Students Discuss Occupy Movement

We have seen the footage on the nightly news of protestors and police staring each other down, scuffles breaking out, and students being pepper-sprayed. The Occupy movement has only been in motion for a few months, but it has proven quite capable of grabbing our attentions. It provokes passionate thought and debate. It, like so many movements of this type, calls on us to challenge what we think we know, or feel about the role of our government. However, in its early infancy, some onlookers cannot help but question just what ultimately the message and means of success would be for the Occupy movement.

     On November 15th, a gathering of around 15-20 students came together in the Diversity Achievement Center to discuss just that. Led in part by History Professor, Robert Harrison, many issues were brought up for discussion, such as political actions taken over the last few decades in regards to the economy, to the nature of money in our politics, and even connections to prior protest movements. The recent outbreaks of violence and police brutality came to the forefront of discussions, as did how various news outlets had covered it.

     "What should be their goal?" prompted Professor Harrison.

     It seems like a simple question, but the broad and varied responses from the gathered crowd showed the magnitude of the problem.

     "People are fighting for jobs, and fairness," said one student to nods of agreement from some of their fellow students, and shaking heads from a few others, including one who was more than happy to share phone contact of places he knew of that were actively hiring.

     While one may think of Oregon as a solidly blue, liberal state, the diversity of ideas represented in the discussion spanned more than just a progressive view.

     One student, who spoke openly of being a Tea Party supporter, had questions that he had come to find answers for.

     "What is the Occupy movement about? I really do not know what they hope to achieve, and what message they are bringing to the table."

     They were questions even the Occupy supporters were seeking to understand.

     The passionate debates that ensued spoke of a universal desire of people of all many varied political views to ask the serious question of fairness in our government and its policies. Nothing was off the table, from the behavior of Wall Street, to the responsibilities of the citizens. The answers for how to address the nation's economic problems were as varied as the seemingly endless number of questions posed. It was clear to many that there was no easy answer.

     The tone of the discussion eventually took a more stern direction, even among ardent supporters of the Occupy movement when the issue of the cost of the protest themselves came up. As much as the supporters of the movement believed it was good that people were exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protests, many were worried about the financial burden of the heightened police presence, and the cost to repair the parks.

     "We will not know for months just how much it will cost to repair the park, grow the lost grass, and rehabilitate the trees effected by the protests," said one Occupy supporter. "These parks will now have to be fenced off, possibly until next summer before the public can get back in."

     It was clear to many that for all the good the Occupy movement can do, there was going to be a price for the choices the movement makes in seeking to get their message out there.

     By the end, the gathered students agreed upon one thing: Both sides of this debate recognize that something has to be done about the economic disparages facing our nation.

     The question both sides seem to find a hard time answering is just how we can fix them.

At a glance:

Started: September 17, 2011 in Manhattan’s Liberty Square Park

In 1,500 cities worldwide

Slogan: “We are the 99%”

Practices: Nightly ‘Democratic General Assemblies’ for members to voice concerns and share ideas, and invented ‘Human Megaphone’ to help ensure information passed through crowds when megaphones themselves are not allowed.

Profile: Karelia Stetz-Water - LBCC English Professor

To anyone walking into her office, Karelia Stetz-Waters may seem like a perfectly ordinary professor. Bookshelves dot the walls filled with books, textbooks, and reference works that might make the average student roll their eyes as the thought of being assigned to read. Personal and cultural items are scattered among the texts, and in a corner, a fish tank bubbles away with a few small fish darting around, and a snail oozing its way up the glass. However, a careful eye might spot some differences. From time to time, you might spot a stack of papers tucked away on the corner of her desk, separate from the student papers she is diligently grading. Other times, post-it notes might be crawling up the wall like the mystery snail in the tank, each plotting out an element or idea in a story.

