The Observer, Fall 2022 - Issue 4

The win comes home for Wildcats!The win comes home for Wildcats!

Recreation Sports Complex eliminates drop-in hours

Evan Couch News Editor

The start of the 2022 fall quarter brought many new changes to CWU and what campus has to offer for stu dents. The Recreation Sports Complex (RSC) on campus is no exception to these changes.

The complex, which features a running track and a synthetic turf field, is no longer available for student drop-in hours.

The change means that stu dents who are not members of clubs, classes or any recre ation programs that utilize the sports complex are no longer able to use the field for gener al recreational purposes as of right now.

Interim Recreation Director, Michael Montgomery, said there were multiple reasons the department made the deci sion to stop drop-in hours.

Montgomery said the de partment had been gathering usage data of the sports com plex over the past couple quar ters and found that usage was down. Montgomery said there were many times they had staff working the facility with no one using drop-in hours.

grams that are operating at the RSC,” Montgomery said. “It is a shared use facility that recre ation manages, so we still have athletics, PE classes and then ROTC, both Air Force and Army that use it.”

The recreation has set up an alternative for those who do want to use a field for gener al recreation purposes. They have set up alternate fields with lines for football and la crosse at Alder Three to allow for drop-in hours for all stu dents.

“We’ll keep it lined, we’ll rotate lacrosse goals, soc cer goals,” Montgomery said. “That’s our drop-in field for the year.”

According to Montgomery, the alternate fields being used from drop-in hours have no lights so they will be available for daytime use only.

Some students are unaware of the change and have had to find out through other outlets on campus.

CWU awarded silver STARS in sustainability

Megan Rogers Senior Reporter

CWU received silver STARS in sustainability from the Associa tion for the Advancement of Sus tainability in Higher Education (AASHE) on Sept. 16.

The Sustainability Tracking, Rating and Assessment & Rat ing System (STARS) was creat ed for higher education. There are five ratings a university can earn: Reporter, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

To receive a STARS rating, universities must collect data and submit a report. Susan Kaspari, professor of geological science, led the efforts to submit CWU’s report this year.

Kaspari said there were lots of different stakeholders on campus that contributed data to help com plete this report.

“There’s a lot of things that they [STARS] ask of operations related to greenhouse gas emissions and water use,” Kaspari said. “There’s things related to human resources

in terms of equitable pay. What is the difference in your lowest paid employees and your highest paid employees, just in terms of dis crepancy in wealth.”

Kaspari said in the report, the STARS program also asks how the universities are working with the community, state or on the federal level to promote sustainability.

Combine that with the low enrollment numbers and in crease in minimum wage, the department was forced to shift focus on the program’s usage of the field and track, accord ing to Montgomery.

“With the increase in min imum wage and other stuff, the decision had to be made to stop drop-in hours and just be about the programs,” Mont gomery said.

Having no more drop-in hours for students means that the programs that use the field currently are the RSC’s main focus.

“We had to switch to being more geared around the pro

Vice President of CWU’s club baseball team, Colby Da vis, said he found out from hearing it within the club pro gram. Davis said not allowing drop-in hours has a big impact on students.

“Some people I know, if they want to work out, they don’t want to go to the gym be cause it’s always packed,” Da vis said. “I know people who walk around that track and just work out there and now they can’t do that.”

Montgomery said overall they are trying to work within their budget and match usage of the field to the cost of run ning the field.

Although the changes are set for now, Montgomery said he wants to revisit the decision in the future and find ways to bring back drop-in hours for the RSC.

Ellensburg School District issues vote of no confidence for superintendent

Kat Cardenas Staff Reporter

The Ellensburg School District issued a no confidence vote con cerning superintendent, Jinger Haberer.

The concern arose due to several major points that were presented by the Ellensburg Ed ucation Association (EEA) in late September. The concerns included school day start time

and school day end times, atten dance zones and confusion with the maximum amount of paper copies teachers can make for their classroom.

According to a recent arti cle published by the Daily Re cord, the start and end time has changed every year for the last three years. The article also stated the number of paper cop ies allowed to staff personnel is only a concern to decrease the

amount used and cost overall.

“Attendance zones and the de toured starts were necessary for multiple reasons including the transportation and our shortage of bus drivers,” Haberer said.

“Some of these decisions were very complex.”

The superintendent addressed the concerns at the next board meeting on Sept. 28, responding to the vote as the first order of business.

“I acknowledge … how hard it was to go through these ma jor changes all in one year,” Ha berer said, addressing the board and referring to many of these changes beginning last school year and still changing this year.

Despite the changes, the board and faculty have congregated closer together to seek a more positive outlook on the matter.

