The Puyallup Post | Volume 21 | Issue 2

VOLUME 21 ISSUE 2

OCT. 29, 2015

SErVIng ThE STUDEnTS Of PIErCE COLLEgE PUYALLUP

A search for the best way to stop the

Director Chris MacKersie talks about the college’s emergency notification system.

open forum and be able to address those questions instead of continuing to have people asking them on email,” Johnson said.

The forum began with a moment of silence for the Umpqua shooting victims, led by Pierce College Puyallup President Marty Cavalluzzi.

Chris MacKersie, director

of safety and security, continued the forum by presenting information about emergency preparedness practices at Pierce.

First aid kids were discussed. Campus safety officers are in charge of monitoring them, according to MacKersie.

“We have a midnight shift security officer, and that individual does things like doing system checks, checking our fire extinguishers and things of that nature,” MacKersie said, “and so one of their assignments also is to make sure the first aid kits are stocked.”

Two trauma kits on campus (large duffel bags) carry enough supplies to help up to 100 people.

The emergency notification system at Pierce College was discussed. The system alerts staff and students by providing information if there is a threat on campus. Students can receive notifications by signing into MyPierce and selecting the tab “emergency notifications” and then select where they want the notifications to be sent, the Continued on page 17

Katie Fenton

“We thought it was probably time just to have an open forum and be able to address those questions instead of continuing to have people asking them on email.”

he objective at the Oct. 8 forum at Pierce College Puyallup was to address security practices at Pierce and listen to staff and student concerns. Officials also answered questions from audience members.

According to Michele Johnson, chancellor for the Pierce College District, an open forum was necessary, given the Oct. 1 mass shooting at Umpqua Community College.

“I think it came really close to home for folks, especially being in Oregon (and) being a community college,” Johnson said.

“I think that just elevated people’s vulnerability, so that’s why we had the forum.”

Johnson also said the forum was held because of an ongoing email thread among Pierce faculty as a result to the news of the Umpqua shootings, which sparked conversations questioning emergency safety measures.

“We thought it was probably time just to have an

Katie Fenton

Open discussion at Pierce in response to Umpqua shootings

—Michele Johnson

By Grace Amsden

Chris MacKer sie, director of campus safe Pierce during ty, discusses an open forum the safety mea Oct. 8. sures at

Commentary • News • Campus Life • Entertainment • Sports

commentscorner

The voice of the students of Pierce College Puyallup

Amber Gilliland

Vending How healthy are snacks vendetta and drinks on campus?

Lizzie Duke Reporter

Once a week, I walk to the far end of the College Center to purchase a bag of Lay’s potato chips and a bottle of Cherry Coke from one of the many vending machines on campus.

I’ve never stopped to read the nutrition facts on the chip bag or Coke bottle.

Actually, I’ve religiously avoided reading them. I had a feeling that looking at the 60 grams of sugar and 205 milligrams of sodium in the two combined would deter me from this otherwise seemingly innocuous snack.

I’ve recently heard a few complaints about the nutritional quality of the vending machine options—from people who actually read the nutrition labels.

Students say they want healthier options in the college’s vending machines. I know I’d feel less guilty about my occasional purchase if when I put in a dollar I received, instead of a bag of Type 2 diabetes, a fruit or vegetable. But, that’s not why I go to a vending machine.

I’d like to think I’d choose healthier options if they were offered, but when it

Commentary

Lizzie Duke often struggles with getting the vending machine to take her money.

comes down to it, I’d almost always pick up a bag of chips rather than an apple, especially if the apple were a dollar more. I could complain about the negative health benefits of vending machine options but still spend $1 on a bag of

half air and partially hydrogenated oils or $1.60 on a bottle of sugar, rather than going to the cafeteria to buy a healthier option.

The good news is that the vending machines help students and staff stay

healthier, not by filling the corkscrew mechanics with fruits and veggies, but by rejecting our money. Think of all the calories burned when the vending machine rejects the wrinkled dollar bill that I smoothed repeatedly against the corner of the machine, ironing out the creases, turning it over and trying again, only for it to be spit back out.

Desperate for a bag of chips, I’d run across campus to the next vending machine only to be rejected again, then run to a third machine to experience the rejection once more over and over again.

Just like Groundhog Day, no matter what I do, I’m doomed to failure. Without changing any of the foods in the machines, the machines are offsetting the high-calorie foods with a high-calorie workout.

People who want healthier options simply haven’t had enough bad experiences with vending machines, shaking it with all their might when it fails to supply their request, banging against the plastic front as their choice dangles, unwilling to let go and fall into their grasp.

So, to think the options in Pierce’s vending machines should be healthier, is to ignore the workout obtained while struggling for a snack.

The Puyallup Post staff

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Grace Amsden

Lori Brock

Suzanne Buchholz

Chase Charaba

Lizzie Duke

Katie Fenton

Amber Gilliland

Alex Heldrich

Armani Jackson

Andrea Mendoza

Hannah Pederson

CJ Robinson

How to contact us: Editor-in-Chief: Grace Amsden..........................Lync ext: 8881 ............gamsden@pierce.ctc.edu Managing Editor: Armani Jackson ....................................8630............ ajackson@pierce.ctc.edu Senior Reporter: Amber Gilliland.......................................8624 .............agilliland@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: CJ Robinson .....................................................8631 ...........crobinson@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Suzanne Buchholz .................................................... ..........sbuchholz@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Lizzie Duke........................................................8620 .................eduke@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Alex Heldrich .....................................................8622.............aheldrich@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Hannah Pederson .............................................8628 ..........hpederson@pierce.ctc.edu Online Reporter: Katie Fenton ..........................................8654 ...............kfenton@pierce.ctc.edu Office Manager: Andrea Mendoza.....................................8651 ..........amendoza@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter/Illustrator: Lori Brock ................................................. ..................................................

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and streets. People move through this world with no conDear Editor: I’m writing to express my opinion about what we can sideration, and with little common courtesy for anyone do as a student body and as a nation to help avoid else. We as fellow human beings, concerned only with tragedies like what happened at Umpqua Community Col- ourselves, have let common courtesy and social interaclege recently. I’ve heard people saying that guns are the tion fall by the wayside. We as a country have forgotten issue, that we need to make them illegal to own. Howev- that we are in fact part of a society, and that is a major failure on our part. When we do this to ourselves we forget er, I do not believe that the problem is “Gun Control.”

You can’t control firearms, as politicians would argue. how to interact with others of our species.

This lack of interaction leads to unfortunate cases of Regardless of your personal feelings on private ownership of firearms, they exist in our country. So what we can do accidental, and yet very real isolation of a few unfortunate individuals. Individuals cutoff is help each other out by leveling from human contact and kindthe playing field; give everyone “We are so caught up with ness. Individuals that needed it a firearm. That’s scary, right? Of the most. Individuals that course it is; so what else can we drawing lines between might still be here with us do? Take them all away today if only some concern had forcibly? That thought is just as gender, age, sexual been shown. It is painful to frightening. preferences and ‘racial’ think that with a few simple First, we have to isolate the problem so that we can come up differences that we forget acts of kindness, caring, and concern for others some of with a solution. The problem is that we are surrounded by these horrible acts may have that people are killing people, and that’s horrendous. While fellow human beings. They been preventable. Violence is an unfortunate part of human firearms allow for a greater magnitude of tragedy, the problem is are only nameless, faceless nature, something that can still not the gun. The problem entities to be ignored and never be removed. But we can take a very large step in the lies in the control mechanism of brushed past.” right direction simply by the firearms, and I don’t mean remembering that we are all the trigger. It’s the person holding the gun. The mind behind the trigger. It’s us. We’re human. We all feel love, loss and pain. We’re not as unique and special as current trends would have us the problem.

Why are we so enamored with the weapon? It’s the believe. We are so caught up with drawing lines between person holding the weapon that’s in control of the gender, age, sexual preferences and “racial” differences weapon. To discount their pain and suffering that led to that we forget that we are surrounded by fellow human their horrible decision to cause and inflict terrible pain to beings. They are only nameless, faceless entities to be others and themselves is sickening. We must look at our- ignored and brushed past.

So what does this mean in the wake of this and other selves as an American Society, local community, neightragedies, and what can we do to change things? We can borhood, and household for the answers.

What happened at Umpqua and continues to happen recognize when someone is hurting. Sometimes just sayacross the U.S. is a horrendous tragedy. However, it’s an ing hello to a fellow student and asking how they’re doing unfortunate result of our own negligence as a society and can be a real help.

We need to get to know each other as a community community. I would hold us all responsible. It is callous, dehumanizing, and even quite insulting to consider an again. Get to know our neighbors, shut off our devices every now and then; learn to like people and care about inanimate object to be the blame of this tragedy.

The extreme selfishness fostered greatly by today’s them. We can hold the door for the person behind us, ask modern handheld technologies, and the willingness for someone in the coffee line how they’re doing, have a coneveryone to completely immerse themselves in a virtual versation with another student sitting near us.

What we’re missing in society, including in this colreality, cannot continue to happen without major human behavioral consequences. We wrap ourselves in our own lege, is this sense of community. We need it here. Let’s little worlds, thus creating this virtual reality, with cell help each other by just getting to know each other phones, computers and too much television, and so we again. Go make some real friends, put the phones away, forget about people. It’s a sad reality, but it’s where we are get offline and get outside. Rebuilding a sense of community and valuing fellow human beings is what we need today.

You can see the consequences of our voluntary isola- to do. In my opinion, that’s the answer.

—Richard Roth tionism everyday on the roads, walking the crowded halls

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The early bird doesn’t always get the worm Armani Jackson Managing Editor

The sound of an alarm at 5 a.m. is enough to force students to push snooze, but this extra sleep doesn’t guarantee student success. Although those few minutes might feel good, research shows that waking up early may actually be better for mental health; or at least this is what students are told.

Supposedly by waking up early, students are setting a good tone for the rest of the day. This routine potentially allows more time to get ready, therefore helping a person to be calm rather than rushed during the day.

Students are also able to eat breakfast, a meal those who sleep in may miss, producing a higher level of mental sharpness.

This type of routine, repeated daily, may increase brain activity, but doesn’t guarantee how any student on any given day will perform. Once children enter puberty, their circadian rhythm changes, meaning the way their bodies respond to their environment in a physical, mental and behavioral manner within a 24hour day isn’t the same as before. Teenage bodies feel awake during the later hours of the night (unlike adult bodies which can function on less sleep), making it hard to fall asleep before 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. according to the National Center for Health Research.

If that’s the case, then why are students taking such early classes? Research shows that teens naturally go to bed later, so why get up early too? This will create unhealthy sleep patterns, which doesn’t do anyone any good. Just because they have the option of early classes doesn’t mean that’s a smart idea. For example, a student may have three classes between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. Yes, the student is done with school earlier than those who opt for the 8 a.m. class, but at what cost?

One hour—that’s one hour they could’ve added to their sleep schedule.

