OPINION: Filipino community through food

Q&A with Bellingham’s newest Filipino restaurant owner who’s bringing much-needed representation to Bellingham

I learned early on about the importance of food in our culture and how it brought people together.

As a second-generation Filipina American, I remember my lolas (grandmothers) and titas (aunts) cooking in the kitchen while dozens of people – friends and family alike – would bring trays of lumpia, pots of sinigang and adobo, desserts like ginataang bilo bilo, turon and my personal favorite, a rice noodle dish called pancit palabok. Meanwhile, everyone sang karaoke in the living room. 

Coming to Bellingham, I found myself wanting a taste of traditional cooking. Considering how Bellingham is situated between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. – both of which have huge Filipino populations – I was disappointed to find that there was little Filipino representation. 

So I was excited to hear Bryan Matamorosa, owner and chef of Bry’s Filipino Cuisine, recently opened his new restaurant at the beginning of March. Ironically, Matamorosa grew up in the same province where my dad was born. Learning that he’s bringing food from the Bicol region warmed my heart. Through his restaurant, Matamorosa not only shares Filipino food in Bellingham but also provides Filipino representation and success for our community. 

I chose to do a Q and A interview with Matamorosa to highlight the importance of implementing Filipino culture into Bellingham and to illustrate how the Filipino community already present here can feel supported and well represented. 

Q: What got you into cooking in the first place?

A: I've always enjoyed food because I grew up on a farm. In the Philippines, we eat at least three times a day together, and I enjoy that part too. Whenever my uncle or whoever was cooking in the kitchen, I was always curious about how they made it. I just enjoyed that part where family gets together and eats. I went to nursing school in the Philippines because of the stereotype that we enjoy taking care of people, but I couldn’t transfer my credits here. 

[There is a common stereotype that most Filipinos are nurses and are known for being caregivers. There is pressure to go into nursing, stemming from the societal structures and public attitudes in the Philippines.] 

I thought ‘How do I still take care of people without really doing medical stuff, nursing or caregiving?’ But food is what brings everybody together and a chance for me to take care of people too. And that's what I loved and enjoyed doing. 

Q: What made you decide to bring part of the Filipino culture into Bellingham?

A: In 2019, there wasn't any Filipino restaurant here in town. I wanted to bring Filipino food here and share the food that we eat. The best way to do that, I noticed, is to join the Bellingham Farmers Market. And it's because I've done the Bellingham Farmers Market before with a different business name with my friends when we were still students in culinary. We did one season over there in 2017 during an internship after the first year and I saw a lot of success with that and I wanted to do that just myself.

Q: What food from the Bicol region are you planning to serve in your restaurant?

A: We’re gonna have Laing and Bicol Express. ... In the past, I wasn’t doing a lot of spicy stuff. But the Bicol region is the spice capital of the Philippines. So really, I should make my food a little bit more spicy. Where I grew up, we ate fish at least once a day. Dried fish too, so I’m 

I know a lot of people here like Caesar salad. So I’m thinking about making a Ceasar salad with anchovies and some type of local dried fish that we have [in the Philippines] and getting some flavor from there. Halo-halo maybe, but not the traditional way – we’re gonna make it look fancy. 

Q: Do you think Bellingham has good Filipino representation overall?

A: There are not a whole lot of Filipinos here in the community. And it's a little sad because most of the people I've met are working in factories. I wanted to influence them, [show] that we could do better than just working in factories. We can do better, but we need to educate ourselves and have a little bit of motivation to be a better person. 

Q: What does Filipino representation mean to you overall?

A: Filipinos really represent ‘family.’ It's family food. Food is always a big thing. Every Filipino – no matter where you go – and you go to their house, they will ask you if you're hungry. It's always the hospitality of the Filipinos that's amazing. We'll take care of you. 

Q: What are your hopes for the Filipino community in Bellingham for the future?

A: This business is for everyone. I thought it would be nice to have more support from Filipinos because it felt like that's kind of what's lacking with my business. I do care a lot about everybody. That’s why I want to become a model for Filipinos.

After talking with Matamorosa, I got the sense of home and community that I’ve been missing since coming to college. As he said earlier, Filipinos represent family – and spending an hour at Matamorosa’s restaurant reminded me of that feeling. 

Even speaking with him brought me so much closer to my community and made me feel like I wasn’t alone, something I’ve been yearning for since being away from my family. He reminded me how strong we are together, and how it’s important to support our community and uplift each other in any way we can.

If you enjoyed this story and want to read more about finding community through local cuisine, click here.

