LBCC's New Philosophy Club, "i-THINK"

Some deep thought is stirring on campus as "i-THINK," LBCC's new Philosophy Club, is now official and off to a great start. Already boasting 15 members from the student body, “i-THINK” hopes to maintain this momentum and to continue gaining many more would-be philosophers who wish to view the world with logical thought and an eye to the critical, as their new clubs notoriety on campus grows.

   

As the Greek Philosopher Socrates is credited to having once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and the members of “i-THINK’ wish to carry on that tradition today.

"i-THINK" club members with Marta Kunecka (center, extreme right)

Club member Isaiah Beye feels passionately about the subject saying, “The thing about Philosophy Club that I really fell in love with was that I found philosophy was so supremely relevant. Philosophy is something I use every day.”

        The Club was founded earlier this spring by interested members of Marta Kunecka’s Philosophy 215 class who had begun the project this past Winter semester.

Club founders Josh Stanley (President), Timothy White (Vice President), Chrizma Hostler (Secretary), and myself-Justin Shoemaker (Coordinator); found rapid support for the venture from fellow classmates. With advice from Student Union member and “i-THINK” club recruit Brandon Vance it took little time to establish the groundwork needed to begin the club.

        Ms. Kunecka was extremely encouraging of the idea and more than accommodating as she allowed for some class time to pursue the agenda and volunteered herself for the position of club co-advisor under direction of LBCC Social Science instructor Scott McAleer who has agreed to act as the clubs full time administration advisor. Kunecka said, “The club is a wonderful idea and I fully support it. If you (the students involved) want to pursue the teachings of philosophy outside of class then yes, do it!”

       

The clubs statement of purpose is as follows: the club is for students to further our understanding of philosophical ideas, to discuss and examine philosophical questions, to encourage us to think more critically about our lives as students and as members of our communities.

Club President Stanley said, “What I see as a main focus of this club is shedding light on the big relevant questions that still exist today. We want to give the club members and the campus community the chance to open a dialogue and really get a chance to put our own thoughts into some ageless debates.”

       

The clubs goals, as they are stated, stand to promote philosophical thought within the student body. To promote active participation in all aspects of life. To engage in meaningful conversation and exchange of ideas. To examine important and crucial questions and to find valid answers and grounding values.

       

When asked on his views of the study of philosophy and his regard for “i-THINK,” club member Hunter Hamilton said, “I never even realized there were so many different ways of thinking, of seeing the world. After taking Ms. Kunecka’s philosophy class I will never think the same way again. My mind has been opened to so much more. I was one of the first to sign up for the club and I totally support it. It’s going to be a blast!”

        The Philosophy Club currently meets in North Santiam Hall 216 or in the courtyard, bi-weekly, Fridays at 4:15 p.m. through 6 p.m. at LBCC. The club has plans to advance this to a weekly meeting starting with the new 2014-2015 term.

You can find them online at:

facebook.com/pages/Philosophy-Club-LBCC-i-THINK

linnbenton.edu/current-students/involvement/clubs

You may Reach Club President Stanley at: Joshua Stanley @ facebook

Last Living Signature Holder of ANCSA

    Cheryl Palmer, a small unassuming woman in her early 50's, has an unusual claim to fame. Yet she doesn't seem famous in the least bit. She is the only living person to be listed on an actual treaty between the U.S. Government and a Native tribe, the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), when her name was signed on the treaty however she was 7 years old and had no idea she was even a Native American, her biological father had signed her name and her two older sisters names to the treaty to ensure their fair treatment in the future.

  Cheryl was adopted when she was around 6 months old. She grew up in Eltopia Washington with her adoptive parents the Palmer's until she moved away from home at 16. When asked about herself she said, "I am an only child with 5 sisters. I was raised by my widowed father in small town Eltopia with nothing to do but get into trouble" as she laughed.

 (Cultural Awareness) final project. (courtesy of Palmer)

  She didn't know about her sisters and her heritage until she was introduced to them when she was 21 years of age. She has since learned who her parents were and what tribe she originates from. She still dreams of traveling to Alaska if not to live than just to visit. The Ninilchick Native Corporation keeps in contact and sends her updates on the council and what they are planning. She is also a member enrolled with the Cook Inlet regional Incorporation, which keeps her up to date on every major event.

            Cheryl is a very animated person. For example when she is passionate about something she taps her toe on the floor. She also dresses a little more colorfully than the average person. She laughs quickly and smiles often. Cheryl is an incredibly creative and passionate individual and holds a deep love for the great outdoors as well as active pursuit of photography and craft. She is an eccentric person who loves travel and cultures, especially Native American cultures.          

