www.thegrcurrent.com
Oct.12.2016
issue01 volume51
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50th Year
thecurrent the student newspaper of green river college
Changes Coming for Green River
Mariya Mubeen| The Current
currentcampus
currenta&e
currentopinion
An Interview with the Interim President
Artist Spotlight: Ao Hu
Working Outside of Education
Ao Hu talks about his love of photography and his art.
What can we get out of college beyond an education?
Hear what Scott Morgan has to say about GRC and his goals for the college.
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Riley Agnew | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
New College President Takes Charge
College textCommunication is at the top of his list of improvements book prices stagnating By: Cameron Braun Staff Writer
Scott Morgan making Green River “a very hopeful place” as its Interim President by focusing on increasing enrollment, student diversity and completions. Scott Morgan took the position of Interim President at Green River College on Aug. 1 2016 following the resignation of the previous president, Eileen Ely on June 16 2016. Ely’s resignation took place after three separate votes of ‘No Confidence’ by the faculty, one against the Board of Trustees and a three day faculty led strike starting May 23 2016. These issues arose due to a lack of communication between Ely, her administration and the Faculty. Green River was and still is facing a budget crisis pinned on Ely and her Administration for mismanagement of funds centered around unnecessary building renovation and construction. The budget crisis led to proposed program cutbacks through the Program Prioritization Process (PPP) that split programs into quintiles based on enrollment statistics and general profitability to the college. The proposed cuts were sudden, and on top of notices to cut Auto Body, Geographic Information Services, Parent Education and Carpentry.
Parent Education and Carpentry were put on reprieve, and Auto Body and GIS have been cut. After his appointment, President Morgan immediately took to establishing a stronger line of communication between both the Faculty Union and the ASGRC (Student Government). President Morgan considers a big part of his role here as Interim President is strengthening the trust and communication between the administration and the faculty. After reaching out to Jaeney Hoene, active Green River Faculty Union President, she provided a statement on the current relationship between President Morgan and the Faculty Union. “Working with President Morgan has been incredibly refreshing. Within his first week at Green River, he was setting up meetings with people from all over campus, including me. He has continued to prioritize communication both through setting up regular meetings with faculty leadership and by working with us to plan larger open meetings. I have found him to be honest and straight-forward when he communicates. I’m sure we’ll have to agree to disagree at times this year, but positive communication isn’t about always agreeing. It’s about re-
spect and trust, which can’t be faked. I believe the respect is already there and flows both ways, and he is working hard to rebuild the trust that broke down in the years preceding him. It’s a very hopeful place to be.” President Morgan says he is scheduling a multitude of open meetings with both faculty and students, and has set aside an ‘Innovation Fund’ for Faculty and Students to pitch ideas to the administration to test as the College looks to the future. When asked about the state of the PPP today, President Morgan said it wasn’t a process that he or the college were going to be using, and that right now the Budget Office has a new process in development for the college to test and hopefully use. President Morgan says he isn’t certain how or when it will be implemented at this time, but that “I (Morgan) have been involved in budgets for a long time, there’s various ways to do budgets, I just want to try a different way. Something that doesn’t generate the same contention or confusion.” President Morgan acknowledged the falling rate of domestic enrollment over the past five years, and says it’s not uncommon to see as the country moves further away from a recession, but that recruiting domestic students
with the intent to transfer is the main focus when looking at boosting enrollment at the college. President Morgan also acknowledged the climbing rate of students enrolled through the Running Start program, which allows high school students to attend with the majority of their tuition supplemented by the state. President Morgan says that these numbers have been steadily increasing as regular domestic transfer numbers are falling, and that they’re being accommodated rather than actively sought out. Having come out of retirement to take this position, at this time President Morgan says there is “zero” chance of him applying for the office of President after his term as Interim runs out June 30 2017. President Morgan says he’s here to take the college forward, and get the college in a position appealing for future presidential candidates. At the end of the interview President Morgan said “This is a great college, I don’t want to, and I don’t think we need to spend a lot of time looking backwards. What will bring us together is working together and having goals together, and communicating with one another to make Green River even better.”
Foundation Hosts Scholarship Reception By: Kartik Sarda Web Editor & Ads Manager ads@thegrcurrent.com The GRC Foundation hosted a reception to honor its scholarship winners for academic year 2016-17. On September 29, scholarship recipients gathered in the River Room of Student Union building. It was a casual open-house style event with refreshments available for all attendees. Along with the students, the College and Foundation staff and the selection committee were present at the event. The scholarship was divided into several categories: General, need based, program based, single parent, veterans, and merit based. The awards ranged from $300 to $3,000 per student, with the total budget of $527,000. This amount was divided between 248 recipients. Among the Foundation Staff that attended the reception were George Frasier, Beth Gatzke, Megan Evans, Patsy Cadwell, Matt Swenson, and Josh Gerstman. Interim president Scott Morgan, vice president of instruction Dr. Rebecca Williamson, director of financial aid Mary Edington, and members of Foundation Board were also present during the event. “The Foundation, really, has been in existence to support students to achieve the educational goals and help the college achieve educational excellence, and one of the best ways to be able to do that is create opportunity through scholarships,” said development director Josh Gerstman while talking to The Current. He also added that this is a very good way to show the Foundation donors that their money is being put to some ‘real’ use in the welfare of the students. This scholarship is available to all the students attending GRC for the academic year. However, when asked if most students know about this opportunity, Development Specialist Megan Evans responded, “We try every year in different ways to make sure that more students know about the scholarships that are available, and that’s always hard.” She mentioned that the Foundation tries various ways like contacting faculty, going to classes, etc. to let the students know about this scholarship. “… Still we don’t catch up with everybody.” Wasif Siddique, a GRC graduate and current UW student, was the recipient for Summer scholarship. He mentioned that he was going through a hard time for paying the Summer tuition, but this scholarship really helped him out. Ayako Kasai, another scholarship winner, thanked GRC Foundation for this scholarship. She was planning to go back to Japan because of financial hardships, but this scholarship has helped her in continuing her education at Green River. The event ended with all the winners standing together in SU for group pictures. Some students stayed in River Room socializing with each other and chatting with the Foundation staff, cherishing their achievement.
