The Observer, Spring 2023 - Issue 6

Black history and culture musical event

The Student Counseling Center, located in Black Hall, is currently having hiring difficulties due to the national shortage of therapists, according to Director of Counseling Cindy Bruns.

To understand why this national shortage of therapists is happening, lecturer of psychology and licensed therapist Jennifer Kassing said we must look at why more people are seeking mental health treatment.

“[Therapy offices] were getting full before the pandemic, but the pandemic really just exacerbated everybody's issues,” Kassing said. “People in my experience are more willing [to go to therapy]. They're also seeking more regular treatment and they're staying longer. So it keeps counselors busier.”

Bruns said ideally the Student Counseling Clinic would have 1012 permanent staff members, but currently they only have seven. According to Bruns, since the start of the academic year, they have seen 622 students in the clinic and 674 students in the 2021- 2022 academic year.

“In 2021-2022, students waited an average of 14 days to be matched with an individual counselor after going on our waitlist, Bruns said. “In 2022-2023, students are waiting an average of 17 days.”

According to Bruns, one thing that helps bring down wait times is their partnership with TimelyCare.

“Some students elect to use TimelyCare for individual therapy rather than go on our waitlist,” Bruns said. “Most students can obtain a therapy appointment from TimelyCare in 1-2 weeks. Students having choices about how they receive care empow-

See story on pg. 6-7

ASCWU responds to concerns regarding role of police on campus

staffing

ers students to make choices, based on expert recommendations, about what will best meet their needs.”

“University counseling centers used to be the place everybody wanted to work and nobody ever left, and so it was really hard to get in,” Bruns said.

According to Bruns, this decrease in people wanting to work in university counseling centers could be due to COVID-19 and practitioners moving to private practices because they could work from home and be in charge of their schedule.

“When we're understaffed and may be not able to provide longer-term care or more complex care, which is what some of the students are really needing as they're coming to college,” Bruns said. “Maybe they either have a history of using mental health services and really need that ongoing support or [are] approaching therapy for the first time.”

When you cannot meet those needs, Bruns said it can be hard for people working in college counseling.

“There's so much more that we want to give students, and yet are not really able to do that in the effective manner that we would like sometimes,” Bruns said.

According to Kassing, with this shortage of therapists, people are suffering longer because students may be away from home or in a new community.

“They're coming in a lot of times with anxiety or depression or other sorts of things and trying to find a local mental health practitioner or even a prescriber,” Kassing said. “It just means that they're suffering longer, which then can obviously affect their academics and their social relationships and all of those sorts of things.”

*See Full Story Online*

Transgender students face uncertainty over whether preferred names will be allowed for commencement

Morgana Carroll and Kai Kyzar News Editor and Staff Reporter

If you go to register for CWU commencement and graduation, you’ll see a few options on the form. You’ll see an option to explain how your name is pronounced. You’ll see the option to share the date with your friends and family. What you won’t see is an option to tell CWU Commencement that your legal name on file isn’t the one you want announced during graduation.

Transgender students on campus have reported that there was no option to apply for graduation commencement under anything other than the name CWU has on file, which in many instances is their legal name.

According to Director of Executive Events Lauren Zeutenhorft, commencement doesn’t have access to student data, including name changes.

“We don’t have access to student files,” Zeutenhorft said.

“Any student information …applying to graduate name, changes, preferred name, all of that takes place within the MyCWU system in the Office of the Registrar. So commencement doesn’t have access.”

Zeutenhorft also said there isn’t a field on the commencement form for preferred names because Marching Order, the website they use, is managed by a third party.

Zeutenhortf said she is more than willing to accommodate transgender students, or anyone

with a name different from the legal one on file, and if they send her an email, commencement@cwu.edu, she will ensure that the proper changes are made.

“If there are people who want to change anything, any part of their name, we have some students who want their middle name added, if they email commencement and explain to us that they would like to change their name, then we as administrators can edit that information on the back end of the registration platform,” Zeutenhorf said.

Some transgender students have pointed out the hypocrisy of a university that markets itself as the most diverse college in the state not having this option visibly available.

Senior in fine arts Peter James said they felt that this had to have been an issue before, so it’s strange that there has never been anything done to fix it.

“There’s very little preparation for something that I know they know exists,” James alleged. “I am appalled that didn’t even occur to them. And if it did occur to them, why didn’t they say anything? Why are dozens if not hundreds of students scrambling to speak to each other about this issue? Why are alumni telling me, ‘yeah, that happened to a friend of mine. … yeah, that happened to me. I didn’t know what happened. I had no idea how to fix it. So I gave up. I had no idea how to fix it.’”

James also said they unfortunately were not surprised that this is an issue.

“I am not surprised that this issue came up,” James said. “I shouldn’t be not surprised. It is kind of ridiculous that they were completely unprepared... I’m not the first trans person to attend your school. Oh, God, no, no, not even close. Why are you surprised?”

Queer students said that getting deadnamed at commencement would be a substantial problem. Dead names are the name that a transgender person was given at birth that they no longer associate with.

“Graduation is supposed to be a celebratory time where you’re like, ‘this is something I’ve accomplished. I worked really hard for this,’” Equality through Queers and Allies (EQuAl) Vice President Jessica Berkey said. “So to have such a slap in the face, I don’t think people know what kind of slap in the face a dead name [is].”

James said that being dead named in front of thousands of people at a ceremony is not only embarrassing, it could also lead to harm.

“Because if I have to have my dead name read out loud to thousands of people in Ellensburg, when there has been at least one hate crime on this campus every year that I have attended except for this year, but it’s not Pride Month yet. So you know, clock’s still ticking. I don’t want to do that,” James said.

According to Zeutenhorft, she fully intends to change the form to allow preferred names by next year’s commencement.

National shortage of therapists affecting CWU’s Student Counseling Center

Student Counseling Clinic sees changes to its model.

Photo by Yohanes Goodell

CWU promotes itself as one of the most diverse schools in the state.

Photo by Kai Kyzar

Megan Rogers News Editor

Beyond Our Coverage

A recently approved capital budget will be giving around $170 million to Ellensburg, Moses Lake and Yakima, according to the Center Square. There will be around $111 million going to CWU and $92.6 million going to building a new Humanities and Social Science Complex.

Cle Elum lake to be renamed Nosh Nosh Wahtum after tribal proposals to replace derogatory names in Washington. The Washington State Committee on Geographic Names has recently approved five names to replace derogatory names at locations across the state, including Kittitas County, according to NonStopLocal.

An update has been provided and the Washington State Patrol reported success catching drivers who flee from law enforcement by using an aircraft, according to KOMO News. On April 28, four separate arrests occurred as a result of aircraft use.

Morgana Carroll News Editor

ASCWU Vice President Brady Smith said he thinks the new police workgroup is the best way to handle the discussion of police on campus, due to the shared governance model that CWU shares with Ellensburg.

“Within my duties as vice president, we are tasked with a challenging issue of representing 9,000 students, 7,000 roughly of which are on campus,” Smith said. “So we have a duty to represent all students, and every student has a different experience of the campus place. But especially, we have a duty to represent especially our most marginalized communities.”

According to ASCWU President Luis Reyes, the workgroup is a good idea because it gives students an opportunity to widen their education on topics that target communities and ingrain themselves into the community.

Smith said he personally doesn’t have any concerns regarding the role of police on campus, but he said he understands why some students may have concerns.

“I think as individuals, we have our own experiences with police officers, coming from very different backgrounds, but as you know, as state representatives we completely acknowledge and understand to the best of our abilities that many students on this campus have not had positive experiences with [it], whether it’s our police or police in general,” Reyes said.

Smith and Reyes said they will be in charge of distributing the forms and get-

Four members of a family of five were shot and killed by a gunman in a Texas outlet mall on May 6, according to CNN. Husband Cho Kyu Song, wife Kang Shin Young and one of their children were the victims of the shooting.

NASA is working to develop a snake-like machine to work through Saturn’s moons to search for life, ideally starting with Enceladus, the icy moon. According to Fox Business, the machine will be able to explore liquid and solid formations to grab samples, and also be able to explore the rough terrain with propulsion units and gripping mechanisms.

A 17-year-old boy died on Saturday after falling into a hole and getting buried under the sand at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina. The boy’s name has not yet been disclosed by authorities, reports indicate that it remains unknown how the hole got there, according to NBC News.

ting student nominations for the workgroup. They said they hope to get the form finalized by May 9, and that the form will be sent out sometime after that.

Concerns and miscommunication between ASCWU and the coalition

Solomon Kairu, chair for SUS who also works for ASCWU, said that he was approached by ASCWU while he was doing his job. The ASCWU board asked Kairu questions regarding the post and asked if they were going to be protesting or not, an action that he said made him feel uncomfortable.

“I felt pressured because it was pretty much most of the administrators,” Kairu said. “And they were asking me questions about the event and what we meant, and I had no idea how to properly respond.”

Reyes and Smith said they approached Kairu to ask him for his perspective on the issue of police presence on campus, and did not ask him about the coalition.

