“One of the happiest places on earth...” - Backyard Bites PAGE 5

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Independent Student Voice of MHCC Volume 51 Issue 13

Obamacare ShockerPAGE 2

From Hood To GoodPAGE 3

It’s Bond... General Obligation Bond

PAGE 8

A new dog in town:MHCC will host a new wooden-bat league team PAGE 4

OPINIONPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t2

Editor-in-ChiefAdam Elwell

Associate EditorHayden Hunter

Arts+Entertainment EditorIvy Davis

News Editor Gloria Saepharn

Sports Editor Clay Vitale

Graphic Designers Ayla BucknerCody Holcombe

Photo Editor Nick Pelster

Opinion Editor Adam Elwell

Public Relations Manager Emily Wintringham

Features EditorJon Fuccillo

Video Editor Chuck Masi

Video Team Members

Ben BaxterThomas Stewart

Ad ManagerJoseph Frantz

Copy Editor Quincy Smith

Staff WritersLena Simon

Nicole KaadiMonique Mallari

Web EditorMatana McIntire

AdvisersHoward BuckDan Ernst

Front cover by and Cody Holcombe

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication.

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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.

the advocate

E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.eduPhone: 503-491-7250www.advocate-online.net#mhccadvocate Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030

Editorial

“Son of a *#$%! hamster!” ex-claimed literally every member of Congress on Jan. 8, after President Obama vetoed the Restoring Amer-icans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconcil-iation Act.

In a stunning turn of events, Obama shot down “the only bill we’ve put on the president’s desk in the past two years,” quipped House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.). What’s even more ridiculous is that this bill would have repealed Obamacare, in case you were won-dering what Restoring American’s Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation meant. This is truly a mind-boggling feat, considering this marks the fifti-eth-plus time that Congress has at-tempted to repeal Obamacare.

How could this happen? Con-gress is clearly firing on all cylin-ders – they’ve already put a bill on the president’s desk this year!... If there were ever a time for a heartfelt

“Thanks, Obama,” this is it. Honest-ly, I don’t know how it is that we don’t have a healthcare system that actively hurts patients at this point. Restore my healthcare freedom, dammit!

Well, for better or worse, it hap-pened: Obama vetoed an Obamacare repeal act. Who woulda thunk? But what does this mean for future re-peal attempts? Is this still going to be a once in-a-blue-moon sort of thing, where Congress tries to re-peal the same law 50+ times before finally passing a new bill? Couldn’t it just schedule a standing meeting, like, once a year for the president to veto its bill and just cut out the 535 middlemen? I guess at this rate, we would only need Congress twice a year or so. Now that’s an efficient use of tax dollars, if you ask me.

Or has this last big push finally garnered enough public attention to get steam next time, and has it done

it so much that it’s influencing swing votes in the 2016 presidential elec-tion?

We don’t see a way that a Re-publican president wouldn’t repeal Obamacare – and as ridiculous as that sounds, is it really that much crazier than the current state of Congress?

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a tight Democratic pri-mary aided a Republican candidate in the general election. And if you think Donald Trump is just too dumb for the job, keep in mind we re-elected George W. Bush after we “misunderestimated him.”

Whether Obama prolonged the inevitable or not, why is Congress so polarized – or dense – that it sent an Obamacare repeal to Obama, after he had promised, multiple times, to veto any such bill?

Obamacare shocker, you won’t believe what’s next

Music psychology : rock to major, freeze to minorEmily Wintringham the advocate

Sometimes, as a staff person at a col-lege newspaper, you have to write col-

umns at the last min-ute. Tonight, I guess that’s what I’ll be do-ing. Of course, I don’t mind. Surprise col-umn assignments usu-

ally mean there’s a possibility of a fresh,

o u t - of-the-box idea. The fact that I have little time to mull an idea throughout the week means that my idea will be, I don’t know, I guess you could say, “pure”?

So, I should pick a topic now,

shouldn’t I? Well, last night, my friend and I were sharing music through Facebook Messenger. We all know how awkward it is when your friend sends you a link to Twenty One Pilots and soon enough, they found out how really lame you are. Let’s face it -you’re... ok, fine, I’m really basic and I can’t stand angsty minor chords and Schizoid-Pop. I really prefer something more struc-tural. Every time I send this friend a link of songs like “Over My Head” by the Fray, it just isn’t his cup of tea, either. So, it’s pretty obvious we have polar opposite tastes in music. It gets me thinking: there has to be some-thing, a study or perhaps a theory of music psychology. So, I’m Googling and sure enough, “music psychology” is a thing.

“Music psychology is a field of research with practical relevance for many areas, including music performance, composition, educa-tion, criticism, and therapy, as well as investigations of human aptitude, skill, performance, intelligence, cre-ativity, and social behavior.” Having not looked into it much besides a few sites on Google, I’m not sure how it is applied, exactly.

Eventually, me and my friend’s texts delved into our past. Every-one deals with stress and/or trauma differently. Since I was very young, I have coped through music. I’ve always laid on my back and rocked side to side to the tempo. If the mu-sic is fast, that’s how fast I rock my-self. If the music is slow, I will rock more slowly.