By: M. Kienan Briscoe A&E Editor ae@thegrcurrent.com College students confront textbook prices higher than ever before. Since 2006, the price of the average college textbook has increased at a rate of 73%, four times the inflation rate, according to a report by NBC, costing as much as $400 a book. The College Board recommends students budget around $1200 a year for books. “The textbook market is a broken market” Ethan Senack, higher education associate of US PIRG, said. “In a traditional market two factors exert control over prices... First competition: if someone else entered the market it forces everyone else’s prices down. Second, consumers: if the price of a good is too high consumers won’t buy it. In the textbook market, neither of these protections exist.” Because of increasing costs, 65 percent of students considered not buying the required text for their class, 95 percent of them mentioned concern for their decision affecting their grade negatively, according to a US News report. The average student is required to work 28 hours in order to afford a single book, nearly 30 percent of which collect some form of financial aid. “[Textbook prices] were lame when I was in school” Brent Nelson, a Western Washington University alumni said, “They’re just another added cost to education”. Textbook prices, on average, cost 39 percent of community college tuition and 14 percent of four year university tuition. “I believe its fair that we would need to charge a solid rate for our textbooks, everything comes with a price”, Kayla Wiley, a Green River Community College student said, “However I think the price in relation to the average college student’s income is pretty high. When my friend needs to decide between eating for the month and affording a book required to pass her class, than the price of textbooks definitely become a real problem.” According to the Huffington Post, open textbooks, which are faculty written alternatives, could save students over a billion dollars if just one of their classes switched from standard textbooks, of which 80% are controlled by only five publishers.
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Riley Agnew| Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Event Calendar 13
Coming Out Week Buttons and No H8
@ Student Union 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Free entry
Coming Out Week
Oct
14
Oct
28
Nov
19
Drag Show featuring the Paradisco Family
@ Student union 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Free Entry
Halloween Party @ Student Union 8:00 pm - 12:00 am $5 for students $10 for non-students
Intro to Fencing @ Sign up online: greenriver.edu/ campus-life 12:45 - 6:00 pm $20/35
2016-2017
ASGRC chooses new senators to fill positions By: Annie Chan Staff Writer
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The Associated Students of Green River College (ASGRC) have filled all 16 senator positions for the 20162017 school year. Nine senators were selected this past spring which left 7 positions available for new students to also have the opportunity to run this fall. ASGRC Vice President, Harjot Singh, is looking forward to working with the new senators to engage more with the student body and to hold more productive meetings. “We want to reach out to students more and let them know that there is a student government here to serve them,” Singh said. “Last year, we kind of struggled with that so we want to keep pushing out the student government and keep promoting it.” The senators elected during the spring quarter have already joined the rest of ASGRC to set the tone for the school year by managing welcome week and preparing the fall senator applications. They are also working to collaborate with the Enumclaw campus to set up an open forum where the U.S. Congressmen, Washington State Governor, and state representatives come together to discuss why they want people to vote for them. This open forum will be held between 7:30 – 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18 at the Enumclaw campus.
