The Advocate - Issue 13 - June 11, 2021

Volume 55, Issue 13 June 11, 2021 advocate-online.net

FOR THE STUDENTS BY THE STUDENTS

The Advocate recognized by ONPA PAGE 2

Forensics team and their stories PAGE 2

MHCC'S DRIVE-IN COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY PAGE 3

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Parting words from Co-Editors-in-Chief PAGE 4

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

2019 FIRST PLACE

General Excellence

Pacific Northwest Assoc. of Journalism Educators

NEWS

A D V O C AT E-O N L I N E.N E T

THE ADVOCATE HONORED AT ONPA EVENT The Advocate normally travels to participate in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association (ONPA) Collegiate Day seminar and awards ceremony each spring.

While the complications of COVID-19 made the May 7 road trip impossible, it didn’t stop the college’s student newspaper from making the MHCC community proud with another strong showing.

This year’s seminar was a Virtual Collegiate Day hosted by Kevin Slimp, a writer, news industry guru and entrepreneur from Knoxville, Tennessee. A syndicated

columnist, he has recently founded Newspaper Academy – the go-to place for virtual training, webinars, podcasts, blogs, and more, all dedicated to serving the journalism community.

Slimp covered several topics at the seminar: “Things You Don’t Know About Adobe Applications That Make Online Journalism More Effective,” and “Entrepreneurial Journalism: Working in a New Media World.”

During the awards ceremony, The Advocate competed with other two-year Oregon colleges and earned 11 staff and

individual awards total, including Best Website, Best Cartooning, and a sweep of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd awards in the Best Sections category.

The following awards are for Advocate work published during the 2020 calendar year: · Best Website: 1st Place, The Advocate · Best Section Sweep: 1st Place, The Advocate News; 2nd Place, The Advocate Opinion; 3rd Place, The Advocate Arts and Entertainment · Best Cartooning: 1st Place, The Advocate/

Eli Rankin · Best Overall Design: 3rd Place, The Advocate staff · Best Feature Story: 2nd place, Brad Le · Best Feature Photo: 2nd place, Bethany Fallgren; 3rd place, Maysee Thao · Best Review: 3rd Place, Omar Carrillo · Best House Ad: 2nd Place, The Advocate

FORENSICS TEAM ENDS THE YEAR STRONG Daniella Young The Advocate

Members of Mt. Hood’s speech and debate team are celebrating their participation in the 2021 National Forensics Championships, held online May 7-9. Competing against 16 other two- and four-year colleges and universities, MHCC placed second in the Community College Team Sweepstakes.

Leading the way for the Saints was Austin Schubert, who won a bronze medal in IPDA Debate (International Public Debate Assoc. rules) and was named 2nd (Top) Speaker overall for NPDA Debate (National Parliamentary Debate Assoc. rules).

In addition, Edith Ramirez and Tosha Arnold earned bronze

medals in Informative Speaking competition for Mt. Hood.

And Louden Miller, who joined the MHCC team at age 16 this year, reached the “sweet 16” round in the Novice IPDA Debate competition.

He also was chosen to perform his After Dinner speech in the Novice exposition.

“It was an absolute blast,” said Miller, who is graduating this month with both a high school diploma and associates degree from MHCC. This autumn, he will transfer to Brigham Young University-Idaho to student biomedical science, with an ultimate eye on becoming a doctor.

“My favorite thing is that I’m learning a valuable skill,” he said.

Being able to speak in public, think critically, and argue both sides

are key life skills that Forensics competition gives students, he said.

For Ramirez, an immigrant to America, joining the Mt. Hood team this year helped her in multiple ways.

“I joined the Forensics team to push myself and improve my public speaking and English, in general,” she said.

She especially encourages Mt. Hood students for whom English is a second language, as the experience can help them build their voice and raise change in society and in their own life.

As for the national championships event, “It was a great experience. I was really excited to participate,” Ramirez said.

She is graduating the Mental Health and Social Services and

Addiction Counseling program at MHCC, with hopes to attend Portland State University’s Social Work program next.

The Saints’ showing and individual growth of its team members was gratifying for Shannon Valdivia, Mt. Hood communications instructor who has long led the Forensics team – especially during a uniquely challenging year.

