AdvocateFebruary 28, 2014 Volume 49 Issue 19

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2013 FIRST PLACE General excellence

Oregon Newspaper Publisher Association

The Independent Student Voice of Mt. Hood Community College

Forensics coach and public speaking instructor Shannon Valdivia is pleased to be chosen as one of ASG’s unsung heroes.

“It’s an award that means a lot because it comes from the stu-dents and working with students is my job, so to get the recognition from them meant the world,” said Valdivia, who spent a year away from teaching and coaching the Mt. Hood speech and debate team, and didn’t expect to be chosen as a hero.

“I was surprised, ‘cause I’ve been flying under the radar,” she said.Valdivia took a year off to get away from the hectic lifestyle of being

an instructor and coach. “I was burning out,” she said.Her break grew more stressful due to the death of her mother, who

had fought cancer. “I really spent my year off taking care of my mom,” said Valdivia, who gives her credit for helping set a teaching path.

“It was my (first) speech coach who, along with my mother, got me involved in speech and debate,” Valdivia.

As Orientation Center Coordinator, Christy Weigel has the opportunity to interact with students, and be one of the first faces they see on campus.

The center opened at the beginning of Fall Term, and pro-vides students a place to obtain help with any online forms not required for homework.

Weigel said one her highlights at the Orientation center is “getting to know all of the students that I work with and all the students who are coming in. It’s kind of fun to be one of the first people that they get to talk to,” she said of the latter.

The Hero award came as a “very big surprise” and it “brought a little tear to my eye.” she said.

“It’s one thing to be noticed for your hard work by your su-pervisor or your co-workers. But when it comes from the student side, it (is) really nice and really sweet.”

MHCC’s Student Activity Board recognized three

MHCC employees as “Unsung Heroes” for their service to

students. An event was held on Feb. 18 to honor this year’s recipients: Christy Weigel (left), Orientation Center coordinator; Craig

Marks (center), audiovisual technician; and Shannon

Valdivia (right), speech instructor and forensics team

adviser.

Forensics coach sharesinspiration

Making the Orientation Center a success

The Unsung Heroes of MHCC.

Craig Marks, MHCC audiovisual technician, is one man who could tell anyone where to find an obscure room on the Gresham campus.

Marks treks all over campus each day, delivering technology to meet instructors’ and departments’ needs.

When a classroom teacher cannot fix a machine that refuses to operate properly, chances are it is Marks who will come to the rescue.

ASG also works closely with Marks, who provides all of the electronic needs for the student group’s events. “Sometimes they give me short notice or things get kind of mixed up. I’m usu-ally able to overcome it and help them out,” he said.

While not many co-workers attended the Unsung Hero event on Feb. 18, he said, “a lot of instructors emailed me and said, ‘Oh, this is great. I’m so glad you got it.’

Audiovisual technician meets students needs

ValdiviaContinued on page 6

MarksContinued on page 6

WeigelContinued on page 6

by Katelyn HilsenbeckThe Advocate

A half year after her arrival on the MHCC campus, President Debbie Derr has initiated significant changes to shape and reorganize the college’s ad-ministrative team.

Derr outlined the most important features in her Jan. 28 all-staff email regarding her restructuring plan.

“The greatest changes happened within instruction and student de-velopment,” said Derr in a recent in-terview with The Advocate. “Every instructional dean reports to the vice president. That wasn’t the case before. I think it’s very important that the vice president for instruction and student development supervise the instruc-tional leaders at the institution.”

She has elevated the priority of economic and workforce development.

“It’s our future. It is a very impor-tant part of our mission,” Derr said. “Elevating and bringing those resourc-es and programs together was an im-portant piece for me.”

She also sought to blend other cru-

cial functions.“Looking at student development

and organizing around systems was very important. If you look now, we sort of have enrollment, student suc-cess and retention, and student life,” she said. This provides an opportunity for synergy, she said.

Derr also has added people with whom she worked during her previous time at Mt. Hood, up until 2002.

Bill Becker returned in mid-January to work as a temporary fiscal adviser to Derr. He will keep the position until the college finds a full-time replacement for Bill Farver, who had served as in-terim vice president of administrative services.

Derr said Becker will help facilitate the filling of Farver’s vacated position.

“We had some work that needed to be done. Although Bill Farver served a wonderful purpose for us... he worked 20 hours a week,” she said. “Bill (Beck-er) is working 50-plus hours a week.

Derr forms team to lead college

by Alexandra JamesThe Advocate

Following weeks of briefings and debate, the Student Finance Council has set the 2014-15 budget for Mt. Hood student activities and athletics.

Both groups will see significant reductions, due to Mt. Hood’s current

and projected enrollment decline, which also cut into the current-year spending.

The programs’ cutbacks reflect a 17 percent reduction in funding or-dered by school officials.

The MHCC athletics department finished its deliberation in just one meeting, on Feb. 13. Student activi-ties groups met for two deliberation sessions before final budget figures were adopted.

The athletics program will receive $348,674, down about $89,000 from current-year funding. The biggest reduction comes from cutting out-of-state travel, including all out-of-state travel for the Saints cross coun-try teams.

Student activities groups grap-pled to find $28,825 in combined budget savings.

ASG took the brunt of the cuts, losing about 30 percent of its budget. The final, total amount approved for activities came to $353,675.

Student representatives for the various groups were the only people allowed to agree on the budget cuts,

since all funds for activities and ath-letics come from student activity fees.

Each year, each group or depart-ment must submit its proposed one-year budget plan. Faculty members and student advisers are to provide only assistance.

David Sussman, MHCC manager of Student Union and specialized stu-dent services, oversees the annual student finance council proceedings and provides key help in advising student leaders representing the pro-grams.

He said this year’s deliberations went “very well,” especially in light the large cuts forced by the projected enrollment decline. This has not had to happen for several years, he said.

Sussman praised program advis-ers, including MHCC Athletic Director Kim Hyatt, and the student represen-tatives who saw the process through.

Students were able to collabo-rate successfully and to produce a balanced budget “that should allow MHCC’s programs to continue and thrive,” he said.

Graphic by Heather Golan, photos by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Students negotiate, complete athletics, activities budget

RestructuringContinued on page 3

2014-2015 awarded funds

Two public forums will be held on the fi-nance council budget in the Student Union.

Monday noon to 1 p.m.

&Thursday

3 to 4 p.m.

