May 24, 2012 (43.11) by SFCC Communicator

Track: Javelin PG. 4

‘63 Comet PG. 5

Javelin can be dangerous

Invasive Species PG. 6

Movie filmed by locals

Mussels spread to regional lakes

Volume 43 | Issue 11

May 24 - June 6, 2012

Bigfoot Cards: Good or Bad

The new bigfoot cards from Higher One are being sent out this month. Students can activate them when they are recieved. John Lynn Conner Nuckols

The Communicator If you want to get a financial aid check that doesn’t involve paying a private company every time you access your money, you’ll need to take a quick trip to Higher One’s website this fall to jump through some hoops. Higher One will be distributing financial aid funds through debit cards connected to their financial system. These cards force you to pay a 50 cent charge for each transaction if it’s run normally as debit. Higher One does advise clearly on its website to “always choose credit,” in order to get “fee-free” purchases for students. Teaching students to avoid the charges their company created themselves is a big focus, it seems. According to Chief Financial Officer for CCS Keith Foster, the decision to outsource SFCC’s financial aid distribution to a private com-

pany was made primarily to eliminate lines at the financial aid office, which can often take an hour or longer to get through. Foster explained that the state board for community and technical colleges sought to resolve the problem by outsourcing it. “We went out with a RFP (request for proposals) to see who could provide the services so we could distribute checks electronically,” Foster said. “That’s what we have not been able to do with our system. We have an older financial system that doesn’t allow us to do direct deposits, so what we were seeking is a solution that would be able to help students get what they needed. “The bottom line is this all came about with the concerns of students having to stand hours in line and get manual checks.”

Accounting and Economics instructor Don Brunner explained why this wouldn’t solve the problem described. “I don’t see a great big reduction of lines that way,” Brunner said. “They’re (students) going to be lined up at the ATMs instead of the cashier’s window trying to cash the check. If they’re trying to avoid the 50 cent charge, and if I can take the money from an ATM in the form of cash, won’t I then be walking around with $500 in cash? How is that better? “I don’t know how that defeated the problem.” C o n venience comes at a price as well. Higher One, based in New Haven, Conn. posted earnings of $57.8 million in their first quarter 2012 Earnings Report. This profit comes from fees charged to colleges, as well as transaction fees paid by students who use Higher One’s account.

Gina Ochoa | The Communicator

CFO Keith Foster said Higher One is a useful service. SFCC and SCC are jointly paying $2,500 a year to them for the privilege of the service. Lauren Perry, the Client Relations Specialist from Higher One, explained that colleges will be informing students how to avoid fees. “Swipe and sign is when you select credit as the method of sale rather than debit,” Perry said, mimicing a suggestion Higher One makes (even listed right on its ATM). “When a student chooses credit

Higher One Fees 50-cent debit card fees on every transaction using a PIN No fee if used as a credit card.

CARD | Page 2

Policy change limits adding classes The new hard five policy limits the time students have to add new classes to their schedules to only five days. Alicia Villa

The Communicator

Gina Ochoa | The Communicator

Cynthia Vigil, right, feels that the new policy will help students increase academic success.

PERSPECTIVES

Hard Five

Page 6 Museum

FOCUS

Page 7 The Communicator

The new “Hard Five Policy” will push students to be more selective about course choices. This new policy will no longer allow students to add classes after the fifth day of the quarter even with instructor permission, on the basis that it will decrease failure rates among students. “This policy has to do with student success and graduation rates,” said SFCC Counselor Cynthia Vigil. “You aren’t connected with the instructor, you aren’t connected with the syllabus and you’ve missed five days of class.”

Page 6 Open Mic

The new policy will affect all CCS institutions in an attempt to align CCS policy with those of other higher education institutions. “Across the country, colleges don’t allow students to easily enroll in classes late in the quarter, unless they are continuous enrollment courses such as P.E. courses,” said Interim District Academic Services Officer Janet Gullickson. Dean of Computing, Math and Science Jim Brady explained that although major policy changes have unintentional consequences, he did agree with this particular notion. “Every day counts and students should be aware of the consequences of adding a course after a first day,” said Dean of Computing, Math and Science Jim Brady. “ I’m okay with their needing to make a case to the instructor in order to be let in. HARD FIVE | Page 2

SIDELINES

Page 4 Tennis 509.533.3602

www.twitter.com/_communicator

news

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VP of Student, Admin Services resigns Nick Boe

