WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014 V. 47, ISSUE 18 | CLACKAMAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE | AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1966

www.TheClackamasPrint.com

RULES OF THE

ROAD

Q&A withactive cyclist

Bicyclists are subject to DUI charges if found biking while intoxicated.

Bicyclists must yield to pedes-trians on sidewalks and cross-walks, and must use bike lanes where available.

  Bicyclists must always ride with the flow of traffic on the right side of the right lane (except when turning left.)

  Bicyclists can be tick-eted for speeding. Speeds must not exceed the limit for cars while on the road, nor walking speed while on populated sidewalks or trails.    Lights and reflectors are required on all bicyclists after dark. A white light vis-ible from at least 500 feet is required for the front of bikes, and a red light or reflector visible from at least 600 feet is required for the back of bikes. 

Helmets are required for all bicyclists riding on highways or public grounds, and always required for riders under the age of 16. The maximum fine for failure to wear approved headgear is $25.

Passengers and burdensome loads are prohibited if the bike cannot safely accommodate them. Passengers are also sub-ject to headgear laws.

Greg Myers is a veteran services coordinator at Clackamas Community College and has been rid-ing his bike to work five days a week for four and half years. Myers, who lives in West Linn, has an eight mile commute, which takes him 30 min-utes to get to the college. Myers is an lifelong cyclist who owns five bikes, rides year round and also com-petes in local races.

The Clackamas Print: Why do you ride your bike to work instead of driving?

Myers: I’m an avid cyclist, I race mountain bikes. I prefer to ride my bike and I ride year-round because it’s good for me. I am also a combat veteran and I don’t like to drive all that much. It wakes me up on the way in and it calms me, [and] makes me feel good on the way home. Whereas when I drive I don’t get that. It’s just good in every way.

TCP: What is your usual route to campus?

Myers: I try to switch it up; however, most days I cross the bridge, cut through downtown to Singer Hill [7th] climb it, cut over to 5th where it becomes Linn Avenue then Meyers Road, and then I cross 213 by the Carls Jr. That is my most frequently utilized route because it is the safest, [but] it’s not the shortest.

TCP: Have you ever had any close calls with drivers on campus?

Myers: Not on campus but on the road all the time. I do everything I can to remain visible. I have a flasher on the front and flasher on the back, I put one on my helmet. I wear the brightest clothing I can possibly wear. I’m a lifelong cyclist, so I’ve learned how to look into the cars and not at the cars. I look at what people are doing. I’ve been hit a couple of times but I don’t really fear that. I think that most people are fairly aware and I know I am vis-ible even in the dark. But there are ignorant people; I’ve been yelled at, spit on and things thrown at me.

TCP: Has any of that happened on your way to or from work?

by PATTY SALAZAReditor-in-chief

by LIZ GOMES associate photo editor

Oregon is best known for how bicycle friendly most of its popu-lated cities are, specifically Portland. This understanding of those who choose two wheels over four has taken years to make work. Here at Clackamas Community College, the warm weather often brings out stu-dents and faculty who enjoy using the day for a ride to the campus.

The campus is most densely populated by people with long-range commutes to campus, mak-ing it very bus and car-heavy.

However, the biking community that CCC does have shouldn’t be ignored.

CCC lacks the precautions that the other schools utilize for their bikers. Sitting right on Highway 213, the roadway features a large intersection that is often used by large semi trucks and other large,

fast moving vehicles. The 213 entrance also doesn’t have a con-venient bike lane for the cyclists, meaning that a biker either uses the sidewalk or shares the road with impatient college drivers who are always in a hurry to get to class on time. With a very congested entryway and a long red light, this makes everyone irritated.

Kate Gray is an English instruc-tor who bikes at least once a week to the campus, and has been doing

it for years. “It’s great exercise, it doesn’t pollute, and it gives me lots of great energy that day,” Gray says.

