The Advocate, Issue 14 - Feb. 3, 2017

the

advocate

Volume 51 Issue 14

February 3, 2017

Independent Student Voice of MHCC

Trumping American ideals, dreams PAGES 2 & 3

The Mt. Hood library giveth, and taketh away PAGE 4

Past Advocate sports editor now Gresham Police captain PAGE 5

Saints men lose a nail-biter PAGE 8

Comic superheroes created in His image PAGE 6

2016 FIRST PLACE

General excellence Oregon Newspaper Publisher Association

OPINION

February 3, 2017

Editorial

Trump dumps on legal immigrants’ lives

W

hen countries across the world talk about immigration, there is always a heated debate. You will always have one side who think new people bring new things, new money, new workers and new points of view, and those people always think they are right.

On the other hand, you have people who think outsiders bring more trouble than they are worth, and are worried the new people will take away jobs and raise the crime rate.

This has been a debate as long as there have been people. Each country needs to look to its people to figure out what the right choice is for them. Once those people have come to an arrangement that the majority agree with, they pass a law, just like any democratic society

such as the U.S. A week ago, President Trump implemented an executive order that barred entry into the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran,

“Innocent people, who have done exactly what the government asked of them, should not be made to pointlessly suffer.”

House) are either intentionally or unintentionally circumventing the laws we have in place regarding immigration.

President Trump has barred legal visitors to our country – the affected people who took the time and the effort to follow our laws, our customs and our regulations, because this is where they want to be. They now are having their lives thrown up in the air because

he wants to ban Muslims from entering our borders.

It is a sad, sad day when America, a country that reportedly exists as a “melting pot” leaves people stranded in airports and hotel rooms who did everything we asked of them to be here. We suddenly pulled the rug out from under them.

We are not going to get into a debate today about the executive

Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

With this order, we are now seeing a situation where the people in charge (inside the White

Web Photos

order as a whole, and whether it is racist, or how it makes the U.S. look to the rest of the world.

What we are going to talk about is the people who came here legally, and have had their lives thrown into chaos because the executive order wasn’t set up correctly.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 2, there have been court judgments made against the legality of the order.

This is fine and dandy to resolve the short-term situation, but this is something that should not have been allowed to begin with We have a president, who

throughout his campaign made it routine tactic to say something, then come back later and alter it.

Although the common phrase is “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” presidential orders that have an effect on hundreds of thousands of people are not the time for loose wording.

How would your employer react if you didn’t show up for a week because you were stuck in an airport due to a presidential edict?

Even if they don’t lose their jobs, or have problems with their schooling, being stuck anywhere can have a significant impact on these people’s lives.

Innocent people, who have done exactly what the government asked of them, should not be made to pointlessly suffer because our executive branch can’t write correctly. If our new president wants the benefit of the doubt, and

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” wants us to stop protesting daily, the first step needs for him to earn our trust by keeping people safe, and not needlessly disrupting our lives.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” – I learned these words in grade school, and even if America has aged since then, those words continue to be true.

the advocate Editor-in-Chief, News Editor Gloria Saepharn

Sports Editor Jamie George

Video team Cory Wiese

Assistant News Editor Kyle Venooker

Graphic Design Team Svetlana Meshcheryakova Prisma Flores

Ad Managers Joseph Frantz Sam West

Photo Editor Open Position

Advisers Howard Buck Dan Ernst

Associate Editor, Arts & Entertainment Editor Matana McIntire Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor Megan Phelps Opinion Editor Donovan Sargent PA G E 2

Assistant Photo Editor Davyn Owen Photo team Porcha Hesselgesser Alex Crull Jessica Mitchell Fadi Shahin

Staff Writers Greg Leonov Brody Mathews Maddy Sanstrum Glenn Dyer Otto Dawson

Cover Art by Prisma Flores

Contact us!

E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Phone: 503-491-7250 Website: advocate-online.net Twitter: @MHCCAdvocate Facebook: facebook.com/TheAdvocateOnline Instagram: @MHCCAdvocate #MHCCAdvocate Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication. All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information.

Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board. The Advocate reserves the right to edit for style, punctuation, grammar and length. Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to advocatt@mhcc. edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print.

Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

advocate-online.net

Overzealous lawsuits, justice for none

Donovan Sargent the advocate

We’ve all heard about them at parties, seen a “news article” on Facebook, or received something in a chain email from a friend.

Whether it’s from coffee that’s too hot, a burglar suing because they hurt themselves trying to rob someone, or even a man suing a beer company because his cool refreshing drink didn’t make beautiful women materialize out of thin air.

Of course, I am talking about frivolous lawsuits. Overwhelmingly awful wastes of people’s time and money. Recently, I was reading some news and came across an article in the Oregonian about a woman in

Washington county who is suing the Salvation Army, not because they are an army, but because she hurt herself unloading her own donation.

The $60,445 claim was filed

by Ruth Stobbe-Moore, who had delivered a Brookstone massage chair that she and her husband had loaded into their truck at home for donation, When she got to the store, she was told by an employee to back up her pick-up to the off-loading area.