A class may end earlier, but that doesn’t mean a student can just go home and go to bed any sooner. For instance, this quarter, my first class is ENGL101 at 7 a.m. every day. I have to wake up daily at 5:30 a.m. to have enough time to get ready and make it to campus.

On most days, I’m done with the majority of my classes by 9 a.m. One might think that I can just go home, finish homework and then have the rest of the day to myself. That’s the farthest thing from the truth.

Excluding my outside commitments of competing on a swim team, writing for the school newspaper, being an active participant of my religion and babysitting my 8month-old sister, I’m either stuck on campus or at home spending time on homework.

In my case, I’m taking five classes. Out of these, four assign daily homework. At one to two hours apiece, classwork alone absorbs five to 10 hours a night. So, a typical day that starts at 5:30 a.m. won’t end until midnight or 1 a.m., not counting time for any other commitments.

One might point out that I did this to myself. That I’m the one who signed up for my classes and chose to be involved with all these other activities.

And yes, I did. But I only did so because my counselor and other welltrusted adults presented me with the same research I listed above. What student would pass up the option of improving their intelligence?

What student would deny the research behind waking up early and getting a head start on the day? Is it really our sleep patterns that’s the problem, or is it what we believe to be true?

Classes that start early in the morning may seem like a great idea to avoiding the average class time block, but they don’t always live up to their expectations. Every student’s brain is different, so what results in a more well-rounded day for one individual could end up being someone else’s armageddon. Don’t let the research manipulate you; the early risers aren’t necessarily doing any better than the average student.

Commentary

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fightin’words

Should Pierce boost security after recent spike in school shootings?

Hannah Pederson

Alex Heldrich

Reporter

Reporter

The Puyallup campus has a student population of 6,359 and one campus safety office. Even so, they handled last years’ In light of recent events, bomb threat relatively well. But what if we it’s time to take into conaren’t so lucky next time around? sideration increased secuThere are many opportunities for rity measures. increased security at Pierce. At the moment, There have been 47 all it takes to get on campus is to drive in and school shootings so far in Hannah Pederson go where you want, unless it’s after hours, in 2015, according to the gun control advocacy group Everytown For Gun which case the appropriate building is unlocked and monitored by security staff.

Safety.

That’s 47 communities devastated in So what can Pierce do to tighten security?

Installing a campus safety station in 2015 alone.

This situation has spiraled out of control. every building to reduce emergency President Barack Obama’s heart wrenching response time would be a good start, as well statement following the Umpqua Communi- as increasing the amount of training and ty College shooting drew attention to this authority those officers receive. Not just officers, all students ridiculous state of affairs and staff should receive and called for increased thorough emergency gun control.

Yes, gun control has “If students are on training all throughout the year and live by the been proven to drasticaledge about the Boy Scout motto: “Be ly decrease gun related violence, but it won’t be safety of their lives, Prepared.”

At every entrance to effective in a country they can’t spare each building, Pierce where a significant porcould install full body tion of the populace much effort to scanners to ensure that views gun ownership as expand their nothing suspicious is a God given right. And even then, would it be academic horizons. entering the building, and every prospective effective enough?

If instructors are student should have a All of these shootings thorough background have left campuses constantly check performed before nationwide in a state of preoccupied with the being accepted to grief and panic.

The number and Students shouldn’t nearest exit points in Pierce. quality of security camhave to add violent eras should be death to the list of things their classrooms, increased so that no they have to worry about they won’t have corner of Pierce is left upon entering campus.

If students are focused much time left for unmonitored.

All of these addion thoughts like “Am I their students.” tional security measas safe as I thought I ures may not have was?” and “How will room in the budget, but my loved ones function without me?”, is that an environment con- administration should take into consideraducive to learning, or to macabre survival tion Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If students are on edge about the safety of their skills?

So we’re left with two solutions: dissolve lives, they can’t spare much effort to expand society and live in subterranean bunkers, or their academic horizons. If instructors are constantly preoccupied with the nearest exit increase campus security.

What can Pierce do to put students and points in their classrooms, they won’t have staff at ease and maintain an academic much time left for their students.

But if students and staff are prepared to atmosphere? Somewhere between a dystopic, militaristic hellscape where cam- the point where emergency protocols are pus security morphs into the KGB and an second nature and major measures are taken open air commune, there exists a happy to improve overall security, they can be free to worry about non life threatening things, medium.

Currently, Pierce employs eight full-time like maintaining their GPA or deciding and about 17 part-time campus safety offi- whether or not to grade on a curve.

This all seems very Big Brother-esque, cers who patrol the campus and maintain order. They don’t have the authority to con- but if a student or staff member has nothing duct an arrest, but are equipped to contact to hide, what should they be worried about? those who do.

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ing elsewhere.

All safety officers at Pierce are unarmed as well. If someone on campus America has a serious was making violent threats, there’s not problem. In 2015 alone much an unarmed officer could do there been 47 school besides trying to verbally reason with shootings, 21 of which the person. A gunman with the intention have resulted in death or to kill probably won’t stand by and be injury. Last October, Alex Heldrich coerced by a safety officer that could be Washington state had a school shooting of its own at taken down with one bullet.

There are myriad alternatives to proMarysville-Pilchuck High School where four students were killed and three were tecting the students and staff of Pierce than by just increasing security. injured.

Safety officers at Pierce need to be The most recent shooting took place at Umpqua Community College in armed with self defense weapons such Roseberg, Ore. According to Oregon as a stun gun or pepper spray. There should also be one or State Police, nine stutwo armed officers in dents were killed and case they’re ever 20 were wounded. needed to protect stuThe recent shootdents. If the person ing may have hit close trying to cause harm to home for some students and staff at “hiring five to 10 new is the only one on campus with a Pierce as it took place officers would cost weapon, they have a at a community colclear advantage lege. The suggestion the college an because no one else that security personnel at Pierce needs to additional $150,000 can defend themselves. All guards increase has come up. to $300,000. A should go through However, increasing the number of safety smaller college such special training in order to prepare them officers isn’t the right as Pierce wouldn’t be for an event where answer.

Pierce wouldn’t be able to spend that they have to deal with an active shooter. able to hire more additional money In my experience safety officers immeon the Puyallup camdiately, which is the without cutting pus, though it may be time they’re most needed. According to funding elsewhere.” short, I’ve only once seen a security guard CNN, the congestion patrolling campus by of copycat shootings vehicle. I’ve never and threats lasts 13 seen one patrolling days after the initial campus by foot. Stushooting. It’s not realdents and staff can istic to think that new call the campus safety employees would be office if they want an escort, but that hired that quickly.

Between the Puyallup and Fort will do no good in the case of a gunman Steilacoom campuses, there are already on campus. The existing officers need to eight full-time safety officers and about go on more patrols, looking out for sus17 part-time guards. These officers picious activity.

A security booth could be built at the patrol both campuses by foot and vehientrances of the campus to ensure only cle.

Hiring more safety officers would students and staff are getting on campus add a lofty additional expense to with the addition of approved visitors.

Pierce’s budget.

According to Staff members and students could go Salary.com, full-time unarmed safety through training on what to do in the officers in Puyallup make about event of a gunman as well.

Until the root of school shootings can $30,000 a year.

Hiring five to 10 new officers would be solved, students and staff need to be cost the college an additional $150,000 prepared and able to protect themselves. to $300,000. A smaller college such as A school shooting at the Puyallup camPierce wouldn’t be able to spend that pus may never happen, but it’s better to additional money without cutting fund- be safe than sorry.

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newsflash

What’s going on at Pierce College Puyallup

Pierce preps for ’pocolypse Hannah Pederson

Puyallup students get moving in The Great Washington ShakeOut drill Hannah Pederson Reporter

Pierce College took part in The Great Washington ShakeOut, a statewide effort to promote emergency preparedness, on Oct. 15. Several other colleges in the vicinity such as Pacific Lutheran University and Bates Technical College also participated in the event.

At 10:15 a.m., Pierce students were instructed to take shelter under their desks. Two minutes later, the evacuation alarm sounded, and students and staff poured out of the buildings and into the parking lots where it was a brisk 48.4 degrees. About 10 minutes later, the all-clear was given, and students and staff were allowed to re-enter the buildings.

Chris MacKersie, district director of safety and security who oversees such measures in the Pierce College District, views this voluntary drill as a necessity.

During the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, MacKersie was a member of the campus safety team and saw firsthand how Pierce community members responded to such natural disasters. According to MacKersie, most of the few injuries sustained that day were due to panic and moving too quickly to leave the buildings. The evacuation team members were able to move students and staff away from buildings with potentially compromised integrity, though the damage sustained was minimal.

“If an earthquake happened today, we would respond differently,” MacKersie said.

Most of this due to the advent of more advanced technology. Currently, Pierce invests a substantial amount of effort and funds in safety, according to MacKersie. It employs extensively trained evacuation directors and stocks large

Pierce students re-enter the administration building after the earthquake drill on Oct. 15.

amounts of survival supplies. The college also has a contract with Everbridge, a company that specializes in mass communication systems.

“We’re expected to be trained to a degree, self-sufficient to a degree,” MacKersie said.

The Puyallup campus stocks two 100 person trauma bags filled with gauze, bandages, splints and other supplies. The same emergency equipment is used on the fire rigs at West Pierce Fire & Rescue and Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, according to MacKersie.

In the event of a major natural disaster such as the impending Cascadia quake, community colleges like Pierce wouldn’t be a priority to first responders. It wouldn’t be every man for himself, but the Puyallup campus would only be able to support the entire student and staff population for about seven days without outside help.

“I would strongly encourage them (those who view The Great Washington ShakeOut drill as unnecessary) to seek out anyone who’s active duty or prior military, some sort of a first responder, and ask them how critical training prior to an emergency is before they jump to the judgement that it’s unnecessary,” MacKersie said.

Natural disaster preparedness doesn’t account for all disasters, but MacKersie says the majority of the training evacuation directors go through is applicable to most volatile situations, and unlike in the event of an earthquake, first responders will be able to easily access the campus to take charge. Even so, Pierce will offer active shooter training to staff, students and the community in the coming weeks.

Three training sessions were scheduled for Oct. 27 and Oct. 28. The last session is from 6-7:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 in Room LSC 244.

Suzanne Buchholz

Man breaks door in administration building, charged with malicious mischief Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

A 43-year-old man was arrested after breaking a glass door in the Gaspard Administration Building at Pierce College Puyallup on Oct. 4.

On Sunday morning, security officer Dion Kaapana was on-duty in the administration building when he heard knocking at the doors. He said he checked the doors but didn’t see anyone.

“It just happened to be that each door that he went to wasn’t the door that the individual was at, so he then went out to the patrol vehicle and went out on patrol,” Chris MacKersie, director of safety and security, said.

While patrolling the campus, Kaapana received a call from a 911 operator to let him know that Puyallup police officers patrolling the area saw the suspect.

When confronted by the Puyallup police officers, the suspect used threatening language and ran. The officers caught the suspect. They found he had broken a pane of glass in one of the doors of the administration building that faces the library.

The officers took him into custody on charges of malicious mischief without further incident.

