Mount Hood

Autism Acceptance Month: Student stories

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

April is Autism Acceptance/Awareness Month, a time each year when people with autism share their stories in order to spread both awareness and acceptance of autism — a condition that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 59 people has.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that involves persistent challenges in social interaction, speech and nonverbal communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors.”

In order to learn more about autism, I spoke with a number of Western students with autism who shared their stories with me.

 

Katie:

Katie, who wasn’t diagnosed with autism until age 20, is a firm believer in the need for further research about autism. Since Katie’s autism was not recognized because she did not exhibit certain signs of autism — many of which are more stereotypical in males with autism — she is an advocate for people with autism who may not fall into this narrow mold.

“Autism in general is not very well researched, and it’s definitely not very well researched in anyone who isn’t a straight, white male,” Katie said.

Having also researched the intersection between autism and LGBTQ identities, Katie explained that sex education is often inferior for people with autism because they are erroneously not thought of as sexual beings; this problem is added onto by the fact that LGBTQ sex education is rarely taught as well.

Katie also described the social and stimulatory challenges she faces because of her autism.

“Every 10 minutes I’m outside without earplugs, it means 30 minutes of wanting to nap,” said Katie. “It’s the lights and sounds and there’s a lot of leaf blowers outside. Then, there’s lots of people talking, cars going by — it’s a lot all the time.”

In her view, people’s outlook on autism is often too negative, also.

“Autism is not a fate worse than death, I swear. I actually like how autism affects me most of the time,” said Katie. “Yeah, it does suck sometimes… but it allows me to focus on things for a long time and it allows me to do things that most other people might consider boring or repetitive.”

Katie then imparted a final piece of wisdom.

“When we listen to folks who have different perspectives, it makes our society better,” said Katie.

 

Kevin:

After earning his AAOT degree, Kevin transferred to Western with the goal of majoring in visual communication design. And, while there have been some challenges in getting to graduation, he has utilized the resources around him in order to be successful.

“I got in touch with disability services to get accommodations that would be best for my learning experiences,” said Kevin. “They really do come in handy, especially when you’re doing exams or quizzes. Those guys can really come in handy whether it’s at a university or a community college.”

Despite the fact that things like speaking and maintaining eye contact can be difficult for him, Kevin knows that having autism is an important part of who he is.

“Having autism is just part of life; there’s nothing really you can do,” said Kevin. “It’s not like being cancer-free. It just sticks with you for your entire life. Being autism-free would kind of take away your memories. If you do that, then I’ve forgotten who I was.”

Something that Kevin has found joy in is competitive swimming, an activity his mom originally signed him up with to help him with his autism.

At Western, one thing that has made him feel empowered having some people go out of their way to support people with disabilities.

“I know one of the members of the disabilities club is just an ally,” said Kevin. “She just likes being there to help students with disabilities in this club.”

Finally, while some of the other students preferred the term acceptance, Kevin has a positive association with the original wording.

“I like awareness more,” said Kevin. “Autism Awareness Month is a strong phrase for autistic people.”

 

Lyvonne:

Lyvonne is a non-traditional student at Western who went back to school after getting married and having a family. As a mom to a son who also has autism, Lyvonne is passionate about fighting for acceptance in the world that her son is growing up in.

While people can sometimes be quick to devalue skills of people with autism, Lyvonne described a few of the ways she has seen autism in a positive light.

“Autism to me is like having a super power,” said Lyvonne. “My autism makes me hyper-aware of what other people are doing around me. It also causes me to be hyper-focused on my school work and incredibly grades driven, which can cause me to put a lot of undue stress on myself. But my autism also lets me really get into my favorite books, movies or television shows.”

One such example that Lyvonne has observed in her son is that, even though he is only seven, he is already studying algebra.

One thing that Lyvonne wished people knew about autism was that it is a fluid spectrum, not a static one — meaning some days are easier than others.

“There are days where I can make a speech in front of a classroom full of people I don’t know, and then there are days where I can’t even make eye contact with my physician at a checkup,” said Lyvonne.

With this in mind, Lyvonne has a clear hope for the future: acceptance.

“People are aware that those with autism exist; what many fail to think about is how many situations push us out to the fringes of society,” said Lyvonne. “People are aware of our existence, but they don’t accept us in so many ways.”

Striving to combat the narrative that her son will be a drain on society or that employers will be unwilling to hire her due to her autism, Lyvonne explains that awareness isn’t enough. Acceptance is the vital next step that we need to take as a society.

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-info”]Editor’s note: Last names were kept private at the request of some of the students interviewed.[/fruitful_alert]

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Athletic Bands Director Ben Protheroe talks about current success and future growth

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Dynamic halftime performances, crowds singing along to the fight song and football games infused with the energy of much larger schools: these are things that Ben Protheroe, director of athletic bands, dreams of for the future of Western’s Athletic Band.

