The Advocate Vol. 50 Issue 12 - January 9, 2014

The Independent Student Voice of Mt. Hood Community College

Jan. 9, 2015

Volume 50, Issue 12

the

advocate ALTA’S

WILL TO

GIVE Page 6

Oohlala worth it?

Page 2

Student budget cuts.

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Basketball tips off league play Page 7

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CHECK US OUT AT

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OPINION

January 9, 2015

Editorial | Our 2015 predictions: Kanye, Kim Jong Un, Google, and more Everyone’s been talking about the great and not so great things that have happened in the year 2014. ISIS, ice buckets, protests, Ebola, and the deaths of many great people such as Robin Williams and Dr. Maya Angelou ... It’s not like those things are irrelevant now, but history eventually shapes the future.

Now that it’s a brand new year, it’s time for us to predict 2015. How could the events of 2014 change this new year, for better or for worse? We’ll try and keep this a short and sweet read: Hopefully by mid-2015, we each will have a hoverboard.

Kanye West will probably buy the rights to L. Ron Hubbard’s religious work and use his

status of diety to take over the Church of Scientology.

Google Glass will become customizable with Ray Ban frames.

We predict Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush will be wed and become President and Vice President.

The San Andreas fault line will break and John Cusack will declare, “I told you so!”

There will be an Edward Snowden reunion tour in late June.

Kim Jong Un will die from a heart attack.

And exploding head syndrome. And tiny hand syndrome.

Jeb Bush and Vladimir Putin will host a beer summit.

Apple and Disney will join forces to reset the calendar, as predicted by the Mayans and according to Kanye’s latest discoveries in Scientology.

But, on a serious note, we have been guilty of overlooking ISIS, which still has great influence over Iraq and surrounding countries. We may be underestimating North Korea. Our eyes may be slow to observing the dark deeds welling up from below the surface of pop culture. Unforetold things are buried in the superficial news that comes and goes so fast. It seems as though underestimating powerful leaders and institutions will come around to bite us in 2015.

Greg Leonov the advocate

the advocate Editor-in-Chief Greg Leonov

Lifestyle Editor Adam Elwell News Editor Hayden Hunter

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chatwithbarney@gmail.com

Photo by Beka Haugen

cation for every single post.

The app also has pages dedicated to events, campus services and things like a textbook tradeoff program called “Textbook Transaction,” which is like a Craigslist for textbooks that is exclusively for Mt. Hood students.

It is a good idea for students to post their books through the Textbook Transactions link, which can be found by tapping on the “Links” option and then scrolling down to “Textbook Transactions.”

Ultimately, a campus app is an obvious plan for where the future of college life should be going. Maybe every college should have an app, if they don’t already.

Opinion Editor Emily Wintringham

Copy Editor Hayden Hunter

Video Editor Aurora Angeles

Photo Editor Beka Haugen

“It’s convenient for public service announcements.”

Braydee Langston Student, General Studies

“ I learn about events on the posters so I don’t find it very necessary.”

Kylie Youngblood Student, Biology Major

Sports Editor Brandon Raleigh

Ad Manager David Ahlson

The “Oohlala” app: Do you enjoy it so far?

“I don’t use Oohlala for the specific reason, that for my major, which is Bioengineering (with) a minor in Physics, it doesn’t offer anything of use for my educational purposes.”

Itan Altamirano Student, Bioengineering major

OOHLALA or OOH-NO-NO? Mt. Hood’s current ASG executive administration has been seriously pushing an innovative idea in order to keep staff, students, and anyone interested in MHCC life. This idea takes the form of a smartphone or tablet app called “Oohlala.”

If you have been picking up this newspaper at all this year, you might have noticed the not-so-subtle advertisements for the app. The Advocate staff has mixed feelings about the app, but I have been using it and see that it could be useful.

The layout of the app is like a hybrid between Instagram and Facebook. The user has the ability to post status updates and photos with captions where other users can comment or ‘like’ the pictures.

After initially installing the app, it is very important to search for “Mt. Hood Community College” rather than “MHCC” when searching for the institution. After finding “Mt. Hood Community College,” I created a new account by signing in using my Facebook account. Selecting which notifications to receive might be a good idea, because there is a notifi-

Chat with Barney

Graphic Designer Heather Golan

One really useful thing about Oohlala is the campus map, which is a virtual representation of MHCC’s main campus.