The Communicator Alex Roberts, the former vice president of student and administrative services, resigned his position as of April 27. Despite his dean title, Alex Roberts had been filling in for some of the responsibilities of the vice-president of student services, along with a few other administrators, as a new vice-president of student services has not been hired since Pam Praeger stepped in as the SFCC college president, leaving the VPSS position vacant, in July 2011. Pam Praeger, current SFCC president, said that she is not aware of the specific reason that Roberts resigned, noting that the date he resigned and the position he resigned from is just about all she knows. “If there is a letter (of resignation),

it resides with Human Resources, and it is not one I have,” Praeger said. “I was naturally informed of his resignation so that we could continue college operations smoothly by dividing up responsibilities.” With regards to how the responsibilities of the position will be handled in Roberts’ absence, Praeger said that a lot of it depends on the circumstances. “There are a lot of ‘it depends’ when covering supervisory and management functions, but getting critical work accomplished means everyone needs to step up and pitch in, which folks have done,” Praeger said. “For May and June, Vice President Jim Minkler oversees student life. “I oversee the other administrative functions, and many of them will be moving to the new consolidated structures managed by the District Office.”

Student officials chosen Nick Boe

The Communicator Ethan Erickson, Kim Jones and Mari Baerman have been announced as the winners of the Associated Student Government’s 20122013 elections, as the associated student (AS) president, academic vice-president, and activities vicepresident respectively. Erickson, the newly-elected AS president, said that he has many plans for the upcoming year, but currently is just acclimating himself to the fact that he’ll be the AS president next year. “I feel really excited and nervous all at the same time,” he said. “It’s still a little bit surreal. “I feel so lucky and blessed to be given such an awesome opportunity

that I’m not quite sure what to do with myself at the moment.” Erickson said that he is very excited to work with his future vicepresidents. “I feel that they bring a muchneeded diversity to the office,” he said. “The activities and academic vice-presidents, as well as myself, each represent a type of student here. “As a group, no one is left out.” At the time of the polling, there were three nominees for AS president, two nominees for academic vice-president, and one nominee for activities vice-president. Erickson said that one of his primary goals in his presidency would be to build a sense of community between the students. “I want to make it a more friendlier place than it already is,” he said. “We can build that kind of environment together, so let’s do it -- no limitations. “As Bruce Lee said, if you limit yourself in anything, you’re dead.”

Noise made over new noise ordinance Clayton Kraft

The Communicator It’s not often that a guy forces the city council to listen to him play loud music through an amp while they continually remind him of his three-minute limit, but apparently the noise ordinance that was passed doesn’t apply to council chambers. Spokane City Council passed a new sound ordinance over the protestations of city buskers (street musicians) on that gives police officers the discretion to enforce new rules restricting “unreasonable” noise levels to 100 feet. Musician and busker William Cruz, when his three minute time to speak was called, began setting up an amp for his guitar and trumpet while city council head Ben Stuckart repeatedly reminded him of his three minute limit while insisting he move closer to the microphone. “I have brain damage that prevents me from learning

Crime Watch 5/4-5/17 2012 Collision: Collision, happened most likely in P2 Collision, Elliot drive

Harassment: Harassment, parking lot P2

Card:

John lynn | Editor Cardholders don’t pay charge for running card as credit, merchant does.

instead of debit they aren't charged a pinch fee of 50 cents when entering a pin.” Running as credit isn’t free for the institutions and vendors that are having customers use this “free” option. By running as credit the charge moves to the vendors and banks that are processing the card transactions instead of the student. “Often people that don’t deal with financial matters don’t know this,” said Brunner. “But there are people and machinery and computers behind those transactions and that’s

From Page 1

expensive to operate. Somehow or another that has to be paid for, and it sounds like they are paying that with a charge.”

NW • • •

Schools that use Higher One:

Western Washington University Portland State University Clark College

Drugs: Possesion of 40 grams or less of Marijuana

Medical: Medical, room 203 Medical, room 148

Suspicious Activity Report: Disorderly conduct, room 218 to the bus stop

Student Conduct: Failure to Comply with College Officials

Theft and Robbery: Theft-Second DegreeOther than firearm Theft- Third degree, room 125

Found Property: Found property

Hard Five:

