CWU Observer - Fall 2020, Issue 2

@cwuobserver, cwuobserver.com

Vol. 117 NO. 2 September 22 - September 28, 2020

City of Ellensburg completes plan for nonmotorized transportation David Hartless Staff Reporter

were way fewer people," Catta said. "Everything seemed so clean, and the staff was outstanding about kindly reminding people to follow the rules."

The City of Ellensburg released a report by Fehr & Peers, a transportation consulting firm out of Seattle, to implement a plan called The Active Transportation Plan (ATP) on Sept. 8.

The ATP was revised from a 2008 city plan called the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, Josh Mattson, Ellensburg assistant city engineer, said.

“The plan gets updated about every 10 years,” Mattson said.

When asked how the city got the funding for sidewalks around Ellensburg, Mattson said the city won an award from the Transportation Improvement Board for $50,000 that went towards the ATP. Through interactive web maps, people in the community were able to submit suggestions on how the city could make things such as sidewalks, streetlights and pedestrian traffic safer for the people to use also adding sidewalks and bike lanes in areas around the city.

“The ATP is a follow up from the original 2017.” Mattson said.

About 700 comments were tracked on the web page offered to the community to use, which processed the data as a heat map that showed the biggest areas of concern. The heat maps showed that the survey showed participation from more areas of families and fewer areas where college students live. Most of the areas were south of campus in areas such as South Willow Street and Capital Street, “We had signs up on campus on flyer boards and sidewalk signs, but the feedback was not great,” Mattson said.

When asked about why the bike lane in town was put on Seventh Avenue, Mattson said it was intended to keep bike traffic away from University Way because

Continued on Page 11

Continued on Page 3

Casey Rothgeb/The Observer

Led by several CWU coaches and athletes protesters marched from Nicholson Pavillion to the courthouse on September 17th

Protesting for change Amy Morris Managing/Online Editor

Several hundred protesters against police brutality marched from Nicholson Pavilion to the courthouse in downtown Ellensburg on Sept. 17. Students, faculty and community members rallied while chanting “no justice, no peace.”

Hunter Eckstrom, a junior sports business major and football player said he wanted to join the protest to show support.

“There is a big problem in the United States right now… I want to stand up

for a cause of change. It’s not political. It’s nothing like that for me. I’m just out here to support my brothers and … a cause I believe,” Eckstrom said.

Xavier Smith, a senior business major and basketball player, said he joined the protest to show unity.

“We know that everybody here is supporting the cause and just [here] to support what’s going on now with injustice that’s going on in our country,” Smith said. “So I think it’s important to see our allies with this.”

Smith said he has seen some instances of racism in Ellensburg and thinks it’s

important to focus on moving forward as a community. Smith said while there is not always a big example of racism that people can recall they have experienced, sometimes it’s the little actions that add up.

“Just little things like cops following you for no reason, and you don’t really know what’s going on or what you did wrong, but those are just little things that you can’t get over maybe because of your skin color,” Smith said.

Continued on Page 4

Returning to the recreational facilities Rachel Degnan Staff Reporter Recreation Center Director Matthew Boyer and his team have been working on a plan to bring back staff and students safely as students return to Ellensburg for fall quarter and begin classes online and in-person. Since the SURC has been closed, Boyer finally gets to see the results of his hard work.

"It was kind of overwhelming, but we focused on the safety and what we needed to do," Boyer said.

Boyer and his team opened the Recreation Center with restrictions just as students moved back to campus. 10 days after opening, over 1,000 students had visited the Recreation Center.

In This Issue 1-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12

News Scene News Opinion Sports Engagement

The Center attributes its success so far to the students following the new regulations.

"The majority of people working out have no issue with the facial covering," Boyer said. "They understand and are abiding by that, so that is fantastic."

Wearing a facial covering while working out is not the only new practice.

Each piece of equipment is 17 feet apart, and students get spray bottles to use before and after they use the equipment.

The Recreation Center looks different than it did a year ago. Clinical physiology senior Sanket Catta has been going to the Recreation Center since his freshman year.

"I think the first thing I noticed was how much space there was and that there

Casey Rothgeb/The Observer

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Library archive and COVID-19

TikTok ban

Volleyball update

2 September 22, 2020

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News

Library archives implements COVID-19 safety measures Star Diavolik is Staff Reporter

Brooks Library has reopened for fall quarter, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the archives section has made specific adjustments. These include having to schedule an appointment, increasing sanitary and safety procedures and limiting the number of staff and students allowed in the archives section at a time. Though there are more procedures involved, the archives section is working to offer the same services as before.

Before students may come to the archives section, they have to make an appointment and notify the archivists on what material they plan on viewing.

This is due to not being able to check the materials out.

Upon entry, there are disposable face masks available, and patrons must wash their hands and put on gloves before being allowed to handle material. Employees wear both face masks and face shields for extra safety when talking to a patron.

The arrangement of the room has changed as well, with the number of tables going down from six to three and all of them being spaced six feet apart. Once the patron is gone, everything that was touched will be disinfected by staff, such as the table and chair.

After viewing the material and returning it, the archivist then takes the archive

to a quarantine area and leaves it in there for four days.

Julia Stringfellow, the university archivist, is confident the procedures set in place are safe for staff and visitors.

