Chemeketa Community College

Terry McLaughlin would stand up to anyone who would dare to tarnish the Chemeketa College Volleyball team’s historic undefeated 50-0 season.“There are those who might claim that we had an easy season, but our team fought their way back from close matches four times,” said McLaughlin, head coach.Looking back, he could see the team beginning to take shape as early as tryouts.“We had 50 athletes turnout for the two tryouts, and it was the decisions we made there that made all the difference,” he said.

 Two players, Chelsea Fosback and Alisha Shigley, were named two-year college All-Americans, first and second teams, respectively. McLaughlin was named Coach of the Year by the American Association of Volleyball Coaches.The 2008-09 volleyball team is just the second undefeated team in the Chemeketa’s history. The first was the 1990-91 men’s basketball team that went 33-0.The team member decided early on that if they didn’t perform no one on the team would receive any honors. McLaughlin said that commitment paid out in spades.

 “This was a cohesive team from the start,” he said. “If they hadn’t been unified working toward a common goal, none of the rest would have been possible.”McLauglin returned to Chemeketa coaching this year after a seven-year break between 2001 and 2008. During his prior 14-year run, McLaughlin led the Storm team to a cumulative record of 491-173, a .739 winning percentage, and two championship seasons in 1997 and 1998. His teams accumulated nine top five finishes in NWACC.(Photos: McLaughlin, Fosback, Shigley.)

The Chemeketa volleyball team beat Walla Walla Community College in four sets Saturday to win the Northwest Athletic Association of Community College’s championship title. The title is the first for the team since 1998.

Congrats to all the women on the team and thanks for your hard work.

Tip of the hat to the men’s soccer team as well. The team, in its inaugural season, played for the NWAAC soccer championship on Sunday, but fell 4-3 to the Walla Walla Warriors in overtime

Last week, Taylor Marrow lead a discussion of the Confederate flag and its origins and meanings. Click below to hear the full discussion. If you’d like to read another take, African American writer Marc Bernardin briefly discusses his childhood fandom of the Dukes of Hazard and their famous car emblazoned with the flag.

 

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Chemeketa’s Taylor Marrow will lead a discussion about poverty in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties (Chemeketa’s coverage area)  today from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Multicultural Center, Building 2 on the Salem Campus.

Chemeketa celebrated the history and cultures of indigenous people on the Salem campus last Thursday. For a full gallery of pictures, click here.

With architectural work for a new health sciences complex underway, Chemeketa Community College and Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) officials have laid the foundation for a new program to be housed in the building.

On Friday, Nov. 7, the presidents of both colleges signed documents joining the schools in a dual enrollment agreement and offering OIT’s dental hygiene program at Chemeketa. The signing ceremony was held at Chemeketa’s Salem Campus.

“We’ve built a bridge spanning distance and time for students that might otherwise see those two elements as obstacles to education,” said Cheryl Roberts, Chemeketa president. “The agreement also creates more opportunities for a trained workforce.”

Dual enrollment will allow Chemeketa students to be jointly admitted and enrolled at both OIT and Chemeketa, to benefit from one financial aid package, and to have access to both Chemeketa and OIT services and support.  Chemeketa’s Health Sciences Center will add dental hygiene to its cluster of nursing and allied health programs.

The bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene will be offered on Chemeketa’s Salem campus and supported by both institutions.   In short, students will receive all the benefits of Chemeketa’s small classes and support services while earning a higher level degree than those typically offered at a community college.

“This agreement feels good,” said Dr. Christopher Maples, president of OIT. “We’re streamlining opportunities for success to students increasingly concerned about accessibility to education.”

The new program will be instituted shortly after the completion of Chemeketa new health sciences building in 2011. OIT will be the fourth college Chemeketa holds dual enrollment agreements with, joining Western Oregon University, Oregon State University and Portland State University.