Photo 1: Bryan Matamorosa stands in front of the bar mixing a drink at Bry’s Filipino Cuisine at 1151 N State St. inside the Herald Building in Bellingham, Wash. on February 16, 2024. Matamorosa, the chef and owner of the restaurant, recently received his liquor license and plans to serve alcohol to his customers along with authentic Filipino food. // Photo by Jordan Brotamonte

Photo 2: The inside of Bry’s Filipino Cuisine at 1151 N State St. inside the Herald Building in Bellingham, Wash. on Feb. 16, 2024. The restaurant has two floors, the bottom consisting of a full bar and seating area and the second floor with additional seating as well as a karaoke room. // Photo by Jordan Brotamonte

Photo 3: The outside of the new restaurant, Bry’s Filipino Cuisine, at 1151 N State St. inside the Herald Building in Bellingham, Wash. on February 16, 2024. The restaurant had an invite-only opening at the end of February and the grand official opening of the restaurant at the beginning of March. // Photo by Jordan Brotamonte

Photo 4: The kitchen at Bry’s Filipino Cuisine at 1151 N State St. inside the Herald Building in Bellingham, Wash. on Feb. 16, 2024. Along with popular traditional Filipino food, Bryan Matamorosa, the owner of the restaurant, also plans on serving food from the Bicol province where he grew up in the Philippines. // Photo by Jordan Brotamonte

OPINION: E-books outweigh paper books

E-books are more affordable, accessible and obtainable than physical books

When I was younger, I read books as often as I could. I used to love going to Barnes and Noble and bargaining with my mom on how many books I could buy – completely ignoring her comments on the dozens of books in my room that I hadn’t read yet. 

As I grew up, I started to lean toward reading on my phone or Kindle Fire. While I still like to wander around bookstores, I end up reading most books online. 

While I admit that I used to prefer printed books growing up, I realized e-books are more convenient in terms of cost, accessibility and resourcefulness.

Alexis Willis, a fourth-year student at Western Washington University, also had a change of heart toward e-books. Growing up, Willis was fixated on growing their physical book collection and spent a lot of money at bookstores. 

“I feel like spending so much money to have some physical collection wasn’t as worth it,” Willis said. “I had so many books that I’ve never read and I’m not sure if I’m going to read.”

I’ve lost track of the amount of physical books I’ve bought that ended up collecting dust on my shelf. On the other hand, e-books are flexible and cheap when it comes to picking out books. 

Even getting textbooks and required texts for classes online can be a better financial option for students. 

“I’m teaching a class this quarter where there are two textbooks. Both are free online,” said Aran Clauson, a computer science instructor at Western. “It’s up to [the students] if they wanna purchase a copy… there’s no cost for the [online textbook] itself.”

I’ve been able to find the majority of my textbooks online for significantly cheaper prices than buying a physical copy through the Western Associated Students Bookstore or a different website like Amazon. 

If you’re indecisive, it saves you money to just look for books online.

“I think e-books are a great way to read books without the pressure of having to buy a paperback,” Willis said. “With e-books, it’s a little bit easier to rent or buy a book and feel like you’re actually going to read it.”

E-books are also significantly easier to travel with. Eva Kuznetsov, a first-year at Western, uses e-readers because of their shape and storage.

“It’s nice just having a wide selection,” Kuznetsov said. “Especially if you’re going somewhere and you need something with you lighter and smaller.”  

I would always download some books onto my phone and read them while flying to go on vacation or on long road trips with my family to pass the time. If I didn’t have an e-book, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered to bring a physical book.

Adding on, e-books have built-in accessibility features for students with disabilities, like screen reader compatibility and customizable displays.

“Print texts can be converted to digital format via the Disability Access Center, for students who have requested accommodations,” said Joanna Bailey, the Western Libraries course reserve manager. “In some cases, the library can convert print texts to digital for use on course reserve.”

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Despite e-books’ resourcefulness and flexibility, I understand how mentally retaining material from online books can be harder than a physical copy.

Naomi S. Baron, a professor emerita of linguistics at American University, studies how learning is impacted by electronic communication compared to traditional print. In an article, Baron explained that reading on paper is better for students to comprehend information than digital books, audio and podcasts. 

“With paper, there is a literal laying on of hands, along with the visual geography of distinct pages,” Baron said. “People often link their memory of what they’ve read to how far into the book it was or where it was on the page.”

According to Baron and reading researchers, the “shallowing hypothesis” states how people approach digital texts with a mindset suited to casual social media and devote less mental effort than when they are reading print.

While I see how reading print benefits a student’s learning, the bigger issue is that print is too costly and inaccessible. Several people in my classes would read required textbooks online because it’s both easier to obtain and cheaper financially. Adding on, a lot of students don’t like physical books simply because they take up too much physical space in comparison to online textbooks being transported digitally. 

