Sometimes corpses have familiar faces

Fiction writer and Pulitzer prize winning journalist Edna Buchanan continues to strike gold with her best selling novel The Corpse had a Familiar Face.

Originally published in 1987, Edna Buchanan ruthlessly grabs readers by the wrist and drags them down the rabbit hole that is the life of a news reporter on the police and crime beat, like no one else can.

Throught the course of this journey readers will realize three very important truths:

#1 - Finding your dream job is often just a matter of looking for it. Early in the book Edna talks extensively about her passion for telling stories. As the book progresses she talks about her move to Miami and how she managed to turn the personal escape of a creative writing class into a lifelong career.

#2 - Sex is the bane of human existance. "Sex gets people killed, put in jail, beaten up, bankrupted, and disgraced, to say nothing of ruined -- personally, politically, and professionally." (pg. 84)

#3 - No matter how many times they screw up, the judge is still more likely to rule in favor of the mother. (pg. 316-317) Sam, an almost three and a half year old, had "swallowed bleach, overdosed on pills, escaped from his room when it mysteriously burst into flames so intense that they shattered windows, and turned blue and stopped breathing, his air cut off by a plastic laundry bag found over his head" before drowning in a mere seven inches of bathwater. His father sought custody, and the judge ruled against him in spite of all of this, and the fact that the mother's first child died in the same squalid drowning.

At a glance:

Who: Edna Buchanan

How: The Corpse Had a Familiar Face published by Pocket Books

When: 1987 and revised and updated in 2004

Why: Because it's just damn fun to read.

The Albany Democrat-Herald presents a unique learning experience

Linn-Benton Community College journalism students received an opportunity to tour the offices of local newspaper, the Albany Democrat-Herald, late Wednesday morning.

Since the offices have switched to running a morning edition paper (with an 11 p.m. deadline) six weeks ago, the environment was rather subdued and serene, which made for a much more intimate experience than it might have been, had the presses been up and running to meet the out the door deadline.

Steve Lundeberg led the tour throughout the editorial offices, and production centers, showing students the entire process of putting the paper together. From typing up the stories, running off the production plates and printing through the press, all the way to packing and binding for distribution.

Seeing first hand how much paper is used in the printing process, approximately 900 lbs and 7 miles of paper (unrolled end to end) per day, questions come to mind regarding not only the viability of continuing a print edition, but also along the lines of ecological sustainability.

In the editorial conference room, a month's worth of papers decorates the wall, charting the sales and income each edition generated, to help staff better understand not only what is economically viable, but also what readers enjoy seeing in terms of content. The Democrat-Herald has it's volumes archived back through 1900, which stands as a testament to the paper's heritage.

Profile: Art Robinson

No security guards.

No roadblocks.

No obstacles.

Just an average guy standing on the side of the road in a weathered Carhart jacket, holding his own campaign sign.

Meet Art Robinson.

Who is this man, and why does anyone care if he gets elected?

According to his website he's a scientist and an educator. He has earned a BS from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD from the University of California at San Diego. He's been on the faculty at the University of California San Diego, he's been the President and Research Professor for the Linus Pauling Institute, and he's currently President and Research Professor for the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

Looking at his website might imply that Mr. Robinson is a true, dyed in the wool patriot, with red, white and blue colors, and antiqued flag and copy of the U.S. Constitution behind him in his header. It says that he carries the message of "American freedom and American exceptionalism" for every voter to hear.




According to Noah Robinson, Art Robinson's 33 year old son and campaign manager, Art Robinson is a "fine man," an exacting scientist who is knowledgable and has a high degree of personal character.




Art Robinson is proving himself to be a tenacious individual, not only with regard to his working and educational backgrounds, but also for having declared his intentions to run for office again, on the same night as his defeat.




In his own words, Art Robinson is a good candidate for office "because I'm for smaller government, and more liberty."

At a glance:

Where does Mr. Robinson stand on the issues?

Jobs: Reduce federal taxes and regulations on corporations to encourage them to hire more people.

Medical care: Rolling back government regulations on the healthcare industry and changing tort laws will raise the quality of and lower costs for medical care which already is the "best in the world."

Immigration: "Restore American borders."

Dealing with Congress: "Require that every Congressional action conform to the U.S. Constitution in every respect."

The Federal budget: "Balance the federal budget and defund all pork barrel and earmark projects - and prohibit by law the purchase of Congressional votes with tax-funded favors."

