Office of University Communications spring Visual Journalism interns Cody Clark and Hannah Gordon-Kirk will spend their quarter documenting through images the most unique and challenging academic term in Western's history. They will use their cameras to shed light on the online-only campus experience, and show Western's resilience and sense of community in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

With the entire world gripped in a crisis about a virus most of us had never heard of a month ago, Western Today had a conversation with Western's own virologist, Associate Professor of Chemistry Gerry Prody, about viruses, how they work, and how we can all best protect ourselves.

Western Today: Many folks lump viruses and bacteria into one box, because they can both do the same thing - make us feel sick. What are differences between the two?

Western's new Interdisciplinary Science Building (ISB) will add essential teaching labs and active learning classrooms to meet the growing need for degree programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. Flexible spaces will allow for shared use and greater interaction and collaboration among STEM and non-STEM disciplines, support the Washington state goal of increasing STEM graduates, and reduce barriers to fulfilling completion requirements.

Western Washington University Assistant Professor of Political Science Rudy Alamillo recently chatted with Western Today about his field of research, which focuses on how white political candidates are successful (or not) at engaging with Hispanic voters and turning that engagement into votes.

Western Today: Your research focuses on understanding how non-Hispanic White candidates appeal (or don’t appeal) to Hispanic voters. How did you get interested in this field of study?