Mount Hood

Student reactions to Trump’s 2nd impeachment after the Capitol attacks

Western students react to Donald Trump’s 2nd impeachment after the attacks on the Capitol 

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

Do you approve of Trump’s 2nd impeachment after the Capitol attacks?

How many students voted: 79

Students who approved of Trump’s 2nd impeachment: 67 (84.81%)

Students who disapproved of Trump’s 2nd impeachment: 12 (15.19%)

Contact the author at howldigitalmediamanager@mail.wou.edu

Opinion: New Year’s resolutions are meant to fail

Making resolutions is nice, but fixating on our flaws is not

Cora McClain | Editor-in-Chief

Exercise more, eat healthy, keep to a study schedule, read 30 books by the end of the year, etc. — typical resolutions like these permeate throughout little (or long) lists we use for yearly self-improvement. Each year, we look in the mirror and list out all of our flaws and make meaningless lists on how to improve upon those flaws. Jokes have been made time and time again, but New Year’s resolutions usually last about as long as the holiday — one day or less. The way we construct our list of resolutions makes them so breakable.

Our New Year’s resolutions are reflections of our “perfect” selves: the ones who rock climb, the ones who cook, the ones who keep houseplants alive, but they are not ourselves. We create unattainable goals that are pass/fail with no wiggle room. Changing behavior doesn’t happen overnight, and too often we expect to be able to be at the level of our “perfect” selves by Jan. 1. It is simply unattainable, and only adds to a self-deprecating culture in which we don’t hold ourselves accountable.

That being said, I don’t hate goal setting; in fact, I think goal setting is the key to success. I just think that we put way too much pressure on ourselves to force ourselves to change who we are. Good positive change takes time and work, starting small and building towards that big change. Otherwise, forcing a huge change from the get go will only lead to lackluster results. We need to move towards kinder and more attainable goal-setting in order to facilitate change and improvement in our lives.

I have found a lot of clarity in how to create attainable resolutions in Leena Norms’ video on the topic, “Lies you’re told about new years resolutions.” She gives many tips on how to break the New Year’s resolution mold and look at the yearly tradition in a more creative and positive light. While watching her video, I discovered a trend — people aim too high and are far too harsh on themselves by believing New Year’s resolutions have to look a certain way. In reality, you can make anything a resolution, decide anyway to measure it and give yourself as much wiggle room as you need. It doesn’t always have to be “go vegan or go home.”

Contact the author at cmcclain17@mail.wou.edu

Press Release: Satisfactory Senate Resolution

ASWOU and WOU Faculty Senate approve the Satisfactory/No Credit grading option

Liz Marquez Gutierrez | ASWOU Senate President

WOU students: 

On behalf of the ASWOU Senate I am excited to share that the E-Satisfactory/NoCredit* grading option will be offered for Winter and Spring of 2021. The S*/NC grading option was offered last spring term to support students adjust to learning in a remote format due to the COVID-19 crisis, however, it was not a grading option for fall 2020 although ~95% of courses were offered online. 

As fall term began, we remained concerned about the mental health and well-being of students, understanding that learning in a remote format during a pandemic continues to be a challenge. In order to address this issue, the ASWOU Senate passed Senate Resolution 6.21 requesting WOU Faculty continue offering students the S*/NC grading option for the remainder of the 2020-2021 academic year. Additionally, Elizabeth Braatz who is a phenomenal student advocate, created a survey to collect student support for the S*/NC grading option to demonstrate how this grading option would greatly benefit students this academic year.

Thankfully, the WOU Faculty Senate voted to approve the S*/NC grading policy for the rest of the 2020-2021 academic year. This effort would not be possible without the support of students who filled out and shared the survey with their peers. I would like to thank Elizabeth Braatz for her incredible work in creating a survey to collect student support for this grading option and for presenting the survey results to the WOU Faculty Senate. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the WOU Faculty Senate for listening to students’ concerns and for their support of Senate Resolution 6.21.

On December 29th, 2020, the University Registrar sent an email to students providing more details about the S*/NC grading option. It is highly encouraged that students work with their academic advisor when deciding between S*/NC and A-F grading options for winter term as it may impact financial aid status or admittance to future programs (e.g. nursing school, law school).

We hope this grading option provides students the opportunity to successfully complete their courses as we continue to adjust to a new learning environment.

For more information, contact ASWOU Senate President Liz Marquez Gutierrez at aswousenpres@mail.wou.edu.

Two days left to enter the #SafeHolidaysOR Student PSA Contest

Governor Brown asks Oregon students to design PSAs on how to safely celebrate the holidays

Cora McClain | Editor-In-Chief

While the weather outside is frightful, the rise in Oregon COVID-19 cases is far less delightful. The easiest way to spread COVID is through large gatherings, even if those gatherings are with friends and family. The fact of the matter is, traditional ways of celebrating the holidays are less safe for everyone involved. 

The Oregon Health Authority has said that people in their 20s continue to be the most likely to test positive for COVID. To raise awareness, Governor Kate Brown launched the statewide COIVD-19 #SafeHolidaysOR Public Service Announcement video contest. The contest entails any and all Oregon students to answer the question “How Do You Plan to Celebrate the Holidays Safely?” in a 30 seconds or less. 

