welcome day 2024 schedule + scavenger hunt! pg. 20-21
Welcome Day is finally here, which means summer break is all but over.
I couldn’t be more excited. I’m ready to be done with the heat, watch some football while it pours outside, and return to school. But I can understand if you don’t feel the same – last year I wasn’t confident at all headed into fall term.
My first Welcome Day was fun, but it was a lot to take in. Countless new faces, an unfamiliar campus, and my first week of classes right around the corner. I was worrying about the adjustment to college life, people reading my first article in The Commuter, and managing my soon-to-be packed schedule.
I told myself it’d all work out, but a few weeks into my freshman year, I was already burnt out. After years of looking forward to college, I was beginning to worry that it wasn’t for me.
However, I limped through finals week and made it to winter break, changing my major in the process. I finally settled in for my second term, and it was night and day from my first. I was back to being myself. I was confident. I was having fun.
That experience has been the inspiration for this month’s Commuter. It’s our first full edition of the school year, and while we
still have the usual sports, arts, and travel content, we’ve devoted a good percentage of our 32 pages towards that feeling of being new, excited, and maybe a little uncertain entering fall term.
One article I’m particularly excited about is our very first one in this issue: Our staff took the time to list out the resources, life hacks, and advice we wish we had heard before our freshman years. We hope it’s a help to anyone reading who is entering their first term.
But don’t get caught up in all the worrying. College is the time to try new things, make mistakes, and learn. I entered my freshman year with a set plan for what I wanted to do with my life, and it only took 10 weeks to decide to change it all. It was stressful to go through with it, but I’m better off for doing so. I’ve learned it’s best to embrace the change that comes in this pivotal time of life.
If you’re looking for something new to do this term, consider applying to join The Commuter staff. We’re still looking to fill a number of positions, from news editor to help with our social media – if you’re interested in contributing, we can find a spot for you. You don’t have to be a journalism major or an experienced columnist to apply. We’re students just like you who are learning as we go, and if you share a passion for putting together a quality magazine for LBCC each month, you’ll be a great fit. Writing for The Commuter is a great way to pick up new skills, become more connected on campus, and provide local student journalism. You’ll also get access to our brand new office Keurig. There’s a lot to love.
about us join the team from the
The Commuter is the student-run magazine 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” section 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.
And as I wrote in our last edition, if joining our staff is too much of a lift, you can still assist The Commuter by reaching out at any time to our email (commuter@linnbenton.edu) and providing story leads or feedback. We’re hoping to publish the best possible product for the LBCC student body each month, but we can’t do that without its direction.
At The Commuter, we’re psyched for what’s next. Here’s to a great 2024-25 school year with you all at LBCC. Thanks for reading.
Ryland Bickley Editor-in-Chief
Wanna get together? We’re really nice and fairly cool and we’d love to hear what you have to say. Not big on journalism but love to journal? Perfect. Are you a STEM major with major opinions? Let’s hear ’em. Like writing about ’80s film? Local animals? Snack hacks? Maybe you have a hefty folder of flash fiction on your laptop, just dying to be published and printed. Drop us a line. We’d love to meet you, read you, and support you. Think your ideas might be too weird or too niche for submission? Even better. The Commuter is an award-winning publication because of our wide range of contributions and our unique contributors. So reach out. We’ll be staring at our email inbox in the meantime, not an ounce of chill to be had.
cover photo by SARAH ROSE LARSON
editor-in-chief
RYLAND BICKLEY
design editor
KAILYN MCQUISTEN
photo editor
SARAH ROSE LARSON
EMILY JIMERSON
sports editor
ETHAN BIRMINGHAM
marketing director
CHRIS PATTERSON
reviews
STEVEN PRYOR
advisor
ROB PRIEWE
MASON WILLS contributors
BRENDA AUTRY
JESSICA REYNOLDS
MICAH TEAGUE
MIKE MCREYNOLDS
in this issue:
feature editor 04 10 22 26 05 11 24 30 06 12 15 freshman survival tips student spotlight: the commuter 25 years ago bringing funk to the forest
WANT TO SEE YOUR NAME HERE? JOIN THE TEAM!
meta major spotlight:
Health, Healthcare & Culinary
beyond the classroom:
lowering costs (and stress) on the linn-benton loop
10 must-see places in olympic national park
student spotlight: serving up success summer 2024's best and worst movies
Krystal Overvig
2024 Volleyball Season Preview Alien: Romulus & The Crow
with Josh Fitzgerald
Hints and Advice from The Commuter's Team to You!
Travis Overvig
Public Transportation Solutions in Albany and Corvallis
Some of the Best Places to See on Your Visit
A Peek into the Commuter's Past Band Spotlight: DTW
Meta Major Spotlight: Health, Healthcare & Culinary
words by RYLAND BICKLEY
Linn-Benton Community College offers seven different meta majors, which are groupings of similar majors. This month, we’ll be highlighting Health, Healthcare & Culinary.
This meta major offers 12 programs:
♦ Coding and Reimbursement Specialist*
♦ Culinary Arts, Nutrition, and Food Systems
♦ Dental Assistant*
♦ Diagnostic Imaging*
♦ Exercise and Sport Science
♦ Medical Assistant*
♦ Nursing*
♦ Nursing Assistant*
♦ Occupational Therapy Assistant*
♦ Phlebotomy*
♦ Public/Community Health
♦ Surgical Technologist*
Majors denoted by an asterisk (*) have classes at LBCC’s Healthcare Occupations Center in Lebanon.
While some of the program titles in this meta major are self-explanatory, others may not be to everyone. The Coding and Reimbursement Specialist major provides education towards becoming a medical code professional. Codes are an extremely important part of record-keeping and insurance in the industry.
The Diagnostic Imaging program is for students who want to become certified X-ray technicians. Per the LBCC website, this field makes up the “third-largest group of health care professionals.” This major also opens up the pathway to working in fields such as CT scans, MRIs, mammography, and sonography.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant major is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. Per the LBCC website, it is for students interested in working with “individuals who have mental, physical, or developmental disabilities or who have had their life interrupted by an injury or illness.”
Phlebotomy is the field of medical bloodwork, essential in blood testing, transfusions, and donations. Per the LBCC website, the pathway is “designed to prepare students for certification as a phlebotomy technician, with a focus on hands-on training and real-world experience.”
Students who choose the Surgical Technologist major will be training towards working in an operating room. Per the Mayo Clinic, “The role of the surgical technologist is incredibly important because they ensure a sterile and organized environment.”
“Surgical technology is a high-demand profession leading to many surgical facilities offering tuition reimbursement and sign-on bonuses for new employees!” reads the LBCC website. Use these QR codes to read more about every program in the Health, Healthcare & Culinary meta major (left), as well as to learn more about special admission programs with limited enrollment and special application deadlines (right).
interview by JESSICA REYNOLDS
with Josh Fitzgerald
Linn-Benton’s incoming communications instructor, Dr. Josh Fitzgerald, and I were able to sit down via Zoom and talk a little bit about his life, upcoming move to Oregon, and job here at LBCC. It was so generous of him to take the time as you’ll find out he has a million things going on and is trying to keep up with it all. He’s a down-to-earth guy, looking forward to giving his students everything he’s got. Spoiler alert: If you like dogs, live music, or basketball, you will have plenty to talk about with Dr. Josh! If you see him around campus this fall, make sure to stop and say hi – welcome him to our amazing school!
Welcome to LBCC! As of this interview, you’re not in Oregon yet. Where are you coming from?
Thank you. No, I currently live in Bloomington, Illinois. This is a couple of hours downstate of Chicago. So, about 31 hours away from you right now.
You’ll be moving in a couple of weeks, though, right?
Yeah, let me pull up my calendar. I’m leaving here on September 9.
Awesome! Tell us a little about yourself. I hear you’ve had quite a big year!