Common Talking Stick (Courtesy Palmer)

  Her hobbies and passions include the carving of walking sticks and native “talking sticks.” Cheryl also enjoys making native and local jewelry, sketching native design, and the study of her heritage and tribal history. She is also fond of fishing both for fun and food.

   Perhaps though Cheryl feels her greatest enjoyment comes from the simple act of hiking and walking trails and woodland areas where she furthers her crafts by collecting everything from sticks and stones to dead animals along the highway; which she uses for their bones, skins, furs, and feathers. She took the time to show me her huge collection of rocks from across the country. She not only collects incredibly beautiful and hard to find rocks and shells but also various woodland items of the unusual and odd.

  Cheryl has a tendency to decorate her house with native blankets for curtains, from various tribal nations. You can also find bundles of sage and juniper everywhere in her house. Artwork in various stages can be found all over the house, most seem to follow some connection to her emotions of the week. Some in the sketch stage, others in pre carving or soak phase, and some are in the final stages of either painting or

Finished Gourd bowl (courtesy Palmer)

varnishing. Some just looked out of place, like the toadstool book-ends.   

            When asked about where she has lived or been she laughed and said "it would be so much easier to tell you where I haven't been. I feel I am a gypsy by heart if not by birth." Cheryl later revealed that she had live in at least ten states if not more she claims to have lost count.

Cheryl is an advocate for mentally handicapped community as well generally helping others when able. She has worked with the developmentally disabled and also with the elderly. Cheryl enjoys the feeling of helping others she says and gave the impression of often having a warm inviting personality to match her friendly sun worn face.

  

Cheryl preferred to have no pictures taken of her personally.

At a glance

Born in Portland OR, Jan. 21^st 1964

Current residence: Albany OR

Education: Central Oregon Community College 1995 BA Computer Repair Technician

Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act 1971 member

CIRI (Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated) member

Email: eltopia39@gmail.com

Facebook at Cheryl  Palmer

"SALEM" On the WGN Will Cast A Spell On You.

                                                                   

Mary (Montgomery)- center, John (West)- left, Cotton (Gabel)- right / (Photo courtesy of WGN.)

  Imagine if you will that the entirety of the Salem witch trials happened due to a war which lasted too long and a young pregnant girl who’s fear of a lost love would lead her into a Faustian pact with the devil.

  “Salem” airs Sundays at 10 pm ET on WGN America. Created by Adam Simon and Brannan Braga (who has done various works on “Star Trek”) “Salem” marks WGN Americas first original series (which debuted last month to 1.5 million viewers) takes the Salem witch trials, (a tragic event in United States history full of religious and fear driven hysteria, paranoia, and sexism) and shapes and alternate history full of magic, deceit, love, and of course an abundance of witches.

  The result is a fictional historical dramas which, at its heart, is one of the sexiest and most horror filled shows of its kind to date. This is no sweet and pretty love story. It's a brimstone and black-magic filled headlong rush into the characters' personal struggles, rife with dark imagery and frightening moments in ways most other shows of its genre don’t even come close too.

-///- Warning! Spoilers ahead.

  

Mary (Montgomery) / (Photo courtesy of WGN.)

  Mary (British actress Janet Montgomery) is a young, unwed pregnant girl in Salem Massachusetts, a Puritanical town. She believes her love, John Alden (Shane West), has died in the war, since he has sent no letters since leaving. She must now either face the punishment of Puritans’ stocks and the painful torture of forehead branding or sell her soul to the devil via a sorceress (“Revenge's” Ashley Madekwe) just as Faust of old and Blues musician Robert Johnson of more contemporary tales had done.

  Having chosen to take the less than savory deal, she begins to bring her machinations to fruition when she marries George Sibley, an influential member of the town, who she then enslaves and quickly usurps his wealth and power. Mary’s plan begins to unravel however as Preacher Cotton Mather (Seth Gabel) soon believes witches have arrived in Salem seeking dominion of the “New World”, it seems though the good Preacher is only half right. The witches it seems have existed long before the Puritans learned of their presence as the shows character Tituba can attest. Interestingly, “Salem” makes use of witches both male and female making little distinction as to any difference between the two.

John and Mary- (Photo courtesy of WGN)

    As fate would have it John returns home to witness a witch hunt in which Mary is attempting to use the trials as a way to have the Puritans kill each other in hopes of allowing the witches freedom from their persecution as well as other reasons. Finding that Mary is now wed, John is at a loss and begins to become involved in town affairs as he keeps a watchful eye on his lost love. As events continue to escalate we learn that John, who at first held little belief of the witches, is a long time frenemy of Cotton and soon the two come to a kind of understanding concerning their mutual roles in the show.

