The Daily at the University of Washington
The Daily is the student newspaper at the University of Washington. I began writing for them soon after I was accepted into the journalism major. Here, my skills in writing for journalism grew. The Daily is where some of my very first articles were published. I made mistakes as a new journalist, but I learned from them and made me into the journalist I am today.
Late last year, Rolling Stone released an exposé documenting the lives of five women who are suing organizations associated with the International Christian Church (ICC) for childhood sexual abuse and financial pyramid schemes.
Rooted Campus Ministry at UW, which holds direct ties to the ICC, is a Christian campus ministry often found trying to recruit students near the Starbucks in the HUB.
Before they were called “Rooted,” the organization went under the name Meta and is, as previously mentioned, part of the larger network of the ICC, which has a history of being coercive and manipulative.
An anonymous source from UW came forward to share her experience with Rooted. Entering UW as a first-year and a devoted Christian, she was in a vulnerable state as a first-generation college student.
“I was trying to find out where I fit in and figure out the people I wanted to surround myself with,” the student said. “Obviously, I wanted to surround myself with a Christian-based friend group.”
When she was approached and told about Rooted and how she should join one of their Bible studies, having no prior knowledge about the group, she was excited for an opportunity for community. However, she was told that she couldn’t join because she had another Bible study with a different Christian group.
After that day, the group texted almost every day for two months to ask our source to join their Bible study. It was around mid-November when she stopped receiving messages. Our source decided to reach out to the group during winter break and agreed to attend an event the following Friday after winter break. She had arrived late to the event, but she said everyone seemed to have been expecting her and loved the nice participants and welcoming atmosphere.
She then joined their Bible study with daily meetings and some calls occurring early in the morning. She assumed the Bible studies would be with one person in a one-on-one format, however, several people were present.
Soon, they began to preach to her that a real Christian has to be a disciple, and, to be a disciple, one must align their life with everything in the Bible, an almost impossible task. Additionally, according to the ICC, one can only be a Christian if they've been baptized by a group directly affiliated with the ICC — which would typically happen after initiation into the group.
“They were basically telling me I wasn’t Christian,” the source said. “That night, I had gone home crying because my entire life my purpose was to be Christian; I’m a follower of Jesus. They took that away from me, making me think I wasn’t Christian.”
She said they had also been controlling her schedule, telling her she couldn’t do devotionals, Bible studies, or watch sermons by other pastors and that all the other pastors were preaching wrong. The only right way was through Rooted, according to the group. That's when she realized she was being indoctrinated into a cult.
She went home for a week after the ordeal to recover, still scared because they wouldn’t stop trying to contact her.
“They’re still, to this day, reaching out to vulnerable college students who need faith, who feel they can’t do anything without Jesus, who need a community and brainwashing them,” the source said.
Daniel Jarchow is the minister at Sojourn, a campus ministry at UW. He’s helped our anonymous source and other students who have felt coerced and victimized by Rooted.
Jarchow explains how Rooted’s views on discipleship are concerning. In ICC’s case, a main disciple teaches a person, and that person has to always answer to them, creating a power dynamic that spreads down. However, Jarchow says discipleship is about teaching and should be practiced together rather than in a coercive manner that takes advantage of those power dynamics.
“You can be serious about your faith and it not be applied in these coercive ways that are used to control people,” Jarchow said. “[I’m] just really trying to help students trust their instincts and heal from that and become [a part of a community] where they don’t have to experience that.”
Katelyn Ebert, a fourth-year student studying physics and philosophy, leads a group called Ratio Christi on campus, and is part of Reformed University Fellowship UW. She’s Christian and has watched several friends go into and leave Rooted. She explained how easy it is to be indoctrinated by Rooted.
“One of my friends emphasized the fact that she didn’t hear this different Gospel until [she was far into the process at Rooted], meaning it’s easy to already be very invested by the time it comes up,” Ebert said. “The people in it reach out a lot and will show you so much kindness, and I believe it’s genuine kindness and investment, too. They invite you to food and bring you into a tight-knit community.”
If you or someone else you know is seeking help after being victimized by religious organizations on campus, the counseling center provides resources for students.
Rooted Ministry did not respond to request for comment.
The ASUW Shell House was built on the shores of Lake Washington in 1918 by the United States Navy as a seaplane hangar during World War I. Between 1919 and 1949, it was the home of UW Rowing and, now, UW is trying to raise money to renovate the building for the modern era.
The Shell House is most famous for being the home of “The Boys in the Boat,” UW’s 1936 men’s rowing team, who won their event at the Berlin Olympics that year, as retold in an award-winning book by Daniel Brown. It also housed George Pocock’s workshop, where many of the racing shells the rowers used were built. Recently, the site has garnered attention through actor and director George Clooney’s upcoming adaptation of the book into a film.