“I see this as an opportunity for growth to strengthen our part

nership with EEA,” Haberer said. “I think one of the positives that was shared with me at this meet ing is that teachers…are overall excited about the work we are doing around professional work ing communities.”

“We’re already brainstorming ways to strengthen that partner ship,” Haberer said. “I’m opti mistic that working together we can really accomplish a lot for kids this year.”

Beyond Our Coverage

Local National Global

The Board of Trustees for CWU will be meeting on Oct. 20-21, according to the Daily Record. The event will be held in the Wellington Event Center and will be open to the public.

Kittitas County Jail received almost $500,000 from the Department of Justice to help with the mental health of inmates, according to the Daily Record.

People gathered in protest outside of Yakima Police Department as they demanded updates on the case of a 4-year-old girl missing since Sept. 10. According to KIMA, protesters held signs saying “We don’t like crickets” and “Did you forget?”

Supreme Court rejects appeal to give American Samoan’s citizenship, accord ing to AP News.

After Hurricane Ian, Lee County in Florida residents are at risk of being in contact with bacteria that can cause dead ly infections, according to CBS News.

President Joe Biden announced the launch of the student loan forgive ness applications on Monday, Oct. 17.

According to CNN, Students who are looking to get up to $20,000 debt relief can now go and apply. Eligible students can apply for the loan forgiveness at Studentaid.gov.

New appointed U.K. Chief of Trea sury Jeremy Hunt was appointed last Friday, according to NBC News. Actions he has taken already included excluding a new tax reduction package that was only introduced weeks ago.

During protests in front of the Chi nese Consulate in Machester, England, a protester was beaten by a group of men that are presumably from the consulate, according to the New York Times.

A military plane crashed into a resi dential area in Yeysk, Russia. According to BBC News, the crashes caused an apartment block to catch on fire which killed at least four people and injured 25.

Clarification

Lead

Last week, I wrote a story about the former ASCWU president Rachael Medalia resigning. I stated that I attempted to contact her without receiving a response prior to publication. We have officially removed this statement from the online story. The original email to Medalia accidentally stayed in the drafts folder instead of sending. This was cleared up with Medalia, and I offered to interview her for a follow-up if she so chooses. At present, she has not accepted the offer.

Jaeda Nelson’s title also should have included her role last spring as former student senator under Rachael as Senate Speaker, and Bianca Sanchez’s title should have been administrative assistant for the student senate, not student senator. These changes have been updated in our online story. We apologize sincerely for these misprints and aim to move forward with transparency.

Thank you and take care,

Eltayeb

Guerra-Burnett

Katherine Camarata Lead Editor

MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL

Jampa Dorje Guest Columnist and Ellensburg Arts Treasure

The Greek word for happiness is “eudaimonia” which literally means a state of “good spirit” and by exten sion, “to flourish,” like an animal in good health; eudaimonia seemed to be achieved through recent local philosophy gatherings.

Philosophy is alive and well in Downtown Ellensburg, as evi denced by the community discus sion event at Hal Holmes Center on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The event was hosted by Dr. David Schwan and was sponsored by the CWU Ethics Lab and Ellensburg Public Library.

I was amazed by people from the town meeting with people from the college in a community setting and discussing ideas relevant to their lives. I might have been in the Sufi Fourth Heaven of Friendship or on the Second Ring of Mercury, where philosophers of the past meet to discuss the perennial questions.

The guest speaker was Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Mi chael Goerger, and the subject of his talk was: “Ancient Greeks on the Good Life.” What might we

learn from the ancient Greek phi losophers about living a good life?

Philosophy can be intimidat ing. There is a professional vo cabulary when talking about the first principles of things, like cause and time and space. This is a branch of philosophy called metaphysics. How do we know anything about these first princi ples? This is called epistemology.

Right off, Dr. Goerger made short work of these mind benders. He pointed out that for the An cient Greeks, the main purpose of philosophical inquiry was to discover what the best life is. The other ques tions were subor dinate to this goal.

Dr. Goerger brought up the shade of Plato, who said (in the Repub lic) that life is not worth living when the soul is

ruined and corrupted and that phi losophy helps us to heal our soul. When Socrates was condemned to death, he claimed that “an un examined life is not worth living” (Apology, 38a5–6) because he be lieved the study of wisdom was the supreme human endeavor.

A man in a short-sleeved striped shirt asked, “Does any of what these old philosophers have to say have relevance today?”

Dr. Goerger respond ed, “Yes, much of what they say is important to re search in mod ern psychology, political science, and sociolo gy because the Greeks believed that philosophy was good for the health of the in dividual as well as the health of the populace.”

