Septembre Russell

Copy Editor

Starting February 17, 2009, televisions all over the country will begin to run  on digital signals. As a result of the switch to digital, the Linfield administration decided students should receive an upgraded
cable service.

“Students that had older TVs would have had problems getting service anyway,” Director of Residence Life Jeff Mackay said. “[The upgrade] provided a higher level of service and also added menu options.”

Comcast Cable Corporation issued residence halls and on-campus apartments digital cable boxes featuring the Starter Cable Service package. Channel choices are now more extensive. The package comes with Music Choice channels as well as additional video channels, such as FEARnet and MOVIEplex.  Channels like Home Box Office that do not come with the Starter Cable Service package, but are still available to students, though they will be charged for them.

Included with Comcast Digital Cable is On Demand. On Demand features a variety of programming that adds flexibility to students’ viewing experience. Students should exercise caution when selecting On Demand programs, as only some of them are free with the provided digital cable service, Business Services Group representative Kimberly Jackson said.

Comcast Cable Corporation technician Eddie Gil said students should also note they are part of a bulk account that usually cannot order Pay Per View channels. That is reserved for upgraded accounts, which are billed individually.

If students wish to upgrade their service, they are encouraged to call the Comcast Cable Corporation office. Students can call for Pay Per View movies unless they have an upgraded package.  If so, then they can order right out of their room, Gil said.

In the future, the digital cable upgrade will be reflected in Linfield’s room rates. 

Comcast will be returning to campus at the semester’s end to collect boxes and hardware in a manner similar to the way they were distributed. Fines will be administered to students who damage or lose Comcast property. A lost or damaged cable box will run $160 and the charge for a lost remote is $5.

HBO may not have been provided, but the presence of digital cable is a priviledge not lost on students.

“It’s a pretty good deal, more like home,” freshman Louie Labate said. Any technical questions, concerns about billing and  updrade options should be directed to Comcast.

Lizzie Martinez

Senior reporter

Freshman Sami Keim’s challenge to the class of 2012 won her recognition at the Sept. 2 convocation and a free semester’s worth of books. Keim won first place in the third annual freshman summer creative project contest.

The contest encourages incoming freshman students to submit a work responding to the Colloquium book, “Three Cups of Tea.”

Keim wrote an essay entitled “A Call to Action,” asking Linfield students, especially the freshman, to step out of their comfort zone and follow in Greg Mortenson’s footsteps.

“A lot of people read about other people, but one of the biggest problems I see is that nobody does anything,” Keim said. “I am challenging people to do something.”

She encouraged students to donate

$1 to Mortenson’s crusade to bring education to remote regions of the Middle East. In some regions, as little as $1 per day can pay a teacher’s daily salary.

“I think people, especially college students, get consumed with what they’re doing at the moment,” Keim said. “It doesn’t take much time to help people.”

Freshman Alyssa Peterson won second place and a $100 gift certificate to the Linfield bookstore. Her PowerPoint presentation, “A Key to Peace is Education,” emphasized the radical effect education has on people’s lives.

Two other students were awarded Recognition Awards and $50 gift certificates to the bookstore. Freshman Jenna Johnson was recognized for her complementary essay and painting titled “A Journey of Many Steps,” pictured to the right. Freshman Hilary Hastings also earned an award for her essay, “The Power of Five,” detailing the five things she learned from the text. ”

Lizzie Martinez

Senior reporter 

After a summer of reading about Greg Mortenson’s crusade to change the world through education in “Three Cups of Tea,” freshmen had the opportunity to hear and meet the co-author of the book, David Oliver Relin, at the Sept. 2 convocation.

“Three Cups of Tea” was chosen for the freshman summer reading program because it is a compelling story, readable, relatable and builds on the idea of a personal journey, Director of Academic Advising Kate Elias said. Elias, along with other faculty, staff and students, felt the book exemplified themes of international experience and the importance of education.

“[The book shows] one man’s ability to make a change for the world,” Elias said. “It shows the individual power of one person.”

In the third year of the summer reading program, the new book succeeds Paul Farmer’s account of his efforts to bring affordable medical care to Haiti in his book “Mountains Beyond Mountains.”

Elias said “Three Cups of Tea” is more relatable because Mortenson has flaws, unlike Paul Farmer; Mortenson did not set out to change the world but came to that conclusion later in life.

“Freshman year is the time in your life when you start for the first time actively thinking about the world around you in a critical fashion,” Assistant Professor of Political Science Pat Cottrell, said. “The overarching message Relin would want students to take away is that one person can do a lot in making the world a better place.”

The book centers on Mortenson’s life-changing experience when he stumbled into an impoverished village in Pakistan. Mortenson had wandered away from his guide after failing to reach the summit of K2 and was in a critical state of health. After he recovered, he discovered the schoolchildren were studying on a dirt floor, using sticks as pencils, and that the town couldn’t afford to pay for a teacher.

Mortenson vowed to return and build a school. It took years but he did it, and went on to build 54 more, furthering the education of 24,000 students. This compelling story, co-authored by Mortenson and Relin, went on to win awards all over the world.

Sophomore Dayna Tapp said she enjoyed meeting Relin. When she told him she was an elementary education major, he encouraged her to pursue her dreams in the field. In her copy of “Three Cups of Tea,” he wrote, “Dayna, education really can change the world. Go get ‘em.”

“I was very excited to get my book signed,” Tapp said. “I had heard great things about the book. It was inspiring. I thought I could have an adventure, too, someday.”

For Cottrell, the book and the speech hammered home important points about fighting terrorism with education. Cottrell emphasized Relin’s use of slides, which facilitated the audience in connecting with a region geographically and culturally far removed from a private college in Oregon.