Photos: (Top) Dental assisting student Melissa Del Real practices rinsing and drying teeth on student Ayla Duyn. (Bottom) Cheryl Roberts, president of Chemeketa Community College, and Dr. Christopher Maples, president of the Oregon Institute of Technology, joke as they sign documents joining the two schools in a dual enrollment agreement. 

Normally, I would only post a short clip of something like this, but I thought the whole program was stellar.

Click below to hear her read from Clown Girl, talk about her writing process, reveal her personal experiences as a clown, and detail the sacrifices one must make in art to reach the intended audience.

Thanks againg to Monica for making time to visit the college and share her insight.

Next quarter, Oregon poet Clemens Starck will be joining us for readings and a workshop. More details as they come available.

 

 Monica Drake on writing [49:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Free Trade, Human Rights and Immigration 

Most recent talk about immigration is cast in which resources might be drained from the U.S. as a result, but it is rarer to hear the stories of what motivates immigrants to seek out a place in this country.

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, about 60 participants in the Free Trade, Human Rights and Immigration forum got to hear first-hand about the conditions many present-day undocumented workers flee in hopes of finding a better life, and the realities that immigrants face once they set foot on American soil. The forum was part of Chemeketa’s series of Pizza and Politics events.

Bishop Medardo E. Gómez-Soto, a bishop of the Resurrection Lutheran Church of the Salvadoran Synod, spoke of his experiences as a young pastor in his native El Salvador and how it led him dedicate his life to human rights work.

“I observed many injustices and a lot of suffering, a poverty not lived in the United States,” said Gomez-Soto through an interpreter. “I began to wonder if God existed. If he was blind and deaf, or simply made exceptions for some people and not others.”

Gomez-Soto said the poverty wracking El Salvador seemed to be at its worst during a 12-year civil war fought between the government and guerilla groups. But he observed something else amidst the deterioration and decay that plagued his country. Hope.

“It made me realize I had to be the one to show them God existed. If we don’t oppose injustices, evil will reign forever. We have to act,” said Gomez-Soto.

When a truce was signed in 1992, many expected to see a balancing of the scales.

“We thought we’d be able to work together to create justice, but things have gotten worse,” said Gomez-Soto.

About one-third of native El Salvadorans now live outside the country having sought new lives in the U.S., Canada and Europe. United Nations officials cite an 80 percent unemployment rate within the country. Worst of all, said Gomez-Soto, people are losing hope.

He encouraged those in attendance to organize to fight injustice.

“A disorganized people can be played with and not respected. Only the people can save the people,” he said.

Gomez-Soto shared the stage with Carrie Tracy, an attorney and director of the Immigration Project for the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations. Tracy spoke briefly and introduced the audience to a board game that highlighted the struggle immigrants face even if they apply for legal immigration. Players assume the lives of actual immigrants and must roll their way to citizenship. Only two of the six players end up on a path to citizenship, the rest take a spot on the “undocumented limbo loop.” After 15 minutes of play, no one in the room achieved U.S. citizenship.

“We want to see laws for immigration changed or a change to the way they’re enforced,” said Tracy.

For more information on the Northwest Federation of Community Organizers, visit nwfco.org.

(Photo by The Chemeketa Courier’s Michael Yu)

One of the major goals of the Chemeketa Votes campaign is to motivate voters and potential voters to cast their votes from a position of understanding. With that in mind, we offer the audio clips below from the debates held on campus Oct. 2 between secretary of state candidates Kate Brown, Rick Dancer and Seth Woolley and Marion County clerk candidates Bill Burgess and Randy Franke.

 

 Brown-Dancer-Woolley debate: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Burgess-Franke debate: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Chemeketa’s Taylor Marrow III recently presented a program on the history of lynching in America and the social underpinnings that allowed such acts to take place. The audio clip below lasts about an hour, but it’s time well spent.

Warning: The presentation includes graphic descriptions of lynching and other violent acts.

 

 Taylor Marrow on lynching in America: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download