Opinion2 Feb. 28, 2014

Editor-in-ChiefKatelyn Hilsenbeck

Living Arts EditorRebecca Gaulke

Opinion EditorDanny Perez-Crouse

News EditorKatelyn Hilsenbeck

Sports EditorAaron Marshall

Copy EditorRebecca Gaulke

Photo EditorCarole Riggs

Ad ManagerCameron Miller

Mt. Hood Community College26000 SE Stark Street

Gresham, Oregon 97030

E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu

www.advocate-online.net #mhccadvocate

503-491-7250

SubmissionsThe 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 reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

the Advocate

Missy Burchell

Greg

Re-Howard Buck

Dan Ernst

Bob Watkins

Advisers

Video TeamMelissa Casey

Jared Lichtenberg

Lobsang Tenzin

Editor-in-ChiefKatelyn Hilsenbeck

Living Arts EditorRebecca Gaulke

News EditorKatelyn Hilsenbeck

Assistant News EditorGreg Leonov

Sports EditorAaron Marshall

Copy EditorRebecca Gaulke

Photo EditorCarole Riggs

Ad ManagerCameron Miller

Mt. Hood Community College26000 SE Stark Street

Gresham, Oregon 97030

E-mail: advocatt@mhcc.edu

www.advocate-online.net #mhccadvocate

Phone: 503-491-7250

SubmissionsThe 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 reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

the Advocate

Lindsay Frost

Q Quarterman

Brandon Raleigh

Edgar Valencia

Emily Wintringham

Reporters

Howard Buck

Dan Ernst

Bob Watkins

Advisers

Video TeamMelissa Casey

Jared Lichtenberg

Graphic DesignerHeather Golan

Opinion EditorDanny Perez-Crouse

“Fun, great music - sassy girlfriends - what more could you want on a week-

end eve!! Break-a-Leg everyone!!” Online comment from Marcia Cheadle on the “‘Urleen’ a sassy country girl” profile.

The power of community in a video game

Winter Term is finally coming to close. Once we get past the hurdles of ex-ams, nasty weather and the stress of suc-cess, we have that sweet Spring Break to reward us.

But there is one thing often over-looked at the end of each term that should be vital for both students and instructors: course evaluations.

Course evaluations are pretty self-ex-planatory: You judge the class, the teacher and how you liked the whole experience. The feedback is then reviewed by the in-structor whose course you’re evaluating, and their dean. The input is great, because it better informs the school about who is doing his or her job properly, and helps in-structors to improve their craft.

And yet, there are a couple problems with the system. A lot of people aren’t doing them, and some teachers have the option to regularly bypass evaluations for their class.

We totally understand why course evaluations are at the very bottom of your student priority list. It’s the end of a term, which always leads to a vacation of some type (Spring Break, the winter break and summer). You’ve just finished all your (hopefully) hard work and everything not “required” of you is all background noise, at that point.

It might seem like a teeny, tiny little evaluation won’t do any good for anyone, but it will. We cannot stress enough the importance of actually doing these.

It only takes a couple minutes and can benefit you, your instructor and every person who takes that same class hence-forth. You may point out something that a teacher has been doing wrong, which will

improve that class and the instructor’s teaching ability. That’s awesome!

Some of us at The Advocate are guilty of dragging our feet, with completing course evaluations. But we’ve had some not-so-stellar experiences in our classes, we have discovered, and vow to be sure to have our voices heard, come the end of the term.

However, sometimes there are no evaluations to submit, which simply is not acceptable.

While all part-time instructors at Mt. Hood are required to have evalua-tions administered to all classes during their first six terms here, or before they total 30 credits taught, the rule is not be-ing enforced as strictly as it should. We at The Advocate have had plenty of courses where there was never an option to sub-mit a student evaluation.

And, after hitting that milestone, all MHCC instructors (whether full-time or part-time faculty) are required only occa-sionally to solicit student feedback.

We believe that course evaluations should be required, every term, for both part-time and full-time instructors, no exceptions. What if an instructor started to get lazy or faltered for a couple courses, and no one was able to call him on it?

We understand that some instructor may feel very comfortable with their cur-rent standing as an educator after doing it for a long time. But valid, constructive criticism is vital at any stage in any career.

So, while you’’re sweating over your finals, take that few minutes to fill out an evaluation and help make Mt. Hood a bet-ter place.

by Danny Perez-CrouseThe Advocate

“Twitch plays Pokemon” is an on-line bonanza where tons of people play the same game of Pokemon, at the same time. This seemingly geeky exercise in extreme gaming is actually a shining example of the collaborative power and unified urge for progress that defines humanity.

Don’t roll your eyes, just stay with me.

Let me explain what this digital congregation is: There is a stream-ing service online called Twitch, where people can watch other people play video games, live. One Twitch user is streaming a game called “Pokemon: Red.” The catch is that the user made it possible, through the comment section of the stream, for everyone watching to control the game. If you type something like up, “a,” down or start, the game being watched will register that.

As of now, the live stream is fluc-tuating between 50,000 and 80,000 people playing, with at least 30 million

total views. It’s been going strong for more than 15 straight days. I’ll give you a minute to pick up the pieces of your mind that was just blown.

Having so many people inputting commands for one game makes getting anything accomplished astronomically more difficult. Pokemon is not a simple game like Mario, where you only go one direction. There are tons of complex decisions and goals that require some-one of sound mind to accomplish. And with so many people inputting com-mands, many of them go unregistered or collide awkwardly with one another.

The result: An in-game avatar spastically moving in different direc-tions while the start menu opens and closes every few seconds. Even the most simple of actions can take over an hour to accomplish. To those who don’t know about the background of this event, it looks like the most broken game of Pokemon, ever. It is equal parts infuriating and entertaining to watch.

The odds against success in this situation could not be greater. In fact, many enthusiasts (such as myself) be-lieved there was no way even a sliver of progress could be made. But miracu-lously, this “hive” (a name adopted by the participants) has completed around 75 percent of the game!

In order to get anything done, some

people have banded together on Red-dit and Twitter, where groups of peo-ple have organized into factions to vie for control of what will be done in the game. Even with some communicating, however, there are massive hurdles.

So, what’s the significance of this? It might look like a bunch of maniacs making something exponentially harder than it needs to be, but it also shows that people united by one goal can do almost anything. Something that was previous-ly perceived to be impossible has been made possible.

All of these people want to progress through the game. And even though their communication is limited, there is this shared spirit between all of them, that they know what they need to do, and how to do it. They are willing to work through the pain to taste sweet success. This spir-it pervades humanity, and every trial that it has faced. And this Pokemon game is no different.

There are, sadly, loads of trolls whose only goal seems to be to amuse them-selves by provoking the figurative tears of others by spamming unnecessary commands. However, the game’s hard-won gains just go to show that individu-als who try to defeat progress will always be outnumbered by those who pursue it.

And, if we applied this in a more re-fined context to a game designed around

such a concept of group control, it could be a huge breakthrough in cooperative game play.

The unfortunate thing about this phenomenon is that so much effort, col-laboration, time and energy is being used on what is ultimately a fruitless endeav-or.

Imagine if the people involved put this kind of dedication into real-world issues: We could cure cancer, end world hunger and create a soda that never

loses its fizz!My worry is that gamers will just

keep doing this with different games, rather than learn the inspirational meanings from it.