It’s a very eventful year. I just officially received my doctorate in Communication Education, which is exciting. If you can tell, I don’t like to carry myself as some academics do. Not to stereotype others or anything, but some people carry themselves, like, very, super-duper intelligent. I don’t really like to do that, and I think it’s for a number of reasons.
I’m going on my ninth year teaching, which is crazy in the higher ed environment. I’ve been in higher ed and academia the whole time, obviously. I decided a long time ago that even though, I guess, you could call me Dr. Fitzgerald now, I’ve never really subscribed to that. I like to approach other people as human beings. I’m not smarter than anybody. The reason I say that is because, as a student, I was very afraid, kind of uncomfortable, to approach my professors. So, as a professor, I try to be as laid back and as approachable as possible –I try to carry myself that way. I think that translates over into a little bit about me: Just in general, laid back. I think I’m easy to talk to. I’m just your average, ordinary guy. I like to do things that most people like to do.
I will be, I think LB calls it, full-time communication faculty. But in essence, a professor of communication. I like teaching and I like to be a resource for my students, which is why I like to appear approachable. That’s where
photos via JOSH FITZGERALD
I was going with that. I wear tennis shoes and Vans every day to class. Some students might say I overshare my personal life, my interests, and things like that. But again, it’s all to break down that barrier and be approachable as an educator. So, that’s a little bit about me. Right now, one of my main focuses is being as quality an educator as I can be. That’s what I hope to bring to LB in a few short weeks.
I heard that you’re getting married soon! So, that’s kind of an interesting little wrinkle in my life. I’m getting married on October 26. So, I go out to Oregon in mid-September. We arrive five days after we leave, then we have to travel back and get married and go back again. So, there will be a week in October when I won’t be in Oregon, but my students need not worry. There will be stuff to do while I’m gone. It’s already sorted out.
Well, congratulations!
Thank you so much. I appreciate that. You mentioned that you’re going to be teaching communications. What do you love most about communications? Have you been teaching that?
Yes, I’ve been teaching what I think LB calls COM111Z, their kind of intro to COMM/speech
course. I’ve been teaching that my entire teaching career, and it’s interesting that I enjoy teaching that class because it’s a speech course. There’s the stigma attached to public speaking, but I try as hard as I can to cultivate a comfortable classroom atmosphere – build confidence for everybody. Because that’s what, in any intro course, you’re trying to teach: basic skills and building confidence for students to apply those skills in real-world scenarios. That’s my goal, and it starts with me. So, I realized that if I went into every class and I was super serious and rigid – circling back to what I was talking about before, hard to approach – this course, that is truly a phobia for some people, becomes so much harder. Being a working professional for however long now and having a foot in the professional realm and the student realm, I totally see the value in being able to communicate effectively. I genuinely think the intro to basic communication course is a great way to develop those skills, or at least be made aware of areas where we could improve.
I try to bring experience to help prepare my students for the next step, whether it be for a fouryear institution, graduate school, or entering the private sector. My favorite thing about teaching is being a resource – sharing valuable information with students and being a resource for them to help progress to that next step. That involves a lot of things on my end other than being a competent instructor. I write a lot of letters of recommendation, and I’ve been a reference for numerous students. I think that’s part of the gig. That’s part of what I’m here to do. Some of my colleagues disagree with me on that front, for various reasons specific to them, but that’s my favorite thing: to be there as a resource and then see that progress. So, that really makes my day, especially as social media is a thing now, and I keep in touch with certain students in that way. Just seeing them graduate a few years later and seeing them get married and things like that. It’s just really cool to see students flourish and thrive as individuals in our society, in and outside of the classroom. So, that’s my favorite thing about teaching, I think – by a mile.
At LB, we try to cultivate a community of making people realize that there’s a lot of help out there. There are a lot of tools that you can use to learn to be successful as a student and a lot of great resources. When you were pursuing your own education, what would you say helped you the most? What’s in your toolbox, so to speak.
Yes, I definitely got that impression, too. Okay, so first and foremost – and this is something that I think would help students on every level of academia, and I want to stress that I don’t say this as a bitter teacher or anything – but I think the first rule or piece of advice would be to read the directions of the tasks you’re assigned. I think that translates to the professional, private sector, for future jobs and future academics, because understanding what the expectations are for whatever you’re assigned to do, whether it be homework or as an employee, is a good way to ensure that you’re doing those things. You know that there’s going to be set expectations in life everywhere. As a communications scholar, I will be teaching interpersonal communication. Even in our interpersonal communication, there are expectations in our friendships and in our
relationships and things like that. So, figuring out what those expectations are by, in this case, reading directions, I think is such good advice, especially for incoming freshmen.
Two, the next piece of advice I would give would be something you alluded to when you asked the question: ask for help. Pretty much every instructor I’ve had, with some exceptions – I can’t say 100% of the time – I’ve had a positive experience with educators. Instructors are there to assist you. They want you to do well. A little insider information in terms of grading and evaluating assignments: If students do them correctly and they do them well, it saves the instructor time. Because you’ve knocked out all these expectations that I’ve set out. This is great. You’re learning and applying this information. This is awesome! It’s a great mood boost, too. When it gets tricky for instructors, at least in my experience, is that I know every student I have is capable if they applied themselves, or at least that’s my opinion. At the end of the day, I’m here to answer questions. I’m here to help.
Then, one last one, in terms of what I think is beneficial for college students: find your people, find your community. Find the people that can be a resource for you, and that involves a lot of things. This is a lesson that I learned in grad school. I abruptly quit my job and enrolled in grad school because I got accepted, and because I was at a dead-end job that I didn’t like, I didn’t know anyone at the time. I kind of secluded myself for a while and didn’t branch out and put myself out there. So, my whole first semester was really, really hard because I felt secluded. I didn’t have an assistantship, which was pretty uncommon for grad school.
So, I was feeling the pinch financially. There were a lot of uncertainties, and I was really worried about things. I didn’t have an outlet in terms of people that were close to me. But then, I started to accept those invitations from my cohort, and things like that, to go to events and conferences. I found my little network of people, my support system. Then the rest of my master’s process was such a pleasant experience, because I found my people. Not to say that they loaned me money or anything, but we would just go out and find distractions. They would distract me from the stress and pressure of how much work goes into grad school, and that was so great. So, in my experience, in the higher ed environment, even at a community college, there are so many events and things: networking events, just university events and things that are designed to allow students, faculty, and staff to feel part of that community.
And you know, I haven’t officially worked at LB yet, but the vibe that they put out is similar to something you were saying. It’s definitely a community. So, another piece of advice I would give students would be to take advantage of those opportunities. At the end of the day, it's networking, and that’s good. The phrase, “It’s all about who you know” – and there is a little bit of truth to that, sometimes depending on your field. So, one, read directions or recognize what the expectations are. Two, ask for help. And three, find your people. I think those would be my big three in terms of advice.
That’s great advice. Is there anything that you’re especially excited to see or do in Oregon?
Yeah, actually! It’s funny you mentioned that. My fiancée and I started a combined note on our phones about things we want to do when we’re out there. So, I’m personally a big music, live music person. I go to as many concerts as I can, and just yesterday, I bought tickets to a show in Portland because I’m excited to see what kind of scene there is, so to speak, in a different city. You know, obviously I live near Chicago. So, I’ve been able to experience the Chicago music scene pretty heavily, and that’s a pretty big scene. There are so many venues and stuff like that. I’ve been to St. Louis and Milwaukee to see music. I’ve been to a million, well not a million, but a variety of music festivals. I’ve been to shows on the East Coast in Raleigh, in Virginia, and things like that, but I have not done that on the West Coast. So, that is probably priority numero uno for me because I’m excited.
Portland where he had these game-winners over the Rockets and the Thunder, and just seeing the arena blow up the way it did when he hit those shots was so cool. Fans were mobbing them on the court. If you try to do that in the United Center in Chicago, you go to jail. But seeing that happen in a major city like Portland is really cool. So, I’m excited to kind of compare and contrast Portland to Chicago, where I’ve been for a long time, and even other major cities that I’ve experienced, like Milwaukee, which I think might be a little bit more similar to Portland.
