The Puyallup Post | Volume 21 | Issue 1

VOLUME 21 ISSUE 1

OCT. 14, 2015

SERVING THE STUDENTS OF

PIERCE COLLEGE PUYALLUP

New Pierce site will launch in 2016

B

y the end of the next school year, the current Pierce College District website should be no more. Pierce Marketing and Communications department is heading the design of a new platform for the website.

It’s expected to launch in spring and will feature a more user-friendly format.

The current site is made with a program that was created internally when the college was built. It worked at the time, but the older site has become irrelevant to the user. Though the site has gone through a couple re-designs before, the same basic pages remain. “(This program) is great when you still have the person who created it on campus,” Brian Benedetti, director of Marcom, said. “Marketing is the only one who can use it now, and everyone has to send their (page) updates through us.”

This program allows people to update their respective department’s information at a time suitable for them.

“Everyone follows the same look; otherwise, it becomes a zoo,” Benedetti said.

The new site will be created on Drupal, a platform that gives more power to each individual department. The two platforms differ in look, feel and the actual background.

The site is moving to a content management system, meaning all of the site’s pages will be categorized and stored so it’ll be easier to update and

edit. Drupal allows a person to publish, modify, edit and maintain content with little coding by hand. Since the original site was maintained using the code PHP, it was quite static. Changes that needed to be made had to be coded by hand.

The revamped site will enable individuals in the departments to update what’s on their pages. Providing too much information overwhelms the reader, and as a result, users won’t take away new information, according to Benedetti. Everything on the site needs to be written in the same voice, and Drupal allows college staff members to do that.

Each department will receive training on how to navigate the site’s features.

However, only a selected number of people within Marcom department are given site governance, meaning only a few can update the website. Department staff members renew their information and submit the change requests, which are then approved by a dean and sent to Marcom to get the final stamp of approval. This process is still in the works, so it may change by the prospected release date.

Marcom has contracted with the company Topia Technology to help with the creation process as they move the content over. They focus on data breaches and ensuring a high level of data security to industries. The contract with Topia Technology is to help Marcom in the development of the site. In the end,

By Armani Jackson

Continued on page 16

Photos by Arumin Jackson

Marketing and Communications is heading the development of a far more user-friendly website that should be put in motion by spring

Angela Carson and Bryan Johnson working on the new Pierce website.

“Drupal allows a person to publish, modify, edit and maintain content with little coding by hand.

Since the original site was maintained using the code PHP, it was quite static. Every change that needed to be made had to be coded by hand.”

Commentary • News • Campus Life • Entertainment • Sports

Lori Brock

Post’s online presence gets new look for 2015 Chase Charaba Online Social Media Manager

This year The Puyallup Post revamped its online presence to extend into new social media platforms and to create new website features for the readers.

During the last week of September the student newspaper debuted its new website theme made by ThemeGrill. The new look aimed to increase readability and visual appeal by adding accent colors and a three-column structure. The website features a new header image, an enhanced staff page, color-coded sections, Twitter timeline support, a showcase section for the most recent articles and support for new multimedia additions such as issuu and YouTube integration.

Issuu is a PDF hosting service that will allow The Post to upload its entire print catalog to the website and Facebook to extend content reach. This also allows readers to zoom in on the text and photos and access the entire print edition without having to pick one up at the Pierce College Puyallup campus.

The Post developed new goals for its social media use.

Videos will be uploaded to YouTube every two weeks and will range from campus tour videos and features to Buzz feed-type reviews and experiments for the entertainment of students and staff.

The newspaper will redirect its online focus to multimedia news and entertainment, such as photo slideshows, videos and Spotify playlists while also uploading weekly articles.

Website: puyalluppost.com Facebook: The Puyallup Post Twitter: @puyalluppost Instagram: @puyalluppost YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ThePuyallupPost The Puyallup Post staff

The Puyallup Post is produced by students attending Pierce College Puyallup.

This publication is intended as a public forum. Published materials are the sole responsibility of the editors, reporters and photographers, and are not intended to represent the college’s policies.

A person commits the offense of publication theft when he or she willfully or knowingly takes more than one copy of The Puyallup Post. The newspaper is distributed on the Puyallup campus.

For information on advertising rates, or how to submit letters to the editor or story ideas, call (253) 840-8496 or e-mail puypost@pierce.ctc.edu.

The student newspaper office is in room 218 in the College Center.

Advisor: Teresa Josten Graphics/Production: Steve Heeb

Newspaper racks are located throughout the Puyallup campus.

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..........................gamsden@pierce.ctc.edu Managing Editor: Armani Jackson..................... ajackson@pierce.ctc.edu Senior Reporter: Amber Gilliland .........................agilliland@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: CJ Robinson .....................................crobinson@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Suzanne Buchholz............................sbuchholz@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Lizzie Duke .............................................eduke@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Alex Heldrich ......................................aheldrich@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter: Hannah Pederson............................hpederson@pierce.ctc.edu Online Reporter: Katie Fenton..........................kfenton@pierce.ctc.edu Office Manager: Andrea Mendoza....................amendoza@pierce.ctc.edu Reporter/Illustrator: Lori Brock..................................................................

Online Social Media Manager: Chase Charaba.... ccharaba@pierce.ctc.edu

www.puy alluppost.com

Some images and information printed in this newspaper may be from Internet sources and are used under the fair use doctrine, which allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders for such uses as commentary, criticism, news reporting and scholarship.

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COMMENTSCORNER

The voice of the students of Pierce College Puyallup

Skyrocketing textbook prices leaving students in a lurch Hannah Pederson Reporter

Students know that painful clenching sensation in their gut when walking to the campus bookstore to spend a king’s ransom on a quarter’s worth of textbooks.

This feeling and experience isn’t an isolated incident; it’s an epidemic. According to a report published in June 2013 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, college textbook prices have increased at three times the rate of inflation over the past decade. This unprecedented spike prompted an amendment to the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008, followed by an investigation on part of the U.S. GAO to promote transparency with textbook publishing companies. The goal being to see why prices have been rising at such a breakneck speed and if there are any solutions in sight.

It’s evident that prices are much higher than they should be.

Students aren’t the ones choosing which textbooks to

Commentary

FIGHTIN’WORDS

“Publishers started producing new editions as soon as the previous ones hit the shelves, forcing students to purchase brand new textbooks at exorbitant prices.” buy, the professors are. Professors are more interested in what’s inside the book than what’s under the barcode on the back cover. This dynamic is called the principal-agent problem, which means that the person deciding what the student has to purchase isn’t considering the price because they’re not the ones buying it.

Therefore, textbook publishing companies cater to the people picking out the textbook, not the ones buying them.

They create more unnecessary additions and crank out more

Should students be required to enroll in College Success?

Amber Gilliland

CJ Robinson

has five elective credits. If a business student takes the five-credit elective COLLG110 class, they’ve used up all elecAs of summer quarter, tive credits. If students planned to use those Pierce College is requiring credits to take something else, they will all incoming students to either have to take a larger course load, stay take the introduction to an extra quarter or give up taking the class college success class.

Amber Gilliland altogether.

Forcing students to take If students are unaware of the new COLLG110 is a waste of requirement or try to skip this class, Pierce their time. will change the students schedule to include I took college success my first quarter in COLLG110.

2013 because it was suggested to me by a A passing grade of 2.0 or higher is former student. That student had been out of school for about 20 years and said the class required to pass the course. If this isn’t achieved, the student must retake it the next really helped him get acclimated.

Being fresh out of high school, the quarter or an administrative block will be assignments in the class felt pointless. It was put on their record.

This is a ridiculous rule. To earn a degree, the same things I’d been doing the past three students are required to take a number of years in high school.

The curriculum was mostly focused on other classes. Students aren’t told when they must take these courses, time management and they just have to take writing papers. While Students shouldthese are useful skills to “Besides forcing them. n’t have an academic have, I’d already had this information drilled into students to pay for block placed on them of COLLG110 me by my high school a class they may because if other required classes teachers.

We also did scavenger not need, requiring aren’t that way.

Exceptions can be hunts and had to find COLLG110 takes made for certain students where certain things were to not take the class, such on campus. Yes, it’s away part of the as those that have important to know where freedom that already attended college. things are on campus, but I’d been shown where all students have to Despite these exemptions, there are some stuthese things were about explore different dents who don’t meet the two weeks before at the new student orientation. I types of classes.” criteria or simply don’t need this course. left that class angry I see the validity in because of wasting about taking the course for some students. I’ve $300.

Besides forcing students to pay for a heard mixed things from my peers; some class they may not need, requiring loved the class and others felt that they COLLG110 takes away the freedom that threw away a few hundred dollars. I feel that students have to explore different types of the course is an amazing resource for those classes. Those three or five credits can’t be who truly need it, but it should be up to the student to decide whether it’s necessary or used to take something else they enjoy.

For example, the business degree only not.

selves and the college.

Many Running Start students may come into their first year not expecting For many students what college is like. Not accustomed to starting their first year at the fast pace and dense material, the Pierce College, the class can help prevent stress and proprospect of entering the mote effective learning. college world can be Planning, another vital portion of intimidating. With the CJ Robinson both college and life after school, is addition of college sucemphasized for the duration of COLLG cess courses, many students can feel 110.

A class dedicated to help students more at ease with time to plan for the plan for their future can be useful in future. many situations.

While the idea of a required class to A common argument against this prepare students can bring out strong class is that by requiring it, Pierce is opinions, it’s important to see why the wasting both the students’ and college’s college decided to make this class necresources.

Time and money often come essary. up in discussions, but the college has Multiple studies have found that any tried its best to be flexible.

Exemptions kind of college success class is beneficome with some cial to students conditions includin their studies, ing certain transand this espefer students and cially applies to “Skills such as study certificate prothose at commuhabits, work ethic and grams that are 25nity colleges. credits or less.

According to time management are Also, with three Tulsa Communiessential to excelling in and five-credit ty College, the 1,000 students school. COLLG110 gives options, students in college sucwishing to receive students the ability to be a certificate or cess courses have a 20 percan plan confident in themselves degree cent greater their requirements and their skills as they chance of for their field aderemaining at the around the move forward in their path quately college.

At class. This system Durham Comgives better through higher munity College, options for tuition education.” students taking and payment this course options. retained inforSkills such as mation 30 percent better than those who study habits, work ethic and time mandidn’t. agement are essential to excelling in Many students fail to take these sta- school. COLLG 110 gives students the tistics into account. Although they may ability to be confident in themselves and not have the greatest time attending this their skills as they move forward in their class, it’s in the best interest for them- path through higher education.

Senior Reporter

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updated editions, though that’s not the only reason why prices are so uncomfortably high.

The textbook industry was never fond of students selling back textbooks, but when the internet came along and enabled students to sell back faster and more often, it was financially devastating. The window to market and sell their product was shrinking at an exponential rate; so the publishing companies try to make the most of it.

Companies bolstered the price of their books to cover their losses. Since they couldn’t sell as many textbooks, they raised the prices of the ones they could. Publishers started producing new editions as soon as the previous ones hit the shelves, forcing students to purchase brand new textbooks at exorbitant prices. These seemed like relatively solid ideas, until inevitably students found a way around it.

Services like manybooks.net offer hundreds of thousands of ebooks free for illegal download, and they’re not alone.

Sites like these are gaining in popularity, and it’s no mystery as to why. What other choice do students have?

Well, they could not buy the textbook; because that’s always a viable option.

Reporter

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Meet the 2014-15 Puyallup Post staff Chase Charaba

Katie Fenton

Hannah Pederson

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish this year? I applied for The Puyallup Post because journalism was once what I had planned to major in. I spent three years working on the Emerald Ridge High School JagWire, including my senior year as Co-Editor-inChief/Online Editor, where I led the newspaper to a 10th place win at the National Scholastic Press Association Best of Show competition in Denver, Colo. I wanted to continue to grow as a journalist and bring my experience and expertise to Pierce College. I plan to reformat The Post website and transform our social media presence to stay in touch with the readers and provide breaking news and entertainment for students and staff alike.

What are your educational goals? I plan to transfer to University of Washington Tacoma to pursue a bachelor's degree in information technology.

What music do you listen to? I listen to rock and metal music, usually from the '70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. AC/DC, Aerosmith and Def Leppard are my favorite bands.

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined the newspaper because I have a love for all things media. I really enjoyed reading The Puyallup Post when I had some time between classes, and I've always loved writing. Last quarter I was taking a news writing course taught by Teresa Josten, who actually convinced me to apply for a job with The Post. I thought it would be a fun and interesting experience, so I went ahead and applied. I want to learn more about journalism and produce quality content. Also, I want to get more involved on campus. I've never really been into clubs or sports, but I know the newspaper will provide plenty of opportunities for me to explore Pierce College and meet new people.

What are your educational goals? My educational goals are kind of straightforward: never stop learning. I have a lot of interests, so school is really important to me. In the near future (this spring), I want to graduate with my associate of arts degree so I can transfer as soon as possible. Earning my bachelor’s in communications (preferably at University of Washington Tacoma) is the next step.

What music do you listen to? I listen to everything. I've always loved alternative and blues-inspired music. The Black Keys are one of my favorite bands. But lately I've really been into rap and chill music. Kendrick Lamar is definitely my favorite rapper.

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I applied for this position because I wanted to familiarize myself with the journalistic side of writing and get involved in the goings on of Pierce College. I hope to develop my human to human interaction skills and find my strengths as a writer and reporter.

What are your educational goals? My educational goals are to complete my associate degree and graduate from Pierce with 90 credits and a high school diploma under my belt. Then, I’ll transfer to the four-year institution of my choice, maybe a graduate program after that. Who knows.