     What many might not know is that Karelia Stetz-Water is a English Professor who likes to put her money where her mouth is, so to speak. Not just content to teach writing and literature to students here at LBCC, Stetz-Waters herself is an avid writer in her own right. She has already written a memoir, a thriller, and is currently hard at work on a sequel. She even currently has a manuscript under consideration by a top literary agency in New York who counts among its clients E! News correspondent, Ken Baker, famed film star and director, Richard Dreyfus, and the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

     Karelia has been teaching at Linn Benton Community College since September of 2007, and has already made an impression.

     "Karelia is really great to work with," said fellow English professor, Callie Palmer. "She is always upbeat, which is a really nice attribute in a colleague. It is hard not to enjoy someone who is picky about grammar. I guess that is a bit biased, but one thing we share in the department is an enthusiasm for our calling."

     An enthusiasm is not lost on her students. Many current and former students have described her classes as both structure, but fun and engaging. Karelia Stetz-Water sets out to provide an atmosphere that is inviting as she works to help demystify some of the often miss-viewed as challenging aspects of a language it is easy to take for granted. For those lucky enough to take one of her classes, she has found ways to make them seem a little less daunting.

At a Glance

Courses:

• WR 121 English Composition – Exposition
• WR 122 English Composition – Logic and Style
• WR 214 Business Communications – Online and Face-to-Face
• WR 227 Technical Writing – Online and Face-to-Face
• ENG 105 Introduction to Fiction
• ENG 106 Introduction to Poetry
• ENG 208 African Literature

Video of Karelia speaking about her experince as a writer, and reading from her memoir, Suburban Love Stories.

Credentials:

Bachelors of Arts in Comparative Literature from Smith College, 1999

Masters of Arts in English with an emphasis on Queer Theory and Lesbian Fiction from University of Oregon, 2003

Question and Answer - Karelia Stetz-Waters - November 7th, 2011

Cory Warren: What classes do you teach here at Linn-Benton Community College?

Karelia Stetz-Waters: I teach writing 121, I teach technical writing 227, primarily online. I have also taught intro to poetry, intro to fiction, African literature, business communication and I will be teaching writing 115 for the first time.

CW: So, with all those papers to grade, how do you find time to write, yourself?

KSW: I write in the mornings, and on/in the evenings and the weekends, and I try to be very organized and disciplined about my work at work so that I can get my grading done in a 40-hour workweek, as opposed to bringing it home. I also tell my students that that works out well for me and well for them because I'm here, grading, and happy to be doing it. I know myself; if I was grading papers at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night, I would resent it, and no one wants their work read by someone who is resenting doing it. It works out well this way.

CW: What opportunities outside of classrooms does LBCC offer for students to explore writing?

KSW: we have the poetry club. We have the 'fooling around with words' conference, which takes place in April, which is just a writer's conference. Course, we have the creative writing classes, credit and non-credit. Then, hopefully our students are connected with all the neat things that go on in our community; there are always readings at the libraries… all sorts of stuff going on in Albany and Corvallis. Therefore, those are all available to our students.

CW: What is it like as a Professor to be writing a book during school?

KSW: I think it’s a great way to share my student's pain. Their writing a lot, they are pressed for time… they are struggling with the different parts of the writing process… writers block… revisions…. Praise and rejection, and it’s good for their instructors to be going through the same process. Admittedly, my word count is larger, and higher, but the experience is the same, and the five-page paper to a first-year student is just as big as a 50,000 words manuscript feels to me; I have just been doing it longer. And when a student who has been doing it as long as I have been writing, they too will be able to tackle a giant project, so I think it really keeps me honest about what it feels like to be a writer, which is good because it helps me sympathize.

CW: I have always felt self-conscious about people who are grumbling about a two-page paper, and I turned into a five-page paper that I wrote the night before. Therefore, it is keeping up with what the students are doing.

KSW: And I really believe that writing is like long distance running: a lot of doing it well is just putting in the time, a lot of being able to write a long document comes from writing many shorter documents, and practicing on the ability to run a marathon comes from running many shorter races. We all keep working on our skills, whatever the starting place were at… we just keep going forward.