She understands the hazards with biking to CCC. “There aren’t that many bike-safe roads in the area, and even on campus there isn’t a shoulder on the actual roads around campus so the marking is difficult and a little dangerous.”

by ERIN CAREYnews & culture editor

Oregon law defines bikes as vehicles

see CYCLING Page 3

see MYERS Page 3

Liz Gom

es

There is an Oregon Bicyclist Manual with laws, tips, and advice for a safe and enjoyable biking experience. The manual can be found at any local DMV office or online at:

oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/

BIKEPED

Source: oregon.gov

Is your campus bike friendly?Students and staff at Clackamas Community College gear up for warmer days and clear skies by riding their bicycles to class.

2 NEWSWEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

PRINT STAFFThe Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased and professional man-ner. Content pub-lished in The Print is not screened or subject to censorship.

Patty SalazarEditor-in-Chiefchiefed@clackamas.edu

Erin CareyNews & Cultureaced@clackamas.edunewsed@clackamas.edu

Zak LasterAd Manageradmgr@clackamas.edu

Blake ThomasonSportssportsed@clackamas.edu

Brandon ChorumDesign Editor

Liz GomesAssociate Photo

Denee SheltonPhotophotoed@clackamas.edu

Emily RaskProduction Manager

Karsten Mayer

Kai Kiefel

Matt Morrissey

Joey Fisher

Naomi Sommers

Donny BeachWeb Editorwebeditor@clackamas.edu

Tim YoungAssociate News

Amber FairbanksAssociate Arts & Culture

Email comments,concerns or tips to:

chiefed@clackamas.eduor call us at 503-594-6266

19600 Molalla Ave.Oregon City, OR 97045

Journalism Advisor:Beth Slovic

elizabeth.slovic@clackamas.edu

EDITORS

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facebook: the clackamas print twitter: @clackamasprint

Chris MurrowCopy Editorcopyed@clackamas.edu

CAMPUS POLICE LOGPOLICE LOGPOLICE LOGPOLICE LOGPOLICE LOGPOLICE LOGMONDAY, APRIL 21 – SUNDAY APRIL, 27

Date Time Incident4/21 8:43 a.m. Found Keys-McLoughlin lot

10:29 a.m. Motorist Assist-jump-Barlow Lot3:00 p.m. Student report blue vehicle with doors open in McLoughlin Lot-Unable to locate5:05 p.m. 911 hang-up/misdial-Dye9:45 p.m. Staff escort to vehicles-Training Center

4/22 4:00 p.m. Motorist Assist-jump-CC lot5:08 p.m. Motorist Assist-Vehicle Crash-owners exchange information9:30 p.m. Staff Escort-Wilsonville

4/23 8:00 a.m. Report of lost ring by staff in Barlow lot-Unable to locate8:45 a.m. Men’s wallet found-Rook-To ASG11:30 a.m. Motorist Assist-Harmony lot2:45 p.m. Motorist Assist-jump-McLoughlin lot3:00 p.m. Criminal Mischief-Lewelling-Report taken9:30 p.m. Staff Escort-Wilsonville

4/24 7:05 a.m. Suspicious Person-Streeter-left without incident9:40 a.m. Warnings issued-smokers by Neimeyer10:00 a.m. Reports of suspicious vehicle-blaring horn-FRC

4/25 11:00 a.m. Motorist Assist-DeJardin lot2:45 p.m. Motorist Assist-DeJardin lot

4/27 7:45 a.m. Hazardous Debris in road-Douglas Loop-removed

Suzy Isham is Clackamas Community College’s director of campus safety. Despite having low numbers in bike theft, Isham would rather people be careful and take precautions to make sure that the number in bike thefts doesn’t rise.

1. Utilize the bike racks. 2. Don’t leave your possessions

attached to your bike where they can get stolen.

3. Chain your bike properly, and this includes parts that could be taken off. “This means to secure not only the frame of the bike, but also the tires of the bike,” Isham says.

4. If your bike is stolen, check in with campus safety to see if they might be able to track it down.

5. Be aware of your surround-ings. It’s important to take your time and watch everything and everyone around you.

To better get an idea of how to make CCC biker friendly, The Print compared Mount Hood Community College and Portland Community Colleges’ commuter bike plans.