“I feel really good with the library. I mean, they have been very thorough in the planning of the reopening,” Stringfellow said. “I feel like everything that could’ve been done was done for us to safely reopen. I feel good coming into the library and working.”

Marty Blackson, a senior archivist and lecturer, said he also feels safe both in the library and on campus.

The archives section of the library contains a massive amount of material that tends to benefit students in history, anthropology and museum study majors most, according to Stringfellow.

There are three collection sections available to view: university materials, regional history and special collections. University materials include archives of documented events that happened on campus and general history of CWU. Regional history materials include materials dedicated to all of central Washington, such as mining and lumber industry history. The regional history covers Ellensburg as well as all eight local counties.

Special collection materials focus on Native American history and literature created by authors in this region. University and regional history are not only print materials as they both include photographs, oral materials and audio-visual materials.

Casey Rothgeb/The Observer

To ensure safety the library archives had to limit the number of people allowed to visit “We have some great photograph colTo create an appointment to visit the lections going back to the early days of uniarchives section in Brooks Library, send versity, and we have a lot of records related an email to archive@cwu.edu or call (509) to those early days,” Blackson said.

963-1717.

Besides these physical archives, there “We haven’t had any requests for apis a digital collection of archives, and pointments,” Stringfellow said. “I’m sure classes are hosted by the archivists in orthat’s going to change as students are asder to assist students in a lecture format. signed research projects and need to use Online events can also be found on the materials in the archives.”

Brooks Library webpage.

Corrections:

- In a guest column in the 9/15 issue, President James Gaudino’s name was incorrectly spelled “Guadino”.

- In a story on the COVID protocol for student athletes last week, Deputy Director of Athletics Gary Hyatt was incorrectly attributed as the athletic director.

- A story on page one about COVID-19 protocols did not jump to page four, as the story said it did.

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Cynthia Mitchell / cwuobserveradviser@gmail.com Editorial Policy: The Observer is a public forum for student expression, in which student editors make policy and content decisions. The mission of The Observer is two-fold: to serve Central Washington University as a newspaper and to provide training for students who are seeking a career in journalism. The Observer seeks to provide complete, accurate, dependable information to the campus and community; to provide a public forum for the free debate of issues, ideas and problems facing the community at large; and to be the best source of information, education and entertainment news. As a training program, The Observer is the practical application of the theories and principles of journalism. It teaches students to analyze and communicate information that is vital to the decision making of the community at large.

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News

City of Ellensburg completes plan for non-motorized transportation

Takashi Sato/File Photo

The city of Ellensburg has updated their transportation plan to ensure residents have more options besides motorized vehicles. The city updates this plan roughly every 10 years.

Continued from Page 1 when it was put in, University Way was still only four lanes, not the five that it is today, as well as the less amount of motorized traffic the street has.

According to the report that was done by the firm Fehr & Peers, “Ellensburg has approximately 109 miles of sidewalks. Almost 79% of city streets have sidewalks on one or both sides. As of 2017, the City of Ellensburg offered 8.3 miles of bicycle

lanes, 1.3 miles of bicycle boulevards, 2.3 miles of shared pedestrian paths, and 22.4 miles of bicycle routes along low-speed, low-volume residential streets without designated bicycle infrastructure. The Transportation Element identified an additional 2.1 miles in future connections to the bicycle network.”

The ATP held an open house forum on Dec. 9, 2019 on CWU’s campus in coalition with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The state was involved in the city plans to use other data from

cities around Washington to help with Ellensburg On the topic of the meeting time chosen for the town hall potentially being more difficult for college students to attend, Mattson said, “[WSDOT] picked the time, and we joined with them to have an open town hall about it.”

Mattson also said the city is working on furthering some of the streets that lack lighting in certain areas.

“Some streets in town are just older, and it is difficult to put in lights, and some residents don’t want their streets to

light up. But when new streets come in, the lighting for those streets is addressed,” Mattson said.

Areas such as Airport Road and Helena Avenue have gotten new sidewalks in the last 10 years with improved lighting, but according to Mattson, some areas on Helena Avenue could not get new sidewalks due to the canal.

When asked about sidewalks around campus, Mattson said those sidewalks and lighting were the responsibility of the university, not the city, but if they intersect with each other, both parties work on it.

CWU offers emotional intelligence badges Ty McPhee Staff Reporter CWU is offering the first ever Emotional Intelligence Badges for students to display on their social media profiles through its new course, Emotional Intelligence for Professionals (BUS411).

The course will lead students through five different modules that break down emotional intelligence, help them understand their own behaviors and work on workplace communication skills. The class will provide an engaging environment, with lectures being nonexistent and a focus on participation-based learning.

Susan Peahl, a board-certified hypnotherapist and corporate coach, as well as one of the three instructors of the program said they’re able to take a deep dive and go rich into not just what is emotional intelligence, but who the students are and how they are wired.

Liz Fifield, a talent acquisition leader and another instructor for the course, said the Emotional Intelligence

Badge is something that’s starting to gain traction and shows competency in a certain area. Students with the badge are more likely to be considered for internships or interviews.

Students will need to take assessments beforehand that help them understand the different behaviours and reactions to situations they use and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.