Whether a student attends a school located in Oregon or lives in Oregon while attending school out of state, any K-12 and college student is eligible to enter. Governor Brown will choose the winners of the contest, share the videos across her social media platforms and invite the winners to a video chat with her. 

The deadline for these videos is Dec. 18. There’s only a couple of days left to enter; so, if you are interested, get your video in soon.

A student can enter by submitting a PSA in video format through their form. If there are any issues submitting your video, email your submission directly to Sarah Dean at Sarah.Dean@Oregon.gov along with your name, city, school, and PSA title. 

Rules:

PSA Videos must:

  • Answer the question: “How Do You Plan to Celebrate the Holidays Safely?”
  • Be 30 seconds or less.
  • Observe proper physical distancing and other public health recommendations.
  • Be student created. An adult may assist with the video editing and filming, but the content must be student created.

PSA Videos must NOT:

  • Use music that is copyrighted. Royalty-free music websites such as freeplaymusic.com offer songs that can be used without violating copyright.
  • Use images of any kind that are copyrighted. Royalty-free image websites such as pixabay.com provide images that can be used without violating copyright.
  • Include violations of physical distancing or other COVID safety requirements.
  • Contain non-factual information, content promoting hate or discrimination, or other offensive content.
  • Include audio, images, or other footage of other people without their permission, and, if the video includes minors, without their parent/guardian’s permission.

PSAs that do not comply with contest rules will be disqualified. 

By submitting, you consent to have your submission featured on Governor Brown’s social media accounts. If your video is selected, you and your parent/guardian, if applicable, may be required to sign permission form.

For more information and ideas to include in your videos, visit the official My Oregon News article on the contest.

Contact the author at howleditor@wou.edu

Some examples of the video PSA from The Western Howl staff below!

“My immediate family and I are doing all of our gift shopping online.”

– Allison Vanderzanden | Lifestyle Editor

“I’m going to be celebrating Christmas with my roommates by watching a ton of movies throughout the day.”

Sean Martinez | Copy Editor

“I’m staying safe this holiday season by staying home as much as I can.”

Rylie Horrall | Managing Editor

Press Release: IFC fee autonomy is a win for student voices

President Johnson outlines IFC’s success against obstruction and clears up misinformation about the Incidental Fee

NJ Johnson | ASWOU President

Dear Campus Community,

The ASWOU Incidental Fee Committee will be charging a flat student incidental fee of $150 for winter term to all WOU students and President Fuller has confirmed that this will be collected by the University. This fee funds vital resources and programming such as the food pantry, student government, multicultural groups, and activities-based clubs which, during this pandemic, remain just as essential to the success and well-being of WOU students as ever.

I would like to thank the hundreds of students who took part by giving feedback in this process. While our campus community is a vibrant and diverse group of individuals with different perspectives, the overwhelming sentiment we heard was that students wanted us to protect funding for student jobs, access to the food pantry, multicultural groups and resource centers, student government, and activity-based clubs.

Just as they did earlier this year regarding Fall term’s incidental fee, President Fuller and his office attempted to obstruct this student led, democratic process this term. We filed an appeal with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, and soon after, Administration officially recognized ASWOU’s fee autonomy regarding our right to fund these student led programs and resources. Amidst a host of other attacks on the rights of our faculty, staff, and students coming from President Fuller, this acknowledgement of the student voice is a huge win for this year.

Given some of the false information that President Fuller’s staff has been directed to spread to students, we wanted to provide some factual context regarding the student incidental fee.  First, this fee is less than the original fee that the vast majority of students would have paid were it not for social distance learning.

Second, while administration has targeted graduate students with the false assertion that this is a change to the structure of fees that Graduate students pay, the fact is that there is no change to whether graduate students take part in paying the incidental fee and are able to benefit from these paces and services it provides. Graduate students are often exploited by administration both as students and as workers, we acknowledge this unique circumstance and reiterate that we as ASWOU are here to fight for your rights and interests.

Third, this fee is the only amount of money you pay into WOU that students have democratic control over. We share the student body’s concerns regarding the cost of tuition and fees at WOU; a large amount of the work ASWOU does is in advancing legislative initiatives to combat the cost of attendance at WOU. Because of our commitment to fighting to keep the cost of attendance at WOU down, we have directed the Oregon Student Association to introduce legislation which will increase transparency and regulation around all fees that students pay, both the incidental fee and the large host of other fees which students currently have no democratic control over.

We encourage students to get involved in the incidental fee process in the upcoming terms through attending our hearings, filling out the survey forms we send out, and contacting ASWOU officials, whose email addresses can be found here. Information and updates can be found on ASWOU social media and wou.edu/ifc. We also ask students interested in more transparency around the large amount of fees charged to students at WOU to get involved this winter in working to pass state-level legislation which would better regulate student fees at public universities and colleges in Oregon. If you would like to be involved in the statewide student effort to pass legislation which regulates student fees, please contact Oregon Student Association at andrew@orstudents.org for info on how to do so.

