March 9, 2015 tlr issue

Page 1

The Linfield Review March 9, 2015

Linfield College

McMinnville, Ore.

120th Year

Issue No. 10

Linfield has lack of Peace Corps participation

Candidates shine in preliminary elections

Linfield student volunteering for the Peace Corps has steadily decreased over the last four years. Since 1961, Linfield has produced a total of 111 Peace Corps volunteers to serve the United Sates in missions abroad. There were 12 in 2011, 14 in 2012, seven in 2013, and five in 2014. With just four students in 2015, there has been a steady decrease of Peace Corps volunteers from Linfield over the past few years. That decline seems to be at odds with Linfield’s stated mission. According to the “About Linfield” page on the college’s website, “Linfield is nationally recognized for its … distinctive international emphasis. Linfield educates students to become global citizens.” Linfield’s Career Development office, which oversees Peace Corps recruiting at Linfield, could not say why the steady decrease of volunteers has occurred. The leaders of the office were unavailable to comment. Despite the decline, some students are still interested in joining the Peace Corps. Jake Mihelich, a sophomore at Linfield, is considering volunteering. Mihelich wants to “serve a community that is potentially less fortunate” and “experience culture outside the United States.” “The Peace Corps will help put me on the right path,” Mihelich said. To prepare for the Peace Corps, Mihelich is majoring in communication arts and minoring in Spanish. He will be studying abroad in fall 2015 in Costa Rica. Linfield is not in the top ranks in the country for current volunteers in the Peace Corps among colleges and universities in the United States, the Peace Corps said. Among the top schools in Oregon are Lewis & Clark College, tied for the No. 20 with nine alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps, and Portland State University, ranked No. 4 with 13 alumni. Other schools in the Northwest Conference that made the top ranks in the Peace Corps included University of Puget Sound, tied at No. 3 with 16 volunteers, and Willamette University tied at No. 10 with 11 volunteers. The Peace Corps is a federal government program that sends volunteers abroad to help meet the needs of peoples in other countries. Currently 6,818 volunteers and

The race to president and vice president of ASLC is heating up as juniors Alex Ogle and Mackenzie Larson vie for president and freshman Ehren Cahill and Ben McNair compete for vice president. The general election will take place on Tuesday, March 10, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and students will

Kaelia Neal @linfieldreview

Jonathan Williams @linfieldreviewnews

Michaela Fujita/Photo editor The Kappa Sigma fraternity had a membership review which left the Greek organization with about 11 remaining members. The brothers who lived in the house had to move out of the chapter house in February.

Kappa Sigma reevaluates:

Chapter looks to rebuild after losing house, members Rosa Johnson & Helen Lee @linfieldreview The Kappa Sigma chapter at Linfield lost its house after national code of conduct violations prompted a membership review and the disaffiliation of more than half its members, according to disaffiliated member of the K Sig executive board and junior Tom Steelhammer. With about 11 members remaining in the chapter, the Greek organization could no longer afford their house. K Sig brothers had conflicts with their national code of conduct such as the involvement of I-Week, which Linfield allows but is banned by the national Kappa Sigma Fraternity, according to Steelhammer. In October and December members reported two medical clemency incidents to Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Jeff Mackay, who then alerted

the chapter’s nationals. After the December incident, the chapter’s district manager decided to conduct a membership review of the K Sig brothers and the immediate suspension of the executive board members. “At first when we heard that we were going to have this membership review everyone was pretty optimistic. We thought we could fight through it and everything, and then once everyone was pretty much kicked out, at that point it became a very young group of men without a lot of experience getting handed this mess,” Steelhammer said. The membership review involved questioning of all members by a board of alumni. The district manager found out about the violations against Kappa Sigma’s code of conduct through the membership review interviews, which ultimately ended in the loss of many members.

>> See Peace Corps on Page 3

INSIDE Editorial .......... 2 News ............... 3 Features............ 4 Culture............. 6 Sports............... 7

Alex Ogle be able to vote through the Linfield Den webpage according to an email sent to the student body from ASLC. In the primaries, Ogle attained 214 votes while Larson received 134. The two candidates beat out juniors Kevin Hurley and Shawna Jacobson-Sims who received 132 and 88 votes. Cahill was the leader in the primaries as he received 186 votes while McNair was only 7 votes behind with 179. Ogle said in email he wants to have “more open and direct communication across campus. Com-

Opinion

The Review looks into the administration’s policies on informing the student body.

Culture

>> Page 3

Sports

The Gibbon sisters are competiting in their final season on the track and field team as two of the team’s four pole vaulters.

Steelhammer attributes the current circumstances of the fraternity to a “change in culture” of what was allowed in regard to membership activities. The chapter conducted itself in ways that were against a shift in national organization values. “It was mostly a cultural movement. There are a lot of things that have happened in the past that go unseen or unscathed, and then you can have two events and all of a sudden something else comes to light and a lot of it has to do with the attention that was paid to by our chapter from the district managers. For a while we didn’t have a district manager so the chapter as a culture basically got away with a lot of things that broke the Kappa Sigma code of conduct,” Steelhammer said. The disaffiliated K Sig member stated that “fraternities are a liability and a lot of responsibility.” He admits that although the chapter is disappointed with what happened >> See K Sig on Page 3

Mackenzie Larson munication is essential to maintaining healthy relationships.” Ogle mentioned he wants to, “help foster the growth of clubs and activities by providing the resources and connections I can to get them started and keep them running.” He also said at the open forum on Wednesday that he wants to have, “Open monthly meetings where students can ask faculty and administration any questions they have to bridge the communication gap.” Larson, who is involved in Greek and residence life as well as in choir in the music department was not in attendance at the open forum. She said in a personal statement >> See Election on Page 3

Features

Read about a Linfield alum who is now the owner of Cornerstone Coffee on Third Street in downtown McMinnville.

Keyboard Kapers provide piano music to audience. >> Page 6

>> Page 8

>> Page 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.