MHCC and PCC both have the obligatory bike rack facilities, theft prevention precautions from public safely campus coverage and gym showers and lockers for cleaning up after your commute.

Also both PCC and MHCC sell biking equipment. This is a plus for those looking for a tire patch, or safety gear. We found

helpful community resources for those looking to learn the ins and outs of cycling at both community colleges and analyzed how each community college is helping the student bikers. They had different strengths.

In an email about the pro-gram, Tom Martin, PCC bike program coordinator stated that the Associated Students of Portland Community College operate the bike program.

It is staffed and run by stu-dents, with full support of ASPCC advisers, he said.

At the PCC Cascade Campus, the student government offers bike rentals of “100% refurbished

bikes” for $15 per term. MHCC’s community educa-

tion department offers classes on bicycle repair and participation in “group rides” is offered as a great way to help student com-muters.

PCC is integrated into the Portland tri-county area trans-portation system and Trimet works to coordinate biking through PCC which has “four comprehensive campuses” – Sylvania, Rock Creek, Southeast and Cascade. MHCC also offers public transportation advantages for those looking to ride a bus and bike during a commute to and from their campuses.

Neighboring colleges set the bar for bike accessibility on campus

by TIM YOUNGassociate news editor

Source : Suzy Isham, Campus Safety

The annual Associated Student Government campaigning for president and vice president for the 2014-2015 school year has started on campus.

Each candidate had to collect 100 student signatures to get their names officially on the ballot. Jessica Valdivia, campus activities officer, said “you need their name, date of birth and their student I.D number so they [signatures] match up and see that they are an actual student.”

Current ASG President, Erick Breton, is running unopposed for re-election. He was unavailable for com-ment by The Print’s deadline.

Candice Stauffer, ASG promotion senator at large, is running on the platform to diversify campus life.

Johnney Russ, ASG club senator are running for Vice President was also unavailable for comment by The Print’s deadline.

Dean Wright, public affairs officer, said the candidates will be having bios, brochures and pictures can be found around campus.

The candidates will be hosting a meet and greet on Wednesday, April 30th located in the Fireside Lounge starting at 2 p.m. An official Q&A is going to be hosted on May 5th at 10 a.m. in the community center.

Students will be able to start voting through their myClackamas portal on May 12-14 and the official results will be announced on the 15th.

by ERIN CAREYnews & culture editor

Stolen!Advice on bike the� prevention.

Candidates seeking votes

— Compiled by Patty Salazar

Bike illustrations added by Brandon Chorum

Places on the Oregon City campus to secure

your bikes.

NEWS 3WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

CYCLING: Campus gets a push to share the road

MYERS: Saving the Earth and money one pedal at a time

continued from PAGE 1

continued from PAGE 1

Myers: Yeah, in Oregon City more so than other places. It’s usually young people like high schoolers. I also train on the country roads out here and it seems to be folks that drive big diesel trucks are particularly adverse to cyclist. A close second would be distracted moms that text while driving their children in their mini vans. The third would be self-absorbed career professionals in their Toyota Priuses that are busier texting and talking on the phone while putting on their makeup, smok-ing, eating a burrito all at the same time.

TCP: When was the last time you were in an accident and what happened?

Myers: A long time ago, prob-ably 20 years ago. I’ve been hit twice, once in a parking lot which was kind of my fault and once at an interception. It was a four way stop and it was a hit and run which was not my fault. The guy didn’t see me I guess or was trying to hit me, I have no idea… It was kind of dark so I didn’t get a plate or anything; they took off so fast I couldn’t get a description. The time in the parking lot I shouldn’t have been where I was. Parking lots are the most dangerous place on earth. People don’t look and they can’t see you, so that was kind of my fault.

TCP: What are your suggestions

for drivers on campus?

Myers: Obey the speed limit. Put your phone away, you’re about to park anyway then you can use your stupid phone. Seriously, that I do not under-stand.

TCP: Do you think Clackamas is a safe place for bicyclist?

