VOICES OF UKRAINE
SCENE
DEBATE
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Stories in times of unrest
Vol. 123 NO. 6
Student media editors travel to DC for MediaFest22
Schrier and Larkin battle it out for House seat November 02, 2022
“Cats Against Assault” claims lack of accountability in Title IX cases on campus tims and temporary suspension from work for Title IX perpetrators until their cases are resolved. Cats Against Assault is organizing a protest for Thursday, Nov. 3 from 2 4 p.m. starting at the Wildcat statue in front of the SURC, where they said community members can join in advocating against Title IX violations and their handling by CWU.
Katherine Camarata Lead Editor A new Instagram account titled Cats Against Assault has made waves and garnered over 1,400 followers since their first post on Oct. 20, which introduced the group as “students advocating for CWU to enforce Title IX Laws and hold predators accountable.” The Cats Against Assault page posts details about certain Title IX cases at CWU that the creators claim were mishandled or did not reach fair resolution, and some posts have mentioned the Ryan
Aspiri Dining Services misconduct case previously covered by The Observer (See “Dining services supervisor investigated for ‘inappropriate boundaries’”). The page shared a list of demands the creators of the account have emailed to President James Wohlpart and Joel Klucking, who they claim have not fulfilled these demands for better conditions in the handling of Title IX cases – despite having promised to do so in June 2022, according to a petition shared on their Linktree and their posts. At present, 211 people have signed the petition and over 30 peo-
ple have submitted their own Title IX stories to the Cats Against Assault team. The Observer conducted exclusive interviews with two of the creators of the account. Their demands include: “A free and accessible general counsel/ attorney” for Title IX victims, the “rights, options and risks” of victims in Title IX cases provided in writing at initial meetings with coordinators, a strictly-followed timeline that meets federal requirements of being handled within 90 days, more training for Title IX employees, for the burden of no contact orders to fall on perpetrators instead of vic-
Implications of Title IX Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was created by former President Nixon and states that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” According to the Department of Justice website, Title IX was created with two main objectives: to restrict the use of federal resources in discriminatory practice within education, and to offer protection to citizens against these practices. The CWU website states: “Central Washington University is committed to providing a learning, working and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect in an environment free of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Sexual discrimination violates an individual’s fundamental rights and personal dignity. CWU considers sexual discrimination in all its forms to be a serious offense.”
CWU Interim Vice President of Financial Affairs Andrew Morse gave a statement to The Observer on behalf of Public Relations: “Central Washington University is committed to the safety and success of our students. We also take complaints of gender-based violence— or any other forms of harassment, violence, and discrimination—seriously, and are following established university policy to investigate allegations in accordance with federal law and regulation. “We are always working with our shared governance groups, including student leaders, to improve our policy and practice on a continuous basis. This includes the formation of a task force to evaluate best practices on gender-based violence prevention that will further elevate equity-mindedness in our structures and systems on campus.” Exclusive interviews with creators of Cats Against Assault To protect the identities of our sources, we will refer to them as Source # 1 and Source # 2. Source # 1 said she is a female student at CWU and Source # 2 said she is a female senior attending CWU. The sources chose to remain anonymous because they said they feared retaliation from CWU administration for speaking out about this topic.
Continued on Pg. 11
CWU enrollment on a decline they’ll think about us.” During the meeting, Klucking also said that there were some positive things with firstyear enrollment. According to the presentation, the total enrollment numbers
for transfer students went up from 876 in fall 2021 to 906 in fall 2022. The population of first-generation students in the incoming freshman class for fall 2022 increased from 45% to 48%.
Total Enrollment Fall ‘19 - Fall ‘22
14,000 11,907
11,289
10,325
10,000 8,000 6,000
9,395
Fall ‘22
12,000
Fall ‘21
2021 was 1,460 and the enrollment for fall 2022 was 1,549. “If you asked me, the week before classes started, what our freshman enrollment would be based on housing contracts, orientation and those students who had classes I would have said 1,675,” Klucking said at the BoT meeting. “We ended up with 1,549 first-year students, still within our range but near the lower end.” CWU hopes to increase its enrollment numbers and has plans to do so. Michelle DenBeste, provost at CWU, said CWU will go to student fairs and enrollment fairs as well as talk to students who may come to the campus for music or athletic camps. DenBeste said they also want to start talking to students when they are in middle school or freshmen and sophomores in high school. “We want to make sure they know something about us [CWU],” DenBeste said. “When they’re thinking about college,
Fall ‘20
Enrollment numbers at CWU have been down for over a decade, according to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Administration, Joel Klucking. The Board of Trustees (BoT) met on Oct. 20 to discuss what enrollment numbers look like at CWU. According to the presentation, the total enrollment numbers are down. “The comparisons to fall of ‘22 to fall of ‘21 look pretty bad at the top of the funnel, applications were down 34%, admits sort of follow that trend,” said Klucking. According to Klucking, the total enrollment number for fall 2019 was 11,907 students, fall 2020 was 11,289 students, fall 2021 was 10,325 students and fall 2022 was 9,395 students. The lower enrollment rates have also affected CWU’s budget. “We reduced our tuition revenue budget a little bit to reflect
the lower enrollment and also demonstrated ways that we’re going to try to not spend money, typically through salary savings,” Klucking said. With the lower enrollment, there are less student fees coming in. Groups that are student-fee funded are having to make adjustments and reduce things like the service and activities fee. “The service and activities fee they have a four-year budget cycle so we’re currently in year two of that four-year budget cycle,” Klucking said. “They’ve had to distribute a 10% cut, not just across the board but … more strategically to different areas.” Klucking said they are also trying to defer hiring within the SURC and only purchase items essential to operation, due to fewer student fees coming in. According to the presentation, enrollment numbers for firstyear students did go up by 6% from fall 2021. The enrollment for first-year students in fall
Fall ‘19
Megan Rogers Senior Reporter
4,000 2,000 0
First Year
Transfer
Continuing
Graduate
Graphic based on information provided by CWU Board of Trustees. Designed by Glacie Kehoe-Padilla.
A LOOK BEYOND
Local
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Beyond Our Coverage National
The historic Lyons building from the late 1800s is now about to be a wine and art gallery, according to the Daily Record. Located on Third Avenue, it will be a contemporary art gallery with rotating artists. Umatilla Tribal court jurisdiction expands under the Violence Against Women Act, according to the Yakima Herald. The Tribal court is exercising its jurisdiction over anyone who steps foot on its reservation and gets to define any crime committed on their land.
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
November 02, 2022
Global
California man David DePape has now been charged federally with attempted murder and attempted kidnaping after he broke in Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s home last week. According to CNN, the charges could add up to a possible 30 year sentence for DePape. The state of New York has agreed to pay two men wrongfully convicted of the 1965 assasination of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (better known as Malcom X) $26 million, according to CNN. A judge exonerated Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam of the crime last year after a judge ruled that evidence of their innocence was withheld in their case.
Hello fine humans of CWU,
At least 134 people were killed in a bridge collapse in Morbi, a city in western India on Sunday, Oct. 30. According to Reuters, the bridge had just reopened to the public and had not received a safety certification to do so. Russia’s barrage on Monday Oct. 31 left hundreds of thousands of homes without power and water, according to BBC. The attack targeted critical energy infrastructure as Ukrainian civilians face down a harsh Eastern Europe winter.
