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Notice: Sunday is the final day to drop a course with a full refund. April 6, 2012
Revisiting Japan a year after the 2011 earthquake
Rainouts a common problem for MHCC baseball
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Volume 47, Issue 22
www.Advocate-Online.net
Financial aid now linked to attendance by Jeff Hannig The Advocate
Photo by John Tkebuchava/The Advocate
Above: Electrical construction continued Wednesday, east of the 1400s classroom area. Construction began March 12 and is estimated to continue until June.
It’s more than just a hole Replacing the electrical system will cost $3 million and is projected to be completed by June 20
Photo by Shelby Schwartz/The Advoccate
Above: Construction work was done over spring break between the College Center and the Visual Arts Theater.
Mt. Hood Community College
by Tiarnan Fortes The Advocate
The MHCC campus is now undergoing a $3 million electrical system replacement project that runs from Stark Street to Northeast 17th Street. Construction began March 12 and according to Paul Dunlap, the manager of capital construction projects, only three parts of the campus — fisheries, the baseball fields, and the Early Childhood Center — will not be affected by the work. Two years ago, water leaked into a hole between the College Center and the Visual Arts Gallery and caused a problem with the high voltage electrical system. According to Dick Byers, director of facilities, the weather has not been a problem since the leak. The new electrical system is being built parallel to the old system so that the school does not have shut down. A majority of the work is done underground using machines. Byers said, “(There are) hundreds of feet of wiring. It’s a big problem because without replacing this old system, we (have) the potential for catastrophe that could close the college for months.” Byers said the 2010 failure was due to “dilapidated equipment” and added that the wiring had “outlived its intended useful life.” According to Dunlap, systems have a 40-year life span as the copper in electrical wires degrades over time. Byers said a loan was taken by MHCC to pay for the construction. Dunlap is in charge of the project and Jennifer Dement, the director of finance, is in charge of the finances for the project. Dunlap said the infrastructure is now being built. Dunlap said the construction includes three levels of construction, including excavation, boring and electrician work. Construction continued over spring break and on March 26 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., there was a power shut down in the Early Childhood Center (ECC) in order to work on one of the construction sites. Concrete demolition and excavation also occurred near the 1300 through 1700 classroom areas. Projected completion of the project is June 20.
MHCC teachers are to submit student attendance records for the first week of school or students may not be eligible for financial aid. According to Administrative Regulation AR-7080-B: “The refund deadline is the seventh calendar day of the term (or the equivalent for non-standard length classes). Tuition and fee charges will be removed from classes dropped by the refund deadline and the classes will not be recorded on the MHCC transcript.” This new procedure is an attempt to make the awarding of financial aid more efficient and accurate, said Peggy Maas, MHCC’s director of admissions, registration and records. This is the first term in which the school is enforcing its new policy. “Last term was a pilot session,” said Maas. Some students may have noticed their teachers being extra diligent about their attendance recording efforts in this first week of the spring term. Quiz taking, student participation or the old-fashioned roll call are all examples of acceptable forms of student participation/attendance listed on a handout mailed to part-time faculty members. As for distance learning classes, also known as online classes, students are asked to do more than just logging in: a student must be active in an online discussion about academic matters, or by initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a courserelated question. Students who are not present for the first week of class or make insufficient contributions in their distance learning discussions may be dropped from the class and “this could reduce a
See Attendance on page 8. Gresham, Oregon
2 opinion
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April 6, 2012
Editorial
Finishing a degree in two years may be harder than one thought Spring term is the beginning of the end for MHCC students graduating from their programs as summer term approaches. For other students, this is not the case. Even though they may have been here for the two years that many people assume it takes to earn a community college degree, they still have further to go. If you’re wondering why this is, it isn’t such a simple question. Asked how many students graduate within the two-year time frame, Peggy Maas, the manager of admissions, registrations and records, gave a somewhat complex answer. Maas said, “I know you want me to give a percentage or exact number of how many students graduate in the two-year period but we don’t have that information.” She said the college must prepare an annual report for the federal government that tracks the number of students each year who graduate in 150 to 200 percent of the catalog time, or three to four years. “We don’t count and report the students who complete degrees in two years because they just don’t do it,” Maas said This is an interesting fact considering the term “two-year school” and “community college” have become synonymous in everyday conversation. Perhaps this has become the case because referring to a community college as a threeyear or four-year school is too dreary of a thought for students.
