The Sequestration will affect Linn Benton Community College.

LB, and colleges like it, are set to lose the equivalent of 5 full time staff instructors and 1 adjunct professor, as a consequence of the Budget Control Act of 2011.  

While representatives of the two parties in the Congress bicker about whose fault the sequester is, its effects will begin to roll out over the next thirty days and these effects, while only representing 5% of the discretionary budget, will not be negligible to those affected.

Congress's inability to avoid the sequester, as was the original intent, has led to the ending of automatic overtime for federal law enforcement, cuts to immigration enforcement, cuts in education spending like the kind LB faces, and cuts to the USDA putting the US beef supply at risk because of a lack of inspectors.

Michael Houser a faculty member of the Business Management Department said, when asked about sequestration, “I would say that the congress and president should come to an agreement to avoid the sequestration since it wasn’t intended to begin with.”

Despite the rhetoric in Washington, the sequestration cuts aren’t apocalyptic and they completely ignore the ballooning mandatory spending of Medicare and Medicaid. However, for individuals affected by them, they will be significant.

Jim Huckestein, vice-president of finance and operations here at LB, said that, “there will be consequences to everything, [from the sequester].” The only federal funding that won’t be affected, over the next thirty days, is Pell Grants, which received a 1 year reprieve from Congress last year, and Student Loans which aren’t susceptible to the sequester. “Every federal grant will potentially be affected by the sequester,” he said.

These cuts may come as a surprise to students who have never heard of the sequester. According to Paul M. Johnson, professor of Political Science at the University of Auburn,“ The term, sequestration, is an effort to reform Congressional voting procedures so as to make the size of the Federal government's budget deficit a matter of conscious  choice rather than simply the arithmetical outcome of a decentralized appropriations process in which no one ever looked at the cumulative results until it was too late to change them.”

Jennifer Combs, a student here at LB, said that she had heard only recently learned about the sequester on NPR. When she found out that the sequester would, in part,  reduce the deficit by cutting education, she said, “cutting education is the wrong way to go.”

Cathy Baird, another student, felt that, “for people using these programs, they depend on them, it is not a luxurious lifestyle. With unemployment so high how are people supposed to get ahead?”

Emily Smucker said that it was ridiculous that Congress's plan to get the economy going included cuts to education spending. “If other countries can fund higher education we can do it too.”

While the Congress might still find a legislative compromise to avoid this latest fiscal crisis, citizens should know that their representatives were more willing to cut teacher, firefighter, and police pay, then cut corporate subsidies which amount to over 100 billion, over budget programs like the f-35 joint strike fighter, a 2 billion dollar jet that can’t fly in the rain, or even reign in the pentagon’s stealth program, which approaches 300 billion dollars. These cuts in essence are all pain, for those affected, with no meaningful gain for the nation as a whole, the cuts will reduce the deficit by about .05%.

At a Glance
OMB Reports on the progress of the sequester.
Sequestration hurts small businesses too. 

Politico's live coverage of the Sequester.

The National Science Foundation will be cutting 1,000 jobs as a consequence of the sequester.

Uncertainty

I don't normally write poetry  but I was smoking my morning ciggy and this sort of popped into my mind.




Uncertainty

My innocence lost 

Not the innocence of youth

But the innocence of divine and certain truth

Connections abound to knowledge and facts

But the meaning of life and certainty of why is just beyond view

I struggle, buffeted by the winds from the voices of those who certain of their view 

shout into the night, This is the truth!

But just below the cacophony of fools i hear the sweetest of sounds, i hear the echos of truth. 

If only the voices of those so certain could stop for just a moment. 

Uncertain of its source I search in blindness

for those that might stop and listen

and help me find it. 

Riding the Waves of change - part 1

To the average person on the beach, waves become visible just before their crash. The slow and steady growth is almost imperceptible, and when the growth changes to decay, the wave’s crescendo is visible to all. The power of the wave comes crashing down sweeping away those caught unaware and propelling those who saw the change coming.

