Volume 33 Issue 2 December 5, 2016

Triton Review
The

An independent student voice since 1973

On the Cover: In this Issue:

The post-election fireside chat in Brier Hall News p. 2-7
united the campus. But how do we move
forward as a united community? Diverse Voices p. 8-9
Opinion p. 10-11
The Triton Review explores and answers
questions about diversity, unity, political
Local p. 12-13
activism and social injustice. A&E p. 14-16
 2 News December 5, 2016

Winter has come, but October is here to stay

By Tallie Durland
Staff Writer

Anthropology Professor Thomas Mur-

phy cares deeply about nature.
Recently, in Alderwood Hall with
friends and colleagues Zachary Bigelow
and Dave Beckham, he faced a question
that hit home: Why does the connection
between people and plants matter?
Murphy thought for a moment and si-
lence filled the room before he answered.
Finally, he leaned forward in his swiveling
office chair and spoke.
“When you look at Grandmother Ce-
dar, she was here before us.”
That idea of revered respect for nature,
from the oldest cedar to the youngest rose,
impacts all of Murphy’s work - from teach-
ing EdCC anthropology classes to nature-
based service learning activities and sum-
mer canoe trips with tribal elders.
“In fact,” he continued, “there were
cedars here when the first Europeans came;
they’re still here. They’re the same trees.
Those trees actually have stories to tell.
They don’t speak English - at least, not
when I talk to them.” Photo by Kyle Whitmer
October Glory, or Acer rubrum is located between Lynnwood, Mukilteo, and Snohomish Halls. It is one of many trees
He went on to explain how, if not
around campus and Gold Park with an identifying plaque.
through the English language, trees tell
their stories. “Sometimes, those stories are “When we’re harvesting that bark gardless of whether the tree actually hears dent and member of the Snohomish tribe,
written in their bark, in the shape of the from the tree, the elders tell us … We have you or not,” Murphy said. “When that re- and the last from another student who
tree,” Murphy said. “You have to learn to to ask permission of the tree,” Murphy lationship is established, I care. I care what wanted her tree to “have a new life.”
listen.” said. happens to that tree.” Murphy passed the remaining wood
Elders also instruct students to give the Treehuggers who shared this senti- on to Dave Beckham, who enlisted his en-
Passion tree an offering in exchange for its bark. ment united to build the EdCC Cultural gineering students to design and construct
For example, one student took soft cedar Kitchen (located on the Campus Commu- chairs and workbenches of the remaining
One way Murphy teaches his anthro- wood and shaped it into a small, beautiful nity Farm). wood.
pology students to listen is through sum- rose. Murphy recalls the story of each of the
mer canoe trips. “Culturally, when you stop and ask three trees used to build the kitchen, one
Local tribes make canoes out of cedar- permission, it changes your relationship - it donated from an Everett Community Col- October continued on page 10
wood for the journey. makes a much more stable relationship, re- lege colleague, another from a former stu-

Chief’s Notes
Have story ideas?
Is something going on around campus?
Thomas Common
Comments on stories? Editor-in-Chief
- Letters to the editor are a good way to After a divisive election season, I’ve
let us know what’s working and what’s not. heard from many individuals, regardless of
political orientation, that they are afraid to
express themselves for fear of retaliation.
revedic@edcc.edu The importance of our communities
coming together cannot be overstated. Be-
fore we can unite as one nation, first we
need to find common ground. Often, we
have more in common with our neighbors
than people halfway across the country.
I implore you, spend time this winter
sincerely examining yourself and your be-
liefs.
If you don’t feel comfortable express-
ing a thought, consider whether it is in line
with the person you want to be. America is
great because no one has a right to silence
you. We can only silence ourselves.

A Student Publication of Section Editors Business Manager Faculty Advisor

Edmonds Community College Opinion Editor Justin Bisacky Rob Harrill
20000 68th Ave W. Ian Moffet revbusma@edcc.edu rob.harrill@edcc.edu
Lynnwood, WA 98036 Tritonopinion@gmail.com
425.640.1315 Copy Editor Staff Writers
News Editor Rel Konot Cecil Touzet, Tallie Durland, Zarina
Editor-in-Chief Thomas Common relvkonot@gmail.com Tolagayeva, Khina Kotriakhova, Liza
Thomas Common Revedic@edcc.edu Efmovskaia, Denny Tan, Kasanita Lindell,
Revedic@edcc.edu Photographers Evan Walker, T.H. Sargent, Kyle Whitmer
A&E Editor Kyle Whitmer
Tara Pegasus k.whitmer4662@edmail.edcc.edu
tarapegasus@gmail.com

The Triton Review is a student-written and -produced newspaper for Edmonds Community College and the surrounding community. The opinions expressed in the Triton Review
do not necessarily reflect the views of the Triton Review staff or of the college.
Mission Statement
The Triton Review is a student-run newspaper at Edmonds Community College that serves the student readership by reporting on issues and events as they relate to the campus
community and by supporting the open exchange of a diverse range of viewpoints and opinions.
The Triton Review strives to be impartial in its reporting and adheres firmly in its First Amendment rights.

Newspaper Policy
1. The Triton Review covers issues and events as they relate to the Edmonds Community College campus community and surrounding areas.
2. The Triton Review editorial staff reserves the right to comment editorially on any issues the staff finds newsworthy and important.
3. The Triton Review resists the influence of advertisers or special interest groups on the selection of news content or editorial expression.
4. The Triton Review will consider for publication signed letters to the editor or contributed opinion pieces reflecting student opinion on relevant topics, as well as those of other
on or off-campus constituents when submitted according to publication guidelines.
5. The Triton Review strives to uphold State and Federal Laws and Edmonds Community College policies, particularly the Office of Student Life Code of Ethics and the Society
of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics.

Letters to the Editor

The Triton Review welcomes letters to the editor. Letters submitted should be no more than 400 words, signed legibly, and accompanied by a phone number in order to verify
authenticity. Some letters may not be printed due to limited space, because they are similar to other letters received on the same subject, are potentially libelous, or are illegible. The
Triton Review reserves the right to edit letters.

