Issue 9 Volume 53

thecurrent the student newspaper of green river college

April 24, 2019

www.thegrcurrent.com

Fashion Gives Students an Outlet for Self-Expression

Pg, 5

issue 9 volume 53

2 April 24, 2019

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thecurrent

Danielle Kim | Campus Editor thecurrent.campus@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.edu

Connor O’Boyle | The Current

thecurrent Green River College 12401 SE 320th St., Mailstop: SU Auburn, WA 98092-3699 NEWSROOM DIRECT LINE 253-288-3457 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Margo Mead thecurrent.editorinchief@ mail.greenriver.edu 253-833-9111 ext. 2375 MANAGING EDITOR A&E EDITOR Kaedyn Kashmir-Whitaker thecurrent.ae@ mail.greenriver.edu CAMPUS EDITOR Danielle Kim thecurrent.campus@mail. greenriver.edu

A photo of the Holman Librarians , Jennifer Rohan, Jody Segal and Katie Cunnion perched respectively left to right at the top of the library’s second floor staircase.

Librarians Offer Full-Range of Advice for Students By: Beverly Jackson Student Writer

Spring quarter is upon us and along with it comes confusion, anxiety and, most of all, stress.

But there’s a surprisingly good way to deal with those emotions— go to the Holman Library. Along with ample books, computers and other resources is something special to help you get ready for a new quarter—librarians.

Not only do the librarians have more than enough resources and advice to keep students on track to success, but the library also is also the designated spot to get tutors, information, help and lots more. Don’t just go there for final assignments. Instead, go there to get better insight on the new quarter, new classes and extracurricular activities.

“The librarians are very helpful and easy to talk to,” says Simi Kaur, a student at Green River College.

“They greet you and make sure you’re on the right track. They always offer substitutes if they can’t find what you are looking for.”

Some librarians to look for at the start of the quarter are Katie Cunnion, Jody Segal and Jennifer Rohan. Each of these librarians have their own methods to get you equipped and ready for the quarter.

Segal offers some helpful advice: • Ask a librarian for assistance.

They are here to help and no question is a poor question.

• Get started early on research.

It can take time to figure out what you really want to write about - and research is stronger when it’s given adequate time and thought. Also,

talk with a librarian about your research assignment.

• Keep track of sources as you go.

• Control Z is the best command to know in Word. If someone accidentally deletes a bunch of text they need, Control Z restores the text. Control Z makes using computers less intimidating.

Segal, who decided to become a librarian because she believes knowledge is power, has been in the education field most of her adult life, and a librarian for 10 years, eight of those at Green River.

“Holman Library is one of the key places students turn to at the start of the quarter,” says Segal, noting the broad range of services librarians provide early in the quarter. “We generally help them navigate the basics at Green River.”

Rohan describes the beginning of the quarter as a different type of challenge than finals week. This includes helping with passwords and gaining access to textbooks.

“If their instructor has put the textbook on ‘course reserve’ in the library, we help them locate it,” says Rohan, who has been working in library sciences for 18 years, 11 of them at Green River. “If not, we can work on finding it in the Green River bookstore or possibly buying/ renting it from other vendors.”

Rohan’s advice to students: • Take time to map out your assignments and deadlines for all your classes and sketch out a study plan for the quarter. After doing so, ask librarians for help along the way. They are there to help students, along with educators and staff at tutoring centers, TRIO, MAC and ODEI offices.

Connor O’Boyle | The Current

OPINION EDITOR Dakota Farnsworth thecurrent.opinion@mail. greenriver.edu SPORTS EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHER Christina Praggastis thecurrent.sports@mail. greenriver.edu PHOTOGRAPHER Connor O’Boyle coboyle3@mail.greenriver.edu LAYOUT EDITOR Dee Senaga thecurrent.pagelayout@mail. greenriver.edu GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elsa Finkbeiner efinkbeiner@mail.greenriver.edu ADVERTISING MANAGER Taylor Robertson ads@thegrcurrent.com

A student diligiently working on a course assignment in the Holman Library.

Adds Cunnion: “Librarians jobs • Drop by your instructors’ are pretty much all about student office hours—their guidance is success, so we think about this a lot invaluable. If things become overwhelming, take advantage of throughout the quarter.”

Counseling Services—good mental At the beginning of the quarter, though, they review online research health is one piece of the puzzle guides. By doing this, they ensure towards academic success. resources are current, create new Cunnion has been a librarian for about 14 years, five of them guides or link in new resources. with Green River. She says GRC They also schedule drop-in research workshops, work with librarians offer a wide range of faculty to provide news literacy services, including a 24/7 “Ask a instruction and help students at Librarian” online service. reference and circulation desks.

“I think that makes us a good place to start when you’re not quite “Don’t be afraid to stop by an instructor’s office hours or campus sure where to ask on campus for an services like the reference desk at answer,” she said. “Of course, we the library to ask questions,” says also are here to help with research, Cunnion. “Everyone here at Green citation, and general questions for information too, and we see more River College [your instructors, of those questions as folks start librarians, the staff all over campus] are always here to help and we want working on research assignments you to be successful!” later in the quarter.”

STAFF WRITERS:

Abdirizak Abdi, Ana Sanchez, Austin Butler, Autumn Reeves, Dakota Farnsworth, Dmytro Dimor, Hinata Kokobun, Jaysen Bay, Joseph Charrier, Ritwan Abdinor, Ryan Childress, Sarah Dees, Satchit Dahal, Steven Asetre,

Corrections

If you find a factual error or simply a name spelled If you find a factual error incorrectly, orplease simply contact a name us spelled at: incorrectly, - editor@thegrcurrent.com please contact us at: - 253-288-3457 - editor@thegrcurrent.com - or find us OEB 17 - 253-833-9111 ext. 2375 - or find us in SA218

Danielle Kim| Campus Editor thecurrent.campus@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.edu

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3 April 24, 2019

#trashtag Challenge Urges Campus Environmentalism Campus Corner By: Hinata Kokobun Staff Writer

Green River College’s Environment Club is doing volunteer work to spread awareness about environmentalism and improving the college’s own environmentalism on campus.

Pollution has always been a serious international problem, however, in the last few years, the amount of wasted trash has been increasing and it is getting worse.

“Our environment is not good,” said Ken Smith, president of Green River College’s Environment Club.

According to Annenberg Learner, the average person generates about 4.6 pounds of trash every day and the United States generates approximately 230 million tons of trash every year. As a result of that accumulation of waste, an estimated 1.4 billion pounds of litter winds up in the oceans each year.

Recently, one post by a man reignited the #trashtag challenge. Arizona-based Byron Román posted pictures of a trash-filled field before he went on to clean and organize the area. Revealing the result of his cleanup on Facebook, his post was paired with a caption.

“Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it,” Román said in his caption.

“Here are the people doing the #Trashtag challenge, join the cause.”

His post has 324,000 shares and 97,000 likes and it became a viral post.