Letter from the Editor
What a week it’s been! I hope you’re all hanging onto your marbles as we navigate these storms together. The pages this week are filled with ups and downs, attempts to hold the university accountable in the Cats Against Assault story (continued on pg. 10) as well as celebrations of the university’s generosity in sending student media editors to a convention in Washington D.C. (see pg. 5). We covered a Congressional Debate (see pg. 6-7) and a panel highlighting the devastating war in Ukraine and its impact on civilians (see pg. 4). I have never been more proud of my staff, my advisor Jennifer Green and all of our collective accomplishments. We write these stories for our readers, word by word, leading with our hearts and striving to tell the truth as clearly as we see it. We feel pain and joy along with our sources, we are human no matter how hard we strive for objectivity. We give everything to our paper each week in the hopes of fostering connection. Please reach out to cwuobserver@gmail.com and tell us your thoughts and feelings about these stories. Positive or negative, we are here to listen. With care,
Katlyn White
Katherine Camarata Lead Editor
Graphic Designers Glacie Kehoe-Padilla
Photo by Dylan Hanson
Senior Reporter
A MEDITATION ON HIGHER FREEDOMS
Staff Reporters
Jampa Dorje Guest Columnist
Photographer Brevin Ross
Megan Rogers
Omar Benitez Jahleel Breland Kat Cardenas 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 stu-
dent 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@
Between University Avenue and E.7th Street and between Samson and Walnut, in Ellensburg, there’s some wild Nature— not exactly Wilderness—but a patch of land left alone and gone to seed. The trail is about seventy paces, along the edge of a creek. A piece of cardboard in the bushes gives me a dry place to sit on the dewy grasses. I’ve brought food from Safeway’s deli, and my plan is to step off the grid for an hour and find solitude. My first urge is to start naming the plants and animals. Even put in the Latin, Pseudotsuga menziesii, but to get in contact with the nature of mind within the nature of reality, naming things isn’t going to get me there. I must go beyond the tree and the forest to where there is no perceiver or perceived, just for an inconceivably wondrous instant. A few lines of Wordsworth’s come to me from “The World
Is Too Much With Us”: The world is too much with us, late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours… And these meters lead me to appreciate the gap that exists between people living in society and what it is like to live alone in the woods. I’m making a concerted effort to step out of my “city life” mindset and be still. Reecer Creek, emerging from under the pavement, makes a couple of dramatic bends through this part of town. By slightly turning my head, I can see a landscape without any man-made objects. There is a mix of birch saplings and older, gnarly cottonwoods on the north shore, a few young pines, maybe a sub-species of Pinus Ponderossa, to the south. One large standing tree, an evergreen, standing there before this area was a park, maybe standing in the front yard of a farmhouse,
with the trail being here when the Psch-wan-wap-pams lived here (www.co.kittitas.wa.us/about/ history.asp). Anyway, the tree’s branches have provided shade for a long time. Sitting on my sheet of cardboard, I make a tsog offering—a Tibetan Tantric feast, where one is blessed in a sea of senses—sight, sound, touch, taste—all tastes as one taste—the crunch of coleslaw, the saltiness of ham, and the sweetness of berry pie—the rush of the water, the verdure of the foliage, the limpid blue sky. A male mallard duck flying through! My eyes follow its path, the hunter in me taking aim, —and the drone of construction sounds in the background becomes that of furiously flapping wings. Deep memory follows a beaten path, and my feet lead the way. I’m up for an adventure. I have on a couple of sweaters to shield me from the gusts of frigid air passing through the
trees. The density of the undergrowth increases, and the bushes snag my clothes. And then, I come upon a renegade shrine to a dead teenager, a memorial tree covered with friendship ornaments—a tree with a plaque that says, “Wish You Were Here,” and I think, “Lucky, to be here now,”—but how cross the creek in the marsh? As I approach the upended root structure of one of the trees that bridge the creek, a tangle of wings, powerfully rising from the reeds, disturbs the air. I am prepared for another mallard—see lots of them along the Ganges, on campus— but not a Great Blue Herron! Escaping the entanglement of Nature, I cross the log and set foot on concrete, still trembling from the excitement of my encounters. Across from me is Vinman’s Bakery. . . and I’m beginning to sense freshly baked croissants. . . and, voila, I’ve returned to the predictability of the grid.
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November 02, 2022
THE
DIVERSITY PAGE
Sharing perspectives
Supporting awareness
Students venture through the other side for Día de los Muertos
Ofrenda set up for the event. Photo by Beau Sansom
Beau Sansom Staff Rreporter The journey through the other side began with a walk towards Black Hall 105-01 where the Diversity & Equity Center (DEC) rests. After signing in at the front desk, attendees entered a room filled with festive iconography from cultures within and around the Central Americas. At the back wall sat a decorated table of offerings, called an “ofrenda,” an altar in the home of those celebrated where offerings are placed. Before long, attendees were propelled upon their journey through the afterlife by the DEC staff. The series on Día de los Muertos is the product of cooperation between the DEC and CWU students. DEC Graduate Assistant Maritsa Rodriguez played a role in guiding the project and said she was happy to see what this collaboration produced. “I’m really on the background support aspect of their program,” Rodriguez said. “I’m extremely grateful for Diego, Tanya and Roberto, Atong who have put in so much time and effort.” The DEC has put together five days worth of events centered around Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The holiday largely originated in Mexico and is predominantly observed there along with other places with a large Mexican population, though other Central and South American countries also celebrate it. The events are broken up to cover different aspects of the Day of the Dead through educational events, presentations and activities. Friday, Oct. 28 featured an event focusing on the journey through the afterlife
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Diego Garcia assisting in presentation. Photo by Beau Sansom
led by DEC fourth year Student Initiatives Coordinator Roberto Chavez. Chavez took the lead in presenting the stages of the afterlife as they appear in Mexican tradition. According to Chavez, there are four possible afterlives a soul could end up in, depend-
The souls of deceased children end up in Chichihuacuauhco where they rest in peace, as a sacred tree’s branches drip milk for them to feed on. These various afterlives and the journey leading to them were presented by Chavez and student volunteers. A cycle of
“That’s what you do on the Day of the Dead nowadays, you set up an ofrenda and give them water, give them food.” - Roberto Chavez ing on the nature of their death. “I’m in charge of showing what the afterlife actually is,” Chavez said. “Everyone like Disney and Dreamworks always make it look like a party, but in actuality it’s not really like that immediately, it takes four years for your death to happen in the afterlife.” Mictlān is the afterlife where the majority of souls find their way into. Mictlān consists of nine different levels that a soul must pass through to be at peace. Each level holds a variety of challenges the spirits must endure, such as crossing a moving mountain range or crossing a river of blood guarded by jaguars. Tlālōcān is the afterlife for souls who died due to natural disasters (especially if those disasters involve a death by drowning) and is believed to be the most peaceful to make up for the terrible nature of the souls’ passing. Ilhuuicatl is the resting place for the souls of warriors and women who died in childbirth, where the women would become fierce goddesses who carry the setting sun, as the warriors became hummingbirds and butterflies.
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posters were observed and explained to attendees, giving them context to the Day of the Dead’s meaning. Following the tour of the afterlives, Chavez presented further context through a powerpoint. Chavez explained the nature of “ofrendas” as well as their significance in a soul’s journey through the afterlife. According to Chavez, the offerings in an “ofrenda” are meant to help guide a soul on their long trip through the afterlife. “It’s very difficult because you don’t know where you are or what you’re doing unless people pray for you or bring offerings for you,” Chavez said. “That’s what you do on the Day of the Dead nowadays, you set up an ofrenda and give them water, give them food.” The journey through the afterlife is just one of several parts of the series the DEC is rolling out. This year’s Día series is unique in that it is the first time a committee of volunteer students and DEC student workers collaborated in equal parts to make the event happen, according to Rodriguez.