Another question one may pose is, why aren’t students completing their studies in two years? Data Analyst Ray Christner added some insight when he said, “It’s hard to track when students begin because they often start out in skill building before migrating to an actual program. For those who are in programs we can tell the time frame because they go through a locked step.” Every term, new students arrive on campus to begin the next step of their educational journey, but many students don’t know where they are going to end up. For some, general prerequisites and random classes of interest fill their schedules. After some serious soul searching and increasing experimentation, a specific program might catch their eye. After declaring a major and entering a specific program, a student’s progress can be more accurately tracked. With most degrees requiring 90-plus credits, a program can be finished in eight terms if a student is taking 12 credits per term. This would require a student to take summer term classes in each year. The schedule of an average student oftentimes includes a part- or full-time job as well as a demanding family or home life; this often adds time to how long it will take to complete a program. That extra time that a student might need to complete their degree can be very discouraging. As a student enters their eighth or
ninth term and sees that they are tuition costs. behind by the guidelines estabAfter all, no one wants to be lished by DARS or the catalog, it stuck being bombarded with Salis understandable for them to feel lie Mae voicemails for decades to discouragement. come. These students can feel as though they’re in academic purgatory, seeing others graduating Free speech zone and moving on from the “two-year school” they’ve been attending for three or more years and it can be painful. But The Advocate would like to remind students that while spending those few extra years or couple terms at MHCC may seem like a “In how many stressful experience, they should years do you plan appreciate the fact that every credto finish your it spent here is dollars saved that would have otherwise been spent degree at MHCC?” at a four-year university. This is especially significant if Two years you are a student who isn’t sure of what career path they want to take Three years yet still want to take that step to further their education. Four or more years Why head straight to a university without any plan or idea of what degree you will be working toward when you Give us your answer and leave us a could attend MHCC, see comment about your degree process at what options are available to you, and save a couple www.Advocate-Online.net thousand dollars in the process? As such, students We will be printing the reshouldn’t think of MHCC as a sults of our weekly student “two-year” school, but rather as a polls in the following weeks college they can attend at their own paper on the Opinion page. pace while still being productive without having to take out loan after loan to pay for ever-increasing
Student Feedback:
Student gives insight to the Japan earthquakes one year later by Yuca Kosugi The Advocate
When the earthquake shook the northeastern coast of Japan in March 2011, I was competing in a swim meet near Seattle. For more than a year, I watched helplessly from my safe, comfortable home on this side of the Pacific Ocean as the tsunami flattened towns, aftershocks shook for months, and the nuclear meltdown frightened the world. There are as many different stories about what happened that day as there are people who were affected. All my relatives live in Japan and I had the opportunity to visit Japan over spring break. During my short stay, my mother and I were able to visit a coastal town affected by the tsunami, and took a day to participate on a volunteer bus that left from Sendai to where we cleaned
a strawberry field in Yamamoto that was cluttered with debris left by the tsunami. On the bullet train to and from Sendai, I noticed that we passed through Fukushima but did not stop there. Fukushima is the location of the nuclear meltdown. There is no way that the bullet train passes by a large city like Fukushima by coincidence. Every time I watched the news, they included something about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and radioactivity.
Visiting Kamaishi
An old family friend showed us around Kamaishi, a small coastal city flattened by the tsunami. She grew up in Kamaishi and her in-laws lived there until the earthquake hit. She lives in Hanamaki now, which is more inland and out of the reach of the tsunami. However, she still recounts clutching to her mother and three dogs in her home while the 9.0 earthquake shook violently for about
the advocate
five minutes. Luckily, everyone in her family was all right. Her in-laws now live in temporary housing but really have nowhere to go. They would like to rebuild their house, but people in many of the affected coastal towns are not permitted to build houses until the government decides the area is relatively safe from another earthquake or tsunami. We also paid a brief visit to the temporary housing to see how her in-laws were doing. My mother —who on a recent trip in the United States visited the Manzanar Japanese internment camp in California — said that the houses seemed eerily similar. Despite that, the old couple seemed cheerful and chatted away, although the local dialect kept me from understanding most of what they were saying. One thing I understood clearly was that the grandpa said, “We ran while being yelled at by our grandson.”
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E-mail advocatt@mhcc.edu 503-491-7250 (Main) 503-491-7413 (Office) 503-591-6064 (Fax) www.advocate-online.net Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030
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.
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April 6, 2012
Aftermath: Continued from page 2
Help still needed a year after disaster He explained that a lot of the older neighbors shrugged off the tsunami warning and he never saw them again. The grandson was visiting on the day of the earthquake during a break from college. He had planned to leave earlier that day but decided to stay a little longer. Then the earthquake hit. Immediately after, he urged his grandparents to evacuate to higher grounds with him, which may have been the difference between life and death for the old couple. What happened later seemed almost apocalyptic to me. Destroyed towns were left with no running water or electricity and severe supply shortages. Despite praise from around the world about the lack of looting, there was still petty discrimination and bullying between people who lost their homes and people who didn’t. Some people and organizers refused to share supplies with people whose houses were not destroyed, despite the fact they were almost as equally deprived of food and supplies as the others.