Myers: Well, there’s no bike lane on the loop road but the speed limits are fairly low. I think it’s safe, there’s a path to come in and out. There’s worse that’s for sure.

TCP: Is there anything you would like to add?

Myers: I wish more folks would ride their bikes. For every bike it means one less car on the road. For those who are cur-rently riding I think it’s really important for them to obey the traffic laws because a lot of the incidents that I have are a result of other cyclist that don’t obey the laws that frustrate driv-ers, therefore they takes their frustration out on the rest of us. I always really stress myself to follow the rules of the road because we really are just like cars. It’s a great alternative from driving a car especially when gas is nearly four dollars a gallon. It’s better for the environment, it’s just better all the way around. Especially when you’re paying a car payment, you can buy a really nice bike in a couple of months. Myers rides his bike through campus, supporting his belief that more people should be riding bikes. He believes

riding a bike is a great alternative to driving a car as long as you obey the traffic laws.

CCC students ride their bikes to school and keep them locked on designated bike racks. Although there is not a lot of bike theft on campus, it is still a smart idea to lock it onto the bike rail.

Patty SalazarLiz G

omes

A major problem for the cycling community is the cars around them. Sharing the road is a skill that’s taught to everyone when they start driving, and it still applies to the college campus too.

Suzy Isham, CCC’s director of campus safety, warns that people

need to be aware of those around them or it could cause some seri-ous damage. “People need to slow down, they do need to be more con-scious of the environment around them in order to keep everybody safe,” Isham says. “Anybody who is coming onto campus I would highly urge just to slow down and to be aware of your environment,

and knowledgeable to the fact that we have a large population of students who will be on foot or on bike or on skateboard.”

Recently, the campus will undergo an extensive survey to further understand the transpor-tation needs of all CCC students, not just those with 4 wheels. According to Phillip King, the

Dean of Academic Foundations and Connections, this survey will explore all transportation options for the campus. Everything from our relationship with Trimet to how the cycling community can be further assisted.

Until then, CCC is outfitted with bike racks for people to store their bikes between classes, and

it also has very low bike theft incidences, according to Isham. “Honestly we’re very fortunate, and we don’t have a lot of bike theft around here,” she says. In fact for 2013, only three bike thefts were reported to campus safety. Still, Isham warns that it’s better to be prepared for those sort of things: “People just need to be smart.”

4 arts & CULTUREWEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

College life is stress-ful. From rude students to grouchy instructors and the work load they give us. Sometimes you need to be alone and find a place to de- stress and maybe even cry, but where do you go to let it all out? Well, we have found places on Clackamas Community College’s campus for you to take a deep breath when you need it.

1. Not everyone has a car, but if you have that luxury and need your own personal space to destress, just roll up the windows and crank the music. Your car is the perfect familiar place to take a minute between classes.

2. For those of who don’t have cars, there are other places on campus to chill out, like over at Clairmont Hall. They have beautiful plants and greenhouses, and it’s a nice and quiet place to sit and relax and be surrounded by pretty things.

3. The Dye Learning Center has these wonderful little study holes along the back wall that are perfect for hiding from your life. With the built in mini walls no one can see you-perfect for a quick crying session or to put in your headphones and get lost in your music. Just don’t sob too loudly and disrupt people from studying.

4. Gregory Forum is like the campus ghost town. Hardly anyone is ever in there, which makes it a great place for the student who needs to be alone and take a breather.

5. We have the pleasure of going to school in rural Oregon City, where on cam-pus we have random “foresty” areas, which are all great places to go and sit under a tree and hide from the rain, shielded by the thick pine needles. But if you do decide to cry, you can pretend it’s just the rain.

We ran into Candice Stauffer, ASG vice presiden-tial candidate, and asked her where she likes to go and de-stress. “The pretty little pond by the Environmental Learning Center,” she said. “I like it there, it’s super peace-ful and quiet, [and] calms me down.”

But why not ask the profes-sionals? We dropped by the counseling department and asked Margie Gibler where she recommends going to calm down.

