F eature
6 • T he C lackamas P rint
M arch 3, 2004
Author of fui) keeps audience young
Theodor “Ted” Seuss leiscl, born
March 2, 1904, in Springfic , Mass, was
known to remark that h never really
learned to draw.
Many of his schoplbooks were filled
with bizarre creature^and odd doodles with
the occasional sporadic note from the day’s les
son. His work was distinct to
adults and children, but Janet
Schulman—his editor for the
last 11 years of his life—
admits that he despised when
his work was referred t<> as
“whimsical.”
Many
students
v
Qg|CFI
remember growing up on Dr.
Suess as prime bedtime
reading material. Others might still read his books to their
children. His books are hard to mistake,
often reflecting the broad range of his
imagination down to the smallest
detail. He had built an entire
empire by simply doing and
teaching what he loved, and his
fans loved him for it.
C ieisel died Sept. 24,1991, at
age 87. At that time, he had sold
over 200 million copies of hjs
books in 15 different lan
guages, and sales continue to
climb. March 2, 2004, marks
what would have been his
lOO^1 birthday. In his final
When I was a kid, I’d
Have such a good time
When my parents would
read me
His short, whacky rhymes.
His lyric uniqueness
And lessons stayed true;
I would smile for days
about Horton and his
“Who.”
And the stories of Whoville
That, at first, made me
frown,
When that nasty old Grinch
Tried to ruin that town.
How I’d lock up that cat
With Thing One and Thing
Two,
In a cage with The Lorax,
“If I Ran the Zoo.”
There was Yertle the Turtle,
He was such a nice fellow.
Or The Sneetches, whose
machine
Turned them blue, green
and yellow.
book, “Oh, The Places
You’ll Go!” the good
Dr. Suess issued a
charge for every read
er of every age to
heed in his final lines: “You’re off to great places!
Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So ...
get on your way!”
Then Horton came back
And I couldn’t stay away
While that big silly elephant
Tried to hatch his own egg!
I would never have trouble
Finding “Solla Sollew,”
Where I caught me a Blue
Fish
In McElligot’s Pool
Then I’d dream about Sam
In his brown cardboard
box,
Eating Green Eggs and
Ham
With a sock-wearing fox.
From the Tooth Book, the
Eye Book
And Foot Book I’d learn
About how we’re all differ
ent
But to give others a turn.
There are many great
books
I’ll attribute myself to,
But none quite as memo
rable
As the great Dr. Suess.
—Jeff Sorensen
Biology instructor strives to stifle science phobias
Bethany Monroe
T he C lackamas P rint
l'br as long as she can remember,
CCC Science Instructor Jennifer
Bown has had an interest in biology.
“1 grew up playing with bugs,” Bown
said. “livery vacation we took, we
always had to go to a zoo or aquari
um. I’ve just always connected with
animals.”
Although science has always been
her passion, Bown’s career goals did
not originally include teaching.
While attending the University of
Nevada in Reno, Bown pursued
degrees in zoology and conservation
genetics, hoping, for a career involv
ing scientific research. On a whim,
she applied for a teaching job.
“My best friend dared me to
apply,” said Bown.
Bown was hired by the University
of Nevada-and eventually made her
way up .north to Oregon, where she
accepted part-time jobs at both
Clackamas and Portland Community
Colleges.
After eight years as a part-time
instructor at Clackamas, Bown was
happy to become a full-time faculty
member this past year. Now her
summers will be free, allowing her
some time to pursue her original
interest in scientific research.
Besides biology, Bown instructs
zoology at Clackamas and will be
teaching a natural history course this
spring, which focuses on the Oregon
Coast. The natural history class, as
well as a Bird ID class, was.devel
oped by Geology Instructor John
Snively. Bown will be taking over
these courses upon Snively’s retire
ment with his glowing approval.
“1 know that by turning over my
classes to her, they will be carried on
in a fine tradition,” Snively said.
Bown also encourages students
to take advantage of hands-on learn
ing opportunities, such as the annual
Death Valley trip she is co-leading
with Snively during spring break.
According to Bown, numerous stu
dents claimed to learn more in this
10-day science immersion program
than in an entire sequence of science
classes.