  Using a variety of historical names and facts such as Cotton Mather and Tituba, the show reveals only enough for viewers to recognize their significance before addressing the characters in a fictitious manner. With bits of truth along the way, “Salem” creates its own revised history in such a manner as to leave the show feeling almost like a continuation of the historical events it takes place in.

"Salem" cast in costume in church. (Photo courtesy of WGN)

  Their approach is intriguing and captivating. The sets and costume designs match the late 17th century to an impressive degree and the setting is so well conceived that the viewer is almost immediately pulled into the town of Salem.

  The show has many of the same production and story elements of two other series with witches and the supernatural: “American Horror Story” and “Sleepy Hollow.” Often going over the top and making no apologies when it does, the show holds elements for not only younger viewers with its many fantastic moments but also adults with its development of romance and personal relationships.

  With the show often brazenly pushing the limits of cable television the writers have their job cut out for them as the story is cultivating a dynamic that promises much as the show continues to develop. The viewer can easily become immersed and lost within the darkened streets of Salem as you watch by the small guttering flames of candles as men are punished for looking upon the form of women and an unwed mother can face penalty of death for her bastard child.

  I give “Salems” dark and gritty historical makeover a GO and recommend fans of the genre or anyone looking for a good story to tune in Sundays and watch Mary and her magic on WGN America.

 

Photo courtesy of WGN.

Salem

TV listings:  wgnamerica.com/schedule

WGN America, Sunday nights at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time.

Produced by Fox 21. Created and written by Brannon Braga and Adam Simon; directed by Richard Shephard; Mr. Braga, Mr. Simon, Josh Barry and Jeff Kwatinetz, executive producers; Liz Sarnoff, Tricia Small, Jon Feldman and Vahan Moosekian, co-executve producers.

WITH Janet Montgomery (Mary Sibley), Shane West (John Alden), Seth Gabel (Cotton Mather). Ashley Madekwe (Tituba), Xander Berkeley (Magistrate Hale), Iddo Goldberg (Isaac Walton), Tamzin Merchant (Anne Hale) and Elise Eberle (Mercy Lewis).

A Voice of Equality in The World

The LBCC’s Gay-Straight Alliance, Diversity Achievement Center and Council of Clubs, with a grant from the campus’s English Endowment Fund, recently hosted Mr.Darrel Holnes (April 16, 2014) as he presented a collection of poetry to campus and community members alike. 

“Ask everyone to do their part for the cause and help to broaden and widen the conversation (of equality) so we can really open everyone to the importance of understanding.” This is one of many beliefs held by renowned Afro-Latino writer Darrel Alejandro Holnes, an individual who has pursued equal treatment of minorities to an international level.

       

Photo courtesy of Darrel Holnes.

Holnes, whose poetry, art, and events have been both locally and internationally viewed over the past decade, has had works published in TIME Magazine, the Best American Poetry Blog, Callaloo, The Caribbean Writer, and the Kennedy Center for the Arts College Theater Festival as well as many others. In 2013 Holnes received the G.O.D.s Broadway Icon of The Year Award making his presence felt in the world. Holnes is also a member of an elite poetry troupe by the name of “The Phantastique Five” who are well known for their use of poetry to propagate a more enlightened society.

Darrel and fellow equality proponent George Takei. Photo courtesy of Darrel Holnes.

       With all these accomplishments one could easily be caught up in their own life but not so with Holnes who has never forgotten his early teachings or that his voice is one of the people, “Nothing is ever a one man mission. I thank all my workshop teachers for teaching me to seek out sources of those who don’t have a voice. To help others be on stage to voice their cause.”

Currently residing in New York, NY, Holnes is a native of Panama City, Panama and currently teaches creative writing at Rutgers University. Holnes holds his position as a teacher dear to him and can still find time to mentor his students both past and present even as he continues to rally the voice of equality both near and far.

Photo courtesy of Darrel Holnes.

“I see myself as a student always. The world is the ultimate teacher.”

Obviously no stranger to the rigors of academic life himself, Holnes holds degrees in Creative Writing from the University of Houston and the University of Michigan. He received scholarships to Cave Canem, Canto Mundo, Bread Loaf, and various other residencies, contributed work to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, was a guest speaker at the United Nations, and supported programming at the White House as a Presidential Inaugural Scholar.

