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Signs of Life at the KNOLL

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By Rocky Frahm For The Blaze

Volunteers are working hard to prepare for spawning season at the Kiser Natural Outdoors Learning Lab, where about a dozen salmon returned to spawn last year. More salmon are expected to return this year, with some already spotted in China Creek, the urban waterway that cuts through the outdoor learning laboratory. Edward Riley, a spokesman for Centralia College, said four salmon spawning nests, known as redds, were found last year in China Creek. Riley said that within 10 years, salmon runs in China Creek will become a natural occurrence as the fish population builds. The return of wildlife to what could formerly be described as a squalid creek filled with garbage and stormwater runoff wouldn’t be possible without the work of dozens of volunteers over the past three years. The KNOLL was completed by the college in 2011 as the final aspect in the construction of the new science center. It’s creation coincided with the efforts of the Centralia Stream Team, a group of city officials, community members and other volunteers who joined forces to clean out the creek and make it more appealing to wildlife beginning in 2010. Last year, Centralia College President Jim Walton was named the winner of the Russ Mohney Recreation Resource Stewardship Award for the college’s environmental work developing the Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Lab, restoring salmon to China Creek and using pristine nature reserves for educational programs. This year, it appears the work of many has continued to help restore the creek and bring a diverse number of animals and fish to the area. Riley, in a post to the college’s Facebook page, said this week that a new arrival has brought even more reason to be proud of the KNOLL. “Since the college began the KNOLL project two years ago, I have noticed many species of animals, birds and insects that you wouldn't normally see in the middle of a city,” he said. “I have personally seen mated

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Above: Ducks splash in China Creek at the Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Laboratory earlier this month. Ducks, salmon, deer and raccoons are just a few of the animals seen frequenting the area since efforts began to clean up the creek and create a learning opportunity for thousands of students. Top Right: A recently downed tree exposes the presense of a beaver at the KNOLL, a first according to college officials.

‘‘I have noticed many species of animals, birds and insects that you wouldn’t normally see in the middle of a city.’’ Edward Riley

college spokesman

ducks, ducklings over the summer, deer, salmon, steelhead and a large variety of birds not seen in cities feeding from China Creek. Well now we have a new friend — a beaver.” Riley said he hasn’t seen the beaver, but that it has chewed down a couple trees. “As the project grows and matures, I sure hope I see more,” he wrote.

Aayla Withey / For The Blaze

A Centralia College student takes a break on top of one of the boulders marking the entrance of the Kiser Natural Outdoor Learning Laboratory earlier this month. In addition to the educational opportunities offered by the KNOLL, it also offers students a place to unwind in a natural environment.

During their most recent trip to the country, the Kirks took part in the 10th anniversary celebration and seventh graduation. A record 126 graduates received diplomas and degrees. There are now about 1,000 students taking classes at the university. The Kirks’ retirement from the foundation is effective Jan. 1.

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Your Look at College Life

'Preferred' Pronouns Gain Traction at U.S. Colleges Not Just Male and Female: Neutral Alternatives to ‘He’ and ‘She’ Are Meant to Convey a More Generous Notion of Gender

‘‘This is not about young people in the U.S. over the last 20 years kind of coming out of the woodwork and making up labels that aren’t real.’’

