News
Western students take to the streets to spread homeless awareness
By The Front | November 14Holding cardboard signs on street corners throughout Bellingham, groups of Western students worked to raise awareness about homelessness. As part of a service-learning project, communication studies students held signs on Samish Way, Lakeway Drive and around downtown Bellingham from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 14. “We’re trying to get the word out about homelessness,” Western junior Jenna Harvey said. Student’s signs displayed statistics such as “51 percent of homeless people are women” and “7 out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.” Others included calls to action and the hashtag “#endhomelessness.” All month long, assistant professor Tara Perry’s Organizational Communication and Interpersonal Communication classes have been devoted to Homelessness Awareness Month. “The end goal of today is really to communicate with the public, inform them about the different issues facing homelessness, and to break the stereotypes and stigmas of homeless people,” Perry, said. Perry’s classes have also been partnered with Bellingham’s Opportunity Council in their events and drives. The Opportunity Council is a nonprofit service organization that aids homeless and low-income families and individuals. Sophomore Cody Stephens said people assume alcoholism and drug addiction lead to homelessness. However, most often, the causes are institutional issues such as lack of affordable housing, he said. Many people who passed by tried to offer the students money, stopped to ask about their signs or honked from their car. Amelia Wolfe, a junior at Western, said the fact that people have approached them means they are reading their sings and are willing to engage. “We know we won’t be able to wipe out homelessness by the end of the quarter, but right now we’re hoping to make a difference in even one person’s life by spreading awareness in the community,” Wolfe said. Several homeless people or people who made it out of homelessness have told them it is nice to know there are people who care, Harvey said. Throughout the quarter, students have researched homelessness, volunteered with outside organizations, heard from guest speakers and tabled in Red Square. They have also been involved in a campus-wide clothing drive. Wolfe and junior Ryan Parish said their whole experience has been humbling and eye opening. “A lot of the time, we’re in our little Western bubble and it’s easy to forget about what’s going on in the community,” Wolfe said. One of the best parts about this service-learning project is getting involved, she said. [gallery ids="4833,4834,4835,4836,4837,4838"]
Dodgeball and men's health come together for Move for Movember
By The Front | November 12Eight teams faced off Thursday, Nov. 12 in a tournament of sweat, men’s health and dodgeball. The dodgeball tournament Move for Movember was hosted in Wade King Student Recreation Center as a part of Movember, a month-long campaign promoting men’s health in November. Western Intramurals, Prevention and Wellness Services, Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement and Building Resilience and Voicing Empathy hosted the tournament. Movember hopes to promote mental and physical health of men, Western senior and Western BRAVE intern Corinne Sudduth said. Sudduth works with BRAVE and wants to promote health during Movember, and said men are more likely to commit suicide and less likely to seek support for mental health problems. “It’s harder for men to talk about mental health and seek services than women,” Sudduth said. Each organization offered resources for mental and physical health between games and promoted future events. Freshman Adam Blythe decided to play in the tournament after a group of friends recruited him, but he had not heard of Movember before, he said. The tournament helped promote students to stay healthy and get involved, Blythe said. “It’s a good time for people to embrace the positive effects of exercise,” Intramural Supervisor Tyler Hjaltalin said. Intramurals decided to host a dodgeball tournament because it appealed to a larger group of students, Hjaltalin said. “There’s a really strong following of people who love to play dodgeball,” he said. This was the first dodgeball tournament BRAVE has been involved with, but Sudduth said it was a success. Sudduth said people were drawn to the tournament because it allowed them to be physical, and it was a sport anyone could play. “It’s more accessible than other sports for people to just pick up and try,” Sudduth said. Movember will continue promoting men’s health this month at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16 with “Cracked, Not Broken” by Kevin Hines in the Viking Union Multipurpose Room and the “Walk of Hope” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 in the VU MPR. [gallery ids="4812,4813,4814"]
Students showcase ReMade products designed for your garden
By The Front | November 7Western industrial design students introduced their “upcycled” yard and garden products at the opening reception of the annual ReMade exhibition at Ideal on Friday, Nov. 6. As a part of class project called ReMade, students proposed their own ideas of reusing post-consumer waste and turned them into products related to the main theme of this year’s project, yard and garden. After the designing products and producing a limited edition of 20 each, they actually started selling their handmade products through Ideal, a store in the downtown Bellingham, from Nov. 6 through Nov. 21, or until all the products sold out, according to Ideal’s website. The store was full of people on the opening reception day, who then got the opportunity to talk with the creators of products. Dolores Kuiper, one of visitors from the Bellingham community, was impressed with the project as a whole and the unique products students created. “All of the products are actually usable and interesting,” Kuiper said. The store, Ideal, opens Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. [gallery ids="4642,4643,4644,4645,4646"]
Airport shuttle coming to campus
By The Front | November 6Bellair Charters is partnering with Western Student Transportation to serve the Western campus directly by having a pickup location on campus. The Airporter Shuttle will stop on campus outside of the Performing Arts Center on High Street, 10 times a day from Nov. 23, 2015 to Jan. 6, 2016 and March 9 to 19 2016. The charter will do 10 round trips a day to Sea-Tac Airport, and three round trips a day to downtown Seattle. Kay McMurren, the program support supervisor for student transportation, said this service is a more convenient pickup location for students. “The previous boarding location was on Iowa Street, and that location is no longer on a bus stop and is further from campus, so they have an interest is providing convenient service for students,” McMurren said. The Airporter Shuttle will pick students up outside the Performing Arts Center on High Street in a van or minibus. Then the van will take students to the Bellair Charters office on Iowa Street, and students will be able to catch the shuttle going south. Adrienne Booth, the marketing manager for Bellair, said it wanted to achieve convenience for students. “We have a more convenient service for CWU students, and we wanted to mirror that for our students in Bellingham,” Booth said. “We feel like we are really missing out on the student population by not offering this service.” Bellair is trying to get the word out as much as possible by putting up posters in residence halls and advertising with KUGS, Booth said. Senior Peter Munger has used the Bellair Charter before and thinks the new route is convenient. “I think the new pickup location is beneficial to Western in general. Many students live on campus so they can access the shuttle better,” Munger said. This shuttle service will do a trial period for the holidays, and if it is successful, the Airport Shuttle will become a permanent service year round for Western students, Booth said.