CW: So, it is like 'Practice makes perfect'. As a teacher, you don't want to lapse into 'Well, I've got my degree, I've done it, so I'll judge them on what they're doing', but your also doing it yourself, so you're keeping in the mindset of how you form an idea, and how you put it on paper?

KSW: I certainly think there are a lot of different thing an English Professor can do to work on their professional development; writings mine. Some people research, some people do academic scholarship, some people do various different community/club activities, so I think I would never make it a requirement to write a book, but for me, it is a way I stay connected to my profession.

CW: What attracted you to writing in the first place?

KSW: I have enjoyed writing since I was a little kid, and I think I enjoyed having control over stories.

CW: Having got a few books under your belt, what advice do you have students looking to pursue writing as a career be it fiction, technical writing, or journalism?

KSW: I would say that it is important that students are realistic about the limited financial opportunities that writing presents. I think that writing professionally — either technical writing or creative writing — is enormously fulfilling, and worth doing. It is not something I would recommend as a primary source of income.

CW: What are you working on right now?

KSW: Right now, I am working on a sequel. The Sequel is called Sold, and it is about human trafficking. It is a sequel to my previously book, which was called Stumped, and that is a thriller about a serial killer, and the thriller is currently under review with my agent, which means she is reading the manuscript. If she likes it, she will represent it. If the editors she pitches it to like it, they will pitch it to the publisher, and if the publisher likes it, it will be published. Therefore, getting back to the question of a career in writing, you can see there are many points on the path in which any given work can be rejected, so it is a long process, a lot of it has to do with the vagaries of the market, and what people think will sell, which is an ever-moving target. But my hopes are high that the agent will like it, and that will get the ball rolling, plus I will have a sequel reading and waiting whenever the time comes.

CW: Now is this the same agent who represented your memoir?

KSW: it is.

CW: basically, even though the memoir did not sell, or has not sold yet, the process of getting an agent through your memoir has been positive because it built a working relationship that helped with your fiction works?

KSW: Yah, so it took about six months to find and agent for the memoir that I wrote in 2007, and the woman who was the first to offer representation was prestigious, so I was very excited to have her as my agent. She was not able to sell the book, but having an established relationship with her definitely made the process of pitching my new book much faster. My agent is very good about responding to initial queries; writers tell stories about not hearing from agents for nine months, or two years, if ever, and that is not my agent. She specializes in finding new authors, and is very responsive to letters, so it was not a long process to get in touch with her the first time, but the second time it was certainly much easier, friendlier, and simpler.

CW: So that is something a writer can think about. Getting your foot in a door can take a while, but once you get it in, keep at it, keep in communication with your agent even if they may not be able to get you a book deal on your first, they might be able to get you in the subsequent works?

KSW: Yah.

CW: Do not allow yourself to get discourage too quickly?

KSW: Yah and that would be advice I would give to all writers. First, there is no point of writing unless the person loves the process of writing, because there is no guarantee that you will ever be published, make money, or be successful in the public forum. But you are a success if you enjoy it. Second, every major writer has a story about how many hundreds of rejections they suffered; whether it was rejections from agents or publishers, or books that never were sold, then one day, someone discovers them, and it is enormously satisfying.

CW: I kept telling myself, eight rejections was nothing when J. K. Rowling had fifteen. Therefore, what would have happened if she had stopped at 14?

KSW: Right.

CW: No one would know who she is, and she would have probably given it another go with another book, but if you have something to say, and you have a story to tell, do not sell yourself short.

KSW: I believe that you do not even start counting until you have had at least fifty rejections.

CW: I was reading on your website that you have a book with Dystel and Goderich. How long have you had your fiction manuscript with them?

KSW: they have no accepted it yet. They're just reviewing the manuscript.

CW: Have you just gone through the query process? Have you gotten a request for a full manuscript for review at this point?

  

KSW: maybe a week or two ago they asked for the full manuscript.

CW: So you are still in the heat of things. Is there anything else you want people to know about you? Any quirks or funny stories about your life that have helped you keep perspective as a writer? I know, that is a broad question.

