pg. 10 On Campus
pg. 12 Student Community
pg. 18 Diversity and Equity
pg. 22 Art Scene
pg. 26 On the Town
pg. 30 Opinion
pg. 37 Sports
Summer 2022
Vol. 122 NO. 10
By the students, for the students
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 02
Summer 2022
Letter from the Editor: Welcome to CWU, Wildcats! Welcome and hello! This is The Observer, CWU’s student-run weekly newspaper, where you’ll be able to find news and happenings around campus and Ellensburg. Our staff works hard to produce a quality weekly issue, and we hope you’ll stick around! I certainly wish I could stick around, but as I write, I’m less than a week away from ending my time with student media. Summer will be my last quarter at CWU, and then I’m out of here, a degree in my hands, and off to graduate school. After two years on The Observer, with one quarter of PULSE sprinkled in there, I have to say this has been the hardest and most fulfilling of all my college experiences. As a single mom of two who is an online distance learner, I never imagined having a “normal college experience,” but since I started at CWU in 2020, I didn’t really expect anyone would have one. I’m thankful that I lucked into the opportunity to be part of student media, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to end my time on the Observer than to be part of the continuation of it. A little unsolicited advice to everyone coming into CWU: get involved and find your people. My time here would have been a lot less impactful if I hadn’t ended up finding The Observer, or if I hadn’t listened to two editors at the end of fall 2020 who encouraged me to apply for leadership staff. If you have room in your busy schedules, join clubs, join student media, join the student senate, whatever sounds the most appealing to you. There are so many ways students can get involved and meet new people, especially if you are in Ellensburg. If you’re an online student like me? Reach out to advisors or students in your classes and see if there are any clubs or groups that have stayed virtual. Being involved in student media has made me feel so much closer to CWU. Speaking of student media, it’s such a great way to keep up with the happenings at CWU, so I recommend following them all, and even joining in! There are several to choose from, such as The Observer (what you’re reading right now); PULSE, a quarterly lifestyle magazine; Central News Watch, a weekly television newscast; Central Communication Agency, a public relations firm; KCWU 88.1 The ‘Burg, a radio broadcast station; and Wildcat Films, a production house. Most, if not all, of these organizations are on all of the social media platforms, so I recommend giving them a follow. Reach out to the Communications department if you’d like to get involved in any of them. Most of all, have fun, and remember this too shall pass whether you like it or not. Happy reading Wildcats!
A Look Inside Meet the President of CWU in an exclusive interview and read about his first year in review. Wonder what move-in will look like? Check out the advice from the Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life, Tricia Rabel. The Diversity and Equity Center (DEC) holds several large events, generally one per quarter. Check out these stories to see what’s in store! Sarah Spurgeon Gallery in Randall Hall is host to several art shows throughout the year. Check out these pages for an inside look of 21-22’s exhibits! The Observer asked staff and students what their favorite and least favorite spots around Ellensburg are. Have a look to see what they say! Several sport clubs are offered at CWU. Head to this page to read about club volleyball and the new golf club. Bored? We made a Cat Libs just special for you! Head over to the engagement page for something to do.
The Observer Staff Editor-in-Chief Star Diavolikis News Editors Libby Williams
Copy Desk Chief Katlyn White Assistant Copy Editor Addie Adkins
Sports Editor Jared Galanti Opinion Editor Katlyn White Orientation Editor Addie Adkins Online Editor Crystal Clausen Assistant Online Editor Emily LaFave
Faculty Adviser Jennifer Green
Jennifer.Green@cwu.edu
Megan Rogers Wayne Gray Milenne Quinonez Chase Beyer
Evan Couch
Scene Editor Katherine Camarata
Staff Reporters
Editorial Consultant Francesco Somaini
Jacqueline Hixssen Isaac Hinson
Graphic Designers Sarah Stewart Blake Wells Annie Tran
Editorial Policy: The Observer is a public forum for student expression,
Joshua Kornfeld Elliott Watkins Morgana Carroll Mary Miller
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
Photographer Brevin Ross
a training program, The Observer is the practical application of the theories and principles of journalism. It teaches students to analyze and communicate information that is vital to the decision making of the community at large. It provides a forum for students to learn the ethics, values and skills needed to succeed in their chosen career. If you have questions or concerns, email us at cwuobserver@gmail.com.
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Summer 2022
ON CAMPUS
CWU offers safety CWU changes room measures in hopes and board rates visitors feel safe on campus By Wayne Gray Staff Reporter
By Mary Miller Staff Reporter CWU provides several security features in hopes to make campus life safer for students, staff and visitors. Police Surveillance Officer Andrew Bayne said the number one safety feature provided by the CWU police is “24/7 service with 13 fully commissioned police officers with complete arrest and investigatory authority.” When asked if she feels safe on campus, Jasmine Cottam, a senior majoring in communication with a minor in French said, “During the day I do because there are so many students on campus, and you can see the police frequent a lot of common places.” Several Lights Around Campus According to Officer Mackenzie Williams, CWU provides a well-lit campus for student safety. Several walkways and parking lots feature bright LED lights, some of them motion censored. Nevertheless, caution is important. “Because we are an open campus in a small town so close to the downtown area, I don’t feel safe at night,” Cottam said. Cottam said the first two years she was at CWU, her dorm room “was very far away” from the parking lot. “Thankfully my apartment now is close to the parking lot,” Cottam said. Emergency Blue Lights If students do run into trouble on campus, emergency lights are set up at several locations throughout campus, including the parking lots and at the entrances to each residence hall. “The blue lights are for immediate assistance and connection to local police,” Cottam said. Officer Bayne said, the “big red button [on the poles] connects [you] directly to 911.” Building Security In general, buildings on campus are open to the public during normal business hours. Access to some rooms and to the buildings at night “are controlled by key or card access after normal business hours,” according to the CWU Police Security website. CWU Alerts CWU’s Police Department sends out alerts through an Emergency Notification System (ENS). Notices that “may pose a substantial threat to our community,” according to the secu-
rity website. These alerts come through website and desktop, email, voice mail, text messages and Public Address systems (PA’s) in police vehicles and designated buildings. Rave Guardian App The Rave Guardian App is an add-on to the CWU Alert! system. Through the app students can: • Manage CWU emergency messages • Create a network of guardians: family, friends and others you trust, to watch over you • Create a safety timer – giving your status and location and if you don’t check in at a designated time, your guardians will alert the police • Connect directly to campus emergency and safety resources Call 9-1-1 Access a travel advisory -direct link to the Washington State DOT Travel Alerts “All students, faculty, and staff are strongly encouraged to download the Rave Guardian app to their mobile devices and begin using on campus,” according to the security website. Courtesy Assistance Team (CAT) Cottam said she has a friend on the CAT team. “They are a group of students working from 7-12 p.m., every day, for your safety at night, with finals week being special hours,” Cottam said. “You can call them through their number or flag them down at the SURC or the Library and they will walk you home or anywhere on campus.” According to CWU’s police security website, “CAT employees also conduct security checks of buildings to make sure that doors and windows are locked and secured and walk through open buildings so their presence is known.” RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) CWU’s Police Department conducts a women’s self-defense program that “teaches awareness, prevention, risk reduction/ avoidance with basic hands-on defense training,” Williams said. According to the police website, this program teaches “realistic self-defense tactics and techniques.”
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CWU’s change to a “Same Rate, Same Room” policy may simplify room and board for some but raise housing costs for others. CWU recently changed its pricing model for the 2022-2023 academic year in order to simplify room and board rates for students, according to Jenna Hyatt, the associate dean of student living. “At one point we had over 10 different rate types and so this whole program and process was to simplify it for our students,” Hyatt said. According to the residence hall information on CWU’s housing webpage, there will be three types of rooms available: single, suite and shared. Previously, the 20212022 room and board rates distinguished room differences such as bathrooms or hall location; the new pricing model does not. The 2022-2023 annual room and board rates will be $7,700 for a shared room, $8,241 for a suitestyle and $9,532 for a single. Hyatt said the new room rates will give students flexibility to choose rooms based on preference or needs.
This could benefit those students who opted for more expensive rooms in the 2021-2022 academic year; they could now get the same room for a lower rate. According to the room and board rates for 2021-2022 and 20222023, a single room suite that would have been $9,997 will now be $465 less. This move may also impose extra costs on those students who would have opted for a lower priced room provided in 20212022 room and board rates and planned to do the same this year. According to the 2021-2022 rates, a standard shared room that would have cost $6,952 will now cost $7,700, a $748 increase. Selecting a standard single room, a room that was $8,006 in 2021-2022, will now cost $9,532 for the 2022-2023 academic year. For some students, this $1,526 increase in room rates may have an impact on their personal finances. Hyatt said these cost differences should be mitigated by the amount of financial aid that students receive due to increased cost of attendance. Hyatt said CWU will be awarding $1,000 scholarships
each year to incoming students in the upcoming fall quarter who commit to living in student housing for two years. Hyatt said this move could reduce the impact of housing costs for students as well. “This whole system and rate structure was designed to really be able to support and provide access and equity to our students,” Hyatt said. According to Hyatt, CWU has also made changes to contracts for student apartments. Students will now be signing for a bed rather than leasing the space. Hyatt said this change will get rid of the liability that was placed on students in prior leases. The contract lengths would be for an academic year rather than based on the calendar year. “They’re not responsible for finding the other leaseholder in that space,” Hyatt said. “It’s like a contract, like in a residence hall, so if it remains vacant they’re not paying for that other bed.” Hyatt said these moves could be seen as part of a recruiting campaign. Hyatt said she believes these changes are the right thing to do.
Knowledge and skills all employers need Earn a B.A. in Communication Media & Journalism (now also online) Public Relations a minor in Communication Journalism (now also online) Organizational Communication a certificate in Entertainment & Lifestyle Writing
Practice leadership skills by joining student media and clubs The Observer (now also en español) Central Communication Agency PULSE magazine Central News Watch Lambda Pi Eta
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ON CAMPUS
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Summer 2022
Meet President Wohlpart Learn more about your new president in this exclusive Q&A from fall 2021
By Sean Bessette Former Editor-in-Chief Back in June 2021, President Jim Wohlpart stepped onto CWU’s campus for the first time. Over 1,500 miles away from his previous position, Wohlpart began a new adventure as CWU’s 15th President. Wohlpart took the position after spending six years as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Before his time at UNI, Wohlpart served in several academic and administrative
positions at Florida Gulf Coast University, including Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and Chair of the Division of Humanities and Arts. He holds a doctorate in English from the University of Tennessee, received his master’s in English from Colorado State University and his bachelors in English and Philosophy from the University of Tennessee. Q: What about CWU, or the larger Ellensburg area, attracted you to this position? A: This was the only presidency I applied for and I applied
because of the way in which faculty and staff touch students’ lives and help them see a potential that they may not have known they had, and then help them get really good at that and succeed later on. I call that ‘deep care’ when I talk to audiences. I talk about the ‘deep care’ that faculty and staff have for students, their lives, and it really is transformative. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had the last four months meeting with alumni and donors and they each have a story of a faculty member or a staff member who cared about them and saw the potential in
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them. So I was able to discern that from looking at all the materials and able to discern that CWU wanted to take all that to the next level and I thought maybe I had some experiences that would help with that. Q: What surprised you upon arriving on campus back in June? A: I’ll tell you the only thing that was a surprise was how long the summer is when you’re on quarters. So usually I’ve been on semesters. By mid-August, everybody’s back on campus and here it’s mid-September so an extra month of summer which I was not accustomed to. Maybe another surprise, in terms of Ellensburg, is the richness of opportunities for restaurants, furniture stores. There really is just a lot here in a small town that you don’t necessarily find in other towns this size and so we were very impressed by that. Q: What has the adjustment from Northern Iowa to Central Washington been like? A: Seamless. There’s a fantastic team here, again, a great faculty and staff. I’ll say that a million times. The work is very similar because they’re both regional comprehensives, the budgets are roughly the same. The challenges are roughly the same for this kind of institution so in terms of the transition into this role and into this institution, I would say pretty seam-
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less. It feels like it’s very comfortable and very natural. Q: What is the biggest hardship you’ve faced up to this point in your career and how did you overcome it? A: One was a perennial problem on many college campuses and that is creating a culture of inclusion and I would say that has been a primary challenge in all of the work I’ve done. It was especially hard in the Midwest at an institution when I got there was about 9192% of the students were white. By the time I left, it was down to about 88%, so we have expanded the students of color in phenomenal ways, by creating a culture of belonging. We also need to do that work here, so I expect that to be a continued journey. And then the last thing I would say in the last six years at Northern Iowa was budget cuts at the state level. Those are always challenging and we had hard decisions to make.
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Summer 2022
ON CAMPUS
Wohlpart: Spring review of the year
Fifteenth president focuses on inclusion and engagement goals and Non Tenure Track Faculty
Photo courtesy of CWU Flickr
By Addie Adkins & Libby Williams Orientation Editor & News Editor Applause rang across the auditorium as a gold chain with a gold medallion was placed on President Jim Wohlpart. The Presidential Installation on May 19 marks Wohlpart’s first year at CWU, officially inducting him as the 15th president of the university. Wohlpart, whose work started in June of 2021, said he has made a point to show that diversity, equity and inclusion have been on the top of his list of goals. “The foundation of our work must be the engagement and success of an increasingly diverse student body,” Wohlpart said during the installation. “This must be the lever that drives everything we do, and we must consider student success broadly through three pillars: first, ensuring the professional preparation of our students, second developing their civic capacities and third assisting them in developing a sense of purpose and meaning.” Presidential Duties and a Look Back on The First Year According to Wohlpart, his duties and goals are set by the Board of Trustees. He said he had a list of eight goals this year, though some of them are longer term. “One of [the goals] was creating the vision, mission and strategic plan. [Others were to] elevate shared governance, increase high impact practices, launch a campaign,” Wohlpart said. “So those eight goals are how they will measure my success.” Creating the vision and mission statement and setting
a strategic plan to reach that vision and mission is one long term goal set. The vision and mission statement, sent to the university community including students, went to the Board of Trustees Friday for approval. After approval, the next step for this goal will be strategic planning in order to find ways to best implement the vision and mission, according to Wohlpart. “The steering committee will work over the summer thinking about how we would organize a strategic plan,” Wohlpart said. “That strategic plan will create a pathway to get us to this place of equity and it’ll mean recording more students of color, first generation students, low socioeconomic students, providing more resources for them to be successful … and then help them succeed as they go all the way through staying at institution and graduating.” In addition to the yearly goals, Wohlpart said his dayto-day duties include fundraising, talking to legislators and managing the executive leadership team. The executive team faced changes in February as two people resigned their posts. See The Observer’s coverage of that here:
Wohlpart also made changes to the executive team positions. According to Wohlpart, he took
the Vice President for Enrollment position and combined it with duties from the Academic and Student Life position, creating an all new Vice President of Student Engagement Success. This position is expected to be filled this summer. The Chief of Staff position has also seen several applicants as the search for Linda Schactler’s replacement continues. Wohlpart said the Vice President for Advancement interim position ended and Paul Stone was hired for that role. Wohlpart said he hopes to continue providing transparency to the students and the rest of the university community. In addition to increasing communication, he said he’s seen a lot of student involvement as well. “What I keep hearing from people is that they really have appreciated the transparency,” Wohlpart said. “We’ve had students involved in all of the big committees that are on all of our searches, and I hope I send out lots of emails … so hopefully we work to increase that.” Diversity, Equity and Inclusion In an interview with The Observer in fall quarter, Wohlpart said the number one goal he had was to create a culture of inclusion. See more from that Q&A here:
“As we model this type of civil discourse at Central Washington University, we must build an environment of meaningful engagement with others who have different backgrounds and world views,” Wohlpart said during the installation. One of the ways Wohlpart plans to change this culture is in the vision and mission statement and eventually the strategic plan. The mission statement reads, “In order to build a community of equity and belonging, Central Washington University nurtures culturally sustaining practices that expand access and success to all students.” With Pride Month coming up in June, some students have wondered how the university plans to ensure this culture of inclusion will be felt by the LGBTQ community specifically. “One of the things we’ve been trying to do is be more proactive with our work around the LGBTQ community and other communities … to demonstrate our support for them. Then we hope that that helps change the culture,” Wohlpart said. “We’re trying to be proactive with a whole series of things with a lot of events, a lot of education, a lot of demonstrations.” Additionally, Wohlpart plans to work more with the campus and student community regarding disability services. He said he hopes to shift the idea of disability services “which talks about a deficit,” to making the campus culture more about accessibility and accessibility services. “[This] talks about the institution’s responsibility to everybody having access to [those services],” Wohlpart said. “We
actually have a donor who’s very interested in accessibility services. We’re working with that donor right now to increase the opportunity for us to offer services to a whole range of students that we don’t currently offer to.” Other Questions From Students Early in the month, The Observer posted a call for questions to the president on social media. Some additional questions students had regarded COVID-19 and enrollment numbers and how those have affected Non-Tenure Track faculty. According to Wohlpart, there has been little evidence that suggests a surge or outbreak of COVID-19 among students, staff and faculty. He said some faculty have noticed a few students in classes out sick, but nothing like it used to be. “It’s interesting, as cases have started to go back up a little bit, the hospital cases are not going up,” Wohlpart said. Now that registration has opened, enrollment projection numbers are expected to be around 10,000 students, as Wohlpart predicted in early fall. “We are still projecting 1,700 freshmen, it may end up being slightly higher than that, [and around] 900 transfers,” Wohlpart said. “Still slightly down from last year, but not nearly as strong as we’ve had in the past.” Wohlpart said there have been some adjustments to faculty, as there is every year. He said because of the last two small incoming classes let in during the pandemic, it has affected “the frontlines in ways it shouldn’t have.”