Suddenly, I completely under-stand. Eureka! I like the kind of music I like not only because of my natural taste, but also because of my experi-ences. There’s a reason why I like Bas-tille, and steady beats like “Geronimo” by Sheppard. It blows my mind that the fact I prefer more melodic EDM to convoluted Dubstep is deeper and more psychological than I thought. I take myself out of chaos and cure my-self with steady bass.

Referring back to what I learned in Psychology class, I could draw a hypothesis similar to the nature/nurture theory. Our tastes can stem from our experiences and be derived from our background. On the oth-er hand, music can be derived from something, perhaps our genetics or natural preferences. Most likely, it is

a combination of both. I like to rock to major because that’s how I self-soothe. My friend listens by freezing and submerges into minor.

So what’s the conclusion of this nonsense? Perhaps analyzing peo-ple’s lives and comparing it to their tastes in music could lead to revo-lutionary musical therapy. Who knows? Maybe this already exists. I think it’s a fascinating thought. I would challenge you to look through your playlists, and see if you can no-tice a pattern. Think: is there some-thing in your life that drew you to the type of music you listen to? Could talking about rhythm, lyrics, instruments, syncopation, etc, help you to dig deep and uncover truth how your psyche? Could it help you express your past, your legacy?

graphic by Brandon Cunningham

SPORTS PAGEPAGEJ a n u a r y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 3

Muhammad expresses himself on the hardwood

Jon Fuccillothe advocate

Jamal Muhammad, a 5-foot-9-inch sophomore guard on the Mt. Hood Saints basketball team, used to walk the streets of Okinawa, Japan, where he was a Marine Corps military brat. An 8-year-old at the time, Muhammad remembers like it was yesterday, playing on a friend’s organized basketball team. That’s when his basketball career first took off. And in cliché fashion, the rest is history.

“That’s when I first got

introduced to basketball, though I had always been playing since I can remember, but not on a team like that,” said the 20-year-old from his Gresham apartment. “My buddy’s mom created a team over there (Okinawa) before we moved back to California and then to the Seattle area when I was about 12 or 13.”

Faces challenges in the Seattle areaLike most young children

who have parents in the military, Muhammad and his family moved a lot in a short period of time until his step father and mother decided

to divorce. This was close to seven or eight years ago, according to Muhammad.

After the divorce, Muhammad moved to a handful of Seattle suburbs, including Highlands, Skyway, and eventually Kirkland, where he finished middle school and high school. He also had his fair share of issues, including violent outrages, something he’s embarrassed to admit, but knows was once a part of his life. He feels as though he gained a lot of perspective, especially towards the end of high school and now, during his time in Gresham.

He said his temper has cooled down quite a bit in recent years, especially after dealing with racism in Kirkland.

“I was a hothead,” he said. “I started getting in trouble and making the wrong decisions. But I learned to ignore people and keep the trash talking on the court.”

His drug of choice then, was fighting, according to Muhammad, who said he may have run with the wrong crowd at one point, but never dabbled in drugs – though he admits he was once headed in a wrong direction and could have got caught up very easily in “gang-banging.”

Things got worse for Muhammad once he landed in Kirkland. He felt like an outcast in a mainly white suburban area, something he wasn’t used to, though Kirkland is only 12 miles away from Seattle.

“They acted like they’ve never seen a black guy from the hood,” said Muhammad of his peers. “They all stared at me at school and were trying to line up and shake my hand. It was weird... I hated it there, with a passion. It just wasn’t my type of environment. I literally felt uncomfortable 24/7. I ran into a lot racism out there, too.”

Finding peace, inner strengthMuhammad recalls a specific

time when racism really hit home. But he now laughs at those ignorant enough to associate with racists.

“A kid in middle school called me ‘nigga’ and I grabbed him by his head and slammed his face into the salad bars metal rail a handful of times,” he

said. “I came from somewhere where if you said something like that, you would be dead. But out there in Kirkland they said the ‘N’-word like it was normal.”

The racism continued while Muhammad attended Lake Washington High School, where he was a standout student-athlete in basketball, football, and track and field.

“They used to call me monkey, make monkey noises, and throw toilet paper at my house,” said Muhammad. He said it made him that much stronger.

Muhammad won’t soon forget those hurtful words and actions, but he’s content with moving forward and finding peace and solace in his life, something that hasn’t always come easy for him.

“It’s not worth it anymore,” said Muhammad. “I’m just trying to continue to better myself and to help my family.”

Jon Fuccillothe advocate

Though the Saints men’s basketball squad is off to a slow start in terms of its record, first-year head coach John Hawley still enjoys what he’s seeing from his talented young group.

“We are making great p r o g r e s s , we are just focusing on the task at hand, which is getting better and playing our style of basketball,” said Hawley. “The process can be tough for some of these guys since it can be hard

to make the transition from high school to college ball, since they were all coached a certain way. Still a lot of uncertainties.”

The Saints are currently 1-2 in the South Region, and 4-10 overall, in the NWAC.