The number one drawback that I have experienced using the app is actually getting it to work smoothly while on campus. With the terrible service I get from T-Mobile, I am forced to connect to the campus Wi-Fi that fails me more often than I can handle, only to get kicked off after putting my phone away for a while.

After months of ASG’s fervent advertisement of the app, it is disappointing to hear that less than 500 people out of about 40,000 students downloaded the app.

Reporters Will Darkins Austin Guerrero Hunter Holmes Jon Fuccillo Jake Swindell Q Quarterman Jacob Young

Advisers Howard Buck, Dan Ernst Bob Watkins E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Phone: 503-491-7250 www.advocate-online.net #mhccadvocate Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030

It is probable that even some of those 400+ do not use it, or may un-install it.

ASG has done a great job acquiring a topnotch app, but for some reason it is lacking the right appeal. As if T-shirts and superhero mascots aren’t enough, there’s something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on - probably having more friends on the app would help.

That, and being able to actually use it on campus like I use Instagram at home.

To download the app, just go to your app provider on your tablet or phone and search for “Oohlala.”

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication. All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission.

Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board.

The Advocate reserves the right to edit for style, punctuation, grammar and length.

Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to advocatt@mhcc.edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print.

Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC. Cover graphic by Heather Golan Cover graphic by Heather Golan - the advocate

the advocate

OPINION

January 9, 2015

Column | Reviving artisans at MHCC: bring back horticulture “I like to be connected with students. I can see posts, new pictures. They give good advice and they keep everyone updated.”

Do you use the “Oohlala” app?

Do you enjoy Enea Paine Student, it so far? General Studies

“I use it frequently and my friends and I look down upon those who do not use it. It makes them seem unwilling to communicate.”

Isaiah Ishman Student, Marketing Major “I have Facebook, this app is obsolete.”

Anonymous Student, Psychology Major “I saw a sign for it out in the corner by the cafeteria but I don’t know what it is.”

Kathryn Griffin Student, Psychology

David Ahlson the advocate

“...Oregon wines, mead, and, of course, being the ‘Mecca of ’Mazing Marijuana’ have all come to be the hallmarks of Oregon’s unique culture...”

Looking around Oregon, you see them everywhere. In Portland they are called “hipsters,” farther east they are called “hicks,” you might hear them called “the hippies” by the older generations, but here at MHCC I like to call them “artisans.” They use their passions to create things that we use and consume with relish and sensuous abandon. Fine micro-brews, Oregon wines, mead, and, of course, being the “Mecca of ‘Mazing Marijuana’ ” have all come

to be hallmarks of Oregon’s unique culture, regardless of your walk of life.

With the recent passage of ballot Measure 91, Oregon has been placed at the vanguard of commercializing the marijuana industry. This presents some unique opportunities within our state, and at MHCC in particular. There is the potential to attract new students and revenue while providing a strong boost to our thriving local economies.

Mt. Hood’s horticulture program, which was phased out, is worth taking a look at reviving. The greenhouses still sit unused and semi-forgotten at the back of the campus, waiting to be recalled into service. The school

LET ASG AND THE ADVOCATE KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT DESIGNATED SMOKING AREAS. TAKE THE SURVEY AND EMAIL US AT: CHATWITHBARNEY@GMAIL.COM

has the experience it takes to run such a program. With the expectation of growing interest in the care of plants and the need for the regulation and commercialization of the burgeoning marijuana industry, there will be a need for trained horticulturists. These same horticultural skills are also needed to care for vines for winemaking and the barleys and ryes and hops for beers. MHCC could, with relative ease, bring horticulture back to the Course Catalog.

Planning for future growth and the capitalization of these artisanal movements could be a boon for the school. Why not consider creating an MHCC Academy of Artisans? (You could even have a special mascot – the Hipster (Mountain Goat!) Specialize in the unique draws that our own local culture has already embraced and grow them more, by educating our young people in the skills they need to thrive here at home. Offer courses for becoming a brew-master, or a master vintner or sommelier, or a master horticulturist. These would enrich industries in the state and local communities that have proven to have positive benefits on our communities.