and you don’t know what you’re getting into then you’re setting yourself up for failure,” Vigil Said. “This policy makes it so you have to plan it and you have to be on top of it.” Students who register late Administrators claim to have are shown to have lower found that students who register late cumulative GPAs have significantly lower cumulative GPAs compared to students who registered on time. From Page 1 “The (grade point) difference is -.53,” said Sally Jackson, SFCC Di“However, we need to make sure rector of Planning, Institutional Efthat instructors are available to pro- fectiveness, and Research. “The spective students during those key difference in average course grade is very pronounced for a 5 credit first few days” Vigil said there was a difference music course (-1.09 a whole letbetween students who add or drop ter grade) and psychology courses classes based on their needs and stu- (-.82). This kind of difference can dents who simply put off schedule make a real difference in a student’s cumulative GPA.” planning. Gullickson said “As a counstudents who add selor, what I see “This policy makes it so you classes later in is students comthe quarter are ing in that first have to plan it and you have disruptive. To do week,” Vigil said. to be on top of it.” as well as their “Some are trying -Cynthia Vigil classmates, they to swap out but SFCC Counselor require extra time another group of students come in on the Friday to from their instructors, counselors register and haven’t even looked at a and have to rearrange the financial aid expenses. class schedule.” “Students who follow the rules Vigil further explained what the will be very pleased (with the polilatter group of students have to deal cy), rules help the people who folwith in comparison to their more low them,” Gullickson said. “Those prepared classmates. “If you did not plan it well, if you students shouldn’t be held back bedid not touch base with your instruc- cause of other students not keeping tors, you didn’t go to that first day up.”

music, and this is how I perform and make my living,” said Cruz in between playing guitar and trumpet for the council, listening to his amplifier as he did so. “I wanted to demonstrate my need for an amplifier with my music. 100 feet is a joke, I can hit a block with my voice when it’s warmed up. Amplifiers such as the one I use are easy targets with these noise complaints. “Buskers bring an experience downtown that the city needs, that we need.” While ostensibly the rules apply to all of Spokane, many at the meeting seemed to think that this legislation was written specifically for harmonica player Rick Bocook, who goes by the name Harpman Hatter and plays downtown. “We know why we’re here, and I don’t think you’re getting told all the story here,” Bocook said in his characteristic tall black tophat and his untamed long black beard. “All those businesses that signed that petition are against me. I’ve got a constitutionally protected right to be there, and passing this bill will infringe on that.” “I’m a part of the downtown experience.” Proponents of the bill included organizations representing businesses downtown complaining that they sometimes find running their businesses impossible because of the noise from downtown buskers. “Mr. Bocook has been reasonable with me after some

initial problems,” said local business owner Claudia Kirkabo. “I took him to court and got an apology, and to his credit he has honored that, but not all of them might. Our ordinances have to give our businesses the ability to operate. “I hope there are not any loopholes in this legislation so that police can enforce it.” The current ordinance was described as unenforceable because it requires officers to use a process of measurement that proved difficult, because buskers who saw them could simply stop playing until they left. Because of equipment costs the new ordinance uses the judgment of officers to determine what noise is “unreasonable.” “We need an ordinance that works in a practical way,” said City Council Representative Mike Fagan. “This doesn’t work, and it’s restricting our officers. We need something that works and requiring recorders accurate enough to be permissible in court is something we can’t afford.” The ordinance passed 6-1, with only councilperson Snyder voting against on the basis the revisions that day had yet to be considered properly by the public. “You guys took an oath to uphold the constitution,” Bocook said to the council. “It was just taken away so (you) could pass this.

Did You Know?: 59 percent of full-time community college students were employed part-time in 2007-2008 Source: aacc.nche.edu

spokanefalls.edu/communicator

Get Focused on Your Studies

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Choose from over 30 options of study from American Studies to Biology and Education.

Talk to an advisor today! We have an outstanding team ready to help you.

425.352.5000 | www.uwb.edu Get Focused on Your Future

$6.50 Regal & AMC Movie Tickets purchased at the SFCC bookstore with college id - some restrictions apply

SPOKANE FALLS BOOKSTORE Do you need something done? We can do it!

Textbook Rentals Check Cashing Electronic Book Exchange Gift Cards Textbook Buyback Notary Public AMC & Regal Movie Ticket Xeroxing Laser Quest Tickets UPS Shipping Silverwood Tickets (seasonal) Supply Vending Machine in the lobby of the library Faxing

Located in the Student Union Building (SUB) Building 17 533-3566 bookstore.ccs.spokane.edu/spokanefalls

Did You Know?: You can advertise with The Communicator by emailing us at Advertising@spokanefalls.edu

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Sidelines

Gabriel Dillon | Editor

Tennis: Getting started

Spokane Parks and Recreation tennis courts Franklin sports complex Whittier Park Westgate Park Underhill Park Sky Prairie Park Peaceful Valley Park Mission Park Minnehaha Park Manito Park

Jake Hansen | The Communicator

Liberty Park

groups. equipment shops around Spokane as One of the most important things well as ordered online. when getting started in tennis is “ You can pick up a decent racquet to get proper instruction from the for $50 to $75,” Heidenson said. beginning, according to CCS tennis The next thing on the list of equipcoach Wally Heidenson. ment is tennis shoes.These can be “If you don’t receive proper purchased for a decent price at any instruction at the start, you can form sporting store. some bad habits Be sure to pick that will be hard “Just buy a racquet and up some tennis to break later some balls...you don’t have balls before you on,” Heidenson hit the courts. You said. “When you to join a club or anything.” can usually pick start out the right -Zack Juhre up a can of three CCS tennis player balls for less than way you have a solid foundation to $3. build on, and then you will be a betFor students interested in getting ter player and be able to have more involved in tennis, SFCC offers tennis fun with it.” classes for Spring, Winter and Fall According to Heidenson, the most quarters. The Spokane Parks and important piece of equipment is the Recreation Department offers tennis racquet. Raquets come in different instruction during the Summer. There sizes and varying levels of qualare also public and private tennis ity. They can be bought at sporting courts available in Spokane.