This challenge is not new, with its beginnings dating back to 2015. Steven Reinhold, who is a People Ambassador at an outdoor company called UCO Gear, came up with this idea while they were driving in California. He felt guilty about dropping a paper receipt out of the window accidentally,

Hinata Kokobun | The Current

Before and after shots of the #trashtag challenge. so he decided to pick up 100 pieces of trash to make up for it during his trip. He felt so good about what he had done after he picked up trash. To spread awareness about his own enrichening experience, he took his idea to the UCO Gear to convince more people to do it. This inspired them to start a project called #trashtag in 2015.

This challenge has been encouraging people to go out and help clean up the environment. There are more then 70,800 posts on Instagram so far and still, the number of participants is increasing.

It only takes some simple steps to help save the planet. How the #trashtag challenge works is a social media user takes a picture of an area filled with trash before tidying up the waste. Upon completion, the individual takes another picture of the same area they just cleaned. Then by using #trashtag, users are encouraged to post the before and after photos on social media. Popular spots are trash-filled side roads, beaches and forests.

Most of the wasted products produce hundreds of chemicals, which are impossible to decompose completely. Plastic items make up the highest amount of waste every year and they can take up to 1000 years to decompose in landfills.

“If an animal eats a piece of plastic, they will die. Their body will decompose with time, but plastic will not,” Smith said.

“It will come out from their body, then another animal eats it and they will die.

Littering causes a bad cycle.”

Around the world, an estimated one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die each year because of wasted trash, generated by humans. By littering trash, it affects the whole planet--people, animals and the environment everywhere.

“I was surprised that I still found discarded plastic water bottles in the forest,” said Tylor Kostohris, a student at Green River College who has personally encountered a trash-filled area while he was hiking. “I was just disappointed that someone just threw trash away and was oblivious to the consequences.”

Even though people still produce waste, they need to be put somewhere where it can be regulated. Green River College Environment Club is trying to spread awareness about improving campus cleanliness by conducting a clean sweep and film screening. “#trashtag is the best way to spread the awareness and how much trash really is out there,” Smith said. “if people see somebody cleaning up, maybe it does not even a big benefit, but it might make people aware of the problem.”

There is no limitation on the positive impacts of environment-friendly practices and #trashtag is one of the movements making this planet cleaner and better place to live in. Cleaner community is a happier community.

For more information about the campus’ environmental efforts towards cleanliness or the Green River Environment Club, contact Sydney Floth, vice president at Sfloth@mail.greenriver.edu.

The Gator Grill Strives Towards Healthier Options for Their Menu By: Ritwan Abdinor Staff Writer The Green River Gator Grill team is striving to achieve healthy options for students of the Green River community.

Eating healthy is always a struggle for college students as there are not many options they can choose from. Green River’s General Manager of the Gator Grill, Tom Olander, and his team are hoping to change that by expanding their food menus so that there are healthier options. Olander started working at Green River earlier this January.

Despite beginning this year, he and his team are already making some efforts in increasing more healthy options for students.

With the picante stations, stir-fry, wraps and the salad bar, Olander and his team are experimenting on a ramen noodle station to add to the list of healthy options in the school’s cafeteria. Although there are healthy options available, most students don’t seem to enjoy eating them.

“We have to offer foods that students want and a lot of the foods that they want are not the healthiest options, such as fries, chicken strips and burgers,’’ Olander said.

He also mentioned that the least popular

foods are sandwiches and wraps. He stated that, although many students lean more towards the tortilla sandwich wraps, not many students are fans of it as compared to chicken strips and fries.

Olander also works closely with the Daily Grind and experimented on evening foods which he hoped “would achieve more variety in the cafeteria.”

Adding to that, he mentioned how students and faculty are looking for healthy food options in the evening. If these attempts prove to be successful, he aspires to incorporate those options in the cafeteria’s menu for student enjoyment.

Besides the healthy options for students, students are now aware of how much calories they are taking in their bodies. Demetrius Crawford is the executive chef at the Gator Grill who is trying to make the school’s menu as healthy as possible.

“We are trying to stay away from transfat, making everything as fresh as possible and trying to bring local produce every day.,”Crawford said. “It is great that students are looking at their health and they are aware of what they are taking in their bodies.”

Crawford mentioned how he and his team are working towards making a diverse

and cultural menu for the campus. “We are always looking for suggestions for what the students want,” Crawford said.

Trans-fat is all around students, vending machines, desserts and other processed foods. “The foods we prepare most of them don’t contain trans-fat,” Crawford said. “Foods like tortillas that we do not manufacture do contain some trans-fat, we usually don’t have control over that, but the majority of our food don’t contain trans-fat.”

Foods that have shortening or words like ‘partially hydrogenated’ in the ingredient list should raise red flags to students since these foods cause detrimental health risks to students in the long run.

“We try our best to incorporate foods that accommodate everyone,” Crawford said. As Vegetarians and Pescatarians diets are also included in the school’s menu.

Crawford states that the Gator Grill is a good place for vegetarians as they incorporate vegetarian diets in their specials, such as their ramen, which can be made vegetarian, their vegetarian tofu, and vegetable sandwiches and burgers.

To improve the stations catered to the students preferences, he also states the Gator Grill is always looking for more suggestions.

Apartments Regulates Cigarette Litter By: Austin Butler Staff Writer

With the perceived lack of garbage cans around Campus Corner Apartments (CCA), Green River College discusses various alternative efforts to clean up cigarette waste around campus.

Everyone knows that at smoking areas, trash piles up. Whether it be cigarette butts, food wrappers or any kind of miscellaneous garbage, the floors around designated smoking areas can get very messy awfully quickly. This raises the concern regarding the lack of garbage cans near the smoking sections at Campus Corner Apartments.

As it turns out, there used to be garbage cans in the smoking areas. However, they were removed several years ago. When asked why, Pete Morales, assistant director of business operations for the Campus Corner Apartments said, “The residents were using [the trash cans] for house trash, and it was piling up on the sides.”

Essentially, instead of taking the trash that students made in their houses to the dumpsters, they threw them in the garbage cans by the smoking areas. Causing large piles of garbage to accumulate, it even began to attract rats said Morales.

Currently, a maintenance worker comes to CCA every morning between 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. to pick up the trash around the smoking areas, including cigarette butts.

Those cigarette butts are the result of people discarding them on the ground instead of the new outdoor ashtrays that replaced the older ashtrays last quarter.

The hardest part about cleaning the smoking areas is picking the cigarette butts out of the gravel parking lot, said Jason Wiant, Assistant Director of Facilities Operations at the college.

Some students consistently throw their cigarette butts in those areas, and it is almost impossible to get every single one.

However, last year, the community of CCA did come together to do something about it.

During one of their community day events, students and staff from CCA went around and picked up almost all the garbage around CCA, mostly cigarette butts.