A man broke the glass in the Gaspard Administration Building’s door on Oct. 4.

The man was not a Pierce College student, and it’s unknown why he attempted to break the door.

Incidents of vandalism on campus such as this are unusual, MacKersie said.

When windows or doors are broken on

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campus, it’s usually an accident on part of the grounds team, caused by a lawnmower or weed whacker, according to MacKersie.

“Probably the last thing I can think of is a couple years ago, on the back road,

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some of the street lights got shot out,” MacKersie said. “But that’s been a while ago. So, knock on wood, we’ve had a pretty good run on very limited vandalism.”

Campus safety officers take several precautions to ensure student and staff safety and reduce vandalism. Two officers stay on duty during school hours, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday.

One officer walks through the interior part of the campus, checking in on the buildings, while the other officer drives through the parking lot.

While security officers are present during school operating hours, Pierce College Puyallup doesn’t have a commissioned force. When a crime or a major incident occurs, safety officers call 911 for backup.

MacKersie said he wants students to know what to do in the event of an emergency on campus, and what measures they should take themselves.

“If they believe there is an imminent threat to persons or property, call 911 and then campus safety. If they’re not sure, call us,” MacKersie said. “Absolutely, we want to know. And then we’ll help determine whether it’s not a big deal.”

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Courtesy of Pierce College website

Shots, shots, shots, everybody: Walk-in flu shot clinic on Puyallup campus Alex Heldrich

College adds campus virtual tour to website Amber Gilliland Senior Reporter

A new feature on the Pierce College website gives viewers a virtual tour of the Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom campuses.

The idea for the virtual tours came from Director of Marketing and Communication, Brian Benedetti, who wanted a better system for viewing the college online. He said he liked the style that Google Maps uses and wanted to create something similar.

To bring this idea to fruition, Benedetti worked with a team that included District Outreach Manager Jessica Freier and the company Lights Camera Pixels, LLC. Lights Camera Pixels, LLC, also called LCP360, specializes in virtual marketing, and one of its photographers took numerous photos at each campus using a fisheye lens.

These photos were then pieced together to create a seamless 360-degree view of the campus.

Five pop-ups also appear throughout the tours and are indicated by the Pierce logo. Hovering over these pop-ups shows information about that area of the college.

The project took about three months to complete, according to Freier, and the video was released at the start of fall quarter. All together, the tours cost $7,650 to produce.

During the production process, the team had to overcome a few hurdles, Freier said.

Due to cost constraints, only 10 locations on each campus were able to be included in the tours. Because the groundwork is already complete, each location added in the future will cost $100 to complete.

It was up to the team to decide which locations would be chosen. To do this, Benedetti says he asked around to see

what people on campus thought.

“It was tough because we didn’t want to leave anyone out,” Benedetti said.

Some of the locations includes the theater, library, dining commons, computer center in the College Center and a classroom inside the Allied Arts and Health Building. The team hopes to eventually add more locations to the tour.

Another problem that arose was taking the photos. The team needed to find locations and times when there weren’t large numbers of people walking by, but they still wanted some individuals in the shots to show that the campus is attended.

“We didn’t want it to be completely barren because that’s creepy,” Benedetti said.

Timing the shots just right also complicated the project because people who were moving too quickly would cause the shots to be blurry.

The faces of people in the tour photos were blurred due to a policy of LCP360. Benedetti said he also would’ve asked for the faces to be blurred because written permission would need to be obtained from each individual who walked by.

The tours can be found on multiple pages on the Pierce website. They’re listed on the maps and directions pages as well as the new and returning students, Running Start and international students pages.

Freier said the tours will be helpful for incoming and current students alike.

“My hope is that when they’re at home browsing around our website, that they’ll stumble onto the tour and it will just make them feel that much more comfortable,” Freier said.

Pierce revamps business cards to be more user friendly Hannah Pederson Reporter

Pierce College recently gave a facelift to another portion of its enterprise: the business card.

The new cards feature the silver-and-burgundy Pierce College logo, a streamlined block for personal information and the crown jewel according to its creators, the mission statement and space to write notes on the reverse side.

Vice President of Advancement Deidre Soileau oversaw the project, aided by Amy Foster, one of Pierce’s graphic designers and a number of other team members.

Soileau has been a graphic designer herself, and knew that Foster was the one for the job.

Foster is one of the two graphic designers Pierce employs, and a former student of the college. “(The redesign) was for practical purposes,” Soileau said.

Administration had requested that Pierce’s mission statement be placed on the business cards, and as that would require a redesign, Soileau and her team decided to go in and tweak a few aesthetic aspects while they were at it.

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ver and burgundy instead of an outline, and the color to be true gray, not yellowish,” Soileau said.

In addition to aesthetic changes, Soileau’s team felt it was necessary to leave space on the back of the business card for people to leave notes for whomever the card would be given to, a practice that they’d noticed was common around the campuses.

“The intent is that it looks as professional as the college is,” Soileau said.

As for the information the cards will display, there are lines dedicated to the name, title, work number, fax number, email and address of the owner.

Pierce’s previous business card design had been around for quite some time, and offers the same information but presents it differently. There’s a bold maroon bar at the top of the card which displays the Pierce college logo in a seemingly pastel green in what was meant to be a light grey, according to Soileau.

The minimum quantity in order to purchase is 250, at a going rate of $21.99 not including sales tax.

Linda Buzbee, administrative assistant, is the person to contact with questions regarding ordering.

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Reporter

Students and staff were able to receive flu shots on Oct. 9 at a walk-in clinic at the Pierce College Puyallup campus.

The clinic was organized by Kim Woolhouse, administrative assistant for the department of international education and member of Pierce’s wellness committee.

Students and staff over the age of 18 had to fill out a page of paperwork in order to get vaccinated. Underage students were required to have parental consent. The vaccine was free to most people with insurance, but for those without, the shot was $28.

Seattle Visiting Nurses Association, a nonprofit corporation that contracts with different facilities such as schools or businesses, sent one of their nurses to the Puyallup campus.

Linda Montgomery, a registered nurse, administered the vaccines.

“Getting vaccinated is so important because it prevents you from getting and spreading the flu,” Montgomery said.

There are two methods of flu vaccination available to the public: a shot or a nasal spray. The shot was the only method available to the students and staff of Pierce College.

“It’s an intramuscular injection that goes into the deltoid muscle,” Montgomery said. “The vaccine is also thimerosal-free.”

Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that’s sometimes added to vaccines. According to Centers for Disease and Prevention, many people believed that the mercury in thimerosal led to autism, causing vaccine manufacturers to remove the preservative from their products. A study conducted in 2010 by the CDC proved that there’s no connection between use of thimerosal and autism.

The point of getting vaccinated is to develop antibodies. That way when people come in contact with the live flu virus, their bodies can fight back immediately and keep them healthy.

The body’s immune response from vaccination declines over time and viruses are constantly changing so people need to be vaccinated yearly according to the CDC. Flu season usually peaks in the winter but can occur earlier or later in the year.

“It’s good to get it early,” Woolhouse said.

College students interact closely with one another in both social and classroom environments. Becoming ill with the flu can cause students to miss class and get behind in coursework.

“A lot of the time college students still come to school sick and still try to do the best they can,” Woolhouse said.

“The healthier you are, the better student you can be.”

Woolhouse said Pierce College has offered flu shot clinics to its students and faculty several times in the past, but the wellness committee wants to make the event annual.

According to the CDC, everyone should get vaccinated; especially young children, people older than 50, people who are immunodeficient and people who are pregnant during the flu season.

“I used to work for Group Health and I would get vaccinated because it was a part of protocol,” Woolhouse said. “Now I make my parents get flu shots because they are elderly and more susceptible.”

Those that missed the flu shot clinic can still be vaccinated. Most drugstores and pharmacies offer flu vaccinations and doctors also offer vaccinations of their own.

“I think it’s just nice to offer this (flu shot clinic) to people who otherwise might not get vaccinated,” Woolhouse said.

Lori B rock

Pop-ups appear throughout the on-line Puyallup campus virtual tour that give provide information about the college.

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Armani Jackson

Gay Straight Alliance offers LGBTQ students welcoming environment CJ Robinson Reporter

Student represent a variety of groups during the Clubs Fest Oct. 14 in the College Center.

Armani Jackson

Clubs Fest showcases new, returning clubs Armani Jackson Managing Editor

Nine clubs with representatives gathered on Oct. 13-14 to advertise their clubs and recruit new members at Clubs Fest.

This event provided club representatives a time and place to demonstrate what they can offer students, according to Andrew Punchak, clubs coordinator.

“Students (are) able to directly ask questions, get information and sign up,” Punchak said. “It’s an outlet for clubs to grow and have the spotlight for two days instead of students having to hunt down them on their own time.”

These clubs included Black Student Union, Choir Club, Engineering Society, Historical European Martial Arts, Mario Kart Club, Super Smash Bros. Club, Wrecked, Drama Club and Gay Straight Alliance.

Club representatives were given the opportunity to get the word out there about both their club’s atmosphere and purpose.

“I hope to get the word out there that there is a choir club,” Molly Bridges, president of choir club, said. “In the past, (we) weren’t well represented.”

Clubs Fest happens once every quarter, with two occurring during winter and spring. Punchak expects a higher turnout in the following quarters because more clubs will be started.

The Black Student Union is a club with the mission of aiding and growing all Pierce students but focuses mostly on the African American perspective.

“Black Student Union has been alive (nationally) for more than 50 plus years,” Christina Langley, a Black Student Union member, said. “The minority group need to know what’s happening.”

On the second day, the Mario Kart club and Super Smash Bros.

Club brought in televisions, consoles and controllers so up to four students at a time could play Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros.

Music was played using modern top hit songs from the past few years. Colton Droubli, interactive media and gaming coordinator, selected more of a modern rock on the second day to keep up a “nice energy,” according to Punchak.

Along with music, food was ordered for lingering students.

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Doug Mayovsky explains a long Rawlings sword.

Armani Jackson

This included lemonade, water, chips, cookies, vegetarian sandwich platter and pulled chicken sandwiches.

“On the second day clubs actually came in about an hour early to set up and had an awesome poster making session together,” Punchak said. “Drama Club, GSA and HEMA Club each painted their own posters which made their tables look fantastic.”

This event inspired the creation of another club. A new one, called the Star Gazing Club is now an official club.

“I'll be improving it (Clubs Fest) in the next two quarters by helping the clubs to be better prepared with awesome table designs, flyers to hand out with their information and enable them to promote some of their events coming up,” Punchak said. “I also would love to see the Choir Club, Drama Club, and HEMA Club do some performances/demonstrations. I want Clubs Fest to be as big as possible.”

Armani Jackson

The Gay Straight Alliance will soon give lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and questioning students the ability to attend an environment free from judgement.

Pierce College Puyallup’s GSA, once it starts, hopes to provide a presence that can be educating and empowering about LGBTQ issues present in today’s society.

“We’re trying to keep the aim of it more positive,” representative Abby Nelson said. “This year, our goal is to have a clean slate and a new start.”

