Volume 46, Issue 13 January 14, 2011

5 7 Jazz ensemble takes a taste of the Big Easy

Concordia transfer sparks women's basketball team

By Jen AshenbernerThe Advocate

This is not the best time to be searching for either an in-terim or permanent college president, according to MHCC Faculty Association President Jack Schommer.

“Searching for a college president is probably the hard-est process we will have to go through,” Schommer said Wednesday. “It will be tough to find someone.”

MHCC President John Sygielski announced Wednesday in an email to college staff he had accepted a position as president at Harrisburg Area Community College in Penn-sylvania and will leave MHCC June 30.

In an email Thursday morning, Sygielski said, “I am thrilled to have an opportunity to represent another success-ful teaching and learning community that is highly respon-sive to its communities’ education and training needs and which is strongly valued and supported by its constituents.

“I have friends, family and colleagues on the East Coast who are very happy and excited for me, so this very much has a ‘coming home’ feel to it,” said Sygielski.

Sygielski was born in Ohio, earned his doctoral degree in Illinois and served as a community college president in Virginia before coming to MHCC in July 2008.

When Sygielski leaves MHCC, he said he will miss, among other things, the spirit of the students and the perse-verance of the employees who have sacrificed for the benefit of the college.

“My decision to leave MHCC does not mean I am un-happy here,” he said Thursday. “It simply means that, like many of us, I embrace change, choices, options and oppor-tunities.”

He will begin his new job in Harrisburg July 5. Schom-mer said it will be hard to find an interim president by the time Sygielski leaves.

“Our administration is so new that I don’t know they have the skill set to be a college president,” he said.

The process begins with looking at the college admin-istration for qualified candidates and considering whether they want the position.

President sees greener pastures in Pennsylvania

By Jen AshenbernerThe Advocate

Plumes of steam from an elec-trical box prompted an evacuation Wednesday night at the Gresham campus, according to MHCC Di-rector of Communications Mag-gie Huffman.

“What we think happened is the electrical box filled with water and created steam,” she said in an interview Thursday.

The fire alarm and PA evacu-ation request were signaled at 8:10 p.m. after someone detected smoke. A member of the custodial staff said the entire courtyard sur-rounding the stairway in the 1600 area was filled with smoke coming from the box in the ground be-neath a boulder.

The steam could be seen com-ing from under the outdoor con-crete stairway.

“We don’t know the extent of the repairs,” said Huffman. “We may know tomorrow or we may know next week.”

According to Huffman, the situation also created an electrical outage in parking lots W and X.

“There was never any danger,” said Huffman. “The evacuation did not last long.”

Emergency responders arrived on campus at 8:15 p.m. and gave the “all clear” at 8:17 p.m., ac-cording to Huffman. However, people did not re-enter the build-ings until 8:30 p.m.

A public safety officer on the scene reported it took an extra five

Electrical mishap forces evening evacuation of main campus

See Sygielski on page 8

Photo by Devin Courtright/The Advocate

Emergency responders wait for maintenance technicians to cut the power to the electrical system after steam was detected in the stairwell of the 1600’s area of the Gresham campus Wednesday night.

Photo by Devin Courtright/The Advocate

From right, President John Sygielski and board members Rod Monroe and Bev Russell listen in on a board meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m.to a guest speaker about building up the City of Troutdale. Sygielski announced Wednesday that he would leave MHCC at the end of June to become president of a community college in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

There will be no school on Monday, Jan. 17,

in observance of MarTin luTher King Jr. day

to 10 minutes for the Gresham Fire Department to get onto cam-pus because of the backup of cars exiting the parking lots when the evacuation began.

“We request that people do not leave in their vehicles during

an emergency evacuation unless requested by emergency respond-ers to do so because it hinders the emergency vehicles’ ability to get onto campus,” said Wayne Feagle, lead public safety officer.

A question arose whether

Wednesday’s electrical issue had any connection to the electrical issues experienced in April 2010 which could have resulted in a “major catastrophic event” ac-cording to Richard Byers, direc-tor of facilities management in

an April 2, 2010 Advocate article. Huffman said there is no connec-tion between the two emergencies.

-Additional Information contributed by

Kylie Rogers

Editors-in-ChiefJen ashenberner &Jordan tichenor

Sports EditorJon Fuccillo

Advertising ManagerCopy EditorDavid Guida

Living Arts EditorDavid Gambill

Assistant Living Arts EditorAnevay Torrez

Photo EditorDevin Courtright

Opinion EditorL. John King

Submissions

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Gresham, Oregon 97030

E-mail advocatt@mhcc.edu

www.advocate-online.net

503-491-7250 (Main)

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503-591-6064 (Fax)

AdviserBob Watkins

Assistant AdviserDan Ernst

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication. All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission.

Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board.

The Advocate reserves the right to edit for style, punctuation, grammar and length.

Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to advocatt@mhcc.edu. Submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print.

Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not necessarily refl ect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

Reporters

2 OPINION THE ADVOCATEJANUARY 14, 2011

Jill-Marie Gavin

Chanel Hill

Riley Hinds

Laura Knudson

Yuca Kosugi

Mike Mata

Jess Peterman

Kylie Rogers

Shelby Schwartz

John Tkebuchava

Jessica Winters

Editorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is as relevant as everIf America ever fi ghts her

way out of racial bigotry, will a yearly remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr. become any less relevant?

Certainly our nation has be-come less prejudiced. Our na-tion now has a growing legacy of African-American fi rsts. To name a few, we have had black Supreme Court justices, a black

secretary of state, a black joint chief of staff, a number of black Oscar winners, and scores of blacks who have achieved musi-cal super-stardom and athletic accolades. Most signifi cantly we elected our fi rst African-Ameri-can president, Barack Obama, in 2008.

Here at MHCC, at least on the surface, few barriers block the aspirations of minorities. Af-ter all, last year we elected Lar-ry Collins-Morgan as our fi rst African-American president of the Associated Student Govern-ment. If there are voices spout-ing racial bigotry at MHCC, they must be mere whispers.

Perhaps a day will come when we do not hear that some-one is the fi rst black man or woman to reach a certain posi-tion or achievement. One day we may refer to someone by just their name rather than “Chris, the black guy in my chemis-try class.” Imagine if the color of someone’s skin mattered no more than the color of the shirt they are wearing.

Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a day when his “four little children will one day live in a nation where

they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their

character.”King gave his “I

have a dream” speech in August 1963 from the steps of the Lin-coln Memorial, 100 years after Lincoln declared the Emancipa-tion Proclamation.

Yet injustice still exists. It may be more subtle and sophis-ticated nowadays but it still ex-ists not just for blacks but also for many others of every race, religion and gender. The trag-edy of the human condition is that even if blacks are granted all the promises of the American dream, the hatred will just fi nd a new target. Bigotry that has lasted for hundreds of years will likely pack its bags and move across town to where the newest of the undesirables and second-class citizens live.

In his “Letter from a Birming-ham Jail,” King wrote, “Injus-tice anywhere is a threat to jus-tice everywhere.” As a society we should be outraged at dis-crimination and bigotry toward anyone, no matter how differ-ent they are from ourselves. We may have grown as a nation but every generation has to re-learn kindness and unlearn intoler-ance.

On Monday — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — let us not mere-ly remember King as a black man who did great things for black Americans, but as a great man who did great things for all Americans.

When we remember the life of Martin Luther King Jr., we recall the need for change during a dark time in our nation’s history. However, the celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service goes beyond merely remembering the life of a great leader by encouraging all to live out his message.

King once said, “Life’s most persistent and ur-gent question is: What are you doing for others?’”

King and other champions of the civil rights movement stressed peaceful civil disobedience, as did Mohandas Gandhi a generation before.

King and Gandhi both urged a life of service. Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

The event is being promoted by “United We Serve,” part of the president’s national call to service, using the slogan, “Not a day off, make it a day on.”

We at The Advocate encourage everyone to take time Monday to spend some time in the ser-vice of others.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams will be speak-ing from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the “Keep Alive the Dream” event being held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Highland Christian Center located at 7600 NE Glisan in Portland.

Volunteer opportunities related to the MLK Jr. Day of service in the Gresham-Portland area can be found at

• http://handsonportland.org

• http://www.allforgood.org

• http://www.mlkday.gov

Carrying on his legacy The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

JANUARY 14, 2011 NEWS 3

By Jen AshenbernerThe Advocate

Disease. Violence and little prog-ress. These are the reports heard on news stations in the United States. Rebuilding. Education and hope. These are the reports heard from Mercy Corps representatives on the ground in Haiti one year after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earth-quake that destroyed Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.

In Spring 2010, Venture Magazine published a story about three MHCC students preparing to return to their homes in Haiti, two alumni that were in Haiti during the earthquake, and Mercy Corp’s efforts to impact Haiti’s recovery for the longer term.

The anniversary of the earthquake was Jan. 12 and it seems only natu-ral to provide an update about what their situations are and what prog-ress is being made in Haiti. While The Advocate was unable to reach the three graduated students or the two alumni, Mercy Corps provided a hope-ful update. (Bob I’m not sure how to phrase this part)

Port-au-Prince, being the heart of the ruin, still has tent cities sprawled across the city, however there has been a substantial drop in homeless-ness according to Lisa Hoashi, Mercy Corps Public Information Offi cer.

“The number of homeless have gone down from 1.3 million to 1 mil-lion,” said Hoashi. “It’s slow but peo-ple are starting to rebuild.”

“Streets that looked like deep riv-ers of rubble” is how Hoashi described the scene to Venture Magazine in Spring 2010. Now Hoashi said the streets are cleared of rubble and life is beginning to resemble some normalcy.

“The scene on the streets is com-merce life has picked up,” she said. “Schools restarted in March or April.” Hoashi added it’s more diffi cult for the poorest of families to send their chil-dren back to school because there are fees or tuition associated with most schools in Haiti.