“We simply asked him to join us at one of our meetings to give us perspective as to what were the concerns that were surrounding the BOD [Board of Directors] in those conversations, and we simply just asked for feedback, which is what we always do,” Reyes said.

Wubbie said the timing of the April 17 meeting kept getting moved around and the location was changed to the ballroom with what the coalition members said felt like very little announcement, which they said felt like they didn’t want to meet with them, in the first place.

Dozens of families from Sudan were evicted from government allocated hotels after arriving in the U.K. According to Sky News, members of the families were British passport holders, therefore not eligible for government housing.

After allegations that Beijing attempted to intimidate a Canadian politician and interfere in the country’s elections, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat on Monday, escalating tensions. According to CNN, this follows public pressure on the Canadian government to respond after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service found a Chinese diplomat in the country had targeted lawmaker Michael Chong, and his relatives in China, after sponsoring a motion to condemn China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

“They originally said 5 p.m,” Wubbie said. “Then they sent a calendar invite for 3 p.m. And then they sent another calendar invite for 3:30 p.m. But when we fast forward to April 17, they start the meeting at 3 p.m. without informing anybody.”

According to Smith, the meeting was never rescheduled, because open public meetings must be scheduled months in advance and can’t be rescheduled without a lot of prior work and notice.

“It never moved or anything like that,” Smith said. “But the meeting itself had been set for a couple of weeks and we can’t change them off a whim. There is set state law that states that we have to, before making an open public meeting, that it needs to be set and it needs to be clearly communicated.”

At the actual April 17 meeting, Justin Jakahi, JSA treasurer, claimed ASCWU would not allow the Student Union of Socialists or the Japanese Student Association to sit at the table. Jakahi also claimed that when they were allowed to sit at the table, they weren’t allowed to speak or contribute to the discussion.

“So initially, we were to the side, in the public seating,” Jakahi said. “I believe that Genet or Landis made a motion to try to include us into the conversation. But they denied us that, and tried to clear it up as a misunderstanding, ‘if you want to sit at the table with the ESC that’s fine.’”

SUS and the Black Student Union were allowed to participate in the meeting after a motion put forward by MEChA.

According to Reyes and Smith, the reason SUS and BSU were not allowed to speak at the meeting is because they are not a part of student government, such as ESC or Student Senate.

“They’re not part of student government,” Smith said. “They are a club on campus, which we completely recognize, and we would love to hear from them. But in that setting, that was a student government meeting.”

Smith said that during open meetings, there is a time and space for individuals and groups to speak, such as when they start discussing new business, but they were still in the general assembly portion of the meeting at the time.

Associated Students of Central Washington University Photo courtesy of cwu.edu

Editorial Policy: The Observer is a public forum for student expression, in which student editors make policy and content decisions. The mission of The Observer is two-fold: to serve Central Washington University as a newspaper and to provide training for students who are seeking a career in journalism. The Observer seeks to provide complete, accurate, dependable information to the campus and community; to provide a public forum for the free debate of issues, ideas and problems facing the community at large; and to be the best source of information, education and entertainment news. As a training program, The Observer is the practical application of the theories and principles of journalism. It teaches students to analyze and communicate information that is vital to the decision making of the community at large. It provides a forum for students to learn the ethics, values and skills needed to succeed in their chosen career. If you have questions or concerns, email us at cwuobserver@gmail.com. Staff Faculty Adviser Jennifer Green Editorial Consultant Francesco Somaini Staff Reporters Anna Fridell Ryan Gildersleeve Tre’Jon Henderson Charis Jones Mykah Koke-Filimaua Hunter Rhea Beau Sansom Quincy Taylor Graphic Design Lead Glacie Kehoe-Padilla Orientation / Assistant Graphic Designer Brandon Davis Assistant Scene Editor Zileni Milupi Photo Editor Yohanes Goodell Copy Desk Lead / Opinion Editor Brittany Cinderella Online Editor Madison VanRavenhorst Assistant Copy Editor Kai Kyzar Sports Editor Isaac Hinson News Editors Morgana Carroll Megan Rogers Lead Editor Katherine

Camarata

CWU takes pride in Hispanic leadership conference attendees

Mykah

Koke-Filimaua

Staff Reporter

After recently attending the Hispanic Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois, a few of CWU’s Hispanic students returned with new knowledge and are prepared to take the next step by putting what they’ve learned into action, not only in the present at CWU, but carrying into their future.

Miguel Gomez

Miguel Gomez, a junior at CWU majoring in accounting, recently returned from the Hispanic Leadership Conference, and said he was eager to attend and learn from industry leaders and peers. At the conference, Gomez said he learned a lot from attending workshops, however some of the most important learning points came from listening to executives and networking with them.

“Many learning points were taken, but some of the most important were from networking with the professionals, colleagues, etc.,” Gomez said.

Gomez also talked about being resourceful and facing peril to accomplish his vision of being the best he can be for his community.

“Exploring opportunities and taking risks translates to having confidence and fighting for your dreams,” Gomez said. “We have started to speak and join clubs like MEChA, LatinX and other clubs about our experience at USHLI [United States Hispanic Leadership Institute] …every organization has mentioned that they would like to have a multicultrual center.”

In addition, Gomez mentioned his business competition that he founded, Cat Tank, getting involved as well.

“Cat Tank has encouraged my fellow students of color to join the competition, because this allows them to turn their passion into a real business,” Gomez said.

Alexa Silva

First year economics major, Alexa Silva, also had the opportunity to attend the Hispanic Leadership Conference. Silva talked about what she gained from attending the conference to become an efficient figurehead for her community.

“I gathered practical knowledge on how to become a more adequate advocate for the Hispanic community by implementing effective networking strategies and communication skills,” Silva said.

Silva shared one of her most important takeaways from the conference was being a competent leader focused on inclusion.

“One of the most significant takeaways for me was the importance of endorsing and nurturing diversity and inclusivity in leadership positions,” Silva said.

Additionally, Silva discussed the skills she’s learned at the conference in order to enhance her leadership abilities.

“This involves establishing stronger connections with individuals who share similar goals and aspirations and creating a supportive campus environment that celebrates diversity,” Silva said.

Silva said she has plans to use what she learned in her future after CWU.

“As for my future pursuits, I aspire to leverage the knowledge and insights I gained to become an effective advocate and leader for the Hispanic community in my chosen profession,” Silva said.

Katya Soto

Melissa Lopez-Barbosa

Melissa Lopez-Barbosa is a junior double majoring in information technology and administrative management, specializing in cybersecurity. She also had the opportunity to attend the Hispanic Leadership Conference. Lopez-Barbosa mentioned the importance of having different grade levels attend the conference.

“Having students of different grade levels attend was significant because we could speak with each other and form connections…no matter the grade level, we were there to celebrate our Latino progress and know that there is still much we must and can do for our community,” Lopez-Barbosa said.

Lopez-Barbosa said she is ecstatic to be more involved around campus and Kittitas County to help the local community develop advocates for the Hispanic community for the years to come.

“Now I will be more involved with our local Computer Science/STEM Kittitas County School District Advisory Board to help our local community advance and develop our future leaders,” Lopez-Barbosa said.

Lopez-Barbosa discussed representing her community and how she plans on doing that through her education.

“After I graduate with my bachelor’s degree, I’m going to pursue my master’s,” Lopez-Barbosa said. “I want to represent my community…I strive to become a Mexican American leader in cybersecurity.”

Luis Reyes

Luis Reyes was another senior majoring in business administration that was selected to attend the Hispanic Leadership Conference. Reyes is also ASCWU’s president and talked about what he heard from many of the keynote speakers that impacted him.

“Many speakers spoke about the importance of student leadership and how important it is to be passionate about the work you do…now I try to be more passionate about a lot of the leadership work I do as the ASCWU president,” Reyes said.

According to Reyes, his plan for putting his learning points into action is centered around leadership and passion.

“One of my biggest focuses upon returning to CWU was to elevate the roles of my peers and in a sense mentor them to be the next generation of leaders after I graduate,” Reyes said.

Reyes also mentioned how he plans to help lead others to be great leaders.

“Simply by providing them with opportunities to lead and showcase their strengths, many of them have developed as individuals and have risen up to the task,” Reyes said.

Finally, Reyes talked about his main goal before graduating.

“Lastly, my main goal overall is to empower others and allow them to shine,” Reyes said.

Senior Katya Soto said she had an amazing experience at the Hispanic Leadership Conference. She talked about the stories she heard and how she needs to take initiative to do something for her community.

“We heard so many stories of people doing great things in this nation and all of them faced so many challenging things…but they did it and once again it’s like, no one’s going to do something for my people unless I do it,” Soto said.

Soto said she already has her plan after CWU to ensure she does her part to contribute to the Hispanic community.

“I’m majoring in elementary education…so I decided for my student teaching to do it at a Title I school in Yakima and it’s a dual language school…that means I’ll be working with a lot of English language learners in a school setting where Spanish, our language, people and culture is appreciated and hopefully I can also motivate students and encourage them to do something like that,” Soto said.

