harvest from LBCC farm and Hort program, photo courtesy of Amanda Cleland

flowers from LBCC farm and Hort program, photo courtesy of Amanda Cleland

Keep LBCC Hort and Crop Production

Deck: Linn-Benton Community College moves forward to eliminate horticulture and crop production department despite campus and community opposition

At Wednesday's Board of Education meeting, President Hamann was not able to fully answer Chair Jim Merryman's question regarding the relationship between Horticulture and Agriculture at LBCC.  

"I'm not the best person to ask," said Hamann, who made the decision to cut the Horticulture and Crop Production Department, one quarter of Ag Science faculty, and 31 classes in the Ag Science Department.  

The classes that stand to be eliminated are all five Crop and Soil Science classes, seven out of 11 Agriculture classes, two out of four Agriculture Business Management classes and all 17 Horticulture classes.

One of these Horticulture classes is Pesticide Safety.  

Benton County Fairgrounds employee and self-proclaimed "forever student" Harrison Williams said courses at LBCC have helped him at his job, including Horticulture 8.130: "Pesticide Safety" and Agriculture 250: "Irrigation Systems."  

"Pesticide Safety," said Williams, "works really well as preparation for the Oregon Applicator's License."  

"There is immediate added value after a term," said Williams, who took AG 250 Irrigation Systems this term and plans to put his project conclusions in the file at work.

"We needed to use a real site, so I thought... I'll use work!" said Williams, who said he looked at sprinkler prices and coverage in his project.

"It's penny-pinching, but we're a penny-pinching department.  It's our skill set.  It's what we're known for."

Although Williams' official title is a Business Assistant at the Fairgrounds, he said he spends just as much time outdoors as he does at the computer.  

For Williams, classes like "Irrigation" and "Pesticide Safety" give "a baseline of understanding"  of knowledge and vocabulary to translate assessments "so you know what's necessary, what's not."  

If the proposed elimination of two Hort majors and the Crop major goes through, Agriculture Science at LBCC will be left with two Ag Business programs and two Animal Science programs.  The Ag Business majors have only one required hands-on class, Crop and Soil Science 205, and it stands to be cut.  The Animal Science programs have no required soil or crops classes.

LBCC Ag Science, Horticulture Major Kylen McKinney said that he started studying horticulture because, "I like being outside and doing manual labor so I got a job in a nursery and fell in love with the plants." 

Both McKinney and Williams found out about the proposed cuts through word of mouth and spoke at the Board of Education Meeting which was standing room only, with 25 plus Agriculture Science, Horticulture students in attendance as well as community members, LBCC staff, LBCC alum, and fellow concerned students.

The LBCC student-body at large have not been notified of any of the proposed cuts as of this writing, although students who are majoring in Hort and Crop Production were notified of the impending cuts in the Mar. 15 letter from the dean of science, engineering and math, Kristina Holton, copied below.

Good Afternoon,

I am writing to you because you are connected with the LBCC Horticulture program, either as a declared major in the program or you have taken a significant number of credits within the program. You may have already heard that, given the college's current budget situation and the need to make reductions to find cost savings, the college is moving forward with suspending the Horticulture program, which includes the degree paths in both horticulture and crop production. This means that the program will no longer be advertised and will not be accepting new students. 

However, we will continue teaching courses within the Horticulture program, for at least the upcoming academic year (2019-20). It is our sincere hope that we can help current students complete their degrees and educational goals. In order to determine a plan for course offerings, we will need to better understand where you currently stand within the program, what you still have remaining and what your educational goals are. Our plan is to schedule a meeting with you where together we can look at your degree audit and determine what still remains in your degree plan. 

In the meantime, I encourage you to complete any courses you are currently taking, and continue with your plans and courses for spring term as they currently exist. We will reach out to you in the near future to schedule the planning meeting.

Thank you,

Kristina

--

Kristina Holton

Dean of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics

Linn-Benton Community College

Albany, OR 97321

(541) 917-4416

LBCC Administration proposes to eliminate its Horticulture Department

Students and staff found out this week that LBCC has plans to eliminate its Horticulture and Crop Production department and major.

LBCC Vice President of Academic and Workforce Anne Buchele discussed the proposed elimination of LBCC’s Horticulture and Crop Production department on Thursday.

“We are going through a variety of budget reductions,” said Buchele, “and we need to cut $800,000 [from the general budget] this year and $800,000 next year. We have a variety of reductions and everyone has not been identified yet but in looking at the data [we recommended] the Horticulture program for reduction.”

“We look at enrollment, graduation rates, and what the graduate would be able to do out in the labor force. It’s a decision to get to the reduction amount that we needed for this year,” she said.

The LBCC Board of Education’s next meeting is on Wednesday March 20 at 6 p.m. in the Calapooia Center, Room 103. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Citizens who want to comment on the proposed suspension of the Horticulture and Crop Production Program or anything else at LBCC can sign in at the meeting at 5:40 p.m.

Buchele said that there is at least a $100,000 savings accomplished by eliminating the Horticulture and Crop Production Department. “It is a $251,000 program, and it’s one full-time faculty and one classified position and they would be let go the following year,” said Buchele. This would mean that current Horticulture and Crop Production students would be taught out through Spring 2020 but no new students would be taken on.

“If we lost all the students in the Hort Program, [and] we are not sure that would happen, then there would still be $100,000 savings; there could be more savings if students stayed.”

Typical classes taught in the Horticulture and Crop Production program include Landscape Materials I, also known as Tree Identification, Soil: Sustainable Systems, Irrigation, and Organic Farming and Gardening.

Regarding the state cuts that engendered this proposal and other cuts, she said, “We are already lean, our board members, our state legislators, our [LBCC] president are working hard at the state level to urge more in the community college fund.”

“I hate that it has to be all on the backs of students; you know, I’m from Ohio and we have a sales tax there,” said Buchele. Buchele sees in Oregon’s proposed budget cuts for higher education, signs that Oregon has not found a stable way of funding higher education.