So, Trailblazers games are on our list, live
Ocean. Not a lot of dogs can say that they’ve seen both oceans, so we’re excited to give our pets some of those experiences as well.
It’s just really cool to see students “ flourish and thrive ”
The next thing I’m really excited to do is I also like basketball. The Portland Trail Blazers have been an underdog for as long as I’ve been alive. Even in 2000, 2001, when they were really good, they were still kind of looking up at the Lakers and all these other big teams like that. I always thought it was cool seeing, like, Scottie Pippen played there for a little bit, you know he was on the Bulls for a long time. Brandon Roy, which is kind of a tragic situation. He had to retire early. Damian Lillard, of course – I’ve seen all these players, these Portland legends. And whenever they’re in the playoffs, like, Damian Lillard has had some pretty big moments in
music, a lot of events, a lot of hiking, of course, because we don’t have a lot of trails here – we have a lot of corn here. When I came out for my campus visit, even just driving to LB’s campus, it was like, wow! The sights are immaculate here. I was just on I-5, I think it’s called, and that was really cool.
I have dogs. My fiancée, Lauryn, and I are excited to take them to the beach and on a million trails and stuff – try to be more outdoorsy. Fun fact, our oldest dog, we took him to the Outer Banks last summer. So, that’s the Atlantic Ocean, and now we want to take him to the Pacific
But beyond those kind of selfish things like that, I’m really excited for this position at LB. I might be jumping ahead, but to give you a little bit more information about me, I’ve been working and working and working while getting the doctorate, and I’ve been teaching so many sections, trying to gain so much experience to land this professor position. The title at LB might be different, but in essence, a professor position. So, it’d be really cool to be able to go to a school and give that school my 100%, because even last year, I was working at a four-year institution and a community college, and at that community college I wore several hats. I had three jobs at that school. It was to bolster my résumé, of course, but also to give back to those institutions, because I’m a try-hard and I’m a little over-the-top with effort levels and stuff as an employee, which I think is good. So, I’m excited to get to LB and get to work because it’s a great school – I got that right away, just visiting a day and then being in contact with the people that currently work there. It’s just been such a pleasant experience. … I’m really excited to be able to say, “This is what I’m here to do,” not, “Oh, I have to do this and this and this.” I get to give LB everything I can give it. And so far, they’ve given everything right back.
▲ A peek at what the courtyard looked like prior to construction.
COURTYARD CONSTRUCTION
The LBCC courtyard, located at the center of the main campus in Albany, has been a place for students to study, socialize, and come together as a community. This summer the courtyard received a huge makeover! As construction is being completed, students can look forward to having a great place to work and rest on campus at LBCC.
photos and words by MICAH TEAGUE
Photo by Rob Priewe.
Student Spotlight: Travis Overvig
interview by RYLAND BICKLEY
What is your major, year, and what brought you to LBCC?
I'm a bit of a nontraditional student, so I didn't go to college right out of high school. So, I'm 32 years old. I've been going to LBCC for the last… I think I'm on my seventh term now. I started kind of part time. I was working at the Target distribution center but I just felt like I didn't see much of a chance of moving up there with my opportunities, with just a high school diploma. I've always wanted to go get a college degree, and I felt like LBCC would be a great place to do it.
My degree is business administration. After I graduate from LBCC, which will be this upcoming spring term, so three terms left, my plan is to do either finance or accounting at university.
How did you get involved with the Student Leadership Council?
So my wife [Krystal Overvig] used to work in the office. Well, I guess she still does, but the Student Union office is the Student Life and Leadership office, so they’re kind of housed in the same spot. But she heard that there was [a position] available to apply for. I was working at Target at the time. She’s like, “Hey, why don't you go and apply, and if you get a full time position, you can go ahead and maybe leave Target.” So I applied, and I was able to get the vice president position, which helped me pay for all of my credits while I was going to school. And that's kind of where I started. And I'm serving as president now, so I campaigned for that one.
What's the process for becoming president, and then once you got there, what are your duties?
When you apply for it, it's open to anyone, any student can do it. … There are certain academic requirements and stuff. It's nothing too extensive or whatnot. Basically, you just apply to get your name on the ballot, and then we always try to find multiple candidates so it's not just one person and they’re a shoe-in for it. But yeah, we then open up the election cycle [begins winter term], and during that we not only have the ballots for the president and the VP position, but then we also survey the students and see, okay, what are their biggest needs? We try to gameplan our events and our schedule, as the Student Leadership Council, around those.
Some of the biggest that we got from our surveys were housing, which, unfortunately, there’s not a lot we can do about that, but we have some things in the works. But there’s also food insecurity. So we are planning to tackle that through film and food events. We're going to do one a month for eight months. Basically, we'll show a free film, fully free to students. We'll have popcorn and snacks available. Then after the film, we'll be doing a free dinner, so it's fully available for students. And then every single week, we also have our events. We always have food, be it pizza or whatnot, for our events to help with food insecurity. … So we're kicking off fall with a couple horror movies, like Scream. Hoping it’ll be fun – it’s our first year doing it. We're hoping we get a lot of attendance from students. You know, the more that attend, the more funds we can put into it.
What's it like being a part of the SLC and being able to go to LB with your wife, Krystal?
It's been a great journey. We're both almost done. We're both going to graduate this upcoming spring. We're both nontraditional students, so honestly, for a while there, we didn't expect to ever go to college. So it's been nice going and hopefully it's all worth it for us. In the end, we were able to find good jobs in a good career field. But it's been great. LBCC has been great.
There are a lot of different resources here on campus. I feel like getting connected through Student Leadership is one that has definitely opened some doors through networking for myself, my wife, and actually a lot of people on our team. So I always recommend, like, hey, if there's a spot, go for it. There are a lot of things that Student Leadership does to help develop your leadership skills, develop you in so many different ways.
We're currently hiring. We're looking to hire a couple of event planners, which pays six credits per term. We’re looking to hire a bunch of interns, and that pays three credits per term, and then everything always opens up during that whole election cycle. So everyone can apply for anything, regardless of whether someone's in it currently or not. So it's a great spot to be on campus.
Tell us a bit about yourself outside of LBCC.
Yeah, actually, I'm a bit of a metalhead, so I go to metal concerts with my wife, rock and metal. So we just saw – I'm not sure who will know this at The Commuter – but we've seen Gojira, Mastodon, Lamb of God. I just saw Megadeth. We’ll see Iron Maiden in October. We just saw KALEO and Greta Van Fleet recently. I'm a big metalhead. I also like just hanging out with our kids, so we spent a lot of time together, going to the park or doing board games or whatever at home, like movies.
There was an SLC advertisement a few months ago that mentioned that you co-founded a trucking company with your brother at one point. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Yeah, before I went to college, I owned a trucking company with my brother. We delivered auto parts, so that was a pretty good business for us. We were able to make a decent living doing that. But then COVID came and shut our doors, essentially. I mean, our business just completely shut down. There just wasn't enough business for those first six months from around March to September. So unfortunately, we had to close the business and sell the routes that we were working. And that's kind of what kickstarted me into thinking about going to college and this whole journey. Unfortunately that door closed, but with Student Leadership and going to college, the door is hopefully opening up for me.
Is there anything else that you'd like to tell our readers? Honestly, I would just recommend everyone to come to our events. We try to do an event every single week. We try to make it as fun as possible and as engaging as possible. We'll do laser tag. We'll do bowling. We always try to make sure there's food there. What we're trying to do is not only have a good time for students, because we have a pretty heavy workload or school load or whatever we've got going on in life, but try to find a way for us to relax and hang out with each other, maybe make new friends.
photo by SARAH ROSE LARSON
Student Spotlight: Krystal Overvig
photo by SARAH ROSE LARSON
interview by EMILY JIMERSON
Tell me a bit about yourself and where you’re from.
