Poison Waters: always funny and ever wise Waters shares inspiring stories and jokes at Out and Proud dinner By Justin Oehler | Freelancer
WOU signs recruits to football program on National Signing Day By Jamal Smith | Sports Editor On Wednesday, Feb. 3, Western Oregon University’shead football coach Arne Ferguson announced 28 high school football players signed their letters of intent to join the team in the fall. Out of the 28 new recruits, 16 are from Oregon and 5 are from Washington. The 2016 recruiting class also has highly touted high school players from Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Idaho. “We are very happy with the kids that have committed to Western Oregon,” said Ferguson. “Our coaches put in the time and did a really good job recruiting players that will give us an opportunity to compete against the best teams in Division-II.” At the Wolves’ National Signing Day event on Wednesday at Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room, Ferguson talked about what traits and characteristics the coaching staff looks for in recruits. “First of all, we look for a good student that’s motivated and driven,” said Ferguson. “Western Oregon does a good job recruiting student athletes who will work hard, learn, and get an education.”
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From living in California to being a new kid in Portland, Poison Waters is fabulous and funny! She has been doing drag for almost thirty years and is as popular and vivacious as ever. Poison Waters, according to her website, has had experience working with the Women’s Inter-community AIDS Resource and currently acts as camp director at a summer camp for kids who are infected or affect by HIV/AIDS. Full of jokes and wisdom, she told it like it is. At the Out and Proud dinner on Jan. 3, Waters told the gathered crowd all about her early life as a quarter Mexican, a quarter Native American, and half black, gay boy. As the keynote speaker for the dinner, she shared her experiences with the audience. When she moved to Portland this was the blackest city she has ever lived in. She mentioned how much she enjoyed being surrounded by people of color at the dinner, saying she was excited not to be “the raisin in the rice patch.” She came from a very supportive, diverse family and spoke on how lucky and happy she was to be in that situation. Yet, she knew she was “odd” for a long time and her mother and sister did to by telling her “you know you gay, right?” She shared worries that many people face, saying she felt like an alien waiting for the mother ship to come pick her back up. Feeling different and out of place, even when supported by family, is difficult, especially as a young person part of the LGBT*Q+ community.
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UNIVERSITY AND UNION CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS Administration proposes new offer, WOUFT still not satisfied By Alvin Wilson | Staff Writer Western Oregon University Federation of Teachers (WOUFT) was offered a chance to finally get what they’ve been asking for: a 10 percent pay increase for non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty over the biennium. But after examining President Rex Fuller’s letter to staff and students, Dr. Mark Perlman, philosophy professor and President of WOUFT, was left unsatisfied.
“His letter makes it sound like he’s being Santa Claus with big fat raises and I think it’s awfully dishonest for him to make it seem like that,” said Perlman. “But what he didn’t put in the letter that he sent to everybody, including all of the students, was what they cut to do that.” Fuller’s letter included information about the national averages for raises among university staff. According to Inside Higher Ed’s website, average annual raises nationwide in 2014-15 ranged from 1.0 to 2.4 percent. In comparison, WOU’s proposed salary increases range from seven to 15 percent. “Of course seven to 15 percent looks like a lot, and if we were already at the average salary we would be happy
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to get the average raise nationwide,” said Perlman. “But we’re so far below the average that even if we agree to this package we’ll still be significantly behind.” In earlier negotiations both parties agreed that the cost of raising NTT staff salaries by 10 percent would be $210,000. It was recently discovered, however, that the actual cost would be $126,000. How the university was able to reduce the cost by 40 percent is still unknown to WOUFT, according to Perlman. To pay for the $126,000, the university’s proposal would reduce summer term pay for instructors and reduce course reassignments, which give professors a