Winter 2023

PULSE CWU’S STUDENT-RUN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2023

CATS FIGHT BACK AGAINST ASSAULT: 1 IN 4 WOMEN YOUR GUIDE TO INFLATION

R O O M M A T E HORROR STORIES WINTER 2023

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photo by Jakob Burnham

OUR TOWN 8 Study Spots 1 0 Scoop On Snorkel 14 Meet David Douglas 20 Here Comes The Sun: What to pack for your spring trip to the pond 22 The “Mighty CWU Ganges” SPORTS 2 4 Losing Games 2 8 Sam Bowman

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what’s INSIDE FOOD + DRINK 3 2 Do the Dip 3 4 Cooking With Cannabis SPOTLIGHT 3 6 ADHD 4 0 One in Four Women 4 9 Inflation: A college guide

FASHION 5 6 Blurring the Lines Between Blue and Punk 6 1 Body Bags AFTER DARK 6 5 Roommate Horror Stories 68 The Gamer’s Psyche 71 Navigating Dating and Sexual Relationships 76 Sensational Sensory Slimes 78 Inverted Ellensburg

O N T H E C OV E R Jakob Burnham, PULSE photographer poses for Roommate Horror Stories.

Photo by Dylan Hanson Design by Makayla Zayic

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THE E S L U P F F A T S

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PULSE STAFF Editorial

Design

Multimedia

editor-in-chief Noah Wright

art director Makayla Zayic

associate editor Jake Hassebrock

lead designer Evan Brown

social media & web manager Sydney Ziegler

copy editor Gabby Kutch

designers Meredith Massey Rody Farr

writers Sam Harris Liv Van Osten Brian Valencia Gavin Johnson Ian Moffet Avery Andrews Issac Hinson Luca Crouch-Goodhue Elliott Watkins

Photography director of photography Dylan Hanson

podcast hosts Deacon Tuttle Evan Couch

Advising faculty adviser Jennifer Green 509-963-3216 jennifer.green@cwu.edu

lead photographer Jakob Burnham photographers Sandra Rivera Andrew Ulstad Ayla Woods

PULSE magazine is a student-run lifestyle magazine, both in print and online at www.cwupulsemagazine.com. PULSE produces one issue an academic quarter. Student editors make policy and content decisions for the magazine, which serves as a public forum for student expression. PULSE serves the Central Washington University community with informative, engaging and interactive content covering campus and community life, trends and issues, and providing practical magazine and multimedia training.

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N O T e s F R O M THE EDITOR

T

hey say everything gets easier with practice. In my second quarter as EIC, that statement rings true. While I still have a long way to go, the lessons I’ve learned cannot be overlooked.

To the photographers this quarter, I am amazed by the effort and the beauty you all were able to capture in your photos. To the designers, I cannot begin to explain how stunning our magazine looks. And to the writers, the stories you conveyed this quarter are nothing short of amazing.

We talk a lot in class about how this magazine is not a single piece, but instead a collection of multiple efforts and works.

While I get to write this fun little blurb and talk about my feelings, I cannot help but want to explain that this magazine is the combination of 23 people working every day to create something worth reading and worth publishing. While I still have a long way to go as an editor, and all of the staff still have things to learn and figure out, there can be no denying that this product is one of the best I’ve been a part of.

We have fun and lighthearted stories that catch your eyes on pages 20 and 78, hard-hitting and informational stories that make you think and ask questions on pages 40 and 49, and on page 10 we have a stunning model that is always on the move so he needs to keep his home on his back . I hope everyone enjoys this issue of PULSE magazine.

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The PULSE staff put hours and hours into the making of this issue... not all were productive.

BEHIND THE SCENES

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OUR TOWN

STUDY SPOTS PHOTOS BY JAKOB BURNHAM DESIGN BY MEREDITH MASSEY

THE SURC (UPSTAIRS) RANDALL HALL Open 24 hours and feels like a labyrinth

BROOKS LIBRARY Have you seen the new 4th floor study area?

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Snag a private booth for the ultimate focus time.

OFF CAMPUS UTOPIA Multiple food choices and plenty of places to sit.

D&M DOWNTOWN What’s studying without some motivation? Treat yourself with D& M’s yummy coffee and treats, and even take a break to play the piano.

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OUR TOWN

SNORKEL THE SCOOP ON

story by Gabby Kutch photos by Jakob Burnham design by Meredith Massey

You knock on the doors of the campus greenhouse behind Dean Hall, anticipation swirling in your stomach.

Someone inside opens the door and you are met with a wave of heat washing over you.

As you shrug off your jacket, you catch a glimpse of vibrant greenery you’ve never seen before through the clouded windows of the rooms down the hallway. The plants are intriguing, but they’re not why you’re here.

You step inside a room and find yourself somewhere brighter and hotter than where you were before, surrounded by cacti of all different shapes and sizes. It is in this room that you see him, the one you were 10

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looking for, your reason for being here.

Standing before you in all his glory, you see a large tortoise- munching away at some grass and completely ignoring your presence.

CWU’S RESIDENTIAL SHELL-EBRITY Meet Snorkel, a 16-year-old Sulcata tortoise who is the one and only resident of CWU’s greenhouse.

While Snorkel isn’t the only animal that lives on campus, he is definitely the most popular and well-known.

“He’s like the mascot of the greenhouse, lots of people like to come in to pet him and take pictures,” says Linnea Stavney, Snorkel’s primary caretaker and manager of the greenhouse and vivarium.

Snorkel first came to Central Washington when he was two years old in 2008, donated to the greenhouse by his original owners.

“Sulcata tortoises are somewhat common in the pet trade,” says Stavney, “but a lot of people don’t realize just how big they get. A lot of people get them as hatchlings when they’re the size of an orange, but they don’t realize that they can grow up to 100 to 200 pounds.

SNORKEL 16

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OUR TOWN

VISIT SNORKEL Every Friday | CWU Greenhouse | 1-3pm

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And so he was donated to us because his original owners couldn’t take care of him anymore. He’s been with us ever since.”

Snorkel lives a very comfortable life within the greenhouse. According to Stavney, Sulcata tortoises are native to the grasslands located below the Sahara Desert, which makes the desert room a perfect home for him.

Besides living in an environment that suits him, Snorkel is also well taken care of by his caretakers.

Snorkel starts his day by sleeping in until about 10 a.m. where he then makes rounds in the desert room until his bedtime, which is at about 3 p.m. He eats lunch every other day at noon, most of

his diet consists of hay and vitamin-rich pellets with the occasional leaves, veggies or flowers mixed in and fruit as an extra special treat. The only thing Snorkel doesn’t seem to like about living in the greenhouse is bath time, though he has learned how to get out of it quickly by spilling all the water out of the kiddy pool.

Even though he’s the only animal living in the greenhouse, Snorkel is never lonely thanks to his caretakers and visitors, though company isn’t always what he wants.

“He’s kind of like a grumpy teenager,” says Stanvey, “I think he’s used to people being around but reptiles don’t necessarily enjoy being

pet or receiving attention the way that maybe a dog or a cat would, so it’s more that he tolerates it.”

Occasionally, Snorkel will take time out of his busy schedule to help out students, making appearances during herpetology classes, the study of reptiles and amphibians. “There’s not a specific Snorkel class, as much as I wish there was,” says Stavney.

If you want to see more of Snorkel, you can check out the CWU Greenhouse Instagram to see pictures or visit him in person during the weekly open house on Fridays from 1 - 3 p.m.

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OUR TOWN

MEET david DOUGLAS story by Isaac Hinson photos by Jakob Burnham design by Meredith Massey

David’s passion for recovery does not come as third-party interest, it’s personal for him.

On the corner of 3rd and Water St. sits a quaint, welcoming beige building. There’ll be a chalkboard out front telling what’s going on inside that night; maybe it’s yoga, or perhaps a game night. There’s a small table with two chairs, and on the window right above are five big blue and white letters that read “KCRCO,” and directly under it: “Kittitas County Recovery Community Organization.”

THE KCRCO’s MISSION The KCRCO specializes in assisting persons with substance abuse disorder through the entire recovery process. Whether it’s the first early steps of recovery, or helping to maintain sobriety, the KCRCO is dedicated to making the lives of persons in recovery easier and providing them with the resources they need to succeed.

Since moving into the building in November 2021, the first face to welcome you into the building is usually David Douglas and his big

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bushy beard. The KCRCO is his passion project, and after two years of sustained success, he’s stepping down.

DAVID’S STORY David’s passion for recovery does not come as third-party interest, it’s personal for him.

Douglas began using drugs and alcohol at a young age and is not only open to sharing his story, but also hopes he can encourage others to speak out about their struggles as well.

“That’s one of the goals of the organization,” Douglas says, “to encourage others in our community who are in recovery to talk about it so that the general public can see ‘Oh my gosh, Dr. D’s in recovery’.”

Douglas says his drug abuse began at age 12. Douglas never had a consistent father figure in his life.

His biological father was abusive and out of the picture from an early age, and his mother brought home men of similar character to his father.

After one of the few dads who showed genuine care passed away,

Douglas’ mother remarried, and he turned to drugs shortly after.

“I had a lot of trauma, drugs and alcohol were pretty attractive to me because they helped keep the pain at bay. Alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes were my mainstays for a while,” Douglas says.

Douglas ended up dropping out of high school and in an attempt to find some sort of path got his GED and set course for the military. This did not end up helping, as the military only fueled his abuse disorder.

“The military is an environment where drinking is pretty normal,” Douglas says, “So for a seventeen year old who was already drinking, it just fueled it.”

Douglas ended up getting honorably discharged, while almost getting medically discharged for his drinking habits. From the outside looking in, Douglas seemed to have gotten his life together. At 23, he had a wife, a stable job and a roof over his head. But once looked at closely, it was clear to Douglas that he was not where he wanted to be.

“You’ve probably heard the term ‘functional alcoholic,’ that was me for a

“Within about three months I had sold everything I had in my two-bedroom apartment and lost my job.”

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OUR TOWN

“This isn’t who I am, this isn’t who anyone is.”

-DAVID DOUGLAS, KITTITAS COUNTY RECOVERY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION while. I was not a real good husband; I was not reliable in a lot of areas,” Douglas says.

Come 1990, Douglas had a neighbor who he had befriended. They would drink booze and smoke pot together when he wasn’t working or spending time with his family.

Douglas went over to his house thinking it would be business as usual, but he was met with something that would derail all the progress and good will he had built up.

“I went over to his house, and he had a different looking pipe,” Douglas says, “I went, ‘What’s that?’ and he said, ‘Crack cocaine.’ Within about three months I had sold everything I had in my two-bedroom apartment and lost my job.”

He had hit rock bottom. Everything he had worked for was gone. After this, Douglas decided to try recovery for the first time, beginning his journey back.

“That was my first opportunity to go to treatment,” Douglas says, “I went to treatment, it was good. I still have my little thing from treatment with all my notes and stuff in it.”

While at recovery, Douglas was told that on top of the crack, he should also consider quitting smoking marijuana, as well as cutting off alcohol. He knew 16

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that he needed to end his relationship with crack, he recognized it’s destructiveness and the effect it alone was having on his life. But alcohol and marijuana were harder to quit.

Douglas explains that despite having good intentions leaving treatment, the recovery didn’t last all that long.

At this point, Douglas was 25 and had moved back to Pierce County, WA. This aligned right with the insurgence of the meth epidemic and Douglas had gotten the worst of it.

Douglas says, “[I] started drinking again, started smoking pot again… and the meth epidemic was just hitting. It got ugly for me… it was at this point where I was like ‘Oh, this, you know, it’s not going well.’”

Douglas had a two-year stint with methamphetamines and in turn became a convicted felon, he knew something had to seriously change. He didn’t want to end up in prison, he feared loss of time with his family, as well as for his own safety in the prison system.

Come the mid-90s, he had re-admitted himself into recovery, this time with the true intent of maintaining a sober status.

“I was like ‘Yeah, okay, I need to quit everything,’” Douglas says. “I say my journey started before, but really it was

at that point where I was like ‘I don’t want to go to prison… This isn’t who I am, this isn’t who anyone is.’”

After this epiphany, Douglas began to turn his life around. He began working consistently again and re-enrolled in school to study counseling. He stayed in Pierce County, enrolling at Pierce College Puyallup.

However, work eventually brought Douglas andhis then 10-year-old son to Kittitas. Douglas’ recovery was going well. He had a long-tenured job at Fred Meyers at this point, and was still attending counseling, getting medication and had maintained a 10-and-a-half-year sobriety period.

In 2006, Douglas relapsed.

“I decided to return to use. It didn’t go well,” Douglas says, “I had been sober 10-and-a-half-years, right here in this town [Ellensburg, WA]. I drank and then everything came back.”

This relapse only lasted for about six months, and Douglas quickly got himself back on the track towards recovery. “I went, ‘Okay, no, this just isn’t what I want,’” Douglas says, “I said, ‘You know what, why don’t you go back to school and try that’ and I just changed my view on how I live my life as a person in recovery.