Ready, SET, go! New building coming to EdCC
By Evan Walker
Staff Writer
As EdCC’s Facilities Master Plan
kicks into gear in the coming years, the
look of campus as we know it will change
with a new SET building and major reno-
vations to existing buildings, walkways,
parking and landscaping
The SET building, short for Science,
Engineering & Technology, is the center-
piece of the current Facilities Master Plan
(FMP) at Edmonds Community College.
The project has been years in planning -
early estimates had the project finished by
2017.
According to multiple departments on
campus the main holdup has been securing
approval for funding from the State Board
for Community and Technical Colleges.
With the final phase of funding fully
expected to pass, onlookers are optimistic
construction will start in 2017.
Completion of the SET building
will set in motion several other impact-
ful changes around campus, primarily
from the sheer amount of useable space it
will create, relieving pressure from other
crowded areas.
The building will bring 4,100-square-
feet of faculty office space, enough for 39
offices.
Faculty will move here from Alder-
wood Hall, allowing the second floor of
Alderwood to be repurposed into Student
Services.
Along with the 39 offices, the
SET building will offer a much needed
1,344-square-feet for 24 adjunct worksta-
tions.
TOGETHER
WE WILL
Attend A trAnsfer InformAtIon sessIon!
To register visit: www.uwb.edu/admissions/transfer
www.uwb.edu
The new SET building will be placed north of Mountlake Terrace Hall and east of Snoqualmie Hall sometime in the next
3 years, if funding is approved by the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
A new 1000-square-foot computer lab
will also take pressure off the library and
Alderwood Hall to fit more computers,
which is a growing concern.
Renovations and expansions are
planned for the Triton Student Center in
Brier Hall. Several classes from the first
floor of Brier will be relocated to the SET
building, freeing up more room for the Stu-
dent Center.
The new building adds 10 large,
lecture-hall-sized classrooms of 1008-to-
1200-square-feet that will meet the needs
of evolving programs and future academic
adaptability.
425.352.5000
The SET building will bring new a
way of life for many on campus. “It will
really impact nursing,” said Kyra McCoy,
the Nursing program director. Classes from
the Allied Health, Nursing Assistant, and
Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Math (STEM) programs will be held in the
new SET building.
The move can’t come soon enough.
“We’re limited as far as when we can
use labs. Right now we’re just on top of
each other,” said McCoy about having to
share labs and classroom time with Allied
Health.
“We will have a new state of the art
simulation lab,” continued McCoy. “That
would benefit not only my students but Al-
lied Health and also the community. We
have talked to some of our clinical part-
ners about coming in to use the lab, which
would be a way to strengthen partnerships
in the community.”
This falls in line with the aforemen-
tioned evolving academic programs and
a main academic priority of the FMP, to
strengthen partnerships outside the college
and improve career pathways for students.
“Any new curriculum decisions would
be of my hands,” said McCoy. That duty
goes to the State Board, but increased
classroom and lab space would give pro-
grams the potential to expand.
McCoy said this will offer “more edu-
cational opportunities for students, espe-
cially for continued education needs in the
community.”
According to studies in the FMP, the
overall full-time attendance for EdCC is
only projected to grow 1 percent through
2022. Even so, enrollment in STEM-relat-
ed fields has been disproportionately high-
er and expected to increase.
This reflects local demand as noted in
the FMP: “In recent years, the region has
seen significant growth and demand for
Allied Health, Science, Technology and
Math-related fields.” The SET building
will fix the pressing need to increase en-
rollment capacity for STEM programs.
The SET building will be
70,000-square-feet according to a Herald-
net article. It would take care of the cam-
pus growth needs for the next 10 years
based on FMP projections.
According to FMP estimates, the proj-
ect should be completed in the 2017-2019
biennium. Smart money would bet towards
the end of that timeframe.
Getting the SET building project un-
derway will be instrumental for the Facili-
ties Master Plan said Stephanie Teachman,
director of Facilities & Capital Projects, “It
will be huge in going forward; in order to
make the changes we need the open space.”
3
Photo by Schacht Aslani Architects
The Master Plan
The Facilities Master Plan consists of
a 10-year-plan and a Long Range Develop-
ment plan. Focusing on the 10-year-plan,
the campus will start to have a very dif-
ferent look and feel in the coming years
if the main strategies are implemented on
schedule.
Presently, the parking lot is a mad-
house during peak hours. Any student who
has spent 10, 20 or even 30 or more min-
utes waiting for a spot or been violently
cut off by another driver can attest to this.
Changes in the plans should alleviate this
issue.
The Community Transit turnaround is
“problematic.” It creates a divide between
the two main east parking lots. The Com-
munity Transit bus stop will be moved to a
more efficient location parallel to 68th St.
as part of the SET building project.
As for the two oldest buildings on
campus, Glacier Hall and Pilchuck Hall,
out with the old to make room for the new.
You may know them as the two old houses
in the middle of the east parking lot. Built
in 1941 they served the Army Relay Sta-
tion on the site 16 years before the school
was founded.
They are the first buildings used by the
college and will likely be gone in the next
two years, slated to be demolished to make
room for nearly 70 new parking spots.
These updates will create a large and
easy-to-navigate uniform grid for the east
parking lot. Along with some improve-
ments to pedestrian pathways through the
lot, it should improve safety and greatly
reduce competition for spots. To top it off,
some electric car charging stations should
pop up around student and staff parking
lots.
Foot traffic pathways will see some
significant changes as well. The main
north-to-south corridor on campus will be
redone, making it straight and continuous
across the length of the core of the campus.
Dense vegetation will be cut back
and cleared campus wide in effort to make
pathways safer and brighter. Some ma-
ture trees and art pieces may need to be
removed or relocated in order to make the
necessary updates.
With the major changes come smaller
ones to make the campus easier to traverse.
Older brick paths will be paved, electri-
cal box eyesores will be buried or moved,
wayfinding will be improved with more di-
rectional signs and maps, lighting on ancil-
lary pathways will be improved.
SET continued on page 5
 4 News
Student volunteers grow while helping others
By Zarina Tolagayeva
Staff Writer
There are many volunteers at Ed-
monds Community College, and they all
have their own stories.
Kelin Chloe Lang is one.
Lang recalled spending a month in a
rural area outside of Guizhou, China for a
nearly month. She spent time teaching and
accompanying local kids who were either
poor or alone.
“I did it because I wanted to make my
vacation meaningful and full of emotions,”
Lang said.
They normally went hiking everyday
after school. She learned a lot spending
time with the children. They were innocent
and they needed love. Her days with those
kids in the mountains were happy and free.
“I think rather than going on a trip dur-
ing the vacation, volunteer jobs enable me
to gain more experiences and have more
feelings,” Lang explained.
“The thing I like the most about volun-
teering is that helping others really devel-
ops yourself. When you see the smiles on
others’ faces, you will feel that it is nice to
be nice, but the hardest part is saying good-
bye … So many tears.”
Nadira Halimah is the volunteer co-
ordinator at EdCC. Though it is her first
quarter being the volunteer coordinator,
Halimah is enjoying every second of it.
“The best experience being a volun-
teer coordinator is meeting new volunteers
and making them friends,” she said.
Halimah connects college program-
mers with volunteers and often co-manag-
es campus events. She helped run Triton
Talks and the Welcome Back BBQ during
fall quarter.
She is in charge of basically every-
thing you can think of involving volun-
teers. “The exciting thing about being a
volunteer coordinator is that you interact a
lot with people, that is one of the top rea-
sons why I love what I do.”
Many people at EdCC want to become
a volunteer, but do not know how to start.
“If you want to become a volunteer,
you can talk to me or to the Global Volun-
teer Club,” Halimah advised.
“Enjoy the time when you are volun-
teering and, of course, make new friends.
Also, remember that you are being volun-
teering to help people.”
Sihan Lee has been a volunteer at
EdCC for almost one year and is an officer
of Global Volunteer Club.
“I want to learn more experiences and
help others. I also want to enrich my life
A look at education systems around the world
By Khina Kotriakhova
Staff Writer
“Education is the best friend. An ed-
ucated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth,”
Chanakya, an ancient Indian teacher, phi-
losopher, economist, jurist and royal advi-
sor, said.
Education plays a critical role in the
modern world.
It affects the spiritual, cultural, eco-
nomic and political development of soci-
ety. Some people devote their lives to aca-
demics.
Most Americans are familiar with how
the US’s educational system works, but
how different would it be to go to school
in Russia, Japan, Kazakhstan or the Philip-
pines?
The Russian educational system is
Student volunteers help pick up trash from campus grounds every week on Trashy Tuesday. Many students use this activity
as an opportunity to fulfill Service Learning credits required by many instructors to pass their class.
and to meet other people,” Lee said. “I
feel happy when I am a volunteer because
I help others. At the same time, I improve
myself.”
She started volunteering by help-
ing elementary school children with their
homework. Lee wanted to continue volun-
teering, and looked for more opportunities.
Then she found Global Volunteer Club.
“I really appreciate new volunteers. I
want to say that if we decide to do some-
thing we should do our best and enjoy it,”
Lee added.
Lang also tells everyone who wants to
be a volunteer they can start small, and as
the experience accumulates, they will de-
vote themselves to greater services.
Volunteering can be done in many
ways, so don’t think there aren’t enough
chances to volunteer. Lang volunteers for
individuals, her church and the environ-
ment.
Anna Nguyen helped out at Holly
House last year. While parents selected
presents for their children, she helped them
carry their bags.
Anna has also volunteered at EdCC.
“I think Halloween Dance was pretty awe-
considered one of the most complicated in
the world.
There are a few types of schools in
Russia, so parents and their children can
choose whether to attend a public school,
private school or a school with advanced
study of a certain subject. Private schools
require tuition. As a rule, students need to
wear a school uniform.
The school year in Russia contains
four quarters. The first one is from Sept.
1 to the end of October, the second is from
November to the end of December, the
third is from the middle of January to the
end of March and the fourth is from April
to the end of May.
Autumn and spring holidays are a
week long, while the winter break is two
weeks and summer break lasts for three
months.
The first of September is called the
some,” she said when describing her best
volunteer work. Anna really enjoyed help-
ing to decorate Brier Lobby. She learned
different ways to help other people and im-
proved her communication skills.
Another example is Omaira Cheng.
Cheng has been a volunteer for almost
seven years. The first time was when she
helped elderly people at the Elder Care
Centre in Hong Kong.
Her favorite time volunteering was
teaching elementary school kids their
homework. “It gives me an opportunity to
see life from a different perspective and
I learn more about what our community
needs nowadays.”
Naol Debele has more than 1400 re-
corded volunteer hours since 2014. His first
time was working with plants and animals
like a farmer, but the most interesting ex-
perience for Debele was the 5K Walk/Run.
He attended the committee meetings,
found more volunteers and helped with
setup. “I enjoy volunteering all the time,”
Debele said. “I like spending time with dif-
ferent people and working with the team.”
Chau Minh Nguyen was a tutor for at
Hazelwood Elementary School. “I had lots
Day of Knowledge, a time to come back to
school after summer holidays.
On this day, schools all over the coun-
try hold a festive lineup, congratulating
those coming for the first time (first grad-
ers) as well as the last (11th graders).
A boy from the 11th grade lifts a little
girl from the first grade onto his shoulders
and circles around a special field while she
rings a bell, symbolizing the first school
bell ring of the year and the beginning of
the quarter.
Free after-school classes include
sports, dancing, music, drawing, art, dra-
ma, science, astronomy and others. The
classes help kids choose their future pro-
fession and develop their abilities.
Usually children start school at age six
or seven. From first to fourth grade they
attend elementary school, where teach-
ers teach them to write, read, count and
December 5, 2016
Photo by Kyle Whitmer
of opportunities to meet new people and
work with them. It widens my relation-
ships and helps me gain more knowledge
in many different fields. I really like help-
ing others.”
When Chau first came to Edmonds,
she attended a club fair and joined the
Global Volunteer Club and CSEL.
“As long as you keep balance between
your study or work do not hesitate to join
volunteer activities, because it will defi-
nitely benefit you in your future in many
different ways,” Chau said.
All these people are so different, but
they have one thing in common: They want
to help other people.
Being a volunteer means hard work,
but if you really want to improve yourself
you will like this job. Volunteers are need-
ed everywhere. Not only do you help other
people, you also make a lot of friends.
If you want to become a part of
this world, then go to Brier 235. Nadira
Halimah will be happy to guide you.
EdCC’s volunteer policy can be found
at the following web address: edcc.edu/hr/
volunteer.html
speak different languages (mostly English,
French or German).
From fifth to ninth grade (secondary
school), students don’t have a choice to de-
cide what they want to study. They have to
learn at least 16 subjects and have seven or
eight lessons a day. The school day starts
at 8:30 a.m. and finishes at 3:05 or 4 p.m.
In ninth grade, every student needs
to pass the OГЭ (the Main State Exami-
nation) to attend high school for 10th and
11th grades and go to college.
Although there are only 11 grades in
Russia, students learn as much as in Euro-
pean or American countries where students
attend classes for 12 or even 13 years.
To get into a university, students have
Schools continued on page 14

