Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1993)
Wednesday. October 13.1993 Featiires/Sporfs lÉRffackamas Print Pg. 3 Costa Rican trip enables students to care, share by Tina McFarland Feature Editor To some, spending 27 days in a foreign country might seem like a great vacation, but for Cariota Holley and six second- year Spanish students, it was a vacation and much more. For the past six years, Holley, a Spanish instructor, has coordinated the Retired Persons Exchange Program, which is part of the Partners of the Americas Program. This year, however, she decided to start a pilot exchange program for second-year Spanish students, in conjunction with the Retired Persons Exchange. Holley had planned on going to Costa Rica this summer, which is Oregon’s partner in the Partners of the Americas. She opened die trip up to students in her class and, “received a very enthusiastic response,” she said. The Costa Rican homes the students were placed in are also involved in the Retired Per sons Exchange, and the host fami lies were willing to make the stu dents feel at home, Holley said. “I feel like I have two families now, one here and one there,” said Ann Johnson, a pilot exchange student. The participants were required to pay their own way for the trip, and had to meet a few other qualifications as well. Be fore they departed, Holley and the students agreed to speak only Span ish while they were in Costa Rica, even to each other. And according to Johnson, that was one of her biggest fears. “I wasn’t confident enough in my speaking. Butbythe end, I could understand people and they could understand us,” she said. The host homes were based in San Jose. There, the participants traveled to 15. differ ent elementary schools to take school supplies to CostaRican stu dents who couldn’t afford them. “There was not enough (supplies) for everyone; they were just a symbol from Clackamas Community College,” Holley ex plained. “We went to some very remote schools, in the mountain ous regions. We had to take the bus, ferry, canoe, walk. It was a wonderful experience for the stu dents. They learned Spanish and were able to give of themselves.” Most schools the group visited had only one room which housed students in the firstthrough the sixth grades. While the schools are “good” in Costa Rica - the country has an 87 percent literacy rate -- Holley and her students went to the most remote schools which “don’t get the support of the parents or the government, like the city schools do,” Holley said. “One school we visited had only one room with six grades. That teacher approached us with tears in her eyes and said, ‘Thank you for coming, for remembering us so far away (and) for travelling so many thousands of miles to bring us supplies,”’ Holley said. Holley bought supplies for the schools with the money that was made from International Day and the Spanish Club and classes last May. Holley said they earned enough money to take crayons, scissors, erasers, tablets and pen cils to the schools, as well as foot ballsandsoccer balls that the group had to deflate to pack in their luggage, then inflate once they arrived in Costa Rica. Despite the work, Holley said it was worth every minute and all the heart ache. “It was not always easy. It was hot and there were sometimes rustic cabins. No one minded; they loved it” Johnson said the purpose of the trip was to “create a link between Oregon and Costa Rica, to show there are people here who care about them. I learned how small the world is... how willing people are to help.” Teople learn tocome out of their shells,” Holley explained. “We .really aren’t any different from anyone else. We all cry, we all need food. We all have the same basic needs to fulfill. We all want to be a part of a whole.” Holley said the students who went now understand that they can touch others. “It was extremely evidentwhenitwas time to leave, everyone was crying; no one wanted to leave.” Clackamas students meet with Costa Rican students to share culture and school supplies. Forensics team excels in debate workshop at Willamette University by Staci Smith Staff Writer The Clackamas forensics, team sent speakers Avril Johnson/ Nicole Turley, James Spiering and several others to the Willamette University Individual Event scrim mage and debate workshop in early October. The competition gave new speakers the opportunity to listen to and participate in the “newcomers debate workshop.” The workshop was designed to introduce the nature and princi pals of non-policy debate. It also provided students with the chance to view a demonstration of debate, and offered those students who were comfortable, the chance to participate in practice debates. Johnson placed first in persuasive and informative speak ing. She made the finals in dra matic interpretation and took sec ond place in the “all over sweep stakes award.” Johnson’s awards were all received in the open division com petitions. Turley made it to the fi nals in the open division of dra matic interpretation. Spiering placed first in the novice round of dramatic in terpretation, and third in the nov ice prose competition. Johnson also participated in the Oregon State University scrimmage, where she placed first in both persuasive and informa tive speaking. She also made it to. the finals of the dramatic interpre tation category. After combining the over all points accumulated from both the Willamette UniversityandOSU competitions, Clackamas took sec ond place. Clackamas cross country runners stomp opposition photo by Kate Gibbons Lady Cougars prepare for a game against Clark College in Vancouver at 5 p.rtt. tonight. Coach optimistic about volleyball season by Scott Morris Staff Writer Although the school year has just started for most of the student body at Clackamas, the women’s volleyball team has been hard at work since Aug. 20. TheLady Cougars, who are 1- 4 in league play and 4-7 overall, have not done as well as they would like,butCoachKathie Woods is still optimistic. “The girls are working hard arid we have depth at every position. We’ve just been mak ing too many mistakes to win,” Woods said. Three returning sopho mores, team captain Carla Nofzinger, Alyson Kingsley and Jennifer Potter make up the nucleus of the team that also includes 11 freshman. Potter was named Southern Region offensive and defensive player for the week of Sept. 3. The Lady Cougars will be playing a home game tonight at 7. Admission is free. by Paul Valencia Staff Writer School is in full swing, the nights are a little cooler, the calendar reads mid-October and the Cougars are running all over their opponents. It must be cross country season at Clackamas. The men’s squad has ac cumulated ari astonishing 37-2 record this year as they prepare for the Oct. 23 Southern Regional Championships. The Lady Cou gars have a 13-16 record, but that is a misleading figure considering the competition this year, accord ing to Head Coach Mike Hodges. “We have upgraded our level of competition this year sig nificantly over last year,” Hodges said. Last year, for instance, the team’s first meet was against sev eral community colleges from California. The Cougars domi nated. This year, however, the first meet was against four-year schools. The Lady Cougars have “totally dominated all the commu nity colleges they have seen this year, and they are holding their ownagainstthe four-year schools,” Hodges explained. Despite the win-loss record, the women’s squad will still be one of the favorites in the upcoming championship meet. Hodges said the men’s squad is the favorite, but will get competition from Clark Commu nity College from Vancouver. This past weekend, both squads were once again facing stiff, four-year competition in Tacoma, Wash. The men finished second to the University of Puget Sound, which is ranked in the top five; in the NAIA. The Cougars beat Simon Fraser, Western Washing ton and Whitman, who are all ranked in the top 10 in the same poll. Hodges said that four- year schoolshave the advantage of having juniors and seniors with more experience. But the Cougars still finish near or at the top regu larly. “Our team, although obvi ously young, is very strong,” Hodges commented. Fresh man Cruz Gonzalez finished the 8-kilometer coursé in 25 minutes, 45 seconds and placed fifth in Tacoma. Defending NWAACC champion Mike Hickey wound up 11th at 26.06. On the women’s side, freshman Cindy Keene led the Cougars, finishing seventh on the 5-kilometer course with a time of 18-56. “She’s the first woman to run under 19 minutes in the eight years I’vebeen here,” Hodges said. “She’s done it three weeks in a row.” Hodges said he hopes the stiff competition during die sea son will help his teams do well in the Southern Regionals. Both teams have streaks to keep in mind. The women are going for their sixth straight title, while the men will aim for their fifth consecutive first-place trophy. It’s just that time of the year again for the Cougar cross country team. photo by Jason Hunter Clackamas* Cross Country team prepares for Southern Regional competition. The Cougar women will be competing fortheir sixth consecutive championship, while the men will compete for their fifth.
