Luke Ketter

How Is LB Measuring Up?

2010-10-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Almost a year since the new Madrone hall opened and innovations are still underway, i.e. the solar terrace in the courtyard. With the promises of energy efficient windows and words like sustainability thrown around how has the improvements helped the College really?
The college dedicates an entire section in the "About LBCC" tab on their homepage. The page, defining sustainability uses the new campus icon as its home picture as it lauds the college's effort to become more sustainable and less wasteful. Its obvious that big picture we are succeeding as a college and new ideas and buildings come into light. The new student's for sustainability club is a glowing example of students taking initiative on this as well as the all staff committee already in place. So how far have we come?

Who: LBCC
What: Sustainability as a cost reducer
Where: LBCC
When: One year after the opening of Madrone
Why: Because its a good measuring stick?

Toni Klohk: Coordinator for Diversity Achievement Center

2010-10-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Toni Klohk, the enthusiastic coordinator of the Diversity Achievement Center (DAC) on the Linn Benton Community College campus, met with a class to talk about what she does and the involvement of the D.A.C on the LBCC campus. The Center is located on the second floor of the Forum Building on campus in F-220 and is open nine am to three pm Monday through Friday although Klohk was quick to point out that if a service is really needed there is staff in the room until 5 if you just knock. The Center's goal is to promote understanding and acceptance; according to Klohk the idea is to "provide students opportunity to experience cultures they haven't".
Klohk also pointed out that our idea of diversity is often a narrow one and we need to "broaden the definition [of diversity] to include everyone": rich, poor, hungry, fed, even what hobbies or interests bring us together in small subcultures. In an effort to bring these cultures the Center puts on various events throughout the school year. Already they have had their hands in a handful of events on campus including the Gay Straight Alliance's bullying event and Rocky Horror Picture Show screening.
According to Klohk the attendance of these events varies year to year and even term to term. She went on to say that at LB right now there is a very active community that has shown support for many of the 25 clubs on campus. Although she did admit it was unfortunate that the Latino club that has been at LB wasn't able to carry on this year.
Students, Klohk said, are what make this all happen. The Diversity Achievement Center is made up of just one staff member and six student leaders. Students drive many of the clubs on campus and often dictate how well a message is received and they are often a measuring stick of how diversity is handled on campus. The point that Klohk stressed was that more students need to be involved, the door is always open to the Center and anyone can drop by to talk, let go, vent and generally converse about the direction the college takes. "Everything is going right," right now but it is up to student involvement to keep it that way.

Blue Scholars Rock The WOW Hall

2010-10-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

A teeming crowd, jumping up and down singing in unison could be heard in the street surrounding the WOW Hall Thursday and Friday night. The Blue Scholars, a hip-hop group out of Seattle Washington, played two shows at Eugene's WOW Hall Oct 22-23. The group, comprised of rapper Geologic and DJ Sabzi, returned to the WOW Hall for the first time since their debut show at the Hall last April.

The band was opened by local act Undermind and KI and then Minneapolis group Grieves and Budo. The two bands were a solid opening act that built up the energy leading to the main event. Both Undermind and Grieves and Budo were able to get the crowd involved and showed off some unknown talents that the growing crowd took a liking to. Undermind and KI were a more traditional hip hop group with a DJ and a local taste. Grieves and Budo were a new twist on the standard sound as Budo served as DJ as well as guitarist, trumpeter and synthesizer that turned out a unique sound that few other groups are able to pull off.

The Blue Scholars took the stage as the Hall was approaching three-quarters full. The show featured songs off of all of their albums but not forgetting to focus on the popular songs that people had come to recognize them by. Both Geologic and Sabzi spent a large amount of time front and center on the stage, minimal DJ-ing done by Sabzi as they got everyone into the mood and as the crowd sang with the band constantly. The finished their set with "Joe Metro" a Seattle based song about public transportation and the characters in the city, and by far the most popular song.