Mercy Corps has been helping fam-ilies residing in the Central Plateau area pay for tuition to send their chil-dren back to school as it is one of the poorest communities impacted by the aftermath of the earthquake.

“It’s really amazing to me though, how moms prioritize school for their children,” Hoashi said.

In addition to assisting with send-ing kids back to school, Mercy Corps is working with children to help them overcome the trauma of the natural disaster that uprooted their lives last January.

The Haiti population has not only had to deal with the destruction of their homes, but disease is spread-ing through contaminated food and drinking water according to the Cen-ter for Disease Control.

“The majority of cases have been reported in the Artibonite Depart-mente, approximately 50 miles north of Port-au-Prince, although the out-break has spread to all areas of the country,” the CDC website reported Dec. 21, 2010. The site also reported this is the fi rst Cholera outbreak in at least 100 years.

Hoashi said Mercy Corps is in it for the long haul and is making progress reaching as many Haitians as possi-ble to educate them on how to prevent the disease.

“We have reached about 400,000 people with aid and education,” she said. “We hope to reach at least 155,000 more.”

Mercy Corps has been working to provide clean water, sanitation, show-ers, and toilets to the rural and poor-est communities.

“We not only give them water, but teach them how to keep it clean,” said Hoashi.

For the complete story and more photos, check out The Advocate online at www.advocate-online.net.

By Jordan TichenorThe Advocate

A mediation session Tuesday between the MHCC administration and the full-time fac-ulty association lasted nearly 12 hours with-out agreement before the two sides decided to meet again in two weeks.

According to a post on the faculty asso-ciation website, the administration offered a package proposal that included “almost no change on economic issues since their Octo-ber 20 proposal.” The faculty said they then offered a proposal with “a savings of $900,000 over a three-year period, in the areas of COLA and health care.” The administration then “passed another package proposal with virtually no change from their 10:30 a.m. pro-posal,” the faculty association reported.

Randy Stedman, the labor relations con-sultant hired by the board to bargain the con-tract for the administration, said in a Thurs-

day email, “the maximum the faculty offered was $350,084 over the life of the contract, and probably less.”

Stedman said Wednesday, “We made some progress, but I would not call it signifi cant. We are still quite far apart on the economic issues.”

Stedman also said it was “extremely help-ful to have the mediator present” during the session that ran from 9 a.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Representatives for the faculty and admin-istration were in separate rooms on campus Tuesday and a state-appointed mediator, Bob Nightingale, traveled between the rooms to present and discuss the proposals.

Sara Williams chief negotiator for the fac-ulty, said, “I’m disappointed. We gave them nearly a million dollars in our fi rst offer and they didn’t do anything.”

The next mediation session is scheduled Jan. 26.

Mercy Corps continues its work on the ground in Haiti

MHCC’s Philosophy Club will meet today in AC2605 from noon to 1 p.m.to discuss the topic “Should the Vastness of the Universe Depress Us?”

The club’s topic is inspired by ancient philosopher and Ro-man emperor Marcus Aurelius, who argues the answer is yes, and astrophysicist Neil de-Grasse Tyson, who argues no.

The meeting will begin by viewing Tyson’s popular “Ser-mon” video.

The meeting will explore is-sues at the interface of science, religion and philosophy.

The Dead Mathemati-cians Society will be hav-ing a presentation on “The Deepwater Horizon Disas-ter” Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 2732.

“The Deepwater Hori-zon Disaster” (more com-monly referred to as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mex-ico) presentation will focus on Mike Rosen, an environ-mental science engineer, and the 22 Oregonians he led in August 2010 to the Gulf Coast to report on the oil spill.

Dead Mathematiciansto offer presentation

Twelve-hour mediated negotiations give no resultsNEWS BRIEFS

Top image: Participants employed in Mercy Corps' cash-for-work program work on improving a road near Hinche in the Central Plateau. Photo Credit: Lisa Hoashi/Mercy Corps

Bottom image: Mercy Corps’ cash-for-work bene� ciaries in Haiti’s rural Central Plateau gather for a brie� ng on measures they can take to prevent the transmission of cholera and information on how to treat it. Photo Credit: Ben Depp for Mercy Corps

MHCC Philosophy Club to tackle the universe

JANUARY 14, 20114 SPORTS

Lady Saints land themselves a real gemHead coach Larry Davis couldn't be any happier with the strength and size of transfer Jackie Cannon

photo by devin courtright/the advocate

By Jon FuccilloThe Advocate

The Lady Saints have landed a good one, a real good one. Her name is Jackie Cannon and all she has done is dominate the glass, score points and blow up the stats sheet.

On Saturday, the Southern Region got a chance to see the all-around game of the 6’1’’ sophomore transfer, when she, reeked havoc on the Portland Com-munity College Panthers in a Saints 82-62 victory.

Cannon was clearly the go-to-gal in the Saints opening conference win. She ended the contest with 29-points (13-of-29), 17 rebounds (10 offensive), fi ve steals, four assist and four blocks.