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Roberto Chavez giving a fielding questions about the presentation. Photo by Beau Sansom
“All of us created this model when we first started the committee … [we] all wanted not a hierarchical thing but we were all going to work together,” Rodriguez said. “Roberto works here at the DEC but Tanya and Diego are just regular CWU students who signed up for the committee, I don’t believe that’s really been done.” Fourth year philosophy major and Día series planning committee member Diego Gracia was in charge of the event’s introduction, as well as the event that will educate attendees on the Nahuatl language and its cultural significance. That event will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in SURC 137. Garcia said he hopes that by educating people on Nahuatl, the committee will be able to provide a fuller picture of the
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culture surrounding Día de los Muertos. “Día de los Muertos is mainly attributed to the Mexica people,” Garcia said. “Mexica spoke Nahuatl, so we’re trying to give people a glimpse of what that would’ve sounded like.” The planning committee desired to do more than just a party celebrating the holiday, according to Rodriguez. “They really want to celebrate within the community but also want to share their culture and knowledge,” Rodriguez said. “They want to celebrate in a more educational and intentional way.” Those wishing to stay informed on the DEC and any future events hosted by them can request and fill out a contact sheet on the DEC’s page on the CWU website.
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November 02, 2022
THE
DIVERSITY PAGE
Sharing perspectives
Supporting awareness
Voices of Ukraine: stories in times of unrest
The welcome table outside the panel to support Ukraine on Oct. 28 included support pins and ambassador stickers. Photos by Andrew Ulstad
Andrew Ulstad Staff Reporter Vladislav Bulgar went to bed somewhere around 1 or 2 a.m. the morning of Feb. 24 in his hometown of Odessa, Ukraine. He awoke to his grandmother barging into his room with tears in her eyes. He remembers that she simply said, “Vlad. They come. It’s war now.” Bulgar had stayed out late on the night of Feb. 23. He said he spent the night and early hours of the morning skating with his friends in Odessa, the third most populous city in Ukraine. His story is not a unique one in war torn Ukraine. Vasilisa Gorislavets, a film director from Kyiv, said she saw Feb. 23 as just another night on set. Dr. Volha Isakava, a Russian language professor and chair of the department of world languages and culture at CWU, works with Ukrainian refugees in central Washington. She said that although most people in the west believe the war started with the invasion on Feb. 24, Ukrainian people have suffered under the thumb of Russia for centuries. Isakava said the history of Ukraine is complexly intertwined with Russia. “Ukraine has been a colony and has been suppressed by Russia for centuries,” Isakava said. “It has always had emancipatory colonial struggles.” This history has created a sense
of rebellion in the former soviet state. Bulgar describes fighting with cops as a right of passage among Ukrainian teenagers. When Russia launched their full scale invasion, Bulgar said this sense of harmless rebellion took on another meaning, one of fortitude and resilience. As those who could fight prepared to, an even larger population prepared to flee. According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 7.2 million people have been granted refugee status as a result of Russia’s invasion. A fleeing artist Gorislavets worked in film production in Ukraine. On Feb. 23, she had been working on set late and got to bed around 4 a.m. on the day of the invasion. She awoke to the text from CWU Russian language student Muir Hamilton, with whom she had formed a bond while Hamilton was studying abroad in Kyiv, Ukraine. According to Gorislavets, the text read simply, “The war has begun. You need to leave Ukraine.” What followed was days of moving in packed trains and buses, trying to get from Ukraine to Poland and eventually out of Eastern Europe. Gorislavets said the environment at the Ukrainian train station was tense on that first day. “Nobody is really, at that point, thinking with their head
because … there is a real threat of death,” Gorislavets said. The first leg of her trip, a train ride from Kyiv to the Polish border, would normally have taken around 10 hours. Gorislavets said that it took closer to 16 hours because the train would frequently stop and turn off all lights to avoid being targeted by airstrikes. On that train towards Poland, she said she witnessed a moment common to many refugee families: saying goodbye. Gorislavets said she saw a family of five huddled together, the father staring out the window. “At one point [the father] said ‘Dear, I cannot go any further. I am a man and … I must defend the country’ and he left the train and went to the front,” Gorislavets said. Gorislavets said the Ukrainians fighting this war are regular people; friends, brothers and waiters who answered the call. She said she fears for the mental wellbeing of those returning from the front after witnessing so much death firsthand. Her older brother is one of those fighting on the front lines. The last time she saw him Gorislavets said, “I have known this person a very long time, so I can see the psychological effects [of fighting].” Skating by in a war Bulgar described himself as a pretty average Ukrainian teen-
Muir Hamilton translates comments made by Vasilisa Gorislavets at the panel to support Ukraine on Oct. 28. L-R Vladislav Bulgar, Vasilisa Gorislavets, Muir Hamilton.
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ager. When his country was invaded by Russia, Bulgar said he stayed for around 5 months. Bulgar, an avid skateboarder, was given a medical exemption from military service due to past skating injuries to his leg. Meaning, even though he was 18, he would not be allowed to join the defense of his home country. On the day of the invasion, Bulgar said he was set to begin an internship with a restaurant. He took a bus into the city to learn that his employment would be put on hold due to the war. Rather than simply turning and heading home, Bulgar decided to visit the city park and listen to music. Over his rock music, he heard his first explosion of the war. “I [ran] to the bus station, and I see no buses…I see flying anti-aircraft rocket flying in the center of the city,” Bulgar said. These kinds of strikes became commonplace in Bulgar’s life over the next few weeks. During his speech he recalled one incident where he saw the flash of a bomb through his closed eyelids in bed. After waiting a moment to hear the explosion, he got up and looked off his balcony. “I see suddenly a missile flying across my house…maybe 100 and a half meters [away],” Bulgar said. The missile then hit a gas station down the street, he said this was the moment he knew that he had to leave Ukraine.
His mother agreed Bulgar needed to leave. After contacting a beneficiary in Seattle, she sold her cosmetology tools, her car and even her business to raise enough money to get Bulgar out. Bulgar said his mother sacrificed all this for him to escape from Ukraine and study at CWU. A Central connection Both Bulgar and Gorislavets are now among the student body of CWU. According to Isakava, they are not the only Ukrainian refugees to come to the Central Washington area. This war, although thousands of miles away, has rippled out to affect our community and others like it all over the globe. There have been over 12 million cross-border movements in the eight months since the invasion, according to the UNHCR. Bulgar and Gorislavets’ stories serve as reminders that there are real lives behind each of those statistics. Many nonprofit organizations have created dedicated programs for the Ukrainian people. Global Giving, World Vision and Heart to Heart International all have funds set up for civilian aid. The national website of Ukraine has resources for donating directly to the military, rebuilding efforts or medical aid at war.ukraine.ua. Web resources such as charitynavigator.org have been set up to vet the authenticity of nonprofits.
CWU Global Ambassadors host a panel of Ukrainian refugees to spread awareness and raise support on Oct. 28.
