The Vancougar, Issue 12, Pages 1-2-3

sue: Undergraduate

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From the President

Building

Delta Drywall’s take on the picketers from Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters

Peter Sterr goes over amendments that may be taking place on our campus

ASWSUV’s free bowling night was a fun event for those that were involved

Page 4

Page 11

Washington State University Vancouver

Vancouver AWARE Network

Bowling Night Pictures

February 23, 2009

WSU-V launches new threat assessment response plan to address concerns

Page 4

Issue 12

Page 5

Meet The Candidate Student Body candidates share some information about their campaigns

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www.vancougar.com

Mary Firstenburg leaves behind a legacy Remarkable philanthropist passes away after decades of service to her community By Greg Zschomler The VanCougar

WSU-V supporter and philanthropist Mary Firstenburg died last Tuesday, February 17, at the age of 91. She is survived by her husband and co-contributor, Ed and their three children. Ed and Mary Firstenburg donated half a million dollars to WSU-V for the construction of the Firstenburg Family Fountain in the courtyard and another one million dollars for the remodel of the student commons (formerly housing The Bookie). “This is a permanent legacy for the Firstenburg family and for WSU Vancouver,” said Chancellor Hal Dengerink back when the gift was announced. “The Firstenburg Student Commons will provide a much needed space on campus for students. We are truly grateful to the Firstenburgs and the Community Foundation for their generosity.” The Firstenburg Student Commons—often referred to as the Firstenburg, FSC or simply the Commons—plays an important part in student life on campus. Peter Sterr,

ASWSUV president represents the student body stating, “The Firstenburgs’ generous contribution to WSU Vancouver that made the Firstenburg Student Commons a reality has greatly influenced the student culture on our campus.” “The Commons,” said Sterr, “will forever stand as a memory of the care and commitment that Mary and Ed Firstenburg have shown to this community. They have truly been a shining example of compassionate philanthropy and role models to all of us that strive to give back to our communities. Mary Firstenburg will be missed.” “We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Mary Firstenburg,” said Jennifer Crooks, Director of Campus and Regional Development. “Our hearts go out to Ed and the rest of the family.” “Ed and Mary have made a huge footprint on the growth of WSU Vancouver by providing gifts to draw students and the community together,” said Crooks. “Ed and Mary’s support of education has been remarkable and their contributions have supported the campus so that Vancouver would have

a stronger educational opportunity for students. Our community is better because of all the support that the Firstenburg’s have provided—which is threaded through all facets of the

community.” Chancellor, Hal Dengerink said that they have been very generous

with their money in benefiting WSUV. “They have also demonstrated that for their bank to thrive so must the community that they live and work in,” said Dengerink adding that the same was true for WSU-V. Mary served on the board of directors of the First Independent Bank for over 40 years. Her husband Ed served as the chairman. In addition to funding the WSU-V Firstenburg Student Commons Building and the campus Firstenburg Family Fountain they have given significant gifts to other Clark County projects. According to the Columbian, Mary Firstenburg had planned to become a missionary before meeting and marrying Ed Firstenburg in 1936. They were married 72 years and lived in Ridgefield, WA. for close to 40 years. Mary Firstenburg gave considerably of her time to the community, helping found the Ridgefield Library and was active in PTA, scouting, the VA and other organizations. Her gifts and spirit have significantly touched the region. Perhaps she was a missionary after all.