Referring to the previous Umbrella Club, Nelson and the rest of the GSA want to make sure that Abby Nelson they extend a hand of welcome and acknowledge that members are safe and able to feel comfortable.

The club also wishes to tackle some issues that are affecting the community, such as the recent implementation at local YMCAs, which requires transitioning transgender members to use the locker rooms with their biological sex or private locker rooms.

Another goal of the club is to make sure that LGBTQ students at Pierce have resources and a support system in order to deal with problems that they may face.

These resources can be anything from recommendations for local LGBTQ support groups to means of edu“We’re cation to even just listening to trying to problems that keep the aim students may of it more have “We are peopositive. ple that you can to,” NelThis year, come son said. “You our goal is can really approach anyto have a one in the clean slate club.”

Based on and a new previous club attendance, start.”

Nelson said the usually —Abby Nelson club expects eight to 10 people to attend meetings. They want to increase attendance to whoever needs support or security.

There’s a lack of research on the topic of LGBTQ students in higher education, but there are multiple studies that show hate crimes against these students often go unreported to campus security or authorities.

According to Grand Valley State University, organizations like GSA can help LGBTQ students in their education development and interest in getting involved with activities and events on campus.

The club hopes to start up as soon as possible, and is still deciding on times to meet.

Until then, Nelson will continue to post on the club’s Facebook page in order to help come up with possible project ideas and meeting times.

ABOve: Students play Super Smash Bros.

LeFT: Sierra Mensonides represents Wrecked club.

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firstlooK

We test the waters so you don’t have to

moviereview

moviereview

Suzanne Buchholz

musicreview

Amber Gilliland

Chase Charaba

Pan

Goosebumps

Condition Hüman

Action/Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Action/Adventure, Comedy, Family, Horror

Queensrÿche

I took my seat in the theater to watch Pan with moderately high expectations, hoping for an exciting, engaging film that’d leave me cheering on the main characters to the end. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the experience I got. The movie had me puzzled as to who the real heroes and villains were, and feeling cheated at never actually finding out.

The film chronicles the origins of Peter Pan, the famous boy who could fly. Twelve-year-old Peter (Levi Miller) lives in an orphanage in World War II era England, determined to find his long-lost mother.

Peter and the other orphans are whisked away by pirates to Neverland, an island ruled by the vicious Cast: Hugh Jackman, and controlling Blackbeard (Hugh Rooney Mara, Amanda Jackman). With the help of his Seyfried, Garrett allies, the cynical Hook (Garrett Hedlund, Adeel Akhtar.

Hedlund) and fierce Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), Peter escapes the rated: PG; Language, island in search of his mother, but Fantasy Action instead discovers that he’s part of a Violence and Some prophecy to defeat Blackbeard as Thematic Material. long as he can find the courage within himself.

The plot itself was decent if not predictable, falling back on several clichés of believing in oneself and that anything’s possible. The film lacked well-paced character development within the plot. Characters like Peter remained static throughout the movie until the most crucial moments, while others like Smee changed in abrupt and nonsensical ways which had me struggling to figure out what was happening.

Others such as Hook had well-rounded development, but their fates were left on a cliffhanger which frustrated me.

The action was consistent throughout the movie, which in its defense made it more interesting to watch than adding unnecessary fillers. But in this case, the film could’ve used a few scenes of filler to transition from one action-packed scene to the next, instead of jumping into it. The film attempted to pack in as many fantasy battles and chase sequences as possible, many didn’t contribute to the watered-down plot.

The acting was more forgivable than the story, but not by much. Hedlund’s portrayal of Hook was particularly enjoyable, convincingly capturing the brusque and self-serving essence of the character. On the other hand Miller, in his first starring role, gave a likeable but unremarkable depiction of Peter. Most of the acting was forgettable, when it wasn’t over the top and irritating. The accents were exaggerated to the point of being annoying and hard to understand.

Certain instances in the script felt irritatingly out-of-place given the film’s 40s timeline. Phrases such as “Oh come on” and “Spit it out, man” didn’t fit the style of the script. A scene in which the pirates sing Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones, which was completely unfitting and ruined the authenticity.

I enjoyed the film’s vivid visual details. The CGI effects blended almost seamlessly with the live action, creating realistic and beautiful mythical beings from mermaids with glowing tails to terrifying bird-like creatures. The careful attention to detail in the makeup and costumes were also appealing to the eye, especially when it came to Tiger Lily’s design. I found myself paying more attention to these details than the actual story after a while.

Overall this feeble attempt at giving Peter Pan a backstory left me underwhelmed as well as asking questions the film failed to answer. Those who haven’t seen the original Peter Pan might enjoy it as a stand-alone fantasy film, but those who love the franchise might want to avoid it for the sake of preserving the original classic’s integrity.

Goosebumps follows the story of high school student, Zach Cooper, who moves to a small town a year after his father’s death. As he’s moving in, his new neighbor Hannah catches his eye, but her overprotective father, actor Jack Black, warns Cooper to stay away from his family.

One night after hearing yelling coming from Hannah’s house, Cooper sneaks in to check on her with the help of his classmate, Champ. Upon entering the house, the pair discover a bookshelf loaded with Goosebumps novels, but their covers are locked.

Finding this odd, the boys grab a key on a nearby table and open the book. At this point Hannah finds the Cast: Jack Black, two in her home, but not before it’s Dylan Minnette, Odeya too late. The Abominable Snowman Rush, Amy Ryan, Ryan from the Goosebumps novel The Lee. Abominable Snowman of Pasadena springs out of the book and escapes rated: PG; scary and from the house. The trio of intense creature action teenagers chase the snowman into a and images, and for local ice rink where they’re saved some rude humor.

by Hannah’s father.

It turns out that her father is actually Goosebumps’ author R.L. Stine. When he wrote his manuscripts, the characters came to life. The monsters stay trapped inside the books as long as they’re kept shut. The only way to stop them once they’re released is to suck them back into their novel.

Upon returning home from the ice rink, the group finds that one more book fell open in the chaos of the snowman fiasco. Slappy from Stine’s book Night of the Living Dummy has been released. In a fit of rage, he steals all of Stine’s manuscripts and a car, and opens the novels to release all of the monsters into the town. Afterward, he immediately burns the manuscripts so there’s no way to return the monsters back to where they belong.

The movie continues with the group running for their lives from Slappy’s revenge, while also trying to save the town from further destruction. They discover the only way to do this is for Stine to write one last book that will suck all the monsters back up for good.

This movie was surprisingly impressive. It had the potential to be very tacky but it wasn’t. The animation was well done and blended into the movie nicely. The abominable snowman resembled the one on Stine’s cover almost perfectly.

Many of Stine’s characters made appearances in the movie including a giant praying mantis from A Shocker on Shock Street, ghouls, flying bugs, gnomes and many other monsters that hide in the night. It was a treat for anyone who grew up reading the Goosebumps tales, but knowing the stories wasn’t necessary for enjoying the film.

Goosebumps was a fantastic mix of action and comedy.

Black brought his usual sense of humor to the movie and there were just enough one-liners to break up the action.

There were a few sappy scenes but that’s to be expected in a family film. It held my attention throughout the entire duration and didn’t feel too long or too short.

The slight plot twist, which won’t be spoiled in this review, was unexpected and doesn’t seem to be extremely significant until it gets closer to the end of the movie, when unfortunately gives an enormous hint to how it will end.

Overall, the movie was a perfect family film and a fun way to celebrate Halloween. The children in the theater were laughing as hard as the adults and teenagers who’d grown up with the books. This reporter predicts that Goosebumps will become a new staple in families’ Halloween movies collection.

Queensrÿche’s new album, Condition Hüman, was released Oct. 2 and delivers the highest quality progressive metal since the band’s 1994 album Promised Land.

Following the band’s split with lead singer Geoff Tate in 2012, the band hired former Crimson Glory vocalist Todd La Torre. Tate formed a new band called Operation: Mindcrime and released an album this year, taking the name from the 1988 Queensrÿche album.

Queensrÿche released a selftitled album with La Torre in 2013 that showcased his vocal talent and the band’s rejuvenated energy, but it didn’t deliver to hardcore fans. The album sounded forced, although it fared better commercially than the previous album with Tate.

The new album blows the past two decades of Queensrÿche away.

The album starts with Arrow of Time, a track with fast twin-guitars with an attack not heard in years. La Torre’s vocals soar for nearly four minutes and tell the world that Queensrÿche is back.

The track is followed by Guardian, a heavier song with a concrete display of power. The chorus repeats the words “revolution calling,” a throwback to Revolution Calling on Operation: Mindcrime. Furthermore, the guitar solo pulls from the band’s 1990 hit Jet City Woman to produce a fresh but familiar feel.

The album’s third song is Hellfire, which may be the best on the album. Right from the start it sounds like a song Tate might have performed in 1986. The chorus gets annoying because it doesn’t quite match the traditional Queensrÿche sound, but it doesn’t detract from the overall production.

Toxic Remedy might have served well on Empire in 1990 because of the similar composition to those songs and their dark feel, however, La Torre just doesn’t unleash his voice like Tate might have if he could still hit those notes.

Selfish Lives and Eye9 can be mistaken for filler, but La Torre’s vocals are top-notch on these tracks. His voice consistently hits the high notes without sounding strained. It has a bit of attitude and aggression. The songs may not be as exciting as the previous ones on the album, but they are musically something that might have been on an Empire Part Two. Bulletproof and Just Us are ballads. Bulletproof opens with a verse that sounds just like a young Tate, it’s layered with slow and haunting sounds that fans have come to expect from Queensrÿche, but the song doesn’t go all the way. Just Us flows much better with acoustic guitar work and deep yet operatic vocals fans have grown to love.

Hourglass is the worst song on the album. It’s a heavier song with a mix of acoustic elements, but the watered-down choruses are a deal-breaker.

The album picks up again with All There Was, which has more in common with Arrow of Time than the rest of the album. It sounds like Queensrÿche, but has a modern flair that makes it timeless. The song drifts into the creepy outro titled The Aftermath, preparing the listener for the crowning moment.

The title track begins with a few notes that sound right out of the ‘70s, featuring elements of Pink Floyd, but it quickly morphs into the easily recognizable Queensrÿche trademark sound. It’s more traditional than the rest of the album because La Torre takes what Tate did best and makes them his own. The song is like a ride through Queensrÿche’s past. It has the Rage for Order-era vocals, the Operation: MindCrime-era chanting like on Suite Sister Mary and the Empire-era guitar solos. It’s an absolute classic.

The new album pleases the ears and won’t leave fans disappointed.

I give this

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Lizzie Duke

Go Go Burrito gives new lunch options to students

Students (from left) Ashlee Thomas, Alex Capilouto, ella Austin, Chris Urbina and elijah Alderink rehearse for the upcoming Metaphysique D’ephemera performance in the Black Box Theater.

CJ Robinson Reporter

CJ Robinson

Move over Chipotle; Lancer Catering has introduced a new burrito stand at Pierce College Puyallup.

