Mount Hood

Ryan Kelly hosts virtual comedy show

Student Activities Board holds online comedy show starring TikTok comedian Ryan Kelly

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

On Jan. 2, the Student Activity Board announced on Instagram that their first major event for the term would be comedian Ryan Kelly ⏤ known online as Youth Pastor Ryan ⏤ who will perform in a virtual stand-up comedy event featuring interesting life experiences.

Despite his namesake and going to a Christian school for 18 years, Kelly is not actually a youth pastor. In his Twitch trailer, Kelly explains he looks like what people would imagine a youth pastor might look like.

In St. Louis, Illinois, he began doing comedy as an improviser. According to ryankellycomedy.com, he had received training from iO Theater ⏤ formerly known as The ImprovOlympic ⏤ The Second City, The Groundlings Theatre and School and Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. In college, he was interested in new life experiences and began performing stand-up comedy. According to neon-entertainment.com, he often draws inspiration for his comedy routines through experiences including: surviving a plane crash, being tackled inside the National Security Agency and negotiating deals while being mugged.

“I needed something,” said Kelly when asked why he does comedy. “I needed something to give purpose and joy.”

 His favorite part of comedy is when the whole room laughs. 

“Because laughter is a very binding thing,” explained Kelly. “(I try to) make the bigger guys laugh because when you do that it shows a diffusal and makes people feel like they are safe.”

Kelly explains that this comedic approach brings shyer people out of their comfort zone in a natural way.

“Once everyone’s at peace then being able to hit jokes where people feel comfortable and they all laugh is a beautiful moment. Having a full crowd laugh together, they’ve all become friends and they don’t even know it,” explained Kelly.

To view the virtual comedy show taking place on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m., go to Engage and click the Zoom link located in the event’s advertisement. To learn more about Ryan Kelly, view him on Twitch @youthpastorryan where he posts gameplays, TikTok @youthpastorryan or on YouTube @Youth Pastor Ryan.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Oregon

Oregon enters Phase 1A of vaccine delivery initiative

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

In late December, select Oregon residents received doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

To deliver the vaccine to all Oregonians, the state has implemented a three-phase rollout plan. On Jan. 5, Oregon began Phase 1A of its vaccination schedule. In Phase 1A, the Oregon Health Association lists in its plan: hospital workers and first responders, elderly and those involved in their care, prison doctors, clinics serving high-risk groups, visiting nurses/home health care providers, other health care providers and funeral home workers to be vaccinated first. 

Over 51,000 Oregonians have received the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine since the beginning of 2021, whereas only nine people have completed the two doses required for full vaccination according to covidvaccine.oregon.gov. Currently, the CDC reports Oregon has delivered over 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine and over 121,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Currently Pfizer and Moderna are known to have three major differences, including age restrictions, temperature storage requirements and length of time between each dose. In comparison to Pfizer, the Moderna vaccine can be kept at -4 °F, whereas Pfizer’s must be kept at  -94 °F. Additionally, a person must be at least 18 years old or older to receive the Moderna vaccine and the two doses must be administered 28 days apart in comparison to Pfizer’s 21-day separation, which has an age restriction of 16 years.

On Dec. 22, West Valley Hospital in Dallas received its first shipment of Moderna vaccine according to a press release by Salem Health. 

“For decades, West Valley Hospital has been providing a wide range of quality care to residents of Polk County,” said West Valley Hospital Chief administrative officer and licensed registered nurse Brandon Schmidgall in the press release. “Today we begin offering a new and historic service — the COVID-19 vaccine — first to our health care heroes, but eventually to our small-town community.”

As of Jan. 5, Polk County has vaccinated 1% of an estimated 82,000 residents according to the OHA. Local clinics like Western’s Student Health and Counseling Center have not received COVID vaccines yet; although, on Dec. 22, Oregon added educators to the list. 

 “Teachers have recently been added to Phase 1A and who that all includes will need to be more clearly defined by OHA,” said Polk County Public Health Administrator Jacqui Umstead. “We will work with Western Oregon University, and other local educational institutions to ensure that both staff and students have access to the vaccine, when it is their turn.” 

