The Observer, Fall 2022 - Issue 3

ASCWU President resigns following motion for recall election Petition and months of publicly expressed concern spur action

The Andayas dominate CWU volleyball for nearly three decades

Katherine Camarata Lead Editor

Former ASCWU President for the 2022-2023 year Rachael Medalia officially resigned from her position on Sept. 19.

Luis Reyes, former executive vice president, was appointed the new ASCWU president follow ing Medalia’s letter of resignation.

A motion for a recall election was made by Senate Speaker and Inter im Executive Vice President Brady Smith five days earlier on Sept. 14, that was met with a majority vote from the ASCWU board.

Smith’s statement motioning for a recall said Medalia’s actions were, “limiting the students’ ac cess to ASCWU, their student representatives, and excluding our student population, especially those who belong to traditionally underrepresented communities.”

A petition began circulating last spring to remove Medalia from office as the student body was concerned Medalia was “abusing her power,” according to Smith. The change.org petition has at present garnered 426 signatures to impeach Medalia.

The petition was started by alum na and former Student Senator Bi anca Sanchez and read in part, “Staff members are aware of behavior and the reports against her [Medalia], but they have opted to not take action, allowing her without pen alty or discouragement to harass colleagues and create hostile work environments in the office.”

In the petition, Sanchez also outlined a scenario in which voic es of marginalized identity groups were silenced.

In interviews last spring, San chez and Presidents United to Solve Hunger (PUSH) former

President and current Wildcat Pantry Coordinator Jaeda Nelson described incidents of intimidation and disagreement with Medalia.

Sanchez said she quit her job on the Student Senate in June because she “didn’t feel comfort able working in that environment anymore.”

Sanchez later created the petition and protested Medalia’s presidency at ASCWU board meetings.

Sanchez also made a public statement at the final ASCWU Board meeting on June 6 that was shared on her Instagram account. In Sanchez’s statement, she said, “I am not a learning experience for you to do better. Your lack of ac countability has shown the whole school that you are not the leader for them.”

Deleted comments and mo tion to recall

According to Senate Speaker and current Interim Executive Vice President Smith, the petition was created too late in the school year for the Council of Probity to verify the signatures as would have been required. The Council of Probity will review the signa tures in coming weeks once their first meeting is scheduled, accord ing to Smith.

Smith said there are three ways to initiate a recall vote: through a student petition that must be verified by the Council of Probi ty, the student senate needs a ma jority vote or the ASCWU board needs a majority vote.

Neither the Council of Probity, a student group appointed by the president to oversee activities or misconduct claims in ASCWU, nor the Student Senate were in session at the beginning of the school year, so the ASCWU

board took matters into their own hands when Smith made the Sept. 14 statement.

According to Smith, working with Medalia over the summer opened his eyes to some of the concerns students had mentioned. Smith said Medalia exerted power over him in an inappropriate way during workplace interactions they had over the summer.

According to Smith, after the ASCWU board posted new photos of their staff on Insta gram on Sept. 9, students left comments asking about the status of the petition and why Medalia was still president.

Smith said Medalia had access to the Instagram account infor mation as is standard practice for the ASCWU president, and she was deleting comments on the post that were about the petition. At the time of the comments be ing deleted, Smith said Medalia was the only ASCWU member with access to the Instagram ac count until later that day.

Comments on the Instagram post currently read, “Why does ASCWU government continu ally silence the voices of students on campus?? Zero accountability,” and “If this account is funded by public money in anyway it is not in anyway shape or form ok to block or delete comments.”

Smith said Medalia’s actions went against their board values of increasing transparency “to the fullest extent.”

The Observer reached out to Medalia and the rest of the AS CWU Board for comment and did not receive a response by the date of publication.

See Story on Pg. 6

City of Ellensburg hopes to combat rising rent prices and housing shortage

Omar Benitez Staff Reporter

The City of Ellensburg is cur rently facing an ongoing housing crisis says Community Devel opment Director, Jamey Ayling. And the city has wasted no time enacting a housing action plan aimed at trying to combat the shortage. This includes plans to increase production of housing.

According to Ayling, the City of Ellensburg needs to produce about 281 housing units annually until 2037 to properly deal with the shortage and the growth the city has experienced.

”The City of Ellensburg needs to produce 281 housing units annually from 2020-2037 to ad dress both the growth target and the undersupply of housing units, representing a 162% pro duction increase over current annual net product of 107 units per year,” Ayling said.

Ayling said this means that El lensburg needs to increase its production of housing units by 162 percent from the 107 housing units they are currently producing.

With the current undersup ply of housing units, that means that rent has increased through out the city further reducing the number of affordable housing units available.

According to the City of Ellens burg, about a third of the house holds in Ellensburg are cost bur dened, meaning that the amount

of rent paid exceeds over 30 per cent of the household’s income.

The housing action plan hopes to address the lack of affordable housing by building more af fordable units with about 57 units planned.

According to Ayling, they still need more if they really want to make a difference.

“It’s not enough,” Alying said. “We’re probably only hitting 5% Maybe right now, and I think that needs to increase.”

Ayling said he is hopeful the housing plan will be able to ad dress these issues, but he said he knows right now there are cer tain obstacles getting in the way of the plan getting done.

“Time is the biggest obstacle, there’s just a lot of pressure for development” Ayling said.

Ayling said that even if Ellens burg can manage to increase its production of housing, things are going to take time until the city is fully.

“There’s probably a five year minimum to look at catching up, and that’s just catching up,” Ayling said.

Housing action plans have become much more common now since the Biden adminis tration has aided with helping small growing cities across the country.

The housing action plan cur rently underway in the city was put together by the Ellensburg Affordable Housing Commission.

Tia(left)andMario(right)Andayaduringtheirclubvolleyballdays. Photo Credit: Andaya FamilyRachaelMedalia(left)resignedasASCWUPresidentwhileLuisReyes(right)tookovertheposition. Photos courtesy of the CWU website and Reyes’ LinkedIn profile.

Beyond Our Coverage

Local

Lincoln Elementary is being renovated with a new gym, HVAC, plumbing and electrical. An open house will be hosted with a book fair and food, according to NBCRight Now.

Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital staff fell ill after catching a man smoking Fentanyl in his room, according to the Yakima Herald Republic.

A 32-year-old Tacoma man died in a shooting on Sunday night, according to King5News. The man and his 18-year-old female passenger who was also injured were shot in their car. The shooting is being inves tigated as a homicide by Tacoma police.

