may continue to be out of school until Portland Public Schools meet the demands of the Portland Association of Teachers, who have made it very clear that they will continue to gather at the picket lines until all their demands are met.

Update: Both sides have come to an agreement concluding with higher wages for teachers, soft cap sizes on classrooms and extended prep time per week. Breaks for students have been pushed back a few days for the purpose of making up the 11 lost school days.

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu

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