The Blaze - April 2014 by Lafromboise Communications, Inc.

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A Publication of The Chronicle for Centralia College Since 2012 • www.centraliablaze.com

Women’s Soccer Could Come to College Leaders Say Team Could Be Next Step for the Athletic Department By Luke Kilgore The Blaze

Centralia College students and fans could have a little something extra to look forward to in the future of Blazer athletics. According to Centralia College Athletic Director Bob Peters, a women’s soccer team could be in the not so distant future for the school. “I do know that girls soccer would be the next logical step we will take due to Title 9 and such. but how far off I can’t say,” Peters said of the possibility of a team. “We explored the option a few years ago, but there just wasn’t enough field around.” Title Nine is an element of the Education Amendments of 1972 that essentially requires that women have opportunities equal to those of men, meaning there must be as many athletic teams for women as for men. There problem of not having enough local fields for a team may be remedied in the next few years. The Port of Centralia’s multi-million dollar Centralia Station project, a 43-acre multi-use development, might include a soccer field toward the southern end of the property, which is located where Long Road exists today. The project, still in its early stages, has the athletic department somewhat hopeful. “There were initial discussions of putting them there, but there just aren’t too many details just yet,” Peters said. “There are steps we have to go through such as checking the drainage and field conditions, among other things. The drainage would determine whether it can be a collegiate field or not, so that’s an important process.” For more information, Peters pointed in the direction of Centralia College Vice President for Administrative Services Steve Ward. “We have given a field design to the port and they found it very acceptable,” Ward said. “In our discussions, they have little doubt that the field will be playable at a collegiate level.” When asked about possible timeframes for the field and, in turn, the soccer team, Ward seemed optimistic. “The port plans to build an extensive amount of buildings and complexes, so they consider the field to be the simplest aspect of their project,” Ward said. “The port has to go through all of the environmental and regulatory procedures, but we are hoping to have the soccer field ready and playable in the fall of next year at the earliest, if all goes well.” With a potential fall 2015 deadline, the pieces could very well come together for Blazer soccer. However, there is one last variable in the final outcome: the students themselves. “It’s up to the students to make the decision because, in the end, it’s their money,” Peters said. “Their vote will be the final step required once all of the preparations are made.”

Blazer Baseball Begins See Page 4

College Honored for Its Annual Role in STP Classic By Courtney Simmons The Blaze

In 2005, Centralia College began hosting the renowned Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic midpoint celebration. The STP is considered one of the top 10 biggest recreation bike rides in the country, and this March, the college was honored at the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International conference with the Outstanding Institutional Achievement Award. The ACCED-I consists of more than 1,500 campus professionals who design, market, coordinate and plan conferences and special events on college and university campuses. Each year, Centralia College teams up with other sponsors to provide accommodations for the riders of the STP, as well as bike storage and repair, food services, live entertain-

ment and even massages, as well as other amenities. “This is certainly an honor that is to be shared by many. It is an award for the community,” said Candy Lunke, Centralia College events coordinator, who accepted the award at the ACCED-I conference. “STP wouldn’t be the success it is without support from the Chamber of Commerce, the city of Centralia, the police department, an army of volunteers from the college and the community and certainly the Cascade Bicycle Club.” As far as the amount of support and planning needed to maintain the event, Lunke calls the STP midpoint celebration “more or less a yearround event.” “People start requesting information and accommodations for the coming year almost as soon as one year’s event is over,” she said.

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STP riders arrive at Centralia Colllege in 2013.

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Your Look at Centralia College Life

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The BYU Singers perform during a show in Liverpool, England.

BYU Singers to Perform at College’s Corbet Theatre By Courtney Simmons The Blaze

On May 9, Centralia College will play host to a world renowned vocal ensemble. The Brigham Young University Singers will be performing at 7 p.m. in Corbet Theater. Though the general style of the ensemble is classic choral, they are known to branch

out, including in their concerts hymns international folk songs, anthems and African American spirituals. The BYU Singers consists of 40 singers from the School of Music of the College of Fine Arts & Communications at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The ensemble was created

in 1984 by Ronald J. Staheli, the Choral and Conducting Division coordinator and the director of Graduate Studies in Choral Music at Brigham Young University. Staheli continues to lead the Singers today. Since the ensemble’s creation, the BYU Singers have traveled to more than 27 countries and performed in some of

the most famous concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Sydney Opera Houses and Town Hall in Sydney, Australia, and the Musik Verin in Vienna. Maurice Casey, American Choral Directors Association president, has called the BYU Singers “one of the country’s finest choirs.”