The Observer Staff

Lead Editor Katherine Camarata

News Editor

Evan Couch

Scene Editor

Morgana Carroll

Sports Editors

Jacqueline Hixssen Isaac Hinson

Opinion Editor

Katlyn White

Online Editor

Madison Vanravenhorst

Copy Desk Lead Katlyn White

Graphic Designers

Glacie Kehoe-Padilla

Leila Haji

Photographer

Brevin Ross

Senior Reporter Megan Rogers

Staff Reporters

Omar Benitez

Jahleel Breland

Brittany Cinderella Zaire Eltayeb

Devin Guerra-Burnett

Kimberly Lariviere

Beau Sansom Andrew Ulstad

Faculty Adviser Jennifer Green

Editorial Consultant

Francesco Somaini

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 Wash ington University as a newspaper and to provide training for students who are seeking a career in journalism. The Observer seeks to provide com plete, accurate, dependable information to the cam pus 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 journal ism. 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 stu dents 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.

According to the New York Times, Presi dent Biden pardoned thousands federally convicted of marijuana possession and said his administration is set to review other substances next, such as LSD and heroin.

Search is underway for a toddler who was last seen in his hometown of Savannah, Geor gia, according to CNN. 20-month-old Quinton Simon went missing on Wednesday.

Tulsi Gabbard, former Congresswoman from Hawaii and 2020 presidential candi date, announced she is leaving the Democrat ic Party on Tuesday after years of increasingly being at odds with their policies, according to CNN.

Chinese fighter jets intruding into Taiwan’s territorial airspace will be viewed as “first strike” by Taiwan’s Defense Minister, according to CNN.

China’s COVID cases have skyrocketed to the highest they have been since August, according to Globalnews.ca. Chinese officials have been under more pressure than usual as Omicron sub-variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 have been detected in mainland China.

Russia launched aerial attacks timed to co incide with rush hour traffic on Kyiv and other western Ukrainian cities on Monday, according to AP News. Ukrainian officials will halt energy exports to Europe starting Tuesday.

Letter from the Editor

Hello fellow students,

I hope you are taking care of yourselves and enjoying this last bit of summer that seems to be extending into fall. We are on the horizon of Homecoming week, with stories galore to share ranging from the ASCWU president resignation story (pg. 1 continued on pg. 11) to Hispanic Heritage Month (pg. 3) to a profile about a father-daughter coach-player duo (pg. 4 - 5).

When thumbing through this issue, we hope you’ll ponder these questions: What does accountability look like and how do you implement it in your own lives, equally as much as you do for others? What does family mean to you and how do you celebrate family, chosen or by bloodline?

Thank you for being alive and staying strong,

8th Congressional District Debate to be held in McConnell Hall

According to a release by CWU Public Relations, McCo nnell Hall will host the sixth installment of the Washington State Debate Coalition’s congressional debate series on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.. The debate will feature Rep. Kim Schrier (D) and Matt Larkin (R).

Congressional debates have been televised on campus be fore, as was the case in 2018 when Dino Rossi (R) also debated Rep. Kim Schrier (D).

According to the release, Schrier is a two-term incumbent elected in 2018. Kittitas and Chelan counties, as well as east ern parts of Pierce and King counties, are included in the 8th District race, which is expected to be on the “more hotly con tested” side, according to the release.

CWU President Jim Wohlpart said in the release, “Central Washington University is honored to have been chosen as one of the sites for this year’s Congressional debates … We are proud to welcome and engage our community.”

Tickets are available for free via eventbrite.com and the link can be found via the CWU website.

Katherine Camarata Lead Editor

Homecoming

Thursday, Oct. 13

Golf Cart Parade @ Noon

out golf carts roam through campus!

Standup Comedy Show with Zoltan Kaszas

for

students,

Sharing the Abundance:

Music

Friday, Oct. 14

Festival

6 - 8 p.m.

lawn and front drive

Wellington’s Wildfire

Music Building lawn and front drive

Saturday, Oct. 15

DIVERSITY

Sharing perspectives

Supportingawareness

Honoring Heritage: Hispanic Heritage Month

Honrando la Herencia: Mes de la Herencia Hispania

Morgana Carroll Scene Editor

“It’s not a month to eat tacos or wear sombreros or promote Spanish-speaking tv shows,” world languages professor Andrea Herrera-Dulcet said.

“It is a month to frame and discuss narratives and Hispanic heritage in the U.S. and its contribution.”

Hispanic Heritage Month spans from Sep. 15 to Oct. 15, and includes the dates of multiple Latin American independence days and holidays. It started as Hispanic Heritage Week under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and

Herrera-Dulcet said she would like to see Hispanic Heritage Month move away from being centered around performance and festivities, and be more about sharing experiences.

“I received an email recently from one of the public schools here in Ellensburg asking if, for Hispanic Heritage Month, we could send some students who could dance folkloric dances or play some mariachi music,” Herrera-Dulcet said. “I would like to see Hispanic Heritage Month moving away from that more like, ‘Hey, we would like to know if you could host some talks on Latinidad, or workshops

“It’snotthesamebeingborninSpain,orin PuertoRico,Cuba,Miami,orinArizona. It’scompletelydifferentstories.”

-Andrea Herrera-Dulcet, World Languages Professor

would be expanded to a month by Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Christina Torres García, a world languages professor, said she thinks it’s not enough to have a week or a month.

“Unfortunately we still have a week or a month,” García said.

“We haven’t been incorporated into American history for our day to day.”

García said the reason heritage month is so important is because it’s a reminder of the contribution of the Hispanic community, especially when Hispanic representation is so low in the media and politics.

Herrera-Dulcet said the reason it’s so important to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month is because it’s an opportunity to create spaces for Hispanic voices that otherwise go unheard.

“Brown stories, brown experiences, brown voices do not have the same media exposure as white voices do,” Herrera-Dulcet said. “It’s important to remember that, especially those upholding those white spaces need to observe and make room for these other voices.”

Citlali Gonzalez-Arroyo, the co-chair for Movimiento Estudiantil Chinana/o de Aztlan (MECHA) a Latinx organization that focuses on political issues, said that for her Hispanic Heritage Month is about family.

“My people, my parents are the reason why I’m here. They’re my heritage. They are my history,” Gonzalez-Arroyo said.

on Latinx in the U.S. educational system.’”

García also thinks that Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to talk about issues that Hispanic communities are facing. One of the biggest

issues García thinks needs to be discussed is immigration reform.

“I really want immigration reform to be done and over with. I want undocumented students to have a path for citizenship,” García said.

A discussion that HerreraDulcet said she thinks needs to be brought up more is the term Hispanic and what goes under that umbrella term. HerreraDulcet said that the Hispanic umbrella is broad.

