T H E
L I N N - B E N T O N
C O M M U N I T Y
VOL. 52 EDITION 2
C O L L E G E
OC T. 7, 2020
‘Starry Peak’ Coming to Life
LBCC-commissioned Artist Rip Cronk Begins New Mural STORY AND PHOTOS BY HIKARI KAWAI Some of you may have been by the campus and noticed that there are some big changes happening to the front of the Linn-Benton Community College building. LBCC commissioned artist Rip Cronk to paint a mural, and that mural is slowly coming to life. Rip Cronk is a prominent artist known locally for his dancing bear mural in downtown Corvallis, and for the portrait mural on the sports building at Linn-Benton Community College. He has also painted many
murals in Venice, California and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as multiple locations in Hawaii. When asked, Cronk said he has been painting murals since “forever,” though his website says he began in 1981 which is essentially the same thing. Cronk started on this mural about three weeks ago. It is going to be a version of Marys Peak that parodies "Starry Night" by Van Gogh, as well as taking inspiration from "Starry Knight," is a mural he did in 1990 in Venice, California. It is likely going to be a two month project, but that will depend on the weather and the
progress of painting. Cronk expressed that this piece combines different techniques from cartoon, graffiti, and compositional devices from fine art and includes a lot of crossover which is something that Rip Cronk does quite often in his studio pieces. This will be an exciting fresh look for LBCC and hopefully will be inspiring to students and teachers alike.
Locally known for his dancing bear mural in downtown Corvallis, Rip Cronk also has pieces in Venice and Hollywood, California.
This isn’t the only piece Rip Cronk has created for LBCC, on the athletic building you can see the huge work of realistic art that he created. “I always look for opportunities to put different styles and looks up on the wall,” Cronk says during a Venice beach interview.
Rip Cronk’s color scheme and style for this piece is inspired by Van Gogh's “Starry Night” but with a more cartoon-like appearance.
Inside this Edition
WELLNESS
SEE PAGE 2
Rip Cronk has decades of experience practicing art and creating mural pieces. Murals are particularly special to him because they grow a connection with the community around them.
HUMANS OF LB
SEE PAGE 3
CUPHEAD REVIEW
SEE PAGE 5
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CAMPUS NEWS
OCTOBER 7, 2020
LBCOMMUTER.COM
Wellness Wednesday Stress Intervention: What can you do?
STORY BY
LISA HOOGESTEGER The Commuter is the weekly student-run newspaper for LBCC, financed by student fees and advertising. Opinions expressed in The Commuter do not necessarily reflect those of the LBCC administration, faculty and students of LBCC. Editorials, columns, letters, and cartoons reflect the opinions of the authors. LBCC is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Letters Welcome The Commuter encourages readers to use its “Opinion” pages to express their views on campus, community, regional and national issues. The Commuter attempts to print all submissions received, but reserves the right to edit for grammar, length, libel, privacy concerns and taste. Opinions expressed by letter submitters do not represent the views of the Commuter staff or the College. Deliver letters to: Address: The Commuter Forum 222 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW Albany, OR 97321
Greetings.. My name is Lisa Hoogesteger, aka “Lisa Hoog”. I work in the LBCC Advising Center, advising students and supporting wellbeing. I write about mental health, positive health and wellness behaviors. My intention is to provoke thought, ideas and action to be your best self. And to contribute to the community. First, take a deep breath. Really. Inhale slowly and super deep, hold it for a count of 5, then slowly exhale. Breathing is something we have control over. Something that helps to calm our thoughts. It’s a one minute “time-out” for a good reason. More oxygen to the brain and muscles. More space in a hectic time for sixty seconds of relaxation and ref lection. Do it again. That’s your two-minute drill.