KSW: That is a great question, but I cannot think of anything off the top of my head.

NaNoWriMo: Noveling Turbocharged

The room is filled with the din of keyboard keys, the ding of a defiant typewriter coming to the end of its line, and the occasional burst of laughter as someone leaned into a read a line. To the casual observer, the conference room at the Salem Public Library would look like nothing more than a bunch of writers working away on their laptops, or scribbling away with pen on paper. However, this group is different.

     It's November, and for over 200,000 writers worldwide, it is NaNoWriMo time, where daring writers take the month to write 50,000 words on a novel. And for members of the mid-Willamette valley, meetings such as these offer a chance for NaNo'ers, as they are called, to gather, share their stories, goof off, and get some much needed time into their word counts.

     NaNoWriMo firststarted in July of 1999, when a group of 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area decided to try something new, and set out to challenge themselves to write a short novel quickly, allowing in the rush of trying to meet a seemingly impossible deadline for the ideas to flow freely and without censorship. The next year, the group came together, choosing to move the event to its new home of November, and opened a website. From that day forward, the number of participants have steady grown into a worldwide phenomenon, with over 2.8billion words written during the 2010 event alone.

     Moreover, as the event has grown, so too has the yearly meetings with the Salem NaNo region. What once was only ten people sitting at a table in a room at Chemeketa Community College, the growing popularity of the event means the Salem Region, once only one of a handful in Oregon, now boasts nearly 900 members, with hundreds coming to the many write-ins hosted throughout the month of November.

     On Saturday November 5th, after a quick introduction by Jamie King, the Salem Area Municipal Liaison (a volunteer who organizes a region's events), and a few games to break the ice and get the silliness flowing, the writers were off. Each was quickly lost in their own stories as they worked to catch up to the daily word count goal (1,667 being the average daily word count one must write to stay on target.)

     Periodically, Jamie would stand out, and shout over the clack of keyboards to announce that they would be starting a word war, where everyone tries to out type all the rest in a burst of ten-fifteen minutes of writing. The mood in the room changed immediately; as everyone took a quick break to let, their hands have a rest before the sprint. It did not take long into the first Word War to realize how seriously the gathered writers took it. Everyone fell silent, and were focused solely on beating the others, or at least, beating their own record. By the end of it, when people slumped back in their chairs, massaging their wrists (especially those of us who handwrote during the challenge), many walked away with a sizeable portion of their daily word count finished, and three (one each for laptops, typewriter, and handwritten) walked away with a prize.

     However, why would someone want to put themselves through such a grueling challenge as NaNoWriMo?

     Jamie, the long time Salem Area ML summed it up as such: "I was very interested in the idea of being able to write without the constraints of having to worry about editing and the consistency and quality,"

     To the average student who is so intent on getting a good grade on their papers, this approach to writing may seem foreign. The idea of rushing an idea out, and working on the number of words over the quality of what they are saying can seem like a scary thought when you are used to being graded on the content, and not simply the length. However, even our professors here at LBCC see the benefit of throwing caution to the wind, and setting ideas down on paper without censorship.

     Writing Professor, Karelia Stetz-Waters, who is doing her first NaNoWriMo this year, spoke of how stepping away from her usual rigidly structured plans for a story and just jumping in with abandon was in some ways freeing:

     "It allows me to explore the ideas and solutions that would occur to me on the spot that I may have discovered later in the process, but could now weave into my story as I write it, and see what interesting new paths they opened as I continued to write."

     Now, as November continues to wind down, the last push to reach the coveted 50,000 words gets into high gear, those who have taken part are hopefully finding their voice (and a good solution for sore hands), and chugging away at their word count. For some writers, they may love what they have written, and look forward to dig down and edit it as winter continues to settle upon us (There is National Novel Editing Month in March), or those who loathe their novels, and want to burn it, or hide it away from. Either way, each word written is one more word proving that anyone can write a novel if they take up the challenge.

