September 7, 2017
VanCougar THE
Vol. 28 Issue 2
Tech-fee-funded projects in the future p. 3
Letter from the Managing Editor p. 6
State budget delays campus project p. 11
Photo courtesy of Zeke Estes
Contents 3
IT EXPLAINS ITS RECENT PROJECTS
Learn how Wi-Fi changed over the past year. Plus, get the latest scoop on what’s happening with the new techonology fee.
5 WASHINGTON’S NEW DISTRACTED-DRIVING LAW
Can you really get ticketed just for eating while driving? Learn what the law actually is and how it affects you.
6 Letter from the Managing Editor
Steven Cooper, The VanCougar’s 2017-2018 managing editor, introduces himself.
7
Week of Welcome
View some snapshots of what’s happend since the start of classes.
9 Social Justice Deserves Refocus A student gives his take on current social justice trends
11 State Capital Budget in Limbo
Learn how the hold-up in Olympia is affecting a project on this campus.
13 Education Policy
Learn what a state representative and our campus chancellor have to say.
VanCougar THE
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rachel Wilson
WEB AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Chuck Mitchell
MANAGING EDITOR Steven Cooper
ADVERTISING MANAGER Catherine Chaisson
LAYOUT EDITOR Chuck Mitchell
PHOTOGRAPHER Zeke Estes
TEAM EDITORS Andrew Hanchett Quetzali Ramirez REPORTERS Amanda Flynn Jordan Stevenson
THE SKINNY: What’s going down on campus
9/07 Academic Open House - Business 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. in Classroom Building, Room 218
9/10 The Source-Indoor Rock Climbing 6-8 p.m. Sign up at the Recreation Annex before Sept. 7 9/12 Lecture: History of Immigration noon - 1:15 p.m. in Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110 9/12 Academic Open House - Education 3 - 4 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Undergraduate Building Mission Statement: The VanCougar is a student-run newspaper serving the students, facility, and staff of WSU Vancouver. The VanCougar is available at distribution sites in the lobbies of most WSU Vancouver buildings The VanCougar may be viewed online at thevancougar.com Correction Policy: It is the policy of The VanCougar to correct errors. Please contact the editor via email at van.vancouged@wsu.edu Letters to the Editor: The VanCougar welcomes brief letters (250 words or fewer) from members of the WSU Vancouver community on current issues. Letters must include the author’s full name, contact information, and WSU affiliation: year and major for students, department for faculty and staff, degree and year graduated for alumni. The VanCougar does not publish anonymous letters. Letters and suggestions may be emailed to van.vancouged@wsu.edu
9/13 Global Learning Fair (Study Abroad Programs) 10:30 - 2 p.m. at Firsten burg Family Fountain 9/13 Academic Open House Engineering and Computer Science 4:30 - 6 p.m. in Science and Engineering Building, Rooms 325 and 327 9/14 Academic Open House - Arts and Sciences, 3 - 4 p.m. on the first floor of the Science and Engineering Building 9/18 Open House - Human Development 11:10 - 12:30 p.m. in McClaskey Building, Room 205
3
IT EXPLAINS ITS RECENT PROJECTS Tech fee likely next on the list
If the internet goes down on the Vancouver campus, many services come to a standstill. The campus would lose its public website and the ability to use Blackboard or myWSU. The campus phones wouldn’t work—even for 911 calling. Last May the campus lost its primary internet connection for 27 hours in the middle of the week, but none of those things happened. “Last year the Chancellor’s office approved funding for second network connection to the campus,” explained Washington State University Vancouver Chief Information Officer Michael Stamper. “Just like you have an internet provider for your home internet, this is like adding a second one. We did it for redundancy to have better stability in our network.” The second network was fully enabled March. During the May outage, it kept the campus running as normal. The second network is only one of several projects the IT Department has implemented in the last year.
