Oct.28.2015
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thecurrent the student newspaper of green river college
Graveyard Custodial Cuts Cleanliness Threatened
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Ian Lobdell | The Current
currentcampus
currenta&e
currentopinion
Faculty Wages Lost in Contract Disputes
Music Festival Overcroweding May Jeopardize Future Events
A Journey of Faith and Loss
Instructors at Green River are losing out on potential wages they could be earning.
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Multiple criminal incidents are calling into question if festivals are safe.
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One student shares his experience with religion and his personal beliefs.
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James Ristig | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Graveyard Shift Trashed by College Classified Staff’s Hours Cut By: Ian Lobdell Editor-in-Chief @iamilobdell The majority of custodians at Green River have been removed from the graveyard shift. This move has been described as both a cost saving and community enhancement technique. “The management of facilities wanted to bring the custodians down so they could have a face to face relationship with the people in the buildings,” said custodian swing shift supervisor Dale Wilkie. This change may reduce how much the custodians are able to clean during their shifts. Moving and reducing the number of custodians in the night shift forces more cleaning to happen while students and staff are on campus. “I’m finding that I can’t get my daily stuff done. Period. I can’t get it done,” said Taylor, a custodian who asked to not use their real name over fear of retaliation for speaking with The Current. “I just want to do my job without any interruption, and get it the way they want it. The way they want it, we cannot do that right now.” Building inspections are also being implemented, coming in the month of November. “If people are not able to get done what they need to do, it opens up the doors for management to try to discipline them, when they caused all these problems,” said Kaite Mark, Washington Federation of State Employees Council Representative. Although, not all staff are so tentative about these inspections. “I know some of the staff are worried that they might get in trouble they might not be able to clean their building as well but, like I’ve told my staff, if you work hard for your seven and a half hour everything is good,” Wilkie said. “I think it’ll work, but everybody needs to give it time to work.” There is question regarding how much money this will actually save the college. Taylor claimed this would cause a cost savings of $1200 for Green River. “I think it is really a roundabout way to get people to quit or leave,” Mark said. One of the night shift’s custodians has already had to submit their resignation due to the shift change. “What if we can’t get our jobs done? Or, what if we are trying to get our jobs done, but we are in the way of students, faculty, or staff,” Taylor said. The custodians are also con-
cerned for interrupting the educational environment of the students and faculty in order to do their daily cleaning. “This is what we were worried about,” Mark said. “Not only is it disruptive, but it puts the custodians in a situation that none of them want to be in.” “The people that are coming from the graveyard shift, what they are having to learn to do is work around (students and staff),” Wilkie said. “It’s just a different cleaning schedule to accommodate the active classrooms.” Taylor said the classified staff asked for a survey to be put out to the staff, the teachers, and the students on what impact this could create for classified staff. “They absolutely refused. Period,” Taylor continued. “I should have said ‘are you guys afraid of what the outcome is going to be?’” The facilities management has also been said to claim the move was made on a voluntary basis. “When we talked to management about this at a union meeting, the Facilities Director said, ‘Oh yeah, it’s totally fine. Everyone volunteered,’” Mark said. “It was basically ‘sign this piece of paper.’ We were forced to sign it,” Taylor said. “We did do a demand to bargain around this [change],” Mark said. “This was after all of this coercion. The powers that be did not listen at all.” Taylor outlined their daily cleaning list and included wiping tables, vacuuming, and cleaning whiteboards in all classrooms, plus getting rid of fingerprints and smudges on all of the colleges glass surfaces. They went on to mention that they are not able to finish all these tasks daily. They have to make up what the remaining two night shift custodians couldn’t get to, on Fridays. Certain large areas are only available to clean unhindered for less than an hour each day, such as the Gym and Library. These tasks are under question whether or not they can be completed to the same quality under this new schedule. “The former night shift employees took a lot of pride in the deep clean they could do when no one is around to make sure the campus is tidy,” Mark said. “The management here—they are not unintelligent people,” Wilkie said. “They have a plan. They put it into effect. They’ll monitor it. If it’s not working exactly as well as they want it to, they’ll tweak it a little bit.”
Ian Lobdell | The Current
Green River Losing Print Shop
Alina Moss | The Current
The future of the printing shop on campus is up in the air after a decision to move offset printing to the Enumclaw campus. “For the last year, maybe a year and a half things have been up in the air,” said Jeff Martin, an employee in the Printing Shop. “I have never really gotten any decent information about what’s really gonna happen.” It seems uncertain to Martin and Dolly Green, another employee of the print shop, just what the future of the Printing Shop. “I want more information, but I just don’t know, and nobody seems to know,” Martin said.
James Ristig | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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3 2015-2016
Students Say Black Lives Matter
Group of Students Hold Black Lives Matter Demonstration in Front of Faculty and Administration By: Sylvia Jones Staff Writer A Black Lives Matter demonstration took place in front of GRC faculty and staff on Sept. 15. The Black Lives Matter movement has swept the nation in response to Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012. “The staff was celebrating how well they have put the students first,” said Victoria Pacho, peer navigator and LGBT alliance president. “Which students? They were definitely dropping the ball on the marginalized demographic at our school.” The participating students shared experiences in which they faced discrimination on campus from students, faculty, and other community members. “I thought it was important to have it that day because it’s really hard to get staff and faculty and administration all together in one room,” said Nasarin Ahmed, the leader of the demonstration and a women’s peer navigator. The demonstrators included Ahmed, Pacho, ASGRC Vice President Lavina Tang, and Courtesy | Nasarin Ahmed Peer Navigator Havier Hines. These student leaders wanted to get their point across withThe black lives matter demonstration took place during the opening day celebaration and lunchin with the faculty and administration in the cafeteria. out being shut down. rassed in the Holman Library for not having Hines shared how he was mistaken for a her student ID. criminal three times, including a case in the “I was treated as though I had did some Campus Corner Apartments parking lot. He horribly unjust thing,” Pacho said. was getting in his car when Campus Safety She was told that she could not use her drove up and blocked him in. Two people Washington State ID. ran up to him. They asked his name, looked “She started speaking to me in Spanish. I around his car, and asked what was in his car. said ‘I’m sorry, I’m American, I don’t speak “They called all these Campus Safety peoSpanish,’” Pacho said. ple to come get me,” he said. Pacho said her car tires had been slashed Campus Safety left when a woman there repeatedly because of a rainbow sticker she said Hines was not the man they were lookhad. ing for. “Is that the fact “They pretty much that I’m a person just ran up on me like of color or the fact I was some criminal,” that I’m gay?” Pacho said Hines. said. Tang said anothThe foundation of er faculty member the demonstration treated her wrong not was the message only because of her -Nasarin Ahmed, the leader of the black that black lives ethnicity, but because lives matter demonstration and a women’s matter. Ahmed said of her disability. She peer navigator. everyone knows enrolled in a dance that all lives should class in order to push matter, but she herself, but after one views the All Lives Matter movement as a hour of the two-hour class, her legs would counterargument. hurt due to her disability. “I don’t want to say ‘all lives matter,’” The teacher allowed her to sit out and obAhmed said. “The fact that we have to reitserve the rest of the class, but near the end of erate ‘black lives matter’ is why we like to say the course Tang was informed she would fail it. When we say, ‘black lives matter,’ it’s not due to her sitting out. to say that all lives don’t. It’s to say that we “She never told me that, and I never knew, matter, and we have to prove that we matter and she told me right after the cutoff point,” on a daily basis.” Tang said. She said her GPA suffered because Pacho said in our society all lives do not of this class. matter, and statistics prove it. As an international student from SingaAttend A trAnsfer InformAtIon sessIon! “We want the staff to willingly participate pore, Tang said people would come up to her To register visit: www.uwb.edu/admissions/transfer in our Cultural Competency Training that’s and tell her that her English was really good. coming up,” Ahmed said. “Keep an open “It’s my first language,” she said with frusmind, and realize the things you say, and be tration. “I guess the automatic assumption www.uwb.edu 425.352.5000 mindful that not everyone blends into this would be that our English is not good and western world that we created. Don’t just talk that I’m from China, when I’m not.” the talk; walk the walk.” Pacho spoke about the time she was ha-
TOGETHER
“It’s not just staff and faculty, Administration is just as responsible because they have more Authority”
WE WILL
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Campus Crime Blotter
Campus Safety responded to the following incidents from October 6 to October 21 among others. All information is from Campus Safety incident reports.