I urge all of you to go see this anom-aly for yourselves. And also, for those involved and actively engaged in the stream, please realize what amazing things can be done when people ban to-gether for a single cause, and apply that in real life.

Graphic by Heather Golan - The Advocate

Getting it right:On page 8 of the Feb. 21 issue, in the women’s baskeball profile, a quote regarding head coach Tyler Rose was misattributed to Marley Yates. The quote was Taylor Scott’s. The Advocate regrets this error.

Editorial: Course evaluations are important

Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Graphic by Heather Golan - The Advocate

Feb. 28, 2014 3News

News BriefsBeware: increased police presence in area

by Greg LeonovThe Advocate

Mt. Hood’s forensics team reg-istered strong results at two regional speech-and-debate meets held last week, with five students earning a trip to a pair of national competitions this spring.

On Feb. 21, the MHCC team hosted area two- and four-year colleges and universities for the 2014 AFA-NIET District 2 Regional Qualifying Tour-nament. By day’s end, several Saints ranked high in various categories.

The following day, Mt. Hood traveled to Corvallis and won the first-place Sweepstakes Award for community colleges at the Earl Wells Invitational at Oregon State

University.Within the overall tournament

competition, the team finished in the top five.

In the Gresham event, the Saints’ standout was Chris Josi, silver medal winner in Novice IPDA debate. He was the lone MHCC student to advance in both speech and debate divisions, be-fore ultimately bowing out to a Lane Communty College rival on a 2-1 de-cision.

In so doing, Josi was named Top Novice Speaker from a field of 38 competitors. And yet, he enjoyed the team’s nice showing as much as his own, he said, elaborating on his en-thusiasm for the activity.

“You know, that’s a great feeling when you win things,” Josi said about the team’s overall success. He said he was drawn to join the team because he likes “being able to talk real nice, and pretty.”

Those talents are not to be taken lightly, he said.

“Public speaking is something that is so versatile and is becoming more and more of a trained skill,” he said.

Further, a grasp of solid debate technique is “really handy, because not only are you trying to present ways to argue and prove that you’re right, you also have to really listen to your opponent,” Josi said.

“You can directly attack (that person) because you’re going to have an argument where you’re, like, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong,’ but you’re not going to get anywhere with that, un-less I listen to (that) whole side,” he said.

By carefully listening, Josi said, “I can pick apart every reason why you’re wrong.”

Ryan Rhoades, assistant coach for the Mt. Hood team, said speech and debate contestants have a “very rigorous” schedule. That includes spending a lot of time researching very controversial political topics that they address.

During competitions, contes-tants are “either taking a 20-min-ute break from the last set they just competed in, or they’re running to another round to give another speech on something,” Rhoades said. “Many times they don’t have time to eat their lunch.”

Karasalla Fale, another team member, said her forensics involve-ment has sharpened her understand-

ing of contemporary events.Being on the forensics team

“helps you stay on top of current is-sues, to gain more in-depth knowl-edge, and to really, critically look at policies that our country’s doing, and it gives you a better view,” she said.

In many classes, she said, stu-dents get information from a very ei-ther Euro-centric or Western-centric worldview.

“In debate, if you can frame your case in a non-Western-centered point of view it gives you a better under-standing of global politics,” she said.

The research and improved grasp has helped Fale to write better research papers at school, she noted. “It really gives you an edge in that,” she said.

Josi said that a debate round consists of five topics that could fall “under different umbrellas,” such as a “value” topic, a “fact” topic or a certain policy, which he called his fa-vorite.

The opponents whittle down po-tential topics to the single issue on which they wish to battle, Josi ex-plained. “The negation will strike first – which one they don’t want to debate – and then the affirmation will strike one. And you keep doing that until you’re left with just one resolution” to debate, he said.

“There’s a technique to that. Some resolutions really do lean (to) one side or the other, so you have to pre-plan how you’re going into it,” Josi said.

The contestants must either af-firm or oppose the resolution. They get half an hour to prepare before each round, researching and and jotting down notes to shape their arguments.

Each side states its case, followed by counter-arguments.

“By the end of the debate you get all of these arguments that kind of get punched off and fall through and you drop things,” Josi said. “You don’t need them, you just focus on what’s important so that your side is the strongest side.”

The Mt. Hood team will prepare for two national competitions.

Five members (Josi, Tyler Garcia, Fale, Jennifer Sewell and Ruben Con-treras) will represent MHCC and travel to Indianapolis for the PKD National Comprehensive Tournament, March 20-24, hosted by Purdue University. That’s followed by the Phi Rho Pi Community College Championships, held April 7-12 in Denver.

Forensics team finishes in top 5, nationals ahead

“For those people who have been here, they know (Becker) is a trusted, credible individual. He is an expert in what he does,” Derr said. “He understands higher education, he understands business process and he’s not bashful about asking difficult questions.

“We needed someone who could come in, serve in that capacity, be here full-time and prepare us for that next step. I chose him because I know him, I trust him, and he knows the college.”

Becker’s contract extends through June.“We have a strong team, but that V.P. of admin. Services is a very, very cru-

cial position for the college. And with the reorganization, we only really have two vice president positions.

Another familiar face has joined Derr’s team on Jan. 2. Al Sigala assumed the newly created position of executive director of MHCC Foundation.

While meeting with the Foundation board, Derr heard them the board em-phasize they were ready for community outreach. She said they also desired in-creased alumni relations.

“If we want the foundation to really serve as a resource development arm of the college, you have to invest.” Derr said Sigala will be this investment.

“He’s the person, with me, that is reaching out into communities, to sup-porters, to business and industry and to see what kind of collaborations and partnerships we can develop — and friendships we can develop.

“He is incredibly well connected in this community. He is respected in this community and I trust him.”

Another notable change is the “revitalization of the teaching and learning center,” which Derr describes as “critical.”

This center provides faculty the opportunity to share strategies they have learned with the rest of their colleagues. It was reinvigorated during the 2014-15 contract negotiation session for full-time faculty.

“As we’re moving forward, the support to the faculty, in relationship to teaching methods and how we can engage students and all those types of things are just vital.”

RestructuringContinued from page 1

Bringing trust, moving college forward

MHCC drivers, proceed with caution: Gresham police are beefing up traffic pa-trols around Mt. Hood’s Gresham cam-pus and surrounding areas.

Funds from a “Safe Routes to Schools” federal-state grant program are going toward additional police presence around Hall Elementary School (2505 N.E. 23rd St.) and the Mt. Hood campus through the end of the school year, in June.