One of the IT’s most noticeable projects during the last year has been improving how students access Wi-Fi on campus. “In January we rolled out a new published Wi-Fi network called WSU Wireless,” said Stamper. “This is the same name and Wi-Fi network that is at all of the WSU campuses. For the first time ever in the history of WSU we have the same onboarding process. If you were to go to Pullman after logging in here, it would automatically recognize you after arriving in Pullman.” Prior to the new system, students were supposed to use a network called WSUV WI-FI that had a more complicated and labors access process. Students had to first log on to the other guest network to download a certificate. Now it’s as simple as entering your network ID and password, explained Stamper. The new system provides security comparable to a password protected home Wi-Fi network, he said. Despite the major upgrade, Stamper says the department is nowhere near stopping work on Wi-
Fi. “I don’t think Wi-Fi is ever going to be done—at least not for many years,” he said. The IT Department is currently working to expand and improve WiFi on campus. “Pretty much all the Wi-Fi we have is technology that is from a few years ago,” Stamper said. A few months ago the campus hired Infrastructure Services Manager Mac Mintz. According to Stamper, one of his primary responsibilities is helping develop short and long-term plans for the network. Among other topics the plan will include proposals dealing with fiber between buildings, the speed of the connection to campus and the access points around campus. “In the spring and the summer our infrastructure services team was doing an analysis of the coverage,” said Stamper. The team moved and added access points in some areas to improve the reach of Wi-Fi. Stamper said his department has recently been using temporary solutions to meet the increased network demand during large campus events. During the solar eclipse, IT added temporary access points for the people in The Quad. “During the eclipse, we had 1,400 Wi-Fi connections on four access points,” said Stamper.
Technology Fee Continues to Develop
Photo courtesy of Steven Cooper
During spring semester of last year, Associated Students of Washington State University Vancouver Senate passed a resolution authorizing a new technology fee to fund technology improvements on campus. This semester it was accessed at $20 for every fulltime undergrad-
uate student. According to Stamper, the IT Department will likely be assisting with the implementation of projects funded by the fee in the coming year. According to ASWSUV President Jose Scott, the Executive Department is currently in the process of helping put together a committee that will decide how the tech fee funds are spent. In addition to Michael Stamper, the committee will consist of four students, one faculty member, and one student affairs representative. “Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Nancy Youlden will likely be our Student Affairs representative,” said Scott. For the faculty member, Scott says they will most likely select someone from Faculty Senate. When they select the four students, Scott said they will be looking for “differing perspectives.” That means at least some students on the committee will be students not serving in student government, he said. Scott said his department is currently creating a pool of potential candidates, which they will then send to Chancellor Mel Netzhammer sometime before September 15 for selection and approval. The Senate resolution gives the chancellor appointment power for the committee, explained Scott. Once the committee is approved, it will meet and begin planning allocations for fall projects, said Scott. No part of student government—including Senate—can dictate which projects to fund. The technology fee committee will have full discretion over allocation. The committee will have to move faster, however, because allocations for fall semester have to be presented for final approval to the WSUV Board of Regents by the end of October, said Scott.
Photo courtesy of Steven Cooper
Because the committee isn’t fully formed yet, Scott said he isn’t certain exactly when and how the committee will allocate funds for spring, but it may be at the end of fall semester. Sometime during this entire process, Scott said Senate will be reviewing the original resolution authorizing the tech fee to clarify how it should be implemented. “The Senate resolution will be more logistical than specific to how funds will be spent. It will address basic policy questions like who pays and who benefits,” explained Scott. Whatever clarifying resolution Senate passes will likely apply to the Tech Fee Committee starting in spring. After this year, the Tech Fee Committee will follow the same schedule as the Student Services and Activities Fee Committee and allocate funds for fall during the previous spring. It is a unique situation this year, explained Scott, because for this one time the committee will allocate funds for fall during fall semester.
