Volume 36, Issue 4 Whatcom communIty college December 1, 2009

HorizonInside

Whatcom Speaks

Pages 8 and 9

Students staying healthy by working out

page 10

A look inside the life of a garbage man

page 11

Volunteering through WCC clubs

page 12

Showing their strengthby Jorge CantuHorizon Reporter

See Tim Watters profile on Page 7

Tim Watters with his dog, Little Bit, who takes Watters on walks around campus. Watters teaches philosophy, world religions, communications and interdisciplinary studies at Whatcom.

SAL lab to move to Heiner next summer

See Lab on page 2

Story and photo by Matt BenoitHorizon Editor

The Student Access Lab, or SAL computer lab lo-cated in Cascade Hall, will move to Heiner Center in the summer of 2010. The move is the first step in creating a temporary “Learning Commons,” a place where students can go to for tutoring, library resources, and computers, all in one place.

The move from Cascade Hall has stirred both op-position and support from students and staff.

SAL’s move from Cascade to Heiner was scheduled to take place in summer 2009, but more informa-tion and further discussion was needed by the plan-ning committee because of the economic climate, said Ray White, vice president of administrative services at Whatcom.

The committee decided to postpone SAL’s move into the first floor of Hei-

ner until summer 2010. Two of Heiner’s 35-seat class-rooms will be converted for the Learning Center, while Cascade will gain a 26-seat classroom and a 45-seat class-room. The move is projected to cost $61,000 and will be paid from Whatcom’s student technology fees.

After opposition to the move was expressed at a stu-dent council meeting in mid-October, White gave an over-

view about the SAL move at the next council meeting. He said that five years of survey information taken from students and faculty concluded that more access to computer labs and more centrally located computer labs were needed at What-com.

Some students do not want the learning access

The women’s volleyball team huddle during one of their meets earlier this season.

See fall sports on page 11

Students hard at work in the Cascade student access lab, which will be turned into a classroom once the lab moves to Heiner.

-Photo by matt benoIt

The fall sports season has come to a close, and What-com’s teams have proven they are a force to be reck-oned with. All three teams—volleyball, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer—qualified for postseason play.

Kris Baier, director of stu-dent life at Whatcom, was very proud of their success. “For all of our teams this season to go to postseason play was truly an accomplish-ment,” he said. “It reflected very well on WCC, and I view it as a tribute to our commu-nity.”

VolleyballThe Whatcom volleyball

team had a successful sea-son with first-year coach Jeff McDonald, finishing the regular season second in the NWAACC North Re-gion standings with a league record of 10 wins and two losses. The Orcas were 25-12 overall.

“Losing to just one team in the conference was a big accomplishment [as well as]

maintaining an excellent record overall,” McDonald said. “We’ve beaten some really tough teams and our losses included just one sweep, the rest of our losses be-ing in five [games].”

At the NWAACC Champion-ship Tournament in Gresham, Oregon, held Nov. 19 through Nov. 21, the Orcas defeated Pierce Community College, three games to two, in the first round. They then lost to Mt. Hood Community College, three games to one. Freshman Sabrina Schwindler had 18 kills in the match, while sophomore setter Katie Cowan gave 50 as-sists and freshman libero Alex Storino added 29 digs.

In their third match, the Or-cas’ season came to an end with another loss, two games to one, against Chemeketa Community College.

Several players had especially outstanding seasons, as Cowan led the entire NWAACC with an average of nearly 11.5 assists per game. Schwindler finished the season ranked sixth overall in kills and fourth in hitting per-centage, and sophomore Sarah Cicchitti led the conference in

service aces. “I feel that I have created

some very smart players this sea-son,” McDonald said.

SoccerThe men’s soccer team

clinched their fifth-consecutive North Region championship with a league record of six wins, two losses, and five ties. After defeating Everett Community College 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs, their season ended

with a 3-1 loss against Spo-kane. Freshman Nino Tursic scored at the 40-minute mark of the game to bring the Orcas’ their only goal.

“I am proud of the way the returning players have stepped up and been a positive influence on the first year players,” commented head coach Josh Turpen

All three Whatcom teams make post steason

-Photo by JessIca DanIel

2 December 1, 2009

P l u sAs an added WCC benefit, the Co-op is offering a 5% discount off your total store purchases every Tuesday of each month through the end of the current academic quarter (December 2009).

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Beginning September 18, this offer is open to WCC students, faculty, and staff.

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including breakfast or lunch, from our deli!

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Lab from page 1

computer lab moved away from the close proximity of the tutoring labs. How-ever, council members also reported that some of their constituents say tutoring labs have been overcrowd-ed and not conducive to learning.

Dean Hagin, director of the learning center, said moving the learning center could result in the comput-ers they house for students being more occupied.

“This might have both positive aspects and not-so-positive aspects,” said Hagin. On the plus side, students might try to ac-cess the computers and wind up discovering all the student support services the center has. However, there will also be fewer computers near the center for students to use while they prepare or await tu-toring sessions.

Linda Lambert, library director, said that the li-brary would work with the learning center to cover the research needs of students, adding that there would still be a “first floor librari-an presence” that would be limited unless the library budget expands.

Although the learning center will move with the SAL lab, the IT department will stay in Cascade. Ward Naf, director of the IT de-partment—which will plan and implement the move—said moving the lab will greatly benefit students.

“The basement of the Heiner building promises to be a better location to ef-ficiently expand the num-ber of computers available for students,” said Naf, adding that the lab’s cur-rent location makes expan-sion not feasible.

Other benefits of the move, said Naf, would be giving students an efficient and accessible way to get

checkout materials from the library, as well as providing a start towards establishing the “learning commons,” a two-story, 69,210 square foot building that will be centrally located on What-com’s campus.

The building is expected to be completed by 2018 at a cost of nearly $40 million, and will provide eLearn-ing support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With the SAL move, Hei-ner would become the de facto “learning commons,” synergizing library resourc-es, tutoring centers, learn-ing access labs, computer-labs, study areas, computer kiosks, wireless connectivity and student collaborations (study groups) until the of-ficial Learning Commons Center is built.

The thinking, said White, is that students working on homework in SAL could seek impromptu help at the tutoring center which is just next door, head upstairs to the library for further re-search, or prepare to meet a study group.

A small test demonstra-tion of how a learning lab could work in Heiner was set up by introducing com-fortable chairs, vending ma-chines, and open work areas with tables instead of desks in the first floor commons area and observing usage.

Anyone who has been to the first floor of Heiner can see that the common area is well used by students and study groups.

Computer logistics also come into play with the move. “SAL sharing tech-nologies like printers and servers, and human re-sources like monitors and tutors all in one place also makes more dollar sense,” said White.

-Editor’s note: Kathryn Pace contributed to this story.

Chandler Batiste, the executive vice president for the student council who is also chair of stu-dent advocacy, said she polled around 146 students, a major-ity of whom were in favor of the move. Batiste did say 95 percent of the survey was taken in the Syre Student Center, leading her to believe that the students spent at least some of their time near Heiner.

The other five percent of the survey, taken across campus, showed slim margins but over-all was still in favor of the move. Batiste said students who do op-pose the move do so at least in part to the convenience of where

the lab is currently located, but added that the move is the first step to “slightly decreasing con-venience for some in hopes of vastly increasing convenience for all.”

As for her personal stance, Ba-tiste said she has an office as a student government member and, like many students, a lap-top, and thus never uses the lab.

One student proposed a com-promise. Casey Lockhart, 22, is a Whatcom student who uses the SAL lab two days a week as part of his English 101 class, which splits their time evenly between the classroom and the lab. He says he thinks it would be nicer to have the labs in two different places than just one central lo-cation. “It seems more efficient,” he said.

Library director Linda Lambert, though, cast doubt on such a com-promise, saying she didn’t know if the resources were available for two separate labs.

Sean Radwanski, 15, a full-time Running Start student who uses the lab almost every day to do homework, check e-mail, and write stories, said the lab move is help-ful to students because it not only brings the lab closer to the library, but to other buildings as well.

“It’s more in the middle of ev-erything,” Radwanski said of the future Heiner location.