Volunteering in Yamamoto
There were about 35 people on the bus who signed up to volunteer that day. Since it was also spring break in Japan, there were a few students despite it being a weekday. People gathered from all over Japan, from a man who actually grew up in Yamamoto, where the volunteer bus was going, to people traveling from Kyushu and us from overseas. The task was not glorious by any means. Although the soil was soft to dig, hours upon hours of just putting our heads down to dig and remove rubble turned out to be a physically strenuous job. Even with a whole busload of volunteers, we were only able to comb through about half of one field, out of many more, in a day. Most of the rubble we found were parts of greenhouses, like the plastic covering and metal beams. Once in a while we would come across more personal items like socks, toys and pictures. It was hard not to wonder what happened to the boy in the picture or the owner of the socks. At the end of the day, the owner of the strawberry field came to thank us in person. He had been working on building new greenhouses at a different part of his farm that day and looked battered. It was clear he was very grateful for the work and explained that he had only recently started recovering his fields recently due to restrictions. Because it has been more than a year, people who are evacuated from the area are starting to forget about the problems resulting in insufficient and inefficient recovery. But who is to blame? I admit that I do not worry nearly as much about the people who were affected by the Haiti earthquake in 2010, or in the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, or Hurricane Katrina in 2005 right here in the United States. It is easy to become consumed in the day-to-day routine of one’s own life and forget about the struggles of entire communities, especially if they are far away.
A volunteer combs through a strawberry field with shovels and waste bags in Yamamoto, a city in the Miyagi prefecture. The mound in the background is a pile of rubble, and many of these piles can be found around towns that were affected by the tsunami.
A temple at a cemetery in Kamaishi was washed away by the tsunami. Statues of Buddha and other artifacts were gathered back to where the building stood.
• Sapporo
Hanamaki • • Kamaishi Sendai • Yamamoto • • Fukushima 9.0 magnitude
March 11, 2011
• Tokyo • Kyoto • Osaka
MAP of JAPAN Photos by Yuca Kosugi/The Advocate
Top and bottom: Battered buildings still stand around the oceanside cities, like these in Kamaishi. Buildings marked with an “x,” like in the photo on the top, are planned to be demolished.
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April 6, 2012
On Campus Feature
Your weekly reason to stand up and hit the streets
April 9 The Swift Lounge, 1932 NE Broadway, Portland, will show “Back to the Future 3” as its Monday night movie. Admission is free for the 21 and over event. For more information, visit swiftloungepdx.com.
April 10
Photo by Kylie Rogers/The Advocate
“Choosing Sides,” the second of a �ive-part reading and discussion series called “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War,” with scholar Richard Etulain, will be presented at the Portland Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave., Portland, from 6 to 8 p.m. The free event is about the legacy of the Civil War.
April 11
New York disco artist Penguin Prison (Chris Glover) brings his melodies to the Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., Portland. Doors open at 7 p.m. Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow will also perform. Tickets for the 21 and older show are $25 and are available at Ticketswest.com.
April 12
The American Sign Language Club will present the 2010 documentary “See What I’m Saying” in the Visual Arts Theater. Directed by Hilari Scarl, who will be in attendance, the �ilm is about four deaf entertainers trying to reach mainstream audiences. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. for the Diversity Month event; entrance is free for MHCC students with ID and $5 for general admission. A Q&A will be held with Scarl after the movie.
April 13
“Blue Like Jazz,” a movie about a religious college sophomore from Texas on a self-discovery journey who decides to attend the progressive Oregon school Reed College, opens in national theaters today. The movie is based on the book “Blue Like Jazz” by Portland resident Don Miller.
Music major Mark McSpadden practices vocals in the practice room of the music department Thursday. McSpadden practices in front of a miror to help notice bad habits and work on his technical abilites.