This, of course, is not the first show the Blue Scholars have played they were at the WOW Hall last April. The popularity of the show caused them to add a second date this time. According to Bob Fennessy, the WOW Hall publicist, the Blue Scholars have "developed a loyalty to the Hall and want to support us because we are a nonprofit all ages venue." After selling out that first billing at the Hall the Scholars chose to return this year instead of moving up to the larger McDonald Theater just a few blocks away. The show was advertised in most local media with special tickets given out to University of Oregon Radio KWVA and Oregon State's radio station KBVR also advertised online heavily.

The band's progressive rap style is centered on Northwest lifestyle and attitude. Their music is an eclectic grouping of pop-culture references and ideas taken from the news and the way the world really is according to their website. Similarly the WOW Hall is a relic to the old industries of Eugene and the greater Northwest. The seventy-eight year old venue kept and intimate setting for the show which allowed the energetic, if not smaller, crowd a close interaction to the bands. The interaction was so intimate that by the end of the Blue Scholars' set about a third of the crowd was on stage with them with no issue or bum rush by security.

The Scholars are very Northwest orientated, but they do have experience playing at larger venues, in fact they recently returned from playing in New York. Sabzi was able to talk briefly about it and said that despite being the other side of the country they still were playing to an audience of "about six-hundred and about thirty percent of them were from Oregon or Washington." The unique music that is very specific to one area is appealing to "people who are interested in learning about other places" according to Sabzi and he went on to point out that for many of us we continually identify with new places as we grow and move on. Needless to say the band is appealing to new audiences constantly and moving in the right direction.

Blue Scholars "JOE METRO" Music Video from Zia Mohajerjasbi on Vimeo.

Who: Blue Scholars

What: Hip Hop Group from Seattle

Where: The WOW Hall in Eugene, OR

When: Oct 22-23

Why: Promotion and Performance at a popular hall

Top 100 (22) Things

2010-10-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Julie Moos of Poynter Online has started a Top 100 Things Journalists should never do. Its an interesting idea that uses tweeting to gather suggestions, anything from what not to do on dates to lessons in ethics. There were a few that stuck out as interesting to me.
Rebekah Monson, a journalist for the South Florida Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, advises us to strive for context rather than information because we always will have lots of information but not necessarily context. It's an interesting way to separate out the sometimes massive amount of information and just stuff that can accumulate for one story.
One that I really liked is know the audience. It was their number one and often times I think it is overlooked. I have read stories by college newspaper writers, local writers and syndicated writers that at some point seem to lack an audience or if they start out with one in mind it switches during the article.
A fairly straight forward one but "Never let publishing be the end, make it another beginning, engage with the audience before, during and after publication." Mostly self explanatory but its vitally important now in the digital age. Whatever we write that goes into the great public forum is subject to ridicule and questioning. The discussion can end with what you've already said but it can also continue on and on when people are willing to talk (an important side note: this doesn't mean getting drawn into pointless arguing via blog-comments section is an "open discussion").