There are no shortcuts on the path to diversity
Editor’s Note: After a divisive presi-
dential election season The Triton Review
felt it relevant to reach out to those who are
striving to acknowledge as many voices as
possible.
Diversity on campus is handled by the
office of Equity and Inclusion. Dr. Tonya
Drake served as the special assistant for
Equity and Inclusion, reporting directly to
EdCC President Dr. Jean Hernandez. Cur-
rently Dr. Drake is the vice president of
College Relations and Advancement.
Her former position has been elevated
to the cabinet level and there is a national
search for a new vice president of Equity
and Inclusion.
A staff writer for The Triton Review re-
cently sat down with Dr. Drake to discuss
diversity at EdCC.
T.H. Sargent: One thing right away
that’s noticeable is just how far away the
office of Equity and Inclusion is from the
main campus.
Dr. Tonya Drake: One of our goals is to
get onto the main campus. Space is at a
premium and we will continue the discus-
sions.
So it’s an ongoing discussion?
It is. Our facilities person uses the anal-
ogy of that game where you move the little
squares around, but you have to have an
open square in order to move - and has re-
peatedly said there is no open square for
Equity & Inclusion, or for that matter any-
one to move unless you displace someone.
How does the college define diversity?
Sometimes people use the terms diver-
sity, equity, inclusion and social justice in-
terchangeably. Diversity for us is the rep-
resentation of individual, social, economic
and cultural differences and the apprecia-
tion of those differences.
The college created some common defi-
nitions for the staff so we all speak a com-
mon language.
“Looking at the data
by race and ethnicity we
learn that it’s not one-
size-fits-all.”
-Dr. Tonya Drake
It’s great to see economic in there.
For some, diversity encompasses race &
ethnic cultures more than a social class.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I do think
people associate diversity from what they
know or have learned.
There are people who look at diversity
as very broad-based such as gender or
LGBTQ. That’s why we include the indi-
vidual, social, economic and cultural dif-
ferences.
It depends on one’s understanding of
SET continued from page 3
You will also see some of the aging
yet iconic elevated concrete walkways dis-
appear in the coming years. The walkway
splitting the main courtyard connecting
Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace Halls
was supposed to be removed by 2016. It
will likely be gone sooner than later. Hope
for sooner if you happen to be walking on
or under it when the big one hits.
Removing the walkways is part of a
concerted effort to open up the campus to
themselves as well of others. To hold oth-
ers accountable beyond seeing people dif-
ferently deals with social justice.
We define social justice as the active en-
gagement towards equity & inclusion that
addresses the issues of institutional, struc-
tural and environmental inequity of power
and privileges.
The last Washington state census says
about eight out of ten people are white.
It must be challenging to address con-
cerns of social justice and saying diver-
sity should not only be heard but also
integrated.
We have a cultural proficiency model
that has learning outcomes which helps
guide our training, some of which are for
employees and some are for the entire
campus.
We also do some individual training. A
recent one is about transgender students so
people will have an understanding even if
they don’t associate or identify with that.
We also look at our diversity and the de-
mographics of our employees. When you
look at the data, our students are much
more diverse than our employees, but that
also mirrors what is going on across our
whole state.
We try to hire the best-qualified individ-
uals. We also need to educate more people
who could be instructors. We should at
least strive to have our staff meet the diver-
sity of our students.
What do you think students would ben-
efit from? Some ways to get them and us
involved?
To feel actively engaged. Not everyone
can physically show up but we can check
in, stay updated and always keep learn-
ing.
What is being done for the students to
let them know they are important voices
in this post-election world?
There was a fireside chat recently that
students organized this past week. The
staff also has Real Talks, which gives the
staff an opportunity to have conversations.
Because many students are talking with
people they know and trust, but may not
feel comfortable gathering in groups, the
faculty is starting to organize a teach-in.
Are you familiar with those?
I’m not.
Around the time of the civil rights move-
ment, students like yourself wanted to en-
gage in civic dialogue regardless of where
[they stood] politically.
How to talk to one another about diffi-
cult topics and agree to disagree - but still
have the conversations - and learn to re-
spect someone else’s values even though
they differ from ours.
The college has a strong history of hav-
ing diversity and it has an inclusion coun-
cil.
You see it echo through the core themes
and values too. Other institutions might
more light and create larger, open pathing
and gathering places for students.
The main courtyard in front of Lyn-
nwood Hall is an area of focus. With the
removal of the dividing elevated walkway
it will become one large connected gather-
ing area that will be reconfigured and up-
dated with power infrastructure capable of
handling large events.
The Seaview Gym is rated as one of
the buildings most in need of renovations.
Students have expressed a need for a fit-
ness and wellness center that is available
Dr. Tonya Drake, pictured here in 2013, has served as EdCC’s vice president for
College Relations and Advancement for just over a year.
say they value diversity but it doesn’t show
up in any of their mission values.
I feel that we’re structured well and we
have a strong commitment towards that.
Is there another fireside chat sched-
uled?
No. I don’t think they had many students
attend.
I would be curious to hear why students
aren’t participating.
My guess, and some of the feedback I’ve
been hearing, is people don’t feel it would
be a safe space to gather.
Overall though, when students do self-
organize it tends to be more relevant to
them versus what we think students might
want or need, and it tends to be more well
attended.
It’s welcoming to see so much diver-
sity on campus. I always thought of Ed-
monds as a retirement community.
Edmonds as a city has more retirees.
Lynnwood, where the Edmonds College is
actually located, is more diverse than the
rest of Snohomish County.
The data from the demographics of the
six cities that we serve shows people here
are educationally affluent as well.
Six Cities?
Yes. Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek,
Mountlake Terrace, Woodway and
Mukilteo.
If you look at the state data, it shows that
to the whole student body and not typically
reserved for PE courses or athletic pro-
grams.
The students may have their wish.
Renovations and expansion are on the
agenda for the Seaview Gym.
Though as a non-academic building, it
does not qualify for State funding. The col-
lege would need to find funds elsewhere,
most likely by adding fees to student tu-
ition.
The Triton Student Center, like
Seaview Gym, is a non-academic area. The
5
Photo by College Relations
a larger portion of White and Asian Pacific
Islanders have a bachelor’s degree.
But if you look at the African Ameri-
can community it’s somewhat split. Most
males are getting high school degrees, but
more females are going on to get a bach-
elor’s.
American Indians are doing well at the
associate’s degree level but usually stop
there before getting their bachelor’s.
In the Hispanic community many are
not even completing high school diplomas,
partly because some of the immigrant pop-
ulation are not reaching high school.
So by looking at the data by race and eth-
nicity we learn that it’s not one-size-fits-all.
There are different needs for different
communities. For the first generation His-
panic community we need greater ESL
programs. For the American Indians we
need greater pipelines to the four-year uni-
versities.
Finally, what can students do to get
involved?
Well, student government is part of the
leadership. I know the staff is very interest-
ed in getting students involved but some-
times it can be a struggle to get student
voices heard.
The Triton Review encourages anyone
interested to follow via social media.
On Facebook, there are pages for Ed-
monds Community College, The Triton
Review, CSEL (Center for Student En-
gagement and Leadership, @EdCCTri-
tonLife on Twitter) and The Black Student
Union just to name a few.
needs for expansions are noted in the FMP
but it will not come from State funds.
The library will expand from the third
and fourth floors to second floor of Lyn-
nwood Hall. This helps satisfy both con-
cerns that the library is too hard to find and
not large enough.
More plans can be found in the Fa-
cilities Master Plan on the EdCC website.
Many strategies lack a timeframe; this will
be changing soon if the State Board ap-
proves funding for the SET building.
 6 News
Dr. JB’s 12 tips for student civic engagement
By Thomas Common
Editor in Chief
To kick off the 2016 Legislative Acad-
emy in Olympia, Dr. Jonathan Brown drew
on over 20 years of experience to deliver a
fast-paced primer for student leaders get-
ting involved in the legislative process.
Dr. Brown, or JB as he likes to be
called, is the associate dean for Highline
Community College’s Center for Leader-
ship and Service, and worked as a direc-
tor and supervisor of student programs at
Shoreline and Edmonds Community Col-
leges respectively.
A crowd of student representatives
from about 30 of Washington’s community
and technical colleges listened as he en-
thusiastically shared the twelve things he
wished he knew before getting involved in
the legislative cycle.
#1 Know Thyself
What does it mean to be a student?
How are you connected to the EdCC mis-
sion and statewide college framework?
What topics are important to your student
government, and how do you fit into those
pictures?
Knowing the issues gives you relevan-
cy when speaking with legislators and col-
lege representatives. Knowing what you
want to accomplish gives you a reason and
purpose when getting involved with the
legislative process. “This is not just a so-
cial call,” said Dr. Brown. “This is relation-
ship building with purpose.”
#2 Some Legislative Basics
Washington state has a part-time legis-
lature, which is only in session from Janu-
ary to April. Most legislators have jobs or
own businesses and leave those positions
to run the state on a part-time basis during
the legislative session.
The State of Washington has a bien-
nial budget, set every two years. Since
most legislative policies are connected to
finance, budget sessions tend to be longer
and more intense. “Really, it’s like the year
we do everything, and then the off year,”
joked Dr. Brown. 2017 will be a budget
year.
#3 Know the Structure
The legislative branch sets the budget
for community and technical colleges. Ad-
vocates who want to increase funding or
support policies that benefit community
and technical colleges should therefore
direct their focus on the state legislature.
Committees in both the Wash. Senate and
House of Representatives winnow down
the bills that will be passed into law during
a legislative session.
leg.wa.gov is a resource that can give
you information about your legislators,
your legislative district, legislator voting
records and tools to track the progress of
bills passing through Congress. “This is a
very public process,” said Dr. Brown, “but
it’s only public when people know about
it.”
#4 Build Relationships NOW
“The legislative process is largely re-
lational,” said Dr. Brown. Build relation-
ships with the EdCC Board of Trustees and
your legislators. Talk to student govern-
ment about the priorities they plan to share
with legislators, and let them know what is
important to you.
The time to reach out to them is now,
before the budget session begins in Janu-
Dr. Jonathan Brown is the associate dean for Highline Community College’s Center for Leadership and Service. He
thoughtfully engaged the crowd of student leaders as he emceed the 2016 Legislative Academy in Olympia
ary. By joining the communication net-
work at EdCC, you are leveraging your
power as a student to be a part of the legis-
lative process.
“Students are sleeping giants,” said
Dr. Brown. “If you have two thousand stu-
dents registered to vote on your campus,
you have the ear of a legislator.” A few
thousand student votes may not seem like
much in a presidential race, but in a state
legislative district they can decide an elec-
tion.
#5 Power of Collective Action
A majority of the legislative districts
in Wash. contain a community or technical
college. This means a majority of state leg-
islators have community or technical col-
lege students in their constituency. When
students across the state speak with one
voice and raise common concerns, they are
more likely to be heard and affect change
on the state level.
“When all legislators are contacted by
students about the same thing, it creates
buzz,” said Dr. Brown.
Students have incredible influence be-
cause their network is so broad. They are
not just from Snohomish or King County,
they are spread all across the state. This is
why collective action with students at other
community and technical colleges makes
such a difference when trying to pass legis-
lation favorable to students.
#6 How WACTCSA Helps
The Washington Community and
Technical College Student Association
(WACTCSA, pronounced ‘wax ah,’) is a
bridge for student leaders. They coordinate
and focus the voices of students at com-
munity and technical colleges around the
state, creating momentum and collective
action to influence the legislative process.
The WACTCSA annual agenda is a
collection of common platforms selected
by student representatives. “It’s not meant
to limit you, it’s meant to enhance what
you’re doing on campus and in your own
legislative district,” said Dr. Brown.
#7 WACTCSA Gatherings
WACTCSA hosts five annual gather-
ings throughout the year. The Legislative
Academy occurred on November 18 and
19, and consisted of education and in-
troduction to the legislative process and
WACTCSA agenda. The next event will
be Legislative Advocacy Day in January,
when student government representatives
will visit legislators’ offices in Olympia to
speak with them on student issues.
This May WACTCSA will hold the
Voice Academy, where they will develop
the legislative agenda for next year. In July
WACTCSA will hold the Executive Sum-
mer Institute, an intense training and team-
building opportunity for students directly
involved in WACTCSA leadership. There
will be a Leadership and Activities Insti-
tute next September, where WACTCSA
delegates select their student officers and
representatives.
#8 The Players
There are many boards and associa-
tions involved with college administration
and the legislative process. Most of these
groups are made up of state employees,
and cannot lobby on behalf of students
or colleges. The only two groups that can
lobby legislators are students and the As-
sociation for College Trustees.
“If you are not working with your
Trustees on your campus for your legisla-
tive work, you may be missing out,” said
Dr. Brown. Building relationships with the
EdCC Board of Trustees and sharing with
them why certain issues are important to
you as a student improves the chances of
those issues being addressed by the legisla-
tive process.
#9 What’s New?
2017 will be a budget session, and the
Wash. Congress promised to finally ad-
dress the McCleary decision and fully fund
K-12 education. With an education budget
deficit in the hundreds of millions of dol-
lars, and no tax increases on the docket,
where will the legislature find funding?
“From the things that they’re currently
funding,” said Dr. Brown. “They’ve only
got a couple choices. They can stop build-
ing some roads or fixing some roads, they
could release some people from prison or
they could cut higher ed funding.”
If community and technical college
students do not vehemently communicate
December 5, 2016
Photo by Cal Erwin
their needs to legislators this year, higher
education funding may be cut in order to
pay for K-12.
#10 The Long Term Game
Don’t come into the process assuming
you can create new policy between now
and the end of the 2017 legislative session.
It usually takes three to seven years to en-
act legislation. Many of the items on the
WACTCSA agenda have been around for
multiple legislative cycles, proposed and
supported by students who have already
graduated or moved on.
“You are not doing this for yourself,”
advised Dr. Brown. “You are doing this for
your future and posterity.”
#11 Relationships Carry Issues
Legislators agree it is much easier to
kill a bill in Congress than to support it.
“What carries issues forward are relation-
ships,” said Dr. Brown. When voters build
a relationship with their legislator, it per-
sonalizes their issues. This gives lawmak-
ers a reason to care about those issues, and
support them during the legislative session.
Students are uniquely qualified to
speak about the college experience; they
are the ones living it. Student stories give
legislators relevancy and legitimacy when
crafting, defending or defeating certain
bills in Olympia.
If you’re not speaking with your leg-
islator about crucial issues, how can you
expect them to adequately represent your
interests? “Inaction creates no action in
Olympia,” clued Dr. Brown.
#12 Small Wins Lead to Victory!
Don’t get discouraged because you
may never directly benefit from the legis-
lation you support. Getting more students
registered to vote, participating in student
government and building relationships
with legislators and the Board of Trustees
are small wins - and should all be celebrat-
ed.
Dr. Brown summed it up: “A series
of small tiny little victories add up to big
victories.” By diligently building relation-
ships and knowing which issues are rele-
vant to the EdCC community, you can help
pass student-centered policy.