Arturo Camejo, 19, works in the International Programs office and uses the SAL lab an average of four times a week to write essays and more. “I’m for it,” he said of the move to Heiner. “It’s more in the core of the campus.”

Josh Clark, 28, says he uses the computers in the library of-ten, and thinks it’s a good idea to move the lab because it means he won’t have far to go to find other computers, and thus, he can avoid waiting in lines more often.

Clark recalls that in previous years at Whatcom, wait lines for computers used to be shorter. “This year’s not been like that, at all,” he said.

The opposite view was ex-pressed by Crystal Bohm, 40, who seemed disappointed by the move, saying she enjoyed the ac-cess of the Cascade SAL lab due to the amount of time she spent in the science labs on that side of the campus.

“They were handy,” Bohm said of the SAL computers in Cas-cade.

Students’ reaction to the moveStory by Matt Benoit

horIzon 3

Horizon FALL 2009Editor In Chief : Matt Benoit Production Design Editor : Emily Huntington Online Editor: Rachel Elizabeth Brown Advertising Manager : Daniel Schober Proofreader: Carol Hogan Adviser : Toby Sonneman

Staff Writers Matt Benoit, Jorge Cantu, Jessica

Daniel, Emily Huntington

Guest Writer: Kelly Sullivan

The Horizon Syre Student Center

Room 202 Whatcom Community College

237 W. Kellogg Rd. Bellingham, WA

98226 Telephone:

(360) 383-3849 Fax: (360)383-3113

editor@whatcomhorizon.com admanager@whatcomhorizon.com

The Horizon is the official student newspaper of Whatcom Community College. Editorials reflect the sole opinion of the author. Articles, commentaries, photographs

and cartoons are welcome from any enrolled student for possible publication. The Horizon is a public forum funded primarily by student S&A fees and is entirely student-produced. Advertisements in the Horizon do not reflect the

opinion of the newspaper.

Letter from the Editor Activities Calendar

Council Notes

Wed. Dec. 2Massage practitioner info session

LDC 203, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Wed. Dec. 2Medical programs info session

LDC 203, 2 to 3 p.m.

Monday Dec. 7Physical therapist assistant info session

LDC 203, 2 to 3 p.m.

Wed. Dec. 9RN nursing info session

LDC 203, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Thursday Dec. 10Last day of fall quarter!

Sat. Dec. 12Women’s basketball vs Treasure Valley

Pavilion, 2 p.m. Men’s game, vs Centralia, starts at 6 p.m.

Monday Jan. 4First day of Winter Quarter!

by Matt Benoit

Drama fund requestThe Drama department has requested $500 in order to fund and put on a musical in the spring quarter. The musical would include various types of dances and styles, and would be a collaborative effort between different clubs.

Council Jackets The motion for the student council to have custom-made WCC jackets has been passed. The motion called for costs not to exceed $250, and to obtain jackets for all members of the

student council.

MLK Day Service ProjectThe student council has proposed a community service project. The project will be run through Habitat for Humanity, and will involve working on homes to help reconstruct them for people. It will take place on January 18. The council is encouraging student involvement from anybody on campus willing to help and join.

Art Awareness and Table Tennis Clubs recognizedThe art awareness club is now an official club of Whatcom Community College. The table tennis club is also official. Meeting dates and times are to be determined.

Now that Thanksgiving is over with, and you’ve hopefully all recovered from stuffing your-self so full that you’re still too frightened to step on a scale, it’s officially the holiday season.

This means that most every business and citizen has now gone full-bore into Christmas mode, with trees, wreaths, poin-settias, icicle lights—you name it. Most food and drink commer-cially available is now either pep-permint or egg nog-flavored.

For most department and gro-cery stores, the holiday season usually means playing Christ-mas music (and nothing but Christmas music) non-stop until December 26. And I hate it.

Don’t get me wrong; I love “White Christmas” just as much as the next guy. But there is a limit to how much I can toler-ate.

For instance, if I were working

long shifts at a department store, and I had just heard “Feliz Navi-dad” for the twenty-seventh time that week, I would snap like a brit-tle candy cane and wind up com-mitting some terribly violent act upon whatever Christmas display was nearby.

As a result, you’d probably see a headline in the Bellingham Herald the next day reading something like this: “LOCAL DEPT. STORE EMPLOYEE BEATS FROSTY THE SNOWMAN TO DEATH.”

Of course, besides the holidays, we have the end of the quarter, and thus finals, approaching like a really bad simile that I’m currently unable to come up with. Anyway, I want to wish all of you the best of luck on your finals—just study hard and you’ll do fine.

In closing, I want to thank any-one who took the time to pick up a copy of the paper or check out the Horizon Web site this quarter, as well as anyone who gave us feed-back (good or bad) on our efforts. We truly appreciate it, as it is this which makes all our hard work and efforts worthwhile.

Finally, if you still need an extra class next quarter and are interest-ed in writing or journalism, then consider joining the Horizon staff (trust me, we’ve got room). It is an enriching experience.

I wish you all the very best holi-day season. See you next quarter (not to mention next year and de-cade), Whatcom!

4 December 1, 2009C a m p u s B r i e f s

Jazz band concert TONIGHT

The Whatcom jazz band, along with the collegiate choir, will put on their fall concert tonight, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Heiner Center Auditorium.

Laying down the law

Talk to a lawyer for free on Wednesday, Dec. 2, when Street Law’s student legal services will be available for the final time this quarter. Held in the Career Center (LDC 116), there will be two ses-sions of Street Law—from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and from 5 to 7 p.m.

Students can have questions answered regarding civil and con-sumer law, debt collection, and more.

Bowling with IFC for free!

The International Friendship Club will hold their final activity of the quarter, a bowling party, on Friday, Dec. 4 from 4 to 6 p.m. at 20th Century Bowling. The event is free with a WCC student I.D. card.

Student art show at

Co-op

The opening of an exhibition of WCC student art works inspired by fruits, vegetables, eggs, mushrooms, and other produce will take place Dec. 4 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Cordata Com-munity Food Co-op.

Drawings in pencil, charcoal, pas-tel and paintings in oils and acrylics, created in the art classes of Gena Grochowski, Caryn Friedlander, Catherine Morgan, and Ene Lewis will be on display.

The artists will be on hand for the opening of the exhibit, and refresh-ments will be served.

Trivia bee

The WCC Communication Club will be holding their second annual Trivia Bee (in conjunction with the Business Club Book Sale) on Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. in the Syre Auditorium.

In addition to the trivia bee, there will be free food and raffle give-aways, including a day’s ski lift (and ski or snowboard rental package) to the Mt. Baker Ski Area.

Admission is $4 (no presale), or $2 with a nonperishable food do-nation. To compete in the bee, each team must sign up and pay a $30 entry fee (at the cashier’s window in Laidlaw to guarantee a spot; or 30 minutes prior to the event, if there’s still space).

Writing opportunities for students

The WhatcomReads! Committee, in preparation for author Tobias Wolff’s appearance at Whatcom on Feb. 8, has two contests available to anyone in the campus community. The first is a six-word story contest, catalyzed by Er-nest Hemmingway’s response to write a memoir in only six words. Anyone interested can go to www.whatcom-reads.org and submit their entry.

The second contest, called “Decep-tion,” will name one winner from each participating high school or college. The winning entries will be published in an anthology, and the authors will be invited to read their work at an au-thor’s reception at Village Books.

New modern dance course offering

A new course, “Modern Dance & Movement,” will be offered for winter quarter through the WCC Learning Contract Program in conjunction with the WWU Dance Program. The course is an introduction to movement and dance featuring Pilates-based warm-ups, strength building, and fluidity through movement sequences and im-provisation.

No dance experience is necessary. To register for the course, contact Beth

Tyne in Entry and Advising (LDC 116) at 383-3088, or by e-mail at btyne@whatcom.ctc.edu.

Donuts rocket into Dockside

Famous, locally produced Rock-et Donuts are now available at the Dockside Café. The donuts will be available every Monday and Wednesday.

Drama students nominated for scholarship

Three actors from the drama department’s recent performances of two one-act plays by Will Eno have been nominated for the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions, part of a national festival that will take place in Reno in February.