The most important thing for resident smokers to know Wiant said, is to “have respect for the property, and the people who live here with you. Just be respectful, and be clean about it.” mozlase | Pixabay

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Danielle Kim | Campus Editor thecurrent.campus@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.edu

TRIO Services Offers Support to Promote Student Success By: Satchit Dahal Staff Writer

The TRIO at Green River provides many necessary resources and help to students who are eligible.

TRIO is a student support services based program at Green River whose main goal is to make sure its students graduate. To be eligible for this program, a student must either be a first generation student, have low income or have a documented disability.

Amongst the various resources provided

by TRIO, academic and transfer advising, tutoring, textbook lending, college field trips are just some of the examples. As classes get harder, it is natural for students to wander around campus and look for help. Time limit can be a big issue when it comes to tutoring.

If a student has a hard time grasping an idea in a fifty minute class, then a ten minute session with a tutor is hardly any help. At TRIO, there are tutors for a vast number of subjects such as engineering, physics, chemistry, math and english as well.

“Tutors here are way better than at any place at campus,” said Falicity Benson, a frequent user to the tutoring services at TRIO Student Support Services.

With college textbooks being more expensive than gold these days, it is hard for students with low income to afford these books. TRIO provides textbook loans to its members, making it very easy and free of cost. TRIO also provides graphing calculators for its students, which can be very expensive to purchase as well.

Of course, students can go to the Math Learning Center and check out calculators for a whole quarter for $20, but TRIO provides these calculators free of cost for students in the program. Since these books and calculators are in such high demand, they are first come first serve.

This program is a welcoming environment where the advisors truly care about their students. From weekly email updates about the upcoming events, or just to reach out to students to motivate them to stay on top of them, TRIO is very friendly.

Educational Planner/Transfer Specialist Sharmarke Ahmed understands that students’ lives go beyond just school work.

Ahmed has an open door policy at TRIO, meaning his students can drop by any time during his working hours and talk to him.

Being in a stressful environment, even a couple conversations can help relieve a lot of stress for students.

When talking about helping students and the satisfaction it brought, “it is like putting out fires,” said Ahmed.

His goal when a student walks into his door is to put his firefighter hat and make that student’s burdens his own. His utmost caring and loving nature puts the students right at ease and makes it feel like home.

Being a first generation student with low income himself, he knows exactly how hard it is to navigate the college life.

Being a student enrolled in TRIO made his experience, “somewhat life-changing”.

In addition, Ahmed recounted his time as a student who partook in the TRIO program at Green River College.

Connor O’Boyle | The Current

A group photo of TRIO Student Support Services faculty, posing with smiles on each of their faces.

“For someone to be there as a part of your journey is amazing,” Ahmed said.

Students now can have the same, if not better, experience as Ahmed. Much like others who were a part of this program, they too have a place who will be a part of their college journey. The help provided at TRIO isn’t just limited inside the campus. TRIO knows that what works for one student might not work for another. ”Originally people come to get help with school work,” Ahmed said, “but it goes beyond that,” describing a particular situation where a student was stressed out about both, school and “keeping up with diapers and milk for [his] kid.”

The student was soon connected to

resources at Green River and provided help.

This organization understands that students are wearing many hats at any given moment.

“You gotta meet students where they are to help them out,” Ahmed said.

With 200 students enrolled in the program, it is a friendly environment to go into whether it is to get tutoring help, to get advice, to use the computer lab or to just talk to someone when needed. TRIO has helped its students in the past in their college lives and preparing themselves for a successful, carely planned future.

With students graduating, there will be some open spots available at TRIO. If interested, this is a great chance for students to become a part of this program.

Green River Scholarship Deadlines Approaching: April 30, 2019 mozlase | Pixabay

With time constantly moving forward, the photo illustrates a classical depiction of a student’s desk.

“We usually award $1,000-$2,000 per By: Joseph Charrier award,” Hughbanks said.

Staff Writer The college offers vast resources for those The deadline to apply for Green who are looking to become a part of the River scholarships is Tuesday, April Green River family, including support for 30, meaning that there is still time for students in financial need. students to apply before it is too late.

According to Hughbanks, there are two Green River offers up to 300 different very important aspects of applying for scholarships, rounding up to be about any scholarship. She believes that the $500,000 in total. Arms with a set budget biggest piece of the applications is the specifically for students, covering a wide recommendation letters. In order to obtain variety of subjects from automotive one, students are prompted to go ask scholarships to music scholarships, and somebody for a recommendation letter on plenty of academic scholarships as well. their behalf. There are multiple sources one Heather Hughbanks, development could go to when seeking recommendations. specialist at the Green River College “You could go to instructors on campus. It Foundation, states that all scholarships are could be your supervisor,” said Hughbanks, roughly the same value. when naming examples.

Hughbanks recommends completing this part first as she finds that what they learn about student candidates is really contained in those letters, so it is important that students make the proper arrangements as soon as possible.

Hughbanks also states that the other most important aspect when applying for scholarships, is the personal statement.

“Your personal statement is you telling your story. What made you decide to come to Green River? Why are you perusing the program you’re enrolled in?” Hughbanks said. “How will receiving a scholarship help you? And what are your goals for the future?”

She also recommends that students proofread their statements to ensure that it is the best it can be. A personal statement is a student selling themselves to a college, so ensuring that it is well-written is crucial to any successful application.

The process of applying is actually very simple. Hughbanks herself estimates that it could all be completed within a weekend and explains how it simply requires students to go to the foundation website with their Green River email address, where they will be met with several questions.

These questions will focus specifically on things like financial situations, academic information, and qualifications for certain scholarships. Beyond those questions, it is just a matter of gathering their recommendation letter, polishing their personal statement and checking their email regularly for any updated information.

It should be noted that if students miss the deadline, or even if they are rejected, they shouldn’t be dissuaded from reapplying when it reopens in January next year. To those who are considering applying, Hughbanks encourages that it be done so that they may reap the rewards.

“If students are thinking about applying, go ahead and apply,” Hughbanks said. “Our foundation is open to all students, and you can’t be awarded unless you apply.”

For anyone looking to get started, go to greenrivercollegefoundation.org/ApplyNow and get your application in as soon as possible. If you have any questions, contact the foundation office at 253-288-3330 or visit foundation@greenriver.edu.

geralt | Pixabay

Danielle Kim| Campus Editor thecurrent.campus@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.edu

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5 April 24, 2019

Students Embody Their Individuality through Fashion Connor O’Boyle | The Current

By: Jadenne Cabahug Student Writer The giant sparkly rock on a woman’s finger signals to others that she’s got a keeper, one with big pockets. The bright red Supreme fanny pack slung over a man’s chest shows that he’s hype.

It is a complicated relationship between fashion and individuality when someone really thinks about it. But at the same time, the two work tremendously well together.

Fashion simultaneously expresses and shapes originality for an individual.

In an online survey of six questions taken by 31 students at Green River, one hundred percent of students said that a person’s individual fashion style is important because it is a way of self-expression or individuality.

“Fashion is an extension of ourselves to broadcast who we are or what we like,” says Alexis Guibani, a freshman art student at Green River College.