Although having a band is not something that is new for Western, the current aspirations of the group extends beyond anything that the Western Athletic Band has attempted in recent years.

“The Athletic Band has been around in some capacity for a long time. They used to have a marching band back in the ‘80s… it was a pretty big deal back then, and I’m not sure why it fizzled out,” said Protheroe.

Even though it can be challenging for the band to recruit at times since Western has a small Music Department and music majors aren’t required to participate, Protheroe still sees it as a valuable opportunity for many students as well as positive advertising for the program.

“An athletic band is a really good marketing tool for both the music department and the school,” said Protheroe. “When a lot of people look to where they want to go to school, especially if they have been involved with music, being in a marching band can be a big part of it.”

With this thought, he was even able to confirm with a student in the room that she was very close to not coming to Western initially because there used to not be a marching band. Over the span of this year, though, that has begun to change dramatically.

“We started the year with 10 members, which has been the norm for the past five years,” said Protheroe. “And at our biggest this year we hit 34 winds. If you add the drumline to that, it adds another 15.”

This determined group takes their work very seriously and takes pride in their work, but Protheroe shared that they also like to have fun in the process.

“Most everybody has gotten a nickname, and nobody goes by their real names for the most part,” said Protheroe. “And it’s usually something silly.”

Currently, the band only practices once a week for two hours on Sunday nights, but Protheroe explained that this could change in the future if the band continues to expand and take on more group commitments, like local parades or sporting event performances.

Protheroe also shared that it is not required that anyone audition for the band, only for those students who are applying for one of the 10 scholarships that are offered to band members.

“We’ll find a place for you. If you don’t know how to play something, we’ll find a place for you,” said Protheroe, reinforcing the idea that anyone can be involved if they have the desire to.

If students would like to learn more about the band, they can contact Protheroe at protheroeb@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Introducing the English Studies major

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

In fall of 2019, Western will welcome the English Studies major. This program, while distinct and innovative in its own right, is nestled within the umbrella of the English major. At a time where many curricular reforms are coming to Western, the Humanities Department took this opportunity to restructure the programs that they offer.

As one of the professionals who was instrumental in bringing this program about, Dr. Cornelia Paraskevas, linguistics professor, shared what the faculty’s intent was in implementing this change.

“Our students were graduating with about 210 credits on average, and that was a problem,” said Paraskevas. While 180 credits are needed to graduate from Western, the multitude of requirements for English majors has been tacking on additional time and financial burden to students.

In addition to re-designing the English major with fewer credits required, having an English studies major is giving students the chance to get a balance of literature, writing and linguistics classes — something that has been rare until recently.

“Historically, English programs were literature programs,” said Paraskevas. “The English Studies goes back to the idea of the tripod; that an English degree consists of three parts of equal value — writing, linguistics and literature. So, I think it will be a popular major.”

While students interested in pursuing an English degree will still have the option of concentrating in one of these three areas, they will also be able to do an English Studies major, which offers a balanced selection of all three.

All in all, while the altering of these concentration requirements and the addition of the English Studies major may not seem very different from the status quo, it shows a regard for student time and money as well as the things that they are wanting to learn.

“A bunch of students I’ve talked to are very excited about it. Very excited. And a lot of English programs are going this direction because the concentrations are not working for students,” said Paraskevas. “To compare right now, the (English Studies) major is 61 credits. (An English major) used to be … 77 credits. That’s a term less. It makes a huge difference financially.”

Paraskevas also shared that the title of this major is something that many employers and graduate programs will be familiar with, so it will be treated just the same as other types of English degrees would in those arenas.

For any students who are interested or would like to learn more, Paraskevas suggested talking to her — she can be reached at paraskc@wou.edu — or any of the other English faculty, as they all have the information for this new major.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Analyzing the 2019-2020 IFC final decision

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

After months of deliberation, Western’s Incidental Fee Committee finalized their decision for the 2019-2020 school year IFC fee on March 6, nearly three weeks after their Feb. 15 preliminary decision. In the weeks between these two budget decisions, the committee held open hearings on Feb. 21 and 22 for members of the Western community to express their opinions about the budget, and they also tabled in the Werner University Center to get student feedback.

With this information in hand, Rachel Bayly, junior interdisciplinary studies major and IFC Chair, discusses what her experience was like in leading the committee to a final decision.

“This year was a tough year. With inflation and with enrollment dropping next year, there was going to have to be a huge increase in the fee just to keep everything funded where it’s at,” said Bayly. “We had to make cuts — that was known going in. So, going into the preliminary decision, we went for our worst-case scenario; this is the most cuts we want to make, and hopefully for our final decision we can add some back in based on what we hear from students.”