If students aren’t even getting physical textbooks for their classes, I think the most important thing at this point is getting them to read the book in general – whether online or printed. 

Who cares whether print is best for learning if students aren’t reading at all? 

E-book’s accessibility encourages people to read, which is ultimately what’s most important.

As Willis states, e-books give people the opportunity to read books on their phones or devices rather than having to buy physical copies.

“I feel like sometimes there's a lot of over-conception [about paperback books],” Willis said. “I think that e-books are a great way to read books without the pressure of having to buy a paperback.”

A graphic of a tablet saying “e-books” and a paperback book saying “print books.” The image represents how books are typically read on both physical copies and e-readers. // Graphic by Sam Fozard

OPINION: Lift tickets at Mt. Baker Ski Area are too expensive for college students

Despite student discounts, the ski resort’s prices are still unreasonable to purchase

Growing up in Colorado, I started skiing when I was 2 years old. When I began looking at colleges to attend, I knew wherever I went had to have good skiing.

After hearing that the Mt. Baker Ski Area has good snow, the next thing I knew I was enrolled at Western Washington University and flying my gear up for the winter. 

However, I’ve only been able to go up to the mountain three times since coming to Bellingham. Since coming to college and being responsible for paying skiing expenses myself, there was no way I could go skiing as often as I used to. 

Like me, many students at Western are unable to go up to the mountain because of astronomical ticket prices. Given that a huge number of Western students ski or snowboard, Mt. Baker Ski Area should have discounts and cheaper passes for college students. 

Mt. Baker Ski Area’s daily lift tickets cost $91.20 without tax. The ski resort also offers a discounted season pass for college students at $877.68, compared to the adult season passes at $1,102.40. 

If you go up over nine times in a single season, then the student discounted pass is worth buying over daily passes. 

“I didn’t think I’d be using [the pass] enough to make it worth it,” said Nathalie Finneron, a second-year Western student and snowboarder. “Even with the student discount, a season pass is still $700 to $800, which is kind of unrealistic.”

Like Finneron, I chose not to get the college season pass. I didn’t think I’d get my money’s worth. Taking into account gas, food, availability and the ski area’s limited hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., I felt like I’d be giving away free money. 

“Having flat consistent pricing doesn’t discriminate against people who are in school and have chosen to take that path,” said Michael Trowbridge, the general manager for the Mt. Baker Ski area. “It helps with the simplification across the board and just a level playing field.”

While I understand the resort’s efforts to give everyone who makes it up the mountain the best experience, it excludes a large population who can’t afford the steep prices. 

If anything, making the mountain more accessible to college students would increase the overall profit of the mountain. 

“I think we could bring in more people… we’ve limited our season pass sales for several years,” Trowbridge said. “That’s a conscious decision on our part.” 

The resort chose to limit season pass sales to ensure the mountain isn’t overcrowded, Trowbdrige explained.

The Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah is about 20 minutes from Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. Their resort offers several benefits to nearby college students, such as the Young Adult Limited Pass. 

“Anyone between ages 18 to 24 can qualify for getting this pass,” said Annie Condon, Sundance Mountain Resort’s public relations and marketing manager. “Whether you’re a student in college or a young, working professional, we recognize that age group doesn’t have as much disposable income as someone that’s in the middle of their career.”

The Young Adult Limited Pass costs $599 before October or $699 afterward. The resort also has afternoon, night and twilight hours, allowing students more opportunities to use the mountain.

Moreover, Sundance offers discounts through the Unlimited Pass on many activities, such as ski and snowboard tune-ups, art studio classes, zip tours, merchandise and more.

Plus, season pass holders get three days of skiing in a dozen other resorts in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Oregon and Texas.

“We thought about how we can continue showing our appreciation and delivering value to buy season passes,” Condon said. “Whether it’s someone that’s been coming here for decades or a college freshman that is saving all of their extra income to be able to buy a pass.”

In all honesty, Sundance’s deals and consideration for students made me more disappointed with Mt. Baker Ski Area. 

I will say, however, that I am a bit spoiled coming from Colorado where the Ikon and Epic passes offer unlimited access to multiple resorts around the state. 

I understand many factors prevent the Ski Area from giving students the same benefits as Sundance and other mountains. Paying employees, maintaining the ski area and adding services and amenities are all crucial when deciding how much each ticket price should cost. 

Still, the amount the college pass costs and the limited hours lifts are unrealistic for students. 