I’m originally from Medford, Oregon, and I started going to Linn-Benton back in fall of 2022. Finding jobs down in Medford was hard because of the whole COVID pandemic, so we took an opportunity to move up here for some better jobs. Which then led me to go to school and eventually my husband [Travis Overvig] followed behind me. My major is business administration. It’s obviously had its struggles because we have four kids, but with almost being done with our associates, it’s been a great journey at LinnBenton. We’re excited for where it’s taking us so far and the opportunities we’ve had, and looking forward to university life. I still have this year to go and then I’ll be graduating next spring.
Why did you decide to study business administration?
You know, I was starting in fall of 2022. It’s taken me a while and part of that was dabbling around in different majors. I considered economics at one point and liberal arts degrees, but I settled on business because I felt like it was more transferable. If I wanted to pursue my passion as a photographer, a business degree could help with that. If I want to work an office job it could be transferable there too. So it just felt like something I could get that could open up more doors without being so concentrated on one specific area. I’ve also settled on accounting because it is also universal. How do you balance work, school, and family life?
It’s definitely hard. Sometimes I just have to learn to let certain things go, like if a load of dishes don’t get done for the day I can’t let that bother me. Sometimes just spending time with my kids is more important than worrying about small, mundane things like that. As far as taking care of my kids while I’m going to school, we’re fortunate enough to get the ERDC [Employment Related Day Care] from the state of Oregon so it kind of helps pay for our childcare cost. And also just the help that my husband and I give each other in helping with the kids as well.
What are some of your hobbies and interests?
When I’m not busy with school or Student Leadership, my top priority is spending time with my family. With four kids, this often means quality time at home playing board games, taking walks to the park, or enjoying a movie at our favorite theater, the Whiteside. My husband and I also love … going to concerts, which has been easier now that we live closer to Portland compared to when we lived in Medford. I just bought tickets for our sixth concert this year! So far, my favorite concerts have been Gojira/ Mastodon last April, followed by Greta Van Fleet in August. For much-needed alone time, I love diving into a great book—my favorite is probably Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn—or watching one of my favorite shows, which can range from Breaking Bad to Gilmore Girls to Z Nation.
Could you tell me about your role with the SLC?
My first year with the SLC I was specifically the Campus Outreach Director, which did the marketing for the Student Leadership Council. At first I didn’t know if I was going to return for a second year, but I decided that it was definitely worth the time and effort and I put in to proceed with my second year. So now I run the Event Task Force team. I oversee the event planners and the
whole team and make sure things are running smoothly so we can make sure we’re putting on events. While it’s kind of commonly known that the SLC provides food for students, the events that we put on are also a big part in letting the students know that we do exist. Sometimes just with that knowledge of knowing that we exist, they’ll find out about the resources that we have. In the past we would help with the Linn-Benton Lunch Box, with providing food resources. So just definitely getting the word out there about who we are, how we help students, and where their student fees are going is really important, even if it is through events.
What have been some of the benefits and highlights of working with the SLC?
One benefit is definitely just getting my 12 credits paid for. Beyond that, I just love working with the team. I feel like, now being on the team since May of 2023, it’s nice seeing the growth that I’ve seen in myself because I would have never led a team before. So now seeing that growth in myself, to know I can grow into that leadership role that I never thought I could do before gives me more confidence, especially with taking my degree into the workforce. Also, seeing the growth in my husband as well. He went from vice president to president. I also love seeing growth in other people who continued at the SLC their second year.
Could you describe a few of the classes you’ve taken for business?
I’ve actually taken all my business classes online so far. I’ll be taking my first in-person one this fall. Some of the struggles with them are because all of my business classes are working on a group project throughout the term, so just one of the struggles is when the instructors randomly assign groups. … As far as the course content, I feel like it’s been pretty valuable what I’ve been learning so far. Back in spring term, I took an entrepreneurship class called Small Business in Entrepreneurship and that was really informative. Even though my husband had owned a business before, there was still a wealth of knowledge to learn from that class. I remember taking the Excel Sheets class, and I’m pretty well versed in Excel, but still there was a wealth of knowledge of things that I could do in Excel to formulate and organize things in ways I didn’t know about. So I’ve found that even in classes where I know some things, it’s still beneficial to take the classes and expand that knowledge further.
What is the SLC work environment like, and how is it getting to work with your husband?
As far as working with my husband, it’s been great. We actually met by working together. Then it had been a while since we had worked together, and when he decided to come back to college we started at the SLC together. It’s been nice, it’s a perfect dynamic. He’ll help me out with some things even in the chieftan role and sometimes I’ll help him out with things. Just having that cohesion between things is nice. Beyond just us, I feel like our team dynamic for the entire SLC is this great, cohesive balance. I’ll work with my event planners, I’ll know where their skills are at, and I’ll try to help them along in some of the skills they may be lacking. That’s a great part of how I lead the Event Task Force or even how my husband leads the SLC. We really just like helping the SLC members with their growth, building that confidence so that they can do their roles eventually without our help. Everybody within the team is always willing to lend a helping hand, so that makes the SLC a pretty great place to work.
Lowering Costs
on the Linn-Benton Loop (and stress)
words by MIKE MCREYNOLDS
Find the bus route nearest to you:
Congratulations on taking the big step of furthering your education. Taking the first steps towards becoming an adult can be stressful, but don’t be scared.
If you have a car or some other form of transportation, you know the cost it entails maintaining and fueling that vehicle so you can get to your classes on time. Here is one way to relieve that stress with an alternative to driving.
The Linn-Benton Loop is a fareless transportation service between Albany and Corvallis, running Monday through Friday. It starts at 6:55 a.m. from LBCC. There are three different routes to choose from that may fit your schedule and location. The Loop picks up and drops off near the Benton Center as well as the OSU campus in Corvallis.
You will be getting tons of advice in college. Some good, some bad. Now comes mine. After starting college again following a 40-year break, this is what I know is the most important advice concerning relieving stress and saving you money.
CORVALLIS TRANSIT SYSTEM
TRANSIT SYSTEM
Maybe you are living away from home for the first time, or are still living at home but you want to be more independent by taking responsibility for your own expenses. Whether you have a car or not, you probably want to save money while not adding to global warming.
If you live in the Albany/Corvallis area, the Linn-Benton Loop can provide a solution. It will take some planning on your part, but once you figure out your schedule, make sure you give yourself enough time so you can handle any hiccups. This piece of advice helped me be on time for every class last year. There is no reason to have the stress of driving, finding a parking spot, having enough gas, and focusing on the road and other drivers.
I used the Linn-Benton Loop from Corvallis all of last year. I gave myself at least an hour and a half to get to the Corvallis Transit Center to catch my ride to LBCC’s Albany campus. It gave me time to relax because there is a bus about every 30 minutes. I’d go to Roast Runners on campus to have a coffee and do some last-minute studying, or finish a project before going to class.
I did some of the work for you by adding the links to the Loop schedule for the Corvallis and Albany Transit System schedules. So, let me be the first one to give you some homework. It will be worth it when you’re done. Whether you live in Corvallis or Albany, the buses are free.
Fun, Free Events!
Feeling stressed? Learn some tips to ease your worries at the Stress Management Workshop on Tuesday, October 1st from 1-3PM in the Fireside Room.
Want to give back to the community? GIVE BLOOD! Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th from 10-3pm in the Fireside Room.
Accessibility Resources is sponsoring Inside Out 2 for disability awareness month Join us on Thursday, October 17th at 2pm in the Tripp Theatre
Do you like scary movies? Come watch this 90s slasher classic on Thursday, October 24th at 2pm in the Tripp Theatre
Want to give back to your community? Volunteer at the park clean up on Saturday, October 26th from 10am to 2pm. Coffee and donuts provided
Are you ready to show off your Halloween costume? Join us in the Commons Cafeteria on Thursday, October 31st from 2-4pm for tricks, treats, and more!