EdCC proudly supports and salutes veterans
The new Veterans Donor Wall, located on the second floor of Lynnwood Hall, honors the sacrifices of veterans and their families. It was made possible by generous
donations to the Book to Books and Beyond campaign, which garnered funds for EdCC’s Veterans Resource Center.
By Kasanita Lindell
Staff Writer
Walking into the second floor of Lyn-
nwood Hall, one can’t help but notice the
new Veterans Donors Wall sculpture.
Cold steel veteran silhouettes keep
silent watch over metallic gold stars that
adorn the upper half and silver stars across
the lower length of the unique work of art.
On Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2016, the Ex-
ecutive Director of the EdCC Foundation
Brad Thomas took the mic to unveil the
Wall of Donors.
“This is not a fundraiser event, this is a
celebration, so let’s celebrate.”
A small crowd of people had gathered
in the Lynwood Hall foyer, chatting and
munching on finger foods. Among them
was EdCC President Dr. Jean Hernandez.
Dr. Hernandez was instrumental in
supporting the Boots to Books and Beyond
campaign, which rose funds for the Veter-
ans Resource Center (VRC.)
Dr. Hernandez said, “It was George
Smith … He started the first Veterans Re-
source Center, and then it was about two
years later then we moved it to the big
space.”
Hernandez warmly remarked that her
father, who passed away in March, was a
World War II veteran who taught her a lot
about patriotism. She is very supportive of
the Veterans Resource Center.
During his remarks at the dedication,
Thomas suggested that we should not take
things for granted here.
“People are just blown away that a
community college raised about a million
dollars in about one year flat.”
Thomas echoed the thoughts of the
rest of the amazing team who work togeth-
er to produce the veterans refuge - which is
not dependent on state or federal funding
but on the heart and soul of this generous
community.
“What a great honor it is to be here and
celebrate a great moment,” he started.
“We have this wall in front of us re-
minding us every day, anyone that comes
into this building, how important it is to
honor our veterans and support them in ev-
ery which way we can.”
USAF veteran and Boeing retiree
Steve Pennington has served on the EdCC
Foundation for over seventeen years.
Pennington was one of the first stu-
dents to enroll in EdCC when the college
first opened its doors in September 1967.
He hesitated at first when approached
about helping co-chair the Boots to Books
and Beyond fundraising effort, until one of
the foundation board members convinced
Pennington that they needed him on board.
It was around then that he was intro-
duced to Dr. Bill Keppler, who Pennington
described as “one of the finest human be-
ings on the face of the earth.” It was his
distinct pleasure and honor to work very
closely with Dr. Keppler.
Pennington said, “We immediately re-
alized that our job was to kick the stones
out of the path of success for our incoming
veterans, not to marginalize the veterans
and not to victimize.”
Eventually they worked out the out-
line of the current program, which supports
veterans on their way from the military to
education.
When asked about the From Boots to
Books memorial located in the courtyard,
Pennington explained the student veterans
association decided on their own initiative
several years ago to create a monument
that celebrated the transition of military to
college life.
They designed From Boots to Books
to be able to express the basic feeling: “I’ll
kick my military boots off one day to put
on civilian clothes and come to class.”
They raised the money to have it built,
cooperated with the campus arts committee
and public works committee, and picked
out the perfect spot - on a hill, under a tree
and facing a walkway.
In 2010 they got the approval of for-
mer EdCC President Jack Oharah and Vice
President John Michaelson, both veterans,
and installed the memorial.
Faculty, staff and students attended the
dedication ceremony; it was a big deal ac-
cording to Pennington.
Chris Szarek takes his role as director
of EdCC’s Veterans Resource Center seri-
ously. He was hired in Sep. 16, 2013.
Patriotism and the desire to go to bat
for his brothers and sisters in arms is noth-
ing new for the 20-year Navy Seabees vet-
eran, who saw his last posting of two years
at U.S. Interest in Cuba.
“I wear many hats, so my staff can
work fully focused on what they do.” He
does all the budgeting, the marketing, the
outreach and events.
All this effort is centered on building
and solidifying the support network to help
veterans succeed at getting back into civil-
ian life.
When veterans show up with needs to
address such as housing, food, clothing and
more the center goes into high gear making
sure those needs are met.
The VRC has helped many veterans
avoid homelessness, find jobs, provide
food and clothing, and helped with educa-
tion and taken care of those needing mental
health care.
“I would say we’re very veteran sup-
portive,” Szarek beamed. G.I. Jobs Maga-
zine sends out a yearly questionnaire to
fill out every spring, which determines
EdCC’s rating as a ‘military friendly/vet-
eran supportive’ college, which it has been
for many years. This is a very impressive
success story for a completely privately
funded department.
It is easy to see how the VRC designed
to help veterans. You enter into a cheery
well-lit room with seating areas, coffee
making facility and a full size refrigerator
in one corner.
The memorial wall of photographs of
the fallen contributed by family members
is down the hall just outside of Szarek’s of-
fice. Awards and proclamations for service
and performance adorn the main hallway.
Folded American flags from burials,
given to the VRC by families, are carefully
displayed in glass cases.
There is a veteran working on his lap-
top in a room veterans can use to relax and
have some quiet time. Tables and chairs are
neatly arranged in a large room with four
7
Photo by T.H. Sargent
computers and a printer available to veter-
ans and their families.
Apart from the staff offices, there is a
cozy looking study room with a large vari-
ety of books filling a huge floor to ceiling
bookcase, and a spacious conference room
with whiteboards where veterans undergo
orientation classes prior to starting regular
classes.
Szarek is in charge of getting out a
weekly bulletin every Friday that goes to
all of the supporters who help make the
VRC possible.
At the unveiling of the Donor Wall,
Szarek invited both Dr. Keppler and Pen-
nington to front of the audience to hand
them honorary name tags. The tags recog-
nized their selfless dedication and incred-
ible service in being mentors, guides and
family to veterans.
“It is very important that people know
that as you go about your business here and
out in the community that you are our vil-
lage elders,” commented Szarek.
Looking to the future, Szarek men-
tioned the Veterans Resource Center is
bringing a new graphic designer on board
in the new year. They will initially be on
board for six months, bringing the VRC
and the campus their experience and ex-
pertise.
The VRC is also working with an or-
ganization called Operation Military Fam-
ily, in their efforts to increase their media
presence and stay current with the chang-
ing technology.
That’s how it rolls. Great leadership,
a willingness to listen, and being open to
ideas that will work.
The VRC’s core mission is to help
veterans make the difficult transition from
serving in the armed forces to becoming a
well-trained contributor in our society.
We should be very proud of the hard
work of the whole staff, the dedication of
the college administration, and support
given by the volunteers needed not only to
make EdCC veteran friendly, and as an ex-
ample of how to get things done for one of
the most essential part of our society.
For those who serve.
 8 Diverse Voices
TEDxTransformations speakers use experiences to awe, inspire audience
By Cecil Touzet
Staff Writer
Speakers were received with tears and
standing ovations as stories of inspiration
and adversity took center stage at the an-
nual TEDxSno-Isle Libraries event on No-
vember 18.
The presidential election left a dis-
cernible feeling of uncertainty in our com-
munity and in many others. The current
social climate in our country seems osten-
sibly closed off.
Relationships are more agitated and
divided than ever before, with new shared
ideas as few as they are well-met.
But this was not the case in Edmonds,
Washington.
On Friday, Nov. 18, the Edmonds
Center for the Arts was filled to the brim
with over 800 locals from all walks of life.
Individuals, who came together will-
ing to share and receive knowledge, sat
Speakers Radhika Dalal (left) and Tonya Drake (right) represented EdCC at November’s TEDxTransformations. Sno-Isle
Libraries organized the event, held at the Edmonds Center for the Arts.
Fireside chat warms chilled, anxious students
By Tara Pegasus
A&E Editor
Interested students, staff, EdCC Presi-
dent Jean Hernandez and other school of-
ficials gathered near the Brier fireplace
Monday, Nov. 21, to hear students’ re-
sponses to the recent election. Participants
split into small groups to discuss question
prompts, then shared with the whole circle.
“I feel like my vote didn’t count,” stu-
dent Jessica Starr told her small group.
Skylar Schank, an office assistant for
the Student Diversity Center, opened up to
the whole gathering.
“My concern is that we’re going back
to the 1950s, but it won’t just be African-
Americans who are going to feel more op-
pression.”
Others voiced worries about the en-
vironment, whether civil rights would be
repealed and what would happen to their
healthcare. One student, Jeanette Eliza-
beth, urged attendees to sign petitions on
change.org.
Another student shared a story about
his mother being yelled at by a Trump sup-
porter and told to go back to her country,
even though she was a U.S. citizen.
An international student admitted, “I
among each other as a definitively unified
and empowered community.
This year’s TEDx event, titled “Trans-
formations” was once again free of charge
and open to the public, drawing a massive
attendance in-house, as well as a global au-
dience of nearly 1,900 remote viewers.
Sno-Isle Libraries also streamed 13
live watch parties in the area, including a
viewing event hosted by Edmonds Com-
munity College (EdCC) at the Black Box
Theatre.
TEDx events are independently op-
erated and locally curated. They typically
consist of short-format live talks, perfor-
mances, and demonstrations that are intri-
cately designed to introduce new ideas.
TEDxTransformations’ overarching
theme was awakening personal empower-
ment, and invited a diverse roster of com-
munity advocates, authors, entrepreneurs,
educators, artists, and storytellers to share
that message.
EdCC students and staff started by breaking into small groups gathered around
the fireplace in Brier Hall. Freddie Monroe (left) shared his personal insights.
am fearful. Am I still able to fulfill my
potential [here]?” Several students spoke
about being anxious for the future and not
knowing what would happen next.
Throughout the entire event, palpable
energy moved through the Edmonds Cen-
ter for the Arts, creating a constantly en-
gaging and personal experience that never
once felt like a lecture. EdCC vice presi-
dent Tonya Drake carried that energy on as
the host of the mid-morning session.
The event made certain to hold several
moments during the talks for the audience
to interact with one another. What began
as neighborly handshakes and hellos soon
evolved into beach-ball bopping, network-
ing and workshopping new year’s resolu-
tions. These fun and genuine moments
turned the event from a conference into
something resembling more of a neighbor-
hood block party.
Starting off the morning’s events, guest
speaker and Edmonds Community College
Running Start student Radhika Dalal of-
fered her story of how by engaging with
social media, younger generations change
the definition of the American dream.
Photos by Sno-Isle Library
Photo by Tara Pegasus
Students with positive emotions about
the election also attended. Freddie Monroe,
a graphic designer for the Center for Stu-
dent Engagement & Leadership (CSEL),
December 5, 2016
Following the opening performance
by recording artist Xola Malik’s father-
and-son rap duo, Dalal’s empowering
message set the stage for 17 other talented
speakers who carried out the day’s events
with unforgettable gravity and passion.
After each session, guests were invited
to reconvene in the “Idea Lab,” a lively ex-
hibition floor filled with interactive work-
spaces that showcased resources provided
by local innovators and career-oriented ed-
ucators. Exhibits included a dress-up photo
booth, a personality profile quiz station, a
robotics construction table and a DIY com-
memorative tumbler machine that literally
made a “boom.”
Twice during the event, speakers re-
convened in the Idea Lab for salon-like
panels, giving the audience the opportunity
to ask questions and meet with speakers
face-to-face.
When asked during a panel how stu-
dents can succeed in the current adverse
social climate, especially when dealing
with the effects of polarization, several
TEDx speakers offered their advice.
“What I could offer: Build communi-
ty,” information technology specialist and
University of Washington doctoral can-
didate Ivette Bayo Urban said. “By shar-
ing my experiences, I found people in my
corner moving me on that I couldn’t have
imagined, and they helped me get to here.”
Author and public speaker Dawn
Shaw returned to the message of her talk
when she replied: “Confidence, respect,
and resilience. Try and build a culture of
respect and value for differences.”
Dalal also attributed her talk. “What I
would say is, remember how each person
is an individual who has their own defini-
tion of success, and to support each other
on your way there.”
In an interview after the event, Dalal
shared how the climate of the election sea-
son affected her life.
“My career aspects haven’t changed. I
feel like if I’m passionate about something
I’m still going to do it, regardless of what
other people have to say or if they try and
stop me.
“But in terms of regular daily life, I
think things have changed, especially as a
person of color, and coming from an immi-
grant family. When Trump was running for
president, I almost felt this shame or fear
reflected on his growth.
“One thing this election has made me
confront is my assumptions about other
people’s politics.”
Another student, Kurt, assured stu-
dents that even though he had voted for
Trump, he wanted everyone to know, “You
have absolutely the right to be here … You
should not live in fear.”
The Assistant Director for CSEL,
Dennis Denman, moderated the chat with
poise. He asked students what the college
could do to make them feel safe, and re-
minded student resources are available for
them.
Kurt suggested an open forum about
security and carrying firearms in certain
areas of campus.
Kevin Pruski, the waste stream special-
ist on EdCC’s Green Team, urged anyone
who witnessed bullying or discrimination
to inform campus security or an instructor,
whatever was more comfortable.
Students who missed the fireside chat
or who have additional concerns can sign
up for counseling in the Mountlake Terrace
building. Advocacy services are also avail-
able at the Wellness Center on the second
floor of Lynnwood Hall.
when going out in my traditional clothing
because I’d get these stares and these looks
from people out in the parking lot.”
Dalal continued, “I just decided that I
wasn’t going to live my life based on what
other people had to think about me. There
are people experiencing racism on a much
greater level, but in terms of people who
it’s affected I can say that I am affected.”
Speaker Seconde Nimenya related to
Dalal’s feelings during her talk when she
said, “When people think that different is
bad for you, and you buy into it, before you
know it you might start denying your own
self worth and self identity.”
Nimenya welcomed the TEDx audi-
ence to the, “‘morning after’ the election
season” when introducing her talk. She fo-
cused on how people are more alike than
different, even in light of such polarization.
“Whether you are gay or straight,
black or white, Jewish, Christian, or Mus-
lim, democrat or republican, human beings
at their very core are yearning for the same
thing: To be accepted for who we are,” Ni-
menya said.
Dalal was asked about her feelings
regarding the post-election climate at Ed-
monds Community College, and spoke on
how students can come together.
“There’s no simple answer to bring
people together who feel a certain way.
What I’ve been trying to do following the
election, and all of the negative tension that
I’ve felt in some of my classes and in the
community, is to try and look at the other
side.
“Polarized media played a big role in
this election, and I was following it too.
The morning after: Students react to election
By Thomas Common
Editor in Chief
Editor’s Note: On November 9, Don-
ald Trump was elected president of the
United States. That morning, The Triton
Review interviewed students all over cam-
pus, asking the following question:
“What were your reactions to the
presidential election results?”
The following responses have been se-
lected to highlight the diverse and common
sentiments of the student body.
Connor Taylor: “I am more disap-
pointed about how people are reacting
to the news, rather than the news itself. I
think there’s something wrong with the
system when half the nation is having a
panic attack. No matter who won, some-
one was gonna get pretty darn offended,
and that says to me that there’s something
kind of wrong with the system.”
Azeem Jimoh: “I’m honestly just real-
ly shocked. The whole election, it was like
one big joke. We’ve seen a lot of people
on social media - Twitter and Instagram -
they all like Hillary. But come the day of
the election, we’re seeing all these people
out of nowhere just come up and start vot-
ing for Trump. It’s like, where did all this
come from? It really speaks a lot about this
country and where it’s going right now.”
Martell: “I got drunk. You know, what
the heck? I didn’t expect him to win. Well,
I kind of had a feeling he was going to win,
but I didn’t expect it. I thought Hillary was
going to win, but all the polls were wrong.
“Actually, I don’t care who’s going to
be president. I think we’re going to end up
blowing this country up anyway, ‘cause
the world is becoming more aggressive to-
wards the US. I’m just going to live my life
a day at a time until it does happen.”
Before, I would take the news sources that
I got off my Facebook feed and believe
those to be the truth. Following that I’ve
realized that it’s filtered to support me, and
intensify my views, as social media does.
“It intensifies your views in a specific
direction, which is why we’re so polar-
ized,” she added.
“We should be a little more open
minded,” Dalal said. “Take a look at a per-
son and their background, where they’ve
come from, and how they’ve developed
these views. Try and understand that the
words that people say are an outward re-
flection of their life.
“That doesn’t mean you should sup-
port someone who is being hateful towards
a group of people,” Dalal continued. “But
acknowledge where they come from and
have respectful discussion. That’s probably
the best way to work towards bridging the
gap between two sides right now.”
Edmonds Community College of-
fers many resources to help students suc-
ceed. Student organizations like Diversity
Student Center and the Center for Student
Engagement and Leadership can help you
find a club or group that’s right for you, or
give you a head start finding volunteer or
service learning opportunities.
“I really appreciate the ‘community’
sense,” Dalal said of EdCC. “Everyone
here is very approachable. In my classes,
which are science and it’s normally a really