By Lisa Leff The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — The weekly meetings of Mouthing Off!, a group for students at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, always start the same way. Members take turns going around the room saying their names and the personal pronouns they want others to use when referring to them — she, he or something else. It's an exercise that might seem superfluous given that Mills, a small and leafy liberal arts school historically referred to as the Vassar of the West, only admits women as undergraduates. Yet increasingly, the "shes" and "hers" that dominate the introductions are keeping third-person company with "they," ''ze" and other neutral alternatives meant to convey a more generous notion of gender. "Because I go to an allwomen's college, a lot of people are like, 'If you don't identify as a woman, how did you get in?'" said sophomore Skylar Crownover, 19, who is president of Mouthing Off! and prefers to be mentioned as a singular they, but also answers to he. "I just tell them the application asks you to mark your sex and I did. It didn't ask me for my gender." On high school and college campuses and in certain political and social media circles, the growing visibility of a small, but semantically committed cadre of young people who, like Crownover, self-identify as "genderqueer" — neither male nor female but an androgynous hybrid or rejection of both — is challenging anew the limits of Western comprehension and the English language. Though still in search of mainstream acceptance, students and staff members who describe themselves in terms such as agender, bigender, third gender or gender-fluid are requesting — and sometimes finding — linguistic recognition. Inviting students to state their preferred gender pronouns, known as PGPs for short, and encouraging classmates to use unfamiliar ones such as "ze,'''sie," ''e," ''ou" and "ve" has become an accepted back-to-school practice for professors, dorm advisers, club sponsors, workshop leaders and health care providers at several schools. The phenomenon gained notice in the San Francisco Bay area in early November after an 18-year-old student at a private high school in Berkeley suffered severe burns when a 16-yearold boy set fire to the student's skirt while the two were riding a public bus. The parents of the injured student, Sascha Fleischman, said their son is biologically male but identifies as agender and favors they as a pronoun. At the University of Ver-

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Matthew Sumner / The Associated Press

Skylar Crownover discusses preferred gender pronouns with other members of Mouthing Off!, a group for students at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. PGPs such as "they" or "ze" are used by some genderqueer people who identify as gender neutral or even both male and female.

mont, students who elect to change their names and/or pronouns on class rosters now can choose from she, he and ze, as well as the option of being referred to by only their names. Hampshire College in Massachusetts advertises its inclusiveness by listing the gender pronouns of its tour guides on the school's web site. And intake forms at the University of California, Berkeley's student health center include spaces for male, female or other. At Mills, the changes have included tweaking some longstanding traditions. New students are now called "firstyears" instead of "freshwomen." The student government also has edited the college's historic chant — "Strong women! Proud women! All women! Mills women!" to "Strong, Proud, All, Mills!" The nods to novel pronouns and nonconformity are an outgrowth of campaigns for gender-neutral bathrooms and housing that were aimed at making campuses more welcoming for transgender students moving from one side of the gender spectrum to the other. But as fewer young people choose to undergo sex reassignment surgery, such students are slowly being outnumbered by peers who refuse to be limited, said Genny Beemyn, director of the Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "Certainly we see students who are transitioning, particularly female to male, but the vast majority of students who identify under the trans umbrella identify in some way outside the binary, and that's really causing a shift on college campuses," said Beemyn, who studies gender identity in higher education and recently traded ze for they. "Having role models and examples allows people to say 'Yes, what I am feeling is legitimate.'" As neologisms like "ze" have moved beyond conversation and into students' academic papers, some professors have expressed annoyance and uncertainty about how to respond, said Lucy Ferriss, writer-inresidence at Trinity College in Connecticut and a frequent contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education's language blog, Lingua Franca. .

"There is an initial discomfort. I think it's probably hypocritical to pretend there isn't, to say, 'Ok, that's what they want to do' and leave it at that," Ferriss said. "The people I know who teach will say 'This is weird and it's cumbersome and it's not going to last because it's not organic.'" At the same time, Ferris thinks it's a mistake for scholars and grammarians to dismiss the trend without considering whether English and society might be served by less-rigid ideas about gender.

"Mail carrier did not evolve organically and it's a lot easier to say mailman. Decades ago there were poets who refused to be called poetesses," she said. "Most language has evolved organically, but there have been times — and when it comes to issues of gender there probably have to be times — when there are people willing to push the envelope." Mel Goodwin, youth program director at the gay and lesbian community center in Las Vegas, said getting the hang of alternative pronouns can be

tricky in conversation. Goodwin, 28, claimed they as a preferred pronoun four years ago and it took time "to unlearn what I had been taught about gender." Yet when people object to they as being grammatically incorrect, Goodwin counters that modern English is to blame and that scholars, writers and linguists have spent more than a century trying to come up with gender-neutral pronouns that stick. In public presentations, Goodwin also refers to a map that shows historic and contemporary cultures around the world that have recognized more than two genders. "This is not about young people in the U.S. over the last 20 years kind of coming out of the woodwork and making up labels that aren't real," Goodwin said. "This is a real variation among humans, period."