“Even though this is called the Hispanic Heritage Month we really don’t have a chance to talk about all the colors, and all of the flavors, and all of the minutiae that exists in what we call the Hispanic heritage movement,” Herrera-Dulcet said. “Pointing out what makes us closer but also what makes us different, right? It’s not the same being born in Spain, or in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Miami, or in Arizona. It’s completely different stories.”

Herrera-Dulcet said that when people think of Hispanic communities they’re usually thinking of Mexico, or some other central and south American countries, but the community includes more than

that. She gives the example of such Afrolatinas being an underrepresented community. Another example he gives is a region in Mexico that has a large amount of people with Chinese heritage.

According to HerreraDulcet, CWU is on the path to becoming a Hispanic-Serving

Institution. According to the Department of Education in order to be a Hispanic-Serving Institution it has to have at least 25% of their full time students be Hispanic. Being a HispanicServing Institution would give CWU access to more funding and resources to be put toward assisting their Hispanic students.

Important dates during Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15 Independence Day for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua

September 16 Mexican Independence Day

September 18 Chilean Independence Day

October 12 Día de la Raza

FlagssitonthetableoftheHispanicHeritageMonthLuncheonatMacDillAirforceBase. Photo courtesy of Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

Veterans Center hosts welcome for new and returning students in the military

Beau Sansom Staff Reporter

The CWU Veterans Center joined forces with various cam pus partners to host their annu al fall welcome event for new and returning students in the military and their families. Held in SURC 137A, attendees were treated with complimentary food and drinks provided by CWU dining services.

The welcome event is an op portunity for students involved in the military to get connected with others on campus.

The Veterans Center and their partners around campus threw a raffle that centered on attendees filling out a paper slip that tracked them talking to different event sponsors to enter the raffle.

Director of the CWU Veter ans Center, Ruben Cardenas, organized the event alongside his staff which includes three professional staff members as well as three student staff mem bers working together to coor dinate the event.

“We’re really trying to foster the development and establish ment of our military affiliated

community,” Cardenas said. “Not only do we serve veterans, we also serve current service mem bers … and also family members that have received benefits from the service member.”

Present campus partners were able to shed light on re sources available to students such as the Wellness Center, Learning Commons and Dis ability Services.

The event also provided a space for students to mingle and get to know one another.

“Being a new student, some times you feel like a small fish in a big pond,” Student Outreach Recruiter Andy McDonough said. “Having an event or space that makes sense to go to … it’s a great way to meet new people or make a friend … and get to meet the staff and different offices that work here.”

A table of prizes from the raf fle sat in front of the room as a beneficial reminder to keep the energy at the event high.

“The event was nice, a lot of friendly people and they’re all very welcoming,” Mark Racho, a first-year student in the flight program, said. “I feel like I have a place in this school.”

Veteran Affairs work study students joined their fellow stu dents in participating in the ac tivities available.

“Everybody deserves their event that’s built for them,” re turning work study student Car son Biermanski said. “It was a lot of fun … There was a lot of cool people there that you got to meet, they answered all the ques tions they’re very knowledgeable people and cool prizes so it’s tough to beat.”

Not only were student attend ees able to secure crucial re sources, but the student work ers who have been in their shoes were able to engage with new comers and returning student veterans alike.

Work study student and stu dent senate representative, Dustin Jackson, said “I trans ferred into the school and I was new … Having the welcome and just getting acclimated with the Veterans Center community as well as resources on campus … It’s welcoming in the sense that there’s people here that care about you, but here’s actual re sources to get you support as you go through your academic jour ney here and even after.”

Photos by: Beau Sansom

StudentSenateRepresentativeDustinJackson(right)minglingwithLearningCommonstable

AndyMcDonoughstandingbytoawardraffleprizes

DirectorCardenas(left)andStudentSenateSpekerBraydenSmith(right) conversingatwelcomeevent

DiningServicesprovidedaspreadforattendees

Sarah Beauchamp looks forward to new position on Ellensburg City Council

Zaire Eltayeb Staff Reporter

Sarah Beauchamp was recent ly voted into the Ellensburg City Council and said she is excited to fulfill her new role. Beauchamp discussed how she is going to help the community and what her fo cus will be in her new position.

“I’m hoping to work through city council connections with CWU’s Provost and President” Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp said she is looking forward to making Ellensburg more inviting in the downtown area to all demographics.

“There’s got to be things that involve everyone in the area, from our moms with toddlers at home to our senior population,” Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp said she wants to highlight and decrease social limita tions within downtown Ellensburg.

“There’s not much to do if you’re not 21 or want to spend money shopping,” Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp said the learning curve is a process just like most things. According to Beau champ, she also looks forward to policy change.

“I’ve been there a couple weeks, and I’ve only had one meeting,” Beauchamp said. ”It was an eye opener and I have a lot to learn.”

Beauchamp said affordable housing is an issue she is eager to be more involved with.

“Affordable housing, rent has skyrocketed and not only can our students not afford it but our young families can’t afford it either,” Beauchamp said.

Another improvement Beau champ said she hopes for is in clusivity.

“Equality and inclusion, that’s a very big one for me,” Beau champ said. “We’ve made great steps as a community towards that, but we have a lot of work to do there. I hope between my small business, being on the

board of Affordable Housing Commission, and on city coun cil, that engagement I have in the community can open up some eyes and let people know about it.”

Beauchamp said she is an ad vocate for the growth and im provement of Ellensburg and said she is open to learn with her other council members.

“The staff has been amazing,” Beauchamp said. “I’m excited to dive in and be a part of the change that’s happening.”

David Miller, another council member, also spoke about his excitement to have Beauchamp on the council.

“Sarah is a great addition,” Miller said. “She has great com munity ties and with her back ground and community work over the years.”

With the new year approach ing, Beauchamp said she is ex cited to fully embrace the new role as city council member and all that comes with it.

Clinic offers lessons on rock wall climbing

Kimberly LaRiviere Staff Reporter

Intro to Bouldering 1 Climbing Clinic will take place on Oct. 13. at the rock wall in the Recreation Center. The wall stands 50 feet at its highest point and towers over the Recreation Center.

According to Jess Dankberg, rock-climbing lead and CWU student, rock climbing has many physical and mental benefits.

“It is very good with getting in touch with yourself,” Dankberg said. “It is kind of surprising what you can do. Even if you don’t think you are strong, and then you get 50 feet up and you’re like ‘Woah, I’m amazing.’”

Bouldering is when someone climbs closer to the ground with out a rope, according to climber news.com. Additionally, top rope is when a person is tied to a rope and has a belayer who helps with safety, according to climbing blogger.com. This allows them to climb higher up the wall.