What music do you listen to? I listen to a lot of classical music, but am also into indie/classic rock.

Online and Social Media Manager

Amber Gilliland Senior Reporter

I joined the newspaper because I wanted to develop my photography skills. I never imagined that I would fall in love with the whole writing process. This year I hope to meet lots of new people and gain more journalism skills.

What are your educational goals? My educational goals are to earn my associate degree in business from Pierce and then study journalism at the University of Washington Tacoma.

What music do you listen to? I mostly listen to rock and country music.

Alex Heldrich Reporter

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? It seemed like a great opportunity to make friends and get better at writing. I hope to write stories that intrigue our readers and give them a medium to voice their thoughts.

What are your educational goals? To earn a master’s degree in nursing at the University of Washington.

What music do you listen to? Mostly hardcore punk but also rock and instrumental pieces.

Lori Brock

Illustrator/Reporter Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined the newspaper crew because I love writing.

What's really great is that I’m able to use my artistic skills for the job too. What I want to accomplish? I'd like to write really good articles that speak to people somehow.

Whether it's about being kind or seeking to understand other students or teachers; or just encouraging students and others in some way with the articles that I write; that's what I'd like to do. With art, I'd like to make people smile and maybe even laugh once in a while. That would be nice.

What are your educational goals? My goal is to become an registered nurse and while I'm pursuing that goal, to take some art classes, and maybe some writing classes. In the end, besides being an RN, I'd like to leave Pierce as a better artist and a better writer.

What music do you listen to? I enjoy listening to a variety of music, classical, pop (I love Mike Rosenberg), Josh Groban and gospel music. Those are my favorites.

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Online Reporter

Print Reporter

Grace Amsden Editor-in-Chief

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined The Puyallup Post because I’d worked for the newspaper at my high school for three years and wanted to continue my journalism experience. Last year on The Puyallup Post, I had the privilege of being the managing editor. The newspaper feels like a home at Pierce College.

What are your educational goals? I’m here at Pierce College to earn an associate of arts degree and then possibly transfer to University of Washington Tacoma. I’m not sure which career I’m aiming for, but am interested in communications.

What music do you listen to? Broadway is in my top favorite music selections. I also live on Disney music, Pink Floyd and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (swing music).

Andrea Mendoza

Office Manager/Online Reporter Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined the newspaper because I wanted to gain experience in journalism. What I hope to accomplish in the newspaper is to earn the respect of the newspaper, and be worthy of being around amazing and talented writers.

What are your educational goals? My educational goal is to graduate with my associate of arts degree in nursing and go into a four-year college.

What music do you listen to? I listen to Latino music. I enjoy bachata, salsa and merengue.

Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I have a passion for writing and wanted to use my abilities to reach out to other students through the newspaper. I hope to improve my skills as a writer and be able to write wellinformed, engaging stories.

What are your educational goals? My goal is to receive my associate degree and attend a culinary school after graduating from Pierce.

What music do you listen to? A lot of pop.

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CJ Robinson Reporter

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined the newspaper because I have a love of connecting with people. The Puyallup Post gives me a chance to do that while also giving me the ability to share their stories.

What are your educational goals? Currently I hope to receive my associate of arts degree from Pierce and from there transfer to a four-year college.

What music do you listen to? I like to listen to alternative music and anything from musicals.

Lizzie Duke Reporter

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I joined the newspaper because I love writing, editing and people. I want to become a better writer and more comfortable with different writing styles, and I also want to come out of my comfort zone more.

What are your educational goals? My goal is to get my master’s degree in either communications or psychology (or whatever I end up loving) so that I can have a great career I enjoy.

What music do you listen to? I listen to everything from Michael Bublé to FUN to Sam Hunt. My current favorite artist is Charlie Puth.

Armani Jackson Managing Editor

Why did you join the newspaper? What do you hope to accomplish? I applied to The Puyallup Post because I wanted to know that I was qualified enough to be a real journalist. I only have one year of experience as an editor for my high school paper, The Cardinal (at Franklin Pierce) which made me unsure of my abilities. As most of the other staff members, I live and love to write. Ultimately though, that wasn’t the reason I applied. My application was sent in last minute as more of an experiment than anything else. I decided to apply for the position of managing editor because the role I fulfilled at my high school fit seamlessly with my current job description. I love finding innovative ways to give out information, but there will always be something absolutely brilliant about having the opportunity to get involved with the entire creation process rather than just penning the words.

What are your educational goals? I want to gain more exposure to the real journalism world and see if it’s something I’m capable of succeeding in. I want to develop my leadership skills and become a resource to the team as well as to the public. I’m going to double major in database management & design and technical theater.

What music do you listen to? You can mostly find me jamming to Indie/Indie pop, Korean pop, alternative, electronica and broadway show tunes.

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NEWSFLASH

What’s going on at Pierce College Puyallup

Pierce home to 400 International students Lizzie Duke

Whi Jung and the 5,000-mile journey Lizzie Duke Reporter

International student Whi Jung, who lives in South Korea, began attending Pierce last year.

school.

“I came here and people are really encouraging,” Jung said.

She loves the freedom that living in the United States allows, and the maturity of people in college. She says there is too much restriction in high school.

“When I’m here I can just say whatever I want,” Jung said.

Living in both America and South Korea, Jung has gotten a first person view of two completely different

Suzanne Buchholz

Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

Two new water bottle refill stations have been installed at Pierce College Puyallup, allowing students to do more than quench their thirst for knowledge.

The refill stations, located in the College Center and the Health Education Center, had been proposed by members of the student government. Their idea was born out of a desire to be more environmentally conscious and simultaneously help with the issue of water privatization (the process of bottling water and selling it at a higher price than necessary).

“A couple years ago, the Washington Community and Technical College Student Association decided to start an initiative to ban disposable water bottles,” Sean Cooke, director of Student Life, said.

The initiative had been in discussion for almost a year, during which the student government researched different water systems and their costs. The students themselves pitched in to cover the costs of the stations, which cost about $1,415 each.

The project was not limited to just the Puyallup campus. The faculty at Fort Steilacoom installed two refill stations on their campus at around the same time.

They’d planned to be more ambitious and install at least one station per building, but ended up limiting it to only two for experimental purposes.

Students questioning how sanitary these systems are should know that they are motion-activated, which could make them a more sanitary option than the con-

Student Catherine Mann using the water bottle refill station in the College Center.

ventional water fountains on campus as there’s less of a chance of a student putting their mouth up against the spout. The water is also locally sourced.

“The water is sourced from Puyallup tap water,” Cooke said. “The system has a filter but is not chilled, though it averages about 55 degrees.”

Various students who use the stations think they are a nice addition to the campus.

“It’s just useful and handy,” student Amanda Augustine said.

Students who hadn’t used the stations but heard about them also voiced positive responses.

“I think it’s a good idea since a lot of students bring their own water bottles,” student Kealey Matyasovszky said. “It’ll be easier for them.”

So far, the systems have saved more than 1,900 plastic water bottles in the CTR and more than 2,700 bottles in the HEC.

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Legislature signs bill reducing tuition Amber Gilliland Senior Reporter

A recent tuition bill signed by the Washington state Legislature could mean good news for students but may be a problem for colleges.

When it comes to tuition, Pierce College doesn’t have control over prices according to Pierce College Chancellor Michele Johnson.

The legislature gives authorization for tuition increases or decreases and then a state board decides whether to use the price that’s been authorized.

“We’ve never advocated for tuition increase; we’ve always advocated for the state to give more money in the operating budget and not put the burden on students,” Johnson said.

This past summer, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill to reduce tuition for all colleges across the state. Community colleges will reduce tuition by 5 percent under this new bill.

Pierce implemented this change at the start of fall quarter. Students who had already paid their tuition before the new bill was in effect received checks for the difference.

After fees, a Washington resident will now pay $112 per credit each quarter at Pierce. After ten credits, students pay a discounted rate. For example, someone taking 12 credits to be a full-time student will now

pay $1,230.30 per quarter after fees.

Students can view the new tuition chart for the 2015-2016 academic year under the tuition calculator tab on the Pierce website.

Universities will have tuition reductions of 15 to 20 percent. Washington State University and the University of Washington will reduce their tuition by 15 percent according to q13fox.com. This reduction will mean savings of about $1,700 for Washington State University students and about $1,800 for University of Washington students.

While students may rejoice the decrease, it can create dilemmas for colleges.

“Students get caught either way because if they reduce the money, then we have less money to give you what you need,” Johnson said. “We have less money for sections and advising and tutoring and all the other services that you have. But, when tuition goes up, students get priced out of the market.”

According to Johnson, the college was given funds from the state called a backfill to help remedy the loss from the tuition reduction, but it didn’t cover the entire deficit.

“We were pleased that they made a reduction for student tuition and that they at least attempted to give us relief by giving the backfill,” Johnson said.

Tuition may go back up next year according to q13fox.com. Until then, students can enjoy the extra funds in their bank accounts.

Broc k

Bottle refill stations save plastic and time

Lori

More than 5,000 miles from home and staying with a host family, Whi Jung, 17, is an only child from South Korea.

She’s a human rights advocate, singer and one of 25 international students at Pierce College Puyallup.

“I love it,” Jung said. “I feel like I’ve made such a great choice in my life.”

Jung began her international education at 8-years-old when she went to stay with a family friend in Canada, where she attended school. She stayed until she was 15 years old.

“I was too young, so I didn’t even think that I’d be staying for seven years,” Jung said.

After finishing elementary school, Jung moved back to South Korea to live with her parents. She attended Incheon Chadwick in Korea from eighth to 10th grade.

Jung says the teachers were American and were so influenced by Korean parents that the school wasn’t really American because it was too competitive.

Jung moved to Washington last year to finish high

cultures. Jung said that some people have a hard time getting back into their culture after coming to the states, and she finds that frustrating.

“I try to keep both cultures and understand both sides,” Jung said. “But I totally know how they feel.”

For a student to come to America, live with a host family and attend Pierce College, it costs about $3,500 to $4,700. Often, the student’s family will save all its money to help send the student to America to get an education.

Jung’s parents support her. When sending her to Canada, Jung’s mother told her the world is becoming globalized, and English will be an important language to learn. According to Jung, most residents in Korea know English.

“Now we have to have something different to have a good job,” she said.

According to Mary Meublok, manager of international student services, about 400 international students currently attend Pierce but only 25 of them are at the Puyallup campus.

This is because Fort Steilacoom has the English language program that many of the students need. However, the Puyallup campus is home to half of Pierce College’s American Honors international students.

“It’s amazing how much people grow when they go to different places,” Meublok said.

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Linking into Lync

Pierce installs advanced phone system across district Grace Amsden

Grace Amsden Editor-in-Chief

The original Pierce College telephone system, Avaya Definity, was installed in 1992. The district has acquired a new system for communication between employees: Microsoft Lync.

All communication through the system is computer based and users must sign in to use it. Calls can be made by searching any faculty member, finding the contact information in the search bar. Calls can also be made to public numbers outside of Pierce.

The features of Lync extends beyond making calls. Webcam use, instant messaging, video conferencing, document sharing and the ability to leave voicemails are other facets. Users can limit their calling availability by selecting available, do not disturb or away, though there are other options.

The systems were put into Pierce offices as a means of staff communication.

“It’s a great collaboration tool,” Art Watkins, district information technology manager, said.

Watkins, who made the decision for implementing the systems, says he recognized the need for stronger communication at Pierce. He says the original phone system was becoming outdated and the support was getting expensive. Finding individual phone parts became difficult. Some parts required searching across the United States.

“It was time for us to move into the 21st century,” Watkins said.

Watkins became interested in Lync because of its functionality and integration

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Multimedia facilitator John Worswick using the Lync system.

phone designed to function with Lync instead of using the headset.

The phone requires a login for use. If a call comes through the computer, the user can pick up the physical phone to talk in lieu of a headset.

The tutoring center at the Puyallup campus utilizes Lync, yet doesn’t use headsets.

“I’m a ‘germaphobe,’ so I ordered actual phones for all the computers in here, so we don’t use headsets in tutoring,” Kristen Morgan, program support supervisor for the tutoring center, said.

Morgan says Lync is convenient for making video calls to staff members across

with Microsoft products and Outlook, the faculty email. In addition, Watkins estimates the system is about $200,000 less than other communication systems.

The funds for the new systems was granted to Watkins from administration in Nov. 2013. Joint Base Lewis-McChord was the first Pierce College site to acquire Lync in June 2014, and then the Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom campuses followed.

For communicating, headsets are hooked up to sync with the system. If an incoming call comes through the computer, the user picks up the headset to hear the person on the other line.

Staff can also choose to have a desktop

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campus.

“The supervisor of Fort Steilacoom and I will collaborate on a lot of things, so it’s nice to have video chat; it’s really convenient,” Morgan said.

Morgan said the system sometimes has problems, such as when a staff member forgets to sign in or out of the system or if the computer momentarily stops working.

“It’s really challenging because when the network’s down, you don’t get any phone calls,” Morgan said.

An original Avaya phone may be placed in offices if the network goes down or in the event of an emergency.

The computer labs on campus are other places using Lync. Student lab assistant Breanna Harris, who works in the College Center lab, says the system is self-explanatory.

“We mostly do instant messaging if we need to talk to someone,” Harris said.

Staff members in the Office of Student Life, The Puyallup Post newspaper and the library are among other places using Lync.

The installations are near completion at the Puyallup campus.

“By the end of fall quarter, I expect it (the installation) to be completely finished,” Watkins said.