“We haven’t played our best basketball,” said Hawley. “We need to play good in these next few games. All of these games coming up are important and we need to keep ourselves in the hunt.”

Traveling to Salem Wednesday night to square off with the Chemeketa Storm (2-1, 11-5), the Saints returned home with a 102-94 loss. Not too bad, considering they were trailing 55-34 at halftime. But the comeback was a little too late, though the Saints made it a two-

point game late in the contest. The Saints ended with five players with four fouls, which didn’t whether too well in the end result.

“We came out flat defensively and we weren’t focused and we weren’t mentally ready to go and the other team was,” said sophomore guard Jammal Muhammad, who finished the contest with 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. “We came together as a team at the half and talked about what we needed to fix. And we came out and executed well and started playing better defense.”

This was Muhammad’s second 30-plus scoring affair this season. The other came on Nov. 27 when he went off for a season-best 33 points. On the season, he leads the

Saints, averaging 16.2 points per game.

“To be honest it felt great and I was having a good time,” said Muhammad on scoring 32 points. “Even though we lost, we learned a lot from that game. Hopefully we step it up in our next game.”

Hawley added, “(Jamal) is a tough kid. He’s a competitor and hates to lose. He has been a great leader for us this season.”

In the loss, the Saints had three other players in double figures. Freshmen Trent Baker and Canyon Dwyre each chipped in 15 points, while sophomore Kody Kennedy added 11.

The 94 points was also a season high for the team, topping the 93 points scored in a victory over the

Walla Walla Warriors in Dec. 4.Before the game with the Storm,

Hawley said he was encouraged with his team’s defense.

“I like where we are defensively,” said Hawley. “Still haven’t executed our offense very well, but we are still working on that, I believe we’re right there though...

“I’m just trying to get all five guys on the floor to be consistent,” the coach said. “It has been nice though, because we have had key contributers come off our bench. We just need to find a flow.”

The Saints will next take on the Linn-Benton Roadrunners (1-3, 5-10) from Albany, at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Mt. Hood gymnasium.

Coach Hawley likes what he sees from men’s squad

Saints sophomore all-star guard Jamal Muhammad reflects on his basketball career and what makes him tick. Muhammad first started playing competitive basketball as an 8-year-old living in Okinawa, Japan. “That’s when I first got introduced to basketball, though I had alwways been playing since I can remember,” said Muhammad.

John Hawley

Photo by Emily Wintringham

“I’m just trying to continute to better myself and to help my family.”- Jamal Muhammad

For part two of the Jamal Muhammad feature, see next issue of the Advocate

SPORTSPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t4

Dogs to share turf with wolves

Web Photo

Beau Blunckthe advocate

The 2015-16 college football season concluded in a spectacular fashion Monday night when second-ranked Alabama beat top-ranked Clemson, 45-40, in Glendale, Ariz. The nation’s top two ranked teams slugged it out for their claim as national champions. Big plays in the fourth quarter by Alabama’s special teams and its unsuspected hero, tight end O.J. Howard, turned Clemson’s dream of winning its second-ever national title into a memory that may haunt them for a while.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinny’s motto for the season has been the phrase “bring your own guts” (BYOG) because he had the belief that everyone has counted their team out and they only had their own… guts… to believe in. Unfortunately for Swinny, it was Alabama’s coach, Nick Saban, who showcased his guts in play calling and ultimately pulling out a grueling, albeit, half-expected win.

The first half was mostly a defensive battle with the exception of a few big plays, such as Alabama Heisman winner Derrick Henry’s 50-yard run that resulted in the game’s first points on the Crimson Tide’s second possession. Clemson got decent field position from the ensuing kickoff return which led to another big play, this time a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tiger quarterback Deshaun Watson to receiver Hunter Renfrow.

After a ’Bama missed field goal, Watson was able to orchestrate a quick 73-yard drive to put Clemson up, 14-7. With their quick scoring offense and their four defensive sacks, it felt like the Tigers would remain in control through the first half. That was until Alabama cornerback Eddie Jackson was able to come up with an interception to help spark the Tide and give its offense good field position, which was used to knot the score at 14 heading into halftime.

Some of Saban’s guts showed in the form of a surprise onside kick

after his team scored a tying field goal with 10:34 to play in the fourth quarter. The success of the kick was crucial in keeping Clemson’s dynamic quarterback, Watson, off the field for what would prove to be a valuable possession.

Two plays later, Alabama regained the lead, 31-24, when Howard found himself wide open for his second touchdown of the game, a 51-yard reception. Clemson would respond with a field goal, only to be outdone by the Alabama special teams unit when Kenyan Drake scored on a 95-yard kickoff return, extending the Tides’ lead to 11.

Not to be outdone, Watson and company fought back, while down 45-33 with 1:07 remaining in the game after exchanging touchdowns. Down by two possessions, they mustered a quick 55-second scoring drive, making it 45-40 – leaving 12 seconds for a miracle onside kick attempt of their own. Only, in this instance the Tigers wouldn’t have the element of surprise in their favor, and thus they failed to convert and the Crimson Tide took over and took a final kneel-down.