ON CAMPUS
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CWU’s hubs reopen fall 2021 By Libby Williams News Editor CWU’s campus is home to plenty of study and hang-out hubs for students. However, after the pandemic led to more online learning, many new and returning students might not know about these locations and the services they provide. Erin Sulla is the first year and transfer experience librarian at Brooks Library. “[I] work with first years and with transfers and new students, and students who have been away from school for a while. It’s a demographic that’s really important to Central, and just making sure there’s somebody who’s there for them … to support them through every step,” said Sulla. Sulla said Brooks Library is an excellent on-campus location to study, attend events, visit with friends and much more. “On the first floor, we have the learning commons, previously known as the academic success center. There’s a lot of collaborative work that goes on down there, and a lot of concentrated help for students who need help on specific projects,” Sulla said. “The second floor has a variety of collaborative spaces … the fishbowl on the second floor is great because it’s lively.” Sulla said she doesn’t want students to think the library is only for quiet study, especially on the first and second floors. She said it’s a great place to work together with your peers or even just hang out. The third and fourth floors provide more of a classic library feel, with lots of quiet study spaces that people might be looking for, according to Sulla. There are also
events students can attend that will be hosted at the library. “The events we have coming up are also exciting,” Sulla said. “At the learning commons, we’re doing a Pacific Northwest legends event series … We have a few author talks, and some speakers, and then a lot of research workshops.” Sulla said she encourages students to check out events happening this quarter at cwu.libcal. com, and that she’s excited that in-person learning and events are making a return. “I started here this summer so it’s been really quiet since I started,” Sulla said. “I’m excited to experience it for the first time along with the students … I’m enjoying the energy of people being back.” Brooks Library is open from 7:30 a.m. until midnight Monday through Thursday, and 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Friday through Sunday. “The Bistro” is a large hub located behind Sue Lombard Hall and right across from Lind Hall. The cafe sells food, ice cream and beverages. The majority of the building is full of couches, booths and tables for students to do homework or catch up with friends between classes. Many clubs and organizations have meetings there as well. The Bistro is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will also reopen certain Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. for Open Mic Nights. Details can be found on the CWU event calendar. Additional hubs include the SURC, where many seating areas, the Recreation Center and dining services can be found, and the Northside Commons where Panda Express and 1891 Market can be found.
Summer 2022
Discovery Hall Observatory towers over campus
Night-time Ellensburg landscape view from the Observatory. Photo by Chase Beyer/The Observer
By Chase Beyer Staff Reporter That tower sticking out of the top of Discovery Hall is the CWU Observatory. The CWU Observatory is split up into three different components: the Observatory, the Lydig Planetarium and the Telescope. The CWU Observatory provides outreach opportunities, re-
search opportunities and hands-on training for students. In addition, it opens up to the public for events to share what their observatory can capture. “We’re coming out of the pandemic and haven’t had a lot of opportunities in the last couple years for people to go up and come into the planetarium,” CWU Astronomy Club President Christine Anderson
said. “A lot of people don’t know it exists.” The Lydig Planetarium is where CWU holds the events, during which six projectors shoot a 3-D presentation onto the fluorescent blue planetarium, showcasing the night sky visibly. With the ability to seat up to 80 people, the Lydig Planetarium finished construction in 2015 and remains one of the largest observatories in the state of Washington. The telescope is what actually captures the photos projected in the planetarium. CWU has a collection of small to medium sized telescopes that are used for celestial research, ranging in size from 10 to 16 inches. “The actual physics department with the astronomy minor utilizes the telescope for the astronomy classes, specifically the 10-inch gets used for the intro to astronomy class, which is a class that anybody can take,” Anderson said. CWU has a program with their telescope called WorldWide Telescope, which allows them to project the night skies of Ellensburg and a 3-D model of the solar system, and it can coordinate groups of constellations.
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STUDENT COMMUNITY
Summer 2022
Page 07
Wildcats return to campus during Move-In Weekend
Virtual parking passes roll out this summer
Signs and personalized maps will point students where to go for move-in weekend. Photo by Libby Williams/The Observer
By Libby Williams & Addie Adkins Scene Editor & Orientation Editor “Welcome Weekend” returned in fall of 2021 as all on-campus residents moved into their dorms. For fall 2022, move-in will look similar. After a lack of the event in 2020, Housing and Residence Life staff members worked to provide a safe, enjoyable transition to new and returning students. Tricia Rabel, the executive director for Housing and Residence Life, oversees CWU’s 22 residence halls and five apartment complexes, as well as the 30 professional staff and 95 student employees. Rabel said that in years prior, staff would move in around 2,800 students in one day. Similar to last year, Rabel said movein will be stretched out this coming fall as well. “First Year students will move in on Thursday, September 15th, and Friday September 16th by appointment,” Rabel stated in an email. “Returners and Transfer Students will move in on Sunday, September 18th by appointment.” According to Rabel, students can expect information in the mail and CWU email in August with information on move-in weekend including a guide, a specific map guiding students to their assigned residence hall and an appointment time. In addition to the move-in process, there are several events that generally happen during “Welcome Week,” which is the week between move-in weekend and the first week of classes. According to Rabel, the schedule is still being set. “Typical events include drag show, outdoor movie, how to find classes, speed mentoring, academic connections, paint party, glow in the dark 5k and [a] student involvement fair,” Rabel said in an email. Rabel explained some good ways to prepare for move-in. For one, students should remember that only one car for each residence can go through the move-in line and that roads
are one ways during move-in, so make sure to follow the move-in route from the map. “Pack light!” Rabel said. “We have most of your necessities for you - bed, mattress, desk, chair, trash can, clothing storage, and microfridge [microwave, fridge and freezer] come in the room!” Rabel also said students need to leave animals at home as all residence halls are pet free. Returning students, staff and community members also have a chance to participate in movein weekend. Rabel said people can volunteer as welcome ambassadors known as “Movers and Shakers.” “Movers and Shakers work at least a half day helping load students’ items from cars up to their room and are key in welcoming
our new students to campus,” Rabel stated. “We … recommend packing light - most students report having over packed!” Serena Thompson, who served as a Senior Resident’s Assistant (SRA) for Kennedy Hall in fall 2021, said she thought move-in weekend went well.
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By Milenne Quinonez Staff Reporter Parking passes will now be virtual. As CWU works to implement them this summer, students can expect a slow transition on June 29, meaning your vehicles license plate will be your permit. “In fall quarter we would have lines of 75-100 people at a time waiting in line to pick up their permit,” CWU Chief of Police, Jason Berthon-Koch, said. Berthon-Koch said this new transition will eliminate that process. Students will not have to spend time worrying about picking up their parking permits and instead do it online or on their phone. “It’s also helping out with landfills by not using more plastic and cutting down on our plastic,” Berthon-Koch said. The new parking passes will be managed by a cloud-based permit system called FlexPort, where all the passes bought will be managed completely online. Parking enforcement will also be using license plate readers. According to Berthon-Koch, the parking enforcement will have cameras mounted onto their cars reading license plates and comparing them to the permits they have on file. If there is no match then a ticket will be administered. “The enforcement is not about writing a ticket, the enforcement is about protecting the resources people pay for,” Berthon-Koch said. Allie Roe, a junior majoring in the tourism manage-
ment program, said, “I feel as if the transition to virtual parking passes will be different but good. Everything is going virtual already so having our parking passes won’t be so hard getting used to.” Roe said she noticed an issue with the current parking hang tags and how they easily fall off, and people still get tickets even though they do have a parking pass. Hannah Thompson, a junior majoring in clinical physiology, said, “I noticed inconsistencies. Sometimes, I’ll be able to park without my parking pass for a week and not get in trouble and then other times I’ll forget for an hour and get a ticket, so I’m interested to see if the new digital one either helps with that or how that changes.” Madison Haines, a senior majoring in finance and managerial economics, said she believes the virtual parking passes can be effective, but also sees how it won’t work. “Now with the current parking pass you can clearly see who has a parking pass versus who doesn’t, so it may be a little bit more difficult regulating that when it goes virtual,” Haines said. Madison Lea, a senior, majoring in accounting, said, “I’m a little bit worried about it because I already feel like the parking lots with having a physical tag is over-crowded, so I can only imagine how easy it would be to say you have a parking pass and you don’t, and how over crowded the parking will become as a result of that.”
STUDENT COMMUNITY
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Summer 2022
CWU campus expands in hopes to provide new spaces for students By Mary Miller Staff Reporter CWU’s main goals for building projects on campus are to “fulfill the academic needs of students” while maintaining a sustainable campus, said the Director of Capital Planning & Projects, Delano Palmer. CWU’s Capital Master Plan describes their vision as, “A strong commitment to engaged learning and scholarship, internationalism, sustainability, inclusiveness, and life-long learning.” Incoming students can look forward to several campus building projects planned for the next four years. Priorities According to Palmer, with every project plan the committee asks themselves, “Is this meeting the future strategy of CWU to serve our students?” Palmer said this ensures “that [students] are having the best academic experience.” Besides students’ academic needs, other factors the committee considers are Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, sustainability, energy efficiency, building codes and maximum classroom efficiency. About sustainability, Palmer said, “Every capital project we do an evaluation on impact.” The university abides by the certification standards for green buildings of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Palmer said one of the university’s priorities is to maintain healthy green space and walkways. “Those [green spaces] are really important for the CWU campus and the beautiful scenery we have around here,” Palmer said. The Future of Building at CWU CWU’s future building plans include considerations for maximum flexibility in hybrid learning.
“During the pandemic we realized the importance of being able to be hybrid and have classes online,” Palmer said. “But there’s always still the desire to have traditional collegiate experience of a face-to-face interaction. So, in that we try to balance the two, see what the students are looking to do, and based upon that incorporate that into [the project]” Palmer said that Distance Education classrooms are being set up with technology to accommodate hybrid learning, such as utilizing Microsoft Teams or Zoom, hightech cameras and microphones. Palmer said these adaptations make it so “students and faculty can still interact with each other and have that one-on-one relationship that is really part of the collegiate experience, where students feel a part and included as far as what is happening with their education.” Schedule Major capital building projects at the university work on a bi-annual basis. Palmer explained that typically they have one major project in construction, followed by a project in the design stage and lastly a project in pre-design. In addition, stand-alone projects are completed in less time, such as acquisitions, renovations, expansions and infrastructure, including underground utilities. Health Sciences Building The Health Sciences building, a $60 million dollar project, was completed and opened in April. This state-of-the art facility, an 80,748 square-foot building, now houses programs such as nutrition and food science, biomechanics, paramedicine, exercise physiology and public health. Features of the new building include electric charging
stations expansion, 9,000 square feet of solar panels and the use of low-emitting paint and adhesives for better air quality. Dr. Ethan Bergman, Health Sciences Department chair, said, “The state-of-the-art classroom and lab spaces will provide the next generation of students and graduates with hands-on experience with the latest technology and equipment they will use in their careers.” Chicena Mortimer, Master of Science in Integrative Human Physiology, said having the program all in one building makes it much easier for health science students to commute on campus. “Fall and winter we were scattered all throughout campus from Purser Hall to Samuelson to Dean to Farrell,” Mortimer said. According to Mortimer, this is the first time they have ultrasound imaging equipment in the university. She called the new facility an “amazing, beautiful building.” Palmer said, “[The design is] quite apparent when you walk into the main atrium of that facility. It is a testament to where we are as an institution and where we want to be and the type of education we are intending to provide for our students.” Nicholson Pavilion and Purser Hall The Health Education Project, a $60.5 million project, has the goal of completion by the fall of 2023. Both academic and athletic expansions on the building started with a ground-breaking ceremony in April. Palmer said that previously, with Nicholson Hall, “there was a conflict in scheduling physical education classes associated with athletics.” CWU Athletic Director Dr. Dennis Francois said that “having a separate strength and
conditioning facility for athletics will allow both [Sports and Movement Studes] and athletics to expand our hours of operation and better serve our student-athletes.” According to the university’s website, renovations and updates include the existing performance/convocation center, locker rooms, classrooms, offices and meeting spaces. A new lobby/vestibule area will also be built. Weight rooms with new equipment will be added, and the fieldhouse will be expanded. “The six-lane, 75 yard Mondo track will be great for sprint work, hurdles, starts, and accommodate indoor pole vault.” Francois said. He explained that the remaining 25,000-plus square feet will add approximately 75 by 40 yards of FieldTurf, which is the same surface they had in Tomlinson Stadium. “This space will have a huge impact on our field sports during both inclement weather and those times when our air quality is poor due to forest fires in the Pacific Northwest, which is always a concern for the health and safety of our student-athletes.” Francois said. Francois also said that the expanded sports medicine area “will have tremendous impact on the level of service we can provide our 425-plus student-athletes.” In Purser Hall, new classrooms and meeting spaces will be created. Renovations have already been completed on athletic and academic faculty offices in that hall. When visiting the Nicholson Pavilion, make sure to look up. A “distinctive cable-suspended roof, one of the first in the country,” helps support the building, according to CWU’s website. Palmer said, “The cables are actually part of the building structure system. Essentially,
Nicholson acts as a large bridge in the fact that the cables provide the structural support for the F load [force load].” This historical cable feature of the building is being preserved in the new renovations. North Academic Complex The North Academic Complex, formerly known as the Humanities and Social Science complex, is in its “schematic phase,” Palmer said. Along with this project, Palmer said, it would “hopefully include renovation of Brooks Library.” The goal is to request funding from the state this fall, start construction next summer and a target of fall 2025 for completion of the project. Palmer said this project intends to replace the existing Language and Literature Hall (L&L) and Farrell Hall. This complex will accommodate first- and second-year student programs. Palmer said, “We’re excited for this facility because it will be one of those buildings in which many of our first-year students will have their first collegiate experience. Psychology Building The Psychology Building needs renovations and updates, according to Palmer, because of the age of the building. A consultant is now conducting an analysis to determine if it is better to renovate, relocate or rebuild this building. Residence Halls Dugmore Hall was finished in the fall of 2019, along with the Northside Commons and Panda Express next to it. This facility primarily houses first-year students. The CWU website describes these dorms as having “communal and suite-style bathrooms, study rooms, laundry on each floor and a communal kitchen attached to the main hall
Summer 2022
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STUDENT COMMUNITY
CWU looks to fulfill the academic needs of students while maintaining a sustainable campus when planning new building projects. Photo by Mary Miller/The Observer
ON CAMPUS
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Summer 2022
‘Wildfest’ brings local artists and CWU students together By Joshua Kornfeld Staff Reporter
Several bands made appearances on stage during Wildfest, a festival meant for student appreciation. Photos by Brevin Ross/The Observer
Students lined up to receive their wristbands, play on inflatable toys and listen to live music for Wildfest 2022, featuring headlining bands Dedelectric and Cobrahawk. Throughout the evening, seven live acts performed including Jump The Valley, Tinted Red and Commongirl. The event also included an inflatable obstacle course and boxing ring, a bouncy house, cornhole, Jenga and a photobooth. CWU Eats provided students with free BBQ, Winegar’s ice cream, Monster and Coca Cola products. 88.1 The ‘Burg had a tent and provided music at the Wildfest afterparty held in the SURC Ballroom. Shanley Olson, a freshman majoring in chemistry, said, “This is a lot of people. I like the setup they have going on, the lights look really cool.” Olson said she liked that the event was on a Thursday and started in the afternoon, so students had the whole evening to listen to music. Deacon Tuttle, a junior in media and journalism, said he heard about Wildfest from a friend.
“I didn’t know about Wildfest until last night,” Tuttle said. “Even a couple hours ago, I had no idea what I was in for. Let’s experience campus life, hang out with my best friends and get some free food.” Tuttle said he liked the variety of activities and music and described it as “keeping it fresh.” “It’s pretty cool to have more activity now than in the last few months and we can put on big events like this, and everyone feels comfortable gathering and enjoying the space,” Tuttle said. Daymon Fritz, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Seattle-based progressive/alternative rock band Dedelectric, said he likes others to listen to their music and decide for themselves what genre their music fits. Fritz said the name of the band came from jamming on an unplugged electric guitar in his garage as a suggestion from his brother. Fritz said he is looking forward to performing again and described the thrill of being in front of a crowd as “just unbearable.” “It’s nice to be able to come back and play Wildfest,” Fritz said. “We played in 2019 with Hobo Johnson and the LoveMakers. It was such a fun show,
with really good energy. It’s really nice to be amongst the Wildcats again.” “We really want to build an experience that you emotionally connect with, and walk away thinking about,” Fritz said. “Maybe being a little bit curious and maybe wanting a little bit more.” Fritz said he hopes fans connect with Dedelectric on a deeper emotional level. “Don’t take yourself too seriously, don’t take Dedelectric too seriously. We’re out here to have fun,” Fritz said. Many students expressed excitement about going outside for a party with fellow classmates. “I’m glad to see a lot of students getting out and enjoying something besides class,” Eva Sten, freshman in environmental studies, said. Edgar Espino, senior political science major, said his favorite act was Commongirl and liked the variety of acts throughout the evening catering to different preferences. “Students get a chance to actually mingle with people that you go to school with,and a great opportunity to go and do something fun on campus,” Espino said.
Students gather together for Wildfest. Pictured above right - Katlyn White, Copy Desk Chief and Opinion Editor for The Observer, and Sydney Erickson. Photos by Brevin Ross/The Observer
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ON CAMPUS
Telejuice , Cobrahawk, Hillia and Dedelectric performed the day away.
Students had several activities to choose from, and CWU Eats provided food and drinks free of charge. Photos by Brevin Ross/The Observer
STUDENT COMMUNITY
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Summer 2022
Clubs offer students a source for community By Mary Miller Staff Reporter
national art events,” according to the CWU webpage. Van Parsons, president of the Art and Design Club and a junior in the fine arts program, said, “What we want to do as a club is to focus highly on community. So, we want to build up the bonds.” She said the club wants to have “more art in town that’s representative of the school and also the town and people who came from Ellensburg, along with indigenous people.” Parsons also said they focus on building up their resumé’s, building up connections and “just overall trying to improve our community.” Parsons said about their club, “It’s a great way to meet people in the department along with teachers. It’s a good way of understanding what to expect from classes here if you’re new and you’ve never been here. It’s really just a great way to start your connections.”
