Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 2014)
http://www.theclackamasprint.com Wednesday, February26,2014 Men’s basketball stomp the Saints on page 6 Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, OR www.TheClackamasPrint.com An independent, student-run newspaper since 1966 GSA speaks for equality Donny Beach News Editor ' W e b s t e r ’s dictionary defines community as “a group o f people who live in the same area such as a city, town or neighborhood.” On Saturday, Feb. 22, C lackam as C om m unity College opened its doors to The Living R oom ’s annu al Gay Straight Alliance Summit. The summit brings different organizations together to discuss matters that involve the GLBTQQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning) community. Workshops were offered on subjects ranging from a 30-minute Q & A for adults to religion, from dancing to mental health support. u T h ey are w hat makes my job awe some, ” Jefferson Morgan Program Coordinator Erin Carey Arts & Culture Editor C o ll e g e plays show case a huge variety o f perform ances. T hey’re not ju st another rendi tion o f “The N utcracker.” N or are they m eant to be a lu l laby leading into a nap. T hey’re designed to m ake the view er think about com plicated issues that affect people today. C lack am as C o m m u n ity C ollege’s theater departm ent is aim ing to do ju s t that The departm ent is currently w orking on the w inter 2014 play, “N eighborhood 3: R equisition o f D oom ,” w ritten by aw ard w inning p layw right Jen n ifer Haley. The play is about parents who discover that their teenage kids have becom e addicted to an online video game. The catch? The neighbor hood in the game that is infested by zom bies l* *. identical io the one they live in, dow n to the m ost m iniscule details like a gnome in the front yard and a cat ow ned by one o f the teens. The goal o f the gam e is to get out o f the neighborhood for good, but the game begins to blur the edges betw een reality and online fantasy. Jam es Eikrem is C C C ’s the- atre director, and h e ’s excited about the production, he said. “I think it’s very challenging and topical,” Eikrem said. “It’s fun. It h as a lot o f suspense. It has issues that are pertinent to today in term s o f conflict betw een par ents and kids, teenagers espe cially, over the use o f com puters and technology.” Please see DOOM, Page 4 Cougar baseball swings into season David Beasley Sports Editor KÆ arch is just around the cor ner and that means it will be time for baseball. In this frigid winter season, the men o f Cougar baseball have been diligently honing their skills for spring. Cougar freshman Cody Watkins is one o f the hard * working Clackamas athletes prac ticing for spring season. “It’s slow right now because we can’t go outside,” said Watkins. “Just trying to get prepared inside before the weather gets good.” The team has been acclimating to college ball and learning to work together. They have been hard at work all school year. The Cougars hope to translate their synergy into success against the competition during spring season. “We’ve been together since fall,” said Watkins. “It’s nice to have that bond. There’s a lot o f us coming out o f high school where we use aluminum bats. Getting used to wood bats is different, takes some pop off your swing, bunting is easier.” Some o f the team is new and some are veterans, but they all have room to improve and they have been consistent on that goal. Cougar Hayden Heying has enjoyed build ing the team’s prowess throughout the year and is excited for spring. “We’ll be the sleeper team o f the league,” said Heying. “Trying to get stronger, throw harder. Trying to get one o f the starting roles. We’re working pretty good, team chemistry seems to be pretty good.” The NWAACC rules allow baseball to include an unofficial fall and winter schedule before they start the regular spring season. The Cougars fall season is from Sept. 15 to Nov. 15. Nov. and Dec. are for conditioning only. Winter base ball is Jan. 15 to March 1, then spring season starts. During the Spring baseball is allowed 22 game days against opponents. Spring sea son lasts until June 1. The weather hasn’t allowed for any pre-season games since fall, but that didn’t stop the Cougars from improving. Shortstop Taren Bradd is excited for Spring too. He enjoys the teamwork in baseball and looks for the hard hits. Like his teammates, he has been honing his game in order to perform at maxi mum capacity. “I’ve been working on hitting, staying inside the ball and becom ing a leader,” said Bradd. “My favorite part o f baseball is hitting line-drives, hitting the ball hard and making plays.” Head Coach Robin Robinson has been teaching and coaching at Clackamas since 1990. He has seen his fair share o f various teams with different skill levels to work with. Robinson is impressed with his team this year. He welcomes the talented returners and looks forward to seeing the team perform in league. “I feel really good about the sophom ore returners,” said Robinson. “Good group o f sopho more kids. The depth o f our pitch ing is better than w e’ve had in years.” With such dedication towards practice, Clackamas is off to a good start this year. The coming season will test their strength as a team. The Cougars first four games of the spring season are set for this weekend against Spokane in The Dalles. They will play two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. Started in August 2009 by Carolyn Russel and R.E. Szego, The Living Room is an organization aimed at creating a safe space for Clackamas County youth (ages 14 - 20). The sum mit allows GLBTQQ youth to meet others in their age bracket as well as con nect with resources in their community. Kelly Blixhavn, program director and board mem ber, grew up in Clackamas County and rem embers how hard it was four years ago before The Living Room. H er experiences really made her determined to make it easier for others to grow up in Clackamas County, she said. Blixhavn also spoke about the future o f The Living Room. Clackamas w om en’s services cur rently sponsors the youth program, but they are in the process o f becoming their own non-profit orga nization. The application is almost completed, she said. Jessica LeBron, who is a CCC student, a member o f the youth advisory council and was recently voted to the executive board o f The Living Room in January, has been involved with TLR for three years. Please see GSA, Page 3