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Holiday Shopping on a College Budget By Courtney Simmons The Blaze

It’s holiday time! I love the holidays, but as excited as I am for them this year, I’m also stressing over those holiday expenses. I want to visit friends and family, buy gifts, bake until I pass out, and most importantly, not be broke by New Year’s. Is that possible? If you’re like me, you probably go to college full-time or more and work a minimum wage job. It pays the bills, but the little cash pocket in your wallet has cobwebs on it. Is there any way you can survive the holidays without sacrificing rent? There just might be. First of all, set your priorities. I know from personal experience that when you sit down to write out a list of five or 10 people you need to shop for, it quickly becomes 20 or 30. Remember,

I’m not saying you have to glue macaroni on green construction paper in the shape of a tree, but cheap and cheerful is, well, cheerful! though, most of your friends are in the same boat you are, and the ones who aren’t probably were at some point. They know you aren’t bursting at the seams with holiday money, and I guarantee they’ll be happy with a holiday card. For the people you do have to shop for, know that it’s the thought that counts. I’m not saying you have to glue macaroni on green construction paper in the shape of a tree, but cheap and cheerful is, well, cheerful! Shop around at thrift stores. If

the item you find is special to the person you buy it for, will they really care if it’s brand new? This is also where that minimum wage job comes in handy. If you work retail or at a nice restaurant, take advantage of that employee discount! If all else fails, gift cards are nice. It never fails to let someone choose their own present. As for those holiday trimmings, you can bake, cook, decorate, and all that without breaking the bank too. Once again, remember that thrift

Ask Taylor By Taylor Tryon The Blaze

Dear Taylor, What’s the point of life? - Pondering Polly Dear Polly, Happiness, love, laughter, the smell of fresh rain on the pavement, first kisses, fluffy kittens, accumulating new knowledge, meeting interesting new people, listening to your favorite song, the comfort of your favorite food, having sore cheeks from smiling so much,

dreams coming true, anything and everything. - Taylor Dear Taylor, My boyfriend and I fight so much lately. I love him so much, and I want this to work, but things just kept getting worse because we fight like cats and dogs. I feel like he wants to break up and just doesn’t care anymore. I get mad because he never answers my texts back and he calls me “clingy” and says he’s sick of me and the fights just start all over again.

I’m worried he’s cheating or talking to other girls. How do I save what we have? I don’t want to lose him, but it feels like we’ll never get back to where we started.. - Clingy Candice Dear Candice, Painful as it may be, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself honestly if this relationship is the best thing for you in the long run. You are obviously distressed over this, and the fact that he is ignoring your texts could be a red

stores can be your best friend for the simple things like lights, Christmas tree ornaments, and all those things. As for the tree itself, a plastic one from Walmart may not be all your dreams come true, but it will last you longer, and the cleanup won’t be comparable to retaking finals. One thing I find that helps rein in my obsession for holiday baking is the discovery of the mini cupcake pan. This handy little pan lets me make almost fifty cupcakes from a recipe that ordinarily yields 24. Cookies are good too, because if you’re on a tight budget, you can always make them a little smaller to get a lot more out of a batch. These little treats make great gifts. For a cheap and easy way to seal them, buy a box of sandwich bags, cut off the zipper parts, and tie the

tops with ribbons. Cute and thrifty! Gift cards come in handy for yourself too. We all have those few extra things we would love to treat ourselves to, but we just can’t afford. If you’re in this predicament, tell your relatives the store you’re eyeing, and ask them for gift cards instead of presents. Another way to limit the spending is to buy yourself a gift card before you go shopping. That way you will have to force yourself to stop at a certain amount, not matter how bad that “one last thing” calls for you. The most important thing to remember during your holiday shopping is that material objects aren’t what is going to make you the happiest this season. A cup of hot chocolate, a Christmas movie, and a few friends is a holiday treat for under $10.