Those 29 attempts from the fi eld were the most attempts taken in a single game during head coach Larry Davis’ tenure at Mt. Hood Community College.

This is just a week and half removed from her 19-rebound performance against Camosun College on Dec. 29. during the Camosun Christmas Classic in Victoria, B.C. Those 19 rebounds tied a school record for most rebounds in a single game that was originally set Jan. 29. 1994, by Stephanie Allan.

Just this year Cannon decided to take a leap of faith by bringing her skills to Mt. Hood after a one-year stint with NAIA Concordia University. She’s been a blessing on and off the court for Davis and company with her sparkling attitude and IQ for the game.

“She has a tremendous personality,” Davis said. “Fits the personality of the team great. But, he added with a quick sense of humor, “She’s not a morning person.”

The sophomore forward decided that her chances at a community college was a better fi t after playing a year at Concordia under head coach Aaron Christian, a long time friend of Davis.

Plus her options with the Cavaliers were slim due to some academic issues that would have forced her to redshirt. She had one other small problem: NAIA All-American senior forward Danielle Clauson was her competition for playing time. So she decided to test the waters of the community college level.

“Players choose schools for a variety of reasons,” Christian said. “Jackie is a good person who just needed a new place to fi gure out what she wants on and off the court. Davis and I talk frequently and I recommended that he take a look at her.

“She works hard and obviously came from a quality high school program (Southridge in Beaverton) where she was well coached. She always gave us good energy off the bench.”

Cannon said, “I didn’t do very well academically. I would have had to redshirt or quit. It didn’t fi t in with my plans (to fi nish college) if I stayed at Concordia.”

Davis couldn’t have asked for a better gift from his friend Christian for the suggestion of Cannon, though he admits there wasn’t much that went into the process of landing her once she was on the market.

“Really good friends with Aaron (Christian),” Davis said. “He mentioned that he had a player that I might be interested in. Turned out to be a good fi t.”

Although she’s having more success now than ever, it doesn’t mean her path to success has always been a walk in the park. During her three year’s on var-sity at Southridge —her team won two 6A State Championships and is consid-ered one of the top-notch girl’s basketball programs in the nation — she had her heartaches. She tore her ACL junior year and during her senior year she suf-fered a severe concussion, then two weeks later a mild concussion that sidelined her up to fi ve weeks. She never had the chance to show her full potential. But somehow was able to receive a college scholarship from Concordia.

“One of our assistant coaches (at Southridge) knew an assistant coach at Concordia and told her, ‘Hey no one know about her due to injuries.’ So I went to some open gyms and it worked out well.”

Not as well as her decision to come play for the Lady Saints in a season when the program is in a rebuilding year. Right now the team only has seven players suiting up due to injuries.

And for the fi rst time in Cannon’s career, she has carried the weight of the offense on her shoulders. She admits the role is different but says she enjoys helping her team in any way possible to win games.

In four games in NWAACC play, she is averaging 19.3 points (third in NWAACCs) and 11.3 rebounds (second in NWAACCs).

“It’s a different role for me,” Cannon said. “It’s cool looking at my stats. But it also puts a lot of stress and responsibility on me. It doesn’t seem like I’m put-ting up these stats. We’re all going 100 mph. Things just happen.”

As the season continues Cannon and Davis both expect defenses to start reacting differently to how they guard her.

“My game is defi nitely going to change a lot the more we get into league,” Cannon said.

Davis said, “We’re going to have to think of other ways to get her going. I hope she will push the double-double (points and rebounds in double fi gures) all season long. She’s capable of doing it.

“She’s so tough to match up with. She can out-jump people. Not only that but she’s gifted with athleticism. She’s very, very fl uid.”

There is a common joke on the team that Cannon tries to pad her rebound statistics since many of her rebounds come from her own misses.

“She’s very good at following her shot,” Davis said, laughing. “Gets a lot of her second and third missed shots. But we’re just trying to put her in a position to rebound since she’s long and lengthy. She has a nag for the ball.”

Cannon remains humble in her endeavors. “I’m playing the exact way I’ve always played,” she said. “I just got hard.”

What’s next after Mt. Hood? “I have no idea,” Cannon said. “I want to keep playing. I love playing. “

Sophomore Jackie Cannon has helped shine a new light on an injury-plagued Lady Saints basketball team a� er transferring from Concordia University. She is averaging 19.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, which ranks her in the top three in the NWAACCs in both categories.

JANUARY 14, 2011 SPORTS 5

Web photo/bo thran’s facebook page

Different year, same ducking result

By Jon FuccilloThe Advocate

While many Oregonians are still suffering from Monday night’s BCS National Championship game between the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers, none are feeling it more in Gresham than Bo Thran.

Thran, a 6’5’’, 295 pound senior offensive guard for the Ducks, is a homegrown product and Barlow High graduate,

For the last three seasons, all he has done is help pave the way for explosive running backs such as Jonathan Stewart (now with the Carolina Pan-thers), LeGarrette Blount (now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Heisman fi nalist LaMichael James.