When “The Boys in the Boat” was released in 2013, UW Recreation — who has managed the Shell House since 1950 — realized that it should be more than just a warehouse.
“It should have some history, interpretation, and more people should be coming through the doors,” Nicole Klein, who leads fundraising efforts for the renovation project, said.
The campaign to renovate the Shell House began in 2017, as the public grew interested in seeing the place where the Olympic winners had trained, according to Klein.
Klein said about $8.5 million has been raised for the Shell House so far. Microsoft president Brad Smith and his wife, Kathy Surace-Smith, donated $5 million toward the renovations, and Microsoft Philanthropies donated $2 million.
“[O]ur job is always to build community — artists, teachers, historians, engineers, public servants — people from all walks of life coming together and rowing in the right direction,” Jane Broom, senior director of Microsoft Philanthropies and UW alum, wrote in an email. “And as a metaphor, this building represents all of that. We have an opportunity here to preserve that legacy and ensure that these stories exist for generations to come, at this place where we can all gather and remember that community is the most important thing that we build.”
To move forward with construction, the Shell House needs $15.5 million in funding, as well as an additional $3 million for operations and maintenance. Klein hopes to reach the construction goal by this summer.
One key facet of the Shell House’s history is its relationship with Indigenous peoples. Before the Shell house was built, the area now known as the Montlake Cut was called stəx̌ʷugʷił, or “Carry a Canoe.”
Owen Oliver is a member of the informal ASUW Shell House advisory board that has been tasked with sharing ideas from many stakeholders and interest areas, member of the Quinault tribe, and a former UW student.
“We call it ‘Carry the Canoe’ because that was a way we could portage our canoes from Lake Washington to Lake Union,” Oliver said. “We would carry our canoes and put them on the other side.”
However, when the Montlake Cut, which connects Lake Washington with Lake Union, was dug in 1917, it destroyed stəx̌ʷugʷił by lowering Lake Washington’s water level by about nine feet, according to Oliver.
“When Western civilization came over here, they were very focused on trade and how to build a progressive city that stressed economics, without regard of Indigenous people,” Oliver said. “So by [creating the Montlake Cut], it destroyed many salmon stocks without care of the environment or the people around it.”
To acknowledge the Indigenous history of the place the Shell House sits on, UW Recreation has made steps toward bringing in Indigenous voices. Oliver describes how the advisory board includes Indigenous voices such as Oliver’s aunt and himself. The building is also used to house Indigenous classes, including a canoe carving class.
The Shell House is also one of the spots that canoe families use to launch their canoes and begin their canoe journey during Paddle to Seattle, an event started by Oliver’s grandfather, Emmett Oliver, where tribes carve canoes and race and journey on Puget Sound’s waters.
“It’s just another spot in Seattle that is welcoming to these Indigenous traditions,” Oliver said. “There’s not a lot of spots like that. There’s a lot of bureaucracy, permitting, and zoning. Sometimes you can’t have those there, but I would feel [the Shell House is] a safe spot where new families can always reach out and launch.”
Oliver hopes that the Shell House renovation project will continue bringing in Indigenous voices. He wants the Shell House to highlight more than just “The Boys in the Boat” and aviation history.
“Make it accessible for Native students to come in,” Oliver said. “Make it cheaper to rent, if you want to rent out that space for students. Make it a shining spot on campus that is a rental space, but also an active learning space.”
Denzil Suite, vice president of student life, believes that the Shell House can be an essential part of student life where students host events and build community. Suite thinks the Shell House will be one of the most sought-after places on campus, especially by students.
“Universities exist for the betterment of society,” Suite said. “We tackle some of the most vexing problems, and we do this by keeping one foot planted firmly in the past, but the rest of our bodies oriented to the future. This way we can ensure solutions are both grounded and lasting. I think the ASUW Shell House embodies that [ideal] beautifully.”
Once students recognize that the Shell House is available for them to visit and enjoy, Suite believes they will be willing to take the trek down to the waterfront.
On Jan. 1, 2023, postdocs at UW will be getting a salary increase due to the new statewide overtime-eligible wage law that is set to go into effect.
There are roughly 900 postdocs at UW. Postdocs are individuals who have a Ph.D. and are appointed for a temporary and defined time (no more than five years), engaged in full-time mentored advanced training to enhance their professional skills and research independence under the direction and supervision of UW faculty mentors. This does not include graduate students.
UAW 4121, the union for academic student employees and postdoctoral students at UW, is continuing to negotiate with UW administration to increase the minimum wage for postdoctoral students. While UW has established $65,000 as the minimum living wage for postdocs, the union is seeking higher wages.
Sam Sumpter, president of UAW 4121 and graduate student in the department of philosophy, explained that they are pushing to increase the minimum wage based on how much it costs to live in Washington state.
