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The Independent Student Voice of Mt. Hood Community College
October 11, 2013
Volume 49 Issue 4
Derr addresses
fumes
Editorial:
by George peery The Advocate
CLOUDY POLICY LEAVES US
GASPING FOR AIR
T
he Advocate has been noticing a trend around here – not just noticing, but smelling: A lot of people are smoking on campus. The problem with that is, MHCC is a smokefree campus. The rules about smoking here are clear: No one can smoke in any area that is campus property, including the parking lots. However, smoking in your car is kosher, because that is technically private property.
smoke s moke
Continued on page 2 Art by Jared Lichtenberg - The Advocate
Hungry? Let Barney ease your pain by Katelyn Hilsenbeck The Advocate Forget your lunch at home? Are you out of food at home? Barney’s Pantry offers a free food option for students in need. Joy Smith, ASG director of community affairs, is responsible for Barney’s Pantry and encourages students to stop by as many as three times a week, for any three food items per visit. This pantry is filled not just with food, but also hygiene items. Visitors
who pick up a snack or lunch may also grab some of the latter. There will be a stock of deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner and feminine items throughout the year. Smith said the pantry will have “all sorts of ready-made meals” on hand. The pantry stocks both ready-toeat items and some that require a little more preparation, such as canned soups. This week, there were Hamburger Helper, canned vegetables and microwaveable meals available.
Refrigerated items are also stored in the pantry. A section is devoted to babies, and includes food, formula and diapers. Additional changes are in store. Smith hopes to put together bags with items that would make a meal for, say, a family of four, by later this year. Eduardo Ortiz, ASG Vice-President, said the pantry experienced a “dramatic increase” in demand during the last school year.
The first step is to visit the ASG office in the Student Union to sign in by I.D. number. The pantry is located next to the student government office but remains locked, so guests need an ASG member or someone at the front desk to let them in. “Our goal is to help all the students we can help,” said Smith, the ASG manager.
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Could you be among students who could benefit from Barney’s Pantry?
Barney
The monthly MHCC District Board meeting on Wednesday covered a variety of issues, but one that stood out wasn’t raised until after a scheduled evacuation drill interrupted the session. President Debbie Derr addressed the occurrence of noxious odors during the first stage of a three-month upgrade of MHCC’s HVAC (heating and air conditioning) sysTo see how tem. the board During this voted on the time, Aug. 12 to part-time Sept. 27, several contract new fan systems Wednesday, were installed by see page 6 Johnson Controls, the job contractor. Once these systems were turned on, an offensive odor resulted that caused several reported cases of burning eyes, headaches and nausea. The odors surfaced again in early October, during the second stage of the HVAC replacement process. After this second episode, the source was determined to be a sealant used in the fan rooms by the company. Derr said she confronted Johnson Controls with several questions about the incidents. A decision was made to switch to an odorless sealant and change the times when these new systems will be operated for the first time, she said. According to Derr, Johnson Controls insisted that the sealant used initially is commonly used on work conducted at hospitals and other facilities that are populated during HVAC work, without complications. A page covering this issue has been added to MHCC’s website. Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) and SAIF (State Accident Insurance Fund) experts are now working with the college to test air quality during the ongoing renovation work. The Wednesday Board meeting covered several other issues. An upcoming college accreditation process will use self-reporting, via an online, virtual visitation, a process that no board members seemed familiar with. Derr quipped that, at least, “If we roll our eyes (at accreditation officials), they won’t see it.”
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Board
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Pick up next week's
Halloween issue for costume trends, Halloween events, and the do’s and don’ts of the holiday.
2013 FirsT plAce
General excellence Oregon Newspaper Publisher Association
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