The three nominees: Colleen Ames, for her performance in “Intermission,” as well as Emily Lester and Tim Greger, for their performances in “Tragedy: A Tragedy.”

horIzon 5Queer and straight come together

Story and photo by Jessica DanielHorizon Reporter

“We are the QSA, a club that pro-motes a welcoming environment for all races, creeds, color, religion, and backgrounds to come together with a comfortable atmosphere to promote freedom and equality, in a safe place,” said Rachel Simpson, the president of Whatcom’s Queer Straight Alliance.

The Queer Straight Alliance is open to anyone, no matter what sexual preference. It is a group of students led by advisors Crystal Ravenwood and John Gonzales, and focuses on educating the stu-dents and the public.

“The QSA helped me to have a sense of community and a place to belong. It’s a way to get a social network to the WCC students,” said Nathen Mattly, the club treasurer.

Simpson said the club works on spreading valuable information through open communication to everyone, through both reference materials and personal experiences. “We care about being a key role and a part of a community of Whatcom County, as both a resident as well as a WCC student,” Simpson said.

The QSA has student members ranging from 16 to 40 years of age, with eight to 20 members varying throughout the year. The club wants to make sure that others who might be interested in the QSA will know about it, and decide to join.

Simpson said the club meets weekly to plan events and have good

discussions. Once a month, it meets for an extended period of two hours. Other times, the club relaxes and plays games or has food for the members.

During the meetings, they discuss important issues such as Referendum 71, and the legalization of marriage be-tween gay and lesbian couples. “Every vote counts,” Simpson said.

Cat Horton, a member of the Queer Straight Alliance said, “The QSA of-fers a place to hang out and discuss is-sues with no judgements and no ques-tions.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re gay, straight, black, white, pink or purple,” Horton said. “As long as you believe in equality and are non discriminating, it’s a fun place to get involved.”

This fall quarter the club had a suc-cessful time with the Mallard’s Free Ice Cream Social during Veterans week, which helped spread the word about the club. The QSA uses word of mouth, posters, and Facebook as well as big events every year to promote the club.

One such event will take place in Feburary. The QSA plans to put on a new free masquerade ball this winter quarter instead of the Rainbow Prom. The masquerade ball will have music, hired entertainers such as a local bel-ly dancer troupe, space for dancing, a professional photographer, costume and mask contests, games, door prizes, and catered food.

In spring quarter, the QSA will host its annual Drag & Variety Show in May, which is also during the club’s Queer Awareness Week.

Putting on these public events is just one way the QSA connects with the public.

The QSA is associated with quite a

few other public organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, Evergreen Aids Foundation, Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire, Ru-mors Cabaret, the Bellingham Roller Betties, Domestic Violence and Sex-ual Assault Services, (Pflag) Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Skagit Rainbow Coalition, and Bellingham’s Pride Foundation.

Horton is involved in the LGBTQ, which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender and Queer.

Horton is more popularly known as the ‘Mr. Gay of Bellingham’ and also works with the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire, a non-profit organization raising funds for the cause, as well as providing memo-rial schoolarships for those doing the LGBTQ studies at Fairhaven College, through Western.

Simpson talked about the club name.

“We embrace the word ‘queer,’” she said, “because we are trying to take back the word to reinforce it with a positive manner and that will change the way everyone sees the meaning of the word.”

Mattly said there is a stigma of the word “queer,” calling it an umbrella term for anyone who is different.

Mattly said of the QSA, “People can come here and have a safe place to come and belong to.”

Left to right: Roxanne Mymrin, Susan Upston, Ryan Fredrickson, Rachel Simpson, Clint, Nathen Mattly and Cat Horton. In front are the advisors, Crystal Ravenwood and John Gonazles.

Letters to the EditorVeteran feedback

Hey WCC, In my two years here at WCC,

I have seen a very fundamen-tal shift in the way veterans are treated on campus. Much of this is due to the influence of guys like Tim Nelson who are no longer with us. If you weren’t aware, Tim was a Marine Corps veteran who spent several years at Whatcom working for veter-ans’ care and recognition. Trag-ically, Tim took his own life, due in large part to the many prob-lems he faced related to his ser-vice in the Marines.

One issue which I think is im-portant to veterans, and would have been important to Tim, is the fair treatment of veterans with emotional, legal, financial, and substance abuse problems. Many afflicted veterans end up homeless, hospitalized, dead, or in a criminal justice system that hurts them more than it heals. We need to create a spe-cial court for veterans, like drug court, which will see that they are given a helping hand and not a kick while they are down. We need to create special hu-man services that target veter-

ans who are struggling to reinte-grate into society. We need to save emotionally-compromised vets from getting dragged into the legal morass that we call our criminal justice system.

Please help me to create a spe-cial court in Whatcom County for veterans. If you are interested e-mail me at stoplossed@gmail.com Until we can fix the problems of crime and punishment in our soci-ety, we should at least try to save the veterans who are at greater risk for a myriad of personal problems because of their selfless service.

Thanks,

Evan KnappenbergerWhatcom Community College,

2007-09US Army, 2003-2007stoplossed@gmail.com

Web site feedbackDear Horizon Staff,I wanted to let you all know

that the paper’s Web site looks amazing! Great job, Rachel, on working so hard on it! I love that readers have the option of checking out the paper online and have an interactive site at their fingertips. The layout is wonderful and the “Featured Stories” slide show is fantastic! Kudos to the mastermind be-hind that idea!

Keep up the good work, every-one! It’s great to see the Horizon doing so well.

-Esther Martinez

Corrections from Nov. 10 issue:

In the story “Interna-tional at Heart”, Ulli Schraml’s job title was incorrect.

He is a coordinator in the international programs office work-ing with activities and special programs, study abroad, and is the advi-sor for the IFC.

He also obtained his master’s in history, not English. He has no Eng-lish degrees.

Also, in the “Meet the Women’s Volleyball team” article, player Kelsie Meenderink’s name was misspelled.

Have opinions, comments, ideas? Write a letter to the Horizon!

Send your letters to : Horizon@whatcom.ctc.edu

Letters to the Horizon should be 300 words

or less. They may be edited for length and

appropriate content and must be signed with the

writer’s name and phone number.

Contact informationThe QSA meets every Thursday at 4

p.m. in Heiner 101E-mail: wccqsa@gmail.com Facebook Profile: http://www.fa-

cebook.com/wccqsa Community Profile: http://com-

munity.livejournal.com/wcc_qsa/profile

6 December 1, 2009

Linda Lambert, library direc-tor at Whatcom, says her favor-ite thing to bake is chocolate chip cookies. Always.

“I love chocolate,” she says, adding that her favorite recipe is “chocolate coma cookies,” from a mystery novel by Carolyn Mott Davidson.

Lambert is just one of about a baker’s dozen of library circula-tion staff, librarians, classified staff, and work study students who can and probably will be baking up a storm of tasty treats for this quarter’s “Late Nights at the Library,” where the library will be open for extended hours in preparation for student finals and projects.

This year’s dates are Dec. 2 and 3, with a second “batch” on Dec. 7 and 8. The library will be open until 10 p.m., one hour later than normal hours for the quarter on Mondays through Thursdays.

Lambert says “Late Nights” have been occurring since 2005, when she had the idea to offer a basic package of ideas summed up in the library’s flyers for the event: cookies, coffee, and li-brarians. The library would of-fer extended hours, and, at the same time, coffee, cookies and other baked goods.

The event, which occurs at the end of each quarter, costs $600 each year, and is paid for through the Associated Students of Whatcom.

“I’m making chocolate pea-

nut butter bars,” said Julie Horst, a reference librarian at Whatcom. Horst said the bars have a peanut butter base and are covered with chocolate. “They’re extremely ad-dictive,” she added, mentioning that they’re loaded with fat, sugar, an entire pound of powdered sug-ar, and she doesn’t even have to ac-tually bake them.

One thing that most of the staff loves to bake are chocolate chip cookies. Kim Struiksma, admin-istrative assistant in the library, makes her grandma’s top secret chocolate, chocolate chip cookies.

Jon McConnel, librarian, bakes chocolate chip cookies because he has a good recipe and, he added, it’s easy. “It’s what I bake for my-self; it’s what I bake for the stu-dents,” he said.