Andy Parks, a lecturer in the College of Business and the third instructor of the course, said emotional intelligence is one of the highest skill sets in demand. Parks went on to add that CWU offering this course to students gives them an advantage over other institutions which don’t have a course like this one.

The course is also offered through the Continuing Education department.

Students will still receive the Emotional Intelligence Badge to display their comprehension of the subject along with the Certificate of Completion, but instead of credits they’ll earn Professional Development Units which are

needed for different management certificates.

The course ran during the summer to a group of five students, but they are expecting to see closer to 25 students

registered for the winter class. Students interested in the course will need to have completed MGT 380 or MGT 382, along with MGT 395, with a minimum grade of a C- in each course.

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Scene

CWU cancels events due to unhealthy air quality Abigail Duchow Scene Editor

Wildfires have been raging over the west coast for weeks now, and due to the poor air quality caused by them, several on-campus events have had to be canceled.

Assistant Director of Campus Activities Robbi Goninan said campus activities had to cancel two Monday Movie Madness events, two club fairs, a Geek Out Game Out (GOGO) event and a drive-in movie event.

She said the club fair on Friday, Sept.

25 is still happening and the drive-in showing of “Jurassic Park” was rescheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26.

Goninan said for Monday Movie Madness Campus Activities staff provided a virtual option via Netflix Party, and for GOGO they provided a virtual option via the online game “Jackbox.”

“With all the [COVID-19] restrictions we had to rethink our events logistically and then the smoke added another layer of difficulty in programming events and activities,” Goninan said.

Campus Activities will be offering a virtual option and an in-person option for most of its events fall quarter.

Goninan said extra precautions such as masking, physical distancing, extra cleaning measures and contact tracing will be made during events.

“We’ve worked really close with the Office of Student Engagement, Dean of Student Success and the Kittitas County Health Department to ensure students are safe while attending our in-person events,” Goninan said.

Casey Rothgeb/The Observer

The air quality in Ellensburg has been unsafe at various times during the last several weeks causing the cancellation of events and classes

Robert Cepeda, CWU’s emergency management coordinator, said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has assigned a specific color to each Air Quality Index (AQI) category to make it easier to understand whether air pollution is reaching unhealthy levels in communities.

“We look at all of the ratings, but we choose to use the very unhealthy as it affects the entire population on campus when we close buildings,” Cepeda said.

“When it comes to outdoor activities, we use the red section because most of our outdoor activities are slightly strenuous, [for] example physical activities, and we tend to have a more diverse population at them.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those at greatest risk from wildfire smoke are people who have lung or heart diseases, older adults and children. The CDC recommends

checking local air quality reports, keeping indoor air as clean as possible using air filters or air conditioners and evacuating from the areas wildfires are near as some steps to prevent harm from wildfire smoke.

According to the CDC, cloth, paper or dust masks do not protect people from smoke. Respirators are the recommended way to decrease and prevent lung damage and other side effects from wildfire smoke.

BLM protests in Ellensburg Continued from Page 1 Educating the younger generation on racism and how to make a positive change is also something Smith thinks needs improvement.

“We have to keep educating the youth and telling the truth about what is really going on and just fighting for justice and not stopping until what’s right,” Smith said. “You can’t settle for anything less than what’s right.”

AJ Cooper, an assistant coach for the CWU football team, also came out to the protest to show his support. Cooper said he came to the protest because it was a promise he made to the athletes and the department.

“You put a box around yourself when you don’t talk about diversity or equity,” Cooper said.

Having those important conversations gives young people a leadership platform, Cooper said. He said since athletes are prominent figures, they have a chance to make a positive change.

“We have to allow them to come out here and make a difference and this generation will make the difference in the world, you know,” Cooper said.

“Our department is just a small metaphor of the world. You know we have

Casey Rothgeb/The Observer

Several CWU athletes thought it was important to show unity and to merge together against police brutality and racism in America different walks of life and all types of ple out in society. He wants athletes to here and although there are different different diversity when you come in learn about having empathy for other views and people have different things people and taking other people’s feel- that [they] disagree on, unity and to join the team.”

Cooper believes his role as a coach ings and lifestyles into consideration. equality are two things that we can’t “So in order to make our department disagree on and those are the things that goes beyond just teaching them how to be good athletes, but also good peo- stronger that’s why we want to come out bring us together,” Smith said.

September 22, 2020 5

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Scene

Students react to potential TikTok ban Jared Galanti Staff Reporter TikTok, the social media sensation that has over 800 million users throughout the entire world, may not be available in the United States for much longer. The popular app has given users some of the most viral dances such as the “Renegade” and trends such as the “Andy is coming challenge.”

On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump signed executive papers giving U.S. companies 45 days to buy the U.S. operations of TikTok from ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, otherwise he would ban the app in the United States, citing fear of information being used against the United States by China.

Some students won’t be happy if that becomes a reality.

Tiffany Miller, a senior and an elementary education major, initially downloaded TikTok back in April. Miller, who goes on the app for two to three hours per day, doesn’t agree that the app should be banned.

“I think that it brings happiness to people in an odd way,” Miller said. “It kind of shows like real life. On Instagram people fake it until they make it, but on TikTok people are more okay with being who they are.”

