Room and board is about to get more expensive on Western’s campus. The Western Board of Trustees unanimously passed a measure to increase housing and dining costs by 3 percent during its meeting Friday, April 10.
Rapidly fired piano notes ring through the Performing Arts Center concert hall Saturday, April 11, as world-famous pianist Gilles Vonsattel performed, as part of the Sanford-Hill Piano Series, at Western Washington University. Jeffrey Gilliam, artistic director of the production, introduced Vonsattel as “a real renaissance musician of our time,” before the performance. Around 150 people showed up for the performance with a mixed crowd of students and people from the greater Bellingham area. “I think he’s an incredibly colorful pianist. He’s very careful about his sound, like nothing goes amiss,” Andrea Rackl, a 38-year-old Western alumna, said. “He’s obviously thought everything out so well and cares very much about every sound that he makes; which I really appreciate.” The pieces Vonsattel played were a mix of classical and modern compositions mainly focused around the third piece composed by modern day composer George Benjamin. “There are certain composers, like Benjamin, who are very gifted and are interested in continuing the tradition of [classical style],” Vonsattel said about his music choice for the show. Vonsattel was born in Switzerland but later moved to earn his bachelor’s degree political science and economics from Columbia University and Master of Music from Juilliard School in New York. Since 2002, the Sanford-Hill Piano Series has brought world famous pianists to Western’s campus three times per year. The featured artists give a performance and also hold a master class for students who are interested in learning and receiving a lesson from famous musicians. Lindsay Abuyan, a 19-year-old Western student, doesn't get to see piano performances very often and enjoyed Vonsattel’s performance, she said. “I think they’re very interesting,” Abuyan commented on the performed pieces. “It’s not what I was expecting; it’s very modern. They’re very atonal and a lot of them don't really follow a melody line like most pieces.” Former music major and Western student, Sean Urann, also plays piano and was extremely impressed with Vonsattel’s skill as well as the overall tone of the show. “I think it’s cool; it’s kind of a darker sound than I was anticipating,” Urann said, “but I think all the chaos is pretty cool to see how he rounds [the piece out] and brings it together.” The day after the performance Vonsattel held a master class for skilled Western student pianists to attend and perform in front of him and receive critique and feedback on their performance from Vonsattel himself. At this session Vonsattel gave a piece of advice for anyone aspiring to become a pianist themselves. “I would, as much as possible, try to inform yourself about what's going on out there, which really takes time,” Vonsattel said. “I think also realize that there are many many useful careers and useful paths. You can take that require imagination and thought beyond your playing.”
Western Washington University has opened a traveling exhibit commemorating the recent bicentennial of the War of 1812 in Wilson Library. Heritage Resources and the Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western co-sponsored the special exhibit. The collections were originally curated by the Canadian War Museum and delivered to Western through the Canadian Consulate in Seattle. The Canadian government, including Canadian Heritage, the Canadian War Museum and Canadian Embassy in the District of Columbia, supported the exhibit as one of the promotions that celebrates the 200 years of peace between Canada and the United States. The Canadian Consulate in Seattle offered Western Libraries this opportunity, and they gladly accepted to have it in Wilson Library for this spring quarter, David Rossiter, director of the Center of Canadian-American Studies, said. “Probably the reason why we are hosting it is partly because the Canadian-American Studies Center is here,” he said. Western is one of two universities designated by the United States Department of Education as part of the National Resource Centers on Canada, according to the Western Center of Canadian-American studies website. There is another center at the University of Washington. “Being located 25 miles south of the Canada-U.S. Border and the Peace Arch which was erected to celebrate the centennial of the end of the War of 1812, [Western] is a most fitting venue to host the final display of these two travelling exhibits,” Kevin Cook, Consulate General of Canada, said in an email. The War of 1812 is known as relatively a minor conflict in the history between the United States and Great Britain. However, as you dig into more details on the meaning of this historical turning point to each group of people, American, Canadian, British and Native