High school students tour campus at MOSAIC changed, the acronym is no less true now, than when MOSAIC wasn’t even intended for high school students. By Joe Creager The VanCougar For instance, at this session, unlike other sessions, each visiting high MOSAIC, which stands for Meet school student received a college Our Students and Investigate College, buddy. When I arrived, I found is a college outreach program currently the incoming high school students headed by Assistant Director for anxiously lined up outside of the Student Diversity Bola Majekobaje and auditorium in the Administration Admissions Counselor Mike Reyes. Building. They have partnered with Gear Up for They were nervous, timid, and College and together comprise a group clearly out of their comfort zone. of people who are very dedicated to They slowly trickled through the getting students to go on to higher door and into the auditorium. education at the University level. When a number was called, a “MOSAIC brings in a very diverse corresponding college buddy stood group of students,” said Majekobaje. up and fl agged the high schooler The participating high schools were down. selected based After each on student body “Changes are coming. Change student got demographics and a chance to can be scary, change can be the percentage meet his or Needs caption of students on mysterious, change can also her college free and reduced the where it was hardly frowned upon to lunch. While be amazingly wonderful...” buddy, Keynote speaker, be a racist. diverse, the Lizarraga says, “Changes are students selected from these schools Jorge Lizarraga came on stage. In the share some common ground. Those spirit of the current political theme, he coming, change can be scary, change can be mysterious, change can also selected are either low income or first spoke about change. Lizarraga started by telling about his be amazingly wonderful, it can be a generation students, although most importantly, they all want to attend youth. He said, “The idea of one group fantastic opportunity.” being inferior and another superior, He ended his speech telling the college. The name MOSAIC was inherited was something that permeated all of students about the kind of things by Majekobaje and Reyes when the our lives growing up in this country.” that college allows them to do. He project was handed to them. Now, the He said that during his youth, bi- explained that college creates options name has taken on a new meaning, lingual students were hit for speaking that wouldn’t otherwise be available. and has come to represent small pieces Spanish at school, and placed in Lizarraga encouraged students to take coming together to make the bigger special education programs simply advantage of change, to seek it, and to picture. That picture is access to higher because they did not know English. thrive from it. After the Keynote speech was education. Although the meaning has In general, he painted a picture of a far less accommodating America, one delivered, the visitors were given an

Photo by Joe Creager

College outreach program aids students for future

opportunity to interview their college buddies to get to know them better. By now, even the most nervous of the newcomers had begun to loosen up, and by the end everyone seemed to be laughing, smiling, and generally having a good time. After the buddy interviews had been conducted, it was time to go face the day. The rest of the event was comprised of three sessions in which students had an opportunity to choose from a variety of workshops that served to give them knowledge about attending college, and an opportunity to broaden their horizons. ConTInueD on Page 8

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EDITORIAL

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Mermaid Music: a hidden treasure on Main Street A few weeks ago, my roommate Kendal Mantzke and I were walking around downtown Vancouver. We stopped in this small record shop to see what it was about it. Mermaid Music, on Main Street, is definitely eye catching. Covering every wall inside is airbrushed artwork of an underwater scene including whales, mermaids, bright shells and seaweed. This airbrushed paint job was done by the owner’s family member who happens to also work for Disney. Not only are the walls a lot to look at, but you could spend hours in Mermaid Music going through the mass amounts of used CD’s, movies, vinyls, tapes and DVD’s. Mermaid Music has been running for 16 years

with Brian Wassman and his son, Michael, operating the business. These two know a thing about keeping a small business alive and it all comes down to giving the customers what they want. Local bands are often featured in the store so that customers get a music venue type feeling from the place. Kendal and I were able to find many of our favorite old-school movies such as ‘3 Ninjas,’ ‘The Truman Show’, and ‘A League of Their Own.’ We asked Michael if he had ‘Dirty Dancing’ amongst the other hundreds of DVD’s they own. Although it wasn’t available at the time, he messaged us on myspace to let us know when it came in. With customer service like that, why would you buy movies anywhere else? Stop by the store at 2312 Main Street or visit them at myspace.com/ mermaidmusicstore.