     For now, for the group gathered in the conference room of the Salem Public Library, they just want to get in another few words before Jamie calls the end of the Word War.

At a Glance:

2010: 200,500 participants and 37, 500 winners
Number of official NaNoWriMo chapters around the world: Over 500
Number of K-12 schools who participated in 2010: 1,800
Number of words officially logged during the 2010 event: 2,872,682,109
This years word count as of November 18th: 1,777,694,313

Those wishing to join the fun can signup for a account at www.nanowrimo.org

early incomplete draft of NaNo story

The room is filled with the din of keyboard keys, the ding of a defiant typewriter coming to the end of its line, and the occasional burst of laughter as someone leaned into a read a line. To the casual observer, the conference room at the Salem Public Library would look like nothing more than a bunch of writers working away. However, this group is different.

     It's November, and for over 200,000 writers worldwide, it is NaNoWriMo time, where daring writers take the month to write 50,000 words on a novel. And for members of the mid-Willamette valley, meetings such as these offer a chance for NaNo'ers, as they are called, to gather, share their stories, goof off, and get some much needed time into their word counts.

     NaNoWriMo first started in July of 1999, when a group of 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area decided to try something new, and set out to challenge themselves to write a short novel quickly, allowing in the rush of trying to meet a seemingly impossible deadline for the ideas to flow freely and without censorship. The next year, the group came together, choosing to move the event to its new home of November, and opened a website. From that day forward, the number of participants have steady grown into a worldwide phenomenon, with over 2.8billion words written during the 2010 event alone.

     Moreover, as the event has grown, so too has the yearly meetings with the Salem NaNo region. What once was only ten people sitting at a table in a room at Chemeketa Community College, the growing popularity of the event means the Salem Region, once only one of a handful in Oregon, now boasts nearly 900 members, with hundreds coming to the many write-ins hosted throughout the month of November.

***more to come as I continue to finish transcription of interviews, and work on fleshing out the rest of the article.***

Incomplete Transcript: Profile of Keralia Stetz-Waters

Here is a incomplete transcript of my interview for my profile. I am still trancribing it, and working on a few more interviews for the peice:

Question and Answer - Karelia Stetz-Waters - November 7th, 2011

Cory Warren: What classes do you teach here at Linn-Benton Community College?

Karelia Stetz-Waters: I teach writing 121, I teach technical writing 227, primarily online. I have also taught intro to poetry, intro to fiction, African literature, business communication and I will be teaching writing 115 for the first time.

CW: So, with all those papers to grade, how do you find time to write, yourself?

KSW: I write in the mornings, and on/in the evenings and the weekends, and I try to be very organized and disciplined about my work at work so that I can get my grading done in a 40-hour workweek, as opposed to bringing it home. I also tell my students that that works out well for me and well for them because I'm here, grading, and happy to be doing it. I know myself; if I was grading papers at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night, I would resent it, and no one wants their work read by someone who is resenting doing it. It works out well this way.

CW: What opportunities outside of classrooms does LBCC offer for students to explore writing?

KSW: we have the poetry club. We have the 'fooling around with words' conference, which takes place in April, which is just a writer's conference. Course, we have the creative writing classes, credit and non-credit. Then, hopefully our students are connected with all the neat things that go on in our community; there are always readings at the libraries… all sorts of stuff going on in Albany and Corvallis. Therefore, those are all available to our students.

CW: What is it like as a Professor to be writing a book during school?

KSW: I think it’s a great way to share my student's pain. Their writing a lot, they are pressed for time… they are struggling with the different parts of the writing process… writers block… revisions…. Praise and rejection, and it’s good for their instructors to be going through the same process. Admittedly, my word count is larger, and higher, but the experience is the same, and the five-page paper to a first-year student is just as big as a 50,000 words manuscript feels to me; I have just been doing it longer. And when a student who has been doing it as long as I have been writing, they too will be able to tackle a giant project, so I think it really keeps me honest about what it feels like to be a writer, which is good because it helps me sympathize.