American, you findthat each of them perceived the war in a different way, Elizabeth Joffrion, director of Heritage Resources at Wilson Library, said. “The important thing is that it looks different perspectives around the meaning of that war,” Joffrion said. “It commemorates the peace.” The main part of exhibit is held on the sixth floor of Wilson Library in Special Collections and some other pieces are also displayed in the fourth floor Floor Rotunda. On the Floor Rotunda, there are two large panels in front of the entrance toward the reading room. Those panels are two-sided, and different perspectives of the war from not only the United States and Britain, but also Canada and Native American’s First Nations cover each panel. “That’s the piece of history that sometimes gets forgotten because of the power dominance,” Joffrion said. The exhibit will be on display and available for viewing until Friday, May 29, Monday through Friday between the hours of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, according to Western Libraries’ website. “We have a lot of focus visiting up here,”Joffrion said. “We had a steady stream of people from the community up here, which is really nice, too.” Western has proposed the series of events called Active Minds Changing Lives Week, which intends to collaborate a wide variety of educational subjects at Western. As a part of it, Dr. Jared Hardesty, history professor at Western, will give a presentation titled “Expanding our Understanding of the War of 1812: Looking Beyond America’s Border” at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, in Special Collections, which is located on the sixth floor of Wilson Library. “I want the users to come interpret the meaning themselves. That’s the purpose of exhibit,” Joffrion said. “It’s not tell you what to think, but help you to think in new ways about the War of 1812.”
Western assistant professor of geology Melissa Rice discussed NASA’s Mars Rover Missions and new discoveries found on Mars at City Council on Tuesday, April 7. The audience was given a pair of 3-D glasses when the presentation began; Rice shared new 3-D images of Mars that were accentuated with the glasses. Rice began by talking about the history of Mars and how Mars had its start in the science fiction world because not much was actually known about the planet. “It was generally accepted that Mars could be a world that was alive with life,” Rice said. Rice, who is a part of two NASA Mars rover teams, explained the importance of scars from ancient river valleys being discovered on Mars by these rovers. “Mars had to at least have been more interesting than it is today,” Rice said. The presentation involved a 3-D Mars tour showing landscapes including seas of sand dunes on the planet, the most active geologic process occurring on Mars today, Rice said. NASA’s most current rover expedition is the Curiosity Rover, which landed on Mars two years ago, Rice said. Rice explained Curiosity’s job is to discover evidence that water once existed on Mars, a mission that is proving successful. While showing real footage of the rover landing, Rice said NASA knew immediately that they had landed in an ancient streambed. “We hope to uncover the secrets of Mars with our robot army,” Rice said. “Was Mars a place where life could’ve thrived and survived?” NASA’s Curiosity mission is funded by taxpayer dollars and access to information and all photos related to the mission are available for the public to view at mars.nasa.gov. Western students Andrew Lindsey and Dave Stanfield both came to the lecture out of interest for the new discoveries and footage that was being shown. “It’s been really cool to what has been going on and what the actual mission plan was,” Lindsey said. Stanfield said he didn’t realize NASA posts the resources to their website as soon as they are available. “I tried to follow [Curiosity’s landing] as closely as I could without being fanatical,” Stanfield said. Rice stressed that if there is to be more exploration on Mars, samples need to make their way back to Earth, which is a hard task to achieve. “The most important thing we can do to better understand Mars is to bring Mars back to Earth,” Rice said. The next rover going to Mars will be in 2020 and will attempt to capture samples of rocks while on the planet, Rice said. To help NASA figure out where on the planet to place the new rover, Rice will be working with Western graduate students this summer to decide where the rover should land.
Republicans in the state Senate are proposing a bill that could possibly lower college tuition by 25 percent at state universities and colleges.
Bellingham residents and tourists alike may soon find another attraction within the city of subdued excitement — the world’s largest human hamster wheel.
Students can expect a new restaurant on campus as a part of the Sam Carver Gymnasium renovation proposed in this year’s budget.
