Ruth's Blog

My three goals on my first blog post were 1. I want to commit time to the Commuter. I really hope to get published in the Commuter many times this term and write great stories for them to have. 2. I would like to improve my story writing and how in-depth I work on the stories I write. 3. My interview process as well, I've done many interviews but there's always room for improvement especially with the questions and content I retrieve. My first goal really turned around. Not only did I write stories for the Commuter, I became a photo editor, and I'm really glad I did. I think throughout this term I did improve my writing. I wrote a variety of different feature stories I'd never done before. In the past I only wrote news reporting stories, then this term I got to write columns and reviews, which I'd never done before. On the last goal, I'd say I improved some, probably not as much as I would've liked. 

Courtesy: Flickr Released in 1996, 23 years ago this game will still have you hating your friends. Okay, not actually hating but the competitiveness and need to prove your power is present, as always. Catan the board game. You can play with up to 10 of your friends. The goal of the game is to lay out settlements on the board near as many of different resources as possible. When the die are rolled the resource with that number can be taken, but only if you have a settlement on it. You must get to 10 points worth of settlements to win the game. There’s extra cards in the game called development cards which reveal different tricks that can put you ahead of the pack. Warning! This game can take over an hour to play, but is completely worth it. As you watch other players build and collect resources you get more competitive. The game always stays pretty close in score, so you always feel like you could have a chance to win. There's actually a whole Twitter page dedicated to f...

Camera in hand, police badge on chest. The stage is set for the newest episode of "Cops." Behind the scenes is a writer director and filmmaker. Friends agree to act, so he gets to writing the script. His dreams of becoming a movie director start out with the small films shot in backyards of Albany, Oregon. Numerous films around the town have helped this young aspiring director make his name in the town. Watch out, it won't be the last time his name is heard. How did you first get into film making? “I used to film movies with my webkinz and G.I. Joe’s when I was little. When I was 15 I watched ‘Pulp Fiction” and I was like, shoot, I want to do that. So I used a little camcorder my dad gave me to make a movie called ‘The Wanderer’ on a snow day in 2017.” What’s was your favorite film that you’ve made so far? “I guess a remake of ‘The Wanderer’ that I did about a year and a half ago. I’ve never been truly proud, because I know I always need to be better, but I was...

Courtesy: Eonline Why was James Charles even at the Met Gala ? First, you might not know who James Charles is, I’ll explain. He’s a famous makeup artist who makes money and got his fame from social media and Youtube. He is in the new “famous people” category called influencers. These are basically people who promote things over social media in efforts to get others to follow along or buy a product. Next, you are probably wondering what the Met Gala is. This is a prestigious event in which all the A list celebrities attend for a fundraiser in honor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. This year there was over $15 million raised. It is held by Vogue and supposed to be one of the hardest events to get in. There's a waiting list on top of a waiting list. So again, why was James Charles there? Surprisingly he got invited. He has some ins to being surrounded by the A list group of celebrities. He was the first male face of Covergirl. B...

After five long years of waiting for something new from the “Take Me to Church” star, Hozier 's new album “Wasteland, Baby!” delivered. An intricate selection of sounds has the listener wanting more. The album contains songs from the previously released EP “Nina Cried Power” and much more. His angelic voice makes this over an hour-long album an easy listen all the way through. His soft tones in songs “As it was” and “Wasteland, Baby!” contrast well with the more upbeat pop melodies of “Shrike” and “Nina Cried Power,” which includes artist Mavis Staples. “‘Wasteland, Baby!’ is relatively free of the too-high expectations that tend to plague young artist’s anticipated second albums,” said Rolling Stone reviewer Jonathan Bernstein. On his first album the focus was centered around what was happening in the world at the time. Like hit song “Take Me to Church” as a focus on the LGBTQ+ community. But as for this album Hozier had a new goal, love. “There's no plan, there's no r...

No one goes to Goodwill as much as these guys. Who knew thrift shopping could change some people's lives forever? “I've been thrift shopping for years now with some of the other guys here, it’s an everyday thing,” said retail owner of Recycled Rad in Oregon City Gavin Bartel. On Saturday, April 6, crowds of over-eager shoppers gathered in Corvallis to attend the sixth Loose Ends vintage, designer, and street wear clothing pop-up. Walking down the steps of the 425 Madison Ave, Albany Oregon  street shop music will be blaring and clothes will be flying of the shelves.  “It all started with Goodwill,” said Bartel. Many of the vendors at Loose Ends emphasized that looking through people's old clothes has given them work. From real stores to online shops, the vendors all had the same goal -- to sell people cool clothes. This is how the stores got to selling. The whole idea surrounding buying old clothes (sometimes redesigning) and reselling. The idea got s...