10/6 10:08 a.m. Student Housing Assault
Campus safety was called to the scene of a fight happening outside student housing. The victim said he had been arguing with the suspect when he punched the victim in the back of the head. Safety officers noticed a large red mark on the back of the victim’s head. The victim also claimed the suspect had gone to his room to retrieve his brass knuckles. Campus Safety searched the room twice and found a large box containing a “brass” knuckles taser.
10/6 12:35 p.m. Salish Hall Assault
Campus Safety responded to a student reporting she had been assaulted. The victim said she had been eating when the suspect approached her and made an offensive comment about what she was watching on her phone, and what she was eating. The suspect then proceeded to hit her left arm with his black laptop bag before walking away from the scene. After speaking with the victim, she was taken to a counselor and the Auburn Police were called. Campus Safety then tracked down the suspect to talk about the incident. He said while talking with his friends in Salish Hall, the victim had stepped on his backpack. His backpack hit the victim as he tried to store it under his chair. The suspect apologized to the victim and noticed the show she was watching and said, “Oh, Steven Universe. That’s a good F— show.” The suspect claimed he had mumbled the statement and she hadn’t responded to him.
10/7 3:20 p.m. Salish Hall Suspicious Person
Campus safety was informed about a suspicious man on campus. The victim reported the incident the following day. A suspicious man approached her in Salish Hall and began a conversation with her. The suspect asked her what program she was studying and if she was a running start student. The victim answered her questions, but then the suspect just stared at her. He finally said, “You’re really pretty.” The victim felt “creeped out” and left, but she noticed the suspect was staring at her through the windows.
10/20 1:45 p.m. Lindbloom Student Center Assault
Anthony “The Preacher” was assaulted when an unidentified student walked by and threw a water bottle, which struck Anthony. A student at the scene was upset that safety officers had done nothing to the student. Safety officers informed the student he could not throw things at people. Anthony did not press charges.
10/21 11:30 a.m. Kent Campus Suspicious Person
A suspicious man entered the Kent campus and safety officers noted he was carrying two big shopping bags with a camera around his neck. When a safety officer asked him why he was on campus, he said he was visiting his counselor. When the safety officer asked him who his was counselor, he became agitated. He said, “Why are you harassing me?” When he attempted to enter the elevator, safety officers shut it down so he could not leave. When the safety officer tried to explain the situation, he said they were racist. The safety officer tried to ask him who his counselor was again but he would not answer. When the safety officer attempted to call the police, he left the scene.
James Ristig | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Safety and Protection on Campus By: Alina Moss Managing Editor @amossytime
Safety is more than just the protection around you. It starts with situational awareness. Campus Safety at Green River College is reliable and available to students 24/7. There are many ways to contact them for emergencies and to stay informed of campus information. Some of the services provided by campus Safety are 24 hour safety rides, desk, emergency service, Red Flag, and the email and campus wide text alerts. The online system, Red Flag, is a tool for students to report incidents while remaining anonymous, if they choose to do so. Interim Campus Safety Director Rob Fitzgerald said he receives one to two emails a day from concerned students. These emails can range from incident reports to concerned friends turning in a tip about a troubled student. When people send in these emails, safety can react to prevent any unwanted circumstances and help the student with any help they need, such as counseling or other services, without getting them into trouble. To send a Red Flag email report, click the “Send a red Flag” button on the bottom right corner of any page on the Green River College website. Safety will respond to these as soon as possible, and Fitzgerald said the response is almost instant. “If we can help you, we’ll do it,” Fitzgerald said. The Red Flag system is a great way to report what is going on around campus, but the campus wide text alerts allow you to know what is going on around campus. Anyone can sign up to receive text and emails about Campus Safety, crime, traffic, training, and weather alerts. These alerts will allow the user to know when classes are canceled for any reason, as well as any possible threats on campus. To sign up, visit the Campus Safety page on the Green River College website and create an account for the free alerts and notifications. Be aware that you may have to re-register for the notifications due to the cleansing process of the system for unnecessary accounts. Although Green River College has many protective services on campus, the best thing to stay safe is to be aware. “Have your eyes up and know what’s going on around you is the best thing you can do,” Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald has been working at
Ian Lobdell | The Current
GRC for 15 years, and one of the most common problems he has seen among students is being unaware of their surroundings. Some people block out the world with loud music and their cell phone screens as they walk among the crowd. This can be very dangerous for an individual, as well as the people around them, if there is a problematic event or environment. Being aware of your environment and what is around you is an important key aspect of staying safe. It is just as important to have a plan for bad situations and strategies to stay away from them. Some people may prefer to carry a self-defense spray can of mace which is allowed on Green River College Campus. Everyone has a right to protect themselves as long as it poses no threat to others and abides by Washington state law. According to RCW 9.91.160, the law for mace is that you must be 18 or 14 years old with parental consent to carry a self defense spray. Mace is easy to use and small to carry, which makes it a
great self defense tool. “Do something,” Fitzgerald said. “Don’t just be a target.” Being prepared and knowing how to handle dangerous situations can be the deciding factor of the end result. One way for students on campus to be prepared is to know all of the emergency contacts for Green River. For non-emergency calls, the number is 253-288-3350 or extension 3350 from any campus phone. Emergency calls are 253288-2250, extension 2250, or 911. Jesus Cortez, a safety officer at GRC, said if you are in immediate danger, it should be your priority to call 911. Campus Safety is available to respond to student’s emergencies 24/7, but they are also available to help prevent such situations. Safety rides and escorts are always available to students who call in and request assistance to avoid unwanted situations. Campus safety can even provide assistance to unlock doors and jumps for cars with dead batteries. “There is no time that you shouldn’t call us,” Cortez said.