Buchele was in her office on Thursday afternoon finishing up the day’s work and was able to meet and discuss the recent announcement by President Greg Hamann that LBCC is moving ahead to suspend the Horticulture and Crop Production Department at LBCC.

President Hamann’s formal announcement of all proposed cuts or reductions to LBCC departments will be emailed out to concerned people by the end of the day on Friday, March 15. This is a hard week said Buchele, noting that Horticulture is not the only department affected by proposed cuts.

Buchele said that cuts in program and staffing are ultimately President Hamann’s decision based on recommendations from the LBCC Budget Team, which is made up of LBCC staff VP of Operations Dave Henderson, Buchele, Jess Jacobs, Director of Accounting and Budget, and Margi Dusek, Manager of Accounting and Budget.

The team looks at the budget ramifications, makes the recommendations to President Hamann, and he decides on the cuts, said Buchele. Buchele said that the Budget Team did talk about what the impact of losing the Horticulture and Crop Production Department would be on the larger community, but she did not have any comment on the details of that conversation.

According to Buchele, the programmatic decisions of President Hamann are guided by the LBCC Budget Team, and those decisions are in turn guided by the big picture laid out by the LBCC Board of Education’s Budget Committee.

If the state budget cuts were found to be less severe, it is the LBCC Board of Education Budget Committee that would guide what the priorities would be, and President Hamann and his staff would make the specific decisions to carry out those priorities.

At this coming Wednesday’s meeting, the Board of Education’s comment period will be followed by board and campus reports, information on PERS, and votes on two resolutions: a proposed 7 percent tuition increase and a construction contract for seismic retrofit projects.

The LBCC Board will officially approve the overall budget in June.

At a Glance:
When: Wednesday, March 20 at 6 p.m. in CC-103
What: LBCC Board of Education open for comments.
Why: Citizens interested in commenting on the proposed elimination of the LBCC Horticulture and Crop Production Department can sign in at 5:40 pm. Comment times are each limited at the discretion of the board chair and are typically 3 minutes long.

Full Disclosure: The author of this article is a member of the LBCC Horticulture Club.

"I Am Not Invisible" women veteran's event at LBCC

Teri Bartlow, Jaya Lapham, and Jasmine Lumpkin pose with Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats, who is in one of the photos of the I Am Not Invisible campaign which was displayed in the LBCC library.

Veteran and Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats has a connection to LBCC besides being featured in the "I Am Not Invisible" photo exhibit that displayed at LBCC in February. 

Gonzalez-Prats is a long time friend of Javier Cervantes, Director of Institutional Equity & Student Engagement at LBCC.  Cervantes came to the Feb. 22 "I Am Not Invisible" meet and greet hosted by the LBCC Library at which Gonzales-Prats and Oregon Women Veterans Coordinator Elizabeth Estabrooks, who is also featured in the exhibit, spoke and answered questions.'

When Gonzalez-Prats first told Cervantes she was joining the military, Cervantes was concerned as a friend, but now, he realizes it was a great decision for her to join and she came back a better person. 

Now the two friends both are in higher education.  Gonzalez-Prats earned her Masters in 2008 with  a her thesis Through a Veteran’s Eyes: The Transition of the Army Leader into the Civilian Workforce and she is now working on a doctoral thesis. 

At the Feb. 22 event, Cervantes asked pointed questions from his armchair seat about Gonzalez-Prat's research for her current thesis, in which she seeks to verify the efficacy of the back to work programs in the military.  Cervantes' questions were intended to encourage audience participation in the research. 

Veteran Jasmine Lumpkin asked Gonzalez-Prat why the research will focus on a particular time-period of disengagement from the military, and Gonzalez-Prat appreciated the question, saying the time frame is to focus on the efficacy of a certain program and when it was introduced.
 

Wah Chang was asked by U.S. Dpt. of Energy to melt down uranium that later caused its workers cancer

One story that took a little digging to find out about at Ron Wyden's last Town Hall was the story of the retired steel workers from Wah-Chang.

Gary Steffy led his fellow retirees in handing a certificate of appreciation to Wyden, but maybe appreciation is not the only feeling the workers should be having for the U.S. Government and its representatives.

The original cause of the cancer many of the workers are getting was a request by the U.S. Dept. of Energy for Wah Chang and other factories around the country to melt down uranium.  In exchange, the Dept. of Energy offered an expensive machine.

But health doesn't come with a price tag, and the retirees are now faced with having to prove that they worked for Wah Chang to make themselves eligible for the health care the U.S. government is paying for.

Winter Clubs' Expo

Winter Clubs' Expo, photo courtesy of Council of Clubs

Ironically, the Club on Campus most likely to believe that Earth is a commuter stop in the road of life had the best slogan for LBCC’s Club Day: Campus Ambassadors member Steven Wood said that LBCC seems more like the Linn-Benton Commuter College than a Community College.  Wood said that although the club is religious, it welcomes all people.

The LBCC Commons cafeteria was ringed with tables and club members on Wednesday Feb. 20 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Even a dog was making the rounds with its owner.

From highly visible campus clubs like the Civil Discourse Club, which had brought their whiteboard which is usually displayed in Takena with them to the cafeteria, to the low-profile but highly popular Role-Playing Group, it was clear that the Campus Ambassadors aren’t the only ones trying to instill a little community into Linn-Benton Community College.

Active Minds, which promotes healthy active minds on campus, had a booth right next to the Adult Re-Entry Club, which encourages and supports students who are coming to LBCC as a second career.

And the International Club, supported by its International Ambassadors, advertised weekly meetings as well as a few international teas each term, plus its upcoming Talent Show.

So maybe none of this is ironic.  Maybe it makes sense that people whose religion seems to think Earth is just one stop on the big road of adventure ARE therefore relaxed enough to enjoy this stop.