“Do you know we have a walking a trail? It goes the perimeter of the cam-pus and is about two miles long,” Gibler said. “It brings you through the horticul-ture gardens, through the Environmental Learning Center, and the woods there, and that’s really pretty. That’s where I would go to de-stress.”  

by AMBER FAIRBANKSassociate arts & culture

editor

Photos by Denee’ Shelton

International Week has started at Clackamas Community College. The college is featuring an ar-ray of music and art to tell many different stories in many different ways. On Tuesday, the second day of International Week you could hear the music from Roger Rook Hall. The Anansi beat coming from Niemeyer had even faculty dancing. Spon-sored by the Peace Corps volunteers, the local drumming group brought together many people. Dressed in many different colors, they also featured a class on drum making after.

International Week in full swing

A good place to shed a

few tears

Wednesday, April 30- 10:30-10:55 a.m.: An Daire Academy Dancers

Irish Dancing-11:-11:30 a.m.- International

songs- 11:35- 12:10 p.m. Peace Corps

Asia (CC127) - 12:15-12:45 p.m.- American

Tribal Belly Dance: A Tribute to EBZEF

- 1:00- 1:50 p.m.- Clackamas Around the World

Thursday, May 1- 10:15- 11:00 a.m.- Peace Corps

Guatemala (CC127)- 11:15- 11:30 a.m.- La Batalla

de Puebla (CC127)- 11:35- 11:55 a.m.- ASL can be

fun to learn (CC127)- 12:00 p.m.- 1:00 p.m.-

Cuentame Coyote Bilingual Performance

- 1:30- 2:30 p.m.- Milagro Reality Theatre Workshop

International Week events

arts & CULTURE 5WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

ARTS & CULTURE CALENDARWednesday

4/30Thursday

5/1Friday

5/2Saturday

5/3Sunday

5/4Monday

5/5Tuesday

5/6-Lucky NumberBring your student ID card CC152 to participate in a fun prize giveaway!

-May Day patio grand opening! The cougar court is located outside of the bookstore. 12pm-3pm

-Pioneer Family FestivalClackamette Park2pm-10pmFood, Skate comp, lazer tag arena, rock climbing, pony rides, and go karts!

-Farmers market2051 Kaen Rd.-Teddy Bear ParadeDowntown OC, Main St from 10th to Clackamette Park10:30am

-Last day of Pioneer Family Festival.Clackamette Park2pm-10pm

-ASG elections Q&A10am Community Center

-$5 Tuesday at Regal Hill Top Stadium 9.

Animation instructor Thomas Wasson takes much of his moti-vation from both past and present – the people who have perfected the art he teaches for the future generations, and also the many adventures of pirates that sailed the oceans a very long time ago. The Clackamas Print sat down with Wasson to discuss some of his favorites from his bookshelf and more.

The Clackamas Print: What is your favorite book from your bookshelf and why?

Thomas Wasson: The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams, who was the director of animation for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” The reason that I love it so much is because Richard Williams learned everything he knows about animation from all the old masters, and it’s a balance between the science of animation and the art of animation. So it has just about every important trick that the animator needs to under-stand, synthesized down into its essential components. So it’s a wealth of knowledge. It’s years of the history of animation, and it just tells you everything you need to know. So in that sense it’s so informative for the practitioner, and it’s very informative for the students as well, the content is kind of a bottomless abyss of information. I also have a thing for Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” I remember reading that over and over.

The Print: What writers have influenced you?

Wasson: William Burroughs and David Foster Wallace. Those two just really got me.

The Print: What have you been reading lately?

Wasson: Lots of technical books about my field. I tend to go back and forth between really focusing on gathering knowledge and getting out of fiction for awhile and getting back into it. I tend to read a lot more fiction in the summer when I’m not work-ing. I’m really into historical books about pirates, and I’ve just been re- reading a book about the foundation of Jamaica and the piracy surrounding the Caribbean during the lawless times of the privateers. It’s called “Empire of Blue Water” by Stephan Talty. It’s probably my third time through this book, but that’s the one that’s lying by the bed right now. Especially with historical fiction, it’s packed with infor-mation and it’s written in such a great way that you get into it as a story, but there’s also just tons of history there, it’s really interesting. Basically anything

that has to do with ships and the sea and piracy, I’m pretty into.