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November 02, 2022
SCENE
Editorial: Student media journeys to Washington DC for MediaFest22 Katherine Camarata with contributions from Morgana Carroll Lead Editor Between workshops, keynote speakers and mingling with journalists from across the nation, MediaFest22 provided CWU student media editors with an experience that will leave lasting memories and impact their respective publications. Four editors from The Observer and one editor from PULSE magazine were sent on behalf of the Communications department to Washington D.C. where they learned from all walks of journalists. Keynote speakers included Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who broke the story of Nixon’s Watergate Scandal as well as John Quiñones, host of What Would You Do? on ABC News. The convention kicked off with a mixer where publication staff members got to know each other in the bustling foyer of the Grand Hyatt hotel. The Observer editors compared and contrasted publication styles with sophomore Anna Colletto, Editor-in-Chief of the University of Missouri student newspaper, The Maneater. Initially, the name of the publication stood out and required more explanation. “We were founded in the ‘50s, and at that time the phrase man-eating tiger was very popular,” Colletto said. Colletto recited a quote from the man who founded Maneater, Joel Gold: “A maneater is a tiger with its fangs bared and its claws sharpened, ready to analyze the facts and then to pounce.” The Observer is a practicum course as well as a publication with a full staff of less than 20 people with about 10 people on the paid editorial staff, while in contrast The Maneater has 34 people on the editorial board and over 200 staff members who volunteer to keep the publication running. Colletto said she added six new positions to her editorial board when she became EIC, including a dedicated marketing and strategy director as well as a data and investigative team that teaches
incoming reporters how to analyze and request access to data. While the convention was riddled with student journalists, many of them were also interns on behalf of professional news outlets as was the case for Georgetown student and CNBC intern Jack Pedigo. “It’s exciting to see how the Mediafest offers professional advice and experience to journalists of all ages, from college journalists who are looking to enter the field after graduation all the way up to established journalists at large organizations who are here to give back to the younger generation,” Pedigo said. Liza Zycherman, Deputy Legal Director and Policy Counsel for the Reporter’s Committee of Freedom of the Press, said this was her first time attending this convention. “I’m thrilled to be here,” Zycherman said. “I love talking to journalists because my job as a media lawyer is to develop a body of law that supports good journalism … I don’t really know what journalists need until I talk to them.” Keynote speaker wisdom The first keynote speaker panel consisted of women of color who spoke on topics of diversity and overcoming adversity in the workplace. The panelists were Darlene Superville, a White House correspondent for the Associated Press, Juana Summers from NPR, and Pauly Denetclaw, a political correspondent for Indian Country Today. When asked what each panelist does to take care of their mental health in the workplace, Denetclaw said simply, “I go to therapy.” Denetclaw said she was working on an “extremely traumatic” story that she had never done before, which prompted her to prioritize and recommend seeing a therapist. Superville said exercise and yoga keeps her sane when covering the 24/7 White House beat. “It’s important to carve out little moments for yourself,” Superville said. Summers said having people in her life who aren’t connected to her life as a journalist is key to
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein answering questions posed by a moderator. Photo by Dylan Hanson
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The Observer Editorial staff in front of Lincoln Memorial, from left to right: Jacqueline Hixssen, Katherine Camarata, Morgana Carroll, Isaac Hinson. Photo by Dylan Hanson
her mental wellbeing. “My spouse is not a journalist, we don’t talk about my job a lot unless there’s something that I’m really excited about,” Summers said. When speaking about objectivity, Denetclaw said there is no such thing as objectivity and that the term can better be described as fairness. “We all bring something to the table, and it’s impossible to be completely objective about most things,” Denetclaw said. “What you can do in journalism is be fair, make sure all sides of the story are represented.” The second day of keynote speakers featured none other than Woodward and Bernstein, subjects of the film “All the President’s Men” and pioneers of the “Bernstein method” where they located the homes and knocked on the doors of sources they needed, calling as late as 11 p.m. for the scoop on the Watergate scandal.
The moderator began by quoting Nixon as having said that journalists need to “dig deeper for the truth” when investigating, an ironic statement to have been made at the same convention where Bernstein and Woodward laughed 50 years after releasing their groundbreaking coverage. When speaking about the “Bernstein method” of knocking on doors and how it led to their success, Bernstein said: “People want to tell the truth more often than not, including people who have their own truth that may turn out to be contrary to what is actually factual … I just wanted the source to keep talking so I kept asking for another cup of coffee and another cup of coffee … and then she told me there was a secret fund and it was controlled by a certain number of top officials.” Woodward expressed his views
on getting your foot in the door with nervous sources: “What’s true about the best sources is that they’re forthcoming but not forthcoming, and there was this hesitancy so we had to make it appear that we knew a lot more than we did, which happens in reporting because you never know enough.” Interviews in underground parking garages, subpoenas for confidential notes and incredulity of colleagues later blossomed into the investigative stories of a lifetime, and after their success Bernstein and Woodward said their publisher Katharine Graham sent them a note on yellow legal pad paper stating: “Now you wrote some of the stories about Watergate, and Nixon resigned. Now don’t start thinking too highly of yourself, and let me give you some advice … Beware the
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John Quiñones, Bill Whitaker and Roland Martin posing after keynote presentation. Photo by Dylan Hanson
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November 02, 2022
Schrier and Larkin battle it out for House seat at Congressional Debate CWU hosted televised event at McConnell Hall
Kim Schrier (left and Matt Larkin (right) take to the stage for the Congressional Debate. Photos by Brevin Ross
Evan Couch & Omar Benitez News Editor Staff Reporter Incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Kim Schrier and Republican challenger Matt Larkin faced off during their congressional debate on Oct. 28 at McConnell Hall. The debate marks the last time the two will go head-to-head before the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The congressional seat of the 8th district of Washington is up for grabs, and challenger Larkin is attempting to stop Schrier from securing a third term. There were many heated topics up for debate from the panel including abortion, crime, inflation economic concerns like gas prices and cost of living and immigration. Key issues from both sides The two candidates provided vastly different responses as to why the cost of living has gone up and why the economy has been dealing with inflation. Larkin responded that the overspending of Democratic policies such as the $1.9 trillion stimulus package supported by Schrier are to blame for inflation. “That was reckless, we need to take a good hard look at the amount, that was a $1.9 trillion bill, that’s a huge price tag,” Larkin said. “That bill never should have been voted for.” Schrier responded by saying it was price gouging from oil companies and supply chains to blame. “Gas and oil companies are right now making record profits, the highest in more than a decade and quarter over quarter those profits are going up,” Schrier said. Another topic of the debate was crime. Judges shared that in 2020, more Americans died from gun violence than any other recorded year. Schrier pushed for stricter gun control and more restrictions to make sure guns don’t end up in the wrong hands.