From Olympia, Governor Jay Inslee joined Western students and statewide universities in a virtual conference about climate change and a proposal for action Tuesday, April 7.
After plans to build a new student-oriented apartment complex next to the Lakeway Fred Meyer were called off in 2014, a new developer has taken the reigns to begin construction.
The first spring quarter meeting of the Associated Students Board of Directors highlighted potential projects from across campus.
The department of Administrative Computing Services (ADMCS) at Western hired Janice Kijak to be its new director. Kijak replaces former director Bob Schneider who retired in December 2014.
A recent national survey conducted by “Money Matters on Campus,” found college students frequently take out large loans yet feel less prepared with financial decisions and administration.
Western Washington University’s Reel World Film Series kicked off it’s spring lineup Wednesday, April 8, at the Viking Union with a screening of Iranian artist Shiran Neshat’s feature film debut, “Women Without Men.” The historical drama is a story about four women’s intertwining paths during the chaotic days of Iran’s 1953 U.S.-backed coup d’etat and is based off of a novel of the same name by Shahrnush Parsipur. “Women Without Men” touches on issues of gender roles, female independence, politics, sexuality, religion and freedom. It uses surrealist imagery of water and trees as well as graphic scenes of violence and conflict to help viewers get in touch with the characters and experiences they went through during the tumultuous times of Iran’s 1953 coup. The centerpiece of the story is a gated orchard on the outskirts of Tehran where all four women eventually end up through various means. The orchard plays the role of a rural sanctuary amid the chaos of the city which helps the women find their own unique notions of freedom, but that is ultimately unable to remain peaceful under the tremendous weight of all the events taking place around it. Due to it’s political nature, the film is banned in Iran and has been nominated for and won numerous awards. It won best cinematography and production design at the Austrian Film Award in 2011 and best foreign film by or about women at the Women Film Critics Circle awards in 2010. Western freshman Lydia Lee said “I’ve never really seen anything like it before. I wasn’t really expecting it to be that powerful. It was very emotional too, even not being involved in that culture.” Lydia also said that she hopes to attend more Reel World film screenings after seeing how much her perspective was opened and that she was disappointed more students did not show up. The Reel World Film Series is in its first year and is a monthly event held by the Western Center for International Studies. The series’ mission statement is “to raise awareness about other cultures and about global issues,” according to their website. Vicki Hamblin, executive director of the Center for International Studies, said Reel World chooses from submissions by faculty members and student groups that bring unique points of view from outside the United States that American Students may not typically hear. “All the films that we choose tend to be films have something that may be surprising to U.S. audiences and that will increase their knowledge base and help them empathize with other cultures and help them see other perspectives as opposed to just U.S. perspectives, especially in cinema,” Hamblin said. “Women Without Men” was submitted for Reel World by Western art professor Pierre Gour, who chose the piece due to it’s ability to show a perspective on Iran that is rarely seen due its strained relationship with the U.S. “This is certainly an introduction to another culture,” Gour said. “The more you know about another country, the less intimidating it is. So what I think is important, especially with Sharin Neshad, is introducing us to completely different Iran that I wasn’t aware of.” The Reel World Film Series’ next installment will take place at 7 p.m.Wednesday, May 6, at Old Main Theatre. The featured film is “Remote Control,” a piece by Mongolian director Byamba Sakhya. Remote Control tells the tale of Tsogoo, a rural teenage runaway who becomes infatuated with the female resident of skyscraper penthouse. As with all Reel World Film Series screenings, “Remote Control” has free admission and is open to anyone in the Bellingham community, not just Western Students. For more information visit http://international.wwu.edu/reelworld/.