LBCC celebrates the grand opening of the Lebanon campus learning center

With an air of excitement and the smell of freshly baked pizza wafting down the corridor, staff couldn't wait to talk to students about the new learning center on the Lebanon campus.

As campus staff stood ready to address questions regarding the services the new learning center can provide, Marcia Chambers, Heather Townsend and Karen Hill took a few minutes to give a short tour of the facility and offer pertinent information for students who couldn't make it to the event.

The new learning center is designed to mimic all of the same services that are provided at the Albany campus, to help alleviate their burden, and offer support that is closer to home for students in Lebanon and Sweet Home. The new center has 5 computer workstations available for general use, a testing center, tutoring services, and even a TV/VCR available for those who might need to utilize it. Although the testing center is currently only set up to cater to the classes offered at the Lebanon Center, the possibility of opening availability to classes offered at the other campuses might exist for the future. Students present at the event were excited for the new center, as these services had not been previously offered on site to this extent.

When asked what the primary goal of the new learning center was, Karen Hill replied, "To give the students a sense of support." It is the hope of staff that by having a learning center in Lebanon more students will utilize the campus for filling their course schedule and take advantage of the smaller, quieter location. "Students need to express their needs, so that we know what classes we need to make available [at the satellite campuses]."

Lebanon Center Director, Mary Sue Reynolds says "We would like to see more students to take advantage of the Lebanon campus and come and visit the new learning center." If students would like to express an interest in expanding the courses offered at the Lebanon Center, they are encouraged to call Mary Sue Reynolds or Dawn McNannay (Director of Linn County Centers) at 541-259-5807.

Diversity a priority on LBCC campus

At an impromtu press conference this afternoon, Toni Klohk (Diversity Achievment Center {DAC} Coordinator), expressed the importance of having a safe space for students of all orientations and cultural backgrounds.

The DAC is a dedicated space on campus for students to gather, talk, learn and educate each other about what it means to live and be a part of diverse community. Mrs. Klohk's stated 'mission' for the DAC is to "promote understanding, acceptance and provide an opportunity for students to experience culture and diversity that they have not experienced before."

Students can come and eat lunch, do homework, read, use the computers or just hang out and talk to staff and fellow students. The DAC is intended to faciliate open and honest dialogue about topics that students might feel intimidated by talking about elsewhere in their day to day lives.

The DAC receives funding to allow campus clubs to have events and host presentations, and so far this term, has been buzzing with activity having already hosted 2 events for the Gay Straight Alliance and one for the Peace Studies Club. Students who work in the DAC are integrated as part of the student life and leadership program, and help to facilitate their own multi-cultural programming as well.

The DAC is located in Forum room 220, on the second floor just above the Hot Shot Cafe, and Mrs. Klohk is typically there to assist students Mon.-Fri. until 5:00.

At a glance:

Where: Diversity Achievement Center, Forum room 220

What: Native American Flute Workshop

When: Nov. 10th at 3:00

Sponsored by: The Native American Student Union

Why: To teach people about the importance of the flute to Native American culture.

Parking lot complaints abound at LBCC

"That's the fourth time I was almost hit!"

Exclaimed student Raul Laurence, after explaining his frustration over the amount of large trucks speeding through parking lot, oblivious to the speed reduction bumps in place to encourage safe and cautious driving.

So far, since the beginning of the Fall term, there have been 66 traffic citations written by security in the parking lots on campus, that's a 600% increase from the total amount of 11 written in the entirety of the previous Spring term.

Marcine Olson, the head of Safety and Loss Prevention, provides a sense of what is going on with the parking lots on campus, and it seems a lack of respect and common courtesy coupled with careless driving and inattentative behavior seem to be the main culprits to LBCC's parking lot woes.

Looking at the serious side of things, to date there has been two car to car incidents, one pedestrian (an employee) hit by a car, one vehicle break in, one vandalized vehicle, one case of menacing a pedestrian with a vehicle, and roughly 3 speeding warnings a day.

Student Jordan Turnstill says "I think if the school were to make part of their big field into more parking, then everything would be a lot nicer."

There has been a work order in place since the beginning of the term to have a lane division with directional arrows painted into the new one way exits to mitigate some of traffic backing up when leaving the parking lot.

The office of Safety and Loss Prevention has been stepping up additional efforts to make educational materials more visible to the student body, but stresses the importance of students to take the initiative to be courteous to one another and slow down to try to make the campus safer for everyone.