Scott also cautioned that it’s important not to confuse the tech fee with S&A fees. Both are fees accessed to students, but the tech fee is separate. Unlike S&A fees it can be spent for academic as well as non-academic needs, explained Scott. Scott said he doesn’t want to speculate on which projects the committee will decide to spend funds because ultimately the decision is not up to him. However, he said he does know the committee will give a lot of weight to student surveys which, among other things, have shown that printing is one service students want improved. Ultimately, there are numerous areas in which in which the committee might decide to invest and we’ll have wait to see what the committee decides, said Scott. By: Steven Cooper
5
The VanCougar has identified accidental plagiarism in the piece below. To view our corrections, please see issue 4 published on Oct. 9, 2017 at https://issuu.com/thevancougar/docs/issue_4_d7885ab9a092d9
WASHINGTON’S NEW DISTRACTED-DRIVING LAW
The state’s laws are becoming stricter when it comes to technology On July 23, Washington state’s newest distracted-driving law went into effect in an attempt to reach target zero. According to Washington Traffic Safety Commission, “Washington aims to end traffic deaths and serious injury by the year 2030.” As of 2016, Washington was nowhere near this goal. According to Washington State Department of Transportation, distraction was involved in over 12,300 crashes statewide in 2016, 79 of which were fatal. Cellphone use was specifically linked to more than 700 of those crashes. Last year, 22,300 drivers were examined by the traffic commission at more than 300 different intersections, and research found that 9.2 percent of drivers were distracted in some form, and 5.6 percent were distracted by a phone. Governor Jay Inslee signed the new law on May 16 to include
more actions that are no longer allowed behind the wheel, including taking pictures, retrieving information, texting, and watching videos, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The biggest change is that you can no longer hold an electronic device while operating a vehicle—even when the vehicle is stopped. Previously, the law did not necessarily ban texting while stopped at a traffic light; the law was previously meant to stop phones from being held at the ear. While these changes may seem strict, there are a few exceptions. Drivers are still allowed to use their phone is they are contacting 911 or another emergency service, if they are parked outside of the flow of traffic, or starting a GPS or music before a trip. Bluetoothis still OK, and so is starting a device with a single touch. So what’s the cost if you’re
caught using a device behind the wheel? The first ticket for a distracted-driving offence, if electronic devices are involved, will cost at least $136. Per infraction, the cost will increase. A second ticket within five years of the first will run at $234. What hasn’t changed is that drivers who are eating, drinking, smoking, reading, or doing their makeup in a way that interferes with driving could see a secondary $99 ticket. In addition to these fines, driver’s insurance companies will now be alerted of infractions related to cell phone use, which was not done under the previous law. With new technology emerging, applications such as Snapchat and Instagram have become more heavily used than texting and calling on cellphones. Until last month, no laws had been put in place to curb the use of such applications while behind the wheel. While there has been a lot of controversy and confusion over this new law lately, it’s simpler than it seems. The Driving Under the Influence of Electronics Act is focused on one thing: safety. Yes, you can still drink your pumpkin spice latte while driving, but as soon as you start swerving while drinking your Starbucks, that’s when you could face some serious fines. But please, put Snapchat away—the selfies can wait. By: Rachel Wilson
Photo courtesy of pexels.com
Photo courtesy of Zeke Estes
Letter from the Managing Editor On my first day of class in fall 2016, I picked up a copy of The VanCougar. That was the start of a routine, and every two weeks I’d pick up a new copy on my way in the library to study. I really appreciated the ability to stay informed about campus events, projects, and policies. Last spring when I heard the managing editor position was open, I instantly recognized the role I could play here at The VanCougar. Since I began last May, I’ve worked with Editor in Chief Rachel Wilson to revamp The VanCougar’s presence on campus, and I firmly believe that this will be the best year The VanCougar will have had to date. I’m a 21-year-old senior on track to graduate in May. After graduation, I’m attending law school on my path to becoming a lawyer. I’m taking the Law School Admissions test on September 16th, and after that, I’ll have a better idea of the schools to which I want to apply. Don’t ask me what type of lawyer I’m going to be—I don’t know. I find most areas of legal field interesting including
business law, civil procedure, and constitutional law. My interest in the law began in high school when I competed in speech in debate. I became somewhat attracted to the speech part of it, but what really excited me was the ability to practice logic, reasoning, and critical thinking. I enjoy structuring arguments and using deductive reasoning to determine truth or the validity of a position. It may be somewhat idealistic, but the legal system’s focus on logic and reasoning is what has led me down my educational and career path. It’s also what excites me about journalism. I transferred here from Clark College, and while there I worked for four quarters at the school newspaper. I quickly realized that in many ways, true journalism practices a similar search for the truth. As journalists, we’re tasked with accurately reporting what goes on in the world. Sometimes it’s not easy to determine what is happening and that is when we have to put in the time and effort to find the infor-