“I bake my aunt’s recipe for 10-cup cookies,” said circulation desk librarian Linda Compton-Smith. She always makes the rec-ipe, she said, and described the cookies as having a full cup of each of the ingredients—including pea-nut butter, chocolate, and coconut among others—in each batch.

Laurie Starr, another circula-tion desk librarian, says her reci-pes vary. She has made everything from snickerdoodles to double chocolate oatmeal cookies, and is thinking of making salted peanut bar cookies, which she described as butterscotch-like in nature. “It’s always fun,” she said of the bak-ing.

The library usually never runs out of treats altogether, but Lam-bert said Ara Taylor, who man-ages the reserves at the circulation desk, has baked up things at home and run them to the library on the few occasions they’ve run short on treats.

Lambert said that one type of baked good seems to be consumed faster than others.

“Brownies always go first,” she said.

Getting Baked: Late nights at the Library return with extended hours, baked goods for allStory and photos by Matt BenoitHorizon Editor

Late nights at the library returns! The library will be open with plenty of sweet treats, until 10 p.m. on December 2 and 3, and again on December 7 and 8.

“Brownies always go first.”

-Linda Lambert

horIzon 7

April Hinkel-Johnson, 18

“I’m gonna get my wisdom teeth pulled out.”

Jason Simon, 17

“Enjoy my weekends, and hope that next quarter is easier.”

Jessica Perry, 16

“I’m going to continue taking high school courses and decorate my house for Christmas.”

Armando Gomez, 18

“Spend money, like every day, as if it’s going out of style.”

Jimmy Wilder, 19

“Spend Christmas break making music and buying presents.”

Whatcom Voices: What’s the first thing you’re going to do when school is out for the quarter?

Testing the Watters

by Jessica DanielHorizon Reporter

“I see myself as a companion in the learning process as Aris-totle saw himself to Alexander the Great,” said Tim Watters, as he explained that teaching is handing over knowledge.

Raised in the deep South of Aiken, South Carolina, Watters, a faculty member at Whatcom Community College since July 2002, teaches philosophy, world religions, communica-tion, and interdisciplinary studies.

Watters has a triple bachelor’s degree in English, history and philosophy, and a Master’s in theology, civil law and Europe-an civil law. He plays the organ, and enjoys house renovating, parties, cooking, and weight training with low impact aero-bics.

Watters enjoys teaching for what he sees in the students’ eyes. “That they get it; I enjoy what they teach me of life,” he said, calling Whatcom students the birth of our “future pres-ent.”

“Each student is in a rite of passage from the time of lim-ited responsibility, to an age of informed leadership, leav-ing childhood behind,” Wat-ters said. “The pressures upon them to meet this challenge are increasing exponentially as the nation struggles with an era of decline.”

Watters wants the students to understand the pressures in the real world. “If you’re not the one getting it, then you’ll be left behind,” Watters said.

During class, Watters encour-ages the students to get up in

front of the class and explain to their peers what they’re discuss-ing that day. By having a student do this, it shows them the pres-sure and competition of others, and pushes them to realize their potential.

“Instead of slowing down the tempo, we have to speed it up and put pressure on students to see what has been here all along, but never grabbed their attention,” Watters said. “It is a challenge we must accept. It’s not easy to broaden horizons.”

Watters said that every gen-eration must do this, so the next generation can be succeeded, not replaced. “I try to refocus the students’ eyes on the larger ‘now’ than they have in their line of sight,” Watters said.

The Chinese have an ancient saying, said Watters, “The eyes are blind when the mind is else-where.”

“No one person can fulfill one duty,” Watters said. “It takes all of us together as a consciously formed community to be true to our national identity and pur-pose.”

Shane Everbeck is a student in Watters’ philosophy class. “He re-ally cares and is a great teacher,” he said. “This class is really mind opening.”

Watters considers himself a professor of reality checks. “Students are leaving the arena of fairy tales, and becoming the authors of folk tales,” he said.

However, a major difference between the students and Wat-ters is the life experience. “This I have to share,” Watters said. “This they have to acquire.”

Maddie Schatz is a student in Watters’ world religions class. “He’s a smart guy and knows what he’s talking about,” she said. “He’s a good teacher and is really laid back. That’s what I like about him.”

Watters spoke of the fac-ulty, administrators and staff at Whatcom as an impressive crew. “They come together; there is no competition between them,” he said. “Everyone wants the best for their col-leagues.”

“Teaching is handing over knowledge and mentoring is the handing over of understand-ing,” Watters said. “This college does both. It is how future lead-ers are made.”

“The stars of this institution are the students. They are very intelligent; perhaps more than I am,” he added.

Recently in the hospital for eight days, starting with a diagnosis of the flu and leading to congestive heart, kidney and liver failure, Watters’ life was at risk.

He said the faculty sent letters and gave the students a chance to write cards and notes wish-ing him well for his health.

Kathi Hiyane-Brown, the President of Whatcom sent a heartfelt message of concern, along with Kim Reeves, a facul-ty member, encouraging people to send him chocolates, Watters said. Students and faculty came to visit him, “It was very uplift-ing,” he said.

The experience in the hospital

left Watters with a new realiza-tion of fear. He said he does not fear death or the fear of dying, but rather the fear that a stranger will close his eyes in death.

“I want students to be my revenge on death,” Watters said. “The dead live on in the memory of the living.”

Something that Watters wishes to accomplish at What-com is to be deemed creditable, he said. “I’m not perfect or free from error, but I want to earn the students’ conscious trust, not the habitual trust they bring with them through the door.”

“If I am creditable, they will listen,” said Watters.

A dream of Watters is to win the lottery and invest the money in a foundation for the arts and humanities that will provide for the future through the present.

“Becoming comfortable with who I am not, and never will be; being comfortable in my own skin,” is what Watters is most proud of. He then quoted Plotinus. “The soul that beholds beauty becomes beautiful.”

Watters had a word of advice for students. “When you are 20, you worry what everyone thinks of you. When you are 40, you don’t care what anyone thinks about you. When you hit 60, very few have been thinking about you anyway.”

“So stop giving away your power to those who don’t even want it,” he said. “Learn what pleases you first; you may just learn your destiny.”

“He’s a smart guy and knows what he’s talking

about.” -Maddie Schatz

“Teaching is handing over knowledge and

mentoring is the handing over of understanding.”

-Tim Watters

Tim Watters profile from page 1

8 December 1, 2009

Tell us something interesting about you, Whatcom!“I lived in Ukraine for 15 years.”

“I accidentially ate pork once, even though I’m Muslim.”

“My m

usic collection contains artists no one’s ever heard of.”

“I’m good at the Robot.”

“Everything I do involves either teaching or learning.”

“My boyfriend lives 10,000 miles away.”

“I have over 30 baseball hats.”“I play sports year round.”

“I’m a horse crazy/animal lover.”

“I love to consume lots of cofffee and chain smoke and muse about the meaning of life.”

“I’m intuitive - would love to be an animal communicator.”

“Guilty pleasure: “Dancing With the Stars.”

“I love to have p

hilosop

hical d

iscussion

s at th

e smoke sh

ack.”

“I’m building my dream cabin on San Juan Island.”

“I love classical music, gourmet cooking, and reading.”

“I have over 140 stories of how I lost my arm.”

“I can w

iggle my ears.”

horIzon 9

Tell us something interesting about you, Whatcom!

“I’m a former Miss Whatcom County”

“I accidentially ate pork once, even though I’m Muslim.”

“I have a future with vampires.”

“I used to play professional paintball.”

“I have never been to public school.”

“I like to ride horses and camels.”

“I’m really into my culture from Alaska.”

“I sincerely love math and make up really large equations and problems to solve just for fun!”

“I am M

iss Whatcom

County!”

“I love to consume lots of cofffee and chain smoke and muse about the meaning of life.”

“I play piano, guitar and violin.”

“I’m building my dream cabin on San Juan Island.”

“I am from N.J. but born in Korea and I like to play ukelele and sing in any form of music.”

“I have over 140 stories of how I lost my arm.”

“It all starts with you!”

10 December 1, 2009

Life in college is a sort of jug-gling act, where students try to balance jobs, family, friends, hobbies, and school. So how are students able to stay fit and healthy? And how do they man-age their time to do this?