He then asked the audience to form small groups at

the tables in the room and to discuss among themselves their ideas about the nature of self-examination. This was exciting. We have been couped up so long in our Covid caves, muf fled by our masks. It was refreshing to converse with a neighbor.

A lady with blue eyeshadow wearing designer jeans said that sometimes you must stop and take stock and that she had battled with alcoholism and sought a spiritu al path. A lady with music in her voice wearing a floral puff-sleeve blouse said some people just go through life doing what they are told, going to work, coming home, and never take time to think about the meaning of life.

A bearded man wearing a light blue slim-fit jacket pointed out that some people just seem to be happy wanderers and others are always down on themselves and feel unful filled. A young man in a gray khaki bib shirt said that he felt he need ed to find a balance between too much self-examination and just enough to clear the cobwebs from his thinking.

DIVERSITYTHE PAGE

Sharing perspectives

Supportingawareness

Zoltan Kaszas shares laughter and mental health awareness

Beau Sansom Staff Reporter

The lights of the SURC theater dimmed as students took their seats.

The brightest light in the room illu minated the stage and built the an ticipation to a boiling point before the room erupted in applause as Zoltan Kaszas took the stage.

The leadup to homecoming weekend continued following the golf cart parade on Oct. 13 with a show from standup comedian Zol tan Kaszas at 8 p.m. later that eve ning.

Kaszas himself began his comedy career at the age of 19. Arriving in the United States from Hungary at the age of four, Kaszas grew up in a trailer park. The comedian recalled that he had always dreamed of be ing a professional wrestler, labeling them as his childhood heroes but admitted there was always evidence that he was meant to be a comedian.

“I was always a fan of comedy, but I didn’t think I could do it,” said Kaszas. “I was 19 and I was gonna have shoulder surgery… I was like I need something to do while my shoulder was in a sling, so I went to an open mic… and it did not go well, but I loved it and it really got me interested in doing standup in stead of just being a fan.”

As a comedian, Kaszas is always looking for new material to incor porate into his routines. Kaszas talked about being hyper aware of what goes on around him during his performance. He made refer ence to various sources of inspira tion he found jokes, including a bit he performed at CWU about the Little League World Series.

“I’m always in my head,” Kaszas said. “That last joke I did about the baseball, I was sitting on a flight, having a drink and watching Lit tle League baseball and I was like what’s the joke here… and then that

kid started doing so bad and I was blown away by his poise.”

Kaszas put on an energetic per formance and engaged with several audience members throughout the show. About halfway through the performance, Kaszas talked about his mental health and his recent ventures in therapy in a post-pan demic world.

“I talked about therapy tonight,” said Kaszas. “Going to therapy … is very intimidating. Maybe there’s someone thinking about going to therapy and maybe my dumb jokes eased their heart into trying it.”

The audience interactions reached their height during the portion of the show focusing on mental health and therapy. At the start of the bit, Kaszas said he had been working on himself during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I really liked the show, it was pretty funny,” fourth year music composition major Sawyer Ro mano said. “I sort of came out on a whim… I didn’t know what to expect going into it but being there and just experiencing it in the mo ment was pretty fun.”

He announced he had been at tending therapy before asking the audience who else attends therapy, a question which got many raised hands and cheers from the audience signifying the trend of continued openness to mental health both on and off campus.

“The last few years we’ve been good at taking stigmas away from mental health,” said Kaszas. “As much as it seems like the world is ending, I think people are getting better in some aspects.”

Kaszas’ therapy bit had the crowd’s attention with jokes and stories thatwere simultaneously humorous and personal. Kaszas kicked off the bit by reminiscing how he came to realize he needed therapy.

Kaszas’ therapy bit had the crowd’s attention with jokes and stories that were simultaneously humorous and personal. Kaszas kicked off the bit by reminiscing how he came to realize he needed therapy.

“I started going to therapy when I made the realization that this, what I’m doing right now, is how I prefer to share my feelings,” said Kaszas. “Once I made that realiza tion I thought, oh, I better run this by somebody.”

The honest delivery of the joke prompted several hollers mixed with the laughter from the crowd. Kaszas later remarked that he pos sessed what he considered to be a healthy level of depression before joking and asking the audience if they’d ever met any overly positive people, which received many raised hands and laughs.

“I have what I like to call a healthy level of depression, just enough to keep me humble and likeable,” said Kaszas. “You ever meet someone who could use a little depression? Just those obnoxiously positive people, ‘carpet diem’, he could use a parking ticket on a rainy day.”

After the show, students were able to get some one-on-one time with Kaszas through a meet and greet near the entrance of the SURC theater where they could ask questions, talk about the show or just get to have more time with the comedian.