Open meetings four senators, are held from excels in their ““We want to reach out to noon to 1 p.m. own areas and students more and let them on Wednesdays will be reporting know that there is a student and Thursdays in their decisions government here to serve the Emerald City for the entire them,”” Room which is on ASGRC to vote - Harjot Singh on. the second floor of the Student Senator Ertheo Union Building. Siswadi, an The whole student body is invited international student from Indoneto attend the meetings and to parsia, is most excited about teamwork ticipate in the student government for his second year in ASGRC. to address needs or concerns. “Being in the student government Senators from each of the four is not about the pizza parties, but committees will be available to lisit’s about the student body,” Siswaten to any opinions of the student di said. “We have to make the best body at these meetings. choices as a team to make the most The four committees include people happy as possible.” the Judicial Board, Finance, Public Siswadi served as a chairman for Relations and by-Laws. the finance committee last year and The judicial board are in charge reflected on how much he enjoyed of ratifying clubs and organizations working as a team to overcome by making sure they accept the byobstacles. laws and constitutions of ASGRC. “It makes everybody closer this The finance committee works way,” he said of the ASGRC memwith the 522 budget and allocate bers. how much money will go to which Siswadi acknowledged that while clubs, organizations, or events. there is a silent majority, there is Public relations plans and prostill a small amount of people who motes events and will be running are very vocal. and promoting the spring elections He likes that because it means for President and Vice-President they are passionate about making positions. changes that can impact the whole The By-Laws committee continustudent body positively. ally reviews rules that regulate the Excelling in the finance area, Senate’s operations and works to Siswadi is looking forward to improve the ASGRC ruling system working with other senators of the to better fit the constitution. finance committee to manage the All committees work together 522 budget and allocate money to promote ASGRC and to inform more efficiently this year. students on how they can get more The “pool of money,” as Siswadi involved. calls it, plays an important role in Each committee, comprising of ensuring that clubs and organi-
zations run more smoothly and stays long-standing. Some of the organizations the budget supports are KGRG and The Current. “We do a lot of communication with clubs to understand how they have used their money in the past years,” Siswadi said. “Is the money impacting a lot of students or is the money better elsewhere?” Believing that it is a tradition for clubs to be around for many years, Siswadi understands that there are always more clubs that need more money. Another part of ASGRC Siswadi is looking forward to is proposing more efficient ways to communicate to the student body. He enjoyed volunteering at student life events last year and his favorite part of being in ASGRC is being able to interact with the student body. Helping out at the front desk and handing out bracelets to students were his favorite activities to do for ASGRC. According to the two-year ASGRC member, outreach has already improved from last year. Members of ASGRC have been working cooperatively with members of student life and the sections of ASGRC are staying active. During welcome week, members of ASGRC had the opportunity to interact with the student body while handing out fliers and candy. As the first meeting is approaching, newly selected senators of this fall will be going through senate trainings, workshops, and other sessions to prepare for their duties for the 2016-2017 school year.
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Riley Agnew | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
ASGRC President and Vice President Transgender speakCommunication to be the focus of the year By: Kyla Nagatsuka Staff Writer The ASGRC is being led by a new president, Patricia Argie, 17, who is an international student. She has been on the public relations committee and judicial board for a month. She is partnered with Harjot Singh, 17, who is the vice president. He is a domestic student and was on the finance committee last year. They want to make Green River College a place where people communicate more. Argie said such a lack of communication was reflected in the Q5 movement last year. Having more communication among faculty, administration, and students would have made the problem a lot smaller, she said. To make changes, the ASGRC is planning to have “lunch with faculty” and “lunch with administration.” This will make it easier for students to converse freely with faculty and administration.
The ASGRC wants students to be aware of its presence and future plans. Argie said having meetings as an open forum would allow students to be aware of what the ASGRC is doing. “I want to make sure that ASGRC is as productive as possible,” Singh said. “Doing a survey to hear the voices of the students would be another way,” Singh said. The senators have to provide the ASGRC students voices. The student government would make sure that the senators are always interacting with the student body. “The diversity on the campus is growing. However, the domestic students and the international students don’t have a lot of communication among each other,” Argie said. The international students tend to speak with people from their own country. Forming a bridge between international and domestic students is one of their goals. Even though this movement has been in the ASGRC for a couple of years, there are no changes
yet. “So,” she says, “it is difficult, but starting from having diverse members in the ASGRC would be a good first step for the students.” Singh wants to assure students that the ASGRC will hold meetings on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so that everyone follows the rules and meetings are productive. These meetings will promote student government; answer any students’ questions about government and let them know what they are heading into. On asking whether they feel any apathy toward the student government, Argie said that she doesn’t see it now, although she did felt it at the time the election was held. The election, which was held in spring, had only one candidate, although the numbers of seats for senate were extended. This was due to the sheer amount of people applying for the position. They also extended the interview days from two to four.
The ASGRC is a political group in the Green River College. When questioned about whether students should pay attention to politics and get involved, Singh said that it is important to know what is going on. Though Argie said that it is “important but should not be your main focus.” She thinks it is not the main thing to focus on while you are a student, in reference to the students who went to the Bernie Sanders rally instead of attending school. The year has just started and the new government is working hard to create good plans for it. However, there are some worries that come with this. “The dates are not working the way we expected,” said Argie. The clubs have not yet been ratified. This affects the clubs greatly as they cannot create any events till the ratification is done. The ASGRC is always open and waiting for your voice. “We are always able to speak,” Singh said.
Us the Duo comes to Green River By: Colton Popp Guest Writer
AUBURN, Wash. – A popular YouTube music group, Us the Duo, will be performing live at Green River College at 7 p.m. Friday, October 21 in the Mel Lindbloom Student Union building. The event is part of the performing duo’s music tour. If students desire to attend the event, tickets are on sale now online for $5 at the Green River College website. The price of tickets will increase to $10 if students order tickets at the door. Retrieving tickets online for the event is simple. According to Campus Community Development Chair Pauline Elevazo, students can get their tickets online at www.greenriver.edu. Simply click campus life, sign up for events, on campus events and finally, select Fall Concert – Us the Duo. Keep in mind that once a ticket is purchased, there will be no refunds. Sign-ups for early tickets end at noon on Friday, Oct. 21. Us the Duo is a husband-and-wife musical group, whose names are Michael and Carissa Alvarado. They have amassed a fan base of more than 10 million followers through the use of popular video sharing sites, including YouTube and Vine. As a result of their immense success on the Internet, the couple was able to land a record deal with Universal Republic Records. “My favorite thing about them is that because I don’t see their face in their music videos, it makes it very mysterious,” said Ryen Pilialoha, a big fan of the group. In many of their videos on Vine, the couple angles their camera so their eyes and the top of their head aren’t showing. When asked if she was excited about attending the event, Pilialoha said she is “ecstatic” about seeing one of her favorite music groups.
