ASG explains "hiring practices"

In a letter to the editor printed in The Commuter two weeks ago, “In regards to the Student Government hiring practices,” a student expressed concerns about having to submit a photo with her application to ASG. She also had concerns with “quickly squeezed- in” five minute interviews and the lack of representation of students in ASG over 30 years old.

According to Toni Klohk, ASG‘s faculty advisor, the reason a picture is required from applicants is that, if they are hired, a photo needs to be available for the Web site. In addition, she said the students in ASG are well-briefed on equal opportunity laws, on what can and can’t be asked, and what they can and can’t take into consideration. However, she does feel a good point was made in the letter and that they are currently reviewing the photo policy.

“Normally, it is required for the elections, for publicity on the Web site and other places,” Klohk said. “ I think probably what happened is, unfortunately, when that application was sent out that was not taken off. “

In response to the five minute interviews, Klohk said they had apologized up front for the “rushed” interviews but most of the hiring process was based on the application itself and the “thoroughness" of what the students had filled out.

“Even if they weren’t rushed, it would have probably taken no more than five to seven minutes,” Klohk said.

As for the concern that there is a need for more representation for students over 30 years of age, Klohk explained that one of the representatives of the business division is over 50 years old.

Chelsea Ellertson, student activity coordinator, also added in saying that ASG is not the only group in the Student Life and Leadership office and that there is good age representation of all ages in all the other groups.

(Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kandyjaxx/2012468692/)

Story by Ryan Henson

Getting involved with social networking

On May 20, in the LBCC library, a workshop was held on social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. The workshop was taught by Richenda Wilkinson, a librarian at LBCC. The focus of the workshop was not only to get people more familiar with online networking, but to actually get them set up with accounts and networking for themselves.

Wilkinson started the workshop by explaining the importance of online networking. She explained that it’s about keeping in contact with people, re-contacting old friends, and basic social networking. She also explained the differences between Myspace, Facebook and Twitter, and explained why she prefers Facebook over Myspace. According to Wilkinson Myspace has more adds and she also stated that “Myspace is used more by younger people.”

Wilkinson also showed us some special social networking sites that focus on people having things in common with others, her example of this was a network for people involved with sewing.

Wilkinson also went over the advantages and geniusness of marketing and advertising through social networks, “it’s really a great tool for marketers.” The advertisers collect information from you through what you do on network and then display adds fitting to what you like or are into.

After a thorough explanation on how networking works Wilkinson proceeded to help everybody set up a Facebook account as well as register with the school they attended for high school. Within minutes people all through out the room were finding friends from high school that they hadn’t seen of heard from in decades. At that point the true importance of social networking became apparent and accepted by almost everyone in the room.

John McArdle, the director of development, attended the workshop for many reasons. For one, he has a son who is currently a sophomore in high school that has bought into the age of online networking. McArdle also stated that, “I’m trying to lean where this makes sense in the business world.”

Social networking is a great tool that a lot of people still don’t know the importance of. In the fastly changing world of technology it is important to keep an open mind and welcome new tools for the future. There are scheduled to be more workshops on social networking in the future so I would encourage anyone looking to embrace and take advantage of these new technologies to attend. I will update this as soon as I know when the workshops will be held, or you could keep checking the campus shorts.

Just keep in mind that if you don’t give social networking a try you may never know what you’ll miss or who you will find.


-Blair McMackin

Q&A with Sami Laskos

On April 22, there was a special surprise waiting in the LBCC Commons for students. Sami Laskos, a Culinary student at LBCC had made a cake depicting zombie's eating Chef Scott Anselm's head. I had the chance to see the cake with my own eyes, and speak with Sami in an email interview for a short Q&A.

Laskos, a second year culinary student, had made the cake because she had signed up for a bakery display rotation.

Culinary student James Scales has had plenty of experience working with Sami and really enjoyed her creative cake, "The best part about working with Sami is she has the ability to get the work done. No matter what it is, she can motivate a group, organize people, or getting through any of the work that needs to be done, and she'll do it in a way that's fair to everyone involved."