Miller said TikTok is an app most people can connect with in some way, whether it’s in a certain dance that is popular or if it's the way people are feeling on a certain day with the Point of View videos that are popular on TikTok. Drew Nueser, a senior ITAM major who downloaded the app back in summer 2019, had a similar reaction to the news of a potential ban on TikTok. “I think the ban is pointless,” Nueser said. “If you're going to ban one app in a fear of data hacking you should probably ban a bunch of different apps.”

Graphic by Tiffany Tablang

Nueser said she believes that President Trump is potentially doing this ban because he is still annoyed from what happened to his re-election campaign rallies. It was reported across multiple media outlets, including CNN and ABC, that TikTok users reserved tickets to his rallies with no intention of showing up.

For his first rally since COVID-19 took a stronghold in the United States, the Trump campaign said over 1 million tickets were reserved for the rally that took place on June 20 located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, when the final tally made its way to the public, only about 6,200 showed up to see the president.

Molly Barrett, a junior who is studying elementary education, said she thinks the president is potentially invoking the ban to try to silence voices who don’t agree with him.

“I think that it is just a way that our current president is trying to diminish the voices of people who disagree with him, especially the younger generation who for the most part is adamantly against him,” Barrett said.

She said TikTok is being used as a platform for those who fight for change, and she believes the president is fighting against that.

“He’s trying to silence their voices so they can’t speak out,” Barrett said.

She thinks if the ban were to happen, she personally wouldn’t be affected, but minority groups and those who use TikTok as a platform for change in the world would be largely affected by it.

Microsoft was the leading contender to purchase the operations from ByteDance, but those talks have since been called off. President Trump’s order was set to expire on Sept. 15, and with no intentions on extending the deadline, we will see soon enough if TikTok will still be available in the United States.

Tips for succeeding in online courses Jayce Kadoun Staff Reporter With the majority of classes being held online this quarter, it may be hard for some students to adjust to the learning curve that comes with them. Despite new challenges, students and professors alike have developed their own tips for success in web-based education.

Many students and staff have previous experiences with virtual classrooms which have helped them develop good habits and methods of excelling in their classes despite the lack of an in-person classroom.

Karlee Manke, a junior majoring in business administration, said despite the course material being a bit more difficult without physical lectures, her experience so far has been good with online classes. She said being online during spring quarter helped her get used to it and see the positives.

“I would say one of the pros to online classes is being able to schedule my own day. That way, I get to decide when class is and when I want to learn the material,” Manke said.

Manke said she encourages fellow students to use the resources the school gives them and that a lot of times, teachers offer Zoom meetings, Zoom study sessions and discussion boards for students with questions that are often helpful.

Communications Professor Jennifer Green taught entirely online for a year from Spain from 2018-19 and has taught at least two to four classes online most other years. She said she is very comfortable teaching online and finds it can have some advantages.

“Online learning can be very self-directed, so students who like to work independently, at their own pace or who have full-time jobs, small children or distant locations all seem to really appreciate online classes,” Green said.

Green said she prefers to teach online classes for some material and in-person classes for others. She said classes with a lot of lively discussion and those that involve a lot of writing work better in person and that some skills-acquisition classes can work just as well online.

As far as tips for those looking to succeed in online classes, Green said

Graphic by Tiffany Tablang

we all have to go easy on ourselves this year.

“It's been such an unusual and difficult time. I'd tell people to take it day by day, do the best they can and try to see the benefits of working online. I'd also recommend to students that they not hesitate to ask questions or request clarification if they need it,” Green said.

Senior business management major Austin Hood said although he prefers in-person learning because it is easier to understand material and get instant feedback if he has questions, he likes class

online because it is easier for him to schedule time around his job to work on school.

“One of the cons of online class for me is not being on campus and getting the full college experience in general … I miss being able to see my friends and feeling like I’m going to an actual college,” Hood said.

Hood said his best tip for success in online class this quarter would be to not let the homework stack up. He said it can be easy to put homework off with online learning, but that it is much easier to stay on top of things than to fall behind and have to get grades back up.

Student Counseling Services Moves to Online Platform Written by Jessica Perez

Designed by Bekah Blum

The Student Medical and Student Counseling Center (SMaCC) is still offering the majority of its services to students this quarter but have changed how students will receive them due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 1, the SMaCC split into two branches and became Student Health Services (SHS) and Student Counseling Services (SCS).

Each branch now offers its own range of services for all students, not just those on the Ellensburg campus. Services can be provided virtually for students off-campus.

Among the services offered

by SCS are individual sessions,

group therapy and student support groups.

These are all offered virtually through a HIPAA-compliant platform called Doxy.me. However, SCS is trying to shift to a HIPAA-compliant Zoom platform with security features that would be separate from the university’s.

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act protects people from having their medical information revealed by the provider without the patient’s consent.

According to Director of Student Counseling Services Cindy Bruns, crisis appointments are also available to students who need them.

“When life sneaks up on you and you don’t know who else to turn to, we are here for those appointments,” Bruns said.

SCS is providing a private room students may use to attend virtual sessions if they don’t have anywhere private to go. An onsite counselor is also available for students who enter the counseling center in crisis. The counselor will help calm the student down until they feel okay enough to sign on for a virtual session.

Bruns said SCS is not having in-person sessions because in counseling there are often lots of emotions which make it difficult for students to keep their mask on.