Fall 2020 is the most uncertain, unexpected, unusual times ever. If you’re just beginning college, welcome. If you’ve been at LB or another college, I applaud your decision to stick it out and continue taking classes in whatever format available. Everything seems complicated - or maybe it’s just “different”. I do know that the inability to plan very far ahead is a constant stressor for many of us. So many unanswered questions. What CAN you do? Be gentle with yourself. Set reasonable expectations. Allow yourself to “not know” stuff. And, take positive action that you CAN control. “The journey of a 1,000 miles begins with one step”. - Lao Tzu What is it that you need to be your best self? What makes you feel energized (longer and deeper than the 1 minute breathing exercise above)? What brings you joy? Could be simple – listening to music, working out,
talking with a friend, going for a walk outside or finishing a class assignment on time (had to get in that schoolwork angle…) Here are a few suggestions from other students to help with college time management success. • Use whatever calendar system works for you to note every class, every assignment, and make note of every instructor’s name, e-mail and office hour. • Put in your planner study time every week (day?), to complete assignments. Find a place that suits your study style and commit to be there regularly. • Build in daily time for exercise, social connections and SLEEP! (some students find it helpful to set an alarm for when it’s time to go to bed). Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. -Malcolm X
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COMMUTER@LINNBENTON.EDU
OCTOBER 7, 2020
CAMPUS NEWS
Humans
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LBCC AT HOME EDITION of
Megan Oliver: It's that spinechilling time of year again. Costumes are planned, decorations are set up, and spooky movies are a must. Although, this year will be different, with COVID-19 being the scariest monster of all. Children will not be in groups, trick or treating, and playing in the streets (at least not without masks). CDC guidelines will still be in effect, parents will be more worried about safety, and those who are vulnerable will probably keep their porch lights off just in case. We have been living in the declared pandemic for eight months now. I am a first-time mother myself to a one-year-old daughter, Athena. I can say a worldwide pandemic has added a bit more stress to my family and me. In addition to a child, I am also a part of that very dreaded vulnerable population due to being a type 1 diabetic. Most people don't know the difference between type 1 and 2; type 1 is a non curable, life-threatening unless cared for properly, insulin-dependent, auto-immune disease due to the pancreas failing at producing insulin. Type 2 IS cured by diet and exercise, is due to the body not responding well to insulin, typically due to being overweight, and is not life-threatening with optimal care. Type 1 is about 10% of the diabetic population, whereas type 2 is around 90-95%. COVID-19 has affected many lives in different ways. If students weren't more stressed with remote learning, then classes held fewer classmates. If it wasn't the required face mask-wearing, then it was the risk of getting the virus. If it wasn't businesses losing profit from closing, then it was hazardous environments for workers and the public. The pandemic has touched everyone's life in one way or another. For us, it's been a bit of both. My fiance, Evan, has been quite stressed over my well being. Since I am at risk for a more detrimental virus impact, I am basically bathed in hand sanitizer anytime I go anywhere. I am often worried about our daughter too. Yes, everyone must wear face masks, but it still scares me to bring her into a store or a public area without intensely cleaning everything she touches. On the other hand, the pandemic has brought some good into our lives. It's allowed me to be home more than I would have ever been. I get to take care of my daughter, rather than asking others to watch her. It has allowed me to be more involved in my family's life when I'm usually loaded with work or school. As a family, it has brought us closer. For that, I am at ease with it.
Joshua Bloedel:
David Shaughnessy:
"One person even wrote: 'I know for a fact that you don't exist. You're really a lesbian collective in Marin County.' (Sometimes I feel like a lesbian collective in Marin County, but I'm not.)" - My favorite journalist / feature columnist / novelist is Armistead Maupin. I am the son of a lower middle class couple, born in 1951; with my father from Brooklyn NY and my mother from north Texas. As a white male who was raised protestant, I have earned the title of "Boomer" with no amount of effort of my own. I assure you that I am not that person. Many of my early friends died from either war or pestilence, in Viet Nam or the San Francisco Bay Area. My parents, relatively advanced in years, died while I was in my twenties. My older brother, the only sibling I knew from either parent's previous marriages, and my younger sister also both passed. One good friend who survived military service in Berlin died of hammer blows at the hand of an insane person in Berkeley. Another of accidental prescription drug overdose. After 18 years working for the University of California in Berkeley and Oakland I planned a change of life by moving to Albany. In January of 1997 my best friend in Albany died in an auto accident; I settled in Albany that following November. These were the influences shaping my life. I am enjoying my second year at LBCC though sometimes feel out of place because of my age. At least half of my classwork has been online, even before the pandemic resulted in the physical closure of the school. Many of my hobbies and "projects" are solitary in nature and only one has been impacted significantly. I enjoy the interaction with people of all ages when showing my 2002 Camaro from the California Highway Patrol Academy in car shows. Apart from trying to recover a crashed reef aquarium (the purpose for taking a couple of my favorite classes so far, Oceanography and Marine Biology) the rest of my interests in detail are in the "See also" links. For the time being I have to say that my most challenging class has been Digital Photography because it forced me to start cultivating an artistic part of myself. Could any of this lead to a new career? I doubt it; a position for Forensic Science will not likely be opening in the small local agencies and I have yet to have the confidence to pursue publication. Maybe...