Sami Laskos proudly looking over her completed cake.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with me the other day about your cake. Why did you make this cake?

The cake was a project for my Bakery Display rotation. As a second year
culinary student, there are 6 mandatory rotations and 7 "elective"
rotations; each rotation is 8 or 9 school days. Bakery Display is an
elective rotation with a pretty simple goal: create something that
demonstrates at least 3 bakery skills. It's incredibly open ended. There
have been sugar sculptures, chocolate sculptures, even a Rice Krispie
castle... But I think cakes are the most popular because the basics are
familiar, but a cake can transform into almost anything.

At the end of your rotation you display your project in the scramble area.


What was your inspiration?

As a first year culinary student I said I'd never do a Bakery Display
project... I'm not good in the Bakery. Cooking and Baking lay at opposite
ends of the culinary spectrum. Cooking is pretty "free-form" and there
aren't a lot of rules: some of this, some of that... Baking is more
scientific and exact, and I think it requires more patience.

Over the summer I watched an episode of "Ace of Cakes" that lit the fire. A
woman wanted a cake for her husband with zombies sucking his brains. Simply,
I liked the idea of a zombie cake much better than I liked the idea of a
traditional wedding cake. School started a few weeks later and I signed up
for the rotation. The decision didn't really catch up to me until 6 months
later when the rotation came up and I went "Oh shit... I guess now I have to
do it."


How long did the cake take to make?

Not including the hours I spent hammering out the idea and mapping out a
game plan... I'd say somewhere around 30 hours in the kitchen. At one point
I fell behind (the zombies were trickier that I'd imagined) and I was coming
in before school and staying after to get it done...


What was your favorite part about making the cake?

Truely, I didn't know what I was doing. I just kinda went for it... and I
suprised myself.

Little things like lips and eyes took forever. Where things like carving
facial features out of cake seemed to almost happen on their own. Each small
accomplishment boosted me for the next challenge.

It's a great feeling to work really hard on something and then have it turn
out better than you'd imagined (the silly thing actually looked like chef
scott!). The cake is actually still sitting the classroom because I just
can't bear to get rid of it yet : )


What did the other students think?

I tried to keep the identity of the head a secret until the last minute- but
Chef Scott knows everything that happens in that kitchen and I'm sure he
knew before I did. Chef took it in good humor, though he says he'll get me
back : ). As for students, there was a lot of "you're doing what?!" and
"they're letting you do that?" I'm still in shock that I got away with it.
throughout the whole project I was kind of waiting for someone to put a stop
to it. But they didn't, and I just kept pushing. The blood was the "frosting
on the cake" if you will... the head looked much more innocent before the
blood. It even dried like real blood! Overall, the kitchen got a kick out of
it.

Chef Scott Anselm, noted that "Sami's cake was very creative and incorporated many sound culinary techniques. Sami is skilled and has a good sense of humor. I think she and the other students enjoyed poking fun at me. We all have a good tome together in the kitchen."

- Q&A/ Photo: Becca Martino

College Life is Stressful....

Well, it's the end of the term and once again I've fallen behind in almost all of my classes...In the last few months I haven't had time to breathe or sleep let alone accomplish everything that has been piled upon me. So here is the starting point. the start of dead week. I plan to spend the next seven days doing nothing but working on homework and hitting the books. hopefully I'll be able to maintain my C average but even that is going to take an immense amount of work. All I can do is try my best and see what happens...

-Blair McMackin

ESOL host showcase at Benton Center

On Wednesday, May 13, the English for Speakers of Other Languages program held a showcase at the Benton Center featuring speakers and participants from all over the world. The showcase gave students the chance to show off their countries while publicly practicing speaking English.

The showcase was held to help spread awareness of ESOL and the impact it has on the community and world. “Many students don’t realize what a large ESOL program we have, and that there’s so many students from other countries who study right here at the Benton Center and in Albany,” said Mary Browning a faculty member in the ESOL department.