competitive field, I’ve noticed that even
the smartest people in the class who get the
highest grades are willing to help you and
want to bring you up with them.”
Seconde Nimenya closed her talk by
Josie Morris: “I saw a video on Face-
book of people burning the flag, which I
don’t agree with at all. I don’t necessarily
like Trump but I think that people should
definitely respect the flag, no matter what.
They should not be so hateful; this is still
our country and we should respect our
country.
“I tend to try and not get angry about
it, and just let people have their opinions.
People have them, I don’t feel we should be
saying, ‘Oh, you’re wrong, you’re wrong,
you’re wrong.’ It’s just people’s opinions!”
Becca Mitchell: “For me, I’m actually
happy about the election, because I’m a
supporter of Trump. But I personally don’t
really like either one of them as a person. I
just like him over her better. So I’m happy
about the election.”
Peter Kim: “I’m more disappointed
with the people who are complaining about
the election results. A lot of people just say,
‘Oh no, no matter what we do, we’re in a
shit position.’ But they haven’t considered
anyone like Jill Stein of the Green Party as
a candidate, and it’s kind of disappointing.”
Conny McKinney: “I don’t like
Trump, I do not like him. I figure we had
a better chance with Hillary. Yeah she’s got
problems, but everybody does.”
Skylar Schank: “I cried last night,
whenever Donald Trump won. I was so
devastated. Being part of the LGBT com-
munity, it just instills so much fear in me,
and all marginalized communities. It’s just
so sad to see such a bigoted person as our
president; a person that is the face of our
country.
“Devastating is one word I could put it
into. Devastating. If Bernie Sanders were
the Democratic nominee, this probably
wouldn’t have happened.”
TEDxTransformations speakers held hands in solidarity, preparing for the event.
discussing steps people can take to make
their social environments after the election
better.
“Number one: Start where you are,
and where you have the most personal
power to impact change. It could be in
your home, your school, your community,
or your workplace.
“Number two: Be brave. Be brave by
having conversations that are sometimes
uncomfortable. Race issues, for instance.
In America, it’s an uncomfortable topic for
many people. But it’s not going away just
by ignoring it. Let’s have a conversation
about race and seek understanding from
Joe Julian: “I’m happy with it. I voted
for Trump, and I’m glad he won. And it
was a really close race! Watching the votes
come in, and seeing how close Florida was
and all that stuff, it was insane.
“Anyways, I’m disappointed that Gary
Johnson did not get his five percent. If the
Libertarian Party got five percent, then the
next election they would receive federal
funding and maybe we could actually have
a third candidate, which would have been
nice. I’m disappointed that it didn’t hap-
pen, but oh well, there’s always next time.”
Lia Andrews: “I’m very shocked, hon-
estly. I think this really speaks to the emo-
tional climate of the US right now, as to
how this election turned out. I’m just kind
of wondering how to move forward from
here, with the new leadership in the admin-
istration.”
Lex Davis: “I’m happy, I’m proud.
I think Donald Trump was the correct
choice, instead of Hillary Clinton, to lead
our country.”
Caleb Eastman :: “From my politi-
cal standpoint? That was a joke. Like, that
whole election was a joke. I’m also seeing
all these protests going on. These are turn-
ing violent, too. This whole thing, it’s so
horrible.”
Linh Tran :: “I’m kind of worried for
America. Even though I think neither of
them are good, I have to say that. My news
feed on Facebook yesterday was all about
the US election. There are all separated
into two different [types], some say Hill-
ary is so evil, and some say, ‘What are you
thinking if you voted for Trump? Have you
ever thought of Bush? After those years,
how long did it take for the US to recover?’
They do not know what will happen to the
US, and they are worried.”
9
Photo by Sno-Isle Library
one another, and heal each other.
And number three: Be flexible. Even if
it’s something you don’t understand, or you
don’t agree with, have an open mind, and
learn what you don’t know.”
Hearing your community tell you
they believe in you - and the message that
you can empower your own potential - is
something that everyone needs to experi-
ence. Each talk from the November Sno-
Isle Library TEDxTransformations will be
uploaded to the TEDx YouTube channel
within the following weeks You can view
the entirety of this year’s TEDx Talks by
visiting www.sno-isle.org/tedx.
Jordan West: “This whole election is
just everything that I’ve ever feared for
everyone in the entire world. With climate
change and everything, his complete disre-
gard for science is so concerning. The ice
caps are melting at such a rapid rate, and
the bees are dying. They’re extinct basi-
cally. It’s so concerning, because we’re not
gonna have food, and we’re not gonna have
clean air for generations to come.”
Adam Schusted: “I have [pause] a
mild feeling of disappointment. Not nec-
essarily over which candidate won or lost,
but it’s more a marker of being disappoint-
ed because I thought we had progressed
farther socially than electing someone
based on their rhetoric, especially what one
particular candidate was spouting off. That
was kind of emblematic of where we are
culturally, in terms of the population of the
country.
“Even after the election people are
still tearing each other down based on their
choices, when that’s not what we should
be doing at all. Whether you voted for one
person or the other you still made a choice.
“At the end of the day that’s one of
the cornerstones of democracy; making
your choice regardless of your opinion and
that being okay. You’re allowed to have an
opinion contrary to someone else’s, regard-
less of how fire and brimstone that opin-
ion might be in someone else’s viewpoint.
You’re still entitled to that opinion. You’re
supposed to speak your voice in a democ-
racy, so it’s your right to exercise that.
“The other thing I’m disappointed in
the election is not just the result itself, it’s
everyone’s reactions to the way a person
voted. It doesn’t change who they are as
a person. They may have different politi-
cal views, but they are still a human being.
They have the same core values attributed
to being a person that are as important as
anything else, regardless of their views.”
10 Opinion
Banning words: A silent threat to free speech
By Ian Moffet
Opinion Editor
Words are powerful. For thousands of
years, humans have used words to express
love and kindness as well as hate and big-
otry.
Words have the potential to bring
people up and inspire and encourage one
another; this is what makes words concep-
tually powerful.
The First Amendment entitles us to
use these words freely with very few ex-
ceptions when it comes to speaking out
against the government and others.
Throughout history some words have
had a dark past, and haven’t always posi-
tively influenced on society.
In turn, some support banning certain
words by law. It isn’t the government’s
role, however, to determine what words we
can and can’t express.
Does the potential of offending some-
one with a certain word justify banning it?
If so, this dilutes and contradicts the con-
cept of free speech.
One example of this hits right at home.
In 2013 KOMO News reported the Seattle
City Council considered banning word the
word “citizen” because it could be offen-
sive to non-citizen residents, and “brown
bag” due to associated racial implications.
Yes, not everyone living in Seattle is a
citizen and using the term “brown bag” in a
racially derogatory sense is wrong.
Does that justify an attempt to eradi-
cate the use of those words, and punish
those who speak them? Government even
considering to censor these words is an es-
pecially dangerous notion.
The government is not allowed to im-
pede on the free exchange of words pro-
tected by the Constitution, regardless of
ethical implications associated with the use
of those words.
In addition, does government really
expect everyone to amicably stop saying
certain words? Throughout history when-
October continued from page 2
“It was a huge experience for them to
give back to the community,” Beckham
said.
Put together Native American elders
and EdCC engineering students, and you
have the potential to foster a positive rela-
tionship with nature.
“If you want to start a relationship with
a person, what’s the first thing you do?”
Murphy asked. “You introduce yourself,
and you wanna know their name, right? So
if you want a relationship with a plant, the
first thing you gotta do is learn its name.
“Once we have that name, it changes
the relationship. All of a sudden, it’s not
just any old tree - it’s October Glory.”
Bigelow nodded in agreement. “I find
comfort in knowing native plants because
when I go out into the woods, I know it’s
probably one of these maybe six or seven
different things that I could be looking at,”
he said.
Community
Even the general public harbors an
inherent respect for nature, according to a
study on landscape preferences conducted
by Murphy’s anthropology class.
For the experiment, students went
door-to-door in a local Edmonds neighbor-
hood and showed the owners two pictures.
One depicted a typical yard with short-
cropped grass and a single small tree. The
other displayed a similarly neat lawn, ex-
cept this one included a colorful water gar-
den. “We asked them, ‘Which of these two
Is it more or less disruptive to the learning processes when words like celebrities, dinosaur and dancing can’t be used?
ever government intervenes in essential
rights, it never goes well.
Again, words are powerful. Even the
disparaging ones. They shouldn’t be cen-
sored - they have a role in history. We can-
not act like they do not exist.
Hypocritically, proponents of such ab-
surd policies diminish the full meaning of
a word when they define it solely as a slur.
Only society and culture and change
the meaning of words, and they have to be
said to be changed.
Words aren’t just powerful, they’re
malleable and can change over time. If a
law defines what a word means and not so-
ciety, its meaning only changes when the
law does.
Many words have evolved over the
years. The word gay used to mean happy
and joyful, yet a cultural transition oc-
curred and now it is used to describe ho-
mosexuals. In turn it became an insult for
do you prefer?’” Murphy said. Nine out of
ten people polled preferred the water gar-
den, referencing its diversity and positive
impact on the environment.
“People really have this deep connec-
tion to nature, even in the city,” Murphy
said.
“If there are trees in a neighborhood,
people feel safer. If there are trees in the
yard of a house people are trying to sell,
people will pay more for it.”
Whether they know it or not, people
appreciate the presence of plants on a in-
fluential level.
“I personally love plants,” Bigelow
added. “I work for the National Park Ser-
vice during the summers and it has been
really a huge joy in my life.
“Being able to look at something and
understand it, you learn to get more out of
the things that you’re looking at.”
Part of the appreciation anthropolo-
gists, Native Americans and treehuggers
alike hold for nature stems from the un-
derstanding that interspecies relationships
aren’t the only kinds of connections plants
make.
“Plants, like us, have families. They
have neighbors. They have friends. They
have enemies,” Murphy said. “They will
communicate to each other about us.”
Murphy explained how modern sci-
ence discovered trees enjoy a better life
when their mother tree lives.
Trees build these connections through
mycelia, which can send and process
chemical signals between plants.
“To me,” Murphy confided, “it’s a fas-
cinating world.”
those in society that viewed homosexuals
negatively.
This is a sad reality; it’s true and we
cannot act as if it isn’t.
Yet in 2016, much of society deems it
unethical to use such a word as an insult.
This word’s meaning is changing again in a
benevolent way - no law necessary.
This adds on to the point of how not
only is banning words futile, it is also un-
ethical and not something the government
should have a say in.
According to CBS New York, in 2012
the New York City Department of Educa-
tion created a list of about 50 words clas-
sified as offensive and thenceforth banned
from standardized tests.
The list included the words and phras-
es: “Dinosaur,” “Dancing,” “Celebrities,”
“Rap,” “Religion,” “Loss of employment,”
and “Evolution”. If a science question in-
volving evolution or dinosaurs was asked
Education
Students and professors who share this
love for nature use every means available
to them to share that love.
“Having people coming in asking,
‘What is the plant I’m looking at?’ makes
me pretty happy,” Bigelow said.
Murphy agreed. “This is a place where
we celebrate the relationship between peo-
ple and plants.”
Students can learn more about anthro-
pology and why or how to appreciate na-
ture on the EdCC website by visiting edcc.
libguides.com/stoljaali.
According to Bigelow, Campus Sus-
tainability Club and plant plaques around
EdCC are expressions of our anthropol-
ogy and horticulture departments’ drive to
bring appreciation of nature back into ev-
eryday student life.
Plaques in EdCC and Gold Park
One example of how environmental-
ists at EdCC strive to bring appreciation of
nature into the student world is the numer-
ous plaques denoting the name and species
of particular plants around campus. The
horticulture department worked in con-
junction with EdCC Campus Grounds to
create them, hoping to encourage student
interest in nature.
“It all started with a tree that had a
name,” Murphy laughed, referring to the
plaques around EdCC campus.
“You have the name of the plants, their
common name, which is the ‘October Glo-
ry’,” Bigelow explained. “Then you have
the family that it’s in, which is the Acera-
December 5, 2016
Photo by Marcin Maslowski
on one of the tests, it would be considered
offensive and removed.
By this logic, if anyone deems a word
or phrase offensive it should be banned.
There is a difference between being
sensitive and being just plain ridiculous.
This is exemplified by the concept of ban-
ning words and the New York City Depart-
ment of Education.
The banning of words and phrases
is plainly a detriment to society and goes
against everything freedom of speech en-
tails. Even if a word is an insult with a bad
history, people should be able to express
themselves with the power of that word.
Words are freedoms we sometimes
take for granted. Many people lack aware-
ness of their impact on society in both good
and bad ways. That is the exact reason we
should be able to use words freely – to help
society decide what is right and wrong as
time marches ever forward.
ceae, according to the organization of spe-
cies.”
This project extends beyond the EdCC
campus.
“Have you seen the [plaques] in Gold
Park?” Murphy asked. “We created what
we call an ethno-botanical garden. We
picked native plants… and we put signs
on those. We have their names in English,
Latin and the local native language.”
Going one step further, they worked
with local tribes to not only learn native
plant names, but also a few cultural uses
of that species.
EdCC students can visit Gold Park
located at 6421 200th St SW, Lynnwood,
WA 98036.
Campus Sustainability Club
The EdCC Campus Sustainability
Club (CSC) has worked with the college’s
student resource center to provide activi-
ties and projects geared towards appreciat-
ing nature since 2007, arranging activities
every quarter since 2009.
The CSC endeavors to share their love
for nature with students on campus by al-
lowing them to easily experience its won-
der and grandeur.
The Campus Sustainability Club also
hosts quarterly work parties at Gold Park
to maintain its natural splendor. Elders
from the Snohomish tribe contribute tradi-
tional songs and stories from their culture
about the plants.
Although most students can’t walk
through a forest and name every tree, any-
one can relearn to appreciate nature with a
childlike wonder in everyday life.
 11
Black Friday disappointing, chaotic for many
By Denny Tran
Staff Writer
Nowadays it seems like Thanksgiving
Day only lasts until 6 p.m because once
all the stores open in the evening, it’s not
Thanksgiving anymore, it’s Black Friday.
A good portion of Americans start
planning their shopping strategy days or
even weeks before Thanksgiving night just
to make sure they know where all the real
deals are.
Some people spend more time plan-
ning for Black Friday than they do visiting
with each other on Thanksgiving.
Stores that open at 6 p.m. with enticing
deals don’t make it easy for people to stay
home and enjoy the company of their loved
ones either.
It seems like the “deals” this Black Fri-
day weren’t so much of a deal at all. Many
people were upset that some stores actually
jacked up their prices instead of slashing
them as is expected on Black Friday.
There are plenty of reasons and theo-
ries as to why this is happening compared
with previous years. Some think it has to
do with Donald Trump’s victory over Hill-
ary Clinton. Photo by Neil Smith
Ann Dinh, a UW Seattle student who Black Friday shoppers crowd Wal-Mart in droves, unable to move through the congested aisles. Still, more consumers
used their mobile device to shop on Black Friday than purchased items at a brick and mortar store.
works at Nordstrom in the Alderwood
Mall, said, “I’m not much of a politic head, Phuong Van worked at the lingerie gi- Victoria’s Secret had “the best deals ple didn’t even have to come in to ask us
but I feel a lot of this has to do with busi- ant on Black Friday. of all the stores in Alderwood Mall,” Van about it.”
nesses being scared of Trump and what he “It was just too crazy … We had one said. Just to name some specials, bras were She added, “I personally wouldn’t
is to do in the future to big companies like long line that wrapped around the store, 50% off, perfume was buy one get one have come into this store myself either be-
Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft.” which led to another four lines for four reg- free, and undies were going for 10 for $35. cause I look for the really ‘good’ deals.”
Anxiety over future business might isters. And I’m telling you, four registers Anna Vu is a Shoreline Community Other stores followed The Seattle Pro
explain why Apple didn’t join in on the were not enough!” College student who works at The Seattle Shop’s model, opening on Friday so their
Black Friday spirit this year. You could feel the impatience and Pro Shop, which was closed on Thanksgiv- employees could enjoy the time off and
They didn’t slash prices on the major- frustration in the air as you walked into ing night but opened Friday morning. potential customers could stay home with
ity of their items, instead offering a $50 - Victoria’s Secret and were greeted with a Vu said that the deals were, “Eh.” If their families on Thanksgiving instead of
$250 Apple gift card to buy an item at full long line that stretched and looped all the you spent $75 dollars, you got a 15% dis- shopping.
price. way to the registers. count; $150 meant a 20% discount, and Ton Nguyen, a youth group leader at
Victoria’s Secret seemed to be the only Alexa Novak was one of the people over $200 was a 25% discount. Our Lady of Perpetual Help in North Ev-
place popping with shoppers in the Alder- waiting in the tedious line. “Not too many people came in, defi-
wood Mall this year, perhaps because it “I’ve been waiting for almost an hour, nitely less than I had expected,” Vu said. Friday continued on back
was one of the few stores that had deals for and I’m so close to just walking out and “Maybe it’s because we had our deals
their customers. stealing this,” she joked. advertised on the front of the store so peo-

