Despite a formal cancellation by university police, about 40 runners still arrived to participate in the first Running From The Police 5K race on Sunday, April 26.
Beginning fall quarter, Western dining halls will open at 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays, allowing students to get their fix of bacon, pancakes and pizza a half-hour earlier. The earlier opening time is a result of student requests that the dining hall serve brunch before 10:30 a.m. on the weekends, Associate Director for University Residences Kurt Willis said. As a result of the change, students with a 125-meal plan will pay about $5 more for the academic year. The added half-hour will impact staffing hours the most, as it will cost around $20,000 more per academic year, Willis said. Nicholas Hall, a freshman and current employee at the Viking Commons, agrees that the new time should benefit students and won't be a nuisance to his own schedule. "I work brunch most weekends and I would be okay with getting here a half-hour earlier,” Hall said. “People are always lined up when we start at 10:30 a.m. I feel like 10 a.m. will be an improvement." Dining hall access data, which tracks how many students are in the dining hall at a time, showed that the early brunch hours were "pinch points," or points in the day with a high volume of students, Willis said. The data, when paired with feedback from students, suggest that earlier brunch times would be a better way to accommodate more students on the weekend, Willis said. Students who wake up well before the 10:30 start time gave comments to the dining hall requesting an earlier start time, he said. “I just get up early and sometimes there is not enough food around to eat, so 10 a.m. is better." freshman Leah Olver said. Although some students said they do choose to sleep in on the weekend, they acknowledge that not everyone does the same and that those early risers would appreciate the new time. “I usually don’t get up that early on the weekends. I know for people who work, [10:30 a.m.] wouldn’t be that great because they have to get up early,” freshman Leah Seitz said. Students will get an additional half-hour added to the brunch availability, as the closing time will remain at 1:30 p.m. “There will be more availability so I think students will enjoy it, we all have different schedules for when we wake up and when we want to eat. If they increase the availability, I don’t see how it could be a problem,” junior Melinda Chinen said.
David Clay Large came to Western to discuss his book “Nazi Games” on Thursday, April 23. “Nazi Games” is a novel discussing the 1936 Summer Olympic Games held in Nazi occupied Germany. It specifically examines the treatment and representation of Jewish and African American athletes participating in the games. Dawn Dietrich, director of Western Reads, introduced Large. He then continued to give an hour-long lecture on his novel followed by a question and answer with the audience. Berlin was voted to host the games in 1931, two years before the Nazi party came into power, Large said. Large went on to explain the negative reactions of U.S. citizens. Many Jewish Americans protested to boycott the games due to Adolf Hitler’s treatment of the Jews and minorities, he said. At first Hitler didn’t want to hold the games, Large explained. Although, Theodor Lewald, one of Hitler’s advisors, recommended that he host the games because it would be a good chance for propaganda. Once Hitler agreed to hold the games he kicked off all of the Jewish athletes on Germany’s team, Large said. This created controversy. Hitler agreed to compromise by allowing a half Jewish female fencer named Helene Mayer to join the team, he said. Despite the effort of many Americans, the games were not boycotted and went on as scheduled. The U.S. team was especially diverse with 18 African American athletes, six Jewish athletes and three Native American athletes, Large said. German residents treated ethnic participants fairly at the games, but unbeknownst to them the police were instructed to watch them very closely, Large explained. Citations were given out to Berlin women who flirted with Jewish athletes or athletes of color, he said. Overall, Jewish and African American athletes did very well in the games. The first and second place winners of the high jump were African Americans on the U.S. team and the decathlon winner was a Jewish American. Also, African American athletes accumulated 83 points for the U.S. track and field team, Large said. Although, this did not change the German opinion on African American athletes, an unidentified Nazi stated, that African American athletes are “gifted freaks who owe their success to their jungle inheritance,” Large said. Because of the negative opinion toward the Nazi party, the games had fewer foreign travelers than expected, Large said. Junior international business major James Ward enjoyed the lecture, he said. “It wasn’t something that particularly sparked my interest, but I found it very interesting,” Ward said. Large is an expert in German history and sport culture.
Friends and family gathered at a memorial service held at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at Norway Hall to remember the life of Western junior Woodrow Moore.
Western alumni helped The Seattle Times win their 10th Pulitzer Prize this year for breaking news for their coverage of the landslide in Oso, Washington, that took 43 lives. The Western alumni who shared in the staff award include Gina Cole, Jack Broom, Laura Gordon, Coral Garnick, Paige Collins, Mark Higgins, Katie Greene Cotterill, Ron Judd and Colin Diltz. The award, which was announced Monday, April 20, is shared by the entire newspaper’s staff. Among the Western alumni on the staff was Garnick who graduated with a journalism degree in 2009. “Winning for breaking news is a hard one to win for because it inevitably means something tragic happened,” Garnick said. “So it’s a hard thing for all of us to look back on such a tragic situation and feel excited and happy about the coverage that we did.” Paige Collins, who graduated from Western in 2012 with a journalism degree, spoke about the bittersweet feeling that comes with winning an award for covering a tragic event. “The award is something to celebrate because we did our jobs well and we are proud of the journalism we produced, but you don’t want to celebrate too much,” Collins said. The coverage of the landslide, which happened after a hillside collapsed above the Stillaguamish River and bore its way through the Steelhead Haven neighborhood, included stories, graphics, photos and videos. There was also a detailed victims page that was continuously updated as information became available after the slide. Collins spent most of her time producing the victims page. The page started out as a list of confirmed missing people and overtime grew to be more of an interactive memorial for the victims, Collins said. “By the end of this project I had all of the names of all of these people memorized and I could tell you information about their lives just off the top of my head,” Collins said. “The hardest part of that was plowing through the effort to get the work done and shoving aside the emotional aspect.” At just 27, Garnick said that winning a Pulitzer prize was never something she thought would happen this early in her career. “On my bucket list was winning a Pulitzer, to be able to say that I’m part of that is just incredible,” Garnick said. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded annually in 21 different categories that award achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition in the United States. This is the second Pulitzer for breaking news for the Seattle Times in five years.
Belina Seare was the only Associated Students presidential candidate who sat on the stage of the Viking Union Multi-Purpose Room Thursday, April 23, for what would have been the presidential debate leading up to next week’s AS elections.
In this year's Associated Students election, four candidates for vice president positions are running unopposed. These candidates spoke about their platforms and goals for their positions at the AS VP debate on Tuesday, April 21, in Academic West 204.
Juniors Jesse Doran and Patrick Eckroth debated voting accessibility and issues involved with running for Associated Students Vice President for Governmental Affairs. This position acts as a liaison between the AS and the University Relations division, the city and county governments, the State of Washington, as well as the U.S. federal government.
Junior Zachary Dove and sophomore Gabriel Alejandro Ibanez went head-to-head at a debate for Vice President of Academic Affairs, a position tasked with increasing student awareness and involvement about academic affairs of the university, as stated on the Associated Students Board of Directors website.
Designs for a new 419-tenant apartment complex for 910 N. Forest St. will be sent to the city planning director for final approval. The complex, which is aimed at students, would replace the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, according to the Design Review Board meeting.
An issue that has garnered extensive controversy on Western’s campus over the past two years was thrown back into the spotlight as two professors debated before about 40 people on the divestment movement.
Tribes from around the Pacific Northwest gathered, competed in and celebrated Native American culture with Western and the community at the Native American Student Union (NASU) Pow-Wow in Sam Carver Gymnasium.
Solutions by The State News