William Vargas, a student from El’ Salvador explained to me how ESOL classes have helped him in understanding the English Language. Vargas plans on becoming a permanent citizen so to him proper knowledge of the English language is a must.

The ESOL hosts this event every spring to kind of wrap up bringing an end to the year, but the showcase can be expected to be seen for many years to come. When asked about budget cuts ESOL instructor Kristi McMorran replied, “we’re lucky that we get a lot of federal funding for our program so we’re not just tuition based, so I don’t expect that we will have budget cuts within our program that will effect the students.”

The ESOL department hosts both credited and non-credited classes at three different levels; beginning, intermediate, and advanced that are designed for foreign students to sharpen their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The classes are offered both morning and evenings every term in both Albany and Corvallis.

-Blair McMackin

Students gathered Wednesday, May 20, in the center of LBCC to exchange information with many groups represented at LBCC.

Top second and fourth: pictures are representatives for a sustainability group that is just getting started.
Top third: Recycling tech.
Top fifth: Overview
Center Left: We were fortunate to have Jamba Juice representation.
Center Right: Nick Bowman (student body president), Stephen Roderick (Former Student Programming Board member ), Jesus Alcaras (SPB publicity coordinate), Jessica Van Atta
(student ambassador)
Bottom Center: Caleb Doner, Phi Theta Kappa member.

Summer lovin' will have us a blast . . .

Summer is knock, knock, knocking on our doors, and many of us are starting to concoct ideas, trips, and shenanigans.

Unfortunately for us, we still live in Oregon. It will rain. It is inevitable according to the Country Studies website, and Albany can expect anywhere from .5-7.7 inches of rainfall each month.

When it does rain, we should be prepared. Like a philosophical man once said, turn on, tune in and drop out. Oh wait, I'm talking about surfing the web. Put on your fingerless gloves kids, it's time to have some fun with my favorite time-killing sites!

If you'd like to do some shopping, go to MySimon, where you can shop for prices 'till your cows come home.

Looking for a present for that special someone that likes quirky shirts? Or perhaps you're in the office on a rainy day and feel the sudden urge to shoot someone with a marshmellow? Head to ThinkGeek for your shenanigans.

But what if that special someone is being a Debbie-Downer and you need a laugh? Well, odd news stories always cheer me up and I know just where to look. If you go to Drew Curtis' Fark you will not be disappointed as they update several times a day with genres like sad, strange or scary stories. You will find the best stories originate in Germany or Florida.

Next, head over to PopCap to numb your brain a little longer with a riveting game of Zuma or my nephew's new favorite, Mummy Maze.

Know someone getting married? The Knot has all the tools you need to transform into bride-zilla.

Feel like flexing your brain muscles? Check out this day in history over at the History Channel Website, then skip over to Hulu for your favorite summer flicks like Southland or So You Think You Can Dance.

So, before you know it, the day has gone, the rain has slowed down to a drips pace, go to the Weather Channel Website to find the rest of your weeks forecast.

Happy surfing folks!

_Becca Martino
Fingerless gloves photo by voteprime/ surfing photo by chrisjohnbeckett's (Flickr).

Facebook and Students

Facebook is one of the fastest growing social networks for college students since it's inception in 2004. To this day it a useful tool for students to get connected to friends and other like-minded individuals who have a desire to become socially interactive on the go or while at home.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and a couple roommates of his while he was attending Harvard University. It eventually branched out into Boston Mass., and spread outwards until its membership has now reached outwards of 200 million world-wide. Originally intended for college students, with over 30,000 recognized colleges, universities, organizations it's growth has spawned to make it comparable to MySpace now, which in large part has been the social networks world leader.
One of the many great things for college students that make Facebook appealing is that weeds out a lot of the teens and stalkers that you may have heard about on MySpace. They are more rigourous in their approving an account, in many places they ask that you have an college email address or ask you what college, or university that you have attended and assert you in that group of people.
Another thing that makes Facebook appealing to a larger audience is that it is more adult orientated in its eye-appeal, it's not teeny bopperish, or flirty, it seems in its own way more adult-like. A lot of business professionals are using Facebook and are connecting to more people through Facebook than MySpace because of the professional-like shell.
Overall in this day and age of new gadgets and saviness in this author's opinion, I think it is a necessary tool in networking and moving on in this great world wide web.

