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.