Over 150 clubs at CWU provide a way to connect with other students with mutual interests. Each club is formed and administered by students, with a faculty advisor. Benefits of Clubs Clubs could provide students opportunities to develop leadership skills, make connections in their academic studies and develop friendships. Clubs give them the opportunity to network with peers, faculty and the community. The involvement fair, usually held at the end of September, showcases many clubs on campus. Types of Clubs With community service clubs, sports clubs, art clubs, academic clubs, diversity clubs and religious clubs, there is something to spark the interests of almost everyone at CWU. The Students With a Purpose club, (SWAP), serves the community and provides “an outlet for meeting students with a strong passion for non-profit and social entrepreneurship work, making a difference, and collaboration,” according to SWAP’s Facebook description. The group said they have members from various majors who come together and work toward a common goal. SWAP chooses a theme each year, according to SWAP’s faculty adviser Deanna Marshall. In 2022, the club’s theme concentrated on community involvement in Ellensburg and at CWU. Two community events the group participated in were Earth Day and the Yakima River clean-up day. They also conducted workshops helping students with communication. In 2023, four members of SWAP may go to New York for the United Nations general assembly with about 1500 students from all over the world. Marshall said that being a part of SWAP is, “being a part of the larger community and of the world itself. Then, if you look at [the variety of student majors involved] you see, at the heart, what SWAP can do for students.” Niranjan Malla, a computer science major from Nepal, said that since he was a transfer student from Seattle when he came to CWU, he really appreciated becoming a member of SWAP. “For me it was more than club, I found a family. I got everything as a pack. I got advisor here; I got a mentor; I got friends; I got connections,” Malla said. “If
you become a SWAP member, it will be easier for you because you are exposed to resources all at the same time.” Ava Pruitt, a sophomore in the clinical physiology program at CWU and the treasurer for the club, said about SWAP, said, “If you are interested in getting more involved in the community and making real change, I would say this is a good group for you.” Sports Clubs Sports Clubs at Central include traditional sports such as baseball, volleyball and soccer. Other clubs include dance, golf, tennis and equestrian clubs. The Climbing Club president, a third year geology major Kayto Krueger said, “The climbing team, or the climbing wall in general, is a pretty great place for newer students who’ve
never even climbed before to get into athletics because it’s a pretty fun sport. There’s a lot of problem solving. You can get a good workout and it doesn’t feel like a taxing, like ‘Oh man, I have to go work out and do this - a bunch of sets today.’” Krueger also said, “You get to come in and play around and get strong at the same time.” Vice president Luke Michel, who has been in the club for four years, said, “It’s a very inclusive community. You make a lot of friends here.” Michel said they have had a lot of women climbers and members of all ages. “You can challenge yourself mentally with the scary part of it, because climbing up 15 feet can’t always be a very easy thing to do, but it pushes your mental state,” Michel said.
Arts Clubs Arts Clubs at CWU include interests such as theatre, music, art and design. Central’s Theater Club (CTC) “is open to any student with an interest in or a love of theater,” according to their website. The club engages in several annual fundraisers and “supports student involvement in regional theater productions and conferences.” Music clubs at CWU include the cello, bass, trumpet and trombone clubs, the percussion club and tuba euphonium. These clubs have annual fund-raising days such as “Trumpet Day” and the “Trombone Festival.” The Art and Design Club, the second largest club on campus, “hosts regular exhibitions of student art, plans and sponsors attendance at local, regional, and
Academia Clubs Academia clubs cover any academic topics. This includes the Honor Society club and Lambda Pi Eta, which “cultivates professional development, expands networking opportunities and encourages preparation for graduate school,” according to Lambda Pi Eta’s webpage. Science clubs include the Astronomy Club, Women in STEM and the Biophysics Club. Central’s Rocket Club set off their rocket, which they built themselves, at the NASA Student Launch for the first time in CWU history in 2022. In communication and English, students interested in fiction writing, poetry, non-fiction writing, playwriting, screenwriting or journalism can join the Inklings Creative Writers Club. According to their website, “students hang out with other writers, join peer-edit groups in their field and go to writing seminars and festivals.” The History Club hosts talks, tours of the historic cities in the area and travels to historic sites. In past years they traveled to Washington D.C. and the Gettysburg National Battlefield. Health Sciences clubs include the Nutrition Science Club, which “provides opportunities for students to use their knowledge and skills in performing service activities, learn about career opportunities, discuss academic planning, and engage in recreational activities,” according to their webpage.
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Summer 2022
The many lives of Jampa Dorje By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Students may have seen Jampa Dorje freely giving out little books in front of the SURC, donning the robes of a Buddhist monk and sharing philosophical joy over the years since he began auditing English and philosophy courses at CWU in 2015. From the streets of Berkeley during the postbeat poet era to the farms of the valley as a cattle rancher to the mountains of Colorado studying Tibetan Buddhism, Jampa Dorje has lived many lifetimes within the span of his well-documented existence. Jampa’s bungalow in the heart of Kittitas Valley is home to over 400 “chapbooks” he has penned alone and in collaboration with others. “Chapbooks” are short books that Dorje prints himself and sews together. These “chapbooks” are filled with prose, poetry, philosophy and the trappings of a life fully lived. Jampa mentors young artists and poets locally, and created a collection of work by regional artists called the High Mountain Valley Local Authors Collection. The collection is available to read in the Special Collections at Brooks Library. Jampa began auditing philosophy courses at CWU to bridge the gap between his study of Eastern philosophies and the work of Western philosophers like Nietschze, Kant and Heidegger. Each course that he takes is turned into a writing prompt and later into a “chapbook” that becomes part of his collection. “Whatever the class was about, I needed to turn it into my writing about how I had come from being a Berkeley street poet to being a Tibetan Lama and how I was reimagining things that I thought I had understood from years ago,” Jampa said. Jampa doesn’t always feel he can detail his escapades or write about people in his life using his birth name Richard Denner or his Tibetan Buddhist name Jampa Dorje. Jampa uses a fictitious alter ego named Bouvard Pécuchet as a pen name for many of his “chapbooks” and poems. “Bouvard says things I would never tell my mom,” Jampa said. “He can tell things that Richard couldn’t and Jampa [as a monk] shouldn’t.” Jampa was born on Nov. 21, 1941 in Oakland, California and
given the moniker Richard Lee Denner. Jampa said he was raised ready to become a cattle rancher, a fate he later met. Jampa attended the University of California Berkeley. It was there that he became inspired to pursue poetry writing. Jampa said he learned from the renowned beat poet Luis Garcia. Jampa said Garcia showed him how to write poetry as though he was a jazz musician. Garcia taught him “a whole other intuitive, spontaneous approach to using your words,” Jampa said. According to Jampa, writing poetry does not entail some formula he has to follow, rather a flow of words that ought to be presented in a way that sounds natural when read out loud. Jampa moved to Alaska in the early ‘70s and worked for the Ketchikan Daily News. He lived for two years in a fisherman’s cabin with his wife Cherie and their young son, Theo. Jampa later attended the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. While working as a graphic designer for The Queen Anne News in 1974, Jampa saw an ad seeking a cattle foreman and chose to make Ellensburg his new home. “I irrigated the land, I rode, I took care of horses and a cattle ranch,” Jampa said. “I decided that this town would be a good place.” Jampa said it was always his goal to open a Berkeley-style bookstore somewhere outside of Berkeley. By 1978, his dream manifested in the form of Four Winds Coffee, Tea and Books. Jampa operated the shop in downtown
Ellensburg on the corner of Fourth St. and Pine St. for over twenty years and it served as a space for sharing ideas. After a dark period and a battle with alcoholism, Jampa left Ellensburg hoping to discover the wellness that his soul was searching for. Jampa found himself learning from Sufi leaders, who told him that “God is the disease and God is the cure.” Jampa said, “In my despair and aloneness and drunken state of mind, it sort of stuck.” According to Jampa, the Sufi mystics advised him to study other practices outside of Islam. At age 55, he set out to study Tibetan Buddhism because he said it always resonated with him. “I had heard about the Dharma, but I hadn’t really practiced it,” Jampa said. “You can learn about the Four Noble Truths that Buddha speaks of, and you can try to put those in action if you study a little meditation. Having a teacher helps a lot.” The Dharma is the universal nature of reality taught by the Buddha, according to Jampa. Jampa described Tibetan Buddhism as a mixture of practices based on the teachings of Padmasambhava (a Buddhist Vajra master from the 8th and 9th century) that is “also kind of shamanistic, kind of this Dzog Chen thing which comes from Afghanistan. It’s a weird combination of things that happened in 800 A.D., which is 1,300 years after Buddha, which is a long time for Buddhism to be around before the message got to Tibet.” Jampa studied Tibetan Buddhism in Colorado, secluded in a mountain cabin called Luminous Peak. He said that he studied primarily around women under the leadership of Lama Tsultrim Allione, author of Tibetan bestseller Women of Wisdom, in the retreat center she founded called Tara Mandala.
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Jampa Dorje honored Ellensburg Art Treasure award Community members gathered to show support By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor A crowd of Ellensburg-dwellers and visitors burst into laughter as Jampa Dorje, a force of “Indestructible Loving Kindness” as the translation of his name suggests, took his humor and poetic prowess to a podium at Gallery One Visual Arts Center where he was given the annual Ellensburg Art Treasure award on June 3. “I’m glad to walk in the footsteps of Don O’Connor who received this award posthumously, and I came close to receiving it posthumously but I’m glad to be here to receive it in-person,” Jampa said to a ripple of responsive giggles. Chairman of the Ellensburg Arts Commission and professor of Dance at CWU Alex Eyre presented the award to Jampa following emotional poetry readings by the newly-named Poet Laureate of Ellensburg, Marie Marchand, Ed Stover, Jen Lynn and CWU senior Lecturer Xavier Cavazos. According to Eyre, the Ellensburg Arts Treasure Award is given to “honor people who make a lasting impression on the community,” as Eyre said Jampa has done through his poetry. “His spiritual aspiration sets an example for a different artistic approach,” Eyre said. “He’s really adding to the cultural content of our community.”
Jampa said he was “very happy” to be given the Ellensburg Arts Treasure Award. Jampa’s life experience has evolved many times, spanning from the ‘60s post-beat poet scene in Berkeley to cattle ranching here in the valley to owning symposium-esque shop Four Winds Coffee, Tea, and Books on Fourth St. throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. After Four Winds closed, Jampa studied under Lama Tsultrim Alione at a Buddhist retreat center in Colorado called Tara Mandala for three years. There he was given his name, “Jampa Dorje.” At present, Jampa devotes himself to publishing his own work as well as the work of young and weathered poets alike, mentoring and giving voice to many artists in his community. Jampa created the High Mountain Valley Local Author’s Collection in the Special Works section of Brooks Library where he features many authors from the Pacific Northwest. Jampa’s mixed media collages and assemblages, often made from materials that could be classified as junk, bring the charm of discarded outdoor debris to the formal walls of Gallery One. Jampa emphasized that art lives inside all of us. “Everyone is an artist, they just don’t realize their capability of attaining their inner treasure,” Jampa said. “I’m an outer expression of the inner treasure.”
Full Story Online
Jampa Dorje shares his poetry chapbooks all over Ellensburg. Photo courtesy of Jampa Dorje
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
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Summer 2022
Breaking the Stigma
Check out the full series online where more perspectives are shared
Photo courtesy of Charlotte Casler
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Breaking the Stigma: Borderline Personality Disorder Charlotte Casler, a senior in vocal performance, has been deeply impacted by her diagnosis with BPD, and she shared her experience in the hopes of destigmatizing this disorder and helping others impacted by mental disorders feel less alone. Borderline Personality Disorder is characterized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5) as pervasive instability in interpersonal relationships, self image and emotions, accompanied by feelings of emptiness, impulsive behavior, dissociation, self harm and suicidal tendencies. This combination of afflictions can be difficult to overcome and requires professional intervention.
Breaking the Stigma: BIPOC mental health panel The stigma tied to mental health is a limitation many CWU faculty members make passionate efforts to reduce, and panelists moved one step closer to this goal last week. Five CWU faculty members sat on a panel teaching about resources and coping strategies for BIPOC mental health, and students gathered to listen and learn in SURC 137 on Friday, Jan. 28. “This university community is committed to making
Photo courtesy of Britanny Lewis
Photo courtesy of G-man Denke
sure that all people feel like they belong,” Counselor and Panelist Tiffany Smith said. “Every time we do something like this, we continue to normalize this conversation that we need to be thoughtful about making sure those who may seem underrepresented … have a place to get their needs met as well.”
Breaking the Stigma: Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is often misrepresented in media or everyday conversations, but it encompasses so much more than vague, dramatic stereotypes. CWU community members shared their experience to break down the stigma tied to openly talking about mental health. “It makes you really happy sometimes … You’re the life of the party,” CWU alumna Brittany Lewis said. “Then there are times when the world feels like it’s crushing you. It’s sometimes like a rollercoaster. Thankfully there’s a lot of in-between too. It’s not always one or the other.” Bipolar disorder is divided into different categories, according to the DSM-5. Bipolar 1 is categorized by alternating moods between depressive episodes and manic episodes which can last several months to years, while bipolar 2 includes hypomanic episodes instead of manic episodes, which have a shorter duration and are less severe.
Breaking the Stigma: PTSD When discussing PTSD, there are misconceptions and misunderstandings that arise from stereotypes presented in daily life about this topic. “Trauma can come from anywhere,” junior in psychology and President of the Active Minds club Kelsey Sells said. “Everybody thinks to have PTSD you have to go to war or something absolutely horrible and life-threatening, but it stems from anything that your mind can’t handle.” According to the DSM-5 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is characterized by symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, memory loss, numbing of emotional responsiveness, being easily startled, dissociation and self-destructive behavior. These symptoms occur as a result of traumatic events which can include life-threatening situations like war, but also include any other situation where one is in threat of being sexually, physically or mentally violated.
Photo courtesy of Annemarie Albright
Photo courtesy of Devin Beach
Breaking the Stigma: Anxiety “You have your conscience in your head telling you what is good and what is bad,” freshman theatre design and production major Annemarie Albright said. “[With anxiety], it feels like I have two of them. One of them is normal, what everyone would experience, but the other one is really negative and it tends to be louder.” According to Albright, this negative internal voice often tells her that people are judging her or that things are going wrong and she nitpicks every action she does. The DSM-5 characterizes anxiety disorders as excessive worry that may lead to physical symptoms like increased heart rate, trembling, muscle tension, irritability, fatigue and difficulty sleeping.
ders include feelings of worthlessness and disturbed physical functions like sleep patterns, food intake and energy levels. “Depression is a monster,” CWU alumni G-man Denke said. “But there are people who love you, there are ways to get out of it. Hurting yourself isn’t going to get you out of a bad day.”
Breaking the Stigma: Depression This article discusses the concepts of self-harm and suicide, content which some readers may find upsetting. “Everybody knows what it’s like to be sad,” CWU Psychology Lecturer Cynthia Engel said. “When people who have never had depression before think about depression, they think someone is sad, and that’s not it. It’s sad but it’s also very empty, very numb. You can’t smile your way out of it.” As the winter months approach, seasonal shifts may cause students to experience depression. According to the DSM-5, symptoms of depressive disor-
Autism Spectrum Disorder “Autism is not only how our brains operate, but it’s also our culture. It helps shape who we are and why we are the way we are,” said alumna Devin Beach, founder of a local community of autism activists, B. Heard, B. Strong, B. Proud. As World Mental Health Day approaches on Oct. 10, this community seeks to break down the stigma of autism. Autism spectrum disorder is described in the DSM-5 as a neurodevelopmental disorder with “impairments in social communication” and “restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior.”
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Summer 2022
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
Missing and Murdered Native American and Indigenous Women’s March increases awareness on campus “Where are our sisters? We pray for you everyday. We miss you. We love you. Creator, watch over our sisters. Bless their beautiful families. Each day we pray for our missing sisters. Light their way home safely.” Dan Nanamkin
By Katherine Camarata & Star Diavolikis Scene Editor & Editor-in-Chief Native American and Indigenous attendees donned vibrant regalia and moccasins, and guest speaker Dan Nanamkin sported regalia, moccasins and a headdress while singing and using his hand drum as he led the Missing and Missing and Murdered Native American and Indigenous Women’s (MMNIW) March from the Wildcat Statue to Black Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 17. His words and the drumbeat echoed off buildings as the march passed by. “I come dressed up in regalia here today to show our strong presence as Indigenous people,” Nanamkin said. “We are still here. We stand strong in our culture and traditions.” The Diversity and Equity Center (DEC) hosted this march to shed light on the issue of missing Native American and Indigenous Women. According to his website, Nanamkin is an “advo-
cate-teacher for indigenous culture, community unity, youth empowerment, racial equality, health, harmony, happiness, and peace.” Around thirty students, faculty and community members of all backgrounds participated in the march to address the lack of representation in the media and increase overall awareness for missing Native American and Indigenous women versus white women. Thousands of Native American and Indigenous women go missing every year, and according to a study by the Urban Indian Health Initiative, 95% of these cases were not covered by national or international news media in 2017. Of 5,712 indigenous women and girls who were reported missing in 2016, only 116 of them were logged in the Department of Justice database according to the Urban Indian Health Initiative. Student Event Coordinator and junior in history Roberto Chavez started the march off with a brief speech encouraging attendees to fight for the current generation and future generations. “We are everything the colonizers feared,” Chavez said. “We are educated now.” Attendees held signs that said phrases like “Missing but never forgotten,” “Am I next?” and “No more stolen sisters” while marching in honorary silence. Nanamkin sang and played the hand drum while the march proceeded across campus. Nana-
mkin said the drumbeat represented a heartbeat. When the march arrived at Black Hall, everyone gathered in a circle and started to slowly move in a clockwise direction around Nanamkin, known as a “round dance,” as he sang a song that he composed for all missing Native American and Indigenous women while playing the drum. Nanamkin encouraged all people present to find the courage to say what needs to be said. He specifically encouraged men to “reclaim their position as warriors,” so collectively they can break the cycles of violence and abuse. Chavez spoke about his personal experience with this issue and how it motivated him to get involved. “My aunt and cousin went missing,” Chavez said. “We were lucky to have found my aunt but my cousin so far, no luck.” Chavez said that even though he is from central Mexican tribes, he feels solidarity with Native American people and wants a connection between tribes on this issue, “regardless of a border.” Vice President of the Native American Student Union and senior in anthropology Claire Olney was at the sign-making event prior to the march. Olney said she was motivated to attend because she is part of the Yakama and Snoqualmie Nations and because this issue has been prevalent for years all over the globe.
“I think it’s important that we have this discussion that really needs to be had,” Olney said. “I hope that we are able to make a difference on campus but in the broader community as well, and expand awareness beyond just Ellensburg.” Chavez said he hoped this march would allow people to be part of something greater than themselves and that it would have lasting effects on the community. “I ... wholeheartedly hope that the march brings awareness to [the] Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s movement, and that it’s not a hashtag one moment and never mentioned again,” Chavez said. Nanamkin said he hoped the march would explain what the display located in front of Black Hall meant to those who may be unaware. “The solidarity of everyone and their presence brought that to life,” Nanamkin said. “That’s something that will be meaningful and touching to those that saw the gathering, but also those that see the photos and videos [of the march]. They will know what this actually meant.” Nanamkin said he is grateful for the display of solidarity that occurred and he hopes the march will empower, educate and support students in the missing Native American and Indigenous Women’s movement.