-Frank C. Warren

The search for LBCCs next president

With current LBCC President Rita Cavin officially retiring next December, the hunt for our next college president has begun.

To help with the search, the school has brought in Al Fernandez and Michael Viera, consultants from Community College Search Services. They were on campus last week holding focus group sessions to identify characteristics and skills the next president should have in order to address the college’s current challenges.

“We are not here to select [the next college president], but to facilitate,” Viera said. Different sessions were held for classified employees, faculty, staff, students, and the LBCC Board of Education.

According to a handout provided by Fernandez and Viera, they will help with brochure development, candidate recruitment, preliminary candidate evaluation and interviews, board interviews, comprehensive reference reports, a college forum for finalists, and the interview held with the board of education.

According to Jim Huckestein, vice president of finance and operations, the bill for the consultants is $26,000. During one of the meetings, an open session for all staff and students, the budget was the number one concern for those in attendance and, because there is not enough money coming from the state, one of the qualities of the new president should be the ability to “think outside of the box” in order to generate more funds for the school.

No students chose to attend the meeting.

So, the Commuter has been asking students around campus what qualities and skills they think our next president should have.

Jamie Corwin, an LBCC student in the medical @ flickr office specialist program, feels that our next president should have “a lot of people skills because this is a very diverse college.”

Michelle Evans, a graphic design major and barista at Hot Shots, would like our next president to be someone “who knows how to listen and is open to new ideas.”

Adam LaMascus, a history major, hopes the next president is “savvy with money, creative, sympathetic, and responsible.”

Ryan Henson

(Photo credit: Leo Reynolds @ flickr)

Art Classes at LBCC visit Portland Art Museum

This last weekend I and nearly thirty other students from Linn Benton Community College, and head of the art department of LBCC, Gary Westford, headed up to Portland Oregon to the Portland Art Museum, Friday. Westford had encouraged students from three of his classes, two Understanding Art classes and one Art History class, to attend the function, so that they could get a better understanding of different art from different periods of time throughout history as well as visit a once in a lifetime exhibit called the “La voluptė de go ȗt,” which would end on May 17, 2009.

One of the great experiences of college life is taking advantage of once in a lifetime experiences. I felt fortunate, as did others to have the chance to visit the “La volupte de go ut”, before the exhibit was over. There were a lot of great paintings that were presented at the museum that I had never even thought existed. Works by Leonardo DaVinci, Vincent Van Gogh and other great artists such as Andy Warhol were also located at the museum. They also a plethora of ancient artifacts from China, Korea, Japan and many other cultures and time

One of the newest additions to the Portland Art Museum was an 11th Century artifact from India called Ganesha. It is in the figure of a man with the head of an elephant. A lot of history goes into this artifact, both in it's religious and cultural aspects making this piece very unique.

History and art can both found at this great museum that is currently ranked one of the greatest museums in the world. For me it was a great place to understand art all over again.

Gary Westford explaining some artistic facts about Portland.

-Frank C. Warren a.k.a. Frank the Tank

Layoffs at LBCC are heartfelt

Layoffs at LBCC are heartfelt by many and responses are noted today. After 23years of service Janet Jones employee at LBCC cafeteria suffers lay off. A smile on her face and tears in her eyes Jones checks out each patron at the cash register. When asked how are you today? “I’m worried I could lose 50 percent of my PERS retirement approximately 50 thousand dollars if unable to find another job with PERS benefits. There is a stimulus package available to help with 65 percent of the monthly payment for my family health insurance for nine months. My cost is $365.60 and my unemployment doesn’t kick in until Sept."

"I have given my heart to this program.” Jones said. “ I am not the only person you should be talking to, there are several other people that are being laid-off and having a more difficult time like Ramone he has seven children.” Jones said.