“Things like that make it difficult to maintain a mask for the client and we don’t want to say ‘hey, could you not cry?’” Bruns said.

“We want you to have all of your feelings and embrace all those feelings and we want to stay safe.”

The one service they’re unable to offer this quarter is ADHD testing. According to Bruns, ADHD testing requires a lot of “up close and personal time,” so instead, they are referring students who

“When life sneaks up on you and you don’t know who else to turn to, we are here for those appointments.”

- Cindy Bruns, director of Student Counseling Services

need to be tested to Valley Psychological Services. There, students can be tested remotely.

The virtual platform does have some limitations for SCS. Because the counselors are licensed in Washington, they can only practice here. If a student is living out of state, the counselors are limited with how they can help the student by the licensing laws of the state the student resides in.

“What we are encouraging is that people reach out and talk to us about their particular circumstance and we can figure out how to best get them the help they need,” Bruns said.

When helping out-of-state students, counselors must research the laws in the state the student resides. If they cannot offer longterm care, they can point the student to resources in their area.

SHS, on the other hand, is offering its full range of services to students, including in-person appointments. They have also added some services.

Director of Student Health Services Carylin Holsey said they have the ability to provide services virtually when appropriate.

According to Holsey, the clinic also has the ability to conduct COVID-19 testing. They have assigned two separate exam rooms for students with upper respiratory concerns. There is also a separate door for these students to enter and exit the building so they don’t have any contact with others. They’re also asking that students don’t bring friends to appointments unless they really need someone there to help them.

“If you need someone to help you because of an accommodation, absolutely, we are not going to say no,” Holsey said.

SHS has also begun issuing e-prescriptions. This means the

clinic will send a prescription electronically to the pharmacy so it is ready upon arrival rather than taking a written prescription with you and having to wait for the medication to be ready. SHS can send prescriptions to all major pharmacies in town and to pharmacies in western Washington.

According to Holsey, SHS is able to give all vaccines required for students on campus. Staff at SHS strongly encourage students to get the flu shot this year so they can reach a diagnosis sooner if a student begins to show COVID-19 symptoms.

“If we can rule out the flu, we are a lot closer to a diagnosis,” Holsey said.

8 September 22, 2020

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Opinion

Designer Riel Hanson

Americans (millions)

Marriage equality for all!

Some exceptions still apply Proportions of Americans with disabilities 331 total 61 live with disabilites 18 on federal benefit

Addie Adkins Columnist I won’t deny that June 26, 2015 was a huge win for marriage equality. However, the war for marriage equality is far from over. In fact, for the last five years, there has been a battle cry from one of the most invisible minority groups in the United States: the disabled.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 million Americans live with a disability.

So, you would think that there would be more awareness about the massive roadblock facing people with disabilities and marriage.

However, it isn’t widely known that there are 18 million disabled Americans who are on federal benefit programs that provide income and health insurance because they can’t work due to disabling health conditions or injuries.

My boyfriend is one of the 18 million, and we can’t get married because he is disabled. It’s not that we are legally unable to marry. But if we do marry, he will lose his income and the health insurance that keeps him alive and stable.

This “marriage penalty” is life altering, ranging from a 25% reduction

in income to complete loss of income and health insurance. The Social Security Administration has several rules when determining whether someone is disabled.

Speaking from second-hand experience, it can take several years for an individual to jump through all the hoops to prove on a state and federal level that they are in fact disabled. Talk about adding insult to injury.

There are also two different programs that have separate eligibility requirements: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

According to the Social Security Administration website, to qualify for SSDI you must have worked long enough and recently enough to be “insured.”

SSI, on the other hand, is a “needs based” program based on an applicant’s income and resources. The caveat to that is benefits for SSI are also determined on the applicant’s spouse’s income.

When two people with SSI income marry, their income of $783 per month is combined and then reduced to $1,175 per month, which ends up being about a 25% reduction.

When someone with SSI income marries someone who works, part of the spouse’s income is used to determine how much money the SSI recipient will get, which is usually a massive

reduction or elimination of benefits.

Let’s say two people want to get married; one receives benefits from the SSI program, the other works a minimum wage job. Based on deeming rules published by the Social Security Administration, the SSI recipient’s income would be reduced to $37.50 per month if they were to marry. If the working spouse were making $14.00 an hour or more, the SSI recipient would lose all income and be kicked off health insurance.

This explains why the rate of marriages of disabled adults compared to all adults in the United States is so low.

“Just 24 percent of SSI recipients age 18 or older (1.5 million) are married, compared with 57 percent of all adults in the United States,” Richard Balkus and Susan Wilschke, both former Social Insurance Administrators for the Social Security Administration, found.

Disabled adults must choose between marriage and financial security.

Why are we forcing our fellow Americans to choose between the two?

This is all because of an outdated policy that was thought up back when the government was positive that forced sterilization was the “cure” for disabilities.

It’s not like there are millions of Americans against changing this policy. The only reason this policy remains unchanged is because it is not widely known.

There is little wonder why this issue is little known. Most people like my boyfriend and I are terrified of the So-

cial Security Administration and their rules and policies.

Not only will legal marriage affect his income, but the SSA also has the ability to determine that we are “holding out” to the community that we are married.