Then according to the suit, after waiting for however long she determined to be long enough, she decided enough is enough, it’s time for action!

So, does she peek in the back door and bellow out a simple “Yoo-hoo” to see if she can get a hand? Nope.

Does she walk back to the front of the store to tell the employee she’s good to go? Nope.

Instead she decides to channel her inner Xena, and She-Hulk the chair all by her lonesome onto the

loading bay. This feat of gymnastic prowess, and herculean strength consequently ended with the chair falling out of the back of her pickup and on top of her. The falling chair, which she thought she could sherpa on her own, turned out to be heavy enough to cause “severe and permanent injuries.”

Now, I am not intending to make light of her injury, I don’t feel it’s funny when anyone gets hurt, but what I found out next, made me laugh out loud, as well as die a bit on America’s behalf on the inside.

She sues not only the Salvation Army for among other things failing to tell her “that she should return at a later time bringing someone to help her move the chair.” But she’s also suing “John Doe” A.K.A. the guy who told her that donations are made around back!

It is a sad world we live in where this kind of suit is even picked up by an attorney, let alone allowed to make it into a court of law without a judge just laughing directly in the

“She decides to channel her inner Xena, and SheHulk the chair all by her lonesome...” lawyer’s face.

This is an another example of what has become all too common of a problem in modern american society, a lack of personal accountability.

Why should I take the blame for my own mistakes and faulty judgement if I can pass the buck to this charitable organization?

Rather than do what most people SHOULD do, and say “Well, I jumped the gun and made a mistake.”

We see people saying “Well yeah, I jumped the gun, but you didn’t tell me I could ask other people for help.”

This is a charity, and they

OPINION

obviously appreciate donations, and I imagine they have people there that are happy to help when they are available to do so. But it’s no one’s responsibility to come-a-runnin’ and be on your time table because you want to drop off a chair and you’re too impatient to wait for help.

Also it is absolutely ridiculous to blame the company because you couldn’t figure out that you could leave and come back later without being told.

I just hope that one day soon, people stop looking to make a fast dollar, and stop blaming everyone else for the problems you create entirely on your own.

In addition, I hope that no one shies away from donating to organizations like the Salvation Army because people have blamed them for their own misdoings.

Above all, I just hope that people realize that the only people who really win on these kinds of interactions are the attorneys and everyone else loses.

THIS

I BELIEVE Owl Eyes Alyse Roethe MHCC Student

As a child, I hiked with my uncle on occasional weekends. On these adventures, he would consistently point out obscure and interesting objects, things I’d completely overlooked in my rush to get to our destination.

When I asked how in the world he could spot such simple yet beautiful things, his reply was always, “Owl eyes.” The trick he taught me was simply done by placing the sides of my hands against my face, palms facing out, and focusing my vision to include my palms. This posture would immediately widen my scope, and it taught me how to slow down and observe my surroundings with a broader perspective.

I believe that if everyone practiced this skill, our world would slowly become a better place. Our society is fast-paced and has been taken over by hurried lifestyles. We rush from place to place, heads down, our eyes often on our glowing 2-by-4-inch screens.

We immerse ourselves in our own lives and problems, and we forget about the difficulties others may be facing. This cultivates a culture

This I Believe From 1951 to 1955, Edward R. Murrow hosted “This I Believe,” a daily radio show wherein both well-known and unknown Americans read brief essays about their personal philosophies, their individual values, and the core beliefs that shaped their daily actions. where The first published people volume of these essays o f in 1952 resulted in ten choose copies i s o l a t i o n 300,000 sold, said to be because it surpassed only gives the most freedom to obsess by the Bible over personal issues or our own success, rather than to include people who are often overlooked, or to notice the beauty of our surroundings.

As I have grown, I have taken my “owl

Student Submissions

that year, revealing Americans’ deep need to define themselves and their values in a time of historical turmoil and uncertainty.

In 2005, National Public Radio resurrected the This I Believe radio essay and again invited Americans of all ages and perspectives to examine their belief system and eyes” write a brief personal s k i l l essay about one of to artheir core beliefs. eas other The Advocate is than hiknow inviting all ing.

I think of it readers to do more as “zoomthe same. ing out.” I received

this second bit of advice at another time in my life and it has become my mantra. After a stressed-out moment I was relating to my sister, as I talked about the way everything was making me

feel and how irritating people were, a smile crept across my sister’s face and she interrupted me with two words: “Zoom out.”

As soon as she said this, I began to feel my mental fatigue wash away as I realized my problems were actually quite minimal.

As time has gone on, whenever I catch myself getting bogged down by drama, details, or negativity, I remind myself of my sister’s words. Practice has taught me to realize that others’ lives are just as intricate as my own and if I simply take a step back and look at the situation with a broader perspective, I am able to understand and enjoy life’s fleeting moments of beauty a bit more.