Drive Your Career Toward Success
CDL TRAINING
ENTRY-LEVEL DRIVER | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Linn-Benton Community College has partnered with the Knife Rive r Training Center to provide a comprehensive learning experience, to get you on the road with your CDL!
Invest in your future today
• FMCSA-compliant CDL training
• Tuition cost: $6,499
• Comprehensive training materials
• Daily catered lunches included
• Third-party DOT skills test
• Unrestricted licenses
Why choose LBCC?
• Real-world experience delivered at the Knife River Training Center in Albany, OR
• Professionally trained and highly experienced instructors
• Start driving and backing the first day of class
• We don’t rely on simulators
Program highlights
• Just over 3 weeks, Monday-Friday, 7:30 am4 pm
• Manual transmission trucks
• 3:1 student-to-instructor ratio, resulting in a high first-time pass rate
• Students train on 1.5 miles of closed circuit training roads before driving on public roads
Simple application process
• Complete the Application at: www.linnbenton.edu/CDL
• Email it to CDL@linnbenton.edu
• LBCC Coordinator will contact you within 2 days
Must-See Places in
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK 10
Olympic National Park is located in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. It’s just a quick, five to six hour drive from LB, making it one of the most accessible National Parks for those of us living in the Willamette Valley. The park is a diverse natural wonderland, offering an unparalleled range of ecosystems, from rugged coastline and lush temperate rain forests to alpine mountains and glacial lakes.
The park covers nearly a million acres of pristine forest and coastlines, which means that you’ll have endless opportunities for outdoor adventures. You can hike along the hundreds of miles of trails, walk along the beaches admiring the views, kayak or paddle board on crystal clear waters, and explore
unique natural landmarks.
The size of the park also means that you’ll need to be prepared to drive long distances between sites — a car is definitely required for any visit here. You can group nearby sites together to visit on the same day, or spread out your accommodations across the park to prevent a long drive back each day. There are several campgrounds (none of which have showers), lodges and Airbnb’s spread throughout the park.
With so many amazing places to explore, how do you choose which ones to see?
After spending the last two summers exploring Olympic National Park, I’ve compiled a list of places I think everyone should visit. These destinations showcase the best of what this remarkable place has to offer.
words and photos by BRENDA AUTRY
Lake Crescent .01
Lake Crescent is renowned for its brilliantly blue, clear waters. It is located in the northern section of the park on Highway 101, just 20 miles east of Port Angeles. During the warmer summer months, there's no shortage of recreational activities. Kayaking and paddle boarding are popular as well as swimming near the shore or in popular swimming areas like Devil’s Punchbowl. Surrounded by mountains
and lined by forests, the tranquil landscape makes the water as stunning as it is refreshing. You can also explore hiking trails around the lake, like the Marymere Falls Trail and the Spruce Railroad Trail. Though some areas can get very crowded, you can take a drive around the lake and discover a number of smaller beaches where you’re sure to find some peace and solitude.
Kalaloch Beach + the Tree of Life .04
Kalaloch Beach is one of the most southern beaches in the park and the only beach that has a campground attached to it. Kalaloch Campground offers the unique experience of camping with a view of the Pacific Ocean. These ocean view spots are highly coveted and booked months in advance.
The beach is a popular spot for exploring tide pools or catching a sunset—if the fog allows. The most iconic feature is the Tree of Life, also known as the "Kalaloch Tree," a Sitka spruce that defies the odds by clinging to life despite having most of its roots exposed and suspended in the air due to erosion.
Ruby Beach .05
Just north of Kalaloch Beach you’ll find the most popular beach in the park—Ruby Beach. Its popularity is well deserved as its dramatic landscapes are some of the most beautiful you will ever see.
As you make the short descent from the parking lot and the beach comes into view, the sea stacks rising from the water—often shrouded in fog and crowned with their own miniature forests and ecosystems— create an ethereal sense of stepping into another world.
At the end of the path, you'll find a natural archway that welcomes you to this marvel. You'll need to scramble over several hundred yards of large driftwood—some creatively fashioned into forts, chairs, and other intriguing structures—before reaching the sandy shores. There, you can stroll along the beach, explore tide pools, climb the sea stacks, and enjoy views of the mighty Pacific Ocean.
Sol Duc Hot Springs .02
Just a 25-minute drive off Highway 101 and about an hour from Port Angeles, Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort features soothing mineral hot spring pools where you can relax and unwind. There are four pools, each with a different temperature to suit your liking. The entrance fee is $18 for adults for a 90-minute
session. If you forget to bring your own, they offer towel rentals for a small fee.
The pools are clean, well maintained, and very relaxing. Other facilities at the resort include a restaurant, mercantile, gift shop, and locker rooms with hot showers— an excellent option if you’re camping.
Sol Duc Falls .03
Continue up Sol Duc Road from the resort for a few miles and you’ll find yourself at the parking lot for the Sol Duc Falls trailhead. This easy, 1.8-mile out-and-back section of the longer Sol Duc Nature Trail will take you through a stunning temperate forest filled with old-growth trees, babbling brooks, and lush undergrowth. It’s one of the most beautiful walks in the park. At the end
of the short section, you’ll be rewarded with the breathtaking sight of Sol Duc Falls, where cascading waters plunge into a mossy gorge. This is one of the most popular trails in the park so it’s best to visit early in the morning or later in the afternoon to avoid the crowds. Parking can also be an issue mid-day when you’ll see cars parked along the shoulder for miles.
The scenic, 17-mile drive up Hurricane Ridge Road culminates in one of the most epic vistas you'll ever see without the effort of a hike: Panoramic views of the snow-capped peaks and glaciers of the Olympic Mountains on one side and the misty waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the other will leave your jaw agape.
The quarter-mile Meadow Ridge Trail connects the two viewpoints from the parking lot, and during the summer it’s filled with wildflowers. Along the trail
you may also catch glimpses of deer or marmots.
For 360-degree views, you can hike the short (half-mile loop) but steep High Ridge Nature Trail to Sunrise Point. Or, if you want more of a challenge, you can tackle one of the longer trails that begin from the parking lot.
The visitor center was lost in a wildfire in 2023, but restrooms and information boards with trail maps are available.
Hurricane Ridge
Second Beach .07
With a picturesque blend of dramatic coastline dotted with sea stacks and tide pools teeming with marine life, there is so much to love about Second Beach. To reach this secluded spot, you’ll need to traverse a 0.8-mile trail through a lush temperate forest—the hike is almost as enjoyable as the beach, in my opinion.
As you step onto the beach, you’re likely to encounter a dense blanket of fog, which is typical for this part of the coast. The hazy shroud makes the sea stacks look like ghostly ships floating near
the shoreline. Rather than detracting from the scene, the fog enhances the experience. Perhaps it’s because I’m a native Pacific Northwesterner, but the fog felt comforting, and I could almost hear the “hoa, hoa, hoa” (yes, I had to include at least one Twilight reference) coming from behind the mist.
If you wait around a while, the fog will lift, at least a little, and you’ll be able to enjoy the epic views and wondrous tidepools in a whole new light.
.09
Hoh Rain Forest
The Hoh Rain Forest offers a glimpse into an ancient forest filled with towering Sitka spruces and bigleaf maples, many of which are centuries old. The Instagram-famous, 0.8mile Hall of Mosses Loop Trail winds through these senescent groves, cloaked in a thick, vibrant green tapestry of willowy mosses. Giant verdant ferns and lush vegetation carpet the forest floor, creating a sense of timelessness and tranquility.