“I said, ‘You know what, why don’t you go back to school and try that’ and I just changed my view on how I live my life as a person in recovery.”

I think it’s important to do all things needed to live a good life in recovery, so I continued my counseling and I focused on exercise.”

Douglas re-enrolled in school, restarting his education Winter quarter of 2009 at CWU. He’s been consistently in recovery since.

March of 2023 marks 16 years of sobriety for Douglas. He’s since earned his Doctorate and founded the KCRCO. “GED to Dr. D,” He remarks.

WHAT DOES THE KCRCO DO? “So here at the KCRCO we offer those in the recovery community resources and advocate for them. We work towards breaking down stigma.” says Megan Clausen, newly appointed program manager.

The KCRCO has offered a wide variety of programs and opportunities for persons in recovery.

“Once you get cleaner, you’re like ‘What do I do with my time now?’”

Clausen says. “So, we offer yoga, we

offer stitching, we offer a fitness club, just things to do throughout the day…

We can help with resumes. If somebody doesn’t have computer access, we have computers here you can get on. We’ll show you how to work Indeed[.com] We’ll show you how to search up a job so then later you’re independent and know how to find a job by yourself. We can also help with housing applications.

Finding food sources, clothing.”

The KCRCO also serves as a hub for a network of other resources.

With connections all around Ellensburg, people in recovery are not in better hands than those of Douglas and company.

In 2022, the KCRCO hosted five separate seminars, including housing and employment summits, training on substance use disorder, being a recovery ally and a history on the war on drugs. They also had 18 different recreational offerings, with 454 different people attending across them all.

“A lot of people like to turn an eye to substance use in this community especially if they’d like to think, ‘Oh, it’s a small town. There’s nothing going on here,’” says Clausen.

“Whereas we have a huge substance use issue in this community. So, I’m glad that here at the KCRCO we’re really able to spread that message that it’s happening here, people are dying and it’s an extreme issue.

But we’re able to break that stigma and say, ‘Hey, these aren’t bad people.’

454 280 185

PEOPLE ATTENDED ONE OF KCRCO’S FREE EVENTS SINCE APRIL

VISITORS IN 8 MONTHS

TOTAL PEER VISITS

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OUR TOWN

“I think the KCRCO would be nothing without David,” says Clausen.

“He brings an extreme, extreme passion to the recovery community…

You can go to him, and he’ll know where to send you, he’ll know how to support you. He’s got a huge heart to help people survive.”

They can come and crochet together and you’ll meet some amazing, amazing people. And make the community improve lives.”

Douglas created the initial board for the KCRCO in 2019 just prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, and in the heat of the opioid epidemic. Douglas and the board continued to meet virtually through 2020, and in the summer of 2021 he was able to get the keys to the building, with a grand-opening in November 2021.

“It’s been gangbusters,” Douglas says, “It’s been really cool to see the community go ‘We need this’ and to see our traffic and the amount of people that come in wanting resources and wanting to support their lives.”

DAVID’S NEXT JOURNEY Douglas has already stepped down as President of the KCRCO, currently serving as Executive Director, and come June he will be taking an even further step back as he begins a new endeavor.

“I’m actually stepping down June 1st,” Douglas says, “It’s part of the plan.

I have another project I want to start working on… [The KCRCO]’s solid.

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We’re financially in really good shape for at least the next three years.”

Douglas’ next project remains in the world of recovery. He wants to open housing for persons in recovery to come stay for extended periods of time while they get back on their feet post-treatment.

“What I envision, and it’s a huge need right now [is] a place someone can come live for 90 days or more, I don’t really want to have a timeline, but they live there. Mainly for people new in recovery, and then during the day they go out they look for a job or they go to school or they do whatever they do, but a residential type place where they can have a roof over their head, a good comfortable, safe place to sleep and resources. So, it would be this [KCRCO] with more and they would live here,” says Douglas.

Douglas has been preparing to step down for a while now, but he believes he’s leaving the KCRCO in good hands, and has all the faith in the world that things will run smoothly without him.

“We hired Brandi [Amundson] as our first recovery support specialist and she went from that role to our program manager,” Douglas says,

“We have Megan [Clausen] who started as an intern from Central and she’s moved up.

So, having people that understand the vision and what I want for the KCRCO and just kind of letting that go, you know, of course it’s my baby but I’m excited.”

Amundson and Clausen have since been promoted to Director of Operations and Program Manager respectively.

“I think the KCRCO would be nothing without David,” says Clausen.

“He brings an extreme, extreme passion to the recovery community… You can go to him, and he’ll know where to send you, he’ll know how to support you. He’s got a huge heart to help people survive.”

In terms of other goals, Douglas remains thinking big. He wants to continue to encourage others to seek help, while also continuing to tell his own story.

“I want to do consulting and help others to create recovery community organizations,” Douglas says, “My wife would tell you I want to do big stage speaking. I want to spread the word about recovery and changing one’s life.”

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OUR TOWN

Here Comes the Sun:

what to pack for your spring trip to the pond story by Andrew Ulstad design by Makayla Zayic

F

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G A M ES D N A UN

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ND DRINK A D O O F

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OUR TOWN

story by Sam Harris photos by Ayla Woods design by Makayla Zayic

THE “MIGHTY CWU GANGES” The Ganges river in India and Pakistan is one of the longest, most powerful and life sustaining rivers in the world. In the Hindu religion, it is worshiped as Ganga, the goddess of purification and forgiveness.

By most accounts, the Ganges is also one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

Here in Ellensburg, the canal running through the CWU campus has also been dubbed ‘the Ganges,’ albeit for far more sarcastic and cynical reasons.

The question arises then: Is this really a fair comparison? Just how polluted is the CWU canal?

Ellensburg Water Company Canal

Central Washington University

KVH Hospital

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What is the Canal?

Originally the canal was known as the Ellensburg Town Canal, Town Canal or Town Ditch, but today the canal is officially called the Ellensburg Water Company Canal.

According to Science Professor Paul James, the canal itself “is an irrigation canal; it’s a ditch that was built by humans. It was not a natural stream, and its purpose is to convey water from the Yakima River to the valley. A lot of it’s for Timothy Hay and whatever crops happen to be growing, or just for pasture to grow grass for animals.”

The canal was dug to irrigate about 7,000 acres of farmland.and is part of a 26 mile long irrigation canal system which was dug from 1885 to 1889.

So why is it called “the Ganges?”

The canal was called “the Ganges” as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Ganges River in India. “That name [The Ganges] is likely because many times of the year it doesn’t have the most clear of water, and the Ganges River [in India] is known for having a high content of organic matter. So there are some similarities between those two bodies of water,” says Science Department Chair Holly Pinkart.

The Ganges in India is central to many religious practices such as burial.

But it is also infamously known for having millions of gallons of industrial wastewater and untreated sewage dumped into it every day.

And while the CWU Ganges has been positively tested for contaminants that would make the water unsafe to drink or bathe in, it really pales in comparison.

“It is merely just an open irrigation ditch with the purpose of just moving

Science Department Chair Holly Pinkart inspects samples taken from the Town Canal

water downhill away from campus,” says James. As the water flows through the canal, it will pick up contaminants along the way such as herbicides, pesticides and diseases like e. Coli from cattle.

Trash is also a common sight in the canal; one year the CWU Environmental Club cleaned up 200 pounds of trash from the canal while it was shut off according to Clay Arango, professor of Science.

When did the name “change”?

There’s no clear answer as to when the Town Canal was officially dubbed “the Ganges,” however one of the earliest recorded references comes from the early 1960s.

According to a 1961 Hyakem yearbook, new residents living in Montgomery Hall were initiated by dunking themselves in the canal. That same year, residents of Stephens Hall initiated their freshmen by building a bridge across it.

Countless students have even (usually drunkenly) jumped into the canal for a swim.

According to a 1997 issue of The Observer, one night during a 90-minute power outage, a few students jumped into the canal in front of a crowd of hundreds.

One student heroically faltered during this event, and broke his ankle after jumping off of the bridge between Stephens-Whitney and Moore Hall.

“Given the microbial communities that live in the irrigation water, the risk of infection is pretty high” Pinkart says, recollecting the incident.

On top of throwing shopping carts, bicycles and even a 14-foot aluminum boat into the canal, students have also been known to float down the canal in inner tubes.

Regardless of what students wish to do in the canal, professionals from the science department highly recommend washing up with hot soapy water before touching the mouth or face.

Is it a fair comparison?

“I don’t think it’s a fair comparison,” says Pinkart. “The Ganges River has a lot of cultural significance for people that depend on it. Our irrigation canal, not so much.”

In a 2014 issue of The Observer, former professor Mark Auslander stated that “the Ganges is the most sacred river in India. There’s a sneering tone when Americans use that term here about the irrigation canal.”

The slang term for the canal could easily be seen as offensive to the Hindu community, so perhaps a re-naming of the canal could be appropriate for the modern day.

Should the name be changed?

As mentioned before various names have already been officially established such as the Ellensburg Water Company Canal, the Town Canal, the CWU canal, and the Town Ditch. The latter of which seems to fit the cynical nature which Ellensburg residents have bestowed upon the canal. The name “Town Ditch” also addresses the canal for what it is: an irrigation ditch, nothing too special.

Whether or not the canal’s nickname changes, its reputation will be incredibly difficult to overcome.

Dr Pinkart remarked that “there’s people that for one, don’t respect what the water actually is. [Secondly,] I think some people think the water is much worse than it is. In terms of its water quality, it’s certainly no worse than any other irrigation canal.

In many respects, that’s better.”

The Ganges is 1,560 miles long The CWU Canal is 26 miles long

50 138 The Ganges is

MILLION YEARS OLD

The CWU Canal is

YEARS OLD

Contaminants in the Ganges: industrial wastewater untreated sewage Contaminants in the CWU Canal: trash pesticides manure animal excrements

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SPORTS

The bleachers are full, there’s five seconds on the shot clock. Hitting this shot is what every kid with sports aspirations dreams of. The emotion, the happiness, the satisfaction. Now turn that on its head. The emotion, the sadness, the dissatisfaction. Every athlete understands the risk of coming to play, they know they’ll have to deal with the possibility of losing big games.

But how do they feel in the moment? What’s next for athletes in these heartbreaking scenarios?

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story by Brian Valencia and Isaac Hinson photos by Sandra Rivera design by Rody Farr

GREAT LESSONS Sports, in general, teach their athletes great lessons. Losing is a natural part of the game. “You’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are,” says CWU’s Head of Men’s Basketball, Coach Brandon Rinta.

Coaching a team by keeping them kneeled is an essential part of the job.

Reminding and allowing athletes to mourn and celebrate teaches valuable lessons that others sitting in the stands don’t always get to see. Lessons like these help them grow into strong, successful athletes. Those who play high-level sports get to learn how to deal with failure.

Each sport has its ways of dealing with game losses. CWU’s Head Football Coach and Offensive Line, Christopher Fisk, teaches his players the ‘Rule of 24’.

This rule allows individual players 24 hours to do whatever they do after a loss :- pout, cry, complain or shout.

This helps them get everything out of their system before jumping back into another game.

Either way, coaches of different sports remind their players that losing happens; the world isn’t burning around you.

Different seasons bring together different players. “Teams and players that understand how to deal with failure in a positive manner, those can be the best teams,” Rinta says Rinta.

The bigger the loss, the bigger the lesson. Former pole-vaulter Jacob Thompson has seen the top of the world, and what lies below as well.

“When I first got here, I had really high expectations for myself,” says Thompson. “I always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder.”

After a lack-luster Freshman campaign, and a shortened Sophomore run due to COVID-19, Thompson was ready to show everyone what he could do in his Junior year. “My freshman year, I barely got mentioned in the recaps. You don’t want to mention the guys who have bad performances,” Thompson says.

“But when they started mentioning my name more, I was like ‘Okay, maybe I want to keep myself in these recaps. I want to make sure I keep performing really well. And I want to make sure they have something good to write about,’ I felt that pressure.”

Thompson did indeed have a successful Junior year, he finished second in the GNAC for pole-vaulting, and had high expectations both internally and externally going into the final meet of the season.

“So going into the championship meet they had a write-up in our preview where it’s like ‘He’s second in the conference, he should score good points,’ I think I let that get to me.”

Thompson says. “I ended up finishing eighth. That was probably the most heart-breaking [loss] I had.”

After reading the previews and the game programs talking about me, seeing my name up there. I kind of reverted back to those internal expectations where I put a lot of pressure on myself, like ‘I need to hit this, they’re talking about me I need to do it.’ So when it finally came to meet-day, I felt good. Went well, I cleared my first two bars. I was like ‘This is gonna be a good day.’ I got to my third bar, a bar I had cleared easily earlier in the season, and I missed on all three attempts.”