HarmonShipley Park

Zack Juhre, a member of the CCS tennis team, competed in last weeks tounament held at SFCC, between the community colleges of Washington.

Tennis in Spokane can be an affordable, accessible and rewarding summer activity. With summer right around the corner, there is no better time than now. Gabriel Dillon

The Communicator When it comes to tennis some might think that it’s a sport for rich country club members with mansions and private tennis courts, or that you need to pay large club fees for a private tennis club. Fortunately this isn’t the case. Living in Spokane we have many resources available to the public. When it comes to tennis you don’t have to be rich, tall, mean or built like a bulldozer.

“All you need is a racquet, some balls and a pair of tennis shoes,” said Anna Fina, a sophomore at Skagit Valley. ”It is also a good idea to go to your local tennis club for some lessons if possible.” While it can be nice to join a tennis club it isn’t necessary accordingly to CCS tennis player Zack Juhre . “Just buy a racquet and some balls,” Juhre said. ”You don’t have to join a club or anything.” When it comes to tennis in Spokane there is no shortage of public tennis courts, most of which are in good shape. According to Juhre, all that is needed is the equipment and the motivation to get started. The Spokane Racquet Club tells its members that tennis is a very physically demanding sport. It uses all the energy systems andmost of the joints and muscle groups in the body. It especially uses the larger muscle

Turns out throwing spears is dangerous Record javelin throws

#1 104.8 m Uwe Hohn 104.8m Germany #2 99.72 m: Tom Petranhoff 99.72m USA #3 99.52m Uwe Hohn 99.52m Germany Gina Ochoa | The Communicator

#4 97.12 m Uwe Hohn 91.12m Germany #5 96.96 m Uwe Hohn 91.12m Germany

Ernesto Gonzalez, victim of a javelin to the leg, gets in some practice.

Scott Brewster

The Communicator Ernesto Gonzalez, a former decathlete that has focused on javelin because of incident that happened at a meet at WSU. “One of the girls threw the javelin while a guy was out there measuring

and (he) got hit with the javelin in the back of the leg,” Gonzalez said. Mandy Youngers, who is one of two females on the CCS javelin team, said that is the not throwing the javelin with the proper form can couse injuries as well as harm your ability to throw in the future.

Grant Park Friendship Park Franklin Park Corbin Park Comstock Park Coeur d’Alene Park

Source: spokaneparks.org, (all park locations and maps are available on their website)

her into doing javelin for the CCS “I started to do javelin when I team. was a freshman in high school,” “I actually never did javelin in Lucas Sheer, a CCS javelin thrower, high school,” Youngers said. “But is ranked number one in the nation the coach... thought I would be at the Junior College level said. “I good at it so I decided to give it a tried it out after I sucked at baseball shot.” and I have fallen in love with it ever Javelin competitions are won by since.” the athlete that Sheer said that “I almost got hit by a can throw the throwing Javelin spear furthest. javelin when walking out of can be danger“My favorite part ous. the sector, and a teammate about javelin is “One time I lost grip of his javelin...it improving on my almost got hit by almost hit me in the back of personal record a javelin when of 187.4 feet,” walking out of the foot.” Gonzalez said. the sector and “Which happens -Lucas Sheer a teammate lost CCS javelin thrower to be third in the grip of his javelin NWAACC right and it almost hit me in the back of now.” the foot,” Sheer said. The CCS school record for javelin Sheer is a redshirt sophomore is 234 feet and seven inches, which which means he sat out from particiis held by Pat McCormick. He pating in javelin for a year, has plans threw for that distance during the for his future after he leaves SFCC. 2007 season. “My long term goals with javelin Gonzalez and Youngers are hopare to hopefully go to a Division ing that their success at the Junior One school,” Sheer said. “Also I College level will hopefully translate hope to not only have a school reinto a four year university giving cord, but a NCAA record as well.” them a scholarship for javelin. Youngers said her coach talked

Did You Know?: In Australian doubles play, the server’s partner stands on the same half of the court as the server. Source: http://www.bellaonline.com