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James Ristig | Campus Editor campus@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
5 2015-2016
Green River Faculty Not Being Paid Full Wages By: James Ristig Campus Editor
Your instructors are not being paid their full wages. Green River College works off of a pay grade system based on credits and seniority. As your instructors take on more classes or work longer, they gain a pay increase. However, those instructors are not getting a pay bump. Jamie Fitzgerald, division chair for the English department, said it has been almost two years since these pay increases were funded. As a tenured instructor, he is entitled to an extra $2,000. Since 2014, only half of that pay increase has been provided to him and other tenured faculty members by the college. “What happens when that is made whole, whether we get that all at once or in increments?” Fitzgerald said. Michael Kenyon, a mathematics instructor, said that money Fitzgerald is hoping to receive is lost. The amount of money the faculty have not been paid will not be repaid by the college. Every instructor on campus has a personal contract with their agreed upon pay scale based on the guidelines of the separate faculty contract. Kenyon’s paycheck has two minuses indicating how much of his full paycheck he is not receiving. The faculty contract, which Fitzgerald said has not been updated in over 500 days, explains the various pay grades the instructors
at Green River work under. Rochelle Mitchell, a mathematics instructor, said there are different levels of pay in the current faculty contract. Every instructor who is hired at Green River starts at one of the lower pay grades and can work their way up. There are three different pay grades for non-tenured instructors in the faculty contract labeled A, B, and C. A and B are where most new instructors start out and can be bumped up to a higher level based on how long they work at the college. By going up from the A pay grade to the B pay grade, an instructor receives a pay raise. For example, according to the faculty contract, an instructor earning $39,936 for their annual salary would then make $42,134 if they moved up to the B pay grade. However, that extra two thousand dollars is not being paid right now. Mitchell said everything in 2014 that would give an instructor a pay increase such as moving to a new pay grade, taking on extra classes, or even earning a higher level degree, is not being funded. For tenured instructors, turnover savings are a way to provide that extra pay increase. Turnover savings is extra money the college gets when an instructor leaves the college. When a new employee begins at Green River, they start out at a lower pay grade than the instructor they replaced, thus providing some extra funds for instructors on the same
pay grade. Fitzgerald said turnover money the college has right now is not being used to help pay for salaries and “fill in the gap.” “As you can imagine, it’s demoralizing,” Fitzgerald said. The Washington state legislature approved a bill to allow colleges to use local dollars as a means to fund staff salaries, Fitzgerald said. The reason for this loss is due to the faculty contract negotiations currently underway at Green River. The negotiations have allowed the administration to stop paying these bumps. The faculty have to negotiate for these pay bumps, Fitzgerald said. Marshall Sampson, vice president of
human resources, could not discuss the contract negotiations. In an email, he said the faculty and administration are getting closer to reaching a mutual agreement. Mitchell said this negotiation tactic is “smart” on the college’s part. “Let’s not negotiate (the salaries) so we can get what we want on the other stuff,” Mitchell said, adding the faculty feel undervalued since they are not being paid their full wages. “People are losing money. People are not making what they deserve to make,” Mitchell said.
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6 2015-2016
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Langston Thomas | A&E Editor a&e@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Photos Courtesy | Adam Brown
Equipped with a mic, Robbie Turner (above), approaches the crowd during a performance. A full leather clad Jessica Paradisco (right) crawls across the stage floor dressed as a cat. Convincingly dressed as Harley Quinn, Blake McCabe (bottom right) is deeply engaged in the ongoing performance. As a Diva, Drew Paradisco (bottom left) holds a note during a musical number.
National Coming Out Week By: Ahmed Karam & Alina Moss @amossytime Green River College celebrated National Coming Out Week from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16. The weeks events celebrated National Coming Out Day, a day celebrating the LGBTQ community, and were sponsored by the Student Life Office. The main objective of this week was to let participating students at Green River know that they were acknowledged, appreciated, and even celebrated for who they are. The Student Life Office organized this week to make everything as fun as possible while still including support and educational services. The week started with the flying of the Pride Flag below the American flag at the bus circle. On Monday night a national touring comedian, Kevin Yee, performed an intimate show in the SA building He tackled various LGBTQ and social issues through comedy and song while playfully interacting with the audience. For the second day of celebration, free cupcakes and condoms were handed out to students by the members of the What You See Is What You Get club. Following on Wednesday, a photo booth was set up for NOH8 (No Hate) participants.
By writing “NOH8” on their cheek and taking a selfie, students were able to support the NOH8 organization and their mission of gender and human equality. On Thursday, students were provided with various button designs to choose from, and given the option to create their own design. These buttons are a great to show support and pride for the LGBTQ community. GRC Health Services and the Queer and Allies club were also present throughout the week. They were informing students that there is always support and helpful services available to them on campus. The week ended with a bang on Friday night when a drag show came to Green River College. The show featured some of Seattle’s finest queens, Jessica Paradisco, Drew Paradisco, Lucy Paradisco, Blake McCabe, and Robbie Turner. Turner hosted the show and even gave a performance to kick it off. Each of the other queens graciously performed three numbers for the ecstatic crowd. During both the Drag Show and Kevin Yee’s comedy, the bathrooms in the Student Affairs and Success Building were turned into gender neutral restrooms by taping over the gender signs. GRC’s celebration of National Coming Out Week was enjoyed and supported by many.
