Caitlyn Nakatsukasa – Today at WOU

Students Learn Computer Coding with Dance

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on May 7, 2019 368 views

REDMOND, OR — Crook County Middle School computer science students spent Thursday at COCC-Redmond, learning to make a stick figure dance to the song “Gangnam Style.” They worked with Western Oregon University’s iLumiDance team to code lights on a life-sized stick man, to flash with the beat of the song. The 34 kids were divided into six teams and [more…]

Campus & community | Education | WOU in the news

Oregon’s Public Universities Contemplate Tuition Increases

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on May 7, 2019 342 views

A photo of the Western Oregon University sign on campus.

Oregon’s public universities are looking at one major way to stay solvent next year – tuition increases. Some universities are contemplating double digit increases or waiting until May to make their decisions, hoping they may receive more state support. Portland State University is considering tuition increases of at least 14%. Eastern Oregon University in La Grande is among [more…]

Alumni | Sports & recreation

WOU in the News: Oakland’s Dominique Harrison Among Sugar Skulls Newbies Hoping to Make Instant Impact

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 17, 2019 256 views

Roster turnover happens often in any nonmajor professional sport. One week a player could be the best for a franchise and by the following week, they can find a new opportunity in a different league. It’s “the nature of the business” as Sugar Skulls coach Marcus Coleman puts it. When the Sugar Skulls (3-2) host [more…]

Alumni | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Above and Beyond: WMS Mentor Honored

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 10, 2019 331 views

Matt Hurst has always gone beyond the call of duty to help the teachers and students with whom he works. And back in February, it was clear that his dedication didn’t go unnoticed. Hurst, who is an instructional mentor at Whiteaker Middle School, was honored with the 2019 Outstanding Technology Educator of the Year award, [more…]

Campus & community | Sports & recreation | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Stephenson Joins Volleyball Staff at WOU

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 10, 2019 334 views

MONMOUTH — Western Oregon head volleyball coach Stacy Metro announced the addition of Traci Stephenson to her staff on Monday. Stephenson will join the Wolves as an assistant coach for the 2019 season, the first under Metro’s leadership. Stephenson joins the Wolves’ staff after eight seasons as the head coach at Chemeketa Community College in [more…]

Sports & recreation | Student life | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Outdoor Track & Field Preview

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 10, 2019 330 views

MONMOUTH — There’s nothing like coming back to the roots from which you came. Samuel Cole, a sophomore on Western Oregon University’s track and field team, knows that to be true. After spending a year at Clackamas Community College, he came back to Independence, where he was born and raised, to attend classes at WOU [more…]

Sports & recreation | Student life | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Spearing the Competition

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 9, 2019 345 views

MONMOUTH — Darian Wilson had an impressive start to her collegiate athletic career on the Western Oregon University track and field team last year, when she competed in the NCAA Division II National Championship for javelin, came in seventh, and picked up an All-American accolade along the way. A freshman then, Wilson said she had [more…]

Arts & culture | Campus & community | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Slippery Nature of ‘Sensual Fish’

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 4, 2019 457 views 2 comments

“It’s kind of a slippery topic,” Henry Hughes told me Tuesday, in a conversation about his upcoming lecture “The Sensual Fish.” At its heart, the April 2 lecture is about fish. It’s part of the Montana State University Library Trout and Salmonid Lecture Series. But it’s also about sex. “The wet, dark, mysterious, fishy and primal [more…]

Alumni | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: New Performing Arts Director Settles into Position at PHS

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 4, 2019 229 views

In the fifth grade, Erica Epperley decided she wanted to play the flute. The next year, she joined the choir. “I knew right away that I wanted to do music in some aspect,” said Epperley, who took over as Philomath High School’s performing arts director this academic year. “I got my bachelor’s and master’s in [more…]

Alumni | WOU in the news

WOU in the News: Competing Against Cancer

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa Posted on April 4, 2019 236 views

What could be worse than finding out that you have cancer? For Anne Williams, it was being told that she would not be able to teach this year at Lebanon High School. For Williams, 42, the diagnosis of colon cancer came as a relief after she had started to not feel well last July. “It [more…]