“In talking with some of the stu dents that came up to me after the show, there was two of them that were interested in doing comedy,” Kaszas said. “They just didn’t know how to go about doing something like that so I said … go to an open mic. You just gotta keep doing it … They definitely took something away from it, I could tell by talking to them that they were really inter ested in it.”

KaszasjokesabouttheLittleLeagueWorldSeriesandtherapy. Photo by Beau Sansom

ZoltanKaszasmeetingaudiencemembersaftertheshow. Photo by Beau Sansom

ZoltanKaszasposingwithaudiencemembers. Photo by Beau Sansom

“Maybe there’s someone thinking about going to therapy and maybe my dumb jokes eased their heart into trying it.”

-Zoltan Kaszas

CWU brings home the victory at HomecomingCWU brings home the victory at Homecoming

Isaac Hinson and Jacqueline Hixssen Sports Editors

As the sun set and the stadium lights burned, the CWU football team rushed onto Tomlinson Stadium to play Midwest ern State University (MSU) in their annual Homecoming game last Saturday, Oct. 15.

CWU left the field with a 17-10 win and now sits with a record of 4-2 on the year.

“It’s really exciting,” said junior defen sive back Patrick Rogers. “Putting on a show for all the students, staff and faculty. It’s a good way to bring everybody togeth er here at Central.”

Stepping up to fill the shoes of starting quarterback Quincy Glasper, JJ Lemming threw 36 passes, completing 26 of them for 227 yards and two touchdowns, lead ing the way to the victory. Lemming’s efforts earned him the Lone Star Confer ence Offensive Player of the Week award.

Junior wide reciever Tai-John Mizutani found himself on the other end of 10 of those passes, logging 85 yards and one touchdown.

Rogers talked about what it meant to have CWU students and alumni fill the stadium for the game.

“As a defense it gets us going,” said Rog ers. “We feel like the students in the sta dium are on our side. When the crowd gets rocking and super noisy it gives us an advantage for sure.”

Head Coach Chris Fisk said, “We played our first game without school being in session and our band being here and there’s an obvious, noticeable difference in energy in the stadium.”

CWU played MSU October 2021 in a 30-20 victory. The Wildcats said they knew that beating them again would be a challenge.

Fisk.

“It’s always difficult to travel from Tex as to Washington, so that’s obviously a challenge for them,” Fisk said. “I expect this game to be a dog fight … It’ll probably come down to the last quarter.”

Fisk nearly predicted the game, CWU and MSU were tied 10-10 going into the second half of the game. CWU secured one more touchdown in the third quar ter racking the score to 17-10. The fourth quarter went scoreless.

Junior defensive back and current Ob server reporter Jahleel Breland talked about how the team’s defensive unit pre

“We had forced like three or four turn overs the last time we played them,” Breland said. “That played a huge role in it. For this game we’re just going to try to do the same thing. Create turn overs, create big plays on defense and get the ball back to

our offense. If everybody does their job I

“Whenthecrowdgets rockingandsupernoisyit givesusanadvantagefor sure.”

- Patrick Rogers, defensive back

FansinTomlinsonStadium

JosiahCochranforcingafumble. Photos by Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

HeadCoachChrisFisk(right)andtherestoftheWildcatsrushingthefeildforgametime. Photo by Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

Wellington’s Wildfire welcomes back alumniWellington’s Wildfire welcomes back alumni

Morgana Carroll Beau Sansom Scene Editor and Staff Reporter

The light of a single torch illuminated the night sky as it passed along from hand to hand of CWU alumni from as far back as the year 2000 before being used to light the stack of kindling in the firepit. The sound of applause overpowered the sound of the band playing CWU’s alma mater as the first sparks began to crackle.

“To me [Wellington’s Wildfire] is a time where the wildcat family can really gather,” Director of Alumni & Constituent Rela tions Casey Ross said.

Wellington’s Wildfire took place in the McIntyre Hall Lawn East on Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. According to Ross, the event served as an opportunity for students and alumni

“On top of academics students have to have a social life to maintain that balance so they’re not so stressed,” said ASCWU Student Life Briana Silva. “That social as

While he doesn’t know the exact num ber of students who attended Wellington’s

Students

The front of McIntyre Hall was alive with the sound of 88.1 the ‘Burg bumpin’ beats, students and attendees chattering to each other and organization representa

The Sharing the Abundance Fall Festi val is an event that gave students the op portunity to talk to organizations that of fer resources for students. The event took place on Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. at McIntyre Hall Lawn East and continued until the start of the Wellington Wildfire.

