Volume 55, Issue 4 December 4, 2020 advocate-online.net
FOR THE STUDENTS BY THE STUDENTS
Cross Country prepares for Winter Term PAGE 2
New courses offer African-American focus PAGE 4
'A SIMPLE FAVOR' FOR THE SEASON PAGE 3
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays 2020!
PAGE 3
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A D V O C AT E-O N L I N E.N E T
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM CONTINUES TO MEET IN WINTER TERM Meyers, and sophomore team captain Isaac Moulton. This is 20-year-old Moulton’s second year on the Saints The Advocate cross country and track teams. He attended Prairie High School outside Vancouver, Washington, and while there Despite having season changes due to COVID-19 this did cross country for three years and track for four. year, the MHCC cross country team is gearing up for a His goals include finishing his classes and graduating couple meets and a championship which will most likely at the end of the year with a machine tool technology happen during Winter Term. major. He originally planned to attend Clark College, but The team (both women and men) has been preparing its metals (machine technology) program shut down and and practicing with a five-week class. Three athletes he decided to come to MHCC. practiced in-person at different points during the Fall “I like to Term, although most of the instruction create things, ” said was online, where head Coach Fernando Moulton. One of his Fantroy gave the athletes virtual workouts favorite activities is to do at home. knifemaking, while “They’ve been preparing via the CC his favorite music also class,” he said. includes metal. He stated that it has been a challenge, He said practices but the runners are making do with the this fall have been going current circumstances. all right, although “This is a new venture for us. You gotta it’s definitely been a be resilient, you gotta find a way,” Fantroy different experience. said. He’s working on For practices on the MHCC on preparing for the men’s campus, there are currently many different 8K competition, where protocols to be followed. Some include his best time in 2019 taking a COVID pre-assessment at home was 28:25:5. (answering questions on Blackboard about Moulton says symptoms such as a runny nose or cough) college competitions and then taking each athlete’s temperature have been an when they arrive on campus. interesting experience, The women’s cross country roster for as it’s usually pretty this year includes freshman Souvanny competitive between Carpenter, freshman Kaylin Cook, different schools. sophomore Rivers Gross, freshman Photos provided by athletes. Two MHCC cross country runners and team captains, Alyssa Showalter (left) and Isaac Moulton MHCC was the Mackenzie Heideman, freshman Tilly (right in black attire) run in races. For both of them, this is their second year on the team. right choice for him Vasquez, and sophomore team captain because cross country is his main sport, Alyssa Showalter. and for the program he wanted to pursue, he said. “I would like to be below (20 minutes), ” said Showalter. Showalter, 19, was homeschooled for her freshman and She’ d also like to help others on the team grow and learn, sophomore year and then attended Canby High School her junior and senior years. She earned her GED from MHCC, as well. Aside from running, she hopes to major in psychology and she’s in her second year as a college student at Mt. and possibly become a neuropsychologist one day. She also Hood. This is also her second year on the cross country team. enjoys smoothies and listening to ‘90s alternate music. The men’s 2020-21 cross country roster right now She also competed in two years of track and one year of includes freshman Gabriel Lira, freshman Christian cross country in high school. She said she chose to attend MHCC because it’s close, as she lives in Boring, and she wanted to get her GED. One of Showalter’s favorite memories at MHCC includes her last cross country competition, which was at the NWAC championship meet in Washington last year. She placed 14th in the 5K women’s race with a time of 20 minutes, 20 seconds, in her first competition at the college level. She has set many goals for this upcoming season.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
DECEMBER 4, 2020
‘A SIMPLE FAVOR’: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO EMILY NELSON? Jordan J. Wells
ness runs within the family. No one is innocent. "Once you go poking around Emily's past, you're going to find something
Guest Writer
Darcey Bell’s novel, “A Simple Favor,” came to life as a film in 2018. Anna Kendrick plays a widowed single mother, Stephanie Smothers, who works as a vlogger in Connecticut. She has a hard time connecting with other moms until she meets the one and only Emily Nelson, who is played by Blake Lively. Emily seems to have it all: a beautiful house, perfect job, perfect husband, perfect life. One would dream to live like her. The two women embark on a rollercoaster style friendship when their sons unite them. They later bond over a nice frozen gin with a hint of lemon as they reveal their past to one another. How well do these ladies really know each other, though? Stephanie would do anything to help a friend, especially one she feels close to. One day Emily asks Stephanie to watch her son, which seems like a simple favor. However, Emily suddenly goes missing. Stephanie, and Emily’s husband, Sean, (Henry Golding) immediately start searching for this mysterious, beautiful woman. Throughout this investigation, Stephanie starts to realize that she doesn’t know Emily as well as she thought she did. What made her disappear? Why would such a beautiful girl want to be so invisible-if it were her own doing?
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Stephanie finds. She will always leave you wondering. As days go by, Stephanie continues to dig deep into her best
friend’s past only to find out some shocking secrets. Sean isn't the most loyal spouse; lies, cheating, affairs, and sneaki-
“WILL THIS MYSTERY BE SOLVED?”
When you get close to Emily, you can't really reach her,
that is terrifying. She is not a normal person like you or me,” says an old friend that Stephanie meets along the way. Aside from the intriguing storyline, what makes this film so intriguing is the suspenseful buildup. The characters dive deeper and deeper into Emily’s past, which is stunning at times. The script is written so well that it ties the whole story together. The director (Paul Feig) gives each character a mysterious, yet sophisticated role that entices viewers to wonder what’s next. Also, the camera angles and slow-motion shots in this film are amazing. Especially in the opening scene, you’ll notice the way the camera is set on Emily as she meets Stephanie for the first time. You can almost already tell what kind of person she is, based on the camera shots. It is absolutely
incredible. Every scene in the movie adds up to the very end. You’ve never seen a true plot twist until the climax of
A
Web Graphic.