Thompson says that with a face full of solemn and genuine devastation. He remembers that day all too well.

“When I had my last attempt, I missed and knocked the bar off, and I just sat for a little while like ‘F###uck. Did that really just happen?’”

Thompson says. “I was supposed to be so much better than that. I was mad.

It took me a minute. I finally came off the pit and I just sat on the side. I didn’t really want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to interact with anybody. That was just a ton of disappointment.”

… It’s more than disappointment.

I had this image of myself, a lot of what I tried to do was visualization.

Constantly visualize myself like I’m at the top of the podium and see my name on the top of the board. And then for it to go wrong like that and get the results and see I’m eighth. I scored one point. It was a shitty and terrible feeling.”

With the loss came an important lesson for Thompson, he re-learned to love the sport.

“Senior year was good,” Thompson says. “It was different because I kind of re-evaluated and I made the shift from putting a lot of pressure on myself to like ‘Let’s have fun.’ I doubled down on that. I said ‘It’s my last year, I have nothing to lose’” This self-reevaluation proved successful. “People saw me [lose],” Thompson says. “People were disappointed I went from second place to eighth. So, senior year actually was my best year.

I did good all year, made it to GNACs and ended up winning.”

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SPORTS

FOCUSING ON WHATS NEXT After a loss, it’s easy to have your emotions on your sleeve. For football, the day after is sometimes the most painful.

Watching film the next day allows teams to catch mistakes and learn where they went wrong. “You really get to stare in the mirror where maybe immediately after the game, you don’t always know all the reasons why you lost the football game,” says Fisk.

This is the side of the game that fans don’t get to see. Coaches get to watch plays where they made the wrong call, the same way players get to see the plays they made the wrong decision.

Watching film over is something no one in a team can run away from.

Getting out on the court or field is one of the best ways players and coaches move on. Having practice helps everyone improve areas of struggle.

Playing the next game helps everyone keep their minds on a new opponent.

After a loss, invested teams will have the quietest locker rooms, and bus rides home. It’s how they respond that can determine a season.

But what about when what’s next is meeting the same team again? Not only that, but when the result is still the same? Junior psychology major Tessa Hann and the CWU women’s rugby team have lost five straight games against Life University, with three of those losses coming in the playoffs.

“It’s definitely hard,” says Hann. “It just seems like you’re not progress-

ing. It’s hard to look at it as a bigger picture… Everyone’s going through the same struggles and the same feeling like ‘Why can’t we beat this team?’”

After continuous losses, Hann says that you begin to develop a subconscious mental block because of the name of the team. You’ll believe you can beat the team going into the night, and come out with the same result as last time. And the time before that.

Hann has one more season to try and reach the ultimate goal of a championship before graduating. But she’s looking at things from a brighter side. If she can’t make it happen, that just opens the door for a new group of players to carry the torch.

“It’s something that I think about,” Hann says. “I mean, this program…

We’re always growing. We’re always bringing people in. If that perfect team happens or doesn’t happen next year…

I have hopes for the incoming class.

Obviously I might be a little upset if it doesn’t happen, but I have a lot of hope for this program.”

“We’re always growing.

We’re always bringing people in. If that perfect team happens or doesn’t happen next year… I have hopes for the incoming class.”

Tessa Hann, CWU women’s rugby

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Coaches and players at all levels will all tell you the same thing: Win or lose, it’s just a game. That is true, it is just a game. However, if you truly love the game, there will always be a loss waiting for any athlete, the loss of being able to play the game.

It comes for every athlete, either the end of high school, the end of college or the end of their professional careers.

There’s always an end. For many athletes, they look at their final game as a conclusion. The final chapter.

Thompson remembers his final meet as a part of the CWU Track & Field team with feelings of satisfaction, as well as remiss. Both because of his performance, and the circumstances surrounding it.

“A lot of things fell into place that normally didn’t happen. It was the first championship meet that Central had hosted since 2005,” Thompson says. “I made all of my bars on the first attempt, which never happens. I started talking to my teammates and I’m like ‘The fuck is going on?’ and they’re like ‘I don’t know but keep doing it!’ and it ended off with me jumping a PR. It was a crazy feeling, and I was riding that high like the rest of the day.”

But, as the days passed and the reality set in, Thompson began to look at the things a little differently.

“After the meet is done, we do our team awards and I sat around and looked at the team and I’m like ‘Yup,

that was it. That was the last time.’ That was when it took me back a little bit,” Thompson says. “Later that month we did senior pictures, and we came up to the track and I kind of just stood around and walked and thought ‘I’m never gonna jump here again’. It was done.”

“But I took all the good and the bad and I loved it. I felt super shitty feelings when I got lost, I felt disappointed, and I ended on a really high note… At the end I felt content. I just felt good.”

“‘That was the last time.’

That was when it took me back a little bit,...

‘I’m never going to jump here again.’”

- Jacob Thompson, CWU Athletics

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SPORTS

1ST IN DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS PER GAME

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POIN R E E R + CA

1500

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ON II DIVISI D A A C RECOR 12 N O Y T L N N FO NATIO ASON ONE O N THE I S S SE R E LE THI B PLAY U O LE D A TRIP

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UN O B E R EER

O B

N A M W 1000+

CAR

1ST IN REBOUNDS 4 TIME GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK THIS SEASON

CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

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FOR THE RECORD- SAM BOWMAN story by Jake Hassebrock photos by Andrew Ulstad with contributions

by Jacob Thompson and Sean Carter design by Evan Brown The world of college athletics is tiered. The NCAA’s Division I sits at the top of the pyramid and at the forefront of many people’s perception of college sports. Theoretically, all of the best athletes at the university level would be found playing for schools that are included in this top division. Theoretically.

Most of the Varsity sports at CWU compete at the next level down: NCAA Division II. Theoretically, this means that our athletes are second rate, not elite like the Division I athletes.

Most Division II athletes and coaches would probably tell you that theory doesn’t hold water, but one CWU athlete in particular has been working hard to prove it wrong this season. That athlete is Redshirt Senior Women’s Basketball Player Sam Bowman. In her fifth year at CWU, Bowman has been breaking records and racking up top-level stats across multiple categories.

But while the awards and statistics give a glimpse of Bowman’s success, what they don’t show is the throughline of hard work and subsequent growth that Sam has undergone as an athlete, a person and a leader to get to the point where she is at now, which is making history.

Where She Came From Bowman is from Zillah, WA, where she says she got her start in basketball at a young age when her dad would spend time with her at the gym. “I’m pretty sure I was like seven. My dad got me in there young,” Bowman says.

Bowman was not always breaking stat records like she is now, though. Speaking on her formative years as an athlete, Bowman, now 6 feet 2 inches in height, says while she has always been tall, she has not always been athletic. Bowman says sports at those younger ages “took some work.”

The work she put in as a young athlete would pay off as Bowman would go on to play 4 years of varsity basketball at Zillah High School. The path towards a basketball career was not always the obvious choice for Bowman, however.

Bowman was also a four-year member of Zillah’s Volleyball team and she says she grappled with which sport to

pursue. While Bowman was undecided on her sport of choice at the time, what was clear was her determination to play at the next level, whatever sport she chose. Bowman says, “I kind of just always knew…I was just like I’m gonna do it. Ever since freshman year [of] high school I was like I’m gonna make myself get there.”

Bowman eventually chose to pursue basketball because she says she likes the physicality and “hardness” of basketball.

The choice led her to CWU after high school where she joined the CWU women’s basketball team under the direction of Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley.

What It Took To Get Here Even though she had made it to the next level of athletics, Bowman’s domination on the court still wouldn’t begin for another few years. Like many new college athletes, Bowman did not see much playing time through her first two seasons at CWU. Bowman says the time on the bench was not without reason or purpose and that she and the coaches used the time to improve herself.

One of the challenges Bowman says she had when she began playing at CWU was her physicality. While she is typically taller than her opponents, Bowman says other players were usually stronger.

“I’d never lifted weights really ever in my life, and I really knew that I couldn’t compete to the level I wanted to against bigger posts because everybody was really bigger than me.” Coach RichardsonThornley says Bowman’s commitment to building strength in the weight room has been one of the biggest ways she has seen her improve. “It’s been fun to see Sam develop from a younger, smaller woman to a strong athletic beast of a player.”

Another challenge for Bowman as she began her college career was the mental challenge of being a student athlete.

Adjusting to being away from home, challenging classes, more intense practices, and little playing time are all things Bowman says she struggled with in her first two years at CWU. Bowman says with time as she has gotten older, she has improved with time management and has a better understanding that with mental health it’s okay to not be okay.

Bowman says that while she has improved in these areas, it is an ongoing challenge. “I’m too hard on myself sometimes, and I need to give myself more grace,” Bowman says.

Richardson-Thornley similarly says Bowman is too hard on herself and doesn’t give herself enough credit, though WINTER 2023

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SPORTS

Where She Is Now

she also has seen Bowman grow mentally as well. “She has a really good balance of having confidence in who she is and her ability to perform, while also having the humility to understand that she still has aspects of her game to get better,” Richardson-Thornley says.

From a basketball perspective, Richardson-Thornley says Bowman has become a dominant force in the league because of key improvements in the way she plays. Richardson-Thornley says the post is one of the most difficult positions to defend from but Bowman has improved in her ability to do so which allows her to avoid foul trouble and stay in the game.

Additionally, Richardson-Thornley says Bowman’s success comes from her diverse offensive skill set. Richardson-Thornley says, “[Bowman is] becoming an elite scorer in our league and passer as well. Beyond just her elite level rebounding abilities.”

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Bowman’s focus on growth has resulted in a historic and record breaking season for her. Bowman’s former CWU teammate, and current Czech league professional player, Kassidy Malcolm says it has been almost hard to believe that Bowman has improved on her strong season last year. Malcolm says, “this year you see her just like taking it to that next level and it’s just like the coolest thing to see.”

When you look at Bowman’s accomplishments this year, it’s not hard to understand Malcolm’s surprise. In terms of CWU records, Bowman’s season has been nothing short of historical. Bowman became the first wildcat to record both 1000 career rebounds and 1000 career points.

Additionally, Bowman recorded just the 3rd triple double in school history.

Bowman has been a stand-out in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) as well this season. She was named GNAC preseason player of the year, has been selected as GNAC player of the week 4 times, and set the GNAC record for most rebounds in a game.

On a national level, Bowman is listed in the top 10 of NCAA division II players this season in 7 different major stat categories, including 1st in rebounds, 2nd in doubledoubles, and 4th in field goals made.

Malcolm says while Bowman is not the type of person to worry about her own stats, they do reflect the work Bowman has put into herself and the game. “It just shows how much she’s put into this sport and like her hard work is paying off,” Malcolm says.

Beyond her playing ability and subsequent stats, Coach Richardson-Thornley says Bowman’s growth can be seen in the leadership role she has taken on the team.

Richardson-Thornley says, “Sam has developed and naturally stepped into that leadership role because of her trust in her process and our program and her investment in the program.”

The CWU Coach describes Bowman as both the ultimate competitor and ultimate encourager of her teammates and says that her self-criticism does not extend to her teammates. Richardson-Thornley says, “[Bowman] is [her teammates’] biggest fan and biggest supporter and that is shown through her selflessness when she’s out there playing.” Bowman’s teammate, Redshirt Senior Guard Tori Maeda, also says she sees Bowman as an encouraging leader. Maeda says, “I think she’s a great teammate and

a great role model. And I think she really embodies what our team stands for. And that’s hard work and effort.”Maeda says between Bowman’s supportiveness on the court, her inspiring work ethic and the fact that she is just a good person all make it easy to celebrate her accomplishments with her.

What’s Next?

Malcolm, who currently plays for Czech professional team Kara Trutnov, says she is confident in Bowman’s ability to perform at the professional level and is excited at the possibility of seeing Bowman going pro. Malcolm says, “Oh, she’d kill it, she’d be so good.” Whatever Bowman decides to do next, the trends in her career would suggest that her hard work will help her build a career far from second rate.

Following a stretch of away games to cap off league play, Bowman’s senior season will end with the GNAC conference tournament in Bellingham, WA. Regardless of the team’s result at the GNAC championship, Richardson-Thornley says Bowman has already left a substantial impact by raising the expectations in the CWU basketball program and of all those who play her position in the GNAC conference.

In terms of the records, Richardson-Thornley says she is happy for Bowman and her accomplishments and records, which will likely stand for a long time.

“She will go down being one of the best all time Wildcats to ever wear her jersey and for sure to wear her jersey in her position,” Richardson-Thornley says.

Bowman says her goals for the rest of the season are to “ball out” and make it as far as possible in the GNAC tournament, but she also says she hopes to make more memories with her teammates, who she appreciates both on and off the court. Bowman says, “They’re a great group of girls. I really enjoy hanging out with them and just like enjoying taking it all in…I literally couldn’t accomplish my goals without them.”