Such a change in growth patterns is happening in colleges across America. The slow steady rise of tuition, population, and debt has reached a point where a break must occur. Just as a wave breaking provides both surf and undertow, the break in education can be a boon to students driving them towards competency and completion or deadly undertow dragging them back towards poverty and minimum wage.

Just as the lifeguard scans the beach looking for dangers and swimmers in distress, LBCC college administration has been scanning the educational horizon looking for ways to bridge funding gaps, propel more students towards completion, and adapt to changing demographics. This effort is being referred to, by LBCC administration, as the “Redesign”.

While the “redesign” is not yet fully defined, according to Bruce Clemetsen, Vice President, Student Services, the redesign is about trying to get to a sustainable model for education. “We still believe in the role of community colleges in community development. We have to adapt, and we are at a moment of extreme adaptation.”

This redesign will eventually touch every element of the college, from simple changes like texting students important information to more systemic changes like degree curriculum and requirement changes.

One of the potential curricular changes described was to the Culinary and Welding programs. Mr. Clementson spoke about how writing skills training could be embedded in the culinary and welding curriculum.

Instead of students going to a dedicated writing class, they would have a kind of circuit writing professor who worked with their, and other, instructors to meld writing with their instruction in their craft. While everyone needs to be able to communicate via the written word, not everyone needs to know the liturgical outflows of long dead white men.

By teaching writing skills and craft skills together the thought is that students will receive a more practical accreditation while also receiving the necessary level of  writing education for their preferred field.

The goal is, for some degrees, to move towards a more pragmatic and Socratic model with less lecture and more practice, flipping the classroom in essence. Part of the redesign is asking the question, “Is there a better way to teach or facilitate learning?”

The redesign, as it relates to curricular changes, is, according to Dean of Student Services Lynne Cox, in part a recognition that there is a tremendous amount of free information available online and that colleges and universities need to become a place where one learns how to apply knowledge.

Mr. Clementsen said, “Some things will be going away, to create space for newer things.  pockets of students will feel this change.” While he wasn’t specific on which programs or activities were meant for the chopping block, it was clear that he and the rest of LBCC administration were doing everything they could to maintain as many programs, for as many students, as possible. It was also clear to that Mr. Clementsen and the rest of the LBCC administration are very much interested in the ideas, aspirations, and goals of faculty and students.   

Parts of the redesign are already being implemented. Some of these changes, like mandatory advisement and career center development, are meant to facilitate achieving Oregon’s 40-40-20 goal. The goal is to, by 2025, reach a point where 40% of Oregonians a bachelor’s or higher , 40% have an associate’s or higher, and 20% have a High school diploma. The goal is itself a recognition that today’s economy is a knowledge and services based economy and if Oregon is going to remain competitive in the national and global marketplace its citizens need to have the requisite education to compete.

Cox described Career Center Development as a program designed for helping undecided students decide on what major they want to focus on or what career best fits their skills and lifestyle. For some students one of the biggest stumbling blocks to college completion is figuring out exactly what one wants to do. A program like this, coupled with now mandatory advisement, should be beneficial to the student who needs some guidance finding the path to success.  

An integral part of this redesign is increasing communication between administration, faculty, and the student body. Mr. Clementsen stressed the value of this community and the need to foster deeper and longer lasting connections between it’s members. A student body that is well connected tends to be more successful he said, and it is his, and the rest of the administrations, intent to raise the bar without leaving students underwater.

At a Glance:
Education Redesign and Strategic Planning
Achieve the Dream
Committees Contact List for the Redesign

Temple Run 2 Review

Temple Run 2

The sequel to the 2011-12 hit Temple Run has finally arrived on Android. Created by Imangi studios the Temple Run series is one of the most popular mobile games available today, second only to Angry Birds.
Like Angry Birds the Temple Run series is free to play and download. For the low cost of a few clicks you too can start your adventure. If you are looking for a great way to burn a few minutes between classes, interviews, or buses get this game.

As you start Temple Run 2 you are greeted by the now familiar Idol that you, as Guy Dangerous will swipe to start the game and enrage the monkeys.