“The Sharing the Abundance Fall Festi val was created this year to become a social event for students to get connected to the amazing different types of resources liv ing on and off campus to support student wellness,” Wildcat Pantry Coordinator Nelson said. “Whether it’s someone com ing in as a first year or maybe they’re just coming back and it’s their fourth year, we want to make sure they have all the tools that they need.”

According to Nelson, these resources are meant to help students who are finan cially struggling and include appropriate winter clothes and food.

President’s United to Solve Hunger (PUSH) Public Relations Officer Erica Georgia said, “I feel like as you’re attend ing a four-year university, funding for

Wildfire Ross described the attendance as “off the charts.” Silva estimates over 250 students attended the event.

“I’m enjoying it so far, there’s a lot of dif ferent kinds of people,” first year Deanté Barry said. “I see a lot of exchange students here, and it’s nice that they get to know the campus and the event.”

This year marked the first appearance of a new homecoming ritual; the passing of the torch, where a student from each grad uating year since 2000 passed the torch on its way to the bonfire. Ross said he was the one to come up with this new ritual.

“I was looking for a ways where we can connect the alumni and the students in ways that are meaningful for the alumnis and are meaningful to the students,” Ross said.

Ross said while there were only alumni from 2000 onward, in the future he would like to get a representative of every gradu ating class available.

Rodrigo Castaneda-Marin Jr., a third year in business administration, said it was nice to see that new students were finally getting to attend in person events of this size again.

“Hopefully it brings people closer to gether,” Castaneda-Marin said. “Now that COVID sort of gone they’re able to discov er more what campus has to offer and how it was before. This is my first time being here, I started in 2020 so we didn’t have as much opportunities.”

Ross said he wishes that Wellington’s Wildfire was around when he was a student.

Whentheeventfirstbegantherewasanactual bonfire,butduetofiresafetylawstheevent transitionedtousingfirepits.

“I’m an alum and graduated in 2002, and I don’t recall having Wellington’s Wildfire when I was a student here,” Ross said.

Tony Aronica, a returning alumni from 2007 who was on the ASCWU board when the event first started, said he was glad to see the wildfire was still happening every year.

“When I was a student in 2005, we start ed Wellington’s Wildfire and it’s really en dearing to see it continue,” Aronica said.

Silva said that in the past Wellington’s Wildfire was hosted at Nicholson Pavil ion, but due to construction it had to be at McIntyre this year.

“We did think about Barto, but we didn’t want to burn any grass or trees,” said Silva.

“So we thought of putting it in McIntyre just because they have the strip and it’s still in the center of campus.”

Since Silva will only be in the position until June she doesn’t know if the event will be moved back to Nicholson next year, but she says that Nicholson would probably be the best place for it.

Silva is hoping to hear feedback from students on the changes to the event this year. Email ASCWU Student Life with any feedback.

these kinds of resources is very limited. Students come here with meal plans, and then when they’re out of that first year they’re off those meal plans or living off campus, and [students] don’t have a lot of money for basics and hygiene products. We believe that it’s a right for student’s to have access to healthy quality foods.”

First-year business student Gary Mc Cauley said the event was a good opportu nity for him to get out of his dorm for the night and see what campus has to offer.

“This is awesome,” McCauley said. “I’m having a great time so far and I just won an APOYO [Allied People Offering Yearround Outreach] t-shirt.”

Organizations from on and off-campus

set up tables with activities for attendees to interact with while they learned about what resources their organization offered.

“I like all the things that this event has introduced us to, things we didn’t really know about, because I’m not sure if I would have been interested in any thing like this before coming here and talking to people and getting more in formation,” Alyssa Ratcliffe, a junior in anthropology, said.

One of the organizations in attendance was the new Financial Wellness Center located in Bouillon 102. According to Fi nancial Specialist James Paton, the Finan cial Wellness Center is an organization that helps students have a better relationship

with money through financial literacy.

“We’re here to support the PUSH food bank and just let students know that this is one of the services that Central has to offer,” Paton said.

Andrea Guillian said that she thinks events like these are important because it lets students know that there are people running these groups, and that they aren’t just faceless college organizations.

“I feel like students hear a lot about the pantry or health and wellness, but they don’t really know the people who are running it and what it really looks like,” Guillian said. Nelson said that she was hoping to see at least 100 students look into the resources as a result of the event.

Studentswereabletoroastmarshmallowsover thefirepitsafterthelightingofthefire.

Studentscrowdnearthefireontheotherwisecoldnight. Photos by Brevin Ross

Editorial Column

Following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody after improperly wear ing her hijab, Iran’s Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) estimated that 222 people have been killed in the past month for their involvement in protests.