Centralia College Student Fields Questions from Around Campus flag that he’s trying to distance himself from you. He very well could be cheating, or he could just be feeling stressed. Who knows? The only way to really understand the cause of his behavior is to communicate your concerns with him, being completely straightforward. If he’s truly committed to maintaining your relationship, he’ll work with you to work out the issues, even if you’re “clingy”!

Life has a funny way of working itself out, and what is meant to be will be. It’s important for you to remember that life is too short to be with someone who makes you worry this much. You’re in college. Now is the time to focus on school and spend the rest of your time enjoying life. - Taylor

THE BLAZE STAFF Editor-in-Chief: Courtney Simmons Web/Print Design: Dakota Rakestraw Photographer: Ayla Withey Comic Artist: Ely Tilley Reporters: Taylor Tryon Rocky Frahm Contact us at: (360) 807-8250 editor@ centraliablaze.com

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contaminants found in marijuana including mold, viruses, fungi and bacteria. The profiles could then be compared with DNA profiles of organisms kept in a database maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information — a division of the National Institutes of Health. "What we're trying to do is put the information together in a user-friendly format," Coyle said. "Having some better technology in place is a good thing." The university's work also will include identifying whether cannabis material is real marijuana or a synthetic version comprising non-marijuana herbs sprayed with THC, the compound that gets users high. Coyle is aiming to complete the new process by next summer. What happens after that hasn't been determined. The school could patent the process and sell it for a fee to whoever wanted to use it, or could allow its use for free, she said. The school also could establish its own commercial testing lab.

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cides and other contaminants aren't clear, said Mason Tvert, a Colorado-based spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. The project was founded in 1995 to lobby for the reduction or elimination of penalties for marijuana use. "Although we have not seen significant problems with tainted marijuana in the past, we should certainly be taking steps to make sure it's not a problem in the future," Tvert said. "We have never seen a death solely associated with marijuana use. The same certainly can't be said of alcohol and other drugs." Food and Drug Administration records from 1997-2005 show no cases in which marijuana was the primary suspected cause of death, but the drug was listed as a secondary suspected cause contributing to 279 deaths. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in July that an "epidemic" of synthetic drug use has caused rising numbers of deaths and emergency room visits. One study released earlier this year, however, found that pesticide residues on cannabis are transferred to inhaled marijuana smoke, possibly posing a "significant toxicological threat." The study was done by The Werc Shop, an independent testing lab for medical cannabis in Pasadena, Calif., and published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Toxicology. Marijuana can develop mold from an inadequate drying process or poor storage conditions after harvesting. It can also become tainted with E. coli and other dangerous substances by being near farm animals. Coyle will be developing a new method for creating DNA profiles of biological

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.

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University to Test Pot for Contaminants WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana — mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. That's why Coyle and her students earlier this year began developing a new process to detect contaminants in marijuana through DNA profiling and analysis. The aim is to be able to identify potentially harmful substances through a testing method that could make the analysis easier and quicker for labs across the country in the developing industry of marijuana quality control testing. Twenty states and Washington, D.C., now allow medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, and Washington state and Colorado have legalized the recreational pot use. Connecticut and Washington state already require testing and other states are doing the same, spawning a testing industry. "If there's no certification ... it's like saying we don't check our meat for mad cow disease," Coyle said. "That's our goal as a private university, to develop the tools to address or mediate this issue." A number of labs around the country are testing marijuana for contaminants using different methods, many of which have been around for decades and used to test other plants, including food crops, for harmful substances. The health effects of marijuana tainted with mold, pesti-

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