“Officers will concentrate on school zones, student pick-up and drop-off locations, and crosswalks. Drivers who are identified as breaking laws will be stopped and may receive a citation in ad-dition to an educational pamphlet,” said Craig Junginger, Gresham police chief, in

a news release.Motorists must yield to pedestrians

in both marked and unmarked cross-walks. They must stop before crossing the solid white line when a crosswalk is in use and, of course, stop at stop signs.

Pedestrians should also beware: They must cross traffic lanes within cross-walks and perpendicular to the road, and comply with posted signs.

Wayne Feagle, director of MHCC Pub-lic Safety, said MHCC drivers should not be affected as long as they comply with traffic laws.

Gresham police may be on campus while conducting traffic stops, Feagle noted. Public Safety will continue patrol-ling as normal, he said.

Employee contractsThe MHCC Classified Employees As-

sociation voted to ratify their tentative contract agreement with voting ending on Monday.

The MHCC District board is scheduled to vote on their contract at their meeting on March 12.

Association President Cathy Nichols said, “I am pleased it was ratified.  I believe it is a good contract for the three-year pe-riod starting July 1, 2013. We were able to clean up language, get new language, and remove bad language. I know we didn’t get everything we wanted but I believe we will be in a better starting place for the next ne-gotiation process.”

MHCC’s Full-Time Faculty Association has a new president; Tambi Boyle, math-ematics instructor, will start her elected posi-tion with the beginning of Spring Term.

The faculty voted to elect Boyle on Feb. 19.

Current President Sara Williams said, “I am confident she will do a great job as president. It would have been much harder for me to step down from the position if I was less confident!”

Boyle was the bargaining chair during this negotiation cycle and has also previ-ously been grievance chair.

- Katelyn Hilsenbeck

Recent Forensics Team Awards

Award-winners for Mt. Hood at the AFA-NIET National Regional Qualifier: • Karasalla Fale – second

place in poetry interpre-tation and fourth in im-promptu speaking

• Tyler Garcia – fourth in prose interpretation and sixth in impromptu speaking.

Individual event awards for the OSU invitational event:• Karasalla Fale – fifth place

in the Open Programmed Oral Interpretation

• Ruben Contreras – third place in Novice Informa-tive and fourth in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking

• Angelica Wilson – second for Novice Prose Interpre-tation

• Chris Josi – fourth in Open Programmed Oral Inter-pretation, sixth in Novice Extemporaneous Speak-ing and third in Novice Im-promptu

• Jennifer Sewell – second in Open Prose Interpreta-tion and fourth in Dramat-ic Interpretation

Living Arts4 Feb. 28, 2014

by Danny Perez-CrouseThe Advocate

Another gritty Liam Neeson ac-tion film, directed by the painfully mediocre Jaume Collet Serra? This film already has two gunshots in the knee before it leaves the starting gate. And yet, surprisingly, “Non-Stop” is able to wince and crawl through the pain to offer the audience a competent, albeit occasionally messy, thriller.

“Non-Stop” follows air marshal Bill Marks (played by Neeson). While on a flight, he is contacted by an un-known person on a secure government phone line who is demanding $150 million. If Bill doesn’t comply, that person will kill someone on the plane every 20 minutes.

The mysterious antagonist is al-ways coming up with new tricks while taunting Bill via text message, which creates an engaging experience. This search for the bad guy routine takes up a majority of the film, which is good, because it’s entertaining. And since it all takes place in an airplane, with a clock counting down to the next kill, there is a nice cramped tension to the whole occasion.

The film’s greatest strength is its ability to keep you in suspense as to whom the villain is. The direction really shines here: There are plentiful, not-so-subtle fo-cusing shots on certain characters, played by the bigger actors, that imply suspicion. You’ll constantly think to yourself, “This movie isn’t that dumb to point that guy out, is it?” That is, until the character you most suspect is shown to have an alibi – but only un-til he does something else to incrimi-nate himself, all over again. I was left guessing, all the way.

However, the quality starts to dwindle as the end approaches. All logic, intrigue, originality and qual-ity get thrown out the window (so to speak). Until this point, the film most-ly dodges gaping plot holes. I won’t go into spoiler territory with the red her-rings, but let’s just say it: A thing that should have killed every last person on that plane, doesn’t. Rather, the movie just thriller-baits you into thinking certain people are in danger, when they’re totally not.

I was surprised by just who the real villain is, but that character’s whole pseudo-political rambling explaining

their motives was really stupid, non-sensical and added very little credence to the situation. I get that lunatics don’t have much reason behind what they do, but good villains are the ones who make sense and don’t spell every-thing out to us.

Worse, the climax is followed by one of those cheesy, feel-good endings where everybody talks in one-liners and pat-on-the-back phrases. It made my stomach churn.

The movie’s music is pretty generic thriller fare – booming sound cues and an unassuming tension-fueled beat that grows in intensity – but it gets the job done.

The acting performances are hit or miss, with Neeson unfortunately on the “miss” side. His lackluster act-ing hurts our relationship with Bill.

Neeson looks, sounds and acts exactly the same as the last few generic ac-tion protagonists he’s played, with the identical ultra-grave tone and overly stern facial expression. It’s hard to care for Bill in “Non-Stop”, because we already saw him as Bryan in “Tak-en” and as Martin in “Unknown.”

Come on Liam, you were Oscar Schindler, for crying out loud – step it up!

Julianne Moore gives the best per-formance and her character, Jen Sum-mers, is the most lik-able. Jen is a quirky frequent flyer who befriends Bill and is the most fleshed-out character.

The remaining passengers aren’t memorable or noteworthy. We learn things about these people, but they are never truly developed or given much life. Ergo, there is no one else I am terribly fretting over potentially dy-ing. “Airplane!” had better characters, in fact, and it was a goofball spoof of movies like this.

The action scenes (all three of them) suck, too, because they are di-rected so poorly. Everything is zoomed in too closely, there are far too many cuts and the camera work is need-lessly shaky. This turns every action sequence into a rumble-y, choppy and incoherent mess. They also feel shoe-horned by contrived plot threads.

The film is at its best when it takes advantage of the twisting narrative and claustrophobic environment, not

when it pan-ders to thriller conventions.

If you pre-fer not to look at movies too closely, many of the faults described here might zoom

right by, and you’ll have a great time. But if you analyze everything a little more than the passive moviegoer, many of the flaws, particularly near the end, will stand out and damper your experience.

It’s a dumb good time, regardless of your shrewdness towards film.

“Non-Stop” stars Liam Neeson and opens in theaters everywhere today. Web photo

MovieReview

HHHII

by Emily WintringhamThe Advocate

The very first Psychology Club at Mt. Hood has been established, and its charter approved, this school year.

MHCC psychology instructor Jennifer Her-rig came up with the idea to start a club on behalf of students who intend to major in the field, she said.

She polled her students last autumn to measure their interest, and the new club was

born.The club held its debut meeting at the end

of Fall Term and is eager to recruit additional members. It meets the first Tuesday of the month at 2:30 p.m., and the third Wednesday of the month at 11 a.m.