“We fundamentally believe that minimum salaries need to keep up with how expensive it is to live here,” Sumpter said.
Victor Balta, UW’s spokesperson, explained in an email that UW is committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a fair agreement.
Balta explained that the current minimum wage at the lowest experience level is around $53,000. UAW 4121 proposed $72,000, which UW administration counterproposed with $65,508.
Negotiations are ongoing, and no agreements have yet been reached. The next meeting between the union and UW administration will be on Dec. 7.
Sumpter said all union members are allowed to and encouraged to get involved. The negotiation process ends with all postdocs voting on the contract proposal. The contract will set the terms of postdoc working conditions for the length of the contract.
Luci Baker is a postdoc for mechanical engineering and a bargaining committee member for UAW 4121. She explained how negotiations are currently going.
“Initially, we gave them our first proposal which was proposing to get everybody significantly above the cost of living,” Baker said. “The admin sort of sat on the proposal for a while. Then, we had a mass meeting with a really good turnout between postdocs and research scientists. We got together to talk about what’s going on with bargaining.”
The following week, UW administration provided a counterproposal that was above the cost of living. Baker said it was unprecedented for them to make such a big jump on the first counterproposal and believes it’s because of the postdocs continuously committed to getting a good contract.
“It will be a huge benefit to have that increase,” Baker said. “For postdocs, a lot of us have dependents like kids or spouses. Trying to make that work on the current compensation level that we have is really difficult. Also, the cost of living in Seattle is very high, especially housing.”
Baker has also struggled with living comfortably with her current salary. Fortunately, she has no dependents, but she has had to cope with unexpected medical bills that made finances tight. She said finding housing that worked with her income after the medical bills was difficult.
It can be challenging to work on the current minimum salary. Baker said there’s no wiggle room for unexpected medical bills or other emergencies. International postdocs have the added struggle of visa fees and travel-related expenses.
On March 16, UW researchers published a paper on battery-free dandelion sensors that can be dispersed in the wind through drones for research purposes.
Shyam Gollakota is a professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and lead author of the study. He said his lab works to integrate biology with technology and create biology-inspired technology. The lab wanted to create a sensor that requires less energy, is cost-efficient, and biodegradable.
“We were looking at dandelion seeds as inspiration,” Gollakota said. “If you look outside, dandelion seeds are so small that they can disperse in the wind for up to a kilometer in really dry and windy conditions.”
Gollakota said the sensors contain tiny solar cells that minimize the size and weight, negate the need for changing batteries, and make them easily dispersible, compared to sensors made with batteries. The solar cell and sensor is surrounded by plastic that is shaped similarly to dandelion seeds. This helps the sensor to glide through the air in a wider range. There will be no need for people to go out and place sensors when the job can be done by drones dropping sensors in the desired locations.
The sensors are also cost-efficient. Gollakota said the sensor itself costs $2 to $3, and microcontrollers cost about $1, making the device less than $5 total. Gollakota said he believes that if the sensors were to be mass-produced, they would only cost a few dollars apiece.
Gollakota also said he hopes the devices can be used for many applications in the future, but the main purpose for them now is helping with agriculture and analyzing climate change patterns.
“You want to be able to deploy sensors in an easy way without having to go and deploy it individually,” Gollakota said.
Gollakota said agriculture could greatly benefit from these sensors, since the sensors don’t need to be manually placed. The sensors will be able to do whatever they need to do before being collected once they are done (they contain little magnets that show their locations).
Vikram Iyer, assistant professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, explained that the tiny sensors can track climate change by monitoring environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, and pressure.
“That could be useful to deploy in remote locations to measure how climate change is affecting the environment in a certain location,” Iyer said in an email. “Or to help mitigate impacts of climate change like using them to build early warning systems for wildfires.”
However, the sensors are still in their testing stage, and research and development is ongoing. A key concern is the sustainability of the sensors. Iyer said they have tested different configurations of the sensor’s plastic bristles, and are currently exploring a plastic-free solution. Iyer is confident that the bristles can be replaced with paper, which would make the sensors biodegradable.
A more complicated issue is the sustainability of the sensor itself. For now, the short-term solution is to pick up the sensors so they don’t damage the surrounding environment. During a current research project, Iyer and his team developed a computer mouse out of biodegradable material. He said he hopes the research can translate to the sensors so that biodegradable circuits can be developed, making the entire sensor sustainable.
“We definitely hope that this can be used in lots of real world applications and scaled up [for manufacturing],” Iyer said.
UW has received about $310 million in COVID-19 aid, according to Assistant Vice Provost of Planning and Budgeting Jason Campbell. Since May 2021, the university has received close to $106 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021. Aid was split between $53 million allocated to institutional operations and $53 million allocated to student aid, Campbell said.