The gym at the Pavilion on campus is free, yet many stu-dents still join other gyms around Bellingham.

Kevin George, a 22-year-old student at Whatcom, manages to work out on a regular basis at a gym he pays monthly for. He goes to Bellingham Athletic Club about three to four times a week.

“I usually go in the mornings before class,” George said. “I find that it’s a great way to wake me up and get my day going.”

Elon Langston, also a What-com student, is on the basketball team for the upcoming season. He gets regular workouts by go-ing to practice, but also goes to Bellingham Athletic Club. The gym is a regular thing for him. “I try to go at least four times a week, although it’s hard with school work to find time,” he said.

Langston works at the Pavil-ion building on campus, where he monitors people going in and out of the gym. “I use the gym here only sometimes,” he said. “It is too small and usually too crowded to get a decent work-

out. George said there is a positive

side to having the gym though. “It’s good because it is free,” he said.

Krystal Kern works at the new Anytime Fitness gym on Cordata Parkway. As a personal trainer, she recommends that students to work out three to five times a week, and for at least an hour at a time.

“The majority of people who at-tend our gym are Whatcom stu-dents,” she said. “It is very close to the college and open 24 hours a day.”

Students stay healthy by working outStory and photos by Jorge CantuHorizon Reporter

Anytime Fitness (360) 306-5858Student Price$36.00Bellingham Athletic Club (360) 676-1800Student Price$129.11 for 3 monthsBellingham Fitness (360) 733-1600Student Price$29.99/month with no contractsCity Gym (360) 647-1511 Student Price (prepaid) $ 30.00 a month Gold’s Gym (360) 671-4653Student Price $39.99/month - A 12 month commitment$59.99 Enrollment FeePavilion At Whatcom Community CollegeStudent PriceFREE with Student ID

Kern said it is also essential to make working out a priority and to have some sort of fit schedule every week if wanting to achieve results.

Alicia Alvarez, a 46-year-old Whatcom student, has stuck to TaeBo and other various workout tapes to achieve results.

“I make time for working out, I make it a priority like I would tak-ing a shower,” she said. “ It’s the only way I am able to stay fit and healthy.”

Along with hitting the gym, an-other component of staying fit and healthy is simply eating healthy.

George noted that he makes up his meals at home ahead of time, before going to school and work. “I eat tons of sandwiches, basically

Whatcom student Alicia Alvarez, 46, prefers TaeBo and other various workout tapes. “I make time for working out, I make it a priority like I would taking a shower,” she said.

Along with hitting the gym, another component of staying fit and healthy is simply eating healthy.

The pavilion on campus is a great resource because it’s free, said Whatcom student Kevin George.

trying to get my protein and vegetable intake for every day made sufficient,” he said. “But even if I don’t have a sandwich, there are tons of cheap healthy bars and snacks offered at al-most any store and gas sta-tion.”

Alex Macleod, 21, is anoth-er student who is into eating healthy. “After gaining weight in high school, I made a deci-sion to make working out a pri-ority,” he said. “The only way I do not work out in the morn-ings is if I have a test to study for, but usually my homework is done the night before.”

Langston had a different view of eating healthy, though. “I eat whatever man,” he said. “I’m a college kid and don’t have mom cooking no more, so I eat what-ever I get.”

Kern said that people tend to drink their calories. “Sugar is the one that really gets peo-ple!”

Bryan Hargrove, a personal trainer at Anytime Fitness, commented on some of the cheap, healthy foods students can get. “Trader Joe’s doesn’t use any preservatives or ad-ditives in their foods, which tend to be pretty cheap. They also don’t use shelf life extend-ers, which tends to make the food cheaper,” he said. “Also produce in season seems to be cheaper, and always a good source of nutrition.”

“Staying healthy can be tough,” George said, “But once you realize that your health should be as important a prior-ity as anything else in life, then you find the time to make it a lifestyle.”

All gyms encourage you to call and set up a meeting.

“Sugar is the one thing that really gets people!”

-Krystal Kern from Anytime Fitness

horIzon 11

Starting his morning five days a week at 4:15 is not a problem for garbage man Russell Berg-strom. He is “20 years Military” and at age 59 still appears as strong as the day he left the ser-vice. Bergstrom is about 5 feet, 5 inches, and built like an im-penetrable stone wall. His hair is graying blond, and he has a strong handshake and respect-ful smile for anyone who will give them in return.

He has two tattoos easily visi-ble since the style at the Belling-ham Sanitary Service Company, or SSC, seems to be to rip off the sleeves of their neon yellow work shirts. The shirt is a part of Russell’s uniform, in addition to a pair of old jeans and work boots. The tattoo on his right arm is that of a smoking bulldog reminiscent of his days in the Marine Corps. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” he says. He got it in 1971 at Jimmy’s tattoo parlor in Hong Kong. The other on his left bicep is an American flag with the name Tita signed above, and Allan, Adrian and Abram below–his wife and three sons.

Bergstrom normally does the route himself. This is not a prob-lem for a man who can lift with ease the huge green bins, the “Toters” us mere mortals grunt and groan about dragging the 10 feet up our driveways. Today he has some help from Andy Lord, a fellow garbage man. Lord is a “floater” which means he doesn’t have his own route yet.

Bergstrom received his own route after seven years as a floater. “It was the highlight of my career,” he said.

Bergstrom’s truck is number 53, parked in the back of the lot. He remembers the first time he saw his truck it resembled a “burnt marshmallow.” Over the years it has received a new paint job, new engine and new trans-mission.

“It’s like a new truck,” he said. “It’s like my own.” He has the utmost respect for his truck, and treats it well. You need a good truck to be a good, safe driver, which is very important to Berg-strom.

Bergstrom’s route starts leav-

ing the company lot on Holly and F Street. He turns right and drives up Holly towards downtown be-fore going behind Rocket Dough-nuts. Then he drives up to the museum and behind in the alley where the residential houses are. His route is only residential hous-ing, as other trucks come by after-ward for the commercial and busi-ness district. Bergstrom drives a “rear load truck,” the one used for residential routes. It is one of four different kinds the company owns and sends out every day to collect Bellingham’s massive amounts of

garbage.After a few houses downtown he

then speeds up Magnolia and takes a left, right into the Super Supple-ments parking lot. Bergstrom has been a garbage man for 13 years now, which is easy to see as he handles the mammoth truck in the small alleyways with an experts ease.

“Tight alleys are just part of the job,” he said.

For the record Bergstrom pre-fers to be called a garbage man. “It’s the old title,” he said. “I still call supper, supper,” he added half jokingly.

Bergstrom and Lord are only two of the many garbage men that serve Bellingham. Their small roles however, keep the city functioning. Their obvious skills and passion for the job ensure the streets are kept clean and daily life can move forward smoothly for us.

Bergstrom said he has found over the years there’s no stigma that comes with the title of garbage man, just old connotations and impressions. He recalls the past garbage men “with the beer bel-lies, smoking, drinking, a cigarette hanging out of their mouth.”

“That’s not me,” he said. “I be-lieve a garbage man doesn’t have to look like garbage.” This is one of his 50 tips: holding the garbage away from you while you work keeps you looking clean.

Bergstrom received a degree in sociology from Western about 30 years ago. He found that even back in 1976, the position of garbage man had moved upwards in the eyes of society.

“With more pay, one earns more prestige,” said Bergstrom, who earns $23.35 an hour, and is in the Teamsters Union.

“I’m a union man,” Bergstrom said. “I believe in unions.” This

ensures that they receive at least eight hours pay five days a week. They work from about 6:30 in the morning until 2:30 in the after-noon when they dump their load off at the “burners”, the transfer stations on Slater Road where they used to incinerate the garbage. To-day it’s loaded onto trucks or train cars for a trip to a distant landfill.

As they turn down the first alley, Lord who is bolstered onto the back of the truck by his own strength, grins and exaggerates wiping his brow indicating how quick Berg-strom is on the job. He rolls quickly down the alleys of Franklin/ Ellis, Franklin/ Grant and Grant/ Hum-boldt. At every stop between every two houses, Lord hops off the back of the truck and sets up the garbage cans while Bergstrom jumps out of the driver’s seat and comes over to help. The two work like a well oiled machine.