Eventually, a further computer update will transition Lync to the system Skype for Business, a rebranded version of Lync.

The program was renamed in April 2015.

Though the graphics might appear differently, Skype for Business carries the same features as Lync.

Various computers on campus currently have Skype for Business, but Watkins said once the servers are all updated, it will change from Lync.

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Chase Charaba

SHOUTOUT Lori Brock

What do you think about the College 110 class being mandatory?

COLLG110 professor Mike Peluso discusses the results of a recent class test on the course syllabus.

COLLG 110 now mandatory for new students

Chase Charaba

position, which is my role,” Baillon said. “I’m in the second year of my tenure process, and I think that realPierce College now requires new students to take ly shows Pierce College’s commitment to student success: that they’ve created a new faculty role to oversee COLLG110 during their first or second quarter.

COLLG110, a college success course worth three or this new program.”

Students who don’t enroll in COLLG110 within five credits, is designed to help new students transition seven days of the start of second quarter will have their into college. The class explores skills such as financial schedule altered to meet the requirement, according to literacy, reading strategies, brain plasticity and time an official Pierce email. In addition, students who fail management. the course are required to retake it.

“It’s all part of what you call Achieving the Dream, Many students feel that this requirement is wrong which is a big picture goal that Pierce has bought because they could use the credits for a different class into,” Mike Peluso, educational adviser, said. “Hopeessential for their degree. fully, the bottom line is stu“I don’t really think it dents’ achievement and should be a requirement, experience at the college “Itʼs all part of what you call especially for people like me level is better than before.

[Studies] have found out that Achieving the Dream, which is that have worked hard on there are way too many stu- a big picture goal that Pierce knowing how to study and really just how to succeed in dents coming into college has bought into. Hopefully, college, which is what the who are not prepared for the success class is,” stubasic skills that college the bottom line is studentsʼ college dent Amber Lowe said. “I requires.”

Achieving the Dream, a achievement and experience really think that it should be national organization that at the college level is better optional.”

Peluso said students Pierce College is part of, should give the class a helped to lead the college to than before.” chance because they might focus more on student success, prompting the college —Mike Peluso learn something about themselves or their professors that to look into COLLG110. will help them be successful “Last year Pierce College was actually named as a “I donʼt really think it should in college.

“School requires an open leader college within that be a requirement, especially mind; if you go into school group, and we were named a leader college faster than any for people like me that have closed minded, it doesn’t work,” Peluso said. “An other institution has been recognized, so we’ve been worked hard on knowing how open mind is one of the most part of this group for a cou- to study and really just how to crucial qualities a student needs to have to succeed in ple of years,” Amber Baillon, succeed in college, which is college.” assistant professor & coordiStudents wishing to opt nator of College Success, what the college success out of taking COLLG110 said. “It’s a national organiclass is. I really think that it have a few options. Accordzation that’s focused on stuing to the COLLG110 policy dent success at community should be optional.” approved by the Learning colleges, so they’re really Council June 3, students who looking at data that can help —Amber Lowe transfer to Pierce with at institutions make good decileast 30 credits or a college sions to support students.” degree don’t have to take the class.

Students earning a Baillon says that when Pierce College joined certificate with fewer than 25 credits also don’t need to Achieving the Dream, it connected the district with take the course. “coaches” who come to both campuses to help make An exemption can also be granted for other reasons decisions and analyze data. if students request one through the Director of AdvisCOLLG110 was introduced in 2012 with the intention of eventually becoming a required course. Baillon ing and Entry Services Christine McMullin in the Stuwas named the assistant professor and coordinator of dent Success office.

Peluso said the class is important for all students to college success in 2014 to allow the college district to prepare for making the class mandatory during sum- take and should be required.

“People who start off, right by the get-go saying, ‘I mer quarter 2015. “(The district) knew they wanted this class to don’t need this class, I’m not going to get anything out become a core piece of achieving your education here of this’, they may be the ones who need it the most,” at campus, so they created a dedicated 10-year track Peluso said.

Online and Social Media Manager

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Kaeleb George: “I think it’s a waste of elective credits. The orientation should cover the things taught (in that class). I learned a lot of what’s taught in the class on my own, like using Canvas. Forcing students to take the class forces them to pay out an extra $300.”

Landon McMeekin: “I

understand the need for this class from the school’s perspective, but I don’t think it should be mandatory.

Everything in the syllabus is common knowledge or common sense. I propose an aptitude test to opt out of the course.”

Jacob Fingerle: “It may be

useful for high schoolers, like Running Start students, but it seems kind of useless for people who understand how to prioritize.”

Anna Hallahan: “I kind of see

why it’s needed because people develop differently than others, but I think students should take a test to see if they need the class.”

Brook Cook: “I don’t think it

should be required because there are a lot of people who are independent and know what they’re doing. There are others who will need it, but it should be their decision to take it.”

Stevie Benton: “A lot of stuff

it taught I already knew; I learned it in advanced placement. I think it’s really good for people who need it to get back into the swing of school, or if someone needs tips about how to do well in college. I feel like it should be a personal thing. Recommended would be better.”

Mae Yom-aree:

“I think it’s a good idea because it gives students more ideas about how to study and about college life in general.”

Teresa Di Leonardo: “It’s probably very necessary for Running Start students. I’ve seen former Running Start students who didn’t finish their associate degree because they didn’t develop the necessary study skills. They wasted the opportunity to get a degree just because they didn’t have the right guidance.”

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PTK textbook collection boxes in college center Hannah Pederson

Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

Students may have noticed two large boxes full of textbooks in front of the Office of Student Life in the College Center. The boxes, set out by Phi Theta Kappa, are part of a book drive to help distribute books to people all over the world who need them.

Lately, PTK has been focused on community service projects. They came up with the idea for the book drive near the end of spring quarter, and in June they put the donation bins out near the bookstore.

“It was just an idea that the students came up with to do something good for the community,” Katy OlsenTiglao, chemistry professor and department coordinator, said.

The books collected in the drive will be donated to Better World Books, an organization that works to save books from landfills and put them in the hands of those who need them. According to their website, BWB has donated more than 17 million books, and reused or recycled more than 198 million books since their founding in 2002.

BWB gives funding to other organizations such as Worldfund, Room to Read, National Center for Fami-

The donation boxes in front of the Office of Student Life.

lies Learning and Books for Africa, with whom PTK has worked with on previous book drives. With help from these groups, BWB has distributed books on an international scale.

PTK hasn’t collected the donations yet, so students who wish to donate can still drop books off in the

“The books collected in the drive will be donated to Better World Books, an organization that works to save books from landfills and put them in the hands of those who need them.” boxes. Donating is one alternative students can take if they have old textbooks they don’t need and are unable to sell.

“I totally understand students need to get money back and be able to buy other books,” Olsen-Tiglao said. “But if they can’t sell them back, then it would be great if they donated them to us.”

PTK has not set a specific goal for how many books they hope to receive through the book drive.

“We’d certainly like to get a lot,” Olsen-Tiglao said.

Lizzie Duke

Pierce grinds down on Raiders’ riders Lizzie Duke Reporter

The use of skateboards to get to and from class is common between both students and teachers at Pierce.

According to Campus Safety, skateboarding is acceptable at Pierce College as long as the rider is going straight from point A to point B, and the skateboard is being used for transportation.

“We’ve had these skateboard problems for years,” Maureen Rickertsen, sergeant-supervisor of Campus Safety, said.

Rickertsen found it necessary to put up signs around campus about two years ago, following a series of incidents. Those signs are all gone now, disappeared onto someone’s bedroom wall, Rickertsen assumes.

Rickertsen says the majority of the situations that led up to the decision to create a skateboard rule were caused

by non-Pierce College Puyallup-associated people.

A rule against tricks and non-transportation skateboarding was found necessary because of liability. Most incidents don’t involve Pierce students, and tend to happen late at night and on weekends.

Last year, a non-Pierce student was riding his skateboard and crashed into the Arts and Allied Health Building which resulted in a broken femur. Another incident occurred a few years ago when some students from Ferrucci Junior High came to Pierce after hours to skateboard. One of the students fell and ended up in the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.

Brackon Ward, Pierce College Puyallup student, skateboards and longboards. He says he wasn't aware there was a rule, though has brought his board to school before.

“You just can’t trick at school,” Ward said.

Brackon Ward riding his longboard outside the CTR

New dental program fills hole in Pierce course catalog Hannah Pederson Reporter

This past year, Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Dental Hygiene Program Director Monica Hospenthal gained approval for her bachelor’s degree program.

For a student in Washington state pursuing any sort of degree in dental hygiene, the first step is to complete two years of prerequisites at a junior college, which provides exposure to anatomy, psychology, chemistry and a variety of other courses. Next is an associate degree, which requires two years of dental hygiene focused courses to prepare the student for work in a clinic. If the student plans on completing a bachelor’s, two years at a four-year college is required.

For a master’s degree, it takes another two years, again at a four-year instituition.

Hospenthal noticed that her experience was the norm in the dental hygiene community, and after new state legislation was passed in 2005 that allowed community colleges to petition the state to allow them to offer four-year degrees, she says she saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

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associates, but could be expanded on to enhance student’s learning.

“I stretched it (the program) over eight quarters to provide a balanced and equitable workload to promote student success,” Hospenthal said. She believes that the extra quarter will have a positive impact on the stress levels of students and faculty.

The dental hygiene site’s homepage encourages students in the program not to work while enrolled, as “the average number of weekly class hours ranges from approximately 25-30 hours,” and out of class study time can range from 20-30 hours per week.

Christina Welch, who graduated from Pierce’s associate degree program in June and became a registered dental hygienist four weeks later, described a typical day in the program. It starts as class or clinicstyle learning at 7 a.m., setting up at 8 a.m., working on a patient for three and a half hours, a one hour lunch break, another three and a half hour patient session, then filling out her charts, cleaning up and heading out by 5:30 p.m.

She attended Pierce’s dental hygiene program because she knew it had the strongest reputation out of those in the area, and four months after graduating, she has a full time job as an RDH in addi-

was the pioneer, launching a bachelor’s in applied behavioral science in 2009 and other community colleges soon followed.

This new legislation meant that Hospenthal could shave two years off her students’ education. Some may view this as a negative thing, thinking that students need as much education and experience as they can get. However, Pierce’s dental hygiene program has always offered the same curriculum that a student would find at a four-year college, but since the program is housed in a community college, they legally couldn’t offer a fouryear degree.

When Hospenthal launched work on the BASDH in 2013, she was ecstatic.

From may of 2014 to February of 2015, she met with the program directors of other community colleges who had bachelor’s programs, program directors at universities and anyone else who could help her achieve this goal. The end product of this endeavour is a bachelor’s program of 192 credits completed over eight quarters (not including two years of prerequisites) as opposed to the associates program of 189.5 credits over seven quarters.

As for the added 2.5 credits of the bachelor’s degree, they cover material that had already been incorporated in the

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tion to doing temp work one day a week.

Under the tutelage of such professors as Hospenthal, Welch believes she came out a well rounded dental hygienist prepared for pretty much anything a clinic could throw her way.

“We don’t just clean teeth, we treat the patient,” Welch said.

The total cost for eight quarters of tuition, textbooks and fees is $34,966.

This number doesn’t include the two years of prerequisites and the board examination fee required to become an RDH. Before this program, students pursuing a bachelor’s in dental hygiene only had one option: two years of prerequisites, two years completeing their associates, and another two years in a degree completion program.

The BASDH application deadline is this December, beginning class in summer of 2016 and will phase out the associate degree program the following academic year. More information can be found on the program’s home page.

This new program will provide a way for dental hygiene students to diversify their knowledge and enter the workforce two years earlier than previously possible.

“Time is invaluable,” Hospenthal said.

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CAMPUSLIFE

Plenty of cool stuff at Pierce College Puyallup Lizzie Duke

Tony Mintz dreams of making it big on YouTube Grace Amsden

Grace Amsden Editor-in-Chief

Lizzie Duke Reporter

The Connection Café in the College Center is often the setting of school-sponsored activities. On an average day, it’s home to numerous group hang outs, a few people asleep in the large cushioned chairs and at least a dozen students frantically finishing their homework. The one thing students will never find in the Connection Café, however, is coffee.

“I think it’s a little ironic,” student Shelby Shelman said.

The Connection Café was designed to be a study area where students could go to meet and get coffee. The lounge is still a common meeting area, though the coffee stand has moved downstairs.

Jill Geddes, manager of Lancer Catering (the same business that runs the downstairs cafeteria), said the once café space is now used as storage for the large catering equipment, even though the area officially belongs to Pierce College.

If one were to lift the tarp that covers the metal bars of the old café, they would find one Pepsi cooler with wheels, 50 or more drink holders, five or six office chairs, one or two folded tables, one coffee maker, around 100 mugs, one ‘daily specials’ sign and a genie lamp.

Lancer Catering employee Jessica Rager said that the café ran for one summer in 2014. However, because it is against health code regulations to serve hot food upstairs, they haven’t ran it since. During that summer, the only hot thing they could serve was soup. As Jill Geddes puts it, “it really wasn’t beneficial.” If the café were to open now, it would simply run without hot drinks.

“That’d be nice: to get a cold drink and sit down and do my homework,” student Seth Marshall said.

College officials prefer to only have one café area running at a time and because the downstairs cafeteria is so much bigger, it’s always chosen. The Connection Café without the café portion still serves as a lounge area, study space and event room.

“Why don’t I like it?” student David Givens said.

“Because it doesn’t have food, but I do like it because it has all these sweet ass chairs.”

What’s in your backpack?