How difficult it must be to still have your job and watch your co-workers lose their jobs. “Nobody feels safe. I feel bad about the loss it’s kind of like a sudden death.” Pam Adams said.

Ramone said, “I was looking forward to starting my 11th year at LBCC. I had a management position and I was shocked when I found out I am going to be laid- off at the end of this term. I thought at the minimum another job would be offered.,” said Ramone.

When asked how are you feeling? I feel numb. I just want to be strong for my kids. I have seven children six adopted and one child we have legal guardianship. They are between the ages of four and 11years old and one is a special needs child. I am fortunate to have the support of my wife, a natural grandparent of one of the adopted kids that helps as well as an aunt and uncle that watch our special needs child once a week to give us a break,” said Ramone.

What are your options? “Maybe I’ll go back to school. I really do not know what is available out there yet we are supposed to get some information to help us from the school in a couple of weeks. I cannot give up I have to stay strong for my kids” Said Ramone.


"LBCC has an expected 2.6 millon dollars in shortfalls." Marlene Propst said.

Anyone looking for more information to understand what LBCC is being faced with financially can visit the LBCC website. The video at the bottom of the list is from the LBCC president.

http://po.linnbenton.edu/stateofthecollege/stateofthecollege2009/

By Lillian Love

Celebrate diversity: 55 years since Brown v Board

58 years ago, in Topeka, Kansas, a lawsuit was brought against the Board of Education by 13 parents on behalf of 20 children according to Brownvboard.org.

On May 17, 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the parents, granting African- American students the right to attend any public school.

The originates in Topeka, when a young African-American girl named Linda Brown, was told she could not attend a public school close to her home. Instead, she was sent to an "all blacks" school nearly an hour away.

Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that the "separate but equal" doctrine was in clear violation of the 14th amendment "which guarantees all citizens equal protection of the laws."

The parents involved in the Brown v. Board of Education case weren't the only to petition the government regarding segregation.

In the late 1800s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that having segregated railroad cars fit within the description of the 14th amendment in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling was consequential to the residents of Kansas and other states because it declared that all public locations were appropriately segregated.

Creating a tidal wave of demand, five different cases originating from Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., involving with 200 plaintiffs were combined under the Brown v. Board case, which left positive social changes in its wake.

Women protesting Brown v. Board: "We like you, but we don't want you in our school". Flickr photo by Techne.

According to the History Channel website, the U.S. Supreme Court required public schools to "integrate with all deliberate speed."

Today, residents in Topeka, Kansas, celebrated the courts ruling. Linda Brown just happened to be one of those attending.

"How much it's meant to so many people all over the United States, not only all over the United States but the entire world," Linda Brown said.


--
Without the Brown v. Board act, we would not be able to appreciate the great diversity our world has to offer. Open minds would be fewer,hatred would perhaps run rampant and we wouldn't be celebrating our first black president.

Fortunately, US history has proven that people will always stand up for the greater good, and our constitution will be there to back them up.





Map provided by Google.

To view a short clip of "This day in History" click here. Provided by History.com.

The right to freedom of.....

Freedom of press isn’t accepted everywhere in the world. Some countries detain and punish journalists for covering government scandals and corruption. There is a price for the news we receive.

The Channel 4 News team from Britain was released from Sri Lanka, May 16. The news team was arrested for their report on abuse of the Tamils people.

The Tamil Tiger is a known rebel group also on the list of known terrorist groups, who is at civil war with Sri Lankan government, and has recently admitted to defeat by the Sri Lankan government.

“As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began,” said CNN. Many of them civilians caught up in the crossfire.

According to AFP's report on Yahoo “the original report, broadcast on Tuesday, contained allegations of sexual abuse and claimed that dead bodies were left where they fell, as well as water and food shortfalls.”also "the Sri Lankan government estimates that up to 20,000 civilians are being held by the Tamil Tigers as human shields."

The network behind the British news team ITN said they stand behind the actions and conduct of their journalists.

-Erik Bender