a&e Future of Music Festivals May be in Jeopardy Concert Langston Thomas | A&E Editor a&e@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
thecurrent
2015-2016
Overcrowding, Substance Abuse, and Death May Put Concert Events in Trouble By: Langston Thomas A&E Editor Lately, it’s as if music festivals appear out of thin air. Over the past few years, the number of music festivals held worldwide has been increasing rapidly. According to Pollstar Pro, over 1,500 festivals are to be held in 70 different countries throughout the year 2015. A recent report by Nielsen, a U.S. Census Bureau, displayed their finalized data on music festival attendance. It was found that “approximately 32 million people attend at least one music festival in the U.S. each year.” Larger crowds can become problematic, as we’ve recently been reminded by the death of a 23-year-old woman at a Skrillex show in India. Aanchal Arora died from cardiac arrest on Oct 11 at HUDA Grounds event venue outside of New Delhi. The Huffington post, shortly after the incident, reported that, “Assistant Commissioner of Police (DLF) Ramesh Pal, (believes) Arora’s death may have been the direct result of overcrowding at the venue.” One of the main reasons why festivals are growing larger is that artists need money. Records don’t sell like they did 20 years ago thanks to the advent of online music sharing. It’s becoming progressively easier to obtain any desired music online, for free. In an interview with London based publication The Sunday Times, electronic music superstar, Diplo, makes it clear where most of his revenue comes from. “I don’t care if anybody–and you can quote me on this–trades my records, leaks my records. I don’t care. I can’t make money off the sales, but I’ll make money off doing shows, or selling merchandise,” said Diplo. The main goal of any large festival nowadays is to procure the most star-studded lineup as possible so that they may sell as many tickets as their venue has space for. More people and more money might mean more problems for coordinators though. And while the number of attendees per festival has increased, so has the amount of drugs. Only three days into this year’s two weekend long Coachella’s event, one death was confirmed, and over 90 arrests were made, 56 of which were related to illegal narcotics. Drugabuse.com recently conducted a study to catalog drug use exibited on social media. In the results of this study they state “We took a look at Instagram to see which drugs are a part of the social conversation at music festivals. Though not everyone is going to Instagram their drug use at these festivals, we wanted to get a glimpse into which
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substances and festivals were most popular as well as if specific drugs were favorites at certain events.” They reviewed over 3.6 million Instagram posts from 15 different festivals and discovered that numerous substance related posts were uploaded at every festival. As far as drugs are concerned, Marley Fest topped the charts with a whopping 82% of festival Instagram posts mentioning marijuana. Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) came in second with almost 43% of event posts mentioning MDMA (or Molly/Ecstasy). And Ultra Music Festival Miami came in third with almost 38% mentioning the same substance. As previously stated, it’s important to remember that “not everyone is going to Instagram their drug use at these festivals,” but the figures reported by Drugabuse.com are quite substantial. Multiple studies have been conducted in order to obtain a better feel for the amount of people attending festivals while under the influence. The Miami Herald released an article back in February of this year about the documenting of drug use at Ultra Music Festival. They concluded that, “Out of 145 voluntary participants, 72 percent admitted to having consumed marijuana, cocaine, molly or ecstasy during the past week.” Some participants, given the incentive of a $20 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card agreed to provide a urine or blood sample. The findings from the analysis of these samples were that, “58 percent (from blood sample) and 80 percent
(from urine sample), respectively, had recently consumed designer drugs.” Raves and EDM (electronic dance music) festivals like Ultra Miami that feature primarily electronic artists have acquired negative stigmas in recent years as being popular to take drugs at. But in 20 year old Natalie Larkin’s opinion, “Events and festivals can be so much more than just a party.” Larkin, a Green River College student and frequent festival-goer, has experienced a recent change in the public’s opinion on raves. She identifies with PLUR culture. The acronym stands for Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and is the mantra of numerous groups and individuals in the EDM scene. Larkin says in the three years she’s attended raves, “the scene has exploded in that time and I’ve found that a majority of newcomers have never even heard of the acronym (PLUR).” When asked about her opinion on Drugabuse.com’s study, she acknowledged that social media plays a key role in spreading the word about festivals. “From what I see on Instagram,” said Larkin, “Watershed festival is one where people just drink tons of alcohol all day long ... I feel that a similar image can come from people posting about getting trashed at EDC or Paradiso.” Drugs are, without a doubt, quickly becoming a huge problem for festival coordinators. Many event companies are finding that when it comes to drug safety at their festivals, due to the Reducing American’s Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act
(The RAVE Act), their hands are tied. The RAVE Act is defined as, “A bill to prohibit an individual from knowingly opening, maintaining, managing, controlling, renting, leasing, making available for use, or profiting from any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance, and for other purpose.” This means that if any event were to provide a service such as anonymous drug testing, instead of being seen as a promotion of drug safety and injury prevention, it would be seen as a promotion of drug use at the event. Regardless of a festival’s security measures, attendees will always find ways to sneak in drugs. While preventative options are limited for coordinators, the drug and overcrowding problems need to be addressed rather than dismissed. Some event companies have acknowledged these problems and are using methods such as USC Events’ “Conscious Crew.” These types of volunteer groups equip themselves with water bottles and devote their event attendance to patrolling the venue in search of individuals in need of assistance. Washington state is fortunate enough to have something called the “Good Samaritan Law.“ This law allows any individual to seek help for themselves or others without being liable for civil damages incurred from helping them. For further information about staying safe at festivals and events, visit www.dancesafe.org.
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Mayday Parade
Real Friends, This Wild Life, As It Is
@ The Showbox Doors: 6:30 p.m. $25
Circa Survive @ The Showbox Doors: 7 p.m. $22
Mac Miller
GoldLink, Domo Genesis, Alexander Spit, The Come-Up
@ Shobox SoDo Doors: 7 p.m. $32
Tory Lanez Boogie
@ The Crocodile Doors: 8 p.m. $18
A$AP Rocky & Tyler, The Creator Danny Brown, Vince Staples
@ The Wamu Theatre Doors: 6 p.m. $47
Halsey @ Shobox SoDo Doors: 8 p.m. $21
Waka Flocka Flame djWHOOkid & Special Guests
@ The Showbox Doors: 8 p.m. $20 - 30
Yellowcard & New Found Glory Tigers Jaw
@ The Showbox Doors: 7 p.m. $27
City and Colour Hurray for the Riff Raff
@ ParamountTheatre Doors: 7 p.m. $41
KGRG 89.9 FM will be *giving away tickets for the marked show(s). Find out more at www.kgrg.com.
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2015-2016
Lido & Santell: The Passion Project Review By: Langston Thomas A&E Editor
EP, produced by Lido, that has been long in the works. It tells the story of a character portrayed by Santell who falls
Shortly after, it is revealed that Ashley has been in a relationship with one of Santell’s very close friends the entire time. Chances are, if you Santell starts to feel the heard the name Peder Losweight of his guilt in the negård on the street, you’d track, “WTFIMP (Interlude)”, have no idea as to who the which serves as a transition name belongs to. to him explaining his recent And while his stage name sneaky behavior to his friend, Lido (formerly LidoLido) Ashley’s boyfriend, in the might not ring a bell either, song “Lady’s A Hoe.” this Norwegian Producer, The last track, “Saved By Singer and Songwriter is You (Outro)”, is a wrap up of definitely worth knowing. the EP’s emotional journey. Although he began his Santell admits that he’s “a career attempting to make cheater, (and) a bad friend,” a name for himself and his and goes on to say “even “good-guy hip hop”, his sound though I’ve done wrong, I has changed substantially. could be saved.” Still riding the seemingly The backing organ and never ending success of choir chants throughout his 2014 “I Love You” EP, the song erupt into a joyous Losnegård has been fortunate gospel number, giving the enough to work with artists listener a feeling of closure. Album cover for Lido & Santell’s “The Passion Project” such as Alt J, Bastille, Banks, Released on the labels Mad The Weeknd and Disclosure. in love with a waitress named Ashley. Decent & Pelican Fly, this project had His remixes of Banks’ “Drowning”, While Santell is a new and still little marketing. Although it’s quite Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and relatively unknown artist, this self catchy, Santell made it clear in an interYung Lean’s “Gatorade” are undoubtproclaimed “light skinned Tyrese” has view with Billboard Magazine that he edly some of his most popular songs; a voice made for R&B. and Lido are purposefully “not trying but he’s taken a bit of a departure from Throughout these 5 tracks, Santell to fit into trends,” with this release. his signature sound with his most and Ashley’s relationship develops Overall, “The Passion Project” is a recent release with singer Santell. and becomes strictly sexual, which is well rounded R&B experience that I for “The Passion Project”, which was made clear to the listener in the track one will continue to keep on repeat for releases on Oct 23, is an R&B/Gospel “Pillows.” weeks to come.