An endless running game, the point of Temple Run 2 is to avoid obstacles, like rivers, spike wheels, narrow ridge-ways, and feral monkeys while acquiring Coins and Gems  in an attempt to escape the Temple with the Idol.

While the original was fun, the graphics and interface were clearly dated. The player felt like they were running on a flat board with turns being either left or right, yes the character could jump but even that felt flat.

Temple Run 2 is anything but flat, as reviewers at trusted reviews noted, "The most noticeable upgrade in Temple Run 2 is the vastly improved graphics. Vibrant colors and much more detailed environments add to the appeal of the lost city in the sky setting. 

The world is lush and has depth of field and play. As you start the game, every run in fact starts this way, your character leaps onto a zip-line and swings into play demonstrating that this is more than just a re-skin, ala Brave. 

After jumping over rivers, dodging past bricks on the ground, and sliding under low bridges you find yourself in a mining cart careening into a cavern. As you tilt your device to the left or the right the cart banks to avoid caved in tunnels and to avoid falling down the tracks that are broken away.

A further improvement was on the objective system of the first Temple Run which offered achievements to the player for doing certain tasks, like running for 500m without acquiring coins or running 500m without tripping on any obstacles. 

In the sequel fulfilling those objectives actually affects game play by leveling your character, which enables new special abilities. This adds another, RPGesque, layer to the game beyond just obstacle avoidance. Furthermore, as you level you receive additional bonuses like extra coins or extra gems.  

While the different characters, like in the original, play no differently, unlocking them does unlock other special abilities that can be given to any of the characters. Fortunately players can still customize their character to their play style. 

In the original game there existed boosts within the game, in the sequel those boosts still exist, but players also have the choice of applying one of those boosts to their character and every time they fill up their coin meter they can use that boost. I was personally partial to the speed boost, every time I collected a few hundred coins I was able to boost ahead 150m avoiding all obstacles. This simple change makes the game more fun and the increased customization options help to differentiate each play type.

There are two types of currency in Temple Run 2, coins and gems, and both can be acquired by playing the game or can be purchased via in game microtransactions. Coins are used to unlock and enhance abilities for your character, to power up for use those  special abilities while playing, and to unlock extra characters.Gems can be used to augment game play by “supersizing” powerups or by extending gameplay when one fails to avoid an obstacle. Gems do not appear nearly as frequently as coins but at least 1-3 appear in a short run, and many more in a long run.

Where many games developers fail, is by using this model to try and suck money out of their consumers. Imagini instead of creating a grindfest or a pay to play system that favors those who spend tens to hundreds of dollars, instead favored a “tax” on immediate gratification. John Thompson at Android police said it well, "What's great about this model is that if you don't want to spend any money, you don't have to; you can do everything within the game without spending a dime - it will just take you longer to progress as you play your way through."

If you want to unlock all the abilities and all of the characters and never have to worry about falling over a ledge and starting over, you can, for a price. If you want to enjoy the challenge of the game and are willing to sink a limited amount of time into the game you can unlock every aspect of the game. In just an hour of play I amassed a few dozen gems and enough coins to unlock a character and a few special abilities.
CNET reviewers do rightfully point out, that "In-app purchases allow for unlimited "continues," skewing the leader-boards to those who are willing to spend the money." Though for me I don't mind, since I don't competitively play. The money has to come from somewhere, if you really have to be "first" at a mobile game be prepared to finance your championship run. 

Don't forget to watch out for angry monkeys.

Prices at a glance
5,000 Coins - .99 cents
400,000 Coins - $19.99
5 gems - .99 cents
500 gems - $19.99
Temple Run 2 - Available in the Play store and on Itunes - Freemium

What is Freemium - Freemium is a business model where developers give the game away for free but lock away certain aspects of the game unless the player pays for them, either via in-game currency or via real money transactions. How this model is deployed can make or break a game. Restrict too much of the game and risk your game labeled pay to play. Charge too little, or restrict too little and risk not making any money on your hard work.

What are microtransactions - Microtransactions are simply small transactions, generally completed in game, that exchange real money, generally .99 to 19.99, for in game advantages, currency, or to unlock gameplay elements.