Thran, was honored by the coaches of the Pac-10 as a second team all conference player this season. Last year he received honorable mention. According to nfl draftscout.com, he was ranked as the 27th best offensive linemen in the country out of 165 athletes.

The Advocate sports staff was able to track down Thran for an exclusive Q&A session to discuss a va-riety of hot topics, including a look back on his ca-reer as a Duck, his favorite memories as a Duck, his fans and his plans for the near future.

Thran, was kind enough to do so from his hotel room Monday night in Scottsdale, Ariz., hours after the team lost to Auburn 22-19 with two seconds on the clock by the foot of fi eld-goal kicker Wes Byrum.

JF: What was the most diffi cult part about this loss? I am sure a lot of emotions (were) fl ying around?

BT: The toughest part of the loss is looking at the mistakes that were made and you can just see the possibilities of what could have happened. We really stoped ourselves and seeing that just stings.

JF: You have now played in two huge games in the last two seasons — in the Rose Bowl and now BCS Champion-ship — and haven’t been able to execute as a team What do you think went wrong?

BT: Really, we just killed ourselves with stupid mistakes. It was not really that we got dominated in any facet of the game. We just made mistakes that ended up costing us the game.

WHO: Bo Thran, 23, senior offensive guard for the Oregon Ducks.

SIZE: 6-5, 295 pounds

AWARDS: In 2010 named All-Pac-10 Second Team , in 2009 named All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention

The Thran File

HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Barlow High in 2006 where he was a three-sport letterman star in football, basketball and baseball. First team all-state honoree on both offense and defense during his senior campaign.

INTERESTING FACT: During his senior year at Barlow his team averaged 305 rushing yards per game. During his senior year on the Ducks (2010-11) his team averaged 303.8.

JF: How would you describe this season as a whole? BT: The season was awesome. I can’t explain how

much fun my teammates and coaches made this season.

JF: What was your favorite memory while wearing that Ducks uniform?

BT: Gosh, there are so many memories, it’s impos-sible to pick just one. Taking the fi eld in Autzen is always a rush. We have the best fans in college foot-ball. They always have that place rocking. I think my favorite memories will be all the time spent with my teammates that I have grown so close to.

JF: What are your farewell words to the U of O and how would you rate the experience there as a student and as a player?

BT: I grew so much in the time I spent here. I showed up a young 18-year old boy and am leaving a man. I have to thank all of the football staff for teaching me so many lessons that I will carry with me forever. I would not trade any of my experiences for anything.

JF: What’s next in line in football?BT: I am going to pick an agent and start train-

ing for the next step. I know I have a lot of things to improve in my game and I look forward to putting in the work to try to succeed at the next level.

JF: If you could choose, what NFL team would you like to end up with? Any favorite team that you rooted for as a kid and possibly now?

BT: I will play for any team. When I was little I used to like the Raiders but I have never really been the type of person to have a favorite team. Growing up, I always was participating in sports so I didn’t have the time to watch them on TV.

JT: What would you like to say to the city of Gresham that has backed you up and rooted you on since you were a kid?

BT: Just thanks for everything. It’s pretty cool to go basically anywhere in Gresham, whether its one of my brothers games, or the gym, and have people tell you how much they enjoy supporting a guy they got to watch grow up through the years.

Eugene’s colors changed from yellow and green to the blinking red and blue of police cars after the disappointing loss the Oregon Ducks (12-1) suffered Monday at the hands of the Auburn Tigers (14-0) in Glendale, Ariz., at the University of Phoenix Sta-dium in front of a roaring 78,603 in attendance.

The day many fans, students, alumni, staff and faculty members at the University of Oregon had looked toward to for the past 37 days came to an end with a heart wrenching fi eld goal by Auburn se-nior Wes Byrum with two seconds remaining on the clock. Perhaps it ended just moments earlier when

Oregon thought they had tackled Auburn freshman running back Mike Dyer, who appeared to be down (because his wrist touched the ground), but in fact was still running the ball and gained 37-yards to the surprise of many Oregon players. Duck fans have nothing to be ashamed of because how could a Pac-10 team beat an SEC team with superior athletes, superior coaches and superior history that marks them as the top college conference in the Nation over the last decade.

Despite the fact that Oregon had been deemed the underdog by the national media, Duck fans proudly displayed their colors Monday and by noon there wasn’t a car in Eugene that did not have some sort of Oregon logo on it. Even bicyclists got into the Duck spirit by tying fl ags to their bikes and riding around the UO campus.

This was the second year in a row that the Ducks dell short in BCS games. Last year the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Ducks in Pasadena, Cali., 26-17 in the Rose Bowl.