Student Bree Leaitu shares the most essential items in her backpack for the upcoming school year W W W . P U Y A L L U P P O S T . C O M

CJ Robinson Reporter

Organization is a large part of college student’s everyday life. For student Bree Leaitu, her backpack is filled with items she believes is necessary for an organized and coordinated college career. From her color-coded notebooks to textbooks, everything is planned and ready to be used at any time.

Starting with a basic organization structure, each item’s color corresponds with a certain class.

Bree’s backpack also contains pens, pencils and other

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everyday school supplies helping her to succeed. She also keeps items that add to her own personal flair, such as Bath and Body Works’ Wild Madagascar perfume.

“I keep perfume because everyone is happier when other people smell good,” Leaitu said.

Bree also has a Washington State University planner.

“This is actually my own handmade planner since the Pierce notebook that they gave (students) was too big for my bag. I also wanted to see my dream school everyday to keep my goals in mind,” Leaitu said.

Her key item is a skull wallet.

“I have the skull wallet because it’s super freaking cool and totally me, but the wallet is also necessary for my license and stuff,” Leaitu said. n

Café with no caffé; Pierce College’s abandoned shop

CJ Ro bin so

Inside the storage room at the Connection Café.

A few years ago, Pierce College Puyallup student Anthony Mintz decided to take a major turn in his life: to be less serious about everything. He wanted to laugh and to make others laugh.

Mintz’s positivity extends to a daily, serious hobby of his: social networking. He says social media is the result of the new chapter in his life after graduating from high school. “(High school) had basically been my life for four years. (I thought), what am I going to do afterward?

How am I going to change myself? What’s the next thing I’m going to do? It turns out social media was the next thing - the next progressive step,” Mintz said.

Mintz began making YouTube videos in May. He purchased a DSLR camera in Nov. 2014 upon realizing he wanted to create videos for this purpose.

“I film everything, I edit everything. I have my own equipment, my own lighting. I realized if I wanted to do this, I wanted to do this professionally,” Mintz said.

After posting videos onto YouTube, Mintz said he started gaining subscriptions at about six per day.

After receiving an email from YouTube regarding an offer for a paid contract for his videos, he said he Mintz checking the status of his YouTube account. was caught off guard. After seeking more information, Vidcon, a YouTube convention held in Anaheim. He he accepted the contract.

Mintz says he believes YouTube viewers are sur- also wants to hit 1,000 subscribers by this November, prised by his personality, as he considers himself to be 10,000 by his birthday in June 2016 and eventually 1 bright, energetic and optimistic, and says it’s a key rea- million by his 21st birthday.

“I want to spread the positivity and the happison for new subscribers. ness up to one million people, in He makes video blogs, or about two years. That’s my “vlogs” which include skits and Mintz said. comedy acts. One of Mintz’s “I just like being myself goal,” Though exhilarated for the largest life goals is to make peoand being able to be a things to come for his YouTube ple laugh.

Mintz says he isn’t just “I found that given that there mouthpiece to people. I channel, focusing on the number of subis so much negativity and hatred scribers he can get. in the world, being that one shinhave no stage fright. I “The numbers of course are ing beacon and lighthouse of the love people, I love huge fantastic and I love it, but my world really helps. It draws peomain goal is to make people ple towards you,” Mintz said. crowds, I love speaking laugh and just kind of enjoy Mintz doesn’t want to be a in front of everyone.” their lives a little bit comedian, however. After Pierce, more,” Mintz said. he plans on attending Central —Anthony Mintz Mintz says he’s looking forWashington University for a ward to the future. His dream degree in communications. He said that he loves communicating with people, and job is to have an occupation making videos for that’s why he’s been involved in activities such as band Youtube. He plans on moving to Los Angeles for this purpose. and theatre.

“YouTube is one of the greatest jobs in the world “I just like being myself and being able to be a mouthpiece to people,” Mintz said. “I have no stage because it’s self made. You don’t need to register, fright. I love people, I love huge crowds, I love speak- (you) don’t need to audition. All you need is just something to record yourself and a means of being ambiing in front of everyone.”

In the meantime, he has goals for his YouTube chan- tious and motivated,” Mintz said. “That’s all you need. nel. He wants to ‘be up on the main stage’ in 2018 at Anyone can be a ‘YouTuber.”

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Lori Brock

Illustrator/Photographer/Reporter

The Office of Student Life offers multiple occasions for Pierce College students to learn, become inspired and have fun. From overnight rafting trips and theater engagements to volunteering at native habitats of endangered species, the OSL extends more than student ID cards.

“The purpose of the Office of Student Life is to connect students to the college and to each other,” Sean Cooke, student life director, said. “A lot of research has been done that shows that student success is linked to a student’s level of engagement.”

There are multiple ways OSL leaders get students involved; for example, planning horseback riding trips or bringing in musicians, comedians, hypnotists and even reptiles. The activities, clubs and service projects that the student leaders plan vary.

“Some students get no encouragement or support at home,” Cooke said. “Providing connections to the college and to each other dramatically raises students’ chances of being successful.”

According to Jesse Hamelin, OSL recreation and entertainment coordinator, some of the activities planned can be life changing. Last year, he attended the Seaside trip and said he had a fantastic time and was the best part of the school year, interacting between fellow students over bonfires, hot tubs and swimming pools. He says while walking the beach together, he made some great friends.

“The whole trip only cost $18 per student,” Hamelin said.

“I wondered why more students didn’t go.”

This year, Hamelin’s excited about the events he’s planning for students including a rave, laser tag, zip line, a ski trip and movie nights.

In essence, the purpose of the OSL is to help students connect to each other, to professors and provide help wherever it’s needed. This office, both student leaders and services, is open to help people excel in their educational endeavors.

RoxAnne Simon ASPCP President

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “Here are a lot of unadvertised resources available to students. Also, all faculty and staff are approachable.”

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “As a team, we have been working on Open Educational Resources and helping to get students on board with pursuing lower/no cost textbooks in their classes. I like to meet new students, answer questions and help locate resources. I get to meet with the administration, staff, faculty, community members, legislators and the board of trustees to talk about what we are doing, what we are looking forward to doing for students, and advocating for students.’

What do you like best about Pierce College? “Feeling like the administration is approachable, professors who really care and don’t see us as another body to keep their class full.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I’m looking forward to advocating for students and working with this awesome team in the Office of Student Life.”

Jesse Hamelin

Recreation and Entertainment Coordinator What does your position include? “I plan fun activities or events that allow students to be entertained and relieve stress at school. I get performers to come, plan outdoor activities such as bouncy houses, and I plan the winter and spring trip.”

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “There are lots of events to go to where you can meet cool Raiders. Joining or starting a club is very easy and it’s also a great way to find people who share your passions.”

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Courtesy of the Office of Student Life

Meet Puyallup’s new student leaders

The Office of Student Life members standing outside of the College Center.

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “The events I plan help students take their mind off school work, which can be stressful. Students may also end up participating in an activity they otherwise might not have the chance to.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “What I like best is seeing how many people play pingpong. I like all the fun events and free food.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I’m looking forward to planning fun activities and watching others have fun at my events.”

What kinds of activities will students see from you?

“They’ll see magicians, a rave, laser tag, zip lines, a ski trip and movie nights, to name just a few.”

Timothy D. Estes

Equity and Diversity Coordinator What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “Utilize all of the resources that you can, there are so many things out there just within your reach. It could help you be at the top of the class or achieve the goals you are striving for.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “What I like best about Pierce is that every staff and student-staff member at the college genuinely wants to see every student that comes into this campus succeed.”

Maria Colocho

ASPCP Vice President What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “Pierce College is a campus that is designed to help students succeed. The tutoring center is always accepting walkins, as is the writing center. The library not only offers books, but it has movies and computers. They even stay open extra hours for the night students. The computer labs in the CTR and in the AAH are always open from 8 a.m to 10 p.m Monday through Thursday, specifically just for students. Along with that there is free WiFi all around campus for all students to use.”

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “One of my favorite parts about my job is that I help plan all of the events with the activities board. I make sure that all of the events encompass the diversity of students that we have here on campus; by doing that, I am aiming at making students’ experience more enjoyable.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? The best part about Pierce College are the waffle fries from Lancer.”

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Perry Doidge

Advocacy Senator What does your position comprise? “I basically represent the student wants/needs at Pierce College.”

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “What I know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students is the small classroom sizes. Having smaller classrooms makes it easier to engage with other students and to really get to know the professors that are teaching you.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “What I like best about Pierce College is that I feel it has a very “family” atmosphere. Everyone at Pierce is very proud to be a Raider, and it shows in the actives and spirit that you see every day on campus.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“What I’m looking forward to most about my position is helping the students get the most out of their time here at Pierce. I want to make a lasting difference at Pierce that will make the school a better place for students and faculty.”

Emma Embleton Clubs Senator

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “My goal is to get as many students involved in clubs and other activities at the college. I believe this will improve students’ experience drastically and make their time at Pierce more rewarding and enjoyable.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “I love the freedom and flexibility we experience as students at Pierce.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I’m really looking forward to meeting a lot of new people.

Lubov Marchenko Legislative Senator

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “I’ll try my best to make student experience at Pierce College Puyallup as enjoyable as I can by simply being there for them and offering them help in any areas I can.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “What I like best about Pierce College Puyallup in the small campus and how everything feels so close.”

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Public Relations Senator What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “I know that just about anybody can make a club for just about anything. It's a good way to find more people that share your interests.”

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “I think I'll be helpful by hearing what the students want, and helping in a fun way.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “The people, so far. I've met some great people, and I hope to meet more.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“Pretty much everything. This whole job has been fun so far.

I'm ready for what's next.”

What kinds of activities will students see from you?

“Mostly social media. That's what I manage. But I'll also be making some videos throughout the year.”

Andrew Punchak Clubs Coordinator

Colton Droubli

What tasks does your position include?

“I plan events that benefit students' mental, physical, spiritual and emotional wellness while connecting them to the outdoors.”

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “The tutoring center is a great resource, and I really encourage everyone to go in and check it out. The music rooms are my favorite place to practice my flute. I love the floor to ceiling windows.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “I like the people here. I have met so many great people and made a lot of new friends here. I can't imagine my life without them.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I am looking forward to making a positive impact on this campus. I hope that the activities and events I put on help students to take care of and appreciate themselves while they're busy studying and getting a higher education. I am also looking forward to raising awareness of important emotional and mental health topics; no struggle should be faced alone, and I want students to have the resources and knowledge to help themselves and others.”

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “Pierce College has a great recording studio and practice rooms where you can play piano or bring your own instruments.”

What kinds of activities will students see from you? “Students can expect to see some very fun events from me, including a trip to the EMP, Halo 5 game night and a trip to see the Seattle Symphony.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I’m looking forward to satisfying all of your fantasy, sci-fi, anime and gaming needs.”

Wellness and Outdoors Coordinator

Interactive Media and Gaming Coordinator

Morgan Pasquier

Sustainability Coordinator How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “My position will allow me to help students feel empowered to make a difference in their communities and their lifestyles. I’ll educate and inform them on issues and encourage them to be active participants in global conversations.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “Pierce College gives anyone and everyone who wants to get an education the chance to do so. It opens up all kinds of avenues and opportunities to people who might not have gotten them otherwise.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“This position not only gives me the opportunity to educate others about important global issues, but I’m also learning about them myself. I’m very excited to learn new things, meet new and interesting people and make a difference both on and off campus.”

Emmalee Chamberlain

Social Issues and Awareness Coordinator What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “I know that there are a lot of events students can attend. A way to get the best college experience is to get involved.”

How do you see yourself helping to make students’ experience at Pierce rewarding and/or enjoyable? “I can help students’ time be more enjoyable at Pierce College by planning awesome events.

What do you like best about Pierce College? “My favorite thing about Pierce College is the environment.

There are so many nice students and staff here; it makes coming to school that much more rewarding for me.”

Cole Webb

Executive Director of Operations What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “There are all sorts of resources out there to help you succeed, and the Office of Student Life knows where most of them are.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “There’s a big variety of funny stuff around here, if you know where to look for it and when to listen for it.”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I’m looking forward to being involved in all the student programs that are out there. I didn’t do much of anything on campus my first year, and I really missed out. Now, I’m making up for it.”

Sean Cooke

Patrick Carter

What do you know about Pierce College that might be helpful to other students? “Take advantage of the resources we have. The computer labs, the writing center, the tutoring center, the gym, music practice rooms, the clubs and of course the Office of Student Life. There are so many resources that students skip over every day that could completely change their college experience and make their lives easier, but they are sadly being underutilized.”

What do you like best about Pierce College? “I like the welcoming community; everyone is absolutely delightful and genuinely nice. It's so easy making friends and talking with anyone. I love it!”

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I'm excited to take the clubs to the next level and help them with anything they need. Clubs are an important part of Pierce and I'm ready to see them flourish into the best they can possibly be.”

Kylie Ada

Patrick Carter

What are you looking forward to about your position?

“I am looking forward to bringing awareness to and getting students involved in the legislative issues of our college and state.”

What kinds of activities will students see from you? “I will be having a voter registration drive during this fall quarter, and students can look forward to more events the following quarters.”

Through Aug. 26-28, Pierce College Puyallup student leaders attended a leadership conference at Warm Beach, a camp in Stanwood, Wash. This overnight trip was filled with team building games and activities, nightly campfires, pool time, personal sharing and bonding activities.

Leaders from the Fort Steilacoom campus also came to the retreat, occasionally joining the Puyallup campus for activities. From the Puyallup campus, the leadership groups that attended included members from The Puyallup Post, student ambassadors and the Office of Student Life members, which represent student government and student activities.