Anyone can sign up to rock climb. Membership is includ ed with the Recreation Center

and available to students as part of tuition fees. Students can get different experiences when rock climbing, challenging themselves in a variety of ways.

Dankberg said people climb for sport; some climb to get stronger while others climb to get healthier. It is also a social sport where stu dents can meet friends, according to Dankberg.

“We have people come in with their friends all the time,” Dankberg said. “We do have a rock climbing team. Clinics are a great way to come in and meet people and learn things. We also have climbing events through out the year.”

Samuel Tibbets, rock wall climb ing route setter, said he enjoys the rock wall climbing community.

“You can immediately find people to talk to and make new friends really easily,” Tibbits said. “Our climbing team is big right now and we have been doing outdoor trips on the weekends.”

The CWU Climbing Wall offers quarter-long courses for credits as well as upcoming boul dering clinics listed below.

Wildcatsusingtherockwall. Photo by Isaac Hinson

BeauchamphopestohelpmultipleaspectsoftheEllensburgcommunity. Photo courtesy of Sarah Beauchamp

rock wall

Andayas dominate CWU volleyball for nearly three decades

Jacqueline Hixssen Sports Editor

Mario Andaya has embarked on his 27th season coaching volley ball here at CWU.

For the last season and a half, he has been accompanied by a new CWU player, one that calls him dad.

Tia Andaya, junior outside hit ter/setter, said, “I was like okay, I’m gonna call him Mario, just to see. Everybody was like, ‘No don’t do that, that’s weird,’ so I just call him ‘Dad.’”

Prior to joining CWU’s team, Tia played two seasons with Gon zaga University (GU).

Mario said, “She’s always had Central in her heart, even though she didn’t originally come here …

I know this is a place where she can still accomplish her dreams.”

Tia said, the culture at GU was not what she had anticipated and ultimately was her reason to transfer schools.

“Having grown up around Central volleyball, I knew ex actly what their culture was and exactly what the experience I would be getting … and it was a great one,” Tia said.

Mario is also a CWU alumni, graduating in 1993, and began his coaching career at CWU in 1992, according to Wildcat sports.

“I got on as a student assis tant while I was going to school here,” Mario said. “Eventual ly it led into an assistant role with the team for a few years, and then I was offered the head

coaching job after three years as the assistant.”

Since becoming head coach, Mario has been named twotime Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005 and has led the team to 11 GNAC championships, according to Wildcat sports.

Mario also coached the 2004 team to an undefeated season going 26-0; one of six GNAC teams to do so.

“You have to grow with the sport and the generation of ath letes your coaching, that in itself has been an awesome challenge and opportunity,” Mario said.

With nearly three decades of volleyball memories, Mario said the most influential memory has come recently.

“There’s so many good mem ories with the players that have been involved,” Mario said. “Now, experiencing this with my daugh ter, who grew up in Central and running around the gym ever since she was born and now see ing her with her teammates is one of the best memories that I will ever have.”

On CWU’s courts is not the first time Mario coached his daughter. According to Tia, Ma rio coached her club volleyball years as well.

“He coached me all through club too, and that set the foundation. That was a huge learning era for me and him both; trying to separate coach-dad and player-daughter,” Tia said. “Even now during college, it’s a whole other level. It’s still hard

but I think we do a pretty good job.” Seeing his daughter grow up to love the sport as much as he does has led to a diverse set of emotions, according to Mario.

“There’s a lot of different feelings about it because I want to see her do well, I want to make sure she’s living her dream and not mine,” Mario said. “But trying to accomplish a goal, as something we have worked really hard to do all of our lives, is pretty special.”

The Andaya duo is expect ed to have one more season together at CWU, before Tia graduates.

Mario said, “This is her sec ond year here and she has one more year, she got a COVID year back.”

Photos by Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

TiaAndayacelebratingapoint.

MarioAndayabeforeCWUplayedSPU.

Tia (left) and Mario (right) Andayaduringtheirclubvol leyballdays. Photo Courtesy of Andaya Family

“I want to make sure she’s living her dream and not mine.” -Mario Andaya, Head Coach

Tia(left)andMario(middle)Andayaonthecourttogether. Photo by: Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

MarioAndaya(left)givingTiaAndaya(right)coachingadivseduringagame. Photo by: Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

BenchcelebratesbehindHeadCoachMarioAndaya. Photo by: Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

Satire: New panda habitat to be built in place of chimposium

Katherine Camarata Columnist

Where a chimposium once stood proudly on the corner of Wildcat Way and 14th Street, a new habitat for endangered pandas will be taking its place come 2023 according to a release from CWU Public Relations.

The Department of Biology wanted to do their part by housing two newly-adopted Giant Pandas from China to roam in a new ly-constructed habitat, now featur ing vegan orange chicken as part of their stringent meal plan.

“Pandas are like more grace ful, well-fed versions of raccoons,” Professor of Biology Dr. Cara Bear said. “They’re the only creatures that can wear two black eyes with pride.”

According to Worldwildlife. org, the Giant Panda species has grown increasingly more at risk with only 1,800 left on the entire planet.

“We have been looking for an opportunity to bring wildlife back to our community after the loss of our beloved chimpanzees due to Tang poisoning,” Dr. Bear said. “This is one way for us to feel like things aren’t so black and white anymore after the stress of the pan da-emic.”

While many students believed the habitat to look very similar to popular fast food chain Panda Ex press, Dr. Bear assured the student body that this is merely a mirage and the space is actually designed to serve Giant Pandas in captivity from the hours of 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

During the off hours, the Giant Pandas will be given the honorable duty of cleaning the bathrooms, filming toilet paper commercials to cash in like the Charmin bears and restocking the fortune cookies with tidbits of wisdom.

“This is one way for them to earn their keep,” Dr. Bear said. “Adopting a Giant Panda is neither cheap nor easy, and given the staff shortages on campus, we figured this was a way to be economical as well as ecological.”

The Giant Pandas will be avail able to visit wearing name tags come January 2023, when CWU will finally “wok the wok” by sup porting the environment and its inhabitants.

advice?

BSERVED

Fashion will never go out of fashion

Devin Guerra-Burnett Columnist

Style is timeless. No matter what, it always comes back around and makes another generation”s staple to use and express.

Take footwear like Nike Blazers. Arguably one of the staples in the 1970s and have made their return in 2022.

Expressing them in differ ent ways being a sleek comfy sneaker to rock day to day.

Style isn’t just what you wear or how you wear it’s a type of art and self-expression.