Walmart Action - Photo Essay

After about forty minutes of rallying and sign waving in front of the main entrance, Walmart management came out to ask the Occupiers to move to the edge of the property line. After a short discussion the occupation peacefully moved to the property line where they marched and passed out flyers to cars that stopped.

After Walmart managers asked the Occupiers to move to edge of the property some of the group marched around the perimeter of the parking lot chanting and waving signs at cars as they entered the complex. Quinny and Maddoc lead the "parade".

Some thirty occupiers were in attendance protesting in solidarity with Walmart workers around the nation. Some 1000 protests not to dissimilar from this one happened this Black Friday.

 Eric Coker, one of the organizers for this event, can be seen dashing out to a gentleman with flyers detailing the reasons why he ought not shop at Wal-Mart. 

Some of the Raging Grannies of Corvallis were in attendance as well. From right to left, Kathy Conner, Ruth Arent, and Jannet Rassmussen. Not one to let a mere 9 decades of life keep her down Ruth was as energetic and lively as any of the young people in attendance. She wanted everyone to know that even at 90 she was still fighting for fair labor laws.

Steven Nelson spinning Fire

Steven Nelson of Philomath has a unique talent, and a distinct lack of fear. 

Who knew that rags, kerosene, and  a staff in the rain could be so much fun. 

Despite the fairly heavy rain Steven was undeterred. 

Here Steven was trying to get our mutual Neighboor Kelly to give it a try, she wasn't quite as fearless. 

Steven demonstrating what skill with a staff looks like. 

He begins to build to a finale twirling the staff above his head. 

His finale looked like he was opening a portal to another world. 

Odyssey photos from LBCC

The Arcimoto is an all electric 2 seater vehicle, classified as a motorcycle by the state of Oregon. It designed with the urban commuter in mind. With a range of 40-120 miles per charge it can get you to work and back in one charge. On display in the Quad at the Albany campus of LBCC on Thursday Oct 18th.

Cars and trucks on display from local companies and auto-dealers for the Odyssey Alternative Fuels event on October 18th.

Dan Lara a spokesman for the Odyssey event giving his speech about how an all above the approach to solving our nations energy problems start with local educational institutions like LBCC. This event took place in the Quad at the Albany campus of LBCC on Thursday Oct 18th.

Dan Lara a spokesman for the Odyssey event posing for a photograph after his speech in the Quad at the Albany campus of LBCC on Thursday Oct 18th.

Campus shots of the horticulture club's Tuesday farmers markets.

The Horticulture Club's Farmer's Market every Tuesday makes Jessica very happy. Danica hopes you don't forget to support your LBCC farmer's.

Jessica Meek and Danica Ostlund of the LBCC Horticulture club manning the stations of Farmer's market, which will be on campus every Tuesday this month.

Jessica Meek and Danica Ostlund displaying the fine corn, onions, flowers, and vegetables available at LBCC's Farmer's Market.

Photojournalism assignment

Nothing like hacking on the first day of school
Photo taken on Albany Campus in the quad on Monday Sept 24th. 

Fall is on the way

College in America isn't complete without waiting in lines for something.
Photo taken at the LBCC bookstore on Monday Sept 24th.

The Times goes live....

Looks like the times isn't just a newspaper company anymore. They are  vlogging, blogging, podcasting, and now doing live video like a traditional cable news company. I like the possibilities of this, does anyone else see this as the method via which news media will survive. 

You can't just be a newspaper company or radio company anymore. If you want to survive in the digital age you have to do everything, and you have to do it all well. The same thing is happening over at Huffington post, except its following the ala carte model. Instead of watching an entire news cast people are watching individuals stories.

 I imagine the next BIG thing in news delivery is going to be social/tailored news casts where you might have a thirty minute news cast with like 10 stories all of which had been tailored to your viewing preferences . Imagine a world where not only did everyone have their own unique front page, but they also had their own unique news casts. 