Much like the fast-food burrito chains, Go Go Burrito offers students options to customize their own burrito, including those who are gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan or looking to eat a more balanced meal.

Lancer, which provides and sells the food in the College Center, has made a company-wide implementation for this new portion of the cafeteria.

Options for tortillas include flour, jalapeño and garlic herb. There are three different salsas; pico de gallo, salsa roja and salsa verde. Out of the hot fillings, which include beans, rice, and fajita vegetables, customers are able to choose three. For up to four cold fillings, romaine lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, guacamole and more other vegetables are able to be chosen.

Before this new section of the cafeteria was installed, it was Sabino’s Sandwiches, the counterpart to the current Sabino’s Pizza.

Jessica Rager, a staff member at Lancer, said the feedback so far has been positive. “(Students) seem to like it a lot more than the sandwiches,” Rager said.

She also believes that bringing this new style of food to the campus will help it gain popularity. The Chipotle concept, she said, helps with relevant interests to be students.

“I know I eat (a burrito) almost every day,” Rager said.

The burritos also come at a lower price than students can find at customized burrito restaurants, such as Chipotle or Qdoba. Without any extra fillings, salsas or meat, the burritos at the college start at $5.99, as opposed to local Chipotle chains which offer burritos starting at $6.70 for chicken, the price varying depending on the type of meat that the customer chooses. Additionally, guacamole is an added charge at many burrito chains, while at Pierce, it’s an added option.

Besides burritos, Lancer is selling street tacos, rice and nachos at prices ranging between $4.95 and $5.75. This also offers competitive pricing compared to other companies.

Rager hopes students try out the new addition and start looking at it as an added option for their daily lunch.

The Go Go burrito stand at Pierce is offering new and varying options for students on campus.

Events calendar

Lori Brock

Compiled by Amber Gilliland

Metaphysique D’Ephemera: fourth production at Pierce Lizzie Duke Reporter

Metaphysique D’Ephemera is the fourth production to make it’s way onto the stage at Pierce College Puyallup. It will show at 8 p.m. Oct. 29, 30 and 31 in the Arts and Allied Health Building. Tickets are $2 to students with a Pierce College ID and $3 for anyone else. Tickets can be purchased at www.PierceCollegeEvents.com.

Metaphysique D’Ephemera is written by Christopher Shipman and Dr. Sarah K. Jackson but is based on the work of Joseph Cornell.

Joshua Potter, assistant professor of communication studies and theatre and the play’s assistant director and Nichole Nicholson, adjunct assistant professor and the show’s director, always look for original work when choosing a play. This version of Metaphysique D’Ephemera has only been performed at three other schools.

“The show is pretty surreal, sort of out there a little bit,” Potter said.

Metaphysique D’Ephemera takes place on a decrepit Coney Island and stars a cat prince, played by student Elijah Alderink, who’s imagining the glory days when the Island was inhabited by numerous rides and people. The other characters, a mix of animals, ballerinas and a narrator of sorts, are trying to get him to come out of his fantasy world of the past and face reality.

Alderink said he hopes people enjoy the dialogue, because the script was written in an intricate way which makes it interesting to listen to.

As the script was created, the writers had characters and lines without dividing who said what. This way the cast members could each pick what they were going to say. For this version of the show, to save time, Nicholson made some choices about which characters had which lines.

The script is written like poetry, with archaic language and line breaks in unusual places. Potter believes understanding the words and meaning is the hardest part for many of the actors and actresses.

Fifteen students auditioned for parts in the play and six were cast. The script was initially written for a cast of four but Nicholson and Potter added two characters: one is a second ballerina and the other is called “means of production” which is half narrator and half stage directions. Even with this character’s defined role, the other characters don’t always do what he says.

Choosing the cast was a joint effort between Nicholson

Nov. 2-13: Pre-registration advising week Nov. 2: Winter quarter schedule published on the Pierce website Nov. 3: Black Lives Matter workshop. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the MPR Nov. 4: Microaggression Workshop. Noon to 2:30 p.m. in the MPR Nov. 5: Halo 5 Game Night 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the MPR. Nov. 6: The Peanuts Movie releases in theaters Nov. 6: CeeLo Green releases new album Heart Blanche Nov. 6: Ellie Goulding releases new album Delirium Nov. 9: Last day to withdraw

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and Potter. During auditions, they mostly looked for flexibility in how well people can work with the other cast members, and creativity. For this reason, a lot of the audition process included playing theater games to see what kind of ideas people would come up with.

“If folks are fearless when they play those games and are willing to play, willing to come up with ideas, that’s something that we can’t teach in four weeks,” Potter said, “so we make sure that folks are willing to get down and dirty and really throw themselves into this process.”

The last thing Potter and Nicholson looked for was an open schedule. Preparing for the show takes about four weeks, which Potter said is pretty typical for theater productions. The cast practices Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 1-5 p.m. for a total of eight hours per week.

Elijah Alderink plays the lead role of the cat prince. He was in the last two shows at Pierce, The Yellow Wallpaper and Tell Me a Story, along with Alex Capilouto who’s the Rabbit.

Chris Urbina plays the new character: “means of production.” He’s acted before but this will be his first show at Pierce College.

Ashlee Thomas plays the bird. Thomas spends the majority of the show perched on a swing, singing many of her lines. Thomas’s never acted before, but was in choir in high school.

The two ballerinas are played by Ella Austin and Athena Frey. Neither Austin nor Frey are ballerinas in real life, but Nicholson’s mother is teaching them numerous ballerina moves for the show.

“It’s going to be freaking awesome,” Frey said. “I like (the show) because it makes you think.”

Metaphysique D’Ephemera will be performed in the Black Box Theater. The theater has a wall of mirrors and a ballet bar, which Potter incorporated into the set. He also plans to use industrial scaffolding as a stage.

“None of us are even going to be touching the ground the whole time,” Capilouto said.

This is the second year Pierce College Puyallup has had a full season of drama performances. Potter looks forward to showcasing the talent of the cast, but his No. 1 goal for this show is student enjoyment.

“The most important thing is for students to feel like they’re involved, for them to have fun,” Potter said.

“There’s no point in us putting a play on if people aren’t having fun with it.”

Nov. 10: T-shirt Tuesday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CTR Nov. 10: Northwest Sinfonietta Open Rehearsal. 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the AAH Theatre Nov. 11: Veterans Day. No class. Campus closed.

Nov. 16: Winter registration begins for current students Nov. 17: T-shirt Tuesday Nov. 17: Syrian crisis lecture. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in MPR Nov. 17: Gift Wrapping. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Connection Cafe Nov. 18: Pierce College Puyallup open house. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Nov. 19: So You Want to Learn How to Dance? 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in H206

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Nov. 20: EDM Rave. 8 p.m. to midnight in the dining commons Nov. 21: EnviroHouse Tour. Depart at 10:30 a.m. from C210 and arrive back to campus at 1 p.m.

Nov. 23: Winter registration begins for former students Nov. 24: Winter registration begins for new students Nov. 24: T-shirt Tuesday Nov. 25: RPD day. No classes.

Nov. 25: The Night Before releases in theaters Nov. 26-27: College closed for Thanksgiving holiday.

No classes.

Nov. 27: Black Friday

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Spooner Farms offers a variety of activities for all ages. These activities include visiting the petting farm, taking photos at photo op sites and walking through the corn maze.

Kickin’ off fall At the local pumpkin patch

At the local pumpkin patch CJ Robinson Reporter

W

ith fall here and Halloween around the corner, it’s time for candy, costumes and most importantly, pumpkin patches.

Local farms are opening their doors in October for families and friends to enjoy the autumn season. Many of these farms are open throughout the year selling produce and kick off fall with a festival to celebrate.

Two local farms revel in the season in their own ways.

Spooner Farms

Photos by CJ Robinson

Open since 1882, this berry farm in the Orting Valley has been a part of many families’ traditions and memories. According to its website, Spooner Farms is hosting the 21st Annual Harvest Festival and presents 50 varieties of pumpkins, gourds, squash and ornamental corn to the public.

This specific location is a large attraction in the area around the Puyallup valley and can be quite busy at times, but offers a large variety of activities for those of all interests.

At the entrance lies the pumpkin slingshot; the goal is to hit the large clown face and win one of the pumpkins on display in front of the game. This game is perfect for all ages, although children usually require some assis-

Scholz Farm hosts the heaviest pumpkin from the fair.

tance to get the small pumpkins to go more than five feet.

Spooner Farms also prides itself on its intricate and comprehensive corn maze. This year’s theme was based on countries of the world, with checkpoints throughout the maze that must be found in order to scratch off stamps from the provided passport. Spanning for more than five acres with three miles of paths, this maze was beautifully planned, and with enough determination, fairly rewarding.

No attendants are at the corn maze in the morning, but tickets are available inside the gift shop. Once inside, a

LeFT: A turkey is one of the many animals at Scholz Farm. ABOve: The decorations at the farm give a cozy feeling that’s perfect for fall.

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shoutout Andrea Mendoza

What are you doing on Halloween?

Emilee Dezort: “For Halloween

I go trick-or-treating in my neighborhood.

Sometimes I go to parties and dress up.”

Matt Mancimi: “I go trick-ortreating. I like to go every year. “

Spooner Farms features a slingshot where visitors try to hit the bull’s-eye in the clown’s mouth.

pumpkin flight attendant is waiting for passengers on a pumpkin-themed airplane. From there, passengers are left to their own devices to find each country’s station.

Music can slightly be heard coming from different directions, which in most cases would help in locating the countries, but does the opposite in this situation. When finally arriving at the destination, guests are greeted with pleasant pumpkin-themed representations of countries from around the world, such as Japan, Brazil, Madagascar and Antarctica (though not an actual country).

Although the Spooner Farms corn maze can be fun, children and adults could become frustrated, but that’s part of the fun when it comes to mazes like this.

Children also have the option of traveling to Spooner Farms on school field trips, which includes an educational talk, a tour of the farm, a hay ride and other features depending on the size and age of the children.

On weekends, the farm comes alive even more. It offers pony rides, concessions and face painting.

Although not as wide-ranging as the weekend, the farm still offers the slingshot, activity barn, a small assortment of animals and gift shop throughout the week.

The pumpkins cost 36 cents a pound and Spooner Farms has a large assortment to choose from.

Scholz Farm In contrast to Spooner Farms, Scholz Farm is much smaller, and even though this may mean fewer activities, it increases the feeling of comfort and homeliness.

The first thing one notices when entering the farm is the large assortment of pumpkins, which surprisingly looks like it holds more than Spooner. Also, the pumpkins come at three cents less, starting at 33 cents per pound.

A corn maze also is present at Scholz, but it’s much

Scholz farm Address: 14310 128th St. E., Puyallup hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Dates: until Oct. 31 Cost: Free Spooner farms Address: 9710 State Route 162 E. hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Dates: until Oct. 31at 4 p.m.

Cost: The corn maze costs $7-9.

smaller and clearly meant for children. It also doesn’t offer the different checkpoints that Spooner Farms has.

Other noticeable aspects of this farm include a large assortment of animals, pumpkin exhibitions and a children’s play area.