“This season challenged me as a coach. I have never been in a situation where I have never met my students in person but found ways to establish relationships to bring the best out of each of them,” Valdivia said.

The Forensics team would practice weekly for a few hours, and members also met individually once

a week with their coach to discuss ideas and areas of improvement – all remotely.

“I am very proud of this team.

It has made this pandemic a bit brighter,” Valdivia said, praising its “work ethic, curiosity (and) desire to learn and grow.

“These students have been resilient, dealing with challenges and disappointments as they came.

Most importantly, they have created a bond with one another,” she said.

For this Fall Term, competitions will continue to be online.

Valdivia encourages anyone interested in learning more about the Forensics team to reach her at shannon.valdivia@mhcc.edu.

for the students by the students Co Editors-in-Chief Daniella Young Brad Le News Editor Brad Le Opinion Editor Omar Carrillo Assistant News Editor Marin Thorsen

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Assistant Opinion Editor Brianne Burgess

Broadcast Producer Naethaniel Lile

Graphic Design Editors Hannah Hart Mariah Johnson Mae Cossu

Broadcast A.D. [Position Open]

Copy Editor Chris Barney Web Editor Daniella Young

Broadcast Hosts [Positions Open] Photo Team [Positions Open]

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

Ad Manager [Position Open]

Social Media Manager [Position Open]

Staff Writers Ash Espinoza Marin Thorsen Omar Carrillo Brianne Burgess

Distribution Specialist [Position Open]

@mhccadvocate

Advisers Dan Ernst Howard Buck

@theadvocateonline @mhccadvocate

OPINION | COLUMN

JUNE 11, 2021

GRADUATION ON TAP: ‘CARMENCEMENT’ ON JUNE 12 in a safer environment. As MHCC continues to follow the advice of public health officials, The Advocate this year’s commencement will require Graduation is upon us, and for those of you graduating friends and family to watch from inside their from MHCC, we commend you. Seriously, you deserve cars, directly in front of the stage. MHCC a medal, or at the very least an official sticker, for getting faculty and staff will line the driving route across campus to cheer the fresh graduates through this pandemic with a degree!

This year’s graduating students will face something quite along the way.

Students in vehicles (with friends/ out of the ordinary during Mt. Hood’s 54th commencement, family) are to enter the campus via the Stark Street (north side) entrance. They will follow a marked loop to the stage, set up at the north end of the Academic Center wing (Building 17), opposite the Early Childhood Center. (Other arriving graduates will gather nearby.)

Each student will hop out to the stage, receive their diploma and get an official photo opp before departing.

Near the Visual Arts Center, there will be two selfie stations for additional, memorable photo opportunities.

Social media posting opportunities, and prerecorded video greetings, and welcoming speeches are part of the plan. The ceremony will be live streamed via MHCC’s Facebook page, and the recording later posted to YouTube.

As of June 3, roughly 200 students had signed up to join the unique celebration.

This event will not be open to the Photo provided by Naethaniel Lile. public and only one car per graduate The author is among those soon to reach the summit of their MHCC studies. will be allowed – making it a very personal commencement for those graduating amid these to be held from about 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June historically tough times.

12.

Remember: If you made it through this, you can make it Under ongoing COVID pandemic restrictions, new through anything. Congrats! graduates are invited to walk across the stage as part of Mt. Hood’s CARmencement celebration. What I mean by this is, you will get all the pomp and circumstances you deserve, but

Naethaniel Lile

Web Graphic.

“AS MHCC CONTINUES TO FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, THIS YEAR’S COMMENCEMENT WILL REQUIRE FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO WATCH FROM INSIDE THEIR CARS, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE STAGE.”

GET TO KNOW THE ADVOCATE

Cover by: Advocate Staff On the cover: Graduation Class of 2021 Web Graphic.

Contact us!

E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Website: advocate-online.net Mt. Hood Community College Room 1369 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham OR 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.

Micah Johnson Graphic Designer Micah Johnson recently completed the Graphic Design program at MHCC. He has done a handful of illustrations for the Advocate. He is looking forward spending the summer visiting art festivals and working on some art projects of his own. Planning on continuing his education in art and graphic design, he is looking forward to working on more projects for the Advocate.