And maybe people who’ve moved to the U.S. from a different country, with all the accompanying language difficulties, ARE best suited to host regular opportunities to eat and drink together, including a tea-time rivaled only by the Math Cafe’s always open door, because they know how important friendliness can be.

And maybe the relaxed fun-loving guys and girls of the Role-Playing-Games Club show us that fantasy CAN be the best way to connect with new friends at a school focused on practicality and reality.  Because for all the crap we give it, the small size and devoted faculty at LBCC truly do offer a community of opportunities, even if you have to dig a little to find them.

The 'Grunt' Film Project Focuses on stories of four OSU men who served in the military

Photo courtesy of The 'Grunt' film project's website

Jacob Mogler’s film The 'Grunt' Film Project looks at the post-war lives of four of his fellow veterans at OSU. Locals will appreciate the beautiful OSU backdrops.

The veterans’ stories show different ways to transition successfully back into civilian society after time in the military, including filmmaking, (Mogler is a veteran), theater, leadership in school and community, and mediation.

An important touchstone of the film looks at the high numbers of suicide among veterans and U.S. citizens in general. As the narrator and filmmaker, Mogler asks each of the four soldiers: Anthony Plant, Nivardo Gonzalez, Sean Maloy, and Steven Olson about suicide among veterans.

"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” says Maloy, an affable-looking fellow who moved out to Oregon at the instigation of his friend Plant. The message is clear; it is important to find successful ways to transfer the leadership skills from deployment to civilian life, as challenging as that can be.

This showing of “Grunt” was put on by Jaya Lapham, Veteran Resource Coordinator at LBCC and Teri Bartlow, Veteran Liason to the Advising Center at LBCC.

The filming for most of the story is realistic/gritty, with the OSU vistas providing a welcome bit of greenery and spaciousness. The profiles of the soldiers are filmed in super detailed close-up, making the viewer feel almost inside the movie.

In the movie, Gonzalez talks about discovering meditation as a technique that not only helped him but also that he can share with others. Steven Olson, who came with Mogler to LBCC to talk with audience members after the movie, said that theater, friendship and getting a companion dog have helped him and fellow soldiers deal with PTSD from serving in the military.

After the talk, Olson jumped up on stage to see the sets for LBCC’s upcoming plays with Michael Winder, LBCC Events and Production Coordinator. Olson was a student here at LBCC and has continued in theater. Juliette, Olson’s dog, waited patiently, wagging her tail when he returned.

Among the most poignant of the questions after the talk came from a mother who is concerned about the imminent deployment of her son. Mogler gave her a link to the movie so she could show it to her son and Olson said, “Don’t expect anything. Don’t expect things to be different. Just let things happen organically. You’re going to be able to stay in touch with him. For me, it was so awesome to see my Mom at the gate, pulling out grey hairs [saying] ‘Look what you did to me.’“

The 'Grunt' Film Project will be showing again at LBCC on Monday March 18th at 7 p.m. in LBCC’s Russell Tripp Theater. These soldiers’ stories can spark important conversations about service in the military, and bringing those leadership skills and real-life experiences into higher education and ultimately into second careers.

LBCC Hort Club Meets Mondays at Noon in Greenhouse

A rock sculpture welcomes visitors to the LBCC Greenhouse

Are you interested in plants, mushrooms, gardening, vineyards, greenhouses, and/or small farms? “Everyone’s welcome,” said Horticulture Club President Sterling Guijar at a meeting on Jan. 17. Succulents, geraniums, and vegetable starts fill the Greenhouse. The Club has a plot in one of the Farm Hoophouses, too. Activities are every Monday at noon in the Greenhouse by White Oak Hall.

Student Leadership Committee earn tuition credits

Rocky the Roadrunner meditates, photo courtesy of Shelby Pick

Would you like to start next term with a free three credits coming to you?

Put on the Rocky Roadrunner costume. Talk to Barb in the Student Life and Leadership/Student Leadership Council (SLC) Office next to the Hot Shot Café. The office is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Rocky is one of about a dozen SLC positions opening up this term and all of them translate directly to free credits. For example, Krystal Madrinan is the SLC Wellness Coordinator, a part-time position, so she earned three credits last spring term during training, six credits for Fall, and six credits for winter. A full-time officer will earn double that.

Krystal puts in about three hours a week in the office and three hours per week in meetings.

Applications are being accepted now through the end of spring term for regular positions, both part-time and full-time. President and vice president applications are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 11; students are encouraged to serve a regular year first to learn the ropes before running for president or vice president.

Mural Brightens LBCC's Adult Re-Entry Center

Title: Leaving The Nest

Deck: Adult Re-entry Program is a bright welcome place for older-than-average students

Mural Brightens LBCC’s Adult Re-Entry Center

Mural artist JJ Bolden talks with attendees of the open house in the Adult Re-Entry Center.

A closeup of Bolden’s mural of Rocky Roadrunner.

If you are re-entering school as a second career and are older than 18, you might benefit from the Adult Re-entry Center, affectionately called “The Nest.”  

It is located past the Academic Foundations door in the top floor of the learning center.  There are snacks, a movie softly playing, and outlets for laptops. There’s also information about scholarships.  And brightening up the whole area is a beautiful brand-new mural by LBCC art student JJ Bolden.

Bolden was on hand to talk about his art at the March 6 Adult Re-entry Center open house.  Attendees crowded into the room to admire the mural and eat snacks, talking about art, and community.

Work-study students Greydi Olvera and Jennifer Justice were happy to talk about the new mural and the center.

“I love it; the bright happy colors make me really happy; it makes it more welcoming,” said Justice.

Olvera, who helped vote on this version of the mural, likes the representation of “the climb, the struggle.” In the mural, Rocky the Roadrunner grips a mountainside, eyes intent on an unseen peak, as a red glow of sunset illuminates the background.