Facebook Keeps Chat History

2010-10-13T14:16:00.000-07:00

A new article here from MSN's Technolog. That reveals that Facebook users can no longer delete their chat history. The author, Athima Chansanchai, seems somewhat vexed by this but more on a personal convenience level than an outrage over limiting our freedom level. I will say that I am no fan of Facebook, I do have an account that I basically never use. I do find it interesting though how afraid we seem to get whenever Facebook or any website really, tries to limit the abilities we have as users.
As a culture we spout volumes of things into the great unknown of the internet and we never really know where it all goes. Everything from emails to credit card numbers we float around in cyberspace trusting, generally, that everything will be okay and that we are safe from people snooping about us. Generally we are, but the fact is we expose ourselves in the anonymity of the internet in very personal ways that we would never do in real life. We do it without thinking, we email dirty jokes and pictures, we say ridiculous things and we act irresponsibly. The difference is, usually we have no idea that we are being watched, there is no trust issue because we never really think much of Yahoo, GMail and many of the other sites. The email providers we use are like a telephone always there, taking care of everything, and you don't ever think of it as something you have to be skeptical of because these things just are what they are, they are place holders for the information that we need, they don't have a soul.
Thus entered Facebook. Facebook was unique because it has personality, not only can we link of up with old friends, new friends, red friends, blue friends, it gives us something back, it allows us to poke each other in a way that's not dirty. It gives us access to countless games and therefore countless more potential friends. Facebook wasn't just a switchboard of typed communication it was like a digital mall where we could all meet and hang out whenever we wanted to for as long as we needed. The frustration comes because of the trust, Facebook is the high school best friend that you went to parties with that turned around and stabbed you in the back. It lead us all down the primrose path of how we can show off pictures of how, "I got like dude totally wasted" and it told everyone that it was awesome that we did it.
Now Facebook tries to take away some of the freedoms it allowed us from the beginning, from things like; not really, technically deleting pictures right away. Now its taking away another power, a power we don't have most places online but we appreciate it when we do. It's deflating and demeaning that Facebook doesn't seem to trust us with our own information. Really the answer is that, as a culture, we need to stop sharing our lives online and assume no one will ever know, but until then Facebook will always face an uphill climb when its comes to how much power the user has. Every time the Facebook team tries to limit it, it will be a public relations issue, and it should be because sometimes its nice to be in control.

Students for Sustainability Club Starts Running

2010-10-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

The Students For Sustainability Club restarted on the Linn Benton campus after taking a two year hiatus after a rough initial start. The club, centered around moving the campus in the right direction in terms of energy consumption and waste management, is seeing a fairly strong revival according to the advisor Lori Fluge-Brunker. The idea for the club began last spring with a start up petition looking for names of students that would be interested. The initial count was somewhere in the ten to fifteen students and that was before any official meetings had been held.
The goal of the club is to increase the awareness about sustainability on the Linn Benton campus. "The campus is behind" in terms of sustainability Ms. Fluge-Brunker said. Despite having a a campus committee dedicated to sustainability the progress has been slow. The campus serves the students; the idea is that this club will be the voice of the students eliciting changes and hopefully the students can push the campus to new ideas about how to manage waste, recycle, and introduce people to new ways to save energy.

What: The Students for Sustainability club
When they meet: Still TBA but should be sorted out soon
Latest Project: TBA
Contact Info: Advisor Lori Fluge-Brunker 541-917-4411

Concussions

2010-10-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

An interesting article from the New York Times here. The debate is how to make football safer, the ensuing discussion is worth reading as well. The interesting point about the discussion is two fold. First that mostly the comments all say the same thing: blah blah softer pads, blah blah, more like rugby, blah blah lots more penalties. Two that some people obviously aren't watching the same football. A concussion can happen in a myriad of ways but one of the big ways is the unexpected hit. Of course leading with the helmet is more dangerous than the shoulder but many many concussions happen when a player (ball carrier, tackler, blocker, etc) doesn't see the hit coming. The best idea by far is the wrapping idea. This ties back into rugby, in rugby the tackler must wrap up the ball carrier and bring them to ground, no shoulder charges, no shoves, no tripping. Its not a safe game though folks, its a dangerous fast paced hard hitting contact sport.

Last thought. A "hit-count" for young players up through high school is a great idea.

Youtube You're Losing me

2010-01-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

Youtube, you used to be so useful, you used to fill the slow times during my days with laughter and happiness and link me to more videos than I could watch in ten lifetimes. Now you rape my eyes and anger me with every click onto your sight. I still peruse though countless music videos and looking for tidbits about various interesting things but all with a caveat. Youtube you sold your soul, you gave up the one thing that made you great and without as much as a "Sorry" which is all I wanted. You fill my video screen with pop-ups that make porn sites tolerable, you flash obnoxious ads on all sides of the screen and pollute my experience with channels that are basically advertisements. Youtube you were billed as a great free site and now you are no longer free. The price is my patience, annoyance and frustration. You sold out in the worst way and now you expect the same amount of devotion. This isn't how it was supposed to be as the internet spread free sites and videos were only supposed to become free-er and now you've put the brakes on that movement. Youtube if I made a video that bad mouthed you would you show it? Would you show it if it had corporate sponsorship?