The Duck spirit and support for this Oregon foot-ball team was not limited to the college campus, or

even downtown Eugene. My 5-year-old son Joshua woke up and insisted he wear Oregon Duck clothes because “it’s Duck Day at school.” Sure enough, when he came home from school his face was cov-ered in green, he had an O stamped on his hand and a bracelet with Oregon colors around his wrist. Ear-lier, I dropped him at school and not one classroom was left undecorated for the game. From stream-ers to balloons and cupcakes to Kool-aid, the entire school was covered in yellow and green.

Although many fans were disappointed after the game, they remained in the Oregon spirit and con-tinued to talk about the years ahead and the amaz-ing opportunities this will bring to the university and its players. The team may have lost, but they played one helluva game and even though they were the underdog, they never once backed down to the power house Auburn Tigers. It was a great game and I am proud to be a Duck.

— Godfrey was The Advocate editor-in-chief during the 2009-10 school year and is now a junior at the University of Oregon in the journalism program.

Gresham native Thran breaks down BCS and his future

By Sanne GodfreyGuest Column

JANUARY 14, 20116 SPORTS

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Lady Saints coast to 82-62 victory over hapless PanthersBy Jon FuccilloThe Advocate

Through the thick of the icy cold weather Saturday night, Jackie Cannon helped deliv-er a special message en route of taking down the Portland Community College Panthers in opening conference action on the road.

Though the team is down to seven healthy players that suited up for the game, they were able to gain momentum from the opening whistle and left with an 82-62 victory.

“I felt we had control from the tip,” head coach Larry Davis said.

At the half the Lady Saints (5-8, 1-0) had built a 14-point advantage, 44-30, that would help set the tone for the rest of the game against the feisty Panthers (4-8, 0-1).

“The nice thing about PCC is they’re fi ght-ers,” Davis said. “They come right after you.

“Everyone (on our team) played a major factor. We ended the game with six girls and had two other (players) with four fouls. We had to play smart so we didn’t end the game with four players. Wouldn’t have been the fi rst time that has happened.”

In college basketball, if you commit fi ve fouls you are out of the game. Freshman Gina Bianchi was the lone player who fouled out in 18 minutes of action. Freshmen Haley Chov-ich and Teri Gilbert each fi nished with four.

Aside from the fouling, the highlight of the night was sophomore Concordia transfer Can-non. She had a career night – 29-points (13-of-29 from the fi eld) and 17 rebounds, including

10 offensive.Davis commended the play of Cannon and

the all-around effort of his depleted roster for the way they handled their business.

“A 20-point win is a 20-point win. Scored the most points we’ve scored all season. Played very great.”

Panthers freshman Arquazia Jackson tried her best to keep her team in the game by matching Cannon’s 29 points.

Three other Lady Saints chipped in on the offensive action by fi nishing with double fi g-ures. Freshman Emily Burch was the next high scorer with 17, followed by Chovich’s 12 and freshman Maria Nolan with 10.

Tonight the Saints take on the always tough Lane Community College Titans (11-2, 1-0) in the conference home opener. The Titans are coming off of a 79-37 home victory over the Linn-Benton Roadrunners Saturday.

“Toughest team to match up with,” Davis said. “Always a tough team. Defi nitely have our work cut out for us. But at the same time it’s nothing we haven’t already faced.

Looking at the length of the season, Davis knows his team will need more bodies to be successful.

“Comes down to depth and health,” Davis said, whose team is expected to have a seven -layer rotation for the next two weeks.

On a brighter note, the Lady Saints have added 5’10’’ Stephanie Saracco, an interior player from Kalama High, who after a year of not playing basketball decided to transfer from Lower Columbia Community College to Gresham to play again.

“She just joined us after our B.C. trip,” Da-vis said. “She has good size. (We need to) get her in condition. Get her some playing time here and there.”

photo by devin courtright/The advocate

Saints sophomore Jackie Cannon drives the lane for a layup Wednesday a� ernoon during practice in the Mt. Hood gymnasium. Saturday the Saints walked away with an opening road conference victory over the Portland Community College Panthers. Cannon led the way with 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Saints.

Saints women's basketball team

Next game: Tonight, Lane @ Mt. Hood - 5:30 p.m.

By Chanel HillThe Advocate

It was a tough loss Saturday night for the MHCC men’s basketball team as the host Portland Community College Panthers rallied for an 80-72 victory over the Saints.

The Saints (7-5, 0-1) struggled to protect the ball, resulting in 23 turnovers and 28 points off turnovers for the Panthers. “Our Achilles heel is turnovers,” head coach Geoff Gibor said. “We need to take better care of the ball defensively, get out on the break and run more.”

Another issue among the unexperienced team this season is chemistry, which led Gibor to hold a team meeting Monday.

“We have a young team. Any time you have a group from different backgrounds, people handle things differently and things can get bottled up,” said Gibor. “We talked about how people felt, and how we were doing. A meeting is not a bad thing. We fi gure let’s handle and fi ne-tune some things now before they build up and fester.”

One strength Gibor would like to utilize more is his team’s size, with 12 of the 16 players on the roster being 6’3” or tall-er, including 7’0” freshman Dan Hutchinson. Gibor said the Saints are the biggest team in the NWAACCs.