After the season, Bowman has some options in terms of next steps, including a possible return to volleyball. Bowman says what she is leaning toward is making the move overseas to play basketball professionally in Europe.

““

Sam Bowman stands with Athletic Director Dennis Francois (left) and CWU Women’s Basketball Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley (right).

LIKE, THERE’S NO STOPPING SAM -Tori Maeda, CWU women’s basketball WINTER 2023

FOOD + DRINK

do the dip story by Gavin Johnson photos by Sandra Rivera design by Makayla Zayic

creamy dill dip: • • • • •

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½ cup sour cream ¼ cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 1 teaspoon lemon juice salt and pepper to taste

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1.

2.

3.

In a medium sized bowl mix together your sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Mix or whip with a blender until the mixture becomes creamy and fluffy.

Once whipped, fold in your 2 tablespoon of dill, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add in more dill if you desire, but if 2 tablespoons is enough then transfer the dip into a sealable container and let rest in the fridge for an hour before serving.

Inspiration: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/dill-dip/ https://www.inspiredtaste.net/22016/roasted-red-pepper-hummus-recipe/ https://www.kimschob.com/slow-cooker-spicy-buffalo-chicken-dip/

Dill. Hummus. Spicy Buffalo. In a time where feeding a party is as simple as scooping out some delicious dip, why bother buying the same old thing when you can make your own personal dish.

With these three recipes, you can be sure someone will offer to make a quick chip run as long as you keep the dips coming.

spicy buffalo chicken dip:

irresistible roasted red pepper hummus: • • • • • • • • • 1.

2 whole red bell peppers 1 15-ounce can chickpeas or 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/4 cup tahini 1 clove minced garlic 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 to 3 tablespoons water or aquafaba Salt

Set your oven to broil and move the rack to the center of the oven 2. Once set, cut the peppers into large, flat pieces.

3. Place the cut peppers on an oiled baking sheet with the skin-side up and place in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until the skin begins to char.

4. Once charred, remove the peppers from the oven and place aside to cook down.

5. Once cooled, gently remove the charred skin and place to the side for later.

6. With the peppers cooked, grab a blender or food processor and put in your tahini and lemon juice.

7. With your ingredients in, blend/process for 1 minute.

After that minute take a spoon and scrape the sides before blending for another 30 seconds.

8. After this, add in 2 tablespoons of your olive oil, the minced garlic and a ½ teaspoon of salt to the mixture and combine for another 30 seconds.

9. Again scrape the sides and blend for another 30 seconds.

10. Open, drain and rinse your chickpeas and set half to the side. Add half of the chickpeas to the mixture and blend/ process for 1 minute. Then add remaining chickpeas and process for an additional minute.

11. Remove the hummus from the blender or processor into a bowl and salt to taste.

12. Serve hummus onto your roasted peppers and enjoy.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts Salt and black pepper to taste ½ cup chicken broth 3 stalks celery, finely chopped 16 oz cream cheese ¾ cup hot sauce 1 small jalapeno pepper, finely minced 6 oz crumbled blue cheese 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, finely shredded 3 green onions tops sliced (optional) 1 small jalapeno sliced (optional) Slow cooker

1.

2.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste.

Add your chicken breasts, chicken broth, celery, cream cheese, hot sauce, jalapeno pepper and 4 oz. of your crumbled blue cheese into your slow cooker.

Add the lid and cook on the highest setting for 3 to 4 hours or on the lowest setting for 6 to 7 hours, checking every hour.

After the desired time, remove the lid and shred the chicken using two forks, shredding claws or by chopping into fine cuts.

After shredding add your mozzarella cheese and stir to combine.

Put the cover back on and cook until the cheese is all.

Remove the lid again and add the remaining blue cheese, your sliced green onions, and your optional jalapeno.

Cook again for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring every 10 minutes to combine everything.

After everything is cooked and combined, set your cooker to warm and serve.

3.

4.

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6.

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9.

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COOKING WITH CANNABIS story & photos by Andrew Ulstad design by Meredith Massey

Since Mary Jane Rathbun popularized the infused brownie in the mid-70’s, cannabis enthusiasts have been experimenting with ways to incorporate their favorite herbal ingredient into their daily cuisine. The culture around cannabis has changed dramatically since then, leaving some consumers missing that home-cooked nostalgia of their earlier experiences compared to pre-measured doses available in stores.

The easiest way to satisfy that nostalgia is to infuse your own butter

or oil. THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis that gets you high, chemically binds to fat molecules as a default, so butter and oil are the two best options for keeping culinary cannabis on hand.

PULSE recommends opening windows whenever cooking with cannabis. The extra airflow helps keep the smell from sticking to the clothes and furniture in your home.

GETTING ALL OILED UP INGREDIENTS: • Decarboxylated cannabis: 3.5 grams of kief, 7 grams of bud/shake or 14+ grams of stems • 1 cup of butter or oil • Cheesecloth • Slow Cooker • Parchment Paper INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Grind or break apart your plant material to an even size, being careful not to pulverize it into dust. You're aiming for the consistency of coarsely ground coffee.

2. Evenly distribute your plant material on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.

3. To activate the THC in your cannabis, bake the ground plant material for 30 minutes at 220 degrees.

4. After the plant material has baked for 30 minutes add your oil or butter to a slow cooker and turn it to low heat.

5. Once turned to low heat, take two to three layers of cheesecloth and place your cannabis in the center of the 34

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cloth. You may need to repeat this step depending on how much material you are using.

6. After placing the cannabis in the center, and determining the number of bags you are using, pull the corners of the cheesecloth together and form the bulge of plant material into a ball and tie it into a teabag.

7. Add your teabag(s) to the slow cooker and let simmer for 2-3 hours, using a spoon or ladle to periodically coat the bags in oil. Important safety note for oil: make sure the temperature of the oil stays below 200 degrees 8. After 2-3 hours, slowly remove the bags but do not squeeze them. It may seem like you are wasting, but squeezing the bags releases chlorophyll, making the end product taste more like the plant.Once all the bags are removed, place two layers of cheesecloth over the mouth of your container and pour oil or butter through it to pull out any plant material.

9. Let rest for a few hours.

ROSEMARY JANE STEAKS INGREDIENTS: • Large frying pan (preferably cast iron or ceramic for best sear) • Tongs • Small bowl • Meat thermometer • Foil • 3 sprigs of rosemary • 3 cloves of garlic • Black pepper • Greek seasoning • Salt • Crushed red pepper flakes (optional) • 15-20oz steak(s) • 2-3 Tablespoons Infused olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Remove steaks from the fridge and let them rise to room temperature to improve sear

5. Add infused olive oil slowly, mixing the ingredients together into a paste.

2. Pluck the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and finely chop them. Add them to your bowl

7. Heat your pan over medium high heat

3. Crush and finely chop garlic, add to rosemary bowl 4. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and pepper, ½ tablespoon greek seasoning and (optional) ½ tablespoon crushed red pepper

6. Cover your steaks with the paste

8. Place the steaks down to cook for 6-8 minutes per side, or until your preferred internal temperature has been reached (120 degrees for rare, add 10 degrees for each step up).

9. Remove the steaks from the pan and cover them with the foil. Rest for 5-10 minutes.

“THC & PBC” PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES INGREDIENTS: • Baking sheet • Mixing bowls • Whisk/electric mixer • 2 ½ cups flour (270g) • ⅔ cup sugar (135g) • ¾ cup packed brown sugar (200g) • ¾ teaspoon baking soda (4g) • ½ teaspoon salt (3g) • 1 ½ cup smooth peanut butter (260g) • 1 ½ cup chocolate chips (265g) • 2 eggs • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 cup infused butter, softened (2 sticks)

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.

5. Add chocolate chips and mix evenly 6. Evenly distribute balls of dough on baking sheet.

7. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until edges begin to crisp up.

3. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla extract, butter and peanut butter until smooth.

4. Slowly add mixture of dry ingredients to the mix from step 3, mixing until smooth

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SPOTLIGHT

ADHD

A D H D

ADHD

ADHD

story by Avery Andrews and Liv Van Osten photos by Dylan Hanson design by Rody Farr

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Imagine that you struggle every day with simple tasks: paying attention in class, getting your chores done and focusing on one thing at a time is harder for you than for your friends.

And yet, you have trouble convincing anyone that you have a genuine disorder that is causing you difficulty with these things.

This is the reality for people that struggle with ADHD. ADHD is a disorder that affects your brain and ability to perform many seemingly simple tasks. It is misunderstood, ignored, disregarded and overlooked.

Obtaining a professional diagnosis for ADHD can be difficult for many people because of the stigmatization around the disorder, which has led to a rise in young adults self-diagnosing.

What is ADHD?

ADHD is defined in a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association called the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Illnesses (DSM-5). In DSM-5, ADHD is defined as “a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.”

The most well-known types of ADHD are inattentive and hyperactive.

People with inattentive ADHD are more prone to getting distracted and having trouble with concentration or organizational skills. Whereas Hhyperactivity often rears its head in the form of fidgeting, hyper behavior and troubles with completing tasks.

According to Healthline.com, a health and wellness website, among the people that receive an ADHD diagnosis, it is common that “13 percent of men will be diagnosed with ADHD. Just 4.2 percent of women will be diagnosed.”.

Annabelle Morris, a second year psychology major at CWU, says, “Especially in women it’s a lot harder to diagnose, because women are so good at masking. So people just don’t think about women having it- it’s kind of more a men’s thing, you know.”.

Often, because of the difference in presentation with ADHD between men and women, it can be hard to notice when someone is struggling with it.

ADHD is an illness that tends to be overlooked, misunderstood or misrepresented. However, many people who struggle with the disorder feel that it has a sizable effect on their daily life.

Many people with the disorder feel that scheduling their events and organizing their lives are one of the hardest tasks to complete. Morris says, “the fact is that if I don’t put everything onto the calendar right away, I’m not gonna go.”

Some people with ADHD find that they need to develop specific tools and coping mechanisms to help them through regular daily tasks. Dexter Seuberlich, a sophomore education and history double major at CWU, says,“ if I put on my phone, I’m going to forget about it. So I use my whiteboard in my room. If it’s something important I put it on there.”

While these tools can help throughout daily life, the disorder can

take a toll on someone’s overall mental health. Many people diagnosed with ADHD also have an anxiety disorder.

Often, stigmas surrounding the disorder only make it harder for those diagnosed with it to feel comfortable in their own skin.

Dexter says, “it feels like you’re stupid when you don’t understand things that a lot of people understand. Because you just function differently.”

Self-Diagnosing ADHD

When you think you may have ADHD, it can be helpful to do research on your own about the condition. Researching some general facts from credible websites can be a great first step in selfevaluation. A part of mental health is the ability to self-evaluate and recognize when something is hindering your daily success.

CWU student and psychology major Megan Bunn says that when she first was diagnosed with ADHD that she

“liked to research a lot so I could really understand myself ”. Researching can be a helpful tool in understanding more about yourself and tendencies.

There is a difference between researching ADHD and self-diagnosing ADHD though. Research helps identify personal traits that are commonly linked to the condition, but does not provide a concrete diagnosis.

CWU psychology professor Dr. Greenwald says, “self diagnosing is tricky”. He goes on to explain how the internet can be both a positive and negative source, but can ultimately help people figure out things.

The research process can give a person a better sense of what is going on with themselves, but can also be overwhelming. With so many different websites, data, and information, it can feel like a lot to process. A helpful hint when researching is to look for official and credible sites. A lot of these sites will have .org instead of .com to indicate credibility.

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SPOTLIGHT Although there are benefits to research, it is best to remain slightly biased with yourself until seeking a professional opinion. Greenwald stresses the importance of this saying, “it’s always best to verify [ADHD selfdiagnosis] with a trained mental health professional”.

Professional Diagnosis

Once you have identified that you may have ADHD, it is best to seek a professional opinion from a doctor or psychologist. There are benefits to doing this. Greenwald explains how “there are things that can be done both behaviorally, and in terms of medication to help that individual” if they seek a professional diagnosis. Medical and mental health professionals are knowledgeable and safe people to go to when figuring out personal mental health.

Doctors also have the ability to evaluate all sorts of factors in a person’s health. This is important because psychical health and family medical history is factored into a professional diagnosis. A professional gathering the full picture of your health can increase accuracy of the diagnosis.

Asked about college students wanting to seek a professional diagnosis, Greenwald observes: “I think we’re living in a time now where people understand that mental health issues are real. They’re out there and they’re a problem. People do need to seek help to get better”. The most accurate way to determine if you do have a condition is to check things out with a professional.

Personal Account

CWU psychology student Megan Bunn offered to share about her own ADHD. Although she was not professionally diagnosed with ADHD until age 15, she says “I struggled with this my whole life”. Bunn mentions experiencing memorization problems at a young age. Early on in life Bunn observed “I couldn’t remember a paragraph. You know what I mean? It didn’t feel normal”.