Further down the alley he waves and shouts a friendly ‘hello’ to a customer awake at the hour before the sun comes up.

“We have some very nice custom-ers,” he said, recalling that a few days earlier he’d received an entire cake from one of his customers. Once Bergstrom received a $100 bill from a woman on Chuckanut around the holidays.

On the other end of the spec-trum, Bergstrom also recalls some particularly gross stories he’s had during his career. Back when he was a floater he was assigned to the routes northwest of Bellingham. He found in that particular area, for some reason most people wouldn’t use garbage bags, but threw their garbage right into the bins. During the summer, especially with the once-a-month pickups, the smells could be quite overwhelming, he

said. Russell Bergstrom has easily

dispelled the old notion of the garbage man. He never once alluded to disliking his job and he clearly enjoys his work and is proud to say he is a garbage man.

A day in the life of Russell Bergstrom: Bellingham’s garbage manStory and photo by Kelly SullivanGuest Writer

Russell Bergstrom, 59, has worked for the Sanitary Service Company for 13 years, and prefers to be called a garbage man. “It’s the old title,” he said.

Journalism 210 students write profiles of people at work in our community. Horizon staff chose this profile for our paper: a behind–the–scenes look at a Bellingham garbage man.

“A garbage man doesn’t have to look like garbage,” -Russell Bergstrom

Fall sports from page 1about the team.

As for the women, they won their first North Region title in the program’s second season, finishing with a league record of 9-3-1. After defeating Everett 3-0 in the first playoff game, they also lost in the second round of playoffs, against Colombia Basin, in a tie-breaker shootout. Whatcom led the game 1-0 after a goal during the sixth minute of the game from sophomore Rachel Rexroat. Colombia Basin tied the game during the 55th minute, and was able to win the game in the shootout by a final of 4-1.

“I am very pleased with the way they have bonded as a team and play together, as op-posed to playing as a group of individuals,” Turpen said. “I am proud of the way the women have played defensively, only giv-ing up 8 goals this season.”

An all-star game will be held on December 5, at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver, Washington. The North-South all-stars will take on the East-West all-stars.

Whatcom soccer teams will send seven women to the all-star women’s soccer team, and four men to the men’s all-star soccer team. “Players on Whatcom’s soccer teams have truly shown they are great players, working very hard, some of them plac-ing on the all academic team as well,” Baier said.

12 December 1, 2009

Volunteering through WCC Clubs and classroomsStory and photo by Emily HuntingtonHorizon Reporter

Several classes and student clubs on campus have great vol-unteering opportunities for stu-dents. The best part is, you don’t necessarily have to be a member of the club to do it.

For example, the veteran’s club has a variety of things stu-dents can do year round – and you don’t have to be a veteran.

“We encourage participation from veterans and non-veterans alike, with any and all means possible,” said Kristopher Pow-ell, a member of the Veteran’s club.

Powell added that the best way to get involved in volunteer work through the club is to go to the meetings, held every Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Syre 216. Their latest project is gathering donations to send off to an army unit cur-rently deployed to Afghanistan. This drive is in memoriam of a Whatcom County soldier who was killed there recently. The club is coordinating their efforts with KGMI radio station who will also be collecting goods.

Last year, the veteran’s club sent members to an elderly woman’s home to clean out her garage. They usually pick the jobs that no one else will, by going to Whatcom’s Volunteer Center.

The communications club, advised by Guy Smith, does a variety of on and off campus

activities throughout the aca-demic year. They participate in food drives around Bellingham for the Food Bank as well as donating food for the animals at Whatcom Humane Society. Their big event is the annual Whatcom Literacy Council Triv-ia Bee and Silent Auction, taking place on April 2 at Bellingham High School. They are also host-ing their annual trivia bee in the Syre auditorium on December 9 at 5 p.m., in conjunction with the business club’s book sale.

The communication club is “looking for three-person teams (of students) to compete for a re-ally nice first-place award; there will also be some good raffle give-aways for audience mem-bers,” Smith said.

For questions, contact the communication club. They meet Thursdays at 2:45.

There is an opportunity for a resume stuffer through the busi-ness club as well. Right now stu-dents are being trained by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on how to assist low-income people with filing their taxes. It goes from now until April.

Leah Congdon is the new ser-vice-learning coordinator and is here through a volunteer pro-

gram called VISTA – volunteer in service to America. She is here for a year. Service learning is a new program at Whatcom that engages students in community service ac-tivities, while applying what they have learned in class to something in the community.

Congdon can be reached by e-mail, lcongdon@whatcom.ctc.edu, by phone, 383-3072, or by stop-ping in at Kulshan Hall, room 107.

Laura Overstreet’s Lifespan De-velopment Psychology class has about a third of her students work-ing with the Volunteer chore pro-gram, helping people with disabili-ties remain independently in their homes. Students with the chore program do yard work, house work, and other chores, like picking up groceries for them. This helps stu-dents see some of the psychological and physical challenges that peo-ple face later in life, and then they are able to apply it to what they are studying in class. They keep a jour-nal of their progress along the way that will be turned in at the end of the quarter. Overstreet hopes that this program will open doors for more volunteer opportunities, and that her students will continue to help people, even when the class is over.

With the chore program, there is no training, so volunteers can get

busy right away. Students give their preferences (male/female) and are matched with someone they can help. A lot of the stu-dents participating are nurs-ing majors, so it gives them the opportunity to meet people for possible leads of employment, as well as making them more marketable since they have some level of experience.

On Make a Difference Day, Overstreet had her students vol-unteer for a day and write reflec-tions on what they learned and how they felt.

“Out of about 60 students, 28 volunteered,” she said.

Several students, one being Rachel Clemons, helped paint at Lutherwood Camp on Lake Samish.

“It made me feel great to help out with the chores that needed to be done at this non-profit Lu-theran camp that hosts many camps for kids all year long,” she said in her reflection.

“I felt that Make a Difference Day was a good way to give back to the community and I’m sure I’ll be participating in this event in the future,” said student Kelsey Williams.

Student Cherie Swanson spent her time with the arthritis foun-dation, folding Jingle Bell Run t-shirts. Jingle Bell Run is the annual Bellingham event that supports research and funding for the foundation. Swanson was looking for ways to make her ap-plication to Western stronger, and through Make a Difference Day she was able to become a reading intervention teacher at Shuksan Middle School.

“I try as hard as I can to set forth a positive example for my sons, and I believe volunteering speaks volumes about the kind of person I want to be and has a positive impact in the creation of the kind of community I am proud to be a member of,” she said in her reflection.

Students in Laura Overstreet’s developmental psychology class who volunteered throughout Whatcom County on Make a Difference Day. From left: Allison Schlappi, Joe Champine Tocher, Emily Lester, and Vickie Braam, with Overstreet.

With the chore program, there is no training, so volunteers can get busy

right away.

“I try as hard as I can to set forth a positive

example for my sons, and I believe volunteering

speaks volumes about the kind of person I want

to be and has a positive impact in the creation of the kind of community I

am proud to be a member of.”

-Cherie Swanson

horIzon 13Opinions

Review and photo by Matt Benoit

Review by Jorge Cantu

Whatcom drama instruc-tor Gerry Large says, in his direc-tor’s notes for the performances of Will Eno’s two one-act plays, that he considers Eno to be “the Eugene Ionesco of the Will Fer-rell generation.” The New York Times called Eno “A Samuel Beckett for the John Stewart generation.”

I don’t know what to call him, but after seeing a performance of two of his plays Nov. 19 in What-com’s Syre Black Box Theatre, I do know that Whatcom’s drama department has an incredible bunch of actors.

The two one-act plays, “Inter-mission” and “Tragedy: A Trag-edy,” ran from Nov. 18 to Nov. 21, and was their first big pro-duction of the quarter.

The first play, “Intermission,” is just what it sounds like—a short, 10 to 15 minute play that features two couples—one older, one younger—watching a play and then arguing and discussing

it during the intermission. It was well-acted by Erika Alm-

skar, Colleen Ames, Rodney Dejag-er, and Garent Gerrity, who seems to have more dialogue than anyone else in the play. The wardrobes were also sharp, including Ger-rity’s hair and beard, which was dusted with a gray powder to make him appear middle-aged.