To report and incident or to voice additional concerns, please contact Marcine Olson in the office of Safety and Loss Prevention at 541-917-4309.

At a glance:

Who: Average LBCC students

What: Parking lot safety concerns

When: Fall Term

Who to contact: Marcine Olson at 541-917-4309

Event to cover for story #3

Meeting or speech story used for story #2, GSA bullying presentation.

News story for #3, LBCC low-cost dental hygiene program.

Got teeth? LBCC Dental Hygiene Program offers low-cost treatments for students

Do you want to have better teeth? Sure, we all do. Well now you can! The Dental Hygiene program at LBCC offers a more affordable alternative for routine dental treatments, right here on campus.

Instructor Tina Clarke and administrative assistant Debbie Hernandez were asked to provide more information on how the program works, also to ask, why do students want to know about it?

The program offers a comprehensive dental exam, teeth cleaning and fluoride treatment for $40 (seniors ages 60 and over receive a $10 discount), and a full series of x-rays for $25, after receiving a free initial evaluation. Other services such as sealants and bleaching can also be provided at discounted rates as well.

The Dental Hygiene program was started at LBCC in 2007, as a two year distance education program administered by Lane Community College. This has opened up an opportunity for students to receive this type of specialized training locally, without having to commute, and expands the talent pool for local businesses as well.

Admittance to the program is highly competitive and once the two year cycle has begun, no new students are admitted until the preceding class has graduated. The program is supported by grant funding and collects modest fees for services to offset the costs of supplies, enabling them to offer low cost services for the community. Services are provided year round, with the exception of the first month or two of every new class cycle.

Students in the program learn not only through lecture and coursework, but also through extensive hands on experience under the supervision of a licensed dentist. When asked whether she felt the program adequately prepared students for the workplace, student Jenny Tegner cited the over 50% hands on training the curriculum provides for as being a primary reason she feels confident she will graduate with the necessary skills. She also recommended the program to anyone who likes detail oriented, structured working environments that provide enough schedule flexibility to have a life outside of work.


Students Jenny Tegner (blue scrubs) and Hannah Brink (white jacket) demonstrate how to properly brush.

For prospective patients, to schedule an appointment call Debbie Hernandez at 541-917-4494. For students interested in participating in the program, additional information can be found at LCC's website.


At a glance:

When: Thursday and Friday afternoons

Where: Red Cedar Hall, room 211

Who for: Uninsured or under insured college students and adult community members

How much: $65 for exam and x-rays

Who to contact: Debbie Hernandez at the LBCC Dental Hygiene Clinic, 541-917-4494.



Your friendly cleaning staff; Heidi Elias (navy blue), Hannah Brink (light blue), Stevie Beard (green), Tina Clarke (gray t-shirt), Marilee Tennant (pink), and Jenny Tegner (gray scrubs).

Top 3 things journalists should never do.....

Reading the list it strikes me as actually being the top things journalists should do....

In any event, these are the ones that stood out to me the most:

#2 Always be willing to let any answer -- including one on deadline -- completely change the story's direction.

I like this one because it's a good reminder to stay open-minded about the information you collect, things often aren't always as they seem or how our preconceptions tell us they should be.

#7 Be responsive. When a reader gets in touch, listen & follow up. Without an engaged audience, you're talking to yourself.

I think we all have the tendancy to be somewhat self absorbed, this reminds us that the other half of speaking is listening, and not listening can mean missed opportunities.

#13 Never say you're unbiased. You are biased. The best journalists mitigate their biases, they don't deny them.


This pretty much speaks for itself, but I will add that even if you have a personal bias, that doesn't mean you cannot objectively present both sides, it's really a matter of giving someone else a voice that you don't interrupt.

GSA: Bullies and Bullying

Have you been bullied or are you the bully?

Two questions asked at the presentation on bullying and cyber bullying hosted by the LBCC Gay Straight alliance (GSA) on National Coming Out Day (also National Indigenous Peoples Day), Monday, Oct. 11th.

As these questions were asked to the 82 students in attendance, an anonymous poll was taken via electronic tally, and the results were surprising. 84% said that they had been previously bullied, however, in an unexpected twist 82% said that they had actually been a bully themselves at some point in time. Participants met to discuss what bullying is, how to identify it in personal behavior, and what to do to stop it from happening in the future.

