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
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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