According to Anna Dello Russo, Japanese vogue editor

“I believe fashion is a form of expression … I don’t want to be cool; I want to be fashion able.”

Russo said, “Fashion is art and allows for creativity whereby one is able to have an individual identity that makes

one special.”

Fashion is a statement piece that coincides with your style but is created through adver sity through each individual.

There are no dos or don’ts if you feel confident in wear ing it. Accessories, clothing, makeup, footwear, jewelry, it all comes together when you feel your best and confident in doing so.

There are those who believe fashion is just what’s in style, but it’s the opposite.

Fashion is always evolving but having style is timeless. Fashion becomes what the de signers and the cultural con text of the world want it to be.

If you think back to the ‘70s, girls wore the cropped blous es and high-rise shorts which were popular in that era.

Today it’s similar to some except it has now evolved with a modern twist because of the influence each time pe

riod has on us.

The point is you should be able to wear what you like, if it makes you feel confident in expressing who you are to the world then do so.

Others’ opinions will always be there, but it is up to you to

have fun with your fashion, be bold, be wild in the pat terns or textures you choose.

Don’t let society’s box of style conform you to thinking you aren’t killing your outfit because you are. Rock it and own it.

Indie bookstores are the best place around to purchase books

Megan Rogers Columnist

Reading is honestly one of the best things and with books comes along book stores. Nothing brings me

more joy than buying a book. What brings me even more joy is buying books from my local independent (indie) bookstore.

My personal favorite is In vitation Bookshop located

in my hometown Gig Har bor, Washington. I know it is tempting to go to Amazon and buy a cheaper book, but say ‘no’ to Jeff Bezos and ‘yes’ to indie bookshops and here’s why.

Friendly Staff

As an avid reader, I love in die bookstores. When I walk into one I feel like the staff is more attentive than at a chain store. I find they are more ea ger to help and talk to you. You can tell these staff mem bers are passionate about their store and the books within it.

Unique Look

Each indie bookshop is unique; they each have their own quirks and different lay outs. When you walk into a chain store, like Barnes and Noble, they all have very simi lar layouts which, in my opin ion, can get quite tiresome.

Community I know buying books is pric ey. My bank account concurs. But when supporting an indie

bookstore you are also sup porting its community.

According to TCK Publish ing, “Studies have shown that for every $100 spent at a local business, $68 stays within the local economy, whereas $100 spent at a national chain only returns $43. Buying through large online retailers returns $0 to the local economy.”

To support indie bookstores in the Ellensburg communi ty, visit Jerrol’s, Brick Road Books or Pearl Street Books & Gifts.

Employment Indie bookshops also create jobs for people.

According to International Labor Organization “Micro-, small and medium-sized en terprises … are responsible for more than two thirds of all jobs worldwide. They also ac count for the majority of new job creation.”

Statics by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that of Aug. 2022 the unemployment rate is at 3.7%.

Go buy books from indies.

Photocourtesyofpexels.com

PhotobyKatlynWhite/TheObserver

Wildcats earn three Player of the Week awards

Isaac Hinson Sports Editor

Three wildcats won player of the week awards last week.

Tre’jon Henderson won Lonestar Conference (LSC) Offensive Player of the Week. Hannah Stires won volleyball Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Defensive Player of the Week. Payton Lindell won women’s soccer Offensive Player of the Week.

“I celebrated with my family,” said Henderson. “They’re down in Texas, so they were giving calls. My grandparents sent me some cash for the touchdowns … They all see me work when I’m home, and they’re happy that I’m up here competing and having fun.” Henderson commented on how important it was to have fun when playing and how it attributes to success.

“It’s the most important thing,” Henderson said. “When you miss out on the fun aspect, you miss out on the little things. When you’re having fun, you’re playing your best … That’s where good players and good teams come from. It’s a children’s game, we’re just playing as adults. Remembering that is the key to winning.”

Henderson logged 152 yards on 19 targets/attempts, averaged eight yards per carry and scored three touchdowns. He led CWU to a victory against Eastern New Mexico University.

“It means that the team is playing good,” said Henderson about winning the award. “I can’t get the award without them. I’m very hard on myself … I take it and I appreciate it, but I always look at how the team performed.”

Stires led the volleyball team in digs through two games, earning 53 in total. CWU went 1-1 in the two games against Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Western Washington University, getting the win against SFU.

Stires, the sophomore libero out of Lakeside High School, was unaware that she had won the award.

“I was pretty excited,” Stires said. “Coach Mario texted me and told me ‘Congratulations on winning player of the week,’ and I didn’t know yet, so I saw and was like ‘What?’”

Stires credits the hard work she has been putting in as what led to her winning the award.

“Our whole team has been working really hard,” said Stires.

“We’ve been working on our defense, extending rallies and keeping the ball alive. I’m glad to see it was recognized. We really put emphasis on that and it paid off.”

Similarly to Henderson, Stires credits the team for her recognition. Pointing out a team-wide change in culture.

“As a whole, our defensive mindset has changed,” Stires said. “We were all really able to hone in on keeping the ball up. It felt like a team win, not that I had a crazy game. Everyone was on the same page, working so well together.”

Stires said she has begun to accept a leadership role amongst the team, and doesn’t want to be anywhere else.

“We talk a lot about leadership,” said Stires. “I feel like my role on the team is inspiring my teammates to believe in themselves and know that I pick them over anyone else in the GNAC. I pick them over any team, any players. I see all the potential and greatness that we are able to do.”

Lindell led the Wildcats in shots in the win against Saint Martin’s University, and scored the game-winning goal, putting the women’s soccer team at a 2-6-3 record.

Passion drives Josh Flowers to succeed in football

Devin Guerra-Burnett Staff Reporter

Josh Flowers, CWU’s junior defensive-back, said one of the reasons for his success comes from his passion.

The Chicago native transferred to CWU this year from Division I Saint Francis University.

Flowers said, “the love of the game for me really started in highschool.”

Finding his passion for football started at Glenbard North High with his friends and teammates.

“I was surrounded by a bunch of friends and we all really started taking football seriously and with

football it could bring a lot of positive things, like scholarships and education,” Flowers said.

Flowers’ intense drive for the sport rooted his freshman year of high school, according to Flowers.

“It was really just me and my friends talking about it everyday,” Flowers said. “Always going to the field and all trying to make it to the next level..”

While being able to practice together with those who had the same passion and common interest as himself, Flowers found where his inspiration originated from.

“I feel like it was my friends and the people I surrounded

myself with,” Flowers said. “We didn’t have anyone to look up to, we were more of the people that other people could look up to,” Flowers said.