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

Cuts to Western’s departments and programs

President Fuller’s Article 15 Task Force proposes draft of program curtail and Non-Tenure Track reductions

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Beginning in 2011, the administration office began seeing lower enrollment rates at Western, resulting in financial challenges in the years following.

In spring 2020, COVID-19 accounted for 70% of the university’s 25% drop in enrollment. This resulted in the university asking the deans to propose two budgets to reduce salaries by 10% and 17% in June. In addition, all Cabinet members were asked to review budgets for FY21 and develop 10% and 17% cuts, based on salary. 

When the task force began reviewing program curtailments, an extensive list of qualitative and quantitative factors were taken into account. 

Additionally, the task force also utilized feedback from original reports from the deans, the recommendations from Western Oregon University’s Federation of Teachers, the recommendations from the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, PowerPoint for panel discussion, feedback from three faculty panel discussions, the report from the faculty Sustainability Task Force and Article 15 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement outlining faculty contracts and rights.

In totality, the task force has proposed the elimination of five majors, two programs, seven minors, one program freeze and one history concentration removal. For non-tenure track faculty, 15 departments have received deductions in full-time equivalents.

“All of us are frustrated and shocked, and more importantly we are not okay with it,” said senior earth science major Nicole Niskanen. “Granted, the times we are in are very challenging and it is understood that the university is not exclusive with the sacrifices it is making, because many other schools are in the same position.”

Niskanen explained that a lot of the cuts are impacting first-generation college students that are interested in pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.

“Western Oregon University is an affordable option for many first-generation college students, along with that, the campus prides itself on diversity and equality,” said Niskanen. “The Earth Science program at Western has a significant number of women and other individuals from diverse backgrounds and populations enrolled in the program including students with disabilities.”

According to Niskanen, eliminating the program strips away the opportunities for some of those underrepresented first-generation college students and deprives those who cannot afford to attend expensive STEM-focused universities.

Under the current program cuts, students will be permitted to complete their major and professors will still teach until students learning in their areas complete their major or minor; the effects of program cuts will impact all incoming students starting in 2021.

“I am writing on behalf of all of the Earth Science students who have completed the program, who are currently trying to finish the program, and those who will complete the program; we don’t want to see any of our professors leave because they have done so much for us by dedicating their time to support us and by selflessly helping prepare each student for whatever career path they take. We want to fight for the program and fight for our educators,” said Niskanen.

Currently, faculty are working to try and save these programs. To advocate for programs or faculty jobs, students can go to the ASWOU site within Engage. From there, students can fill out the Student Concern Report.

UPDATE (DEC. 15TH, 2020 @ 6:52PM)

Western has announced its final program curtailment enacted by Article 15, as well as non-tenure track layoffs outside of Article 15.

Under the article, the university is permitted to make reductions in cases of demonstrable financial need, discipline curtailment or retrenchment. As of now, Western is claiming financial strain due to COVID-19 and long-term decline in enrollment as the cause of enacting Article 15.

Since fall of 2011, Western’s enrollment has decreased over 25% from 6,217 to 4,552 in fall of 2020, as reported in the Article 15 Task Force’s finalized plans. Currently, under the Article 15 program curtailment plans, 14 full time positions will be lost, and a total of 10 majors and minors will be eliminated along with two masters programs. Outside of Article 15, a total of 16 full-time non-tenure tracks are being laid off.

“Quite frankly, our options for achieving a balanced budget are limited,” said President Rex Fuller in a letter to the campus community. “Given that more than 85% of our expenses are salary and benefits. With limited options for tuition increases, declining enrollment, and likely cuts to state funding, we must act decisively to align our budget with our fiscal reality.”

As of now, the impact of the program cuts will not impact students who are currently majoring or minoring in the program. In the letter, Fuller noted how important it is for students impacted by the program cuts to finish their degrees. According to the campus-wide letter, program curtailment will only impact incoming students starting in the 2021 to 2022 school year. Tenure-track and non-tenured positions will not be cut until deans and division heads submit final layoff decisions. The decisions are expected to be an ongoing discussion through the month of January.

Some members of Western’s faculty union — the WOU Federation of Teachers — are asking for program curtailment to be delayed until the new university president comes into office.