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The four R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, Raiders Alex Heldrich

Alex Heldrich Reporter

Students who frequently use the soda machines or get rid of old papers may notice the gray recycling bins on campus.

These bins have been at Pierce College Puyallup for several years in order to reduce waste.

Twenty-four large recycling bins and smaller personal blue bins are scattered throughout campus. Patrick Carter, custodial program manager at the Puyallup campus, and his team strategically place the bins.

“I try to place them where I think there’s the most traffic,” Carter said. “In some buildings (small blue bins) are strategically placed in between the classrooms.”

At the end of every day, the recycling bins are taken by custodians and dumped into a large bin. From there, Murrey’s Disposal collects the recyclables every other week and takes them to a recycling center in Pierce County.

Although some students use recycling bins like a normal trash can, not all materials can be recycled.

Items that can be recycled include

Some of the items found in the recycling bins include a textbook and many plastic bottles.

paper, aluminum, tin cans, cardboard and most plastic containers. Items that shouldn’t be put in the recycling bins include glass, plastic bags or wrap, toxic produce containers, plastic lids, juice boxes, styrofoam and pizza boxes. If students can’t remember what items can be recycled, they can use the signs located on the walls by the large gray bins.

On Sept. 16 at the Puyallup campus, the large gray recycling bin in the upper level of the College Center collected 359 recyclable items as well as many nonrecyclable items. There were 197 pieces of mixed paper, 91 plastic bottles, 57 aluminum cans, 54 food wrappers, 16 plastic containers, 14 cardboard boxes, seven Starbucks cups, two industrial-size rolls

of labels, two new linear calculus books and one Holiday Inn room key.

After tallying up the items, the recyclables were re-recycled, the non-recyclables were put in the trash, the linear calculus books were donated and the industrial-size rolls of labels were saved for future use.

Morgan Pasquier, sustainability coordinator for the Office of Student Life, has a special interest in recycling and reusing non-biodegradable materials.

“I’ve been doing everything I can to lower my own (ecological) footprint and support the environment,” Pasquier said.

“Recycling as much as possible helps the image of the school being an eco-friendly institution, and recycling can be less expensive than just sending things off to landfills.”

As sustainability coordinator, Pasquier plans to facilitate a “green” art project by using recyclables as a medium this year at the Puyallup campus.

Every recyclable item thrown into a recycling bin instead of the garbage cuts back on what goes into landfills.

“Pierce College Puyallup is doing our part in order to reduce waste,” Carter said.

Wildfire crisis still ablaze in Washington Alex Heldrich

Alex Heldrich Reporter

The wildfires in Washington started June 28. While many of the wildfires that littered Washington have been put out by firefighters, some continue to burn.

According to the Incident Information System, more than one million acres of land were marred by the fires in less than four months. The Okanogan Complex fire set the Washington state record for being the largest recorded fire.

Puyallup had two brush fires near Emerald Ridge High School during July and August.

“I remember waking up and I said ‘something’s on fire,” Vekissa Drake, student ambassador, said. “It was hard to see where, but we could smell (the fire). It lingered for hours.”

Thousands of firefighters not only from Washington state but Australia and New Zealand came to help. On Aug. 19, four firefighters were caught in a deadly blaze in Twisp, Wash. The only survivor, Daniel Lyon of Puyallup, received severe burns on more than half his body.

The wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes and affected the lives of thousands of people.

“It would suck having to move away from all of your stuff and where you grew up,” student Paighton Gryll said.

Wildfires forced the closure of five Washington state parks due to public safety. The closure of these parks put a damper on businesses in the surrounding areas that rely on summer campers and hikers for business.

The smoky haze that covered the entirety of Washington was a health hazard, as toxic gases in the smoke are linked to cancer and at high levels can cause death. The poor air quality affected citizens statewide. People in areas of smoke were advised to stay indoors and keep windows closed.

Drake experienced effects of the poor air quality.

“My son has asthma,” Drake said. “The high air pollution days were strenuous for us. I did find myself at the doctor a little more with him and him using his inhaler a little more this summer.”

People and animals alike were affected by the wildfires.

“Without (wildlife), what do we really have?” Drake said. “Everything has its place in life and if you take away the wildlife, it’s just us.”

The poor air quality also caused many animals to have breathing problems.

According to kirotv.com, Mishka, an asthmatic sea otter at the Seattle Aquarium, was forced to use an inhaler after having an allergy attack caused by the smoke.

Animal shelters tried to rescue and evacuate pets left behind by owners. Efforts to rescue livestock from farms were also in motion. Listings for the lost animals were posted online to help reconnect them with their owners.

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Aftermath of brushfire near Emerald Ridge High School.

Although some of the large wildfires were caused by forces of nature, many of the brush fires can be attributed to humans. Sparks from vehicles and discarded cigarette butts were a main contributor to the fires alongside roads and freeways.

“Who would throw a cigarette or anything flammable knowing we haven’t had water in months?” Drake said.

“Even though it’s raining, we’re still in drought mode.”

People in regions undergoing a drought can take precautions to avoid igniting a wildfire. Methods include properly dousing campfires after use, discarding cigarettes into water or ashtrays, burning yard waste in small batches and insuring a properly functioning spark arrester on vehicles.

People from all over the state and country are donating money and materials to help the families who lost their belongings to the fires. Social media and donation website campaigns are accessible to people who want to help.

Places such as state parks that were damaged or threatened by the wildfires began reopening in September for one final kick before closing for the winter.

The Pierce County burn ban that lasted all summer was lifted as of Sept. 22 but it’s still in place in some parts of the state.

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Federal funding by the government is helping to repair the fire-damaged lands. Site rehabilitation typically occurs within three years after a wildfire. According to Central Washington Fire Recovery, three steps are taken to repair federal lands after a fire.

The first step is fire suppression repair, which entails a series of immediate actions to repair the damage to the environment by work crews and machines such as repairing roads, trails, safety zones and drop points.

The next step is emergency stabilization: burned area emergency response. This is when the damaged areas are assessed for any post-wildfire threats that may affect human life and safety, property or important natural resources. From there BAER takes action to solve the problems. Solutions often include seeding and mulching to prevent erosion, recovering areas and posting warning signs.

The third step, long-term recovery and restoration, works to restore burned habitats and make it a livable ecosystem for wildlife once again.

Although parts of Washington may never look the same, life will return. Citizens will go back to their homes, wildlife will adapt to new habitats and Mother Nature will reclaim the land once again.

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Meet Laurie Miller, the new American Honors adviser Reporter

Laurie Miller helps people figure out their goals in life and how to fulfill their dreams. As the new American Honors adviser at Pierce College Puyallup, she’ll have the opportunity to reach out to even more people and do what she loves best.

Miller grew up in a small, rural community in Buckley with her parents and older brother. She enjoyed playing softball, and was involved in both choir and track at White River High School.

When Miller was 17-years-old her father died, causing her to make changes to her plans for the future. Instead of looking into any out-of-state colleges, she chose to attend a local school in order to stay close to her mother.

Immediately after graduation she was accepted into Pacific Lutheran University to major in marketing, but soon found herself having second thoughts about this choice.

“I took my first accounting class and said, ‘Hmm’,” Miller said. “I changed quickly to psychology. I had a Psych 101 class that I really, really liked, so I actually have both my master’s and my bachelor’s in psychology.”

Miller took an extended break from PLU to pay off student loans, later attending Saint Martin’s University to finish her bachelor’s where she met and married her husband.

After this, she completed her degree through the education center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Due to her husband’s involvement in the military, Miller has taken up an array of jobs in her lifetime. She lived in Virginia for a while, working as a specialist and manager for family programs deploying and redeploying soldiers, as well as teaching at community colleges, an experience that fostered her love for education. She’s also worked as a banker and bookkeeper, both of which blended with her love of numbers.

“Being a military spouse, (jumping from job to job) just kind of happens,” Miller said.

One of her more impactful jobs was being a counselor in Soldier for Life, a program for soldiers who are transitioning from military positions to different paths in life. Miller would help these soldiers decide on their best choices, whether it was going back to school to further their education or seeking out new career opportunities. She enjoyed being able to make a difference in their lives by walking them through big decisions. She soon found herself focusing more on advising than psychology.

Thanks to this position, she found out about the position available at Pierce College. As part of her job, she had to be in the know of myriad job openings in order to help former soldiers seek employment after leaving the military. After hearing about the need for a new American Honors adviser, the idea immediately piqued her interest.

“I thought, ‘Oh you know what, that sounds interesting’,” Miller said. “So I just really started investigating,

Andrea Mendoza

Suzanne Buchholz

Suzanne Buchholz

SHOUTOUT

Morgan Franks: “I want to get an associate degree in early childhood development here. I work at Love and Laughter Learning Center on Meridian here on Puyallup, and I want to eventually open up my own day care in the future.”

Laurie Miller assists students in the honors program.

checked out the website and asked other people what they know about it, and I just really fell in love with the program.“ The purpose of American Honors is to provide intensive one-on-one support and advanced programs to students who plan on transferring to prestigious four-year universities. Numerous universities and colleges look for American Honors students when going over applications.

Miller says she’s excited to have this opportunity to interact with students on such a close level and use her skills to guide them down the right paths in life.

“My ultimate hope is that nobody has to take the same convoluted road to a degree that I did,” Miller said. “I would like to save people that time and money.”

When not at work, Miller enjoys spending time with her family. Whenever possible, she likes to have family gettogethers and attend sporting events for her daughter and niece. Being part of the military, Miller has came to realize that family includes good friends as well.

“Sometimes family is more than just the blood connection,” Miller said.

Miller also enjoys activities that are creative and stressrelieving, such as canning. Recently she made and canned salsa with tomatoes from her own garden. She would also like to learn how to knit.

Miller’s favorite part of the American Honors program is spending time with the students she advises, chatting with them about their classes and goals and guiding them through the process of selecting schools and choosing the best scholarships.

“With determination and effort, dreams are achievable,” Miller said. “I’m here to help people fulfill their big dreams.”

Hacking your GPA, the internet way Hannah Pederson Reporter

Besides the Pierce College tutoring center or help from friends or professors for homework, there are many free, online resources available.

WolframAlpha—Math: WolframAlpha is a functioning math-specific search engine and encyclopedia all in one. A student can plug in an equation they’re having difficulty with and immediately be able to view the graph and steps to get the solution. This site isn’t just for math, but also physics, chemistry, astronomy and more. It also offers statistics for any city, country or province.

Slader—Math Homework Help: Slader is a resource for viewing the solutions to math problems. Slader offers all solutions (some with step-by-step explanations) in practically every math textbook available, from pre-algebra to advanced mathematics. Slader also has a community forum to post questions and receive responses from fellow users or math tutors.

Khan Academy—Core Subjects: Khan Academy started as a free math tutoring site and has since expanded to science, history and more. It covers the subject topic W W W . P U Y A L L U P P O S T . C O M

What do you plan on accomplishing at Pierce College Puyallup this year?

by topic, with practice problems and explanatory videos.

It’s a nonprofit organization, and is always expanding on courses offered.

Taja Anderson: “I hope to achieve an associate degree and transfer to the University of Washington in Tacoma for a degree in criminal justice.”

Kevin Michaels: “I want to

finish my associate degree in small business entrepreneurship. I get paid to come here and finish my degree.”

Darryl Foto: “I want to finish my associate degree for biology and biochemistry. I want to eventually become a cardiologist.”

Darian Hrobar: “I just want to finish my prerequisites and attend the University of Seattle to become a physician’s assistant.”

Kara Peoples: “I am currently finishing my business degree in human resources. I already have five certifications under my belt and I’m only six classes away from my general transferable.”

CrashCourse—Core subjects: CrashCourse is a YouTube channel started by brothers John and Hank Green. They make educational videos on subjects including economics, U.S. government, world history, U.S. history, psychology and biology. Every series is produced in association with a team of experts, and every video is 1020 minutes long with animation sequences.

Tanisha Patterson: “I’m enrolled in American Honors and I want to use that further myself in the community. After Pierce I want to go to Gonzaga University to get my law degree.”

Codecademy—Coding: Codecademy provides a simple method of learning about every form of coding including HTML, CSS and Javascript. It also offers courses for those who don’t want or need to learn coding, but want to be able to understand things like the command line or how to create a website.

Jadah Massey: “I’m really

Besides these sites, accredited colleges such as MIT and Stanford offer free online courses. MIT’s OpenCourseWare program offers all of MIT’s course materials online for no charge.

But many sites are out there for students to take advantage of, and there’s more on the way.

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here to set a strong foundation in college and when I do eventually transfer to a university I’ll be prepared.”

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FIRSTLOOK

We test the waters so you don’t have to

MOVIEREVIEW

BOOKREVIEW

Andrea Mendoza

Armani Jackson

Black Mass

Go Set a Watchman

Action/Adventure, Drama

Harper Lee

Black Mass, based on the book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, tells the story of James “Whitey” Bulger from South Boston. Whitey is born with a malicious intent to gain power which is revealed at an early stage in the movie.

Bulger, portrayed by Johnny Depp, is the most notorious criminal of his time. He’s depicted through the eyes of director Scott Cooper.

Bulger begins his life as an Irish thug who becomes the most violent crime lord in the United States with the help of the FBI in the late 1970s.