By leading by example for his community in hopes of those who are following in his footsteps, Flowers made sure to be someone the younger generation could look up to.

“My main goal right now really is just getting my degree. Football … can help me meet people and make lifelong friendships.The lessons you learn, especially in college, learning how to work hard being on a very structured schedule,” Flowers said.

HannahStireslininguptomaketheplay. Photo courtesy of Jacob Thompson/ Thompson Sports.

PaytonLindellrushingfortheplay. Photo courtesy of Jacob Thompson/Thompson Sports

Tre’jonHendersonmakingtheplayhappen. Photo courtesy of Jacob Thompson/ Thompson Sports

ASCWU President resigns following motion for recall election Petition and months of publicly expressed concern spur action

Smith said the loss has been pal pable, but ASCWU is adapting to the change.

The Observer reached out to Medalia and the rest of the AS CWU Board for comment and did not receive a response by the date of publication.

Looking ahead

In Smith’s Sept. 14 statement, he said he was not speaking from a place of “personal belief,” rather trying to accurately speak for the student body as a whole.

“It was a very hard thing to say and hard thing to do,” Smith said. “We had to take action and we wanted to take action because we wanted to listen to our students.”

The recall election was an nounced on Instagram and would have required the student body to vote on whether to recall Medalia’s presidency within two weeks. However, Medalia’s resig nation negated the need for this.

“We’ve all been contributing to fill those gaps as much as we can,” Smith said. “Luis has done a really good job transitioning.”

Smith said the situation with Medalia was an overarching point of tension between the ASCWU board and the student body that is now on a path to being mended.

“We couldn’t be effective stu dent leaders, we couldn’t be accu rate representations, we couldn’t fulfill our promises,” Smith said.

According to Smith, since Medalia’s resignation the AS CWU board has received more positive interaction from the stu dent body and more willingness to share stories.

“We lost our most important player as far as position wise, but in other terms we made up for that because the support and interaction from students has really recovered it,” Smith said.

Wildcat Academic Mentoring program addresses multiple dimensions of wellness

Megan Rogers Senior Reporter

Wildcats Academic Mentor ing (WAM) launched this fall, which is an all-new peer men toring program created and di rected by Julia James.

James said WAM is an aca demic success program that also balances emotional, mental well ness and self-care.

On the wellness and self-care side of WAM, it is all about helping students who may be struggling in their lives and it also is about being a listening ear for them.

“You can have students that are engaging so much in social time that their academics are suffering,”

James said. “You also have students who are like sleep, do classwork, sleep, do classwork and they’re for getting to eat or spend time with friends or have those other parts of life that are really important for our mental health.”

While the peer mentors are not trained mental health profession als, they are trained to help stu dents find the resources they need. Whether that be counseling, dis ability services, etc.

James said there is not conversa tion about why a student is strug gling in classes without the con versation about how a student is struggling in their personal life.

“Something I’ve really been learning as a learning support

professional in these last years of my career is that you can’t really separate those things,” James said. “They’re inextricable.”

With WAM, they acknowledge the individual strengths and needs of students by personality matching them to a peer mentor. To do this, students will fill out a survey and then actually go in and have a faceto-face conversation.

Carson Fast, music perfor mance senior and WAM mentor, said one thing they can help with in WAM is learning how to pri oritize school and life.

“We can also help build daily schedules, like ‘Oh, I need a morn ing routine or I need something to help me study better and so we

help with that,’” Fast said. “Helping them [with] academics and under standing how to be a college kid, how to interact with people pro fessionally and still get what you need out of the courses.”

If students are struggling to re member things they read in a text book, they can also learn textbook reading strategies or note-taking strategies. If a student needs help reaching out to a professor, WAM can help with that.

Fast said the reason why she be came a mentor in WAM is to help students like her.

“I wanted to help students with disabilities because I have disabil ities myself,” Fast said. “I just want to help students with ADHD, just

kind of figure out college because it was definitely a learning curve and really hard for me.”

Natalie Amos, first-year gradu ate student studying psychology and a graduate mentor in WAM, said the academic side of WAM is also about making things more simple for students.

“We will kind of just break down every component of their classes and see, ‘Hey, you said you’re strug gling in this area, but let’s look at all the factors that are influencing that,’” Amos said.

For students who believe WAM can help them, they can go to cwu. retain.io and click the red Wildcat Academic Mentoring button to schedule an appointment.

WAMmentors(lefttoright):NatalieHammill,CarsonFast,SamDeSmith,Jacob Luthardt,LeeSchwartz,RubyCollins. Photo courtesy of: Julia James

WAMmentors(lefttoright):ChloeCairns,MadelineBjorn,OliviaZavala,NatalieAmos,AnnaRichardson,Sidney Grimm,MaggieGatlin,KiaraZmiarovichSadaya,TiffanyOchoa,JacqueRamirez. Photo courtesy of: Julia James

TheInstagramphotopostedonSept.9wherestudentcommentsweredeleted. Photo courtesy of ASCWU Instagram account.

ASCWU President resigns following motion for recall election Petition and months of publicly expressed concern spur action

Smith said the loss has been pal pable, but ASCWU is adapting to the change.

The Observer reached out to Medalia and the rest of the AS CWU Board for comment and did not receive a response by the date of publication.

Looking ahead

In Smith’s Sept. 14 statement, he said he was not speaking from a place of “personal belief,” rather trying to accurately speak for the student body as a whole.

“It was a very hard thing to say and hard thing to do,” Smith said. “We had to take action and we wanted to take action because we wanted to listen to our students.”

The recall election was an nounced on Instagram and would have required the student body to vote on whether to recall Medalia’s presidency within two weeks. However, Medalia’s resig nation negated the need for this.

“We’ve all been contributing to fill those gaps as much as we can,” Smith said. “Luis has done a really good job transitioning.”

Smith said the situation with Medalia was an overarching point of tension between the ASCWU board and the student body that is now on a path to being mended.

“We couldn’t be effective stu dent leaders, we couldn’t be accu rate representations, we couldn’t fulfill our promises,” Smith said.

According to Smith, since Medalia’s resignation the AS CWU board has received more positive interaction from the stu dent body and more willingness to share stories.

“We lost our most important player as far as position wise, but in other terms we made up for that because the support and interaction from students has really recovered it,” Smith said.

Wildcat Academic Mentoring program addresses multiple dimensions of wellness

Megan Rogers Senior Reporter

Wildcats Academic Mentor ing (WAM) launched this fall, which is an all-new peer men toring program created and di rected by Julia James.

James said WAM is an aca demic success program that also balances emotional, mental well ness and self-care.