Photo courtesy of Miguel Gomez

Photo courtesy of Alexa Silva

Photo courtesy of Melissa Lopez-Barbosa Photo courtesy of Luis Reyes

Sharingperspectives

MJ Rivera Scene Editor

Students and faculty members shared deep conversations about the representation of the LGBTQ+ community through perspectives in the film “Rafiki’’ at the first LGBTQ+ film festival night on May 4. The festival will continue each Thursday in Samuelson Hall 109 from May 4 to June 1.

Volha Isokava, the Russian program advisor and chair of the department of world languages and cultures at CWU, said that a main goal of the film festival is to tie LGBTQ+ issues and world cultures together.

“[The film selection] came jointly out of conversations between me and Michel O’Brien, who is the director of women, gender and sexuality studies,” Isokava said. “We thought that to have an event leading to [pride month] would be a great idea… world languages and cultures bring sort of a global cultural perspective, and women, gender and sexuality studies bring the queer studies perspective, we thought it would be a good event to put on together.”

Traveling the world through film: LGBTQ+ film festival displays global perspectives

Each week, a movie will be shown that represents one letter of the acronym, LGBTQ+, from around the world. Thus, the first movie, “Rafiki,” was a 2018 film by Wanuri Kahiu about two Kenyan women who fall in love, despite their fathers being political rivals.

Lacy Ferrel, an associate professor of history at CWU with a passion for African studies, said that it is important for all students to learn more about African culture.

“I think it’s wonderful to expose our students to more African culture and film and history and everything that comes along with that,” Ferrel said. “I don’t think that our students, especially through our K through 12 system, get much content about Africa, African people or African lives.”

Ferrel also said that “Rafiki” is an influential film because it displays love and joy.

“The filmmaker, she went into this wanting to highlight joy, resilience, hope and optimism, and just the colorful multiplicity of lives of people in Nairobi,” Ferrel said. “It’s a really fun, positive representation of what exists in Africa that I think also counters a lot of the assumptions or preconceived ideas that people might come to an African film with.”

“Rafiki” was the first film in the weekly, month-long series. On Thursday May 11, the film “Twilight’s Kiss” will be shown, a 2019 movie about two older, retired men in Hong Kong who

fall in love with each other.

The following week, on May 18, the featured film will be “Margarita with a Straw,” a 2014 movie set in India that highlights a bisexual girl who plays music, travels, and makes connections with the people she meets.

May 25 will feature a 2020 movie called “Little Girl,” a story of a young transgender girl in France and the scrutiny she faces from the public.

The last movie in this film series will be “Wildhood,” a 2021 film about a young man who embarks on a journey with his half-brother to meet his mother and along the way, meets a Two-Spirit person who helps him reconnect to his Native American heritage.

The Two-Spirit is a Native American belief in which certain people hold the spirits of both a man and a woman in their body, similar to nonbinary or genderfluid people.

“I think it’s interesting talking about the Native American perspective and not being aware of this long history of what the Native American community has decided to call Two–Spirit,” Ferrel said. “It’s got a much longer, deeper embedded cultural history for Native Americans. Similarly, I think with a film like ‘Rafiki,’ it opens up the opportunity to see how different gendered identities [and] different sexualities have long histories in African societies.”

Isokava also said she believes that showing these films allows students to see perspectives other than their own.

“I hope that it will broaden horizons,” Isokava said. “It’s an important thing to kind of understand other cultures and identities better and to experience solidarity with queer people from around the world.”

Senior history major, Tyler Hague, said this film festival is a great way to highlight some of the movies and perspectives that students may not otherwise be exposed to.

“I just think it’s really good,” Hague said. “There’s a whole plethora of [LGBTQ+] cinema that hasn’t really been pushed to the forefront.”

Hague said he was able to connect to “Rafiki,” even though it was different from his own culture.

“When you get invited to these events, [sometimes] the movie is just a little too inaccessible to someone who isn’t very familiar with a certain culture or certain area of the world,” Hague said. “What I liked about [Rafiki] is that it felt very…accessible. You understand how this world works. You understand the family dynamics and what’s going on.”

Hague also said he felt that films are a great way to see more cultural perspectives.

“Stories are a great way to relate to people, to see people on a level that you normally wouldn’t,” Hague said. “I believe firmly in using fiction to broaden your empathy.”

Poverty simulation gives students a glimpse into the issues facing millions of people everyday

Reporter witnessed and participated in the experience firsthand

Beau Sansom Staff Reporter

My name is Jack Jolly, and I’m standing in line at Big Dave’s Pawn Shop clutching a box close to my chest. Inside of that box is a flatscreen TV, one of the last nice things that I own after having to pawn my camera the week prior (at half of its market value no less).

I get to the front of the line, where Dave himself tells me he won’t take the TV for any more than $60. I have no choice, I have to make rent. I leave the shop and head back home only to find an eviction notice waiting for me. Before I can do anything, the simulation ends and I’m back to being a staff reporter for The Observer.

While Jack Jolly’s life of poverty may have been a series of simulated events, these challenges are faced by millions everyday. The CWU Family Resource Center put on a poverty simulation in the SURC Ballroom on Friday May 5.

According to Professor of Child Development and Family Science

Dr. Sarah Feeney, the purpose of the simulation is to give students in the child development and family science program a bit of insight on what living in poverty is like.

According to Feeney, the simulation was not open to just anyone, as it was a required part of the child development and family science curriculum.

Planning and purpose of the simulation

Feeney was in charge of setting up and running the simulation in the SURC Ballroom. According to Feeney, the goal of the simulation was to instill empathy in participants and understanding of the privileges they have that many others lack.

“One of the biggest goals is empathy,” Feeney said. “Understanding people that might be experiencing economic hardship, what the situation is like, what sort of barriers and challenges they might have and secondly understanding the economic system, how it is set up against them, what are the policies

and safety net programs in place and how helpful they actually are.”

According to Feeney, the idea of a poverty simulation was a tool developed by the Missouri Community Action Network in the late ‘90s; the practice has gone through several iterations since, with it currently being in its third iteration.

“[The simulation] is just one of the tools we use in our program to help students develop empathy, compassion and an awareness of the structural systems that keep people from increasing their social mobility,” Feeney said. “In our program, a big part of helping students prepare to work with children and families is helping them understand people that are in situations different to their own.”

When asked in a follow-up if any input from those with a history of experiencing poverty/low-income, Feeney responded that the planning of the simulation included consultation from a few individuals who have themselves experienced poverty and/or come from a low-income background.

“The short answer I’ve settled on for this question is yes,” Feeney said. “I would rather not go into more detail since I haven’t asked permission from everyone who was involved to share information with the media about their personal experiences/background. I also want to emphasize (as I did on Friday) that the simulation isn’t only about being in poverty as defined by the federal poverty line, but also about being in a low-income family (low-income, non-poor, families earn more than the federal poverty line but often struggle to afford basic expenses without some form of assistance).”

While the poverty simulation is meant to be used for educational purposes, there are some who view the idea of acting out other’s lived experiences as offensive. CWU alum S. Moss shared their thoughts on the simulation with The Observer via Instagram.

“It is insulting to try on someone’s lived experiences and just as easily stop trying it on at any time and go back to your more privileged life,” Moss said. “Plus, so many low-in-

come experiences are varied depending on circumstances, it’s not an on/off situation.”

According to Feeney, the goal of the simulation is to educate participants and instill empathy for those living below the poverty level. However, Feeney acknowledges that the poverty simulation may draw a certain amount of criticism and controversy due to the nature of individuals not in poverty playing the role of an impoverished individual.

“We try to be sensitive to people who may have experienced or are still processing the experience of having grown up in poverty or are currently experiencing economic hardships,” Feeney said. “So, students can be given an alternative assignment… we try to make it so we’re not forcing anyone to do the simulation if it makes them uncomfortable.”

Professor and Program Coordinator of Child Development and Family Science Dr. Amy Claridge has participated in past poverty simulations at CWU. Claridge recognized that, while the simulation is a valuable tool in granting perspective, it does have limitations.

“I want to emphasize that we understand the poverty simulation is limited,” Claridge said. “It absolutely does not simulate the real, lived experience of being in poverty. We talk about that so much with our students. I hope that they’re all coming into [the simulation] with the mindset that ‘I really just want to learn and gain some new perspective.’”

The simulation also featured assistance from volunteers from various organizations to run the resource booths, ranging from Kittitas Valley Health Network, Goodwill, the Public Health Department and HopeSource. Learning and Development Specialist from Goodwill Inland Northwest Kaylie Riddoch made another appearance to assist with the simulation after attending the previous year.

“I think it’s a great tool,” Riddoch said. “Especially to help people recognize how we can better make resources available and how we can educate people on what resources are out there for them.”

Wrap up

After the simulation ended, participants gathered into groups to have a debrief about the purpose of the event both in groups and as a collective. Many shared their thoughts and takeaways from the simulation, including fourth year Child Development and Family Sciences major Peyton Vogel.