Karelia Stetz-Waters and Greg Mulder, faculty advisors for the GSA, defined bullying as "repeated acts of physical, emotional or social behavior that are intentional, controlling or hurtful" to another individual or group of individuals. They went on to discuss different types of direct and indirect bullying, and how people, much like chickens, often begin to exhibit bullying behaviors at an early age, subconciously attempting to establish a "pecking order."

The discussion gave way to allow audience members the opportunity to express instances where they had themselves been the bully, and offer explanations regarding what had caused them to behave the way they had. It was emphasized that in all cases bullying behavior involves a "real or perceived imbalance of power," and the fact that even teachers and employers can be in a position to be bullied by students and employees, given the right set of circumstances.

Continuing the discussion, the presentation then turned to the guest speaker, Poet and retired OSU professor Roger Weaver, who has spent some time recently lobbying for passage of anti-bullying legislation here in Oregon. Mr. Weaver continued to talk about identifying reasons why bullying continues to go unreported in schools and emphasized how much change can be made by simply standing in solidarity alongside someone who is being bullied.

Before the presentation wrapped up, staff at the Diversity Achievement Center (DAC) made sure to point out that the DAC is a campus 'safe space,' and are there to assist anyone who is feeling intimidated or harassed, as well as counselor Mark Weiss noted being available for anyone who needed to talk.

After the presentation, I asked Lynne Cox (Associate Dean of Students) to provide some statistical data showing how well LBCC is doing in terms of reducing the instances of bullying on campus. She feels that LBCC seems to be doing relatively well considering there are more than 8,000 full-time students on campus and the school typically handles less than 10 instances a year (including summer) that would be considered bullying or harassment. She also offered this bit of advice:

"No student at LBCC deserves to be treated with anything but respect.

If I were to offer students advice, my first advice would be to people who are interested in asking someone out on a date or who get asked out. Ask once. Be clear. Is "No," meant to be no, not today or no never? As a courtesy, when we ask someone out, we need to know if they welcome us asking another time, or if we should not ask again. If we are the person on the side of saying, "No thanks," it helps to be very clear. Do not leave people guessing. Don't be ambiguous. When someone asks a person out repeatedly, it eventually becomes harassment. Our college code says, "We each need to try to resolve our own confllcts."

My next advice would be to those who see people at LBCC whom they don't like or are different than them. LBCC is committed to diversity. We welcome everyone. Each person contributes to the college, and we are stronger for our differences. Please learn about those who are not like you. The fact that someone else or their behaviors make you uncomfortable does not mean you are unsafe. If we learn about one another, we will not be tempted to bully others."

Additional information about bullying can be found at the HRSA website, the U.S. Dept. of Justice website, and at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network website.

At a glance:

Who: Hosted by the Gay Straight Alliance

What: Presentation on bullies and bullying

Why: To discuss strategies to identify and prevent bullying behavior on campus

Story idea #2

Cover GSA bullying presentation.

Who does it affect?
What is the scope of the presentation?
How many are in attendance?
How does it affect the student body?

Campus GSA offers a safe space for all

Can you openly walk into school holding the hand of your signficant other? When asking someone out on date are you confident you won't be rejected based on perceived soceital norms? Do you ever feel others are judging you and need somewhere to turn? Have you ever been made fun of because people perceived you as being "different?"

The LBCC Gay Straight alliance (GSA) is a campus club that welcomes all LBCC students and faculty who are part of, or are sympathetic to the needs and concerns of the LGBT community.

According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA; an agency within the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services), bullying is defined as "aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength," and often "is repeated over time."

The HRSA has produced an entire website designed to educate students and parents with regard to bullying, how to recognize it, and how to diminsh the occurance and it's effects. That website can be found here.

The HRSA informational material points out that according to The National School Climate Survey,

"three-quarters of the high school students surveyed heard derogatory and homophobic remarks “frequently” or “often” at school, and 90 percent heard the term “gay” used generally to imply someone is stupid or something is worthless. Bullying around issues of sexual orientation, non-conforming gender behaviors and dress was the most common form of bullying, second only to issues of appearance (e.g., body size and disability)."

In another 2005 poll,

"60 percent of students (aged 13-18) had been verbally or physically harassed or assaulted during the past school year because of real or “perceived race/ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, or religion." Over half of these incidences were thought to be based on sexual orientation alone."

and in another survey of teens conducted by the National Mental Health Association (NMHA),

"78 percent of teens reported that kids who are gay or who are thought to be gay are teased or bullied in their schools and communities; 93 percent hear other youth use derogatory words about sexual orientation at least once in a while, and 51 percent hear these words every day."