“We know that WOU is in some financial difficulties,” said WOUFT Communications Director Scott Beaver. “We just don’t want to rush, do long term solutions without due diligence.”

In an effort to advocate for faculty and departments WOUFT included some alternatives to department layoffs in the finalized plan, including moving Western out of Division II sports, looking for efficiencies in non-instructional office budget cuts and personnel assignments, reduce the number of campus sponsored events and used additional money from the fund balance.

In the final plan, all layoff notices must be given to designated faculty no later than the end of January. Affected tenure-track faculty will receive a one-year layoff notice before their positions end, at the latest by the end of January 2022.

The union at this time remains hopeful that there are departments that can be saved before layoff notices are issued. Beaver said the union is still fighting. 

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

Approved IFC fee application makes historic changes for student run committees

ASWOU and WOU administration debate over IFC fee application leads to new Oregon Legislation proposals 

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

The Associated Students of Western Oregon University and Western administration have concluded their debate over fee application for winter term. 

As a result of the actions of administration, ASWOU is working with Oregon legislators to improve the current Oregon statue that is supposed to protect and guarantee student autonomy over incidental fees.

“Much of the problem is that the law as written now provides the opportunity for an institution to ‘pocket veto’ the student fee through inaction and enough delays,” said Oregon Student Association Executive Director Andrew Rogers in an article written by Oregon Public Broadcasting. 

During the discussions fee revision, ASWOU President NJ Johnson reports delayed action and staling of IFC processes by President Rex Fuller.

“We had sent the fee request on Nov. 25,” said Johnson, “ We needed … for him to respond to the fee request by Dec. 9.”

At the time President Fuller was sent the request, he had no authority to approve the fee in its entirety. However, in an emergency Board of Trustees meeting held on Dec. 8, the committee gave Fuller temporary permission to approve the IFC fee. According to President Johnson, President Fuller was asked to approve the fee by 1 p.m. on Dec. 9, and reports receiving a response around 12:34 p.m that day. Instead of approving the fee Fuller questioned aspects of the proposal.

“He had two weeks to ask questions,” said Johnson, “All of the questions asked were just meant to stall our process so that a potential HECC appeal would have been nullified. We’d be in a position where we have to accept the university’s offer for another stimulus. A stimulus that wouldn’t be able to sufficiently fund the programs that we needed to.”

At that time, ASWOU was in the process of filing a second appeal to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to have a third party evaluate the administration’s rejection of the IFC fee. 

The first appeal was written in September after the IFC was denied consultation with the Board of Trustees to discuss formatting their fee so that it reflected a campus attending classes 95% online. The appeal was ultimately withdrawn by ASWOU after Fuller stated that the IFC would receive a negotiated million dollar deal on the condition they withdraw their appeal to HECC. ASWOU filed their second appeal later that afternoon on Dec. 9, after their discussion with Fuller.

Following the HECC appeal, Johnson received an email from Fuller saying he would charge the IFC fee.

“For the IFC it seemed that we appealed and there was an attempt to stall us, but we didn’t let it stall us,”  said junior communications major and IFC chair Makana Waikiki. “The president then realized that we were very serious and prepared to move along with the HECC appeal.”

Waikiki explained that it appeared the administration didn’t want ASWOU to make the HECC appeal, so they agreed to charging the IFC fee. Never in Western’s IFC history has a fee established for the year been changed in the middle of that fiscal year. Although a monumental moment for student autonomy, Johnson expressed how disappointed he was that the fee was only accepted after legal action was taken.

“It’s a disappointment that so much effort and time has to go into retaining our rights as students,” said Johnson.

For the upcoming term, regardless of modality and amount of credits being taken, all students will see an flat rate IFC fee of $150 on their bill in comparison to their previous two tier fee system approved back in Apr. 2020. This fee charged students over $200 depending on course load.

In a press release issued on Dec. 16, ASWOU calls for students to participate in the new legislative process taking place within Oregon law. To be involved in the statewide student effort to pass legislation which regulates student fees, contact Oregon Student Association at andrew@orstudents.org to learn how to advocate for student voices.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

Polk County Warming Centers celebrates its third season of service

Warming centers continue to provide temporary sleeping accommodations to Polk County’s homeless population

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

During the winter months, Oregon temperatures can drop below freezing at night, leaving those without a place to call home exposed to the elements. Starting in 2017, a group of pastors around Polk County identified the growing need for temporary housing within the area.