I believe in the art of zooming out. The ticking clock of life pressures our minds to default to tunnel vision in order to achieve all that we believe necessary to be successful. But in doing this, we often obliterate mindfulness and miss out on all the good in our lives. My owl eyes have shown me that sometimes, strangers and oddly beautiful moments can become the best part of a day, but not unless we take notice of them. This I believe.

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NEWS

February 3, 2017

Student values inspire what lives on library shelves Mt. Hood’s library has a process for deciding what books to purchase. Librarians make sure books complement course material and are beneficial to students Kyle Venooker the advocate

Mark Peterson, the Collection Management Coordinator for the MHCC Library, recently sat down with the Advocate to discuss how the library chooses which books to keep, which books to buy, and which to throw away.

According to Peterson, the library acquires 5,000 new books for our shelves each year, adding to the 60,000 currently available. These books are chosen for a variety of reasons, but are chosen for a particular section by various library staff: “...Steph next door will cover science and medical books; Sergio’s on education and tech; I’ll do the humanities, like the social sciences, philosophy, religion,” he said.

“Now, if I come across a book in someone else’s area that I think is

awesome, I can throw it on a purchase list and vice versa,” Peterson said. This ensures that staff who are selecting the books are well-versed in the field, and who have “back-

“We want to make sure we have materials for specific classes and larger programs so that when people are taking classes we have (books) that are useful.”

-Mark Peterson ground info,” he said. “We know publishers, authors, and we’re reading reviews in that area, anyways.”

As far as how the staff go about selecting which books to purchase, the criteria are two-fold, said Peter-

son.

“No. 1, we directly support curriculum. We want to make sure we have materials for specific classes and larger programs so that when people are taking classes we have (books) that are useful,” he said.

“No. 2 is to support students themselves,” said Peterson. He said he believes a library is more than just a collection of books, and aims to stock more than just textbooks for students. Beyond classes, “they’re learning about things that interest them from other people, they’re learning things about themselves (and) areas of interest that help them develop as people,” he said.

Take LGBT issues, for instance, said Peterson. “While MHCC doesn’t have a large (study) program like that, we have a lot of books on those issues because we have LGBT students (who) want to learn about

themselves and where that community has come from, and other people who want to learn about that...

“We want to provide things that will help students develop and flourish,” he said.

Peterson also encourages stu-

“I figure if you read a book and it’s meaningful to you, there’s something there... others will find that, too, and we want to know about that.”

-Mark Peterson dents to submit books and other literary works that they’d like to see in the library. They may contact any of the staff via email (found on mhcc. edu/Library), but should also feel

free to drop by and speak directly with the staff. “I’m a big believer in the idea that it’s community college – ‘community.’ We take care of the (boring) stuff but it’s really the students’ library.

“I figure if you read a book and it’s meaningful to you, there’s something there... others will find that, too, and we want to know about that,” he said.

Making room for the new additions is taken care of by library staff.

The “weeding” process is done over the course of a year, according to section.

Contrary to popular belief, the discarded books aren’t burned back by the auto shop. Instead, they’re packaged and sent to a company called Better World Books (betterworldbooks.com), which has kept over 250 million books out of landfills to date.

Preemptive do-overs: tackle conflicts before they happen Patricia Matteri

MHCC Learning Specialist There is a favorite film of mine called “About Time.” In this film, a college-aged son learns a family secret from his father. The father and son have the ability to timewarp backwards. When the son first learns of this extraordinary power, he is skeptical. Then, at a party, he leans toward a pretty girl and attempts his first kiss. It doesn’t go well and the girl rejects him. Desperate to get the girl, he goes into a nearby closet (echoes of Superman here) and follows his father’s directions to activate the time warp. The scene replays exactly as before and this time the kiss is quite magical. Throughout the film, the main character has the opportunity for “do overs.” He makes mistakes and then corrects his missed opportunities, omissions, insensitivity. He is able to thwart a one-night fling, to save his child, to befriend a loner, all with more

compassion the second time around.

I love the movie. I also love the concept. Who wouldn’t love a sixpack of “do over” coupons? Imagine going back and deleting some of our hard-to-forget offenses, distractions, and separations from others.

So, I have devised a plan. Why can’t we have do overs before,

“Imagine going back

and deleting some of our hard-to-forget offenses, distractions, and separations from others.”

instead of after. We prevent the need for do overs because we are mindful and choose “before overs.”

Here’s an example of a “before over.”

At school, some of my students are immigrants from Nepal, Somalia, Ethiopia, Haiti. Most live in crowded apartments along Southeast Stark, or Division, or Powell. They work for

‘The Man of La Mancha’ The MHCC Theatre Department presents “The Man Of La Mancha,” written

by Dale Wasserman. You can catch the show at Mt. Hood’s College Theatre, on Feb. 24-26 and March 3-5.

Showtimes are as follows: Feb. 24-25 and March 3-4, 7:30 p.m.

PA G E 4

minimum wage at parking garages and discount department stores. At our tutoring sessions, the students and I sit head-to-head at a table and pore over the latest essay. At times, it is excruciating and tedious work as I edit not only their content but their grammar. There are subject and verb agreement errors, sentence fluency issues and concept disconnects.