The second performance, “Trag-edy: A Tragedy,” is a satire of sorts on television news people, start-ing off with some really dramatic music and overall giving a great example of how fake and overly dramatized television news has all too often become.

The stage is dark except for four spotlights, which shine on a studio anchor at his desk (played by Riley Penaluna) and three various field reporters (played by Emily Lester, Tim Greger, and faculty member John Gonzales.

In this case, the story the four people are covering is the seem-ingly permanent invasion of night,

and the chaos this has created. As the play progresses, the four char-acters become increasingly loopy and struggle to keep from losing their minds as the “continuing coverage” simply continues and continues and continues…

The play, only a one-act, actually seemed quite long at around an hour.

Gonzales and Greger had, I thought, some of the funniest lines, including, “It’s the worst world in the world out here!” and “I’m at the First Congregational Church, where, incidentally, no one has gathered.” They also got to utter a few choice words of profanity the dialogue provides.

The humor incorporates both the physical (Gonzales does an excel-lent job at providing this, includ-ing one scene where he pretends to practice some kind of martial arts only to trip and fall over; he then returns to the scene drinking a beer) as well as the non-physical, with a lot of hyperbole, exaggera-tion, and dialogue that states the

The Guqin instrument is one of the most unique instru-ments I have ever encountered. It is formerly known as the Qin, and has been involved with fa-mous Chinese philosophers such as Confucius. With a range of about four octaves, this an-cient instrument is known to have 91 different harmonics, as indicated by the white dots on the side of the instrument. Be-ing unique, and having a long history, this instrument has

made its way into the hands of one of Whatcom’s very own musical in-structor, Dr. Christopher Roberts. He has just released a solo CD with the use of the qin, and named it the Last Cicada Singing.

Christopher Roberts describes on the inside panel how the Chi-nese used to take their qin into the mountains, and would develop string techniques to mimic move-ments of birds, insects, streams, etc. Mimicing nature, that is what this CD is all about.

You pick up on the relaxing, soothing feel for the CD as soon as the first song starts. You can tell automatically Chris Roberts is tak-ing it back old school, to nature. It feels as though the cd was meant to

be listened to while lying down, or sitting out at night looking at the sky when playing.

There really is no song structure, so do not expect to be snapping your fingers along to the beat. The feel-ing conveyed by this CD is rather the feeling of nature. Roberts uses sliding tones on the instrument, as well as harmonics, very profusely. It is filled with wondrous tones, all of them very soft, since the qin is a very quiet instrument anyway.

“Last Cicada Singing” doesn’t really differentiate between the sounds of the songs, more so it sounds to me like an ongoing song. It definitely feels like something

CD Review “Last Cicada Singing”

“Tragedy” anything but a tragedy

obvious. Greger’s hair gets progressive-

ly messier and messier as the play goes on, and he gets to use the art of spin, commenting that the public should not focus on the fact that it’s dark, but rather, that it used to be light.

The anchors primp and fuss during their supposed “breaks,” and put on their fake confidence each time they go back “on-air.” It was very entertaining.

Overall, from the costumes to the lighting, both of these plays were well-worth the cost of ad-mission. To borrow some lines from “Intermission,” the people were experienced and the cast was good. “Do you get to the the-atre often?”

Well, after seeing these per-formances, I think maybe you should.

“The humor incorporates both the physical as well as the non-physical, with a lot of hyperbole, exaggeration, and dialogue that states the

obvious.”

You pick up on the relaxing, soothing feel for the CD as soon as the first song starts. You can tell automatically Chris Roberts is taking it back old school, to nature.

I have never heard before. I would recommend to anybody, that before listening, look up the qin instrument, and study a little about what the Chinese were trying to convey with this instrument.

The qin is a very peculiar in-strument, being the most re-vered instrument in Chinese history, and dating back to about 5,000 years of usage. It was so revered, that they even had qin “societies”, in which large gath-erings of qin players would take place a few times a month.

Christopher Roberts has em-braced the qin and it’s history, and created new pieces for solo qin, that in my opinion seem very hard to follow, but I feel as though that wasn’t what he was getting at. Rather he was getting at nature, and in a way the feel for the Northwest and all of its beauty.

I would recommend to anybody, that before

listening, look up the qin instrument, and study a little about what the Chinese were trying to convey with this

instrument.

Left to right: Riley Penaluna, John Gonzales, Tim Greger, and Emily Lester on the set of “Tragedy, a Tragedy.”

14 December 1, 2009

happen. You are the change of our future and the future of potential bitches around the world. Set your inhibitions free, embrace the unknown and hold on. It will not be easy, but worth every moment of the insults and setbacks to know that you have stayed true to your heart.

Always hold your own and keep your head up. Remember that what doesn’t break you will make you stronger. So, take it on with a smile knowing that you’ve made it through another chal-lenge. Face your greatest fears and you can face anything.

Good luck bitches!

likely than not, it’s what every-one wants to say but are afraid to have others judge them. Be the model! Know yourself and know that you can make it. Many will not understand you, but it’s be-cause they are not ready.

In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Never give that power away.

So just remember that we are awesome and we kick ass! And if someone calls you a bitch for be-ing who you are, say thank you, because a bitch is a strong wom-an, a woman that people will fol-low and look up to, an intelligent woman that can make change

Opinions

To the women of Whatcom

Opinion by Jessica Daniel

To the women of Whatcom, some words to remember. You are beautiful and strong just as you are, not the way others per-ceive you. Some will try to make you think that you’re not good enough, that you have to fit in-side a box of what they deem ap-propriate or socially correct, but they’re wrong. If you know this, then you will always be a force to be reckoned with, a strong woman that many will try to break down. Don’t worry… it is

only because they are threatened by your strength.

Stay true to yourself, because no one else will. Trust your instincts and you will go far. Know that only you have the power to change what you don’t like and let your voice be heard loud and clear. Keep your cup full and put everything you’ve got into whatever it is that you do.

If someone says you’re not good enough, they’re voicing their own insecurities onto you. They may not realize they’re even doing it, but you will, and you can walk away, having the knowledge of the game that’s played.

Don’t be scared to speak up, more

“If someone says you’re not good enough, they’re

voicing their own insecurities onto you.”

“Don’t be scared to speak up, more likely than not

it’s what everyone wants to say but are afraid to

have others judge them.”

“ You are the change of our future and the

future of potential bitches around the world. Set your inhibitions free,

embrace the unknown and hold on.”

Well, it’s almost the end of the quarter, and that can only mean one thing: free beer on campus! No, wait, that’s not it. Actually, it means finals, but it also means signing up for your next quarter’s-worth of classes (which hopefully will not be the same ones you took this quarter).

So, in the interest of serving you, the student, I thought I’d share some of the new and inter-esting classes and clubs coming to Whatcom for winter quarter. Let’s take a look:

Classes:

Navigation 100, with your instructors, Northwest Airlines pilots Timothy Cheney and Rich-ard Cole. Learn how to overshoot your destinations by at least 150 miles!

Intro to Quail Hunting, with former vice president Dick Cheney. Bullet-proof vest recom-mended.

The Art of Bathroom Stall Graffiti (ART666)—Learn how to scribble racist, sexist, or just plain weird-ass crap onto the partitions of the college’s bath-room stalls in an aesthetically-pleasing manner.

Tone-deaf Choir (MUS126)—Do you notice peo-ple laughing, cringing, or putting

in ear plugs any time you burst into song? Have you ever considered that you might be tone-deaf, and, as a result, a really crappy singer? Well, now’s your chance to find out. Open auditions will be held for stu-dents who can’t hold a note.

“2012—why we’re all gonna die!” (HIST149)—Learn about the prophecies of the end of days coming in 2012, and find out what to do when the world starts to crumble like a fractured sal-tine cracker, and we’re all totally screwed (except for John Cusack). Who needs that degree if you won’t be around to use it?

Penultimate Frisbee (PE146)-Not quite as good as Ultimate Fris-bee, but pretty close.

Personal Finance 100 (BUS100), with your instructors, AIG’s board of directors and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Gei-thner. Learn how to lose billions of dollars, and then just ask the government for more!