“I recognize second amendment rights and I respect them,” Schrier said. “I’m also a pediatrician and a mom and I know that guns are the number one cause of death in children in this country, and that is why we need safe gun ownership legislation. These are common sense steps, enhanced background checks to make sure guns don’t get into the hands of criminals.” Larkin acknowledged the rise in crime and responded with the percentages of King County’s crime as well as making his statement known that he is backing police and law enforcement. “We’ve got to do something about violence,’’ Larkin said. “We’ve got to do something about rising crime, and the way to solve that is by backing the brave men and women in blue.” The hottest topic up for debate which attracted the little crowd engagement there was, was abortion and reproductive rights, with Schrier being pro-choice and Larkin being anti-abortion. Although Larkin was vocally supportive of the anti-abortion movement and stated he believes there shouldn’t be exceptions for abortions, he stated that reproductive rights wouldn’t change in Washington if he was elected. “Let me be clear, nothing is changing in Washington state,” Larkin said. “Women are not losing access to safe and legal abortions nor will they. The court has ruled this is a state’s issue and I’m extremely happy with it being at the state level, I’m not planning on going back to DC to and pushing for a federal abortion ban.” Larkin also said he believes he is not the “extreme one” on his stance with abortion. “If you’re a minute from having a baby, and it’s a girl and you wanted a boy, you can terminate that baby’s life minutes before delivery,” Larkin said. “That’s an extreme position, that’s extreme to 90% of the American public, so I’m not the extreme
one in my position here.” Larkin’s comments were followed by brief laughter from a few members of the crowd that were quickly silenced from the debate panel. Schrier was adamant that Larkin was anti-abortion and that he would support an abortion ban if elected. “That is exactly what he supports and he already noted that he has said with no exceptions for rape or incest,” Schrier said. “It’s outrageous, it’s extreme, it’s out of touch. A national ban would override the protections we have in Washington state. Don’t be fooled, it’s an extreme and dangerous agenda.” Community response After an hour of discussion, tough questions and rebuttals, cheers rang out as the debate came to a conclusion. As people made their ways to the exits, many reflected and talked amongst each other about what they took away from the debate overall. CWU students like Lucas Pierron and Cole Smith said the debate itself was a positive experience. “I thought it was great,” Pierron said. “I thought it was well organized. It was a good balance of vitriol between the two candidates and [a] well thought out discussion.” Cole Smith said coming into the debate he was excited, however after the fact, he felt there were aspects of the debate that were missing. “It was as exciting of a debate as I was expecting going into it,” Smith said. “I thought going into it that they would be a little more aggressive, it seemed as if they both kind of evaded some of the questions.” Pierron also said he felt both candidates avoided some questions at times. “There were a few points in there where I was visibly shaking my head because I was like, ‘come on, answer the question, like directly,’” Pierron said.
Pierron said one take-away he got from the debate was a feeling of middle ground in the way they conduct their campaigning. “I think what they both displayed is that they have a skill of marketing the way they talk about their own beliefs,” Pierron said. “Even if it doesn’t directly align with the way they voted previously.” Smith said one of the big takeaways from attending the debate was confidence in Schrier’s sources and information she presented. “She has the information to back her stuff up and she will speak about it,” Smith said. Ellensburg community members also shared their thoughts on the debate. Some felt split emotions about the outcome. Ellensburg residents like Hannah Purdue and Lisa Bliss made their feelings clear on who they support. “It’s that important to me because my daughter doesn’t have the same rights I do,” Purdue said as she teared up. “I feel like we’re going backwards.” Bliss echoed similar sentiments. “I’m a woman and I believe that women’s rights are human rights and that they should not be taken away from women, and Dr. Schrier supports that and I support her,” Bliss said. Schrier seemed to garner support from most women The Observer spoke to. “It was important for me to hear Dr. Schrier state that she believed that I could make my own health care decisions and all the other women in the country could,” said Sammamish resident Beth Paisley. ”It was important for me to hear if her opponent Matt Larkin would be … willing to make a statement and he deflected, deflected, deflected.” Larkin garnered clear support from law enforcement King County police officer Oscar, who asked The Observer to
print only his first name to remain unaffiliated with his work force. “I see the effects of poor legislation and poor leadership on the ground,” Oscar said. “I see overdoses, I see murder. I see all types of violence and all types of drug use on a daily basis.” He said he feels that under Schrier’s leadership, police haven’t received the proper resources and training to deal with the increasing crime and drug use. “We need people to be trained to handle different things,” Oscar said. “People in crisis, mental health, people experiencing all types of different things, the kind of training that her bill sponsored doesn’t work out in the streets.” Importance of debates at CWU CWU Chief of Staff Andrew Morse told The Observer earlier in the week that the debates are a way for the campus and the community of Ellensburg to come together to discuss important topics. “One of the important things that colleges and universities do is to engage with our communities and allow for conversation on the issues of our time,” Morse said. “We’re proud to play that role in our community.” Morse also said hosting something like the debate is a symbolic step in the work that the university does in building town-gown relationships. Another big part of hosting the debate, according to Morse, is the ability to provide direct access to students to engage in the civic process. “This is a way that universities help support the educational mission, help support civic engagement and help remove borders between the community that we serve and the university,” Morse said. “The opportunity to host a debate among two candidates applying for office is an opportunity to formulate your opinions as you think about going to the polls.”
Page 07
Kim Schrier
Vs.
“It’s outrageous, it’s extreme, it’s out of touch. A national ban would override the protections we have in Washington state. Don’t be fooled, it’s an extreme and dangerous agenda.” -Kim Schrier
Students and community members alike gathered for the 8th congressional district debate. Photo by Brevin Ross
Matt Larkin
“Women are not losing access to safe and legal abortions nor will they. The court has ruled this is a state’s issue and I’m extremely happy with it being at the state level, I’m not planning on going back to DC to and pushing for a federal abortion ban.” - Matt Larkin
Local journalists made up the debate panel.
Page 08
THE
GUEST COLUMN CWU Students Deserve an Esports Facility Johnny Felty Guest Columnist In six years, the gaming and esports communities at Central Washington University have grown tremendously. From splitscreen Rocket League tournaments in a small SURC room to community-wideSuper Smash Bros tournaments in the SURC Theater, I have seen many variations of programs centered around video games. I am a Graduate student at CWU, and I am now in my 6th year of attendance here. Like many others, gaming has been a constant passion of mine throughout each year. I have had the pleasure of competing in intramural tournaments since 2017. While the programs were small, CWU students always showed up, ready to compete. In 2020, all student programs took a hit from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In-person events were cancelled, and online programs began to develop. Just days after campus was shut down, former Intramural Sports Coordinator Shana Kessler created the CWU Recreation Discord Server. The Recreation department hosted a few online tournaments, and the server began to grow every day. In under 3 years, this Discord server has reached nearly 600 members. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, myself and two other students were hired into the Intramural Sports staff, with our focus being set on esports. We developed at least 4 in-person tournaments each quarter, with additional online tournaments during breaks. These tournaments helped establish the gaming community and led to the growth of the Discord server. The Recreation Department began to create an inventory of equipment and supplies, all to support the intramural tournaments. The Recreation team worked with the SURC Event Staff in planning these tournaments, and we worked up to hosting events with a broadcast being streamed on Twitch.