With the support of local enthusiasts and school administrators, MHCC could potentially have a local group of Master Artisans that not only advances the sciences but also humanities and the arts: a trifecta of benefits that should be difficult to ignore in today’s rapidly changing world and volatile markets.

All three examples are some of the oldest professions known to man, and that shows the perennial power of the skills in those trades.

Invest in the future, by advancing and improving what has proven effective in the past.

Get your Goat on!

Graphics by Heather Golan

Graphic by Sarah Hyndshaw

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What’s so We are so excited to announce the launch of ASG’s new app!

IT’S OUR

APP

Stay Connected Share your Experience

Download it for FREE from your app store today!

FEATURES

FIND YOUR FRIENDS

STUDY TOOLS

CAMPUS MAP

EVENT INFORMATION

SOCIAL SCHEDULE

CAMPUS FEED

M eet oth e r s t u d en t s like you o n c am pus .

U s e e ffec t i ve s tudy in g fo r yo u r e x am s.

Neve r wa s te t i m e l o o ki n g fo r l o c at i o n s .

Be i n fo r m ed about all of the e ve n t s .

E a sily sha re yo u r sched u le w it h yo u r fr iends.

Jo in in o n t he co nver sat io n o n ca mp us.

the advocate

January 9, 2015

The Interview: a pop-culture bomb

LIFESTYLE

TO 5 SONGS

Each week the advocate supplies you with our top five songs for your playlist.

This week’s theme is political activism! Here are five songs that make you want to fight the power.

Hayden Hunter the advocate

Whether or not people found “The Interview” funny, everyone is talking about it. Even if it’s, “Can you believe they got Eminem to admit he likes men?” or “Kim Jong Un’s Katy Perry impression was explosive,” people can’t seem to get this satire off of their minds or out of their conversations.

Is that a good thing though?

For those of you who somehow do not know, The actual Kim Jong Un, issued a threat saying, “We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places ‘The Interview would be shown, including the premiere, how bitter

fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to … Remember the 11th of September 2001.”

The US abided by his terms and didn’t release the movie in theaters, but the movie was released online, I’m sure to Un’s dismay.

Although nothing has occurred yet, repercussions from releasing it online could still happen.

Aside from potentially having a 9/11 reoccurrence, there is potential fallout in the gay community. The scene including Marshall Mathers coming out could not have gone over well at GLSEN headquarters.

After watching the movie people tend to become prejudiced or more prejudiced to-

wards North Koreans. Our prejudices may not be far off though. According to the National Geographic documentary “Undercover in North Korea,” after the doctors gave patients their eyesight back, for the first time; instead of thanking the doctors, they walked out into the hall and started bowing, thanking, and praising a picture of their perceived deity, Kim Jong Un. These are just a few of the ways that The Interview could disrupt life as we know it.

Some of it could happen, or none of it could come to pass, but the fact still remains that this Hollywood flick will be on the tips of everyone’s tongues for at least a little bit longer.

MHCC theatre plans 2 winter musical

Iz r eeding hard 4 you ???

If you said yes, come check out The Advocates’ podcast with Greg and Adam at www.youtube.com/user/MHCCAdvocate. We personally promise that you won’t be required to read anything, bless your heart. We bring you the untold side of the news every week. Topics include, but aren’t limited to: Bill Cosby, ISIS, Adam’s 3rd grade teacher, Mt. Hood’s “Culture of Excellence,” and last but never least, Kanye West.

Adam Elwell the advocate

MHCC’s latest production to come out of the theatre program, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a musical comedy set in the 1920s, opens on Feb. 20.

Following its most recent production of “The Storytelling Abilities of a Boy,” a high school drama which only had a partial showing due to freezing weather, the program is ready for a new set of downs.

Director Mace Archer said, “One of the characters is called the drowsy chaperone. It’s about a wedding in the 1920s and she’s in charge of making sure the bride doesn’t do anything... illicit with the groom before the wedding.”

“She’s supposed to make sure nothing goes wrong, but it’s a

musical comedy so, of course, everything goes wrong,” he said.

