The
CAMPUS
Blaze
20 il r p A 13
Check us out with your phone!
A Publication of The Chronicle for Centralia College Since 2012 • www.centraliablaze.com
Electronics Club Hosts First Annual Blazer Bot Competition
By Courtney Simmons The Blaze
from Centralia Middle School. They attributed their victory to their original robot design, explaining that it only started the race at half speed and worked its way up to full power. Blazer Bot was not only fun, but also served as a fundraiser for the college’s Electronics
The second event was the Sumo Bot competition. Two robots were placed in opposite corners of a square platform, attempting to break the other robot or push them from the arena. Angel Ceritelli and Elijah Bailey from Washington Elementary took home first place for the Sumo Bot competition with the help of their robot Maximus. “We’re very proud of it,” Ceritelli said. “We’re happy that we won, but we’re also very happy that we learned a lot.” With the intent of making this experience an annual one, the Electronics Department took notes throughout the day on how to improve it. Dave Peterson, a Centralia College robotics professor, explained they wanted more teams to compete and even representatives from large robotics companies to attend. He said he would also like companies to sponsor teams so
“I thought it went spectacular. The kids had a lot of fun. We couldn’t have done it without the robotics team from Centralia College.” — Dan Garry, Washington Elementary robotics coach Department, which received all proceeds from concessions. Also participating was a representative of the college’s Media Club, who provided a projection screen to help onlookers stay on top of the action, and the robotics department provided a projector showing a competition flow chart.
prizes could be awarded. The final and most difficult event was the Search and Rescue Challenge. Robots had to follow a black line directly toward a wall and then successfully maneuver around it to the other side. They then had to retrieve a LEGO figurine and return it to the other side of the arena before their opponents. Centralia Middle School celebrated another victory with a robot named Bob 88, which won the Search and Rescue Challenge. Bob 88’s creators shared their victory with their entire robotics club, calling it a team accomplishment and stating they could not have won without the help of their team. The event concluded with an awards ceremony, during which the first- and secondplace teams from each event were rewarded with medals. Overall performance trophies were then awarded, with Centralia Middle School taking first, Washington Elementary second and the Shelton school group third.
CONNECTION
On Saturday, Mar. 26, the Centralia College Electronics Department hosted the first annual Blazer Bot, a robotics competition designed for local elementary and middle school students. The event, which took place in the Centralia College Health and Wellness Center, was a success, according to organizers. “I thought it went spectacular,” said Dan Garry, a robotics coach at Washington Elementary. “The kids had a lot of fun. We couldn’t have done it without the robotics team from Centralia College.” Washington Elementary, Oakview Elementary, Centralia Middle School, Olympic Middle School, Oakland Bay Junior High and Pioneer Middle School all participated in Blazer Bot. Students competed in teams of two and three, with the exception of a few solo engineers. Blazer Bot consisted of
three separate events. The specifications were simply that the robots be built from LEGO Mindstorm NXT sets, no larger than 12 inches in any direction (with the exception of the dragsters, which could be as long as their creators saw fit), and programmed to compete without being controlled. Each robot was equipped with a light sensor and programmed to stay inside the black tape designating the competition areas. The first event was the Drag Race. Once the signal was given to begin, two robots raced toward the finish line. Any robot that crossed the black tape designating its lane was automatically disqualified. The winner was not the first robot to cross the finish line, but the one to stop at or closest to it, proving their light sensor most effective. The Drag Race winner was a robot by the name of Walle, built by two students
Local middle school students compete at the first annual Blazer Bot competition in the Centralia College Health and Wellness Center on Saturday, March 26. Students and their robots competed in three events: drag racing, sumo bot and search and rescue.
BELIZE ADVENTURE
B
Photos by Sean Wills / The Blaze
A middle school student claps to start his robot competing in the Sumo Bot event of Blazer Bot, where competitor’s robots faced off in an attempt to push the other one outside the black tape boundary.
34 Colleges, 30 Districts,
One Capitol Event
By Hallie Simons The Blaze
A hundred Washington state legislators attended the Community and Technical College Open House in the Columbia Room at the state Capitol building in Olympia on Thursday, March 21. The mission of the night was to promote “education and training for the real world.” Across Washington, there are 34 community and technical colleges. Nine of them, including Centralia College, brought displays to help legislators to learn more about the exciting things each college is doing. Members of the boards of trustees for each college, presidents, vice presidents and college staff were all present to help showcase to the legislators how important low-cost schools are to the communities
and to showcase some of the innovative things each college is doing. Some brought student-engineered robots, others handmade wines and food. One college brought a machine that can carve any design out of metal. The theme of the night, however, was that everything was student driven. For students, by students: improving the quality of education in communities one student at a time. “For some students, a fouryear is a good option, they know exactly what they want to do. But for the majority of students, a community college is safer mentally. They can try out so many options,” said Linda Cowan, a trustee from Green River Community College. The event was sponsored by the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the Trustees Association of Com-
munity and Technical Colleges and the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges. Marty Brown, executive director for Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, was thrilled by the event and by the hopeful mission of the community colleges to provide quality, lowcost education to everyone. “I love the mission, I love the fact that it can change lives. What a great event. I’m proud of the schools and the staff that put it on. A lot of legislators turned out,” said Brown. Jan Yoshiwara, deputy executive director for education services, agreed with Brown. “I love how much difference community colleges can make in people’s lives, and I’ve seen that time and again,” he said. “We make a difference in thousands of people’s lives every year.”