The win gave Alabama and Saban a fourth title in seven years which puts him atop the list of the best-college-football-coach-EVER discussion, with the likes of yet another Alabama coach, the legendary Bear Bryant (six titles). Saban himself has five titles (four with Alabama and one with LSU) and is 5-0 when playing in the national title game.

Clemson fans at least have something to hang their hat on, a consolation prize (if there is such a thing), as Watson, the Tigers’ dynamic quarterback, had a record 478 all-purpose yards which surpassed the previous record-holder Vince Young’s 467 yards. Furthermore, Watson is only a sophomore, and with a young, talented team expected to return next year, Clemson’s already listed No. 1 in the way-too-early rankings for next season.

Tide takes out Tigers

Quincy Smith and Clay Vitalethe advocate

Come late spring this year, East Multnomah County residents and Mt. Hood students not only have Saints baseball and softball to look forward to, but a new team, as well. Mt. Hood’s Oslund Field, home of the baseball Saints, will be their den; their mascot, a brethren. They are the Gresham GreyWolves.

An expansion team into the wooden-bat West Coast League, the GreyWolves take their name from the animal that used to stalk these woods. The brainchild of owners Jerry and Lisa Walker (who also own the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants), they join ten other teams in the WCL, including the Bend Elks, Walla Walla Sweets and Victoria HarbourCats. They’ll split 54 league games between home and road series, from early June through mid-August, with the first pitch slated for Friday, June 3.

The team name was revealed in the wake of a “Name the Team” campaign, in which “The Gresham Growlers” had the highest number of votes, but the GreyWolves moniker was chosen because of the area’s history.

The Volcanoes have had a positive reaction from their community once the Walkers relocated them in 1997 from Bellingham, Wash., and have received support from both the city of Keizer as well as Key Bank, a good sign for the advancement of Gresham’s team.

In case you’re already stoked on the Gresham GreyWolves, you’ll need to shop for attire in the team colors, which are black, white, gold (to insinuate excellence) and, big shocker here, grey (certainly appropriate for the locale – have you

looked outside lately?)The collegiate West Coast League

has sent many former and current players to baseball’s major leagues, with quite a few of them becoming All-Stars. Last year’s home run king, Chris Davis, played for the Kelowna Falcons. The Corvallis Knights helped mold Matt Duffy of the Giants. Highly touted Cardinals lefty Marco Gonzales came out of the Wanatchee AppleSox program. The list goes on, but you get the point. Now it is Gresham’s opportunity to turn out major league talent and make a name for themselves.

While the Wolves’ roster is still under development, they did name Justin Barchus their first coach. The PSU grad had coached the Klamath Falls Gems before they transitioned out of the WCL and into the Golden State Baseball League.

The initial announcement was made on Oct. 22 by Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis and WCL President Dennis Koho in front of the Oslund Field backstop. In a news release by the city of Gresham, Jerry Walker was quoted as saying, “Lisa and I join the entire WCL, City of Gresham, Mt. Hood Community College and area fans in celebrating this next chapter in community-based, family friendly, championship-caliber baseball.”

MHCC President Debbie Derr was quoted saying that Mt. Hood was honored to host the GreyWolves and thinks it will be a great local addition.

Koho said in the release, “The West Coast League is very excited to be partnering with Gresham and Mt. Hood Community College. Both represent high standards of growth and excellence as does the West Coast League. Every community in which we play gets a chance at winning a championship, and I am confident that the new Gresham club will bring a strong brand to town in 2016.”

Details are still being worked and

released, and despite the club using the Saints facilities, there is still a clear divide between the school and team ownership. The GreyWolves will essentially pay rent to the school, control promotions, direct ticket prices and determine possible discounts for students.

As for field maintenance, Rick Doughty, Mt. Hood vice president of adminstrative services, says, “If usage increases, it is likely the GreyWolves and the City of Gresham will benefit in terms of (economic) income and will be interested in and supportive of continued improvements.”

It is clear Mt. Hood officials see this cooperation as a boon, with a chance to expose more of the public to the campus.

“If the community sees the college as a vital and necessary part of their community, they will send students here, support bond measures that improve the campus and programs to the benefit of students, and volunteer to make our college a better institution,” Doughty added.

It sounds like a great fit and one that should benefit Mt. Hood and Gresham, moving forward.

Get plugged into the GreyWolves online at http://greshamgreywolves.com/ for updates, schedules and coaching background.

Graphic courtesy of GreyWolves

Adam Elwellthe advocate

Let me tell you about one of the happiest places on Earth. I know it as the Taco Truck and, to be honest, I didn’t know its actual name was Taqueria El Jali-sciense until I had to write this sto-ry. Even though I’ve frequented this truck since second grade, I was probably in too much of a rush or just dis-tracted by the thought of the upcoming tacos. Which are fantastic, by the way – don’t let the 2.5 star rating on Face-book (the only feedback available

online) fool you; Yolanda wouldn’t know a good taco if it slapped her in the mouth.

