Clackamas Print
Feature 9
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005
Flame on!’ for Fire Science class
gbe Stone
I Clackamas Print
fe seldom hear about fire-
ers actually starting fires.
When conditions are right,
torch it,” says Tom Laugle,
H of the Wildland Fire
hce program.
[e is referring to a “bum-
jam” live fire exercise at
to Rilea on the coast and the
[sed area used for the train-
It is only one of the many
king parts of the program,
[other major involves land-
lelicopters on campus as part
air operations course?
I is the only program of its
I in the metro area and has
yed strong support from not
the school but various local,
and federal agencies. It has
■seen rising enrollment in its
| lifetime - a trend exhibit-
no signs of slowing. The
am deals with wildland, as
ised to urban or structural,
feting.
[ugle takes pride in the
er of instructors the depart-
[has. All are qualified as
ast a Division Supervisor,
10 years of on the job expe-
Matt Olson Clackamas Print
The students of Tom Laugle’s Fire Science program hone their firefighting skills in the field.
The nationally certified program prepares students for positions in wildland firefighting.
rience. One such instructor is
Joe Crawford, a veteran trainer
from the Oregon Department of
Forestry. Some courses, which
are certified at the state and
national levels, are similar to
state-level training.
“Basically, it’s the same train
ing as CCC,” says Crawford,
referring to the FRP-130
course that qualifies students as
Firefighter II, the “entry level
position for wildland firefight
ing.”
Laugle hints at the rigorous
certification process when asked
if the three-year-old program
has won any awards.
“National certification is
enough,” he says with satisfac
tion.
Because of this close rela
tionship, students find that
ODF training can help count
toward a one-year certificate or
a two-year degree. The depart
ment also stands ready to train
National Gtiard troops in the
event of an emergency, or pro
vide upgrade-training to existing
firefighters. Lupe Martinez from
the Counseling Department is
also on staff to assist Hispanic
students with their English skills
to help comply with state and
federal regulations.
The department is also spear
heading the development of
3-D topographical software that
helps firefighters see the lay of
the land. ’Laugle envisions its
use in the field eventually. “We
wanted to take leadership in
that,” he says.
Another exciting develop
ment is a donation of land to
be used by the program from
Marc Crain, battalion chief with
Clackamas Fire District #1.
However, Laugle is careful
to concentrate on what he sees
as the core strengths of the cur
riculum.
“Practical is a very big part
of the program,” he says. “We
want to simulate everything that
happens to them on the fire
line.”
He also stresses that many
classes are open to the interested
student, including the map and
compass and survival courses,
skills that not only help the sea
soned firefighter, but the com
munity at large.
leech team takes on~4^A opponente, comes out on top
nberly Maier
Clackamas Print
le speech and debate team
lackamas has won 2,683
Bs for their excellence
tech forensics in just the
10 years.
i lot of students who win
ds are people who have
t debated in their lives,
will hear someone and
L "you would be really
on the speech team, ’ then
et them to join and they
wards with us,” said Dr.
\ Brennen, coach for the
:h and debate team. “But
hot just about winning
Hds. Students walk away
■ this and they’ve learned
Hrch skills,
argument
H and they become more
Hledgeable all around.”
He debate team has about
Htudents competing each
HThe debates take place
■tiie weekends, and the
H attends about 10 tour-
Hnts per year. Clackamas
Hompeted in the largest
H championship for com-
munity colleges, placing in
the top three 8 out of 10
times.
“One year we missed the
gold by two points,” Brennen
said.
“A lot of students get
scholarships for a four-year
college for their competing
and speaking skills,” said
Brennen. “We do the best
that we can to make sure that
deserving students get schol
arships. Sometimes we will
split them up to make sure
that happens.”
Students who choose to
join the debate team will have
the chance to compete against
four-year institutions as well
as other community colleges.
“We’ve beat Willamette,
UCLA ... The four-year col
leges really hate being beat by
a two-year college,” Brennen
said about the friendly rivalry
between Clackamas and other
schools. “What’s interesting
is that the coach at Mt. Hood
and I went to college together
and now we’re coaching rival
ing teams.”
The debate team is lucky
to have encouragement and the end of the term, students don’t want to keep them.
support from administra are allowed to take the tro Those are the ones that end
tion members such as Bill phies home to keep, but many up in the trophy case.”
Briare, Dian Connett and Joe '*
Johnson.
“As cheesy as this will
sound, the speech team
can only be as good as the
opportunities they’re given,”
Bresnen said. “PCC scrapped
their speech and debate pro
gram which is so unfortunate.
When you cut a forensic pro
gram, it’s like going to school
to be an actor and you find
that the school has cut the
stage.”
The
debate
team
at
Clackamas used to have
a small trophy case in the
Mcloughlin building. They
were given a much larger dis
play case in the Niemeyer
building and Brennen says
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 th
they are already running out
of room.
“After a tournament, the
awards are sent home with
UNDERGRADUATE INFORMATION
the winning students for them
9:00 A.M. *• 10:30 A.M., FLAVIA HALL SALON
to caress their award and hold
Discover the convenience of flexible scheduling - online, or
it, and then it’s brought back
to the college after the week
on campus, days, evenings and weekends. Meet the
end,” Brennen explained. “At
INFORMATION SESSIONS
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w courses explore gender issues
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For more information or to reserve a place, call
503.699.6268
Im Krause
tlackamas Print
H. Jackie Flowers has
Hduced a new sequence
Hie college’s curriculum:
Her studies.
Hr the Winter Term,
Hers, a social science
Hictor, wili be teaching
■ Engendered Identities
H In the fall, Gender and
■rial Culture was offered.
■’s an easy class and we
M at advertisements from
■ 20s on, since the ‘20s
He a Golden Age for adver-
■t■” Flowers said.
H>e other course offered
Hake place in the spring,
^■en in American History
will cover “gender experienc
es in American culture.”
“[It’s about] how we define
masculine and feminine-how
it’s changed, defined and
expressed,” Flowers said.
According to Flowers, this
college is the only one in the
state to offer gender studies.
Also, it counts as a sopho
more inquiry class at PSU,
making it easier to transfer
credits here at the college and
enroll as a junior at a four-
year college.
Another teacher involved
with gender studies is Kjirsten
Severson. She is a sociolo
gist and philosopher here at
the college. Severson has
been instructing the Women
Studies course since March
of last year. It’s not prereq
uisite to the gender studies
sequence, but Severson and
Flowers agree that taking
Women Studies before taking
the sequence is a good idea.
The Women Studies course
is an intro to gender embodi
ment.
“It’s an explanation of the
[gender] differences we have
always known and therefore
don’t notice,” said Severson.
Flowers said that the class
es mainly deconstruct the idea
that if one gender is one way,
then the other is going to be
the opposite.
Flowers
and Severson
hope to expand the gender
studies classes and make
Women Studies a prerequi
site sequence as opposed to a
single class.
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