See Belize Photos Online
Inslee Greets Academic TEAM
Photo by Sean Wills / The Blaze
Students, student government and members of the college faculty gathered to discuss the possibility of Centralia College becoming a smoke-free campus. The purpose of the meeting was simply to gather information on the general opinion of the idea, not to make a decision. College President Dr. James Walton and Steve Ward, Vice-President of Finance and Admisinstration, were present to answer questions on what the proposed policy change would entail.
Serious About Spring Sports?
AthleteS trAin here! CH494045bw.cg
Centralia 360 736-1683 Chehalis 360 748-3744 Rochester 360 273-0457 www.thorbeckes.com
See Page 2
Blaze 2 • The Blaze, Centralia, Wash., April 2013
CAMPUS NEWS
Centralia College Student News on the Web
www.centraliablaze.com Read More Online
Your Look at Centralia College Life
BEAT on the
STREET
Science Club Gears CC Students Make All Up For Earth Week Wa State Academic Team By Emmalee Baker The Blaze
Why celebrate Earth Day when the celebration can last all week? From April 22 to April 26, the Centralia College Science Club will be heavily involved in Earth Week celebrations. Earth Day is Monday, April 22. During the week, the club plans on selling homemade coffee cup sleeves as well as flower and vegetable starts. According to Brittany Kennedy and Britney Bradley, the club president and vice president, respectively, the coffee cup sleeves are made out of recycled plastic bags. The plastic bags are used in place of yarn, and are crocheted into a sleeve that slides on the outside of the coffee cups. A wide variety of plant starts will also be sold throughout the week. Flowers, such as pansies, will be available along with a wide assortment of vegetables, such as beans, peas and lettuce. In preparation for Earth Week, members of the science club met in the Centralia College greenhouse March 8 to plant seeds for the plant start sale. According to Lisa Carlson, a biology professor and a science club adviser, a majority of the week’s events will be happening in the foyer. The club also plans to set up a booth in the new science center. At the booth, science club members will demonstrate how to make green, eco-friendly cleaning products. Members will also show other students how to compost. This display will also include information about water quality tests of China Creek.
The booth may incorporate other clubs and programs from campus. “We hope to get the energy program involved … They have a variety of displays that help people understand how we use our energy, and how much energy we use. We’d like to feature the electronics club that does recycling of batteries,” said Carlson. There are stations set up all over campus. One station is in the science center foyer, where students can recycle old batteries. These stations are set up by the electronics club. Earth Week is a big event for the science club on campus, but the club also has an ongoing water quality project. Starting last January, the science club began testing the water quality of China Creek, which flows through campus. During the month of January, a dead salmon was found along the banks of China Creek, a development indicative of the progressing health of the creek. Because of the extensive efforts to clean up the creek by the science club and the community, more salmon are predicted to return to China Creek. The water quality testing is important to predict how well the salmon will do when they return, as well as benefit the community. “The most fundamental thing is that China Creek flows into the Chehalis River and lots of communities get drinking water out of the Chehalis River,” Carlson said. “We’re also trying to improve habitat for salmon spawning in China Creek.”
“Jodi Peterson.” - Allyson Arras, 17, Chehalis, General AA
Photo by Sean Wills / The Blaze
Members of the Science Club gathered to put together a collection of plant starts to be sold during the Earth Week celebration.