Archer added that the program typically tries to do a musical in the winter. “The Drowsy Chaperone” is preceded at Mt. Hood by “Footloose” and “Rent” - musicals performed the past two years. Archer said it was important that students participate in a more classic musical, as the previous two are much more contemporary.

“I’m really excited for it. We had a read-through two days ago, and this play is just flat-out funny it’s just meant to be a rollicking good time,” Archer said.

“We were just reading the play, and this doesn’t happen much, but everybody was just laughing their ass off.”

Showtimes are: Feb. 20, 21, 27 & 28 at 7:30pm and Feb 2 and March 1 at 2pm.

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GANGSTA RAP MADE ME DO IT | ICE CUBE

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FIGHT THE POWER | PUBLIC ENEMY

APRIL 26, 1992 | SUBLIME

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WHITE FLAG WARRIOR | FLOBOTS

THE MARTYR | IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE

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the advocate

NEWS

January 9, 2015

Honored gardener leaves Mt. Hood $300k in will Hayden Hunter the advocate

Alta Marie Keeler was born on April 27, 1924, to a rural farming family in Happy Valley, and died Alta Marie Stapleton on the evening of July 28, 2014 – but only after ensuring Mt. Hood would receive $300,000 from her and her husband’s will.

She died at the age of 90 after living in the East Gresham area for close to 50 years. Her first job was as a secretary, working at Rapid Transfer and Storage Company. She continued to hone her skill in this field with State Farm Insurance Co. and Eli Lily and Co, and then as a legal secretary for Jones, Chamberlain and Arthur.

Alta met her husband, Dean Stapleton, at a Halloween costume party when she was 23.

Wearing a kilt with shorts underneath and going around lifting up his kilt to reveal “Kilroy was here,” left her to form the opinion of Dean that “he was a very obnoxious fellow,” she said when recounting the event.

The two would get past that rough start, and wound up married for 59 years until

Dean’s death in 2006.

But it was the love of gardening that connected Alta to MHCC. Mt. Hood used to have a thriving horticulture program that grew tons of students’ interest in gardening. The reason they knew her was because she had a remarkable home garden that was recognized in Birds and Bloom magazine.

Alta would always leave her gate open; often, MHCC students would take field trips to her garden, where she would give them gardening knowledge and advice. She would often send plants and seeds home with her visitors, as well. Along the road to her house hung a sign that read, “Visitors Welcome.”

The secretary’s gardening devotion would eventually blossom into a $300,000 gift, left to the Mt. Hood’s Foundation. The large donation will be considered as an endowment.

Al Sigala, MHCC Foundation director, said that as an endowment, the money will go toward student scholarships, but not how one might first think. The original $300,000 will never be touched: Instead, it will sit in a bank account accruing interest, to be taken out and given to students in scholarship funds each

year.

Students who receive this scholarship each year will be told the story of Alta and Dean Stapleton, so that they know who is paying for

cent decrease in enrollment. This is expected to create a projected 5.5 percent reduction in the student fee budget for the 2015-16 academic year.

Due to this change, the deadline to submit budget request forms has been extended to Jan. 16.

All programs and teams will need to review and adjust their budget requests according to the changes. They must determine where to cut 5.5 percent from their specific program budget.

Fluctuation is to be anticipated, since enrollment could change throughout each quarter.

Last year, a sharper enrollment drop forced a 17 percent reduction in the student fee budget.

“It can be very challenging managing things when you’re dealing with budget cuts

like that,” said David Sussman, MHCC manager for the Student Union and specialized student support services. “We required all the programs to really take a good look at their budget and figure out where cuts can be made.”

Sussman said no teams or programs were cut outright during last year’s process, but that every program and team made sacrifices. This year, for example, the forensics team will not attend a tournament that they have in the past.

Sussman said there is less money in the ASB Senate available to student groups, and that the money will pass quicker than previous years.

Major repairs needed in the Athletic Department facilities may have to wait another year.

their college.

Anyone wishing to create their own endowment should contact Sigala in the Mt. Hood administrative department.

Photo of Dean and Alta Stapleton at there wedding, and a more recent photo. The Stapletons left MHCC a $300,000 endowment in their will.

Student clubs and programs to suffer budget cuts Emily Wintringham the advocate

Due to a continued estimated decrease in enrollment in 2015, MHCC will likely continue to see more cuts in the student fee budget, affecting several student groups.