A report by BBC news verified as many identities as possible of peo ple who have been killed in custo dy or by police brutality following the uprising for justice. The vic tims have been reported to be as young as 12 years old. According to the report, the internet in Iran is heavily censored and journalists who report on this are in danger of backlash from the Iranian gov ernment.

A fire with mysterious circum stances broke out in Evin Prison in Iran on Oct. 15 and four pris oners died with 61 others injured, according to BBC. The report said many of the victims were teenag ers. Evin Prison is where many protestors were taken after being arrested. Protestors outside the prison chanted “death to the dicta tor” during the time of the fire.

Tehran’s governor claimed the fire was a result of rioting in the prison, according to BBC. Jour nalists have raised suspicions of authorities starting the fire in tentionally because a high profile prisoner was sent home prior to the fire.

According to BBC, Mehdi Hash emi Rafsanjani, the son of late for mer president of Iran Akbar Hash emi Rafsanjani was granted “early temporary release” according to his brother.

Democracy is under attack on our own soil as well, as evidenced by the insurrection of the White House on January 6 which re cently resulted in subpoenas for documents from some of Donald Trump’s closest allies and family members according to CNN. The insurrectionists believed the 2020 election results to be fraudulent, despite the lack of evidence pre sented in court to support these theories.

Democracy and individual lib erty worldwide are under attack, as Italy also welcomed their most fascist prime minister since World War II, Georgia Meloni.

The Observer staff stands with protestors in Iran, and we stand for the light of truth and justice to shine in the court hearings trying people for conspiracy and spread ing misinformation. What is just will find its way forward, however the lives of young Iranian prison ers will never be reclaimed. All we can do now is remember those lost and use our voice to say we do not stand for lies, discrimination or tyranny.

BSERVED

OPINION SECTION

Valve’s Steam Deck timed perfectly to revolutionize gaming

Andrew Ulstad Staff Reporter

As an older than average stu dent for this campus, I’ve been around long enough to watch gaming evolve from a niche market to a worldwide phe nomenon. Having watched the industry fairly closely since the early 2000s, Valve’s new Steam Deck is going to revolutionize the gaming world.

So, what is this thing? Pic ture a Nintendo switch with a user interface close to that of a Playstation or Xbox… now add the PC game library available on Steam.

Under the hood, the Deck boasts less overall power than even a Microsoft Series S, ac cording to The Verge. How ever, the series S targets high er resolutions for display on TVs. Personally, I notice little to no graphical differences on the Deck’s 7-inch display, and I’m able to play what I want on the go.

I haven’t picked up anoth er controller more than two or three times since I got my Deck in March. The reason is simple: I really don’t have to.

Everything from indie games like Stardew Valley to first per

son shooters like Back 4 Blood runs how I want it; I’ve even been able to put together con troller schemes for traditionally keyboard and mouse games like Creativerse and Civilization.

AAA games that were once console exclusive are now getting released on PC. Even juggernaut Sony titles like the God of War franchise have made the jump, according to Digital Trends.

More of a Microsoft fan? That’s fine too, with IGN re porting that Microsoft Game Pass is supported. With all these big name games no lon ger locked to one console, there will likely be less people buying a console for one specific game or series.

There are some caveats here. For one thing, Nintendo has nev er ported any games to another device and shows no signs of do ing so. There are also some sin gle-player based games from Sony that won’t be released on PC im mediately, but many always live games will get same-day releases on the Steam storefront.

This does, however, ignore the problem of playing with your friends. Some people will have their entire friend group com mitted to one console specifical ly to be able to game together.

Game developers and Steam have solved this one recently as well, with huge improvements in crossplay functionality.

My prediction boils down to timing, the combination of gaming becoming more main stream, developers loosening their grip on console exclusive titles and improvements in crossplay creates a void for peo ple who want to experience a console-like gaming experience with the freedoms associated

with PC gaming.

If you enjoy gaming and are considering a new console or PC, you need to check out Valve’s Steam Deck. With an inclusive and impressive game library, the ecosystem to sup port gamers casual to compet itive alike, and a reasonable price point that I won’t mention directly to avoid having this ar ticle sound like a commercial, there really is something for ev eryone on Deck.

Beau Sansom Staff Reporter

Now that it’s had a chance to breathe, we need to address the elephant in the screening room: the Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power is actually a good show. I know that’s hard to believe after countless arti cles, YouTube rants and angry tweets condemning the show as the worst thing since Nick elback, but I swear it’s true.

Angry commenters have even gone as far as harassing the ac tors for their portrayals of cer tain characters in the show.