Meetings are held in the Social Science conference room in AC 2556.

“Our main goal is to help students who are psych majors, or possible psych majors, to see what opportunities are available in the field and to provide information about transferring

to higher level programs,” Herrig said.

She said thousands of schol-arship dollars for studies at Portland State University are available. There’s also a chance to win $500 in student presenta-tion contests.

Several students have already responded to the club’s appeal.

“I wanted to learn more about the career paths, because the common question in my family is, ‘What are you going to do with it?’ ” said Alexa Lopez, club president, of her field of study.

“I wanted to get more involved in the field,” said the club’s treasurer, Yuhana Lewis.

The club is working to schedule educational events, and guest speakers are planned every six weeks, to address a variety of topics.

A behavioral profiling presentation by Jason Jones, officer with the Portland Police Bureau and an MHCC adjunct professor, is tentatively set for noon on April 9 (location is yet to be determined).

The club will be focusing on community projects, as well.

Club members are planning to participate in the Western Psychological Association Con-vention, which runs April 24-27 at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront hotel, Herrig said.

In addition, club members are eligible for a 20 percent discount at the Brain Lecture Series, presented by the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

Those lectures are held at the Newmark Theatre in downtown Portland.

More information on the Brain Lecture Series can be found at: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/brain/in-community/brain-awareness/lectures-events/2014-lecture-series.cfm.

Understanding the human brain: Psychology Club

Review: “Non-Stop” thriller keeps audience guessing

The quality starts to dwindle as the end approaches.

The Psychology Club aims to bring Psych majors together for new opportunities. Photo by Emily Wintringham - The Advocate

Feb. 28, 2014 5Living Arts

Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

by Greg LeonovThe Advocate

Mt. Hood will showcase an exhibit titled “Ebb and Flow” by artist James Lilly in the Fireplace Gallery from Tues-day through March 27.

Lilly’s art will consist of pieces made of wood painted to look like rusted steel, weathered wood, stone and other types of similar materials. The work on display features marine life.

“I’ve always lived close to the ocean or saltwater,” he said. He said he is in-spired from things he’s observed, or places he’s been to. “I’ll see something locally, sometimes on the news, I’ll go investigate it in person. Sometimes when I find a place, or event, I’ll make sure I go there and I’ll shoot some pho-tos to give me memory cues when I go back and start building things.”

Lilly has been creating art that em-bodies a marine-life theme since the 1980s. He’s done work with different themes, but returns to the underwater scenery “time and time again,” he said.

He began with the sea life because it was usually found around him. “When I first started, (it was) just certain special places I’d been to. It seemed like they need-ed some sort of tribute to them,” he said.

Although most of Lilly’s pieces are three-dimensional in nature, he likes to refer to them as paintings. “A lot of people find it more comfortable to call them wall reliefs, or wall sculptures,” he said.

The art on display at Mt. Hood consists of two main formats. One has the charac-

teristics of a cabinet. “Somewhere along the road I built one that resembled a me-dieval alter,” he said. “There (are) clues or details about the particular adventure piece on the outside, and when you open (it) up, it reveals a little bit more, and ex-plains it.”

The second format is somewhat as-semblage based, but all elements of the work are created by Lilly. A lot of these pieces contain a frame. “The frame is every bit as much part of the piece as the imagery on the inside,” he said.

Lilly teaches art, photography, ce-ramics, and technology at Highline High

School in Burien, Wash. He also coached their track team.

He ran track in his high school and col-lege days, and came to Mt. Hood to com-pete multiple times during the ’70s. He has three children that attend Haven High School in Renton, Wash. where he is a vol-unteer track coach.

He tells his students to do something related to their art every day.

“You want to be consistent, and just find your passion,” he said. “I always try new stuff, I always want to experiment with new things, and so having a bunch of different areas to teach in helps with that.”

FirePLACe GALLery FeAture

Beach-themed art of “ebb and Flow”

showtimes continue this weekend

Writer Series:

Pam HoustonNoon to 1 p.m.

Visual Arts theater

“Casino Night”4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Student union

Here’s a glance at some fun campus

events happening next week!

“S/he-bop:

Making Sense of Gender in American Pop Music”

Noon to 1:30 p.m.Jazz Café

Free lunch to the first 25 guests.

Worldview:

Spain, Mexico, Costa rica, Austria, Germany

and Switzerland10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

AC 50 (below the Student Union)

Planetarium Show:“Jupiter and the Spring Sky”

6, 7:15, and 8:30 p.m. MHCC Planetarium

The Fireplace Gallery will feature the “Ebb and Flow” exhibit starting Tuesday and extending through March 27. Some of Jame’s Lilly’s pieces are titled “Large Consequential” (above), “Latent Big” (within story), and “Beach” (left).

First thursday:the Machete Men

4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Student union

Footloose

The cast of Footloose dances in a Western-themed scene at rehearsal on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Footloose opened last weekend and continues into this weekend. Tonight’s show starts at 7:30 p.m., as does Saturday’s show, while Sunday’s matinee show will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for students in advance, and $12 at the door; $12 for adults in advance and $15 at the door.

To see exclusive behind the scenes footage of Footloose, go to our website: www.advocate-online.net

Contributed photos

“Dakaboom” 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Student union

Wednesday

Tuesday

Thursday

Monday

News6

The friendships created on Valdiv-ia’s first team remain very strong. One member from that team came to Port-land from Los Angeles within 24 hours after learning that Valdivia’s mother was in hospice.

“When my mother was at the hos-pital, I had about three or four of my former students come by the hospital to check on me,” she said. They rushed to “make sure I was okay, but also to see mom, because my mother was an important part of this team in the early years. She was my assistant.”

Valdivia’s dedication to the foren-sics program is unmistakable.

“Even though I was off (last year),

I was still texting, ‘How are things go-ing?’ ” she said. “I will always care about how our program is doing. I wanted to make sure they (student competitors) knew that I didn’t abandon them.”

Valdivia describes the life of a speech and debate coach as a lonely one.

“Forensics is not for the weak-of-heart. You give up a personal life; that’s probably why I’m single,” she said. She typically fields calls and emails from students, regardless of the time of day. “Most people would not understand my lifestyle.”

- Greg Leonov

“I thought it was neat and kind of fun that I got the award,” he said.

Inspired by the award-show sea-son, Marks even wrote an acceptance speech for his “captive audience.”

After nearly 30 years on the MHCC campus, Marks said he still hasn’t got-ten bored. He enjoys learning from in-structors he meets, he said, and “I like interacting with the students.

“I think I have a good mix of being able to deal with the equipment pretty

good... but also being sociable,” he said.A big challenge for him is to keep

pace with new technology. “The changes keep coming faster and fast-er,” but he’s been curious all his life and isn’t afraid to pick something up and figure out how it works, he said.