My life during the coronavirus has not changed much. I remember when quarantine just started and we had to do a story about how we’re doing it at the very start for our Feature Writing class Spring Term. While everyone was talking about how different their lives have become, mine was literally called, “Same Old, Same Old.” I think the only problem I have with the pandemic is that I can’t get any retro games from Gamestop right now since they are unavailable at the moment. I know I could get them from eBay, but why go there when I am guaranteed a better quality product and for a lot less? Okay, got a little off track there. Where was I? COVID? Ah, yes. Now I could go on a rant as to why people exaggerate the illness, but I don’t think that would fit this assignment so instead, I’ll discuss what else I’ve been doing during the summer. I’ve been getting into the Sonic fandom recently and have been starting to write some fan-fiction which is quite fun (for some reason I love to go dark in my writing). I’m also a writer for a Sonic news site that has been around since 1998 called Sonic HQ. The skills I learned from Feature Writing became quite handy. Near the end of the summer, I finally got a job as a personal shopper at Wal-Mart. I’ve been trying to get a job for quite a while so I’m glad I finally got one.
BACKGROUND PHOTO: PEXELS.COM
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A&E
OCTOBER 7, 2020
LBCOMMUTER.COM
'Ultimate Knockout' Faceplants into Fun STORY BY
STEVEN PRYOR
@STEVENPRR2PRYOR
(Note: This review is based on the most recent version of the game available at the time of writing. Your experience may be different depending on which version you’re playing.) “Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout” is an online multiplayer party game that released this past August. While not a perfect experience by any means, the game still provides an entertaining romp and a unique take on the “battle royale” subgenre. The game, rather than relying on an overly-intricate story; instead hooks the player with a relatively simple gameplay loop. Combining elements of platformers, battle royale party games and over-thetop Japanese game shows; the player runs through a series of minigames centered around colorful obstacle courses. Though simple enough on the surface, the title has quickly proven to have quite an impressive level of depth in its gameplay. From match to match, the control scheme makes the game easy enough to pick up
and play; but tough to truly master. The graphics are colorful and bright, with the game having a myriad of custom items and skins to decorate your avatar with. That said, the game does have some issues to be ironed out. The online modes have been plagued with intermittent server issues, often locking out players for days. One infamous technical hiccup nearly removed the entire yellow team of players from the game’s code. Still, with more updates planned for the near future; the game definitely has ample potential to keep growing and improving to meet the demands of an ever-increasing player base (talk persists of having the game ported to consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo). The gameplay loop of flopping around candycolored obstacle courses while dressed as dinosaurs and pigeons has helped make the game the most-downloaded Playstation Plus title to date. If you’re looking for a party game with a unique take on the “battle royale” subgenre, then “Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout” is great fun to face plant onto your list.
'FALL GUYS: ULTIMATE KNOCKOUT' PUBLISHER: Devolver Digital DEVELOPER: Mediatonic PLATFORM: Playstation 4 (Also available on PC) ESRB RATING: E MY RATING: PHOTO COURTESY: IMDB.COM
Tetriminos and Puyos Pile Up REVIEW BY JOSHUA BLOEDEL From Marvel vs. DC, Mario vs. Sonic, to PS3 vs. Xbox 360, we love rivalries. It’s fun to watch fans of the communities duke it out or even become very friendly to each other. But what’s even more fun is seeing these franchises collaborate with each other like the Mario & Sonic Olympic games, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, or even Animal Crossing and Doom (this one technically doesn’t qualify but I’m counting it!). The game I’ll be talking about is in the same vein. Consider the game Tetris, one of the most successful games for the Gameboy. This game is one of the most famous puzzle games of all time. But there was one other puzzle game that was gaining a reputation called Puyo Puyo. While Tetris was about eliminating an entire row, Puyo Puyo was about connecting four or more puyos, little slime creatures, together. The more combos you made, the more points you earned. Now, I am a lot more familiar with Puyo Puyo thanks to a little game called Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. I didn’t play a single Tetris game till years later on the Gameboy. I enjoy playing both of them so when I found that Puyo Puyo Tetris was released on Steam, I decided to buy it. Puyo Puyo Tetris is a combination of both the gameplay of Puyo Puyo and Tetris. When it was
released on April 25, 2017, in America, the game received a lot of praise and won the award for “Game, Puzzle” in the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards (NAVGTR Awards). So, do the two games mix well? Or has it become a creeper? There are two dimensions, the Tetris and Puyo Puyo dimensions. These two were always separate until tetriminos oddly started falling in the world of Puyo Puyo. You play as several characters such as Arle, Tee, Ringo, Ai, etc. who are trying to figure out why the two dimensions are colliding. The story in this game is pretty good considering it’s just a Tetris/Puyo Puyo game. I have honestly never played any other Puyo Puyo game besides the one I mentioned in the third paragraph so I am not familiar with any of these characters. While I do love all the characters, I find the ending a bit underwhelming. I give the story a B+. As you go through the story, you will play in Tetris, Puyo Puyo, Swap, or Fusion. Swap is when you are playing two games at the same time (one being Tetris and the other Puyo Puyo) while Fusion is a combination of the two games where you have to deal with
'PUYO PUYO TETRIS' DISTRIBUTOR: Studio MDHR SYSTEMS: Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, and MacOS ESRB RATING: E 10+ PHOTO COURTESY: IMDB.COM both tetriminos and puyos at the same time. The goal of the game is to make your opponent’s side filled up with either puyos or tetriminos by eliminating the ones on your side of the field. The more combos you make with puyos, the more are placed on your opponent’s side. The more lines you eliminate at once, the more tetriminos are placed on your opponent’s side. Overall, I had a very fun time playing the game. I find the fusion part a little confusing at first but
other than that, I loved it. I give it an A. The soundtrack is fine. I don’t really have any thoughts on it. I’ll give it a B. To conclude, I really liked this game. The characters were fun to see interact with each other and I hope to see these characters again. But besides the characters, the story is pretty meh. The soundtrack is also a bit lacking. Overall, it’s a fine game. I give it a 7.8/10.