“A few pastors and I were having a meal at Rock-N-Rogers when a young gentleman walked in   needing a place to stay,” said Pastor Matt Smucker of Praise Assembly Church and co-founder of the Polk County Warming Centers. “We, through the course of the day, realized we don’t have any shelter options in Polk County.”

Determined to help a community in need, Smucker explained that he and Monmouth Christan Church Pastor Sean Bitzer reached out to the Director of the Family and Community Outreach Program, Brent DeMoe, and began drafting a grant proposal to fund the Warming Center in Polk County. According to Smucker, their initial ask was $12,000, but they were pleasantly surprised when they received $25,000.

 “It really allowed us to do so much more that first year,” explained Smucker. “We were able to get a trailer, to get all of the equipment, mattresses and even to start paying our overnight hosts a stipend to oversee the program that night.”

Under their current model, the Warming Center rotates through seven churches in the communities of Dallas and the IndyMo area — each location on call for a two-week period — rather than having a designated facility. According to their website, this was done to avoid overburdening any singular faith community or resource partner. 

The Warming Center season runs from Nov. 1 through March 31, and is active on nights when the temperature is forecast to drop below freezing, housing a maximum of 25 people. This year, Smucker says that they are trying to open up more on nights that are above freezing when weather conditions are particularly wet or stormy. The center welcomes singles, couples, families and people with animals.

“We want to have as low a barrier as possible,” said Smucker. “We want to make sure that everyone is able to be safe and warm on nights that get below freezing, because death from exposure is a real threat.”

According to Smucker, a resident of Polk County passed away from hypothermia on the streets in Independence about four years ago.

To abide by COVID-19 regulations, the Warming Center now takes people’s temperature before admitting them into the church. According to Smucker, the Warming Center has been able to partner with some hotels in Polk County to temporarily house and quarantine anyone running a fever of 100.4 °F, in accordance with the guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, for community members permitted into the church, all beds are placed 10 feet apart to ensure maximal social distancing.

“We need to still address this emergency need even though we are still dealing with COVID,” said Smucker. “We are trying to put in the best practices of keeping people safe with masks, distancing, cleaning procedures and things like that.”

Smucker says he firmly believes that the Warming Center is an essential service for the community that needs to keep running, but safely. Despite current circumstances, the Warming Center has continued to receive volunteers and could always use more.

“I found out about the Warming Center through Polk County Service Integration,” said new volunteer Ramon Martinez. “I just think that this is an important initiative that’s being done. We’re not in the big city, but the reality is that there are some folks in our community that do need a place to stay.”

Martinez explained that the Warming Center is not only a place to stay, but also a place that helps people get on their feet. The center acts as a resource to help an individual get access to information that improves their overall quality of life. Depending on volunteers, guests also are served snacks and hot meals.

To learn whether the Warming Center is open, check their website www.polkwarming.weebly.com, or their Instagram page @polkwarming. If someone needs transportation to their sites or wants to donate items, call 503-949-4987 to speak with Annie. Currently, they need granola bars, packaged nuts, menstrual care items, Christmas gifts, wool socks and hats, gloves, hand warmers, medicated chapstick, bath and hand towels, disposable drink and plateware, soda, peanut butter and jelly and anything water resistant. 

For volunteer opportunities, contact them via Facebook or Instagram @polkwarming. 

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

ASWOU makes a million dollar deal with WOU administration

Administration denies ASWOU the ability to collect IFC fees, instead offering a one million dollar stimulus

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Across Oregon, many universities are converting a majority of in-person classes to online due to COVID-19, Western is one of them. On Aug. 18, a group designated as the “reopening committee” voted in favor of Western holding 95% of its classes online. 

Based on the Tuition & Fees for the 2020 to 2021 academic year, student governed fees — such as Incidental Fees — could not be applied on the fall bill. At the time of approval, fee application was dependent on course delivery. If a student does not attend an in-person class on campus, then the fee would not be applied to their bill.

