Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1995)
FEATURES V The Clackamas Print Page 5 Wednesday, April 19,1995 As a profession Former student faces challenges, inspires sister by Linda Barr Batdorf Staff Writer The wild horse ran free on the plains of what is now South ern California in the late Pleis tocene Age. Suddenly, from no where, the animal felt a spear pierce its flesh. It is possible, and even likely, that the majestic beast ran some distance, before it suc cumbed to the deadly wound in flicted by early man. The spear point later fell unseen into the dust of primitive America, and would remain hidden for thou sands of years until retrieved by archaeologists only a few short years ago. Now, more than 11,000 years after the spear was thrown, former CCC graduate Shirley Barr Will iams examines the weapon that brought the wild horse down. She adds ammonia solution to the spear point and begins her blood residue analysis of this ancient artifact. By using a method called cross-over electrophoresis, Will iams is able to determine that this was a Clovis spear point that was, in fact, used on a horse now ex tinct in North America. Williams began her college career here at CCC in fall ’72. Even though her first impression of the college was that it was a lengthy walk from the parking lot to the campus and that the regis tration lines were even longer in the pre-computer days of the col lege, her long journey through the Afterward, Lesley and his halls of academia was just the be students were greeted outside the ginning. door by the sight of this uncon It seems odd that Williams scious woman covered in blan would become an expert in blood kets, a cold compress on her pale residue analysis, given the fact forehead, a nurse practitioner that while she fussing and a sat in one of lot of worried C r a i g people Lesley’s com- swarming position around their classes in the numbed early 70’s, schoolmate, she would ex not unlike perience such sharks in a a frightening feeding experience frenzy. with the col But Will lection of iams has blood that it other, fonder would be ex memories of tremely diffi CCC. After cult for her to all, she met Photo contributed by Linda Barr consider even the man who Batdorf donating a bit would some of her own. Shirley Barr Williams started day be her While dis attending CCC in fall ‘72. husband here, cussing the while dining art of writing, in the cafete the class heard such a thump next ria in Randall Hall. (Not a bad door, activity ceased and all eyes place that specialized in hot dogs, turned in the direction of the loud, cigarette smoke and stuffed cab thunderous sound. Lesley inves bage.) tigated and discovered that an un Williams graduated from fortunate student who had given CCC in June ’74 with an associ blood earlier that day, had passed ate degree in general science. She out cold in the room next to them. submerged herself in her studies It was the poor student’s head that during her time here, and after had made such a noise as it graduation, backed off from col bounced from desk to floor. lege for a while. Almost a decade would pass by before she got her bachelor of science degree in anthropology. She achieved this goal while working full-time, squeezing in one or two classes at a time. Wil liams received her bachelor de gree in anthropology in 1983, yet it would be seven years later be fore she would stand before a cheering audience in the coliseum with her master’s degree firmly in hand. For her master’s thesis, Wil liams decided to begin her work on blood residue analysis. In so doing, it became necessary for her to collect “controls” for her stud ies. This meant that she had to collect blood samples. Images of the unconscious student floundering on the floor in the halls of CCC haunted her as she collected samples of el ephant and camel from Wildlife Safari, bear blood from the zoo, horse and dog blood from a vet erinarian, cat blood from a wound her cat received at the paw of a neighboring Tom, squirrel blood was siphoned off of a road kill, bison was retrieved from the Fred Meyer buffalo meat sale and hu man blood was gathered from a cut on her father’s finger (she as sured me that this was an acci dent). It was not fun. It was not easy, but she did it. You see, Wil liams had a dream and because she refused to give up on that dream she was able to see it be come a reality. Now, she is one of the few women in die United States who is an expert at blood residue analysis. She has performed tests on artifacts from coast to coast, and while working at Archaeo logical Investigations Northwest, was even approached by a labo ratory at the Smithsonian for in formation on her studies. Her know-how has taken her to conferences around the United States, where she has expertly delivered papers on her studies to some of the world’s top archae ologists. You see, one of the reasons I am particularly proud of Shirley Barr Williams is the. fact that I have watched her struggle over the years to see her dream become a reality. I’ve seen her tired eyes after working months of grave yard and studying and going to school by day. Her tenacity and strength of spirit encouraged me to return to school, and complete a degree I had begun two decades ago. And now, as Shirley packs up her family and her belongings in order to move to Washington and open her lab near Olympia, I am saddened by her leaving, yet in spired by her continued courage and character, and I wish my dear sister all the luck in the world. Laser shows still lighting up darkness by Jocelyn Gauthier, Feature Editor, Jon Roberts and Lora Wahrgren, Staff Writers Photo by LoraWahrgren Sherman Alexie attracted such a crowd, more chairs had to be brought in to Gregory Forum. Poet inspires audience by Lora Wahrgren Staff Writer Poet Sherman Alexie gave a great reading on Wednesday. There were so many people there, they had to open the rest of the room to add more chairs. I had a wonderful time listen ing to Alexie. His poetry was very powerful and full of voice. I could reàlly feel all the com passion he was expressing to the audience. When he was reading about his family and tribe, I felt I was there with them. He had a great sense of humor in his pre sentation. He would joke peri odically about being Native American, and it eased some tension in the room. ’ He had a fun time being up in front of everyone, and he en joyed speaking. I was happy with the turn out and all the help that went into making the reading pos sible. Alexie’s new book, “Res ervation Blues,” will be re leased in May. If you have never been to a laser light show, you may not know what to expect, “It’s an amusement park for the brain,” according to Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) of ficials. The show is an assault of light and sound, or at least, it’s supposed to be. (Depending on how loud you are, viewer partici pation is very important) When watching the show, you start to feel an overwhelming sensation of blinding light and loud music, We had the opportunity to view “Laser U2,” which is one of the four laser shows that OMSI provides. Other shows include Ministry & Nine Inch Nails, College Achievers Are you getting paid what you’re truly worth? Our growth has exceeded our expectations!! We desire specific people for Leadership and Marketing ■ positions in our Clackamas and Vancouver offices. • Training Available • Full and Part-Time • Bonuses Call (360) 944-5490 LaserFloyd the Wall, LaserZeppelin and LazerPaloza featuring Nirvana, the Beastie Boys and Stone Temple Pilots. Be careful, laser shows can be addicting! Although the show was great, we could have had it louder. And, for those with more sen sitive eyes, the fast, bright lights can be too hot to handle, and you may end up shutting your eyes through part of the show. But that’s okay, because the music is captivating enough to hold your attention until the end. At certain times throughout the show, it seemed that the back- drop of revolving stars was hyp notizing. It’s easy get the sensation that you’re flying in space. BE PUBLISHED!! BE FAMOUS!! W We are accepting submissions of creative Poetry, Short Stories and Art for the Literary Publication RHAPSODY, which will run as an insert in The Clackamas Print sometime this term. Chad Patteson in room B104, or please give us a call at ext. 2578. g