er comes to GRC By: Julia Nolte Guest Writer
Transgender model and activist, Geena Rocero, will be speaking on campus November 3 in Gator Hall. Rocero is a Filipino American supermodel, TED speaker and transgender advocate based in New York City. Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, an organization that defends the rights of transgender people worldwide. Through her own experience in transitioning, working as a professional model and being an activist, she has begun sharing her story and work towards justice and support in the transgender community. Rocero grew up in Manila, in the Philippines. “I always knew I felt something different,” she says. When she was 5, she recalls letting her mother know that the way the world saw her was not who she was. As she walked around with a T-shirt on her head, the clothing trailing behind her, she declared: “This is my hair. I am a girl.” In the Philippines, the transgender community has a long cultural history. Watching a Phoebe Cates impersonator in pink floral bathing suit strut across the stage, Rocero had a goal for her own future: “I can be a woman, and I want to be that kind of woman — beautiful, confident, celebrated,” she remembers thinking. In her late twenties, Rocero started working for Summit Series, a conference for speakers and innovators. She also became increasingly interested in the transgender community. Today the model spends most of her time on Gender Proud, an organization she cofounded to ensure people around the world can change their gender on legal documents and to address the violence, hatred and discrimination that still affects them. “I want everyone to understand that transgender women are women,” she says. This free event is sponsored by the Student Activities Board. For more information regarding this event, please contact Pauline Elevazo at pelevazo@greenriver.edu.
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Riley Agnew | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
5 2016-2017
ASGRC Moves to Selection Process to Choose New Members By: Jie Gao Guest Writer The ASGRC has proposed to change student body presidential election process to selection after next election in Spring 2017. Green River College is one of the 4 community colleges in Washington State that still elects its student body president. The ASGRC constitution stated, “The Constitution shall be amended by approval of a simple majority of students voting in a regular or special election.” The ASGRC has been seeking advice from numerous colleges for a selection process that max-imizes the students’ voices while ensuring qualified candidates. The ASGRC surveyed students as to what selection process would be best to select candidates. The result was that the students wanted to petition for the candidate, form a hiring committee for interviews and narrow down candidates for open forum. They want to be able to ask candidates questions and give feedback to the committee. The results of the selection will be determined by the forum feedbacks and the interviews. GRC students believed that the hiring committee should mostly consist student representatives.
“The people on our hiring committee consists of the student government executive council, four students at large, the director of
“You can’t really be sure
about something 100%, but the chances for better presidents is higher.”
- Patricia Argie ASGRC President student life, and a staff or faculty member,” said Sarah Moe, the student president of Clark College. “If the student representatives in the committee are friends with this one candidate, then it will also be a popularity contest. It depends on how we will have this selection process,” said Patricia Argie, the current ASGRC president. Harjot Singh, the ASGRC vice president said that the committee should have members from every division on campus, and the student representatives should go through selections to en-sure they meet certain
criteria. “For the last few years, we haven’t had a good voter turnout and we have hard times getting candidates to run,” said Susan Evans, program specialist. Several colleges had similar issues. ”We have 58, 106 and 84 votes each year, we have 12,500 students. It’s sad when no one wants to run or vote,” said Berri Cross, director of student life from Guilford Technical Community College (NC). “Elections seemed to intimidate students from running due to the fact that they often run against individuals with established support,” said Caleb Olson, the student president of Spokane Falls Community College during an interview. Olson also said, “Selection means that you can select representations with leadership experi-ences and is also able to represent the diverse backgrounds of the student population.” Some GRC students also expressed that selection is more efficient while election allows stu-dents to choose but runs the risk of losing someone who represents the students. When asked about the selection process
ensuring quality presidents, Argie said: “You can’t really ensure something 100%, but the chances for better presidents are higher.” Singh concluded by saying elections give everybody a voice but selections can be beneficial to the student body, it offers students more chances and lowers the possibilities of a popularity contest.
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M. Kienan Briscoe | A&E Editor a&e@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Ao Hu’s Art Gains Exposure Facts by djtech.net By: M. Kienan Briscoe A&E Editor
* Count the amount of cricket chirps within a 15 second period, add 37 to the total, and your result will be close to the actual temperature ouside, in Fahrenheit. * An eighteenth-century German named Matthew Birchinger, known as “the little man of Nuremberg,” played four musical instruments including the bagpipes, was an expert calligrapher, and was the most famous stage magician of his day. He performed tricks with the cup and balls that have never been explained. Yet Birchinger had no hands, legs, or thighs, and was less than 29 inches tall.
Mystery by Ao Hu (above)
(Right) Silence by Ao Hu
Ao Hu. Photo courtesy of the Art Department
By: Mollie Clements Staff Writer The Fine Arts faculty has elected Ao Hu, a 20-year-old photography major, as the Artist Spotlight for the month of October. Hu was raised in China and moved to Washington in the fall of 2013 to attend Green River College. He lives on campus, in the Campus Corner Apartments, and is hoping to transfer to another university to continue his education at schools like the School of Visual Arts in New York, California College of The Arts.