Student plays piano and sings for MHCC’s Genesis by Kylie Rogers The Advocate
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wenty-one year-old music major Mark McSpadden, in his third year at MHCC, joined Genesis in winter term of his first year after director Dave Barduhn extended the invitation to him. McSpadden said he didn’t begin to take music seriously until his freshman year in high school despite having been involved with music when he was a child. He said he took piano lessons when he was 5 or 6 years old but, he added, “(his piano instructor) wasn’t my favorite person.” In general, McSpadden works as the men’s section leader in Genesis, he said. “It’s a bit of a commitment. I have to find times for everyone to meet up (to rehearse.) Some people learn music differently so you have to tailor what you’re doing to them,” said McSpadden. Although the men’s section consists of bass and tenor singers, McSpadden tends to focus on the bass. “I am a bass,” he said. “A lot of times, sectionals aren’t ideal with bass and tenors together. At the same time, it has its benefits but it also has its drawbacks,” said McSpadden. On top of class rehearsals Monday through Thursday, with an occasional rehearsal Friday, students schedule rehearsals outside of class typically at a house or an apartment, he said. “It’s difficult music we learn. We have to put in quite a lot of practice,” said McSpadden. McSpadden said he tries to do at least 15 hours a week of Genesis practice – eight in class and at least seven on his own time.
Genesis has also put McSpadden’s childhood piano skills to use. When he came to Mt. Hood, “I was not good at piano. I had let my skills decay,” said McSpadden. He took piano courses on campus. “The classes were able to keep me on my toes, or on my fingers – that’s better,” he said. “Playing piano as a section leader helps. It forces me to read music at (tempo). You keep soldiering on whether or not you make a mistake,” he said. “Music spoke to me but it also frustrated me quite a bit – in a good way. It never came naturally, it’s always been something I’ve had to work for,” said McSpadden about what inspires him, adding that it’s addicting to keep throwing himself at it and seeing what happens. Outside of Genesis, McSpadden still partakes in music. He plays “a little guitar” and works seasonally with the Dickens Carolers, a professional caroling group in Portland. When he isn’t in class, playing music or working, he says he likes to play video games and describes himself as a “movie buff.” After McSpadden completes his degree, he said he would like to sing opera in Germany. “Germany is the hotbed (of opera). Even if I don’t make it to Germany, there are other places to perform and hopefully make a living,” he said. Students, faculty and the community can see McSpadden perform in Genesis on April 13, followed by the Jeff Baker Quartet in the Visual Arts Theater. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for general admission.
On Campus Briefs Café Tuesdays On five Tuesdays this spring, the Hospitality and Tourism program will roll out a full service café in the MHCC Jazz Café. This week’s menu includes a salad with craisins, hazelnuts, gorgonzola cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette, a potato-crusted salmon and a mushroom and asparagus risotto,. Meal purchases can be ordered individually or customers can select one of the three entrée choices, a salad and a dessert for $10. Seats are available from 11:30 a.m. to noon and fill up quickly. The other Tuesdays are April 24, May 8, May 22 and June 5. For reservations, call 503-491-7230 or e-mail htrpt@ mhcc.edu.
Photo provided by the Hospitality and Tourism program
Tickets for spring plays Tickets for the MHCC spring plays, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams and “The Underpants” by Carl Sternheim, are now available by calling the MHCC Performing Arts Box Office, 503-491-7154. or by e-mail at tickets@mhcc.edu. Advance tickets are $8 for general admission and $3 for students and seniors. “The Glass Menagerie” runs April 26-28 and “The Underpants” runs May 10-12. Show times for all nights are 7:30 p.m. Both plays will be held in the Studio Theater, Room AC1118.
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April 6, 2012
Off Campus CD Review
Portland-based songwriter creates album filled with rasp and “Pure Joy” by Mike Mata The Advocate
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s evidenced by the music video for “Dream of 1890s” seen on “Portlandia” last season, Portlanders seem to be tickled by all things that look or sound old or nostalgic while still being hip. Portland-based folk singer-songwriter M. Ward’s latest album, “A Wasteland Companion”, to be released Tuesday, fits into this category nicely, a finely constructed ode to all that is good about folk music while still maintaining a modern edge. “A Wasteland Companion” follows Ward’s 2009 “Hold Time,” which was known for its cover “Rave On!” by Buddy Holly. Like other M. Ward albums, one can find the silky smooth tones of actress, songstress and all-around cutie-pie Zooey Deschanel, the she of music group She & Him, with Ward playing the part of him. The album begins with the track “Clean Slate,” a slowpicked acoustic introduction to all that is M. Ward: a soft yet powerful song tinged with a melancholy and nostalgia that is ever-present in Ward’s velvety-rasp of a voice. However, it does seem to be over before one can really get into the song. This happens in the following track “Primitive Girl” as well, mostly because no song on the album is four minutes or longer, the closest being 3:42. However, the third track, “Me and My Shadow,” kicks up the tempo a few beats and benefits from it. While most of the album has an introspective-inducing slow tempo, this track takes a more bluesy approach one might hear on a Black Keys album. Paired with Ward’s rasp, it’s a delight to hear. Deschanel lends her particular talents on the track “Sweetheart” and the whole song fits the title nicely, a short and sweet piece that just sounds like an old happy