We have to be careful to never refer to each other as anything more than boyfriend/girlfriend, we have to correct people if they ever refer to one of us husband or wife to the other, we aren’t able to wear rings signifying that we are in a relationship and we will never be able to have a wedding or a commitment ceremony. All of this gets harder and harder the longer we are in a relationship.

We dream of the day that we are able to marry, as are millions of other disabled Americans, I am sure. We are closer than ever to a solution, but it still seems out of reach.

In March of 2019 a bill titled H.R.1529, or the “Marriage Access for People with Special Abilities Act” (MAPSA Act) was introduced in the House of Representatives. It would effectively remove the penalty and allow for eligibility to be based on an individual basis.

Unfortunately, the bill was referred to another committee and hasn’t had any further actions made on it, according to the bill history published on Congress.gov.

How do we fix this? Write letters to your senators and representatives letting them know that this is an issue that needs attention now! Find disability advocates who are trying to bring awareness to this issue and spread the word. Sign a petition on Change.org.

Tell everyone you know about this issue. This penalty can only change if we all work together.

Marraige rates of US population vs. SSI recipients

Married

Widowed

Divorced or separated

Never Married

US Population

SSI Recipients

57%

24%

7%

16%

13%

24%

23%

36%

Graphic by Riel Hanson/Observer

September 22, 2020

cwuobserver.com cwuobserver@gmail.com Designer Riel Hanson

9

Opinion

Find all the little things in life Mitchell Roland Editor-in-Chief On a broad level I believe that in 2020, with a pandemic that makes it impossible to hang out in large groups, wildfires that made the air unsafe and a recession that strikes fear in the hearts of college students hoping to find a job upon graduating, it is the perfect time to do whatever makes you happy.

This year has been stressful for everyone, so it’s important to do things that bring you joy. It could be a new twist on an old choir, it could be beginning to celebrate something several months in advance or it could be finding a new way to stay active.

I try to look for little things, whether they are new or old, that will make me a little happier. As long as it’s no harm, then it’s no foul.

While this issue’s publication date marks the official beginning of the fall season, over the weekend I took my first decisive step towards celebrating the upcoming winter season.

As I was grocery shopping, I pur-

chased pumpkin spice eggnog (apparently that’s a thing) and happily poured myself a glass when I got home.

Even though it was technically summer when I bought my first carton of eggnog, I couldn’t help it. The first time I see eggnog for purchase every year, I feel like I’m required to buy a bottle.

If you want to buy eggnog in September, go for it. As someone who’s always had a passion for eggnog, the ability to buy it whenever I want for the next three months brings me comfort.

And I’m not alone in looking for ways to find happiness.

During quarantine, a lot of my friends have found new hobbies, interests and activities to stay sane and busy.

And while you may think they’re silly or weird, 2020 has been weird so it’s par for the course.

My friend texted me the other day that she put on a pair of high heels while doing dishes so that she could

“feel fancy.” This same friend has told me on several occasions that she’s

dressed up for everyday activities, such as going to the dentist or getting a flu shot, as a way to mix her life up a little bit.

Another friend said she’s been turning her air conditioning all the way up, putting on a warm sweater and making her favorite comfort foods because, as winter is her favorite season. This friend has also begun to make Spotify music playlists with “really specific and weird vibes.”

And since gyms were closed, another friend said he started to do yoga at home as a way to stay active. During quarantine, he also found that he had a passion for music and has begun to listen to more of it.

And yes, some of those may be silly things to do. But they also break up the mundane life of staying inside, isolated from your friends and family.

The media: a vital part of democracy

Graphics by Riel Hanson/Observer Abigail Duchow Columnist For a while now I’ve seen memes floating around Facebook and Twitter saying we should “abolish the media” or “defund the media.” I would just like to say that is exactly the opposite of what you should want to do if you want to protect democracy and people.

I can’t express enough how much I believe that the media is a huge protection of democracy and essential for people in a governed society. News media is there to present people with facts

about what is happening in the world and to keep the government in check from becoming corrupt. Some might even refer to journalism as the “fourth branch of the government,” a sentiment I agree with.

One of the biggest problems with efforts to “defund the media,” is that the media is one of the things that keeps a democracy from becoming authoritarian. Authoritarianism is a form of government with a strong central power and limited freedoms. Examples of authoritarian governments include Russia and China.

According to a report published by Freedom House called “Breaking Down Democracy” by Arch Puddington, a central goal to modern authoritarian regimes is capturing institutions such as the executive and legislative branches, civil society and, of course, the media.

According to the same article, modern authoritarianism features state or oligarchic control over “information over certain political subjects and key sectors of the media,” and independent sources surviving with a small audience.

Governmental control of the media allows too much opportunity for propaganda. In an authoritarian government, control of the media is crucial.

Allowing the government to control the media is a recipe for disaster and seems to be what some people want to happen. Without investigative journalism, there is really no one holding people or the government accountable for any wrongdoings or corruption.

Now that I’ve kind of laid out how important the media is, it should be clear why “defunding the media” is a horrible statement to be spreading around. Without journalists such as Julie K. Brown, who reopened and investigated Jeffrey Epstein and uncovered 80 potential victims of his, or Nellie Bly, who exposed the brutality and neglect taking place at the “Women’s Lunatic Asylum,” a mental institution that was in New York in the late 1800s, we may have never known such things were happening.