When the movie starts, Bulger is a smalltime crime boss of the Irish mob “Winter Hill Gang” beloved in his neighborhood in Boston but getting squeezed out by the Italian Mafia that’s taken over the North End. His Cast: Johnny Depp, childhood friend, FBI agent John Connolly Benedict Cumberbatch, played by Joel Edgerton, gets the idea to Jesse Plemons, align himself with the man he grew up with: Joel Edgerton, Bulger. He’ll become an FBI informant, giv- Sienna Miller. ing the Bureau information so they can take down the mafia, and in return, the FBI will Rated: R; Brutal look the other way when it comes to Bulger’s Violence, Language own activities. It’s a risky proposition, and Throughout, Some Bulger finds himself killing his competitors Sexual References and and spreading his criminal operation across Brief Drug Use. the country. It soon becomes clear to Connolly that Bulger may have become more dangerous than the entire Italian Mafia. Bulger will stop at nothing to maintain his reign of terror and power in South Boston.

Bulger manipulates Connolly and manages to elude capture and becomes the most wanted man in the United States.

Black Mass is definitely a Depp type of movie. There isn’t one scene without the versatile actor. In this movie, it comes to no surprise that Depp is wearing prosthetics to make him barely recognizable.

Depp’s portrayal of Bulger is absolutely superb, along with his fellow cast members: Benedict Cumberbatch as Bill Bulger (playing the most powerful senator in the city who is Bulger’s brother) and Dakota Johnson as Lindsey Cyr (Bulger’s long-time girlfriend and mother of Bulger’s only child).

This highly anticipated film surprisingly met expectations. Black Mass’s film production was $53 million. During its first week in the box office, Black Mass made $23 million. The film came in second against The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, which made $30.3 million on opening week.

The movie’s slow start and lack of violence makes the movie unworthy of five stars while the star actors make the movie come alive.

When I saw the blue, yellow and white cover arrive in my mail Sunday evening, I was nothing less than skeptical. Preconceived judgements aside, Go Set a Watchman was a semi-delightful look into southern society during the 1950s.

The book had a slow start. It was hard to get into because it’s confusing and unrelated to the first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Go Set a Watchman is a follow-up set 20 years later.

Jean Louise Finch, known as Scout, revisited her hometown of Maycomb, Ala., after spending time in New York. Atticus, Jean Louise’s father, is in his 70s with failing health. Her brother Jem is dead and close neighbor/friend Dill is stationed in Italy.

I had a rocky start getting into the plot because of the onslaught of information in the early chapters. I was trying to connect what I knew from TKAM in order to see character development and how Lee was going to end Scout’s story; I was unsuccessful.

Lee wrote this novel first and Lee’s publisher wanted to hold off on printing it, and thus, To Kill a Mockingbird was born. The plot of this so-called “follow up” was completely unchanged from the manuscript. This means that key descriptive details about Maycomb and additional characters are included. That being said, it forced me to work harder than I should have trying to blend the two novels into a harmonious extension. Ultimately, this book can and should be read as a stand alone rather than a sequel.

The plot was rather dull but contained parts of quality substance and humor. Since Maycomb is in Alabama, a part of the population is African American while the other part is Caucasian. In several parts of the book, it mentions how blacks are lower than whites on the social hierarchy and are uneducated. For instance, Calpurnia, the Finch’s cook, had to pretend to be illiterate around house guests when in actuality she had an education.

It was a nice change when something funny took place. This made the serious concept more palatable when hilarious anecdotes were included. The novel tends to provide flashbacks to Jean Louise’s childhood.

This incident took place at her high school dance. Jem and his friend, Henry Clinton, who’s also in love with her, took Jean Louise to the dance. She picked a dress that didn’t flatter her like she imagined. To compensate

I give it:

Campus events calendar Compiled by Amber Gilliland

for a pre-puberty body, she decided to use false breasts.

During the dance, they didn’t stay in place so later she’s dancing with a false breast in the middle of her chest and another by her left armpit; leading to an awkward conversation with her date. It was relatable in the sense that people are just trying to fit in within the high school dynamic.

It’s hard to say what exactly this book was about. I picked up that Jean Louise learned more about the city she lived in. Now that she’s an adult, she could more fully understand social injustices. But on a deeper level, the novel touches on racial segregation/white supremacy, gender roles and moral standards.

In TKAM, Jean Louise challenged what it meant to be a lady. She would never wear dresses, play dolls or learn household tasks, opting to play in the woods with her brother Jem. This fact didn’t change in this novel.

She moved out of Maycomb to New York without getting married. This act was unheard of because women during this time were expected to go to school and then stay latched onto a husband for the rest of eternity. As a result, when Jean Louise came back to visit, the townsfolk viewed her differently.

I was bored for most of the book, making it difficult for me to write an adequate review. However, the novel’s ending was no doubt the best part. Near the end, Atticus and Jean Louise get into a heated fight over moral differences. Atticus is a part of the town’s civilian council and is on a board trying to prevent blacks from voting. Saying this choice infuriated her is an understatement; she almost goes as far as wanting to kill. Her uncle was able to calm her down and help her realize something truly wonderful: she’s now her own person. Until this point, her conscience was blended with her father’s. She never truly thought for herself or made her own moral decisions.

This fight helped her realize that she’s an individual and helped me think about the impact I have on the world. Each person makes choices and never really thinks about them. What coffee will I buy at Starbucks this morning? What should I wear today? Yes, the choice is recognized, but I never really thought about the reasoning behind it. Do I buy a soy caramel latte because I actually want it? Or has someone else conditioned me into buying it subconsciously? The real challenge in this book isn’t the organizational discrepancies or poor character development, but rather it’s the reflection of an individual’s watchman. Ultimately, causing me to discover more about my own morals and level of ethics. The beginning was poorly written, however, the ending made the literary journey worth it.

I give it:

Oct. 16: College Access Corps coach orientation from noon to 1 p.m. in MPR B

Oct. 23: Family movie night: Inside Out. 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Sign up in C210.

Oct. 16: Student council meeting, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in A101

Oct. 27: Student government rally, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., ADM and dining commons

Oct. 19: Voter registration week, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 20: Voter registration week, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 20: Slavery is Not Over, 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the MPR Oct. 20: T-shirt Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CTR Oct. 21: Voter registration week, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 29: Puyallup Theatre presents Metaphysique D'Epherma at 8 p.m. in the black box theatre, AAH 110 Oct. 30: Puyallup Theatre presents Metaphysique D'Epherma at 8 p.m. in the black box theatre, AAH 110

Oct. 21: Radio movie event, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the MPR

Oct. 31: Puyallup Theatre presents Metaphysique D'Epherma at 8 p.m. in the black box theatre, AAH 110

Oct. 22: Voter registration week, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Oct. 31: Halloween

Oct. 22: Dead Man’s Pond restoration. Leave campus at 10:45 a.m. and return at 1:45 p.m. Waivers required. Sign up in C210.

Lori Brock

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Metaphysique and the drama geek Pierce Drama Club stages first production Alex Heldrich Reporter

Pierce College Puyallup’s Drama Club production of Metaphysique D’ephemera will show in the Black Box theater Oct. 29-31. Nicole Nicholson, adjunct assistant professor, will be directing alongside assistant director and designer Joshua Potter, communications/drama assistant professor.

Metaphysique D’ephemera is a surrealist play inspired by Joseph Cornell. Written by Sarah K. Jackson and William Shipman, it takes place in a devastated and decayed Coney Island.

The play has five starring roles: a cat prince, ballerina, bird, rabbit and theater.

The cat prince must save his kingdom, Coney Island.

His memory throughout the play is dwindling and the only way he can save the kingdom is by remembering it.

Metaphysique D’ephemera has no linear plot and is made to make the audience question their thinking. It’s filled with complex theme, the most important being

love.

“I’m really excited for how this is going to be designed,” Potter said. “We’re going to be working with a kind of industrial look so we’re going to be using scaffolding as primary set pieces in this. Playing with different levels in that theater is going to look really cool, at least that’s my hope.”

Auditions for Metaphysique D’ephemera took place Sep. 28. Cast members rehearse about eight hours a week for four weeks until the show debuts.

Pierce College offers theater production classes to students interested in Joshua Potter non-performing theater roles.

According to Potter, students enrolled in Nicolson’s technical film and theater III course will handle most of the set and prop work as well as lighting. The students in Potter’s production practicum I-VI course will be in charge of the behind-the-scenes work such as ushering and moving things around.

“The students who are interested in working behind the scenes at our shows are really encouraged to take those classes,” Potter said. “Of course, if somebody

wants to volunteer they’re welcome to talk to me or Nicole, and we might be able to find a place for them.”

Pierce College Puyallup students who missed auditions for Metaphysique D’ephemera but have an interest in theater can join the Drama Club. “(Drama Club) is really student driven around interests that they have in theater,” Potter, the adviser for Drama Club, said. “Students tend to kind of experiment with different kinds of performing. There’s a lot of theater games that folks in that club play.”

“This year we have two co-presidents for Drama Club: Alex Capiluto and me,” Elijah Alderink said.

Alderink plans to employ more acting centric exercises such as monologue readings, scene analysis and study of acting toward genre rather than just doing improv.

Drama Club provides students an opportunity to branch out and be creative in a judgement-free zone.

Meetings will be 3-4 p.m. every Friday in the Black Box Theater in the Arts and Allied Health Building. No prior theater experience or audition is required for joining. Drama Club is open to all students.

“This year is exciting for the mere prospect of trying out new things and giving this club a name,” Alderink said.

Suzanne Buchholz

Breaking down college myths for Pierce’s incoming students Katie Fenton Online Reporter

For many incoming Pierce students, they have a staggering number of questions including what the college experience is like, whether instructors are helpful and how the advising process works.

Several myths and facts about college will be put to the test in this story.

Students working in the computer center inside the College Center.

Computer center assistants ready to help with technical difficulties Suzanne Buchholz Reporter

Students at Pierce College Puyallup have free, accessible services available to them, two of which include the computer center and multimedia center.

From 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 2 p.m. on Fridays. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, the multimedia center is open.

“We try to be open and available as much as possible,” Kandee Nelson, district computer labs manager, said. “We’re just here to provide the resources for them and have available hours and help.”

The main goal of these centers is to provide students who might have limited resources with a place to complete their homework or get technical help when they need it. During hours of operation, trained lab assistants are on duty to answer questions students might have and help with problems such as connecting to WiFi or figuring out how to use programs.

In addition, Pierce staff members are testing out a new service this quarter, called the Student Technology Assistance Team.

STAT was proposed by Nelson after she noticed a decrease in the number of students using the computer center.

“We have found over the years that the number of students that are coming to the lab has been dwindling slightly, and it’s probably because everyone has their own devices,” Nelson said.

Students may bring their own laptops,

tablets and other devices to school to do homework. In that case, students having technological problems have nowhere to turn to for help outside of the lab. The goal of STAT is to correct this problem by taking the knowledge of the lab assistants to other parts of the campus. On the Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom campuses, STAT assistants are located inside the library.

So far, STAT is only on a four-week trial , but has already proven to be successful. In the first three days of fall quarter the stations at Puyallup and Fort Steilacoom have helped a combined estimate of more than 70 students. Only four of these problems had to be taken up with the IT department.

Besides assistance services, the multimedia center also offers myriad hardware and software available for anyone to use.

Although digital design courses are only available at the Fort Steilacoom campus, students who live closer to Puyallup are welcome to use the design programs found in the multimedia center. Some of the programs installed on the computers include Adobe Creative Suite, Premier, Photoshop and Dreamweaver, among others. Both the computer center and multimedia center have Word, PowerPoint, Excel and other similar programs installed in their computers.

“I would encourage students to go in there and just play around,” Nelson said.

“Typically the high-end programs that are over there don’t get used to their fullest because we don’t have the digital design program over here.”

W W W . P U Y A L L U P P O S T . C O M

1. Students should study two to three hours for every hour of class time.

Students are expected to read textbooks, take notes, study for quizzes or tests and complete homework outside of class.

The workload may seem substantial, but some Pierce College students don’t mind the extra effort.

“I went to a college prep high school, so the workload was very similar,” student Bleu Perez said.

Perez was taking courses in business English, nutrition and psychology during spring quarter.

“My adviser actually freaked out that I had more than 15 credits,” Perez said.

Perez’s adviser was unsure of him taking extra classes, but Perez didn’t think it would be difficult.

Running Start student Andy Manley had a similar experience.

He said college was somewhat challenging, but a private Christian school helped him prepare for the additional work.

“You’re more independent with your workload,” Manley said.

College requires constant self-monitoring. College classes, which typically last eight to 10 weeks, cover lots of information over a short period of time.

While some students say there’s more work to college, it could be the pace of the course.

Manley also explained that students who succeed in high school are more likely to do well in college. Those who slack off find college to be more challenging.

2. Professors are generally unapproachable and don’t want to spend their office hours helping students.

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This statement is the biggest myth surrounding college. Professors are educators for a reason: they enjoy teaching and helping others.

Using a professor’s office hours is also a great way to network.

“Connecting with an instructor can be a useful resource,” Running Start Program Assistant Adriana Tsapralis said.

Getting to know a professor could be helpful when job applications require letters of recommendation.

Many students unsure of their professors use websites such as ratemyprofessor.com, where students review instructors.

Tsapralis said ratemyprofessor.com can be useful to get a better understanding of a professor. She also said students should be critical when reading reviews and try to find an instructor who will work for them.

Instructors can be fair, he explained.

Resources like ratemyprofessor.com might give students insight on a professor’s tendencies.

3. Always check canvas.

This is an important piece of information many students misunderstand. While Pierce College does offer hybrid and online classes, traditional classrooms have seen an increase in online learning.

Some instructors of daily courses use canvas to host discussion forums or submit assignments.

Plus, students can email instructors and classmates directly from Canvas.