“There ain’t no spiders in here.” “Look! There’s a giant spider web over there in the corner.” Like most commonly used words ending in –phobia, arachnophobia affects a large portion of the population, and seems ridiculous to people who don’t suffer the same ailment. Of course, a much larger portion of people who dislike spiders don’t in fact suffer from the irrational fear. A serious case of arachnophobia is much different than someone who simply doesn’t like spiders. Arachnophobia can dictate where someone chooses to live, go on vacation, work, or what sports and hobbies they enjoy. When a person who is truly afraid of spiders walks into a room that could possibly have spiders in it, they sweat, start breathing faster, or even experience nausea

and dizziness. However, an “irrational fear” such as this does not infer a cowardly or otherwise weak mind; Indiana Jones, anyone? Often, arachnophobia is caused by an incident earlier in life involving spiders. For younger people, spiders are considered to be just another interesting part of the world, with the majority of serious sufferers middle aged or older. As with any kind of fear, the most effective treatment is familiarity through education and experience. If you can read the word “spider” without getting squeamish, think about the image of one— eight legs, a bunch of eyes, crazy-fast movements, web-spinning, and—have you stopped reading yet? If not, then education is a pretty safe bet. Get on Wikipedia and learn all you can about them. Maybe the next time you run into one you’ll be less afraid.

February 23, 2009

OPINION

The Sluice Box Witness: An Immortal Book for a Mortal Time By Matt Hunter The VanCougar

Some time ago, I was listening to a lecture about the teaching of history. “Up until recently,” said the professor, “we focused on dead white men in history, but we are beginning to abandon this in favor of the study of the people of the time.” “Dead white men” is a phrase I hear fairly regularly these days. It is often used in such contexts as this: “instead of studying these dead white men, let’s study _____.” This blank is usually filled with a progressive, cool-sounding phrase such as “women during the Depression,” “family systems in 18th century Congo” and “egalitarianism among Amazonian tribes.” The implication is that there is something wrong with the way history has been taught up to this point. The basic argument is that we should know

as much about the village life of a Yanomamo warrior as we do about the work of Plato, Napoleon, George Washington, or Shakespeare. Instead of focusing on the rich and powerful, we should focus on the poor, the disenfranchised and minorities. All well and good. It’s fantastic to have an understanding of the everyday life of a 20th century Chinese farmer as well as an understanding of the key players during the Cold War. Nevertheless, an educator will always run into the problem of limitations: what should we teach our students with the limited time and energy that we have? And this is where modern educators run into a dilemma. No matter what sort of program they develop, they will always be leaving out some perspective and thus will be betraying their nonpartisan multicultural stance. Thus, by the time students reach college, the assumption is that they have been taught all of the traditional “dead white men” and can now be introduced to other traditions and

globally is very much indicative of warming.” The WMO added that 2008 is “likely to rank as the 10th warmest year on record since the beginning of the instrumental What’s your issue? climate records in 1850” (http://www. wmo.int/pages/index_en.html). By Louise Wynn EOS, an American Geophysical Union The VanCougar publication (http://www.agu.org/pubs/ I mentioned last time that there are eos), reported last month that the more some things we can do about global warm- people know about climatology, the more ing. I’d like to start with one of the most they agree that anthropogenic global obvious, and the easiest: not lying about warming is a fact. I have to believe that it. I don’t object to honest differences of people like George Will who keep denyopinion about the causes and possible so- ing the idea are motivated by something lutions to the problem, but it bothers me to other than the search for truth, especially read outright lies reported by mainstream when they resort to lies to support their asnews media. The Washington Post made sertions. If you want to know more about the mistake in its Feb. 15 issue of not the politics of denial of this issue, read Al checking an assertion made by conserva- Gore’s “The Assault on Reason,” or just tive columnist George Will, who claimed take a glance at his Web page (http://www. that the University of Illinois’ Arctic Cli- algore.com/). But, back to where we started: What mate Research Center thinks global sea can we---you and I---do about global cliice levels are the same now as they were mate change? There 30 years ago. The Center responded im“If you don’t think are a lot of things individuals mediately: you’re contributing that can do. You’ve al“We do not know that much to global ready heard some: where George Will turn down the heat, warming...try is getting his information, but our data calculating your yearly carbon don’t use the AC, replace your inshows that on Februdioxide output..” candescent light ary 15, 1979, global bulbs with compact sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, fluorescent light bulbs, clean your furnace global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. filters, take shorter showers with cooler km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are water, wash your clothes with cold water, 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 use energy-efficient appliances, walk or than in February 1979. This decrease in ride your bike to work/school (not possea ice area is roughly equal to the area sible for everyone in this area, I know), of Texas, California, and Oklahoma com- work from home when you can, plant bined. It is disturbing that the Washing- your own garden and fertilize it with comton Post would publish such information post from kitchen scraps, and recycle. A without first checking the facts.” The list including these, and more, is available Center’s Web site (http://arctic.atmos. at http://www.nativeenergy.com/pages/ uiuc.edu/cryosphere/) includes a fascinat- more_you_can_do/18.php. A great thing ing animation of the recent loss of multi- about these suggestions is that they also save you money, while letting you feel year sea ice. Will also misquoted a report by the virtuous about helping the planet. If you don’t think you’re contributing United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He claimed the that much to global warming as an indiWMO says there has been “no recorded vidual, try calculating your yearly carbon global warming for more than a decade.” dioxide output. One Web site that helps In fact, the WMO wrote in 2008, “For de- you do this is http://www.climatecrisis. tecting climate change you should not look net/takeaction/carboncalculator/. The avat any particular year, but instead examine erage for U.S. citizens is about 7.5 tons of the trends over a sufficiently long period carbon dioxide per year, and I found out of time. The current trend of temperature I’m above that. But I’m working on it.