Gibor, in his second year as head coach, wants his play-ers to work the system that is set in place, which is different than what many of his players learned at the high school level. “In high school you’re taught to stop your guy. It really comes down to buying into team defense and not individual defense,“ said Gibor.

Although the Saints have lost players to injury and GPA problems — the latter was the case with freshmen guard Del-roy Gibbs, who returned to play against the Panthers — the team has a lot of potential and talent that Gibor wants to expand on. That showed true Saturday, despite the loss, with two of the team’s fi ve starters posting double-digit points, Clayton Spencer with 15 points and Gibbs with 12 points, and the team shooting 49 percent from the fi eld. Still, coach Gibor wants to see his team step it up, “We haven’t played up to our potential in my opinion. We need to be a little more disciplined, but we’re not far away,” said Gibor.

The Saints will face the Lane Community College Titans (5-7, 0-1) at home tonight at 7:30 p.m. Gibor feels his team is ready for the challenge. “I’ve seen improvement in focus since the meeting. We have to battle every game, push the tempo and play the way I know we can and we’ll be good.”

Saints fall to PCC

JANUARY 14, 2011 LIVING ARTS 7

Tuesday, January 18

C a l e n d a r

Wedensday, January 19

Thursday, January 20

Friday, January 21

Buenos Aires visiting septet accompanies 18 dancers in a survey of music from composers.Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, Portland 7:30 p.m.

Portland's Got Talent: a local, live take on NBC's America's Got Talent. Fez Ballroom, 316 SW 11th Ave., Portland 8 p.m.

Last production of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' 2 p.m. College Theater

Playwright Constance CongdonGerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave.,Portland. 7:30 p.m.

No school. Martin Luther King Jr. day of serviceMonday, January 17

By Anevay TorrezThe Advocate

Whether it’s walking down Bourbon Street or performing on stage in front of peers, the vo-cal group Genesis performed with drive in last week’s trip to New Orleans.

Genesis performed Saturday in front of some of the biggest names in jazz at the second annual Jazz Education Network conference in New Or-leans.

After watching multiple groups perform in the days before, Genesis was excited to share their music with the audience after working toward this very event all year.

Tenor singer Clay Lindquist said, “The best part was having the support of Bellevue College, America River College and other groups. It gave us drive.”

The streets of New Orleans were a great infl u-ence and fi t for Genesis with music being heard on the streets, dancing and standing in a circle cheering on other performers. “The vibe there is different and brought out different parts of music we didn’t know before,” said Lindquist

When they weren’t performing, Genesis was exploring the town and members were fascinated

by the older, refurbished French-designed build-ings and the southern-infl uenced dishes like gumbo.

“The people are great, it was fun having ran-dom street instrumentalists asking us ‘what song do you want to hear?’ and waiters saying things like baby-girl,” said lead soprano/section leader LeAnne Robinson.

The MHCC students said they enjoyed get-ting to stroll the streets in the warm weather in the company of musicians and educators every-where. “All the people are really nice. It’s just a whole different world down there,” said Robin-son.

Genesis vocalists were able to connect with some of the groups performing songs that were arranged by Dave Barduhn, MHCC music and jazz ensemble director. “Just getting to see the impact our director has on the jazz industry is amazing to see,” said Lindquist.

Lindquist also said he heard that Genesis was the only vocal group to get a standing ovation at the conference.

Robinson said, “We put our best out there. We just had a blast with it. Even if they would have hated us, we probably wouldn’t have cared.”

By John TkebuchavaThe Advocate

The halls of the Visual Arts Gallery are fi lled with the work of the visual arts staff in the annual faculty exhibit that opened Jan. 6.

In addition to painted canvas, the exhibit displays numerous styles and forms of art ranging from ceramics to wood cut pieces, which is a form of printmaking where images are carved directly into the surface of a block of wood.

The faculty exhibit has spanned 30 years, with many of the staff being long-time contributors. Steve Mauldin said, “I’ve contributed to every faculty show since I began teaching at MHCC in 1987 (except for the years 2000-2009 when he said he taught elsewhere).”

Mauldin, who began painting when he was 10, said he has been producing art for more than 30 years.

His works on display this year all use acrylic paint, and can be distin-guished from the rest by a theme he

describes as being inspired by “pic-tures I saw of computer-generated im-ages depicting the distribution of gal-axies and galaxy clusters in the early universe compared to the distribution of dark matter in the early universe,” Mauldin said.

Among the other works, the art forms include calligraphy, oils, pen and ink, jewelry, charcoal as well as digital archival print pieces, in which computer technology is used to create the images.

This year’s contributors include Pat Barrett, Barbara Black, Marti Dawkins, Jan Edwards, Mary Girsch, Lee Haga, Lori Lorion, Steve Mauldin, Stephen Mickey, Howard Neufeld, Na-than Orosco, Theresa Redinger, Donna Ryan, Don Sprague and Georganne Watters.

