The Advocate, Issue 02 - Sept. 30, 2016

the

advocate

Volume 51 Issue 2

Independent Student Voice of MHCC

September 30, 2016

Presidential debate disappoints PAGE 3

Netflix hit series ready for streaming PAGE 2

ACCEPTS $1000 BILLS

Summer vandalism cost: $35,000 in repairs PAGE 3

Test runs on student scholarship workshops

R DEDU FO

IBLE CT

CMISC I/THEFT II OFFENSIVE LITTERING

PRESS

COST OF REPAIRS

PAGE 2

General excellence Oregon Newspaper Publisher Association

MHCC’s new softball coach PAGE 4

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AND NEWS

Binge watch ‘Stranger Things’ in one week

Web Photo

Ryan Moore the advocate

Over the summer, Netflix released a hit new series that captured the interest of many.

“Stranger Things” is a Netflix original mystery-thriller, set in a small Indiana town in the early 1980s. It centers around a young boy’s disappearance and the efforts of his mother and his friends to find him while uncovering several mysterious and supernatural occurrences.

Many viewers recognized the style of the show as a tribute to ’80s pop culture and the work of filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg.

After premiering in July, the show’s popularity seemingly went viral after the series collected a lot of positive reviews from critics, as well as fans. The widely recognized film and television review website Rotten Tomatoes scored the show at a very impressive 95 percent, summarizing it as exciting, heartbreaking, and sometimes scary. The show’s hype only grew when fans began to rave about the show online, tweeting and posting about how great the show was and that everyone should be watching it.

The show stars award-winning actress Winona Ryder. She won praise for her performance as a single mother who has lost her son, in a frantic, relentless effort to find him. She also proved to be a brilliant casting decision in regards to the 1980s setting, since she was so widely known for her roles in ’80s films such as “Beetlejuice” and “Heathers.”

The child actors and actresses,

specifically Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and Millie Bobby Brown, have become a sensation after the show’s surge in popularity. As a viewer, I found myself making lots of comparisons to movies such as “The Goonies” and “E.T.” while watching the kids on screen, and it may have been the youthful camaraderie between them that gives viewers a sense of relatability. Since they range from 12 to 14 years old, their acting was seemingly unfiltered due to their youth, and they give noticeably genuine performances.

The young talent was so beloved this summer the young cast members were invited to this year’s Emmy Awards, giving interviews on the red carpet and riding their bikes on the floor during one of host Jimmy Kimmel’s skits, handing out sack lunches to all the celebrities in the audience.

The fresh child stars have been receiving attention from all sorts of big names. Daniel Radcliffe spoke on a BBC radio interview about how big of a fan of theirs he is, saying he wasn’t near as good when he was their age doing the early “Harry Potter” movies. They also were invited to “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and visited Louis Vuitton’s headquarters in Paris to chat with the house director there about a possible fashion project.

“Stranger Things” was watched by nearly 14 million users, making it Netflix’s third-most-watched season series among its original To view the full unabridged story, visit: advocate-online.net

September 30, 2016

Plan scholarships online in near future

Otto Dawson the advocate

Looking to earn some money towards school through scholarships? Winter Term is the time to jump into some free money to go to school.

Mt. Hood Community College will start offering scholarships in January. Say you plan on transferring to another school: There are scholarships for which you can apply year-round. The current process is on paper, but starting in January, everything will be going digital.

If you’ve been awarded a scholarship, you can go to the Financial Aid offices at MHCC to check up on how much you have remaining to use.

Corporations such as Nike, Fred Meyer, and other private institutions award scholarships yearround and will tell you how much you’ve been awarded and how long

you have to use it.

During this Fall Term, test runs will be made for a scholarship workshop program at Mt. Hood. Using your student login information that you would use to access the MHCC website, you can improve at essay writing and other skills you will need to succeed in your scholarship application process. According to Marcy Gilchrist, MHCC Foundation/alumni scholarship specialist, the program will be running in Winter Term.

MHCC isn’t currently accepting new scholarship applications for Fall Term.

If you aren’t sure how to get started on applying for scholarships, visit: mhcc.edu/scholarships.

“My advice is to apply. I think that a lot of students assume that they don’t qualify and they already count themselves out,” said Gilchrist. “What my goal is, (given) there are already current essay writ-

ing sessions and scholarship workshops, make the time to attend one.”

She recommends investing one or two hours of your personal time for the opportunity to earn $500 to $4,000 towards classes. And, you never know if you could have been accepted if you never apply.

When the application process opens in January, you can find different scholarships to help you succeed in school. After applying, you will know by Spring Term if you’ve been given any awards. Remember that the scholarship rewards you earn will only be usable from January 2017 to January 2018.

“In January, when we have scholarship workshops, go to them,” Gilchrist said. “Because we have great staff members, faculty, and tutors who are very knowledgeable on how to construct an essay that really makes your message clear.”

Barney’s briefs

by Gloria Saepharn

Fall Jobs Fest NW

Students, alumni, community members and local high school students have the opportunity to meet prospective employers on Tuesday, Oct. 4 in the MHCC Student Union, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The job fair can help students gain internships and part-time employment in their field of study.