The trail's popularity can lead to long wait times at the entrance station as well as large crowds along the trail. On my last visit, I arrived at the entrance at 8:30 a.m. and had to wait 45 minutes. Once the parking lot is full, the park operates on a one car in, one car out entrance system. To avoid long wait times and enjoy a more serene experience, try to arrive before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
.08
Alittle further north, you'll discover Rialto Beach. Although close in proximity to Second Beach, Rialto Beach feels like a different world. The beach is primarily covered with smooth pebbles, stones, and piles of driftwood, and during high tide, the sand may be completely submerged. During low tide, when the flatter sand provides an easier walking
Rialto Beach
surface, the main attraction is a 1.3mile hike along the sand to Holein-the-Wall—a striking natural arch carved into a rugged rock formation. When the tide is out, the archway is surrounded by tide pools brimming with sea stars and anemones, and it offers a dramatic frame for viewing the raw natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean.
.10
Quinault Rain Forest
Last but definitely not least, this hidden gem offers all the magic and awe of the Hoh Rain Forest without the crowds. The Quinault Rain Forest is located in the lessvisited southern section of the park along the Quinault Lake Loop drive. Just a few miles off Highway 101, you'll find a nearly empty parking lot with a visitor center and the Maple Glade Rain Forest Trailhead. This easy, half-mile loop trail meanders through one of the most beautiful sections of the Quinault Rain Forest accessible to hikers. Complete with giant Sitka spruces draped in velvety blankets of willowy moss and ferns so large they seem Jurassic, this trail will take your breath away. And the best part? You'll likely have it all to yourself! Sit in silence on one of the many benches and listen to the wind rustle through the leaves or watch the moss sway in the breeze—it’s pure tranquil bliss.
SUCCESSserving up
2024 Volleyball Season Preview
With a new school year underway, a new challenge approaches one of Linn-Benton's premier athletic programs. In the 2024 season, LBCC volleyball will begin its quest to win a fourth consecutive NWAC Championship.
Last season couldn't have gone much better for the Roadrunners. The team achieved a remarkable three-peat of NWAC Championships and capped off an undefeated 36-0 season with a fourset win over North Idaho College for the conference title.
Linn-Benton's third successive volleyball championship made them just the fifth school in NWAC history to win three in a row. The Roadrunners also became only the third squad in the past 20 years to win the NWAC title without a single loss.
The team now sets their sights on the new season, looking to make even more history. If Linn-Benton wins their fourth straight championship, they will become just the second school in NWAC history to do so, following in the footsteps of Blue Mountain Community College (2012-15).
The statistics are in favor of the Roadrunners repeating once more. Linn-Benton entered the season on a conference-best 55-match unbeaten run and has not lost a league match since the 2020 season. A preseason poll among NWAC coaches ranked the Roadrunners as the best team heading into the season, with 17 out of 18 coaches having LinnBenton listed first in their rankings.
Despite the hype entering the season, the team will still have to work around many departures from last season's roster. Linn-Benton lost five sophomores who had been on the roster for the team's 2022 and 2023 championship runs, including Grace Boeder, the reigning NWAC Athlete of the Year. With two members of last year's freshmen class also not returning, the Roadrunners will only retain seven members of last year's team.
The players returning to the team for a second season are setters Avery Hughes and Meah Carley, outside hitters Brooklyn Willard and Maddy
The number of players rejoining the team may seem small, but their impact will be quite the opposite. Hellem and Luttrell were recently named to the 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association's Two-Year College Players to Watch List. The pair of players will look to lead the way for the Roadrunners as the squad welcomes in nine incoming freshmen.
However, leadership hasn't been a problem for the Linn-Benton volleyball program in a long time. This season marks head coach Jayme Frazier's 31st in charge of the Roadrunners. Frazier is the three-time reigning NWAC Coach of the Year and has led the program to the postseason in 19 consecutive seasons.
"We just focus on effort, work ethic, and supporting one another. No matter if you're on the bench or on the court as a starter. I believe that the players understand that when they come in, there's a culture of support and trust," said Frazier. "Everybody contributes. I'm hopeful that even players off the court on game day know we're only as strong as all 15 of us."
Frazier, who is already a Linn-Benton icon, is establishing herself as a coaching icon for volleyball. Last season, Frazier earned her 700th career coaching win for the Roadrunners. Upon achievement of the impressive feat, LBCC Athletic Director Mark Majeski praised Frazier as "among the coaching elite in any sport at any level." Despite the milestone, Frazier remains focused on ensuring the 2024 season can be as good as the last.
"Offensively and defensively, we're kind of pulling it together quickly. We use all six of our players who are out there; we're not relying on just one player," she said. "If someone's not quite ready, we're working on it, we're going right back to practice, and we're making sure that they're ready."
The Roadrunners’ next two home matchups will be against Mt. Hood Community College on Sept. 25 and Southwestern Oregon Community College on Oct. 4. Both will begin at 6 p.m.
words by ETHAN BIRMINGHAM
photos by SARAH ROSE LARSON
▲ Grace Luttrell (11) and Maddy Hellem (12) are the only NWAC players named to the AVCA Two Year College Players to Watch List this year. Their addition makes Linn-Benton's athletics program the only program with multiple selections on the list.
⊳ Jayme Frazier was named volleyball head coach in 1993 and is the reigning NWAC Volleyball Coach of the Year and an AVCA West Region Coach of the Year. September
Band Spotlight: DTW
Environmentally friendly, socially conscious, and sustainable jazz and funk” is how local band DTW describes itself on its website.
The group leans into a Pacific Northwest-heavy marketing style, with the tagline “Craft Music” and plenty of winking nods to the PNW: “No highfructose corn syrup has ever touched our chord progressions,” “USDA Organic certified licks and surprisingly global flavors,” “We never use feedlots for our horn players.”
Their bio might be amusing, but the band is composed of serious musicians. The thoughtful Justin “Shep” Schepige serves as the bandleader and bassist of DTW, and over the course of a two-and-a-half hour interview, he graciously went in depth describing the origins, structure, and future of the multifaceted ensemble.
To speak in DTW terms, the music comes from farm to table. And if that’s the case, the band first sprouted in 2013.
bunch of white guys playing funk … like, a white guys can't jump kind of a thing.”
“The name kind of became an acknowledgement, right?” said Schepige. “Like, this is what we are, this is what we're doing. We're also here to remind you that this music didn't come from us, right? It came from other cultures in America, predominantly African American, and it was kind of serving as a homage – like, we know what we're doing, but we're trying to credit it appropriately.”
“Darjeeling Tea Water” and “Death by Train Wreck.”
“I think the DTW acronym and the flexibility we've assigned to it now is just more artistically reflective of what we're doing,” said Schepige. “We did a summer concert series that was on a Wednesday, it was like, okay, clearly we're Dancing this Wednesday. And then we went out to Airlie Winery that Sunday, and they're like, ‘What does
DTW started out as a six-member group. “A lot of us were OSU students at the time, and we all had signed up for this class that doesn't exist any longer, called Small Jazz Improvisation,” said Schepige. “We got to know each other there, and we started playing together and booking gigs, and without getting into that whole history, that was the beginning of it.”
The early days of DTW were marked by not just a smaller headcount, but a different name. Longtime fans will know that the title acronym once stood for “Despite the Whiteness,” a tongue-in-cheek name as “it was a
However, as the band grew in popularity, the title drew some controversial reviews. Passionate about social issues, the group decided to pivot from the band name but not the subject. “I think it's really important to have that conversation, [regarding how race relations shaped American music] and I don't want to stop having it, which is why, when people ask in an interview setting, I'm happy to talk about some of the history,” said Schepige. “But when you're playing a 60-minute set at a music festival, it's not a place to explain all of that. … [It was] becoming a really big distraction from making quality music.”
These days, the meaning of the DTW acronym is fluid. It adds another layer of personality to a band that’s already full of it. There’s a full list on the website (still accepting entries) of what the band’s signature three characters can mean depending on the circumstance, from “Dafoe, That's Willam” to
DTW stand for?’ ... So we're like, ‘Well, clearly it's Drink the Wine.’”