“I didn’t realize it would be that stressful,” Vogel said. “I thought that it was cool to be able to put [myself] in the spot… it really made me more aware of the amount of resources that are `out there for

REPORTER OPINION: Simulation close-up

When I first arrived at the simulation, I was randomly assigned my role for the day. I would be playing the part of Jack Jolly, a 25-year-old man on probation. I worked a parttime job at a cafeteria and rented a trailer with my girlfriend Joyce Jacobi (real name Peyton Vogel), a single mother to a boy named Josh Jacobi.

The simulation itself was an hour in length, broken down into four 15 minute “weeks” in which we had to navigate our way through various social services and find/maintain jobs in order to meet weekly and monthly living requirements. These requirements ranged from food, clothing, rent and miscellaneous expenses that did not include random circumstances that required additional funds.

Meeting these requirements was incredibly difficult, I was only able to work three days a week at $8.25 an hour. After taxes and support for my own child that I fathered when I was in high school, I was only bringing in roughly $692 a month.

Joyce was even worse off; as a single mother with a one-year-old, she was unemployed and couldn’t look for a job until we had the means to afford care for Josh while we were at work.

The first two weeks were a disaster for Joyce and me. I was required to get a flu shot before I could return to work and since I had no insurance to speak of, I had to pay out of pocket, extra funding we did not have. This left me scrambling between social services and pawn shops trying to come up with a way to afford the flu shot.

Meanwhile, Joyce was out seeking aid for us to be able to afford

people as well as hardships, there were so many hardships I didn’t think about.”

Feeney believes the simulation led to new experiences and new perspectives led to learning.

“I think it [led to learning], because it puts students in a situation where they have to navigate lots of different systems,” Feeney said. “They may not have experienced it before and they get exposed to lots of different challenges or barriers and ways of being resilient, ways of being strategic… it gives them a little bit of a taste.”

food and care for Josh (who she had to take along with her to every appointment). All of this running around left us out of the home for most of the time, something a criminal took advantage of as they robbed us blind.

By the end of week two, we had been robbed and forced to sell several belongings just to make ends meet (which we still struggled to do in spite of our efforts) and had our landlord breathing down our necks for rent.

We started to find our footing in week three, having secured my flu shot and government aid. Joyce and I were able to cover the cost of food and begin hunting for jobs (I had lost mine due to missing two weeks of work because of my flu shot) as we headed into week four.

Unfortunately, week four did not go quite as planned. While Joyce and I made our way down the path towards a job interview, we had already been evicted from our home. We managed to scrape together enough money through government assistance and pawning some of our furniture, but the simulation ended before we could challenge the eviction.

For me, the poverty simulation was an eye opening experience. Being placed into the shoes of someone who has to navigate through trials and hardships such as these, even for a moment, was an insightful experience.

With the end of the simulation, I had to say goodbye to Jack Jolly. I may have only gotten a short glimpse into the world real people like Jack live in, but I can say that I will never forget the lessons and perspective I gained from playing his part, lessons and perspectives that many would find valuable.

PeytonVogel,playingJoyceJacobi,jugglingherresources. Photo by Morgana Carroll

Studentswereassignedrolesinfamiliestoexperiencesomeofthedifficultiesof poverty. Photo by Morgana Carroll

CWU’s first-ever Black history and culture musical event celebrates “the bedrock of American music”

Zileni Milupi Assistant Scene Editor

Drill step, thought-provoking poetry and soaring operatic vocals were a few of the many highlights of CWU’s first ever Black history and culture musical celebration, held in McIntyre Recital Hall on May 1.

Under the leadership of Associate Professor of Saxophone Dr. Kendra Wheeler, students of the saxophone studio organized the event in collaboration with other disciplines in the department as a post celebration of Black history month, traditionally celebrated in February.

“Black people everywhere are Black every day, all days of the year, but history and culture can always be celebrated and can always be appreciated,” Wheeler said. “It’s great that we have that history month, but when we’re talking about a rich history and culture of people and peoples, it is important that they are recognized more than just one time a year.”

Thunderous applause and ringing cheers were abundant at the recital hall after each performer demonstrated the artistic beauty of Black culture through music and poetry.

The performers showcased the works of prominent Black artists such as Maya Angelou and opera composer William Grant Still.

Wheeler explained that she wanted as much variety in the genre and style of performances as possible to embody Black influence in classical music.

“When we think about [Black] history and culture and music in particular, we might naturally gravitate towards jazz, which is an African diasporic art form and it’s so important to the history and culture of America as a whole,” Wheeler said. “But from the beginning of classical music in the US, we’ve also

had a really strong Black operatic presence as well. So we’ve been involved in classical music for a long time, not only as opera singers, but as composers, violin players and string players.”

Black Student Union (BSU) representatives Clinical Psychology first year Shadaē Ingram and biology biomedical first year Tiesha Randle, student Heaven Pollard, performed their modern take on the traditional dance form called hamboning. Hamboning is a rhythmic dance that involves hitting or slapping different areas of the body, including the chest, arms and legs.

The dance form, which has evolved into drill step, originated from slavery, during which drums and other musical instruments were taken from Black people, leaving them to craft alternative ways to create messages through rhythm.

Ingram also performed a poem she wrote herself called “Assault and Battery: Damnation” in which she details the violence and injustices that Black people face on a daily basis.

Ingram used what she called “uncomfortable words” to elicit graphic imagery of death that illustrates the unfortunate reality of Black people in America.

“I use words like ‘decapitated’ and phrases like ‘ripping my fingers off, only two drops of blood fill in,’” Ingram said. “The way I wrote it was to spark that feeling of, ‘Oh this doesn’t feel nice,’ because it’s not nice. As Black people today, we have to live through that not niceness, just to find a little crumb of niceness. So I write it with disturbing words, because I want people to be disturbed and to think about it two or three weeks later.”

Wheeler said she hoped the audience would enjoy their experience at the event.

“I hope they leave feeling inspired and motivated and energetic,” Wheeler said. “And also perhaps feel they might have learned some-

thing new, either about a new composer or work or just gained maybe even a deeper appreciation for Black history and culture.”

Special guest performer Jadrian

Tarver

The event featured a special guest performance from Associate Professor of Vocal Performance at Gonzaga University Jadrian Tarver. Wheeler had reached out to Tarver, who is also her friend and former doctoral classmate at Michigan State University, as he had recently done a similar event at Gonzaga University. Tarver explained that he was excited to participate in CWU’s event as he always looks for opportunities to perform music of underrepresented composers of color, specifically Black composers.

Tarver performed three songs by different composers with only one half hour rehearsal session before the event. Tarver performed “Sul Margine’’ by Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, “Prayer” composed by H. Leslie Adams and written by Langston Hughes and “Witness” by Hall Johnson.

Tarver gave his thoughts on the event being CWU’s first Black history celebration.

“I think that representation matters,” Tarver said. “And when you have faculty members and staff members of color, that is important. We live in an era and a time where non-people of color, specifically white people, may feel uncomfortable putting those things [cultural celebrations] on because of things such as cultural appropriation, lack of knowledge in those specific areas. It’s an opportunity for students of color and non-students of color to come together and work together and celebrate the bedrock of American music, which is Black music.”

Tarver further explained how white people can partake and help organize cultural celebrations with care and respect, without appro-

priating or being offensive. Tarver explained that people not part of the culture being celebrated should establish a connection with people within that community.

“I like to look at it like this, the same way that you’re prepared to play any European composers, specifically like Mozart and Bach and Beethoven, that same interest in researching which you will put into performing, that same thing should happen when performing music by composers of color,” Tarver said. “You need to have the same level of education, the same level of research and the same level of interest.”

Tarver also gave his thoughts on Dr. Wheeler being the first Black Assistant Professor of Saxophone at CWU and stated that he is also the first Black Assistant Professor of vocal performance at Gonzaga University.

“There’s a lot of institutional and cultural racism that is taking place in the Pacific Northwest in certain towns and certain cities where Black people weren’t even allowed to have a career,” Tarver said. “I like to think of it even myself at Gonzaga. I will be the first Black assistant professor of voice here…… I think that academic institutions are making the move in order to diversify these spaces because they understand that it is important, especially for recruitment.”

Tarver said if the opportunity presented itself, he would love to return to CWU and perform or even give a lecture on Black music.

Tarver overall expressed that his first performance at CWU was a great experience.

“I will say that it was extremely welcoming,” Tarver said. “The students were helpful, kind and hospitable across the board.”

opens criticism of the university falling short on representation

Event spearheaded by CWU’s first Black saxophone instructor

JerryFussellreciting“SomethingStrangeHappenstothe BodyWhenanAfroisborn”by LaurenMicheleJackson. Photo by Yohanes Goodell

PianistRossSalvosa(left)and baritonevocalistDr.Jadrian Tarveraftertheirempoweringperformanceof “Witness”

“Blackpeopleeverywhere areBlackeveryday,all daysoftheyear,buthistory andculturecanalwaysbe celebratedandcanalwaysbe appreciated.”