Make no mistake that more work lies ahead to protect the legal autonomy students must retain in the process of assessing and distributing incidental fees. The overwhelming majority of students have expressed to us the importance of protecting the areas funded by the incidental fee and the rights students hold over this process. ASWOU will continue to ensure that students are kept updated on these matters and encourage every student to engage in the process for Spring 2021 and the 2021-22 academic year. Remember that when students are heard, students win.

For more information, contact ASWOU President NJ Johnson by emailing at aswoupresident@mail.wou.edu or by phone at (503) 838-8555

Resources for tough times during the holidays

What to do when the holiday blues strike

Natalie Dean | Entertainment Editor

There’s no amount of eggnog, Hallmark movies or peppermint bark that can fully cure the holiday blues. There are great parts of the holidays, don’t get me wrong. Half the fun is in buying gifts for family and friends, drinking too much hot chocolate and cozying up in bed to sleep the day away. 

The overall Christmas cheer and elaborate colorful lights around town do help ease the gloomy, cold days that have set in. There’s no denying that this year has been a whirlwind, and with everything combined, the encroaching Yuletide can sometimes feel like an emotional tsunami. The reality is that sometimes the holidays are just plain difficult, even if it can generally be a positive time. We’re only human, and everyone is just trying their best with what they’ve got. How we deal with trying times is ultimately up to us, but there are resources available to prepare for the upcoming holidays and New Year.

Financial stress and food insecurity can affect many people during their life, and extra help can be the difference between eating some nights versus not. Western has its own Food Pantry, and updates can be found on their Facebook and Instagram page, @WOUFoodPantry. 

There’s also a comprehensive list of food pantries and hunger relief organizations in Marion and Polk County that can be found at https://marionpolkfoodshare.org/get-help/. Services like these are available to anyone facing any level of food insecurity. This website lists the name of the organization, as well as their address and phone number, and their hours of operation.

There are many helplines and text services that can potentially help those who need someone to listen, talk to or get additional help. It can be extremely difficult to ask for help when needed the most, and if you or someone you love could benefit from these hotlines, don’t be afraid to just check these out. If they aren’t quite what you’re looking for, that’s okay too.

  • SAMHSA National Helpline: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can direct people to helpful resources, treatment facilities and support groups in the area at any time. Call 1-800-662-4357.
  • NEDA Helpline: National Eating Disorders Association offers confidential support for anyone coping with an eating disorder, or for concerns about disordered eating habits and actions. There’s also a chat option on their website, nationaleatingdisorders.org/. Available 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (ET) Monday through Thursday; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) Friday. For their crisis support, call 1-800-931-2237 or text ‘NEDA’ to 741741. 
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: Confidential assistance with trained professionals for people experiencing domestic violence, or questioning if they’re in an abusive relationship. There’s also an online chat on their website, thehotline.org/. Call 1-800-799-7233 or text ‘LOVEIS’ to 22522 at any time. 
  • Veteran Crisis Line: For veterans and service members in crisis, there are specially-trained VA responders available at any time. Call 1-800-273-8255 or text 838255. 
  • NSPH Hotline: National Suicide Prevention connects people to local crisis centers and offers confidential support from trained staff at any time. Call 1-800-273-8255. 

 

The holidays are stressful in general and there’s a lot going on in the world, and it’s perfectly normal to have days where you’re feeling anxious or down in the dumps. The holiday blues affect more people than we realize, but if you or someone you love is seriously struggling, please reach out to these resources and to those around you. If it is ever a true emergency, call 911. From one human being to another, just get through the day as best as you can. Acknowledge your needs for today, take care of yourself, and reach out to family and friends. Know that the sun will always rise and set, and we can try again tomorrow. 

Contact the author at ndean17@wou.edu

Student reactions to the dorm guest policy petition

Western students react to a petition in favor for changing the dorm guest policy

Stephanie Moschella | Digital Media Manager

How many students voted: 68

Students in favor for changing the dorm guest policy: 41 (60%)

Students against changing the dorm guest policy: 27 (40%)

 

Highlighted student responses: 

     Name: Kendra Acker

     Year: First-year

     Major: Education

“Or at least guests from other halls, because there’s nowhere to hangout with friends from other halls except outside, especially when it’s raining and gloomy out. Or now with the freeze, we can’t even meet and hang in Valsetz. Idk *woman with black hair shrugging emoji*”

 

     Name: Erich Muehe

     Year: Senior 

     Major: Political Science

“I voted in support of the petition because I know it would be good for other students as they would be struggling in this time. I currently live off campus but I know many people that would benefit from this change.” 

 

     Name: Robby Scharf

     Year: Sophomore

     Major: Education 

“Considering the depopulation of the dorms that has already happened, and is going to continue to happen until the end of the term and possibly last in some considerable fashion into winter term, the danger of widespread community transmission of Covid-19 continues to decrease with time. The people living in the dorms currently are the least likely to spend considerable time in other communities and bring Covid-19 to campus, as those who live anywhere near WOU are considerably more likely to just live at home or elsewhere off campus. The ethics of the no-guest policy are becoming more and more ambiguous, in my view, daily.”