Some original members, such as Schepige, are still members of DTW. Others have moved on in the last 11 years, but the band’s numbers have increased since. Now, DTW has 13 core members: Schepige (bass), Kelsey Bleck (drums), Erik Crew (guitar), Bryson Skaar (keyboards), Ed Propst (trombone), Bowen Wolcott (trumpet), Dublin Nichols (baritone saxophone), Keagan
Wall (tenor saxophone), Sam Reid (alto saxophone), Gavin Milligan (tuba/sousaphone), and Jobe Woosley, Kate Kisselburgh, and Alfred "Alpha Ready" Perez on vocals (Perez raps).
Some live in Corvallis, with other DTWers spread across Albany, Salem, Dallas, Lebanon, and Philomath. One lives in Vancouver.
“What I've been trying to shift the conversation to is telling people we're from the
which boasts versatile jazz. "Same great taste, but less calories," per Schepige.
The designations are a way to stay honest regarding the band’s many musical avenues: “We're doing separate things musically, and we're selling it differently, and it's authentically trying to be something different,” said Schepige. “We just want people to know what they're signing up for, so there's no disappointment or confusion.”
mid-valley,” said Schepige.
Similar to other modern funk collectives such as Vulfpeck and Snarky Puppy, DTW’s reach goes far beyond just a 13-piece band. The group often collaborates with other musicians. Sometimes it will split into bands within the band: The DTW Street Band, inspired by New Orleans music, The Groove Members, an all-improvisational funk project, and DTW Lite,
The different flavors of DTW’s sound mean the band’s performances don’t get stale despite over a decade of live shows. “If you're going to play the same amphitheater every year, how many years are you going to do that for people who've seen it all and they're sick of it, you know?” said Schepige. “And so we've done a really good job, maybe more so than some other people in the area, of not wearing out our welcome. Because if you've seen us perform three or four years in a row, you've probably seen three to four different shows. … We're always trying to elevate, add a new thing.”
The band’s versatility has helped them weather what can be a difficult Oregon music scene.
“I think there are a lot of people in the community that want art and entertainment, but Corvallis in particular seems to have
an issue where there are so few places that you can do it at. I think I consider us to be down to three, four venues in Corvallis, and we look at all the bands and people making art and music – there was a big contraction around when I first showed up in the town, and then there was another really big one with the pandemic,” said Schepige.
One part of the scene that’s still thriving is the annual “Funk in the Forest” music festival – a decade-old event that was founded in part by Schepige, DTW members, and other area musicians.
“The mid-valley is not known as a gig mecca, by any means,” said Schepige. “That's partially why we have the music festival, because that was kind of like, hey, there's not enough gigs in this town. We should make our own.”
words by RYLAND BICKLEY
photos via DTW
Known primarily as a live band, it was actually DTW’s lone released album (and a fantastic video game covers EP in 2019) that first drew me to their music. Titled “Do the Work,” the 10-track, hour-long project serves as a strong first impression.
“ ”
THAT'S PARTIALLY WHY WE HAVE THE MUSIC FESTIVAL, BECAUSE THAT WAS KIND OF LIKE, HEY, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH GIGS IN THIS TOWN. WE SHOULD
Schepige explained that Funk in the Forest wasn’t specifically created to champion the local scene. But in many ways, it’s risen to the occasion: “It wasn't so explicit, like, hey, there's a problem. Let's fix it. It was just people who wanted to do things, so we did it, and now it's become an event.”
In 2013, the first Funk in the Forest was held in Corvallis’ Avery Park Thompson Shelter (where it is still held today). Around 70 people attended. “But everyone remembered it being magical,” said Schepige. “The vibe was there. It was awesome. … There wasn't this big intention, and we weren't trying to change the world, or even try to start a music festival.”
These days, Funk in the Forest can draw around a thousand people. The grassroots funk show has grown into a full-fledged music festival. In 2024, the event will be hosted on Sept. 28, complete with vendors, two stages, and one band each hour from 4-10 p.m. DTW is slated for the closing set.
“I can't think of another music festival anywhere close that specifically celebrates funk and jazz and live bands,” said Schepige. “The aesthetic and what we're trying to promote is a very specific thing, and I'm just always trying to make the best show I can. … This year, it's pretty much just funk. I was very happy with the billing we have. It's a return to form.”
Schepige previewed the festival experience for potential attendees: “As one stage is setting up, the other one is playing. So there's no gaps – bang for your buck.”
Besides the bands, Funk in the Forest will feature local businesses selling food and drinks. Other features will include aerial performers, live yoga, and breathwork. “There might be a stilts guy coming,” added Schepige.
Still, the focus is on the music. “What's cool about Funk in the Forest is we tried to condense what I would describe as your typical multi-day music festival experience into one evening,” said Schepige. “Just kind of cram it in. And so if you're into that, come out for six hours and enjoy a concentrated amount. No camping required. $25 tickets. Super cheap. Sleep in your own bed the same night.”
Opener “Soft Grove” brings a laid-back, catchy groove. “Earthbound” packs a searing lead guitar line while “Miss D’meanor” is led by an energetic horn section. From there, the band’s versatility explodes. The first movement of “Symphony of the Cosmos” is anchored by a breakbeat and bassy synth. The second movement? A 12-minute ambient piece. The third? A cinematic jazz epic. From there, “Do the Work” ends with “All It Takes,” which features the album's lone vocal performance, and “Monk Funk,” an old-school, lively composition that shows off the group’s musical chops.
“Do the Work” was released in 2018. While still proud of the project, Schepige has taken notes on how the band’s next LP can be even better: “I learned a lot being involved in that – there's a whole bunch of things we did on the album that I will never do again.”
“The first album, I think, is a little bit more all over the place, but I thought that was a good thing,” he said. “This next one, it's going to sound more coherent, but there's still going to be a similar music variety. … Because the band's played so much and we're really tight, the way I’ve heard it described to me is the band has a distinct sound – everything we touch kind of sounds the way we do it. But we're also pulling on a bunch of different genres and eras in American history, in music. So, there'll be more variety, but it'll sound less disjointed than the first album may have. ... I would say the second album is going to be less strictly jazz funk. There's going to be other genres.”
The new record, which Schepige hopes will be out around the new year, will feature more original music as well as some updated versions of past tracks, such as “Symphony of the Cosmos (Movement III).” Schepige also previewed how the new album would preserve DTW’s sense of musical adventurism, this time sounding more cohesive.
DTW is able to fuse different sounds together because of the band’s connection and collaboration. “Some people really like reggae and ska. Other people like old school Americana. I like jazz, but I don't even blanketly love jazz – it's particular artists and eras,” said Schepige. “There's definitely a lot of metal influence at this point. … So, I think everyone in the band has a different set of influences. But what makes the band fun and interesting and sound good is that we're all able to serve the band, and all those influences mesh
together in an interesting way. And it's not one influencer, one person, that's being so dominant. We allow those ideas to coexist.”
A lot of the group’s music is based on improvisation. “Some of the horn lines are stuff where we originally didn't have a horn line,” said Schepige. “The horns as a section, they'll make stuff up the whole show. There'll be some solo section where I was like, ‘Take a solo,’ and then halfway through, they had turned around and worked a little thing out, and now they're doing a backing line.
“I was always taught that jazz is a verb, not a noun,” Schepige told me, later adding: “It’s supposed to be, at its core, a conversation using the musical language.”
Schepige and drummer Kelsey Bleck are the only members of the band who are full-time performers. However, other DTWers hold musicrelated jobs, such as in education.
“My life situation, [Bleck's] life situation, are very particular to allow us to function on just having a lower income,” said Schepige. “I don't make bad money for what I'm doing, and compared to the other people I know, I'm doing great. But if you just compare me to your average Joe engineer – yeah, it probably doesn't look good on paper. However, being a small business owner in America and the way tax write-offs work, I would argue I have it better.”