CW: I have always felt self-conciouse about people who are grumbling about a two page paper, and I turned into a five page paper that I wrote the night before. So, basically it's keeping up with what the students are doing.

KSW: And I really believe that writing is like long distance running: a lot of doing it well is just putting in the time, and a lot of being able to write a long document comes from writing many shorter documents, and practicing on the ability to run a marathon comes from running many shorter races.

Building the Future

We often take for granted the gadgets in our pockets, and the effort, problem solving, and innovation that went into making them a reality.

     However, for members of LBCC's Remotely Operated Vehicles Club, ingenuity, imagination, and finding solutions to problems through science is all part of a day's work. They may not be building the next smart phone, but the tasks they set out to solve, and the challenges they are building robots to overcome provide students here at LBCC the chance to dig down, and explore this exciting field of study.

     Greg Mulder, one of the faculty advisors for the group, summed up the ROV club as a diverse group of students in various fields of study who come together for a common cause. Whether it is building a submersible to explore underwater volcanoes, and study estuaries, to working with other schools of all levels to promote an interest in the sciences, the club provides opportunities to develop a strong sense of community. The advisor was not alone in this sentiment.

     "Everyone is welcome," said Jody Eaton, the club's treasurer. She spoke of how everyone worked together, working on each component and task, and then would come together as a whole to share his or her results. The supportive nature of the club means everyone, regardless of who they are, is a part of the collaborative feel, and ultimate success of the projects at hand. "It is fun to watch the evolution of an idea," she said as she worked away on her laptop developing a code for the component she was working on.

     However, it is not all fun and games, as the ROV club tackle real world issues. In the wake of the Deep Horizon explosion, and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the club — along with ROV clubs all over the nation — set out to work on solutions on how to cap the gushing well. The club provides the opportunity to work on real world problems, taking hands on approach to finding solutions to seemingly insurmountable challenges.

     "One of the things we do is simulating a test or do a challenge," said Michael Tilse, a returning club member. "For our competitions, we are given instructions on props to build so that we can build our ROV to fulfill certain tasks." Michael, who helps design the components and control systems for the ROVs spoke of how the process of building a robot for a competition often starts with nothing more than a few hints from the group running the competition itself. Throughout the year, using the hints given (this year seeming to point to the salvaging of underwater WWII debris), the club will work on building the ground work for a robot, adding to and changing it as they learn more about the task they will ultimately be putting the ROV through its paces in.

     The club is open to all interested students, regardless of their skill levels, for this is not only a place to work on robotics, but also a place to learn new skills, from the fabrication of parts, the coding of computer programs, to technical writing of reports on how various aspects of the process are moving along. Anyone interested in joining can contact Greg Mulder, or come to Madrone Hall 113 on Monday or Wednesday at 4pm for the club meetings.

Reaching the Future - a new year for the LBCC ROV club.

For my second article, I hope to interview and explore what the R.O.V. (robotics) Club is going to work on this year. Last year, the club won a prestigious robotics challenge, so the question is 'where do you go from here'.

My prospective sources are Greg Mulder, a faculty adviser, and the students who participate.

My questions for the advisers and club members are:

1. How did your success last year as a club inspire what you are doing this year?

2. Are you preparing for any competitions this year, and what goes into getting your robots ready?

3. When and where do you meet, and who can interested students contact about joining?

Understanding Campus Diversity

In November of 2010, someone posted flyers on campus, causing quite a stir. The flyers, which included the contact information of a LBCC faculty member to make them appear official, mocked a group of students within our LBCC community, and ridiculed an upcoming event.

     The flyers reminded us of the importance of diversity on campus, both in our student body, and in the recognition of differing opinions that are a part of our community. As we begin a new year here at LBCC, we now have an opportunity to explore how our differences can bring us together, and help us learn to live in a world where diversity is our cultural reality.