As he sat in his hospital bed, Brody Johannessen wondered, why me? What is wrong with me, what did I do to deserve this? Weeks later looking in the mirror he saw someone he didn’t recognize. Someone who didn’t know where to look next or how his life would change. 80, 90, 100 pounds up on the bar. Now the only goal is to push the next rep. LBCC sports science major Brody Johannessen was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis the summer before his senior year of high school. Not knowing if he would ever play the sport he loved again and how his life would change because of it. “It was soul crushing, because I found out right before I had Linfield camp and wasn’t sure I was going to be able to play football that year,” said Johannessen. Now, he smiles as he enters the gym, carrying a notebook with the day’s workout plan. The gym is where his time now belongs. When not hanging out with friends having a game night, brody goes to school full-time and works out regularly. “Lifting was a big part ...

Edna Buchanan I learned two important lessons from the Edna Buchanan book. One was to go for what you want with everything you have. Edna proved how possible this is, she showed her commitment to the story and portrayed such a passion for it that made me want to work just as hard. Another lesson I learned from her was to stay true to the story. Don't get personal feeling involved and make promises that can't be kept. When a story come up being the first to put myself out there to write is could be one way I could display this. When writing the story I want to be there to get the facts and learn what's happening and keep my opinion out of it. My favorite part of the book was how we got to know Edna and it helped us to relate to how she writes her stories. We found out that she is kind of a loner. She lives near he mom has relationships with cats basically, but this all lead to us realizing how committed to her work she is. That really inspired me.

In LBCC mascot Jennifer Pick walks alongside students during March 7, 2019 rally.  Busses pull up to the parking lot of Chemeketa Community College full of eager students ready to go. “Group picture!” The advisors yell as the mascots and students of Linn-Benton, Chemeketa, Umpqua, Clackamas, and Blue Mountain community colleges gather around before heading to the capitol. “Money Matters,” chanted the crowd. Thursday, March 7, students from community colleges gathered at the Oregon State Capitol building in Salem to march in support of one common goal: raise awareness for community college funding. “This rally is in support of all students’ ability to go to college,” said Student Leadership Council President Shelby Pick. The students held a march including posters and chants to raise awareness against the proposed plan for the state’s community college budget. “This is really important now more than ever so legislators know how critical funding is,” said Executive Director of A...

Smiling, laughing, and the smell of pizza wafting in the air. A crowd of over 20 joined together in a small room to all celebrate a combined interest on Thursday, Feb. 21. Anthropology Day. “Did you all know this is the first time LBCC has ever had a club, or even participated in anthropology day,” said LBCC professor Lauren Visconti. Anthropology Day is celebrated nationwide on Feb. 21. But this year, it had a whole new meaning to the staff and student body of LBCC. The school has never had as many anthropology majors as the present, and is welcoming a new club about anthropology, meeting for the first time on Monday, March 4, at 2 p.m. in room IA 232. “Anthropology, that sounds cool. What the hell is it?” joked anthropology major Franklin Bowers. To some students, it may have been a class, or two, taken over the terms. But to many celebrating the day at the meeting it is what they plan to spend their lives doing. The meeting brought in students who knew the ins and outs of...

Walk by the LBCC gym and you may see some ping pong tables and some people having a good time. “Anyone can walk by and join in,” said Srikar Valluri one founder of the LBCC ping pong club. The LBCC ping pong club meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday around noon in the gym. A very recent club that started around week two of the 2019 winter term is looking for members. I found out some people like playing the game,” said Valluri, “so I talked with some of my friends and we started it.” Anyone is welcome to join the club, experience or not. The number of players has seen a drastic increase within the past couple of weeks, with seven people showing up to the Wednesday Jan. 30th practice. “I just kind of walked by the gym and saw it,” said nursing major Caulin Leach. As of right now the team sets up tables in the back half of the gym playing pickup games at any level. If any interest in joining the team Valluir can be contacted through LB Live. In the future they are looking ...

The answer is no, owning a horse isn’t a requirement of being involved in the LBCC equestrian team. A matching major isn’t either. While many of the members this year on the equestrian team do plan on majoring in LBCC’s animal sciences majors, the team attracts an abundance of others. “We actually get a lot of nursing majors on the team,” said instructional specialist and western riding coach Cindy Gooch, “We sometimes get people who just want to be around horses.” The equestrian club is always looking for new members to join the team, admission has changed though. Beginning this school year the equestrian club has started having tryouts to get into the club. “We want to have riders with some riding background,” said Gooch. To be a part of the team a horse is not needed. LBCC owns 11 horses at this time with many available for use. The school boards them at a barn only a few miles from campus where they hold practices and have onsite caretakers. “It’s a blast to be a part of a super fr...