The hot button debate over violent video games

By Ian Moffet
Opinion Editor

What comes to mind when names

of games like, “Grand Theft Auto”, and
“Mortal Kombat” come up?
Due to their violent nature and explic-
it debauchery, the question often asked is:
do they directly affect the user in a violent
manner? In the wake of many shootings
and everyday acts of violence, the debate
is still relevant.
In a study called “Violent Video
Games and Real-World Violence: Rheto-
ric Versus Data”, conducted by research
scientists at Rutgers and Villanova Univer-
sity, it was found that violent video games
evidently don’t lead to increases in violent
behavior.
Professor Markey - a researcher on
the study - later said, “the biggest ‘take
Photo by Pamela Joe McFarlane
home’ of this study is that violent video
games were not related to increases in vio- The common belief that violent video games encourage violent behavior is not as sound as many think. While there may
lent crime - not even a little.” be a correlation between these two, there is insufficient proof of causation.
Psychcentral.com reports that in a
study published in the “Journal of Youth violent behavior, people still argue to the be the catalyst for violent behavior without as pointing out that the criminal also wore
and Adolescence,” researchers found that contrary. Many want these games banned looking at other aspects of the individual socks.”
the playing of video games actually had a or put on high restriction because of their or society itself, we are basing something Perhaps a start to the resolution of this
very slight calming effect on youth. Mil- promotion of violence. off appearances rather than looking at the debate would be for people to look at the
lions of people play these games, yet only This is alarming, because it hints how facts. things around an individual that may influ-
a handful commit acts like mass shootings. people might base their claims more from This is both sad and frightening. ence them to commit violent acts. These
It’s clear some people will try to mimic ignorance rather than facts derived from Professor Markey puts it best in say- could include mental health, family prob-
and copy what they see on TV, whether it’s studies. In turn, video games are unjustly ing, “...finding that a young man who lems and their community’s culture.
a game or a celebrity. used as scapegoats for violent behavior. committed a violent crime also played a Assuming a violent video game is the
Although recent studies indicate that When society looks at a violent video popular video game, such as Call of Duty, cause of violent behavior is not just igno-
violent video games don’t correlate to game and automatically assumes it must Halo, or Grand Theft Auto, is as pointless rant, but also a dangerous game.
12 Local December 5, 2016