Someone(s) Worth Rooting For

2010-01-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

I am admit-ably a huge University of Kansas basketball fan. The Jayhawks playing in March is reason to call in sick, to change my schedule and cancel dates. However I can always appreciate another team to root for, and could probably use fans more than the beloved Crimson and Blue just down the road: enter Haskell College.

Counting on a Miracle

2009-10-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

For being in an active area with lots to get out and do I find myself striking out when faced with thinking about what to write about. Seeing as its setting up to be one of the last nice week and weekends left before the weather takes a dour turn I am thinking that whatever I cover is going to be something out door and active. However I am always tempted by a good talk or a presentation so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Attendees, Coordinators or people in charge, participants

I'll ask them:
Why are you here?
How did you hear about this?
What inspired you to start this____?
What do you think of all this?

Is Congress Embarrassed?

2009-09-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

The members of the United States congress should be hiding under their blankets right now. Burying their heads in shame and keeping a low profile when they go out in public. Why? Because they were shown up by an audience on the Letterman show. There are specific congress-people that stand out as should-be-embarrassed-but-aren't but frankly, at this point, they all should be embarrassed. A random collection of people who got free tickets to the Letterman show were better behaved than a room full of grown men and women getting paid inordinate amounts of money to sit there and listen to the President speak. While on Late Night with David Letterman, Barack Obama was able to talk about health care, life and a heart shaped potato while a small audience clapped, laughed and showed respect for the duration. Whether or not they agreed with the President it had to be refreshing to step into a place where you weren't going to be shouted down and disrespected.

It would be one thing to be an loud-mouthed senator well known for making jabs at the opposing party. Its quite another when there is such a large delegation booing and hissing that it became the story, not the topic of the speech. The most embarrassing part for the members of Congress isn't that they acted like children. Its like they acted like spoiled-rotten brats. George Bush was never a popular President, especially in the last years in office, there was never a story about him being shouted down in the halls of congress when talking about and unpopular war, or a declining economy, or torture, or misinformation about WMDs. Granted he had to dodge a shoe at some point but that was at a press conference, hardly the same as in the building that is the symbol of our country. No, the idea of shouting at our previous president would have had senators labeled as "terrorist" or "unamerican" or "unpatriotic." It was that mentality of "with us or against us" that made open disagreements so threatening to political careers for eights straight years. Unfortunitly, no one reminded to tell the Senate and House that the rules still apply. This is one country, people should actually be proud of it, and should show support for the people elected. So this is to the booers, the hissers, the people in town halls screaming like an infant in church; to the unpatriotic, terrorist-loving, freedom hating individuals that will rip the country limb from limb and leave pieces of it dangling from thier jagged mouths. It doesn't matter if everyone agrees but burn the flag in your own yard not on the floors of congress.

Luke- Who believes that whether or not you are a senator you should always try to be civil.