Some companies offer tuition reimbursement to students, along with possible seasonal work.

The next job fair will be hosted on Nov. 2 in the Vista Dining Hall, over the same hours.

For more information about the most updated list of employers registered for the Fall Jobs Fest, contact the Career Planning and Counseling Center at: 503-491-7432.

$2.1 million grant from U.S. Department of Education

MHCC will receive a U.S. Department of Education Title III Grant, totaling more than $2 million, officials announced Tuesday.

The grant comes from the “Strengthening Institutions Program,” which helps serve lowincome students by providing resources to select colleges. MHCC plans to give improved student orientation, assessment, tutoring, mentoring and other opportunities to eligible students, the school said.

The money will come to Mt. Hood over a five-year span. MHCC will receive approximately $430,000 each year – the first distribution of funds being expected by Saturday.

Stark Exit change

Starting this week, and through Oct. 14, the Stark Street exit (from the MHCC lower parking lots onto Southeast Stark Street) has a “right turn only” sign and flashing light installed to direct drivers east on the busy street.

The plan will be used during “major construction events” and first two weeks of each term, under recommendation of Facilities Management and Public Safety due to concerns over long lines of vehicles backed up at the exit (by drivers attempting to turn left).

In the future, the sign will be installed at the beginning two weeks of each term at Mt. Hood.

the advocate Editor-in-Chief Ivy Davis

Sports Editor Position open

Video Editor Ben Peters

Opinion Editor Position open

Graphic Designer Svetlana Meshcheryakova

News Editor Gloria Saepharn

Photo Editor Position Open

Video Team Members Kyle Haussler

Arts+Entertainment Editor Position Open

Public Relations Manager Gloria Saepharn

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Ad Manager Joseph Frantz Copy Editor Position open

Staff Writers Ryan Moore Otto Dawson Jamie George Pavel Donchenko Web Editor Matana McIntire Advisers Howard Buck Dan Ernst

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.

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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.

OPINION

advocate-online.net

Editorial

Vandals expose Public Safety gap

Ivy Davis

the advocate “I found out at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning,” said Eric Machado, risk and safety management director for MHCC, regarding en estimated $35,000 in vandalism the Mt. Hood campus suffered over the summer.

On Aug. 20, Public Safety personnel reported this: “CMISC I/Theft II/Offensive Littering: Unknown subjects caused property damage to planter boxes, outdoor lights, cooling systems; they tipped over vending machines; they damaged recycle & newspaper bins; they caused damage to an MHCC vehicle.”

Though the vending machine damage cost the school nothing, the intruders impaired the school’s cooling system, which generated the most harm. Due to overheating “we had some computer system failures,” said Machado.

For weeks, students and staff could see the tipped-over cement planters and benches, along with a back-up generator for the broken cooling system.

MHCC’s property insurance policy has a $25,000 deductible

for each incident, noted Machado. That’s money right out of Mt. Hood’s pocket. Also, the policy does not cover the “effort it took for Facilities and Public Safety workers to respond,” he said. He said he still has not settled the claim, as the damage count is still not fully set.

But, with the damage totaling at least $35,000, one has to wonder how such a event was able to happen.

The vandalism wasn’t stopped in-progress because “there is not Public Safety (presence) at all hours,” said Wayne Feagle, head of Public Safety at Mt. Hood. A year ago it was proposed that MHCC did not need a 24-hour watch. Following the model of other community colleges, with the exception of those colleges with student dorms, Mt. Hood reduced its Public Safety office hours.

In this incident, only one security camera was able to catch the perpetrators walking by, though “it wasn’t enough that we could identify them,” said Feagle.

Currently, Public Safety is looking to see what security measures it can put in place to better protect the AC unit.

Feagle emphasized that “if even one staff/student is on campus, there has to be a Public Safety officer as well. (It’s) an expectation set by our president Debbie Derr: When students are here, we are here to protect them.”

However, we at the Advocate also want to know what measures Public Safety and Facilities will take to better protect the campus as a whole.

How much security camera coverage does MHCC really have if only one camera was able to see the vandals on that night?

We wonder whether or not the change in Public Safety hours is an unwise budget cutback. Would MHCC have saved money by employing another (overnight) officer, rather then paying out this $25,000 deductible, and in the future, possibly more? Was the cost of this vandalism worth the cutbacks? And what could’ve happened if students were on campus that night?

We at the Advocate strongly recommend the administration to take a second look at those cutbacks. We advise Mt. Hood to have 24-hour officers on campus so that an event like this, or worse, does not occur.

Presidential debate stirs up controversy on Trump’s tax returns Pavel Donchenko the advocate

On Monday, the first presidential debate was aired to an American audience of over 80 million people, setting a new record.

I was among these people, watching the least-popular presidential nominee go head-to-head with the second-least popular presidential nominee. To me, who won the debate is really a tossup: If you like Trump, then most likely you still like Trump. If Clinton is your candidate, you probably still support her.

However, there is a specific point in the debate I would like to write about – the moment concerning the already infamous tax returns.

