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Jo u r n a l Wester n Oregon University’s Weekly Student Newspaper Since 1923 w w w. w o u . e d u / s t u d e n t / w e s t e r n j o u r n a l
Volume 14 Issue 8
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Burned Transformer causes network failure
Wade sets program record at nationals By Iain Dexter Sports Editor
J
unior Annie Wade had a season for the record books, finishing 77th in a time of 22:25.4 at the NCAA Division II National Championships Saturday, Nov. 23. “I’m really happy with my placement,” said Wade. “I knew going in that it was a huge meet, and my goal was just to be in the top 100 and run faster than I did at Regionals, which I did.” Wade now holds the fastest finish and best placement in Western’s women’s program history at the National Championships. “She was very comfortable,” said assistant coach Chris Reed. “She had the appropriate amount of nervousness the morning of [the race], but she definitely belonged in that race. No doubt about that.” Wade was the lone Western competitor at the event, claiming her spot at Nationals with a ninth place finish at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships Saturday, Nov. 9. “To be honest, just the fact that I made it to Nationals and was able to compete with so many people at that level was enough to make me happy,” said Wade. “It would have been great to do better, but just being able to race that day was enough. I couldn’t ask for more.” The event was the third time this season Wade had run the course in Spokane. She previously ran it at the Erik Anderson Invitational/NCAA Preview Sept. 21 and for the Regional Championships just two weeks prior to Nationals. “The support that everyone gave me was incredible,” said Wade. “I just wanted to make everyone proud and before the race Coach Reed told me that no matter what, everyone was proud of me already. I wanted to do well because I love racing, running, cross country and being able to represent my school.”
Wade See Page 2
21
days until
Christmas
BEFORE
AFTER Bill Kernan | Photo Contribution
by Laura Knudson Managing Editor
W
estern’s campus experienced network failure after Public Safety discovered a burned transformer in the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) located in the administration building at 4:10 a.m. Monday,
Dec. 2. Campus Public Safety responded to an automated alert that led them to the Administration basement where they were met with smoke-filled hallways. Public Safety immediately evacuated the building and called 911. “No one saw flame but there was definitely a tremendous amount of smoke,” said Bill Kernan, Director of University Computing Service (UCS). Firefighters wore respirators and placed fans in the area to get
rid of the smoke. They also had Public Safety turn off electricity to the area and hit an emergency shutoff switch on the UPS. A UPS is an electrical supply device the size of a refrigerator that is responsible for supplying power to a core switch router, which then supplies power to systems like our firewall and phone lines. The unit contains six transformers, two big fans and 36 batteries. All network traffic runs through this core. When one of the transformers burned, the whole UPS shut down and the batteries no longer fed power to the core switch router, which in turn shut down all network communication. Kernan said if the problem had occurred with just a power switch in a building, the problem would have been easy to fix; they would just replace the switch. “If you lost a switch it would affect about 48 people. But because the problem happened at the core, it affected the whole campus,” said Kernan.
Network Failure See Page 3
H0LIDAY TREE LIGHTING by Chelsea Hunt Freelancer The 46th Annual Holiday Tree Lighting will bring holiday cheer to the campus and local communities, starting with the holiday parade on Friday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. “We titled the theme ‘Illuminating Traditions’ to honor traditions that are familiar to us and those that are not,” said Ekpeju “Ed” E-Nunu, the coordinator for student organizations and activities. The tree lighting will take place after the parade sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. “All the lights on campus will go out on Monmouth Avenue and then the tree gets lit and then the street lamps come back on,” said the landscape maintenance supervisor, Kevin Hughes. The tree will be lit by the winner of an essay contest, open to
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local third to fifth graders, who answer the question, “How can you bring happiness and joy to someone this holiday season?” The winner will be reading their essay on stage before lighting the tree. After the parade and the tree-lighting, several activities will be taking place. Starting at 7 p.m. in the Werner University Center, there will be pictures with Santa, voting on the decorated trees and the “Words of Kindness” activity. Words of Kindness will take place in the Willamette Room. The trees decorated by participants will be donated to Toys for Tots. E-Nunu added that the Student Activities Board (SAB) is collecting clothes and food. The children’s concerts start at 7 p.m., followed by Western Hemisphere Voices at 7:30 p.m. Senior Chloe Fief said she thought that the children’s choir she
Holiday Tree Lighting See Page 7
Inside [news]
[entertainment]
Turkey Trot raises funds for service learning trip
‘May the odds be ever in your favor’
page 4
page 6
[campus life] Residential Advisers save the day
page 8
]
[sports]
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Western wins capitol city classic champions
page 10