country duet. The following track, “I Get Ideas,” a song more or less based on infatuation and a somewhat lustful attraction, takes the country-feel of the album onward further into delight. It incorporates a female vocalist that sounds like Deschanel but could be any other of the frequent guest artists on Ward’s previous albums. Much like “Sweetheart,” it’s short and to the point and that simplicity goes a long way toward making the album fun to listen to. “The First Time I Ran Away” takes the tempo down again and relies more on the folksy-storytelling that sounds nice but is not very dynamic. Coming after three fast and fun, albeit shorter, songs, it’s a nice transition. The next track follows the lead of “The First Time I Ran Away,” but when one gets to “Watch The Show”, Ward gets somewhat darker, with a Jack White-esque
feel on a longer song. It takes after The White Stripes’ “The Hardest Button to Button,” with a haunting wall of sound guitar backing Ward’s vocals. For variety’s sake, this song is easily the most different and one of the better songs on the album. Ward’s rasp reaches its peak on “Crawl After You,” a piano and percussion piece with a little string accent in there for good measure. The mix makes such a pleasing steady sonic swirl as to complement the more country-infused tracks. The album finishes with the song “Pure Joy,” a nice bookend to the album that began with a guitar-picking song that frames Ward’s voice nicely. There is a slightly more gospel feel to this song, which is nice as it adds a touch of contrast and some variety. Overall, the album is a good one. The musicians do a good job of making an easily digestible song that serves to highlight the silky sandpaper of Ward’s voice. The only problem there is that too many of the songs are alike and therefore can lull the listener into not paying much attention to the individual songs. Sure, there are some changes when the tempo changes or Ward switches from the country feel to the bluesy feel. The best songs on the album would end up being “Me And My Shadow,” “I Get Ideas,” “Watch The Show” and “Crawl After You.” Each track showcases the differences in the album and can sum it up nicely. One might consider buying the full album when it comes out next week or they might choose to buy the songs. Fans of Ward ought to buy the full album, as they will not be let down if they’ve enjoyed his previous work. However, the new or casual listener ought to just stick to the four aforementioned tracks. They showcase the best of album and portray the kind of music M. Ward makes. Either way, folks, mark your calendars.
APPLY EARLY — get money on time If you need financial aid by the start of the academic terms:
File the FAFSA by these dates:
You must also complete all MHCC paperwork by the following deadlines:
Summer Term
As soon after Jan. 1 as possible
April 1
Fall Term
April 1 — earlier if possible
July 1
Winter Term
July 1 — earlier if possible
October 1
Spring Term
Nov. 1 — earlier if possible
February 1
TIPS:
1. 2. 3. 4.
File your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) online for faster processing (fafsa.gov). Check MyMHCC regularly for your application status and turn in required documents promptly. If you missed deadlines, financial aid will not be available until after the start of the term. Students are served first-come, first-served for fairness - do not ask for exceptions unless the College made a clear error in your file completion date. This will help us serve you and all students faster!
CA1581
Remember: It can take up to 12 weeks for your financial aid to be ready after you file your FAFSA!
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April 6, 2012
“This meet was at the end of spring break and was challenging to say the least.” Matt Hart, head track and field coach
Track combats strong winds and academic ineligibility long jump (6.32 meters). Fellow freshman jumper Chris Un placed second in the triple jump (13.37 meters). “This meet was at the end of spring break and was challenging to say the least,” said Hart. “We had a few dedicated individuals who committed to practicing through the break while we had several people who showed up intermittently, if at all,” he said. “The performances were indicative of the practice.” Regarding the nine ineligible athletes, Hart said that although the men’s side had taken a hit, the women’s team has actually grown. “Eligibility was great for the women. We gained two women from winter to spring. Not the same story for the men. We lost nine men to eligibility. A few of those were guys who had already flipped out or flaked out but a few were surprises,” he said. With eligibility questions now resolved, for better or for worse, Hart said, “Our teams are now what they will be for the rest of the season.” Hart said he hopes his athletes will perform to their fullest this weekend at the Shotwell Classic. “I am hoping all our student-athletes will do their best and compete well,” he said. The Shotwell Classic will be Saturday at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash.