Often they really have little idea of what the instructor asks of them in a Rogerian essay. When I see their developmental level and the essay’s criteria level, I want to sigh, rub my hands through my hair, roll my eyes, frown, and sigh again. With such a gulf between ability and expectation, where do I begin? How do I teach a year’s worth of lessons into a few sessions?

Now, get ready. This is where the “before over” is needed. I know this student has stayed up all night after working Black Friday; I know she had faithfully tried to follow all of my suggestions even though the paper is far from passing. Now is

the perfect time to activate a before over. No sighs, frowns or eye rolls.

Instead, I say, “Look at the progress you have made. Your support citations are strong. You have a paragraph here that is developed well. Let’s keep going. I have a little more time. Can you work longer with me?”

For most of us, our before overs are most meaningful for those closest to us. Our families are often the ones we love the most but who are the easiest to take for granted. Before overs will work for relatives who irk us, for spouses without enough

“The idea here is to aim for before overs before there might not be any more time. The relative dies; the spouse is alienated; and our child graduates and moves away.”

Barney’s Briefs

Feb. 26 and March 5 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $12 in advance (or $10 with a student ID), or $15 at the door ($12 with ID).

-Kyle Venooker

time, for children we nag. A before over can be asking the irksome relative about his hobby or last trip (and really listening); remembering the anniversary of the day you met your spouse and asking for a photo together; sitting with your child to look through his baby book and telling him stories of his infancy and toddler days. The idea here is to aim for before overs before there might not be any more time. The relative dies; the spouse is alienated; and our child graduates and moves away.

Lest you think the “before overs” are unselfish acts, quite the opposite is true. Remember, in the film the guy gets the girls with his “do over.” With our “before overs” we show that others really matter, and this mindfulness will make all the difference in our own happy endings.

Patricia Matteri - is a Learning Specialist assisting writing students in the Learning Success-AVID program at MHCC.

Internet disruption on Sunday

For an hour between 5:30 a.m. and noon on Sunday, Feb. 5, MHCC’S IT network engineering team will be upgrading internet components for impending changes. The upgrade will disrupt the internet at some point, for about one hour, during the morning.

All websites, portal and email will be down, but Blackboard can be accessed at: mhcc.blackboard.com. For more information, visit: mhcc.edu or mhcc.edu/ StudentHelpDesk.

- Gloria Saepharn

advocate-online.net

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT where your studies can take you

From the front page to the front lines Former Advocate editor finds niche in police work

Matana McIntire the advocate

“I see, generally, three types of people who get into law enforcement,” said Claudio Grandjean, a Gresham Police captain. “Those for which it’s just a job – and really there aren’t many that do it for that; those who consider it a career; and then there’s those who consider it a calling. That was me.”

Grandjean has fulfilled his calling to protect and serve the city of Gresham for nearly 30 years. He was hired on in 1987 as a patrol officer, a position he held until 1994 when he was promoted to detective.

From there, he went on to become sergeant in 2005, lieutenant in 2010, until finally he reached his current position, police captain, in 2015.

However, the true intrigue in his story is how he came to discover his love of law enforcement and how his background in journalism actually became an integral contribution to his success at the Gresham Police

Department.

In 1981, Grandjean graduated from Gresham High School. He went on to attend MHCC, where he majored in journalism. “It was a matter of, hey, it’s close, I can save some money and they have a pretty good journalism program,” he said of his decision.

“As it turns out, writing and speech communications was the perfect major for police work.”

- Claudio Grandjean During Grandjean’s first year at Mt. Hood, he joined the staff at the Advocate. “I wasn’t planning on doing it (writing) for the Advocate, but they didn’t have anybody to do

it. So they asked me and I said, ‘Oh, sure,’ ” he said. Mostly he wrote about sports, but he also wrote the occasional movie review and often drew cartoons for the paper. When his sophomore year rolled around, he became sports editor for the Advocate.

Once Grandjean acquired his associates in journalism, he transferred to Oregon State, where he continued his studies in speech communications and broadcasting.

Eventually, he left school. It wasn’t until three years later that the idea of law enforcement was introduced to him.

While working at a U-Haul outlet in Gresham, a seasonal co-worker who studied criminal justice at Western Oregon University piqued his interest. When he shared his major, Grandjean responded casually. “I was, like, ‘You know, that’s interesting to me. I would have liked to pursue that,’ ” he recalled.

His co-worker encouraged him to pursue it, going forward. “He said,

‘Yeah, you should. Gresham is taking reserve applications right now.

You should apply.’ ” Through the persistence of his colleague actually bringing him an application, Grandjean applied for, and soon after became, a reserve officer.