mation readers need. As a student news publication, we have a limited number of topics on which we report, but I still wish to promote that same integrity and search for truth within our organization. Part of the way The VanCougar intends to do that this year is by informing students of campus policies and projects. In this issue, you’ll read stories on everything from a new technology fee to how legislative decisions at a state level are affecting campus. It is my hope that you come to rely on us as a reliable and accurate source for information that affects you as a student. As a school without any on-campus housing, I feel that some students struggle to stay informed about campus policies and many are not connected to the campus community. Associated Students of Washington State University Vancouver President Jose Scott and Vice President Naomi Grande campaigned last year on a promise to incorporate student feedback and participation into their administration. That can be difficult if students themselves are unaware of campus policies and projects. My goal is to help bridge that disconnect. Throughout the year we also plan to incorporate student feedback. Our new magazine-style format is in part a result of feedback from students. In the next week or two, our website thevancougar.com will also receive a makeover. If you have information on a potential story, if you want to correct a mistake in an issue, or if you just want to know more about what we do, don’t hesitate to send me an email at van.vancougme@wsu.edu. I’m always happy when people on campus interact with us. I’ll see you around campus! Steven Cooper Managing Editor 2017 – 2018
7
SNAP SHOTS OF THE FIRST TWO WEEKS IT reported 1,400 WiFi connections during the eclipse
Students enjoy games at the back to school barbecue
Photo courtesy of: Pixabay
THE LINE FOR ECLIPSE GLASSES STRETCHED ACROSS THE QUAD
MORE FUN AT THE BARBECUE
PEOPLE ENJOYED ICE CREAM AT THE VANCOUGAR’S “GET THE SCOOP”
Photos courtesy of Zeke Estes
9
SOCIAL JUSTICE DESERVES REFOCUS
A Student Gives His Take on Current Social Justice Trends
On the first day of classes this semester I was picking up my Timber’s tickets at the Office of Student Involvement desk. As I was filling out the form, a student walked up to the desk and asked the girl behind the desk whether the university added new gender neutral bathrooms on campus. The girl, along with her supervisor, struggled to provide an answer to the question. “This campus makes me more and more uncomfortable,” the student said as they walked away in frustration. Today university campuses are powerful cultural drivers. In an incident that occurred a couple of years ago, the football team at University of Missouri threatened to boycott all football related activities until the University President, Tim Wolfe, resigned, accusing him of mishandling several racially charged incidents on campus. The president did resign two days later. Last February, the administration at the University of California, Berkeley cancelled a an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos two hours before the event was set
to begin. Protests of the speaker caused $100,000 worth of damage, according to CNN. Anne Coulter’s speech last April was also cancelled due to safety concerns. The campus in Berkeley has witnessed recurring clashers of extremist groups from the far right and the far left. Last June and closer to home, in Olympia, organizers of an equity event at Evergreen State College called for white students to leave campus for a day. The event was challenged by a professor who cited free speech concerns and was promptly labeled a racist. Thousands took over the administration building and made demands of college president George Bridges to improve equity measures. These issues did not bypass Washington State University either. Former WSU College Republicans President James Allsup resigned after being exposed as one of the participants of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Even though WSU president Kirk Schulz condemned racism and Fascism via Twitter and university-wide email, in my Twitter feed I still find criticism directed at the president Schulz for not doing enough to prevent similar occurrences. On Aug. 31, The Daily Evergreen, WSU’s student newspaper in Pullman, reported that “multicultural student organization leaders” met with President Schulz and made demands for improving “campus climate, multicultural programs and representation of minority communities.” Chijioke Emeka, president of the Black Student Union, said that the administration cannot remain silent on these issues and
that the students are “tired of being ignored and will no longer stand for it.” It is important to note that President Schulz will not likely follow the path of Tim Wolfe--he said the requests made by student leaders “are reasonable.” Schulz also assured the students that his administration is working to come up with a satisfactory policy to clarify the line between hate speech and free speech. Students, however, don’t come up with these demands on their own. In our classrooms, we are taught to resist oppression in any way possible and to expect that our demands will be met. And social justice is frequently used as leverage or a bargaining card that is seldom argued or trumped. Opposition, no matter how reasonable, to anything framed as of social justice, is often labeled as an expression of bigotry and hatred. Here I want to make a disclaimer and say that in no way to I seek to endorse any form of racism or injustice. Establishing social justice is extremely important and can be very powerful in its proper context. However, on American college campuses social justice has become the ultimate moral standard. In nearly every class or campus event there is a discussion about how it is important to invest resources into the campus climate, to hire diverse staff, admit minority students and improve or implement diversity training for faculty and first-year students. In one of my English classes dedicated to literary theory I found myself discussing whether the US Women’s Nation-