For individuals in need of help and encouragement, please watch the videos from the It Gets Better Project, and maybe post one of your own as well. There are currently over 1 million youtube.com channel views and over 14,000 subscribers to this project.

Currently in her second year as campus advisor for the GSA, Karelia Stetz-Waters says that "One of the reasons why this club is so important to me right now is because of the findings of a recent study (2010: The State of Higher Education for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People; a national college climate survey conducted by the Q research institute for higher education) that shows students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender do not feel much more comfortable on college campuses now than they did 30 years ago."

When asked about the GSA's primary purpose and goal, she replied "I want the GSA to be a safe place for students, staff, and faculty of all sexual orientations to meet, make friends, and talk. Next, I would like to see the club work to make the entire campus community a safe place for everyone. Homophobia and the ensuing bullying doesn’t just hurt gays and lesbians. It hurts everyone, because it makes the campus unfriendly and unsafe."

The campus GSA needs participation from the straight community as much as it needs participation from the LGBT community to bring people together to help focus on the things that make us the same, de-emphasize our differences, and help us all come together as a community.

If you are concerned about any of these things or are concerned about people who are, the GSA needs you!

At a glance box:

The Gay-Straight Alliance

Purpose: To provide a place for like minded people to meet and discuss the concerns of the LGBT community.

When: Mondays at 2 p.m.

Where: The Diversity Achievement Center (DAC), Forum room 220

Upcoming events: National Coming Out day, Oct. 11th; Bullying presentation at 12-12:50 in the DAC

Advisor contacts: Karelia Stetz-Waters & Greg Mulder

The surface of me.

Tim Downin

Father, professional photographer, Naturalist,science nerd, music lover, and currently a Liberal Arts major.

I could go on and make an exhaustive laundry list of things I like and dislike, yet you'd still know little about who I am.

What seems most relevant at this point in time is to answer the question I'm getting asked most frequently; what do you want to do when you grow up?

As Stephen Colbert so elequently put it recently, 'I like to talk about people who have no power.' I see myself putting my passion for talking about people with no power to good use in a field that will help, and stand up for the least among us.

Media blog post #1 - Movie review

When You're Strange - A documentary about The Doors, narrated by Johnny Depp.



The movie begins with a car crash, a Morrison look-alike gets out of the wreck and begins hitchhiking along the road. A car stops to pick him up and cuts to the next scene where he's now driving the car, alone, through the desert, and listening to a radio broadcast announcer stating that Morrison died that day in Paris. Are they implying the death was faked? A hoax?

Next we see performance scenes from the band's history, interspersed with album covers, playing as if being rewound from last to first. Stop. Again, our look-alike, reviewing a map of California. We get some brief historical context, and then a famous scene of the band introducing themselves coming off a plane.

What follows is the standard history of how the band came together, narrated over real footage of the band, some performance, some casual. While the other members of the band are discussed, the focus is still predominately on Morrison.



All in all I think the documentary is a good film, and it's much more real and honest compared to the movie Olive Stone did a few years ago, but it feels a bit redundant from a fan's perspective. They offer some footage that isn't as commonly circulated, and that is very nice to see, but it still feels like just another movie about Jim Morrison.



The film closes with a mention that his father finally acknowledged Morrison...10 years after his death....



Related links:

http://www.thedoors.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors

Media blog post #2 - CD review

Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction




















Symphony of Destruction - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2LG7JXK5mQ&feature=related

or the destruction of a career?

When contemplating a cd review, this is the first that came to mind, not because I think it's particularly well written or enjoyable (I do think that, but we'll get to that later), but because I feel it was a tipping point in not only in the band's career, but for the overall genre as well.

Taken from the band's wikipedia page:

"Countdown to Extinction is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in 1992. It is the band's best-selling album selling over two million copies and achieving Double platinum status. The album also produced the band's most successful hit singles: "Symphony of Destruction", "Sweating Bullets", "Skin O' My Teeth" and "Foreclosure of a Dream". Videos were made for all singles and also for "High Speed Dirt".
Countdown to Extinction was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards.

According to "National Album Positioning Charts", Countdown To Extinction sold 2,197,960 albums in United States.

It is the band's first album not to feature their mascot Vic Rattlehead on the album cover."