The animals and farmhands give the cozy feeling that Spooner Farms loses out on.

Coming farther down the animal showcases, the winning pumpkin of 1,621.5 pounds from this year’s contest at the Washington State Fair. A little farther, and the goats will poke their heads out of their cage in hopes of being fed.

On the other side of that small patch are a cute group of pumpkin exhibitions in different situations and positions.

The produce shop sells many types of fruits and vegetables that are available beyond and before October.

Mathias Anstensen: “I

scare the children. We get like two trickor-treaters a year and I do my best to have fun with them. “

Hannah Cottle: “I usually hand out candy. But it’s on a weekend this year so it can be anything.”

Audrey Gardner: “I normally

sit at home and eat candy.”

Merry Passi: “I trick-or-treat and

eat all the candy.”

Brenda Foleni: “I dress up, I go trick-or-treating. Oh, and I like to take selfies with other people in their costumes.”

Spooner Farms attracts many visitors from Puyallup and surrounding areas. w w w . P u y a l l u P P O s t . c O m

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Allison Blankenship: “I give candy to the kids that come to my door and I go to a party. (Also) I play in the symphony and we play a costume concert playing music from the movies.”

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campuslife

Plenty of cool stuff at Pierce College Puyallup

Hemoglobin Heroes Lizzie Duke

Cascade Regional Blood bus takes blood donations

“I don’t really know why I like to donate blood. It’s really just if I can save someone’s life, I’d like to.”

Lizzie Duke Reporter

The Cascade Regional Blood Services bus made an eight-hour stop at Pierce College Puyallup Oct. 7. In that time, 49 volunteers donated blood.

Between the students and staff who signed up beforehand, and the numerous walk-in volunteers, 24 people donated blood for the first time.

“I’m trying to do good deeds,” student Dexter Dan, who’s donated five times before, said.

Jessica Cannon, lead donor specialist for CRBS, said Pierce College Puyallup donates an average of 50 pints of blood each visit. Kylie Ada, the Office of Student Life wellness and outdoor activities coordinator, arranges these visits, which are three or four times a year, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. Between these visits, Pierce donates up to 200 pints of blood each year.

“My favorite part is talking to the donors because a lot of them have a reason for donating,” Mariah Bardole, CRBS nurse, said.

Bardole said that many of the volunteers have friends or family members who have needed blood donations. After seeing how necessary the donations are

—Rachel Miller

Makenna Jester donates blood in the Cascade Regional Blood Services bus.

and what an impact volunteering makes, the people come in on their own free will hoping to save lives.

“I don’t really know why I like to donate blood,” student Rachel Miller said. “It’s really just if I can save someone’s life, I’d like to.”

After about one pint of blood is taken from the volunteer, it’s put into a cooler, sent to a lab and then sent to hospitals

where it’s used to, as the CRBS motto goes, save lives.

According to CRBS, blood donors provide 100 percent of the community’s blood supply, 60 percent of which comes from school blood drives such as this one. Cannon said all the blood donated through the blood bus stays local. Most of it goes to MultiCare Health System and Franciscan Health

System hospital and clinics in Pierce and south King counties.

The hope to save lives isn’t the only reason for donating. “(I donate) mostly because the first time it was kind of fun,” Nathaneal Hollas, student and second time donor, said.

“I could feel the blood moving through my body and usually you can’t feel that.”

Volunteers must be 18-years-old or older to donate. If a volunteer is 16 or 17 they can donate with parent or guardian written permission. Volunteers must weigh at least 110 pounds and blood pressure between 180/100 and 90/50. Blood can be donated every 56 days, about how often the blood bus comes to Pierce.

The next scheduled visit is Dec. 2. A sign-up sheet for Pierce students looking to donate will be available in C210 two weeks before the blood bus’s arrival.

courtesy of Morgan Pasquier

Students help with restoration project at Dead Man’s Pond

courtesy of Morgan Pasquier

On Oct. 22, Sustainability Coordinator Morgan Pasquier held a restoration project at Dead Man’s Pond located in Puyallup. The objective was to clean up the land around the pond in order for the endangered Western Pond Turtle to return to the habitat.

Director Chris Beale talking to group members. w w w . P u y a l l u P P O s t . c O m

The group of students who attended the event.

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Dollars and change, or lack thereof Lori Brock

Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

Washington state currently has the highest minimum wage in the country, but that’s going to change by January of next year.

In 2016, the minimum wage in Washington will remain $9.47 per hour while California and Massachusetts will raise their minimum wage to $10. This will push Washington to third place on the list of states with the highest minimum wage.

According to the KOMO News website, this will be the first time since 2010 that the minimum wage hasn’t increased in Washington state.

In 2014 the minimum wage in Washington was set at $9.32 per hour. In 2015 the minimum wage was $9.47, making a 1.59 percent increase between the two years.

Minimum wage in Washington state increases annually based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The CPI-W, estimated by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, accounts for all general costs of living such as food, gasoline and clothing.

This is done by contacting retail chains, rental units and other similar sources to figure out price changes. The

Bureau then uses these statistics to measure how much the minimum wage should be raised.

The CPI-W rises as a result of inflation, which is caused by myriad reasons. According to the Investopedia website, there are two general types of inflation. The first is demand-pull inflation, in which prices must go up if demand is greater than supply. The second is cost-push inflation, when the rising cost of a company forces them to charge more to maintain profit margins.

The CPI-W decreased by 0.3 percent between August 2014 and August 2015 as a result of lower gas prices. In the instance of a decrease in CPI-W, the minimum wage

would stay the same rather than be lowered.

The reason for this is due to an initiative that was approved in 1998. Known as Initiative 688, the law ensures that minimum wage can’t decrease under any circumstances.

Students at Pierce College Puyallup were unsure of how or if this change would alter their lives, but most didn’t seem too concerned about the immediate results.

“I think it could affect things, but over one year I don’t think it will make a big impact,” student Matt Qunell said.

Others voiced concern over the long-term results of this decision.

“I don’t think it will have a big impact until the second year it goes without change,” student Steven Lyle said.

Some students who work for minimum wage believe that this could be a problem for workers and citizens in general.

“I think (minimum wage) should go up because the cost of living is so high,” student Breanna Bennett said.

This change in change may not seem significant for now, but that might not be the case over time if the CPIW continues to decrease.

Grace Amsden

American Honors announces council positions Grace Amsden Editor-in-chief

The positions for the 2015-2016 American Honors student council at Pierce College Puyallup have been filled except for the scholarship chair.

Accoding to Laurie Miller, honors adviser, the student council works to make positive experiences for American Honors students as well as non-honors students.

“Their job is kind of to find ways to support and enhance the honor student experience through organizing fun events (and) study nights,” Miller said.

The first planning meeting between the new council members was Oct. 22. At the meeting, council president Trevor Washington collaborated with other members on planning the first event, a game night, scheduled to be Nov. 4, though the time may be subject to change.

As the event will include board games and video games, the council is looking at teaming with Mario Kart Club. This event will be at the Puyallup campus and all students are welcome to attend.

Last year, Washington was the president of the American Honors student council at the Fort Steilacoom campus.

Among Washington’s goals this year is to have the honors students connect with each other and start the year off strong.

“Last year was really tough being the first year for the council and American Honors being at Pierce in general,” Washington said.

The position of lead ambassador is filled by student Jacob Carroll, who will help Regional Admissions Counselor Julia Woodworth by spreading the word

American Honors 2015-2016 council President - Trevor Washington vice president - Shawn Clark Secretary - Kaitlyn Minahan Treasurer - Sabrina Gan Service chair - Sarah Henry Social chair - Christina Langley International chair - Tiannuo Yun Outreach chair - Brianna Loucks Lead Ambassador - Jacob Carroll Historian - Johana Tornes

American Honors student council members in the honors lounge during the meeting and planning for the game night event.

about the program by traveling to local schools for college fairs.

Carroll said the outreach of the program is vital to its success.

“I grew up in a bad background and school wasn’t exactly something that I was really interested in until later, and I feel like if I can reach some of the kids at a younger age, they might not push college off completely,” Carroll said.

Carroll said he didn’t find out about the program itself until reading an email about it. He said he doesn’t want the program to be a surprise to students.

Prior to the official decisions of the council members, there was a turnout of

about 25-30 students at the council interest meeting, according to Miller.

Canidates for the council wrote speeches about why they wanted to serve in the position and reasons why they should be voted for.

American Honors students voted for the speeches Oct. 12-15 through online survey platform Survey Monkey. The results were announced Oct. 16.

“It was the only way we could think of that would be fair and anonymous and would reach everybody, because it’s going to be really difficult to get a large group together,” Miller said.

Miller said Survey Monkey was cho-

sen to ease the process of having to get all the students together, considering everyone’s schedules. She estimates there are 120-130 students in the program, and having to find a time for the speeches and voting in person would be difficult. Miller hopes to find a different way for delivering the speeches next year.

“We’d love to be able to figure out a way where we could really make that happen, but even to have that many candidates be able to be in the same place at the same time, let alone students to come and watch and hear, seems difficult,” Miller said.

Miller said she’s looking forward to seeing what the council comes up with this year and hopes the council will build a strong cohort by developing study groups and bonds between one another.

“Overall, they just want to work together to make their own and everyone else’s experiences better, whatever that looks like,” Miller said.

Young Americans for Freedom club honors memory of Sept. 11 victims The Young Americans for Freedom club at Pierce College Puyallup set out American flags in recognition of the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Club members had 2,977, one for each person who died that day. This event was in Pioneer Park in downtown Puyallup.

Photos courtesy of Madison Lucas.

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Getting a fresh start with community art CJ Robinson Reporter

Whether it’s abstract painting or zendoodling, the Community and Continuing Education program at Pierce College gives students and community members alike the ability to learn a new skill or hobby.

By adding new art classes, including art journaling, print making and getting started with abstract painting in addition to the programs already in place, CCE is expanding its art and creativity division during fall and winter quarters.

“It’s a benefit to the community,” Tracy Clark, program developer for CCE, said. “We like to get (community members) on campus and comfortable, so that it may inspire them to keep learning.”

The program gives members of Puyallup the ability to become comfortable with being on the campus and aids them in pursuing a life-long education.

The courses offered aren’t graded and have a variety of sessions throughout the quarter.

Enrollment numbers for these classes can average anywhere from seven to 12 people, depending on the class itself and interest generated.

Students currently enrolled in creditearning classes at Pierce College can take any of these courses for half of the listed price, ranging anywhere from $29 to $139 depending on in-class time.

“It’s a chance to express your creativity with a group of like-minded people,” Clark said. “There’s no pressure.”

Susan Reed, a first-time CCE stu-

CCe students learn about abstract painting with three sessions throughout the quarter.

dent, said she feels encouraged with the help the abstract painting course has given her.

“There’s a hope of being good at something,” Reed said. “I needed a hobby, and everything else I’d done had fell through.”

The course explores how to begin with the process of painting from the imagination or working from an objec-

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tive standpoint. Many of the art classes offered give an introductory look into the art form, while some build on knowledge already attained through previous courses.