Why I won't be voting for Obama or Romney

 Domestic Social policies are important, there is no way to argue any other way, BUT, voting for a candidate solely based on those policies is dangerous in the extreme. Part of the problem our nation faces today is our consistent failure to educate ourselves and our propensity towards voting for for the perceived lesser of two evils(evils who are generally only different on social policies). 

Social wedge issues aside, there are a variety of reasons why I won't be voting for Obama. The Patriot act has still not been revoked or revised, nor has the White House made it a priority. While the president could not on his own remove this law, it is absolutely something he could have used his bully pulpit to limit. 

 Targeted killing and kill lists are considered legitimate tools for use in the Global War On Terror, and can include Americans living abroad.

 Extraordinary rendition is still being practiced and Guantanamo is still open. The Drug war is still in full swing, which would be acceptable if the president had actually appointed someone who didn't feel like it was their job to continue wasting money on the drug war. 

Lets not forget the crony capitalism of Solyndra and GE. The bailouts 2.0 to the same people who caused the crisis in the first place. 

We are still antagonizing for an attack on Iran, and we admitted to creating the Stuxnet virus and launching an attack on a legally acting sovereign ala Russia and Estonia. While some liberals might feel that more drone strikes and computer worms are preferable to ground troops I beg to differ. 

Part of the problem with war today is that our population doesn't feel any of the consequences of it. War needs to be hell, when its not we wage it carelessly and for trivial reasons. It was wrong when GWB told fifth ave America to go shopping as he shipped out mainstreet to fight in the sands of the Middle East and it is wrong for Obama to use cyber war and institutional inertia to continue those campaigns. Not to mention the incredible risk that he has put citizens in openly admitting that the United States bilaterally, with Israel, and without UN approval, launched an offensive attack on another Sovereign nation. 

 While the CIA and NSA may think themselves top dogs, the real talent, as always, is in the for profit private black market and this kind of behavior is going to have long term repercussions ala 9/11. Imagine waking up to a digital attack of mass proportions and having to explain to the population that there is little that can be done because we did it first. 

Most importantly the President has the power to indefinitely detain anyone, anywhere, for any reason, without Du process. This isn't hyperbole, I don't watch Fox or Alex Jones, if we the people don't start actually engaging with our political apparatus on foreign policy and economic policy we will lose our Republic. Its these kinds of big picture policies that make it impossible for me to vote for Obama. People need to stop voting with their hearts and start voting with their minds.

Take none of this as an endorsement for Romney who I see as a naked politician who will do/say whatever he has to get elected. I don't think he would be "bad for America' but I don't think he would be particularly good either. At present I am leaning towards Gary Johnson or "none of the above". 

What happened to Mike?

Everyone knew something was up Thursday, May 22, when Mike Savin failed to show up for class a second time in the same week. Having never missed a class the previous trimester, even when visibly ill, it was disconcerting to students. 


The fill in professors, Brigid Bacus and Marci Bailey, assured students that it would be okay and that Mike was just sick.

Students in Chemistry 222 found out May 29, a full week later and past the deadline to drop with a “W," that Savin had resigned. The exact why of his resignation was never articulated. Rumors abound as to why a well liked and respected instructor would simply leave three weeks before the end of the term. 


Had students been told the day Savin resigned, that he had resigned, it would have been possible for any in the class to drop with a W if they so chose. However, since Backus and Bailey did not inform the students of Savin's resignation until after the deadline to drop, such an option was precluded.

Bailey claimed that she could make no comment on the situation and Backus claimed to know nothing other than that she was filling in for Savin for the rest of the term. 

Numerous students were unwilling to make any comments on the record for fear of reprisals from the chemistry department. Students expressed everything from fear of being personally targeted for merely speaking positively about Savin, to fear of the evening class as a whole being targeted to prove that Savin was not fulfilling his contractual obligations. 

One student who had no fear of speaking up was Gil South . Gil felt that Savin was an excellent instructor and that the chemistry department at LBCC would suffer from the loss. He reached out to Savin to let him know that he appreciated his service and time and that he were sorry that Savin would no longer be teaching at LBCC. He emphatically felt like blame for his departure should be placed on the department and not on Savin.