Michelle Marshman, a women’s studies professor here at Green River, said something similar to Guibani’s idea of fashion.

“Every morning we all put on clothes so fashion is important,” says Marshman.

“We make fashion decisions consciously or unconsciously.” Marshman adds that fashion doesn’t just cover clothing, but from tattoos to religious wardrobe statements.

Therefore, while fashion is about expressing a person’s personality, it also reflects matters like religion, sexuality, gender norms and social class.

The concept of fashion divides itself so people can feel group cohesiveness and individuality at the same time.

“Over time, people’s ideas about clothing changes depending on their understanding of gender roles, social class, religion and

Tulip Festival Welcomes the Spring Season Jaysen Bay | The Current

By: Jaysen Bay Staff Writer Green River’s Student Life hosted a trip from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 20 to the Skagit Valley Wash Tulip Festival.

The Tulip Festival has a diverse range of vibrant colors and breathtaking flowers, making it a prominent trip for Green River students--especially if they are interested in photography. Bringing in many flower lovers from all over, the festival is one of the most famous ones around in the United States.

The Tulip Festival occurs around the same time as tulip season and can last for as long as the flowers are still in bloom. Festivities embracing the beauty of these plants can go back to the year 1984, as a three-day event was held where people started showing off the flowers to the public. Event managers saw this tradition as an opportunity to make into a tour, holding the event for as long as the flowers are in bloom.

Preston Albertine, a tour guide for Shuttle Tours, lead the tour for Green River Students at the event. Albertine states that he enjoys his job as a tour guide because of the people and his encounters with them.

“People come on these tours happy and

then I get to share with them that fun,” Albertine said. “Usually, everyone is nice.”

Another thing Albertine enjoys is photography, which helps him to go above and beyond at his job. With various opportunities to take photos as a tour guide, especially at the Tulip Festival, he decided to learn more about photography so he could help others with their photos.

What Alvertine likes about the Tulip Festival is the “explosion of color there.”

On the tour, the bus made three different stops: Roozengaarde, La Conner town and Tulip Town. Roozengaarde is a locally owned tulip place that has been around since 1985.

La Conner is a small town that the tour stopped at so everyone could eat at the various restaurants and shops it had to offer.

In addition to their little shops, the small town still held amazing sights, with 65 different kinds of tulips on display.

Also attending the tour was Maria Tringali, who works for the marketing business Avalara, who came for the second time with her parents to see the tulips.

She stated that her favorite part of the festival was “seeing the rows upon rows of color,” pointing out that there were flowers that one could never find in a market.

practicality,” said Marshman, who has been teaching at Green River since 2001.

All of these things influence what people define as fashion – from the small Prada clutch a woman has over her shoulder, to an Armani suit a wealthy businessman puts on for work. These parts of our society show the distinct divisions of the world we live in and in fashion as well.

In the online survey, a number of students had identified their style with words like trendy, vintage or street. One was Matt Paraiso, a Green River alumni who was part of Kentridge High school’s Fashion Club.

“Fashion is subjective and not everybody roams the streets wearing the same thing,” he says. “There is diversity in fashion and fashion is also separated in subcultures.”

Paraiso further explains fashion subcultures by saying that he associates himself with street fashion and brands that have been/ are influenced by his personal music choice, sports and favorite celebrities.

Period by period, we see fashion trends that we do/do not wear today.

“We often look back on fashion to define time periods,” said Paraiso. Fashion trends from Ancient Greece would differ greatly from that in China’s Han Dynasty.

However, fashion has rapidly changed since the time of the Silk Road. “Social media has made the world a smaller place, and that affects fashion,” says Marshman.

Mia Sugui, another student from Green

River who took the online survey, offers the following perspective.

“I follow many different models on social media such as Instagram to get inspiration for my fashion sense,” she says.

Social media shapes what people view as fashion, and celebrities and the influence of quantified validation on social media.

“There’s a symbiotic relationship between celebrities and fashion houses,” says Marshman.” She said fashion houses provide trends and styles to celebrities and their influence affects the rest of us.

As can be seen, celebrities like Kylie Jenner go hand in hand with fashion trends and shape the world’s perception of fashion.

Even Vogue, one of the most notable fashion magazines, is filled with celebrities and their fashion choices. One headlines reads, “Who Is Kanye West’s Super Stylish Companion?”

Paraiso said that trends allow people to be part of a fashion subculture. It shows that a person knows what’s in or out of style.

“Ultimately, fashion can be used to express the basics of an individual conforming to societal fashion trends or a deeper message,” Paraiso said regarding its link to social issues.

So while celebrities inspire fashion, fashion trends is also influenced by a person’s surroundings and exposure.

Fashion allows creative freedom and expression to show the world how a person wants to appear and a window of time to the past, present and future.

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April 24, 2019

Kaedyn Kashmir-Whitaker | A&E Editor thecurrent.ae@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

Rising Artist Tackles a Variety of Complex Art Mediums Gretchen Immel | Artist

A portrait of the artist, Gretchen Immel.

By: Sarah Dees Staff Writer Student Gretchen Immel produces a variety of art despite having two jobs.

Immel has enjoyed art ever since she was a little girl. When Immel was 4, she colored in the lines instead of scribbling across the coloring book like other children.

However, when Immel first got into art, she would look at her friends’ drawings and compare them to her own. She was critical of her own art. When she was younger, kids at school would bully her for being the Gretchen Immel| Artist

“nerdy kid” in class. But, when she went to art class, her teachers noticed her talents and encouraged her to be herself.

Immel simultaneously works and goes to school full time. Additionally, she works at Green River in the art gallery. Her duties are ensuring the artwork in the gallery is safe and filling out paperwork. It is difficult balancing two jobs whilst taking classes, and all her free time is devoting to perfecting her art assignments. Unfortunately, she does not have time to create art at home for her own enjoyment until the quarter ends.

Immel has always looked up to her art teachers. She is attending Green River College to get her Associates in Fine Arts degree (AFA) to become an art teacher.

Her artwork has improved drastically since she started taking art classes at Green River. When she finishes her AFA, she is transferring to Western Washington University to begin her Art Education Degree. She takes all the art courses she possibly can, which includes pottery, digital design, and drawing.

Immel admires her art professors: Sarah Dillon Gilmartin and Jessie Brugger. They inspire her to become a better artist and to further improve her artwork.

“Teachers gave me the inspiration to continue and develop my art,” said Immel.

Immel wants to be an art teacher once she finishes her AFA and her Art Education Degree. Her art teachers have always had a big impact on her life—her teachers are her role models. They ultimately inspired her to

Gretchen Immel| Artist

become an art teacher herself.

What initially inspires Immel for an art piece is television, video games, and books.

“The Fish Kisser” is a piece Immel created.

What gave her inspiration for the piece was watching Miyazaki’s Ponyo the day before she began the project. Ponyo is a Studio Ghibli movie about a goldfish princess that goes on land meets a human named Sosuke. The more their friendship grows, the more Ponyo becomes human-like, so Ponyo wants to stay on land with Sosuke. Immel is a fish owner herself; as of now, she has two goldfish and five tetras. “The Fish Kisser” is dedicated to her passed pet goldfish, Frederick. This is her way of honoring a lost friend.