Questions arise surrounding accessibility at CWU By Joseph Stanger Staff Reporter Going to classes while living on campus isn’t particularly difficult: you walk the equivalent of a few blocks and you can get almost anywhere within minutes. But, if you’re a wheelchair user, getting around is a very different experience. “There are smaller things that people don’t think about walking around campus as an able bodied [person], they don’t see inaccessibility,” said Sawyer Stearns, a graduate student from the family and child life program who’s been navigating campus in a wheelchair for nearly five years. “Not only for someone in a wheelchair, but even people who are visually impaired or hearing impaired there’s definitely some issues.” For an able-bodied person, a large crack in the sidewalk is just something to step over, but for a disabled person, it could be a legitimate obstacle. Stearns said she’s even fallen out of her wheelchair on campus because of the condition of the sidewalks. Stearns said her experience with accessibility on campus has been overall decent, but because of inaccessibility in certain buildings, her version of getting to class looks a bit different than what it would look like for an able-bodied individual. She said she’s had classes in Michaelson Hall throughout her time at CWU, and in order to get to those classes, she has to enter through a completely different building. “The problem is that the elevator is in Randall and you have to cross the breezethrough to get into Michaelson,” Stearns said. “Also, most of the rooms in there, if they’re not the bigger rooms … [I’m] in a room that’s so tiny that I can’t turn around without hitting things. So, it makes it harder for me to be a part of everyone else … I’m a little more isolated.”
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The MMNIW march started with speaker Roberto Chavez, before marching to the front of Black Hall, ending in a rounddance. Photos by Star Diavolikis and Katherine Camarata/The Observer
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Summer 2022
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
Day of Action bridges divide between CWU and Ellensburg with block party Intersectional march unites multiple causes The goal of the event was to raise awareness about social justice and bridge the divide separating the CWU community from local Ellensburg residents. The event kicked off at 9 a.m. in the SURC pit with a letter-writing campaign and opening remarks. Two workshops were hosted later in the day in the DEC, Black Hall 105, called Agents of Social Change and Savior Complex and Voluntourism.
Protestors marched from Black Hall to the Rotary Pavilion. Photo by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor The aroma of street tacos from El Loco Food Truck and some reverberating reggae beats rang through the air around the Rotary
Pavilion in downtown Ellensburg as over 50 people celebrated the first ever Day of Action. The Day of Action was hosted by Provost Fellow Dr. Teresa Divine, the Museum of Culture and Environment (MCE), the
Diversity and Equity Center (DEC), the Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement (SLICE) office and CWU Business Leadership and Management students for their Capstone project.
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A degree in SOCIOLOGY or SOCIAL SERVICES equips you with the skills and know-how. There are expanding opportunities for a wide range of career paths which include social research, criminology, social psychology, public administration, education, social work, and human services delivery systems. Students learn to critically engage with social issues and have an opportunity to apply these skills to work with agencies in their communities. DEPARTMENT OF
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CWU is an EO/AA/Title IX Institution. Foraccommodatione-mailDS@cwu.edu
Roundtable and Unity March An Activist’s Roundtable was held at noon where community members could ask questions to a panel that consisted of Stephanie Wickstrom representing Apoyo, Tylene Carnell from Helen House, Hope Amason from the MCE, and Law and Justice Professor Todd Mildon from Central Washington Justice for Our Neighbors. At the roundtable, the moderator asked what activism meant to each panelist and what inspired them to get involved with activism. Mildon replied, “For me at least, activism is the pursuit of justice. When my grandmother was young, many of her classmates were hauled away from their lives under FDR’s executive order 9066, which interns Japanese Americans at the beginning of WWII. She fought against that. All my life I’ve had that in my mind as an inspiration for seeking justice for people who are harmed by terrible governmental decisions.” The day progressed to a Unity March following a sign-making party at the DEC. A full spectrum of causes were addressed on the signs, from climate change to sex workers’ rights, to bodily autonomy and immigration reform. The march traveled from Black Hall down University Way, left onto Main Street, and back down Fifth Avenue to the Rotary Pavilion where the metal bull sculpture and a roaring block party awaited. Cassidy Peters, junior in law and justice, said it was important to show people in Ellensburg that they’re not alone in standing up against injustices. “An event like this is really cool because people with different opinions and all these different beliefs they’re marching for, they can just come together and show the town,” Peters said.
ty as her capstone project with three other students. “A lot of the times, especially with social justice, community wellness, they’re leading in isolation with their own group, so we wanted to force people to talk to each other,” Nelson said. “That’s why they’re all partnered together for every table, we paired them and we’re hoping it will spark some collaboration or shared activism.” Gallery One was partnered with the Equity and Services Council and handed out free posters. The Central African Student Association shared a space with Central Washington Justice for Our Neighbors. Next to them, the Black Student Unionplayed word games, shared photos and handed out sweet treats. Eburg Veg, a local food blogger, gave out vegan cupcakes and shared a table with CWU’s Presidents United to Solve Hunger (PUSH) chapter. Skookum Kids, an organization that connects kids with foster homes, and the LatinX Student Organization offered a wheel to spin for prizes and sold strawberry milk drinks. Apoyo and Jerrol’s partnered together, as did the Ellensburg High School Environmental Club and Kittitas County Friends of Animals as well as Movimiento Estudiantil Chinana/o de Aztlan (MEChA) and the Latino Community Fund. Jaden Barrie, senior in business leadership management and a planner of the event for his capstone project, said he wanted to bring the local businesses together with the CWU campus. Barrie said he wanted, “Something that stimulated conversation between people. While they might be different, they can share some of the same values or they can have different values and they’re able to communicate that and disagree in a positive way.” Barrie said he hoped participants would be able to have a fun time while talking about heavy topics in a safe environment. CWU alum Joey Packer said the event was “absolutely amazing” and hoped to see it happen every year.
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Block Party Various clubs, organizations and nonprofits played games, gave out treats and sold beveragFamily and Consumer Science es at tables around the perimeter of the pavilion. For more information contact: Jaeda Nelson, a senior in Michaelsen Hall 132 business leadership managePhone is 509.963.2773 ment, helped plan the block parJodi.Musser@cwu.edu
Education
DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
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Summer 2022
Polynesian culture celebrated at PolyFest By Elliott Watkins Staff Reporter The SURC ballroom was lit up by green and yellow lights around the room, while those overhead dimmed. As the audience slowly flooded in to find their seats, they were greeted with Polynesian music. The host entered the stage and the crowd went silent as PolyFest began. PolyCentral is a community of Polynesian students at CWU, and for the first time since 2019, they hosted PolyFest on May 21. The event is held to celebrate Polynesian culture, as well as grow the community of PolyCentral students. Business and entrepreneurship major and PolyCentral President LeiBen Tivoli Fesili said he expected the event to be nothing but fun and enlightening for those that are not as familiar with Polynesian culture at CWU. “The reason why this is important is because we want to draw attention to a university like Central Washington that our Polynesians on the west side are struggling to know, here is
a college for you,” Tivoli Fesili said. “You do have a voice if you come here.” The festivities included many traditional dances originating from indigenous peoples of Maori, Fijian, Tahitian, Hawaiian, Tongan and Samoan descent. According to Tivoli Fesili, dances and cultural attire are both extremely significant aspects of the Polynesian culture. “We are the Polynesian people,” Tivoli Fesili said. “Expect that there’s going to be games and things like us boys dancing, having funny dances, incorporating modern day music and stuff. It’s our culture, and cultures continue to change nowadays.”
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Students walked in a fashion show, performed and ate samosas to celebrate Africa. Photos by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
African Night Ubuntu highlights African cultures on campus By Katherine Camarata & Elliott Watkins Scene Editor & Staff Reporter An eruption of laughter resonated around the SURC Ballroom as two members of the audience weaved their way from their seats to the stage, bathed in purple lighting in front of the crowd. Comedian and host of African Night Ubuntu, General Mutombo, invited the pair to have a dance-off to a thumping Afrobeats song, while each side of the audience judged who had the best moves and the DJ accented each joke with alarm-like sound effects that ignited the room. The event held on Saturday, May 7 was hosted by the Central African Student Association (CASA) for the first time since the start of the pandemic, and
organizers said they wanted the night to be special. “We went a bit extravagant which is what we wanted,” CASA President and sophomore in law and justice and political science Ibtisam Sivoy said. Sivoy said African Night is a celebration of African fashion, traditions and culture. “I want people to see the beauty of Africa the same way they see the beauty of Europe,” Sivoy said. “There is a lot unseen. I want people to be like, ‘I am going to vacation in Nigeria, I’m going to vacation in Ghana.’” Marketing major and CASA representative Atong Miyar said the event is meant to extend a welcoming hand to African students and allow non-African students to better understand African cultures. Miyar said the
event was very formal and the theme was “Ubuntu.” “Ubuntu translates loosely to ‘I am because you are.’ It means to unite us essentially,” Miyar said. “One thing about African culture that we all have in common is we like to boom big. Always … Everything from your dress, to the music, everything has to be tip-top shape.”
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PolyCentral students take to the stage. Photo by Jacqueline Hixssen/The Observer
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DIVERSITY AND EQUITY
Parade of Nations: Watch Us Rise Cultural clubs combine communities By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Students from every corner of the globe wore brightly-colored clothing, stood at tables representing cultural clubs, made new friends and enjoyed live entertainment during the Parade of Nations: Watch Us Rise event in the colorfully-lit SURC Ballroom on Feb. 17. Events like this are important to coordinators at the Diversity and Equity Center (DEC) because they provide an outlet for students of all backgrounds to make connections, according to Jaeda Nelson, a senior in business and student initiatives coordinator at the DEC.
“We wanted to have some sort of call to action for students who are not as aware of a lot of the cultures on this campus that have been creating a lot of legacies, and working so hard to disrupt the normal ways of thinking at a predominantly white institution,” Nelson said. “We wanted to provide a space where they can share themselves openly and be able to be celebrated and invite other people into those spaces.” The event began vibrantly with a fashion show, where participants wore garments to represent their culture on stage while hosts Roberto Chavez and Judith Brewer introduced each group. “I am Filipino and very much proud of wearing my traditional
dress, wearing my filipiniana,” Andrea Mendoza, an exchange student majoring in English Education who walked in the fashion show, said. “What I’m wearing right now is a symbolism of the power of being a woman, especially here at CWU, where being a Filipina is not just being a woman but a powerful and strong one.” Following the fashion show, four members of the Central African Student Association (CASA) performed an energetic AfroBeats dance. Other CASA members sat at a table to connect with event-goers. “The impact that I hope to have is to let students see that CWU is diverse,” Vice President
of CASA Anderson Nsabanga said. “Some African students that are here tend to only spend time with African students, but it’s always good to meet new people that are from different countries. It’s the best feeling ever.” The show shifted and next featured Yuheng Chen, a music student representing the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA). Chen sang a soothing song while playing guitar, based on one of the most popular poems in Chinese called “Prelude to Water Melody.” The poem reminded students that they don’t always have to be so critical. Two students representing the Filipino American
Student Association (FASA) performed a traditional folk dance while passing a white handkerchief between them, standing with their backs facing each other and performing choreographed steps.
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Members of several clubs participated in Parade of nations showcasing different cultures. Pictured top right: Star Diavolikis, spring Editor-in-Chief. Photos by Dylan Hanson/The Observer
DEC hosts Día de los Muertos event By Kimberly Lariviere Contributor A vibrancy of colors including beautiful oranges and yellows greeted guests along with brightly colored complex table set ups as people entered the SURC Ballroom. Tables offered a craft section with sugar skulls for decoration, hand paintings and other crafts. Live performances of dancers wearing colorful traditional costumes along with food being served occured. People brought photos of loved ones to place on the Ofrenda or altar.
Welcome to the Día de los Muertos event hosted by the Diversity and Equity Center (DEC) on Nov. 6. Día de los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead, is a Hispanic heritage-based celebration of the memory of those who have died. Families gather to honor those who have passed on to the next life while also welcoming them back to celebrate life and enjoy human things again. Elizabeth Vidaurri, head coordinator of the CWU Día de los Muertos Event, has a close connection to Día de los Muertos due to her Mexican heritage.
“It’s really nice to be able to see something like this on campus that speaks directly to my personal culture, and I know it does for a lot of students as well,” Vidaurri said. Yajaira Perez, is the social cultural coordinator of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) and helps in the planning of the Día de los Muertos event. “Growing up I never really did Día de los Muertos traditions,” Perez said. “As I got older, I did my own research and found out through other sources what Dias de los Muertos actually is and what we do.”
Heidi Flores-Montiel, a volunteer with MEChA who helps with the fundraising and sale of crafts and other items at the event, has a deeper personal feeling about the celebration. “Día de los Muertos is a way for me and my family to honor those who have passed away, honor their lives, honor them with our offerings, and just honestly be happy that they were in our lives,” Flores-Montiel said. Vidaurri said The Día de los Muertos event is a signature program that’s been happening for more than a decade. There’s been over 300 to 400 students that have
come out to this event, and it’s expanded every year. “It’s a nice to see that people care about their loved ones, and especially after COVID, I think it’s a nice way to honor those who left,” Flores-Montiel said. However, those not familiar with Día de los Muertos are also welcomed. James Beardslee, a current student enrolled at CWU, is open to the thought of attending Día de los Muertos in the future. “Being able to experience other people’s culture is amazing and lets you know how people think and where their mindset is based on what they value,” Beardslee said.
ART SCENE
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Summer 2022
‘Ceded Land’ performance aims to transform trauma ‘Where I-90 meets I-82’ exhibit features artwork from around the nation
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Somber words washed over a hushed crowd, while a priest in black robes, played by English Senior Lecturer Xavier Cavazos, crawled on the ground in front of the sealed coffin, as though he was fighting a current, unable to move forward, sobbing and crying out in agony, begging for help and grasping for something in the air above him. “After a child drowns we close the well with a clay slab,” said Karla Maravilla, a senior in Professional and Creative Writing and English Language and Literature, her voice filled with sorrow while reading her poem entitled “Dis/membered” to a silently captivated audience at the Sarah Spurgeon Art Gallery on April 7. Members of the community gathered to share and reflect at the artist’s talk and reception celebrating the “Where I-90 Meets I-82” exhibit. According to Sarah Spurgeon Manager, Heather Horn Johnson, this particular jury exhibit is hosted by the gallery once every two years and the show is an open call to artists from anywhere around the nation. Johnson said she appreciates the eclectic nature of this work. “We have professional artists, we have student artists, we have people who just create art at home for fun,” Johnson said. “We’ve got painting, photo, sculpture and video, just a little bit of everything.” The multi-directional work was introduced to the community during a reception following a presentation by Haub Curator of Western Art at the Tacoma Art Museum, Faith Brower, in Randall Hall 117. She said she chose 62 pieces that evoked the experience of the pandemic, the social justice of this era and the emotions this time brings up for so many people. Brower awarded first place in the show to a glass sculpture of a tattered Band-Aid with the words “do over” written across the middle, called “Do Over Band-Aid” by artist Terri Grant. Brower said this piece reflected the pain and healing necessary during this time.
Johnson said she appreciates Brower’s perspective because it “encompasses not just the traditional western European approach to art, but also she knows a lot about these different tribes and tribal cultures. A lot of the pieces are landscapes, but then she was also thinking about who that land originally belonged to.” “Ceded Land” Artwork This focus tied in prudently with the painting submitted by Cavazos called “Ceded Land.” The oil painting on found styrofoam depicts the white bones of an elk with red accents atop a black background. Cavazos said the name of the exhibit corresponding with its location made him think about how this location is on “ceded land.” “To me, it’s like raped and stolen land, it’s not an offering of land, it’s an institutional government take-away of land,” Cavazos said. “When I was thinking of what piece to put in, I just started thinking ‘Ceded Land’ is a carcass, it’s the decimation of a people, specifically the Yakama Nation.” Cavazos said racism and sexism violations are often ingrained into law and government documents that reinforce this language and prejudice. “The way we have created reservation systems, it’s often like a fencing, controlling movement and also telling a people where to be with law,” Cavazos said. Spoken Word Healing Performance The painting corresponded with a dramatic spoken word piece later performed by Cavazos and Maravilla. The performance involved audience interaction prior to starting and was held as a ceremony with intention to collectively heal trauma. Hand-outs entitled “Communion of Agency” were distributed to event-goers and included a quote by Maravilla: “From rape in the fields, to racism in the workshop, from discrimination in the sex, to pollution in the lungs, from imperialism in the brain, to the body cut into borders, this performance will cleanse the physical and social illness that has peaked
these past three years through traditional folk healing.” Audience members were provided pieces of paper and asked to write down a time when they were hurt, and then asked to rip the paper in half and place both pieces into a small wooden coffin that was sealed before Maravilla and Cavazos performed. Attendees were instructed to reclaim the agency lost when these events occurred. Maravilla read two poems from a collection of poetry she is planning to publish entitled “Casa De Negro.” The poetry surrounded themes of womanhood, birth, death, identity, transformation and grief. “This is more than just us as individuals experiencing pain, it’s literally a community experiencing pain,” Maravilla said. “The majority of us push COVID, push the pandemic, push everything aside and I don’t think ignoring everything that’s happened these past two years is going to solve anything.” Cavazos said he is not fully present in his body when performing and achieves a transcendent state where he feels the energy of the violations people write about. “I am in a spiritual, mental place with my body that attones for those transgressions; it flows through me and out of me, through the screaming, crying, howling,” Cavazos said. “That’s the purging of it.” Samuel Enriquez, a first-year graduate student studying painting, said he enjoyed the breadth of work from so many different geographic locations shown at the gallery, especially the performance piece. “I feel like I got a sense of agony that was important to listen to, important agony,” Enriquez said. Impact Moving Forward Cavazos said his work centers around healing trauma from sexual abuse and holding space for men to process their own transgressions so they may move forward with better intentions. “I think we need to start making spaces in these conversations for men to announce that without shame, so that they can start working through the processes of correcting that behavior,” Cavazos said. “Men have committed a lot of sexual harassment,
Photos by Brevin Ross/The Observer
Karla Maravilla reads her poetry while Xavier Cavazos cries out in agony during a performance art piece. Photo by Brevin Ross/The Observer
sexual abuse, trauma- so my work examines being a victim and then victimizing people as well. By doing so, I think it’s the first moment in awareness. You’re never going to change your behavior if you’re not aware of your behavior.” Cavazos said he aims to dismantle systems of objectification toward women and systems of controlling people with force, money and violence. He said he works to correct harmful thoughts in his own mind to put this healing into action. “Healing is possible,” Cavazos said. “Being vulnerable is a tremen-
dous act of courage. The best way I’ve figured out to inspire people to be courageous is to be my most vulnerable construction in that moment, and then to really allow myself to become a vector of the energy of the crowd.” Brower said she hopes this exhibit will, “create space for people to witness the amazing art that covers a variety of subjects and brings people together to think about the power of art in tough times. No matter how tough life gets, artists are still creating such powerful and important work.”