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OPINION | COLUMN

A D V O C AT E-O N L I N E.N E T

OUTGOING CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF REFLECT ON YEAR Brad Le

The Advocate The respect of journalism has undoubtedly plummeted, to perhaps an all-time-low. While it was never a career that was revered, being a journalist used to mean being a messenger to the people and not someone who speaks on behalf of them.

Regardless, I hope that everyone considers taking a class in journalism, or at least being part of a journalism group. I once heard a joke about news journalists: “The best way to tell if someone is a good news journalist is to punch them in the face and you’ll see a robot underneath.” This doesn’t mean that being a journalist is to be without emotion, but that being a journalist is about meeting everything with enthusiasm regardless of how deplorable it might be.

I’ve reported on things such as sports, which I have no personal interest in, and I’ve met people of unpopular persuasions, such as communists, anarchists and fascists. While going to a Timbers game is not comparable to listening about the merits of dismantling political hierarchies, I have come to believe that journalism should not shy away nor judge topics or sources, no matter how enjoyable or repugnant they can be. Learning that lesson was my biggest accomplishment to joining The Advocate as a student.

In addition to being the Co-Editor-In-Chief for the 2020-21 Advocate, I also held the position of News Editor, a position of which I am fiercely proud. I think

that many journalists consider a career because of the glorious chase for fame and headlines in covering the federal government.

Brad Le.

Landon Spady|The Advocate

While there is nothing wrong with chasing headlines – goodness knows, I’ve done that, too – I’ve yet to meet any aspiring journalist who dreams of reporting on their local news.

Daniella Young The Advocate

The past two years at MHCC have been amazing and interesting, and I can’t believe it’s gone so fast!

The Advocate has played a huge role in my time at Mt. Hood, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group/ activity to be involved with. Journalism has always had a special place in my heart; meeting new people and interacting with others across campus has also been an impactful experience. From writing about musicals to doing features and profiles, to covering sports on campus, it’s definitely been a memorable experience.

Starting as a staff writer to becoming the news editor and covering more news events to then serving as one of the leaders of the group, I feel like I grew and gained many skills along the way.

I’ll carry the life skills learned while being on The Advocate for the rest of my life, as well as relationships I’ve built on the team. Having been online and remote this past year and a half has also been an interesting experience, and I think we as students will remember this period for a long time.

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Daniella Young.

Maysee Thao|The Advocate

Granted, as one of my closest friends on The Advocate has told me, “The true, investigative journalism – digging for the truth – has always been seen as a calling, a very morally grounded job.” And, in specializing in local news, I have learned more about my community than I ever will chasing glory, and I have found more truth among my neighbors than in distant people in Congress or the White House.

I only hope more people – non-journalists, too – will realize that understanding your own community is a precedent to understanding national politics.

Aside from my personal views on what it means to be a journalist, I couldn’t have appreciated my time with The Advocate more.

I started off as a staff writer and as I rose into becoming the Co-Editor-In-Chief, my perspective on leadership has changed dramatically. I have come to learn that I not only represent my contemporary team but also The Advocate as a historical group and have sought to learn as much as I can about our history.

While I was never ever able to realize my goal to find, or to contact, a founding member of The Advocate from the 1960s, I hope that we contributors will come to treasure our history together and recognize what that means for our new writers, now that I’m joining the list of former Editors-In-Chief.

Frankly, I am really lucky to have discovered The Advocate and wish that I can be considered a permanent member of The Advocate, for our mission, “For The Students By The Students,” is never-ending.

I’ve really enjoyed going to Mt. Hood. I think it’s a special school, and it became a second home. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. I remember when I was in elementary school I attended summer camp at Mt. Hood, and I thought about how college seemed so far away, yet being a Saint and feeling more independent made me feel as though I had grown up and was on my own.

I feel like I’ve taken a variety of courses and learned many things in my time here at MHCC. I was lucky enough to have taken an Intro to Education course last spring, and I think it gave me a good feel for what’s to come, as my goal is to major In Elementary Education.

I plan to attend EOU (Eastern Oregon University) on the Mt. Hood campus in the fall for its education program, if all goes well, and I’m really excited to start working with students in the classroom.

The memories made in these past two years will stay with me for years to come, and I’m forever grateful to the team and to our advisers, Dan and Howard, for the opportunity to be in a leadership role such as this one.