al Soccer team should be paid as much as the Men’s team and writing a paper about how Disney misrepresents the the Native population. It is important to maintain an open and accepting environment on campus, but not at the cost of academics. Unfortunately, there is very little discussion on what the university can do to attract qualified faculty or how to improve instruction. In my opinion, the conversation needs to shift from what students need to feel comfortable, to what students need so that they can develop competitive job skills, enduring values, and most importantly, character. I sometimes wonder why no one brings up the issue of character and the importance of qualities such as integrity, perseverance and responsibility. Students shouldn’t be told that the society must kneel before them. Instead, they need to be provided with the ability to navigate a world that is full of pain and unmet expectations. Merely stating that ideologies such as fascism or communism are bad is not enough. The discussion must go deeper. Students need to be taught the bloody lessons of those ideologies and learn to think critically about why they don’t work. And most importantly, they need to be given the space to make their own conclusions and be responsible for them. As a rule in our classes, ideas related to social justice are presented as statements that are not to be disputed. But that’s counterproductive. The battle must first be fought on the inside, in the hearts and minds, and not through a sweeping condemnation or schooling of an entire society. Such methods are shades of totalitarianism. By: Andrew Hanchett
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11
STATE CAPITAL BUDGET IN LIMBO N e w C a m pu s B u il di ng wi thout Fundi ng for N o w
This summer, the Washington State Legislature narrowly passed a state operating budget before a state government shutdown, following several months and three special sessions of negotiations. The capital budget, which would have increased funding for construction projects, wildfire prevention, and mental health funding, as well as $1 billion for school buildings and construction, failed to pass the State Senate after weeks of negotiations. The holdup? An obscure Washington State Supreme Court ruling on the use of water. In October 2016, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in what is known as the “Hirst Decision,” stating that in order to comply with the Growth Management Act, water levels for new well construction have to be determined on a county-by-county basis. This means that counties could no longer rely on the State Department of Ecology for water level estimates, but will now have to do their own hydrological evaluations on water levels. Proponents of the Hirst Decision are concerned primarily with the environmental impact of water depletion in rural areas where citizens could previously construct wells without applying for permits on residential properties. Now, some argue that landowners are no longer allowed to construct wells without applying for permits that must be put through a rigorous analysis by the county. As Senator Lynda Wilson of the 17th Legislative District (R), which Washington State University Vancouver sits directly in, puts it, “it creates quite the conundrum for
lenders, as they can’t lend on land that now no longer has a value, and without a fix to the Hirst Decision, will continue to have no value.” Sen. Wilson also said that the decision “renders rural property owners [sic] land worthless in cases where a well is needed on the property.” A secondary concern for Hirst proponents? Native American treaties. A statement issued by the Northwest Treaty Tribes website, a communications arm of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission--or NWIFC--stated that tribes are “open to working with legislators on both sides of the aisle to develop approaches that will protect water for future generations,” but points out that “water is a finite resource.” What does this have to do with the capital budget? Senate Republicans wanted to pass a law reversing the Court’s decision, whereas Democrats were seeking a temporary two-year exemption on the new rules to give them more time to create a long-term compromise for all interested groups. Senate Republicans claimed that two years was not enough time for most well projects to be finished, and banks would not approve loans for projects that would not be legal in two or more years. Multiple sources, including The Water Project and Home Advisor Inc., dispute this claim, stating that a well project should not take more than three days and should cost less than $10,000 to complete -- which, if a new home was being constructed, landowners would likely have the capital built into the loan and timeline already. Representative Monica
Stonier (D) of the 49th Legislative District responded saying “there is a sliver of truth,” and that the Hirst Decision has made lending “unpredictable to determine what the value on the piece of land is,” because land is more valuable if construction is possible. However, she specified that lenders were not actually called to testify on any Senate bills and cited this as a reason why “coming to a conclusion on the Hirst decision will take more time.” Sen. Wilson was quoted by a source as “openly bragging about holding the capital budget hostage” while at an event at the Royal Oaks Country Club on July 19th, hosted by the Building Industry Association and the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. When asked to comment, Wilson responded that even though the Senate passed a Hirst-fix bill four times “House Democrats refused to even hear the bill, even once.” “Her argument is false,” Stonier responded. “The Senate bills were passed without a hearing, and didn’t go through committee. Democrats and Republicans alike would like to see a compromise, but it’s inappropriate to tie that to passing the capital budget.” Stonier elaborated on some of the damage done by the failure of the capital budget by pointing out that it renders the operating budget toothless. “We made significant investments in mental health care in the operating budget, but we can’t deliver those services without capital to provide the literal place and infrastructure.” Additionally, “the WSU Vancouver life science building is high on the priority list for the capital budget,” she said, sighing.