As a result of the online conversion, the Incidental Fee Committee estimated collecting only 5% of their anticipated 1.9 million dollar budget for fall term.

“I was on the committee … designed to reopen campus in a safe way, but I was the only student on that committee,” said senior public policy and administration major and ASWOU President N.J Johnson, “When we were putting together the email announcement…about classes being online I had expressed my concerns.” 

Johnson stated that the email indicated online students wouldn’t be paying a fee. He went on, saying he voiced to the reopening committee that the IFC was not consulted. Johnson said he was outvoted by other members of the reopening committee, resulting in no online students being charged incidental fees.

In the days following the email announcement, the IFC Steering Committee — a group tasked with reviewing and changing IFC bylaws — met on Aug. 31 to take action in response to the reopening committee’s decisions.

“We made two amendments to the bylaws,” said junior communications major and IFC member Makana Waikiki. “One of them was to allow a Special Committee to meet and it also specified who would be a part of the committee.” 

Waikiki voices how the committee felt it important to have more than one student in a room making decisions.

The second amendment gave the IFC control over defining what a fee paying student is. It is considered by the committee to be a historic change.

“We haven’t had the power to define a fee-paying student (until) recently,” said junior philosophy and English double major and IFC Member Nick Denning, “which is absolutely integral in us charging online students.”

After the bylaws were passed by the Steering Committee, the newly formed Special Committee sent out a petition to the student body, asking if they wanted to have a fee applied on the fall bill to fund the 15 programs covered by the IFC. On Sept. 2 the Special Committee convened to discuss applying applying a flat rate fee of $250. During the meeting Denning revealed the petition sent out by the Special Committee received over 300 signatures. Currently Western has 4,164 students registered for classes. 

On the same day of the Special Committee’s first meeting, Johnson reported he was contacted by President  Rex Fuller.

During their discussion , Fuller offered a one million dollar stimulus from the $53 per credit online tech fee approved back in April. According to the Business office the online tech fee is not new. In April when the Board of Trustees were finalizing billing, they took the difference of online tuition  — $228  —  and Oregon residency tuition  — originally $176 before the 4.55% increase in April — increased it by $1 and made it a separate fee for bill transparency.  According to Fuller, the $53 was originally intended for Western’s new Learning Management System called Canvas. However due to COVID-19, Western  entered a contract with Canvas that is funded by the CARES act until the end of 2020.

“Due to the unique situation of Fall 2020 being almost 95% online, I offered to ASWOU a $1M allocation of online course fee revenue to ease the revenue shortfall,” Fuller explained.

After talking with Fuller, Johnson said that he told the Special Committee about the million dollar deal immediately. However, the minutes from the Special Committee’s first gathering discussed applying a temporary flat rate fee of $250, and did not mention the conversation between President Fuller and ASWOU President Johnson. 

Although they were offered a million dollars, Johnson explained the fee application was still requested.

“We had two reasons we wanted to apply a fee,” said Johnson, “The first reason is to have a recognized student government.” 

The second reason Johnson cited for fee application was precedence.

“It’s about having your decision … through (the) proper process as stated in the IFC bylaws. We thought it was important … that those decisions were recognized.” he stated.

On Sept. 23, ASWOU posted a press release claiming the Board of Trustees were asked to meet in September to review the fee being discussed by the Special Committee. However, the Board affirmed they wouldn’t meet till Nov. 18.

“Chair Komp and President Fuller said it wasn’t advisable at the time. Because we have the million dollars from the tech fee that would buy us enough time to solve this problem collaboratively,” recalled Johnson.

In order to work with the Board of Trustees, ASWOU lowered the original $250 fee to $50 because the million dollar offer funded more than 51% of the IFC’s budget. Even so, ASWOU still wanted to establish precedence and the student body government as a legitimate power on campus.

Johnson went on to say that the Board of Trustees still did not want to meet, citing that they felt it would be better to apply a fee in the winter and spring. 

After being denied consultation, on Sept. 14 ASWOU submitted an appeal to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, requesting a third party to evaluate the administrative rejection process of ASWOU’s request to collect incidental fees. 