Foreclosure of a Dream - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pQK6bh5zkI

"It's about what happened to my family under the Reagan administration. The government put my family, who were farmers in Minnesota, out of business." (Ellefson, 1992)

You'll notice that I'm including videos from the album on this post, and while I will make a larger point about them later, I would like to point out that they're not imbedded in the post because I wanted to include the original videos and youtube has them marked as 'embedding disabled by request.'

Sweating Bullets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOnKCcjP8Qs&feature=avmsc2

To offer a point of referrence, I was a freshman in high school when this album was released in 1992. At that time I, along with most of my other friends who enjoy this type of music, felt very betrayed by the release of this album, and with the clarity of hindsight it seems many others did as well. Not because an artist we enjoyed failed to deliver a good piece of work, they did that much, but because they obviously made some changes (read: compromises) to their creative style in an attempt to make more money.

The album that was released prior to this, Rust in Peace, had one very commercial track that became a big single for the band,

Hangar 18 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDnBpdL-aOs&feature=avmsc2

This was a double edged sword for the band. On one hand it opened them up to a wider fan base and really attracted the attention of MTV, on the other hand, the pressures and problems that come with that success ultimately came along with it. The real problem for the band though, was that the commercial qualities of that song weren't what most of their fan base wanted, nor was it really what gave them the brief success they enjoyed and caused Countdown to Extinction to debut at #2 on Billboard's chart. The real reason for that success was that Rust in Peace was full of amazing musical intricacy, such as what is displayed in this song:



or this song:



Apparently no one stopped to ask the fans which part they liked more, and as a result this album rode on the coattails of it's predecessor. What is sad, even in the liner notes written by Dave Mustaine for the 2005 re-release, he fails to realize this was the case. I could sit here and talk about it all day, but I'd rather let you hear some of the evidence for yourself. Below you'll find the official studio version that was originally released for two songs, and the original demo versions for those same songs (included on the 2005 reissue) that were offered as a start, before the folks at the label got ahold of them. Ignore the vocals on the demos, they're pretty rough, but if you can listen beyond, you'll hear the musical direction that this album should have taken and would have given the band continued success and longevity.

Countdown to Extinction (Official release) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2EMyYrZ4nk

"This is no safari, the hunt is canned"

Countdown to Extinction (Demo version) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aobSpxJMBFA


Architecture of Aggression (Official release) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PcqqV4p-6Q

Architecture of Aggression (Demo Version) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8hOMzY51d0

All in all this was a solid effort from an already accomplished band, but it could have been more and carved a much more direct pathway for the artists that came next.

Media blog post #3 - Concert review

In June of last year (2009) I witnessed what I consider to be the best musical performance I have ever seen, and ironically it wasn't in the traditional fashion, it was also the first concert I've seen that was 100% streamed live over the internet. The show was Faith No More (www.FNM.com) at the Download festival in the UK. This was the beginning of their renunion tour, and only the second show they had played in over ten years (they stopped touring in 1998).

The show wasn't without it's gliches, actually it's really funny to watch Mike Patton forget the lyrics like he does close to the end of The Real Thing (about 7:28, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0TuIKVoF4Q&feature=related ), but all in all the show's sound was flawless and the song lineup had something for every fan including a creatively placed Peaches and Herb cover to kick things off; Reunited -

The highlights for me were the inclusion of From Out of Nowhere, Land of Sunshine, Chinese Arithmetic, Evidence, Last Cup of Sorrow, Midlife Crisis, Ashes to Ashes and Stripsearch.

To Learn more about Faith No More, the summary on their Wikipedia page does a fairly nice job of parsing their history down to a sound bite, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_No_More. In my opinion, this is one of the most important bands of my generation, no other has been as been as successful in effectively cross pollenating music genres or has been as influential to so many other artists. You can also find Roddy Bottum's blog here: http://www.roddybottum.com/roddybottum.com/blog/blog.html

Fortunately you can still watch the rest of the show, albeit piecemeal, here:

2 - The Real Thing -

3 - From Out of Nowhere -

4 - Land of Sunshine -

5 - Caffeine -

6 - Evidence -

7 - Poker Face/Chinese Arithmetic -

8 - Surpise! You're Dead! -

9 - Easy -

10 - Last Cup of Sorrow -

11, 12, 13 - Midlife Crisis, Introduce Yourself, Gentle Art of Making Enemies -

14 - Take This Bottle -

15 - Ashes to Ashes -

16 - Malpractice -

17 - Cuckoo for Caca -

18 - Be Aggressive -

19, 20 - Epic, Mark Bowen -

21 - Chariots of Fire/Stripsearch -

22 - We Care A Lot -

Marketing success

- Local farmer's markets are a great way to find good quality plants, foods and other goods, as well as a great way to support your local business economy.