When visiting her doctor for an unrelated reason in her mid-teens, her doctor was able to evaluate and professionally diagnose Bunn with ADHD. She says after starting

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medication and consulting with her doctor, she was able to see a big improvement, even realizing things about herself that she previously did not know. Receiving a professional diagnosis from a doctor greatly benefited Bunn.

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ONE IN

FOUR

WOMEN Throughout the story there are specific terms that are necessary to know. Scan this QR code to see definitions for these terms before reading.

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story by Elliott Watkins photos by Ayla Woods design by Makayla Zayic

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How an anonymous student group inspired an overhaul of CWU policies regarding sexual misconduct

D

on’t walk alone at night. Don’t put down your drink at the bar. Don’t wear that outfit. Don’t get in your car without checking the back seat first. Don’t be too friendly to that guy in your class. Don’t be too upfront when you’re not interested. Don’t forget to lock the door.

Don’t assume you’re safe.

If it seems women are on edge, there are statistics to explain that behavior. One out of every four women in the United States will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Fast Facts on Preventing Sexual Violence.

This number does not account for sexual harassment or fondling. Women in the United States have over a 50% chance of being sexually assaulted within their lifetime, while men have under one in three chances, according to the CDC. Of the 1.2 million Americans who identify as trans/non-

binary people, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, statistics from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) show that almost half – or just over 47% – have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

College students are no exception. One in every four women between the ages of 18 and 24 on college campuses were victims of sexual assault, according to the Association of American Universities.

At CWU, students have been calling for improvements to administrative policies concerning sexual assault on campus. Their efforts stemmed from what they say were “retraumatizing” practices by the administration.

In response, the administration has formed a work group to address and make policy recommendations concerning gender-based violence prevention, changed procedures for reporting and response, and opened a new position for a Deputy Title IX Coordinator.

Who are these students? Why now?

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SPOTLIGHT

“CATS AGAINST ASSAULT” Last October, a post calling out the university’s Title IX practices was plastered across Instagram. Users liked, reposted and followed the page, which seemed to spread like wildfire across campus overnight.

Everyone was talking about Cats Against Assault.

A member of the group* explains: “Cats Against Assault is a social media platform to inform students as well as promote changes within the Title IX and reporting department at Central Washington University. Every aspect of reporting at Central historically has retraumatized students. Our team came together when we all realized that this was a huge problem.”

The Cats Against Assault Instagram page now has over 2,160 followers.

The content which has received the most likes on their page contains accounts of predatory behavior by employees of the university. There are claims of having to work alongside predators and allegations that a person was hired as an instructor at CWU even after they were formally reported and accused of sexual misconduct by a student, though the case was later dropped for fear of retaliation, according to the Cats Instagram page.

In interviews with PULSE, Cats members claim that students who have reported cases of sexual misconduct at CWU have faced serious invalidation and unprofessional hurdles while embarking on their journey toward justice. “There’s just so many people along the way in this process who really ruin it for students,” a Cats member claims.

A Cats member recalls explaining to a faculty member on her case that she wanted to keep a designated department as an outlet, a place she could have separate from her case. According to this Cat, the faculty member did not commit to the agreement of confidentiality with that department.

“She didn’t write down the fact that I didn’t want it reported back to that department, because that was before she

started taking her notes,” says the Cats member. “Fast forward six months, I get an email from the head of the department that I explicitly asked them not to go to, asking me about the case. I wasn’t notified that they ever told that department, I just heard directly from the head of the department that she was aware of the case and that she had sent the information that they had needed over. They explicitly went behind what I told them.”

Two members of Cats Against Assault say the department had represented that student’s community, yet she wasn’t given the opportunity to keep it separate from her trauma.

Another Cats member claims the university failed to protect her from retaliation, even though she says the faculty on her case assured her numerous times that the university has no tolerance for retaliation of any kind.

This person says they dropped the case for fear of retaliation.

“I asked in so many meetings, ‘Am I going to be legally retaliated against for coming forward? Can the predator hurt me for coming forward?’ and they all said, ‘We prohibit retaliation,’” this Cats member recalls. “They always said, ‘Threatening to sue you, any of that would be retaliation and we prohibit that,’ and then when I called them and said, ‘He’s threatening to sue me, what do I do?’, they said, ‘I can’t help you.’”

Before the Instagram page was launched, members say they met with administrators in spring 2022 but didn’t get the results they were looking for.

“When we had first contacted administration we were not taken seriously, because we had kind of given them the option to have this not be public and to solve these issues in the [Title IX] department with Central as a whole and the way they handle sexual assault cases,” one Cats member says. “We had kind of offered for this all to be handled quietly, but when we weren’t taken seriously that’s when this all started.”

Screenshots from the CATS Against Assault Instagram page.

*The students interviewed as part of the Cats Against Assault group declined to provide identifying details about themselves out of fear of retaliation for their outspoken protests. PULSE conducted two separate interviews, each time with two members of the Cats group.

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RESOURCES By “all,” they mean the Instagram page and public protests as well as the administration’s more active response.

The Cats Against Assault Instagram page lays out six demands for CWU to “create a safe, effective, and timely option for reporting sexual misconduct.”

The demands include: greater access to representation by counsel, meaning victims would not be as financially burdened trying to find quality attorneys in their Title IX cases; information allowing students to have complete understanding of all the possible outcomes they could be faced with in a Title IX case; timeliness of cases, according to federal and university standards; Title IX receiving more extensive training; one-way no-contact orders on respondents instead of complainants; work suspension for the duration of a Title IX case for respondents.

Last June 14, CWU President Jim Wohlpart notified Cats Against Assault in an email about the changes the administration would be making on behalf of the requests Cats had made. Cats published the email on their Instagram page.

The changes to procedure stated in the email included a 24-hour response time to students with inquiries, a hard copy explaining options for victims in their first meeting and hiring a new employee for face-to-face intake on campus.

According to Cats, the improvements stated in the email were still not being implemented when the new school year started in fall 2022. “I told them straight up, do this, you know, do your fucking job or there will be protests in the fall,” one Cats member recalls.

On Nov. 3, just two weeks after their first appearance on Instagram, Cats Against Assault assembled their first protest. It made the news on and off campus.

According to reporting by Jessica Perez in NBC Right Now, more and more students joined throughout the duration of the protest. CWU sophomore and protester Faith Kruse told Perez: “I didn’t report my harassment, I’ve heard of many other girls being harassed on campus and a lot of times they don’t report it [sexual assault] because they know it’s not going to be taken seriously.”

ADMINISTRATION’S RESPONSE The Nov. 3 protest marked the first real shift in conversation around sexual assault on the CWU campus because exactly a week later, on Nov. 10, President Wohlpart released a statement to the campus community regarding changes to be made to improve the experience of reporting sexual assault.

“As our nation grapples with enduring issues related to gender-based violence, several members of the Wildcat community have recently raised concerns about institutional policies and practices that require our careful attention and leadership,” Wohlpart’s statement reads.

CWU Wellness Center: P.A.T.H. P.A.T.H. (Prevention-AdvocacyTraining-Healing) is a student support option through the Wellness Center. At P.A.T.H., students are provided confidential advocacy, as well as information about other options and resources at students’ disposal.

Phone: (509) 963-3213 Email: Wellness@cwu.edu Website: https://www.cwu.edu/ wellness/path Location: SURC 256 on campus

Aspen Aspen provides confidential victim advocacy services for residents of Kittitas County and the Yakima Valley. Anyone who reports they’ve been sexually assaulted in Ellensburg will be referred to Aspen.

Phone: (509) 925-9384 Location: 220 West 4th Ave in Ellensburg Website: https://comphc.org/ locations/aspen-victim-advocacyservices-ellensburg-4th-streetcenter/

Student Counseling Services Student Counseling Services provides confidential counseling and crisis appointments to CWU students.

Phone: (509)963-1391 Email: Counseling@cwu.edu Location: Black Hall 225 on campus or Virtual Website: https://www.cwu.edu/ medical-counseling/

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SPOTLIGHT The statement acknowledged CWU community members’ requests and demands for better gender-based violence policies and room for administrative improvement.

The statement also officially announced the creation of the Gender-Based Violence Prevention Workgroup: CWU SAFE as one of the improvements the university would be making.

In an email statement in response to questions for this story, President Wohlpart tells PULSE: “Cats Against Assault has provided me with an understanding of the need to elevate this work now and given me a lens into a student’s experience with this process. The conversations I have had with students have truly impacted the way in which I have led gender-based violence prevention work.”

According to the CWU Safe website, there have been numerous changes to the CWU approach to sexual assault in recent months. These changes have been recommended by CWU students, including Cats Against Assault.

Of the demands that Cats presented to the university, described above, they say that four of six have been met, or are in the process of being met. These include: 1. Victim’s rights, options, and risks in writing at their initial meeting with the Title IX coordinator.

Prior to Cats Against Assault coming forward on social media, they claim the Title IX office did not provide survivors with the information they needed to make informed decisions about their cases.

“When you asked them [the Title IX office] a question that they did not like, or did not want to answer, they would just go silent on the other end of the phone, or not answer it over email,” says a Cats Against Assault member.

In contrast, the campus police department has been providing survivors with a hard copy of needed information for years, according to Campus Police Chief Jason Berthon-Koch. Title IX will now be providing information in this format to victims.

“One of the concrete changes we have made is I think we

provide a lot more up-front information to complainants but also respondents,” Thomas Pedersen, CWU’s Title IX Coordinator, tells PULSE. 2. For CWU to follow federal and university-stated timelines for solving cases.

According to Cats Against Assault, prior to the recent updates, administration would start the process of reporting, promising to be timely with cases, and then the case would drag on. One Cats member claims that her case went on for five months, and she says she knows another CWU student whose case lasted for seven months.

According to the Cats Against Assault Instagram, with the recent updates, the university is under more pressure to move things along faster.

In his email response, Wohlpart tells PULSE: “I am now also requiring the Director of Title IX/Compliance to meet with vice presidents when they have a case that arises in their area, and I have made it clear that they must monitor these cases, make sure that they move through the process smoothly, and are resolved in a timely manner.”

3. Amplified training for Title IX employees.

According to Cats Against Assault, the Title IX employees consistently went against policy and contradicted themselves and the information they’d give students throughout the process.

“There would be times when a certain person on the team would be on the phone with Title IX representatives, like Thomas [Pedersen] or Laura [Brant, Assistant Director, Student Rights & Responsibilities], and she would be reciting the laws on their website that they had to them, and they wouldn’t know what she was talking about,” a Cats member recalls.

According to both Wohlpart and Pedersen, the Title IX Coordinator position was new as of Fall 2020. Pedersen claims that the Title IX department is very thorough and informative during the process of sexual assault cases.

WE NOW WILL SUSPEND AN EMPLOYEE WHO WE HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE IS A THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY. - PRESIDENT WOHLPART

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“We are committed to doing a full and thorough investigation and providing as much information as we can to the decision makers, whether they are a hearing committee, an appointing authority, etc.” Pedersen says. “And we do that in a manner that is focused on the investigation being fair and thorough, and that is the commitment that hasn’t changed for as long as I have been here and even before that.”

Wohlpart has also ordered a new position to be created in the Title IX office. This position is dedicated to supporting the TItle IX office, as well as being responsible for preventative education across campus, according to an email sent to the CWU community by Wohlpart on Nov. 10.

4. Temporary work suspension of faculty, staff, and student employees who are perpetrators (respondents) in Title IX cases until their case is solved.

According to Cats Against Assault and reporting last year in The Observer about a specific case involving a Dining Services supervisor, students employed by the university have come forward expressing their discomfort working alongside CWU staff and faculty who have been accused of sexual misconduct.

In response to these voices, President Wohlpart says he has set new standard procedures to reinforce safety and security on campus.

“Policy changes will result from the CWU SAFE committee, but in the meantime, the work I have done includes shifting how we handle these cases and some of the remedies that we have provided along the way,” Wohlpart says.

“For instance, we now will suspend an employee who we have reason to believe is a threat to the community.”

The two remaining demands Cats Against Assault have called for that are not projected to be met are regarding one-way no-contact orders, and accessible legal counsel. According to Cats, the demands are not legal to enforce under Title IX. A Cats Against Assault member explained, “They [the university] can’t really do that unless they can show that a supportive measure is not needed because a no-contact order is a supportive measure for the victim and the respondent through Title IX, and they can’t legally provide that measure to one person and not the other person.”

WildcatCare365 Using your MyCWU to login, CWU students are provided with professional counseling 24/7, as well as scheduled counseling any time of the year.

Website: https://app.timelycare. com/auth/login

Courtesy Assistance Team (CAT) The Courtesy Assistance Team provides safe walks across campus for the CWU community during late hours.

Phone: (509) 963-2950

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SPOTLIGHT

“CWU SAFE” WORK GROUP One of the improvements to the reporting policy that is being implemented currently is the Gender-based Violence Prevention Work Group, also known as CWU SAFE. Introduced on Nov. 10, a week after Cats Against Assault held their first protest, the work group is still just getting started.