Photo by Matana McIntire “It felt like what I was made to Claudio Grandjean do,” Grandjean said of his first experiences in law enforcement. “And interviewer, but the interviewee, to be honest, I never really felt that working close with local media as about journalism.” the “talking head” of the police deStill, he found his experience partment, as he put it. working on the Advocate, as well as Looking ahead, Grandjean is studying speech communication at close to retirement. With three Oregon State, would come in handy grandchildren, he expressed a want in his newfound career. to spend more of his time with “As it turns out, writing and them. But most of all, he keeps an speech communications was the open mind. perfect major for police work,” he “You know, I’m just going to figsaid. The need for officers to doc- ure out what the future brings,” he ument nearly everything in writing said. put his three years of college to good As for the Advocate staff now use, he explained. here at MHCC, we not only thank Grandjean also went on to be- Grandjean for his service to our come a public relations officer for community, but also for his service the police force, which turned the to the students and our publication tables on him: No longer was he the during his time with paper.

Oscar nominations and where to watch them Glenn Dyer

the advocate It looks like February is upon us once again, and the most anticipated event of the year is right around the corner!

But enough about the Super Bowl. Let’s talk Oscars.

To get the worst thing out of the way, “La La Land” was nominated for 14 awards (two in the same category). In fact, the film received so many nominations that I can only assume at some point the Academy added a straight-ticket voting mechanism along the lines of “Check here to vote for La La Land in everything”. I’m almost surprised the members didn’t give it a nomination for best Foreign Language film just for the fun of it Other tragedies include making “Suicide Squad” and Dreamworks’ “Trolls” Oscar-nominated films and getting poor Andrew Garfield’s hopes up for winning Best Actor.

Rest assured, I have been working diligently to witness every single film nominated for anything

this year (only 33 to go!). Until then, there are still some basic predictions that can be made with the repertoire of movies I have already seen, combined with a knowledge of Oscar politics.

The first and most obvious prediction is that La La Land is going to sweep the awards. It is unlikely that it will win every single one of its nominations, however, and I am specifically betting that it will lose out on Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay, and possibly Best Actor. Miracles have happened before, such as last year when “The Revenant” was suspected to sweep until it was brushed aside by “Mad Max: Fury Road,” or when something similar happened with “Boyhood” back in 2015. However, this year there are few, if any, contenders with nearly as much star power, so it is almost a sure bet that it will get the most wins.

Other notable contenders are “Manchester by the Sea,” “Hell or High Water,” and “Fences”. Each has received heavy critical acclaim and is sure to win at least one of its entries. Casey Affleck, in particu-

lar, is a very strong contender for Best Lead Actor. In the Animated Feature category, “Zootopia” has a 90 percent chance of winning, due in part to its themes, but mostly because Disney/Pixar has won this category almost every year since it was invented – even when the film didn’t particularly deserve it (Ahem, “Brave,” ahem). “Moana” has about a 9.999 percent chance due to also being a Disney film, but Zootopia is definitely the preference among most critics and audiences.

Finally, the Best Picture this year is a bit of a gamble. “Arrival” and “Hidden Figures” are almost surely not going to win. Both are excellent films, but they are not generally the sort of things the Academy votes for.

La La Land is the obvious choice, but this is typically the category with the most unexpected result, as shown by last year when “Spotlight” snuck under people’s noses and stole the win.

As I have not yet seen “Lion,” I am forced to presume that this will end up being a toss-up of Manchester by the Sea, La La Land, and Moonlight.

But the real fun of the Academy

Awards is seeing all these movies for yourself. I encourage you to seek out these movies wherever you can find them and start making your own predictions about the results. Even if you can only afford to see the Best Picture nominees, it is an enriching experience and will help your understanding of modern cinema immensely.

Sometimes finding some of the nominees can be difficult, especially those films with limited releases.

To help you out, I have created a brief guide to locate quite a few of them. And, remember, if you are ever having trouble finding a specific movie that is not on this list, Google is your friend.

Local movie theater guide In most Theaters

• Hidden Figures • La La Land • Arrival Hollywood Theatre • Moonlight • Manchester by the Sea • I Am Not Your Negro • Oscar Shorts (Animated, Live Action) Living room Theater

• Fences • Hidden Figures • La La Land

• Oscar Shorts (Animated, Live Action) • The Salesman Kiggins Theatre

• Moonlight • Oscar Shorts (Animated, Live Action, Documentary) Portland International Film Festival • I Am Not Your Negro Feb. 9

• Land of Mine Feb. 12 • My Life as a Zucchini Feb. 12 • Fire at Sea Feb. 12 PA G E 5

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

February 3, 2017

‘What does it mean to fight the good fight’

Greenhaw brings dimension and faith to the comic industry

Web photo

Greg Leonov the advocate

When one combines a Grammy-winning career in gospel music with a passionate dedication to the Christian faith and a serious influence of the legendary Stan Lee, the result is a vibrant, full-color story about superheroes handpicked by the man upstairs, himself.

Gospel singer Art Greenhaw is the creator of “God’s Silver Soldiers,” a comic book series about a superhero team that fights for Judeo-Christian values and works to keep the world safe from the forces of Satan.

“We have various slogans that are associated in the book like, ‘In our darkest hour they were the light’ and ‘God gave them their powers, and the world gave them their passion,’ “ said Greenhaw in a telephone interview with the Advocate.