Ponzi Scheming 101 (BUS247), with guest lecturer Ber-nard Madoff. Prerequisite: Greed 100.

“Hiking the Appalachian Trail”(PE147), with South Caro-lina Gov. Mark Sanford. Features a field trip to Argentina.

Public Speaking 162 (CMST162), with instructors Kanye West and U.S. Represen-tative Joe Wilson. Learn how to

interrupt and sabotage the speeches and conversations of everyone from presidents to pop stars!

Texting Messaging 101 (CMST101)-Lern how to txt mess. in class w/o prof’s knowledge! OMG, ROTFL! UR MY BFF!

Northwest Winter Weather Systems (WET365), with Bernie Dougan. Learn about the winter weather systems of the great North-west. Poncho required.

The Art of Losing (SUK202), with the Detroit Lions. Learn the advanced techniques needed to prevent your team from winning much of anything and ensuring the absence of postseason appearances. Prerequisites: Allowing the other team to score (SUK101), Who needs possession? (SUK100).

Community Ed. Classes:

Transitioning into Retire-ment, with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.

Special seminar: “the art of debating”—Learn how to yell and scream about universal healthcare and the secret communist plots of Barack Obama, just like our nation’s top protestors! Obama-Hitler mus-tache posters WILL be available!

“Oh my God! What is that?”-How to control your reaction to seeing that big yellow orb in the sky, better known as the sun, during Northwest winters.

Clubs:Sleep Deprivation Club-Meets

at 2:30 a.m. every Monday. Bring a case of Red Bull and some NoDoz. The club’s advisor, Sandy Mann, will shine a flash-light in your eyes once every hour to make sure you’re still awake.

Laziness Club—attendance, participation not required. Will meet when they “get around to it.”

“Twilight” Club-Turn into a young vampire and make really bad movies.

Student Failure Workshops:

“Ignoring the alarm clock and other new ways to ditch class”—“Hey man, this class is boring…why show up?”

“Homework?What homework?”—Learn how to treat the homework schedule less like a requirement and more like a suggestion.

“Where did all my money go?”-How to blow your budget on things like liquor, gambling, members of the opposite sex, and products sold on late-night infomercials.

“How to get on your instructor’s bad side”—Learn the fine techniques required to really push your luck with your professor, including mimicry and verbal abuse in the classroom, as well as sending several hundred e-mails to their in-box every day.

Procrastination Seminar—class has been postponed.

New winter classes and clubs you’ll wanna check out…maybeOpinion by Matt Benoit

horIzon 15Cookin’ it up at the Co-op

Story and photos by Matt BenoitHorizon Editor

Instructor Dorothy Hopkins said the idea came to her after seeing the film “Julie and Julia,” about food industry icon Julia Child.

“While contemplating the movie, I realized that the need for basic cooking skills is still apparent and that many in our culture are missing the value of preparing their own meals,” she said. “Preparing our own food helps us stay connected with ourselves, our family, and our community.”

So, Hopkins began offering a series of three cooking classes at the Cordata Community Food Co-op this fall, with priority given to Whatcom Community College students.

Cooking classes seek to teach students how to cook and eat healthy

The classes cost $15, and I was fortunate enough to attend and, perhaps somewhat apprehensive-ly, participate, in one of them.

The classes take place in the Roots room of the Co-op, a fairly spacious room located on the sec-ond floor of the building, and it essentially contains a full kitchen. There are stacked plates on the counter next to the sink, a multi-burner stove covered with silver pots and pans reflecting the shine

of the ceiling lights.This particular class has few

students, and when one of them fails to show, I become an invol-untary participant. Today’s class will cover cutting, cooking, and safety techniques and the basics of shopping in bulk, all in prepara-tion for the two-dish meal itself: buckwheat, potato, and spinach pilaf with a quinoa and black bean salad.

We begin the class in a normal, academic way, sitting around a rectangular table. Hopkins ex-plains the basics of bulk shopping, including what a PLU means (price look-up), as well as advice on buying and keeping spices.

Next, Hopkins passes out recipes and other handouts, then instructs us to look at the course cookbook,

“The Whole-Life Nutrition Cookbook.”

She explains what quinoa is (an ancient Incan grain), add-ing that part of the focus of her classes is about experimenting with grain. At this point, I’m wondering if you can snort qui-noa or not.

Anyway, we now have to draw up a shopping list. Ash-lynn Backus-Owen, a second-year WCC student working on a liberal studies degree, happily volunteers to do this.

Backus-Owen, 20, said she de-cided to take the classes because she simply didn’t know how to cook, possessing only baking skills. When she saw the classes advertised on a bulletin board at the college, she thought she would try it.

“I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class,” she says, adding that the fact there is more than one way to do things in cooking appeals to her. “I like the cre-

ative aspect,” she says, “mix-ing it up.”

Once she finishes writing up all the things we’ll need to buy (while hopefully staying on a budget of around $15, says Hopkins), we voyage down-stairs and advance to the bulk section. Hopkins shows us the rows of rice, beans, len-tils, salts, and other products just waiting to be scooped and poured into bags and contain-ers.

She shows us the proper way to do this, and then shows us the ultra-cool liquid dispens-ers, which include maple syr-up and olive oil, the latter of which we need. I get to hold the bottle, stick it underneath the pour spout, and push the magic button. While I’m doing this, I notice the big, red emergency shut-off button, no doubt there in case someone gets carried away with Vermont’s finest and sends it spraying everywhere.

We tackle the produce section next for limes, lemons, spinach, and red potatoes among other ingredients. At the checkout stand, our total comes to near-ly $30. So much for the bud-

get. Later though, Hopkins explains, we’ll have enough food for 12 serv-ings, meaning you could eat it for a week at $2.50 a meal.

Heading back upstairs, we go over basic kitchen safety. I’m told to re-move the synthetic windbreaker I’m wearing because of it’s flammability factor—Hopkins shows us a small article from the Bellingham Her-ald in which women’s robes were recalled after nine deaths occurred as a result of catching on fire; most of them were in the kitchen when it happened.

Fortunately, I don’t wear women’s robes, but, not wanting to have any chance at burning up like a gas-soaked rag, I remove my polyester jacket.

We divvy up responsibilities and go to work. I get to cut the potatoes, slice the lemons (which I accidently cut into slices instead of wedges), strain the Quinoa, check the pota-toes, pour the potatoes, set timers,

and generally try to stay the hell out of everyone else’s way.

Eventually, the food is cooked, and we sit down to enjoy it together. It is this sitting together for a meal, says Hopkins, that is so important. She cites the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia Uni-versity, which created a family meal day after their research suggested that children who eat at home with their families a majority of nights during the week have lower rates of cigarette smoking, eating disorders, alcohol and substance abuse, and higher grades.

“Preparing and sharing meals cre-ates relationships and relationships are what enrich our lives and make them worth living,” says Hopkins.

The food, I must admit, is better than I expected, and there is some-thing about the pride of successfully cooking your own meals that make it

taste just a little bit better. For college students, Hopkins

adds, the skill of cooking is a basic survival skill, especially in a world where cheap, fast food is seem-ingly everywhere.

“Our culture is relying on the fast food industry to nourish us, but our health is not in their best interest,” she says. “Fast food is notorious for having low nutri-tional value.

Our health in our later years is determined by what we eat now. When we select our ingredients for our recipes, we are taking charge of our health at a core level.”

Between the five of us, we don’t make much of a dent in the amount of food we’ve cooked. There are lots of leftovers. Hopkins sums up her impetus for the classes.

“Offering these cooking classes is my way of making the world a better place,” she says.

“Preparing and sharing meals creates relationships and

relationships are what enrich our lives and make them worth living.”

-Dorothy Hopkins“Offering these cooking classes is my

way of making the world a better place.”

-Dorothy Hopkins

“Our culture is relying on the fast food industry to nourish us, but our health is not in their best

interest.” -Dorothy Hopkins

Left: Quinoa, an ancient Incan grain, cooks on the stove as part of several dishes the cooking class learns to create. Right: Dorothy Hopkins (far left), and the rest of the class prepare to enjoy their self-made meal.

The next round of cooking classes will be held January 15, 22, and

29 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Cost is $15.

16 December 1, 2009

December 3 - 11, 2009 Monday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.