Seattle prepares to mobilize on Standing Rock

By Zachary Bigelow
Student Contributor

A man stands before me, belly fill-

ing out his faded and grease-stained red
hoodie. As he turns around to greet me,
the white and brown flecks of his mustache
widen with a grin.
“You here for Standing Rock?” he
asks as he reaches out to shake my hand.
I notice the thick callouses on his
palms as I reply that I am a student from
Edmonds Community College, coming
with tools borrowed from the Engineering
department to lend a hand.
He starts describing the process to
me: “Three inch measurements from the
bottom rim, holes drilled here, here, and
here,” and then must have noticed my eyes
starting to glaze over.
Matt stopped and smiled again,
“We’re just building stoves, it’s not rocket
science.”
Matt runs a little hole-in-the-wall
metal shop just off of Westlake Ave in Fre-
mont.
Hastily scrawled graffiti fades above
the barred gate door, which practically
opens up right onto the busy street.
Inside, long fluorescent lights illumi-
nate peeling painted brick walls, and tables
Photos by Zachary Bigelow
and shelves cluttered with a countless,
eclectic mixture of items. Seattlites gird themselves to join the protests at Standing Rock. The cold North Dakota winter threatens to freeze out the
Delicately sculpted busts lie next to ill-prepared - activists are doing all they can to make sure that does not happen.
copper pipes, anvils, metal scraps, plas-
tic jugs and unfinished projects in a room
dominated by a massive ‘power hammer,’ For the Sioux and other First Nations Stepping onto the street, a cool breeze es continues unabated. People come and
a huge 12 foot tall machine he picked up peoples across the country it has come to blows as cars rush by on busy Westlake. go, like the ebb and flow of the tides.
in Concrete, Wash. that is capable of slam- embody the struggle to retain their land A small crowd is now gathered around Ladies show up with armfuls of
ming a 200 pound weight twice a second. and culture that has continued unabated for a bespectacled man who leans over one of snacks for us, supplies for the protesters. A
But as volunteers begin to file in our hundreds of years. the 55 gallon metal drums, marker and pot of chili cools on the table but we are all
conversation ends. We are here for a rea- The protests have struck a chord. ruler in hand. too busy to stop and eat. A hugely bearded
son – to support the individuals in North With more than 12,000 people now on the Carefully, he marks the exact orienta- man laboriously delivers the last of a ship-
Dakota who are protesting the construction ground in North Dakota, representing more tion of each cut and hole to be drilled, and ment of steel plates.
of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), than 200 indigenous tribes, the need for ad- the crowd sets off to work replicating his From the relative tranquility of Matt’s
which is planned to run underneath Lake equate shelter is great. measurements. side office, Poy and I enjoy a moment’s
Oahe upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux This is where we come in. Outside the crew marks and prepares peace. He smiles at me in the shaded room,
reservation. Volunteers have come from all over the drums, while inside we begin turning the wrinkles on his worn face lighting up.
This path runs the risk of contami- Seattle and the surrounding areas to con- them into furnaces. The long dark hair of “I thought I’d take a break. Almost too
nating the water supply of the reservation gregate at Matt’s shop following the vision my partner, Poy, falls alongside his shoul- many worker bees. Besides, I thought I’d
and that of the millions of people who live of one man – Paul Cheoketen Wagner. Af- ders as he leans into his drill, the screech let the girls have their turn with the drill.”
downstream on the Missouri River. ter spending time in the frigid conditions of the metal parting as he pushes into the By the end of the night stacks of fur-
For many, the protests represent much at the protests he realized the critical need drum. naces line the walls of the shop, reflecting
more than water rights. For some, it is a for shelter. We are an unbroken, cacophonous off the bright fluorescent lights.
protest about our society’s reckless addic- Wagner began designing and crowd- chain – outside the crew marks up the Five hours of work, upwards of twen-
tion to carbon fuels. Others see it as a stand funding simple insulated teepees made furnaces-to-be, inside Poy and I drill and ty volunteers, and now 22 furnaces ready
against political corruption. from materials easily located at any hard- enlarge the holes, passing the barrels off to to be loaded up and sent to North Dakota.
President-elect Donald Trump has ware store. Steve with his circular saw and Matt who With laughter and warm embraces we
investments running between $1 million The wood-burning furnaces we are finally torches them. exchange contact information, pack up and
and $2 million dollars in Energy Transfer building are the final, crucial step in the The noise is intense, the scene one of head home, hope and determination in our
Partners, the operators of the DAPL pipe- production of these shelters that will pro- controlled chaos, and people whirr by in hearts.
line, and other companies with significant tect up to 720 individuals from the harsh frantic motion until well after dark. There is still much work to be done.
shares in the project. cold of the North Dakota winter. The sound of drills and plasma torch-

Matt (left) runs the metal shop Standing Rock supporters used as their base of operations. The group worked tirelessly for hours, crafting wood-burning furnaces
with raw materials, diligence and teamwork.

Recent EdCC graduate reflects and rocks on
By Kyle Whitmer
Photographer, Staff Writer
If you’re anything like me, then you
sure as hell know figuring out what career
or job you want to pursue is a daunting
task.
I decided to look into the direction
other students of Edmonds Community
College went after graduating. It wasn’t
until I stumbled upon a recent EdCC grad-
uate that I realized the level of talent and
inspiration some of our alumni exude.
Imagine a drumroll and picture the
man, the myth, the legendary John Thorn-
burg from the local band Asterhouse.
John and his younger brother Russ
Thornburg, who have been playing music
since nearly before they could remember,
used to call their three-person band Jar of
Rain.
The third band member is Julio Posa-
da. While Russ pours as much heart and
soul as any rock legend into shredding the
guitar, Julio can be found steadying the
stage as a bewilderingly talented bassist.
John stated during an interview, “Ju-
lio’s personality fits his instrument. He is a
quieter, introspective guy.”
The passion during the band’s perfor-
mances, so present it could be cut with a
knife, could not exist without John’s pure
enthusiasm and energy level - which sky-
rocket over anyone else’s.
During concerts and shows he always
seems to find a way to uplift the crowd
with animated performances, soulful sing-
ing and front-and-center drum playing.
As the band has been picking up in
popularity, they’ve started to perform more
and more, but are restricted to some ex-
tent. “We’ve been busier lately,” John ex-
plained. “We have been playing one or two
shows a weekend every weekend.”
Although they seem hopeful for the
future and are driven to push the band to
the next level, some members are still bal-
Standing Rock activists regenerate their vitriol with a warm embrace. The motley crew
is a united family, working together with one mission in mind.
The members of Asterhouse pose for a group photo. Brother John Thornburg (left) and Russ Thornburg (center) play drum duos on
stage during performances, while bassist Julio Posada (right) holds down the groove.
ancing academic priorities. “The reason
we don’t perform more is usually school,
we’re just waiting for the right time to go
on tour.”
Asterhouse performed recently on
Saturday, Nov. 26th at 6:00 p.m. at the
globally recognized Hard Rock Café in
Seattle.
Along with The Daisy Strains, The
Fame Riot and Cashing in Karma, Aster-
house stole the night with an electrifying
show on the upper level of the café. As
should be the music, it was ear-splittingly
loud and filled the entire floor of the build-
ing for all to enjoy.
At one point Russ slid his guitar to his
side and picked up some drum sticks for a
wicked fraternal drum duo that pulled fa-
natic cheers from the lively crowd.
Tables filled with people stationed
along the sides of the room held eyes
pulled to the stage to witness fantastic and
uproarious music being played. With a bar
in back and a crowd up front, it was a high-
ly entertaining night with great and heart-
felt music being played by all of the bands.
Watching their show at the Hard Rock
Café was highly energetic and entertaining
with a low cost of $12 to get through the
door.
Although a t-shirt to remember the
night was a sting at $35, for a Hard Rock
Café shirt, the cost was well worth it in the
end.
I got a chance to speak to John and
Russ earlier the day before that show. “The
band is fun. It’s been going really well,”
John said.
I asked them which bands inspired
them only to be flooded with musicians.
Right along with the bands Smashing
Pumpkins, The Who and Incubus, they
went on to list individuals such as Jimmy
Page and Neil Young.
John also said, “When we were young,
we were obsessed with Jim Morrison from
The Doors.”
Appropriately, Asterhouse’s Website
includes a section explaining John had
“perfected his Jim Morrison impersonation
by the time he was four years old.”
You can find out more about the
band on that website, Asterhousemusic.
com. “You could go to Facebook.com and
search Asterhousemusic,” John suggested.
When asked what their favorite song
was, John goes on: “There’s a song we’re
putting out called ‘1778.’ I like this song
because I’m kind of a sucker for the mel-
lotron.”
He described the sound as, “this old,
almost eerie sound.” He continued to ex-
plain, “We finally got put it in one of our
songs (1778).”
For his favorite song Russ answered,
“it was a song called, ‘Out of This Town’.
We wrote it probably six years ago; it was
the first song that I felt like I was matur-
ing as a guitarist when coming up with the
guitar rift.”
John talked about his time at Ed-
monds Community College and what lead
13
Photo by Bryanna Amaro
him there.
“I was going to go to Cascadia, but
when I parked there the machine wouldn’t
take my card. I saw a cop coming up so I
left and decided I wasn’t going there.”
Laughing, John also explained what
lead him to looking at Edmonds specifi-
cally.
“I thought EdCC was going to be on
the water, but then when I got there I real-
ized it was in Lynwood. I was wrong about
that but I did find parking, so it seemed like
destiny.”
John got his AA while at EDCC. “I’ve
decided to wait a few years to transfer. If I
do transfer, I will probably get a four year
degree in Education.
“It took me awhile to get my two year
degree because I was working a lot as para-
educator, or para-ed.” John said.
“I worked at several of the schools in
Edmonds School District, although most-
ly at Scriber Lake High School. I usually
worked with special ed students.”
John also explained he was just out
of high school while working, and looked
very young.
“It was funny … Students would be
like, ‘You work here? You look like you go
here.’” While laughing he added, “In the
hallways teachers would tell me to get to
class and I’d have to explain.”
Asterhouse’s website also states John
“teaches bands of tomorrow at Jam Acad-
emy in Woodinville.”
A final note that John wanted to bring
up about EdCC was a teacher that really
helped him.
“David Breed saved my ass; he was
amazing as a teacher. For the first time in
five years I felt like I retained information
from a math class.”
He also said about Breed: “What was
really amazing about him was he didn’t use
fear tactics, and did everything with love.
He worked really hard to make sure ev-
eryone understood the material, probably
overworked himself.”
Coming from someone who isn’t
hugely into rock and roll, Asterhouse defi-
nitely has the heart and soul to entertain
while playing great music. I would recom-
mend to anyone who is looking for a good
time, loves rock, or just need to fill their
night on Dec. 22 to watch Asterhouse play
their big Christmas party show at the Trac-
tor Tavern in Ballard, W.A.
14 A&E
Local cafes offer students a variety of tastes
By Liza Efimovskaya
Staff Writer
Why do students go to a café? First, of
course, to have a coffee and a snack. And
in our urban century the café is a place for
socializing, meetings, dates.
But it’s usually more than that - since
modern computers are so portable and
most cafés have free internet, the café has
become a student’s library and personal of-
fice.
There are visitors who love loneliness,
who come not to produce, but to observe
and absorb. They just watch the passers-by
sipping coffee at a table by the window. I
am that way too, sometimes.
But there are also people who come
here for a reason - they need to get some-
thing done and a café gives them the per-
fect setting.
Different people work outside their
natural habitat for different reasons. Some
have kids, or dogs or roommates (or all of
the above at once), and they make a run
for it.
On the other hand, some have a press-
ing, flattening silence in their empty apart-
ments to the point their brain starts to re-
flect the emptiness.
In any of these scenarios it can be
painful to squeeze out an idea, a thought,
a word.
And that is when you make an escape
- an escape to the streets, to a café, to the
people who don’t care, who mind their
own business.
Where you do not need to change a di-
aper, or be yelled at for not washing dishes.
Inexplicably, thoughts begin to sprout, as
if you steal them from the head of an un-
known (but somehow connected) stranger
from next table.
By the way, you are mistaken if you
think the invention of Internet turned cafés
into a kind of office-room.
There is stunning example in the early
20th century - the famous Austrian writer
and journalist Peter Altenber.
He was so fond of Café Central in Vi-
enna that he even received his correspon-
dence here, and the question of where to
find him was always answered, “Café Cen-
tral, Vienna.”
Schools continued from page 4
to pass the ЕГЭ (the Unified State Exami-
nation) with high exam scores.
It’s necessary to pass math and Rus-
sian language exams, but students can
choose any other subjects they want to test
in.
The most prestigious universities,
such as МГУ (Moscow State University)
and МГИМО (Moscow State Institute of
International Relations), have their own
difficult entrance exams.
The Japanese academic year starts
earlier than the Russian year, in April. The
school year contains three quarters, which
are separated by holidays.
The school system consists of six
years of elementary school, three years of
secondary school and three years of high
school.
Children start classes at age six and
study Japanese language, math, natural sci-
ence, music, P.E., drawing and handicrafts.
Students often go on tours, too.
The hardest part is studying their
mother tongue. Students must learn at least
1850 characters, but to read freely, they
need to know up to 3000 characters.
Every day after classes, children often
study at a tutor school. It’s not obligatory,
Caffe Ladro, just east of 196th Street and Highway 99, offers patrons a warm and inviting atmosphere and expertly curated coffee.
His figure in papier-mâché retains a
place of honor on a bench near the entrance
to the café.
Modern expectations of a café are
things like Wi-Fi, outlets to charge com-
puters and iPhones, and the ability to order
coffee or tea and sit at a table as long as
necessary without catching the angry looks
of waiters.
Noise level is also a concern. It
shouldn’t be too loud, it should stay at that
level of white noise when it’s not distract-
ing.
In general, our needs and desires are
rather modest, so let’s look at how well
they are satisfied by cafés in EdCC’s
neighborhood.
On the list are Caffe Ladro, Aloha
Cafe and Starbucks – all on 196th street,
within 10 minutes walking distance of the
EdCC campus.
Aloha Café
Entering, I am immediately greeted
warmly by Jung, the owner, with whom I
go back long time. Aloha was one of the
first cafés I discovered when I started at
EdCC four years ago.
It has one big table (perfect if you
have to lay out not only a computer but
but those who want to go to high school
have to attend and pay for it.
Parents in Japan spare no expense for
children’s education because they believe
it is a good investment. It’s a culture sup-
ported by family, society and country.
High schools provide full-time educa-
tion for three years or evening training for
four years. Beyond mandatory items, high
schools offer discipline choices, including
foreign languages, technical and scientific
disciplines.
In 12th grade, students choose their
learning profile. During their last school
year, they are trained on the universities’
systems.
Some newer schools don’t have school
uniforms, but traditionally schools require
them. Ami Miyagaki, an international stu-
dent from Japan, was amused by claims
about school uniforms.
“My school [had a] school uniform
with strict rules. The rule was about skirt
length, socks color, and socks length. I
think the rules were ridiculous. Also I
didn’t like [the] uniform because it looked
like [a] uniform for bank customer servic-
es. Some schools have cute and cool uni-
forms, so I was always jealous of them.”
Kazakhstan inherited its educational
system from the former Soviet Union (now
the Russian Federation), so it’s similar to
also a bunch of textbooks), six smaller ta-
bles, and two low coffee tables surrounded
by armchairs.
Their clean restrooms and Wi-Fi
(password on request) are not surprising,
and more of a mandatory thing nowadays.
There are not many people, and usually
there is no problem finding an unoccupied
table close to an outlet.
Jung gladly engaged in the conversa-
tion and shared that lately the business is
down. Aloha doesn’t have as many stu-
dents as it used to.
“We were here first, we opened in
March 2010. But now they have Starbucks
everywhere”, said Jung. Aloha has friend-
ly, almost homey atmosphere; Jung greets
most of the customers by names.
Caffe Ladro
Caffe Ladro is bigger that Aloha and
has more locations around Seattle, but
still succeeds in maintaining a simple and
friendly atmosphere.
The café is filled with cozy armchairs
and a variety of differently sized tables.
Foodwise, we can find more desserts and
pastries here than at Aloha.
The baristas engage in light conversa-
tion with all the customers and make jokes.
the Russian educational system.
Nowadays there are a few levels of
public and private educational institutions
in Kazakhstan: schools, colleges and uni-
versities. Subjects are mostly studied in
Kazakh and Russian languages.
Children in Kazakhstan have to fin-
ish 11 grades, consisting of four years of
elementary school, five years of second-
ary school, and two years of high school.
By the year 2020, Kazakhstan government
plans to change its 11-year education sys-
tem to 12 years.
Zarina Tolagayeva, an international
student from Kazakhstan, explained she
likes to study at EdCC more than in her
home country.
“I really like it. Education is better
because in Kazakhstan we study 20 sub-
jects that we don’t need, but here I study
subjects that I need. Also teachers here are
better,” she said.
The educational system in the Philip-
pines is based on the American system, and
it’s considered to be one of the best in Asia.
Students are required to study in Eng-
lish. Their academic year begins in June
and lasts until March.
For children aged 7 to 12, education is
compulsory and free of charge. Most stu-
dent attend public schools.
“We do have school uniforms,” Kha-
December 5, 2016
Photo by Kyle Whitmer
As a true baristas should, they supply you
with a good mood for the rest of your day.
Cara, a Ladro customer working on
her book, explained why she can’t work at
home: “My head is quite empty when I am
there, and I was frantically trying to string
words like beads on the fishing line in
phrases and meanings, but it didn’t work.”
Starbucks
Hearing a lot of short, distant remarks
about Starbucks from Ladro and Aloha
customers, I approached it with a heavy
heart. The barista welcomed me with a
usual smile and polite question of what I
would like to drink.
Haters gonna hate, but Starbucks is
packed with students.
I couldn’t get a table to myself, so I
took an empty seat beside a girl, Stephanie,
with a computer by the window. She turned
out to be a high school student who was
working on her English essay.
“I am a tea person”, Stephanie ex-
plained. “But my friends who drink coffee
never come here. They would go to the cof-
fee stand across the road.”
Stephanie shared that Ladro and Aloha
are too quiet for her, she needs more people
and more noise to concentrate.
ris Lumapas, an international student from
Philippines, said.
“At first I didn’t like it at all, but then
when I thought about it, it’s one less thing
to worry about in the morning. I didn’t
have to think about an outfit cause every-
one looks the same.”
Some schools are designed specifical-
ly for people who work on reed plantations
and aren’t able to pay for school, uniform
and books.
Besides the core subjects, children
study cooking and computer classes,
sports, singing, dancing and acting. Once
a week, students watch movies on a big
screen.
At the end of secondary education,
students take an exam and receive a cer-
tificate. To enroll in one of the most pres-
tigious universities, they need to pass the
National Secondary Achievement Test
(NSAT), which is analogous to standard-
ized tests in American secondary schools.
It is no wonder that a good education
is directly linked to the future of the coun-
try and the world as a whole.
Each educational system has advan-
tages and disadvantages. By taking the best
from each country, we can create some-
thing really worthwhile and amazing.
 15
EdCC event calendar: December and January
Stay up to date with college events by visiting edcc.edu/calendar
16 A&E December 5, 2016