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perspectives. This assumption is inherently flawed. As a rule, the K-12 system fails spectacularly to introduce students to the dead white men, largely because these educators are also interested in introducing students to other traditions and perspectives. Thus, high school students leave high school with a collection of facts about colonialism, American slavery and women’s suffrage but with essentially no knowledge of Shakespeare or

“No matter what sort of program [modern educators] develop, they will always be leaving out some perspective...“ Voltaire. “That’s fine,” you say. “We’ve had enough of the dead white men for a while.” Ah, but this is a naïve perspective. For example, any Englishspeaking person with no knowledge of Shakespeare is intellectually impoverished. To read Hamlet is to realize how much of our daily language and thought is indebted to Shakespeare. To not know Shakespeare is to separate

oneself from 400 years of English thought. In the same way, Voltaire’s sneers are essential to understanding the French Revolution: an event that has influenced every revolution in Latin America and Europe since. It is an understatement to say ideas matter. They have the power to kill hundreds of millions of people and the power to raise the standard of living for the same number. They have the power to tear down rainforests and the power to preserve the environment. In the words of Russell Kirk, “modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see further than their ancestors only because of the great stature of those who have preceded us in time.” While it is all very well to study the poor and disenfranchised, we neglect the dead white men at our peril. For their ideas made history and the line that separates history from modern dilemmas is insignificant. To not know the movers and shakers of history is to jump from the shoulders of the giant and make our way blindly in a dangerous world.

Man on the Street

What are you looking for in a candidate for the campus elections? By Jake Kleinschmidt The VanCougar

Davin Crow Public Administration

“More responsibility of the spending of the student funds, I want the first two days of the semester to be free parking.”

Marianne Bash Library

“I look for someone who is willing to work on behalf the student body, while taking into consideration the needs and limits of a college campus.”

Michael Bradley MIS/Marketing

“Concentrate more on what’s going on within the school. More activates whether it’s concerts or stuff that’s local. So stuff that we don’t have to go to Pullman for.”

Cara Cottingham DTC

“I want them to think about all students, including smokers. And think about diversity overall, and get out into the community and associate all. Basically be down to earth good listeners.”

Roxanne Doenecke Education

“I would like to see someone with strong leadership qualities, who’s communication skills are excellent who has the interest of the student body especially out in front as a goal, who’s listens to the students to what their desires are on campus, and he or she needs to encourage students to be honest to insure the quality of learning they are receiving on campus.”

Kathleen Delinger Biology

“Practicality, I want them to allocate budget items to what we actually need at WSU-V. I don’t have that much time for frivolous activities. Some of the things they have done in the past though have been interesting.”