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ART SCENE
Cultural Crisis exhibit marries low-brow subject matter with high-end artistry
Seattle artist Anthony White shares one-of-a-kind work
“Freeze Frame”
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor The hypnotic, technicolor creations of award-winning Seattle artist Anthony White’s work captivated community members and inspired students to think outside the box. White graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2018 and is represented by the Greg Kucera Gallery. The “Cultural Crisis” exhibit was on display in the Sarah Spurgeon Art Gallery in Randall Hall throughout February. White received the 2021 Seattle Art Museum Betty Bowen Award, the 2020 Neddy Painting Award and the 2020 Fellowship Award from Artist Trust, according to his website. White said his artwork is, “Immediate, all-encompassing, reflective. It captures a lot of contemporary content, and reflects on society, nostalgia, closer-to-home.” The exhibit opening featured a reception attended by approximately 100 people at the gallery immediately following White’s artist talk in the SURC Theatre. “I was really stunned and inspired by the turnout of the opening reception,” White said. “There were a lot of students, faculty and people from the community that showed up, and I was really happy to meet them and talk about the work.” Heather Horn Johnson, the Sarah Spurgeon Art Gallery director, said the overall reaction to the exhibit was positive and students appreciated interacting with White at the opening. “It seems like a lot of students really enjoyed talking to Anthony, and Anthony is close in age to the students here,” Horn Johnson said. “He was really open to talking to them about developing their work and expressing their own identity through their work in the way that he does.”
Horn Johnson said she was excited to feature White’s perspective and creative vision at CWU. “The material is unique, and deals a lot with popular culture and all the symbols people use to define themselves,” Horn Johnson said. “It also deals with social media. It talks about how we
all experience the world through our phones. There are some images here that deal with queer identity, and it’s nice to have that perspective represented here.” White’s medium of choice is PLA plastic, commonly-used in 3-D printing. He said he was fascinated with 3-D printing technology when he first encountered it in the fabrication lab at Cornish. “It just kind of made sense,” White said. “That’s what I render on panel, be-
“Quiet Hour”
coming realized in real life with very similar or the exact same material.” Many of White’s compositions include layers of items and iconography representing certain moments and trends in history. He said he starts each
of these works by focusing on a few different objects that craft some sort of narrative. “Each piece usually starts with a few objects in mind that tell an interesting story or create a very unique shape, or there’s a pun or a joke between a few things that I want to expand on,” White said. “It starts with an interest or cu-
“At the Surface” Photos by Dylan Hanson/The Observer
riosity between the first few things and then building off of it is like, ‘Okay, this object tells a funny story with this one and it’s related to that one. There’s a discreet relationship between these two and if you put this one next to that one, there’s a conspiracy theory.’” White said he has a chaotic yet intimate relationship with his
intricate works of art. “I spend so much time with each piece that I make, they take hundreds of hours per piece,” White said. “I fall in love with them each in a different way, and it’s like a rollercoaster, love-hate, toxic relationship between me and each one.” Horn Johnson chose to feature White’s self portrait entitled “Quiet Hour” for the materials promoting the exhibit. White said he created “Quiet Hour” during the height of the BLM protests in 2020.
“There was this looming gloom over everything at the time, so I wanted to create a piece that has this figure in a spotlight that’s sort of haunting and ominous but also still and calm,” White said. “That’s where the title gets its name, the stillness of the world at that time and the inner dialogue that everyone was having while there were people fighting for life and taking a stance on a very important cause.” White said “Quiet Hour” was inspired by the work of American artist Kerry James Marshall, particularly his piece called “Nude in Spotlight.” When asked to choose his personal favorite pieces of the collection, White said the pieces titled “Final Fantasy,” “Creative Play,” and “Freeze Frame” were meaningful to him. Horn Johnson said she hopes the exhibit will have a resounding impact on the community by providing representation for diverse perspectives. “We want to show different points of view in the gallery and present it as a safe space, where people can come in and they can possibly relate with the artists,” Horn Johnson said. White said he hopes his work will spark important discussions and inspire students. “I just hope that it speaks to the audience on the campus, while also encouraging them to tell stories in whatever way they see appropriate,” White said. “Hopefully it encourages them to put things out there that bring communities together to start dialogue and ask questions.”
White’s work is available to view on his website, www.boywithplasic.com.
ART SCENE
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Summer 2022
El Zodíaco Familiar blends Chinese zodiac with Mexican and Chicane culture
Thirteen artists share unique voices using various mediums
From left to right: “1977” by Eric J. García, “Burro Mezcladero” by Christie Tirado, “Grillx” by Moises Salazar, “La Cabra-Cabron Cabrona” by Gustavo Martinez, “La Peyotera” by Gabriela Ramírez Michel. Photos by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor
Upon entering the El Zodíaco Familiar exhibit at the Sarah Spurgeon Art Gallery, dozens of students, faculty and community members encountered a vast array of vibrantly-decorated creature heads mounted along the stark white walls. The crowd buzzed with inquisitive cheer while marveling at the ceramic and mixed media sculptures on Nov. 4, 2021. The exhibit was created by El Paso, Texas native George Rodriguez, with the intent to blend the concept of the Chinese zodiac and the heritage of 13 other Mexican and Chicane (the term for “Chicano” used by the artists) collaborators. Each collaborator worked on the creature corresponding with their birth year and Chinese zodiac animal. According to Rodriguez, he searched diligently to fill each zodiac position with an artist that would bring a unique vision to the project. “This isn’t just an art exhibit,” said Heather Horn Johnson, the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery manager. “We’re talking about culture and the melding of culture. You see their unique backgrounds and influences emerging in these different zodiac pieces.” Rodriguez hosted an artist’s talk in the SURC Theatre before the reception at the gallery, during which he presented in-
formation about the background and involvement of each collaborator. The collaborators are from places like Rodriguez’s hometown El Paso, Arizona, California, various locations in Mexico and on the east coast. “I hope that people come in and see my artwork, but I also hope that they research the individual artwork of the collaborators,” Rodriguez said. “I worked with them because they’re all amazing.” The collaborators include: Javier Barboza, Alejandra Carrillo-Estrada, Eric J. García, Jon Gomez, Carolina Jiménez, Gabriel Marquez, Gustavo Martinez, Marilyn Montúfar, Gabriela Ramírez Michel, Yosimar Reyes, Moises Salazar, Samirah Steinmeyer and Christie Tirado. “The fact that George collaborated with 13 artists to put together this show is unique and meaningful,” Horn Johnson said. “Oftentimes one artist makes their own particular work, but here it’s a blend of artistic sensibilities and approaches that makes it really special.” The collaborators’ occupations range from photographers, educators, jewelers and tattoo artists, according to Rodriguez. Their mediums range from spoken word poetry (in the sculpture “Guerrero” of the Quetzalcoatl by Yosimar Reyes, representing the dragon), woven threads and fabrics (in the “Venado Azul de los Cielos Claros” sculpture by Carolina Jiménez) and metalsmithing (in
the “Brava Nepantla” jaguar sculpture by Alejandra Carrillo-Estrada). Many sculptures focused on ceramics with technicolor painting, jewelry and even glitter as featured on the “Grillx” chapulín sculpture by Moises Salazar, representing the rat. The Águila (eagle) sculpture by Jon Gomez and Javier Barboza included “alternate reality” art visible only by scanning a code on a phone.
Interpretations and reactions Rodriguez said his favorite sculpture in the exhibit fluctuates based on his mood. “Some days, I’ll go in and the brightness of this piece in front of me, ‘La Peyotera’ [the monkey], the vibrancy of the color uplifts me and I’m feeling that kind of joy,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes I need something that’s a little bit more grounding and a little more somber, so ‘La Cabra’ [the goat] back there has a weight to it.” The goat sculpture by Gustavo Martinez, “La Cabra-Cabron Cabrona,” was a favorite of numerous event-goers for its life-like qualities. “When I looked at the goat, it made me feel almost as if it was an actual animal head,” junior graphic design major Paola García said. García also appreciated the jaguar sculpture because she said it looked both human and animalistic at the same time. The “Cacomixtle del Desierto Sonorense” sculpture by Samirah Steinmeyer was one of Horn Johnson’s favorite pieces.
“It’s made out of a different clay than the other zodiac heads,” Horn Johnson said. “It’s from the Sonoran desert, the region where the artist lives. She uses the earth that’s beneath her. I like the stripes, the color and the luminous eyes.” Other attendees appreciated pieces with surprise elements, like the “Recollections - Atravesando con el Toro” sculpture by Marilyn Montúfar. Senior Studio Art and Visual Art Teaching and Secondary Education major Maya Stoker said the glass on the sculpture was unexpected, because “horns are seen as aggressive, so seeing them as this clear glass that’s really delicate is really interesting.” Rodriguez said he hopes viewers of the exhibit will feel a sense of childlike joy that isn’t always present in a gallery setting. “With the storytelling of the animals, it’s playful,” Rodriguez said. “I hope that people will find their birth year and make a connection to that animal, whether good or bad.” El Zodíaco Familiar is the fifth iteration of the Chinese zodiac sculptures created by Rodriguez. Rodriguez said he started by creating a ceramic head for each creature using the molds from past iterations. Each head was made in the color that the collaborator requested. He then sent the heads to some of the artists, while others traveled to work with him in Philadelphia where his studio is located.
Each artist added their own interpretation to their zodiac creatures which created a diverse medley of perspectives. The collaborators focused on various cultural aspects of immigration and migrant work, as well as queer identities and how they are perceived in Mexican and Chicane culture. The project was born out of the pandemic, when Rodriguez said he was misplaced from his studio and couldn’t travel to his other studio. He hoped to organize a collaboration that would make the most out of the quarantine. “We’re happy to be able to have public programs again after not doing it for quite some time,” Horn Johnson said. Johnson said that the artist’s statements and poetry are available in both Spanish and English to promote inclusivity and allow viewers to practice their language skills. Rodriguez said he hopes to show people who are unaware that art can be a career path how they can find ways to showcase their art like he does. “My community inspires me most,” Rodriguez said. “The impetus for me to make work is to have a little bit of representation through my own story.” Rodriguez said that he aspires to take the El Zodíaco Familiar exhibit to California, Arizona, El Paso, Philadelphia and more locations in the future.
From left to right: “Espíritu del Viento” by Gabriel Marquez, “Recollections – Atravesando con el Toro” by Marilyn Montúfar, “Cacomixtle del Desierto Sonorense” by Samirah Steinmeye. Photos by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
Page 23
Summer 2022
ART SCENE
First Friday Art Walk connects artists with audience Kittitas County Open Show invites whole community to exhibit
By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Dancing piano notes wafted through the buzzing air as community members searched the walls of Gallery One to catch a glimpse of their own artwork or works by people they know during the First Friday Art Walk on May 6, drinks in hand and smiles on their faces. The Kittitas County Open Show is hosted once annually, and anyone in the county was invited to enter the show. Every person is guaranteed to exhibit at least one entry, which promotes inclusivity and connection in newfound ways. “By opening up the show to any artist, it offers an open table where everybody has a seat and
where everybody has an opportunity to talk and speak and meet each other, therefore creating a better community,” Gallery One Director Monica Miller said. This year’s juror was Davin Diaz of DrewBoy Creative, a space in Richland, Washington. 92 people entered the show and 103 works were selected by Diaz. Diaz also selected the winners of $5,000 worth of cash prizes donated by various community members and businesses. The show featured mixed media work by young students on the third floor to celebrate the Community School of the Arts Annual Student Show, while students graced the piano with classical music. Miller said she selected Diaz and DrewBoy Creative
because she liked the energy of their space and felt their mission aligned with the direction that Gallery One hopes to head in. “They do a really great job of inviting in marginalized communities,” Miller said. “We have plans to learn from that so we can also do a better job.” According to Diaz, the chance to celebrate local artists and foster communication between the artists and audience was something he looked forward to. “My favorite artists and musicians are the ones that are making art now,” Diaz said. “My favorite artists are the ones that I live by.” Diaz said the selections are visually eclectic and don’t follow a particular theme, rather they cause
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an emotive reaction that stands out in his mind when deciding. “I try to let the piece speak to me and how it communicates to me is how I judge my selection process,” Diaz said. “That’s how I also make my award selections too. What’s the piece I can’t stop thinking about? What’s haunting me, both in good and bad ways?” Artists’ perspectives For some artists, this was their first time showing in Gallery One or in any gallery, as was the case for CWU alumni Quentin Ragan. “This is where I really found myself as an artist. Just being accepted and publicly viewed within my own community is really an honor,” Ragan said. Ragan’s piece, an aluminum sculpture called “Slope of Purgatory,” sat on a pedestal in the front window of the gallery. “I think showing the trappings of simple form or movement in something as solid as metal, gives that emphasis on the beauty of simple form,” Ragan said. Many artists discussed the meanings and inspiration behind their unique works with other attendees, while others were not in attendance and left the crowd to figure out the meaning for themselves. The winner of the Gallery One Residency Award received the opportunity to work as a resident artist at Gallery One in the future. The award was given to Sandra Rivera, a CWU student who submitted a mixed media collage. “It’s a collage scan, it made me sob,” Miller said. “It had a lot of information about what’s happening in this world, but also incredible compositions, incredible energy, and we have never met [Rivera] before.” Miller and local artist Kathleen Woodward both remarked
about Renee Adams, the exhibitions coordinator, and her skill at perfectly placing each piece of art within the exhibit. “The thing about Renee is that she is able to take all this random work and make each painting kind of vibrate the one next to it, just like people,” Woodward said. “That gives me chills, because each painting is a reflection of a person, of who we are.” Jason Clifton, a CWU alumni and local graffiti artist, said he hoped to represent a certain type of identity in Kittitas County. “I grew up in California, around mostly hispanic people,” Clifton said. “I grew up as a minority as a white person. I grew up in a whole different version of American culture that was skateboarding, hip hop, graffiti, punk rock… When I came here, that’s a subculture. My intention is to continue to let that culture be in Ellensburg and give it a place here.” Clifton’s piece was a graffiti portrait of Harold Hunter, a skateboarder from the ‘90s. Clifton said he hopes his mural at the Ellensburg Skate Park featuring historical skateboarders will educate young skateboarders about the origins of the scene. “Graffiti is an art form,” Clifton said. “It’s primal. You give a kid crayons, they’re going to color on the walls. I’m trying to keep something really primal alive.” The vast variety of perspectives is a major draw of this show to community members like CWU alumni Sam Albright. “We all support each other, we all commiserate and we love seeing the other artists’ stuff,” Albright said. “I don’t feel like it’s competitive, we all uplift each other. Because we all do it differently. I’ve had personal shows here and I just like to be involved with everybody else. The community show is such an awesome thing.”
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Artists who participated in the Kittitas County Open Show. Photos by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
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Summer 2022
ON THE TOWN
Students give advice on dating in Ellensburg By Laynie Erickson Staff Reporter First dates are tough even in the best of circumstances. Where to go, what to do, what to say and what not to say. So, in a small college town like Ellensburg, what are the tips and tricks for a successful first date? CWU political science and business senior Kajal Lang recounts a friend’s dating story that began like a fairytale, and ended as anything but. “One of my friends was going out with the girl of his dreams,” Lang said. He said the date seemed to be going okay, until his buddy decided to snag a kiss with what Lang describes as, “the worst pick up line that has ever existed.”
Lang said when his friend asked the girl to rate the date on a scale of 1-10, she chose a respectable 8. “So then he says, ‘you want to make it a 10 out of 10? and then he kisses her,” Lang said. That would be the last time Lang’s friend would ever see his dream girl. China Paulman, a 22-yearold Ellensburg resident, describes what she looks for in a successful first date. “I want something planned out, that is fun and makes me feel special,” Paulman said. While she loves going out to dinner at many of Ellensburg’s hot spots like Julep, Back 40 or The Pearl Bar & Grill, she said a first date doesn’t have to break the bank. “We could go get some Dairy Queen and go up to the water
tower, and talk about life and maybe watch the sunset on a blanket,” Paulman said. The Ellensburg water tower on Craig’s Hill seems to be a recurring recommendation, as Lang also placed it on his list of first date hot spots. “I think a lot of people go there because it’s more of an isolated place, kind of like if you ever had a make out pond by your school,” Lang said. “It’s kind of just what the water tower is, so college students who see other college students up there know what’s going on and don’t bother each other.” Junior and business marketing major Kody Phoxay suggested cost effective and active first dates. “Going on a hike, going to the water tower, playing basketball or doing something sporty,” Phoxay
said. He reminded potential daters that “compliments go a long way and don’t cost money.” While he said he goes out on quite a few first dates, Phoxay has found success with the following tips: “keep it plain and simple, don’t overthink it and wear cologne.” He also recommends staying off the internet. “Dating in Ellensburg? Legitimately stay off tinder and try to find dates in person,” Phoxay said. While movies come up often as a first date activity, they are not for everyone. Paulman stresses the importance of planning activities specifically geared toward the person you are taking out. “I think people should customize their dates depending on the person,” Paulman said. “Like, I hate watching movies, so if someone
took me to the movies on a date it wouldn’t be very much fun.” So how does one know if the date is going well? Phoxay said that eye contact is key. “If she’s giving good eye contact while she’s talking to you, it’s probably going well,” Phoxay said. Paulman agrees that good communication is a sign things are on the right track. “I feel like it is going well once the butterflies go away and you’re just talking and it’s flowing and no one is checking their phones,” Paulman said. “That’s a sign of a good date.” When it comes to recognizing whether a date is going well or not, Lang simply shares the advice that his friend learned the hard way. “Certainly don’t ask her,” Lang said. “That’s just weird.”