Making tickets more affordable would allow college students to experience the mountain better, whether it’s cheaper day passes or an overall lower cost in the college season pass. 

While I’m no expert on the subject, selling tickets at a reasonable price for college students could also bring in more money.

As it stands, spending $90 for the lift ticket alone makes going up to the mountain feel more like a pain than something to be excited about.

A photo of a catwalk leading down to a run at Washington’s Mt. Baker Ski Area on Feb. 3, 2024. The resort has eight lifts and 31 runs for people to explore and ride. // Courtesy of Jack Culbertson

Extreme weather causes power outage at Elevate Bellingham apartments

Low temperatures and high winds leave residents without running water and electricity for hours

Amid freezing temperatures and harsh winds on Jan. 11, 2024, a power line exploded, sparks flying everywhere. The situation worsened when a pipe burst, leaving Elevate Bellingham without water for more than 19 hours and without heat and electricity for 40 hours, according to the emails sent to residents. 

Due to the severity of the issue, residents faced several issues from the power outage and lack of water. 

Residents were forced to look for accommodations elsewhere, with many going out to buy meals and washing up in different places with running water.  For residents who were in school and had classes the next day, charging their phones and computers was a challenge, as students had to go to school earlier to charge their devices before class. 

Elevate sent out an email offering reimbursements for hotel accommodations of $180 per night and compensation of up to $200 for spoiled food and meals. Residents submitted grocery lists and receipts to the complex, and the credits and compensation will be applied to next month’s rent.

According to the Elevate email, a water pipe burst on the second-floor parking garage, close to where Western Washington University student Autumn Winsheimer lives. Her floor was the last to have power and running water.

“I went to my friend’s apartment at Stateside where they had power by then,” Winsheimer said. “I ended up having to shower and eat at her apartment because I just couldn’t do that [at Elevate].” 

“I had to bring my tortoise to a different house because they had power. … She needs her heat lamp, but I couldn’t bring [it] so I just had her in a cardboard box,” Winsheimer said. 

The power outage affected over 2,000 citizens in Whatcom County, with Puget Sound Energy working to restore power throughout the area. Stateside – another apartment complex in downtown Bellingham – also dealt with the power outage. While Elevate remained powerless, Stateside’s power returned later that night.

PSE System Operations determined that the outage in the area of North State Street near Laurel was caused by equipment failure. Power returned to citizens in the area by 10:54 p.m., yet PSE – tasked with bringing power back throughout Bellingham – received reports that Elevate’s electricity was still out.

Veronica Schindler, the community manager at Elevate Bellingham, said in an email that an electrician discovered a main breaker issue that required a master electrician’s attention. 

“Once we were updated on the situation, we quickly called in a Siemens [Energy] representative to come out as soon as possible,” Schindler said. “Based on their availability, they were able to dispatch a technician from Tacoma on Saturday morning.” 

Several hours later at 1:20 p.m., both the power and water were fully restored to Elevate on Saturday, Jan. 13. 

Andrew Padula, the media engagement consultant at PSE, said PSE works throughout the year on key projects that increase reliability, such as maintaining power throughout Bellingham during future cold spells. 

“We monitor the weather and have crews ready to respond to outages when they occur so we can restore power as quickly and as safely as possible,” Padula said via email. “Our crews are consistently monitoring for this across the more than 27,000 miles of wire we have, trying to identify problems before they turn into outages.”

As for Elevate, the complex plans to bring in an engineer to re-evaluate the main breaker and adjust the power levels, Schindler said via email. Additionally, the apartment building sent out mass emails to every resident to help facilitate a winterized building.

As the outage finally ended and power returned to the block and Elevate, Western Washington University student Tyson Perez recalled how despite the difficulties the power outage brought for him, he still found a way to enjoy his night. 

“It was unfortunate, the power seemed to be out for the whole block so everything was just black except for the emergency lights,” Perez said. “It just messed up what I had planned for the night but it gave my roommates and me a chance to gamble under a flashlight so that was fun.”

https://youtube.com/shorts/YqaxxKW8KQA?si=YV82QLoMh-OVjF1u

The Garden Street entrance of Elevate apartments at sunset on Jan. 31, in Bellingham, Wash., two weeks after the power outage. // Photo courtesy of Adrian Heffelman

OPINION: Math 112 curriculum should be changed

Failing students are frustrated with the math department

During my first year, I lost track of how many times I heard my roommates complain about Western Washington University’s Math 112 class. 

I remember sitting in the Atrium diligently helping my roommate study for her test. She felt confident, only to text me afterward that she bombed it. 

I began to wonder what the root of the issue was. Why were so many students failing Math 112? 