F ocus ‘‘63 Comet’: a revealing drive through the desert

allie Roberts, Kailee suender | Editors

spokanefalls.edu/communicator

Two SFCC alumni make indie film that wins 2012 SpIFF film for Best in the Northwest Will Gilman

The Communicator The audience doesn’t know where they are going, or why, but sometimes the journey is as important as the destination. Such is the case for “’63 Comet” from filmmaker, and SFCC Alum Jason McKee. Three men, fellow SFCC Alums Damon Abdallah, and Dan Anderson, along with Tom Olsen, are cruising through the desert with the top down discussing everything from religion to the television show “Cheers.” “Basically, the whole concept of it was to tell us everything about these characters without telling us anything,” Writer/Director Jason McKee said. “I think you come up with very much a definite idea of who these guys are, but they never tell you who they are.” McKee pulled together a crew of volunteers in order to get it completed. No one was paid in cash for their work, their payment was the love of the craft. “It was three days of sixteen hour days in the hot hot sun,” said Actor Damon Abdallah. “But I just remember it just being a cool group of talented friends getting together for a common goal, this high quality picture that we all believed in.” Independent filmmaking is not easy. While the advances in digital technology for both shooting and editing have made the filmmaking process easier, the most difficult task is gathering a crew. Shot in Sprague, the film takes on a desert look. This look is just what

Zebra mussel prevention tips:

Jake Hansen | The Communicator

SFCC alumni and director Jason McKee, and alumni and actor Damon Abdallah discuss the film and its recent popularity. the filmmakers intended. “It’s a bit hard to explain,” McKee said. “The movie is three guys driving through the desert just kind of B’S’ing about the random stuff that comes into their minds.” The film began as a script by McKee, but blossomed from there. In a manner much like how a play is workshopped, McKee and his three actors would get together and go over the script again and again. If they created a new line they liked they wrote it in. They wanted a feeling of being able to talk on top of each other, while still making sense to the audience. “It was so much dialogue, and so

Beware of boat stowaways

Remove aquatic plants, animals, and mud fromall equipment. Drain all water from motor, livewell, bilge, transom, etc. Dipose of all unused bait in trash. Wash boat and equipment with hot and/or pressure water. (or) Dry boat and equipment in the sun for at least five days.

much thought that had to go into it,” McKee said. “That I knew there was no way in hell we were going to be able to show up on set and shoot as quick as we need to.” The film was completed and submitted to the Spokane International Film Festival. It was there it was the awards for Best Juried film from the Northwest, and Audience Favorite Film from the Northwest. McKee is hoping for more. Recently a fundraiser was launched on kickstarter.com in order to expand the reach of the film. The plan is to submit it to as many festivals as possible. “I’ve submitted to 20 festivals so

Tyler Kelsey

The Communicator As the amount of boats increase in lakes so does the amount of hitchhiking species. Some unwanted creatures may get into lakes they were not originally in. This causes a disruption in the ecosystem, taking over or even hurting the other natural wildlife.

According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Zebra Mussels and Quagga mussels are native to the Caspian Sea and were accidentally dumped into the Great Michigan Lakes through giant ships’ ballast tanks in the 1980s. Mussels can live out of water for up to a month when subject to the right conditions, thus making it easy for them to be transported from lake to lake. Quagga mussels can tolerate a much wider range of temperatures and water depths than the Zebra mussel. They can also tolerate brackish water, and are able to thrive in areas that zebra mussels cannot. The Quagga mussel is usually light tan to almost white, with narrow strips. It is fan-shaped, and where the

far,” McKee said. “We’ll start finding out in early June all the way to the next year and a half.” Locally the next screening will likely be at Reel Spokane, a festival of local films. For now they are extremely happy with the film they’ve made, and are looking towards the future. “I enjoy making this stuff,” McKee said. “Honestly I would like to make a feature next, I’m not saying that’s happened, but I would like to.” If the awards and kickstarter donations are any indication, there is an audience that is anticipating that feature.

zebra mussel shell is flat where the two shells attach, the quagga mussel is rounded. Quagga mussels feed year round. The quagga mussel was not found in any inland lakes, because they tend to inhabit deeper waters than the zebra mussel. WDFW boat inspectors have found boats from Lake Mead and Lake Havasu at fishing tournaments in Washington State. Fortunately, launch managers and National Park authorities at these areas are making certain that boats leaving there have been inspected and cleaned. “We are finding boats that are transporting them (mussels) from infested waters,” said invasive species biologist Allen Pleus. “People are buying used boats from out of state and are transporting them back to Washington where inspectors are finding mussels on them.” According to Pleus, our economic state has caused people to buy contaminated boats from other eastern states where the invasive mussels are thriving.