There’s a name for journalists who expose corrupt institutions and leaders, and that is muckrakers. I remember hearing about muckrakers for the first

time and being awestruck. Not to be cheesy, but there’s something really inspiring about people exposing corruption within institutions, and journalists working for the media are the people who do so.

I understand there is a lot of bias presented in American media. My recommendations are Reuters, Associated Press and NPR. Bias in the media is a huge problem and one that I hope to be a part of the solution for. The Ad Fontes Media bias chart ranks different news sources by how reliable they are in reporting the truth and how biased they are.

It also helps to not get information from one source alone. While I follow the sources I named above, I also follow sources like Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Seattle Times and countless other media outlets, especially ones that are deemed mostly reliable.

Essentially cross-referencing what each source I follow posts helps me realize what information may be up for discretion. If there’s something in a story that I doubt to be true, I try to fact-check it, usually with official government websites, or if there’s a recording of the thing being reported on, watching the video.

Basically, if there’s anything I want you to take away from this article, it’s that the media is a huge part of what keeps democracy functioning and corruption at bay. Suppression of the media is a huge problem, and while some outlets may not be trustworthy, by no means should we ever “abolish the media.” Journalism acts as the fourth branch of the government, and I truly believe that.

10 September 22, 2020

cwuobserver@gmail.com cwuobserver.com Designer Riel Hanson

Sports

CWU volleyball team prepares for a potential spring season Derek Harper Staff Reporter While the women’s volleyball team isn’t having a fall season, they’re planning on a full conference season this spring.

Head coach Mario Andaya and sophomores Lainey Erickson, Macy Wilke and Sydney Remsberg talked about what the plans are for the team this year. Whether fans will be allowed at games remains unknown. However, there won’t be any NCAA tournaments this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The volleyball team has always had a non-championship practice season in the spring with exhibition games against regional NCAA DI schools to see the new recruits and their skills. This year, however, the volleyball team will have a practice season in the fall scrimmaging against themselves. Andaya said practice mainly includes socially-distant drills.

“They’ll start getting used to reps again,” Andaya said. “But for the most part, really trying to get as many quality touches within this new format of social distancing and masking as much as we can.”

For players, it wasn’t easy hearing that a potential season would be pushed to spring and that there wouldn’t be an NCAA tournament either.

“I think initially hearing it was tough, but we’ve just been able to keep training and luckily we’re still able to practice with masks and social

Photo by Casey Rothgeb/Observer

The CWU women’s volleyball team continues to train in hopes of a spring season, although there will not be a tournoment is a season is held. distancing just in preparation for any competition we will get in the spring.”

Erickson said. “We’re just still looking forward to at least competing in our conference in the spring even though there’s no NCAA championship.”

The team had a week off from doing any workouts after being tested for COVID-19 and began practicing last week after everyone tested negative, according to Erickson. Practices are socially-distant with players wearing masks

and splitting into groups to minimize close contact.

Wilke said they have to spray everything down.

“Lots of disinfecting, lots of hand sanitizer, we all get a hand sanitizer [bottle] with our number on it,” Erickson said.

Wilke said if the spring season doesn’t get cancelled they’ll have had extra time to prepare.

“I think we’re just keeping in mind the end goal of hopefully competing, but

also if we don’t get to compete, using this time to better ourselves for the next time we get to compete,” Erickson said.

With the possibility of an extra year of eligibility, assuming the season happens, they can withdraw after 10 games. Extra eligibility will be granted if the spring season gets canceled due to COVID-19.

Whether or not athletics has a season this spring, the volleyball team will hold practices.

Club sports prepare for return amidst new safety restrictions

Sean Bessette Staff Reporter The return of students on campus signals the return of club sports, which will look a lot different due to the safety restrictions set in place and the reduced number of students on campus because of COVID-19.

Club sports are returning in a limited fashion.

Director of Club Sports Samantha Wary said “it’s the club’s discretion on whether they want to return or not.”

Half of the club sports teams will be returning. Prior to returning, each club must fill out a return to play document.

From there, the document must be reviewed before practices can begin.

According to Wary, there will be no competitions or traveling this quarter.

Only practices will be happening but they will be looking different than they have in the past.

Graphic by Riel Hanson/Observer To ensure the safety of club sport participants, University Recreation Director Matthew Boyer said club sports will be following state, local and school guidelines.

Since Kittitas County is in phase three of the state’s phased reopening plan, gatherings are allowed with up to 10 people. For club sports, there can be no more than five members per indoor court and no more than five members per outdoor group. Face coverings will be required at all times.

Every student participating must complete their daily health check to monitor if they have any symptoms.

In the case that a club sport participant contracts the COVID-19 virus, the Student Medical & Counseling Clinic will be notified and contact tracing will occur, which is the process of identifying persons who have come into contact with an infected individual.

According to Wary, a struggle that club sports have been encountering is getting new students to participate.

With fewer people on campus, there are fewer students to play in club sports.

Over the spring, the Men’s Volleyball club team utilized Zoom to have meetings that brought in more participants, according to Wary. President of the Men’s Volleyball club team Isaiah Casem said their focus is on retaining new members. In fact, the team has grown in members since last year.