- Jan Boucot spins wool from the alpacas she raises on her farm, and brings the hats, gloves, and scarves she makes to sell at the market.

- Stephan Kutsch harvests Maiitake mushrooms out at Snow Peak Mushroom farm in Lacomb, before they can packaged and delivered for sale.

- Dean Lebrett performs the evening milking as the first step in the cheese making process at the Fraga goat cheese farm in Sweet Home.

- Packaged Shiitake mushrooms just waiting to be taken home and eaten!

Details, details, details.....

Max Brown, Justin Bolger and Lisa Bowman discuss whether or not to continue printing 'perspective' pieces in the weekly Communter.

The tiny majors

As part of the Albany little league, the White Sox and Twins go head to head on Thursday, May 20th. White Sox head coach Richard Fox takes an active role with his team and says he has a number of players with excellent potential to move on to productive professional careers.

Photo Essay project

Thinking about doing it on the Lebanon Downtown Farmer's Market, any thoughts?

Giving back to the community

Keller Williams employees Pete Early, Sue Long, Lionel Wilson, and Mike Saunders participate in their annual "Red Day." Once a year Keller Williams organizes community service events to geared towards helping people in need and increasing volunteerism within the community. On 05/13/10, this group was out at River Park in Corvallis, helping the city parks and recreation department with much needed landscaping tasks.

An alternate neighborhood.....

- Sandra Gutierrez owns and operates Dos Arbolitos, an authentic Mexican restaurant on Main St. in old downtown Lebanon. She and her husband, Alonzo, have owned the business for 13 years, and have two other locations. The Albany location has been open for 9 years, while the Corvallis location is celebrating it's one year anniversary this summer.

- Little Josh Robinson plays his hand valiantly at the Pokemon trading card game league at The Pizza Factory. The Pokemon league meets every saturday afternoon, and offers kids of all ages an opportunity for something fun to do, rain or shine.

- Cindy Richard, the owner of the historic Lebanon Hotel, stands out front with her sign for the Lebanon Cafe coffee shop while renovations are being done next door to reopen the hotel at a later date.

My Neighborhood

- The closest landmark to my house is the American Legion, who caters to veterans and military families.

- Sandra Gutierrez owns and operates Dos Arbolitos, an authentic Mexican restaurant on Main St. in old downtown Lebanon. She and her husband, Alonzo, have owned the business for 13 years, and have two other locations. The Albany location has been open for 9 years, while the Corvallis location is celebrating it's one year anniversary this summer.

- Little Josh plays his hand valiantly at the Pokemon trading card game league at The Pizza Factory. The Pokemon league meets every saturday afternoon, and offers kids of all ages an opportunity for something fun to do, rain or shine.

LBCC Career Fair

On 4/29 students and members of the general public gather in the LBCC gymnasium in an attempt to address some of the issues many in the community face with regard to high local unemployment.



While there was a healthy crowd in attendance, looking for employment prospects, it seems the more telling story is in who wasn't there. There were a number of boths from the public sector (college, military, and other government employers), however it seemed representation from the private sector was notably thin. The largest employers in from the area failed to make an appearance, and it seemed that most of those who did show up were offering mostly performance based rather than salaried positions.

Portrait of an American farmer...

Shawna Halfacre is a chicken farmer in Lebanon, OR. She has about 250 free range birds that produce eggs for commercial distribution, as well as a few food grade sheep, and of course, the Buddy the goat.
















Small farms help to create the backbone of agriculture throughout Oregon, and are beginning to prosper more now that the general populace is becoming more aware of their contribution to environmental sustainability.

Correcting the record for the Lebanon Community Schools Board

At the April 15th board meeting I read a statement to the School board to correct the record as stated by Jim Martin during the Dec. 17th board meeting and unobjectively reported by the Lebanon Express and Albany Democrat Herald newspapers.