The Print: What was your favor-ite book as a kid?

Wasson: It sounds kind of cheesy now, but I was really into the “Lord of the Rings,”

“The Hobbit” and J.R.R. Tolkien as a kid. I suppose I read those quite a bit.

The Print: Name one book you’d love or hate to see be made into a movie.

Wasson: I would love to see “Infinite Jest” by David Foster

Wallace made into a movie, or any of his short stories would make really good, crazy little short films. You could probably get a film out of any one of his short stories, too. It’s the density of content, and there’s tons of layers that you could add. There would never be a filmmaker that

could do it right, but if they did it, they could do it really well, I think.

Shelfies: Thomas Wasson, animation Artistby ERIN CAREY

news & culture editor

Thomas Wasson, animation instructor for Clackamas Community College, shows off his collection of books in his office.

Liz Gom

es

6 arts & CULTUREWEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

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Pin it: Pizza roll recipe on a budget

Depending on who you are, Pinterest is either your best friend or a dud. For me, it’s one of the most time-guzzling forms of social media, but it is still fun. My favorite part of Pinterest is all of the amazing food ideas that I constantly ‘pin’ but never actu-ally make because they are always ridiculously extravagant and take a whole day to prep. Nobody really has the time for that, especially college students. But what students do have time for are fast, cheap and delicious recipes.

This week’s recipe is a Hawaiian pizza roll using six ingredients.

• Mozzarella cheese • Garlic powder• Pillsbury pizza crust• Pizza sauce• Canned pineapples• Sliced pepperoni.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. By the time you are ready to pop these slices of awesome-ness, your oven will be at the right temperature.

1. Unwrap the dough and unroll it, or just unwrapped it and ball the dough up, then roll it out to about an inch thick.

2. Sprinkle garlic powder on each side of the dough to add flavor.

3. You are going to sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over the dough. I used two handfuls of the cheese since I am a cheese kind of person.

4. Toss some sliced pineapples on the pizza. I suggest cutting the slices rather than just using the big chunks of pineapple that are in the can.

5. Once you have the amount of pineapple you want on the pizza, it is time for pepperoni. Start layering the slices on the dough until your heart is happy.

6. The next thing you will do is grab the dough on an end with two hands and start rolling it tightly until it looks like a rolled log of deliciousness. Then take a knife and cut the log into one-inch pieces. Once the log is cut into pieces, place the rolls into a slightly greased baking dish.

7. Once the rolls are in the dish, put them into the oven for 15 minutes or until the tops of the rolls are brown. Once they are done take them out of the oven carefully and place them on a plate. You will then pour the pizza sauce into a small dish and dip your delicious pizza rolls into them.

This is the perfect snack for students who are always on the go, on a budget but also something savory and easy.

Pinterest has many uses and ideas for the taking, and not all of them are expensive or time consum-ing. � is recipe, found by Patty Salazar, is one of the simple things you can try at home.

The seven steps of the recipe above are broken into 12 different pictures, num-bered in order, to show the ease and speed of making Hawaiian pizza rolls.

Photos by Patty Salazar

by PATTY SALAZAReditor-in-chief

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

Pin itDo you have anything for The Print Staff to try? We would love to hear from you! Send your ideas to chiefed@clackamas.edu.

Find the Clackamas Print online with your favor-ite social media to hear about the latest news on campus.Facebook: the clackamas printTwitter: @clackamasprint

Do you have something to say? Letters to the Editor are welcome and will be published in The Clackamas Print. Send them to chiefed@clacka-mas.edu

SPORTS 7WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014

BASEBALL: The season struggles continue for the Clackamas Cougars baseball team as they dropped three of four games to the Clark Penguins over the weekend. The Cougars were swept in Friday’s doubleheader at Oregon City high school by scores of 14-1 and 9-0. Saturday’s doubleheader was played in Vancouver and the Cougars managed to split the doubleheader, losing the first game 11-6 and winning the next 4-1. Their record now stands at 4-15 in league play and 5-18 overall. The Cougars have five games remaining; their next games are Friday, May 2 at home against Chemeketa and Saturday, May 3 at Southwest Oregon CC.