Bown’s passion for nature is not
only evident in her choice of career
field, but also in her favorite pas
times. She enjoys windsurfing and is
an avid skier.
“I’ve skied since age two,” said
Bown. “1 grew up on skis.”
The sport has worn out her
knees, resulting in multiple surgeries,
but Bown holds out hope that mod
ern science will someday be able to
outfit her with a new and perfect
pair.
In spite of her own fascination
with science, Bown is aware that not
all students share her enthusiasm for
the subject. She tries to keep her lec
tures upbeat and peppers them with
examples understandable to even the
least scientifically-minded student.
“Biology to me is the world
around us,” said Bown. “If 1 c-an
somehow get somebody excited
¡about biology|, that’s my goal.”
Snively believes Bown will be suc
cessful with this ambition.
“She makes students enjoy learn
ing,” he said. “|She is] one of the
best teachers I’ve ever encountered.”
BOWN
Students support community college
The following article Was written by the winner of the journalism division
of 'The Clackamas Regional Skills Competition. The contestants were
insmejed to write a profile expressing the thoughts, fee/ings and experiences
of Clackamas students Isaiah Creel and Micbae/e Cooper about college
life and community colleges in general
Ashley
Marshall
E ditor : “T he M ountain E choes ”
J unior at S andy H igh S chool
A&E
1 Lach faceless student walking the campus of
Glackamas Gommunity Gollcge has their own reasoning
>f why they chose to attend a community college instead
>f. a four-year university. A majority of the students
j^Mcome because the tuition is considerably lower. A single
s|Wterm at Glackamas costs $<825 versus $1,653 a term at the
^■University of Oregon.
■MRB
“The number one benefit is lower in cost, yet
equal in quality. You’re gonna get the same classes; it’s just not
as prestigious,” said lsaiah.Grccl, who attends Glackamas.
Another deciding factor that convinced first year student
Michaele Gooper to come to Glackamas is where the college
is located.
i “1 like it because it is so close to home. 1 decided at the
'end of my junior year to come to Glackamas. 1 knexy 1
¡wouldn’t have to do the whole moving out thing. That’s
(stressful; starting college is stressful enough,” said Gooper
ion why she chose to go to a community college.
An additional reason why a community college
¡appealed to Greel was the ratio of students to teachers.
“More so than the money, is the class size. I’ve
never been in |a class] over 30 stuefents. The teachers can
remember your name,” said Greel about one of the rea-
’ sons he likes going to Glackamas.
Gooper had an experience in which a teacher
went to great lengths to apologize to her after confusion
in class.
“I misunderstood an assignment and 1 wrote on something else.
He yelled at me in front of the whole class saying, ‘Why did you d<
that?’ but then 1 got a cal! from him later that night. He said
he was havinu a bad day ..
.
and that he was sorry. He
actually called my house to apologize,
said Gooper.
Both Gooper and Greci are involved with activities on cam
pus. Greci is involved with the student publication
Clackamas Print.
“Working for die paper is a ton of fun. You become close with
die people on die paper. It sounds cliche, but you become sort of
a family,” said Greci about his time spent on the newspaper. Greci
is also active in Tai- Ghi. Gooper is a member of the paper as
well.
While there arc many positive aspects of a community col- /
lege, there arc also negative ones.
“Sometimes my family is like ‘You don’t want to go to a
community college.’ They look at it as lower on the totem,
pole. If you don’t care about what people think, though,;'
you’ll be fine,” said Greci.
Not only to do some look at community college as lessi
impressive, but there isn’t as much bonding, between room-'
mates that happens at universities.
“There’s not as much drunken fiesta time,” said Greci.
Greci and Gooper arc certain that Glackamas is the right
place for them. Greci aims to accomplish something new
everyday. He feels no regret about his choice td go to a.
community college over a university. Gooper shares the
same sentiment about feeling no regret. She looks to
Glackamas to help her reach her goals. Gooper’s goals include
“I .earning as much as I can ... maybe taking over the world while
I’m at it,” said Gooper with a smile.
Gooper and Greci are just a couple of the faceless
walking campus that made a choice to attend community college
because it worked best for them.
I