The student fee budget covers the utilities and events for the athletics and co-curricular programs, such as ASG, Student Activities Board, The Advocate, etc. Each student at Mt. Hood is required to pay a fee of about $3 per credit, with a cap of $45. Unfortunately, the more student enrollment declines, the more the student fee budget is reduced and additional cuts are forced.

Last quarter, the MHCC budget office informed the ASG Finance Council of a 5.5 per-

I-Best delivers at Board meeting

Nutshell News

Perceptions seeking submissions Mt. Hood’s literary publication, Perceptions, is still accepting submissions.

Jan. 15 (Thursday) is the final day that the Perceptions team will be accepting literary pieces of work. Feb. 20 will be the last day that they will accept anything other than literature (music, pictures, short film, etc.).

David Ahlson, Perceptions’ managing editor and columnist and advertising management for The Advocate, is currently looking for one-two candidates to critique and represent art work from the fields of photography, short film, fine arts (with a focus on painting,)

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This will be the first year that Rho Theta is officially a part of the co-curricular process.

Rho Theta, Mt. Hood’s honor student group, has been connected to ASG financially, but will now be able to manage its budget “autonomously”.

A budget structure of this type is very unique for a community college, according to Sussman. It gives students power, trust and authority over a large budget, which is their own money generated from the student fees.

The entire budget process should take around three months and be finalized in May,Sussman said.

In February or March the student fee budget will be sent to the college’s budget office to confirm the math, before final approval from the MHCC District board of education.

and music.

If interested in any of the positions, sign up for the WR247A class or contact Ahlson via the Advocate newsroom, in AC1369. You can also contact Jonathan Morrow, instructor of film studies, literature, and composition, located in the English department.

“We look forward to seeing many more submissions from students and faculty,” Ahlson said.

The release reading Perceptions is planned for spring term at Edgefield, date still pending.

-Hayden Hunter

The last MHCC District board meeting was held on Dec. 10.

Unlike most other board meetings, this one was not hosted in Mt. Hood’s boardroom.

Instead, it was held at MHCC’s Maywood campus in northeast Portland.

The proceedings went along as usual, with more reports than actual decisions. Maywood campus students gave a report about their I-Best program.

The I-Best program, or the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training program incorporates two instructors for each course, one to teach the content of the course and one Adult Basic Skills instructor. Along with two

instructors for one class, students are expected to attend an I-Best support class to build their study skills.

Another issue that brushed past the board members’ table was the report approved by the MHCC audit committee.

The board approved the audit and moved on to Mt. Hood Vice President Rick Doughty’s report on the proposed Powell-Division Transit and Development project. This multi-agency transportation project will benefit the college by helping provide better bus transportation in the east-west corridor between MHCC and downtown Portland.

-Hayden Hunter

SPORTS the advocate

January 9, 2015

Saints snap seven-game losing streak especially in the first half of games, often left them with an insurmountable halftime deficit.

But Rose said the George Fox game should help set MHCC up for the tough regular season that begins this Saturday in Coos Bay. The Saints square off against the 9-6 SWOCC (Southwestern Oregon CC) Lakers.

The game is set for 2 p.m.

The South Region will be hard, since it has several of the NWAC’s elite teams, Rose said.

“The league is gonna be open. It’s always a challenge, because three out of the best five teams in the league are in the South,” he said.

“I feel like we’ve pressed, prepared... (so) we know what we’ll see and expect.”

Yates has been a consistent bright spot for the Saints. Prior to Wednesday’s game, she had averaged 11.2 points, an NWAC leading 10.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game.

Rose said the SWOCC game promises to be challenge. “They’re a great, up-tempo team,” he said.

Brandon Raleigh the advocate

The Saints women’s basketball team snapped a seven-game losing streak Wednesday night, as it defeated the George Fox University junior varsity team, 62-48, in Newberg.

Led in scoring by sophomore center Marley Yates and freshman guard-forward Kelsea Baton, Mt. Hood jumped on top and ended a tough preseason on a high note.

“We came out looking to press them,” said head coach Tyler Rose.

The Saints treated George Fox “like we would our (regular season) opponents,” played well on defense and offense and “built the lead up and carried it through to get the victory,” he said.