     The flyers themselves, posted anonymously on the boards around the Courtyard, rebranded an upcoming discussion panel on LGBT issues as 'Come to Jizzfest 2010' speaking of the event as 'it's Cumtastic'. The response by the student body as the news spread of what happened ranged from shock that such a thing would happen, to passionate debates about if taking down the flyer had constituted a breach of first amendment rights. Articles appeared in the Commuter, debating multiple sides of the issue. Students signed letters denouncing the attitudes presented in the flyers themselves.

     However, beyond that, most students were at a lost as to what they could do to celebrate and promote our diversity. It is easy as a student to feel there is little they can do to shape their experiences here at LBCC.

     As we settle into a new year, we now have an opportunity to do just that. We as students do have chances to reach out, and help broaden our understanding in issues of diversity of all types. For those who are new here at LBCC, the Diversity Achievement Center is a great place to hang out, meet with like-minded students, and learn. Located on the second floor of the courtyard, and just to the north of the Learning center, the D.A.C. is open to students, and is a resource students can use.

     "Everything we do at the D.A.C. is about learning, teaching, and experience different aspects of diversity," Said Associate Dean of Students, Sandra Shinkle. "Get involved; get engaged. There are many opportunities. Volunteer, participate, and come to events."

     Any students can suggest topics for events at the D.A.C., allowing everyone to be empowered, and are encouraged to do so.

     As Counselor, Mark Weiss said, "I always hope education brings us to a higher state of being."

     Our diversity as a campus is a role we the students hold. It is an opportunity to broaden our understanding of a world that grows more globally connected with each passing day. We come to learn from our teachers, but we also have the chance to learn from each other. This is the great and untold secret of the college experience.   

     The posting of the flyers was an act that done quietly, but the response to it was anything but. We came together in the aftermath of the incident, and we must remember that we do not need to wait until such an event has taken place to speak openly and civil about matters of diversity.

     In the words of Martian Luther King Jr.: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

     We may not always feel this way, but no one is powerless.

Missing information

While reading through some agregated entertainment news articles, I found one that really annoyed me. It was not that it was poorly written, but that is teased information that it did not deliver. If you are going to say that an actor was offered a role in a film, but turned it down, wanting to have a bigger role, should we not know what role he was offered? it seems like a peice of the story that is missing, but needs to be there.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/214642/David-Walliams-Harry-Potter-blunder/

My First News Story.

My first news story will be devoted to 'Students Rights' in relations to Diversity, Harassment, and Bullying on campus. With the rash of suicides of students all over the nation in response to being harassed and intimidated , and last years hate fliers that went up on LBCC Campus boards, empowering the students to know their rights, and who they can turn to for help among the staff and student body is important for all students.

I look forward to my meeting Monday to interview the Acting Associate Dean of Students, our GSA Faculty Advisers, and hopefully Counselor Mark Weiss, if I can get a chance to sit down with him.

I will post information on my process as it continues from idea to completed story.

Update - 10-2-2011: I have secured an interview on Wednesday with Mark Weiss, who has been an active advocate for students on campus, and has joined GSA meetings and events a few times. as of now, I have meetings Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so I guess this is as close as I can expect to get for 'going down to the line' in my journalism class... I hope. I am going to try to work on some leads and statistics about my topic on Monday evening to have some pre-written passages rough drafted, then work on intigrating quotes and new information from each of my interview as I get them.

This is already turning out to be vastly different from my work in fiction, where I tend to get all my details and information bits before I do any writing on a scene itself.

Update -  10-5-2011: Feeling sick, but still trudging ahead regardless. I conducted my interview on Monday with Sandra Shinkle, the current Acting Associate Dean of Students here at Linn Benton Community College, and am currently waiting on a email response from the GSA Faculty advisers, and my 4pm meeting with Counselor Mark Weiss to wrap up my quote and information gathering. I have a good bit of information already, and have started to rough draft my story for Friday, but until I get all my quotes, I do not want to commit to where, and in what order, the ones I select will appear in my story.