On the wellness and self-care side of WAM, it is all about helping students who may be struggling in their lives and it also is about being a listening ear for them.

“You can have students that are engaging so much in social time that their academics are suffering,”

James said. “You also have students who are like sleep, do classwork, sleep, do classwork and they’re for getting to eat or spend time with friends or have those other parts of life that are really important for our mental health.”

While the peer mentors are not trained mental health profession als, they are trained to help stu dents find the resources they need. Whether that be counseling, dis ability services, etc.

James said there is not conversa tion about why a student is strug gling in classes without the con versation about how a student is struggling in their personal life.

“Something I’ve really been learning as a learning support

professional in these last years of my career is that you can’t really separate those things,” James said. “They’re inextricable.”

With WAM, they acknowledge the individual strengths and needs of students by personality matching them to a peer mentor. To do this, students will fill out a survey and then actually go in and have a faceto-face conversation.

Carson Fast, music perfor mance senior and WAM mentor, said one thing they can help with in WAM is learning how to pri oritize school and life.

“We can also help build daily schedules, like ‘Oh, I need a morn ing routine or I need something to help me study better and so we

help with that,’” Fast said. “Helping them [with] academics and under standing how to be a college kid, how to interact with people pro fessionally and still get what you need out of the courses.”

If students are struggling to re member things they read in a text book, they can also learn textbook reading strategies or note-taking strategies. If a student needs help reaching out to a professor, WAM can help with that.

Fast said the reason why she be came a mentor in WAM is to help students like her.

“I wanted to help students with disabilities because I have disabil ities myself,” Fast said. “I just want to help students with ADHD, just

kind of figure out college because it was definitely a learning curve and really hard for me.”

Natalie Amos, first-year gradu ate student studying psychology and a graduate mentor in WAM, said the academic side of WAM is also about making things more simple for students.

“We will kind of just break down every component of their classes and see, ‘Hey, you said you’re strug gling in this area, but let’s look at all the factors that are influencing that,’” Amos said.

For students who believe WAM can help them, they can go to cwu. retain.io and click the red Wildcat Academic Mentoring button to schedule an appointment.

WAMmentors(lefttoright):NatalieHammill,CarsonFast,SamDeSmith,Jacob Luthardt,LeeSchwartz,RubyCollins. Photo courtesy of: Julia James

WAMmentors(lefttoright):ChloeCairns,MadelineBjorn,OliviaZavala,NatalieAmos,AnnaRichardson,Sidney Grimm,MaggieGatlin,KiaraZmiarovichSadaya,TiffanyOchoa,JacqueRamirez. Photo courtesy of: Julia James

TheInstagramphotopostedonSept.9wherestudentcommentsweredeleted. Photo courtesy of ASCWU Instagram account.

Ellensburg supports skateboarding in the community

Evan Couch News Editor

The City of Ellensburg Parks and Recreation Department is offering skateboarding lessons for ages eight and up.

Participants can choose from two, one hour lessons or four, one hour lessons. The days range from Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Sign up fees for lessons are $125 to $200 between the two options.

Lesson instructor Cameron Kastner said he has been in Ellensburg for a while and felt the lack of a skate program in the community.

“It kind of dawned on me, “Hey, they don’t really have a skate program… so let’s try and start one here,” Kastner said.

The program in Ellensburg may be getting started, but instructing and teaching board sports is nothing new to Kastner.

Kastner said he started teaching skate lessons two years ago in the city of Wilsonville, Oregon.

Kastner also said he worked at ski resorts such as Timberline, Oregon and Winter Park, Colorado doing similar work.

Kastner said the lessons are open to everyone. He said they are willing to accommodate ages younger than eight as well as riders who may require special needs.

“We’re willing to accommodate pretty much anyone,” Kastner said. “It tends to be toward younger kids if that’s who shows up, but we’ll teach anyone that shows up.”

Weekly lessons were set to start on Friday Sept. 30, however the program was left with no one signed up. Kastner said he thinks this was due to multiple reasons.

“We didn’t really get enough lead time to get the program going,” Kastner said. “Not enough people saw the ads or saw our facebook posts and that’s why we didn’t get enough interest.”

Along with the new installation of skate lessons, Kastner said the city is currently working on building a new skate park.

Kastner said partial motivation to get a program started in Ellensburg came from the rising skate culture that was displayed at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The skate

competitions during the 2020 Summer Olympics featured multiple skaters under the age of 16, including two 13-year-olds who battled each other for gold in the women’s street competition.

“Skateboarding is going to start becoming more mainstream,”

Kastner said. “There is going to be a need for skateboard instructors.”

When it’s all said and done, Kastner said he just wants to continue to build the skate community in Ellensburg.

“I just want to have more people

learning to skate,” Kastner said. “Just create more skaters.”

According to Kastner, there are still sign up slots for the last half of October. Anyone interested in lessons can sign up at eburgrec. activityreg.com.

Marching band hopes to connect and entertain this fall

Jahleel Breland Staff reporter

School is in session, fall sports are upon us and the marching band is ready to make its presence felt.

The Wildcat Marching Band will have an opportunity this weekend and next to rock the crowd as the football team hosts two straight home games.

Director of Bands, Dr. T.

André Feagin, said he has a lot of excitement for the band’s first event of the school year and for this upcoming sports season.

“It’s always a great time when we have an opportunity to bring the community together. I was at the first home game and it was a great game, great spirits and a great win but I also felt like something was missing out of the environment,” Feagin said.

The band can have a direct

impact on the crowd and even the game itself.

“I love watching the interplay between the fans and the team and when the team is excited and we’re excited, I think it’s a really great atmosphere to be in,” Feagin said.

Feagin, a former athlete himself, encourages students and the rest of the community to come out and show high spirits.

“I always think about the student athletes in those environments. I

ran track and field and you want to play for your team and for your teammates, but you really want to play for your school and your community and when they are there, that changes the whole environment and we try to do that,” Feagin said.

The band plays the whole game but the timeclock striking zero does not mean that the show is over. After a win, the football team will head over to celebrate

with the crowd.

“That is my favorite moment of the game. It’s the raw emotion that happens after a win and we play that particular song, it’s my favorite thing to watch,” Feagin said.

“Requiem for Dream” is the piece referenced.

Feagin said, “I love doing it. [A] win happens, and I see the team coming over and I’m like it’s about to get crazy, and it does.”

How student employees find their work life balance

Andrew Ulstad Staff Reporter

“Work-life balance is essential to doing both well,” Mason Saulsbury, a junior in film who works at the Diversity and Equity Center(DEC), said. “If you aren’t

treating yourself right in one, the other suffers and you end up spiraling into a bad feedback loop.”

