2 Feature
Death Valley: smart
spring break alternative
Christina Maggia
The Clackamas Print
’
Spring break is just around
winter’s comer, and for college
kids, that often means sand and
surf on beaches such as Miami,
Cancun and Cabo.
But what about Death
Valley?
Every spring break, Life
Science Director Jennifer Bown
leads a class of approximately
22 students to Death Valley,
Calif., for a nine-day camp
ing trek through the desert to
research and experience what
the region, though seemingly
desolate, has to offer.
Why camping?
“That’s part of the allure of
it.” Bown said, chuckling. "...
tile
oc a team.
We live together for nine days,
going through the extremes,
living and thriving in the desert
ecosystem.”
The trip is a four-cred
it transferable lab science.
Participating students learn
everything from geology, biol
ogy and zoology to archaeol-
Clackamas PI
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008
ogy and some history.
“For the past 30 years,
Clackamas has offered this
trip,” Bown said. “John Snively,
its founder, started the program
as a field-based science course
to really show both biology and
geology of the natural world.”
Snively is retired now, but
Bown annually contin
ues his course, which
is entitled “Natural
History of Southwestern
Deserts.”
The class will leave
the Thursday of finals
week during Spring
Term, March 20, and
will return on March 29.
Prior to leaving, each
student will prepare a
lecture and research
project on anything he or
she has learned through
out his or her stay in the
Valley, as well as give a
15 to 20-minute presen
tation along with other
on-site speakers.
Trip applications can
be found in the biology
department.
Students
are encouraged to reg
ister as soon as possible
due to the popularity of the trip.
Spots are reserved on a first*
come-first-serve basis.
So pack your bags - minus
the swimsuit - and forget spring
break’s cliched hype. Death
Valley may not have surf, but it
definitely has sand and plenty
of thrills for a nine-day stay.
Photos contributed by Jennifer Bown
Black helps the disconnect
Emily Walters
The Clackamas Print
“What I love to do is bring peo
ple together.”
This is what truly embodies
Leslie Black, who is currently a
human services instructor and the
Bridges Program coordinator at the
college. “I have
been a part-time
faculty
mem
ber since 1986,”
Black said.
She
origi
nally came to
Clackamas
for
sabbatical
replacement but
ended up staying.
The Bridges
Program
is
“designed
to
help
people
transition,” she
explained.
Black helps
people who “do
not feel connect
BLACK
ed” discover their
personal identity - she encourages
them to change and grow.
“Supporting people through
transition is big for me,” she said.
“Bottom line is that I help people
connect to themselves.”
Black may have been inspired
to do what she does because it was
done for her when she was about the
same age as many of her students.
“High school was not a great
time for me. There was actually a
teacher for me [who] looked at me
with unbiased eyes [and] encour
aged me with my next step,” she
said.
When Black is not woi
can usually be found indi
one of her many hobbies.
“I am passionate about <
she said.
She especially enjoys 2
form of folk dance.
“If I could not express
would feel dead,” she adds
Othi
of
Black J
ly enjl
Nordic
ing, “w
use si
to wal
pilates.
She
loves t
whenei
can fine
her bus
ule.
“It
is
ii
because
up ya
to diffi
tores,” i
While
in
Black “took a bus all th
Guatamala” alone; the
become a cherished men
experience being -“part of
summit in Costa Rica” is
unforgettable.
But although Black h
many opportunities to traJ
a Portland native, and alwal
back eventually.
,
Perhaps part of the reaa
she loves her career at the!
“I am at Clackamas bel
work warms my heart,” sha
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