She started off the project researching artwork of mermaids. Then the next step in her process was outlining everything in black in her favorite Copic markers.

“Universities don’t look at the design,

they look at the lines,” said Immel. “They’re looking for students’ proficiency in drawing.”

She emphasizes that the lines are the foundation of the whole artwork. It is the most important part of the piece.

Then, she created the background with watercolor pencils. “The most fun about the piece was drawing the mermaid,” said Immel.

Immel said the hardest part of this piece was drawing the goldfish and figuring out how to color it. The goldfish is a Black Moor, and Black Moors are black, as the name suggests, but their coloring has hints of gold.

So, she had to tackle the challenge of creating a complex color scheme for the fish.

Once the piece was finished, she corrected her mistakes in Photoshop.

Immel’s advice to other artists is to take a lot of drawing classes, such as digital design, painting, and drawing. It will help improve their work at a rapid pace.

Gretchen Immel| Artist

a&e

thecurrent

Kaedyn Kashmir-Whitaker | A&E Editor thecurrent.ae@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

7 April 24, 2019

Avengers: Endgame Premier Tickets Skyrocket to $5,000 By: Ryan Childress Staff Writer On the early morning of April 2, an audible snap shook the Internet.

This snap came from the release of tickets to the newest Marvel movie: Avengers: Endgame. The newest addition to the massively successful franchise has had fans excited ever since the release of Avengers: Infinity War back in 2018. When tickets to the show released, it did not take long for fans to notice and take action. Within an hour, ticket selling sites such as Fandango and Atom tickets were taken down by the number of consumers trying to purchase tickets. This pre-sale of tickets took the United States by storm—but also by surprise.

Little over one month since the release of the newest film to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain Marvel, pre-sale tickets to Endgame were released to the general public.

With excitement in the air, it also brought out some of the greed in people. The few lucky individuals who were able to get their hands on tickets saw a chance and took it.

Not even within minutes of the ticket-selling sites going down, eBay had them listed.

However, these tickets were not selling for the original price.The first tickets sold on the website were $40 to $80, but after the

recognition of people’s thirst to see the film, the prices slowly started to increase. They started to climb to $100, and now even to $150, but that is nowhere near the highest price tag for tickets.

What is incredibly shocking is the $10,000 sticker price put on two tickets to the first showing of the film. These tickets have since been taken off the website, but it is neither confirmed nor denied if the tickets have been

Pxhere

sold to a buyer. When the tickets were taken down, the only information given was that the seller has chosen to take them down.

This could mean a number of things—but there was a confirmed purchase of two tickets to the premium showing for $4,999.

After hearing news of the massive sticker price, students around campus were asked what they thought of the high prices.

“Woah, that’s insane. I don’t know anyone who would pay that,” said Paula Huerta, a student at Green River. Huerta is not the only one who feels that way.

“You’ve got to be messing with me,” said Greg Warren, another student.

The question is: how much would one be willing to spend to buy a ticket? Most students replied with an average of $50, but there were a surprising amount of students that said up to $100.

One student who wished to remain anonymous said they would pay $150 for a single ticket—simply because they have a deep love of Marvel films.

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame is set to release to the public on Friday, April 26, with the first showing at 6 p.m. April 25.

Audiences should make sure they have their drinks filled and popcorn popped for this three hour movie, because it will be here sooner than they know it.

All-Powerful Captain Marvel Lacked a Compelling Storyline By: Dmytro Dimor Staff Writer

For the final days of preparation for Avengers: Endgame, it is essential to revisit Captain Marvel, the most recent Marvel installment.

Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson star in a buddy-cop movie trying to figure out the past of Captain Marvel, otherwise known as Carol Danvers or “Vers” for short.

Rotten Tomatoes donned Captain Marvel with a 78 percent critic and 56 percent audience score and IMBb gave it 7.2/10. The movie made $153 million on its opening weekend. However, money is not an indicator when it comes to what makes a movie good.

The lead actor—or actress, for that matter—is Brie Larson, which would make this the first Marvel movie with a leading female role. Other critics claim it is the first superhero movie to sport a female lead.

However, they seem to not recall the boxoffice success, DC’s Wonder Woman.

The movie took a common superhero approach that seems stale at this point, and the twists were predictable at best.

Although it is still a fun movie with comedy that did not feel forced, what seemed to be a problem was the action. Captain Marvel is overpowered, to a point where it can be difficult to empathize with her as a character.

Caius Lee, a student at Green River, said that he enjoyed the film immensely. “I live for action movies…the action was good, the CGI was good too,” said Lee. Others said the action scenes looked nice, but they were never truly a problem for a protagonist that could punch nearly anything she wanted to out of existence.

The only real problem Captain Marvel faced was the loss of her memory. Her overwhelming power makes her contribution

in the upcoming Endgame rather concerning as she could probably beat Thanos with a single hit. This would be an anti-climactic ending to years of anticipation.

“At some points, I found it cliche, but it used general stereotypes of women, such as ‘you need to control your emotions’,” said Danielle Kim, another student. “The aspect of female power was something that was interesting to watch.”

Another problem with the movie is that all the previous Marvel films including Nick Fury represented him as a "tough guy", but in Captain Marvel, it feels as though Fury is there solely for comic relief. There was also Goose, a cat that was overused and felt like a bit of a gimmick. However, Lee disagrees with this statement. “[Fury] was bold… [Vers] could have very well killed him, but he decided to trust her and make her an ally,” said Lee. Additionally, making the Kree basically human, just with blue blood, is lazy. Captain Marvel receiving her powers by shooting a ship engine is rather unrealistic and thus acts as a flimsy origin story. The villains are all generic bad guys that want to destroy the world. This movie played it safe and did not take any chances—which made it rather boring for some audiences to watch.

Supposedly, it was the best play to put out a safe movie before Endgame comes out in theaters. On the other hand, it may have been wise for Marvel to put out a safe movie to keep fans itching for more.

“I remember not being super blown away by the movie,” continued Lee. Captain Marvel is not a bad movie at all, but nothing about it stuck, except maybe the tentacle cat. Yet, this movie did its job by making audiences more excited for Endgame, and hopefully, after all of this hype for the final installment, it does not disappoint.

Pxhere

An arrangement of Marvel and DC comic books, including Fantastic Four, Batman, and Wolverine.

8

thecurrent

submission

April 24, 2019

Kaedyn Kashmir-Whitaker | A&E Editor thecurrent.ae@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

Early Morning Coffee and Poetry by E. Faber Sitting

Coffee in the Morning the morning coffee The ritual that we need Life giving beans

Tears rolling down his face What is a guy supposed to do?