“We have a Facebook page 'LBCC Adult Reentry Student Success Center' for the Nest started just to stay in touch with people who have gone through the Empower program or are starting the Empower program,” said Olvera.

“The Empower program is for students who have been out of school or thinking of getting into a second career,” she said. It helps with financial aid, class requirements, and computer skills.

It’s three separate classes for free that generate four college credits, according to Malinda Shell, faculty for adult re-entry and career pathways.

“It was super helpful,” said Justice.  “It just helps you figure yourself out a little bit.”

“We had someone from CWE-Cooperative Work Experience,” said Olvera. According to Olvera, sharing resources with other students was an important part of the class. “You don’t feel like you’re the only one” who is an older student.

For more information about this or other programs such as STEP (SNAP, Training and Employment Program) that helps students who are receiving SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) with tuition, books, supplies and transportation for certificate programs, contact Program Coordinator Malinda Shell at shellm@linnbenton.edu.

For more of JJ Bolden's art, see Instagram @Mutalist9

OSU Small Farms Conference

 On Sat Feb. 23, one thousand compact farmers piled into LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis for the sold-out annual OSU Small Farms Conference. This conference was part of a series of associated farming events put on by OSU this week including the first-ever “Back to the Root-2019 Pacific Northwest Black Growers Gathering,” the “Pacific Northwest Flower Growers Association,” and the “Oregon Farmers Market Association Membership Meeting and Banquet.”

LBCC Horticulture faculty and students attended different workshops including sessions on legislative issues facing small farmers, successful seed-starting, and growing specialty-cut flowers.

Presenters Miranda Duschack and Mimo Davis, the two-woman-team of Urban Buds in St. Louis, Missouri (They have one employee besides themselves) were featured speakers at the Conference. Attendees could follow the “flower track” which, as well as Urban Buds, included talks by Diane Szukovathy of Jello Mold Farm in the Skagit Valley in Washington state, and Bethany Little of Charles Little & Company in Eugene.

There was also a “Spanish track” offered at the conference, according to the website, and being in mono-culture Corvallis, there was the added benefit of conference attendees who had dark skin, including Davis, who is partners with Duschack, who is white, (they got married in St. Louis) and they have a son and there were lots of other kids at the conference; all KINDS of diversity going on.

All of the “flower track” talks unexpectedly emphasized experimentation. The growers of this national trend of “local, specialty-cut flowers” are constantly trying out new kinds of flowers and new ways to grow them in the winter using “season extenders” like heated or unheated greenhouses. (Davis and Duschack bought their one-acre farm in the heart of St. Louis because of the its vintage glass greenhouse.)

The flower talks also emphasized the “ephemeral beauty” of flowers, which require very high standards of culling, cleanliness, and even refrigerated trucks to arrive looking lovely at the markets, wholesalers and florists where they are sold.

“We have very pretty compost piles,” agreed presenters Szukovathy and Little. The presenters are familiar with each other from other conferences and refer to each other’s talks. In one of Urban Buds’ talks, Duschack referred to spreadsheets she saw in a presentation by Szukovathy showing the relatively lucrative nature of selling perennials versus annuals, which need to be replanted every year.

Erin McMullen of “Raindrop Farms” in Philomath introduced each flower talk. “Raindrop Farms” sells at the Corvallis First Alternative North Co-op and Farmers Markets as well as locations in Portland and Seattle, and the minute you see the beautiful fresh colors of their columbines, you’ll never forget the “ephemeral beauty” of this area’s own particular version of specialty-cut local flowers.

According to Urban Buds’ website, horticulturist Mimo Davis had a first career in social work in New York City; “While her life in the Big Apple is far behind her, Mimo still knows and appreciates the emotional and healing power of flowers.”

The presentation on “Food Hubs,” attended by LBCC student Erin Day-Gennett, talked about expanding the assumption that everyone’s going to get their food from super-markets only.

And "Black Voices in Oregon Agriculture: Sharing our Experiences" looked at the history of farming in Oregon when you’re black. Part of the talk, according to attendee Ms. Penniman, catalogued Oregon’s history as the only Union state with apartheid, which had a law on the books that required all black people in Oregon to be whipped twice a year “until they left.”

The emotional nature of this information, said Penniman, who is white, caused a man who is a veteran as well as black as well as a farmer to decry this pattern of abuse; and an emotional and important conversation between attendees followed. Penniman bought the book Farming While Black at the conference, because she shares the same last name as the author: Leah Penniman.

“Are you the right age to remember Little Richard?” asked lay-person-not-author Penniman. “He has this last name too.”

Commuter Story Improved: Talent Grants are tuition scholarships available at OSU

phot courtesy of the LBCC Livestock Judging Team, a co-curricular activity

Talent Grants are available through LBCC Co-Curricular Programs and the Student Leadership Council, which is the Student Government at LBCC.  Talent Grants cover anywhere from 1-3 credits per term or more at the discretion of the advisor of the co-curricular program or student government.

LBCC Co-curricular programs include Livestock Judging, Diversity Achievement Center, the Commuter, and the Student Leadership Council (SLC).  A full list is online at linnbenton.edu.  By searching for "clubs" you can also access a list of co-curricular programs.  Keep clicking on the “co-curricular” links until you come to the list which includes contact information for all the advisors involved with co-curricular programs. Clubs are not the same as co-curricular programs.

If you are in a co-curricular program, you may be able to get financial aid for classes by working for the program in exchange for a Talent Grant that will pay for some of your credits. According to Heather Morijah, Program Assistant for Clubs, Co-Curricular Programs, and the Diversity Achievement Center, “it’s solely up to the [co-curricular program] advisor [to decide] who receives [the Talent Grants] and how many they get.