Sharply connecting hip hop and social change

By Tara Pegasus
A&E Editor
“Music is not just entertainment,”
Philip “Sharp Skills” Jacob announced
onstage in the Black Box Theatre during a
Triton Talk on November 17.
Jacob, a hip-hop star who began re-
cording at age ten, visited EdCC to talk
about using hip-hop for social change. His
performance illustrated his point as he ad-
dressed politics, race, social injustice and
personal achievement in rapid-fire lyrics.
Hip-hop emerged in the 1970s in New
York City as an elaboration of deejaying.
The DJ might extend an instrumental break
or sample a drum beat to give people more
time to dance and then speak in rhythm, in
essence rapping.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary de-
fines hip-hop as “the stylized rhythmic mu-
sic that commonly accompanies rap,” but
hip-hop is also a culture in and of itself.
According to Jacob, “Hip-hop is a
revolutionary art form and culture that
enables those who practice it to tell their
stories in a way that transcends ethnic, cul-
tural and geographical boundaries.”
Jacob said that hip-hop influences
fashion, political thought, the words peo-
ple use and what they buy.
One early hip-hop group, Public En-
emy, called out the governor of Arizona in
1991 for not observing Martin Luther King
Jr. Day as a holiday. Tourists boycotted
the state until the state made it a holiday
in 1992.
Public Enemy not only challenged
political thought and racism, it expanded
hip-hop’s audience and filtered into white
pop culture, even appearing on young John
Connor’s shirt in Terminator 2: Judgment
Day.
Jacob asserted that part of the reason
President Obama was elected was that hip-
hop gave the younger voting generation a
different frame of reference than their par-
ents.
Jacob mentioned other hip-hop artists
who address current social problems and
push for real change, not just a surface-
level appearance of change.
Canadian artist Baba Brinkman at-
tacked fossil fuel habits during a TEDx-
East talk in his song, “Rap Guide to Cli-
mate Chaos.” Artist Akon started a project
in 2014 called “Akon Lighting Africa” to
provide solar-powered electricity to mil-
lions of households in Africa.
Other groups like Mixed Ingredients
promote women’s empowerment and eth-
nic diversity.
During his evening show, Jacob per-
formed songs from his latest album, “On
My Rebel Ish.” One song, “Until It Ig-
nites,” was filmed in downtown Seattle and
was inspired by the diversity of the people
there.
The lyrics sum up Jacob’s message:
dare to be different and stand up for social
change. “Keep sparking a vision until it ig-
nites,” Jacob recited in perfect rhythm. “If
not now, then when?”
To get involved with or learn more
about hip-hop, attend the next hip-hop club
meeting. Meetings are 2-4 Thursdays and
2-5 Fridays in Seaview 119.

Photo By Kyle Whitmer

Philip “Sharp Skills” Jacob performing at EdCC’s Black Box Theatre on November 17.
His lyrics examine social injustices and the importance of challenging oneslf.

Be a part of THE STORY. Friday continued from page 11 had someone else wait in line, and I’m sure
there were many more strategies.
By the time I got to Best Buy, custom-

Be a TAX VOLUNTEER. erett, said, “If REI was opened on Thurs-

day night, I would have gone Black Friday
shopping … because their deals are pret-
January - April 2017 ty good on Black Friday. But since they
opened Friday morning, I just spent the
time at home with my family for Thanks-
giving, which was really good because I
SAVE families time and money. feel like I’ve forgotten the importance of
Over the last 10 years, United Way of Snohomish spending time with my family on this holi-
County’s free tax preparation program helped save day.”
As I walked around the Alderwood
local families an estimated $4.4 million and secured
Mall on Black Friday, I noticed that people
valuable tax credits for tens of thousands of families. weren’t shopping as much as usual. Not too
many people carried bags, and most of the
bags were from Victoria’s Secret, reinforc-
Build SKILLS for work and life. ing the quiet verdict that Victoria’s Secret
Being a tax site volunteer can boost your resume was one of the few stores with good deals.
and impress future employers. All volunteers are Big box stores like Best Buy, Target
and Wal-Mart had their regular Black Fri-
trained to the highest standard of the federal
day craziness. Shoppers were almost purg-
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) and ing the shelves, grabbing whatever deals
all preparers will be IRS-certified. they could find.
People at Wal-Mart circled certain
items to block others from getting them,
SHARE in their struggles and be part of their story. maintaining the blockade until someone
We all have struggles and a story. Whether helping else in their party could grab another cart.
I tried to get an interview with one of
a single mom or a young couple trying to make
the cashiers there, but they seemed under-
ends meet, you will become part of someone’s standably frustrated and moody. Anyone in
story. You’ll connect one-on-one, making a tangible their shoes would be.
difference in someone’s life. I left Wal-Mart after a half hour be-
cause there was foot traffic everywhere. I
just couldn’t do it.
I went to Target next, where there was
Interested? Visit uwsc.org/vitavols, or contact more order and peace, but not by much.
Lynsey Gagnon at lynsey.gagnon@uwsc.org or 425.374.5526. The checkout lines extended to the back of
the store. People were shopping while they
ers had nearly cleared the shelves. One
could easily tell that Best Buy had deals
because some models of their flat screen
TVs were sold out. It felt like everything
worth buying was gone. Best Buy was defi-
nitely one of the more popular store’s on
everyone’s list.
All in all, this Black Friday wasn’t as
successful as in previous years because
many stores opted out of the spirit of price
slashing.
What happened to the Black Friday
deals of yore where people could get flat
screen TVs for less than $250 bucks? This
Black Friday, the cheapest TVs were closer
to $350.
Perhaps the lack of brick and mortar
deals has to do with more consumers shop-
ping online. According to Forbes, more
people shopped on their mobile devices
this year than actually visited stores.
Mark A. Cohen, a writer for Forbes
magazine, wrote, “As big as the event or
weekend has become, it’s substantially
muted for the fact that all the people are
buying online.”