Langston Thomas | A&E Editor a&e@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Save with your Student ID By: Sydney Taylor Staff Writer Did you know that being enrolled at Green River College may be able save you money in some situations? Not many students do. It seems students understand the idea of student discounts but often miss out on their potential savings. In fact, out of ten students I interviewed, only six knew that some companies offer students discounted prices on certain items and services. However, only three out of these six students actually knew of a specific business that offers these types of discounts. Although the knowledge of student discounts isn’t very widespread, businesses that offer them don’t regularly advertise about these pricing options. In fact, some businesses will only offer a discount if it is specifically inquired about. GRC students are eligible for discounts on a wide variety of items at many locations. Purchase areas available for discount include apparel, automotive products and services, food, hotels, travel and even some medical services.
Amazon’s Fifty Dollar Fire Tablet Review By: Josh Dragoo Guest Writer
When it comes to tablet categories, you have your cheap, RCA-branded Walmart tablets, midrange Windows 10 tablets, and high-end tablets, such as the iPad and Galaxy Tab S2. Recently Amazon released the Fire, a low cost tablet that will set you back a mere $50 plus tax. The main focus of this review is the usefulness of the Amazon Fire for college students. I used the Amazon Fire for school over a period of two weeks, and, while there were some hiccups, they were neither major, nor did they hinder my ability to efficiently operate the tablet. The Amazon fire tablet features a 1024x600 resolution display. And while it isn’t retina or high definition, most HD content I viewed looked quite nice with the exception of small text. It also has a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and 8 GBs of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 128 GBs. These specs don’t mean much due to the fact that we all have different uses for a tablet. A program such as Geekbench will only test a few variables, which don’t translate well into real world performance. While the tablet does have a front and rear facing camera, both are a bit subpar compared to typical smartphone cameras. They produce
low-quality pictures with a ton of noise and lack clarity for the most part. Being a tablet made by Amazon, don’t expect to be downloading apps from the Google Play Store. Instead, available on the Fire is a decent App Store from Amazon, which features the necessities to get you started. Apps like Facebook, Tumblr, Vine and Twitter are all available and work just fine on the tablet. However, since this device runs Android, if you already have a large library of apps from the Google Play Store, you can easily side load it onto the tablet. This requires four files that can be easily found online through the XDA Developers Forum (forum.xda-developers.com). Having the Google Play Store installed made the tablet even more enjoyable to use as I was able to access my Google Drive to view my documents, PDFs, and pictures without a hitch. Another aspect in which this tablet shines is with Amazon’s Bookstore. Not only are there numerous titles to read, but you can also easily rent and buy e-textbooks. Despite the low-resolution screen, all e-book text looked crisp. It was easy to read and highlight important terms within the textbook I was reading. And when it comes to taking notes on the tablet, you can easily pair any Bluetooth keyboard. Everyone needs a break from schoolwork once every now and again. And
while gaming on a touchscreen can be a bit finicky, the Fire handles games quite well an at efficient frame rates. Throughout my two weeks with the tablet, I tested games such as “Minecraft: Pocket Edition”, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”, “Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions”, “Monument Valley”, and “Grand Theft Auto III.” Many of these games played amazingly well for such low cost hardware, but an Android gaming controller would make the experience all the more enjoyable. Watching movies on this tablet is made easy by apps like Netflix, Hulu, and other media streaming apps. Video quality for Netflix was also high, and load speeds were fast over my Wi-Fi connection. Not everything is perfect with the Fire though. One issue I had with this tablet was that, while it runs Android and the Play Store just fine, you can’t select and run any home launcher besides Amazon’s default one. While most wouldn’t see an issue with this, I could see it being a problem for people who are used to the openness of typical Android systems. Another issue I had with the tablet was the amount of little bugs I experienced while using it. These glitches included the launcher not wanting to load after unlocking the device, as well as the slight freezing and stuttering on the home screen itself.
This might have been just my device in particular and not the majority of Fire tablets, but I feel it’s useful information to mention to potential buyers. Another aspect to consider is that the standard $50 model comes with what Amazon calls “Special Offers,” which are basically advertisements. There is a $64 model of this tablet that doesn’t include these offers that I would consider if you can’t stand ads popping up on the device’s lock screen. I personally didn’t mind them as I rarely saw the lock screen in the first place. Overall, the Amazon Fire is surprisingly well built, great for college students, and quite the steal for only $50. Even though it has a few issues, you really can’t complain with a price tag like that.
Courtesy | Amazon.com
Some non-scholastic companies that offer deals include American Eagle, Urban Outfitters and Quiksilver. These stores all offer 10 to 20 percent off their sale items and free shipping when a certain amount is spent. At AutoPartsWarehouse.com, students can earn up to eight percent cash back on car parts and accessories. Need a lift? Save $10 on Zipcar with a Zipcar Student Discounts membership. Students can even save money on schooling. Many companies and organizations support education at Green River. “Smart Option Student Loans by Sallie Mae” is an organization that offers five percent cash back on student loans. Another attainable student discount is on school materials. Many online services like Bookbyte, Chegg, and CampusBookRentals offer five percent or more off the price of textbooks. More information on textbook pricing can be found at http://www.studentrate. com/Greenriver-Textbooks-Deals. While it may take some investigating to find out if a business offers discounts to students, the cash you can save is incentive enough for your inquiries.
Tablet Specs Display
7” touchscreen, 1024 x 600 resolution at 171 ppi, SD video playback, with IPS
Size & Weight
7.5” x 4.5” x 0.4” (191 x 115 x 10.6 mm) 11.0 ounces (313 grams)
Charge Time
Fully charges in under 6 hours using the micro-USB power adapter included in the box
Battery Life
Up to 7 hours of reading, surfing the web, watching video, and listening to music.