Professor Spencer Anthony-Cahill, a final candidate for the Honors Program Director position, discussed expanding science offerings for honors students and the importance of ethnic and racial diversity in the program before a small group of students and faculty on Tuesday, April 7. Anthony-Cahill, a distinguished professor of chemistry and serving Faculty Senate President, is one of four final candidates applying for the Western Washington University Honors Program Director position that will be vacated by the retirement of current director George Mariz. As honors director one of Anthony-Cahill’s top priorities would be increasing student diversity in the program. “I think there is an argument made that the liberal arts model of higher education is one associated with privilege,” Anthony-Cahill said. “My vision for the program includes achieving greater racial and ethnic diversity.” According to Anthony-Cahill, simply providing access to the honors program is not enough. Faculty must be proactive in ensuring the success of all students. He said he looks forward to exploring different methods of encouraging diversity in the program, though he draws the line at admissions lowering standards. Another of Anthony-Cahill’s chief interests is improving honors graduation rates. “I was shocked to learn that only 60 percent of the students who enter honors graduate with honors,” Anthony-Cahill said. “I’ve talked to student’s who’ve left the program and I’ve talked to students who are still in and mostly the feedback I’m getting is that the selection of courses in the upper division simply don’t match up well with their programs.” Though Anthony-Cahill envisions an honors program where all departments can engage and contribute, he feels that honors science and math courses are lacking and that the program is failing that 35 to 40 percent of the program’s student body who are pursuing science, technology, engineering and math majors. “I want to acknowledge that this is a bias that I have,” Anthony-Cahill said, “My bias is that we could do more to increase the number of science offerings in the honors program.” For honors students Anna Magidson and Eli Sohl, Anthony-Cahill’s presentation hit many of the right notes. “I really did like his ideas about adding more sciences into the honors program,” Magidson said. “A lot of my friends go into the [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] majors and a lot of them do end up dropping out of the program.” Sohl, a math and computer science double major, agreed that the program would benefit from some growth but was concerned about losing sight of what makes the honors program special. “I love the classes that honors currently offers but I think there’s room to expand,” Sohl said. “I think it’s important also that we don’t lose focus in that expansion. The core of honors is that – if you stay with it – you’re going to read a lot of really great books and you’re going to learn a lot of things that you wouldn’t learn anywhere else really.”
The word “book” may seem stale or boring to some, but to Sandra Kroupa, books are everything but that. In fact, the books she accumulated over the 47 years as a book arts and rare book collector are nothing like traditional books. The books she brought in to display at Wilson Library’s Special Collections room all stood apart from each other. Many of the books didn’t appear to be books at all, but rather appeared to be more aesthetically artistic, yet stayed compelling in the writings. Kroupa said in her presentation on Tuesday, April 7, that the artists’ books can do a myriad of things, from changing your mood to making you feel certain ways. Each book in Kroupa’s collection is a unique masterpiece artistically created by many authors and artists around the world. Kroupa said she seeks to acquire books that will fit in her collection rather than adding books that she found to be good. A few of the different types of books Kroupa showed included books written on individual matches in a matchbook, books that looked like accordions, books that could be played like a board game, political playing-card books, Holocaust-feeling books and even books that looked like like various objects, like a box of white crayons. Conner Celli, sophomore, said he expected a presentation on old books from the 1600’s, but what he saw wasn’t even close. “I was surprised by how unique these books were and how interactive they were,” Celli said. “There’s more to a book than I assumed and there’s more than one way to create a book. It’s not just paper and a cover, it’s put it on a match and pull off a match and create a book.” Grace Sutherland, sophomore, said she was prepared to not care about Kroupa’s collection, but actually found it interesting. “In this day and age, with everything being digitized, there’s something about a physical book that can’t be replicated with a digital version,” Sutherland said. “I think especially with these books, there’s really no other way to do it except for just seeing [the book] in person, in its physical form.” Sutherland said she was also surprised to see the unique collection and even recommends checking out the books. “I didn’t even know these art books were a thing before this class, so I think [the collection] is really important because it’s a whole other way to think about books,” Sutherland said.
This year marked a record number of students applying to Western for next year, with significant increases in applications from first-generation college students and students of color.
Solutions by The State News
