4
Wednesday,
April 22, 1998
LeDoux campaigns for student involvement
ROBERT SCHOENBERG
Staff Writer
the peripheral costs of attending school such as child care
costs and the price of texts required in the classroom. These
issues need attention and the students need a leader to pur
sue these goals. LeDoux intends to be that leader. One of
his first moves, he says, is to fill the position he presently
holds.
“What I am going to do is, I want to empower the legisla
tor officer as much as I can. So that they will understand
how important the job is. I want someone with high energy,
who has got some experience and is dedicated to students. I
want someone who is pumped about students,” said LeDoux.
“I want the ASG team to be dedicated. I plan to do that by
showing them my dedication.” LeDoux, despite the fact that
his schedule involves school work along with traveling com
mitments on behalf of student government, has missed only
one ASG meeting.
Another part of his goal is to improve communication
between the students and the school they attend. The stu
dent activity board he had installed outside the community
center this year is hi$ move in that direction.
“That is specifically what it is for, to get some communi
cation going between the administration and the students,”
he said.
Another direction he is enthusiastic about is sports. He
believes it builds teamwork and leadership abilities and
David LeDoux (pronounced Lah-due) is a man on a mis
points to himself as an example of sports working for that
sion. He wants students involved in what happens at school
end.
while they are attending, and he wants them involved right
He said, “What I would like to see is the intramural pro
now.
gram become involved with the athletic clubs, like the rac
To accomplis}? this end, he wants to be the Associated
quetball club and the ski club, and work with them. It is
Student Government’s next president, an office currently
another link for students to get involved. Its a way that if
held by Jake Boenisch. Unfortunately he is running for an
you’re not involved directly in the club, a student can take
office that requires a student vote, and he is running unop
advantage in the club acti vities. And the ASG can offer that
posed.
link through intramural sports.”
This does not sit well with LeDoux’s competitive per
LeDoux always comes back to student involvement.
sonality. He has played organized soccer since the age of
“You should care about the institution that your getting
nine, he has been a team captain and he has played on the
an education from, how do you know your getting a good
varsity squad at Hillsboro High School where his parents
education?” he said. “It starts with me as I work with these
moved after living in Portland and Alaska.
people and develop good-standing relationships.
He wants the competition of an election, not to thoroughly
“I am not saying ASG is better than you, but so that ASG
tromp the opposition, but because an election usually pro
can help you, ASG needs your help. I’m not here to say that
motes student involvement, because students will get ex
ASG is some untouchable organization or that the college
cited about the issues, and because an election focuses stu
is an untouchable resource that they are some enemy that
dents on their school.
we have to fight against. I think we are here and the re
“I don’t like it,” he said. “It shows me that students
sources are here, to work together
are less active about knowing what is going on in this
as a team. I’ve always been a team
college. And that seems to me to be wrong.”
player, its just the way I think.”
LeDoux cares about being active. He is Campus Is
LeDoux’s future plans are to fin
sues Officer and regional chair to the American Stu
ish his education and possibly be
dent Association of Community Colleges. On Mon
come a lawyer specializing in law
day he returned from a weekend trip to San Diego
concerning technology, and he
where he met with other students active in government
has been accepted at George Fox
and he often found that even they are not as active as
University where he is planning
he likes.
to study computer science.
“There are colleges out there that think it is a waste
LeDoux utilizes every aspect of
of time to lobby for funds,” LeDoux said. “If we want
his life so that it in some way il
the funding, this ASG, which has proven itself in the
lustrates his ability to serve. When
past, is going to have to hold true to that effort and be
not at school, he works in food
an effective lobbying group.”
service.
LeDoux is looking forward to being president next
“The philosophy behind student
fall, if elected, because this fall state elections are go
government is to be there for the
ing to get underway. This represents an opportunity to
students,” LeDoux said. “That is
lobby for education.
the idea, the connection between
“Next year is a legislative year. I think student leg
the students and the facility. I
islation is a huge key to our funding. If we’re not out
want to make sure the college has
there with a voice, we can’t be effective. I fully intend
a student focus. I want to uphold
to do just that,” he said.
that philosophy.
At issue is the money needed to fund student pro
“The college provides a service
grams. Current and past administrations have worked
for a customer and the student is
to lobby local, state and national legislators to fund
that customer. I want them to have
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
programs that allow students to attend college when
the best customer service pos
they cannot afford to, utilizing Pell Grants and Need David LeDoux may not be thrilled to run unopposed, but the ASG Presidential sible.”
Grants. Legislators also have worked to fund some of candidate is confident he can achieve much for students at this college.
Spring is alive in Pauling's Native Garden
SLADE SAPORA
Contributing Writer
Looking around the Native Garden
you will see quite a few plants coming
into bloom this Week, but there are a
couple that deserve some special atten
tion.
One in particular is the Indian Rhu
barb, Peltiphyllum peltatum. This
plant has large clusters of small pink
and white flowers that sit atop a slen
der green stalk a foot off of the ground.
To locate it, just stand on the metal
grate near the pond and face north; it
will be in the bed on your left, about
12 feet in front of you.
Indian Rhubarb is uncommon and
grows naturally in only a small portion
of Southwest Oregon and Northwest
California. There it forms dense stands
along the rocky banks of the coastal
TIMOTHY BELL / Clackamas Print
Penstemon flowers combine simple beauty with medicinal value.
Wednesday, April 22, 1998
rivers, covering the rocks with its large
umbrella shaped leaves. Each leaf has
its own separate stalk that arises from
a rather massive above ground root
system (bend over and take a closer
look). By summer these leaves can
grow to as large as two feet across,
while only being a foot or two off of
the ground! This is how it derived its
second name: Umbrella Plant. As of
now, the leaves are still young and not
quite as dramatic, but keep an eye on
them.
In the winter when the rivers swell
with rain these plants become fully sub
merged, and are subject to massive
pressure and force from the swiftly
moving waters. Now look at the thick
and clinging roots and think “hang on!”
Native Americans would peel the
plant’s stalks and eat the tender green
insides raw. One author suggests plac
ing the peeled stalks in salad, but since
this plant is limited to such a small area
on the planet, it’s best we leave it alone.
If you don’t know what Penstemons
are, then now is the perfect time to
learn. We have several different spe
cies of Penstemons in the Native Gar
den, and you can find them located in
the rocky plant bed just below the win
dows of the Chemistry Lab. They are
a low-growing creeper plant, with small
thick green leaves and gently rising
clusters of dark purple tubular flowers.
The flowers on Penstemons often last
well into the summer, and serve as a
great source of nectar for bees and
other nectar loving critters. Penste
mons work well as a skin oil for us hu
mans too. Gather the flowers and
stalks, grind them up, place them in a
jar of oil (olive or almond) and let that
sit for three to four weeks. When the
oil looks good and dark, strain out the
leafy gunk and save the leftover oil.
This is used for everything from minor
cuts, scrapes, bums, bruises, chapped
lips, rashes and insect bites, just rub it
on.
Penstemons are also widely used in
landscaping, and are a favorite of
Northwest native gardeners. Combine
this with their medicinal qualities, and
you have the potential to grow your
own medicine, giving the wild Penste
mons a break from the impacts of pick
ing and harvesting. Find yourself a
favorite plant, or plant bed, and watch
it grow and unfold; the Native Garden
provides us with a great chance to see
nature in action. Enjoy.