Storage
8 GB of internal storage (5 GB available to user). Add microSD card for up to 128 GB addition
CPU & RAM
Quad-Core 1.3 GHz with 1 GB of RAM
Ports
USB 2.0 to connect to a PC/Macintosh computer; microSD slot for external storage
Camera Specs
VGA front-facing camera. 2 MP rear-facing HD camera
opinion Broken Spotlights on the Shooters thecurrent
Alina Moss | Opinion Editor opinion@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Editorial
Green River College has a student government. They meet every week at noon in the Rainier Room on the second floor of the Lindbloom Center. You are excused for not knowing who these people are, what they do, or why they even exist. The world of student government is held aloft in a tower, kept away from the students—despite their claims they work for the students. For some reason a large majority of students don’t even know that they help pay for their $1.6 million budget. Even with a public relations committee, there is a lack of the basics on how to market yourself to the people you serve. They hide away from the student population and congregate in their tight knit groups. Only a small minority of members try to engage with the students and be a member of the campus community. There are members of student government trying to bring student government down to the students, but unfortunately it is only that small group. At Meetings, there is a general confusion as to how events should be run or who is participating. If the student government cannot agree on how these campus events should be run, it is no wonder no one knows what is going on. These student government meetings are a cacophony of disorganized chaos. The student body vice president, despite her best efforts, can barely keep the various senators each vying for their own agendas. Little of substance is accomplished in these meetings. The student body president, Ridwan Ibrahim, is mandated by the student government constitution to give a speech in an open place in front of the students. According to the student government
constitution, Ibrahim is supposed to give this speech within three weeks of the start of the quarter. That speech never happened. Not only would this have been a good first step towards making student government more available and transparent, but now Ibrahim is in violation of the student government’s own constitution. This is only a minor detail, but when you consider how little they actually accomplish of substance, a small speech should not be something they skirt under the rug. However, it is not surprising this little detail of the president’s duties were forgotten when they have failed to handle more important duties, such as the announcing of changes to the student government by-laws. The student government is hiding behind the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), in order to avoid public records requirements put upon them by the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), the Washington State Public Records Act (PRA), the Washington Community and Technical College System’s Rules on Record Retention, and numerous case laws. The Current attempted to make a public records request for the student senator applications. This request was denied on the grounds of FERPA due to the fact that the applicants are students. These students are representatives of the student body, and have stepped into the political realm. They are public figures and deal with information that should not be held to the same privacy standards as your typical student information. They handle and vote on the distribution of state money across Green River College and the need to be held accountable for that responsibility is missing.
This is another example of the disappointing lack of transparency in Green River’s student government. Washington state has given the community and technical college system the authority over record retention. Agendas, meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, emails, notes, and any other official documents must be kept on record and open to the public for three years. After this three year period, the records are archived with the state. Student government is held to the same standards as any other office within Green River. It is suspected that a number of documents are unaccounted for from the 2012 to 2013 year records. If this is true, this would go directly against the required three year retention of records. There are also accusations made against members of student government over destruction of documents that are required by the student government by-laws. Student government clearly falls into the realm of a public agency. According to a case entitled “Clarke v. Tri-Cities Animal Care & Control Shelter,” a public agency is defined by four rules: whether the entity performs a government function, the level of government funding, the extent of government involvement or regulation, and whether the entity was created by the government. Green River student government clearly fits all four of these criteria as a public agency. As outlined in the Washington state PRA, public agencies are required to keep all records. The nature of student government puts their public records in a gray area. While they are exempt from FoIA as students, How is the student government supposed to be held accountable, when required documents are not made public?
Editorials reflect the opinions of the entire editing staff of the Current.
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Alina Moss Managing Editor Opinion Editor 253-833-9111 x2377 James Ristig Campus Editor
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Staff Writers: Valory Lovejoy, Nick Entsminger, Skip Lammon, D’marye Dedrick, Sydney Taylor, Jordyn Wilson, Sylvia Jones, Savannah Snyder, Wyatt Philpot Photographers: Ian Lobdell and Alina Moss
Corrections
Student Government: Brimming Pot of Comrades By: Valory Lovejoy Staff Writer
What is going on with the student government is not very clear to many students. I went to clarify with Ridwan Ibrahim, the student body president, if the word going around about the student government is true. Ibrahim agreed to meet with me but said Lavina Tang, the vice president, would be more helpful, therefore all three of us would meet later that day. Ibrahim never showed up, so I continued only with Tang. There is word that the student body president has filled the student senate with her friends. This statement is mostly true. Tang and Ibrahim went different ways with friends and work. There
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was a deadline to meet for students in the senate. Some can say they were just desperate for people to join, and some say they could have planned a better way to promote the senate. “When it came down to last choice, I even came to say ‘no’ to my friends, simply because I felt someone else was better, even if I didn’t know them,” Tang said. She does know many of the people on the senate and even knew them previously. Knowing a person can affect one’s view of whether to choose them for a position because the personal relationships could lead to unfair biases. The vice president is supposed to focus on who best suits the position, not who they have the best friendship with. Tang mentioned that mixing friends and work can also cause
The Current is a public forum for student expression. Student editors make all content decisions without censorship or advanced approval. The opinions of these stories are those of the writers and the writers alone. If you have an opposing viewpiont feel free to write The Current a Letter to the Editor.
drama, and I couldn’t agree more. Having a previous friendship can affect the how efficiently they work, and how efficiently you work. Many things could result in different ways of governing. “I will outright say this, no one is completely unbiased about any situation at all.” Tang couldn’t emphasize this more. She related it back to herself using her own knowledge of past and personal experiences. Having learned from experiences creates a foundation a person goes off of that can affect the choices that are made. Another aspect of the Senate to think about is how the candidates were recruited. The VP claims that it is coincidence the candidates are previous friends with her and the President. Yes there might be diversity in race,
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culture, and religion, but not very much diversity within diversity other than people they know or previously known. Going to the most available platforms might be one of the reasons why it could seem like the senate is mostly Ibrahim’s friends. Tang further explained that in some way the senate is with the reason of it was more because they were first to know. It seems like that was the easiest way to spread the word. The candidates were on a first come first serve basis. To me that sounds far but when the people that know about the election first is the people the President isn’t really making it known to the rest of the Green River community. This was a selective way of spreading the word of the election. Continued on thegrcurrent.com.