As of May 22: The film’s presence on Kickstarter has gained 55 backers with a total of $2,653, exceeding its $2,500 goal.

Source: kickstarter. com

“There are more mandatory check stations since 2006,” Pleus said. Which allows greater chances of keeping this mussel out of Washington. Although according to Sgt. Carl Klein, head of enforcement for invasive species, they actually lack the funding for permanent check stations. Incidentally they must set up temporary ones that can appear pretty much anywhere around lakes they presume may be at risk of infestation. “We focus on watercraft inspections and the interstate transportation of live animals and also aquatic life,” Klein said. Keeping in mind that not only does the inspection stations check boats but also keep live aquatic species that may hurt the ecosystem out of Washington. “Lately this year we have got one or two boats containing invasive mussels per week compared to last year with two per month,” Klein said, “We unfortunately are seeing an exponential increase.”

Did You Know?: First U.S. theater, the Nickelodeon, opened in Pittsburgh, Penn. in 1905.

Source: npr.org

‘63 Comet

Focus

spokanefalls.edu/communicator ArtFest 27th Annual ArtFest Event featuring juried artists, live music, food vendors and a festive beer and wine gardens Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture 2316 W. 1st Avenue Fri. June 1, 12pm - 8pm (live music and beer and wine gardens until 10 pm) Sat. June 2, 10 am - 8 pm Sun. June 3, 10 am - 5 pm. Free Admission to festival grounds

Allie Roberts, Kailee Suender | Editor

Spokane culture at risk of cuts Riley Armstrong

The Communicator Budget cut preperations in the state legislature threaten a little bit of Spokane’s culture, and while the state legislature believes that making budget cuts in arts and education spectrum will earn savings, the public seems to think that losing cultural identity is more important than saving money. A bill proposed in December by Governor Christine Gregoire suggests cutting Spokane’s museum of Arts and Culture’s (MAC) State funding by over 40%. According to Gregoire, mothballing the MAC, the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Olympia’s Capitol Museum as well as cutting numerous outreach programs subsisted by historical societies could accrue 5.2 million in savings. After the budget was proposed in December, MAC executive director Ron Rector spoke on KYRS radio about how the closure could halt some of the city’s revenue making industries like tourism. “We add to the economy, we don’t take away from it,” said Rector. “This is the only museum that has history, art and American Indian objects under one roof in the state of Washington.” Rector also noted the profound impact that closing down the MAC would have on Spokane’s Native American community. Without the

MAC, access to historical archives and artifacts such as pictures would be constricted. It is plain to see how the proposed budget will generate savings, cutting funding for museums in Washington, converting the staff of event organizers and curators of the MAC into a skeleton crew. Just enough workers to keep dust off of the artifacts, but the amount of salaries covered by the budget would not provide enough staff to display those artifacts as exhibits. The public has replied to the museum-jeopardizing budget cuts with grassroots campaigns and websites such as SavetheMAC.org, which provides information on how to support the MAC as well as a portal from which to write legislators. But time is running out to show support, and the final days to contact representatives are near. The public is not the only party concerned with sparring the MAC from the state budget axe, legislator Andy Billing wrote in a note to the MAC foundation in March “I was the co-sponsor of a bill introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives that could provide a ray of hope for our Museum of Arts and Culture.” Said Billing. “The bill would divert fees set aside for construction of a Heritage Center in Olympia towards a new Department of Heritage, Arts and Culture. That Department would oversee three state museums that are currently in jeopardy, including

Ashley Hiruko | The Communicator

The Campbell House represrnts the elegance of the Victorian Era. the MAC.” Billing is not the only legislator receiving responses from the public, Spokane representatives Kevin Parker, Timm Ormsby, Michael Baumgartner along with Billing have all received hundreds of e-mails urging the legislature to reconsider budgeting options. “Some of them seem like ones I could have written,” Baumgartner says, “like memories of visiting the museum. One thing I realIy like is the Native American art and I remember going to Gonzaga as a boy to see it.” The MAC serves as a cultural hub for Spokane, offering a destination for school field trips, but also adds to Spokane’s nightlife with events such as Begin! Held on the second Friday of every month. The event is an after business hours party with live performances, free

food, and gallery cruising. If this new budget closed the doors to the MAC, Spokane would lose access to most of First Ave. as the museum also curates the historical properties located there. These structures are very old and date back to when Spokane was a small town with a fledging economy and include the Campbell House. A home built by one of Spokane’s most prolific entrepreneurs who lived in the house at the turn of the century. This home would be included in mothballing Washington’s museums. Spokane has a place for learning and entertainment in the MAC, closing the doors to the MAC could also mean losing a recourse that is cultural, historical, and educational.