The truck is located in Boring, in that strangely large parking lot between the Red Apple pub and the Green Food Market. The scenery is delicious, in that you can look at the truck, which has beautiful tacos plastered on its side, or at the con-crete.

Upon approaching the truck, you get a peek in-side the window and wonder how three people fit in there, then you’re greeted by a very loud “Whaddya want, big guy?” If that didn’t happen, watch out because the owner, Raoul, is walking up be-

hind you right now and he is defi-nitely going to give you a few hearty back-pat/pummels.

Glancing over the menu can take a while, since it’s surprisingly large for a mobile restaurant. There’s the Mex-American classics, including nachos and burritos, both of which are massive, see my head for refer-ence. There’s your typical arrange-ment of tacos, my personal favorite being the tacos de lingua. Yes, that means tongue, and yes they’re to die for. If you tell me otherwise you ei-ther haven’t had them yet, or are one of the Yolandas of the world – who clearly don’t even derive pleasure

from sunshine.These people are black pits of

despair.The tacos de lingua taste pret-

ty much just like beef, except with a much better texture, kind of like fish, but without the negative con-notation that fish-beef would have.

Just don’t think about it, and your taste buds will immediately re-ward you. Get the salsa while you’re there, too. Your options are green or red, they’re both very spicy, and worth the pain/occasional tear.Get the salsa while

you’re there too, your options are green or red, they’re both very spicy and worth the pain/occasional tear.

Ivy Davisthe advocate

This term The Visual Arts Gal-lery is starting off by hosting an array of paintings from the Water-color Society of Oregon (WSO), a traveling show. The pieces that are being seen in the Visual Arts Gal-lery have already visited 5 other galleries and still has one last stop after MHCC before heading home. Months and sometimes over a year prior, Doug Davies the Traveling Show Chair, makes phone calls and emails to perceptive galleries to set up date, commission rates, and pick-up/drop off dates and times.

In 1957 Oregon had 2 orga-nized watercol-or groups. After 1966 the Oregon Amateur Wa-tercolor Society became what is now the Oregon Watercolor So-ciety. The group has semi-annu-al meetings in April and Sep-tember, each hosting an art show where they vote for what piec-es will go on the Traveling Show.

At first all pieces of art were done only in the medium of watercolor, however in 1975 the group decid-ed to include all aqueous media on paper into the shows. Back in 1966 the society started with 38 mem-bers. After taking their shows across Oregon in the Traveling Show the WSO gained more members reach-ing 500 in 2012. Now, the WSO has nearly 1000 members. In order to be a member of the WSO you have to send in art work in slide or digital form to be reviewed and judged by the WSO jury who will determine your membership.

Some of the pieces included in the show at MHCC are “Tell Me Why” by Charlotte Peterson, “Pre-

paring For The Next Pose” by Chris Stubbs, and “Sheep Station” by Kath-

leen Haney. “Tell Me Why” by Char-lotte Peterson is a watercolor piece featuring an iris with words in the background. Some of the readable words say “Tell me why the sky is filled with music,” and “could it be, possibly, you love me? Tell me why.” All of the words are set in the back-ground of the painting fading from yellow to purple. A beautiful purple and white iris lays in the foreground. This particular piece really caught my eye because of its large size along with how realistic the iris looks.

The next piece to catch my eye, and my personal favorite, was “Pre-paring For The Next Pose” done by Chris Stubbs. In this art work is a woman who looks to be fixing her

hair. What re-ally makes this watercolor spe-cial is the detail and liveliness to the women fea-tured. A viewer can see every strand of hair on the women. The entire piece is done completely in warm colors. This is a work of

art I would want in my home. Some-how the painting makes me feel hap-

py, most likely do to the color choice of the artist.

Kathleen Haney painted a piece called “Sheep Station.” Pictured in this work of art is a grassy hill side with a brick house sitting on the top of the hill. Around the house and on a trail up to the house is a num-ber of sheep. This particular piece gives a viewer a sense of homey and peacefulness. In the background of the painting is a number of hills and an open blue sky. Most charming in this piece are the shadows that the house and sheep cast along with the bricks the artist painted individually.

The paintings in this Traveling gallery really show how talented Or-egonians are. While looking at all of these pieces you have to remember that the artist who painted these are from all over Oregon. These partic-ular pieces aren’t just from around our little city of Gresham. While looking at all of these watercolor works, one should imagine the tal-ent the rest of the world holds.

To check out the art work of the Watercolor Society of Oregon go into the Visual Arts Gallery where you can also see work by Ed Labadie. The show will be open until Febru-ary 4 Monday through Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 5Watercolor Society of Oregon visits MHCC

J a n u a r y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6

Ride the taco truck to YumTownBackyard bites, 2 of 4

5T P 5David BowieSONGS

The advocate is sad to see one of our favorite singer/songwriters pass. In honor of his life we give you 5 of

the best songs done by David’s many alter-egos.

Heroes - Heroes

Space Oddity - Love you till Tuesday

Fame - Young Americans

Life on Mars - Hunky Dory

Under Pressure - Queens, Hot Space

Honorable MentionsLets Dance, China Girl, Dance Magic Dance, and I’m Afraid of America.