        Along with his skills as a writer, producer, educator, and activist Holmes also founded EMERGING in New York City which is a movement celebrating innovative, modern and edgy musical theater. Holnes has also established two other groups in New York City; one, a Broadway Understudies & Swing(er)s cabaret currently at Toshi’s Living Room in the Flatiron Hotel, and the other, a Broadway Composers Cabaret at The Lambs Club. Holnes will additionally be debuting projects which will move him beyond the worlds of fine arts and high theater and into TV and Film, a project which he has set for some time now in 2014.

At a glance:   

Born: Panama City, Panama

Current Residence: New York, NY

Education:  University of Houston,  University of Michigan,  Cave Canem, Canto Mundo,  Bread Loaf, and various other residencies.

Currently Teaching at  Rutgers University

Contact Info:

facebook.com/darrelholnes,

twitter.com/daholnes,

writersontheriver.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/darrel-alejandro-holnes

blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2011/12/jericho-brown-farewell-featuring-the-phantastique-5.html

Trust Your Talent

Paul (Photo courtesy same)

“Trust your talent. Develop your craft. Develop writing instincts.” This is one of many useful tried and true lessons the 2011 Oregon Book Award winner and Corvallis resident Paul VanDevelder passed on to students at LBCC earlier this month. Indeed, Paul has much which he can impart to a new generation of writers and photographers. 

Paul is a well-respected journalist and an accomplished novelist with over thirty years in the field both home and abroad and was a welcomed voice at campus. Speaking largely on what it takes to “deliver the goods” as Paul puts it, the focus of his time with students was in explaining how it was he found his niche in the writing game and the amount of work it has taken him to stay there. During his talk, no matter what the course of his musings, Paul spoke of his time as a journalist fondly and warmly with a devil may care sincerity that kept his listeners rapt with attention.

“It’s surprising sometimes what choices are made” remarked Paul “Never take yourself too seriously. You never know where life’s going to go.” Imparting many such bits of his own gathered wisdom on listeners along the way, we heard of his adventurous investigative journalism days.  Paul spoke to the students of the worst of days and of the best. He told humorous antidotes of inner office antics and touching stories of friends made along the way. There were captivating tales of sailing clippers into foreign waters under duress of war. More of traveling for days overland by pack and fording treacherous rivers while furtively sorting through the debris of scattered stories which were lost to whispers and rumor and always one more lead out of reach. Paul, and many like him, often endured these trials and tribulations in their pursuit of their next story; all the while still snapping photos and scrawling away in notebooks delivering the “Goods” back home to meet press deadlines and deliver that next big story.

Born fortunate in the field of writing to a father who was a hermeneutical scholar and a mother who was a well-loved literature teacher; Paul’s early life was one filled with books and knowledge in his village home in Bolivia. Paul began as a young man writing daily to near prodigious levels till at the age of twenty five he made his first real success in writing in the form of an award from the National Endowment of the Arts for a piece known as “Crysallis.” After this first accomplishment it would be ten years before Paul would once again be able to establish his name in the world of writing as a journalist. In Paul’s own words “The celebratory hangover lasted 10 years. I wanted so badly to write, but just as strong was the silent conviction in me that I didn't have anything momentous to report to the world. Either I had nothing to say, or I didn't know how to say it. I wasn't ready.”

A decade after his award for Crysallis an uncertain Paul received a visit from Nathaniel Blumberg, the Dean of the School of Journalism at the University of Montana. After this fateful meeting Paul would set out upon his new goal of becoming a journalist and there at college would develop a new passion for cameras that has stayed with him for life.

Over the next twelve years Paul worked as a journalist and burned through over half a million rolls of film covering every conflict, campaign, disaster, or holocaust possible until what he did became second nature in many ways. During his talk at LBCC Paul put some of his experience into words for the students saying “Black and white is a tactile medium, much like sculpting. It takes passion and emotion. You have to get inside and underneath the story to write it. You watch and you listen and you find your points of entry.” When questioned on the new digital media of today Paul boldly answered; “New or old, symbiotic tech or no. It all comes back to people and trust.”  Truly wonderful words of advice for any aspiring writer of any field.

(Courtesy of VanDevelder)

Fans of Mr. VanDevelder will be happy to know that years after his humble beginnings Paul is still gaining forward momentum in the world of writing.
His first two triumphant novelizations Savages and Scoundrels and Coyote Warrior may soon make way for the possibility of a third book with an as of yet unknown title. 

(Courtesy of Paul VanDevelder)

To learn more about Paul VanDevelder you can find him at elbowoodscafe.com or purchase his books online at Amazon.
Alternatively you may search Mr. VanDevelder online to view a host of his journalistic works.