Pre-assigned tickets for the event are available for purchase by contacting Terry Wood at mercer@localaccess.com by calling (360) 266-0318. No credit cards will be accepted; payment must be made by check or money order. Tickets are $7, $9, or $11. If tickets for the concert are not sold out in advance, they will be available for purchase at the door.

Nelson, Lawley Named to All-Washington Academic Team By Luke Kilgore The Blaze

Lawley, a 34-year-old wife

and mother of two, plans to become a registered nurse. Her inspiration comes primarily from a deeply emotional personal experience. Her first child, Abigail, died only five days after birth, "The nurses and respiratory therapists were amazing, never taking us out of the care loop for our daughter," Lawley said. She wants to earn a master's degree in nursing after obtaining her RN degree so she can provide "the best care that I can to families and their loved ones." On top of juggling her roles as wife and mother of two daughters ages 3 and 4, Lawley is currently a certified nursing assistant who assists in the care of 10 residents at the Providence Mother Joseph Care Center in Olympia. While enlisted in the Army as a signal support specialist, Lawley met the soldier who would later become her husband. Shortly after, Lawley was

Kristina Lawley

Raegan Nelson discharged from the Army and set her sights on a career in nursing, feeling she had a debt to repay. Lawley feels that Centralia

College has helped her on the road to her career in more ways than just through the curriculum. “This is really a good school

IN L D A E D P I H S R A SCHOL

with really helpful people,” Lawley said. “There’s a lot of diversity among the students, and the teachers are willing to listen to all points of view. I appreciate that.”

Don’t miss this second chance for EZ Money! The Centralia College Foundation announces that the scholarship application deadline has been extended. If you think having your college education paid for is a great idea, apply NOW!

The deadline for the second round is

April 15, 2014.

www.centralia.edu/ezmoney

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In the spirit of rewarding hard work and tireless efforts to pursue higher education, Centralia College students Raegan Nelson and Kristina Lawley were in March named to the 2014 Coca-Cola All-Washington College Academic Team. The women were selected based on academic achievement, community involvement, and individual service to the college, according to a news release. "These students are examples of what individuals can do when they have purpose and drive," said Centralia College President Jim Walton. "They each hold great promise not only for their lives, but also for society in general." Each All-Washington team member will receive a scholarship from Key Bank. Nelson is a full-time Running Start student from W.F. West High School. She has a 3.97 grade-point average and is currently pursuing a degree in cellular/molecular biology. An athlete as well as an academic, she was a starting point guard who helped lead the W.F. West basketball team to a state championship this season. She is currently gearing up to run varsity track for the Bearcats. This past summer, Nelson served as a lab assistant for Centralia professor Steve Norton during the annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy for high school students. “I was going to pay to attend," Nelson said. "Instead, I had the privilege of working at the event, helping Norton with his labs. I was very humbled to have been asked by Dr. Norton to assist him.” Nelson also credits Dr. Norton with sparking her interest in biology, citing her fascination of his expertise and his passion for biology. “He motivated me to learn

more about cellular biology,” Nelson said. “He’s a great professor who makes me want to dig deeper, to see what is going on.” Nelson plans to transfer to Central Washington University once she graduates with her high school diploma and associate in science. Her eventual goal is to earn a doctorate and share her passion for learning. “I am also thinking about cancer research,” Nelson said. “I want to investigate nanotechnology, which will be important in curing cancer.” Nelson’s advice to future students is to participate in CC101, a two-day intro to college course at Centralia College. "The class decreases the stress incoming students have. I learned where things were and where to go for help. That was very important," Nelson said. "I've found that people really care and the professors truly care about their students' education."