Aside from photography he spends his free time playing computer games or studying. Hu has been interested in photography for about a year and a half and has undergone a great amount of practice to pursue his interest. Hu realized he loves photography during a beginning black and white photography class, when he spent most of his time in the darkroom developing his own photos. “I was starting to enjoy the darkness, and silence that the darkroom provides, and it’s a secret spot I could set my mind free,” Hu said. “I didn’t notice the time until the darkroom was closed. At that moment, I realized that I fell in love with photography” He has been using a Nikon D-810 to shoot street and still life photography on and around campus. He believes that taking still life photography is easier because you can control the shutter speed and aperture of the camera easily as opposed to shooting subjects in
motion. He has since moved to taking street photos and enjoys the responses of people who notice he is taking their picture. He has also been developing his skills in double and long exposure which, as well as other unique skills, has helped him gain recognition by the Fine Arts faculty as a distinguished and talented artist. Hu is inspired by the photographer Silvia Grav and uses her ideas on a day to day basis in his own works. “[Grav] sees multi-exposure with high or low shutter speed to combine mystery,” Hu said. Hu prefers digital cameras because they are more convenient and less time consuming. With digital photography he can edit photos on the computer to get them just the way he likes. Although he thinks film photography is more enjoyable to do, it takes more time to develop a single photograph. However, he enjoys being in the darkroom and developing photos, even
though it can be a delicate process. When comparing his older works to his newer works, Hu has noticed that he has improved dramatically and has broadened his skill set. He started shooting still life photography and has since focused more on street photography, as his skills continue to grow. With his free time, Hu is always taking photos and exploring new ideas, aiming to constantly improve. When observing his own works, Hu really likes the mysterious feel his photos have. The way he portrays others’ realities into his photography gives his photos the image he is going for. Hu’s works on double exposure photography represent the ideas he is currently exploring. His complex and fine art style is greatly appreciated by many. The type of photography he shoots is considered to be hard to master, but very unique and surreal. It gives the impression that every photographer can express their own version of reality.
* Researchers at the Texas Department of Highways in Fort Worth determined the cow population of the U.S. burps some 50 million tons of valuable hydrocarbons into the atmosphere each year. The accumulated burps of ten average cows could keep a small house adequately heated and its stove operating for a year.
M. Kienan Briscoe | A&E Editor a&e@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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All That Jazz: Choir Prepares For New Year By: Amethyst Mcknight Staff Writer Jazz Voices is a class of 16-20 students, who all share one thing in common. During fall quarter, the class meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. in PA-125 and hosts a fall concert where they perform holiday music. The musical style of the Jazz Voices ranges across jazz, blues, pop, and funk. Scholarships are available ranging anywhere between $100 and $1,000. In order to be a Jazz Voices singer,
you must audition and be an intermediate to advanced singer. The audition is a grueling three step process: The first step is to sing an acapella song, the second step will test your sight reading abilities, and the third step is to test vocal range. Kelly Eisenhour, Jazz Voices director, is a professional jazz singer and has been instructing the class for eight years. The class is a way for her to satisfy her creativity. She is excited to have a lot of male members this year because they are hard to come by. “Jazz voices is for you if you have a real talent for singing and have some choir experience, you are passionate
about singing and want to be engaged in growing musically in your college experience, love to learn new styles of music, and are self-disciplined and want a chance to perform,” she said. When the class begins, Eisenhour plays the piano while the singers warm up their voices. The students in this class are diverse, but must come together in several aspects of the class, such as harmonizing. In addition, they each have a say when it comes to decisions concerning costumes for concerts and events. Everyone presents design ideas and create group decisions on what would look best for their vision. Jazz Voices are currently preparing
for their holiday choral concert on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the GRC PA theater. Some of the songs they are rehearsing are The First Noel, We Three Kings and O Come, All Ye Faithful. Every singer has a unique voice that, when placed together, create a beautiful melody. The singers typically practice for seven hours a day. Saturday, Oct. 8, the students are having a retreat from 9 p.m. until 4 p.m. at Camp Waskowitz to bond as a team and become closer as a choir family. In order to sing better as a group, getting to know each other in a deeper way outside school is an important element to their group.
Jazz Voices are working on a symposium to work with local high schools in November. They have many performances in the area including Assisted Living, singing for military families, an end of the quarter concert and many choir and jazz concerts at GRC. “I’ve been in choirs in high school and I’m part of a musical family. Music is going to be a part of my future,” said Morgan Nyren, a low alto Jazz Voices student. “This group is understated. When we work together and work really hard, we create a beautiful sound. We are a musical community.”