- Dr. Kendra Wheeler

CWU hired its first-ever Black band director, T André Feagin, in 2020, meaning he and Wheeler are the music department’s only two Black professors. In a January 2022 interview with The Observer, Feagin mentioned he might be some of his students’ “first Black teacher.”

Feagin talked about the department confronting the eurocentricity of the music curriculum and said he hoped to “help the university in its mission of creating a welcoming environment for students of underrepresented and other diverse populations.”

Conception and planning process

According to Saxophone Major and junior Nathan Sandell, the fact that the CWU music department had never had a Black History Month concert motivated students of the saxophone studio to bring the idea to life.

Wheeler explained that she wanted the event to be fully student-led while she provided advice and ideas. The main students involved in the planning process were Sadell and two other Saxophone majors: Shaina Ellis and Gabriel Weisenburger.

Sandell explained what participating in the event meant to them and why it was so important to showcase Black history and culture through music.

“The saxophone in particular, has a very rich history with Black culture and Black art form,” Sandell said. “And I, as a white person myself, acknowledging that and showing how important that Black culture and Black music history is to me, and in general has always been, important.”

Sandell explained that it was easy for students to choose what pieces they wanted to perform for the event.

“I think that shows the awesome

power that Black music has on people where people know what they want to perform,” Sandell said. Sadell further explained that at some point in their lives everyone in America has been touched by Black culture and music.

“It’s a celebration of Black culture and history. It doesn’t need to be tied to one thing, but it is the first of its kind and we’re very proud of that,” Wheeler said. “It can actually be a thing that positively impacts people and their appreciation of a culture. … even though it didn’t make the deadline of Black History Month, it is the first celebration and I think Black culture and Black History themed concerts or performance you could say, and we’re very proud of that.”

Wheeler said that the event grew from the initial idea she had and she was happy with the direction it went in.

“Hopefully next year, this becomes a grand event and it continues to grow and gain popularity for more involvement with community and student members,” Wheeler said. “I think it’s wonderful and I’m actually really happy that it’s happening in May and not in February, because Black history and culture should be celebrated at any point and by anyone. It doesn’t need to be only during Black History Month, so it’s been a journey, but a good one.”

Student critique

Ingram and Randle said the fact that this was the first Black history celebration raised concern for them. Ingram said her initial concern was that the celebration would only be performed by all white students.

“I thought the first performer was going to be Black because of the name of the performance,”

Ingram said. Instead, the first performance was a French horn piece “Okukoowoola Kw’Ekkondeere” originally by Ugandan composer Justinian Tamusuza performed by a white student.

“But I felt that the performance was good,” Ingram said. “I liked it, I liked the whole thing, I’m glad we had it even if it has to start somewhere.”

Of the 14 performers of the night, there were only five Black performers, as well as fewer Black audience members than might have been expected. This led Ingram and Randle to acknowledge that there is a lot of work to be done regarding getting more Black students involved in events like this – across campus, not just in music.

BSU and BSUs on other campuses could create more buzz and engagement among students. Ingram and Randle also suggested enlisting the help of Black professors and music professors in general in spreading the word about the event to their students.

“Maybe even getting the president of the school to talk about it,” Ingram said. “Getting people in higher positions to really talk about it, not just the celebration but also the meaning behind the performances.”

Ingram and Randle both expressed how they enjoyed performing and would love to perform again in the future.

“I was actually really excited for this [event],” Ingram said.

“It really made me happy just to expose myself to different people, because there are people we’ve performed for who I’ve never seen in my life.

I’m just glad I got to do it.”

Audience takeaways

Members of the audience gave the celebration itself positive reactions, as most of them stated that they learned something new, which was the original goal of the event.

“I loved how this event showed the vast array of what Black history could be, not just the sorrows but also the joys,” freshman in the music major Anthony Marquez said. “I think what resonated with me the most was the spoken poetry. Especially the last one, it made me a little emotional, just thinking about the gravity of how long the issue of discrimination and inequality has been in America and how it’s also dated back before that transition of colonialism. Overall, it was a really inspiring event.”

Freshman studying piano performance, composition Kamron Emery also shared positive sentiments about the scope of performances.

“CWU needs to do a better job of taking care of its Black students,” Ingram said.

Ingram and Randle suggested the music department could reach out to the BSU students for more collaboration.

“I just feel like our BSU and ASA [African Student Association] needs to connect more with the music department,” Ingram said.

Randle also suggested that Black history celebration collaborations between CWU’s

Ingram and Randle said they hope the event keeps growing and similar events might be held. Ingram emphasized the importance of culture and ancestry in the creation of this event.

“We don’t do it for us, we do it for the culture, for the people, for our families, for our lineage,” Ingram said. “I want them to take away that understanding that I’m here. But with me here, you get my entire family and all of my people here. The way we think about our heritage is, we are one. So when I’m here, we’re all here and you’ve just got to deal with it.”

“I personally thought it was a lot of fun,” Emery said. “There’s a lot of variation in the program and I liked that. I liked the poetry and a lot of people doing their own works, I think that’s really cool.”

Performance composition second year Sanny Han explained that his biggest takeaway was the hamboning performance, as he had never heard of hamboning prior to the event.

“That was super interesting,” Han said. “I’m really glad I came to this event. It just kind of opened my mind up to Black history and I would like to see it again next year.”

Dr.Tarver(farleft),Dr.Wheeler (farright)withperformersand audiencemembers.

Photos by Yohanes Goodell

Shadaē Ingramthankingthecrowd afterherheartfelt poem“Assaultand Battery:Damnation”

Dr.Jadrian Tarver,baritone vocalist(left),with Dr.KendraWheeler (right)

“Wedon’tdoitforus,we doitfortheculture,forthe people,forourfamilies,for ourlineage.”

- Shadaē

Ingram

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ and the summer movie slate

Once more with feeling. The summer movie season has kicked off with the premiere of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” on May 5, written and directed once again by James Gunn, the movie comes five years after the previous installment in the franchise.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

My relationship to these movies runs deep. My father introduced me to the Guardians on my 10th birthday when he gifted me a subscription box at my local comic book store (Shout-out I Like Comics and it’s lovely manager Chris) and in it were two issues: the recently dual relaunched “Nova” #1 and “Guardians of the Galaxy” #1. Both of which I still have to this day.

The Summer Movie Season

“Guardians” proved worthwhile as a conclusion to this trilogy of films. But on the other hand, it also serves well as an introduction to this summer movie season, one of the best times of the year for movies.

Unlike last year where Hollywood was still recovering from the production shutdown caused by COVID-19, this is an absolutely packed summer, with essentially one major release debuting each weekend through the rest of May up until the end of August.

May

Catching my eye this weekend is the Robert Rodriguez-directed and Ben Affleck-starring thriller “Hypnotic,” which follows Affleck playing a detective tracking down his missing daughter and figuring out the link between her disappearance and a string of bank robberies.

The next weekend brings four movies that I shockingly all want to see: “Fast X,” the Jack Harlow led reimagining of “White Men Can’t Jump,” the newest film from Paul Schrader “Master Gardener” and the new NEON production “Sanctuary” starring new-age genre mainstays Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott.

The only “Fast” movies I’ve seen are the original and the 2019 spin-off “Hobbs and Shaw,” yet when I saw the trailer on an IMAX screen while watching “Guardians,” I couldn’t help but feel a desire to see it. The action looks good, and the cast is absolutely massive. Particularly, Jason Momoa looks electric as the villain, and I just generally enjoy Jason Statham doing cool shit in action movies.

Since 2013, my relationship to the Guardians has only grown. The first film was one of my instant-favorites, and still is. Contrary, 13-year-old me was not a fan of “Vol. 2” when he first saw it. I didn’t like the lack of action, slow-pacing or the soundtrack, especially compared to the “Vol. 1” soundtrack. But since, I have grown to love “Vol. 2” greatly. It’s my favorite of the trilogy, and my favorite film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

I went into “Vol. 3” cautiously optimistic. I’ve become fairly disenfranchised with the MCU since “Vol. 2” released, especially recently with “AntMan and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Thor: Love and Thunder” being two of the worst movies I have ever seen. I liked the shows “Hawkeye” and “Loki,” and the movie “Eternals” quite a bit, and enjoyed the theatrical experiences of “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” but I can’t say I’ve truly been impressed with much that has released since “Avengers: Infinity War.”

May ends with one movie sure to dominate the Holiday weekend: Disney’s newest live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.” Halle Bailey of Chloe x Halle fame leads as Ariel, and while I have full confidence in her to deliver on both the acting and the singing, the movie looks painfully cheap, much like their two most recent Disney remakes “Pinocchio” and “Peter Pan and Wendy.”

June

June starts with what could easily be the best movie of the summer: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” We’re about four-and-a-half years removed from the release of the original “Spider-Verse,” and if “Across” is anywhere near as good as the first it’ll be one of the better animated movies of the year.

The weekend of the 9th sees the Transformers return to the big screen for the first time since 2018’s “Bumblebee” with “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which is being headlined by “Hamilton” star Anthony Ramos. I can’t say I’m particularly interested, but I might check it out.