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Alina Moss | Opinion Editor opinion@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
Reminiscence of an Atheist The one moment that made me who I am, and who I want to be
By: Kartik Sarda Guest Writer @Krysis_Kartik
world, where the only ruler was poverty and helplessness. The camping officer asked us to introduce ourselves to the village The hot summer morning was kids, and make friends with them. trying it’s best to exhaust us, but To tell the truth, I felt more disgustwe were no less stubborn than ed than sorry for the poor villagers. the raging sun. Bathing in our I kept asking myself the question if own sweat, we walked in scorching these kids can ever be my friends. heat on the path amongst dried It was my first experience of the prickled bushes in the village of real world; a horror I could never Nagbhid in India. It was a tiring yet forget. I felt goosebumps as I shook exciting trek for an eight-year-old hands with one of the boys amongst kid like me. Curious and blissful, I the poor children. The nostalgia followed the dry dirt road covered of his condition still brings me the in red soil, leading the group with memory and experience of those other campers of my age behind goosebumps. He was shirtless, his me. It was a competition for me, the ribs coming out of his bare chest, desire of being ahead of everyone shouting out loud about his malenergizing my body. nutrition and hunger. There were In about an half hour, we finally scars on his tanned dirty face, while made our way out of the thorny his hair turned red, covered in mud. woods, and reached the outskirts of He wore torn shorts, while his feet Nagbhid, to an even poorer place. burned on the roasting land. HowWe were a group of about twenty ever, his eyes shone brightly as a people, with the camping officer warmth of friendship blossomed on leading the group. his face and we shook hands with Drained and tired, we rested our- each other. A stunning aura of hapselves in a hut, that was supposed piness illuminated his dull, murky, to be a school for the poor children thin body, with crescent rising on of that area. It was a weekday in our his bronzed face. summer vacation, but the kids and A strong believer at that time, I their parents braved the weather in was shocked to see such imperfecthe pursuit of education, and never tion in my own utopian world. I was took a holiday. The school with forced to ask myself the question only one classroom, a handful of that why were these people sufferstudents and one teacher greeted us ing terribly while my life was filled with water and some native sweets. with riches and enjoyment. Why The teacher was probably a friend hadn’t God bestowed his blessings of the camping officer, as he had on these kids, who worshipped the already made arrangements for our Divine more than any other peoarrival. ple. This was unjust, and horribly We sat on broken wrong. I was just a plastic chairs while kid myself, but my the students of that mind was full of “Some of the small school sat on the imagination and children were naked, curiosity. I have dusty ground with saliva dropping from always been the bare feet, their legs folded. Some of their mouth, and bruises person who hunts the small children cares for the appearing hither and and were naked, saliva truth more than thither on their body.” anything else. It dropping from their mouth, and bruises has been in my appearing hither character since the and thither on their body. None of day I was born. New experiences them seemed to have new clothes excite me, and send an adrenalin or shoes, and though it was a school through my body, and this was one and the kids were the students, I of those strong moments. The quescouldn’t see a single schoolbag, or tion was haunting my mind like a uniform anywhere. They looked the blister on your lip that you keep about my age, or even younger, licking even though you know it but their condition was pathetic. I would heal faster if you ignored it. felt as if I was in a completely new My doubts grew stronger after the
teacher asked the students to recite a religious poem, so as to impress their new guests. I remembered the hymn, as I myself used to sing that almost every day, because I was taught to do so by my parents and elders. It was the first time I wanted to understand the meaning of the hymn, because something seemed wrong. Since the day I learnt my language, I was told that every time I ask help from God, he will help me in some way or the other. However, the scenario that I was spectating didn’t echo as a logical outcome of that teaching. I couldn’t help but doubt my beliefs and all the words that my elders had taught me. I wanted an answer to my ripostes, a reason for the suffering that I saw. Curious, angry and doubtful at him, I looked up to God for my answers. Unfortunately, he never returned a reply. We bid farewell to the poor village kids, who were now friends with us as we shared the treat of a few native sports together, forgetting about all the differences we had between one another. After we resumed our trek, I could hear the fainting voices of another religious poem being sung by the students at their small school. Walking a bit further, we halted at an old temple that was quite famous in that village. I was sure that now I will get all the answers to my questions, because now was the time that I encounter the Devine face to face, and ask him all my doubts. I joined my hands together, and bowed my head in respect to the Almighty, with my eyes closed and my mind asking the question silently to him. Why are those kids suffering with such a life, while they are constantly asking you for your help? Why are you not helping my new friends, and leaving them the way they are? Or are they receiving a punishment? The camp ended on a high note for me, as I was awarded a prize for being the most active participant. I had lots of memories to share with my parents, except for the poverty that I had been a witness of. From
that day onwards, I started the hunt for another truth. I wanted to know if all that I had been taught was a lie, or just fantasy to control my activities. As I grew older, I forgot most of the activities in the camp, but that memory ran passively all the time in my subconscious, and it still hasn’t gone out of its fuel. I started gaining interest in questions about Life and Death, as if these are the two personified protagonists in the story of every person. I researched, attempted black magic, Ouija board, Bloody Mary, etc. but nothing worked. I begged God to come, asked holy priests and gurus about my questions, but all I got were hypothetical conjectures and philosophical metaphors. I went desperate to get at least one clue for the supernatural, but never reached a successful result. My hunger for the truth grew larger and larger. That one incident changed the course of my life, giving me a mission that I have to complete before I die. That one day made me question all my beliefs, and provided me with a new point of view. Finally, I gave up my search for the Divine, and started the new hunt for the truth about Life and Universe through Science. Though quite early for a 17-year-old to say, but I have decided that one day I will find the truth behind these beliefs, or prove them wrong if they are not the truth. I do not have any problem with religious beliefs, as religion can be an important part in person’s moral development. Different experiences help people in different perspectives of life, and my personal experience made me ask a question to myself, and put a little more thought in what I was taught all my childhood. I still have reminiscences about the one incident that made me what I am now, and that reminiscence has changed me into a completely objective person, someone whose only dream is to get the answer to the question he asked that day in front of a carved rock, his head bowed and his palms joined together, begging to someone who only existed in books and minds of the people.
“Curious, angry and doubtful at him, I looked up to God for my answers.”
The opinions of this story are that of the writer and the writer alone. If you have a viewpiont to share feel free to write The Current a Letter to the Editor: editor@thegrcurrent.com
Haley Flem | Sports Editor sports@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
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Alina Moss | The Current
Lady Gator’s Soccer Team Shoot for NWAC By: Haley Flem Sports Editor
The Gators’ defeated the Lower Columbia Red Devils 7-0 on Wednesday, October 21 at 2 p.m. In the first 45 minutes of the game the Gator girls scored two goals. The first two goals were made by Brittany Pringle, forward for Green River, in the first 15 minutes of the half. Two minutes into the second half of the game the Gator’s number six, Grayce Kovarik, forward for Green River made their third goal. Ten minutes later Kovarik, scored again. Towards the end of the second quarter the Gators’ started to tire out, but that didn’t keep them from scoring another three goals. Defensive forward for GRC, Danielle Gunter, made the fifth goal six minutes later. Katie Fisher, defensive midfielder for Green River, scored the sixth goal the finale goal. The finale goal was made by Siri Lyder, midfielder for Green River. Lower Columbia came close to scoring a couple times, but the
Gator’s defense held them off. Anastasia Behr defense for Green River, had a great stop towards the end of the game and kept the Red Devil’s at zero on the score board. The Gators’ have a very apparent connection on the field. When Emily Shover, midfielder for GRC, was asked why she thought they were doing so well this year she said, “I think our chemistry off the field has been a big help with how we’re playing this season. It took us a little while to become a team, and we had a bit of a rough start to the season, but once we realized we’re like a family, then we started playing like one.” With their newfound “chemistry” they’re hoping to make it to the playoffs this year. Wednesday’s game putting their standing at 4-1 for this season, they still have a good chance of making it there. The players are thrilled to see if their hard work will take them to the playoffs. Last year the Green River team ended the season at 6-13-0. When Alexus Yantzer, midfielder for GRC who was on the team last year and is still playing this year, was asked
why she thought the team was doing so much better this year, she said “This year’s team is a lot more together; we have a lot more chemistry. We’re trying a lot harder to be a team off the field as well as on the field. So I think that really does effect it in the end. Last season I think we fell apart a little bit, when you get a couple losses underneath your belt you either lose it, or you get some fire under your butt and do something about it. Last year we didn’t do that and this year we did, and it’s obviously working for us, and I’m really excited about it.” Sat, Oct. 24 the team playes Highline, who is in first right now. Referring to Green River’s game on Wed, Oct. 28 game against Tacoma, Yantzer said “Depending on how that game goes, we will see if we make it into the playoffs. But we have a pretty good chance and we are very excited, we didn’t know half way into the season if we were going to make it to the playoffs but we pulled it together, and I’m impressed.” They seem to have a very good chanc of making it there, and they are exited.