Reflecting on the open hearing process, Bayly shared how much she appreciated students being so respectful and understanding about the difficult decisions that had to be made.

“Some people were even saying, ‘thank you for only cutting us three percent.’ There was that much understanding, which I thought was so great,” said Bayly. “Another thing that struck me was people saying ‘I’m not involved in that, or I’m not involved in these departments, but I see the benefits that they bring. And I know people who are involved.’ And that interdepartmental support between students was so great.”

When it came time to make their final decision, the committee utilized this student feedback to add back funding to a number of the departments’ budgets.

Bayly then conveyed the significant changes that IFC made between the preliminary and final decisions.

“The biggest change was that we put quite a bit of money back into campus recreation. With the cuts that we had applied, they were looking at having to cut quite a few hours of the wellness center,” said Bayly. “They got the most money added back into their budget, but almost every budget got money added back in. And we were even able to add back in a couple of enhancements — extra things for people to get to do next year.”

With these changes, the fee is now set to increase 16 dollars from the 2018-19 to 2019-2020 school years, from 363 to 379 dollars per term. This is four dollars more than the preliminary budget was originally set at.

If students would like to learn more about the IFC process or final decision, Bayly recommended reaching out to anyone on the committee for more information. Bayly can be reached at rbayly16@wou.edu.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

New writers group on campus

Sean Martinez | Freelancer

Whether you are a writing major or enjoy writing during your free time, the Writer’s Crucible is the ideal group to join. Writer’s Crucible is a new, small on-campus group of writers formed by junior English major Natalie Dean during Winter Term, in the hopes of improving their writing skills together.

According to Dean, Writer’s Crucible focuses on two main aspects: providing feedback and embracing writing. Western’s campus provides many opportunities for students to improve upon their writing through the Writing Center or getting published in the Northwest Passage, the university’s exclusive literary magazine, and the Writer’s Crucible is another opportunity that students can now take advantage of.

Writer’s Crucible dives deep into the writing process. This includes sharing, critiquing and most importantly, offering a safe place to share with similarly-focused minds. It can be intimidating to share intimate and personal ideas, but since the group is fairly new, it means it is not a large group.

“We sit in a circle, everyone has a physical copy of their work, we read it out loud, and then we critique,” Dean explained. The advantage to having a small group means people can be open and honest with each other.

People can bring in works from any genre. The writing does not have to be school-related; writers can bring in anything, no matter what state it is in. The group can help the writer with brainstorming, rough drafts or final drafts. The point of the critique process is not to talk badly about someone’s work — it is about helping the individual become a better writer. And talking about the writing may help the writer realize what direction they want to take it in.

One of the main goals Dean expects from the Writer’s Crucible is to boost writers’ confidence. “I want people to be able to take their own work seriously and learn how to stand behind it and present it for what it is,” Dean said about her hopes for the group.

Writer’s Crucible will meet every Thursday during Spring Term 2019 from 4-5 p.m. in one of the Hamersly Library study rooms, which may change from week to week. It is a great way for students to surround themselves with other passionate writers so they can grow and improve together. Anyone interested in attending this group and would like to know where they are meeting can contact Dean at ndean17@wou.edu.

[fruitful_alert type=”alert-info”]Disclaimer: Natalie Dean is a Student Media Board member[/fruitful_alert]

Contact the author at smartinez17@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

Monmouth’s housing problems laid out in recent open house

Paul F. Davis | Managing Editor

Housing problems wouldn’t seem to be a thing in small-town Oregon. Monmouth is lacking the current culprit that is causing housing problems in large towns, gentrification, so what problems could there potentially be in Monmouth?

To discuss these issues, Suzanne Dufner, community development director, led an open house on March 20 which delivered an analysis of Monmouth’s housing needs. Approximately 25 people attended the event, located at Volunteer Hall, which was made up of both local citizens and city council members.

A majority of the information given came from Matt Hastie and Brendan Buckley, who work at  Angelo Planning Group and Johnson Economics, respectively. Hastie explained how the buildable land survey, a survey that shows how much land can be used and what it is zoned for,  was completed and commented on how much land is available for future housing.

Afterwards, Buckley provided an overview of housing needs in Monmouth and explained current housing trends and future needs that may arise in the area.

Hastie and Buckley’s analysis showed an overall surplus in the low-density housing, or traditional homes, and medium-density housing, or condo-style houses. However, there is a slight deficit in the high-density housing, or apartments. There is a projected shortage of available residential land within the city limits.