CWU SAFE Co-Chair and Professor of Philosophy Cynthia Coe explains: “Our charge is to come up with recommendations about how to improve campus climate related to those [gender-based violence] issues. We have representation from faculty, from staff, from students and so we’re really trying to cast a wide net in terms of hearing what people’s experiences are. And then, together, learning about the kind of legal parameters.”

Coe says that she has been in a few work groups that never really resulted in true change despite the amount of work they had put in. She says CWU SAFE is different.

“I’ve been part of task forces before where you know a huge amount of work happens to create recommendations, and then they just sit in a file somewhere, and nothing ever happens,” says Coe. “And my sense is, although we’re kind of at the beginning of our work – we just started, basically in the middle of January, organizing this effort – my sense is that there is a real energy behind this work group.”

According to CWU SAFE CoChair and Director of the Wellness Center, Marissa Howat, the recommendations from CWU SAFE are projected to be presented to the CWU President and Board of Trustees in summer 2023.

The work group is a way of changing the culture around sexual assault, Howat says, and the ways to improve are systemic.

“While we can eliminate some, we can expel a student, we can do an investigation, we can have a hearing, we can let people go through an appeals process through Title IX, we can fire faculty, or fire student employees or whatever,” says Howat. “But that doesn’t ultimately, that doesn’t change the culture in which that’s happening, which means that something else is going to crop up later.”

A Feb. 22 email from the work group co-chair outlined a general timeline of the group’s meeting agendas, with the last monthly meeting set for May 9. The email also acknowledges the “key points from President Wohlpart”

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for the projected accomplishments of the work group, and himself, on gender-based violence prevention progress for the university.

As explained in the email, the “key points” include: Finding ways for CWU to meet more than the bare minimum legal requirements for Title IX, the Violence Against Women Act and the Clery Act (see Definitions), while upholding the “ever-shifting federal laws and regulations.”

Providing safety and security for the CWU community, recognizing there is room for improvement for gender-based violence prevention and handling throughout the university.

Making recommendations and improvements that are both “systemic and sustainable,” which will be done through “shared governance” between the CWU Safe Work Group and the Executive Leadership Team.

According to President Wohlpart’s earlier responses to PULSE’s questions, the work group will be the backbone of longevity among the initiatives combatting sexual assault, as will improvements to administrative standards for reporting on campus.

“Shared governance groups like this are essential to truly shifting the culture of a university community, and making long-term, sustainable changes,” Wohlpart explains.

Howat says that throughout the time she has been at CWU, nobody has been as pressing for positive change as Wohlpart. “I think the thing that excites me most about this work group is it’s the first time that the university president has been so insistent about change and supporting students.”

Cats Against Assault members explain that they worked alongside President Wohlpart to make suggestions and give feedback for the CWU SAFE website, which Wohlpart also said in an email sent to the CWU community on Jan. 5.

Cats claim that the issue with many regulations and policies has been that they were too vague. “Our feedback really was to make it as specific as possible, which universities don’t like doing,” a member of Cats says.

“But because we have the upperhand a bit, like with the [Instagram] account and everything, that [and] everyone’s support is the reason we are able to make these kinds of changes.”

S

A

A

SEXUAL

ASSAULT

AT CWU Between 2019 and 2021, there were 27 reported sexual offenses on the CWU campus, according to the CWU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. Of the sexual offense/assault reports, 14 were cases of rape and 13 were cases of fondling.

These numbers vary each year. “Obviously, 2020 was down because we didn’t have anybody on campus,” Campus Police Chief Berthon-Koch says.

The CWU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is only covering crimes that happen on campus grounds, so the 27 reports of sexual assaults are specifically on campus.

According to The Seattle Times, CWU investigated 186 cases of sexual misconduct between 2016 and 2021, more than any of the other five Washington public universities included in their investigation, with EWU having the second most at 99.

“The number of reports does not indicate the prevalence of sexual misconduct at the colleges, and is influenced by factors such as population size and students’ trust in their schools to respond,” The Seattle Times article explains.

CWU is tied with Evergreen for the least amount of expulsions: CWU had no expulsions and the lowest amount of perpetrator repercussions, 11, out of 55 reports with findings.

All other public universities in Washington have more counts of perpetrator consequences.

The Ellensburg office of Aspen, an organization that provides services and assistance to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes, saw 61 sexual assault survivors in 2018 and 46 in 2019, according to Victims Services Advocate Kelly Boozer. Anyone that reports their sexual assault in Ellensburg is referred to Aspen.

ELLENSBURG CAMPUS Type of Crime 2019 2020 2021 Sex Offense-Rape

6

3

5

Sex Offense-Fondling

7

4

2

UNDERREPORTING According to Title IX Coordinator Pedersen, “Sexual assault is an issue on a college campus, it is also the most underreported things across the nation, and I would assume it is the same at Central. It is a problem in a community, it is a problem on a campus, it is something that we unfortunately deal with all over.”

According to Berthon-Koch, both men and women survivors underreport their sexual assaults. Berthon-Koch says he hopes with changes in society’s outlook on mental health and having these hard conversations, that more people will become more comfortable reporting.

“I’m hoping that as we evolve and we become more comfortable with talking about mental health issues with people,

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REPORTING AT CWU Pedersen says: “We take every complaint or disclosure serious, and I would encourage anyone who has experienced interpersonal violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, or anything else on campus to report and to contact our office, even if they just want more information about the process.”

The reporting process at CWU can be done in numerous ways. A student can report their sexual assault to the Wellness Center, Campus Police, Title IX, the Ellensburg Police Department, the hospital, Aspen and/or any staff member of CWU. Ultimately, all reports on campus will go through the Title IX office.

There is always the option of reporting anonymously, and coming forward later. The police also provide an array of options in print for all survivors.

Campus Police Chief Berthon-Koch says: “We take these situations very serious, and we want to do what we possibly can to support the survivor of a sexual assault, and/or sexual abuse, and/or domestic violence, and/or domestic abuse, and/ or anything. Victims of crime, we want to support them the best we can.”

If a survivor chooses to report their sexual assault and file a formal complaint, there will be an investigation. The investigative processes are different depending on where the assault took place and the resources a survivor has, needs and/ or chooses. with our society, of recognizing and talking about it and seeking assistance for help,” says Berthon-Koch. “I’m hoping that also comes over to the area of sexual assault and reporting.”

Reporting sexual assault “is holding the person accountable, yes,” Berthon-Koch says, “But it’s also making sure that that person [the survivor] has the resources that they need to have in, like I said, the worst event of their life.”

Women who are college-age students don’t report their sexual assault, or abuse, 80% of the time, according to RAINN. Why aren’t survivors reporting? There are many reasons.

First, sexual assault can often be the most traumatizing experience someone can endure, Aspen’s Boozer, Cats Against Assault members and Berthon-Koch all agree. To report sexual assault, as the victim, is to agree to retell your trauma countless times with no promise of justice.

“Let’s look at the big picture,” Boozer says. “They contact law enforcement, maybe. Or, maybe they went to the hospital.

They tell their story then, so we’ve got one. And then they have to tell their story to, maybe if it’s going through the legal system, just including service members, a low number would probably be like 10 times.”

Two Cats members tell PULSE that reporting, to them, can be “more dangerous” than not reporting because it can be very traumatic. “It’s the most dangerous thing you can do because it’s like, for victim safety, it is extremely retraumatizing to go through the process.”

As a Victim Services Advocate, Boozer adds that she has only ever seen a sexual assault case go to trial once throughout her seven years of being at Aspen. According to RAINN, for every 1,000 sexual assaults in the United States, only 25 violators of consent will be held accountable, according to RAINN. 48

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The investigative process starts with either civil rights investigators from the Title IX office on campus, or investigators from the police department (both on and off campus). Once the investigators compile all of the evidence, and draft their report, the draft is shared with the complainant and the respondent for potential feedback on the report.

Once the report is finalized, it is handed off to the prosecutor on the case, who determines whether the case has enough probable cause to go to trial.

INF LAT ION: story by Ian Moffet photos by Sandra Rivera and Dylan Hanson design by Evan Brown

A COLLEGE GUIDE WINTER 2023

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RENT. GROCERIES. GAS. WHY IS EVERYTHING SO DAMN EXPENSIVE? Around the world, prices have been increasing at a high rate since the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Monetary Fund says that as of August 2022, the global inflation was 7.5%. That is more than three times the average global inflation rate of 2.1% preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. While inflation is affecting everyone, college students are taking a disproportionate hit when it comes to these price increases. In this story, PULSE Magazine will be doing a deep dive on how inflation is affecting students, the causes behind inflation and the resources available to those affected by inflation.

Student Price Index Dr. Yurim Lee, professor of Economics and advisor to the Economics Association and the Economics Association President, Mia Young, who is a senior studying Economics and Public Policy at CWU, discusses their Student Price Index (SPI).The SPI project is a survey that quantifies the effect of inflation on Central Washington University students.

According to Professor Lee, the goal of the SPI project is”... to bring classroom or textbook economic concepts…into students’ lives, show students that economics is actually very much related to their everyday life. And we do so by using the goods and services that students themselves typically consume, at places where students…typically go in Ellensburg.”

As president of the Economics Association, Young has done a lot to make the survey more efficient.

“My main goal is to just create a more efficient way to collect prices. And I feel we’re slowly doing that over time each year, we’re critiquing the way we collect it, and the way we have our price collectors collect things,” says Young.

The SPI project found that CWU college students are paying a disproportionate amount to several different goods, compared to the general American populace.

“We do see rent prices being generally higher than similar sized cities. So all in all, we see a higher portion of income going towards housing,” Lee says. “Of course, a big chunk of their income also goes to tuition and school supplies. Certain goods that they consume… let’s say their groceries also vary compared to the general American population’s grocery basket.” According to the December 2022 SPI update, CWU students annual cost of living rate increased 6.8% compared to 6.5% for the general populace of the United States.

27.1% of that cost of living increase for the average CWU student was due to groceries alone, while 13.8% was due to housing.

Housing As many students know, housing prices have been a main contributor to the cost of living increases among CWU students according to the SPI project.

Habitat for Humanity is an organization that specializes in creating houses for families. According to Kelle Vanderman, area director of Kittitas County’s Habitat for Humanity, the

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current scarcity for houses in Ellensburg overlaps with the student rental market.“We’re not keeping up with demand in the rental market either. So it’s not just about home ownership, it’s in the rental market, which directly affects our student population,” Vandenberg says. Amey Ayling, Development Director for the city of Ellensburg adds on to this sentiment from the city of Ellensburg’s point of view. “Although the City doesn’t specifically track rental price increases one can speculate that the higher the price of housing will have a direct correlation to higher rental prices,” Ayling says. “With less people being able to afford a home to purchase, there are more renters in the market creating a competition and inflated rental costs for available rental units.” According to the SPI project, as of December of 2022, housing accounted for 43% of the average CWU students total spending. “I know that… there are apartments that are going for… $4000. And the idea is that you rent for students $1000 a piece…how does a student afford that?’” Vandenberg says. “If you can’t afford to live where you wanna go to school, that’s a problem. And it affects the community… As an alumni these things matter a lot to me. I wanna make sure we have a healthy community for everybody,” Vandenberg continues. Due to high inflation and rent, some students have had to take on two jobs to make ends meet.

Madison VanRavenHorst, a senior at CWU studying public relations and the online editor of The Observer spoke about her experience working two jobs. “My rent has gone up a full $100 since last year, and it would have gone up more except that I signed my lease a year in advance. So if it weren’t for inflation, increasing rent prices and cost of living,I could probably get away with 20 hours,” VanRavenHorst says.

For students like VanRavenHorst, a second job is a necessity to manage the recent cost of living increases.

VanRavenHorst explained that it would be extremely difficult to make ends meet without two jobs.

“I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent, buy food or pay for gas.

Likely my tuition would probably be extremely difficult to come by, so I think that it would change pretty much everything. I probably wouldn’t be in college without two jobs,” VanRavenHorst says.

Just How Bad Is It? “According to a recent report by the Washington State Achievement Council (WSAC) the south central region of the state, where Ellensburg is located, faces the highest basic needs insecurity of any of the regions across the state. 58% of students in the south central region face basic need insecurities,” says Adán Jr. Mendoza- Sandoval, a 5th year student at CWU studying Economics and Political Science. He is also the VicePresident of the Washington Student Association (WSA). The WSA is a nonpartisan group that lobbies the state government to support legislation that helps students in higher education.

The WSAC is a state-level agency that aims to foster educational attainment. The WSAC found that students experienced high rates of basic needs insecurity in all regions of the state.

According to WSAC, “...less than half of students experiencing insecurity accessed basic needs support resources in the last 6 months.” “I’ve heard multiple stories from students from low income, it could be high income students too, that simply don’t have support from parents,” says Mendoza-Sandoval.