Simple Favor! Feig did an excellent job on dropping the mic at the perfect time, and there are multiple jawdropping moments through the film that contribute to its excellence. This movie goes in so many directions that viewers absolutely have to pay attention to detail, lest they miss something! There is not one part of this film where it falls short. In every scene there will be a new discovery based on Emily’s disappearance. She burns bridges with every person she crosses paths with in her life. Little does she know, soon all of her deep dark secrets will soon catch up to her. Will this mystery be solved? Why don't you pour yourself an ice-cold gin with a hint of lemon and find out.
9/10
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Contact us! E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu Website: advocate-online.net Mt. Hood Community College Room 1369 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham OR 97030
Marin Thorsen Staff Writer
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.
Marin Thorsen, staff writer, is a second-year Political Science Transfer student. Outside of school and working for the Advocate, Marin likes to learn languages, draw, play grand strategy games, and spend time with their friends. Marin plans to study in Canada next year at the University of British Columbia and hopes to eventually settle down somewhere near Vancouver, BC after their schooling is done. Marin hopes after the pandemic is over that they will have some time to travel around the world! PA G E 3
NEWS
A D V O C AT E-O N L I N E.N E T
MHCC PROMOTES THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH NEW COURSES Brad Le
The Advocate Following the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed, MHCC has been opening up further dialogue and pushing for new courses that focus on “the AfricanAmerican experience” in light of the increasing intensity surrounding race relations. Too few Mt. Hood students registered for three courses that were to start in Fall Term, and they were canceled. But these courses are now being offered for the Winter Term that starts on Jan. 4:
pursuing careers such as nursing, Scott-Braag has assured those enrolled that it does not take away from the overall class content but rather, adding the African-American viewpoint is more like “icing on the cake.” English instructor Scarlett Saavedra is also thankful for Rivara’s push to add African-American literature into the experience of Mt. Hood students, she said. Much akin to her other English courses, Saavedra intends on teaching the ENG 257 course “thematically and not historically,” she
• History (HIS) 265: AfricanAmerican History 1 • English (ENG) 257: AfricanAmerican Literature • Psychology (PSY) 237: Human Development/ African-American Experience Leading the charge for introducing new courses at Mt. Hood is Sara Rivara, dean of Beginning in winter term, MHCC will be offering courses that outline the experience of African-Americans. humanities and social sciences. She has been vocal about opening courses that promote learning, said. Saavedra called it a shame that there is not enough exposure and understanding the African-American knowledge about African-American authors in American perspective. In June, she put out a call to action within her history, saying their works show a brilliant “display of selfdepartment to “brainstorm” an idea of how to address the defiance and love in the culture” and offer prime material social situation in the college. for a course because “literature is about being human.” “The classes that they (instructors) developed – in By the Advocate publication deadline in early psychology, literature and history – arose organically out of December, an instructor had yet to be assigned to teach the that process,” said Rivara. She said that MHCC once offered an African-American History 265 course. history course, but it was scrapped due to the school wanting to focus on “core classes” instead of what was considered a “specialty class.” She was opposed to the decision, noting that core classes often focus on literature written by white men. Even so, none are called “White History” or “White Literature,” she said. As a result, said Rivara, “What does it say to students who are not white when their lives are not reflected in the curriculum, or considered not important enough to study?” Psychology instructor Nicole Scott-Braag, who leads human development classes, said she has been fully supportive of the push to promote African-American exposure. While she acknowledges Mt. Hood’s push to focus on core courses, said added, “What does ‘core’ mean?” Because the course is required for some MHCC students PA G E 4
OFFERING A ‘LIFE LESSON’ Meantime, the driving force among the three women interviewed seems to stem from both their personalities and their personal experiences. Rivara said that being in an administrator position means that she not only has the power to influence the learning experience of students, but also the priorities of the MHCC administration because, “It’s my responsibility to also question the status quo.” Scott-Braag is personally motivated to teach her course because the perspective of being a “Black woman is the only one I have ever had” and that learning from only “one view is irresponsible,” she said. Understanding all, or as many perspectives as possible, is
important, with a personal realization there is a professional use – using a medical practitioner’s bedside manner as an example where understanding the perspective of AfricanAmericans has a practical application and is ultimately a “life lesson,” she said. She also adds that she has been teaching at Mt. Hood since the mid-2000s and has seen the demographics at the college change, and believes the curriculum has to change to keep up. Saavedra used to teach in the American South. She recalled once telling her class to look out the window and asking, “What do you see?” She explained to her students that there used to be a cabin where AfricanAmerican c h i l d re n were illegally educated despite the dangers of lynching, if discovered. W h i l e Saavedra notes that while Web Graphic. there has been racial progress, “White and Black students should be concerned with Black students’ lives because they’re entwined and even racially mixed, to some degree.” This serves as one of her larger motivations to lead the change to promote AfricanAmerican culture and to teach the course. Having grown up in the South, Saavedra has said that the “matrix of Southern culture is black” and that it is important to understand and solve current social issues and help students of all colors discover the beauty of AfricanAmerican literature. Both Scott-Braag and Saavedra have similar goals in what they want their students to gain from taking their courses: That all students come out of their class with an experience or thought that they have not considered before. Besides the course material, Scott-Braag emphasizes that she hopes to see a tangible result, such as volunteering or even a ripple effect where students get more familiarity talking about the subject among themselves and potentially with others. While her students don’t have to agree, it is always good to be exposed to something new, she said. Saavedra focuses more on the potential for a romantic vision: She explains that one of the beauties that literature grants its students is empathy and perspective, in that readers “are in the head of the character and in their feet.”