The Visual Arts Faculty Exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and will continue to run through Jan. 27. The gallery is closed on weekends and holidays.

Genesis sings in New Orleans

Photo by Kanda Mbenza-Ngoma

From le� : Genesis members Matt Burg, Mark McSpadden, and Taryn Zickefoose talk to a local street performer on the steps of New Orleans, Jan. 6.

Campus art showhighlights faculty worksat the Visual Arts Gallery

Visual Arts Gallerty faculty art exhibit includes pieces such as ‘Gravity’ by Pat Barrett , ‘Mend and Dwell’ by � eresa Redinger, and ‘Lidded Jar, Tea Bowl and Pitcher’ cra� ed by Don Sprague. � is exhibit will be open until Jan. 27.

Photos by Anevay Torrez/The Advocate

Faculty art exhibit on display this month

JANUARY 14, 20118 FLIPSIDE

Save moneyYou can coordinate your financial aid so it covers both your community college and online OSU courses by enrolling in the OSU Degree Partnership Program. Learn more: oregonstate.edu/partnerships/students

800-667-1465ecampus.oregonstate.edu

Earn your BA or BSYou can earn your bachelor’s degree online from OSU while at your community college. Choose from more than 700 online courses in over 60 subjects. Experience the convenience and flexibility of OSU Ecampus.

Inquire todayRegistration for spring term begins Feb. 20, 2011.Classes start March 28. OSU Ecampus offers 20 accredited undergraduate and graduate programs. All taught by renowned OSU faculty.

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OSUDegreesOnline

Lab Partners

JANUARY 14, 2011

TuesdayShowers47o F

MondayShowers49o F

SundayShowers52o F

SaturdayShowers51o F

WednesdayPartly Cloudy47o F7

Day

ThursdayPartly Cloudy44o F

FridaySunny 46o F

ForecastForecast gathered from www.weather.com

For more coverage and photos, check out The Advocate online.

www.advocate-online.net

Confounded by the FAFSA? Read the article about Financial Aid Day on www.advocate-online.net and then come to the event on Saturday, Jan. 22, in Room AC333 above the li-brary and learn all about how to pay for school. All students are welcome.

George Fox University enrollment coun-selors will be in the college center on Jan. 20 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

They will provide information for work-ing adults to complete their bachelor’s de-gree in several areas including elementary education, health administration, project management and technology management.

Find more information about the event at the college center.

o classes on Monday

in observance of MLK Day

Advising o� ering group workshops throughout term

Regardless of how long it takes to fi nd a college president or even an interim president, Schommer said the college will continue to operate and the stu-dents should not be impacted. However, some students said they will miss his presence.

Hannah Phillips, a second-year student said, “I’m going to miss him. I liked that at the start of a term he would come into classes and ask students for their opinion.”

Associated Student Government Vice President John Francis said, “I think that it (will) be sad to lose him. As president, he’s done a good job. I understand if he needs to move forward in life for his family, op-portunities, or kids, or if that’s what he needs to do for himself.”

Schommer said, “We will have to look for somebody who will have some expertise of how to get MHCC out of a fi nancial hole. They will need to understand or be willing too learn the organization at all of its levels. MHCC has a diverse population and he (Sygielski) got to know it.”

“I think he did stuff right,” said Schommer. “The economic environment was not his doing. None of the big problems we are facing now could have been differ-ent by anything he did.”

Asked if he would have done anything differently during his tenure as president, Sygielski said, “Yes, there are some things I would have done differently. However, I believe it is always best to learn all you can from your life experiences and from those around you and to keep it moving forward.

“I have worked with some incredibly smart and high-performing people here,” he said.

The realization that Sygielski will be leaving at the end of the academic year is rippling across the MHCC campus and some faculty say they wish he would stick around.

Paul Eckhardt, Spanish instructor, said, “He (Sygielski) goes out of his way to communicate with faculty and students. I appreciate that in a college president. Me and other faculty felt we had a strong competent leader. Wish he would have stayed longer.”

Chemistry instructor Rick Bolesta, who has been at MHCC for 35 years and has had the opportunity to serve as interim dean, department head and a faculty member under Sygielski, said, “It’s a great loss to the college. He provided exceptional leadership and we’ll miss him.”

Meet with George Fox counselors

N

The weekly group advising workshop is now avail-able to students who have not yet declared a major.

The advising sessions, which is run by counselors of the Career Planning and Counseling Center, will be advising all undeclared students who need help with choosing a major as well as other academic topics.

Among the things that will be discussed at the advis-ing sessions include, the process of choosing a major, using the college catalog, understanding DARS reports, familiarizing with campus resources and how to access them, registering for classes, information on specifi c academic programs and connecting with peer mentors.

There are 19 workshops between Jan. 18 and March 15. Students can get specifi c dates and times or register for a workshop in the Career Planning and Counseling Center, room AC1152, or by calling 503-491-7432.

-Information contributed by Kylie Rogers

Continued from page 1

Sygielski: “I have worked with some incredibly smart and high-performing people here.”