Brian Sparks, a citizen of Monmouth in attendance, asked, “Is a (urban area) expansion an option?” Hastie responded by saying under the state land use requirements require you to demonstrate a need to expand the UGB and currently there is a surplus of useable land. But, due to private owners unwillingness to sell unused land for high density housing, this creates a false surplus.

After Spark’s question, no other citizen’s asked any questions, but Councilor Christopher Lopez asked several clarification questions. When Lopez asked if the buildable land analysis took into account student growth expectations, Buckley replied that the student population was taken into consideration when developing the analysis.

After this question, the Monmouth Housing Needs Open House came to a close. More information on the open house or information from the open house can be found on the city of Monmouth’s website www.ci.monmouth.or.us.

 

Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis

Sharing experiences with the ROTC program

Bailey Thompson | News Editor

Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, is a program for pre-commissioned officer education and training that students can be involved in during their years in college. By choosing to participate in this program, they can prepare to become officers in the Army once they graduate, but they can also take the basic classes on an exploratory basis while they determine whether or not they want to make a longer commitment with the Army.

Leading the ROTC program at Western, Major Joel Springstead and Captain Devin Argentina, assistant professors of military science, reflected on the qualifications required for the program as well as the benefits that are available to students.

While there are number of requirements that ROTC Cadets must meet — being a full-time student, having a GPA of 2.5 or higher, being a U.S citizen, being between the ages of 17-26 and meeting the physical standards, amongst other things — it has a number of benefits that can help make getting a degree more affordable.

From a financial angle, ROTC students who receive a commission are given a scholarship for up to $10,000 for either tuition or for room and board, and they also receive $1,200 annually for books and $420 as a monthly stipend.

On top of this, ROTC is an opportunity for these students to develop a number of military and leadership skills that will serve them well, whether or not they continue on in the Army.

“Army ROTC is one of the best leadership courses in the country and is part of your college curriculum.  During classes, leadership labs, physical training and field training exercises, you learn firsthand what it takes to lead others, motivate groups and conduct missions as an officer in the Army,” said Major Springstead. “Upon graduation you are commissioned a Second Lieutenant and serve as an officer in the Active Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard.”

Students in the ROTC program at Western and Corban University, one of ROTC’s partnering schools, shared about their experience completing a recent field training exercise, or FTX, at Camp Rilea near Seaside, Oregon.

Chad Crook, Western Oregon University student, shared his experience:

“When I first joined Army ROTC, I had no idea what to expect. I figured that it would mostly be morning workouts and classroom discussions, but our first Field Training Exercise changed my mind about that … Not only did we get to shoot a variety of weapons, but we got to do an obstacle course and a rappel tower, which was a challenge for those who have a fear of heights.

The weekend was not all fun and games, however. We walked for miles and miles with a heavy rucksack on, carrying all we needed for the weekend. We ate MREs (meals ready-to-eat), and anyone that says that those are good is lying. Sometimes we sat in the rain for hours as the leaders planned out our missions … The first night we were under attack the entire night, as we occupied a cold concrete building. Morale was low when we were rucking several miles in sideways rain.

We could complain all we want, since it was a challenging and uncomfortable experience, but looking back on it, the Field Training Exercise has been one of the most interesting and valuable experiences of my life. If I was not a part of ROTC, I never would have been able to fire heavy weaponry, learn tactics and build bonds with people from a variety of schools. In the worst of times, friendships are made almost immediately … Although there were many times during the three days where I felt like I wanted to quit, the feeling from pulling through and completing the training was priceless.”

Alea Pena, Corban University student, shared his experience:

“Attending my first fall FTX as a (Military Science Level One) pushed me to limits I would’ve never gone to on my own. Looking back on the experience, I could say I loved almost every moment, including the miles of walking with my rucksack from location to location.

FTX offers me a new perspective of myself when I look toward future challenges because I remember that it was me who shot the 240 and 249 machine guns, who repelled for the first time off a 65-foot wall and who survived a weekend with eating only MREs and getting little sleep … I learned the importance of teamwork when I was in a squad the whole weekend and was personally responsible for my battle buddy. Through rain, cold, no sleep and exhaustion from rucking around all day, my squad never failed to make me laugh and keep good morale.

I grew closer with my fellow cadets as we low crawled through forests to ambush our objective and learned so many strategies and maneuvers in which I can guarantee I will be using when serving in the Army. Fall FTX was exhilarating, tiresome and a life-changing experience.”

If students are interested in joining, they can do so even if they are not first-year college students, but they will have to complete an accelerated program in order to catch up on all of the requirements. They can also reach out to Major Springstead at springsteadj@wou.edu or Captain Argentina at argentinad@wou.edu if they would like to learn more about the program.

 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Major Joel Springstead

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