Discussing why high inflation is happening and who it affects is important. But what exactly is the reason for the inflation we are seeing today? Dr. Yurim Lee, professor of Economics explains the root causes of inflation can be boiled down to a familiar concept you might have heard of: Supply and Demand.

Supply and Demand Demand reason #1: Consumer Behavior People want to buy goods in this economy, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer behavior is one of the main parts of the demand side to this high inflation equation.

“People are cooped up. So once that barrier is gone people want to go back to spending as much as before,” says Lee. Consumer behavior has changed since the tail end of the

COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to spending goods.

Whether it be eating out or traveling, people want to do things that cost money. “Your demand for all these different goods will rise and has been rising such as eating out or shopping..there has been a surge in demand because our fundamentals haven’t changed,” Lee says.

Demand reason #2: The labor market Good news, America has a low unemployment rate. Bad news, that’s one reason we have high inflation. When it comes to the demand side of the reason behind high inflation rates, employment plays a big factor. “So a lot of people are employed in this particular economy, which means you have people with wages or salary money that they can use to consume more than before,”Lee says. More workers are becoming less complacent with their jobs. In 2022, the economy experienced a phenomenon called the Great Resignation, where workers are leaving jobs at a much higher rate than before due to more job options in the market. “Because there are less unemployed workers…firms have to fight for unemployed workers in order to fill their vacancies. Because it’s harder, they have to offer higher wages, which works as a positive for workers,” Lee says.

Supply reason #1: Supply chains If you keep up with the news you may have heard that our supply chains have been disrupted. You may have seen news articles of congested cargo ships off of California. What does all of that mean? What exactly is a supply chain? According to the financial publication, Investopedia, a supply chain is, “...a network of individuals and companies who are involved in creating a product and delivering it to the consumer…a supply chain includes every step that is involved in getting a finished product or service to the customer.

The steps may include sourcing raw materials, moving them to production, then transporting the finished products to a distribution center or retail store where they may be delivered to the consumer.” The COVID-19 pandemic halted many supply chains for many different products. This still affects the global economy to this day. “So people want all these goods and services we can’t supply as much. So that’s also putting a strain on prices,” says Lee. Based on Lee’s explanation, it is safe to say that supply chains are essential in getting the goods consumers demand to them.

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SPOTLIGHT

GASOLINE 3%

FUN (MOVIE A INTERNET) 2

GROCERIES 5%

SCHOOL SUPPLIES 5%

TUITION 38%

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AND 2%

TAKE-OUT 2% BEER 1%

COFFEE 1% GRAPH FROM THE STUDENT PRICE INDEX FOR DECEMBER 2022, VISUALIZING THE COST OF INFLATION FOR CWU STUDENTS BY CATEGORY AND WEIGHTS

HOUSING 43%

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Supply reason #2: The war in Ukraine You may have noticed you’re spending more money to fill up your gas tank. You may have also noticed the rising prices of certain foods. The Ukraine war has been a key component in price increases for both certain foods and gas. On February 24, 2022 Russia invaded the country of Ukraine. This war has had a domino effect on the globalized economy. “There is the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, which also led to a lot of commodity prices going up. Really basic things like grain [and] sugar, to of course, price of gas, which also leads to all of these different goods that are made with these intermediate goods rise as well. If the price of flour and sugar is going up, then the price of bread will go up…So combined, you have higher demand, lower supply-prices surge,” Lee says.

At the end of the day, What is being done for students?

Mendoza-Sandoval explains that there are several state bills being voted on that can help ease the burden of inflation on students. One such bill is the Basic Needs and Security Act, a proposed legislation that would aim to “...provide and create hunger free (college) campus(es),” Mendoza-Sandoval says.

“A student is not successful… if they’re hungry. A student

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DUE T INFLA RENT, STUD HAVE TAKE JOBS ENDS

can’t properly study if they’re hungry…so the Basic Needs and Security Act focuses on how we help students succeed once they’re in college,” Mendoza-sandoval continues.

Key provisions of this bill would make it easier for students to access already available resources.“This bill will implement policies on all 4-year and 2- year [college] institutions by making sure that there are navigators on campuses that create statewide task forces by creating eligible food options for students.,” Mendoza-Sandoval continues.

Local Resource: Wildcat Pantry Most students at CWU have heard about the Wildcat Pantry.

The Wildcat Pantry is an available resource to students that provides free food items and hygiene products.

As we’ve learned inflation and basic needs insecurities are disproportionately affecting college students especially in the south central region of the state and at CWU specifically.

Wildcat Pantry is an available resource to students to help mitigate the cost of living increases, especially food insecurity.

TO HIGH ATION AND , SOME DENTS E HAD TO E ON TWO TO MAKE S MEET.

“Food insecurity can be… I have nothing to eat at all ever…(or) also be,’I don’t have time to…grab something nourishing to eat, I just have to eat fast food or I can only eat stuff on the meal plan,” Matthew Braganza, senior accounting major at CWU, as well as a lead officer for the Wildcat Pantry says.

Wildcat Pantry aims to make students comfortable with taking resources available to them.

“A big focus of pushing the Wildcat pantry as a whole is destigmatizing the use of the Pantry,” Braganza says. “You’re a student, and sometimes we all fall on hard times, sometimes you don’t have the time to… get something to cook all the time, you don’t have time to go get groceries…even some students…have never bought groceries for themselves when they first come on campus.”

Braganza encourages students to take advantage of what resources like Wildcat Pantry has to offer.

“If you’re reading this…I would say, tell your friends about it. You never know who needs those kinds of resources… even if you don’t use it yourself…you may know somebody who does need it and just doesn’t know how to speak up and talk about it,” Braganza says.

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LILY DE YOUNG

KIRA PINKERTON & ZANE CRITES

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BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN BLUE AND PUNK: CWU FASHION AND DESIGN STUDENTS CREATE GENDER-NEUTRAL OUTFITS INSPIRED BY A PUNK AND GRUNGE THEME PHOTOS BY DYLAN HANSON DESIGN BY MAKAYLA ZAYIC WINTER 2023

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JACOB LUTHARDT

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ALEC WALKER

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IZELLAH RAINER

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BAGS BODY photos by Ayla Woods design by Rody Farr

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photos by Dylan Hanson and Jakob Burnham design by Makayla Zayic

1.

“My roommate freshman year never washed his clothes and left it on the floor on his side of the room. Keep in mind he never showered, used deodorant, never brushed his teeth, and didnt bother to even spray some cologne or body spray on. But one day his friend came over for the weekend and didnt mind at all. Woke up the next morning and homeboy is sleeping in my roommates pile of dirty laundry and no kidding his face is drooling on top of the dirtiest underwear known to man. Never stayed in that room again after that weekend.” - Anonymous

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2.

“I once had a roommate who was really into nature. To the point they would have dead animals decompose in their backyard and take their bones to use for decorations. So, they would have some of the bones in their room. Which should have been the first red flag. But then they would capture live insects and have them trapped with the cups from the kitchen. They would wait for them to die in her room, but would ask me multiple times to check in on them to see if they were still moving. The final straw was the pomegranate they bought. It had started rotting on one side.

They should me how there WAS SOMETHING ALIVE (it looked like maggots or something) INSIDE THE POMEGRANATE. They proceeded to eat the side that “wasn’t rotten.” Luckily, they moved out the following quarter.”

- Anonymous

3.

“A roommate once asked me if I wanted to play a porn mod he had downloaded for VR Skyrim with him. I declined and hours later he came out of his room drenched in sweat.

Completely soaked through his clothes.”- Anonymous

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4.

“My freshman year I was put in a room with two roommates.

One roommate was living with me in the same room (let’s call her A) and the other one was living in a suit sharing a “hall”(let’s call her B). Since the start I could feel that I wouldn’t be really close friends with my roommates, specially B. Roommate A was nice and quiet, unfortunately she snored so much that half of the days I couldn’t even stay in my room.

Roommate B was a narcissist that couldn’t take it that I didn’t do the things she wanted me to do, she was acting almost like my mom. In the last week of classes she decided to put vinegar all over my make up; I mean inside and out.” - Anonymous

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AVA PIS CES

DIA CAN CER

“My first year at CWU my roommate showed me a list of names of all of the girls he slept with on his phone. After each name was a rating out of 10, followed by their Zodiac sign.” - Anonymous

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Ever since the tragic Columbine High School Massacre of 1999, video games have been the subject of numerous controversies.

Without a conclusive motive for the shooting, concerned parents pointed f ingers toward the violent video games the perpetrators were said to have been playing.

Story By: Sam Harris Photos By: Jakob Burnham Design By: Rody Farr

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Nearly a quarter of a century later, the motives behind the shooting remain inconclusive, however researchers now know that video games alone are not to blame.

“The evidence is pretty mixed. I would say for every article that’s come out suggesting that there is a connection [between violence and video games], there’s also been an article coming out kind of as a rebuttal to that statement,” says Joshua Buchanan, a professor of psychology here at CWU teaching a course on the psychology of video games.

Buchanan explains that in the research process, researchers cannot ethically assign participants to be violent or nonviolent, so research on violent behavior is rather inconclusive. The research on aggressive behavior however can be more easily measured.

“There’s definitely evidence suggesting from other fields of psychology [such as] developmental psychology, that when you watch people be aggressive, you’re more likely to be aggressive as a result” says Buchannan.

Buchanan points out that “we can look at ways of being aggressive, and often that’s indirect aggression.”

More ethical research concerns would focus on if gamers would act aggressively (particularly when transgressed against) if given the opportunity.

“A lot of the research studies that find the link [between aggression and gaming] only gives people the opportunity to be aggressive. They don’t give people the opportunity to kind of be proactive or social to other people. Long story short, it’s complicated and we don’t quite know.”

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), attributing violence solely to violent video games draws attention away from other factors that can influence violent behavior.

Since 1999, video games have seen a massive rise in popularity, with an industry projected to be worth $365 billion in 2023.

The gaming industry’s influence touches nearly every corner of the world with a global population of over 3 billion gamers. More and more people have now been born and raised with video games. The APA finds that more than 90% of children in the United States play some kind of video game. With that, in 2023, more and more gamers are now raising children of their own.

“Video games were considered to be this toy that children played, and it was purely a kind of escapism.

All of the kids who grew up playing video games are now adults in positions of power and influence in society. It’s become more normalized to be someone who plays video games and be familiar with video games. It doesn’t have the same stigma attached to it than it did 10, 20 years ago,” says Buchanan.

Since gaming is such a new concept in the grand scheme of history, there has been a variety of stigmas attached to gamers.

One such stigma is that gamers waste their time rotting away in front of a screen for hours at a time whilst playing video games.

Much of this stigma is based on speculation from concerned parents watching their children playing video games. Gaming, as it turns out, is actually a far more involved activity than staring at a TV. Video games involve coordination, multitasking, strategy, creativity and communication. How long a person should spend playing video games depends from person to person; the same could be asked of how long people should read books, or how long people should spend knitting a sweater. To put it simply, time enjoyed is not wasted time.

As anyone with children in 2023 may understand, kids seem to waste their time on screens more than anyone. While this particularly concerns content like Cocomelon and those brightly colored “oddly satisfying” videos, this same phenomenon can apply to children playing games.

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engaging with the child while they’re playing can be especially helpful.

If you think about some of the more recent television shows that have come out specifically designed for kids like Dora the Explorer, as part of the show, Dora will literally ask the viewer a question, and then pause and wait for a response. That’s one way the show gets the children involved, and makes it an active thing rather than a passive thing, rather than the child just sitting on the couch and staring at the TV for 30 minutes to an hour.” Likewise, a parent supervising and engaging with a child while they play can be very beneficial in helping them solve problems and understand what’s going on in-game.

What Are the Upsides of Video Games?

According to Buchanan, video games can be great for developing very specific cognitive skills such as multitasking, information processing and memory. Video games can also be a great tool for socialization.

For some gamers, such as Ezekiel Borms, this community aspect is what makes gaming so fun. “To be honest, [gaming is] usually what I do to cooperate with people or connect with them. I just have fun, see what they like, [and they can] see what I like.” Borms said after winning the 2023 CWU winter quarter Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tournament.

For others, gaming can be a rather hostile environment.

“Interacting with people through video games can be a great way for those individuals to connect as long as it’s in a safe place which, unfortunately, communicating with other people in the context of video games is not always a safe 70

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space, especially if you are a certain type of individual,” Buchanan warns, “but it has the capacity for something like that.”

Recently, the World Health Organization categorized internet gaming disorder into their 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

Many video games in the modern era are designed with how the brain works in mind. Most games are of course designed with goals and rewards for completing those goals, but those goals are finite.

For games with a single player, linear story, there are only so many goals to complete before the player completes them all. Internet gaming disorder does not concern these types of games, however they do concern massively multiplayer online games in which there is no definite end. These “constantly on” games are highly addicting, and they are intentionally designed to be. Downloadable content, in-game cosmetic items, upgrades and even the ability to keep playing (typically in mobile games) are oftentimes locked behind a paywall. This in turn exploits the player’s human desire to complete goals for profit.