“That’s unfortunate, but that’s what happens when Senate Republicans try to use the whole budget as leverage.” Lorraine Loomis, chair of the NWIFC, concurs on a statement issued by the Northwest Treaty Tribes, saying that, “important water policy decisions should not be made under the pressure of budget negotiations.” All this over a bit of water? As a June 2009 WSU factsheet authored by R. Troy Peters puts it, “Water not only makes life possible, it makes it enjoyable. Although it is difficult to put a direct dollar/gallon value on it, water is extremely valuable. Please don’t waste it.” By: Jordan Stevenson
Graphic courtesy of Jordan Stevenson
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EDUCATION POLICY A look at what our chancellor and a state representative have to say
“Representative Monica Stonier: Photo courtesy of housedemocrats.wa.gov”
Monica Stonier, State Representative for the 49th Legislative District in Vancouver, Washington is an unusual politician. Why? Because her day job is teaching. “My work in the classroom and with teachers keeps me at the heart of implementation, so I have a way to craft policy that will be better implemented on the front end rather than on the back end,” she said, when interviewed this summer on how being a teacher impacts her role as a legislator.
Unfortunately, education policy and adherence to the McCleary decision was not all the representative had hoped for since the capital budget failed to pass the State Senate. K-12 has taken the brunt of the education policy attention, but Washington State University Vancouver students are still an enormous consideration for Stonier. She says students who have been on the waiting list for aid
grants are receiving funding, through the new budget and the “bipartisan effort to fund student need grant” was even higher than in the past. On the subject of the new science building to be built on the WSU Vancouver campus, Stonier admitted that the failure of the capital budget had an impact. She confirmed that the “WSUV science building is high on the priority list for capital budget” but it is unlikely that the budget would pass this year. Washington State University Vancouver Chancellor Mel Netzhammer does not seem worried. At an event, he stated that his “sense is that [the life sciences building] will be approved in December or January,” and implied that he was not concerned about partisan holdups in Olympia. As far as education policy for primary and secondary students, the Chancellor elaborated on the status of outreach, remarking that WSU Vancouver has “great relationships with schools in our area,” and is focused on fostering opportunity and advancement. He cited academic research that finds that lack of skills is only part of why young people don’t attend
college. Part of the problem is that people need to see college as a real possibility for them. The chancellor said that strengthening K-12 education is part of the solution and stated, “there’s evidence that says if students don’t see the possibility for college by sixth grade, then they will never see the possibility.” Stonier alludes to this difficulty, noting that “it’s not been the case for decades that someone who works with kids is making legislation that directly impacts them.” Hopefully, the investments in early education can be realized. Stonier points out that although “significant investments” were made in the operating budget, the state is unable to “deliver services without capital to provide place and infrastructure” for new schools, smaller class sizes, better facilities, and other supportive organization. As far as the chancellor and Stonier are concerned, these investments in early education are key to the future success of post-secondary education. By Jordan Stevenson
“Chancellor Mel Netzhammer: Photo courtesy of Washington State University Vancouver”
Photo courtesy of Zeke Estes