This is a early draft of what I do have pre-written:

In November of 2010, flyers were posted on campus, and caused quite a stir. The flyers themselves, which appeared on the boards around the courtyard, denigrated both a faculty member, and a whole group of students within our college community. In the Diversity Achievement Center, students had gathered to watch a documentary titled 'Out in the Silence', about the challenges of being gay in small rural town. The filmmaker, Joseph Wilson, who had come to LBCC to speak with the audience, was as surprised as the students were to learn of the incident. The flyers were a reminder of attitudes shown in the film they had just finished watching.

     The posting of the flyers was an act that happened quietly, but the response that surged through the Linn Benton community as a result was anything but. Articles appeared in the Commuter, bringing about passionate discussions about the rights of students, Freedom of Speech, and the effects and consequences of such behavior as demonstrated by the flyers themselves.

Update 10-6-2011: here is the first full rough draft. I feel there are moments where I am being redundant, which seems like a good opportunity to find easy places to further tighten my writing, and make it more concise. it is 590 words, and think my teacher was hoping for around 500, so hopefully I am in the right direction. I am going to snack, go work out to clear my head (and enjoy not being sick anymore), then sit down with it to see where I can really make some changes.

"In November of 2010, flyers were posted on campus and caused quite a stir. The flyers themselves — appearing on the boards around the courtyard — denigrated both a faculty member, and a whole group of students within our college community.

     The posting of the flyers was an act that happened quietly, but the response that surged through the Linn Benton community as a result was anything but. Articles appeared in the Commuter, bringing about passionate discussions about the rights of students, Freedom of Speech, and the effects and consequences of such behavior demonstrated by the flyers themselves. Students were discussing it in their classes. It even made the MSNBC news ticker crawl.

     Now as we begin a new year here at LBCC, we face the prospect of an already highly charged and divisive election cycle. Passions run deep, and in such a large campus community, opinions are as diverse as the student body itself, especially with issues that asks us to define who we are, and what we believe. It can be easy for people to feel threatened, or their rights infringed upon when we move beyond the realms of simple disagreement.

     As we look to the year ahead, we now as a student body, have an opportunity to use the example of past incidents to help us come together, even in the face of differing opinions and values. We as students are not powerless in shaping the experience we have here at LBCC. The Diversity Achievement Center is always looking for interesting topics that can help broaden students understanding of the issues. As the current Dean of Students, Sandra Shinkle said, "Everything we do in the D.A.C. is about learning, teaching, and experiencing different aspects of diversity. Get involved. Get engaged. There are lots of opportunities: volunteer, participate, and come to events."

    

     Counselor Mark Weiss summed it up as such when discussing the experiences our diversity can bring to us, "I always hope education brings us to a higher state of being."

     The aftermath of the flyers last year is an example not simply of intolerance and intimidation, but also the resilience of our student body. They gathered, speaking out against the mentality expressed by the flyers. They signed letters renouncing the attack on members of our faculty and student body. However, we must remember that the strength of our campus lies in the ability of all to feel safe and welcomed. We can disagree passionately on controversial issues without being disagreeable.

     In the coming year, if you feel as a student that you are being harassed for who you are, or what you believe in, or if you feel, as some felt in the immediate aftermath of the flyers, that your safety is in question, know that you have a campus that supports you, whoever you are. Students who witness, or are the victim of discrimination or intimidation can contact the counseling office, or the office of the Dean of Students.

     Whoever posted the flyer may have thought they were the one welding the power, however, in the end the students stood up against the incident. We may not always feel that way, but no one is powerless.

Update 10-7-2011: Will post final draft after class.


At a Glance: 'Understanding Campus Diversity'

What: The roles and opportunities students have in promoting and dealing with issues of diversity on campus.

Why: Past incidents involving issues of discrimination and intimidation, and the consequences and responses to such actions.

Resources: Counseling Center, Dean of Students, Offices of Campus Security, and Diversity Achievement Center.

Extra Quotes: "Prejudice tries to rationalize things." - Mark Weiss.

Why it matters: It is the goal of the college to welcome and encourage civil discourse among the students and faculties to help build community and understanding.