Left: Chris Stubbs painting “Preparing For The Next Pose.” Right: “Sheep Station,” done by artist Kathleen Haney.

5/5 on thefood truck next

to your house scale

Photos by Ivy Davis and Nick Pelster

Taquerie El Jalisciense sign and truck located in scenic Boring where you can sometimes buy cow tongue for your fresh tacos.

Photo by Adam Elwell.All photos of Bowie from web.

I distinctly remember sitting on my couch, mid-ravioli bite, completely baffled

Matana McIntirethe advocate

The 2016 Golden Globe awards started out with a few questionable jokes, courtesy of Ricky Gervais. Word on the ’net is that not too many people are pleased with him right now. As for me, I started off the night listening to slightly offensive jokes about feminism, and it seemed lighthearted enough to overlook (you know, pick your battles and all). Honest-ly, Ricky’s got a lot of snark and a cool accent, so I gener-ally liked and enjoyed him as a host.

Best dressed man of the evening was, hands down, the Rock (or, excuse me, I suppose he goes by Dwayne Johnson now). His maroon

velvet suit? Golden, and very form-fitting to his biceps,

might I say. Women shined in a beautiful way this year: Brie Larson for

her exquisite performance in “The Room”; Taraji P. Henson as every-one’s favorite char-acter, Cookie, on “Empire”; Lady Gaga nearly in tears as she accepted her award for her first acting role on “American Horror Story: Hotel”. Each of these wins filled me with joy as I watched them

unfold.There was, how-

ever, a general cloud of WTF hanging over the awards show on Sunday night.

It started off with controversy around the nominations. “The Martian” was nomi-nated into the come-

dy category, seem-ingly just to get a

better chance at a win. Total confusion resulted for every-one watching, though, who knew without even watching the movie that it was definitely not a comedy.

It turned completely surreal when Matt Damon won Best Actor in a Mu-sical or Comedy. So, Da-mon is a comedian now? Noted. My outrage grew as “The Martian” went on to win Best Comedy Motion Picture. Which… what? “The Martian” is not a comedy, people!

Similar moments of “What the heck is happen-ing?” followed as the show progressed. An Amazon original series, “Mozart in the Jungle,” won a slew of awards, most notably Best Musical or Comedy Series. This came as a complete shock to viewers everywhere, including me. I’m sure it’s a great show, but Amer-ica doesn’t love it more than “Orange is the New Black” or “Transparent,” shows that have taken viewers by storm. I dis-

tinctly remember sitting on my couch, mid-ravi-oli bite, completely baf-fled that neither of these

groundbreaking shows won. How many of you have heard or even seen an episode of “Mozart in the Jungle”?

C o m p l a i n i n g time is over, though, and I digress. You can’t help the bu-reaucratic nature of the Hollywood Foreign Press Asso-ciation, which runs the Globes, unfor-

tunately. I suppose we’ll never know whether or not our favorite movies and TV shows truly have a shot at an award, at least as concretely as we feel they deserve it. Luckily, we have beautiful, talent-ed, charismatic people and pretty dresses to make up for the inevitable disap-

pointment. The peak of the night was Lady

Gaga’s acceptance speech when she won for Best Actress in a Mini-Se-ries. For me, it was a rather raw and genuine speech. She mentioned nearly everyone who makes “Amer-

ican Horror Story”, all the way up to executive producers who are rarely mentioned in these speeches. (How-ever, to the abject horror of my mother, Gaga did not thank her fi-ancé, Taylor Kinney, in her speech.) Seeing her on stage invigorated me, honestly. It was refreshing to see someone who is, for all intents and purposes, a rookie among the oth-er trophy winners. And that’s awe-some.

I give the 2016 Golden Globes a 3/5 on the golden globe scale.

PAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t6 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Theater is bringing Urinetown to MHCCIvy Davisthe advocate

This term, the MHCC Theater program will produce the musical, “Urinetown,” a satirical comedy with a lot of singing and dancing.

Mace Archer, Mt. Hood’s theater director, says it is part of a group of musicals that began to take them-selves less seriously than earlier mu-sical theatre shows. Urinetown “is self-aware, yet makes fun of itself while landing satirical punches,” he said. The production was first per-formed at the New York Interna-tional Fringe Festival in 2001, then later done on Broadway where it received a Tony Award.

Archer hopes to bring the “fun-niest and most topical show” since his arrival at MHCC, he said.

“The play is about a drought that is putting the squeeze on soci-ety, while corporations get rich on the agony of average folk,” he said. “When I look at the state of Califor-nia, the play seems really pertinent.” The hope for the play is to create a comical and entertaining musical pointing out foibles of our capitalist system.

Students will be working, study-ing, and rehearsing from 6 to 9 p.m., Sundays through Thursdays, to get ready. Archer said his goal is “to get students to create a sense of urgency and fun onstage” along with turning them into “true revolutionaries!”