High Moral Values

2009-05-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

We are a nation of people that praise the good guy, we love the hero, the savior, the all around nice dude. Its evident by how we idolize Chelsey Sullenberger, how we stood behind the hero's of 9-11, and how we praised the Navy Seals for the rescue of an American hostage. We do all of this for the right reason, we do all of this because its important to define what we deem as good and bad; mostly we do this because they deserve it, and not everyone gets acknowledged for doing the right thing so we beat these news to a bloody pulp to make up for it. We stand for high moral values.
The problem isn't that our values are getting too high, they are getting too distorted. With Micheal Vick's release from federal prison looming many people will speculate about Vick "getting what he deserved." NFL teams are avoiding him like the plague despite the fact that he'd probably add a level of athleticism to many of the teams in the league. Also there is no way NFL teams aren't interested, one of the top overall athletes in football is eligible and no one cares? Please. The fact is teams are so concerned with their image that they don't want the liability of having a dog killer on their team.
There is no doubt in Vick's guilt, and what he deserved can and probably will be debated for years to come but the truth is this: deserved it or not, Vick is being punished worse than any other player in recent history. For what? Not for the dogs, even PETA admitted they wanted to take Vick to the cleaners to prove a point, to make him an example. We bought it hook line an sinker, sure some people complained but they were few and far between swallowed by the animal lover inside most people. The problem is with so many athletes with criminal records how do you decide which is worthy of a thorough thrashing by the American judicial system and who gets off with a slap on the wrist?
Why did we suddenly value dogs' (admittedly several dogs) lives more than humans? In 2000 Ray Lewis was a arrested on murder charges that he denied. In a street fight that left two men dead Lewis and two other men were arrested for the stabbing deaths of both men. When Lewis denied his guilt the Ravens stood behind him. Then in a case with more holes than the OJ Simpson trial Lewis pled guilty to a misdemeanor and let his two lackeys take the fall, hall of famer indeed. The problem is if you get on and Google NFL players: murder charges you get pages and pages of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and so on. If you make it NFL players: sexual abuse, the list gets longer.
There is no advocating for Vick at this point, what's done is done. There is no feeling sorry for him either, what he did was vile and evil to the highest degree. Somebody should be advocating for our conscience though, when NFL teams are afraid to pick up a dog killer for the image they might have, while suspects to a whole litany of crimes against men, women, even children sit on their sidelines. We let it happen, with our "high moral values", we will boo Vick when he comes back, fans will say things like "I'll never watch another game if my team gets Vick." Then we'll cheer when Ray Lewis rips off an unsuspecting running back's head. Thank god for our high standards.

A Growing Cause for Concern

2008-11-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

On my way to class today I was behind a truck that had an Obama 08 sticker in the window; above that was another sticker that read "Impeach"... That certainly didn't take long.
I could only think "Impeach him for what? Being a democrat? Being black? NOT being George Bush?" The modified bumper sticker illustrated a terrifying view point on politics in America. Despite my easy breathing after my candidates winning in this election its a bitter sweet win.
Long gone are the days of John Kennedy and then Lyndon Johnson's victories of 1960 and 1964.
Already an ugly and spiteful campaign, I should say campaigns, especially here in Oregon. This year more was spent in the Senate Election between incumbent Gordon Smith and challenger Jeff Merkley than ever before in Oregon(according to OPB). Even on election day after over half of Oregon and about 75 percent of Colorado had voted there were still ads on tv (CNN no less) that slandered Barack Obama.
In a stunning division of the country this election was not historically predictable. The least poplular president in decades was about to be replaced. historically this was a landslide victory for the opposite parties candidate (see Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan in 1980). However this didn't quite reach those proportions and, more importantly, it didn't unite us at all.
More than ever this year, bumper stickers, yard signs, even buttons seemed to be all the rage where ever you went, and mostly they were just general support pledges; however there was a deep seeded dislike behind that support.
Friends, collegues, family members all joked (maybe) that they would consider leaving this country if John McCain won. My friend's aunt vowed to move away if Barak won. A girl I went to high school with suggested that "Not all change is good" in regards to Barak Obama winning the election. Where is the faith from any of us? It is hard to imagine a time when this country would actually hate its president, it seems that maybe that time has come.
Buried under the historical significance, under my own jubilation, under eight years of painful leadership without direction is the dark thruth: America has become two countries. One that loves Obama, apparently drives Priuses and was confused about Iraq. The other a country music listenin', truck drivin', non-"g" pronouncin' group that loves America, freedom and doesn't like "sum wussie lib-er-al" in the White House. Laden with exaggeration the last two sentences are what it feels like to live in this country right now. Sarah Palin's down-home honky tonk way of communicating showed the world exactly what the Republican Party thought of thier supporters, and the image of Obama stickers at farmers markets and on hybrids shows how most democrats are percieved.
So while you celebrate or despair the way the election went last Tuesday. Do the whole country; the whole world a favor. Be happy, make the attempt to be understanding and hopeful. McCain's platform wanted to gain the vote of "true Americans" or "typical" Americans, if we were all true American's, we would be willing to give who ever wins a shot.

