Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2004)
F eature 6 • T he C lackamas P rint M ay 5, J Robbery victim finds interest in criminal justicj After being asked to describe the face of a robber to a sketch artist, stu dent discovers a way to use her _ drawing abilities Karen Hill F eature E ditor her certification, which involved taking courses in Colorado and Idaho. Currently Snyder, 23, is working on earning an AAOT in criminal justice at CCC to supplement her forensic artist certificate. “Because of the saturation. of forensic artists in the Portland area, it’s kind of hard to get my foot in the door without getting another degree,” said Snyder. An incident involving an intrud er at CCC, last March, presented the opportunity for Snyder to pro duce a sketch of a woman as described by cadet Adam Pedersen. Snyder, as she was once asked to do herself, requested that Adam look through the pages of a book dis playing hundreds of pages of noses, eyes, mouths, chins and other facial features and choose those that most closely resembled that of the intruder. “1 asked him to describe the overall feeling and the most promi nent thing he remembered about her,” said Snyder. Although the face of the person may seem vague, the “Open the register,” said the man. A gun barrel stared coldly at Sacha Snyder as she opened the register containing the day’s money two years ago at Gary’s Tuxedo Shop in Clackamas. Of all the peo ple who came and went from the shop that day, his would be the face Snyder would remember. At the time, she was busy work ing full-time at Gary’s and taking several art classes at Mt. Hood Community College with plans to major in fine arts. Snyder had little interest in criminal justice. After the incident at Gary’s, Snyder was asked to describe the robber so a Clackamas County forensic artist could create a sketch. During the session, an interest in this area of art arose in Snyder. The forensic artist suggested Snyder take courses from Stuart Parks to become a certified fdrcnsic artist. A year later, Snyder was given features are usually recognizable. “It’s a lot easier for people to rec ognize something than it is for them to recall it,” said Snyder. “The pic tures, when you’re doing it, they just kind of jump out at you. All you have to do is look at a sheet of noses and you’ll sec this one nose and you’ll just know that that’s the one. With a traumatic incident like that, the image is burned into your brain; you’ll never forget” Snyder is currcndy unsure which area of criminal justice to pursue, but is helping sketching can be a Criminal jus tice student Sacha Snyder was given the opportunity to draw a sketch of an intruder on campus last March, as described to her by CCC cadet Adam Pedersen. The sketch was used by campus safe ty to search for the intruder. NIC DELZELL C lackamas P rint part. She is grateful for the c I justice program at Clackamas I “I think [the program] is said Snyder. “It’s taught by J people who have actual experl the field. It’s better than goinl where where people just tear having been taught |Thc instr know what it’s really like out t Snyder remembers the 1 with a shudder, but is still anJ the way it has shaped het plans. “It’s weird how someth that can completely chanj life,” said Snyder.“The way 11 can either look at the incidcn horrible thing that causes hl can take something good or and turn it into something 1 five; that’s what I’ve chosen SNYDER Clackamas student relates a tale of two citiq 3 Obiero is on a quest to help hometown of Nairobi, Kenya Bethany Monroe T he C lackamas P rint t After working with World Concern to bring food and med ical supplies to needy people throughout Africa, student MyQue Obiero is furthering his education in hopes of finding cures for the devastating diseases that he witnessed. Obiero, 23, is a native of Nairobi, Kenya. He was invited to live with friends in Oregon so he could attend Clackamas Community College, where he is working on a transfer degree in microbiology. “|I’ve seen] diseases wiping out a whole population and doctors don’t even know what to do,” said Obiero. “That’s why I’m going |to college]—to research some of those diseases—see if 1 can find cures.” Although Americans often associate Africa with jungles and small villages, Nairobi is actually a large city. “It’s bigger than Portland ... but the infrastructure is much worse,” he said. “The roads have potholes ... we have street kids all over the city and rubbish heaps. It’s basically a third-world country. “We have 42 different lan guages in our country and they arc all very, very different,” said Obiero, who currently speaks seven: Swahili, English, French, Tswana and a few other African languages. He is also attempting to add Spanish and Japanese to his list. “Japanese sounds so much like my mother’s |tribal] language ... so I find it easy to pick up,” said Obiero. He also said he prefers to learn languages by listening to native speakers rather than study ing in a classroom setting. Obiero admits that the intensi ty of schoolwork at Clackamas is not quite comparable to his high school years in Kenya. “We used to go to school from seven to seven,” he said. “On Saturday, you go to school from eight to five, Sunday from eight to one. So, basically every day you go to school.” The senior year is especially intense, when students prepare for a month of exams that they must pass in order to graduate from high school. “They can give us questions from our freshman year,” said Obiero, explaining that he had to Student MyQue Obiero speaks seven languages including Swahili, English, French, Tswana, and several other African languages, “We have 42 different languages in our country, and they are all very, very different," said-Obiero. Obiero has trav-j elled to North and South America, Europe, and Asia. MICHAELE COOPER C lackamas P rint study stacks of notes from all. four years of high school. “There’s no multiple choices—no A, B, C, D.” Nairobi, which is Kenya’s capi tal city, is home to a diverse mix ture of people, but many attempt to hold on to the customs of their tribes. At the age of 14, Obiero under went a tribal rite of passage into adulthood requiring him to spear a lion. He and 19 other boys were taken to the jungle early one morn ing and left with spears as their only weapon. “|The lion] roared so' loud— that’s what he uses to paralyze his prey,” said Obiero. “So when the thing started roaring after my friend threw the first spear ... it almost drove us nuts. 1 was screaming my head off; it was so painful.” After an intense chase, Obiero said, he and the others were success ful in slaying their lion. Although the cultural differences between Kenya and the United States are vast, Obiero has plenty in common with his American class mates. A Blazer fan since age 10, Obiero is a sports enthusiast and particularly enjoys rugby, soccer and b.x He loves fast food, especially Wendy’s. He also loves to tnl “I’ve been to South Al North America, Europe, A*' I’m from Africa ... sol nccl to Australia and maybe AntaJ just so I can say I’ve gone tol continents,” he said. I For now, Obiero is erf his time in the United Stall “A couple of times* dreamt in English and ill ‘Man! I’m K Americanized!’ It frcaP out!” he said. REASONS TO CHOOSE WSU VANCOUVER k 3 a :t ri t: *| I The power and prestige of a Washington State University diploma ... dose to home. Fifteen undergraduate and eight graduate degree æ L programs. ** Small classes and fully engaged learning with world class faculty. - ln~state tuition opportunities for Oregonians ... call to a < see if you qualify. John Robert Brown Scholarship ... recipients receive full K tuition for two years. To learn how you can apply, visit: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edU/ss/schollist.htm#john CALL TODAY FOR ADMISSIONS INFORMATION. 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue www.vancouver.wsu.edu (360) 546-9779 W ashingtw S tate U niversa ^V ancouver Wbrltl C&sss. Äce ta Face.