“Only co-curricular programs have access to Talent Grants; clubs do not,” says Morijah. “The number of Talent Grants any co-curricular program receives is up to the discretion of the Co-curricular Budget Committee.” Some clubs do become co-curricular activities. Morijah said that the active “Civil Discourse Club” is currently trying to become a co-curricular program. Other co-curricular programs, like the Art Galleries on campus, started right away as co-curricular programs and never were clubs.

For more information on Talent Grants contact Morijah. Her office is in Student Life and Leadership next to the Hot Shot Cafe in the mornings and in the afternoons her desk is on the left in the Diversity Achievement Center on the second floor of the Forum Building facing the quad. “Anyone can talk to me about clubs and co-curricular programs,” said Morijah, speaking from her cozy office in Forum 120. “That is my job here [in Student Life and Leadership.] The other half [of my job] is providing the same type of work for the Diversity Achievement Center (Forum 220),” said Morijah.

Advisors for the co-curricular programs award Talent Grants to some students within each program. Some of the co-curricular programs, such as Livestock Judging, use Talent Grants to recruit and support students in their related discipline to come to LBCC. Each individual Talent Grant is worth 12 credits for the whole year. A program like the Diversity Achievement Center has 9 Talent Grants to award over the year to be distributed among three student positions. In the DAC these students are then responsible for campus-wide programming showcasing the diversity of LBCC students.

In co-curricular programs such as Space Exploration and Remote Operated Vehicles, Talent Grants “are awarded to team leaders for projects they are working on,” said Morijah, sitting on her exercise ball surrounded by the twinkly lights of her office.

At a glance:

What: Students can earn free tuition (fees still apply) by working in co-curricular programs and Student Government (Student Leadership Council.).
Who: All LBCC students are eligible, regardless of financial status.
When: Available during all terms.
Where: Ask Heather Morijah about Talent Grants; her office hours are mornings in the Student Life and Leadership Office (Forum 120) next to the Hot Shot Cafe and afternoons in the Diversity Achievement Center on the 2nd floor of the Forum Building facing the quad.

FMI: search for co-curricular programs under “Clubs and Co-curricular programs” in the linnbenton.edu website.

Estudiantes del Sol

"Estudiantes del Sol" Club Vice-President Patricia Simon, Adviser Tania Mendez and Events Coordinator Yulissa Gonzalez

"Estudiantes del Sol" club officers sat down in the DAC (Diversity Achievement Center) in Forum 220 to talk about the “Estudiantes del Sol” Club. Advisor Tania Mendez, who is the LBCC Latino Outreach and Retention Specialist, helped start the club last Spring. Talking about how clubs can help the transition from high school to college, Club President Marta Nunez and Vice-President Patricia Simon agreed that whereas high school is a lot about fitting in, college is more about finding yourself as an individual, and being willing to be unique.

“Estudiantes del Sol” organizes events like the upcoming Preferentia LBCC, which is like College Night but which will be held out in the community at South Albany High School on Saturday April 20th from 5-7:30 p.m. The event will help high schoolers about to go to college and adults considering reentering school to know what resources are available.

The resource fair will include a booth on Extended Learning for non-credit classes, a booth on the Dual Partnership Program with OSU and LBCC, and a GED booth as well. Advisor Mendez said there will be a bi-lingual representative to help people who don’t speak English.

“We welcome everyone and everybody,” said both officers and advisor regarding the bi-weekly meetings and other events of “Estudiantes del Sol.” Although Mendez specializes in helping Latino students, she has an open office right in the main room of Forum 220 and helps all LBCC students answer questions about financial aid, leadership opportunities, etc.

The “Estudiantes” mission statement reads, “As LBCC's only Latino club, we're here to make a positive impact on our campus by presenting the culture and history of Latin America. Our mission is to be present and active on campus--but our purpose is to make a lasting impact on the Latino community. We welcome all students regardless of their cultural background.”

The club has had students from Guatemala, Mexico, and Sudan as well as the United States. Club President Marta Nunez said the club seeks to share information about the many types of Latino culture. People might think of Mexico when they think about Latino culture, but there are many culture, countries and shades of skin included under the umbrella of Latino culture.

An example of this is that Oregonians might usually think of a Mexican savory quesadilla when they hear the word “quesadilla,” but at the recent “del Sol” event “Coffee and Cake 101,” Simon shared that a Guatemalan “quesadilla” is a sweet pastry made with crumbly cheese.

At a Glance: Student Clubs
What: “Estudiantes del Sol”
Where: Forum Building 220 (DAC)
When: Tuesdays (12-1pm) and Thursdays (11:30-12:30 am)

At a Glance: LBCC/Community events
What: “Preferentia LBCC” college resource fair (like College Night but with Bi-lingual information)
Where: South Albany High School Commons Cafeteria, sponsored by “Estudiantes del Sol”
When: Saturday April 20 5-7:30 p.m.

For more information: contact Tania Mendez at mendezt@linnbenton.edu

Branches: A Profile of Ina Musafija

Ina Musafija poses after her French Club meeting at the Corvallis First Congregational Church

According to her daughter Tamara Musafija, Ina Musafija never wants family members to put anything off: if there’s a medical issue, go see a doctor. If there’s something else that needs attention, pay attention to it; don’t be in denial.

Tamara and her mother Ina sat down to talk on a wintry afternoon in February.

Ina, who turns 80 this month, takes the city bus regularly. One evening a few weeks ago she sat waiting patiently at the downtown bus station, a big bag on her lap.

Musafija had purchased a 2019 wall calendar of the Northern Lights and a metal mixing bowl to make a birthday cake for her grandson. It was evening and Musafija had just watched a movie at Corvallis’ Darkside Theater.

She sees movies at the Darkside regularly, including “The Wife” which she saw with Tamara. “I liked this movie,” says Musafija. “I liked this relationship [between the husband and wife]. They are so sincere with each other.” Musafija uses the word sincere regularly, and her daughter Tamara said that telling the truth is very important in their family.