by John Tkebuchava The Advocate
Strong winds proved as much an adversary to MHCC’s track and field team as any competitor March 30-31 as the team competed at the Willamette Invite at Willamette University in Salem. Conditions were far from ideal at the meet, with the athletes having to battle strong winds which not only hindered performances of athletes, but convinced meet officials to run some of the sprints in the opposite direction on the track in order to run with the wind rather than against it. “There was a pretty aggressive wind at the meet and Willamette University decided to run with the wind. This helped with the sprint races as there were some very fast times,“ said head track and field coach Matt Hart. “Our school record in the men’s 100m occurred at University of Oregon under very similar conditions where U of O ran the race with the wind to the competitors back. There was a howling wind and our guy ended up running 10.37 in 2003,” he said. To add to the misfortune, the track and field team had to compete without nine athletes on the men’s side due to academic ineligibility. In previous meets, ineligible athletes have been allowed to run unattached until they could become eligible again after winter term. Despite the conditions and the loss of the ineligible athletes, several Saints and relay teams placed in their event. Standout performances include a third-place finish by the women’s 4x100 meter team, consisting of sophomores Stephanie Anthony, Amy Kegler, Terra Zodrow and freshman Molly Scoles (49.71). Sophomore Stephanie Anthony placed second in the long jump (4.84 meters), freshman Kaitlin Doyle placed third in the shot put (10.79 meters) and also placed fourth in the discus (39.16 meters).
Upcoming MEETS Sat. April 7
Tacoma, Wash
Shotwell Classic
University of Puget Sound Baker Stadium Photo contributed by Matt Hart
Freshmen Douglas Sudberry competing in the 100-meter run at the Willamette Invite, where he ran a personal best of 10.97 seconds.
On the men’s side, freshman Jacob Troupe was the sole first- place finisher on the team, taking the top spot in the
Fri. Apr 13
Monmouth
John Knight Twilight Invite
Western Oregon University McArthur Stadium
Rainy weather throws Saints baseball schedule off course have eight or nine guys we can send out there to get the job done for us,” Donahue said about the pitching staff. The Advocate After a 29-13 record last season — best in the Southern Few sports are as weather sensitive as baseball and in Region of the NWAACCs — anticipation is high coming Oregon, since the season starts in March, consistency in a into this year. But Mother Nature is making it difficult team’s schedule is hard to come by. for the Saints to gain any type of rhythm or momentum. The Mt. Hood Saints had yet another game postponed Regarding the condition of the Saints home turf, Tuesday as their home game against Lane Community Naslund Field, Donohue said that discussions have ocCollege was rained out. The rain also postponed their last curred about leveling and resurfacing the outfield for scheduled game over spring break against Linn-Benton better drainage. CC from March 31 to April 5, then postponed again to He also said turf vendors have been contacted to posApril 19. sibly renovate the entire Although it wasn’t field to become artificial, detrimental to the making it playable year team’s progress, time round. But artificial turf on the field is valuable, is far from cheap to install especially this early in and expensive to mainthe season. tain. Rainouts are not While MHCC still has surprising to any ballthe traditional dirt base - Bryan Donohue player who has spent paths, dirt mound, and time in Oregon. But grass on the infield and Saints head baseball coach with so many happenthe outfield, the team has ing at the beginning of to make sure they have the year, it is sometimes hard to see so many games either all the necessary equipment and the right amount of soil pushed back or outright cancelled. to upkeep the field. Puddles don’t go away by raking To cope with all the rain, the Saints use the gymna- through them. sium for a majority of their practices. “We’ve only been Donohue emphasized that his team and the staff do able to get on the field a handful of times since January,” everything they can to make the field playable through said Coach Bryan Donohue, who has been with the pro- the rainy Oregon spring, as the Saints try to repeat as gram since 2007. Southern Region champions for the seventh time in the Donohue and his staff are still finding a way to stay last eight seasons. positive while enduring the rain — and even some snowThe Saints next game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 fall last month. He said the postponements and cancella- p.m. when they will travel to Salem for a double-header tions don’t have a drastic impact on his players, nor does again Chemeketa CC. The forecast shows mostly clouds, it weigh down the pitching staff. “The rainouts just com- with a low probability of rainfall, giving the Saints an oppact our schedule,” he said. portunity for their first game since March 25. “With our depth, it works in our favor knowing we On March 25 the Saints swept the Blue Mountain Timby Shaun Lutz
“With our depth, it works in our favor knowing we have eight or nine guys we can send out there to get the job done for us,”
berwolves on the road in a double header, defeating them 6-4 in game one and 7-6 in game two.
Photo by Shaun Lutz
The Mt. Hood baseball field remains covered to avoid puddles on the field
SOFTBALL UPDATE Despite rough weather conditions, the Saints softball team competed over the break, stringing together wins through the rain and mud. The Saints, who were ranked 4th in the Alaska Airlines coaches poll March 21, recently went 2-2 at the West Inter-Region Tournament March 24 and 25.