Among some of the students on set, Jared Marchant will play Officer Lockstock. Ashley Fray is playing Penelope Pennywise, Austin Peters plays Bobby Strong, Laurel Strobel plays Little Sally, Hannah Hensley plays Hope Caldwell, and Michael Tippery plays Caldwell B Cladwell when the group takes the stage in February.

Other students onstage include Breeana Grimes, Karsten Kitchen, and Benjamin Trombi, along with ensemble students Jennifer Kuen-zi, Sable Van Meter, Trinity Card, Anita Bui, Ryan Townsley, Shannon Trantharn, Jade Rabell, Kayla Little, and Sawyer King.

Some of the play’s characters are still open for hopeful actors. Archer encourages and invites anyone who wants to get involved in any produc-tions MHCC does to email him at Mace.Archer@mhcc.edu. “Students can sign up for as little as one cred-

it (hour),” he said. “The great thing is that each student gets to work on the areas that they would most like to experience.”

Urinetown will be produced in the large College Theater. Archer described the play’s set as a “futur-istic, Gotham-like place,” run-down

and where society is divided into the rich and poor. Even the background of the set will be stylized to look like a city “with the underbelly of the cul-ture moved toward the audience,” Archer said.

MHCC’s production of Urine-town will open at 7:30 p.m. on Fri-

day, Feb. 19.Other dates for the show will be

Feb. 20-21 and Feb. 26-28.Tickets will be $10 if bought in

advance; if purchased at the door, $12 for Mt. Hood students, staff, and senior citizens, and $15 for adults.

Anything can be a comedy at Golden GlobesMace Archer, the theater director, instructs theater class during its rehearsals. Students practice choreography for one of the musical’s songs in the Studio Theatre during late-night practices.

3/5 on the Golden Globes Scale

Far left is Brie Larson in her stunning dress. Left is Lady Gaga in black.

Photo by Ben Baxter

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NEWS PAGEJ a n u a r y 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 7

Gloria Saepharnthe advocate

Some may not like to admit it, but school’s tough – especially when you don’t understand the curriculum. When you enter a classroom, you’re expected to learn about what the teacher presents

that day. At times, a student won’t understand what is to be expected and

that’s okay – that’s what resources are for.

At Mt. Hood, the resources available to students include a wide range of tutors, student success s e m i n a r s , teachers, the availability of electronics and

books.Lawrence Gilius, MHCC

Learning Services Coordinator, spoke about the Success Series – mini-seminars hosted upstairs in the Library – and how they help students focus on their studies.

“Use these resources to make your life easier,” Gilius said.

The Success Series is “a free presentation on a skill related to your success in school or career,” he said. They are offered in partnership with the college’s career planning and counseling center, he explained.

Gilius said the center is aimed towards improving a student’s job-oriented and career efforts, such as how to present yourself in an interview, write a resumé and how to do well at a job fair.

Specifically, the Success Series presentations are “geared toward study skills, textbook reading,

time management, overcoming procrastination and doing your best on tests,” he said. Attending the resource-rich presentations can help a student “learn a certain skill that you’re going to take back to the classroom that is going to help you do better.”

In any college, there will be a lot of coursework, stress and, often, time management problems. Having multiple classes can add up (especially when it gets to finals week), but the availability of tutors and study skills presentations are designed to help students get their school life managed.

Tutoring students is a supportive part of what the Success Series does and “is crucial,” Gilius said.

Help for everyone

It’s for all students, not just for those who are struggling or failing.

“The idea is, all of us can do

better if we have a little bit of insight as to what we’re doing,” he said. He explained that tutors are able to help students with their homework, but also to develop their overall thinking. “Our tutors, their purpose is not to answer the question for the student. They’re there to help the student become a stronger student.”

Tutors will provide assistance with textbooks, notes and other class-related assessments students may receive and help to apply themselves successfully. Gilius said some students visit the tutoring center every day, because they want to do their very best work.

Info on the Success Series here: mhcc.edu/SuccessSeriesEvents

School is tough, success seminars can help

Starting next Tuesday, the annual Winter Club Fair will begin at the Mt. Hood Community College campus. The event lasts for three days and will offer lots of information on various student clubs around the college for anyone interested in becoming more involved. Located in the Student Union, the event will be similar to the club fair held in the fall. Clubs will have booths set up with representatives available to answer any questions about their club’s activities, schedules, or information on joining. Coffee, snacks, and live music will be offered.

The fair runs 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Organizers hope to see students come and connect with MHCC’s variety of student clubs.

- R y a n

Moore

Mt. Hood is hosting the “We are the Dream: MLK Day of service,” this Monday, Jan. 18.

Over 700 student volunteers from six local organizations will gather at MHCC to serve East County. Those who have preregistered are required to check into the Mt. Hood gymnasium at 8:30 a.m. An opening rally goes from 8:30 to 10 a.m. By 10:30, volunteers will transition to their designated worksite for training and to start their projects. A closing rally back at MHCC will run 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.

A T-shirt and lunch is provided for all volunteers.For questions, contact Mt.

Hood’s Diversity Resource Center Coordinator, Melinda C. Bullen, at 503-491-717, or at melinda.bullen@mhcc.edu.