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Your Voice, Your Views

Editor’s Commentary

Elections: Read the Fine Print, Run at Your Own Risk It’s that time of year again. Student government elections are just around the corner, and if you haven’t already been approached by a prospective candidate begging for the minimum number of signatures that will allow them to be considered for a coveted desk in the student government office, you probably will. Hopeful candidates are probably alCourtney Simmons ready planning Blaze their camEditor-in-Chief paign strategies. “Will I hang flyers? What should they say? Should I put my picture on them?” These are just a few of the questions pouring through the minds of potential candidates. “Should I print business cards? Bake cookies? Make pins?” I have firsthand experience with these and other worries associated with student elections. Last spring, I begged for signatures on my election petition, baked miniature cupcakes

for voters and handed out business cards with my name on them. I have experienced this, and I would like to share a piece of advice with this year’s candidates: Read the fine print. You could lose the election before you are ever allowed to begin campaigning. If you are as optimistic as I was, you are probably shocked by this. This isn’t a national election, after all. Bad-mouthing other candidates, premature campaigning and other unethical methods of winning votes are strictly prohibited. Students have the opportunity to vote for the candidate whom they feel will best represent them. How is it, then, that we cannot even manage a fair, unbiased election? The most prominent part of the student election process is the mandatory candidate interview with the election committee. Harmless sounding, the interview, which takes place before campaigning is allowed to start, provides an opportunity for an appointed committee to sift through the candidates and remove those students who may not be as serious about the

“I am not discouraging this year’s candidates from running, nor am I discouraging anyone from voting. Quite the opposite in fact: I want us to beat the system.” election as they should be. What’s wrong with that? The election committee, consisting of a small handful of people, is allotted a large amount of votes that they can give a candidate, larger than the number that candidates are expected to get from fellow students. The excuse for this is that it is intended to make up for the small voter turnout that the elections are expected to get. When I received the call informing me that I had not been elected to student government, I have to say I was surprised. I had thought my campaign had gone wonderfully. I knew that I had reached a large number of people; larger, I thought, than my opponents. I told myself

that the students had chosen someone else, and that was that. Until the next morning, It was as I walked into my second class of the day that someone brought up the results of the election. “You were robbed,” were their exact words. I shrugged it off, until I was told to check my e-mail. It was then that I saw that my peers had elected me into office, a decision that the committee appeared to have disagreed with. I was elected by fellow students to represent them in student government. I was not, however, hand-picked into office by a select few whose agenda I did not serve. I am not discouraging this

year’s candidates from running, nor am I discouraging anyone from voting. Quite the opposite in fact: I want us to beat the system. Fight. If enough people turn out to vote, then by their own policy, the election committee will not have enough votes to overrule our decision. The voters and the candidates alike are responsible for cleaning up our student elections, and to next year’s student government, this is my challenge to you: Don’t allow this severely flawed policy to continue for another year. Are we going to choose leaders with a voting method? Are we going to choose with a interview method? Either way, this hybrid method has to stop. I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally, I don’t want somebody behind the scenes pulling the strings and allowing me to believe that I possess a choice that carries no real power. Read the fine print, and run at your own risk. •••

Courtney Simmons is the editor of The Blaze

Saying Goodbye

an end. For almost a year and a half, I have been a part of The Blaze team, editing infinite pages of proofs and laying out hundreds of articles. The real world of offices and seemingly menial tasks can contribute to a tedium that slowly melts into one’s reality. However, to say that I was bored or gleaned nothing from my tenure here at The Blaze would be an egregious lie. Never have I worked with

such a group of ambitious, focused people. Through their careful guidance, I learned to navigate the nuances of the art of news reporting. It is more than just simply conveying facts to an audience; it is creating a sense of trust and credibility among the readers. Anyone can tell a story, but it takes a special kind of person to tell a story and have the listeners believe you. That is what The Blaze seeks to do.

College can be exhilarating, yet for many, college can be frightening. Suddenly, many students are faced with an inordinate amount of freedom and are unsure of what to do with it. Their parents urge them to make wise decisions but lack the information to base those decisions on. The Blaze has striven to be that rational, fact-based voice that informs readers. Perhaps I dream too big. Despite that, dreaming is free

and at The Blaze, I have worked with visionaries who have the ability and desire to see dreams become reality. Even now, in the final few issues that I’ll remain here, I see great things for The Blaze. I may be no Pericles, but I know for certain that future will wonder at what The Blaze strove to create. •••

Dakota Rakestraw is the chief designer for The Blaze. He will be graduating at the end of the quarter.