Those talents help explain why Marks calls his position at MHCC a “good fit.”

- Katelyn Hilsenbeck

Weigel said she has received “pret-ty good” feedback on the center’s work so far.

“It’s not just because of me. It’s largely because we have so many great students working in here. It makes people come in and feel a little more comfortable, knowing there’s a fel-low student who’s gone through what they’re going through,” she said.

Open registration for Spring Term opens Monday, so Weigel said the cen-ter is ramping up.

It’s often new students’ first stop after they take placement tests. Weigel

and center workers discuss students’ unique situations so they are not over-loaded and can succeed in college.

“We aim to keep it friendly and exciting... but with a little dose of re-ality,” she said of the initial college ex-perience, for many.

The center offers help navigating the MyMHCC portal, registering for classes, applying for graduation and other assistance.

It is in Room AC 1002, at the far south end of the Main Mall.

- Katelyn Hilsenbeck

ValdiviaContinued from page 1

MarksContinued from page 1

WeigelContinued from page 1

Orientation center, ‘friendly,’ ‘exciting’

Sociable, technology savy

Gives up personal life for speech team Japanese students compare 2 culturesby Greg LeonovThe Advocate

Exchange students from Ryokoku University in Japan, attending Mt. Hood this month, have enjoyed their stay in the Pacific Northwest despite the wet climate.

“Very rainy,” said Kyohei Yam-agishi, one of the exchange students, about the soggy weather. Yamagishi noted that most residents here don’t use umbrellas.

Still, he rates the experience highly: “Being here, it awesome. Very good place.”

The students do find the food in America very different, Yamagishi said. Even items that are considered “Japanese” here are, in reality, foreign to the visiting students, he said. Cali-fornia rolls were an exotic discovery when students went out to have sushi.

“I miss Japanese food,” he said.Table etiquette in the U.S. is

sometimes a challenge. In Japan it is acceptable to slurp food, something considered rude in the U.S. That has caused some amusing incidents for the exchange students, a guide said.

“I think we went and got them burritos once, and they somehow managed to slurp a burrito,” said Jus-tin Sage, a Japanese language student who volunteers to help students nav-igate their way around the Northwest.

Interaction between the exchange students and their English helpers helps build language skills for both groups, Sage explained. “I can have full conversations with them in Japa-nese, and they’ll correct me or laugh at me because I do it wrong, and then I’ll reply in English, and correct their

English,” he said.“They can sometimes be awk-

ward, so there’s a little bit of silence,” said Elisa Simon, another helper and Japanese language student. “I just like to listen to what they have to say first, because it is important for them to try and learn how to speak Eng-lish.”

While neither group has mastered its second language, the exchange students are grateful to converse with the helper students, and according to Yamagishi, their Japanese is very good. “I appreciate it,” he said.

Exchange students have noticed other significant cultural differences.

Japanese people don’t like to hug. According to Tsukasa Okabayashi, another exchange student, “Ameri-can couple is very close, but Japanese couple is not close.” In Japan, in-dividuals don’t express their senti-mentalities through physical contact, he said.

Eye contact is another distinctive

slice of American culture not com-monly found in Japan, Yamagishi said.

Yuka Inoue was not very pleased to note that in America, the toilet and the shower are in the same room. They are “definitely separate” back home, she said.

The exchange students arrived from Japan on Feb. 15 and are due to return March 10. During their time in the Northwest so far, they have gone to Café Delirium, downtown Portland, and Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

The group did some silkscreen printing on campus, and are antici-pating having a culture table set up in the Student Union to celebrate a Culture Introduction Day on Tuesday.

Mt. Hood’s helper students have been enjoying the experience. “They’re all great people,” said Ben Dougherty, another Japanese lan-guage student, about the visitors. “They’re a lot of fun to hang out with, and I think it’s been a great experi-ence for both parties,” said Sage.

Students from Ryokoku University in Japan are visiting MHCC until they depart on March 10.

Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Feb. 28, 2014

Feb. 28, 2014 7Sports

Timbers ready for big season

Women’s basketball season hit with adversity

by Q QuartermanThe Advocate

The Mt. Hood women’s basketball team played its final game of the year against the Umpqua Riverhawks last Saturday. The home game also paid tribute to sophomores who played their last game in a Saints uniform.

In a familiar ending this winter, it

was Umpqua who celebrated, while Mt. Hood absorbed a deflating loss but also tried to look for positives.

Final score: Umpqua, 99-67, drop-ping the Saints’ overall season mark to 2-23 – for a second straight year.

Destined for the NWAACC cham-pionship tournament this week, the Riverhawks wound up atop the South Region with a 10-2 record, having clinched the division title prior to the tip-off.

The Saints, who ended (0-12) in league, fought hard, showing tough-ness and a willingness to compete. They trailed at halftime, but only 46-42.

But in a game with eight lead

changes and five ties, early on, the con-sistent play of the Riverhawks’ inside-out game was too much in the second half. The lead would continue to grow and it soon became time to embrace the individuals who sweated, worked hard, gave up their time and devoted their bodies to Mt. Hood this season.

The Saints players, after shaking hands with the Riverhawks, were seen smiling, hugging and crying. That in-cluded several departing veterans.

One was Megan Nelson, a sopho-more forward who improved her game tremendously from her freshman year. She increased statically in steals and blocks, and jumped from .5 points per game to 4.3, and from 1.63 rebounds per game to 4.4.

”I wish we could have been able to start the season off better than we did, but we don’t know why (not),” Nelson said. “We have talked about it, and we are great friends off the court and have great chemistry – just can’t duplicate it on the court,” she said.

Sophomore guard Chanel Celis was a key contributor early on, but suffered a knee injury and couldn’t return to ac-tion after playing in 10 games.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Seever, who began the season hot, led the Saints with 2.1 steals per game but had to miss a few games and practices due to a con-cussion suffered during practice.

Sophomore guard Whitney War-ren proved to be a mainstay, leading the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game.

Before the season, Mt. Hood was counting on eight returning players. Unforeseen circumstances prevented that from happening, however.

The burden fell on the core group of four sophomores, praised by Tyler Rose, first-year head coach of the Saints.

“With these (four), I am proud of how hard they were willing to work and (how they) accepted their roles,” Rose said.

“Alyssa, by far, was our most im-proved; Chanel was on her way to a terrific year before injury; Whitney was our most consistent player; and Megan was our hardest worker on and off the court,” he said.

“They stuck by the changes and what we tried to accomplish; they rode out the bad and continued to show signs

of how bad they wanted it” despite the losing skid, said Rose.

Rose said Warren has a future after Mt. Hood, and he’s helping her find a fit with a four-year program.