Popular dating locations include local restraunts and the Water Tower on Craig’s Hill. Photos by Laynie Erickson/The Observer
ON THE TOWN
Page 26
Summer 2022
Students and staff spill most and least favorite spots in the Ellensburg area Teneway River. Photo courtesy of Joshua Welsh
By Mary Miller Staff Reporter
Barto Lawn
Reed Park
Elisabeth Jenkins
Katherine Sartori
Computer Science Major
Violin Performance Grad Student
Favorite spot: “Barto lawn ‘cause it’s such a nice place and it’s got the volleyball court and it’s got picnic tables and stuff like that. Anywhere like lawns on campus, it’s always super pretty, great weather, and they’re great spots for picnics and stuff like that.”
Least favorite spot: “Probably Love’s Truck Stop. Just cause that’s always where I go to get on the bus to go back home and it’s a bittersweet, “Oh, I’m leaving.” “It’s just kind of an “ehh” kind of spot.” Jenkins lowered her voice and said, “There’s always like, trash and stuff.”
Favorite spot: “Reed Park. It over looks the rodeo grounds and you can see all of Ellensburg from there. The sunsets are amazing up there.”
Least favorite spot: “Probably my office desk. There are no windows and the fluorescent lights shine down on me until 2 a.m. while I’m grading.”
Top of Manatash Ridge
Julep’s Cocktail Bar Charlotte Casler
Dr. Darci Snowden
Vocal Performance Major
Physics Department
Favorite spot: “Julep’s Cocktail Bar. Because the cocktails are so good and they have cute little seasonal menus. The ambiance is perfect, with little books and candles and the lighting is a little bit dim but not too dark.”
Least favorite spot: “My house because there are so many other places I’d rather be. I’d rather be out and about.”
Favorite spot: “The top of Manastash Ridge in the spring. I am a big fan of mountain biking and trail running. I love the reward of looking over a green Ellensburg valley with a backdrop of snowy Stuart after a climb.”
Least favorite spot: “Orthopedic Clinic at KVH. Everyone who works there is wonderful, but, if I’m there, it’s usually bad news.”
ON THE TOWN
Page 27
Summer 2022
CWU Japanese Garden
North Fork of Tenaway River
Prof. Joshua Welsh
Dr. Mark Meister
Communication Department
English Department
Favorite spot: “The North Fork of the Teanaway River. Great for camping and huckleberry picking.”
Least favorite spot: “My backyard on a windy day. The wind can make the otherwise great outdoors pretty hard to handle.”
Favorite spot: “The Japanese Garden on CWU’s beautiful campus. I find solitude and joy during my short daily walks through the gardens.”
Least favorite spot: “I can’t think of any least favorite spots in Ellensburg. This is an excellent college town.”
Brooks Library
Central Comics
Jasmine Cottam
José Adame
Communications Major
Clinical Physiology Major
Favorite spot: “I really like the [Brooks] library. I like the fishbowl in the library. It’s a really easy place to hang out with friends where you don’t have to buy anything or do any extracurricular things.”
Least favorite spot: “It’s an unpopular opinion but it’s probably the gym because it’s always super crowded. Over the pandemic a lot of people got into working out and they got very passionate about it, so I always feel like there’s a lot of eyes on me.
Favorite spot: “My favorite place to hang out in Ellensburg would be over at Central Comics because I’m a big comic book fan. My brother, especially, he’s a big fan of collecting pop figures and their collection is very wide there.”
Least favorite spot: “Anywhere on the outskirts of town. For example, the exit off of the 82. It’s very heavy traffic and for people who don’t like to drive, such as myself, I’d probably steer away from those areas.”
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ON THE TOWN
Page 28
Summer 2022
CWU activists sound a call to action
Signs added to CWU Archives and Special Collections By Katherine Camarata Scene Editor Signs sporting phrases like “Stop funding violence” and “Why is ending racism a debate?” decorate the glaring, white walls of the Museum of Culture and Environment winter quarter as part of the Calls to Action exhibit. The exhibit features protest signs donated by local activist and law and justice lecturer Todd Mildon. The signs have been added to the CWU Archives and Special Collections to forever mark this pivotal era in history. “Bringing people together is really what my goal is,” Director of the Museum of Culture and Environment Hope Amason said. “There’s a group of really committed people in Ellensburg who are making us aware of injustice … and they are committed also to the call for change.” The exhibit is “calling for an end to anti-Black and anti-immigrant policies, institutions, attitudes and practices,” according to the display. Journals and pencils are provided with prompt questions posted above booths cut into the
Calls to Action exhibit in the Museum of Culture and Environment. Photos by Katherine Camarata/The Observer
wall, so attendees can share their thoughts about the social justice uprising in recent years. “People really like the interactivity,” junior in anthropology and front desk staff at the museum Caleb Aal said. “I feel like everyone has been affected by the contents within this exhibit … but you don’t know how they’ve been affected. So the notebooks really add to that ‘how?’” According to Amason, the museum will feature signs from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement this quarter and next quarter’s display will focus on immigrant rights.
Meaningful moments in the local movement Certain CWU community members participate regularly in activism and feel it’s important to share the message of their past, present and future work on campus. Mildon and English senior lecturer Ruthi Erdman cited the BLM demonstrations in 2020 as some of the most moving activism they have participated in. “The very first local BLM march, organized by two EHS girls, was massive,” Erdman said. “It was exhilarating to be march-
ing with so many local families, including a lot of children.” According to law and justice lecturer Teresa Divine, students taking abuse for holding Black Lives Matter signs and the solidarity of the Ellensburg community in 2020 were some impactful moments during the recent wave of activism in the community. “That really moved me,” Divine said. “The fact that the school came out, all the students came out right after George Floyd died.” Divine said campus police were “incredible” and helpful to her during the marches.
“The teach-in I put on was so grief stricken. It was just so painful, but it was beautiful,” Divine said. “I found out who my true friends were and who were true allies.” According to Erdman, the resistance to the BLM movement was appalling. Erdman said it was, “Shocking to see people take up the opposite street corner with Confederate flags and rifles. Shocking to get … flipped off for holding a sign that says ‘Liberty and Justice for ALL.’ Shocking to see Nazi salutes and White Supremacist hand signals. Shocking to hear racist slurs shouted at us. Shocking to hear that ‘Hitler should come back and exterminate you all.’”
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Page 29
Summer 2022
OPINION
Opinion: It’s time to talk about some troubles that transgender people face By Morgana Carroll Columnist I’m not gonna lie, I was a little scared coming into this piece. While over time society becomes more and more accepting of different identities, there is still some stigma around talking about one’s experiences in a negative light. There is a definite fear that the common response to this will be along the lines of “You only look at the negative experiences you have,” and “You’re just looking for an excuse to complain.” Something I want to get out of the way before this starts is that I love being transgender. I love being able to embrace my gender identity. I love the friends and community it’s brought me. I love the perspective it’s given me towards the constructs society has made that we so strictly follow. I wouldn’t stop being trans for anything. I purchased a pronoun pin to help remind people that I’m a woman. I can’t blame them for not always remembering, especially when some of them
don’t interact with me on a daily basis. But it’s so demoralizing that I need to take the effort to go “Ahem, hold on, look at the pin!” That’s not to say I don’t try to present as feminine, I wear my cute little sweaters. But it can be hard to control things like stubble and my voice, and I don’t feel comfortable enough with my legs to wear a skirt or a dress, so to some people it seems that I don’t present as feminine enough to be a woman in their eyes. I recently applied for a retail job, and I lied about who I was because I was scared of employment descrimination. I’ve had friends and acquaintances who have been denied jobs or have been fired after coming out, and let’s face it, we live in rural Washington. Not to mention, I haven’t changed my name on any of my state IDs yet, and I don’t look that feminine since I haven’t started Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT is a whole different discussion. HRT can be difficult to get. While Informed Con-
sent Clinics center themselves around not requiring it, a lot of healthcare providers and clinics require you to get a mental health screening before getting HRT for transitioning. This is especially frustrating since cisgendered people don’t need such checks for hormones. Hormones can be really easy to get for cisgendered people. Men can say they are suffering from low testosterone count and women can get hormones for birth control. I’m not saying that those aren’t valid reasons. I don’t want to advocate for anything that would restrict womens’ birth control, but it’s really one-sided. It’s so hard to get hormones for trans people. It’s really dehumanizing to have to get a mental health screening, as if we’re some specimen that needs approval. All gender affirming healthcare is harder to get for trans people. A woman can say she wants to get her breasts removed because she is afraid of breast cancer and she won’t run into many problems getting that done (again valid, and I wouldn’t want to have that ease
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taken away). A trans man wants to get his breast removed and suddenly there are more hoops to jump through. For these forms of healthcare the bar for entry is just way harder to reach, and patients can fall prey to discrimination. For gender affirming care and surgeries, a lot of clinics and providers require a mental health check to “prove” that you’re trans enough to get the care. People need to realize there is no guarantee that the person doing the evaluation or anyone involved in the process won’t discriminate against you for personal reasons. Needing to “prove” that you’re trans enough to get that care is so demoralizing. It really does feel like you’re being told “dance, monkey, dance.”I can’t help but imagine an old timey James Bond villain sitting in a fancy chair, saying “Prove to me that you’re trans enough and maybe I’ll consider letting you have a drop of estrogen.” So when I don’t present as feminine enough, some people don’t take me seriously as a woman. They think that I’m
faking, trending or my femininity isn’t valid enough in their eyes for them to see me as a woman. The procedures that I am actively trying to take that would allow me to perform that femininity is hard for me to achieve due to barriers in place by higher powers. This doesn’t even address the fact that I shouldn’t need to perform to every individual’s idea of what gender should be. A lot of people don’t want to fully perform to the gender they are whether they are trans or not, and that doesn’t make them any less valid. Don’t allow me to be the only opinion of these issues that you hear, but please go talk to other transgender people. Listen to transgender people. Become friends with transgender people. Don’t let my disembodied voice in the form of a newspaper opinion column be the only context you have for the transgender experience, because there is likely someone close to you who is transgender or who is questioning their gender right now.
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OPINION
Page 30
Summer 2022
Satire: Put this in your pipe and smoke it By Katherine Camarata Columnist We’re all smokin’ the devil’s lettuce, whether we admit to it or not. Ever since legalization, I feel like I can’t walk two blocks without catching a whiff of somebody throwing their life away. That being said, I can’t blame those pot-smoking philanderers. Look at the state of the world and tell me sobriety sounds like a more viable way to cope than dope. In honor of the most important holiday ever celebrated, I’m going to let you know my unadulterated thoughts
about every which way one might kick back, spark one up and destroy a few brain cells or opportunities. Joint: This tried and true method is like the burrito wrapper of smoking; it tastes like paper, so if you were into making spitwads in middle school, this is the method for you. The only time a crutch is a good thing is when it keeps you from eating grass, like some livestock just trying to live. Blunt: A thickk blunt is like the brown paper bag of smoking methods. It tastes like a cigar with none of the pizzazz but hits you in the face like a taco truck.
Pipe: Whether it’s glass or metal (and you’ll want to use glass because metal pipes heat up faster than your uncle on Christmas Eve), this trusty modality is a great way to smoke some trees in a tree. Just make sure you keep the cherry going and use a screen so you don’t get Scooby snacks, those little bits of burnt weed you accidentally eat when the hole in a pipe is too big to function, because Zoinks! They sure are nasty for something called snacks. Bong: This is like the beaker of smoking accouterments, but the only experiment you’ll be conducting is how many hand-
fuls it takes to get to the center of a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos bag. Vape Pen: This goes out to all the people that like sucking through straws when there is only ice left in the cup, however it’s the most covert and smell-free way to smoke. Nothing spells adulthood like smoking vape juice that tastes like Skittles and regret. Volcano Vape: The microwaved popcorn of weed-smoking modalities; if you have ever been called a bag of hot air, this is the machine for you. Apple: The most versatile of the smoking methods. It can keep doctors away, you can eat it as breakfast, you can shell a cou-
ple holes in it with an old ballpoint pen and roast one down, you can plant it in the ground, you can drop it over somebody’s head out of a tree so they think they discovered some law of nature or something… The options are endless with Washington’s most beloved fruit. Knifers: A splendid way to ruin your silverware and the only reason having old coiled burners on a stove is useful. There you have it folks, no stoner has been left unturned during this in-depth analysis that you absolutely should not use as rolling paper. Remember, don’t try this at home.
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
Opinion: Marijuana should not be allowed on campus By Libby Williams Columnist While people have the right to use marijuana recreationally on their own property, I do agree with the school’s policy to keep it off campus. Recreational use of marijuana is legal in Washington, but like most colleges, CWU prohibits any possession of cannabis on campus. According to the school’s alcohol
and drug policies, “Central Washington University is required to adhere to all regulations set forth by the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act. Annual distribution of drug-free campus and workplace information to students and employees is required by federal law.” First, some people simply don’t want to be exposed to marijuana smoke. The smell and potential secondhand effects are things I’ve heard peers be vocally upset with.
Furthermore, this rule is fairly commonplace; most jobs won’t let you come in under the influence of marijuana or alcohol. I think school falls under that same category, especially higher education. Something I do think should be discussed is allowing medical marijuana on campuses. According to Harvard Health, the most common use for medical marijuana in the U.S. is pain control.
The site says, “It is quite effective for the chronic pain that plagues millions of Americans, especially as they age. Part of its allure is that it is clearly safer than opiates.” It can also be a substitute for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for people with kidney issues or ulcers. Based on this site, medical marijuana use is more common in older adults. It also needs
to be approved and planned by a doctor. If a student could provide proof of need, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to use marijuana medically on campus. I also believe there is a lot of stigma surrounding marijuana use. I think the university reserves the right to prohibit drug and alcohol use on campus, but what people do responsibly in their own time is their own prerogative.
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Summer 2022
Opinion: Five things I love about Ellensburg
Opinion: Five things I hate about Ellensburg By Katlyn White Columnist Ellensburg is a great place to live. We have beautiful rolling hills, picturesque downtown and CWU’s campus full of historic brick buildings. However, these positives do not hide the underbelly of flaws. They draw students and residents into this town with its sense of community and small-town living. Then once they’re here, the facade starts to slip. Closed Mondays and Sundays The most irritating thing is when I want to go out to eat on Sundays or Mondays and restaurants are closed. It is 3 p.m. on a Sunday, this is the perfect time to eat lunch. Why are all of these places closed on Sundays and Mondays? Because they are closed, I wind up at Taco Bell. According to a quick Google search, Ellensburg Pasta Company, Lunchbox Cafe and Fidelina’s Taqueria are all closed on
By Addie Adkins Columnist Despite being born in Wenatchee, I consider Ellensburg my home town. I had just turned four when my mom moved us to Ellensburg in order to go to CWU. My first Halloween experience was at Boo Central, I was part of the CWU junior cheer squad for the homecoming football game in 1995, and my first day of school photo featured Mount Stuart Elementary in the background and was where my favorite teacher, Mrs. Bugni, taught me my ABC’s. I have a lot of history in Ellensburg. While some things are lacking in town, there are several things I really love about it. Scenery is Top Notch Let’s face it, most of the Pacific Northwest is beautiful, but one of my favorite views is coming into town from Blewett Pass and reaching the top of that hill. The scrolling hills of brown and green grasses coupled with the tall snow-white windmills have captivated artists ranging from writers, to photographers to painters, etc. I recently saw a painting in Wenatchee that featured the same windmills and hills. Aside from the picturesque hills coming into town, one could find little ponds and creeks everywhere. A favorite little creek of mine is a little canal that runs along Rotary Park. It’s such a small quiet place to sit and rest with the sound of water. There’s Nothing Like Wide Open Spaces Speaking of rolling hills, one can’t deny the amount of wide open space there is in Ellensburg. Fields still dot the town and cattle and horses are everywhere. There’s a reason people
OPINION
Sundays. The Red Pickle, Crazy Wok, Sugar Thai and Young T and Tea are closed on Mondays. In bigger cities, this would not be an issue because there would be more options. Parking Problems The parking has always been bad here. Either I drive to campus and someone has parked in two stalls or I go into town and it is impossible to park at my destination during peak hours. Everything is parallel parking or down one-way roads three blocks down. On the bright side, I have gotten superb at parallel parking. Expensive Movie Theater Tickets Now, this is the worst thing I could have imagined. Grand Cinema Theater has raised its prices. What once was $12.50 for a 7 p.m. show is now a whopping $14. This was my favorite pastime, but it now costs more than my Disney+ and HBO Max subscriptions combined. I will
continue to go to support a small business, but I won’t be happy about it. Slowest Town Everyone has said this before, but why are some of these roads 25 or 20 miles per hour? After passing CWU, Alder Street and Airport Road should be 35 mph. Side streets can be 25 mph, that is fine with me. The main roads should not be. Lacking Stores Sometimes people need a bit of retail therapy, but it is impossible in this town. The clothing options are lacking. The small businesses that sell clothes don’t necessarily have everyone in this college town’s style and are expensive on a college person’s budget. Fred Meyer has the worst selection and even worse prices. Buying clothes online can be a hassle, so a drive to Yakima is the best way to get clothes. Ellensburg needs to figure out its flaws and fix them… or else.
Photo by Addie Adkins/The Observer
travel from everywhere for the Ellensburg Rodeo. The amount of wide open spaces to explore in this slice of Kittitas Valley are astonishing, and highly recommended. Just make sure to be mindful of private property and no trespassing signs. It’s All in the Buildings The historical beauty of the brick buildings in town are astounding. This town is rich in its history, made evident in the old buildings still standing. It’s not just on campus either; you can walk downtown and view all of the old buildings. Tight Knit Community, On and Off Campus The community is really where it’s at. Both on campus and off, there are groups that have been part of this town for generations who can tell you names of almost everyone who is part of a specific family tree if you care to ask. Let’s Walk to Downtown If you ever want to get to know a new place, all you have to do is walk downtown. Again, downtown is full of history, bookstores, restaurants and other college town haunts. One of my favorite places to go when I want a good conversation is Brick Road Books because the owner knows a little about everything and will tell you about it. Another couple of favorites for me are The Palace Cafe, The Wild Huckleberry and Pearl Street Books. There’s No Place Like Home Take this opinion with a grain of salt if you wish. This is my hometown, the first place I remember living, and as such it will always hold a special spot in my heart. As you come into this amazing place, make sure to give it a chance.