“The student aid portion, under the federal grant, we were required to distribute that directly to students as grant aid,” Campbell said. “That came through the Office of Financial Aid in a couple of different branches over the last year or so, and I believe almost all of that has been fully passed out.”
From the $310 million, almost $92.8 million of student aid has come from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the ARP.
Last May, the CRRSA Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund provided an additional $14 million for education. Campbell said these funds were directed to several entities, including large chunks distributed to the tri-campus vaccine verification program and the Husky Coronavirus Testing program.
A smaller portion of the funds was directed toward UW Environmental Health & Safety to support ongoing costs associated with the university’s public health response. Further funding was allocated as a partial offset of revenue losses incurred by study abroad programs.
The body most profoundly impacted by COVID-19 — aside from UW Medicine — was Housing & Food Services (HFS), who Campbell said suffered an excess loss of about $100 million.
“We went down for the count, basically, in the spring quarter of 2020,” Mark Stanley, the chief financial officer of HFS, said. “We lost a lot of revenue, both in terms of dining and housing, and then it continued into the next year with OK occupancy — but not even close to what we need.”
HFS has received a total of $74.6 million between CARES and CRRSAA, according to Stanley.
“We’re a self-sustaining organization, so-called auxiliary, but we received no state funding,” Stanley said. “And so the grants really were a savior for us in this sense.”
The aid was used to refund HFS reserves used for capital projects and renovations, as well as to support facilities. At the end of the 2019 fiscal year, HFS had about $82.8 million in reserves. Aid was used to reach the $80 million mark, and Stanley projects that at the end of 2022, HFS will have about $83.4 million in reserves. The money will be used to revitalize projects that have been put on hold and to support services.
Aid provided to HFS has reduced the need to increase the rates for student housing in the coming years.
HFS also has a budget advisory committee made up of residents, with the goal of educating the residents on the budget and providing transparency on how funds are allocated.
Amid the impacts of the pandemic, the ARP was a tremendous help to UW.
“The fact that the ARP Act came along with such a large amount, that was surprising in the sense of scale, but it was extremely helpful and [is] really making material impacts to support housing and food,” Campbell said. “I think, all in all, it turned out a lot better than we would have ended up at the end of the day — there was a lot more support out there than anyone probably could have imagined at the beginning of the pandemic; all things considered, I guess that [the ARP] was a sort of a positive outcome in a really negative situation.”
After almost two years since its establishment, Minecraft UW has expanded from its humble beginnings of just a few buildings to all of UW campus and beyond.
In March 2020, a group of students decided to build UW’s campus in Minecraft. They’ve built campus buildings and even the U Village. Now, the Minecraft server hosts events for several UW clubs, such as graduation ceremonies and Humans vs. Zombies Tag, and also partners with Seattle organizations such as International Community Health Services.
In its early stages, Minecraft UW comprised of Red Square with Odegaard Library, Kane Hall, and Suzzallo Library, according to Minecraft UW’s president and fourth-year construction management student, George Panniker. The initial buildings were built with no stringent floor plans, however, and as the server expanded, it became more difficult to build accurately without those plans.
Panniker alluded to the difficulties of expanding from the initial buildings, especially with all the buildings being at different angles.
“As soon as we went away from [the initial builds], I was building Savery Hall in the Quad,” Panniker said. “I didn’t know, I learned through this, but the Quad is basically built at a 45-degree angle off of north. So I basically built Savery Hall on an axis. And then I realized that if we’re actually going to do this for the whole campus, it has to be angled at 45 degrees and you can’t just turn something in Minecraft. So I had to build the whole thing again but at a 45-degree angle.”
Eventually, Minecraft UW was able to figure out a more efficient way to build the campus thanks to Steven Hu, a third-year history student and the events coordinator for Minecraft UW.
Members of UW have access to floor plans and blueprints of campus buildings. Hu said he took the blueprints for these buildings and traced them in a pixel art program. He equated each pixel to a Minecraft block from the game. It was then uploaded into the server and all that needed to be done was to place the blocks to create the interiors and exteriors.
That helped a lot [with] accurate measurements and making sure that the proportions are right for each room,” Hu said.
Hu and his fellow builders were able to complete Paccar Hall in just one week using this method.
Approximately a year after its establishment, Minecraft UW was able to finish the entire campus. Panniker said this success was thanks to “Build Nights,” which are held weekly on Wednesdays, and allow builders and decorators to come together over Discord and complete buildings
For future plans, Panniker said Minecraft UW is currently expanding into the U-District and is hosting more events for UW clubs and organizations outside of UW.
The Minecraft UW Discord currently has hundreds of members from a variety of backgrounds and skill sets.
“It’s such a wholesome community with Minecraft because it’s so diverse and welcoming,” Hu said.