Chapter One: College’s First Ever Writing Club By: Deadra Johnson Staff Writer Many a writer would tell you that they think the pen is mightier than the sword, and this is probably because you can’t spell sword without “word”. Jie Gao is the president of the upcoming writing club. She’s supported by her Vice President, Riley Agnew, under their club advisor Ian Sherman-Youngblood. This club is a new one on the list as she and Agnew decided to create it this year on Sept. 26. Unlike some of the other clubs at Green River College, this club still has an entire future waiting to be written. This is Gao’s third quarter. She’s taking classes in journalism and writing in addition to two P.E classes. She hopes to major in biology or something else in the scientific field in the future. Because writing is utilized in almost every field, refining her writing skills will help her achieve her goal. Doubtless of the fact that her major is going to be scientific, she has a strong curiosity about journalism. Gao stumbled upon her love of writing. Her passion for the subject is shown in the amount of work she’s been putting into the club. “I’ve been hosting events since middle school and I really enjoy it. Being the president of the club can be busy if you want everything to be perfect. But I like being busy, it keeps me moving forward.” Gao said. “Gao has done most of the work and is doing a great job”, said Agnew. Agnew is not only the vice president of the club, but he’s also the new Editor in chief for The Current. This
marks the start of his second year. He’s 4. Even students who simply need help taking Sociology 101, Journalism 100.3 with their essays should pay the club and English 236. Once he graduates a visit whether they have an actual from GRC he hopes to travel. While on interest in writing or just need to pass his travels he plans to keep a journal to an English class. record his experiences. Students don’t even need to be a His mother is member to get the source of his help. The “Being the president essay love for writing. subject they need of the club can be “My mom is help with doesn’t a high school busy...but I like being matter, either. English teacher so No one has to busy, it keeps me writing is kind of worry about being moving forward.” just second nature turned away for - Jie Gao needing help writat this point.” said Agnew. ing an essay about He believes criminal justice, the club is going to be an interesting for example. And for those who do love addition to the list of clubs. writing, she hopes that the club will Gao puts a lot of thought into how serve as a source of inspiration to help she chooses her club officials. connect them. “I chose my club officers by how To further drive the openness of the much they were willing to contribute to this club and their will to help other students.” Gao said. She takes into consideration how much time they’ll need to set up meetings and how they’ll set up discussion topics as well as how much training they’ll need. “Writing club is going to have two departments”, Gao said. These “departments” are akin to functions and serve to give the club a layer of depth. “The first department is for people who love to write and discuss novels. The other part is helping people start essays” she said. The club’s only requirements to join are still being decided. At this point in time, Gao is considering granting membership to anyone who comes and attends at least three meetings. These meetings will be open to all students. From then on, she’s going to keep a sign-up sheet to keep track of the club’s attendees. The first meeting took place on Oct.
club, Gao also plans to involve both domestic and international students. Overall, Gao estimates at least 40 students joining the club. Allegedly, this is because Gao feels that a lot of the writers she knows are interested. In the future, she envisions collaborating with the Writing Center to provide peer reviews that are more in-depth. Like most clubs, writing club is going to meet in Club Corner on the second floor of the Mel Lindbloom Student Union. But this depends on the number of people who attend so that they can decide how much room will be needed to accommodate its members. Currently, the club is still undergoing ratification. The ratification process is a thorough one and it can only begin when the Senate starts meeting. “At the beginning of the year, it is
a lengthy process because we have to wait for ASGRC Senate to start meeting. Once the process begins, we typically ratify five to eight clubs a week.” Melissa Archuleta, the program coordinator of clubs and organizations at the student life office said. Writing club isn’t going to have a specific genre to focus on. The club seems to be one that hopes to bring writers and students together, motivating them to meet new people while making them unafraid to refine their skills while they exchange ideas on campus. Any students who want to help write the story of this upcoming club can relax knowing that it’s open to everyone.
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M U L T I S U D O K U
Kartik Sarda | Web Editor web@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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opinion Year of Transition for The Current
Raghav Mandhana | Opinion Editor opinion@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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Editorial
For the past 50 years, The Current has been serving Green River College as a trusted news provider. The academic year 2016-17 brings a hope for stability after many key changes took place in the college administration. Along the same lines, The Current also foresees a big transition in its functioning this year. This time of the year is always tough as we bid farewell to our old staff and welcome the fresh faces. The Current has always had a vibrant atmosphere and this year we hope to continue the tradition. A noticeable change in our staff is the increasing diversity. Before the start of the year 2015-16, our staff had no international students. However, our current staff comes from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This is a proof of our success in increasing the radius of our audience. The new additions include Mariya Mubeen as our new copy editor and Aiman Ahmed as the new sports editor. Riley Agnew commences this new year as the Editor-in-Chief, while Raghav Mandhana and Kienan Briscoe continue their previous roles as opinion and A&E editors respectively. Kartik Sarda has taken up the position of ads manager while also continuing as the web editor. “I usually spend my whole day at the Current’s office,” said Mubeen. “The atmosphere is so friendly and I love working with the editors here. As a journalism student this job helps a lot.” Leaving us are James Ristig - the previous Editor-in-Chief, Logan Hoerth - our
beloved copy editor, and Alina Moss, who was the ads manager and sports editor. The three staff members that we lost were very experienced, and they will be missed. But this quarter, and year, is going to bring a lot of change and everyone on campus has to be ready for it. During an emotional address to the newsroom, James said “The Current is made up of an eclectic group of people, and it’s the Editor-in-Chief’s job to bring out everyone’s strengths. I tried to bring out the best in my staff, and give them the respect and admiration they deserved.” Many of us at The Current feel that James managed to bring out the best in us, inspiring us to finish everything we had on our plates before deadlines came around. As much as it has been said over and over again, thegrcurrent.com has been reworked and has a much more user friendly look and easy to understand user interface. Our main focus while redesigning the website was to make use of the immense diversity and talent that our campus has, so we started featuring campus events to help promote clubs and student life activities. Along with events, students can submit their own work to the website for free, or feature it on the front page for a small fee. The Current had a launch party for a new app that was planned for release in spring quarter of last year. However, financial issues prevented us from releasing it on time. We are planning to release it later this quarter. Our news stories will
be featured in the app and on the website before the print issues so that our readers can have updated news at one click. We will also be collaborating with video journalism students to extend The Current’s reach in different forms of media. We are planning to develop specific web articles optimized just for the website which will also include video stories. “It’s going to be exciting working closely with the video journalism program, it’ll bring back fond memories of high school.” said Agnew, who took three years of video production classes during his high school. “During the one year that I have spent here with The Current, I have not only made amazing friends but also learned things that I never imagined I would. Of all the things I am planning to do at Green River this year, continuing my job as the Web Editor and Ads Manager is one thing I am surely going to enjoy the most,” said Kartik Sarda as he stepped in the shoes of his new role. Overall the coming year will have a lot to offer for students, staff, faculty, and administration and it is up to the entire Green River College community to work together. Last year, the current published several articles about how ‘community’ was being ripped away from the college (beyond the metaphorical removal of ‘community’ from the name), but now we have an opportunity to bring it back. Here is to a strong first quarter and an amazing year of growth at GRC.