For anyone who’s unaware, the Rings of Power is a se ries based on the appendices and popular novels written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The series is set roughly 1,000 years before the events of Lord of the Rings and has attracted more than its fair share of controversy since before it even came out. Nu merous elements of the show have received backlash from fans, including a lack of beard on Sophia Nomvete’s dwar vish character Disa, deviations from the source material and Amazon adding a 72-hour de lay on user ratings of the show.

However, standing atop this

mountain of controversy is the one hot-take to rule them all and that’s the “anti-woke” and racist sentiments that’s been pollut ing Hollywood for years now. Right from the release of the casting list of the show, some fans have been lighting up the internet with harsh and angry reactions to certain people of color playing the roles of elves or dwarves, roles that have been held almost exclusively by white men until recently.

The war against wokeness in the Rings of Power esca lated to the point that a ded icated review-bombing cam paign of the show took place across basically every site that allows for user reviews. The review-bombing outbreak is what led Amazon to place em bargos on the user reviews of the Rings of Power.

In “The backlash to rule them all? Every controversy about The Rings of Power so far” au thor Stuart Heritage defines the factors contributing to the situ ation with the review embargo.

“The delay was brought about so that a team of moder ators can parse all the reviews and weed out those deemed to have been written in bad faith,” Heritage said. “The

hope is that this will create a more honest picture of how the show has been received.”

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the drama that is sur rounding this series is the fact that many of those making these racist remarks and performing these insane actions are using Tolkien’s legacy as an excuse to voice their extreme opinions.

In “Does it matter what Tolkien would’ve thought of The Rings of Power?” author and chair of the Tolkien So ciety Shaun Gunner explains the folly of being hung up on what Tolkien would think of the show.

“Tolkien fandom need not sit in judgment over Amazon – or indeed anyone – based solely on “what Tolkien thought,” not only as he is not around to explain his own musings, but also because he also could be prone to prejudices and inac curacies as the rest of us, and that might even extend to ad aptations of his own works.” Gunner said.

The Rings of Power is just the latest in a long line of Hollywood productions to be bashed for extending its cast ing call beyond white males. In fact, just before the Rings of

Power came under fire for its casting of House of the Drag on actor Steve Toussaint, he received relentless harassment online for his role as Corlys Velaryen.

In “‘Rings of Power’ draws racist backlash and threats, but Amazon and Frodo stand behind it” author Kelly Lawler explains how the unfortunate trend of race-fueled backlash occurs even beyond television.

“This is not the first instance in which actors of color cast in traditionally white roles in genre TV and film has result ed in harassment and racism,” Lawler said. “John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran have expe rienced harassment for their roles in the newer ‘Star Wars’ films.”

While this trend is unsurpris ing, it is very sad. What’s worse is that there’s no end in sight for these controversies, as the announcement of a new “The Little Mermaid’’ film was met with the online harassment of the leading actress, Halle Bai ley. The Rings of Power is a visually stunning, well written and especially well acted show that won’t be seen by as many viewers now due to its wrong fully poor public perception.

A statement on behalf of The Observer editorial staff

The Rings of Power isn’t bad, despite what some would have you believe

UlstadbootsuparoundofBack4BloodonhisSteamDeck.

Photo by Andrew Ulstad

Soccer team finds their footing

Devin Guerra-Burnett Staff Reporter

The women’s soccer team faced a loss to Northwest Nazarene University on Oct 8. After losing the game to the Nighthawks, the team has since regrouped and put work toward improvement. “It was eye opening for us but also showing us how honestly, in all of those games it came down to really small individual mo ments and how we can fix those

and so that we can just keep moving forward,” Head Coach Lindsey Lee said.

Megan Meindersee, junior defender, said the team doesn’t waste any time over losses.

Meindersee said, “Right af ter the game we definitely talk about and we make sure to feel the hurt of the loss and then we try to flush it and move on to the next, and we worry less about the loss but more about the next opponent and how we

tackle them and how to exploit their weakness.”

After watching game film, the women’s soccer team was able to see what worked for them and what may not have worked in their favor. Being able to watch film allows the team to take a step back and analyze their own game.

“The girls right now have grown so much this year,” Lee said. “Our approach to playing that a lot of the recovery stems

from just coming

what’s suc cessful, what didn’t work, how much have we grown since the last time we played this team and from there, what do we need to do to improve for this next week.”

This week, the girls shift back to the basics by “making sure we are feeling confident about who we are and what we are doing,” Lee said.

Expanding on the field opens up space for the girls to better utilize the area they have and focus on contracting or closing in on their opponents making it harder for them to get down the field, according to Meindersee.

“We play two really important games we need to win,” Meinder see said. “This week we focused a lot on transitioning from offense to defense and expanding and collapsing together as a unit, so that was our focus this week.”