‘God’s Silver Soldiers’ is intended for all audiences, according to Greenhaw. “I think the book is just really outstanding, and it has universal appeal,” he said.

The first issue of the series has a two-arc story, and in the second arc the team has to rescue its founder, Angelica, from hell where Satan is holding her captive.

“We just have a lot of real

interesting, powerful stories – the fire and the brimstone and the demons and the devil himself are all depicted in a powerful way by the art and the coloring,” the author said.

Comic books have always been Greenhaw’s favorite literary medium, he said.

“I’ve just always loved sequential art which are art panels with text, one after another, that tell a story,” he said. “It’s a real all-American art form. I’ve always loved superheroes.”

He said he especially loved the Marvel era “when greats like Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby first created all of those first wave of

marvel superheroes,” he said. The comics influenced his reading habits and “even (my) philosophy,” he said.

His gospel music earned Greenhaw a Grammy, along with eight more nominations. “I love music that talks about spiritual values and conveys subjects that are real lasting in nature,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to do a comic book series. (it) just so happened, one of the greatest comic book artists of our generation is not too far from me in Forney, Texas,” he said. That would be artist Ben Dunn, who created the “Warrior Nun” comic book series and “Ninja High School,” and worked on the

illustrations in God’s Silver Soldiers.

“We’re doing faith-based comic books that we hope will instill values and even questions among comic book readers of all ages on some of the more serious questions,” Greenhaw explained. “What is truth? What does it mean to fight the good fight? What is life? Is there life everlasting?”

Gods’ Silver Soldiers is published by Nodrskog Publishing, which can be reached at nordskogpublishing.com.

More information on the comic book itself can be found on godssilversoldiers.com.

Play in Sandy ‘shines’ light on old age and family Maddy Sanstrum the advocate

Graphic by Matana McIntire

3.5/5 on the theater seat scale

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Up in Sandy, the Sandy Actors Theater (SAT) is performing “On Golden Pond,” written by Ernest Thompson, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and at 3 p.m.

Sundays, through Feb. 19.

And for a small community theater, the group does a pretty bang-up job.

To shed some light on the play,

the story takes place in a vacation house on Golden Pond in Maine, where Norman and Ethyl Thayer have come to spend their 40th summer. While there, the Thayers are visited by their daughter, Chelsea – who is rather estranged from her overbearing father – and her fiancé Bill, and his son, Billy, for Norman’s 80th birthday. Through

the interactions of the characters, the family struggles emerge but are also settled, along with coping with the realities of death and old age.

For a small theater filled with experienced and even first time actors, the show – as said before – is pretty good and choreographed really well. Some parts had to be taken out from the original movie script (mostly scenes from outdoors and on the pond), but even then, most of the setting still revolves around the cabin so there’s hardly any problem in how the story is conveyed, overall.

As for opening night (the appearance I saw), everything was pretty solid. Except for the screen door, but that’s because Norman kept forgetting to fix it up until the start of the second act.

A few characters and actors I’d like to highlight from that night actually would be Anita Sorel (Ethyl Thayer) and Jim Butterfield (Norman Thayer). A reason for this is that the story revolves around both of them equally; the first and last scenes are basically dedicated to them. Butterfield does a great job of portraying an old frump while

Sorel is supportive of him even, as she manages to fix his relationship with Chelsea.

However, there were some parts that felt a bit rough in the acting. It is true that this is a community theater where people of all statures and knowledge come and participate, but there were some parts – when we’re introduced to Chelsea, for example – in general that felt rushed and under-explained. It could just be how the actor, Lisa Sheppard, portrayed her on opening night, but I think there could have been a little more passion.

For the acting and story as a whole, I’d give “On Golden Pond” a 3.5 out of 5 rating. The story was great and touching, and the actors shined throughout, if not all of them as equally.

For more on the SAT, visit: sandyactorstheatre.org to buy tickets, plan in advanced for upcoming showings of “The Shadow Box” (March 31 – April 23) and “Godspell” (June 2-25), sign up for workshops, or even jump in to act, as well.

SPORTS

advocate-online.net

Super Bowl LI should be a shootout Brody Mathews the advocate

It’s that time, again: After an extremely up-and-down NFL season, the Super Bowl has arrived!

On Sunday, the New England Patriots will take on the Atlanta Falcons at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. New England finished the regular season 14-2, losing only to the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks. The loss to the Bills came while quarterback Tom Brady was sitting out due to the deflategate suspension. The Falcons finished their season 11-5, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seahawks, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs.

In the playoffs, the Patriots have dominated their opponents, holding both the Texans and Steelers below 20 points while scoring over 30 in each game. The Patriots’ trip to the Super Bowl is their ninth in franchise history, and they seek their fifth victory. For Brady it’s a seventh Super Bowl; he has won

Web photo

New England Patriots Tom Brady is looking to win his fifth Super Bowl Sunday, which would give him the NFL record for the most Lombardi trophies as a quarterback. Sunday’s win would leave Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana in second place.

four of the six he has played in.