The middle of June has another four-movie theatrical release weekend. Occupying most of the screens will be the long in-development “The Flash,” releasing alongside Pixar’s “Elemental,” the new directorial effort from Wes Anderson “Asteroid City” and the first horror-comedy of the summer “The Blackening.”

I will likely be doing a double feature of “The Flash” and “Asteroid City” this weekend. “The Flash” does sadly look more like a Batman movie than a Flash movie, I still think it looks like a good time at the theater regardless. For “Asteroid City,” I think the trailer looks amazing, and any new Anderson is an opening weekend viewing for me.

June 23rd, the weekend of my birth-

I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed “Vol. 3.” I can’t say I loved it, as it falls into typical Marvel trappings, a bloated and visually muddy third act and poor moments of writing among other things. Regardless, it easily elevates itself over recent MCU fare thanks to the excellent first two acts and legitimate powerhouse performances from Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord and Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket Raccoon.

The movie is arguably the darkest movie tonally in the MCU. Even so, the dark tone only really shows in a continuous series of flashbacks involving Rocket and his origins. The flashbacks provide both the emotional weight of the film as well as adding further depth to both Rocket and the antagonist of the film, the High Evolutionary played by Chukwudi Iwuji, who is far and away one of the better MCU villains.

day, sees just one wide-release: the Jennifer Lawrence starring adult-comedy “No Hard Feelings.” I love Jennifer Lawrence, and I’m happy to see Hollywood begin a return to comedies that aren’t just superhero movies.

The last day of June belongs to one man: Indiana Jones. James Mangold (“Logan,” “Ford V. Ferrari”) directs what is assumedly Harrison Ford’s last outing as Jones, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” I love all four “Jones” movies, even “Crystal Skull,” so needless to say I can’t wait.

July

The initial weekend of July brings actor Patrick Wilson’s directorial debut, “Insidious: The Red Door,” the fifth installment in the franchise which he pioneered with James Wan. Wilson hasn’t been involved with the franchise since the second film, and coincidentally that is also when they started getting bad, so I hope his return also welcomes a return to form for the series.

July 14th belongs to my most anticipated movie of the summer by a wide margin, the Tom Cruise starring, Christopher McQuarrie directed and written and best-title-of-the-summer-having “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”. The seventh installment, and predecessor to the series conclusion, has a tough act to live up to following modern classic “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” but if last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” tells us anything, it’s that McQuarrie and Cruise still have the juice.

The very next weekend is going to be the summer’s marquee box-office-battle, the duel of Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig’s respective ensembles “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.” My plan is to see them both opening weekend as a double feature, and hopefully have the best movie-going day of my summer.

August

The final month of the summer begins with two sequels/reboots, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Meg 2: The Trench.” The new “Ninja Turtles” is a “Spider-Verse”-inspired animated release and is being produced by Seth Rogen, while “Meg” is a Jason Statham led action movie, which should promise both as a good time.

Things start to slow down here. The second weekend of August is headlined by the newest video game adaptation, “Gran Turismo”. David Harbour is starring, and the racing seems cool, but I would much rather just see an original David Harbour led racing movie.

Wrapping up the superhero slate of the summer the next weekend is DC’s “Blue Beetle,” starring “Cobra Kai” breakout star Xolo Maridueña. I really like Maridueña in “Cobra Kai,” and I think it’ll be fun to see him lead a superhero movie. The final weekend of August, and in turn the final weekend of the summer, has two releases that I’m interested in. First, a top-secret Blumhouse production called “They Listen,” which is starring John Cho and Katherine Waterson, and the high school comedy “Bottoms,” which stars one of my favorite actresses, Rachel Sennott.

Anything that Jason Blum thinks is worthy of a theatrical release will always be interesting to me, and I love both Cho and Waterson, so I’m ready for “They Listen.” And last year’s Rachel Sennott horror-comedy “Bodies Bodies Bodies” has really grown on me in retrospect, and she was easily the best part of that movie, so I’ve got season tickets for anything that she’s in and “Bottoms” will be my first use of them. t

Isaac Hinson Columnist

The Guardians of the Galaxy. (Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios)

MJ Rivera

Columnist

The term “bedroom pop” emerged in the mid 2010s and refers to music that can be made from the comfort of someone’s bedroom, using computer programs that anyone can learn.

NBC’s Olivia Roos had an interview with Maia, who uses the name “mxmtoon” as her musician pseudonym, and Maia said, “‘Bedroom, it’s more of an idea, of a person sitting in a small space and using whatever resources you have to make songs that you’re proud of.’”

Roos said, “bedroom pop has emerged in recent years as a music movement shaped and established by the internet, fueled by online platforms, easy access to high-quality music software and algorithmically driven recommendation systems that can take an artist from obscurity to fame.”

The song that introduced me to the genre was “Pretty girl” by Clairo, who wrote and recorded the song entirely on her computer after a breakup. She then recorded a music video where she’s sitting at her desk in her room with no makeup on, bobbing her head and singing along to her song. The video was uploaded 5

years ago and now has 90 million views, showing the validity of this unique genre.

Another one of my all-time favorites is Omar Banos, who goes by Cuco in the music scene. According to an interview with NPR, Cuco began creating music with Ableton Live Lite, a downloadable recording platform.

Cuco is a multi-instrumentalist, largely self-taught, and his trumpet playing can be heard in his songs, such as “Lover is a Day” and “Lo Que Siento.” He released his first album “wannabewithu” in 2016, and now has over 5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. I highly recommend listening to all of his songs, each and every one.

One of the videos deep down in my “liked” list on YouTube is a lyric video from a few years ago of a song called, “Ocean Eyes.”

Billie Eilish’s first hit, “Ocean Eyes,” was created by Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell. In an interview with Vox, O’Connell said, “‘We come from a place as outsiders because we’re still in our childhood bedrooms making music.’” Needless to say, Eilish, managed by her brother, quickly became nothing short of a sensation.

The Halo franchise is dying as fans are crying

Beau Sansom Columnist

“Die? Didn’t you know? Spartans never die.” Kurt- 051

Spartans may not die, but the “Halo” franchise certainly will if current trends continue as they have. Halo has been a flagship franchise for Xbox since the release of “Halo: Combat Evolved” in 2001. The franchise has gone on to release six mainline titles and numerous spinoffs over the last 20 odd years and cemented itself as one of the most iconic IPs in gaming history. A majority of the games put the player behind the visor of Spartan II, John 117, the Master Chief, as he battles against the genocidal alien empire, The Covenant, to save humanity from extinction. Halo fans have fallen on hard times. With the release of “Halo: Infinite ‘’ in November of 2021 following countless delays, Halo fans were left with a sense of hope after the game had languished in ‘development hell’ for the better part of four years. The campaign received a fair amount of praise, and the multiplayer game mode was an absolute blast and a breath of fresh air. With such a successful launch, fans were eager to know what would come next for Infinite after the promise of frequent and free content drops.

The eagerness would go unrewarded as fans were treated to incredibly lackluster updates for the first year of the game’s release. Highly requested game modes such as Infection and Firefight continued to be delayed, while the currently available game modes fell into a repetitive cycle due to the lack of map variety. Halo: Infinite came with 12 maps at launch and only managed to release two more in 2022. These setbacks in the game’s success aren’t even accounting for the cancellation of split-screen multiplayer, a feature that has been missing from Halo for almost a decade now, which was also promised to be available at launch before the game even came out. With so much controversy surrounding the

cent round of lay-offs around Microsoft has put the studio in a tough bind.

Former Halo: Infinite Senior Multiplayer Designer Patrick Wren had much to say on the layoffs in a post on Twitter.

“The layoffs at 343 shouldn’t have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state,” Wren said. “The people I worked every day with were passionate about Halo and wanted to make something great for the fans.”

While the layoffs certainly have not helped the state of the Halo franchise, it is undeniable that the franchise has had problems before that. The story of Halo: Infinite, while enjoyable for the most part, was a bit misleading. Fans went in expecting to battle against Atriox, the leader of the Banished and a returning character from Halo Wars 2. Halo: Infinite itself initially seemed to play into this expectation with the opening cutscene of the game featuring Master Chief getting brutally beaten by the alien warlord in combat. However, soon after this players learn that Atriox supposedly died off-screen, leaving them to face off against Escharum, Atriox’s mentor and de facto leader of the Banished after his protege’s passing.

While Escharum was a force to be reckoned with in his own right, fans felt robbed of the opportunity to face Atriox directly. This bitter feeling only grew when the final cutscene of the game reveals that Atriox was alive the entire time and in pursuit of a currently unknown goal. Hopefully future content will expand the story, because as it is now fans are left with critically unanswered questions at the conclusion of Infinite, with nothing but a barren open world and dry multiplayer to tide them over.

The story was something that Halo: Infinite needed to nail in a big way. Fans were extremely displeased with 343’s previous entry in the franchise, Halo 5: Guardians due to its confused story, taking the focus off of Master Chief and bringing in a second playable protagonist in the form of Spartan Locke. Fans did not enjoy hav-

How bedroom pop has given young musicians a more personalized way to make it big

Master Chief Helmet.