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Riley Agnew Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Campus Editor 253-833-9111 x2377 Kienan Briscoe A&E Editor
Raghav Mandhana Opinion Editor
Mariya Mubeen Copy Editor
Aiman Ahmad Sports Editor
Kartik Sarda Web Editor Ads Manager
Staff Writers: Cameron Braun, Matt Caras, Annie Chan, Mollie Clements, Deadra Johnson, Amethyst Mcknight, Kirara Nagatsuka. Photographers: Matt Caras
Editorials reflect the opinions of the entire editing staff of the Current.
Opportunities outside the academic system By: Annie chan Staff Writer
An average student may ask, “Why should I be involved in anything if it does not benefit my education?” While we are busy reaching deadlines and balancing our classes, we don’t actually take the time to think about the potential advantages that extracurricular activities may provide us with. We should ask ourselves, “Are we going to college just to take classes or are we going beyond that to allow ourselves to grow further?” While it is true that a lot of learning and growing occurs inside classrooms, we can also expand our knowledge outside of them. As is true with all colleges, Green River offer a wide variety of opportunities for students to become more involved with their community. To name a few, a student can choose to become involved in the student government, take
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part in sports, or join interesting clubs. Through all these activities, a student can connect with other students and discover similar interests. As many of these activities are focused around group work, one can improve their skills in a group through these activities. However, many of us in college may often be hesitant when it comes to placing ourselves into new and unfamiliar groups, given that we are already focused on maintaining Grade Point Averages in our classes. Will we be able to fully commit to the group? Will our time be put to waste if we spend too much of it on this group? Will our GPA be affected? These are just a few possible questions that we may ponder about before joining a group. Still, the only way you can find out is if you make the leap. Another factor that may come into our mind is time. Of course, it is not wrong to question whether these extracurricular activities are worth a single minute of ours. The answer, however, is that they are.
The Current is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions without censorship or advanced approval.
Time may be misused by a lot of us when it comes to a “break” from our homework and projects. A lot of us fall victims to this and use the break time for unimportant things that are always more appealing than studying. The point being that one can always find time for these activities if they are committed enough. By devoting our free time for clubs and other activities around the school, we may just find ourselves having a better perception of what interests us. Just by making ourselves more aware of what is going on around our school, we can have a better sense of the community we live in. Extracurricular activities can also lead us to discover the passions and strengths we never knew we had. Joining a group of people to do something new may start off as a challenge, but may actually turn up as amazing opportunities for us to discover ourselves as an individual. By taking time away from classrooms, hidden passions and strengths can quickly be discov-
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ered. When we come across things we don’t end up liking, we can still say that we had the opportunity to discover ourselves and experience a new thing, even if it was not exactly to our liking. We can also easily expand our resumes once we build our interests and become more involved. By gaining more experience in a variety of different areas, we are better positioning ourselves for our professional careers. Most clubs and organizations hold goals that their members are motivated to reach. By joining these clubs, we automatically gain another priority in our lives. This should not be a bad thing as jobs also sets goals for their employees. By challenging ourselves to meet goals in these clubs and organizations, we are setting ourselves up for facing goals in the future. There is nothing wrong with holding too many goals because they give us more reasons to attend school and have a little more passion into doing so.
Each individual is permitted one free copy per issue. Additional copies may be purchased with prior approval for 50 cents each by contacting The Current. Newspaper theft is a crime. Anyone who removes, discards or destroys more than one copy to prevent other individuals from reading that issue may be subject to civil, criminal and/or campus penalties.