Open mic showcases local talent Will Gilman

The Communicator The idea is deceivingly simple. One person, and one microphone, each with one goal: to make the audience laugh as hard and as long as they can. These are the thoughts that both drive and scare a newcomer to open mic stand up. Larger cities like Seattle and Portland have a multitude of open mics. Some nights that have more than one going on at the same time. Spokane is a little different. “There’s really only three open mics here in Spokane,” comedian Justin McNiff said. “That’s a lot better than a year ago when there was really only one.” McNiff is the host of the newest spot to test out jokes. Brews on Washington hosts “Laughs Infinity” on Saturday nights from 9 - 11. There’s no stage, just a microphone, and an audience waiting to hear jokes. “We’ve had magicians, poets, and stand ups. It’s been a mixed bag of fun,” McNiff said. “Some nights we have too many comedians, sometimes it’s just me talking.” Spokane Comedy Club’s open mic used to be on Wednesdays but it has now been moved to Sundays. Club owner Joe Fontenot has entrusted the hosting and operating of the open mic to Dennis Swennumson “There are pros and beginners alike who show up who love meeting first timers and helping cultivate the health of a local comedy scene.” Previously known as Chuckles, The Spokane Comedy Club has been working on creating its own identity. Bringing in national headliners like

Sean Rouse and Dan Cummins has helped. “Doing comedy is creating art,” Swennumson said. “No single artist is above the craft. Is that good? I feel like the vents at a factory that manufactures hot air.” The oldest established open mic in Spokane belongs to Don Parkins at his club: Uncle D’s Comedy Underground. Located upstairs inside Bluz at the Bend, it hosts both local and national headliners. Due to the larger crowds, the Thursday night open mic is regarded as the best one in town. “It’s such a great room,” said comedian Tom Meisfjord. “There’s almost always a crowd to react to whatever you do.” A comedian and hypnotist himself, Don Parkins knows how to put on a good show, for a good value. He prides himself on the shows he puts on and the happiness of the crowd. “Honestly, I have the open mic for selfish reasons,” Parkins said. “This is how you discover that next generation of talents.” The steps seem simple on paper, but in the end it’s all up to the work a comedian will do. If the jokes are good and the audience laughs, a comedian is in heaven. If they aren’t, and the audience is silent, the comedian may be inconsolable. “Every time I hit the stage; whether it be an open mic, or a paid crowd. Those core fears cross my mind,” Swennumson said. “But I still get up.” The biggest step is to just go and try. Step onto that stage and hope for the best. Woody Allen once said “80 percent of success is just showing up.” So why not show up and give it a try.

sum mer 2012 ewu

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1.800.831.6114

Did You Know?: 1924 is when The Campbell House was signed over to Eastern Washington State

Historical Society.

Perspectives

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Hard Five good policy for college

Turns out procrastinators get worse grades than people who register on time. Color me surprised. SFCC’s new Hard Five policy limits students to a fiveday cap on when Clayton they can move classes on Kraft around their schedule. There are graphs and percentages and data with all the little blocks that have to be lined up to make these kinds of decisions, but I’m left with a “no kidding” feeling. Students who can’t be bothered to figure out their classes within the first week aren’t likely to be in a good position to pass those classes anyway, according to the administration. Director of Planning, Institutional Effectiveness and Research Sally Jackson cites a study that demonstrates a .53 grade point drop on late registers, so I agree that it’s best we get them sorted out early. They take up class time, instructor time, and are more likely to be that kid on your project team that doesn’t get his work done. No one likes that guy. People will still procrastinate, but this rule might help manage the problem. Who knows whether students who register late are worse students or if registering late makes getting a good grade harder, but the point is that they registered late before the change. At least now we’ll have a better rule in place to manage their disruption to our classes. They might complain and moan a bit but I don’t think administrators expect real resistance from this crowd. “Hey,” they’ll say loudly. “I want to take longer to figure out what college courses I should be taking. I need those extra time because I spent the

weeks and weeks that I could have been registering (and getting good classes) doing other stuff. Stop taking away my rights!” Welcome to college kids, the washout line is over there. Not many of us will make it to 300 level courses and I’m perfectly satisfied with competing with less rivals. Not everyone is cut out for college, and while I applaud the general approach and care of community college, I think it’s useful to have some lines in the sand as well. We should do the same thing for drop day. Do we really need to push drop day back seven weeks into the quarter? Seven weeks is more than half the total time in class, so why the hell do we let people try out seven weeks of class without having a grade hit if they fail? Talk about wasting people’s time, this is Jonah’s whale to the guppy fish that the Hard Five represents. Look, the point is that if we have a lot of students signing up for classes that don’t work out, we’ve got a bigger problem on our hands than that the day requirement is too lenient. Let’s get some registration rules in place, some counselors talking to students to help them put a system in place. That might help lower the number of failures in our classes, and give the instructors some breathing room to teach kids who want to be there and planned it out. I applaud the efforts of the administration to clean up some of the small things that can make our college a better place to go. Let’s face it, there is some stigma with community college, and better grade levels and graduations rates might go a long way to helping that image. There will always be some students who wait until the last minute, but there’s no way around that one. Some people aren’t ready for college.