In a family story that demonstrates the importance of telling the truth, when Tamara was a little girl, her teacher asked her who had done her homework. Tamara said, “I don’t know. I fell asleep. It was either my father or my mother.” The teacher was impressed that she told the truth, and so was Ina, who likes this story. Tamara said that her mother encouraged her to be a good student by promising her a bicycle. At this time she was eight or nine and she earned the bicycle in 6 months and has been a good student ever since, going on to earn her Masters.

Another family story tells of Ina's long friendship and then romance with her husband, Albert, who passed away in 2012.  They had known each other forever when as a young college student Albert had a party to celebrate getting his degree.  Ina brought red roses, thinking to show Albert she was in love with him, but he just put them aside, saying he would give them to his sister.

Ina remembers being in tears.  Later on, Albert realized he too was in love and the pair ended up eloping, since Albert's over-controlling mother would not approve.  A photo in Ina's album shows a young Albert and Ina, accompanied to the courthouse by their two best friends. 

In another photo, Ina proudly shows her own party celebrating her degree, and in it she hugs her three children as party goers and siblings enjoy the party.  In yet another memento in her apartment, Ina shows a painting done by her mother, who was an artist.

The arts played an important part in Musafija’s life in her native Sarajevo, Yugoslavia as well as her life here in Corvallis, Oregon. A week after watching “The Good Wife” with Tamara, she saw the famous guitarist Carlos Santana play for the “very professional” flamenco dancers at OSU’s LaSells Stewart Center with her youngest daughter Miriam and her children.

In 1992 Ina and her husband Albert Musafija left their native Sarajevo, Yugoslavia with Miriam. Their oldest daughter, Tamara, was studying in the United States and their son Mayo was grown up and encouraged the move. He was a journalist in Sarajevo at the time and now lives in Canada. Before making the difficult decision to leave, Musafija joined fellow citizens of all ethnicities who protested the sudden civil war that was tearing apart their country.

Rock stars and actors performed their repertoire in basements for free to keep up the spirits of the people. On a recent visit to Sarajevo, Musafija’s friend recalled the tremendous call to action, solidarity, and human kindness that arose among Yugoslavians at that time in the face of their great hardships.

Musafija, who worked in Sarajevo as a philosophy professor, keeps up with philosophy. In the magazine “Philosophy Now,” she points out an article about the french existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, who was the subject of her doctoral thesis. According to google, “Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.” According to wikipedia, “While the predominant value of existentialist thought is commonly acknowledged to be freedom, its primary virtue is authenticity.”

Musafija remembers hearing on the radio in Sarajevo, which was at that time in Yugoslavia and now is in Bosnia, a grandmother, pleading for peace for her grandchildren. The grandmother, says Musafija, was Muslim. Musafija herself is Jewish. She remembers attending synagogue on Yom Kippur with her grandmother. When Musafija heard her fellow citizen, the Muslim grandmother, pleading for unity on the radio, Musafija told her husband and daughter she had to go out to join the protests for unity, and she did.

A friend of Musafija’s son is an experienced marksman and he was recruited to join in the fighting but decided to leave the country instead, a decision Musafija is proud of him for. But leaving her country was hard for Musafija.

For decades, Musafija has attended a French conversation club in Corvallis. Longtime fellow member Marcia Shapiro says, “Ina is very much tied to her family. Family is everything I think to Ina. Ina is an interesting person, did her dissertation on Sartre, but I think family is everything to her, more than your average American anyway. She’s pretty amazing.”

In Musafija’s home, the calendar of Northern Lights hangs on the wall. Across from it are pictures from a previous year’s calendar. They are trees. One tree is absolutely gigantic, its branches spreading out into infinity, its trunk tied with bright ribbons. The trunk looks small compared to its incredibly huge candelabra of branches.

At a Glance:

Who: Ina Musafija, 80 years old
Where: Born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, has lived for decades in Corvallis
Profession: Retired Philosophy Professor and Grandmother
Languages: French, Russian, Bosnian, English

Budget Forum and Student Leadership Council

Student Leadership Council Reps, including Rocky the Roadrunner, photo from Shelby Pick

Students are encouraged to be a part of College Budget Forum meeting and SLC’s weekly Wednesday meetings

At their Wednesday afternoon meeting on Jan. 30, the Student Leadership Council discussed how to keep tuition fees down for LBCC students. SLC President Shelby Pick said that although university students in Oregon have lobbied successfully for a 5 percent cap on yearly tuition increases, Oregon’s community college students are still vulnerable to bigger increases. For example, LBCC President Greg Hamann, said that a 7 percent increase is likely for LBCC students next year and the year after that.

Jess Jacobs, LBCC director of accounting and budget is set to talk at noon in Forum 104, Wednesday, Feb. 6, about the next two-year budget cycle for LBCC. There will be free sandwiches on a first-come first-serve basis.

As well as staffing events like the budget forum, the SLC staffs the LBCC Office, campaigns for students at the state Legislature, and allocates funds for student services. Their office is located next to the Hot Shot Cafe in the Forum Building.

At the Jan. 30 meeting, the SLC approved eight additional hours on Friday and Saturday for the Albany Learning Center’s tutoring hours during finals week. There will also be $200 worth of free printing available for students, as well as the usual snacks and pizza.

Elections for the new SLC reps are happening this term. Applications for half or full time reps are accepted through the end of winter term, but applications for President or Vice-President are due by 5 p.m. Monday Feb. 11.

For more information on the SLC and the application process please visit the SLC Office or use this link.

At a Glance:
What: LBCC Budget Forum
Who: SLC members and Jess Jacobs, LBCC Director of Accounting and Budget
Where: Forum 104
When: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Feb 4-6 noon-1 p.m.

At a Glance #2
What: Student Leadership Committee weekly meetings
Who: All LBCC students are invited to attend meetings
Where: LBCC CC-213
When: Feb. 6 and all Wednesdays 3-5 p.m.