His heat filled with this place That no one could renew In this space of hurt He let no one in She was on high alert When she could see him wearing thin

Just needed coffee I woke up feeling quite sloppy And finding myself rather floppy Rolled out of bed Filled up with dread Turns out I just needed some coffee

Sitting in his space She let him cry With love and grace Who would gladly whip an eye for letters from his mother he had found Bringing back the memories Of time lost to him and her The forgotten histories Sitting in that space He gave her a glimpse She was full of grace Just sitting with him in that place

Ocean The emotion of the ocean Roll on the sea Far beyond the notion Of how it is free Pxhere

Blood Pressure Cuff Something so simple to Squeeze A bladder full of Air To allow someone to Hear The pressure in your Veins

studentsubmissions Students may submit short stories, graphics, photos, drawings, poems, etc.

Not guaranteed to be published.

Must be sent to: thecurrent.ae@mail.greenriver.edu We encourage students to submit whatever they wish and to use this as a creative space.

Deadlines: May 3, May 17, May 31

Dakota Farnsworth | Opinion Editor TheCurrent.Opinion@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

opinion

thecurrent

9 April 24, 2019

Depression and Anxiety Takes a Toll on College’s Students

Ana Sanchez

A student takes a break while studying due to the pressure of their classes. struggle with sleep difficulties and By: Ana Sanchez thirty six percent of students strugStaff Writer gle with clinical depression.

When you put that into perspecMental health problems not tive, mental health is really taking only affect the efficiency and a toll on students and perhaps performance of college stuinstructors are unaware of it and dents, but they can potentially students may feel ashamed to talk harm students in other aspects about their mental health because of their lives and lead to harmit is not something that is often ful behaviors. discussed in the typical classroom.

According to research conductMental health and mental ed by the National Alliance on illnesses are topics that are overMental Illness (NAMI), one in four looked and often ignored, which students have a diagnosable illness. contributes to the rising number However, forty percent do not seek of suicide in young adults aged 15 help and fifty percent have become to 24, according to an article titled so anxious that they struggled in “Consequences of Student Mental school. Twenty percent of students

thing for me is being so depressed Health Issues” by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. that I cannot even find the motivation to even read through the It is becoming so critical on syllabus for my classes,” said Adricollege campuses that a lot of ana Gutierrez, a first-year student at universities are offering counselGreen River College. “I find myself ing services. The Association for taking naps instead of doing my University and College Counseling work after class and I end up even Center Directors conducted a surmore anxious because I have a pile vey and found that ninety five perof work to do at 12 a.m. the night cent of counseling center directors before it is due.” stated that the number of students She says that she has been with psychological problems is a struggling with Major Depressive growing concern on their campus.

Disorder (MDD), Seventy percent Generalized of them believe Anxiety Disorthat the number “I am not going to der (GAD) and of students with severe psychologsacrifice my recovery Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ical problems has for school,” most commonly increased.

- Kaitlyn Jabusch known as PTSD. Even with Although she those increase in has managed to numbers though, get through college so far, she says a report by Inside Higher Ed found that she has definitely felt the toll it that roughly eighty eight percent has taken on her mental health. of community colleges do not have Another student, Kaitlyn Jabusa psychiatrist or other licensed ch has recently opted for dropping prescribers on staff and fifty seven her classes because she was having percent do not provide suicide a hard time dealing with both PTSD prevention resources. and the stress that her school work Aside from that, dealing with a was giving her. mental illness while studying in “I am not going to sacrifice my college is not an easy thing to do. recovery for school,” said Jabusch.

Students who already struggle with Although she decided to drop out an underlying mental illness have of the two classes she was taking, a hard time finding the balance she is thinking about getting her between being a good student and math General Education Develpracticing self-care. opment (GED). It was not an easy “I think that the most frustrating

decision to make, as she really enjoyed her creative writing class, but sometimes prioritizing your own mental and physical health can help you get into the right mindset to continue going forward with your college education.

Here at Green River College, there are counseling services available. In fact, sessions with a professional counselor at the Counseling Center are offered at no extra cost. Elizabeth McKinney, Ph.D. and Devon Klein, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, are the two counselors that offer sessions here at Green River.

Counseling services at the college provide short-term mental health counseling as well as self-care education, which is highly important for college students. Although some people who seek counseling are dealing with chronic emotional difficulties, most are dealing with normal everyday life. Students are highly encouraged to seek out help when they need it.

The counseling center is a very valuable resource that is offered here on campus, but even some former students had no idea that it was available during their time at Green River College.

As college students, it is highly important that we take care of our mental health so that those at Green River may bring attention to this epidemic and fight it.

Student’s Obsession with Perfection Leads to Them Dropping Classes By: Abdirizak Abdi Staff Writer In many classrooms today lingers the unabating obsession with grades, and the consequences impact how students view learning and themselves.

“A good number of our students come and share concerns about their grades,” said Elizabeth McKinney, a counselor at Green River.

“Some students are after a perfect grade while others are just concerned with passing a class.”

The drive for grades has supplanted the primary objective of schooling—to learn. Fixation on grades can be attributed to many factors. A primal reason is everyone’s favorite flaw: perfection.

The begrudging admiration for perfection is not only in classrooms but rather everywhere—in our media feeds, social circles and work places. It has become a symbol of worth and success.

Society’s celebration of accomplishments further amplifies this phenomenon. It acknowledges all but the intrinsic benefits of education. The superficial product—single Scantron marks and grade-books—greatly influences the trajectory of a student’s life.

College placements, scholarships, internships and employment opportunities are all subject to exceptionally good grades. This often leads to students focusing on the reward of education as learning plays second fiddle. Furthermore, knowledge acquired is considered to be expendable after it is used to secure a good grade.

A lesser known factor largely faced by international students is the crushing culture of parental expectations. Most parents who send their children to institutions in the U.S. do so out of high aspirations. Upsurge in tuition and living expenses often compels them to make substantial sacrifices. Students are therefore expected to be superlative and a less-than-stellar academic standing imposes a lot pressure on them.

“Many international students express how getting a perfect grade is very important,” McKinney said.

“The consequences may be dire if they don’t do well.”

The ramifications of grade obsession are many, with a large portion of them having a significant impact. This intense fixation on performance may conceal a host of mental issues, such as anxiety, depression and lowered self-esteem.

According to McKinney, preoccupation with perfection often lends to extremist thinking. An all-ornothing mentality steers one to be overly hard on themselves. The fear of failure becomes more painful than failure itself.

It is disheartening when students base their self-concept or find selfworth in their grades or grade point average. For many students, grades are the ultimate determination for self-worth. If they get an A- instead of an A, they believe they are a failure. If they fail a class, they bury themselves in an abyss of self-indictment and guilt.

Often students fail to see how

Abdirizak Abdi

little grades actually have to do with their true identity and competence.

Self-worth should be correlated with internal validation rather than a grade point average.

Every human is the only existing version of themselves and this offers the possibility of having different abilities, tastes and interests.

For the students reading this, you are able to add value to a multitude of other environments because only you can offer thoughts from your specific perspective.