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A big part of the role of administration is to determine the direction of an institution and enact that vision with policy. SFCC administrators have determined that students who register or change classes late have a negative effect on grades and classes. To combat this, they are limiting the time you can add classes to five day with a polcy they’re calling Hard Five. Unlike many of the things we might address in our paper, we thought that this is one of those small issues that can make a practical, big difference to student life at a college. Many of us have done this, to both good and bad results, so we decided to tell you what we think about it.

Procrastinators happen to be students too

Those who know me would call me a procrastinator, a professional procrastinator. However, I would say I’m an opportunist. I take my time to make any decisions, and Alicia consider the full Villa spectrum of options. The Hard Five Policy limits options when students cannot add classes after the fifth day of the quarter. This might sound like a reasonable amount of time, but what’s not being consideredis that it doesn’t affect the organized students. The only students who can be affected by this policy will be affected negatively. Cynthia Vigil told me that there are two groups of students who add classes late: those who genuinely need to change their schedule and those who just aren’t registering. If this policy is pushing students to register on time, will the students who couldn’t be bothered to register really get their act together? I don’t think so, they’re still going to fail. What about the students who genuinely need to switch classes? They are the ones who get the short end of the stick. Wouldn’t students much rather have to rearrange finanial aid or scramble for a good grade than fail a class altogether? Its been said that the hopeful goal of this policy is to increase student success: graduation rates and high GPAs. What those statistics cannot show is the experiences of the students they supposedly represent, there is a grey area that is being misrepresented here. How do we justify allowing a small group of students to fail because the current policy allows

them to slack off a little? Especially when the new policy doesn’t improve the situation of well-to-do students or the horrible students who don’t care either way? Take me: both quarters I have been at this school I have dropped one class and picked up another. Both times I switched during the second week. My original classes were more than I could handle and I didn’t want to fail. In winter quarter I picked up cross training, and took a Z grade because I couldn’t handle the gym hours. This quarter I switched into news production and am kicking some ass. The difference between cross training and news production? Three credits. I am an example of a student being perfectly capable of jumping into a five credit class. Administration wants students to know what classes they are going to take and to stick with them. As a student with under 30 credits, I’ve had my hand held by counselors during registration. They didn’t stop me from making bad choices. There is a reason for that. This is not a high school, and although we are only a community college, we are a college. Students, not faculty, are responsible for planning their own schedules and should be capable of changing those schedules. And as inconvenient as procrastinating students are, they are still paying to be at the school and shouldn’t have their options limited. We are college students and human beings, we make mistakes and have outside influences that determine whether or not things go according to plan. Hard Five would push us to conform for a policy that’s being implemented because of inconveniences to staff, not because it’s something students really need.

The Staff The Communicator, a student-run publication, provides students an opportunity to connect with their campus and enrich their time at SFCC. We hope to maintain a forum in which students are able to voice diverse opinions on campusrelated issues. The Communicator also aims to inform students about topics relevant to their education.

Editor-in-Chief Randy Breedlove Web Manager Lauren Miller News Editor John Lynn Focus Editor Allie Roberts Culture Editor Kailee Suender Sidelines Editor Gabriel Dillon Perspectives Editor Clayton Kraft Photo Editor Brad Lewis Multimedia Ashley Hiruko Marketing Jennifer Bridges Adviser Jason Nix Writers Connor Nuckols Nick Boe Alicia Villa Tyler Kelsey Riley Armstrong Will Gilman Matt Moffatt Scott Brewster Photographers Jake Hansen Bryce Gray Gina Ochoa Ashley Hiruko

Staff members can be reached via email with the following format: sfcc.firstname. lastname@gmail.com

Please Note

The Communicator is an open forum for student coverage and opinion that is entirely student edited and produced, with absolutely no prior review from the faculty or administrators of Spokane Falls Community College. The content in this publication is the responsibility of the student staff of The Communicator, and as such do not necessarily reflect the view of Spokane Falls Community College administrators, faculty, or the student body. Individual student contributions to the opinion page or any other section of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board or the student staff of The Communicator.

The first copy of an issue is free, additional copies are 50 cents each.

Did You Know?: The Hard Five policy starts summer quarter.

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Community Colleges of Spokane provides equal opportunity in education and employment.

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