It’s a huge chance for Brady to make one more case that he may be the best quarterback in NFL history. If he wins Sunday, he’ll set the NFL record for most Super Bowl wins as a quarterback, passing both Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.

It won’t be easy, though, as the

Falcons’ offense put on a show in two playoff games, scoring 36 against Seattle and 44 against the Green Bay Packers. Atlanta has only made it to the Super Bowl once, in 1998 when the Falcons lost to the Denver Broncos.

Matt Ryan is one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league,

and is seeking his first Super Bowl win. This year was one of his best seasons: He had the second-most passing yards behind Drew Brees and the second-most passing touchdowns behind Aaron Rodgers, but earned the NFL’s highest quarterback passer rating.

Super Bowl LI looks like it could

be a shootout, with Atlanta averaging 415.8 yards of total offense this season and New England averaging 386.2 yards. The Falcons are averaging 33.8 points this season, leading the NFL; the Patriots are not too far behind with 27.6 points per game. Atlanta leads the NFL in touchdowns this season with 63, while New England scored 51.

Because of these two high-powered offenses, the game could come down to the better defense. The teams tied for 16th in the league in sacks this season, with 34. New England’s defense has grabbed 13 interceptions, one more than the Falcons’. The Patriot defense has forced 19 fumbles this season, while the Falcons have forced only 17. However, the Atlanta defense scored five touchdowns off turnovers, while the Patriots did not have any defensive touchdowns this season.

When it’s all said and done, oddsmakers give New England and Brady the edge.

The Patriots are favorites to win the game by three points and the over/under is 58 points.

Oregon State may be on the right track Logan Hertner the advocate

After ending the 2016 season with a 34-24 victory over Oregon in the Civil War, which ended the 8-year win streak for the Ducks, the Beavers football program look to be heading in the right direction as Gary Andersen starts his third year as the head coach for OSU. It seems the Beavers are headed in the right direction. It appears this new recruiting class might be the best since the group signed up in 2008, with the likes of Jacquizz Rodgers and Stephen Paea. If the 2017 class can turn out like they did, Oregon State could be in a good place.

After national signing day Wednesday (when high school recruits commit to their college of choice), OSU’s 2017 recruit class was ranked No. 52 nationally and 11th in the Pac-12 by ESPN. The Beavers got signatures from Trajon Cotton (safety, 6 foot, 1 inch, 185 pounds, Sacramento, California); Charles Watson

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Gary Andersen led the Beavers to a 4-8 season in his second year as head coach.

(safety, 6 foot, 2 inch, 180 pounds, Wahiawa, Hawaii); Calvin Tyler (all-purpose back, 5 foot, 9 inches, 190 pounds, Silsbee, Texas); Isaiah Dunn (cornerback, 6 foot, 175 pounds, Antioch, California); B.J. Baylor (running back, 6 foot, 190 pounds, Wharton, Texas); and Clay Cordasco (offensive tackle, 6 foot, 6

inch, 330 pounds, Los Angeles Valley College).

Oregon State also got a huge three-star recruit in Kesi Ah-Hoy (linebacker, 6 foot, 215 pounds from Hawaii), who flipped from planning to sign with the University of Hawaii. They also got four-star Isaiah Hodgins (wide receiver, 6 foot, 3

inches, 194 pounds, Walnut Creek, California).

Other three-star recruits who signed are Kolby Taylor (wide receiver, 5 foot, 11 inches, 186 pounds, Chandler, Arizona); Jake Luton (quarterback, 6 foot, 6 inches, 220 pounds, Ventura College transfer); Craig Evans, (defensive tackle, 6 foot, 3 inches, 305 pounds, Arizona Western College transfer); and Justin Sattelmaier (offensive tackle, 6 foot, 7 inch, 300 pounds, Palomar College transfer).

The big question, and what every Beaver fan is thinking right now is, who is going to be the starting quarterback?

The Beavers had three different quarterbacks play last year. Darrell Garettson started the 2016 season at the position before he was injured and broke his foot against Utah in the sixth game of the season. Freshman Connor Blount then came in, only to get injured himself with a knee injury on the very next possession of the game.

So, OSU had to turn to the third-

string QB, Marcus McMaryion, who would start the rest of the year for the Beavers. McMaryion most definitely did his part and got the Beavers to a record of 4-8 and (36, fourth place in the Pac-12 North Division) including the Civil War victory, which was a much-needed boost for the OSU football program.

Now the Beavers have a junior college three-star transfer Luton, who stands tall and is thick. He was the league’s offensive player of the year at Ventura College, so it appears the starting quarterback position is up in the air in Corvallis.

The Beavers made significant improvements in their offensive and defensive play towards the end of the year and finished the year with positive momentum. They will have seven starters due back on offense with impact player Ryan Nall at the running back position and Hodgins, the new four-star recruit, at wide receiver. They have eight returning starters on the defensive side, along with Evans, the standout transfer defensive tackle, to help out.

PA G E 7

SPORTS

February 3, 2017

Saints men lose battle at the buzzer Jamie George the advocate

The Saints men’s basketball team battled Wednesday night at home against the Clark College Penguins before falling, 71-69, in the final seconds of the game.