According to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, the drop/fail/withdrawal rate of students in Math 112 during the 2022-2023 school year was 32.2%. 

The pattern of failures continues every quarter – Western needs to rework its approach to helping students. 

Math 112 is 50 minutes long, takes place each school day of the week, and has a quiz every Friday. Daily homework is due an hour after class the following day, according to Abigail Means, a second-year student at Western who took the class her first quarter at the university.

“It was like a constant cycle of falling behind and trying to catch up,” Means said. “I was always trying to keep my head above water.”

Despite earning As and Bs throughout high school, Means struggled to pass this class altogether. 

If hardworking students are all failing the same class, it’s clear that the students are not the problem – it’s the class itself. I think I speak for most students that making the workload more manageable and for homework to be graded on completion rather than accuracy would improve our progress. 

Whether it be friends or classmates, almost all the Math 112 students I knew complained about their instructors’ lack of experience in teaching. 

Many of the instructors are graduate students, expected to teach for the first time after completing their undergraduate degree. Although the instructors had an easier time teaching those who excel in math or are STEM majors, they had a hard time teaching those who struggle with math, according to the students taking Math 112. 

“Those are the types of [students] that my professor was able to teach,” Means said. “But in regards to me and my roommate and a lot of other people, it was so difficult.” 

Teachers should be capable enough to help students of all learning types. While I know this isn’t the graduate student's fault, the plain truth is that students are suffering from the lack of teacher experience in classrooms.

If the instructors leading the class don’t know how to help struggling students, the Math 112 teaching curriculum should be changed to prepare instructors to teach math. 

On top of that, many students go to office hours or the Tutoring Center for more help outside of the classroom. Although these resources are convenient for students struggling in class, most students shouldn’t need to use them. 

I admit that I view office hours and the Tutoring Center as a last resort for my classes – it’s not that I don’t find them effective, but rather I am typically able to solve the problem myself. 

“I spent about 16 to 18 hours in the tutoring center,” Means said. “I would be going every day because I needed to get my homework done and I had no idea how to do it.” 

My old roommate used to come home hours after her classes were done. I found out she’d been at office hours or the Tutoring Center the whole time getting help on her math homework. 

I was confused to see everyone put so much time into Math 112 only to end up bombing it. If it were me, I’d probably have dropped it after the first week. I thought it was crazy how much work was required for a class that most students only took to fulfill their General University Requirements.

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Christopher O’Dell, a graduate mathematics teaching assistant at Western, explained how grad students are supposed to run the Math 112 course.

“We are allotted 20 hours a week,” O’Dell said. “We certainly use all 20 of those hours. I’m supposed to do the homework I assign, making the lesson and not just reading off my lead instructor’s plan.”

Grad students have weekly meetings with the other TAs and the lead instructor to go over the lesson plans.

Instructors are overwhelmed with work and sometimes it’s hard to help students. Many end up working past their paid time to ensure their students’ success.

Erin Grimes, a graduate mathematics teaching assistant at Western, worked up to 40 hours a week when her appointment explicitly caps her paid time at 20. This meant a lot of unpaid labor going into the university. 

“I'm doing that because I personally can and because I care about my students. But this is not right,” Grimes said. “We need to have boundaries. If I hadn't done this, a good proportion of my students probably would have failed.”

How could a class be so troublesome not just for students, but for instructors as well?

I couldn’t understand how something that clearly needed to be addressed hadn’t seen change yet. 

On the bright side, the math department has been working to enforce several changes to Math 112. 

One change for Math 112 is the department implementing smaller class sizes, said Western’s Mathematics Department Chair David Hartenstine.

“We get a huge number of students that come to Western who need to take math classes, their backgrounds vary, their experiences with math vary,” Hartenstine said. “[The mathematics department] provides personalized attention to make sure that students are taking the appropriate math class.”

Western’s math department also discussed designing a new class for students a little below the threshold for Math 112.

The proposed class, Math 109, provides an alternative to fulfilling the math GUR credits. Moreover, it will prepare students who are looking to take Math 112 in the future. 

Changes in the class workload, teacher experience, and grading policy are all essential factors in preventing more students from failing. 

While it’s great that Hartenstine and the math department are implementing changes, I’m still worried that students will end up failing math because of the demanding curriculum. 

“Math is universal,” Grimes said. “I come at this from the perspective that mathematics is for everyone. Math belongs to everyone.”

I get where Grimes is coming from. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how math is universal in a class where students are continually failing.

A graphic of a student feeling anxious and overwhelmed by math homework drawn on Jan. 29, 2024. Students taking Math 112 feel similar emotions. // Graphic by Sam Fozard