“Whitney will be playing next year, and we are looking heavily at the NAIA level, and the possibility of walking on” at the Division II level of the NCAA, he said. Warren has been in touch with several schools and will narrow her choices in the next month, he said.

As for the Saints program, the fu-ture also holds hope, given the play of freshmen Marley Yates, Taylor Scott, Alana Wilson and Shadow Kendrick, and also the late arrival of sharp-shooter Sarah Szot, who started for Mt. Hood late in the season.

Rose said he doesn’t yet have a read on next year, but is optimistic that players will be eager to take on new challenges.

“Every season at this level pres-ents a new start. It is hard to take and carry over a year when half of your team leaves,” he said, regarding the turnover each two-year college program faces. “The winning will come in time, but for (returning players) to fight through a tough year and be ready to have the next one approach shows us that we are ready to grow.”

Yates, the Saints’ second-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game, led all freshmen and for most of the year was Mt. Hood’s top scorer. She also grabbed 5 rebounds per game.

Scott who averaged 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds a game, emerged as a spark off the bench, eventually starting by season’s end.

Wilson also added 6.1 points per game and was the most versatile player for the Saints, with her speed, ability to handle the ball full-court under pres-sure, and attack off the catch.

And, freshman Hannah Wahlers took over the point guard responsi-bilities after Celis was lost to injury. Wahlers averaged 4.4 points per game, shot 14-15 from free-throw line for 90 percent, and notched 2.6 assists per game.

“All of these athletes have some growing still to do as individuals and as a team,” Rose said.

“If they learn to take care of the little things, then next year will be a

lot of fun for them. Marley is extremely talented and when we get a post player that compliments her abilities, then we will be able to utilize her skills a lot bet-ter than this season.

“Taylor had her ups and downs, but she is a competitor and will definitely feed off of the energy that we will bring next season. Hannah has some work to do on her offensive game, but she is always ready to take on any challenges without fear or doubt.

“Alana can become a great defen-sive weapon for us because she never stops and always disrupts her op-ponents,” Rose said. And freshman Shadow Kendrick “will also be a key to our success next season because she showed a lot of signs of strength and determination to improve all year long,” he said.

Rose said the Saints players must take steps mentally, as well as physi-cally, to build their program.

“The difficulty lied in their reac-tions to the games… getting them to believe that they were better than how they performed at times,” Rose said. “Basketball is truly a team game, and when the players just focused on them-selves, it really showed how hard it was to beat another team.”

He said he wants players to know they have steady support, no matter what the win-loss record may show. Still, it was tough for them to not see effort translate into victories.

“Going winless (in the South Re-gion) didn’t bother me as much as it did them, because I believe in what I teach and the players I am teaching, all the way to the end,” he said.

by Cameron MillerThe Advocate

The fourth Major League Soccer season for the Portland Timbers kicks off on March 8.

The Timbers come off a historic 2013 season, where they made their first MLS playoff appear-ance, reaching the semi-finals. First-year head coach Caleb Porter turned them around from a dismal 2012 season into a dangerous competitor for the MLS Cup.

This offseason, Portland has made numerous changes to its roster, including parting ways with a few key defensive and offensive players, such as Mikael Silvestre, David Horst, and Sal Zizzo.

New additions have been heavily on the offen-sive side of the ball, much like the past season. In the second half of 2013, the Timbers signed Maxi-milliano Urruti, from Argentina, to play in a striker position alongside countryman Diego Valeri.

This year, they’ve added two more high-power threats in the attacking half by signing Steve Za-kuani, a former Seattle Sounders rival, and an-other Argentinian, Gaston Fernandez. The one key defensive signing in the offseason has been the addition of central defender Norberto Paparatto.

It is clear now, the chief question will not be if the Timbers can score goals, but rather, can they

defend against them? The diversity of attacking threats is impressive and effective, as shown in the 2013 campaign. But, Portland’s shortcomings were of the defensive type: Mistakes, mishaps and injuries were the major reasons for Real Salt Lake eliminating the Timbers from the playoffs in No-vember.

This season, the Timbers look defensively to Michael Harrington, returning from a call-up to the U.S. National Team; Pa Modou Kah and Mama-dou “Futty” Danso; and combinations of key play-ers, including Paparatto, veteran Jack Jewsbury, and newcomer Alvas Powell. This year’s defensive front must prove its worth this season.

Portland’s biggest challenge this season will be avoiding falling behind early in matches. In 2013 the Timbers came away from matches with draws too many times, especially at home. They must find a remedy this year in order to advance further in the MLS Cup chase.

It also will be necessary for Caleb Porter to find the right combination of players in the starting eleven early in the season.

Consistency will be key if Portland is looking to establish itself yet again in the Western Con-ference. This, along with the defensive front, de-pends on how healthy the roster can stay through-out the season, however. In the past two years, the Timbers have suffered multiple season-ending injuries to impact players – primarily on the de-fensive side of the ball.

One thing that we know for sure, is that the midfield play should remain very strong. The tan-dem of Will Johnson and Diego Chara has worked

very well for Caleb Porter and the versatility the coach has at his disposal is almost even more threatening. Depending on the style or situation in any game, Porter can choose to place Valeri, lead-ing goal scorer Darlington Nagbe, or substitute Ka-lif Alhassan into the mix.

Once again, the attacking side of the ball is shored up well enough to count on frequent scor-ing, but matching the style of play and abilities of

these players is still vital for the team’s success.On the defensive side, following two years of

crippling injuries, Portland cannot afford to lose any depth, where one bad mishap might cost it the ultimate prize.

With the Timbers’ good run through the MLS Cup playoffs last year, their goal this season should be nothing less than making it to the Finals and bringing home the trophy.

If they learn to take care of the little things, then next year will be a lot of fun for them.

Tyler RoseHead coach

Saints finish (2-23, 0-12), have work to do this off-season

Photos by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Left: Freshman Shadow Kendrick drives to the hoop with a Chemeketa defender on her on Feb 5. Above: Sophomore Whitney Warren pulls up for an outside jumpshot with a Chemeketa defender in her face.

Web Photo

by Brandon RaleighThe Advocate

Despite a hiccup leading into the All-Star break, this season has been a success for the Port-land Trail Blazers.

After a 44-point blowout victory over the Brooklyn Nets, Portland ranks third in the NBA’s Western Conference with a record of (40-18), as of Thursday.

The question is no longer if the Blazers will make the playoffs, but how far will the Blazers go in the playoffs?

Portland has been on a tear from the offensive end this season, leading the league with an aver-age of 107.9 points per game. The Blazer defense has been far less impressive, as it has allowed 103.0 points a game this season, which ranks 25th out of 30 teams. And the inability to hold their op-ponent on the offensive end has many questioning the Blazers’ ability to be a championship contend-ing team.