Instructor Savin also made no comment. Savin has taught high school chemistry, college chemistry, is currently an assistant at the Oregon State University chemistry department and tutors in the Mole Hole.






At a Glance


Professor leaves suddenly right before finals and no one is talking, not even the students.


 Mike Savins Linkedin profile

Mole Hole Schedule 

Linn Benton Chemistry Department

Profile of an Occupier

http://www.interzoneorganic.com/

We have all seen them on the nightly news, on youtube, twitter, and of course facebook. The amorphous but vocal Occupy movement that started back in 2011 in Zuccotti Park. The movement is still active globally, and Occupiers of all colors and nationalities can be found everywhere from Spain to right here in Corvallis. But who exactly are these occupiers, what do they want, and why are they here?

I sat down with one such occupier, Eric Coker, at the local Interzone campus coffee shop to see exactly what it was that motivated him to join the Occupation over other social justice movements or political movements. He arrived on time and dressed like a normal adult college students in cargo shorts and a t-shirt.

An educated and articulate man Eric isn’t the picture of the Occupation most of us are use to seeing on our screens. Absent are the Guy Fawkes masks, dreadlocks,protest language, and gauged earrings while the passion for social justice, social equality, and pragmatism remains.

When asked about almost any social or economic issue Eric had a ready and articulate answer. When asked about how some have pointed out that many of the occupiers are from a privileged class and that protesting economic inequality from one’s IPAD was inherently hypocritical, Eric strongly disagreed. "We are all part of the privileged class and being a part of the privleged class does not prevent one from commenting on social inequalities", he said.

He felt that the Occupy movement recognized the privilege of race, gender, and economic status by virtue of birth, and that other groups by not recognizing these things could never solve the problems that are besetting our nation.

He also stressed that being part of the privileged class does not preclude one from pointing out the inherent social injustice of the society in which one lives. If anything he felt that it was the civic responsibility of the privileged classes to come to the aid of those who were either less fortunate by virtue of their birth or by virtue of the baked in inequality of our current consumption based economic system.

Unlike what has been primarily distributed over the web Eric was quick to emphasize the need for cooperation and bridge building between faith groups, political groups, and social justice groups versus the need for more protesting. "While it might get me in trouble i do recognize that there is certain amount of overlap between the Tea party and Occupy." Eric pointed out however that the Occupy chapter in Salem had tried to have a group meeting with the Tea Party but that it had broken down because of the wide differences of opinion on basic terms and on social wedge issues.

Wedge issues and social rights issues were the primary reason that Eric became involved with the Occupy movement. While both of the movements are populist in rhetoric, they differ very widely on the social issues from women's rights and homosexuality, to the death penalty and other social rights issues. The one thing Eric was vehement about was that Occupy and he were not bound to any one party or ideology, "I support whatever works, it is not about ideology it is about practicality" he said.  

While he and the greater Occupy movement do see political protest as a viable means of civic engagement, it clearly isn’t the only methodology they are following.





At the recent city council meeting where they gave a presentation on why the city of corvallis should be moving their money. Instead of playing the Code Pink obstruction game of distraction and disturbance the occupiers, almost ironically, waited their turn, gave articulate speeches when called upon, and only during a natural lull in the meeting did they quickly chant, “Move Our Money” and link arms with “duct tape” chains.

Aside from actions against the banking industry Occupy and occupiers like Eric are interested in social justice and social equality. 


One of the main drivers of Eric and Occupy is a passion for social justice, and this is something that is not just rhetorical. Occupy Corvallis is actively working to try and improve the living conditions of the homeless by helping to bridge communication gaps between City hall and main street and by networking with existing social justice groups. One such action is going to be a meeting with the chief of police and the mayor where suggestions will be made to try and discourage police from abusing and profiling the homeless while also offering solutions to help in transferring homeless individuals back into productive society..



At a glance

Eric Coker contact info  escoker@gmail.com
Occupy Covallis http://www.facebook.com/owscorvallis
http://business.time.com/2012/05/18/was-nick-hanauers-ted-talk-on-income-inequality-too-rich-for-rich-people/