For those who don’t know, Lester Holt, the debate moderator, asked Trump about the fact that he has not publicly release his recent tax returns. That makes him the first presidential candidate in roughly 40 years not to release his tax returns. Trump responded by saying that once (an

ongoing IRS) audit is over, he will release his tax returns.

Lester then noted that Trump is in no way legally stopped from releasing his tax returns while under an audit. The first thing to say about that is, Trump is under no legal obligation to actually release his tax returns. The argument that Trump should release them is that the American people have a right to know about the business dealings of the candidates – who they owe money to, do business with, that sort of thing.

But if that is the case, why stop there? Do the American people also have a right to know the health records of the candidates?

There are plenty of people clamoring for the records of both candidates, actually. With their current ages of 68 (Clinton) and 70 (Trump), wondering about their health is reasonable.

A second argument for the release of Trump’s tax records is to show that tax laws are applied to all Americans, rich or poor.

If Trump were to release his tax return during an audit, the outcome would be predictable, however. There would be a whole army of tax lawyers going through them with fine-toothed combs, and submitting their suggestions to the IRS. Forbes has published an article saying that releasing the tax return would be a terrible idea, for that very problem.

I am fine with Trump not releasing his returns, for two reasons.

I understand that in his position, it would dim-witted to release it – the aforementioned army of tax lawyers would kick the audit into overdrive. Secondly, I seriously doubt there is something extremely grave hiding in those returns. The worst thing there, in my opinion, would be that he paid a low tax rate, due to clever tax lawyers. But is that really such a bad thing? If the (perfectly legal) option is there, anyone in his position would be stupid not to use it.

It is as simple as, do you, a taxpayer, want to keep more of your money?

In summary, I think the issue with the tax returns is inconsequential, and blown out of proportion by those who want Trump gone. There are much better things to criticize Trump for. As for me, I am content to wait and see what happens next.

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SPORTS

September 30,2016

Saints Softball

Mt. Hood and Portland State swap coaches

Ivy Davis

the advocate At the end of Spring Term, Mt. Hood Community College lost its veteran softball coach, Meadow McWhorter. The beloved – and very successful – coach left MHCC to pursue higher goals, taking the softball head coaching job at Portland State University, which competes at the NCAA Division I level.

As PSU takes the cherished Saints coach, Mt. Hood in turn gains one of the Vikings’ esteemed softball players, Brittany Hendrickson.

During her senior year playing at PSU in 2015, Hendrickson “was an offensive force to be reckoned with,” as the MHCC athletics web page said, having led the Vikings in most offensive categories. She was also an outstanding scholar-athlete, having been named to the All Big-Sky Academic Teams (for) 2011-2015.

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After graduating from Portland State, Hendrickson worked as the assistant coach at Concordia University Irvine, in Southern California.

The new coach is thankful to be a part of the Mount Hood community, she said.

“It’s been, historically, one of the best softball programs in the NWAC,” said Hendrickson about MHCC. Last year, McWhorter led the Saints to the Northwest Athletic Conference title (for the fifth time in eight years), leaving the new Saints coach with a high bar to meet.

Though young, Hendrickson sees her age as an advantage. Having just recently graduated, she believes she can relate to her players more with their struggles of being a full-time student and athlete.

“It’s interesting to see her both on and off the field,” said Saints freshman infielder Hannah Holiday.

Baseball loses promising pitcher Jamie George the advocate

Web photo

Baseball is reeling from the loss of Jose Fernandez, a 24-year-old pitcherfor the Miami Marlins.

On Sunday, the baseball world woke to the shocking news that 24-year-old Jose Fernandez, pitching star for the Miami Marlins, had died in a boat wreck early that morning.

Saturday night after the Marlins-Atlanta Braves game, Fernandez had invited a few teammates to join him on the water. They turned him down. One teammate, Marcell Ozuna, even told him to not go out that night.

Fernandez, who news reports say was upset due to an argument with his girlfriend, then asked two other friends, Eddy Rivero and Emilio Macias, to join him. Rivero’s best friend Will Bernal worried about him going out that night, along with concern over Fernandez’s mood, texting Rivero, “Yo, please be careful bro, try to keep him close to shore,” Rivera responded saying, “Trust me. It’s not my time yet.”

Sadly that night was his time, due to a high-speed collision into a rock jetty. The 32-foot boat was found flipped with two men under it and another lying in the water.

The police say it appears no alcohol or drugs were involved. Toxicology reports are still pending.

Jose Fernandez was one of

baseball’s most talked about young pitchers. He didn’t approach the game like so many before him. He brought a joy to the game that was contagious, a joy many compared to that of a Little Leaguer. His smile would light up the field as he struck out batter after batter.

Baseball fans worried after he went through Tommy John arm surgery two years ago that he might not be able to return to his dominant ways. Boy, were they wrong.

This year, he had posted a 2.86 ERA with a win-loss record of 16-8 while striking out 253 batters in just 182 innings of work.

The Marlins quickly announced that Fernandez’s uniform No. 16 will be retired for their franchise, a highly unusual step since he played just four years in the majors.

After the heartbreaking news early Sunday, the Marlins canceled their game scheduled for that afternoon to mourn his death.

To view the full unabridged story, visit: advocate-online.net