“Van Alstyne.” - Erin Lund, 17, Centralia, Psychology
“Dr. Norton.” - Grace Succo, 18, Onalaska, Zoology
By Hallie Simons The Blaze
Centralia College students Edward Riley and Delanie Willows were honored as two of the 65 members of the 18th Annual All Washington Academic Team during a ceremony at South Puget Sound Community College on March 21. “It’s really one of the highlights of the year, getting to honor these students for their achievements,” said Dr. James Walton, president of Centralia College. Each team member will receive a $500 scholarship from Key Bank for their academic achievements. Seattle Pacific University, Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, Seattle University and Saint Martin’s University have also pledged scholarship awards for any of the team members that attend those schools after graduating from community college. Riley hasn’t decided where he wants to attend after graduating in the spring, but stated that he was very honored by the ceremony. In addition to the Key Bank
scholarship, Willows, who will be moving on to attend Seattle Pacific University in the fall, was also honored as one of eight students to receive a $250 scholarship from Washington State Credit Union. “It was an amazing surprise. I feel really honored to be able to represent CC as one of two out of so many students who applied at CC,” Willows said after the event. One of the highlights of the event was Gov. Jay Inslee’s speech honoring the students and praising the community
colleges that they came from. Inslee is a former professor at Yakima Community College. “You can go the length and breadth of the state of Washington, but the most inspiring stories come out of our community colleges,” Inslee said. “Once you have a young person who sees goals for themselves, you have a young person who goes on to be successful in their community. There’s nothing else we can do that gives more bang for our buck than community colleges.”
Photo by Elliott Townsend / The Blaze
All Washington Academic Team members Delanie Willows and Edward Riley pose for a photo with college president Dr. James Walton after after a ceremony honoring their achievements.
CH494031cz.ke
Who is the most interesting professor on CC’s campus?
Contact us at editor@centraliablaze.com
Review: Sailesh the Hypnotist a SAAT Success Springer Show, pointing out a By Courtney Simmons The Blaze
“Her, in the green sweater.” All eyes in the audience turned to face the blushing girl being pointed out by the person on stage, as the crowd eagerly awaited the story to come. He didn’t disappoint. “She likes to bite when we make love,” Alex Echtle said, much to the embarrassed delight of the girl in green. Echtle was hypnotized, and was under the impression that he was a guest on The Jerry
member of the audience with a weird fetish. The catch? All the guests were to tell us the most outrageous lie they had ever come up with.
MORE ONLINE
LEAD CREATE INNOVATE
Move forward with Centralia College’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Management.
The Centralia College bachelor’s program offers: • High value, low cost
@
• Hybrid format (blend of online and face-to-face classes)
Learn more about Sailesh the Hypnotist and his performance online .
• Evening classes (you can keep your day job)
centraliablaze.com
• Skills to help you succeed
Apply now for fall quarter enrollment! “The teamwork is amazing. It’s a great program.” Icy Straley, BASM Student STERILE
friendly
* An accredited associate degree with specific coursework is required for program entrance. Applications now considered for fall 2013.
LUCKY expert
TATTOOS no.3 PIERCING
Get in motion!
BASM
Visit us at http://bachelors.centralia.edu
standard
www.luckyno3tattoocompany.com
CH493504sl.cg
“Jodi Peterson.” - Trenton Hall, 19, Grand Mound, Mechanical Engineering
custom
email: bachelors@centralia.edu • 360.736.9391, ext. 432 Centralia College is an equal opportunity institution.
CH494032cz.ke
Contact us at editor@centraliablaze.com
CAMPUS VOICES
Blaze 3 • The Blaze, Centralia, Wash., April 2013
Check us out with your phone...
Your Voice, Your Views
Vote in the upcoming Student Elections By JR Siperly Guest Columnist
A record turnout for voters is expected at the polls this year, but the problem we face is who deserves to be the elected official in charge to influence your future? Of course a By JR Siperly leader with in- Guest Columnist tegrity is what the textbook would say, but what does a true leader really possess? It is not necessarily a leader’s job to be “Mr. Nice Guy,” especially when your future is on the line. Leaders must be able to voice their opinion in an upright and just manner,
no matter the situation. They will always do what’s right and set a precedence for all others around, yet they know where and when to draw the line. A leader is not afraid to jump in head-first and tackle the issue at hand. They will not put others down to make themselves look better, but instead give credit where it is due. A leader must also make compromises. Anyone who has been in the workforce knows that compromises must be met in order to move on. No matter the situation, a leader will always treat others with respect because not only do you deserve it, you expect it. A leader must also be a trustworthy person and demonstrate traits that cannot be imitated by others. If their traits can be
imitated, can’t their leadership qualities be copied as well? Traits that a quality leader possesses are being strong on issues that college students might face. These issues may include our student use fees going up or down, funding of an initiative, and creating a campus for all students to feel at home. All of these examples are important to the students, since they are in charge of our money. A quality leader is someone who is willing to improve their surroundings. Having a leader that is outgoing to improve their surroundings could impact our school spiritually. School spirit is what creates memories and a happier college. I know that having school spirit at a community college is tough, but if there is a will there
is a way and that will start with who we elect to represent our student body. By whom the students elect, they set the tone for the whole college. What I look for in a candidate is what their goal is. If a candidate does not have a goal to either continue the “tradition” or change it, then why should we vote for them? Not having a goal tells me that the candidate is only running for the position so it looks good on their transcript. Indeed they might be a good leader, but in order to win the majority of the vote, the candidate must persuade everyone why they should be in student government. First impression is everything; I know that for a fact. I want everyone to voice their opinion even if that means
you running for a position. If you want to run for a position that is great, but have a purpose. Why should people vote for you? What makes you qualified for the job? What are your goals? All of these questions will be going through the voter’s minds. So have good reasons, or have a goal. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” It is we the people who have the opportunity to vote. It is the voter who decides on who is going to be our next leader. I challenge you to participate in this upcoming election and to VOTE.