COMMUTER@LINNBENTON.EDU
OCTOBER 7, 2020
A&E
5
Don't Deal with the Devil REVIEW BY JOSHUA BLOEDEL Entertainment is one of the many things that allow you to take a brief break from this depressing world. During World War II, that was exactly what people needed and thus the Golden Age of Animation began. Characters like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Betty Boop helped brighten the moods of those during that time and created childhoods for many people. Two brothers, in particular, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, watched Disney and Fleisher cartoons. The two siblings based their game on these classic cartoons along with run and gun games like Contra. In 2010, development for the game began. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2014, the game was shown off and attracted many people thanks to its cartoon-like art style and even won the Best Xbox One Game at E3 in 2015. On September 29, 2017, the game was released on Windows and Xbox One. About a year later in October, it was released on macOS and Nintendo Switch on April 18, 2019. It has won several awards upon its release. In the Golden Joystick Awards, it won Best Visual Design and Xbox Game of the Year. At the Game Awards, it won Best Art Direction, Best Indie Game, and Best Debut Indie Game along with so many other awards. So, is this game brewtiful? Or is it not worth the gamble? Once upon a time, there were two brothers named Cuphead and Mugman. One day, they wandered far away from home and ended up in the Devil’s Casino. After winning multiple games, the Devil himself appears and offers the brothers a deal. If the two beat him at a game, all the loot in the casino is theirs for the taking. If they, however, they lose their souls. Cuphead, blinded by greed, agrees to the deal and plays the game. The two lose and their souls now belong to the Devil. In order for the brothers to earn their souls back, they must collect the souls of the
'CUPHEAD' DIRECTORS: Chad Moldenhaver, Jared Moldenhaver WRITER: Evan Skolnick DISTRIBUTOR: Studio MDHR SYSTEMS: Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, and MacOS ESRB RATING: E 10+ PHOTO COURTESY: IMDB.COM
Devil’s runaway debtors. And so they are off to their journey. You play as these two brothers and fight multiple bosses to collect their soul contracts. While most of the stages are bosses, there are some platforming levels with multiple enemies. In order to defeat your enemies, you shoot bullets from your character’s fingers. There are a few bosses where you have to ride a plane to beat them, however. You will encounter different characters that will help you by giving you coins that you can use to purchase weapons
and abilities. The story in this game is lacking. It has some very interesting looking bosses who are very bizarre and unique with different victory lines depending on which part of the battle you die at. From a queen bee that turns to a helicopter, to a german rodent, and to a mermaid who eventually becomes a headless medusa, you will face many different bosses. I give the story a B+. The gameplay is very fun. I enjoyed fighting all these bosses and going through the run and gun levels. This game
can be really difficult, however. You can play the game on Easy, Normal, and Expert (you need to beat the game in order to get that difficulty). There is one problem I have with the game. While you can play the game on easy, you can’t actually BEAT the game in that difficulty because you won’t be able to obtain the bosses’ contracts if you beat them in that difficulty. You need those contracts in order to battle the final boss. Besides that, the gameplay was great. I give it an A. The soundtrack is fantastic! Fitting the 1920s style, the music is made up of jazz (and sometimes barbershop) music by Kristofer Maddigan. My favorites in this soundtrack are “Die House,” “Floral Fury,” and “High Sea Hi Jynx.” This soundtrack remains one of my favorite gaming soundtracks of all time. I give it an A+. The art style of the game is based on the classic cartoons of old. While everything has been digitally colored, it has all been drawn by HAND. The love and work they put into this style are very impressive. Bonus points for the art style. To conclude, I love this game. The art style, characters, and music are great! The only thing this game lacks is story. I don’t recommend this game to people new to gaming since you cannot beat this game on easy mode, however. I give the game a 9/10.
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S H I P COUNCIL
A&E
S T U DENT LEADER
S H I P COUNCIL
OCTOBER 7, 2020
LBCOMMUTER.COM
SLC UPDATE
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