Graphic by Sarah Stewart
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Summer 2022
Some things you might miss from “the westside”
and where to find them Wayne Gray Columnist Many students at CWU are transplants from western Washington. The low cost tuition and high acceptance rates of CWU attract students to this side of the Cascades, but a common sentiment expressed in many conversations is how much they miss “the westside.” Ellensburg is a small town with rodeos and a sprinkling of fast food restaurants. If you’re from a place like Seattle, with its wide array of restaurants, arts, culture and music at every turn, Ellensburg can be a bit underwhelming. While Ellensburg can be a relief from rush hour traffic on the 405 and parking meters, there is a tradeoff for some of the Andy Griffith, small town charm. However, with some work, we can find some of the things you might be missing from western Washington, specifically the Puget Sound region. You have to do even less work now that I’ve written this article for you. Arts and Music If you’re into the arts scene, Gallery One Visual Arts Center at 408 N. Pearl St. in Ellensburg is an
obvious choice, but I’ve listed some of the quirkier, less refined places that have that western Washington vibe that I miss. Here’s some places you should check out: Dick and Jane’s Spot 101 N. Pearl St., Ellensburg This weird spot is not your typical art gallery. Dick and Jane Orleman are two CWU alumni who turned their yard and fence into a piece of art. Pieces come and go, but Dick and Jane’s Spot remains. The fence art is open to the public, but the Orleman’s ask that viewers not wander into the yard. Old Skool’s 308 N. Main St., Ellensburg This local shop sells records as well as some DVDs, CDs and vintage clothing. This place is also a venue and regularly hosts open mic nights and live music events. Info for the events is posted on their Facebook. Boogie Man Music 101 E. 2nd Ave., Ellensburg This is a classic music shop. It has guitars, amps, effect pedals and they do repairs. Their selection is a little limited, but they have some good choices for vintage and used gear. Bearded Monkey-Yakima 1802 Nob Hill Blvd., Yakima This place is a bike shop,
sometimes a music venue, with a music shop attached. You can get your bike, guitar and live music all in one spot. Bars and Restaurants As for local restaurants, they’re all okay, nothing to write home about. Most of the options are your typical diner/family restaurant type places. They have food. You order the food. You eat the food. I can’t personally recommend any bars, but if you’re of the legal drinking age, go check them out. I’m sure that liquor and beer basically taste the same no matter who pours it. I can recommend Happy’s, a local convenience and liquor store that has an extensive selection of imported beers. Here are a few specific things I miss: Chipotle 1121 N. Mission St., Wenatchee I don’t know about you, but I miss Chipotle. With all the choices for fast-food around Ellensburg, why isn’t there a Chipotle? The nearest one is in Wenatchee, which is about as far as just driving back to Western Washington, but if you turn it into a day trip to go see a new place, you can grab some Chipotle while you’re at it.
Mod Pizza Rainier Square, Yakima There are plenty of pizza choices in Ellensburg, but not having Mod just makes me want it more. I don’t know what it is, but there is something nice about unlimited topping choices and made-to-order pizza. It’s basically just Chipotle for pizza. Boba Tea No particular location in mind, but there’s like 3 boba tea places in Ellensburg. It’s one of those things that is like a little piece of western Washington. In cities like Bellevue and Seattle, there are boba tea places every few miles and the international districts are buffets of Asian cuisines and groceries. I was never crazy about boba tea, every once in a while I would get one, but it’s nice to have here in Ellensburg.
You might not care about having a Target, but I do. The nearest one is in Yakima. Valley Mall 2529 Main St., Union Gap. This mall has the usual department stores, like Macy’s and JCPenneys. There is also a Buffalo Wild Wings, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Guitar Center in the same parking lot. Books and Art Supplies I’ve always felt that Western Washington is especially artistic and bookish, something about art supplies and old books takes me back to some of the Seattle neighborhoods that I miss. Here’s a few of my favorite spots here in Ellensburg:
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Shopping Ellensburg has Fred Meyer’s clothing department, and it has a few boutique clothing stores, mostly country chic kind of stuff. If you want a wider selection of clothing, you’ll have to search elsewhere. Then again, you can always just order online. Here are a few places though: Target 12 N. Fair Ave., Yakima
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Summer 2022
OPINION
Opinion: The many sounds of studying
Photo Courtesy of Robert Yew
Danny Dang Columnist “Studying is so fun!” said no one ever. The idea of studying being fun is so foreign because of how stressful it can be and the context it is typically done in. Being that life can be stressful enough, I try to make things easier when it comes to studying.
So to take off some of that stress and anxiety, I listen to some soothing sounds while studying. It can’t be just any music, because even though I listen to a wide variety of genres like Hip-Hop, Rock, and RnB, those won’t help me. I simply can’t listen to my favorite everyday songs because I get too engulfed and distracted by the lyrics, or the instruments or just belting those high notes.
According to Foundationeducation.edu, “Music can distract. Students who listen to loud music can have trouble with reading comprehension and mood. Even soft music with loads of lyrics can distract and could have absorbed less information.” Instead, I listen to those YouTube live feeds of “LoFi studying music.” It's something about the smooth calming variations
Opinion: students should join a club at their university Isaiah Salevao Columnist When students begin their journey in college, it’s often difficult to find friends and a community to be a part of. It’s a fresh start for everyone, and a lot of times you go to a college far from home and in different communities you’re used to. College is a time to meet different people from around the world, but sometimes it’s difficult to meet those people when you’re not involved with any programs outside of school. There are a lot more clubs, specifically here at CWU, that you wouldn’t have thought existed. Clubs like Intramural Sports, Gaming club, Book club, Bird Watching club, Walking club, and even the Black Student Union. There are roughly 150 clubs here at CWU. Joining clubs like these gives you the opportunity to meet people that have similarities to you. If
you want to try something new, clubs give you the chance to take a step out of your comfort zone. College is an opportunity to discover new things and discover more about yourself as you take a step away from home. You never know what’s out there or who you will meet unless you get out and explore what universities have to offer. From personal experience, I didn’t do much outside of school besides hanging out with friends from high school. It wasn’t until I joined the Intramural Sports Club and played football that I was able to meet new people. We met people from different parts of the world and even hung out with them outside of just playing football. These are people I still hang out with to this day, and I wouldn’t have had that opportunity if I didn’t step out of my comfort zone and join a club that was provided by CWU. Joining a club is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever
made since being here at CWU. It’s opened so many doors for me and I’m sure it can do the same for other students. And if you can’t find a club that interests you, you can even create your own as long as you fill out the necessary paperwork found on the CWU website and follow the guidelines that are set in place. Joining a club brings you a lot of opportunities and resources to help you succeed as a college student. You meet people that give you advice on what helped them when they first got to college and possibly, they can point you toward a direction that you probably wouldn’t have been able to discover on your own. You can find the list of clubs offered here at CWU, on cwu. edu under Club Database. Also, at the beginning of every fall quarter there will be a club fair outside of the SURC that has many clubs tabling to visit and get more details.
of songs that aren’t too heavy in bass or screaming in your ear, that help me stay focused when it comes to getting some work done. Although, when I really need to grind and I’m just at that point of the night where I can’t keep focus on my studies, I bust out the big guns. I listen to ambient white noises, with my go-to being “The Oscillating Fan.”
Using this white noise helps block out any background noise from my surroundings and keep my thoughts from wandering. According to study.com, “In some cases, students have found that music helps them with memorization, likely by creating a positive mood, which indirectly boosts memory formation.” So keep in mind what kind of music may help you study better.
Opinion: I need to graduate Where are my classes, CWU? Star Diavolikis Columnist Getting classes that meet yourrequirements to graduate should not be something to fight tooth and nail for. It should not be an issue whatsoever. I attempted to apply for as many classes as possible that meet my requirements this fall quarter, which caused hours of unnecessary stress. Out of more than fifteen classes I either can or need to take, with the exceptions of the student media, only two were available this quarter. I had to pass on taking one of them due to a scheduling conflict with another required course. How am I supposed to graduate on time when there are issues like this? I have had issues with being unable to find required classes in the past, which I brushed off as organization issues during the pandemic. However, the fact that only a few classes are available out of a long list after a year of potential planning time means something is really wrong.
Issues after a year of this situation are unacceptable. A whole year could have been used to plan what classes can be offered so all students, especially communication majors like me, can graduate on time. There is already a great deal of stress for those about to graduate, myself included. We have to worry about our current job if we have one - I personally have two jobs because I also have bills to pay!
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OPINION
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Summer 2022
Opinion: NFL uniform policies are atrocious Evan Couch Columnist The NFL’s uniform policies are atrocious and nothing but a cash grab for the league. The individuality and expression of the league’s athletes suffer as a result of the unnecessary and harsh regulations. When I started watching the NFL and getting into football many years ago, one thing that always stood out to me was what players were wearing on the field. There was a point in time where I could tell you what game was being played by just looking at a specific player’s on-field attire. Cleats, gloves, sleeves and visors are all ways that players add personal flair to stand out from one another while still representing the unity of a team. The NFL, however, has so many ridiculous rules and policies that restrict players when it comes to what they can and can’t wear. According to the NFL’s Game Operations Manual, “A player’s appearance on the field conveys a message regarding the image of the league and directly affects the league’s reputation and success.” Essentially, the league thinks that if all players dress the same, they will look professional and as if they are held to a high standard by the league.
How would I ever tell that these are professional athletes if they aren’t wearing the right socks or tucking their jerseys in? There are some rules that serve to benefit players as they apply to “safety.” For example, rules regarding knees being covered by the pants and knee pads as well as illegal tinted helmet visors are some that the league sees as safety precautions. The athletes we see on Sunday are adults getting paid millions to play and entertain, let them make their own decisions. They are running their faces into each other at full speed, they don’t care about knee pads. If you look at any player out there, chances are their knees are uncovered. Players are fined substantial amounts of money when failing to comply with these ridiculous policies. According to nfl.com, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was fined $14,000 in 2020 for having his pants rolled up above the knee. This is nothing new for Beckham as he has done this his entire career. Similar to the thoughts I expressed about this ridiculous rule, Beckham noted that a knee pad won’t protect him from anything. Other rules regarding the uniform policy in the NFL have no effect on player safety and just add to the mantra of the “No Fun League”.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was fined $5,000 for “showing too much skin” by failing to pull his socks all the way up his leg. What kind of rule is that? Are these professional athletes or high schoolers under a dress code? According to the NFL Rulebook, a player’s “stockings must cover the entire area from the shoe to the bottom of the pants, and must meet the pants below the knee.” Why? It looks “professional.” The biggest rule that gets me is the NFL’s policy on custom cleats and gloves. In 2017, the league made a rule that allows players to wear whatever cleats and gloves they want during pregame warmups as a way of allowing expression. Anything goes in terms of colors and designs, as long as they are appropriate. As soon as that whistle blows and the ball is kicked off, if your cleats and gloves don’t match the team’s uniform in some way, pay up. Running back Alvin Kamara was forced to pay $5,000 after wearing custom red and green cleats which stood out from the team’s white and gold uniforms on Christmas day. Definitely a “No Fun League” moment. Other organizations such as the NBA have shifted their policies regarding uniforms. Before the start of the 2018-2019 season, the NBA changed their
Tinted visors, uncovered knees, custom cleats and accessories that don’t use team colors violate NFL’s uniform policies. Photo Courtesy of Flickr photo by All-Pro Reels / CC BY 2.0
rules on color restrictions for players’ shoes. This was done as a way to allow players to express their own individual style as well as show their appreciation for the NBA’s rich history of sneaker culture. The NFL needs to take notes. There is no harm done to the reputation of the league when players lace up a custom pair of cleats that does not match their team’s uniforms.
Although the NFL has made some minor changes to their restrictions, until the oldheads who control the league and set the “standards” are out of power, players will still face these unnecessary policies. For the sake of the league’s future and the next generation of players, these rules need to be dropped and the NFL needs to rid themselves of the “No Fun League” title that has lingered for decades.
Opinion: The Sounders’ are Seattle’s most exciting pro sports team Lumen fields atmosphere is a one of a kind stadium experience during Sounders home games. Photo Courtesy of wikimedia.commons.
Jake Hassebrock Columnist Whether you attend games in the stadium, tune in to live broadcasts or just watch postmatch highlight videos on YouTube, professional sports collectively are a very fun part of our culture to engage with. Seattle is home to several professional sports teams and while each are interesting in their own ways, the most exciting local professional sports franchise right now is the Seattle Sounders FC for a variety of reasons. History of success It may be easy to say that the Kraken, Seattle’s new NHL hockey team, is the most exciting team in Seattle because they are the newest addition to Seattle’s lineup of pro-sports franchises.
The problem is that while new things are fun, sports fans typically like to see their team win and the Kraken have struggled to do so. The 2021-22 NHL standings show the Kraken in last place with four fewer wins than the next-best team. Speaking of teams that struggle to win, the Mariners are currently the only team in MLB who haven’t appeared in a World Series and it has been over 20 years since the last time the Mariners even made it to the postseason. The Sounders, on the other hand, have proven that they can consistently win games in both the regular season and the playoffs. In 2014, the Sounders won the MLS Supporters’ Shield, which is given to the team with the best record at the end of the season. Additionally, the Sounders have never missed the playoffs
in their 13 year history in the MLS. In those 13 playoff appearances, the Sounders have made four MLS Cup finals appearances, two of which resulted in championship victories. That’s in addition to the Sounders’ four U.S. Open Cup titles. Stadium atmosphere The Seattle Storm may have won more championships than the Sounders with four WNBA finals victories, but what the Storm have in success, they lack in home game atmosphere. This is partially because the Storm draws in far fewer fans than the Sounders do. According to a Seattle Times article, the Storm had an average attendance of 8,100 fans during the 2018 season. An article on soccerstadiumdigest.com shows that the Sounders averaged
around 40,000 fans at their home games during the same year. It’s not just numbers that make the Sounders’ crowd exciting to take part in though. A section of fans called the Emerald City Supporters leads chants and songs throughout the entirety of the game, flags and banners are flown in the stands and the crowd roars during goal celebrations, The “boom boom clap” tradition is enough to send chills down your spine. Current trajectory While the Seahawks are another Seattle team who has claimed a title and hosts a famously loud group of fans, the Seahawks are currently not looking as promising moving forward as the Sounders are. If you look at the Seahawks’ last few seasons though, you see
a downward trend. In 2019, the Seahawks made the playoffs but were knocked out in the second round, the following season saw the Seahawks bow out in the first round of the postseason, and they failed to make the playoffs in their most recent year with star quarterback Russell Wilson missing games due to injury for the first time in his career. The Sounders recent seasons show a pedigree of success. All the Sounders’ MLS Cup appearances have come in the last six years. Additionally, five current Sounders players have been called up to their respective countries’ national teams in the past year. Now is a great time to start watching the Sounders and see what excitement is to come in their 2022 season.
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OPINION
Opinion: NCAA Football 14 has the best and most immersive real life football available in video games Chase Beyer Columnist All football fans who have interest in gaming are seeking the same thing: the best experience of real life simulation football. NCAA Football 14, a game released in July 2013, takes the cake for the best overall experience of real life simulation football. NCAA Football 14 was released nearly a decade ago, and it still offers the best overall franchise experience for the player. Over many years of playing football video games ranging from Backyard Football on the Gameboy, to Mobile app games, to Madden on Xbox Series X, I have played them all. NCAA Football 14 allows you the option to create a coach and take over a team of your choice. The teams range from the power houses such as Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida, all the way down to the nobodies, in Akron, Rice and Washington State University. You load into a franchise that allows you to control the roster, play in games and recruit the future prospects of your team in a long, realistic and immersive scouting process. My personal favorite, and a favorite of a lot of members in the
NCAA Football 14 community too, is the road to glory approach to the franchise. In this approach, you take a one-star team and turn them into a powerhouse dynasty of a football program. While growing the team and program, you also develop as a coach and can provide bonuses to scouting or bonuses and added features to the in-game experience through the coaching tree. The difficult thing is that a play-
NCAA hasn’t released a gaming title in nearly a decade. Photo Courtesy of pexels.com
er can leave after three years by going to the NFL Draft, or could stay as long as five years, but they can play a maximum of four years. So it puts a huge precedent on the scouting experience. In the scouting experience, the game auto-generates thousands of prospects every year, with different names, different attributes, different skills and qualities. You can filter through players based on their
interest in the team the player has taken over or by the qualities the user looks for in a prospect such as weight, height, skills, talent levels and even what state they are from. A user can put up to 35 prospects on their watch board at a time and can remove and add players at any point during the season. What makes the scouting experience unique is that you have 5,000 scouting points
to spend every week. These scouting points are placed onto players the user has interest in and has to be used wisely. The scouting experience is a numbers game and has to be managed every single week to consistently bring prospects to a commitment to the program. Additionally, one of the most fulfilling moments is playing games with all of the prospects that the user scouted over the years and seeing them get drafted into the NFL, while also dealing with the real difficulties of real life football like injuries and even offering to let the user redshirt players and track features like the Heisman watch, top 25 rankings, recruitment class rankings, coaching carousel in the offseason, transfer players, program prestige rankings and so many other features that makes this game as immersive as it is. NCAA Football 14 offers a never-ending experience of real-life simulation football. It’s an authentic replica to what it would really be like taking over as a coach for a college football team, a dream for many of the users playing the game.
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Summer 2022
Cheer team rebrands to The glory days don’t have to be over become co-ed CWU sport clubs have something for everyone Evan Couch News Editor
Photo courtesy of Jacob Thompson/ CWU Athletics
Jacqueline Hixssen Staff Reporter New head coach Brooke Wales has rebranded the cheer team to make room for new members. According to freshman flyer Sabreena Kemp, the team will be co-ed this season. “People will be surprised with our new look that we’re bringing to next season from going from all girls to co-ed,” Kemp said. This last season, the team was considered all-woman even though they had one man on their team. A cheer team cannot be considered a co-ed team unless the team has at least two men, according to junior main base Asael Aburto. Prior to Aburto, CWU Cheer had never had a man on their team. According to Aburto, the previous coach told Aburto he could try out but made it clear she wanted it to stay an all-woman team. Wales accepted the head coach position of the cheer team early during the 2021-22 season. The previous cheer coach hosted tryouts and built a team now coached by Wales. According to Aburto, the team is looking for 20-22 cheerleaders for their program with a mix of group and partner stunts.