Women’s rugby wins by staying motivated

Kimberly LaRivere Staff Reporter

The CWU Women’s rugby team won their last two games against Penn State University and the U.S. Naval Academy. The team won at Penn State 6312, and at Navy 69-8.

CWU started the season with a loss, but had decisive wins later on. Kai Brandt-Templeton, ju nior flyhalf, said the rugby team had a tough last season. Changes in the coaching staff, an entirely new team and several canceled games made last year difficult.

“Teamwork feels like uni ty, people working together,” Brandt-Templeton said. “A big thing with team bonding is trust and if you can’t trust people, how are you supposed to play togeth er? So our team bonding has helped a lot with that. Learning how everyone plays, and how you can joke with each other helps to gel the team.”

Brandt-Templeton said the team is very encouraging at practice.

“We’re not tearing people down, we’re always bringing people up,” Brandt-Templeton said. “It’s easy to stay motivated when you have a group of moti vated people. It’s hard to not be happy when you’re in a group of happy people.”

Grayce O’Farrell, sophomore lock, had a similar outlook about team bonding.

“Team bonding really helps to build that confidence,” O’Farrell said. “Even if you do have a bad practice, you are still on the team and your team sister wants to be there with you and put in the hard work to bond.”

Leah Ingold, assistant coach, said she has different motiva tional strategies she uses for the team.

“Individually, the women all have their own styles of moti vation that they need,” Ingold said. “That’s why it’s super im portant that the head coach Matt Ramirez and I are able to read our athletes and understand them as well. Our huge focus is

making sure that the players are able to motivate each other. We focus on their abilities to uplift each other on the field.”

Ingold said she feels rewarded when she sees the team bond ing and supporting one anoth er. Rugby is a loud sport, and a lot of the time the coaches are not heard on the sidelines. See ing the team read each other is thrilling to see.

“I get goosebumps,” Ingold said. “It’s just that feeling you get where there are no words for it. It’s insurmountable greatness that you feel the team emitting.”

According to Brandt-Tem pleton, besides teamwork and bonding, another thing that motivates the team is winning a national championship and beating teams that they haven’t played before.

The next Women’s Rug by game is Oct. 14. at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The remainder of the sea son games will be in Ellensburg at Tomlinson Stadium.

Hixssen

GirlsRugbyTeambondingandsmiling. Photo courtesy of the women’s rugby team

Thewildcatsstandunitedonthefield. Photo by Jacob Thompson / Thompson Sports Photos

Q&A

What got you first involved with pageantry?

I first got involved in the Miss America Scholarship Organization when I was 16 years old in 2016 be cause some of my friends from my dance studio were involved in our local Miss Tri cities pageant and it looked like a fun opportunity to perform a talent on stage and gain confidence in myself. I later found out that the Miss America Organization is the largest scholarship provider for young women in our country and my parents were thrilled when they saw that I could do something impactful while helping pay for my education.

What impact do you hope your social media presence will have on others?

I hope my social media presence will impact others to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things! When I first signed up to compete in a local Miss America pageant, I was awkward and terrified, and had no speaking skills! Now 7 years later, I am confident in myself and have landed almost every job that I’ve ever interviewed for because of the skills I learned in this program about professionalism and preparing yourself for a successful future.

Do you have a favorite part of it all?

I have many favorite parts of being involved in this program. It’s truly rewarding to step out into your community and help others- and that’s a large part of what the Miss America organization advocates for: Service. I started my own personal platform surrounding mental health awareness in 2016 and I’ve been able to speak to thousands of students about my own personal journey with depression and anxiety, how I cope in my day-to-day life, and speaking on the importance of showing kindness to others and yourself and emphasizing how life-changing therapy is! I’ve been able to partner with multiple mental health organizations like NAMI and the Youth Suicide Prevention Coalition, and I was able to meet on zoom earlier this year with a legislator about implementing therapy resources into all public schools!

What do you wish more people knew about Miss Yakima County?

I wish more people knew that these competitions, such as Miss Yakima County, are so much MORE than the crown and sash. There is real impactful work that takes place when you are a titleholder, as we step out into the world to try and make it a better place with acts of service. This organization is also volunteer based- so no one is getting paid to keep this program alive. People freely give dollars to our organization so that women all over the country can attend college without having so much debt and so that they can be role models in their communities!

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not a student or Miss Yakima County?

My favorite thing to do when I’m not doing Miss Yakima duties or student tasks, is to go shopping with my mom! Espe cially for Fall candles & sweaters.

Blake Dahl Sr. History and Social Studies

Katherine Sartori MA. Violin Performance

Natsukei Kimura Intl. English

Katelyn Allessio Fr. Pre-Med

Hannah Wilson So. Business Administration

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