Our value as human beings lie in being unique individuals.

Green River College is dedicated to providing optimum conditions

for the success of all students.

There are many resources on campus that are designed to assist and support students with their academic work.

“The college has put in place resources that are dedicated to ensuring students receive all the help they need before they even begin struggling,” said Jenny Wheeler, the registrar of Green River college.

To my fellow students at Green River College, failure is not weakness. Let us outgrow the delusion of limitless perfection.

Go easy on yourself when things are not going well. You are more than just a decimal or letter grade.

Photo by pxhere

10 April 24, 2019

opinion

thecurrent

Dakota Farnsworth | Opinion Editor TheCurrent.Opinion@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

Lack of Sleep Interferes with Student’s Academics By: Autumn Reeves Staff Writer

College students do not get enough sleep and that can severely affect their education and health in the long run.

Most college students could tell you the story; Maybe they had a heavy workload of homework, maybe they were studying for finals, or maybe they were procrastinating until the last second, and they found themselves staring at a computer screen or textbook in place of sleeping.

In the cases of the luckier (or sometimes, the more responsible) students, this is only an occasional incident, but there are many students who lack sleep nearly every night due to homework. When this behavior is constant it can be detrimental to one’s grades and health.

It is not surprising that a lack of sleep can affect a student’s grades, but many students seem to underestimate the toll a lack of sleep can take on their minds. Many students stated that they did not believe their lack of sleep affected their grades too much.

It makes sense for students to think that their grades will be better from staying up late to study because even though they are tired, they studied more, but studies show otherwise.

A study done by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on high school students showed that studying late has the opposite effect. Students who studied late were not only less alert the next day but they also did worse on the tests that they were studying for because they did not retain the information that they studied.

A lack of sleep affects more than students’ short-term grades, but also long-term health. Many people recognize the immediate effects of a lack of sleep - exhaustion, low immunity, worse mood, etc. - but people fail to realize that not sleeping enough now can affect them for the rest of their lives.

According to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), people who have lacked sleep over a long period of time are more at risk for diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and mood disorders.

Of course, when you are in college, getting more sleep is sometimes easier said than done. “Last quarter, I got so little sleep because I was studying from when I got home to when I go to bed,” Green River student Ander Layton said.

“I was so tired all the time and still didn’t fully understand the material, but I don’t know how I would have passed a couple of my classes if I didn’t study that much.”

“When I’m tired it’s hard to pay attention in class - especially during long lectures - so then I have to go back to study what was taught in class on top of the other class work given and then stay up late again and it goes around in a cycle,” said Green River College student Jenna Pinter.

Many students feel that they have to make a choice between their well being and their grades, but that is not always the case. There are many other ways and resources to improve grades and understanding of class material.

For example, students who are staying up late to study because they are struggling to understand their class should communicate with their professor and see if they have any tips or resources. They could also utilize the tutoring center in the library.

Students who struggle with time management and get distracted easily could study with friends who would hold them accountable for studying or study on their own in places with little distractions like a library or a coffee shop.

If a student does procrastinate and needs to take in all of that information quickly, studies show that student’s brains generally work better in the morning, so instead of staying up late to cram, it would be more effective to go to

Students Demand Change on the Campus By: Steven Asetre Staff Writer Our Green River Campus is teeming with people: students and faculty.

There is always something happening every single day. Many events are planned out, classes are in session, and various clubs. But everyone has their own opinion about the campus, whether it be positive or negative.

Finding out what just a few of the campus population thinks about one thing they could change on campus is intriguing to know. The question that many were asked was: “If you had a magic wand and could change anything about the college, what would be the number one change you would make and why would you change that?”

Some responses were ordinary, but some were things that most of us wouldn’t have ever thought of.

One opinion that mostly everyone would agree with is our campus parking situation. Running Start freshman, Melanie Nicholson, said that if they were to change one thing at the college, it would be to fix “how long it takes to find parking.” Nicholson also suggested that

the campus should have a parking garage in the lower gravel.

Another student, Emily Long, suggested that the campus needs more parking along with more maps campus-wide. In order to get more students to class on-time, Long also suggested “more online class options or even extra seats.”

A very extraordinary suggestion from 16-year-old Bohdan Zaniuk was received. He stated that if he had a magic wand and could change one thing about our campus, he would want to “pass the series of laws that will make all public educational institutions completely free.” Zaniuk also said that he “would place assistants into complex classes.”

Many students have trouble signing up for classes and actually getting in them. Most required classes get filled up even in the first week of most quarter registration.

One of those class subjects is science. Many students struggle in finding classes to register on time. One of those students is Running Start freshman, Colby Morgan. He says that “more science classes should be offered. The most requested classes in the science subject get instantly picked and

you are left with little to no time to pick.” Sometimes it’s better to start registering the moment registration in any quarter starts.

A very important, but not wellknown problem lurking around our campus environment is the exposure of the key on-campus resources. Not many students know that there are some very helpful resources around campus. Things like the Tutoring Resource Center, STEP, or even Counseling Services.

These are some things that bring a great influence to students if they choose to utilize them, but are not talked about much around campus or just not advertised to get more students to know about it. There are many other resources students can use to their advantage on the college website.

Speaking of advertisement and word of mouth, our sports teams are not a thing that is often the topic of conversations here at the college. They are not advertised enough to the campus to the point where most students and faculty do not know about the sports.

The Green River’s college radio, KGRG, is one of the outlets where many can hear some of our sports events commentaries live.

bed early and to wake up early to study (although, it would be much more effective to just study before it becomes urgent).

The point is, there are more options than just choosing between losing sleep or failing a class. The most important thing for students to remember is that their health

and happiness does not always have to take the backseat.

It is okay to not get an A on that test, or to not turn in one assignment as staying up will end up more damaging to the student in the long run. Good grades are nice but they mean nothing without a good balance of life.

Autumn Reeves Lack of sleep causes a student to fall asleep instead of studying for their classes

Christina Praggastis | Sports Editor TheCurrent.sports@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

sports

thecurrent

11 April 24, 2019

Haley Suit: An Inspiring Student and Track & Field Athlete By: Dakota Farnsworth Opinion Editor Women’s Track and Field athlete Haley Suit brings her upbeat and positive attitude to every meet and practice.

“I’ve been doing track and field since fourth grade,” Suit said. “I had never played any other sport before then.” Suit started track and field because her mother had played the sport in high school. This inspired Suit to join a team and stick with the sport like her mom did.

In sixth grade, Suit broke a record for the 75-yard dash that she is still holding today. The previous record had been 9.3 seconds and Suit beat it by a second. Breaking a record at such a young age gives athletes the confidence they need to continue to learn and improve their abilities.

Suit was also on her high school’s track and field team. She was on the varsity team at Kentwood all four years that she played. During this time, Suit was awarded the Most Valuable Player award twice, was nominated for team captain but did not get the position, and received a $1000 scholarship from her coach’s father that she put towards her tuition at Green River.