That’s not to say that all video games are exploitative, or that all video games are highly addictive or even that all video games have a toxic player base (all of them have

toxic members, but those few do not represent the whole). As stated previously, time enjoyed is not wasted time, so keep playing, but remember to enjoy everything in moderation.

NAVIGATING

DATING AND SEXUAL

RELATIONSHIPS story by Luca Crouch-Goodhue photos by Dylan Hanson design by Makayla Zayic

Swipe right here, swipe left there.

Maybe a couple more swipe rights and a hope that you’ll match with someone. When you do, it’s a few days of awkward chatting until you meet up.

Whether you swipe for a relationship or for a hookup, the dating scene at face value is the same: hoping for a match that you can get on with.

There is a difference in hooking-up and dating culture. With the introduction of dating apps, the game for both has changed. Students have different goals for each and have different ideas on how dating works.

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Dating For The Modern World Dating apps are similar to social media where you barely get to talk to anyone but still get to judge people based on looks. An anonymous surveyor replied to the question: how have dating apps changed the scene, “It’s almost like a new form of social media, but waaaayy more personal and interactive.”

Many people have experienced the situation where their roommate thinks that their best friend’s, boyfriend’s, roommates’ best friend would be a ‘perfect’ match for them.

Sophia Ferguson, a CWU alumni, says that she “honestly preferred using the apps” while she was at Central. Ferguson says her friends would try setting her up so she’d play nice and go to coffee but nothing ever clicked.

Ferguson says that apps have changed the dating world immensely. “I personally as a woman feel a lot safer because I feel like I can vet people, like background check people almost.”

Ferguson says that “in that aspect it’s kind of nice but I think it almost depersonalizes it a little bit...because you don’t have a chance to meet the human, you just have this like rundown baseball card worth of information about them and that’s how we make our decisions.”

Sella Brown, a freshman and computer science major, says that she prefers in-person dating.

“I feel like because you’re only seeing pictures of people, you kind of only see one side of them,” Brown explains.

Brown says that she finds it difficult to meet real people “that’s kind of hard to find a lot on online dating, where you meet somebody in person and you can actually see how they are and how they interact with everybody in the world.”

Ferguson says her most successful dating app was Hinge.

“I hate Tinder, I tried Bumble but it’s been Hinge specifically that I felt I’ve honestly had just the best dates off of,” Ferguson explains. Ferguson states that the way Hinge has their app set up helps people show more of who they are.

Brown also didn’t have a lot of success using Tinder but she has found more success on Bumble.

“There were a lot more people on there but there was also, it felt like there were actual real people on there whereas Tinder it was either a real person or it was somebody that was a bot or a scam” Brown says. Bumble also has a feature called “Bumble friends’ ‘ where you can meet new people and form non-romantic relationships.

Katie Parks, the health promotion coordinator for violence prevention and response at the Wellness Center says that “different dating apps might even have different insinuations about what someone might be looking for on Hinge versus Tinder versus on Bumble. And what it really comes down to is just being very open about what your intentions are, what you’re looking for. But that starts with knowing yourself what your relationship project is.”

A relationship project is what you want out of a relationship, is it long term, short term , something casual or is marriage the end goal.

Another thing to consider when figuring out your relationship project is do you and your potential partners gender and sexuality identities mesh well. If you’re a straight person, are you open to dating a gender non-conforming individual.

Parks explains that “something else that has changed from previous generations to this one is better understanding of different sexualities and different gender identities.”

“I feel like because you’re only seeing pictures of people, you kind of only see one side of them.”

- SELLA BROWN, FRESHMAN AND COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR

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Tips For Dating Online If you’re using a dating app, be unique. Don’t make your dating profile look like every other one out there. Have fun photos, things you enjoy doing, pictures of you and your friends and of course, your pets.

If someone is taking a while to decide to meet up, don’t be offended. Ferguson says that when she was dating, she would “talk to people for days or weeks before I met them.” She noticed that sometimes things would fizzle out before the date because she was cautious.

Unless agreed upon beforehand, don’t have an expectation of sex. Just enjoy the date and get to know your date and see where it goes. Try choosing a new activity and don’t rely on basic drinks or coffee.

Ferguson says “I love it if somebody is like ‘oh wait, I know this place nearby that I really want to show you.’” And again, don’t be offended if someone suggests a different activity than what you suggested.

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Digits Get The Digits

Sex Lives Of College Students

Part of hook-up culture is sex, and with that can come risks.

The Stable Marriage Problem is mainly to help heterosexual people find a stable marriage.

June Bredin, medical director of student health, explains that the health center has all the same tests and medications you Jean Marie Linhart, chair of the mathematics department, can get from your doctors should you ever need it. explains that the stable marriage problem “was actually If you’re in need of something, whether it be birth control inspired by the question of college admissions.” It translates to of any kind or condoms or STI tests or health checks, they marriages in the fact that you want to make sure there are no matches that would prefer to be with someone else. have it all available. Bredin says that “I think sometimes there are students that are afraid to come here because they Linhart says that it’s “a really simple algorithm for doing it think because there’s insurance stuff or my parents are going and it very much is all of this old school patriarchal algorithm.” to find out.”

Linhart explains that the women will stand out on their Bredin explains they only have balconies and they will have a list “Somebody’s sexual project a limited amount of things that of possible suitors that come and really bill to the insurance. try to woo them. The women’s list might be to achieve a certain theyBredin explains that they even is ranked on which of the men they have free Plan B, so you don’t like the best. number of sexual partners have to spend money or travel to If one of the men that comes or for physical pleasure or another city to get some. is first on her list, she accepts the “We get it from the health proposal, making it so that the to have a child or to feel department and because it’s free other women have less options. If connected to another person, of course that means that we none of the men are her favorite, she turns them away. The next day whether it’s a partner or not.” don’t bill insurance,” says Bredin.

And if you need a pregnancy test, the same men will come to woo you can make an appointment the same women, but now some of and ask for a nurse visit. these women can no longer marry Doing that will keep it from being billed. their first choice, so if their second choice is among her suitors The Wellness Center has this thing called the “love glove she will accept his proposal. club” where you can get 20 free condoms. If you’re nervous This repeats over however many days it requires until each about getting condoms, this solution can help. You can order of the women have a proposal, with the men they chose getting them online and pick them up the same day. further down their list as the days go on. The end result is that the men end up with their optimal spouse while women get their suboptimal spouse if they weren’t lucky enough to be chosen by their favorite candidate.

Linhart says that “we can prove that these marriages are stable so there’s no man and woman in this couple who are not married to each other who like each other better than the person that they’re actually married to.”

Linhart says that the marriage problem sends some good dating messages.

“If you’re trying to date, you don’t want to be passively allowing people to come to you. You really want to reach out to the people you’re attracted to and that really is the way to end up with the best match for you,” says Linhart.

She also says that another good lesson “from this algorithm is when somebody gets rejected, you’ve got to just walk away if you’re rejected, you just gotta go to the next person on your list.”

While the stable marriage problem may have been created under a patriarchal society, there are aspects that can be used in today’s society. Taking rejection well and not giving up if you are rejected.

Some dating apps seem to use the stable marriage algorithm. They may prompt you to keep swiping so it can figure out what you like. You can add filters like age, distance, gender you’re interested in, etc. On most apps you can upgrade to have more control over the filters.

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There is a limit of 20 free items per quarter. Arryn Welty said that the Wellness Center provides about 6,000 condoms a year to students and during fall quarter they provided about 1,550.

Katie Parks says that she sees “more cultural differences and differences between people who are having sex for different reasons.”

Parks called it ‘sexual projects’, in other words, the reason you’re having sex.

“Somebody’s sexual project might be to achieve a certain number of sexual partners or for physical pleasure or to have a child or to feel connected to another person, whether it’s a partner or not,” Parks explains.

Having open communication with your partners about your sexual project will help keep from hurting someone. Parks says if you are having sex, not having sex or wanting to have sex “spend some time figuring out…why.”

Some people don’t have good sexual communication skills since it’s an uncomfortable topic. Knowing what you want and communicating what you want with someone and making sure you’re on the same page with both your sexual projects and what you want out of a relationship.

Healthy Dating Parks says that having a healthy relationship boils down to “having open, ongoing, regular communication with your partner because healthy relationships are built on a lot of things. They’re built on openness, honesty, vulnerability and their built on the understanding that the other person respects and honors what’s important to you.”

It all boils back down to communication and having trust with your partner.

Duane Dowd, the associate professor for child development and family studies, says that “dating apps have been very effective at facilitating changes that were already happening within the dating world”. You would still ask someone out, date for a bit and then state whether you are exclusive with each other.

Dowd says that with Generation Z, expectations have changed on the younger generation in terms of relationships and how they manage them. These “expectations include a delay of permanent relationship formation i.e. getting married or connected or a domestic partnership with somebody in the long term, it’s expected you’re going to do that later in life.”

This leads to Gen Z wanting to fill that gap before they settle down,if they choose to do so,with more casual type relationships.

Dowd says “Your romantic partnerships are not the only healthy relationships that you’re going to have and shouldn’t be the only healthy relationship you’re hoping to lean on.”

Knowing what you want out of a relationship is important. If you want just sex, a short-term relationship or you’re forever after, being true to yourself and having open communication with your partner(s) is important.

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Sensational Sensory Slimes story by Gavin Johnson photos and design by Sandra Rivera

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Slimy. Sticky. Soft.

Squishy. These are all valuable traits that you can mix and match to create a perfect sensory slime experience.

Sensory slimes are a social media craze that hit it big around the beginning of 2017 as reported by the Guardian.

Even the BBC reports that the craze singlehandedly turned profits for a glue factory slimegreen as the craze swept social media. Here’s a few different recipes to join in the fun.

RAINBOW UNICORN FLUFFY SLIME RECIPE INGREDIENTS ½ cup white glue ½ cup foaming shaving cream ½ teaspoon borax powder 1 cup water Blue, pink and yellow neon food coloring DIRECTIONS 1. In a large bowl or container add your glue and shaving cream and mix together with a spoon.

2. In a separate bowl or container, stir 1/2 teaspoon of borax into1 cup of water. Stir until the borax is dissolved.

To speed up the process you can heat the water in the microwave before adding in the borax 3. Combine the two bowls together and begin kneading 4. Continue kneading until the two mixtures combine and form your slime. You may need to add more borax and water to make the slime less sticky 5. When the right consistency, divide the slime into three equal parts and place them into separate containers 6. Add some blue food coloring into one of the sections and knead together until the foam becomes completely blue. Repeat this with the other colors and the other sections.

7. When all the foam has been colored, combine them together and knead until the colors have mixed and created your desired rainbow pattern.

EDIBLE SLIME INGREDIENTS 2 cups lukewarm water 1 TBSP organic NuSyllium natural fiber (or bulk psyllium powder) 1 tsp cornstarch 3-4 drops natural food coloring DIRECTIONS 1. To a medium-size pot add in 2 cups of water.

2. In the same pot stir in your fiber, cornstarch and however many drops of food coloring you want.

3. Stir until the mixture is complete and homogenous.

4. When everything is combined, turn the stove to low or medium and wait for the liquid to boil 5. Let the mixture boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and let rest for a 2 to 3 minutes 6. Once cooled, add to heat again and bring to boil for another 5 minutes 7. After 5 minutes, remove from heat again and let rest for another 2 to 3 minutes.

8. Check the mixture to see how stretchy and slimy it is, if not set repeat the heating and cooling process until the mixture has set.

9. Once done, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to cool and transfer to a sealable container.

GALAXY OOBLECK INGREDIENTS 5 cups Cornstarch 3 cups Water Blue, purple, and pink food coloring White glitter Large tray 3 jars DIRECTIONS 1. Mix a couple drops of blue food coloring and 1 cup of water into one of the jars and stir to combine, add food coloring until you get a blue that you desire.

2. Repeat this process for the purple and pink food coloring.

3. Once all the colors have been created, add in 1 ½ cups of cornstarch into each jar and stir gently until the fluid begins to thicken.

4. Add water or small amounts of cornstarch to the jars to adjust thickness 5. Once all the jars have been made, transfer each jar one at a time into the same large container. Move the jars slowly as you pour so that the colors can overlap and create the galaxy look.

6. When all the jars have been added to the container, sprinkle in the glitter to create the stars for your galaxy.

7. Play and move this slime, if it is solid when you touch it that is alright. This is non-newtonian fluid so the harder and faster you move, the more solid it becomes.

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Ellensburg is quaint and calm which is something I’ve always liked about living here. The only thing I thought at times is what would it look if we took this landscape into an alternate dark reality. I somehow convinced everyone at the magazine to let me do this.

This is...

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story and photos by Dylan Hanson design by Evan Brown

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