Comedy Talk Show at LBCC: Tripp Live!

Upcoming Shows at the Tripp Theater, some of which were profiled at Feb. 8's "Tripp Live!"

Story by Karen Canan

Ready for some news that’ll make you laugh, not drain you? Come to “Tripp Live!” for comedy and sneak peaks of upcoming local theater, improv, and retro-movie shows.

The brainchild of LBCC Production and Events Coordinator Michael Winder, “Tripp Live!” will present its second show of its second year on Friday Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m in LBCC’s Russell Tripp Auditorium.

Last year, Winder and his co-host Leslie Hammond, LBCC Dean of Academic Foundations and Extended Learning, interviewed State Sen. Sara Gelser and Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa.

This Friday they’ll talk and joke with guests including the director and cast of LBCC’s musical “The Drowsy Chaperone,” the cast from Albany Civic Theatre’s play “Daddy’s Girl,” members of the Corvallis Majestic Theatre’s Improv Troupe, and interview Dorrie Board, host of this year’s showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Majestic.

LBCC Associate Dean Oriana Mulatero is part of the Majestic Improv Troupe, which has an upcoming “Smackdown” Improv-Battle when Corvallis’ “Suggestions Only” will host Portland

Troupe “No Filter” Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre.

“My favorite thing about [this year’s first] 'Tripp Live!' [was] that they [had] this running theme of quoting inspirational sports movies. Everyone read it [the quotes] out loud so it was a combination of theater and sports," said Mulatero.  "It was hilarious and it introduced me to [guest Mark Majeski, LBCC’s new] Director of Athletics in a way that I would not have known him otherwise, in a very informal but welcoming way.”

Co-hosts and friends Winder and Hammond sat down to talk about "Tripp Live!" last Thursday. “We create comedy bits out of our shared interest in comics and movies,” said Hammond. “We go to movies together.” The last movie they saw was “Aquaman,” a DC comics movie. When asked how it was, they both paused.

“It was spectacular AND you really had to decide to suspend your disbelief,” admitted Hammond.

“It was a lot of fun for all the parts of your brain that don’t involve thinking,” added Winder.

Comparing “Aquaman” to “Spiderverse,” Hammond said, “‘Spiderverse’ is really thoughtful, and ‘Aquaman’---” she shook her head, turning to Winder; “What do ‘Spiderverse’ people give each other for Christmas? Camus novels.”

“‘Aquaman’ people give each other beer koozies,” Winder responded to a smiling Hammond as they continued to riff on "Aquaman" people versus "Spiderverse" people.

On Friday, the “Tripp Live!” hosts will be giving out free tickets to upcoming local shows to lucky audience members.

At a Glance:

What: Evening talk-show style show "Tripp Live!"

When: Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Russell Tripp Auditorium at Linn-Benton Community College

Who: Co-hosts Michael Winder and Leslie Hammond interview actors from local shows including “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Daddy’s Girl,” “Smackdown Improv,” and the host of an upcoming showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” as well as riff on recent movies and family friendly comedic monologue and jokes.

For more information, contact: Michael Winder at winderm@linnbenton.edu

SIDE BAR “Three Rules of Improv”

According to Oriana Mulatero, the Basic Rules of Improv are

1. Saying “Yes, and” to your partner. [Acknowledge and improve on their suggestions.] 
2. “Listening,” [Don’t call them your sister if they just called you their mother.] 
3. “Making Your Partner Look Good.” [If they do the same for you the scene will work.] --

SIDE BAR #2 “Improv Activity”

Mulatero’s example of an improv activity that forces you to practice doing one thing while talking about another:

Person 1: [Starts with a motion like brushing their teeth.]

Person 2: “What are you doing?”

Person 1: “Riding a horse.” [still acting like brushing their teeth.]

Person 2: [Motions riding their horse.]

Person 1: “What are YOU doing?”

Person 2: “Climbing a wall.” [still acting like riding a horse.]

Person 1: [starts pretending to climb a wall.]

Person 2: “What are YOU doing?”

Person 1: “Planting a rose.” [still climbing a wal]

Person 2: [starts pretending to plant a rose] etc.

Because you have to name an activity that is different from the one you are doing, you have to NOT THINK which, says Mulatero, is one of the surprising aspects of Improv.

Week 4 Media Blog Post:

TOPIC 1: EDNA AND SPJ'S CODE OF ETHICS -- Consider the Society of Professional Journalists' "Code of Ethics,” which we discussed in class, and let's consider the work of Edna Buchanan.

1. Minimize harm. Edna does follow this principle when she seeks to publish the appearance of serial criminals, missing persons, or other people whom the public can help find.
2. This will help minimize harm because the serial criminals will be apprehended sooner and the missing persons will be more likely to be found. Regarding a four year old who's troubled mother had put him up for adoption but who's live-in grandfather was looking for him, Buchanan writes, "Once the story and the picture ran in the morning "Herald," Corey was lost no longer. A reader who saw it had Corey. He had been safe with her all along. His mother had left him at the Catholic Family and Children's Service, saying she could not care for him....Sam [grandfather] and Corey were [happily] reunited that day."
3. Yes, I think Buchanan did the right thing. She caught a case that had been dropped by policemen because they thought they boy had been found. Another similar case resulted in a lost, mentally-confused aged man being found by his loving wife because a nurse at the home that had picked him up saw his picture in Buchanan's article. "'He could not communicate,' explained a hospital administrator. 'It seemed like he was incoherent, so he was placed in the institute," reported Buchanan.

Note: Be the first to "publish” for Topic 1, because you will have to find another topic from Edna's book if somebody else gets there first.

TOPIC 2: EDNA's TIPS FOR JOURNALISTS -- 

Tip #1: Edna Buchanan has formed relationships with the cops and even with the subjects of some of her stories.  I just read the part about her friendship with drug-runner turned FBI-informer Emilio.  Obviously, the subjects of her stories were not just material to make money on, she loved them, even when disaster followed them wherever they went, like for Emilio, who on what was supposedly a simple trip to drop Buchanan off at the airport, they were involved in a car chase with policemen.  