The scholarship was one of Suit’s proudest moments. She is proud of this moment more because of who gave her the scholarship. The coach’s father met her during one

of her first track meets and her upbeat and positive attitude won him over. She has maintained this positive attitude to try and bring it to others at practices and meets.

Suit also joined a club track team her freshman year of high school. The club allowed all students to join no matter what age.

Younger kids could join the club for fun while the older kids got to compete with other teams. She was able to compete and travel to different parts of the state, such as California, Florida, and Kansas City.

She also tried different sports during middle school and high school. Suit participated in cross country, volleyball, dance, and gymnastics, but didn’t stick with them for long. Suit decided that these sports were not for her, and she continued to participate solely with track and field.

This is Suit’s first year on the college’s track and field team. Suit is a sprinter on the Green River College team. She runs the 100-meter, 200-meter, and the 4 x 100-meter relay. Suit’s favorite event is the 4 x 100-meter relay. She enjoys the team experience that she gains from this event and others.

The season started Feb. 1, but the team was unable to meet due to the snowstorm. The team made a group chat, so they were able to communicate about workouts until the snow finally melted and they were able to meet up for practices.

The team also had pre-season sessions where they would jog on the trails at the college. This

Haley Suit

Haley Suit (middle, number 3) runs a sprint at a Track & Field competition.

Haley Suit

Haley Suit (fifth from the right) poses for a group photo with the rest of her fellow track & field teammates after a meet.

Suit’s parents are very supportinto a beautiful bonding moment. allowed the team to bond before ive of her participating in track the season started so they could be The team also bonds over team and field. They help her out with events, such as bowling and dincloser and work better with each financial expenses when she travels, other when difficult situations ners. “We like to relax and eat food they help to talk through and deal after a hard day of work,” said Suit. arose in later dates. with any issues she has, and they “We’re like a legit family.”

There have been four meets so are really supportive of her goals. far. Suit has placed high in the As the season progresses, the Suit is splitting her time between team is steadily improving. The 100-meter dash each meet, placing her sport and focusing on her in the top three each time. She is athletes have achieved their perstudies at Green River. She plans sonal records or have broken them. one of the highlighted students on getting her bachelor’s degree in They have gotten stronger and they on the track and field website.

Occupational Therapy and wants “Being highlighted is a great are alot more closer to each other to work with kids specifically. She is achievement,” said Suit during the now than when the season started. planning on transferring to a fourSuit has also improved in track interview. “I’m not a fan of being year university to finish her studies. the center of attention, but it is nice and field. She has cut her running She plans on continuing track time down two seconds from her to be noticed once in a while.” and field when she transfers to a Suit felt that her best meet was freshman year and has physically four-year university. Suit has gotten the Jay Hammer Invitational April improved through the team workcalls from head coaches from outs. She has improved emotional13. It was raining and super windy Washington State University, Eastly and she is more open-minded. that day. Despite the weather, Suit ern Washington University, and “Haley is the real deal,” said got some personal records and evSeattle Pacific. She doesn’t plan on Stuart Snow, the head coach for eryone was able to push through leaving Washington since in-state the wet and cloudy weather. women’s track and field. “She has tuition is cheaper.

The team is very close to each speed, determination, and motivaSuit is constantly striving to beat tion, and works hard to achieve her other, not just on the field but also her personal best in her sport as goals. Just by her pure passion and in their personal lives. Suit enjoys work ethic, I wish I had twenty-sev- well as all aspects of her life, she is how competitive the team can get always improving upon herself to and how they are able to turn that en more like her.”

Haley Suit

Haley Suit (middle, number 3) starts her run at the gunshot against her two other competitors, striving for the win.

12 April 24, 2019

sportsFuture

thecurrent

Christina Praggastis | Sports Editor TheCurrent.sports@mail.greenriver.edu www.thegrcurrent.com

Men’s Baseball Teams Struggles to Get Ahead By: MacLayne Credere Staff Writer

As the Green River Baseball team nears the end of the season, many fans are hoping to see a final great game at the postseason tournament.

To make the tournament the team needs to secure more wins in their games such as the two upcoming ones against Centralia and Grays Harbor.

To learn more about the program Coach Brian Embery provided some insight into the goals of the program as well as general information for students and fans.

Embery has been the Green River College Baseball team’s coach since 2011 and has more than 30 years of coaching experience.

When Embery was asked about his goals for the program this season he stated, “our goal is to make the postseason tournament.”

When asked what stuck out to him this season, Embery said that all of the students had gone through some periods of success, but also that many were surprised by the high learning curve from high school to college baseball. make it to the postseason tournaIbrahim Mardini has the highest ment, Embery said the team must, batting average on the team (.389) “play well against Centralia and and has the fifth highest batting Grays Harbor.” average in the Northwest Athletic The team has not had the most Conference. Another player experisuccesful season so far. They scored encing success this season is Doug three wins early in the season, two Miller, with a of which came batting average from their first of .309 and 38 games of the “Embery is proud to add runs this season. season against Embery is that all his players hold a Western Washproud to add ington. The sec3.0 GPA of higher,” that all his playond early season - Brian Embery, Head Coach ers hold a 3.0 win came from GPA or higher. a game against Although the Chemeketa. team has had highlights they still Since their early season success, sit in the bottom most slot of the the team has been struggling to west standings for the Northwest secure wins. With their current Athletic Conference. record of three wins and seventeen To get out on top in the west losses, it seems as though the team standings and meet their goal to might have some trouble coming

Games: Apr

27

Competitor: Pierce College Location: Russell Road - Kent, WA @12pm-3pm

Apr

28

Competitor: Pierce College Location: Mt. Tahoma HS Tacoma, WA

@1pm-4pm

May

4

Competitor: Centralia

together to beat their competition.

Embery was asked about what he would like to let the student body know about the Baseball program and his answer didn’t disappoint.

Embery expressed that the program is meant to help students experience personal growth while also providing a quality education.

He would also like to add that every year the program helps send students to four-year universities.

If any qualified student is interested in joining the men’s baseball team then Embery would suggest showing up for the tryouts that occur every September.

Even though this season is ending and the losses outweigh the wins, the men’s Green River Baseball team is determined and ambitious to reach their goal and make it to the postseason tournament.

May

5

May

10 11

Centralia at Longview, WA

Record: 3-12

Game against: Lower Columbia at Longview, WA

Record: 3-13

Game against: Tacoma at Tacoma, WA

Competitor: Centralia

Game against:

Record: 3-15

Location: Russell Road Kent, WA

Tacoma at Russell Road Kent, WA

@12pm-3pm

Record: 3-17

Competitor: Lower Columbia

Game against:

Location: Longview, WA

@5pm-8pm

May

Game against:

Location: Centralia, WA

@1pm-4pm

Pixabay

Records Board:

Grays Harbor at Russell Road Kent, WA

Record: 4-18

Competitor: Lower Columbia

Game against:

@1pm-4pm

Record: 4-20

Location: Russell Road Kent, WA

Grays Harbor at Aberdeen, WA