4. Communication is necessary.

Some students, especially those in Running Start, don’t know how to contact their advisers and are often confused. Manly said his high school counselor at Puyallup High School didn’t know a lot about Running Start and couldn’t help him with the registration process.

“Students should come and talk to us about it,” Tsapralis said about faculty.

Students should also communication with their peers.

“When I first walked into Pierce, I didn’t know anyone,” Perez said. “But, I’m glad I felt that - I wouldn’t have came out of my comfort zone.”

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New opportunities knock at Pierce College Armani Jackson Managing Editor

Starting this fall, students’ educational opportunities are even more diverse. Pierce is introducing new degrees and certificates. Program revisions include a new direct transfer agreement with Washington universities, innovative ways to finish a degree in business, social media marketing, construction management and corrections officer certification.

“New programs tend to need some time to get up and going,” Matthew Campbell, vice president of learning and student success, said. “This will serve as a sort of pioneer year with growth occurring over the next couple of years, except in cases where there is competitive admissions and a specific cohort size, it can take two to three years to get a program fully underway.”

This greater span of options allows Pierce to stay true to its mission of providing educational resources for a diverse group of students. Since the classes are still in its early stages, it’s hard to tell what kind of impact these additions have had on the college.

“If we do not evolve as the world changes, the education we provide will become irrelevant,” Campbell said. “We must be nimble and innovative to meet changing student, community, and industry needs.”

Open Pathways Program: Students who take classes at Joint Base Lewis-McChord can earn a direct transfer degree that eliminates the cost of textbooks. There was recently a change in policy where active duty students could not use the money provided for education on textbooks; it was only acceptable for tuition. This resulted in a loss of enrollment at JBLM, according to Marty Heilstedt, dean at JBLM. The new Pierce Open Pathways program gives students the opportunity to complete an associate of arts degree using free online resources, meaning that students can save up to $1,000 in textbooks throughout the two years.

“What matters is the course, not the textbooks,” Heilstedt said.

Classes are structured in online, hybrid and regular classroom formats, giving the program members a variety of options depending on their preferences. The same classes are offered online each quarter, giving students a predictable schedule so career pathways can easily be mapped out. Students who opt for online classes can potentially finish the requirements in one year instead of two. The need for a predominantly online degree was instituted because that’s where 70 percent of JBLM students can be seen, according to Heilstedt.

Students have the flexibility to mix with non-POP classes, and it still counts toward completing the degree.

This credential directly transfers to any university in the state of Washington. The requirements are the same as a traditional associate, but some courses require students to pay a $5 fee per class for access to the resources.

The Associate in Business – DTA/MRP degree: The way to attain a business degree has changed as well. Originally, a student’s only option was the traditional classroom style. Starting this fall, people can earn the degree through

“If we do not evolve as the world changes, the education we provide will become irrelevant. We must be nimble and innovative to meet changing student, community, and industry needs.”

—Matthew Campbell

the added competency-based program.

It’s a new approach to the classroom, hybrid or online learning methods.

“Pierce and other colleges have partnered with Columbia Basin College who is the originator of this program,” Tom Phelps, economics and statistics instructor, said. “The key is that students can register for as many credits as they think they can complete in a term, possibly shortening the length of time it takes to complete a degree.”

A term is six months long and students can sign up for any particular term during the first half of the first term. Each class is equal to a normal five credit class and will be printed as such on their transcript. They have to be full time students and won’t have the option to take any other type of classes while participating in this program.

Students working towards this degree build upon prior knowledge and experience rather than the traditional learning methods. Not only can they take advantage of Pierce’s resources, but Columbia Basin hired speciality faculty to assist students in the process.

Per term, it will cost $2,666, the equivalent to two quarters of regular classes at Pierce. The CBE program uses open resources so students don’t have to pay for textbooks.

“It is another example of how Pierce College is a trendsetter as CBC was awarded a “First In The World Grant” to develop this,” Phelps said. “We are joining it at the ground level.”

In terms of classes, the degree is earned in a similar way.

The only difference is that students don’t have much variety in choosing humanities, natural science or social science courses; there aren’t enough options to finish the degree, according to Phelps.

However, the grading system is slightly different. Students will receive an A, B or Incomplete.

The CBE degree is considered identical to the regular business DTA so it can be directly transferred to any fouryear university.

“I do not foresee this impacting our online or grounded or hybrid class offerings. It appeals to a very different stratum of students,” Phelps said. “I see it as a way of broadening our offerings to our constituency and assisting students who could otherwise not get a degree, to obtain a high-quality transfer business degree.”

Social media marketing certificate: A new certificate in social media marketing allows business and marketing students to learn how to use these platforms to their advantage.

It’s a 39-credit certificate that emphasizes skill development of business majors. Similar to most master’s programs it walks the students through the marketing aspect.

Being the first section of its kind within a college, it’s essentially a technical program intermingled with comprehensive training that focuses on the social science of it all.

This program was developed by Taryn Givenchy, social media marketer of 12 years. She was the communications director for professional and technical engineers, Local 17 union. Givenchy handled all of the social media platforms.

Givenchy and the rest of the business department implemented this certification because research shows that businesses, and they wanted to change that. The program takes 25 students who are serious about getting jobs in the business field and helps them match the skills at the professional and technical level. Gerhardt and Givenchy hope to open up more spots if a student’s interest and willingness is justified.

The curriculum focuses on the core values of business.

This includes honesty, attentiveness, responsiveness and patience. In order to deliver more than what’s expected and maintaining strong ethics.

“Social media really didn't exist ten years ago, but now it's a major source for marketing and communication. By offering the Social Media Marketing certificate, we help business student to be more prepared, connected and relevant, and thus more likely to be successful in achieving their career goals,” said Campbell.

Virtual construction certificate: The new virtual construction certificate allows people with prior construction experience to extend their education into the digital realm. Students will master regular construction skills while exploring the virtual aspect of this process.

“Pierce College’s Virtual Construction Certificate was designed with the local construction community,” Dolores Kelly, the construction management program coordinator, said. “With this networking with the local contractors, it has given our students opportunities after graduation. The certificate prepares students for a variety of positions in construction, including public, private and sustainability projects.”

The certificate requires 23 credits and includes classes such as introduction to virtual design and construction and basic modeling. Sherry Eshenbaugh and Kevin Carroll are teaching two of the classes for the first time this fall.

Students are able to learn relevant skills that are used in multiple disciplines of construction. Curriculum focuses on what businesses need for success in project management.

“The goal of the VCCM certificate program is to train individuals how to become VDC champions,” Eshenbaugh said. “It's a process that harnesses, controls, and guides the vast amount of expert information contributed into a model; thus, drastically reducing risk and producing a true value to clients.”

Armani Jackson

Website Continued from page 1

the contract and redesign will cost $80,000.

“We live in a mansion right now, basically,” Angela Carson, Marcom’s online communications manager, said. “We’ve got a ton of pages and we are packing everything up and moving into a condo. A lot of the work that needs to be done because, you don’t want to bring all the old stuff from the mansion into your new condo; you’re not going to have anywhere to live.”

Because this project is a large undertaking, it’ll take tons of work to complete. The team working on the site consists of online communications manager Carson, web assistant Bryan Johnson and graphic designer Amy Foster. They anticipate the creation of a development environment taking until April or May. Once that’s completed, their goal is to bring in faculty and students to test the new site. They want to make sure that every part is functional before it’s launched live. Timing is everything since the shift can’t disturb people trying to access the site or students trying to register for classes.

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Bryan Johnson explains the new website’s code to Angela Carson.

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T H E

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Alex Heldrich

Resources at Pierce Check out the campus library, writing center and tutoring center Amber Gilliland Senior Reporter

Library

Time to go clubbing

New clubs join returning clubs on campus

Alex Heldrich Reporter

Pierce College Puyallup students can find a club to join for just about anything. If one student has a special interest, chances are lots of other students share it. The options range from LARP Club to the Black Student Union.

Last school year, Pierce College Puyallup had 28 different clubs. This year, there is expected to be even more.

Five new proposed clubs are starting this year as well as many returning clubs.

“We actually haven’t confirmed all of them yet,” Andrew Punchak, clubs coordinator said. “A lot of them are still in the works.”

One of the new clubs is Ink Slingers Creative Writing Coalition, a place for students with a passion for writing of any style. The club will have activities such as word wars and competitions to write 1,000 words in 30 minutes. The club will also be a place to hang out and bounce ideas off of each other.

“I want it to be a fun mix of competition and support,” Sydney Blankenship, ISCWC president, said. “I’m definitely planning to do a short story contest with cash prizes, support and events for National Novel Writing Month and maybe a slam poetry night.”

Blankenship said meetings will be Monday afternoons and Friday mornings.

Mario Kart Club is a club for people to hang out and play Mario Kart. Meetings are on Thursdays in the MPR but it isn’t finalized.

“I’m excited that more people will have the opportunity to experience Mario Kart that otherwise would not be able to,” Mary Hall, Mario Kart Club president, said.

Wrecked is a Christianity-based club with the intention of helping students with their spiritual growth.

“I want to provide a place where people are taught to act upon the love we have experienced,” Sierra Storm Mensonides, Wrecked club president, said.

Wrecked leaders hope to take club members on field trips to see local Christian concerts and host treasure hunts, an activity where club members receive words for others and pray over those they feel lead them to God. Meetings for Wrecked will be at either 9 a.m. or 11 a.m on Fridays; the location is yet to be decided.

The Engineering Society is a club directed toward all students interested in engineering.

“Some people may think engineering is focused on only math and physics, but

that just isn’t the case,” Jeremy Cruz, the Engineering Society president, said.

“I encourage artists, musicians, writers and entrepreneurs to consider joining the Engineering Society, as well as those who wish to become engineers.”

Cruz plans to invite a professional engineer to speak about his/her experience in the industry. The Engineering Society will work on projects involving electronics, robotics and mechanics.

“Because engineers often work in a groups to solve problems, I will be holding a workshop for group problem solving,” Cruz said.

The meeting schedule and location for the Engineering Society hasn’t been decided.

The Perception Party is another new club where members make videos and debate topics in media and politics in an open and safe environment.

The club president has recorded the contact information of local political representatives and plans to invite them to the Puyallup campus to speak about their views and why voting and being involved in politics as a young adult is important.

“People say that death is the worst thing. But to me the worst thing is dying and not accomplishing something that you always wanted to do and this is something that I’ve always really wanted to do,” Christopher Cameron Warford Dennis, Perception Party president, said.

Students can join the Perception Party by contacting the president through his email, which will be advertised on posters around campus.

Some of the returning clubs include LARP Club, the Gay Straight Alliance, previously called Umbrella Club, Drama Club, American Honors, Anime Club, Physics Club, Friendship Coffee Fellowship, Black Student Union, Veterans Club, League of Legends Club and Island Harmony.

Any student at Pierce can start a club.

The process requires five members, a student named as club president, a staff member willing to be club adviser and completed paperwork. Clubs meet regularly at a chosen location based on their set schedule. Some clubs meet once or twice a week while others meet once a month.

Club members also plan school events. “(Clubs) are supposed to plan one event per quarter, at least, but the more the merrier,” Punchak said.

“Every student is 100 percent able to go to any club that they please,” Punchak said. “It’s 100 percent inclusive.”

W W W . P U Y A L L U P P O S T . C O M

Writing Center Located inside the back of the library, the Pierce writing center is a way students can get assistance with writing assignments.

The center has four professional tutors and six peer tutors on staff. Students can make an appointment with a tutor but drop-ins are also welcome.

—Lesley Caldwell

Tutors can help students in coming up with ideas, creating proper citations and organizing papers.

Inside the center, students have access to dictionaries, grammar books and thesauri. The center also has tip sheets on topics such as developing a thesis, punctuation and grammar.

During fall, the writing center is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

Academic Support Services The Academic Resource Center in College Center room 170 offers free tutoring for all students. Drop-in tutoring is available for students at any time.

Students need to sign in at the front desk with their student ID numbers upon entering. Appointments with tutors can also be made at the front desk. Students are able to receive two hours of free one-on-one tutoring per week for each class they’re taking.

The tutoring center also has textbooks for student use, educational games and scientific models.

“We have pretty much every model they’d see in a biology class,” Kristen Morgan, program support supervisor for the tutoring center, said.

Pierce is also a member of the Western eTutoring Consortium, a free online service. This allows students to access help on weekends and evenings. Login instructions for the service are located on the tutoring center page of the Pierce website.

The tutoring center is open fall quarter 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Students can stop by the tutoring center any time during operating hours to get help or have a place to work.

“It’s Pierce students helping Pierce students so it’s not an intimidating place to be,” Morgan said.

Amber Gilliland

Clubs board in the College Center.

The Pierce College library offers a plethora of resources to students with around 100,000 books to choose from.

In order to checkout a book, students must present their student ID card to the librarian. Up to 20 books can be checked out at once and each book can be rented for three weeks.

There’s also more than 80 databases on the library page of the Pierce website. These databases pull articles from multiple sources such as websites and scholarly journals. Most of them have a citation tool that will create citations in different styles such as MLA and APA. There’s also videos on the databases and the library recently added a PBS database so students have more access to videos.

Seven reference librarians work in the library to assist students in finding the right book.

Recently, the library underwent a renovation on the computer area. There are now 45 computers in the library for student use, as well as printers.

Students may also check out equipment from the library such as DSLR cameras and video recorders.

Money from the student tech fee was approved for new library equipment.

Later in the quarter, 10 laptops will be added to the equipment list.

“Students voted and said they were most interested in having laptops to check out, so those should be processed sometime this fall and ready for students to borrow,” Lesley Caldwell, systems and instruction librarian, said.