Although Buchanan had to try hard to convince Emilio to just drop her off at the airpot, she obviously has a high-tolerance if not appreciation for drama in her own life as well as in her stories.  "I vowed to never, ever get in a car with this man again...The airport!  The airport!  I shrieked," says Buchanan, writing about the car chase; although even after he dramatically declared his love for her at the airport, despite the fact they were not even dating, she continued to take his calls.  I would say that this tip is to have a high appreciation for the complexity of humanity and not be too judgmental.  (Buchanan got a lot of good information from Emilio.)

Edna writes about Emilio's complicated relationship with patriotism, confounded by the fact that as an informant he wasn't paid enough by the FBI to support his family, so he continued to do illegal drug activity.  Before Buchanan's car ride to the airport with Emilio turned dramatic, "We drove by the White House and the Washington Monument in a light rain.  Same old wacky patriot, he was so proud, his eyes welled.  I had to smile to myself."  These are Buchanan's most appealing moments.

Tip #2: Buchanan bonded with everyone, not just the men.  She beautifully describes women she admired in her area of work who she obviously was on good terms with.  And Buchanan is not an apologist for bad behavior from cops.  An example of both of these traits is the story of Roxcy Bolton and Wanda Jean, a young women whom cops abused and then tried to hide away.  Roxcy figure out where she was, went and rescued her, and saw justice, the best that could be at that point, served.

Learning of the place where Wanda Jean had been stowed away from public view, "Roxcy marched down the hallway booming in that big voice: 'Wanda Jean!  Wanda Jean!.... This is Roxcy.  I'm a sister."  It's always nice to hear of women sticking by women, and of established professionals still continuing to champion the underdog and not protect their peers if their peers have done wrong.

Federal Shut-Down Unnecessary

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, photo courtesy of his website

The current federal shutdown is unnecessary, according to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.

The government could be back up and running by having two separate votes: one to approve agreed-upon government functions, and a second to debate the President’s priorities, specifically the building of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

In week four of the ongoing federal shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, Sen. Ron Wyden spoke at his annual Linn County Town Hall. It was held at Linn-Benton Community College’s Russell Tripp auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. Several hundred people ambled past Wyden staff and  security officers on their way in to the auditorium.  Family members of the middle-school chorus rehearsing the national anthem hung out in the lobby along with retired steel workers who were there to present a certificate of thanks to Sen. Wyden.

In the Town Hall, the senator focused on health care, including health insurance and mental health. Wyden said that without good health, citizens cannot focus on their quality of life. His brother suffered from schizophrenia, and his constituents suffer from the high cost of medicine and hospital bills.

As an insurance agent, Albany City Councilman Alex Johnson II is concerned about clients whose medicine has more than tripled in the past six to eight months, and furloughed government employees who are worried about their health insurance being canceled unless they pay the full price out of pocket under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act).

Sen. Wyden also addressed the recent federal tax-cut given to wealthy U.S. citizens, saying that not a single big earner in Oregon ever called for a tax cut. “What a great statement amount the Oregon way,” Wyden said. “They didn’t want it to go up, but they never asked for it to go down.”

The senator also answered questions about military spending and his votes for security and barriers at the Mexico-U.S. border.  One questioner asked about health-care for all and according to the website VoteSmart Wyden voted against "Medicare for All" in 2017 although at the Town Hall that vote did not come up in conversation; at the Town Hall Wyden was voicing a very pro-health care for all stance.  According to an article in the Advocate, Corvallis Women's March speaker Page Kreisman was urging audience memers to "call Sen. Wyden and urge him to stop opposing Medicare for all."

Town hall audience members who had a question were given a ticket and when their number was called they asked Wyden their question. John Green told Wyden that if he could remove two people from federal office in Washington, D.C., it would be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump. The shutdown, entering its fourth week, has caused the salaries of many government employees, including security personnel, to be furloughed. Speaker Pelosi recommended that President Trump refrain from giving a televised State of the Union address since security workers are not currently being paid. President Trump then canceled military transport for a U.S. delegation to Afghanistan where Pelosi and other U.S. officials were going to visit U.S. troops.

Sen. Wyden stayed afterwards to field more questions from about a dozen audience members, including Chareane Wimbley-Gouveia, who is on the faculty at LBCC but attended the event as a citizen. Before the event, Wimbley-Gouveia expressed concern about the government shutdown, saying, “I think it’s wrong to tell people to work without pay. It erodes young people’s faith in our government.” Wimbley-Gouveia went on to say, “In my opinion, government isn’t a political game. It’s a service for our fellow citizens, working for the common good.”

A theme among attendees at the Town Hall echoed Sen. Wyden’s call for bipartisan communication and education about current events. Audience member Jason Lawyer, a resident of Albany, voiced appreciation for the event. Lawyer said the more advertising the better for events like this, saying: “I’m sure there’s a lot of city and government things that are going on but I never hear about them; I think it’s great to hear about everyone’s ideas and hear discussion about them.”  Lawyer had heard about this event from a friend who was overseeing the sound booth.  Lawyer said that craigslist and facebook are places that he gets news and learns about events.

There are two upcoming opportunities on the LBCC campus for students to share their opinions. One is the Civil Discourse Club at LBCC, which has meetings on Mondays from 11 a.m. to noon in Takena Hall, Room 207.

The other is on Wednesday, February 6th when LBCC will host a Heterodoxy event regarding free expression on the LBCC campus. The Heterodoxy Academy is a national group of folks in higher education who want to increase diversity of thought. Students will have an opportunity to join in on the discussion from 5:15 pm to 6:15 pm in the LBCC Board Room. RSVP to coxly@linnbenton.edu if you are interested.