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April 6, 2012
Cyber Security to be presented at MHCC Board meeting by Jill-Marie Gavin The Advocate
Photo by Kylie Rogers/The Advocate
MHCC Charter Day celebration on Thursday in the College Center included jazz musicians, from left, Chuck Redd on marimba, Tom Wakeling, hidden, on upright bass, Randy Porter on piano and Rebecca Kilgore on vocals. The group performed from noon to 1 p.m.
Attendance:
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New procedure seeks to make financial aid ‘more efficient and accurate’ student’s financial aid eligibility,” according to a handout sent to part-time faculty members by MHCC Admissions. When part-time faculty member Morgan Chase, who teaches math, was asked if this process was clearly communicated and easy to accomplish, he said, “I was aware of it and after reading the memo it was clear what I had to do.” “I think it’s easy and a great idea. I think it’s a shame for the college to lose money when we (MHCC) are trying to create opportunities for people,” said full-time biology teacher Walter Shriner. “It’s a shame with all the no-shows.” Shriner touched on a topic, no-shows, that is a point of discussion that can be overheard in hallways, student services buildings and, in Shriner’s case, read in national newspapers:
students signing up for classes in order to receive financial aid, but then they drop the classes and keep the financial aid money. However, the program is officially meant to make awarding financial aid more efficient for both parties involved. And if an instructor does not report attendance for his/her first week of class, all students will be at risk at not being awarded financial aid. Students can prevent this from happening or can reduce any anxiety they may have about this situation by checking the attendance records of his/her class on the MHCC portal and then emailing his/her instructor if they feel they are unaware of the new program.
News Briefs
“American Winter” documentary to include MHCC student A small film crew followed a prospective student on campus March 12 and March 23 for the documentary “American Winter.” The crew has been following 25 families in the Portland metro area. They are filming the families through the economic downturn during their “highs and lows,” according to Lisanne Hara, the film’s production
manager. The film is in conjunction with the social service, 211info. Hara said, “Social Security is being cut every day when the need couldn’t be greater.” She said the purpose of the film is “to shine a light on people on the frontlines.” Director Harry Gantz, who is co-
directing and producing the documentary with his brother Joe Gantz, declined to comment on the film until its release this summer. Director of Communications Maggie Huffman approved the filming campus and declined an interview. MHCC students in the background of the footage were asked to sign consent forms.
Career and job fair will be held on campus next week Students, alumni and community members are invited to attend the Career and Job Fair at Mt. Hood Community College Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the campus gym. The fair will give job seekers a chance to network with local employers and apply for positions and internships. Workshops on Monday will be open to prepare for the fair: Career Fair Success from 10:10 to 11 a.m. and 2:10 to 3 p.m. in Room AC1152, and Resume Writing from 3 to 5 p.m. in Room AC3333.
FedEx Ground of Troutdale is sponsoring the event hosted by MHCC, WorkSource Portland Metro East and the Gresham Chamber of Commerce. Employers scheduled to be on hand include AAA Oregon, Fred Meyer, KGW Media Group, KOIN Local 6, Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Microchip Technology, ON Semiconductor, The Boeing Company, Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., Pioneer Pacific College, TriMet and US Bank. For a complete list and updates along with events and times, visit mhcc.edu/jobfair.
There will be resources available from several agencies, such as WorkSource Portland Metro East, Child Care Resource and Referral, and a variety of MHCC departments including the Career Planning and Counseling Center, Small Business Development Center and Student Outreach and Recruitment. People with disabilities requiring accommodations may contact the MHCC Disability Services Office at 503-491-6923 or 503-491-7670(TDD). Parking is free on campus until Wednesday.