Got Skills? The Blaze is always accepting submissions from Centralia College students for the opinion page, photos of events, or even comics. Think you’ve got what it takes to write for The Blaze? Email Editor-in-Chief Hallie Simons at editor@ centraliablaze.com, or call The Blaze World Headquarters at (360) 807-8250.
B THE BLAZE STAFF Editor-in-Chief: Hallie Simons Web/Print Design: Dakota Rakestraw Photographer: Elliott Townsend Sean Wills
Comic by Ely Tilley
Keep College a Community for Smokers and Nonsmokers By Courtney Simmons Blaze Staff
Centralia College students can be divided up any number of ways: by gender, location, major, etc. One easy way to divide students up into two black By Courtney Simmons Blaze Staff and white categories is by whether or not a person smokes. It’s easy to tell; one simple way is to stop by the one place indicative to all student smokers— the smoking areas. Having designated smoking areas on campus is a great
way to give smokers a place to smoke without imposing their habit on non-smokers. It is easy for a non-smoker to avoid a smoking area if they want to. Being a non-smoking student at Centralia College, I speak from personal experience. Not only am I a non-smoker, but since childhood I have been seriously allergic to tobacco smoke. Needless to say, I am not the biggest fan of tobacco, and firmly advocate quitting to all the smokers in my life. When I heard about the idea of Centralia becoming a smokefree campus, I was intrigued, to say the least. I first heard about this campaign at an Inter-Club Council meeting in February, and I was excited about the idea, until I found out that the only proposed action is removing
the smoking areas on campus. I raised my hand and asked, “What resources will be made available for students who want to quit?” I can still hear the answer. “I guess we’ll have pamphlets or something.” This encounter, and all the information I have since gathered about this proposal, leaves me with one question: What is the purpose of becoming a smoke-free campus, if not to help our students become smoke-free themselves? The truth of the matter is that making the campus smoke-free and making the college smoke-free are two very different ideas, and only one of
them is a true solution. While pamphlets may be a good starting point for spreading information, a lot more steps will need to be taken before Centralia College can really be smokefree. Perhaps those attempting to quit could come together in a new club, supporting each other and promoting healthy habits. Or maybe a way could be found to give out nicotine patches or gum. We give out condoms, so why not? Though the word was dropped from the name, Centralia College is still, first and foremost, a community. As such, shouldn’t our main con-
Reporters: Emmalee Baker Courtney Simmons Sports: Janice Knutz
cern be tailoring our campus to suit all students, whether they smoke or not? If members of our community are truly concerned about the harmful effects tobacco can have, shouldn’t their real plan be to protect all students from it? Instead, what I see is a group of students recognizing a problem and trying to find the easiest solution. But what message is that sending to the smokers of Centralia College? “We don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t do it here.” As far as I’m concerned, that is not the message we need to be sending to any of our students.
Comic Artist: Ely Tilley Contact us at: (360) 807-8250 editor@ centraliablaze.com
GET IN THE LOOP Follow us on Facebook,“Centralia Blaze”and on Twitter,“ @CentraliaBlaze.”
Want to submit your letters to the editor? Contact us at “editor@centraliablaze. com,” or call The Blaze World Headquarters at (360) 807-8250
ARE YOU A TRUSTEE SCHOLAR? Saint Martin’s University is committed to supporting inspired, dedicated and passionate students as they pursue their educational goals. The Trustee Scholarship is the premier Saint Martin’s transfer scholarship: • $24,000 over 2 years • Applicants must have submitted all required materials for fall admission to the Office of Admissions by May 15, 2013
NEXT
• Applicants must have an associate’s degree with a 3.5+ cumulative GPA CH494030cz.ke
Saint Martin’s University also awards scholarships to members of Phi Theta Kappa and the All-Washington Academic Team. For more information, contact Josefina Pilon, your Centralia representative, at jpilon@stmartin.edu or by phone at 360-438-4593. www.stmartin.edu
INTHE BLAZE
COLLEGE
JOBS
Centralia College Trustees Dr. Joe Dolezal • Stuart Halsan • Jim Lowery Joanne Schwartz • Margaret Sundstrom
What Centralia College Students Are Doing For Work CH494115cz.cg
CH493484sl.ke
Congratulate The Chronicle and Centralia College for their partnership of The Blaze publication!
MONTH
Check out next month’s issue!