November 02, 2022
BSERVED OPINION SECTION
Cancel culture is not productive Zaire Eltayeb Columnist There are a lot of things Gen Z is known for and one of them is the practice of cancel culture. What is cancel culture? Cancel culture is typically done to someone that expresses views that the vast majority don’t agree with or something negative or harmful is pulled from someone’s past usually from social media and put on the front page. This can be a statement made from years ago or something more recent. Cancel culture is when people band together with one central dislike for someone, typically online, and cancel them. This is usually done by unfollowing, leaving hateful messages or disengaging from that person’s platform. More extreme notions of canceling someone involve inciting or conflicting violence upon someone due to the strong negative emotions towards that person. This can be done by leaving hate messages, death threats, or people going out of their way to make that person take accountability by urging a public apology or stepping down from a position or field. According to psychologytoday.com this can result in many outcomes, “getting them fired,
shaming them, ruining their reputation or in more private ways, threatening them through email.” The main objective is to publicly shame and bring awareness to the matter. Canceling someone or feeling the urge to stems from a psychological reason. “An individual act of canceling is psychological rejection. When it is communicated through social media and joined in by other individuals who feel the same way or are looking for an ‘outrage fix,’ canceling spreads like a contagion, amplifying the harm to the canceled entity,” according to psyschologytoday. com. Most people that indulge in cancel culture tend to undermine that they’re attacking an actual person. I think it has to do with the majority of the cancel culture taking place online and it’s hard to envision a person’s feeling or well-being. Some people even go as far as to dox people and put people in immediate danger. This proves that it’s not truly about people taking accountability but more about inflicting irreversible damage to the person. After explaining the term more, I want to dive into why it is not productive or helpful to society in any way, and how ironically cancel culture sets us back.
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
Zaire Eltayeb Columnist It is no secret that STEM majors are often pushed in society and art-based majors are looked down upon. Unfortunately, in high school and college people advise against art-based majors due to the myth about the hardships of finding a job or being taken seriously in society. When I say art-based majors, I am referring to: art history, museum studies of any kinds, music majors or even creative writing majors. I will not ignore the fact that these fields typically include a lot of networking to get into them. However, it is not as illusive and impossible as society makes them out to be. I will be using the example of one of the most talked down upon majors; art history. This degree offers a lot of possibilities and routes for those pursuing the major and career path. According to bestcolleges.com, you can become an art director, industrial designer, graphic designer, craft and fine artist, multimedia artist and an animator – to list a few. The options are endless with artbased degrees, sometimes people
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that being said, I hope the eradication of cancel culture takes place soon and people continue educating themselves and growing as intellectual human beings. If we do that, it stunts growth and does not allow for someone to learn and become a better person. I am not the same person as a year ago, let alone from 10 years ago. Cancel culture is extremely toxic and shiftfrequency.com said, “Cancel culture is regressive, not progressive — and we can project where it will take us by understanding the past and what has happened to other societies and nations that adopted such practices.”
Art majors are worth it
Full Column Online
(all questions will remain anonymous)
If you think back to your childhood through early adult years, we can all think of something we said or did that does not represent our character today. It’s part of growing and learning from mistakes. If everything incorrect or harmful from decades ago was constantly used against the people we are today, we would be a stagnant society. A comment made years ago does not reflect an indiuaval today. We are human, and with that follows an abundance of flaws. It is not fair or indicative of a progressive society to use past remarks, statements, or beliefs against the character of who someone is today. With
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
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even form their own niche career with their degree. Aside from the talk of a career, many students have spoken out about the mental strain and lifelong damage it does to them to have their dreams ripped from them before even getting the chance to pursue it. Kaylie Thompson details her battles with fighting negative stigmas attached to her dreams of pursing psychology and journalism in an article written for odyssey.com. “If I thought I was tired of hearing I was not going to get a job with a Ph.D. in psychology, I had no idea what was coming. As soon as I told people about the change of plans, the first reaction I received was ‘That is a really competitive field, so I am not sure that is a good idea.’ Honestly, what is not a competitive field these days?” Her statement resonates with a lot of students experiencing those same negative comments towards their degree. As society progresses, I hope these stigmas eventually die down and people choose the path that they want without the years of contemplation from unqualified outside voices.
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Page 09
November 02, 2022
SPORTS
Sports Editorial: Wizards fall to Pacers at home Isaac Hinson and Jacqueline Hixssen Sports Editors The Washington Wizards (sixth in the Eastern Conference) of the NBA lost at home 127-117 to the Indianapolis Pacers (12th in the Eastern Conference) Friday, Oct. 28. The Pacers took control over the Wizards for the first half of the game. The Pacers managed to end the first quarter with 36 points, allowing the Wizards to secure 28. Throughout the second quarter the Pacers put up 39, and allowed the Wizards to grab 32 points. The Wizards attempted to come back during the second half; putting up four more points than the Pacers in the third quarter (30-26) and one more point in the final quarter (27-26). Wizards guard Bradley Beal added 31 points and seven rebounds. Guard Tyrese Haliburton and center Myles Turner led the Pacers with Haliburton putting up 25 points and 12 assists and Turner securing 27 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. The last time these two teams faced off was Oct. 19 in Indianapolis where the Wizards beat the Pacers 114-107. Hixssen’s Perspective: While in Washington D.C. for Media Fest 2022, Co-Sports
Editor Isaac Hinson, Pulse Lead Photographer Dylan Hanson and myself (co-sports editor) attended the Wizards vs. Pacers game. The stadium was relatively bare, bare enough that $15 nosebleed tickets resulted in sitting nearly courtside, behind the Pacers bench about 20 rows back. My knowledge does not extend to the NBA, so Hinson was keeping Hanson and myself current with team leaders, basketball lingo, notable players and “Insane plays,” as Hinson would say. My perspective, the Pacers dominated the entirety of the game. The Pacers were securing three after three, while the Wizards were bouncing their shots off the rim and backboard. The only uprising seen throughout the game from the Wizards came from Beal and 7-foot 3- inch power forward Kristaps Porzingis. The Pacers played in unison, which undoubtedly helped secure the win. While there were standouts like Haliburton and Turner, the team was put together and made power moves. While neither of these teams are teams typically cheered for on the west side of the country, Hinson found himself rather excited for this game. Hinson had two bets going on Haliburton; one betting Haliburton went over 18 points, and another betting he would get over 25 points.
Hinson barely scraped through the win for himself, as Haliburton secured a flat 25 points. Hinson’s Perspective: If you watched this game in a vacuum, you may be inclined to believe Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Turner were the next coming of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. My life has found me at around 30 NBA games, and this was one of my favorites. Going to a game in every NBA arena has always been a goal of mine, and this brought me one step closer. You could not have asked for a better game as a fan not affiliated with either of the teams playing. Every star player played well (Haliburton, Hield, Turner, Beal and Porzingis), there were exciting plays, and the game could still reasonably have been won by either team until the final minutes. The arena was about half-full, which is a new sensation for me as a Portland Trail Blazers fan, as the Blazers arena the Moda Center is always packed. However, this development allowed for us to move seats midway through the game, and secure seats behind the Pacers bench. This experience was incredible, it was the closest to the court I have ever been in a regular season NBA game. The players truly look superhuman that close.
One former Trail Blazers player played in the game, Wizards guard Will Barton spent the first three years of his NBA career in Portland. It is always a treat to see former Blazers in person. Hixssen was most excited about Winnie Harlow, supermodel girlfriend of Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, being in attendance. At first, Hixssen saw her on the jumbotron from the nosebleeds during a timeout, however after we moved lower, she was actually able to see Harlow and her excitement grew exponentially. It was almost contagious.