“It’s kind of hard to socialize and really team bond and meet the guys on the team,” Casem said. “I can’t teach them motivation, I can’t teach them commitment, determination, willingness to work outside of club hours and work just as hard within club hours.”

Club sports practices were scheduled to begin the first week of fall quarter, but the clubs have not been approved to begin practicing due to the smoky skies and practices have to be pushed back until the air conditions improve based on Recreation’s smoke procedure.

September 22, 2020 11

cwuobserver.com cwuobserver@gmail.com Designer Riel Hanson

Sports

Football team gets creative with its sights on a potential return Gabriel Strasbaugh Staff Reporter Football has been forced to reschedule their regular season to the spring.

Stipulations applied to this agreement to play in the spring are required. Despite the hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the football coaches and players have kept spirits and determination high for the season.

Football activities will resume starting in October. Training camp will be the first time players will be back on the field in person. Second year head coach Chris Fisk feels this team could be well-balanced, both mentally and physically.

“We’ve got our challenges ahead of us.

No-contact football practices. We will be working on a lot of technique, skill work and game situations,” Fisk said.

After winter break, the team will again return to Tomlinson Field for the beginning of the season. Fisk plans to have the Wildcats ready for kickoff.

“We will spend about a month making sure we’re in good condition before we start what would be ‘fall ball’ camp in the middle of February,” Fisk said. “We don’t know our schedule yet. We will start playing games in March and April and probably wrap up around May.” The team remains bound to legal health protocols throughout each phase of the season.

“We are bound to the federal, then to the state, then to the local. So, you kind of have to go through each of those guidelines,” Fisk said. “Dr. Larson, here in town, who’s leading our policies and procedures, is doing a great job working with our athletic department and the county to make sure we are following all of the guidelines.”

Hurdles are nothing new to this year’s team. In terms of snap counts, the team

Casey Rothgeb/ The Observer

The CWU football team has had to learn how to adapt to non contact activities to prepare for a sport that’s full of human contact. looks arguably the most experienced team of Fisk’s tenure at CWU back in 2016.

Some members of the team, as well as Fisk, are even comparing the talent of this year’s team to the highly touted 2017 squad of seasons past.

Redshirt junior Cody O’Connell, who was a part of the 2017 team, uses his experience to drive him in the secondary and create a spark for the defense.

“Start off earlier, get my defense to stop the third downs. We were in positions last year. But it’s the small thirds we missed on,” O’Connell said.

While the defense plans to get off the field more on third, the offense bolsters an already stacked group of weapons for their QB. Quarterback Christian Moore returns for his second consecutive season at the helm. 2019 was a productive year for Moore.

Six out of their last seven games saw the offense put up more than four passing touchdowns each week. That stretch included two matches against Simon Frasier, a notable favorite for the young signal caller.

“That last game at the end of the season, that is my favorite,” Moore said.

“Going out on a high note. That was a lot of fun.”

Foot work and timing were areas Moore felt he needed the most work going into camp.

“There were a couple of balls I missed because of it. Continuing to improve my [identifying] of defenses,” Moore said. “I mean you see [Tom] Brady and he has a checklist of muscle memory and he’s [identifying] things in seconds. Our coaching staff does a great job at film study to make it easy for us to read and see.”

Returning to the recreation facilities Continued from Page 1 Political science freshman Christopher Ruck was astonished the first time he walked into the Recreation Center.

“There [were] so many machines that I wanted to try out and I really like how friendly [the staff] are,” Ruck said. “I do feel like they should open up one of the basketball courts for basketball. I am doing intramural basketball, but I just wanna shoot around and get some practice in.”

Intramural sports for the fall quarter are limited. Boyer recommends students who are unavailable in person but want to participate can join in on esports tournaments online. They are currently offered through the Recreation Center.

Boyer is confident that this is the only way to remain open.

“If the students follow the guidelines and the recommendations, we can get through this quicker,” Boyer said.

Boyer hopes the regulations can loosen up by Jan. 1 and “start returning to normal.” He recognizes that it all depends on the students.

“If they feel that they know better or that they don’t like it and they do their own thing, we could go backwards,” Boyer said.

Casey Rothgeb/Observer

The recreation center has worked to find ways for students to remain active while still maintaining social distancing and health safety protocols.

12 September 22, 2020

cwuobserver@gmail.com cwuobserver.com Designed by Tiffany Tablang

Engagement

Zoom Meeting Mad Libs!

Zoom meetings have been so __________ lately. (adjective)

My professor schedules class at ________! Crazy right? (time of day)

They always sit in the __________ or at the ________, (noun)

(room in house)

which I think is a very __________. (adjective)

There is never a meeting where someone ________ (adverb)

________ right into their microphone. (verb)

It really makes me question if my classmates are actually wearing __________, but I can’t tell since their webcams (article of clothing)

are usually off.

I swear, only ________ people leave their video on! (number)

Don’t get me started on the work!

I have to spend ________ hours on one assignment! (number)

And the class has ________assignments a week! (number)

I just have to deal with my professor’s __________ (adjective)

________ and my classmates’ __________ __________. (noun)

(adjective)

(type of food)

Time to chug __________ and get cracking on my (type of liquid)

__________ work till Thanksgiving break. (adjective)