For a point of reference, the original articles can be found here:

http://www.lebanon-express.com/news/local/article_a8798d82-f4d0-11de-a201-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.lebanon-express.com/news/local/article_44948c34-054e-11df-8ed7-001cc4c002e0.html

http://www.democratherald.com/news/local/article_36e532b8-060d-11df-a1c5-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.democratherald.com/news/local/article_bbc2dbe8-ec5e-11de-8346-001cc4c002e0.html

The full text of the response that was read to the board is as follows:

I would like to take a moment to reflect back upon the comments that were made by Jim Martin during the Dec. 17th board meeting and after Pioneer elementary schools’ holiday program, as reported by the Leb. Express and Democrat Herald. To begin with, I would like the correct the record and note that the scope of the religious nature of the program as originally intended went well beyond just the 2 “sacred” songs, as Mr. Martin erroneously implied in his statements which said “There were 18 songs on the program, of which one has a sacred theme to it and 17 don’t. Really, the complaint should go the other way: The program was too darned secular,” and “To change that program for one person is almost a violation of everyone else’s rights.” I’m not sure what planet Mr. Martin resides on, but in reality, 18 of the original 20 songs were focused around the Judeo-Christian holiday of Christmas. This is a far cry from the statement that the program was “too secular,” and the fact that the total amount of content centered around a singular religion effectively made it proselytization by default.

In yet another article, Mr. Martin is quoted as having stated that district policy was followed after the commotion at the actual event, and that the people who caused it were well within their rights. These statements are not factually accurate either. After an amicable resolution had been reached by Principal Finch, it was then the school district’s duty to ensure the spirit of that agreement was carried through in good faith. This was not done, and not only do Mr. Martin’s statements advocate that parents and faculty operate outside of codified legal boundaries, but also suggest that it’s ok to operate outside of the established complaint process the school board has provided. If other parents had a problem with the decision that was made they should have been encouraged to follow the appropriate channels and file a formal complaint as well, not attempt to display arrogance and contempt for the rest of the community by causing a disruption in front of children, let alone anyone else who didn’t know or couldn’t care less about what had transpired. These statements tell people that if you are a member of the school districts favored religion; you are free to operate however you choose without consequence. What is even more concerning, is that they tell people that it’s ok to exhibit bullying behavior and it’s ok to push people around who believe differently than you.
As I’m sure that every board member is aware, the complaints that were filed did not advocate for the elimination of the entire program, however that would have been the only alternative had the most offensive songs not been removed, but instead requested more diversity in the programming (to bring the program into legal compliance) and for the respect to allow all children to participate in the program and NOT encourage segregation by stating that, “if they don’t like it they don’t have to participate.” Asking a child to sit out of a school wide event based on their family’s religious beliefs is encouraging segregation instead of building community and understanding between all cultures that live here. Just because ONE person complains, doesn’t mean there aren’t numerous other families who sit in silence because they are afraid of the exact behavior displayed by Mr. Martin. There are many reasons to celebrate holidays, not just those of the Christian faith, but you wouldn’t have known that judging by the content of Pioneer’s program. This is a missed opportunity to teach the students of this district about other cultures, and to encourage compassion and understanding among them.
I find it appalling that there is even a single member on this board who would not only consider Mr. Martin’s behavior to be acceptable, but would actively encourage it. In order to ensure a functional society, we have a system of rules in place which are designed to encourage civil, polite discourse and to allow that every voice is heard. In my opinion, to see board members actively encourage members of the community to participate in bullying behavior and act outside of established school board procedures is an ethical violation of the highest order.

A day in the life.....

Ken Bronson, manager of the Linn Shuttle, surveys opinions of riders to find which additional times might best serve riders. Many LBCC students utilize this service to get back and forth from campus to various points in Sweet Home, Lebanon, and Albany.



Beginning to wake up.....



Studying in the learning center....



Professor Gillow-Wiles helps students with their math work.....







Heading out for a fire drill....





More guitar playing in the cafe....



Surveying students to find out just how well they like wearing kilts...



Trying to find mom....

The dangers of reporting from Gaza

Two parts, produced by Democracy Now!, definitely worth a gander for any journalism student...

Part one shows first hand pictures of Rachel Cory from Olympia, WA......



and part two...

Raising awareness for the Gay/Straight Alliance group on campus

I spent some time with Cory Warren walking around LBCC on 04/08/10, passing out flyers. Cory is an English major in his sophomore year, and is one of the more active members of the campus community. The primary goal of the GSA is to provide a place of companionship and support for members of the campus LGBT community, friends, family and other supporters.








Promoting tolerance....













Promoting understanding....








Promoting love....


















and most of all, equivalent and harmonious acceptance......