Pacers and Wizards at center court. Photo by Jacqueline Hixssen
Men’s lacrosse team welcomes new players Kimberly LaRiviere Staff Reporter The men’s lacrosse team is looking to expand their team and hope to become more than just a club on campus. The team practices Monday through Thursday, 4-6 p.m. at Alder Field. The team is looking to grow and encouraging people to experience and enjoy the game of lacrosse. Logan Seals senior captain said he recognizes that lacrosse is a very demanding sport. “Lacrosse is a very physical sport. If you do not play physically, you will get run through. It’s a very big mental sport as well, just as most sports are,” Seals said. “If you focus too hard on your performance it’ll distract you from how you play.” The men’s lacrosse team plays against schools in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League Division II that includes club teams from Western Washington University, Gonzaga University, Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Montana. Dominick Nagle, sophomore and assistant captain of the team, said preparation and practice for league games starts
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by doing warm-up stretches; to make sure no one gets hurt during the game. They then go into warm up drills, such as catching, throwing and moving the ball around to simulate game-like scenarios. The lacrosse team also practices and designs new plays for future games. “We learn from other higher division team’s plays, or higher level coaches,” Nagle said. “We can get knowledge from a bunch of other tools also. Our coach, Evan Schnitzius, also helps produce plays.” Nagle said all this practice is what helps the men’s lacrosse teams score in league games. “In past lacrosse seasons, if we’re playing against a team that can actually play, then we score around 15 shots,” Nagle said. “If we’re playing a bad team, then the score can get up to 20 plus,it can go pretty high.” Senior defender Quincy Plaisted said that the goal for this year’s team is to just keep getting better. “Right now we’re just getting back on our feet and building up the team to where it was before quarantine,” Plaisted said. “Having more players and overall just having a good foundation
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to start up with. Hopefully we can make our team more into a sport and not just a club. We want the team to become an actual sports team like rugby did.” Plaisted said joining the lacrosse team and being a part of a sports club has many benefits. “Basically, it’s just fun to get out and show off your athletics,” Plaisted said. “You get to join a great team with great guys. You also get to learn about the rules of lacrosse while making new friends. It’s just an overall great time to add to your daily life. Just go out there and have fun on the team and enjoy the company that is there with you.” Nagle said it’s great to play against other teams and see the progression in the games. He also said he is proud to be a captain and see how much they improve in a small amount of time. “CWU has a great lacrosse program,” Nagle said. “It’s all great guys on the team which makes it a lot of fun.” For more information about joining the lacrosse team, contact the team via email MensLacrosseSC@cwu.edu. Nagle said that the team is open to new players anytime and wants new people to join and no experience is needed.
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Through the game, I would share thoughts that came to my mind to Hixseen about what was happening and the effects it would have on the team, particularly on the side of the Pacers as Hield and Turner are both involved in trade rumors between the Pacers and the Los Angeles Lakers. In the mission to turn Hixseen into a basketball fan, this game appeared to serve its purpose. She seemed constantly entertained, even when we were in the nosebleeds, and was getting excited as the game went down to the wire.
Sports Scores: Sports Editors: Jacqueline Hixssen & Isaac Hinson
Oct. 27 Soccer vs. Seattle Pacific Loss 2-3
CWU Oct. 27 Volleyball vs. Simon Fraser Win 3-0
Oct. 29 Women's Rugby vs. Boise Win 107-0
Win 107
Oct. 29 Soccer @ MSU Billings Loss 0-1
Oct. 29 Volleyball vs. Western Washington Loss 2-3
Oct. 29 Football vs.TX A&M Kingsville Win 23-19
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EVENTS Page 10
November 02, 2022
Wildcat Words:
Is civic engagement important, why or why not?
Tiaughn Allen
Skye Wilson
Fr. Physical Therapy
Sr. PESCH
“Yes. I feel like everyone should have a voice in everything and not just the government.”
Shelby Harrison
Mason Smith
Elsie Lupkes
Fr. EMT Program
Jr. PESCH
So. PESCH
“Yes, because people’s opinions matter and it makes sure people’s opinions are heard.”
“It is very important because then we get to choose who runs everything and spend our money.”
“I think it is important for people to know what is going on with their rights and everything else going on.”
Q&A Alisa Muench
CWU Alumna and former Hot New Jam Performer
“Yes, because being able to express your feelings and opinions is a good thing.”
weekly events
03
10 a.m. to 2 pm. Cats Against Assault Protest at Wildcat Statue
04
10-11 p.m. Improv Night Hot NewHorror Jam @ SURC 10The p.m. Rocky Picture Theater 210 Show in McConnell Auditorium
THURS
FRI
05
9 p.m. Hot New Jam in SURC Theatre
SAT
How did ‘Hot New Jam’ come about? Once upon a time, there was another improv team at Central. It was called Sharks with Legs! Long story short, a second improv team was created (the Hot New Jam) and took over the improv game at CWU. Hence the slogan “Central’s best (and only) improv team!”. I auditioned and made it onto the Hot New Jam in Fall of my freshman year in 2017. When I first joined the team, we were performing shows in the bistro to an audience of about 10 people. I’m incredibly proud of how far the team has come since then. What got you first involved with theatre? I technically first got involved in theatre in elementary school, doing small after school plays. After taking a break from it for a while, I ended up auditioning for my high school’s spring musical sophomore year. I’ve been taking voice lessons since I was around 6 years old, so a musical wasn’t too scary for me. Well, I must’ve had a pretty solid audition because I landed a lead role. The rest was history! I will never forget the feeling of bowing after our first performance and thinking “Ohhhh this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Cool!”. What is your favorite musical? My favorite musical? That’s like asking a mother her favorite child! I’ve got a couple of go-tos. Definitely some top ones are “Come From Away”, “West Side Story”, “Urinetown”, “The Band’s Visit”, and “title of show”. What’s one of your favorite shows you’ve been a part of? One of my favorite shows that I’ve been a part of most recently was “The Pirates of Penzance” at the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society. It was the first operetta I’ve performed in, and we performed at the gorgeous Seattle Repertory Theatre. I also met my amazing partner, Jack, during the show! He’s my all-time favorite pirate. It was an incredible overall experience and a cool new challenge for me!
06 SUN
07 MON
08
Daylight Savings Ends
National Pickle Day 7:30 p.m. Monday Movie Madness - Top Gun Maverick in SURC Theatre
Voting Day
TUES
09 WED
8 p.m. Concert Series - Tinted Red in SURC Pit
7-8 p.m. Composition Studio Recital @ McIntyre Hall 174
What’s one of your favorite CWU theatre memories? The most amazing experience I ever had in CWU’s theatre department was the entire production of “The Wolves” by Sarah DeLappe. It was not only unlike anything I’ve ever done, but it was a phenomenal cast/crew. Directed by the fabulous/incredible/inspiring Dr. Emily Rollie, “The Wolves” is a play about a girl’s indoor soccer team. It was a cast of 10 amazing women and non-binary folx, and it was truly a magical experience. We all bonded and connected in a way I’d never experienced in a theatre environment, and the show itself was amazing as well. This was also the play that CWU was in the middle of putting on when the pandemic struck in March 2020 (literally, we were in between our two weekends of shows when they shut us down). That group of incredible people became my family, and I ended up getting a tattoo to forever remember it. It’s my favorite one! What are you up to now after CWU? Since I graduated at CWU I’ve had the pleasure of doing shows around the Seattle and Tacoma area. I’m currently starring in Seattle’s debut of “House of Spirits: a Haunted Cocktail Soiree”, which is an immersive theatre experience. We’ve been performing to sold out audiences for the last several weeks, and we wrap up on Halloween! It’s been a crazy experience and unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I originally planned to move to Chicago post-graduation, but life had other plans for me. I’m looking forward to continuing my theatrical career in Seattle and see where else I end up!
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Q & A compiled by Brittany Cinderella. Wildcat Words compiled by Brevin Ross.