-Emily Wintringham

Read the full unabridged story online at:advocate-online.net

MHCC Club Fair

MLK Day @ MHCC

NEWSPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t8

Gloria Saepharnthe advocate

Students, staff, and community members of the Mt. Hood service district, grab your flags and have your No. 2 pencils at the ready: It’s campaign time.

The MHCC Board of Education on Wednesday voted, 5-2, to place a $125 million bond measure on the May 17 ballot.

If approved by voters, the bond would support major facility and education improvements at the Gresham and Maywood Park campuses.

It’s a big step, given Mt. Hood has not won passage of a bond measure in 42 years.

“The last time we passed a general obligation bond was in 1974, I was in high school,” said Debbie Derr, Mt. Hood president.

A bond measure effort has been discussed by school leaders for years, and will finally become a reality.

Before its vote Wednesday, the board heard a detailed briefing from Paige Richardson, co-founder of local political consulting firm Springwater Partners, who was hired to guide Mt. Hood’s bond campaign.

Richardson shared a PowerPoint presentation to describe results of internal and community surveys on a bond attempt, most recently from December. She began with how

voters may look and “sound” with regards to the bond.

Their will be significant education needed to win over voters, many of whom are not aware that many of Mt. Hood buildings are out of date and may have safety concerns, especially seismically related concerns, Richardson said.

Other important findings from a survey of hundreds of potential voters:

- 83 percent of people recognize that MHCC is an organization, and people are proud to have it in their community;

- Just over half of voters believe MHCC’s buildings and facilities are out-of-date;

- Typically, May elections attract more older voters, a challenging subgroup when it comes to passing a bond;

- Nearly 6-in-10 voters are willing to pay more in taxes, if there are strict accountability measures in place.

Richardson told the board the bond measure can win approval if MHCC holds its current 45 percent ‘Yes’ support and brings in 6 percent or more of the undecided.

She said promotion of the bond will target undecided voters and “soft base voters” (i.e., swing voters). Mt. Hood does not have expendable time or resources to move the voters who are already saying ‘No’ on the measure to the pro-bond side, she explained.

Richardson said the estimated annual property tax increase resulting from bond approval is 30 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That would be about $60 in annual taxes for a home with $200,000

assessed value.After Marilyn Pitts, president of

the part-time faculty association at MHCC, said her group backed the measure, it was time for a formal vote of the board members.

Board chair Susie Jones, vice-chair Jim Zordich, and recently elected members Teena Ainslie, Kenney Polson and Tamie Arnold all voted “yes” to a May ballot measure.

The MHCC main campus is “50 years old, limiting what it is providing students” in learning opportunities and technology, Zordich said. He said voters “want the community to participate in the future of this organization.”

Jones noted that Mt. Hood could lose $8 million in matching construction funds if it doesn’t get a bond approved in 2016.

Ainslie added that “we need to get the earthquake (-resistant) foundation put into place at MHCC.”

However, board members Michael Calcagno and Sonny Yellott both voted against a May bond measure.

Calcagno said he was deeply concerned there isn’t enough time, just 13.5 weeks remaining, to reach and to convince voters of Mt. Hood’s needs.

“We need a much more serious and robust effort, if we want this – if we really want this,” Calcagno said. “It pains me to say that I would be voting ‘No,’ but I sincerely believe that we need a longer runway” to get this (effort) off the ground, he said.

Calcagno added that he “loves Mt. Hood Community College. I think it’s a beacon of hope and we’re (the board) here to be good stewards” of the school for the community.

Board of Education tries to shake 42-year curse

A new Workforce and Applied Technology Center

• Benefitting: Automotive, advanced manufacturing and machine tool technology, welding, engineering, mechatronics, skilled trades and apprenticeship preparation.

• State of Oregon’s dedicated $8 million must match these resources in order to utilize the state funds for the center.

A new Northeast Portland (Maywood Park) campus and modernize current college facilities to meet current and future business and industry standards.

• Essential building and seismic upgrades to Gresham campus and the Bruning Center.

Improve safety and security on Mt. Hood College campuses

• Immediate response to possible threats like natural disasters and weapon-related incidents.

• Keyless entry systems

Cut College’s debt

• Pay off existing debt that will save the college $40 million over the next 17 years

What will a General Obligation Bond do?

Kane Drive reopens after a month of construction

City engineers, consultants and contractors worked day and night to reopen the road that has over 30,000 drivers on it per day. The road will have bikes, pedestrian traffic and vehicles upon it once again, since the road is newly paved. As you can see, the yellow and white lines haven’t been spray painted onto the asphalt yet. In a hurry to open the road and alleviate the congestion around the closure, the workers did whatever they could to satisfy the needs of drivers around the Mt. Hood Community College area, as well as school traffic.

With the $8 million in approved matching funds from the State of Oregon, the Bond will go towards:

Source: Paige Richardson

A Closer Look

“We need a much more serious and robust effort, if we want this – if we really want this.”

- Michael CalcagnoMHCC Board of Education Member

Photo by Nick Pelster