Mt. Hood ended the preseason with a 3-11 mark.

The Saints struggled through a pair of tournaments, both in Gresham and on the road, losing by double digits in all seven games since their last win on Dec.3. Poor shooting,

-Greg Leonov contributed to this story

WHAT’S

UP NEXT: CHEMEKETA AT MT. HOOD Wednesday Jan 14th Women’s | 5:30 pm

Men’s | 7:30 pm

AT LANE Jan. 17th Women’s | 2pm

Men’s | 4 pm

PCC AT MT. HOOD Jan. 21st Women’s | 5:30

Men’s | 7:30 p.m.

Web photo

Freshman Lacey Updike fights for loose ball against Highline Community College. Highline beat the Saints 77-63 on Dec. 30. Mt. Hood snapped a long losing streak on Wednesday to end the preseason. play.

Men’s basketball starts fresh against SWOCC Jon Fuccillo the advocate

Saints head basketball coach Geoff Gibor was all smiles when discussing his team’s possibilities this season.

Though he didn’t hesitate to say it’s going to be hard to replace last year’s star, Mac Johnson, who was honored on the first team All Southern Region after averaging a double-double, 19.6 points and 10.6 rebounds for a Saints team that tied for fourth in the Southern Region with a record of 9-6 and 20-8 overall.

Johnson is now a junior for Western Washington University.

“You can’t replace a Mac Johnson. There is only one of them,” Gibor said, “You just make adjustments. You have to be who you are and be the best that you can be. You can’t be a former player. You have to be yourself.”

Gibor, the sixth-year coach and his team jumped into action recently with a series of scrimmages, including one against Warner Pacific during the road back on Oct. 27.

“We were close in all three scrimmages,” Gibor said, “It was a great learning experience.”

The team even managed to play Warner Pacific close for a half.

“We were up one with six minutes left in the first half and lost by 13 in that half,” Gibor said, “Honestly. I said before we went to Warner – I expected us to lose, but we competed. It’s hard. They have juniors and seniors and lots of experience and played zone, which we aren’t used to since they play so much man-to-man at the junior college level.”

Not bad considering the team had just started practice on Oct. 20.

Experience might be a great question since the team is only returning four sophomores from a year ago.

Gibor thinks the team will be fine once they start the regular season. The Saints will travel tomorrow to Wenatchee, Wash., to face Wenatchee Valley Community College in their season opener.

The game is slated for 4 p.m.

“I feel like we’re competing, but we haven’t even played a full game healthy between little injuries and people getting sick,” Gibor said.

Wondering if that would be a problem come regular season, Gibor simply smiled at the notion and said, “No, we will be fine. We’re just mending some injuries.”

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the advocate

SPORTS Ducks and Bucks to duel in Texas for ’ship

January 9, 2015

Aaron Marshall

Guest column After six months of blood, sweat and tears on the gridiron, we’re finally at the college football championship game: It’s the No. 2-ranked Oregon Ducks and No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA title game on Monday.

Statistically, the teams match up well. Oregon is second in the nation in points per game at 47.2, while Ohio State is fifth at 45.0. The two teams’ defensive averages are also similar.

It’s an interesting match-up because both teams have suffered key injuries and have still been dominating on the field.

The Buckeyes had to fight through one of their players, Kosta Karageorge committing suicide in late November. They have kept winning even after their first and second-string quarterbacks have gone down with injuries.

Braxton Miller injured his shoulder before the season even started. J.T. Barrett replaced Miller and actually played very well, throwing for 34 touchdowns in 12 games. Unfortunately, on Nov. 29 against Michigan, Barrett fractured his ankle.

Now, Ohio State relies on sophomore Cardale Jones. One wouldn’t expect a third-stringer to have such an impact, but he has shined.

In just his second start, he led the Buckeyes to a surprising Sugar Bowl win over No. 1 Alabama, 42-35, throwing for 243 yards and a touchdown.

At (13-1, 8-0 Big-10 Conference), the Buckeyes had one mess-up game, losing to Virginia Tech, 35-21, in early September. Since then, they have nearly unstoppable. Same goes for the Ducks at (13-1, 8-1 Pac-12 Conference) losing to Arizona, 31-24, on Oct. 2.