Votage

2008-11-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

Did anyone read the article in The Commuter about not voting? Was anyone else confused and concerned? Not quite ridiculous enough to be a farce and not quite serious enough to be convincing it seemed like it hung in limbo. Honestly if you're not voting then why would you voice any opinion. To not vote is to give up your right to critique and complain. Even if the author had a beef with both candidates he could always vote third party, at least it would be taking a step. As it was, I think the concept of telling college students not to vote is just too dangerous. Even if it was a reactionary piece its still awfully risky for people that may misconstrue the message and take it to heart. Also, the concept that this vote is somehow unimportant and packs little punch is an insult to anyone who has invested time and energy into campaigning and following this election. For all the reasons that the author stated about the decline of this country just made the point that this is a vital election. The candidates may be more similar than we are lead to believe yes, but why risk it, why tell people not to vote for either when this country needs a severe change in direction immediately. If you ask me never before has it been more important to vote, to voice ideas and to be active, not just to be a passive complainer.

My Socialist Self

2008-10-23T01:05:00.000-07:00

"Are you a democrat? Or republican?" the lady asked me over the phone. Just one of a long line of queries she had about the up-coming presidential election.
"Neither," I replied "I am a socialist." Listening to the confused, if not stunned, silence on the other end before she continued to the next question I grinned thinking about how rare it must be to get such an answer. It won't be that way for long, soon the socialist party will be the American Party, "I am American! Watch me share!"
True I am getting ahead of myself but after making my brain bleed with hours of political rhetoric both online and on TV it is now evident that our country is stepping towards socialism. If you need any more proof just watch any recap of the last presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, the now-infamous "Joe the Plumber" fiasco (which is almost not worth mentioning is so damned embarrassing). Using good 'ol Joe as a medium McCain illustrated how Obama wants to tax the rich to give to the poor, or to quote Obama himself, "Spread the wealth around."
Such a shameful thing to say, such a shameful thing to suggest that in the world of capitalistic ideals those with more should share. Sharing, a concept most of us learned in the first grade, of course that usually applied to things like cup cakes and gum, but as we get older we seem to realize sharing IS good, provided its not money. As a society we like to give, we love donating to breast cancer and prostate cancer, we give at the food bank and we pay local kids to wash our cars at the local hardware store parking lot. When it comes to raising taxes though, look out Joe Six-Pack-The-Plumber, or whatever your name is. Its not just the fear of raising taxes, its the fear that the taxes would go to those who have less. Whoa now this is not the capitalistic view, this is not social Darwinism, this is border-line Marxism according to Fox News, Bill O'Reilly and the entire McCain- Palin ticket. Rightly so, how dare we suggest that those with more should support the people with nothing, I mean Obama's tax plan applies to those who make $250,000 or more a year, $250,000?!?! Thats it?!?! I mean a person can barely feed thier family with that kind of money, I mean according to John McCain a person would have to make $5 million a year or more to be "rich"... keep workin Joe you'd only have to make 20 times what you make now to be "rich."
Underlying Obama's secret Pinko-Commie background is this. The fact that our government has now bought out several insurance companies and banks meaning that they own these companies. And if the government owns the companies and the people own the government (technically) than the people own the banks... the essence of socialism. So mark it down, in January, if Obama becomes president we will all share our money, but thats OK because we'll own the banks. As for me, I'm just getting a head start, begging for money until I am as rich as my next door neighbor and then when I am richer, giving it all back to him. If you want to find me check the library under Marx.