Dear Reader,

It is in our nature as humans to assume that weakness, in its most literal form, insinuates disadvantage or fault; almost instinctively, our minds seem to formulate the dichotomy between weakness and strength.

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Story by Christina Crea
Western student Lucy Nolan raises her hand to ask a question in class and her professor snaps back a comment, making her feel belittled. Embarrassed, she pipes down for the rest of the class time. She doesn’t want to ask another question in class again – she has been “silenced” in the classroom.
“A professor who has weak interaction with their students is one that’s disinterested in the class and doesn’t respect students – honestly, it reminds me of the mono-tone, babbling Charlie Brown cartoon …

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Story by Breanna Greely

“Oh Lord, not again.”

This is Western senior Bethany Bourns’ sentiment when she sees that it is time to change her universal password once again.

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Story by TJ Cotterill
Benjamin Brockman picked up his pace, comrades wearing Army cotton t-shirts surrounding him. The smell of sweat from the vast multitude of trainees was teeming throughout the air as he hastened toward the finish.
Brockman didn’t need to be first, but he couldn’t be last. He had to bound the 2-mile Army training course in 15 minutes, 54 seconds to pass and continue training in the Reserve Officers‘ Training Corps. Brockman accomplished the feat with ease, 54 seconds to spare, and in paramount shape compared …

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Story by Sarah Beaulieu
Mikail Danli was excited to come to America. The computer engineering student had never traveled outside Turkey before when he decided to take part in a summer exchange program.
At 23 years-of-age, Mikail had decided to try out the Work and Travel Program, which allows university students from European countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia to travel to America. He worked paid for three months and traveled around in America for one month. He says it was the best summer of his life, since …

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Story by Kurtis Loo

He attempts to fill the holes of his intoxicated night of infidelity. He remembers the situation, drinking excessively at a party, which later continued at his place. The girl, an aggressive blonde bombshell with a perky personality whom he seen hanging in the same circles of friends. And his last moment before the act, struggling to walk to his bedroom with the girl shadowing his every step.

Story by Robin Turnblom

Photos by Sarah Richardson

Drew Fitchette takes out a scale and sets it on the polished wooden counter inside Onyx Coffee Bar in Bellingham. He measures out exactly two grams of finely ground African coffee for every one ounce of water he’s boiling, and moves them into a filter, which rests lightly inside a glass cone. The cone sits on top of a clear glass carafe.

When Christopher Gil sees blood he feels a sickly, cold-sweat feeling coming on. If the Whatcom Community College student happens to catch a glimpse of the pure-red substance, he starts to feel lightheaded, sometimes to the point where he can’t stand. Once he starts feeling woozy his next move is to do something, anything, to get the image of the oozing-ruby droplets out of his mind. Gil says he gets lightheaded when he sees blood. Many people have some weakness toward blood, whether they see it, feel it or think about it; the idea of blood doesn’t sit right with them. “I can see little scrapes and little cuts — but anything that’s more than a paper cut — I definitely start feeling uneasy right away,” Gil says. Western biology and behavioral neuroscience faculty member Dr. Jose Serrano-Moreno says there are many reasons why an individual reacts negatively to blood. The reaction could be related to a traumatic event that causes an overload in the brain and therefore causes a person to faint or feel sick. Another possible reason could be that a phobia of blood has developed over a person’s life that causes the reaction. When it’s his own blood, Gil says he’s more affected by it. Dr. Serrano-Moreno says seeing our own blood subconsciously tells our brain that something damaging is happening. “In general, nobody wants to see blood because it implies something destructive or damaging, but our own blood in our own body represents something you have to take care of immediately,” he says. When Gil was 11 years old, he says he fell onto a garbage can, tearing open his upper lip. Gil remembers blood everywhere and couldn’t handle it. The next thing he knew, he woke up from fainting because of all the blood. Serrano-Moreno describes the limbic section of the brain as being responsible for this type of hyper-sensitive reaction. It doesn’t require a high level of thinking and when it’s in control - the response becomes irrational. In some cases they feel paralyzed, Serrano-Moreno says, or they faint. Gil says seeing blood on TV or in the movies doesn’t bother him as much. However, when he gets that cold-sweat feeling and lightheadedness he knows so well when he sees blood, he copes by looking away and does his best to forget the sight of it.&w=150&h=150&zc=1&q=100" alt="Fight or faint" class="left" width="150px" height="150px" />

Story by Stephanie Lonzak

Photo illustration by Jaynie Hancock

When Christopher Gil sees blood he feels a sickly, cold-sweat feeling coming on. If the Whatcom Community College student happens to catch a glimpse of the pure-red substance, he starts to feel lightheaded, sometimes to the point where he can’t stand. Once he starts feeling woozy his next move is to do something, anything, to get the image of the oozing-ruby droplets out of his mind.

Story by Faduma Abdi

Photo by Jaynie Hancock

In July 2010, 23-year-old Bonifacio Sanchez arrived 12 hours late for his mother’s cousin’s wedding in Mount Vernon, tired and hungry, after hours of studying and exams. The grueling summer heat did not help his situation. Chilean music played in the background as couples danced the night away. The men drank their bottles of beer and the women chatted in groups – separate from the men. Sanchez found himself in a dilemma: how to obtain some food for his growling stomach.

Video by Brianna Gibbs