Photo courtesy of Pexels

Bedroom pop. Photos courtesy of Pexels

CWU softball bids farewell to seniors and reflects on challenges and triumphs

Seattle sports affiliates offer look into industry at panel

Anna Fridell Staff Reporter

An audience of prospective sport industry minds gathered in Black Hall 151 on May 1 to hear the stories of Coordinator of Guest Experiences for the Seattle Mariners Jasmine Garza and Membership Sales Executive for the Seattle Sounders Football Club (FC) Benjamin Visse.

Garza works for guest experiences for the Mariners, which assumes responsibility for creating unforgettable experiences for the fans, according to Garza.

“What’s expected of me as a coordinator is we’ve really just tried to create those unforgettable experiences,” Garza said. “We’re dedicated to winning those championships, but we are also all about serving our community.”

Visse’s role is to keep members engaged and buying tickets for Sounders FC events. High energy and genuine passion are key characteristics to his position, Visse said.

Garza said she learned early on from her parents and coaches that constant growth is the key to success.

The sports industry was massively impacted by COVID-19 with lost seasons and a halt of ticket sales, but Seattle is on its way to doing great things for sports with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup coming to the city in 2026, according to Visse.

“Every single star that you can think of is going to be coming to this city,” Visse said “We’re already a soccer-mad city, this is going to crank things up”

Seattle is on fire right now, according to Garza. Seattle teams have been making a statement with playoff runs and drought-ending seasons, garnering national attention.

“If you look at the Seattle Mariners, we ended our drought last year and everybody who has ever been a Seattle Mariners fan has known about this 20 year drought…Last year we ended up and solidified, ‘hey, we are a team and we have a statement to be made.” Garza said.

According to Garza, leading by example is an effective way of keeping everyone engaged and on the same page.

Charis Jones Staff Reporter

CWU’s softball team recently celebrated its senior night, marking the end of an era for many its players. Senior infielder Myiah Seaton shared her reflections on the emotional roller coaster of striving to advance one moment and suddenly coming to a halt the next.

“It’s been really challenging transitioning from constantly trying to improve to going cold turkey,” Seaton said. “This is quite a weird sport in that the whole team determines the outcome, but you are left blaming yourself after a loss.”

The Wildcats kicked off the weekend on a high note with a 7-6 victory against the Saint Martin University (SMU) Saints.

“Harlee Carpenter was definitely a standout player that weekend,” senior pitcher Ashlee Laver said. “She did a really good job at the plate and pulled through with a walk-off hit after a 12-inning battle.”

However, the team was unable to maintain their momentum in the other matches of the four-game series, ultimately falling short.

“I don’t think the games went how we wanted them to go on the weekend of senior night, but I do feel like we played better as a team and had more fun on the field,” senior infielder Serena Perez said.

Despite the weekend’s outcome, Seaton greatly appreciated the warm weather that drew in a larger crowd of supportive students.

“It was really nice to have the sun be out so our fellow student-athletes could support us,” Seaton said. “We don’t get a lot of support, so hearing those cheers meant a lot to

each and every one of us, especially the seniors.”

Seaton also shared how being a member of the softball team has impacted her college experience as a whole: “When you are an athlete, you miss out on so many things compared to regular students. There is far less time to do desirable things like hanging out with friends,” Seaton said.

She further explained that the COVID-19 guidelines made things more challenging for her during her freshman year. The team was explicitly instructed that they risked being kicked off the team if they socialized with people outside of the team.

“To have the sport you love have those standards was extremely challenging with a huge people person like me,” Seaton said.

While Seaton acknowledged some challenges that came with being a student-athlete, she also noted the rewards it offered. According to her, the most satisfying aspect of the experience was the grit she cultivated over her four-year career.

“Throughout my four years, I played positions I was unfamiliar with for the betterment of the team,” Seaton said. “This attitude trickles into academics as well as jobs we are faced with as athletes. Being a student-athlete has shaped me into the hard worker that I am today.”

Looking back on her softball career at CWU, Seaton shared some of her favorite memories with the team: “One of my all-time favorite memories is my freshman year when the team did karaoke on the way home from MSUB,” Seaton said.

Additionally, she mentioned a game last year when the team beat the Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) Nighthawks, who were the 1st seed in the GNAC tournament at the time: “That game had the most adrenaline I remember having,” Seaton said.

Seaton had nothing but gratitude to express toward her parents for helping her get to where she is today.

“I owe everything to my parents,” Seaton said. “They did everything they could, work-wise and practice-wise. I know I told my dad how annoyed I would get when he would correct me, but none of that matters now. I already miss hitting with him during the summers.”

Moreover, she thanked head softball coach Joseph DiPietro for his dedicated efforts towards the team and for making necessary adjustments to their standards.

“I also want to thank our current coach, Joe,” Seaton said. “I have had my fair share of coaches, and Joe has worked harder for us than any coach I have ever had. We had very little as a program until he came in and readjusted our standards. He fought for us to have what we truly deserve and for that lam very thankful.”

Looking ahead to the 2024 season, Laver had nothing but enthusiasm to express about returning to CWU and stacking on a fifth year of play.

“We will continue to push for a good team culture like the seniors did for us,” Laver said. “I’m excited to have as much fun as I can for my last season and I can’t wait to see what this team does next year!”

“I’ve always taken on that mindset of if I work this model, or I did this, I’ve sacrificed this much or I put my energy into this, now tomorrow I need to either double that or maybe add 1%.” Garza said.

Garza said their biggest career advice for the audience to remember was to not give up and to recognize that no job is beneath anyone.

“Keep fighting, keep working, don’t give up,” Garza said. “I still look for opportunities, I’m still looking for community growth, I’m still looking for development, I’m still looking for leadership, because when you’re perfect and have everything checked off, you still have to learn and grow.”

When you’re doing what you love, it doesn’t feel like work, according to Garza.

“There are lots of 10 games in a row one right after the other,” Garza said. “It gets repetitive and you might think that, but when you go into it with a new mindset of ‘I get to do this, I have an opportunity to do this,’ your mindset changes and you love what you do.”

“I started to pick up on if I’m asking somebody to do this, I need to also then be out there and do it,” Garza said. “I’m not going to ask something of you if I wouldn’t do it myself.”

CWU’s Sport Management Association Club (SMA) organized and hosted the panel for sport management students.

“I came to Central to sports management and have been on so many cool adventures by SMA,”, crowd member and senior sport management major Evelyn De Jesus said. “[The panel] gives you better insight of what really is out there.”

The panel was very informative, according to crowd member junior sport management major Jake Anderson.

“I thought it had a lot of interesting insights especially when they talk about how the sports industry is changing and how it has changed,” Anderson said. “Overall, I thought it was really an insightful and productive panel.”

SportManagementAssosiationClubwithguestpanelists:(L-R):DavidRolfe,JakeAnderson,AndrewAngelina,AlyssaBenthagen,JasmineGarza,BenjaminVisse,Jenna VanSteenkist,TySavelyandSeanDahlin. Photo curtesy of Jake Anderson

MyiahSeatonreadytostealsecondbase. Photo by Brittany Cinderella

Sagapolu joins USA Rugby, awarded MA Sorensen award

Tre’Jon Henderson Staff Reporter

Communication major Keia Mae Sagapolu is a four-year letterman who has built quite the resume for the Wildcats. On May 9, Sagapolu was awarded the MA Sorensen award, and was recently selected in March to the USA Rugby Women’s Eagles National Team travel roster.

“I’m honored and excited to have this opportunity,” Sagapolu said. “It has been a dream of mine to play at the professional level since I was a kid, and all I can do is thank my teammates for putting me here.”

Sagapolu is only one of the three current collegiate rugby athletes to make the Eagles National team. She will join two ladies from Dartmouth as the only collegiate athletes to compete.

“Mae has been quietly going about her business since she arrived

on campus her first year at CWU, but her work ethic and play on the field speaks volumes,” Womens Rugby Head Coach Matthew Ramirez said.

“To get the opportunity to represent your country at the highest level is something to be cherished,” Ramirez said. “I’m incredibly proud of Mae for earning this selection for the traveling squad.”

Sagapolu’s resume includes winning rookie of the year, forward of the year, most valuable player and being awarded the MA Sorensen award, which is given to the best female rugby player nationwide.

“I owe all my accomplishments to my teammates,” Sagapolu said. “We are a very hungry and passionate team. Against the top teams in our division, we are constantly fighting until the very end.”

“We put our hearts and souls into the game, and I guess that’s what drives me to do my best, because I

know my girls are counting on me,” Sagapolu said “It’s gives me a boost in my performance.”

The team’s success rides off Sagapolu’s back, according to her teammate.

“She is an awesome teammate and an even more wonderful person,” Junior Kai Brandt said. She is always pushing herself to do better every day.”Whether it’s practice or in the game, her work ethic speaks for itself. Even if she’s not the loudest person, you will feel her presence on the field.”