Art classes don’t require any experience, although some background can be helpful.

Acrylic painting runs for five sessions from Nov. 4 to Dec. 9 and abstract

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painting began Oct. 6 and ended Oct. 20. Creative journaling and zendoodling will be available winter quarter.

Clark said she’s always open to new courses being added, and students interested in subjects not currently offered can contact her at (253)840-8452.

For more information about the program, visit wp.pierce.ctc.edu/blog/ce.

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Photo courtesy Patti Peluso

Andrea Mendoza

Student Noah Carr’s eNGL101 textbooks.

Noah Carr wishes for $5 billion in backpack Andrea Mendoza Online Reporter

Some say being prepared for class is essential to being successful in school. Running Start student Noah Carr, 16, brings his backpack with necessities to be prepared for his afternoon and evening classes.

Andrea Mendoza

Laptop: Carr comes to Pierce College with his laptop, which he uses in between classes to finish homework, study or for entertainment if he’s finished with all his classes and has free time.

“I also play video games on my laptop after I do my homework,” Carr said.

Pencil Pouch: Carr’s pencil pouch includes materials such as pens and pencils, white-out and an eraser for when he needs to fix errors, lead for his mechanical pencils, highlighters and Sharpies for note-taking.

Learning in Psychology Textbook: Carr’s PSYC100 class requires him to bring the book Learning in Psychology

by David G. Meyers. He brings the book every Tuesday and Thursday for the evening class.

“Figuring out how to make people behave certain ways is fun.” Carr said.

Precalculus Mathematics for Calculus Seventh Edition: Carr takes MATH146 at and can’t attend Tuesdays and Thursdays without it.

The Writer’s Presence a Pool of Readings: Before he leaves home, Carr takes The Writer’s Presence A Pool of Readings by Donald Mcquade and Robert Atwan for his English 101 class.

Three-ring binder: “It’s just for loose paper, nothing else,” Carr said.

Folders: Carr uses his folders for each class, in which he stores assignments and syllabi. These keep his backpack organized so he doesn’t forget about due dates for any of his classes.

“I have a folder to hold assignments that I need to turn in, and assignments that I have yet to do,” Carr said.

Notebooks: Carr writes all his notes from his classes in the notebooks because it’s easier for him to keep notes with their corresponding assignment folder.

Android charger: Carr never comes to school without his charger. Charging his phone is a necessity for him since he’s on campus everyday.

Lenovo laptop charger: Doing his assignments on Canvas requires Carr to bring his laptop along with his charger.

Gaming during his free time also drains his battery so, he always has to bring it with him.

Lunch bag: Since Carr has evening classes Monday through Wednesday, he always holds a lunch bag that brings his dinner. He eats in the dining commons before his classes.

Wish list: Carr wishes he had $1 million in his backpack, and wishes to become a trillionaire by investing.

“Realistically I want $5 billion so I can take it out of my backpack, put it in my banking account and then invest it and make more money off selling shares to become a trillionaire,” Carr said.

Carr finds his phone and charger to be a necessity in his daily life at Pierce College.

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Michael Peluso at Wrigley Mansion on one of his adventures.

Get to know staff member Michael Peluso

Alex Heldrich

much rather view the little out-of-the-way towns and freeways that have been left behind.”

Whenever he has the opportunity, Peluso said he’ll Michael Peluso has been working at Pierce College Puyallup for almost 15 years but some students may drive to his destination, staying off freeways and taknot even know his name. Peluso works in the advising ing time driving on back roads.

On the way back to Washington from a golf tournadepartment as an educational adviser and also teaches COLLG110. His job as an educational adviser is to ment in Houston, Texas, instead of driving on the freehelp students who didn’t finish high school get a diplo- ways, he drove on the back roads, making the trip last six days. ma through Pierce.

“I love back roading and seeing what’s there,” Pelu“This is my retirement job,” Peluso said. “I was a vice principal at Kent-Meridian High so said. “With freeways nowadays, we’ve missed a lot School. I started advising in January of that.”

According to Peluso, some of his favorite places are 2001, and I’ve been here ever since doing whatever they’ve asked me to the Isle of Skye in Scotland, the British Isles, northern Canada, the southwest United States and the Alps in do.”

Peluso has worked in regular Switzerland, where he and his wife got married.

Places on his bucket list to visit are Iceland, Noradvising, business advising, evaluations and as admisway, and New Zealand, where he plans to travel with sions director for the nursing program. his wife in two years.

Peluso’s job at the Puyallup campus is part-time.

“I just love experiencing other places and other cul“Basically fall and winter is when I’m here,” Pelutures and something different than so said, “and then in spring and where we are,” Peluso said. “I just summer, I primarily work at golf enjoy going anywhere and experitournaments nationwide as a rules “I really like far-out, encing the people, the food and referee.”

Peluso has refereed at tourna- remote places. I’m not a the landscape.” is Peluso an avid travments such as the National Collegreat big fan of traveling elerNotandonly referee for golf tournagiate Athletic Association National Championships, the to big cities. I’d much ments nationwide. He also creates crossword puzzles.

U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Junior “I love sitting at Starbucks and Amature Championships and the rather view the little outdrinking my tea while creating or U.S. Four-Ball Championships as of-the-way towns and solving crossword puzzles,” Peluwell as other collegiate and local junior events. His goal is to refer- freeways that have been so said.

Peluso has 60 crossword puzee at the U.S. Open. left behind.” zles published, some of which “It’s really, really fun,” Peluso said. “I get to travel all over the —Michael Peluso have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, U.S.A. Today, United States and see a lot of Games Magazine and the Chronibeautiful golf courses and work cle of Higher Education. One of his crossword puzzles with a lot of really cool people.”

About five years ago on a golf trip to the southern is about to be published in the Wall Street Journal. His United States, he had a run-in with a group of alliga- goal is to one day have a crossword puzzle of his published in the New York Times. tors.

At his church, Peluso is the coordinator of music.

“I was surprised at all of the alligators that were all over the golf courses and I was surprised at how I was- His job is to ensure that the musicians have their music n’t afraid of them,” Peluso said. “I had no problem and that they’re in place. Sometimes he gets to fill in for the bass player at his church. going right up alongside them and taking pictures.”

“I can enjoy anything in life. There’s not much that Peluso’s traveled all over the world through both golf tournaments and his own personal desire, but he’s bores me,” Peluso said. “In fact, I don’t even know never refereed outside America. He said there’s what it means to be bored.”

Peluso said he enjoys working at Pierce and plans to nowhere he’s gone that he didn’t like.

“I really like far-out, remote places,” Peluso said. continue teaching COLLG110 as long as he can until “I’m not a great big fan of traveling to big cities. I’d he goes senile.

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shoutout Lori Brock

What thoughts/concerns do you have about school safety on campus?

Morgan Cardon:

“I hope there are procedures in place and that there are security guards who will take action quickly. I hope too that any students in the area who are capable of helping will do so—only if they feel that they are capable.”

One man raised his hand at the open forum when asked by Director Chris MacKersie if any audience members had served in the military and had emergency prepardeness strategies.

Discussion forum Continued from page 1

Katie Fenton

options being text, email, mobile phone and/or home phone.

“The last couple of years, we’ve been refining it,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to get everybody to know that they have the ability to have access to that.”

The system was tested Oct. 7 and then used to inform students and staff about The Great Washington Shakeout, an evacuation practice across the state for the preparation of an earthquake on campus Oct. 15.

Emergency trainings were another topic at the forum.

Pierce participates in run, hide, fight trainings. The first step in this process is to escape from the place where the threat is present. The second step, if the first doesn’t work, is to create a barrier between the threat by hiding. The third is to fight against the threat.

“It’s the primary training tool that we choose to use,” MacKersie said. “It’s also the recommended best practice from the federal government. There are some places that still focus on lockdown. That’s primarily on the K-12 system, but they have a completely different environment.”

Mackersie held a training session last year that he presented at both Pierce campuses. About 50 students between the Puyallup and Fort Steilcoom campus attended.

To engage students in trainings, Johnson said emergency trainings within COLLG110 classes or at student orientations is being deliberated on. This leads into a recent idea Johnson shared about having a script, a brief outline that faculty members would create for their students containing information regarding emergencies, whether for an earthquake, fire or active shooter on campus.

“We’re looking at the various ways to see how do you really engage students,” Johnson said, “and I think part of the problem is most of us go, ‘Well, that’s not going to happen to me.’ When you’re in the emergency and you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do, it’s probably too late.

You should be doing it ahead of time.”

Other topics at the forum comprised reminders of the emergency call boxes on campus and resources for online safety information (such as the Shots Fired video on the campus safety page). There was also talk about weapons at Pierce and campus safety’s role with them, which is that weapons aren’t carried or used by campus safety officers.

Perry Doidge, student advocacy senator, said he’d like to see campus safety officers carry some form of weapon to protect the students at Pierce.

“If there’s a person with a gun, I want to know that I’m protected and that they’ll (campus safety officers) be able to protect me,” Doidge said.

Doidge said the weapon wouldn’t necessarily have to be a gun or knife, but with the use of something, it may mean

the “life or death for a lot of people” considering the few minutes for police, fire and rescue to arrive on campus.

Sean Moran, assistant professor for information systems, shared his thoughts regarding safety in the staff email thread about the Umpqua shootings. His idea of a “panic button” that he developed, after hearing about the Umpqua incident, focuses on the safety of his students.

“The last thing in the world I would ever want is to see one of them (my students), or myself or my wife, who’s also faculty here, get hurt,” Moran said.

For the computer information systems program, Moran said he develops attachments with his students as he often gets to work with them for two years, the duration of the CIS program for an associate degree.

Moran’s vision consists of a simple application installed onto one’s cellphone. Students or staff at Pierce could press the panic button if there was a threat, and the message could transfer directly to campus safety and perhaps 911, if decided upon.

“I love technology and I particularly like to solve problems with technology,” Moran said. “If we can find a way to do that where everybody wins, I think that’s something worth pursuing.”

MacKersie said there are plenty conversations for different ideas in safety and doesn’t believe there’s a “perfect” system figured out in the community and technical college system, but said that changes are constantly being made in preparation for emergencies.

MacKersie’s immediate goal is to have student participation at the active shooter run, hide, fight trainings, should an incident such as the one at Umpqua happen at Pierce. On Oct. 27, there was two training sessions on the Puyallup campus as well as a session on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. Some of the objectives included learning how to respond to an active shooter incident, how law enforcement officers respond and observing for suspicious behaviors.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be in a much better position by having a much higher degree of participation in the training,” MacKersie said.

The response time for local law enforcement to arrive to campus is quick, according to MacKersie, but until they arrive, there isn’t much law enforcement can do.

“The best thing we can do is make sure we train all the employees (and) all the students so that they have as much knowledge as possible about what they can do,” MacKersie said.

After the forum, Johnson said the discussion went well, but said there’s always hope for more attendance. She stresses that one can never be “over prepared” if there’s an active shooter or other emergency.