Last week, we saw Portland stay put at the NBA trade deadline. This is the first time since 2005 that the Blazers didn’t make a move at the deadline, but not making a trade may have been a smart choice. It means they will keep their great team chemistry, and with a strong record this sea-son, a deal wasn’t necessary.

That being said, I think a deal could only have helped Portland’s chance of going far in

the playoffs.I would have liked seeing Portland trade for ei-

ther Spencer Hawes (swapped by the Philadelphia 76ers at the deadline, to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a couple of second-round draft picks, Henry Sims and Earl Clark) or Houston Rockets big man Omer Asik, who was rumored to be moved before the deadline, but ended up staying put.

Hawes would have been a nice pickup for Port-land because he is an athletic big man who could back up starting center Robin Lopez and bring his proven scoring ability to beef up Port-land’s mediocre bench. I would have vot-ed to trade away backup big man Mey-ers Leonard and some future second round draft picks to make that deal.

Asik would have been a phenomenal addition for the Blazers, as he would have greatly strengthened Port-land’s defense. I would have traded Leonard, backup guard Mo Williams and future draft picks to Houston to get Asik.

With the deadline now passed, Portland still has a chance to improve its lineup by signing a free agent to a 10-day contract or, if he works out well, a longer contract for the remainder of the season.

With Leonard and Joel Freeland out for ex-tended games (both are suffering injury) right now, signing a big man is crucial for the already-

thin Blazers.Clark, having been let go by Philadelphia,

would have been a nice pickup for Portland. The 6-foot, 10-inch forward could have made an im-mediate impact. But he was signed by the New York Knicks, after being released from the 76ers soon after the deadline day trade.

Still, of Portland’s 24 remaining games, I

see Portland winning 19. That would put the Blaz-ers at a record of 59-23, which would nearly guar-antee a home-court advantage come playoff time. And the Blazers have proven they are tough to beat at home, winning 75 percent of their games at the Moda Center this season.

If the Blazers can improve their play on the defensive end and get home-court advantage, I

believe that they can legitimately contend for an NBA title this season.

Sports8 Feb. 28, 2014

Saints’ run falls short in Salem

Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Portland’s postseason relies on chemistry

The question is no longer if the Blazers will make the playoffs, but how far will the Blazers go in the

playoffs?

by Aaron MarshallThe Advocate

Mt. Hood’s men’s basketball season came to an abrupt end Monday, with a tough loss to Chemeketa Community College.

The 101-93 loss to the Storm left the Saints one game short of their goal of making the NWAACC playoffs.

The special play-in game for fourth place in the South Region was played in Salem, after Mt. Hood and Chemeketa both finished 9-5 in confer-ence play.

“I’m really disappointed for the guys, we put a lot of time into this season and had some close games. And to be one game out of the league tour-nament is tough,” said Geoff Gibor. Mt. Hood head coach.

In the high-scoring game on Monday, the Saints had six different players in double-figure scoring; including sophomore center Mac Johnson, who finished with 24 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomores Landon Rushton, Brock Otis, Jalen Thomas and Denzel Green scored 17, 13, 12 and 11 points while freshman Oleg Marandyuk also added 10 points. Mt. Hood outshot Chemeketa from the field, 47 percent to 45 percent.

However, the Saints couldn’t contain Storm freshman guard Bryce White, who was recently named MVP of the South Region.

White finished with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists, tak-ing over the game for Chemeketa, hitting 13 of 14 free throws and mak-ing 9 of 19 shots from the field.

Gibor said the Saints defended well against White, but he scorched them, anyway. “He hit big shots all night. He’s just a very good player,” he said.

Mt. Hood start-ed with Otis guarding White, before he got into foul trouble. Marandyuk took a turn, but White continued to score.

Storm freshmen Jordan Ewell and Kevin Brazille added 18 and 17 points, while Ewell grabbed 10 rebounds.

The big game-changer for the Saints was their struggle at the free throw line. The team shot just 55 percent, making only 20 of 36 free throws, while the Storm made 21 of 24.

After trailing 56-44 at half time, the Saints mounted a comeback that fell short.

Last Saturday, in the team’s last regular sea-son game and on Sophomore Night, Mt. Hood came ready to play and crushed Umpqua Commu-nity College, 104-89, in Gresham.

Shooting 58 percent, the Saints were in control from the get-go, with six players scoring in double figures.

.Johnson led the team with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Otis had 19 points and eight re-bounds. This past week, Johnson hauled in several NWAACC honors, as he named to first team all-league team, was named co-Defensive Player of the Year and selected to the league’s all-defensive

team. Ending the season at (20-8 overall, 9-5 in divi-

sion play), the Saints improved from last season (11-15, 7-7). But, not making the playoffs with a sophomore-loaded roster was a crushing blow.

“We didn’t reach our full potential. Our main goal was to make it to NWAACC’s and we didn’t make it when we had the talent to do it,” said Rushton.

Mt. Hood saw several close wins and losses, stumbling a bit after a fast start. By January, the team had recorded a 10-game winning streak and even won multiple tournaments. On Dec. 28, Mt. Hood even carried the NWAACC’s best team, Clark

College (which finished the year 24-1 overall) to double overtime on the road.

Even so, players also found reason to celebrate their time to-gether.

“We came up short on what we wanted to accomplish. But playing here was a positive ex-perience,” Rushton said.

“I have gained many friendships with some great people. I have learned to compete for everything 100 percent in all that I do because people don’t get the same opportunity as me,” he said. “Failure is the first step in reach-ing your ambitions and dreams.”

Thomas, another sophomore, said the season “was definitely a

learning experience and eye-opener.” He credited freshman players for pushing the sophomores to improve.

Rushton and Thomas are among seven sopho-

mores who will move on after finishing their time as Saints.

“It was fun, we had sophomores at every po-sition and they matured a lot from last season,” Gibor said.

“We struggled in league play but the guys battled all season. Growth was the main thing for them,” Gibor said. “They will take away more life skills than basketball skills from here and usually that’s normal. These guys never quit, they were fighters.”

The Saints now have seven freshmen on the roster and four red-shirt players who might return next year. Both Marandyuk and freshman Kylelle Brown were the only first-year players who saw

significant action this season.“Off-season workouts are going to be huge

for the freshman. Oleg and Kylelle have already shown me that they’re fighters,” Gibor said.

Gibor credited the entire Saints team for its grit this year.

“I feel terrible about not making the playoffs. I put that on myself,” he said. “We had seven sophomores and the best big man around (John-son). It sucks, we’ve been working hard since last summer, but I’m proud of what they accomplished this season.

“These guys busted their butts and they never let a team blow them out. You can’t say that about most teams.”

Photo by Carole Riggs - The Advocate

Above: Sophomore Jalen Thomas drives to the rim against Chemeketa defenders on Feb 5. He finished with 12 points Monday against the Storm in their play-in game. Left: Sophomore Mac Johnson cuts along the baseline for a shot.

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