With the Saints trailing by three, 69-66, and less than two minutes remaining, the Mt. Hood crowd is uneasy. Just six minutes earlier, the Saints were leading by as much as 10 points and it seemed they had control of the game. Now the tide has turned and the student section knows it.

Clark is coming off three possessions in a row where the Penguins finished inside with easy layups. And the Saints know, too, that at this point the wheels have fallen off.

Then it happens: With 1:20 left, Saints sophomore guard Elijah Fuller pulls up for three. The moment his elbow is bent, the entire student section leaps to its feet. Fuller had already hit two clutch threes earlier in the half to extend the Saints lead. As the ball spins through the air everyone knows it is going in, and it does... but as the ball splashes through the net, a whistle blows.

The referees called a moving screen on the offense. After the game, Fuller commented on the call. “(I) never knew (there could be) a moving screen (call), when you don’t use a screen. I’ve just never heard of that,” he said.

Back to the action: With the team still trailing by three, they’d need a defensive stop, and they get one.

Again, the Saints bring the ball down court, now with just under one minute left to play. Fuller, like a man on a mission, drives straight into the lane.

As he goes up in the air to lay it in, he draws a foul.

At the line he hits his first free throw, but misses the second. That pulls the Saints within two, with 40 seconds remaining.

Again the Saints find a way to get stop, and now with under 20 seconds left, they must find a way to score.

Photos by Davyn Owen

Sophomore forward Luke Anderson scored 12 points on 5-14 shooting against Clark College Wednesday night, and he pulled down five rebounds. Mt. Hood lost on a last second bucket by Clark, finishing 71-69.

Sophomore guard Trent Baker.

Mt. Hood rushes the ball up court and finds forward Cody Thompson down low. He pump fakes twice, forcing the defenders around him to leap ahead of him.

With his defenders off-balance he lays in the game-tying bucket.

Of course, the joy of his shot lasted for less than 10 seconds as Clark went to the other end, got the ball to their post player, who layed up the game-winning shot.

The Saints technically still had time to get off one shot, with .5 seconds remaining, but after a full-court inbounds pass was deflected, they

were unable to do so.

After the game, Mt. Hood sophomore guard Trent Baker said, “We played good the first half but we just didn’t execute in the second half…

We need to play the full 40 minutes and we’ll win the game.”

Fuller ended the game with a team-high 16 points on an impressive 6-for-8 shooting. Thompson finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

In the end, the loss dropped the Saints to 3-5 in South Division play, and to 9-9 overall. They are now seventh in the South.

The good news? Three of the teams ahead of them are tied for fourth, with only a one-game lead on them.

The Saints’ next game is at 4 p.m.

Saturday against Lane Community College at home.

Mt. Hood women lose big to Clark College Jamie George the advocate

The Saints harsh season continues to pound on.

They lost their seventh straight game of the season Wednesday night to Clark College, 60-41. That put Mt. Hood at 1-7 in South Region play, and 6-14 overall.

Wednesday saw the Saints struggle with some of the same problems they’ve been dealing with all season, namely, turnovers and field-goal percentage. Mt. Hood committed 27 turnovers, compared to Clark College’s 14. It wasn’t just the fact they were turning it over, it was the fact that defensively after most turnovers, they weren’t getting the stops they needed. Clark scored 30 points off turnovers.

PA G E 8

Photo by Davyn Owen

The Saints under head coach John Hawley have lost seven straight games.

That’s 75 percent of the total points Mt. Hood scored, on the night.

Freshman Saints point guard Jessica Parker explained why turnovers have been a problem.

“We play too timid. We make mistakes we wouldn’t normally make if we weren’t afraid, if we were just playing basketball,” Parker said.

If they could limit turnovers, the

Saints’ season might be going much differently. Especially given a game like this, where they lost by 19 points, but allowed 30 points off turnovers.

Parker suggested chemistry isn’t helping Mt. Hood on the court.

“Our team sometimes seems like it’s split in half, where half of us are on the same page, and half of us are not,” she said. “And we need to work on that more in practice, so we can know more how each other play.”

She also pointed to how young the Saints are. “We’re basically an all-freshman team. We don’t have that one sophomore team leader,” Parker said.

When the Saints were successful at getting shots up, simply put, they just weren’t falling. Mt. Hood on Wednesday shot only 23 percent from the field. And they shot

20 percent from behind the threepoint arc.

Freshman guard Makenzie Whitney also tried to explain why the Saints struggled. “We couldn’t really execute on our plays… (Clark) played us a lot tighter on defense and they outhustled us.

In the end, Parker led Mt. Hood in scoring with 21 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Five foot 7 inch guard Alicia Owens led the team in rebounds with seven, and also scored eight points.

The Saints’ next game is Saturday against Lane Community College at home. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

Mt. Hood will hope to turn the page on this losing streak with a win.

But It won’t be easy: Lane is second in the NWAC South right now, at 6-1 in regional play and 17-3 overall.