Negotiations regarding the million-dollar agreement spanned two days following the Sept. 14 HECC appeal.

On Sept. 16, ASWOU and WOU admin reached an agreement; the three terms of the agreement were not released to the IFC funded area heads until Sept. 17. In the joint email sent by Fuller and Johnson, the three conditions of the agreement were as follows.

First, the University will assess fall term fees based on the course modality of classes offered. For remote/online classes, a technology fee will be assessed while the incidental fee will be assessed on all face-to-face courses. 

Second, the university will provide one million dollars from the tech fee and the remaining funds will be drawn from student reserves. 

Third, ASWOU would drop its appeal to HECC.

ASWOU complied to secure the million-dollar stimulus for the IFC funded areas. After the deal, the IFC received 61% of their projected funds. 

Currently, all areas are being funded 25% or more and the IFC does not intend to apply fees this fall. 

Johnson says that the full IFC will be meeting to discuss what took place this the fall in preparation for winter and spring term. More information will be released when there are developments in the story.

UPDATE (OCT. 28TH, 2020 @ 2:09PM)

For fall term, students did not see an Incidental fee on their billing statements. As a result, IFC was not able to fund the areas it covers until ASWOU President N.J Johnson and Western’s President Rex Fuller made a million dollar deal giving the IFC 52% of their previously anticipated $1.9 million budget. However, the deal was made with the intent to fund the IFC for fall term.

“The online course fee is not designed, as a general proposition, to supplement incidental fees,” said Fuller. “Due to the unique situation of fall 2020 being almost 95% online, I offered to ASWOU a $1M allocation of online course fee revenue to ease the revenue shortfall to support student services funded by incidental fees.”

The IFC met on Oct. 22 to discuss plans going forward. The committee decided to make decisions only for winter term due to the money being unknown so far in the future, feeling it was better to take it term by term, and being able to effectively allocate funds to what best serves students. Currently, all seven IFC area heads are being asked to be prepared to present a 50% budget proposal at their next meeting on Oct. 29.

For the budget proposal, areas are being asked to base 50% funding off of last year’s allocation. In addition to running cost estimation, each department is being asked to present a brief presentation on where the money is going and what has been prioritized in their budgets. The IFC did not give the areas restrictions on what the budget can or can’t be used for.

At this time, President Johnson and President Fuller are revisiting the definition of a fee-paying student — a power the IFC implemented to their amendments in September, but not fully recognized by the Board of Trustees at the time.

All decisions regarding budget proposals and definition of a fee-paying student must be finalized before the first subcommittee meeting for the Board of Trustees, which meets around Nov. 11.

The story will be updated as more information is released.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

Services provided by Valsetz plan to switch online

Valsetz accommodates students opting to stay on campus over the Thanksgiving holiday 

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

During the holidays, most Western students return home to see family and friends. Under current circumstances with the two-week statewide freeze, many students have chosen to reside on campus through the entirety of Thanksgiving break. In a survey sent out by University Housing as of Sept. 13, nearly 25% of the 536 respondents stated they were staying on campus.

During Thanksgiving break, services like Campus Dining will be closed to allow student and staff workers time to enjoy the holiday festivities. However, like years prior to 2020, Campus Dining Services offered provisionals to those students on campus.

“What we end up doing is we ask students to put in an order,” said Albert Worotikan, Director of Campus Dining. “We can provide them with food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) that will stay (good) for three to four days like milk, sandwiches or frozen pizzas that they can order in advance and pick up before we close on Wednesday at 2 o’clock.”

After Thanksgiving break, Worotikan reported that Valsetz plans to convert its services to entirely online orders for the rest of fall term.

“Because some of the students who are coming back might be traveling around, we want to make sure we don’t spread the virus,” said Worotikan. “We will be adding an additional two weeks because we want to ensure the safety of students and staff.”

During that time, students will not be permitted to sit in the dining halls and are expected to continue wearing their masks and remaining six feet apart.

If students who are staying on campus still haven’t submitted their order for the four-day break, Worotikan said that while the deadline has passed, students can email him at worotikana@mail.wou.edu and ask for an extension. Worotikan explained that he too has children and understands that in times like these, extensions are important and students need understanding and support.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

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