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Page 11
November 02, 2022
News
“Cats Against Assault” claims lack of accountability in Title IX cases on campus Continued from Pg. 1 Source # 2 gave general details about their own Title IX case, in which the source claimed a former professor at CWU touched a “private area” on their body on multiple occasions, as well as made inappropriate comments toward them. Source # 2 said the professor left the university in the middle of the investigation, which she said meant that a violation of the no contact order placed between the two parties would no longer be punishable by the university. Source # 2 said they were not informed of the professor leaving until months after it happened. Source # 1 said in their experience, “Reporting sexual misconduct in the current system is designed to make students fail. No matter how many questions you ask, no matter if you have an attorney, it doesn’t matter how much evidence you have, the chances that your perpetrator will be held accountable is slim to none, even if they’re a professor. That was a hard pill to swallow.” “[Creating Cats Against Assault] was not necessarily something that I wanted to do, it was something that needed to be done,” Source # 1 said. “I started taking note of every policy Central was routinely breaking, every aspect of the reporting process that was retraumatizing people, federal laws that they were breaking.” After taking note of these allegedly breached policies and the shared experience with others around her, Source # 1 said she wrote an email to President Wohplart that was shared on the Cats Against Assault page with their list of demands for re-
form. She said this was met with promises to make these changes happen, but after waiting five months, she did not see these changes happening. “Five months later school is starting, and I hear of another Title IX case,” Source # 1 said. “I asked [the victim] how long have you been in it…..the answer was much, much longer than three months; and I asked have your rights been put in writing, because that was one of the things Jim had promised us, and she said no. I asked were you given legal counsel, do you feel like you were supported during this process, and she said no. I emailed President Wohlpart and I copied everything that he had promised and then in bold right next to it said, has this happened yet? What is your plan to make this happen if it hasn’t happened?” Source # 1 said President Wohlpart’s reply was that close to none of the demands had been met. The university is understood to have posted a Title IX job listing in September searching for an on-campus person to do intake, but according to Source # 1, none of the other promised demands had been met. “It costs zero dollars to put a student’s rights in writing, it costs zero dollars to put a no contact order on the victim instead of the perpetrator….so many of the changes that we’re asking for don’t cost money,” Source # 1 said. “There was really no excuse for not having it done, for having five months and not having it done.” Source # 2 claimed that this lack of response was the final straw before creating the Instagram account. “I personally was in my own Title IX case all of last year,”
Source # 2 said. “I had to watch some friends go through the Title IX process and have very similar experiences to myself, and I think the tipping point was finally getting to a point where we had confirmation from the President [Wohlpart] that he was going to be working on changes in the Title IX department, and then hearing rumors that more staff was getting involved with student Title IX cases and then having us reach back out to him for a progress update, getting an extremely vague response and no timeline indicating that he is planning on implementing those things that he promised us.” The sources both said it was “heartbreaking” to hear stories of so many other students going through this situation, yet they found empowerment through unity. “As a victim, it’s easy to fall into defeat and feeling like it’s your fault, and it’s really emotional to see how many people have gone through the same thing as you,” Source # 2 said. “On the other hand, it’s also rewarding because you’re kind of bringing that group together and we all can relate to each other, so it’s a powerful thing.” Source # 1 said they are motivated by many different events and emotions. “It was one thing when I was in a Title IX case,” Source # 1 said. “But seeing it happen to other people, that’s what drives me, that’s what makes me go, ‘I want this to be a safe campus’…another thing is anger, it’s looking people in the eye who work here knowing that they lied to me. I’m angry that I pay tuition at a university that is not safe.”
Wildcat statue in front of the SURC. Photo by Andrew Ulstad
Community outreach and involvement On the Cats Against Assault page, there are links to a petition people can sign supporting their demands for reform, as well as an anonymous form people can fill out detailing their own Title IX experiences. “The Title IX department does a good job of making you feel like your situation is an isolated experience,” Source # 2 said. “When you’re in the process, you are like, ‘okay, maybe I am wrong.’ It’s easy to fall into that. Once we started this Instagram, all these people were like, ‘okay, I did go through this, and they should not have done that and it is against the law,’ and everyone is realizing what they did was wrong, and it’s been really cool to see people be inspired by the Instagram to now go and fight for themselves again.” Source # 2 commented that what administration presents on the surface has felt like a “slap in the face” compared to the lack of action behind it.
“I’ve seen the president go and make speeches in front of crowds saying how he’s going to keep the campus a safe place … and then behind the scenes, it’s a completely different story,” Source # 2 said. “We’re reaching out, we’re exasperating all of our resources to make sure we can create a safe place on campus and they’re ignoring us.” Cats Against Assault has expanded beyond the CWU campus into the greater Ellensburg community, where they handed out over 250 fliers at the Kittitas County Farmers Market. “We actually ran into a couple people at the farmers market that had been through their own cases, and they didn’t tell us at the time but they reached out to us on the Instagram afterwards and they were like, ‘we just got this flier, thank you so much for starting this page,’” Source # 2 said. The Observer will continue following this story in weeks ahead. Keep an eye out for more indepth future coverage regarding specific Title IX cases on campus.
Smashing pumpkins and eruptions of rubbish
CWU STEM departments raise funds with spooky ‘speriments Andrew Ulstad Staff Reporter The sounds of wet splats and dull booms filled the chilly fall air outside Discovery Hall on Sunday, Oct. 30 as the Geology, Astronomy and Society of Physics Students (SPS) clubs hosted their fourth annual pumpkin drop and trashcano fundraiser, an event where they launched pumpkins off the top of the astronomy tower and created eruption simulations using liquid nitrogen. Deanna Marshall, manager for the NASA-funded Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pathways program and event planner, said the goal for the fundraiser was twofold: to raise funds for the three involved clubs and show the community how much fun science can be. “It makes the science and the math real,” Marshall said. “All of a sudden it goes from ‘Oh, why would I want to study that?’ to
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‘Oh, I want to study that! I want to learn more!’” The pumpkin drop event was judged on loudest impact and best decorated. Voting in each event was based on donations: each donation leading to one vote in one category. Donations were also collected from selling tickets for assigned seating. The pumpkins were painted the day before, and according to Marshall were primarily decorated by CWU students and local kids ranging from 7-10 years-old. The overall fundraising goal of the event was $2,500. According to Marshall, all prizes and supplies were sponsored by the Society of Physics Students national organization and Geology and Astronomy departments. Every cent collected was to be split evenly across all three involved clubs. The three clubs raised a total of $488 between the two Sunday events.
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The fundraiser drew people in from campus, Ellensburg and other parts of Washington. Katie Kent said she came from Renton to hear the hallmark splat sound with her daughter. “Who doesn’t wanna see a pumpkin splatter?” Kent said. “It doesn’t get better than that.” The winners were announced for each category shortly after the last pumpkin fell. SPS club member Jessica Zarkos took home first place for best decorated, and fellow club member Sam Spenser received first in the biggest splat category with an impact at 120 decibels. Each took home $100 for their efforts. The trashcanoes were set off using liquid nitrogen in a sealed plastic bottle, which was then submerged in water. Once enough pressure built up, the bottles exploded and sent foam pieces spewing out. Each trashcano was dedicated to a historical eruption, with brief explainers on the geologic processes occurring before detonation.
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Foam, water and the plastic bottle fuse blast out of a trashcano at the fourth annual trashcano and pumpkin splat fundraiser outside Discovery Hall. Photo by Anderew Ulstad
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November 02, 2022