“This is going to be a really different year for our cheer program, and I am really excited to see where our program leads,” said Aburto. The cheer team cheers for sports during fall and winter quarters, leaving spring quarter as their off-season. Cheer is not a sport athletes can take a break from without losing skills, according to Kemp, who said that staying active throughout the offseason is vital for in-season success. “I still continue to stretch and work out every day just to keep my body moving,” Kemp said. “At least once or twice a week I ask teammates to tumble just to continue to stay active.” Aburto said that to him, cheer is an all-season sport. “Even if it is the off-season and we don’t have actual games, we always are involved with cheer no matter what,” Aburto said. The cheer team does more than cheer for other teams, they are also active members in the community. “We do events around town like the Labor Day parade and then we have also looked into doing the Suncadia golf tournament,” Kemp said.
CWU Cheer team lined up on the football sidelines. Photocourtesy of Jacob Thompson/CWU Athletics
The end of high school does not have to mean the end of competitive sports. For those who are unable to play sports at the collegiate level for whatever reason, there are alternatives that can compare to the competitive atmosphere of high school athletics. Sport clubs are a great way to find like-minded people as well as continue to play some of the sports you love. CWU’s Sports Programs Senior Coordinator, Samantha Wary, said that sport clubs are a great way for those coming from varsity athletics to continue competing at a high level. “Sport clubs just give you that higher level of competition,” Wary said. “Maybe you were a high school varsity athlete and you want to continue that higher, regimented sport level and that higher level of competition. We always recommend going with sport clubs.” Along with the competitive nature of sport clubs, there are a multitude of factors that differentiate sport clubs from intramural sports. According to Wary, intramural sports focus on student to student competition within the university and are less time constraining compared to sport clubs. Sport clubs, however, have scheduled practices, sometimes have paid coaches, and travel to compete against other colleges in Washington and around the nation. “It gives you more of that scheduled and higher level of competition,” Wary said. “There’s opportunities to travel throughout the Pacific Northwest and potentially all across the country and to Canada for postseason and other tournaments.” Wary said CWU will offer 20 different sport clubs for all students to participate in during the fall. One of these sport clubs centers around volleyball. Vice president of CWU Women’s Volleyball Club, Angelie Sampson, said that club volleyball is meant for anyone to join, no matter what their skill level or experience in the sport is. “We accept everyone of all skill levels,” Sampson said. “We are a competitive team. However, we also have that team unity and team spirit.” Sampson said the goal for the club when they started it back in 2019 was to provide a community that united different people and helped people find new friends, while still competing and playing volleyball. Club President Alyssa Strub echoed the same sentiment and said
CWU Women’s Volleyball Club offers a good environment for all skill range of players. Photo Courtesy of CWU Athletics
they work to accommodate all students who are interested in joining. “If anyone’s interested in joining, we just try to talk to them and see their experience and how their schedule is and we just try and help them as much as we can,” Strub said. Fitting the schedule is important as the team begins to travel in the winter quarter to compete in the Pacific Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. According to Strub, winter quarter is when the club plays tournaments and travels around Washington as well as Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Strub said there are about four to five tournaments hosted by schools in those states that the team will travel to and compete in every winter quarter. Sampson said once the competition starts and they begin traveling to play, it’s a lot of fun. “We all pack into cars and we drive to the tournament,” Sampson said. “So you know, you’re singing and dancing and eating in the car and bonding with the girls in your car.” Strub also said traveling with the club is a fun experience. “It’s just really fun to go travel somewhere and play volleyball against a bunch of different kinds of players,” Strub said. As fall quarter brings new students to campus, Strub said they are always looking for new members to join the club. “We’re always looking for new people and we always love to have new people join our club,” Strub said. “Even though it can be scary, I think we have a really good environment with the girls that we have right now and everyone is super nice. So, even though it might be scary, I think anyone new who would join would have a good time.” One club that has recently been rejuvenated and is looking for members to join is the CWU Golf Club. Club President Joel Antush said it’s all a new experience for him and other members. “It’s really a learning experience for everybody in the club right now,” Antush said. “We have competition starting in the fall, but right now we’re just kind of figuring everything out as we go.”
Wary said the plan for the Golf Club is to begin competing in the National Collegiate Club Golf Association. Wary said there are typically three tournaments that the club will compete in during the fall as well as the spring. Antush said his goal for the club is to get as many people as possible in the club who want to play golf, then to send eight members of the club to compete when the tournaments start in the fall. “If we have a club of 12, we’ll still practice and still get to hang out, but only eight will go,” Antush said. Although Antush said the club is looking forward to getting back to competition, not everyone needs to feel like they are good enough to compete if they want to join. Antush said the club is for those who are beginner level and up. “The skill range is from high to low,” Antush said. More experienced members of the club like Blair Maruhn, who has been playing golf since he was in middle school, said everyone should join despite their skill level or lack of equipment. “Even if you don’t have a set of clubs, I would say still come because we have lefties and righties here, so that’s not even an issue,” Maruhn said. “It doesn’t really matter when you start because it’s going to be a sport you can play your whole life, so might as well start now.” Maruhn said one of the things he is most looking forward to about being a part of the club is the possibility of golf helping him in his future career in accounting. “The career I am going into, golfing, talking on the golf course, it’s kind of a big thing,” Maruhn said. Maruhn also said he hopes the club helps him connect with new and like-minded people. “For me, it would definitely be the networking opportunity and meeting new people, cool people that are interested in the same sport as I am,” Maruhn said. Antush said the club will utilize the Ellensburg Golf & Country Club course for practices and to play with the club. Antush and Maruhn both said they hope to get in contact with Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum so the club can play at their highend courses in the future. CWU sport clubs offer something for everyone. Whether you are experienced or not, sport clubs are a great way to find new hobbies and meet new people. For any students interested in what sport clubs are being offered in the fall, check CWU’s Sport Clubs page.
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Summer 2022
SPORTS
Soccer is more than a game to CWU’s new head women’s soccer coach
Head Coach Lindsey Lee said culture is the biggest part of coaching for her. Photo Courtesy of CWU Athletics
Evan Couch News Editor After searching through an extensive pool of candidates looking to fill the head coach spot for CWU women’s soccer, the athletic department landed on Lindsey Lee to lead the program on Dec. 31, 2021. According to wildcatsports. com, Lee spent seven seasons at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) as an assistant coach for the Division I soccer program. Having head coaching experience with private soccer clubs, the first-time collegiate head coach said she was excited for the opportunity. Creating a positive environment and being involved with a good culture is what Lee saw in CWU. “Culture is the biggest piece of coaching,” Lee said. “As a coach,
you strive to have good culture and positive energy.” Lee said CWU is a great place to build and work with an already existing culture. A lot of what she saw at Cal Poly as an assistant coach is what she sees at CWU as the head coach. “Having the girls that have the attitude and have the backing of the athletic department and the backing of the school was a huge selling feature for me,” Lee said. Athletic Director Dennis Francois was involved in the hiring process of Lee. Francois said Lee’s previous success as a player and an assistant coach made a great impression on the Athletic Department. “She has experienced winning,” Francois said. “She knows what that feels like, she knows what that looks like and what it takes to get there.” Francois said that her experience
as a player at a high level is a great way to make connections with players currently in the program. Along with the player experience and connection Lee brings, Francois said Lee’s goal to push players with a competitive edge in the program to be better students and better people also stood out during her interview. “She is going to push those student athletes,” Francois said. “She’s highly competitive, she is going to push those student athletes beyond what they’re capable of and that’s where they are going to grow.” Francois said one thing that blew him away was Lee’s sense of confidence. “She had a sense of confidence in herself,” Francois said. “It wasn’t in a braggadocious way, it was a humble, confident way and she knows what it’s going to take. I am
100% confident she is going to do an outstanding job for us.” Although the task of leading a college program as a head coach may be new, Lee said the game and her knowledge comes naturally because soccer runs in her family. Attending and participating in weekend games with family friends was a regular occurrence for Lee’s parents. According to Lee, soccer was also more than just something she grew up with; it is deeper than that. As a family, soccer was their chosen sport. “Soccer is just in my blood,” Lee said. “My parents both played in college, and my mom played professionally.” Lee’s father, Randy Smith, played as a goalie for Cal Poly where Lee would eventually go on to coach as an assistant for seven years before coming to CWU.
Lee’s mother, Karrie Keebler, played center back for Santa Clara University and the U.S. Women’s National Team. Keebler did a tour in China in the ‘80s with the U.S. National Team as well. Growing up, Lee played all over the field in terms of positions. Lee said she had a similar build to her father athletically, as well as the mannerisms of a goalie. However, she said she had the drive and competitiveness of her mother. Lee went on to play at the collegiate level and was a goalkeeper at Westmont College, where she would compete for a national championship her senior year. During the adversity of being down two goals in the semi-finals, Lee said there was a moment of realization she carries with her into coaching to this day.
SPORTS
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Summer 2022
Football set to From students to teachers CWU football athletes tranjoin LSC as affili- Two sition from players to coach ate member By Jared Galanti Sports Editor In coordination with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), CWU football will be accepting a multi -year affiliate offer with Lone Star Conference (LSC) starting in 2022, according to a press add on Wildcatsports.com. Western Oregon University (WOU) and Simon Fraser University (SFU), other GNAC institutions, have also accepted affiliate offers. In the release, Director of Athletics Dennis Francois said, “This is truly an exciting day for Central Washington University football. Becoming an affiliate member of the Lone Star Conference solves the ever-increasing scheduling challenges on the West Coast and further demonstrates our university’s commitment to providing our football student-athletes the best opportunity to succeed on a na-
tional level. I commend Commissioners Haglund and Poerner for their leadership, perseverance, and collaboration in making this union come to fruition.” With the addition of CWU, WOU and SFU, the LSC will field 10 football teams for the 2022 season. Of the seven teams already in the conference prior to the move, five of them are located in Texas and the other two are based in New Mexico. Under the affiliate membership, all teams will play a nine game in-conference schedule with two open weeks to schedule non-conference opponents. The move comes three years after the Lone Star and GNAC conferences formed an alliance in which they agreed to schedule nearly 60 in-region matchups over a four year period. CWU captured its fourth straight GNAC football championship and has won 11 conference championships since the GNAC was formed back in 2001.
Donte Hamilton. Photo courtesy of Wildcat Sports
By Jared Galanti Sports Editor Former wide receiver JoJo Hillel and linebacker Donte Hamilton have decided to return to the football program as graduate assistant coaches for
JoJo Hillel. Photo courtesy of Wildcat Sports
head coach Chris Fisk’s 202223 staff. Hillel will be a wide receivers coach while Hamilton will be coaching defensive backs who play the nickel position this season. Hillel and Hamilton said the choice to join CWU’s coaching staff was an easy one even if it was for different reasons. Hillel said there were two reasons he decided to join the staff. One reason was to get financial help for his master’s degree and the other was to give back to the game he loved. “I got my degree here and when I was done … I thought the best course of action for my life was to get my master’s degree, especially if I could get help from the university and the football program,” Hillel said. “Now I get to give back to the game that gave so much to me, which means a lot.” Hamilton said one of his coaches brought up the idea while he was still playing and he decided to jump at the opportunity. “Coach [Nate] Johnson, our defensive coordinator, brought it up to me going into my senior year if I was interested,” Hamilton said. “Coaching is something I always wanted to do.” Hillel said one of his main goals as coach is to help the players become the best version of themselves both on and off the field. “I’d say for the younger players, you get to build and grow these young men into better young men and it’s kind of a new feeling,” Hillel said. “From one Saturday you’re scoring touchdowns, and the next day you’re teaching techniques and little stuff that you might not have thought of as a player. It’s just that fulfillment of giving back and seeing these guys execute on and off the field.” Hamilton said his main goal is to show the younger kids there is more to CWU than just football. “For me with the young guys showing them how we do things
here, obviously both of us played here so we know how things are done here,” Hamilton said. “Telling them that it’s going to be a long process and to just stay the course and stay with it.” Hillel said that while the dynamic going from player to coach may be a smooth transition, the relationship with the players has changed. “While you may have this prior relationship, you have an obligation to be their coach and their mentor and sometimes it’s not buddy-buddy anymore,” Hillel said. “At first it wasn’t necessarily your job as a senior to ask them if your teammates went to class or turned in an assignment, but now [as a coach] it is.” Hamilton said he felt the relationships with the players were different now that he is a coach. “We still have those [teammate] relationships with them,” Hamilton said. “But you have to be able to know when it’s time to lock in and when it’s time to be serious. I think it was something that was a hard transition at first … but now that I think we have been at it for a few months it’s settling in a little bit.” The two of them had different paths that landed them at CWU. Hillel was recruited out of high school and has been at CWU his entire football career. During his CWU career, Hillel caught 77 passes for 939 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also ran the ball in for six touchdowns over his four year career. Hamilton meanwhile was a transfer out of Saddleback College in 2018. After two seasons at CWU, Hamilton was awarded the coveted 44 jersey, an honor according to CWU athletics that “is given to a defensive player that most exemplifies the standards of the Wildcat defender” for the 2021-2022 season. In his final season, Hamilton recorded 78 tackles while having a career high six interceptions.
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Summer 2022
2022 Football Schedule CWU vs. Ferris State University (FSU)
Thursday, Sept. 1 TBA
@FSU
Saturday, CWU vs. @Tomlinson Western New Mexico Sept. 10 Stadium 6 p.m. University
CWU vs. Simon Fraser University (SFU)
Saturday, Sept. 17 6 p.m.
CWU vs. Saturday, Eastern New Mexico Oct. 1 TBA University (ENMU)
@SFU
@ENMU
CWU vs. Western Oregon University
Saturday, @Tomlinson Oct. 8 Stadium 6 p.m.
CWU vs. Midwestern State University
Saturday, @Tomlinson Oct. 15 Stadium 6 p.m.
CWU vs. Saturday, West Texas A&M Oct. 22 @WTAMU TBA University (WTAMU) CWU vs. Saturday, @Tomlinson Texas A&M University Oct. 29 Stadium 6 p.m. - Kingsville CWU vs. Anglo State University (ASU)
Saturday, Nov. 5 TBA
CWU vs. Texas Permian Basin University
Saturday, @Tomlinson 1 p.m. Stadium
@ASU
SPORTS
New offensive coordinator brings fresh ideas to CWU football By Jared Galanti Sports Editor Football found its next offensive coordinator Mike Ferriter after a long search, that included the original hire leaving after only a couple weeks. A football fan since the age of two, Ferriter said his father always believed he would become a coach someday. As a graduate from the University of Montana with a human biology degree, Ferriter said he didn’t think he would go into coaching. His original intention of a medical occupation found an abrupt end when an illness changed his plans. “I got sick and then was given an opportunity to become a graduate assistant for a head coach that I played for at University of Nevada Las Vegas [UNLV],” Ferriter said. “I decided life is too short and I was going to take a chance and that I
was going to go to Vegas and try out coaching.” Ferriter said he decided to take the job at UNLV and see what it felt like to coach. Once he did that, everything else fell into place. According to Ferriter, familiarity with CWU and the northwest in general is what drew him to the job. “My senior year in college I played against CWU, so I am very familiar with them,” Ferriter said. “Over the past few months I’ve had contact with [head] coach [Chris] Fisk just doing my research on the program and Ellensburg and I really felt like it was a place that fit what I was looking for.” Ferriter said he has spoken with freshman quarterback Quincy Glasper and is excited to help him continue to progress going into his sophomore year. “He’s done some great things, and with me just getting here and learning the system, it’s been some back and forth,” Ferriter said. “But
I think it’s just me continuing to teach him the game, to help him understand what we want to do offensively and overall the big picture of him understanding football and being a student of the game.” Ferriter said his offensive system, while similar to ones run in years past, does have a few differences. “You will see some similarities to what you’ve seen in the past but also some things that weren’t being done before,” Ferriter said. “You’re going to have a combination of things that I am bringing in. So you are going to see a new look CWU offense to a degree.” Ferriter said fans should be excited for next football season. “[The] great group of young men that we have here, that were not satisfied with just making the playoffs, I think they’re hungry for more,” Ferriter said. “These guys are hungry and excited to show who they really are and what we are all about.”
ENGAGEMENT
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Summer 2022
Page 40 ENGAGEMENT Summer 2022 Cat Lib: Wellington Wildcat spends three-night stint in animal shelter after lively night out CWU’s own Wellington Wildcat was spotted behind bars in the back of the ____________ last Saturday at approximately ____________ , with ____________ eyes location on campus
adjective
time of day
and paws restricted by ____________ , ____________ handcuffs. adjective
adjective
Wellington attempted to achieve the im-paw-sible by ____________ himself from his position outside the SURC. A(n) ____________ encounter with verb ending in “ing”
adjective
____________ ensued, much to the dismay of campus-dwellers. group of people Wellington ____________ , dashed from his post into the ____________ , stole all the ____________ from the ____________ and scaled the _______________ verb (ed form)
location on campus
plural noun
location on campus
high up place in Ellensburg
with the attitude of an animal that expects to live nine lives. Campus security began a(n) ____________ pursuit with ____________ abandon, according to several student eyewitnesses. Wellington ____________ shouting, adjective
adjective
verb
“This school is MINE!” from the top of the _______________ . previous high up place Wellington scurried down and a student source reported witnessing him race toward the football field. Wellington told the ____________ he could do their job better than they could. He then did an ____________ ____________ , swung his ____________ , chewed sports group adjective action noun body part up one of the ____________ and coughed up a ____________ on the 50-yard line with seemingly no remorse. sports equipment noun An animal catcher arrived on the scene just as Wellington sprinted toward Purser Hall. The catcher, Harry Chaser, said he hoped to corner Wellington by the pool so he would have no way to escape. Chaser chased Wellington into the Aquatic Center by attaching some ____________ to a ____________ -foot pole and trapping him inside. With nowhere to noun
number
turn, Chaser said Wellington scurried up the ladder of the high diving board. Wellington ____________ off the diving board into the water. The catcher followed him into the depths of the pool with a ____________ ____________ . verb (past tense)
adjective
noun
Chaser said he ____________ Wellington out of the water and ____________ him with the help of ____________ other CWU staff members. Eyewitnesses reverb verb number ported seeing a ____________ can of ____________ tumble out of his ____________ as he ____________ at the mouth. adjective alchoholic beverage part of clothing verb (ed form) Wellington was sentenced to ____________ nights in the animal shelter without bail. number
Comic by Addie Adkins
Comic by Addie Adkins
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