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A proposal to add a networking and cyber security degree will be presented at the MHCC District board meeting Wednesday. Computer information systems instructor Wayne Machuca, who is helping to design the curriculum, said the cyber security proposal refers to a new degree that may be available at MHCC in the fall. He said the program is the result of an increase in nation-wide cyber attacks that prompted The Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. In the 2008 a 10-part cyber security initiative was established. The initiative is posted on the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov. Initiative eight is titled “Expand cyber education.” In the description of initiative eight, the document says, “In order to effectively ensure our continued technical advantage and future cybersecurity, we must develop a technologically-skilled and cybersavvy workforce and an effective pipeline of future employees.” Machuca said, “A component of this initiative is for college education programs, and the National Security Association has granted funding for training at a community college level.” He also said when MHCC begins this program, “it will be the first in Oregon and we will be the only center of academic excellence as a two-year institution.” He said, “There is a certification that NSA will grant a school once they’ve met specific guidelines, which includes hundreds of points. Once completed the certification will allow MHCC to market itself as a center for academic excellence.” Machuca said information systems instructor Paul Morris is working on obtaining the academic excellence certification. Asked what specific outcomes students should expect upon completion of the program, Machuca said, “A lot of people think of cyber security as a homeland security issue, and it is, but what Paul and I are doing is taking all of the components of cyber security and making them appropriate to businesses in our community. “MHCC has a strong business orientation, especially when it comes to medical practices. We are adjusting the curriculum to teach students skills used at a national level and breaking them down to help protect technology in rural business and medical clinics.” The program is in the “notice of intent” stage with the State of Oregon and Machuca said the school expects the program to be approved over the summer, which would make the program available by fall 2012. Asked of his hopes for the new degree, Machuca said, “We need cyber warriors to defend us. This program will help train them.” Rod Barker, dean of business and information systems, is scheduled to present the program proposal at the 6 p.m. board meeting 11 Wednesday.
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April 6, 2012
Facilities to propose three new projects to board on Wednesday
2012-13 Budget Timeline
by Jill Marie-Gavin
The purpose of the Budget Committee meetings are to review proposals from the administration for funding of college activities. In addition, they will hold a public hearing.
April 2— Decisions made for president’s proposed budget 11— Board meeting- Board room at 6 p.m. 18— First Budget Committee meeting, Board room at 6 p.m.
May 2— Second Budget Committee meeeting, public hearing on 2012-13 budget - AC1710 at 6 p.m. 9— Board meeting, board
The Advocate
room at 6 p.m. — Third Budget Committee meeting to approve the 2012-13 budget and establish property tax rates. Board room after regular meeting.
June 13— Public hearing by Tax Supervising Conservation Committee (TSCC) - Board room at 6 p.m. — Regular board meeting: Adoption of 2012-13 budget following TSCC adjournment
The Facilities Council will propose three capital projects, all with an estimated cost above $17 million, to the MHCC District board Wednesday. Facilities Director Dick Byers said Thursday the board will determine what should be presented to the state for funding by the 2013 Legislature. Byers said the three projects involve remodeling or construction in three major areas on campus. “The three projects being considered, in no specific order, are: a library remodel with new space; a technology innovation center or TIC building; or a Student Services enhancement.” The cost of these projects is estimated with a percentage price escalation for two time frames. Each project has a price if the funds become available between 2012-2015 and a different price if the funds become available between 2015-2020. He said the library remodel and new space would include “expanding the footprint of the library, which
would mean moving into the Public Safety area, the Testing Center, and the smaller joining areas behind the existing library.” He also said the open ceiling area on the third floor of the library would be filled in to make a complete level. The estimated price of this project is $26.5 million to $29.2 million. For the Technology Innovation Center (TIC), Byers said all the operations from the current Industrial Technology building would be moved into the TIC and the technology building would be demolished. The proposed TIC would be built north of the technology center and east of the allied health area. Estimated cost for the TIC is $17.3 million to $19 million. For the Student Services enhancement, Byers said the current area would be remodeled and the area between the 1400 and 1500 wings would be connected, and a proposed Hood River terrace construction would make student services a three-story area. The student services enhancement is estimated to cost $23.9 million to $26.3 million.
The Associated Student Government elections for 2012-2013 began with ASMHCC filing on March 12. The rest of the election schedule is as follows: April 9 - ASMHCC campaign informational meeting in
Council Chambers from 1-2 p.m.
April 14 - ASMHCC campaign informational meeting in
Council Chambers from noon to 1p.m.
April 13 - Candidacy filiing ends in College Center at noon April 16 - Mandatory candidate meetings in Council Chambers from 1-2 p.m. or 5-6 p.m.
April 18 - Candidate biographies due for voting pamphlets
at 5 p.m. by email
April 23 - Campaigning begins campus wide April 24 - Candidate meet & greet in College Center from noon-2 p.m.
May 1 - Vice presidential debates in Main Mall from noon-1 p.m.
May 2 - Presidential debates in Main Mall from noon- 1 p.m. May 7-10 - ASMHCC elections Online Polls open at 12:01
A new possibility changes everything.
a.m. on May 7 and close at 11:59 p.m. on May 10
WARNERPACIFIC.EDU
May 11 - Spring Dinner Dance - Results announced at Per-
PORTLAND, OR
May 10 - Absentee ballots due at College Center at 5 p.m. simmons Country Club from 7-11 p.m.