CWU student employees said they use a variety of tools when dealing with stress. Student employees around campus shared

tips revealing how they stay on top of things.

Junior liberal studies major and employee at the Recreation Center, Angel Rivera, said selfcare holds significant importance.

“It does get overwhelming, and it can seem like a lot at first,

but … you’re going to find your routine,” Rivera said. “Don’t feel guilty about putting yourself first. Do what works best for you.”

Rivera said it’s also important to be aware of how long each task will take.

“If you have great time management skills then you’re already a step ahead of everybody,” Rivera said.

Junior history major and dining services employee Grace Cirillo said she agrees with the idea of putting students’ own needs ahead of work. She said she believes that for students with jobs, especially when working on campus, the employer wants students to succeed.

According to Cirillo, part of that success comes from making sure to schedule time for nothing.

“Sometimes it can get overwhelming, but when you take that amount of free time, even if it’s not a lot, it definitely

helps you calm down and destress,” Cirillo said.

Student employees said that making sure to schedule breaks into the day was not every employee’s preferred way to create free time.

Saulsbury said she likes to create two distinct chunks out of her schedule.

The first big chunk is for school and work, leaving most of her nights free for art, playing games, hanging out with roommates and cooking.

Saulsbury said she has found being passionate about her daily work helps to take the sting out of going to work.

“Working at a place where you are confident in … the role you do and it’s work that you believe in makes a huge difference, because then you’re not coming into work with the mindset of ‘I just need to get through it,’” Saulsbury said.

Ellenburglookstobuildastrongskatecommunitythroughyouth. Photo courtesy of Pexels

Photo

Jesse Paull Fr. Geology

Sincere Harris Fr. Theatre

Kosei Abe English

Jayde Smith Education Rickey Phan So. Secondary Math

Q Q A &A & with Kathleen Kiefer

Meet Kathleen Kiefer, an antrhopology alum who helped introduce the game of baseball to the country of Bhutan. Her non-prof it, Bhutan Cultural Exchange, is working to raise money for their program. The first league they started in Bhutan is a 15-and-un der youth league, which began in 2021.

Q: What got you first involved with anthropology in Southeast Asia? Or what exactly drove you to start your efforts in Southeast Asia?

A: My curiosity leads me to all good things that fledge the happy edges of my love for people and culture. This one started in the rural commu nity where I live. Baker City, in NE Oregon has a population of 10,000. I learned that a Buddhist monk from Bhutan would be at the communi ty art center for ten days (this was in 2015), conducting talks, lama dancing, creating a sand mandala, and undertaking an elaborate and deeply symbolic Padmasambhava fire offering ceremony. I was already a Buddhist leaning person so these were all things I was familiar with. It was amazing to think that this very large slice of culture would be landing in the middle of rural NE Oregon. At the time I had retired from my day job and was doing freelance work as a filmmaker, photographer, writer. I asked the staff at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center where the monk - Karma Namgyel Rinpoche - would be basing his presentations from, if I could photo, video and generally record the program. Of course all involved were delighted at my request and so it began - every day for ten days. I produced this video and had it finished for him to review before he left: https://youtu.be/umPwzoqer8E.

I also invited him on a hike into the nearby mountains where I recorded this one minute short: https://youtu.be/0nZVrGd7my0.

It was part of a wider freelance project I was doing at the time for a client. The assignment was to portray experiences people had in the Blue Mountains of NE Oregon. On the day he was preparing to depart I informed him that I wanted to go to Bhutan to see his country, a place I already knew about and was drawn to. I persisted in expressing my desire to go with him to Bhutan and about a year and a half later, it came to pass. I spent two weeks with him in Bhutan in 2016.

Q: What would you say has been the biggest reward since organizing the Bhutan Cultural Exchange?

A: Watching Bhutanese youngsters, boys and girls, playing baseball in videos and photos shared on social media. Bhutan Cultural Exchange funded a program that enhanced the development of baseball in the country. There have been and continue to be so many rewards working on projects on behalf of the people of this country I have come to love dearly. There is vast, endless beauty

most

it

Q: How has your CWU education and experiences

when it comes

the most

Southeast

validation of my curiosity which underscores everything I do as an anthropologist, filmmaker and photographer. My professors encouraged, but most of all, they engaged me in discussions about my pursuits. Not particularly with my current efforts in Bhutan, but with my efforts at the time I attended classes (1994). This was important to me as I came to embrace not just the study of anthropology, but grew confident enough to feel and say to myself and others that I am an anthropologist. This is the work I am here to do on this earth: learn about people and culture, ask questions, absorb, grow and serve through this amazing perspective informed by an education and a focus that embraces what it means to be human.

A: My education at Central was a

Q: How has playing baseball with a different cultural perspective (other than ‘America’s game’) improved your game?

A: I can’t really answer this, unless you mean it esoterically? I have yet to play ball with the team. Bhutan has been shut down since spring 2020. My last visit was in May 2019. I visited four different times prior to that. Our baseball efforts have all taken place via Zoom meetings with the youngsters starting their first under 15 league in December 2021. We watched on Facebook Live or on YouTube videos. The country opened up again at the end of September 2022 - just a bit over a week ago. I hope to be back before spring 2023. As for an esoteric spin, my answer to your question: My game improves every day that I pause long enough to value the people in my life for what they bring to every conversation or interaction. Whoever they are, wherever, however our paths intersect; friend or stranger, the exchange of meaning through language or gesture is what makes me feel alive.

Q: What are some words of wisdom you would share with someone who wanted to get involved with anthropology as you have?

A: Life is a precious thing - humans are fascinating and being human is a wonderful and curious opportunity to discover yourself and others. Humans are diverse and interesting, their histories and cul tures epic. Human culture, traditions, life ways, stories; past, present and future are rich with meaning, possibility and discovery. Be curious, question everything - but never forget that the seed of asking comes from a place that seeks connection - that’s what we naturally do as anthropologists - we seek connection at the deepest level. Most of all, say yes to opportunities, especially the ones that make you feel uncomfortable at first. Lean in to the unknown and never stop asking questions.

Wildcat Words - Brevin Ross,

- Kat Cardenas

“I think a bowl of pho. It is warm, comforting, and something I grew up with.”

PhotocourtesyofKathleenKiefer Content cut to online and edite for space

“I think it would be pizza? Actu ally, scratch that. I think it would have to be chicken because that is what I grew up on.”

“It would have to be pasta. I don’t know it is just good.” “Maybe Japanese food. Specifically sushi.”

“Probably some Thai food, like some Pad Thai. It is just so good.”