Sagapolu said she has a lot she wants to accomplish for this upcoming season, not only for herself but for the team also.

“For this season, I want to set up the best foundation for building a team,” Sagapolu said.”I want to see great people in great positions. I

want to see more passionate girls come in and work. I want to see CWU women’s rugby come up in our division, and I want to see more recruits eager to come play here.” But it all ties back to the foundation we are building here as a team, which leaves our legacy and our dreams in the hands of our future teams. I just want to leave my legacy here”

Sagapolu said she holds herself to a different standard so she can dominate on and off the field. ‘’Her teammates look at her as the leader that keeps the train rolling.’’ Ramirez said

Keia Mae Sagapolu will be inducted into the CWU hall of fame in the future according to her teammates. Until then, she will continue to try and break records and cement her legacy even more as a Wildcat.

CWU baseball punches ticket to GNAC playoffs

Ryan Gildersleeve Staff Reporter

CWU baseball’s regular season has come to a close after their series of games against Montana State-Billings (MSUB) on May 4th & 5th. CWU came into the game in desperate need of a win, and were able to achieve just that with two victories in three games played.

Coming into the series, CWU was in 3rd place in the GNAC, with MSUB trailing behind them in need of a sweep to keep their series alive. MSUB held a tie for 3rd place with CWU before their series against Western Oregon University, where they lost 5 games to the Wolves.

Knowing that MSUB had their backs against the wall coming into the series, the CWU team and Head Coach Drew Storey had the idea in their minds that the Yellowjackets might switch up their play in order to win these crucial ball-games.

“For them, it may change some things because they can’t afford to lose a game. So how they stack their pitching up against us might be a bit different than it was in the regular season,” Storey said. “Are they going to go with the rotation they’ve had expecting the results to be consistent? Or are they going to change

Sports Spectated

By: Isaac Hinson

Less than a week. Less than a week until the NBA Draft Lottery. Less than a week until Trail Blazers legend and lost savior Brandon Roy will be representing the Blazers at the lottery. Less than a week until I know if Victor Wembanyama is going to be wearing the red, white and black. The last time Roy represented the Trail Blazers was 2007, coincidentally, 2007 was also the last time the Blazers got the first overall pick. Will lightning strike twice? I sure hope so.

The New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors are both on the brink of elimination. Unless two historic comebacks happen in the same round, I think it’s safe to say that the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers will be moving on. The way the Knicks have been playing makes the Cavaliers losing to them in the first round that much more embarrassing. Julius Randle seems completely uninterested in being a Knick, and I think he is absolutely the first to go this offseason. In terms of Golden State, I think that the Jordan Poole contract looks worse and worse by the day. He has been borderline unplayable in this series, and is getting paid the entire economy of a small country.

The Seattle Kraken continue to prove themselves as the team to watch if you’re a PNW sports fan. They blew the socks off of the Dallas Stars in their match on Sunday, winning 7-2, and have a real chance to advance to the NHL conference finals. I can’t provide any expert analysis, but man oh man is it fun to see a team I’m a fan of perform well in the playoffs. I haven’t truly seen it since the Blazers western conference finals run in 2019, so it’s long overdue.

things knowing that if, at any point, they win a game they’re done.”

One may assume that the preparation for a series with playoff implications would be far different for a player, but CWU Catcher Austin Ohland doesn’t let the pressure of a big series affect his mentality heading in.

“We know this is going to be a very different team than the team we played earlier in the year, but to an extent you have to understand that they’re going to be deflated after that weekend. At the end of the day it’s going to come down to who plays better this weekend,” said Ohland. “For me personally it’s trying to find that even keel and just play my game that I know I can play.”

CWU would go on to defeat MSUB in two of their three games over the Thursday & Friday contests, taking the Yellowjackets down in game 1 of the series, winning 12-7, and continuing their winning ways in game 2, winning 5-1.

The baseball team will go on to the GNAC playoffs starting Thursday, May 11th, and wrapping up the day following. Their first round opponents will be Northwest Nazarene University, the 2nd ranked team in the GNAC.

May 7

Loss 15-14

Women’sRugbyat AmericanInternational

May 7

Loss 26-10

Men’sRugbyat PennState

KeiaMaegoingtopunishthedefender. Photo by Jacob Thompson/Thompson Sports Media

KeiaMaedashingfortheendzone. Photo by Jacob Thompson/Thompson Sports Media

CWUBaseballteamgatheredaroundHeadCoachDesiStorey. Photo by Jacob Thompson/Thompson Sports Media

Wildcat Words:

What’s your favorite sports team?

“Club América because my dad and brothers had a big influ ence on me watching soccer since it was a way we bonded.”

Q&A Q&A

Marie Marchand is just finishing out her first year as Ellensburg Poet Laureate. She serves as the Kittitas County Public Health Department Mental Health Programs Coordinator and is on the board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Kittitas chapter. She has lived in Ellensburg for over 3 years with her husband and two pups, Benny and Joon, and has a 22-year-old son.

Marie Marchand

Tell us a little about your background and what led you to be the poet that you are today. Writing poetry helps me process the world around and within me. Since high school, poetry has been a safe place where I can explore, discover, question, resist, wrestle, and accept. It’s been an invaluable part of my healing journey. Poetry’s hopeful, salvific value is part of what I seek to share during my term as Ellensburg Poet Laureate. If you haven’t found your window or doorway into poetry yet, keep reading and writing. I truly believe that no matter where you are in life, or what you do for a living, poetry can shelter and inspire you.

When writing the Ellensburg City Poem, what was that process like?

At first, I was intimidated by the idea of writing something for 20,000 people. But, as California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick reminded me, poetry has a transcendent and unifying power. During the pandemic, I spent time walking the land, which is a theme in “This Valley, Our Cradle.” While it’s impossible to capture every historical detail, I wanted the poem to express the spirit of the land and people. I did a lot of research and am grateful to those who shared stories and perspectives. I’ve learned so much about the ecology and history of the area through the process.

Favorite passages or messages in the Ellensburg City Poem, “This Valley, Our Cradle”?

People seem to like the metaphors of our inner jewel and our inner radiance. Some have reflected on the message of inclusion that the poem closes on. I’m glad these are resonating with folks. One woman came up to me and remarked, “This poem makes me love Ellensburg.” This filled my heart with joy! “This Valley, Our Cradle” seeks to inspire that kind of pride and affection for this beautiful place we call home.

What does the position of Ellensburg Poet Laureate entail, and what’s your favorite part of the job?

The Poet Laureate’s role is to enhance the presence and appreciation of poetry by making it accessible to everyone. I’ve given readings at Pacifica Senior Living, Ellensburg High School, the library, and Gallery One. I’ve also led poetry nature walks at local state parks. My favorite aspect is making connections with creative folks. I wrote my poem “Witnesses of Dawn” for the CWU Chamber Choir and their director Dr. Nicole Lamartine. They performed the poem at their candlelight concert last December, which was magical. They also performed at the unveiling of the City Poem in April. I love this collaboration!

What do you hope to see for the future of poetry in Ellensburg?

One of my dreams is for Ellensburg to have a Poetry Center where people can carve out a space to write poetry. Like the Sims Library of Poetry in LA, there could be workshops and performances, along with a library dedicated to poetry. When Ross Gay spoke at CWU, he talked a lot about the importance of connection, which is a theme throughout his poems and essays. A local Poetry Center would boost connection and community for many.

“The Seattle Seahawks because my family loves watching them and we’ve even gone to watch them play.”

1 - 6 p.m. - Day of Action in SURC 137

5 - 7 p.m. - DoA Block Party on 4th Ave between Pearl and Pine 6 - 8:30 p.m. - LGBTQ+ Film Festival “Twilight’s Kiss” in Samuelson Hall 104 CWU Family Weekend 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. - World Languages Day 2023 in SURC 135/271/201/202/137A

3 - 6 p.m. - Barrio Fiesta sa Bayan in Wellingtons Event Center 7:30 - 10:30 p.m. - “Into the Woods” in McIntyre Hall Stage/Auditorium

CWU Family Weekend 5 - 9 p.m. - African Night in SURC Ballroom

CWU Family Weekend Mothers Day

3 - 4 p.m. - ASCWU Public Meeting in SURC Pit 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. - Monday Movie Madness: “John Wick: Chapter 4” in SURC Theater (Students Only, Bring ID) Noon - 2 p.m. - Second Harvest Mobile Food Pantry in McIntyre Hall Rotunda

National Drawing Day

*SeeFullCityPoemOnline*

Brina Baysinger Fr. Biology

“The

“The Seattle Mariners because I grew up in Seattle. I played and watched baseball throughout my childhood.”

Jalen Taylor Soph. Business Administration

“The Chicago Bulls because my family is from Chicago and growing up, my favorite player of all time is Derrick Rose.”

Q&A compiled by Katherine Camarata

Michelle Carrillo Soph. Political Science

Glen Mcinerney Jr. Law and Justice

Isabella Warner Jr. Philosophy

Oscar the Observant. Design by Brittany Cinderella