A full list of equipment can be found on the library page of the Pierce website.

During fall quarter, the library is open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. MondayThursday, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

“Students voted and said they were most interested in having laptops to check out, so those should be processed sometime this fall and ready for students to borrow.”

The Academic Resource Center is housed inside the College Center.

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RAIDERSPORTS

Athletics and activities of Pierce College Puyallup CJ Robinson

Coaching at Pierce: a team effort Hannah Pederson Reporter

Kevin Davis- Baseball Baseball has always been a part of Kevin Davis’s life, but when he hit his senior year at Renton High School, things became more complicated. Davis’s high school baseball team was low ranking, but his personal ability was significantly higher up on the ladder, according to Davis. When it came time to move to the next phase of his life, Davis found it difficult to get on a team due to his high school’s low rank.

Davis had always looked forward to going into professional league baseball, but this bureaucratic block ended up being the reason why he is where he is Kevin Davis today.

He made it into professional baseball which, to his surprise, wasn’t to his liking. So when he was released in 2009, he decided to pursue coaching.

Davis was hired as an assistant coach for a division one program in South Carolina where he worked for a year before moving back to Washington.

Davis has been coaching at Pierce for four years, and when he started on the program, it was reminiscent of his old high school team. Davis worked to find athletes with a “hard hat and lunchbox mentality and a chip on their shoulder,” using their frustration from being placed on a low ranking team to fuel their success.

Davis coaches because he doesn’t want his athletes to have to go through all the trials and tribulations he did, and so far he’s landed 19 of his athletes scholarships to schools with division I, II and III teams.

Raiders volleyball team does a drill in one of their daily practices at the Fort Steilacoom campus.

Raiders start season with competitive edge CJ Robinson

CJ Robinson Reporter

The smack of volleyballs echo through the Pierce College Fort Steilacoom gym, followed by an array of commentary from the players who make up the Raider volleyball team. Head coach Shawnna Sessler and assistant coach Greg Finel stop the warmups to give advice while the players listen intently on adjustments to better their gameplay.

The season officially started Aug. 16. The team began practicing for more than three hours a day and working constantly as a “family.”

“As the team started building, the success just started overflowing,” Finel said.

Once Sessler and Finel understood the team’s potential, their goals for Raider volleyball changed drastically. Both coaches say they hope to make it to the top four in the Northwest Athletic Conference, the parent organization for 35 community colleges around Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia.

The coaches also mentioned the idea of growth and family within the team.

“When you have one (player) that’s missing out of the puzzle, it’s noticeable, because that’s how well they fit together,” Sessler said.

By Sessler’s account, the team has been successful in creating the bond that they stress so greatly.

“You would never know these kids were put together two or three weeks ago,” Sessler said.

The players start up their drills again, but not without lighthearted comments and laughs. According to Sessler and Finel, every weekday for the next season these athletes will grow and share a bond that few can achieve.

So far, the team has garnered a 5-9 record. There are O C T O B E R

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Coaches Shawnna Sessler and Greg Finel watch for possible improvements in the game play.

Upcoming volleyball schedule: 7 p.m. Oct. 21 in Lakewood against Lower Columbia 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in Des Moines against Highline 7 p.m. Nov. 6 in Lakewood against Tacoma 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in Lakewood against Centralia Nov. 15: time and date to be decided Nov. 19 NWAC Championships in Tacoma

13 more games scheduled until Nov. 19. According to the coaches, students are encouraged to attend games.

“You come out to a game and you’re not going to do anything but fall in love,” Finel said. “Our girls - they don’t cease to impress.”

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Bill Mendelson- Men’s Basketball Bill Mendelson, or Coach Mendy, as his team refers to him, views athleticism as a way of life.

Mendelson’s love for sports began around high school, when he played basketball, baseball and football.

Mendelson found his niche when he reached college at Western Washington University. As a member of his school’s football team, Mendelson began taking coaching clinics in order to better understand the logic behind his coaches plays and training tactics.

After spending his college years as an unofficial assistant coach, Mendelson graduated and in 1975, found an official position as a student teacher at Sehome High School in Bellingham. He gained experience and developed a coaching style that landed him at Pierce, where he’s been coaching the Raider’s men’s Bill Mendelson basketball team for 11 years.

“If you’re around long enough, you’ll win games,” Mendelson said.

Mendelson loves basketball because it’s competitive, and impresses that school of thought on his athletes. He says he demands a lot from his team, but those expectations have produced an award winning basketball machine, running on competition and the will to improve.

Basketball has been a pillar in Mendelson’s life for a while, but even more so after retiring from teaching physical and driver’s education at North Thurston High School for 39 years. Now he divides his time between the Raiders, his family, his health company Isagenix and fixing up properties to rent.

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Mark Edmonston- Softball Coach Mark Edmonston found his penchant for coaching in an untraditional manner.

He says he’s always had a natural affinity for coaching, which he put to use when he was an officer on the Tacoma Police Department, specializing in defensive training, hiring and background research.

All of that experience came into play when his interest in full-on coaching was sparked by his daughter joining a fastpitch team. At that moment, Edmonston said he fell in love with coaching, the passion of the players and the sport.

From that point on, he began learning to become a coach. He trained under three coaches, to whom he attributes all of his successes: Coach Dimiro, who taught him program management, recruiting, practice organization, Coach Hilton, who taught him outfield and Coach Brosart, who taught him hitting, Mark Edmonston and from whom he inherited the Raiders in 2008.

Edmonston’s teaching background, combined with the knowledge he gained from those three coaches produced the style of coaching that made Raider’s Softball a high ranking team in the NWAC (Northwest Athletic Conference). The secret to his success is focusing on the individual, not the team.

The dynamic between Edmonston and his team is electric. There’s a mutual respect rooted in the knowledge that he always has what’s best for his athletes at heart.

Kailey Nobriga, a junior on the Puyallup campus, came all the way from Hawaii last year specifically to join the team coached by Edmonston.

Shawnna Sessler and Greg Finel- Volleyball Coaches Shawnna Sessler and assistant coach Greg Finel are the duo who has been the driving force behind the Raider’s success.

They pieced together a high functioning team out of what had been a conglomerate of complete strangers three weeks ago. But it’s as clear as the lettering on the back of their team shirts, they’re not just a bunch of athletes working together for a few seasons - they’re a Shawnna Sessler family.

Besides the warm atmosphere that pervades the team, their domination on the court can be attributed to Sessler and Finel. The coaches have this good cop, bad cop vibe that simultaneously lets players know where they need to improve and gives them the inspiration to do so.

But no matter how much they’ve impacted the team, Sessler and Finel Greg Finel credit everything to the girls. They were awe struck when the team first started practicing together. They saw the players’ drive to achieve beyond their best.

Sessler and Finel believe they have accidently formed a literal “dream team,” one they say people need to keep an eye on in the future.

W W W . P U Y A L L U P P O S T . C O M

New faculty at Puyallup campus Way Jeng: Way Jeng, English professor, would-

Reporter

There are five new full-time faculty members at Pierce College Puyallup this school year including Gail Hecmanczuk, Way Jeng, Alan Man, Donna Moran and Tiffany Smith.

Tiffany Smith: Tiffany Smith, part of the nursing faculty, is new to Pierce. Smith’s responsibility for the first quarter is to introduce the field of nursing and concepts of diversity, multiculturalism and empathy to new students.

Her job also entails advising 20 students from the 2016 cohort of prospective nurses students and attending meetings to help aid the program.

When Smith was younger, she’d always aspired to be a doctor, but when she saw a film documenting the transformation of doctors that had gone through the years of medical schooling, she changed her mind.

In her education, she took both high school and college level anatomy, and was immediately interested.

“Labs were brilliant,” Smith said. “I loved cutting eyeballs and doing all this crazy stuff.”

Once she decided she wanted to be a nurse, she says she never looked back.

The decision to teach was more gradual. Smith had a love for teaching all her life and knew she had the ability to teach nursing later in her career. She got here a lot faster than she had previously thought, and is still very happy to be here.

She also emphasizes the lack of recognition of teenagers with mental health problems. One problem in particular is the reputation that’s associated with mental illness.

“People will say ‘Oh that pension has a gun, they must have a mental health issue,” Smith said. “Rhetoric like that drives the stigma.”

Overall, Smith said says she’s excited for what this year will bring.

“I just want my students to be prepared,” Smith said Donna Moran: Donna Moran is the only new faculty member whom has worked at Pierce previously. She takes on a large assortment of responsibilities throughout the campus.

Moran’s responsibilities include leading a team for a federal grant given to create open-source curriculum for a health information technology degree. This includes lesson plans, materials for students and all other aspects of creating that program.

Moran says she’s been teaching her entire life. Her second job out of college was a university professor, and from there she’s worked at schools, ranging from K-12 to community college.

Teaching was one of the fields Moran wanted to avoid. She attributed it to the gender stereotypes that existed at the time.

“When I came through college, the only things women became were nurses, teachers or secretaries,” Moran said.

“If you wanted to do something different, you were bucking the system.”

Moran’s uncle suggested pursuing a job in the computer field because of the lack of gender problems in the field.

From mainframes to the beginning of Apple, she’s seen multiple evolutions of technology throughout her career.

As the Computer Information System program coordinator, Moran still believes that there are problems with gender, especially in IT. “For a woman to walk into a room of men, some of their comments and jokes can get to a point where it’s uncomfortable,” Morgan said.

Moran aims to continually build the IT and CIS program and make it through this transition with the least amount of complications possible.

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n’t be here without the help of fiction writing workshops.

These events helped him realize he enjoyed looking at and criticizing others’ writing while simultaneously watching them grow.

Attending one of the oldest science fiction and fantasy workshops in the United States, Jeng not only learned skills that come with constant writing and commentating, but also better understood his priorities in writing.

Jeng said he can apply his skills to help support student’s goals in writing.

Wang studied philosophy and psychology in his undergraduate program and was always set on his goals, but when those previously concrete goals fell through, he rethought his process.

“I wish I’d taken more classes outside of what I was immediately interested in for a wider range of options,” Jeng said. “I felt locked in.”

To describe his teaching style and goals for this year, Jeng emphasizes student agency to make sure students come first.

“My goal in the classroom is to help students do what they want to do,” Jeng said.

CJ Robinson

CJ Robinson

Alan Man: Alan Man didn’t decide on a teaching career until later in college. He’d planned to become a researcher, until he was a teacher’s assistant for an engineering class. He saw that the students were engaged, answering questions and enjoying learning, which inspired him to teach. From there, he started taking teaching classes, realizing that teaching was what he wanted to do.

When describing his teaching, Man said he feels his class is structured with an engineering-styled mindset.

“I encourage the students to be comfortable with me and their fellow classmates where (they) can not be afraid to learn,” Man said.

Man moved from outside of Washington to teach. Originally from upstate New York, the aspect of this area he finds most surprising is the love for animals.

“I take my dog around and people love her,” Man said.

“It’s really nice when people ask me to pet her and let her lick their face. That’s the biggest impression I’ve gotten from people here.”

CJ Robinson

Brian Purugganan, coach for women’s basketball, believes he’s found his true calling.

He views coaching as a way to help the team not only with their athletic pursuits but also in their daily lives.

Purugganan emphasizes that with student athletes, school comes first. His team strives to maintain an average GPA of 3.1, which some students may find difficult when they’re juggling courses, training for the season and handling their personal lives.

“Winning is fun,” Purugganan said.

“Winning is why you step on the court.”

For Purugganen, it’s all about the little victories. His love of coaching is fueled by seeing his players succeed on Brian Purugganan and off the court. Some of Purugganan’s athletes moved to Pierce from as far as Hawaii to further themselves and work for their future, and he says that’s what he truly admires.

“It’s all about the team, but the team needs a collective of unique individuals to be successful,” Purugganan said.

When he started coaching for Pierce six years ago, he said that his team was in the gutter. The joint efforts of him and the athletes brought their ranking up to the middle of the pack, and they plan to keep climbing.

CJ Robinson

Brian Purugganan- Women’s Basketball

Gail Hecmanczuk: Teaching accounting at Pierce, Hecmanczuk feels a gratification associated with being a professor that she says doesn’t usually come with other jobs in the accounting field.

“There is an energy that comes from being around students,” Hecmanczuk said. “It’s just exciting that you’re pursuing all of these different options.”

Hecmanczuk hopes to bring relevance through modern examples and discussions. Her previous work experience brings real world examples into the classroom and gives an explanation for how to apply those concepts today.

“Accounting gives you another lens with which to view the world,” Hecmanczuk said.

She says students should take accounting classes because basic accounting is used in almost every organization, whether it’s a small business, large corporation or nonprofit organization.

Hecmanczuk feels that it’s her job to speak up for accounting and rebut the common stereotype that accountants are just “bean counters” because accounting is used everywhere in daily life.

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Grace Amsden

The turtle, brought by the “reptile man�

Isaac Pederson walking in the College Center.

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Armani Jackson

Lizzie Duke

elcome Days were organized and held by the Office of Student Life members on Sept.

21-23. Events brough to campus included a balloon artist, DJ, game truck, reptiles and photo booth with props.

ABOVE AND BELOW: Balloon artist Jacqueline Brulotte making balloon art for students in the dining commons.

Lizzie Duke

ABOVE: student Caleb Perkins with an iguana, brought by the reptile man Isaac Peterson.

RIGHT: Student Christina Langley holding a snake also brought by Peterson.

Katie Fenton

CJ Robinson

BELOW: Students in the gaming truck outside the College Center.

Students posing with the Instagram photo booth frame in the dining commons.

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