Spring Quarter Lyceum Lecture Series Schedule Announced By The Blaze

Service Dogs - What Everyone Should Know April 9

Capturing Micro plastic Debris in Puget Sound and Neighboring Waters April 23

Hunger In Lewis County

Researchers at the Center for Urban Waters have developed methods to collect and process ocean samples (water, sediments, beach material) to quantify the amount of micro plastics in the ocean environment. They are in the process of surveying the Puget Sound and neighboring waters to understand the distribution of plastics in our waterways. Preliminary results show that micro plastics have been found in every water sample collected thus far. Our goal is to partner with other organizations to build our efforts to build a data set representative of the Puget Sound. This presentation will be given by Julie E. Masura, M.S., a Research Affiliate Faculty at the Center for Urban Waters, University of Washington Tacoma.

April 30 Employing

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The Students of Color Conference Experience May 14 The Centralia College students that were selected to attend the 24th Annual Students of Color Conference will share their experience.

This will be a panel discus-

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Every Job I’ve Ever Had

May 7

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Service animals are becoming more of a treatment of choice for veterans. What does this mean for service providers, business owners, and the general public? What are the laws as they relate to service animals? What are appropriate behaviors and protocols that one must be mindful of when interacting with a service animal and owner? Join John George, WDVA Vet Corps and Alphie for a highly informative and interactive session. John George, WDVA Service Dog Program Coordinator, is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Serving eight years in the United States Air Force, with multiple deployments to combat zones within Iraq and bordering countries, John separated from the military and was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He spent many years researching different approaches to managing his symptoms of PTSD, and decided a service dog was the best option. John worked extensively with Brigadoon Service Dogs to become educated on the application process, extensive training of the animals, and the law as it pertains to service dogs. He is currently partnered with Alphie, a good-natured and loving Goldendoodle.

Retired Centralia College Faculty, Alicia Wicks has spent a lot of her retirement in Africa. While there she has visited Liberia, Ghana, and Kenya from May 5, 2013 to mid-September 2013 working with at-risk women and girls. From the Liberian slum-dwelling girls at the More Than Me School, in Ghana at the Street Child Rescue Organization and in Kenya living with a Maasai family and working with Maasai women and girls out in the middle of nowhere, buying beads for them and their finished projects of beaded jewelry.

sion on hunger in Lewis County and resources that are available. Panel members: Bonnie Baker, Director Hunger Response Network, Northwest Harvest; speaking on Hunger in Washington State Bonnie Pedersen, Lewis County Food Bank Coalition, President; speaking on Lewis County food bank operations &

B THE BLAZE STAFF Editor-in-Chief: Courtney Simmons Web/Print Design: Dakota Rakestraw

Comic Artist: Ely Tilley Reporters: Taylor Tryon Contact us at: (360) 807-8250 editor@ centraliablaze.com Visit us at... centraliablaze.com Want to submit your letters to the editor? Contact us at “editor@centraliablaze. com,” or call The Blaze World Headquarters at (360) 807-8250

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Centralia College has released the Lyceum schedule for Spring, 2014. Lyceum lectures are held in WAH 103 on Wednesdays, from 1 to 1:50 p.m. Lyceum can be taken as a class for one Humanities credit, but all lectures are open to the public. Below are the lectures through May 14.

mix of comedy, monologue and multimedia savvy, Barry Smith presents EVERY JOB I'VE EVER HAD, a funny and engaging exploration of life as a seeker and a wanderer in a world where one's work defines oneself. Inspired by Smith's own off-the-beaten-path career choices, his fresh "modern monologue" educates and inspires today's young minds and tomorrow's gainfully employed. In addition to live performance/speaking, Barry Smith has been writing his weekly humor column, "Irrelativity," for The Aspen Times for 18 years, entertaining his readers with adventures in pursuit of the obvious, the irreverent and the absurd. Hailed by New York Magazine as "an energetic and versatile raconteur," Barry Smith lives and writes in Colorado. www.barrysmith.com

Hundreds of Hats and Bags for Africa April 16

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 Courtney Simmons at editor@centraliablaze.com, or call The Blaze World Headquarters at (360) 807-8250.

Sports: Luke Kilgore

Blaze Designer Prepares for Life After Centralia College With budding trees and balmy temperatures on the way, it seems the frigid, endless nights of winter will begin to recede. The chirping birds are heralding the new life that will begin to invigorate the land. This cycle of renewal has been played on repeat for thousands of years, throwing out the old and replacing it with the new. I am no exception. It seems my time here, much like winter, is coming to

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