“It could happen at any time, and it could,” Johnson said.

“And so I think we just have to know that the world in which we live, these things happen.”

Sam Banta: “In my opinion, guns are just a weapon. I think fingerprint IDing guns (guns that work by using a fingerprint scanner), where they only work for the actual owners, that would be a good thing.”

Ron Molina: “I think scanners to get into campus buildings might be a good idea. We should also be briefed about what to do in the case of a shooter being on campus. I really wouldn’t know what to do and would like to at least watch a video that explains what students should do in cases like that.”

Spencer Hanson: “Since it’s legal for citizens to own firearms, I think teachers should be allowed to have firearms in classrooms—though not to advertise it—so they can keep themselves and students safer. Place guns in the hands of responsible people like security guards, teachers and other staff directors.

Lucas Keener: “I’ve always believed we should have better gun control. Soldiers and police officers should be the only ones allowed to have guns. Tasers, pepper spray and blunt objects make good defense weapons. I think security guards on campus should at least have tasers to protect students.”

Whi Jung: “Security guards should be trained to disarm people like that. I feel scared when people have guns, but I do think that security guards should have them.”

Sydney Walker: “Teachers should be trained on what to do in case of a gunman being on campus. One of my teachers presented a slide show to the class this week. I felt that it was important information that she gave to us. I definitely feel more comfortable. It was good training.”

Shannon Wyrwitzke: “TSA

has an air marshal. He’s armed and in plain clothes so no one knows who he is or even if he’s on board. People like that should be here on our campus. They should be trained for situations like school shootings. You can’t stop people from bringing guns to school, but you can have people in place to handle the situation when it does occur.”

Chancellor Michele Johnson discusses the idea of staff members creating a script with posted regulations for emergency situations within the classroom. w w w . P u y a l l u P P O s t . c O m

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Lizzie Duke

NaNoWriMo challenge to pen 50,000 words of novel in November Amber Gilliland Senior Reporter

Midoli brews up new position at Starbucks Lizzie Duke

favorite activity was interacting with students.

“If students don’t know where their class is, if they don’t know where security is, if they don’t know how to navigate their way through the college, they end up in the bookstore,” Cram said. “People always come in and ask the most random questions, so you get to interact with the students beyond just selling them a book or a piece of candy, and then you end up talking to them about their career paths and helping them navigate life.”

Cram said the best part of being at Pierce is “being a part of a bigger —Midoli Cram picture than I am. It’s so stupid, but this has been my baby. And I’ve loved it.”

Cram struggled to hold back tears.

“I’ve spent so many years of my life here,” Cram said.

“It’s hard to walk away, but it’s time for me to move on. I can’t keep doing the same thing for the rest of my life. I’m too young.”

After receiving an email saying Starbucks was hiring, Cram told her husband that after 12 years, it was time to leave Pierce.

Cram applied for the Starbucks position and since Oct. 19 has been training to be a store manager.

Dionne Latta is taking as manager at the bookstore. Cram chose Latta to run the store as they’ve worked together for a year and a half. Cram said she believes Latta will be a great fit.

The new assistant manager, Kariena Mellor, has worked with Cram for 12 years.

“We’re very excited. We really are,” Latta said, referring to Mellor and herself.

Midoli Cram, who has worked at Pierce College for 12 years, left the college Oct. 16 to work as a Starbucks manager.

“I’m sad to go but happy that I’ll be right down the street and I’ll be back to visit,” Cram said.

Twelve years ago, after completing high school, Cram needed to choose between joining the military or attending college. She decided on Pierce.

She has close connections to the college. Cram’s father, Art Watkins, district informational technology manager, has worked at Pierce for more than 20 years. Cram remembers being 7 years old, sitting in her dad’s office and buying snacks at the bookstore.

As a result of those visits, Cram got to know Fort Steilacoom’s bookstore manager. In 2003, when the manager found out Cram was going to be attending Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, she offered her a job. Cram had already worked in retail and figured it’d be easy to go to school, go to work and then move on.

Cram began working part time at the Fort Steilacoom bookstore and continued working there after graduating from college.

In 2006, the Pierce College Puyallup bookstore had a job opening for a full-time position. Cram’s manager suggested she apply for the job.

Cram started as retail clerk but eventually became the store manager.

While working at the bookstore, Cram oversaw textbooks, finance, budgeting data, hiring and occasionally slipped into the Raiders mascot costume. She said her

The Ink Slingers Creative Writing Coalition celebrates National Novel Writing Month in November.

Grace Amsden

“People always come in and ask the most random questions, so you get to interact with the students beyond just selling them a book or a piece of candy, and then you end up talking to them about their career paths and helping them navigate life.”

Reporter

Amber Gilliland

Midoli Cram in Pierce College Puyallup Bookstore before her last day of work.

November is National Novel Writing Month and members of Pierce College Puyallup’s new creative writing club, The Ink Slingers Creative Writing Coalition, are planning ways for students to participate in the novel-writing process.

National Novel Writing Month, an annual challenge for writers to complete 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days, began in July 1999.

To participate, writers must create a free profile on nanowrimo.org. After this, writers have from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30 to write 50,000 words of a novel.

TISCWC is just getting started for the school year, but club president Sydney Blankenship and club founder Morgan Pasquier are participating in this year’s challenge.

This will be Blankenship’s third year participating in the challenge and Pasquier’s sixth.

Blankenship’s planning multiple events to get students involved in NaNoWriMo and the creative writing club.

“I think if people aren’t doing NaNo, they’ll kind of end up having to because Sydney’s going all out on it,” Pasquier said.

Some of those events will be write-ins where students who are participating in the challenge can come and work with other writers.

“There is a regional group for NaNoWriMo that is based mostly out of Tacoma, and while it’s really cool being part of that regional group, I found it’s really tough to get to their write ins, or any of their events,” Blankenship said.

Blankenship hopes having a club on campus will allow more students to attend write-ins to get help.

“By making a club, that will help with NaNoWriMo specifically because then we can make our own write ins and our own events that will be closer to home and easier to get to,” Blankenship said.

Having the opportunity to meet with other writers who are also students will give club members a chance to talk about the challenges that arise when trying to find time for writing amongst school and work.

“Also, it’s a more like-minded group, even more so than people in general who like to write because this is now college students who like to write,” Blankenship said.

Besides NaNoWriMo, Blankenship wants to promote local contests and writing events throughout the year. The club will also provide writers with a place to bounce ideas off each other and get help.

“I guarantee we’re going to have really silly writing parties,” Blankenship said.

Pasquier encourages anyone thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo to get involved in a writing community.

“Being a writer by yourself is really hard and it’s a lot more fun and a lot easier when you’ve got a support group,” Pasquier said.

Japanese students visit Puyallup campus Nursing students from the Osaka University in Japan visited Pierce College Puyallup for three days.

They gave a presentation on cancer pain management in Japan and performed traditional Japanese dances on Oct. 13.

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raidersports

Athletics and activities of Pierce College Puyallup

Courtesy of Fernando Ruiz

Cheer squad ready for season Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

The cheer squad members include, from left, Josh Bautista, Brittany Leggett, Kayla Jaeger, Kaitlyn Ross, Cady Dean, Alyssa Fincham and Cindy Rodriguez.

possible. The team is putting in an effort to host Spirit Days and advertise for games on both campuses. They’re also trying to draw more people to the games by offering free giveaways to spectators.

“We’ve got lots of cool Raiders gear now, and there’s been talk that we might do a raffle gift basket,” Grothe said.

Anyone who wants to try out for the team should contact Grothe at 509-531-7726 or by e-mail at KGrothe@pierce.ctc.edu.

Alex Heldrich

and women’s basketball teams for the 2015-16 season, the team also plans to perform at a few volleyball games during fall quarter.

Those aren’t the only plans the team has this year. Not only will they be performing at sporting events, but they’ll be competing for the first time in Pierce cheer history. They plan on winning, according to Dean.

The team is based in Fort Steilacoom, but Grothe wants to bring as much of the action to the Puyallup campuses

Alex Heldrich

The Raiders cheer squad is looking for three more people to join its team after holding tryouts at the Fort Steilacoom campus Oct. 3-4.

The Raiders cheer squad strives to give students opportunities to be creative and work with others while promoting school spirit, according to its official website. The cheerleaders show their support of their college at many major events.

Students of all skill levels are welcome to try out for the team. Cheerleading experience is not necessary, according to Head Cheer Coach Katelin Grothe.

“What we are really looking for is that these girls or guys are confident and that if they mess up, it’s ok,” Grothe said. “They’re going to keep going, they don’t show that they’re messing up and they’re just trying the best they can.”

The tryouts, held in the Fort Steilacoom Health Education Center, spanned over Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was spent teaching the routines to students, while the actual tryouts were held on Sunday.

Despite the students displaying many different levels of skill, Grothe said the rankings for potential cheerleaders were even for the most part. The cheerleaders were selected based on who scored highest in the rankings.

The members of the Raiders cheer squad this season are Brittany Leggett, Cady Dean, Jacinta Rodriguez, Joshua Bautista, Kaitlin Ross, Makayla Jaeger, Adriana Valenzuela, Avery Laurin, Autumn Diaz, Jamila Crump, Kim Amundson and Kaylea Swanson.

This year’s captains are Brittany Leggett and Cady Dean. This is the second year Dean has been on the team, and she said she’s grateful for the opportunity.

“I tried out in fall 2014 and have been on the team ever since,” Dean said. “I originally tried out because I had just had a baby and I needed something to get me motivated to be fit and healthy again. But then I soon grew to love everyone involved and what they were about.”

In addition to performing at halftime for both the men’s

The Pierce College Raiders baseball team held their annual Halloween baseball game Oct 22 at the Heritage Park Recreation Center in Puyallup. Freshmen faced off against sophomores in a pair of lighthearted games of softball. The freshmen squad won both with a 6-3 victory in the first match followed by a 5-3 victory in the second. The players, dressed in Halloween costumes, gave out candy and hot beverages to spectators throughout the game.

ABOve LeFT: Butter up... Team member attempting to churn out a hit in a cow suit.

ABOve RIGHT: Assistant coach Jacob Phillips (front left) dressed as Macho Man Randy Savage, rallies the Raider baseball team as they trade their traditional uniforms for Halloween costumes for the event.

RIGHT: Halloween decorations of cobwebs and pumpkins at the field. w w w . P u y a l l u P P O s t . c O m

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Office computers display Halloween pictures.

Fall into campus life Photos by Alex Heldrich

RIGHT: Student Derek Stolz shows off his Seahawks pride.

Dylan Hunter and Mary Hall paint their club’s banners for Clubs Fest.

BeLOW: Students Anthony Oglang, Joshua Jensen, Katie Farley and Curtis Shmidt (left to right) play Magic the Gathering in the College Center.

ABOve: A Jacko’-Lantern in the computer center in the College Center creates a festive atmosphere.

LeFT: Halloween decorations brighten the finacial aid office.

RIGHT AND FAR RIGHT: Fall decorations in the staff lounge in the Gaspard Administration Building.

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