Schepige’s full-time status means he takes care of a lot more than just performing with DTW, including writing the band’s charts, scheduling the majority of gigs, and handling equipment. “All this other work and rent, marketing and running a business and taxes are super boring. Sucks. You have to do it. Someone's gotta do it, but it gets handled,” said Schepige. “And because we've become a big enough deal in our area, I'm able to pay this nine to twelve person band competitive gig fees that they probably would have trouble getting even as a trio.”
Still, being a bandleader is a lot of hard work that isn’t always reflected on the bottom line. Schepige knows he has the skillset to make more in other lines of work, but he’s happy with his current job. “I [went to OSU for physics]. I've worked as a mechanic professionally, briefly. There are a lot of things I could do with my time and the skills I have that could potentially make me a lot more money flat out than music,” he said. “But I do music because I really love it. … And I found a way, through trial and error, to make it work for me as a career, and I will do it for as long as I can maintain that, because why wouldn't you if you can make a career doing art?”
Schepige recounted a time when he played professionally in a wedding band out of college: “A year and a half into that, I was like, I really hate this. No one's having fun in the band. These guys, they were all old dudes except me, and they've been playing the same setlist for like 30 years,” he said. “There's a point where it's just like, man, is this a job where you're just showing up to clock in, or are you making art and engaging on that level. And so, when music started becoming this dispassionate job, I was like, man, is there anything else I could be doing to make more money than this? Why would I subject myself to this? So I've worked really hard to make sure the band reflects my mentality: We're here because we want to be here, and we're playing the music we want to play.”
“I want the band to stay interesting and engaging,” he added later. “I want the compositions to be natural. I want people to contribute authentically. I want this collective of really good musicians that, quite frankly, if any of them were to move to New York, could probably be doing much better than they are in Oregon, just by virtue of the industry existing. I want all of those people to get to the next level with me, and I want them to maintain the fun. Like, if you're not having fun at a DTW show, what are you doing?”
Anthem of the Month
If you need a pick-me-up heading into fall term, look no further than one of the greatest feel-good songs ever made. Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” is a great time from start to finish – it’s impossible not to smile during the ending solo.
MOVIE: Alien: Romulus
DIRECTOR: Fede Alvarez
STARRING: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu, Daniel Betts, Trevor Newlin, Robert Bobroczkyi
RATED: R
OVERALL RATING: ★★★★★
This summer brought many great movies and many awful ones. From box office successes and practical effects to box office bombs and excessive CGI, this summer had it all. Among these movies are two standouts on the opposite side of the spectrum, Alien: Romulus and The Crow.
Alien: Romulus for all intents and purposes is a fantastic science fiction movie and brings the franchise back to its survival horror roots after the more action heavy Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. The movie follows Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), Andy (David Jonsson), Tyler (Archie Renaux), Kay (Isabela Merced), Bjorn (Spike Fearn), and Navarro (Aileen Wu) as they illegally board the abandoned ship Romulus to retrieve cryostasis chambers and gain a chance at escaping their forced servitude. Things go awry as they travel deeper into the ship and then must try to escape with their lives.
The performances are really great and honestly some of the best of the year. David Jonsson stole the show because he was essentially playing two separate characters perfectly. His voice, tone, and body language were each so different between characters that they sometimes felt like different actors. Cailee Spaeny acts as the Ripley of this movie; her performance is absolutely gripping all the way through and is a close second behind Jonsson. The rest of the cast gives great performances as well. Their desperation throughout the movies is expertly acted to a tee, especially Archie Renaux and Isabela Merced.
A majority of the effects in Romulus were practical, which really helped the horror feel real. There was a palpable fear when seeing a xenomorph on screen because it was really there. The kills were also gruesome as ever and there weren't really any points where the gore effects faltered. There is a lot of body horror throughout the runtime and one particular scene towards the end felt genuinely horrific to watch play out on screen. The practical effect allows for what I would say is one of the best
MOVIE: The Crow
DIRECTOR: Rupert Sanders
STARRING: Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simons, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajilla, Isabella Wei, Jordan Bolger
RATED: R
OVERALL RATING: ★
executed jumpscares I’ve seen in a while because of the simple realism it adds.
Romulus, somewhat questionably, sees the return of the deceased Ian Holm as Rook from the first movie. It is definitely the most morally ambiguous part of the movie because of the use of AI to deepfake and create his voice, but the director Fede Alvarez and the studio got express permission from Holm’s wife and estate to do it. The deepfake is really the only effect in this that looks a little jarring, and it can take away from the movie depending on how much you are paying attention to it.
There is a lot of fanservice and easter eggs from prior movies in the franchise, but none of them are shoehorned in like they are in something like a Marvel movie. They each feel naturally placed and are really only there if you know what to look for. It is definitely a movie made by fans for fans.
Minus the somewhat questionably done deep fake, Romulus is truly a pinnacle for the Alien franchise. It’s a great mix of the original Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens. For these reasons I would consider it the best movie of the summer.
On the opposite side of the spectrum of quality is The Crow, an adaptation of the 1989 comic of the same name by James O’Barr. Sadly, this movie fails in every way and surpasses what a terrible adaptation can be to the point that it is truly unwatchable.
The movie follows Eric (Bill Skarsgård) after he is revived by Kronos as The Crow and gets revenge on Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston), a demonic crime lord, and his accomplices after the murder of his girlfriend Shelly (FKA Twigs).
The Crow is just awful in every way. There are zero redeeming qualities and it’s honestly a waste of time to even think about watching it. It’s no surprise from Rupert Sanders, who made the critically panned and culturally inept 2017 adaptation of The Ghost in the Shell. There seems to be a disconnect with what made the original comic good and every bit of nuance is thrown out the window.
It feels as if Sanders walked into a middle school classroom and asked them to write the edgiest things they could think of. It is by no means politically incorrect – it is just the incoherent ramblings of an out of his depth writer and an incapable director. For example, throughout the runtime are multiple scenes of Eric walking around brooding to a song that doesn’t fit the tone of the movie at all. The dialogue is clunky and doesn’t flow together in the slightest; an actual line in the movie goes something like, “Do you think edgy teenagers will make shrines to us.” The story clashes with itself and can’t keep a steady tone to save its life. It is the most half-baked attempt at an adaptation I have ever had the displeasure of seeing.
Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs are both awful in this movie, and to no fault of their own. They are both fantastic performers and were simply working with what they had. The characters act in almost cartoonishly edgy or evil ways that obliterate any possibility of a steady tone. This is definitely a career low for both of them, and will most likely stay like that for the rest of their careers.
Some of the set pieces are cool towards the end, but are ruined by shoddy visual effects and bad music choices. All the action is concentrated towards the end, which isn’t typically a problem for me, but the build up is such a slog to get through that it feels like centuries before anything slightly substantive happens.
All of these problems compound on top of each other to create a terrible viewing experience and one of the few movies I would consider genuinely unwatchable. The Crow is not only the worst movie of the summer, but also the worst movie of the year.
This summer has had some insane highs and some even more insane lows with two movies that are both horrific in completely unique ways. From the worthwhile Alien: Romulus to the waste of time adaptation of The Crow, this summer had every kind of movie across the spectrum of quality.
words by MASON WILLS
WELCOME DAY 2024 CROSSWORD
There’s an added bonus for filling out The Commuter’s crossword puzzle this month. Send proof of completion to commuter@linnbenton.edu before Oct. 7 for a chance to win a $25 Roast Runners gift card and some Commuter stickers. Happy solving!
Join us in the Student Union Sometime!
Looking for a fun spot to relax between classes? Come to the Student Union in Forum 120, right next to the Roast Runners Coffee Shop. We are open Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm, and we offer free cup o’ noodles and coffee. In addition to these offerings, we also provide a microwave and air fryer that you may use. That’s not all! We also have a plethora of board games, air hockey, foosball, an arcade machine with multiple games, and comfy couches. The Student Leadership Council and Student Life and Leadership staff are ready to meet you! Come get involved and make lasting memories and friendships in the Student Union! Contact us: getinvolved@linnbenton.edu