Letters to the Editor
Recent studies show that improvement of grades were correlated to our work ethics outside of the classroom. The studies observed students who took part in after-school activities and the students who only attended their classes and left for home. Students who took part in after-school activities ended up getting better grades and it were the activities that played a factor in improving their overall work ethics. At the end of our school days, we should not only ask ourselves what our homework will be tonight but we should also ask ourselves if we did enough to allow ourselves to grow today. We do not always have to go to school only for the purpose of being at school. More importantly, we can come to school to be a part of groups, co-curricular activities, etc, and share our interests with other students as well. This doesn’t just provide us with necessary exposure, but also much needed life skills like leadership and group ethics.
The Current encourages its readers to be involved and will accept letters of 400 words or less for publication. Anonymous letters are not accepted and the editors reserve the right to reject or edit letters for space, taste and legal concerns. All letters become property of The Current. Send letters to editor@ thegrcurrent.com.
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Raghav Mandhana|Opinion Editor opinion@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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sports Women’s Green River Gator Soccer team record is 6-2-3 Aiman Ahmad | Sports Editor sports@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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Snow said he understands how teamwork correlates with winning games and he The Women’s Green River brings a high level of energy Gator Soccer team are 6-2-3, as a coach, never complasitting in the Western Divicent and always looking for sion and they hope to make opportunities to strengthen the playoffs this 2016 soccer the girls. season. Saturday night, The TaCoach Stu Snow, ninth coma Titans came home year soccer coach at Green to Wright Field, welcomed River College and 25 years with brisk autumn air and coaching as a whole, spoke unfavorable periodic rain. highly of his Gators. However, the exuberant “We have good chances of crowd charmaking the tered for our playoffs if we “The strength of this team Gators, drove continue to is that we are a team off them to play play at this and on the field but our their best. In level and our weakness lies in compla- the first half mental precency, expecting for the of the game, paredness and best.”- Coach Snow both teams desire needs were tied to stay up,” 0-0. Green Snow said. “The strength River’s defense parred with of this team is that we are a Tacoma’s offense. Gator team off and on the field but freshmen number 16, Indie our weakness lies in comPlanesi, replaced Mary placency, expecting for the Brach, number 22 sophobest.” more defender, due to an Firm yet welcoming, he ankle injury. The crowd vocalized with the girls, went silent, but soon after, communicating their the enthused fans continued strengths and weaknesses spurring on. Throughout the on the field last Saturday game, friends, family, and against the Tacoma Comsoccer fans proudly chanted munity College Titans. Alfor their Gators. Some of the though our Gators lost 2-0, zealous few even came to the By: Matt Caras Staff Writer
The Women’s Green River Gator Soccer Team
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side line, standing, rooting for their Gators. Rachel Fieser, team captain and senior goal keeper, North West Athletic Conference (NWAC) player of the week, and an all-academic player, blocked numerous goal attempts throughout the game with five of them being in the first half. Unfortunately, in the second half, the aggressive offense from the Titans led to the first two goals scored by Karlen Orelana, assisted by Jolene Kvinsland and by Raven Wolfe. Both teams played exceptionally with little substitutes throughout the game. Tacoma, proven as a worthy adversary, played well. The Gators and our fans, not discouraged, looked forward to the next game, replaying the Bellevue Bulldogs. Last Wednesday, the dreaded clouds finally dissipated and the sun shone through Wright Field as the Gators tried their best at home against Bellevue. Unfortunately, they lost 3-1. In the first half, both teams tried gaining momentum, communicating among each other learning about the
the spirits of the team and opposing teams’ strategy. the fans did not die. The first score came from All of the Gators on the the teamwork of Grayce Koteam, freshmen, and sophovarik, sophomore forward, mores have extensive socwho tenaciously head-buttcer experience in the past. ed the corner shot that was Many of the girls played assisted by Emily Shover, since grade school. Thus, a midfielder. However, the soccer becomes not only a visiting Bulldogs did not game but a passion for many hesitate as Hailey Stokes, of them. During practices, sophomore midfielder, the upperclassmen, and scored the rebound shot off leaders of the team would a penalty kick. Both teams help the underclassmen ended the first half of the hone their game tied 1-1. “I’m super proud skills during During most of these girls and drills and of the second it’s a great start to scrimmage half, both the practices. Gators and the season. The As a whole, the Bulldogs sophomore class is remained tied everything an athletic the team’s goofiness and up leaving the director can ask for.” Bob Kickner camaraderie crowd at the strengthen edges of their their perseats. Howevformance. In fact, athletic er, the Bulldogs scored the director, Bob Kickner posinext two goals, both scored by Abby Skrabam, freshmen tively commented about the Green River team. forward, assisted by Rachel “I’m super proud of these Baker, freshmen defender and Brianna Huggins, midgirls and it’s a great start to fielder respectively. Despite the season,” he said. “The sophomore class is everythe lead from the Bulldogs, thing an athletic director the crowd continuously romped on, hoping our can ask for.” He continued, Gators for the best. Unfor“They’re good people, strong students, and fierce compettunately, the Gators did not itors.” come up with the wins but Come out and support our Green River Gators as they play against the Pierce College Raiders at Heritage Park on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and October 15 vs Gray’s Harbor at Aberdeen High School at 7 p.m. We hope to expand our Gator soccer community and to see you come out and enjoy the game.
Photo courtesy of Bob Kickner
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Aiman Ahmad | Sports Editor sports@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com