“You have this inspired portrayal of an individual who is singlehandedly illuminating an alternative that has great long-term potential to eroding the roots of terrorism,” Cottrell said. “This is a testament to what passion and engagement can do.”

For students wondering how to connect Mortenson’s crusade to their own backyard, Cottrell and Elias both encourage students to get involved in their own community.

Cottrell said people who are involved are generally happier and more successful in the long run.

Dominic Baez

Managing Editor

Continuing from spring semester, a plethora of crimes, including thefts and break-ins, carried through the summer months into the beginning of fall.

Director of Campus Safety Mike Dressel said the majority of the crimes were car related, which differed from the office and residence hall break-ins that were commonplace on campus during the last school year. 

“We believe there were two or three [people] involved, with one of them having an extensive record,” Dressel said.

Neither Linfield Campus Safety nor the McMinnville Police Department, though, were able to capture the criminals. However, that does not mean the crimes went unpunished.

“We almost caught him a couple of times, and then he was arrested in another county on similar charges,” Dressel said. “He is in jail at the moment, I believe. I also believe one of the others was arrested in Yamhill County on other charges. He too, I believe, is in jail.”

Dressel said he advises that students remain conscious of locking their cars, leaving nothing visible inside them, checking their cars every day and to report any concerns to LCS immediately.

“LCS is getting several calls a day now as a result of our ‘Call Now’ program, and we are investigating suspicious persons,” he said. 

The “Call Now” program started last year in order to increase student awareness and participation in protecting the campus from suspicious persons. “We are asking all students to carry their Linfield ID and to present [it] when asked,” Dressel said. “It will help us to identify those we don’t want around campus and help us to protect students and their possessions.”

Amber McKenna

Editor in chief

Linfield student Sumner Thomas will be remembered after his tragic death last month. The memorial will be held on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 4 p.m.

Thomas, 18, died by his own hand Aug. 11 in his hometown of Boonville, Calif.

Before transferring to Linfield last spring as a sophomore, Thomas attended Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., and completed his college preparatory work at Midland School in Santa Barbara County, Calif.

Thomas was a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

“He was a positive guy who wanted to get along with everybody,” junior Evan Hiles, Kappa Sigma president, said. “The impact he had after only being here a semester is impressive.”

Thomas came to Linfield to play midfield on the lacrosse team. Along with lacrosse, he also liked underground rap music, playing basketball for fun and being active overall.  His friends agreed he was an engaging person with a full-speed-ahead approach to life.

“As long as he was with his friends, he loved just hanging out,” Hiles said.

Associate Professor of Education Bob McCann was Thomas’ advisor. Thomas was a strong student who intended to major in elementary education with a minor in Spanish and had planned to go abroad to Costa Rica for a semester, McCann said.

Chaplain David Massey is planning a memorial service for Thomas with the help of members of the lacrosse team, the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and other students. The service will not be formal, Massey said. It will be held outside at a location that is yet to be decided. Students will share stories about Thomas, and a tree will be planted in his memory as part of the ceremony.

Massey said the aim of the service is to express gratitude for Thomas’ life as well as offer those who knew him the opportunity to remember the vibrant young man he was.

“Tragic deaths are hard,” Massey said. “It’s important to gather together and support one another as we move forward.”

Katie Paysinger

News Editor

The newest school in McMinnville, Sue Buel Elementary, has opened its doors just off the Linfield campus.

Sue Buel is a green, or “high-performance,” school and has recently been named Oregon’s first school to receive gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Standing amidst kindergartners eating lunch, principal Debrah Weiner assisted students with lining up to go back to class after enjoying lunch in the sunlit cafeteria.

“This is a big deal because we now have extended-day kindergarten,” Weiner said. “So they are all eating lunch here.”

The location Weiner is referring to is the massive cafeteria students and staff can now enjoy. Sue Buel is replacing Cook Elementary school, where eating lunch in the cafeteria involved going down to the basement, a great difference from the high ceilings and walls made of windows now in place.

The idea to make Sue Buel a “green” school came from the community.

“The parents and community were very vocal that they wanted an energy-efficient school,” Weiner said.

Buel is one of several projects McMinnville city voters approved in November 2006 by passing a $62 million bond.

As the kindergarteners marched out and the first graders marched into the cafeteria, they were welcomed by teaching assistants armed with bottles of hand sanitizer.  Every student got a squirt. The cleanliness, the concrete floors and huge, open spaces don’t necessarily add any warmth to the  space, but the smiles on the faces of students and staff show just how excited they are to be in the new facility.  

Weiner said she is excited about the proximity of the school to Linfield’s campus and the opportunities stemming from that.

Linfield students can get involved at Sue Buel by joining the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program. Beginning in mid-October, students can come in and read with children for an hour either Monday or Wednesday morning.           

Sophomore Maria Sandoval grew up in the McMinnville area and is eager to see how the new school will fit into the Linfield community.

“I definitely think that students at a young age should be exposed to college-aged students so they can get an idea of what it is like,” Sandoval said. “Hopefully it will create enthusiasm to pursue a college education.”

Buel is also in connection with Linfield’s education program and is working with the Foundations of Education class in the Education department. However, Weiner hopes the two schools will not only be connected by the education department.

“Can you imagine, say, if the soccer players invited the kids to watch a practice? Or we went to an art exhibit? Or a tour of the library?” Weiner said. “That would be huge. We are always looking for connections.”

 Sue Buel is located on Davis Street, behind the Linfield soccer field. Applications for SMART and to be a coordinator can be picked up at the elementary school or by going to www.getsmartoregon.org.