“We’re three for three and still in the playoff conversation” Bob Kickner said. The Gators’ played a good game last Wednesday. They played well as a team and as individual players. They are just hoping they can deliver that well again on Wednesday’s game against Tacoma for their sophomore appreciation night. Ultimately, Wednesday’s game is the deciding factor for weather the Gator girls will be going to the playoffs this year. Green River lost the first time they played against Tacoma, 3-1. If the Gators beat Tacoma, the Gators will be ahead, but if Tacoma then beats Pierce College, that will tie us with Tacoma. Much more of this will become clear after the game today. It’s critical that they beat Tacoma today though, because that would put us ahead of the game. If Tacoma ends up beating Pierce, that will tie the Gators with Tacoma and then they will play against each other in a play-in game on Monday November 2. Then the playoffs would follow that Wednesday.
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North Region Cross Country Championships @ Bremerton, WA 3 p.m.
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@ Highline 7 p.m.
Golf Tournament @ Walla Walla
Northwest Athletic Conference Playoff Round TBD by Oct. 28 game
Volleyball GRC vs Pierce
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@ Grays Harbor 7 p.m.
NWAC Playoff Quarterfinals TBD Nov. 4 game
Volleyball
GRC vs Tacoma
@ Tacoma 7 p.m.
Cross Country NAWC Championship @ Battleground, WA
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Haley Flem | Sports Editor sports@thegrcurrent.com www.thegrcurrent.com
New Recreational Center in the Mel Lindbloom Student Union Building By: D’Marye Dedrick Staff Writer This year some new sites will open on our campus, one of which, coming in the winter quarter, is the new Mel Lindbloom Student Union. This building will include the new Recreational Athletic Center (RAC). Athletic Director Bob Kickner said this is going to be huge for the school. The RAC will bring a whole new vision of health to GRC. It will have an 84 foot court with four basketball hoops. It also has lines painted for volleyball and badminton. Indoor soccer and floor hockey will probably be two of the main attractions here. Kickner said a Recreational Athletic Center is something that 4-year colleges should always have. It’s a “game changer.” It provides students with access to equipment that they didn’t have before, which can help them keep up their health.
The RAC will be open Monday through Friday from noon to 9 p.m. This availability could be huge for Green River students, considering the fitness center currently available to students only opens for 50 minutes each day, which, after a proper warm up, leaves hardly any time for a real workout. The new RAC will provide nine hours of open access to get in a workout or play some ball. This is especially valuable to students with long breaks between classes. They can now kill their free time improving their physical health; getting active, they can become much healthier in a fun new place with fellow students. More club sports will become available to students as well. This is a big step toward a vision of health Kickner said he has for the Green River campus. Now students don’t have to take a class or wait for the current
the ability to bring the GRC campus together in a whole new way. The addition of the new RAC to campus will bring the ability for on and offseason athletes to stay in shape. Adding this feature to Green River has the potential to encourage a whole new dimension of health and social activity to the campus. This is strictly recreational, Kickner said. The new court could be used for recreational basketball, volleyball, and badminton tournaments. There will also be Courtesy | Sam Ball Yoga, Zumba, and core training sessions held here two Fitness membership, but I don’t to three times a week. Kickner is want to leave school on my breaks ecstatic about this, “it provides stujust to workout, so it’ll be cool to workout on my breaks in between dents with health and competitive needs.” Pretty much anything fun classes without leaving campus,” that gets students relaxed, encoursaid student Josh Storms. “I like ages health, and helps to take their the idea of tournaments; I’m a very minds off school for a little while is competitive person.” It provides always a good thing. health through competitive games and sports for students, which gives The opening will require new fitness center to be open for its 50 minutes at a time to workout. Many students love the idea of being able to go to the recreational center at any time of the day. “I have an LA
staff whom Kickner will oversee. One of the new positions is a fitness coordinator, which will become a well-used asset. As the hiring process is underway, over 50 candidates have already applied for it. Kickner is excited about all of them—they each have something to bring to the table. Other positions needing to be filled include athletic coaches and trainers to coordinate the Yoga, Zumba, and core training sessions. GRC is filling these positions with the aim to benefit its students and ultimately encourage healthy lifestyles for everyone. This is the direction Kickner wants to see things move—toward the vision of being healthy and taking care of your body. Overall, the college wants to take focus on recognizing health, and the students seem to be loving the idea, seeing as how it comes with a new RAC. The addition of the RAC is a small step toward Green River's goal of helping their students achieve a healthier lifestyle.
First Green River Men’s Soccer Team in Ten Years By: Alina Moss Managing Editor @amossytime The men’s soccer club teams continued to build their reputation on the field as the first GRC men's soccer teams in ten years. There are now three GRC recreational soccer clubs that are run by Marc Milsten, the coordinator for international recreation and activities. There are two teams in the Starfire league, which is 16 years and older and co-ed. There’s also one team in the Greater Seattle Soccer League (GSSL), which is 18 years and older and is only men. The GSSL team played a game
against the Wavebreakers at 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 25 at Valley Ridge field in SeaTac. The score ended tied at 4-4. This makes the team’s season standing 1-4-2. Both of the Starfire teams are currently at 1-0-3 for the season. Despite their efforts, the Green River GSSL team ended up losing their lead in the game during the final minutes. The Gators were visibly tired toward the end of the 90 minute game. Only having six weeks of practice as a team under their belt shows on the field. With three weeks left in the season, the Gators will have to pull together at practice to improve their game. “We have the possibility to win every game,” Mohamed Abouamer said about his team. “We just need
to communicate.” As the team grows and continues to practice during the rest of the season, and seasons to come, they will learn to play together as a team. “The team itself, it’s cool that they started it,” said Ramon Peekel, a striker for the Gators. “There are a lot of international students who play soccer, and I think (the team) will bring more students, especially from Europe.” With this club being geared toward international students, the majority of the players are from different parts of the world. The mixed cultures in the team is great for the school, but also insinuates one of the major difficulties that the Gators face on the field. Every country has a slightly different per-
spective of the game and ideas of how to be the best. The Gators need to define the game and how they want to play it. Once the Green River teams define their style in the game, by using the best characteristics from each country they will have a better understanding of what they need to do on the field. As they play and practice together, they will learn to communicate on the field so that they can play like a real team.
Courtesy | GR Soccer
Alina Moss | The Current
The GSSL team (bottom left) is happy to be playing soccer together. Mohamed Abouamer (top) chasing down the ball and Juan Gonzalez (bottom right) playing goal keep during Sundays GSSL game.
Alina Moss | The Current