For OSU, sophomore running back Ezikiel Elliot has come up huge. He rushed for a Sugar Bowl record 230 yards and two touchdowns against the talented ’Bama defense that had allowed only 88.7 rushing yards a game in 2014.

He was the first player to rush for over 200 yards against Alabama in a game since 2003.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer certainly knows what it takes to win. He won two national championships at Florida (2006, 2008) and since taking over at OSU has a re-

cord of 37-3. I have a lot of respect for him because he took over a program that was sanctioned for a one-year bowl ban due to players accepting cash and tattoos in exchange for jerseys, rings and other team memorabilia. All he did was lead OSU to a 12-0 season that year.

While the Ducks aren’t down to their third-string quarterback, they still faced numerous injuries this season.

Oregon’s best defensive player, All-American senior cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olumu, injured his knee before the Rose Bowl and is done for the playoffs. The Ducks’ top returning receiver, junior Bralon Addison, tore his ACL before the season started and missed the whole year – as did Tyler Johnstone, junior starting left tackle. Junior star tight end Pharaoh Brown tore up his knee against Utah.

And against No. 3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, freshman wide receiver Devon Allen hurt his knee on the opening kickoff and is now doubtful for Monday’s game.

Senior center Hroniss Grasu and sophomore running back Thomas Tyner also missed games this season, but both are back now.

Tyner had a strong game against the Seminoles, running for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

Oregon-Florida State was hyped up mostly because it was last year’s Heisman winner, FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, vs. this year’s winner, Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. The result showed that it wasn’t a great showdown, after all. It looked like Oregon just came more prepared. Florida State had issues keeping up with the Ducks’ fast-paced, no-huddle offense. Even the refs couldn’t keep up at times. After a close first half, Oregon set a record for most points scored, 59, in a Rose Bowl history that dates back to 1902.

Five Seminole turnovers were killers, especially Winston’s epic fumble, caused by himself, which led to Oregon’s senior linebacker Tony Washington Jr. scooping up the ball and running it 58 yards for a score. That bizarre play has been on highlights all week and inspired Winston-themed Internet memes loaded with irony and sarcasm. Winston is obviously a talented football player and will

web photo

Ohio State wide receiver Michael Thomas grabs a touchdown over Alabama cornerback Cyrus Jones in the Buckeyes’ 42-35 Sugar Bowl win on Jan. 1. The NCAA title game is 5:30 p.m. Monday on ESPN.

be a top-10 pick in this year’s NFL draft but he is immature and needs to grow up. He has the physical traits to be good, but mentally has some things to work on, and it showed in the Rose Bowl.

I don’t expect the Ducks to dismantle the Buckeyes like that, though. Ohio State is solid and is led by an elite coach. Its defense has also played consistently and even had a pick-6 in the Sugar Bowl.

Oregon does have some redemption to gain, after losing the national title game in 2011 to the Auburn Tigers, 22-19. Oregon and Ohio State actually met in the 2010 Rose Bowl a year earlier, with the Buckeyes winning, 26-

17. They also met in the 1958 Rose Bowl, with OSU winning, 10-7. (On the other hand, Oregon beat OSU, 46-33, in the first-ever NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament title game.)

I predict a tight battle on Monday. But, with Oregon’s nearly unstoppable offense and the play of Mariota, I expect the Ducks to come home with their first football championship.

If Oregon plays as well as they did against Arizona in the Pac-12 title game (a 51-13 win) and the 59-20 Rose Bowl beat down, no team in college football can beat them. Prediction: 45-37, Oregon.

Team stats: how OSU, Oregon rank

Cardale Jones

Points

Ohio State 45.0 PPG (5th)

Oregon 47.2 PPG (2nd)

Points Allowed Rush Offense Rush Defense Pass Offense Pass Defense

22.1 PPG (26th) 262.2 YPG (10th) 142.0 YPG (34th) 247.5 YPG (52nd) 191.6 YPG (16th)

22.3 PPG (27th) 241.9 YPG (18th) 156.1 YPG (51st) 311.0 YPG (11th) 265.9 YPG (111th)

* National rank in parenthesis Web photo

8

Marcus Mariota Web photo