SOFTBALL: The Cougars softball team kept their streak rolling as they swept the Penguins on Saturday, 13-0 and 13-3. Then on Monday, the Cougars took on the Mt. Hood Saints in a battle for 1st place in the South Region. The first game took extra innings, but eventually the Saints pulled out the victory 5-4. The Cougars had an easier time in the second game of the doubleheader, winning 5-2. The weekend wins helped improve the Cougars’ record to 11-1 in league and 30-2 overall. There are only four games left for the Cougars before the NWAACC Championship Tournament. Their upcom-ing games are Wednesday, April 30 at home against Chemeketa and Saturday, May 3 at Southwest Oregon CC.

Fierce battles and critical decisions are happening all across the globe, all year round. Potential candidates are studied, poked and prodded in order to find the best of the best. There’s nothing quite like college recruiting.

You might not think of two-year schools when you think of recruiting, and that’s reasonable. High profile athletes sign with the Oregon Ducks, Washington Huskies or the Cal Bears, not Southeastern Little Prairie Oregon Community College. It’s easy to think the big schools are the only ones traveling around and recruiting all year, while community colleges just pick up the leftovers. However, that’s not the case at all.

Since athletes here at Clackamas Community College only have two years, coaches are constantly on the trail looking for their next star players – only one year after signing their last star.

“At junior college there’s so much turnover,” Josh Rhoden, wrestling coach, said. “It’s literally every year, every weight class.

I talk to [Division 1] coaches and tell them their jobs are kind ofeasy because they have guys there for four or five years.”

It’s not just replacing one star either. Every year, coaches have to replace half of the team, or more. Next year the volleyball team will graduate 10 of their 15 players. As of now, the women’s basketball team only has seven players for next season, but the coaches always have several targets.

“We talk to about 75 [players],” PJ Martineau, recruiting coordinator, said. “We’re looking for around five to seven players. We usually carry around 11-12 kids.”

Perhaps what’s more difficult than getting the players, is building the team. It takes more than just gathering athletes to build a successful team; the players have to learn to work together, and they have to do it quickly.

“That’s the unique challenge every year,” Rhoden said. “‘How do we get them all on the same page early?’ and ‘how do we get the buy in from them in us?’ It makes it hard because you don’t get them for that extra year that you could.”

While the majority of athletes come from our home state, the recruiting trail does expand past Oregon, past the west coast and even

past the U.S. There are athletes here at CCC from 14 different states, as far as New Hampshire and Alaska, and from different countries.

“[We recruit] the whole United States,” Rhoden said. “Shoot, we even have a kid on the team from Australia.”

Even though community col-leges don’t seem to be big time sports schools, there is a lot of work being done to build successful programs here. Coaches travel as far as they can or need to in order to get the best players, and they spend a lot of time doing it.

“It’s a never-ending job,” Martineau said.

With college coaches all over competing for the same athletes, CCC has to make a good pitch. So how do CCC coaches sell recruits on their program? Each sport has its own features, but one aspect stands out above the others.

“It’s a family atmosphere,” Rhoden said. “Part of my promotion of our program is this is a family. These guys come over and my wife makes them dinner. We try to have all 30 of the guys to our house at some point through the year.”

Martineau echoed Rhoden’s sell-ing point.

“We definitely have a family atmo-sphere,” Martineau said. “That’s some-thing we all take pride in. We not only care about the player on the court, but off the court.”

Recent volleyball commit Cassidy Scott decided to sign with CCC for that very reason.

“I liked the sense of community and friendship within the team. All the girls were nice and welcoming to me,” Scott said.

Community colleges are a great starting point for athletes. It may not be the brightest stage or the most glamorous choice, but two-year schools have delivered results. Professional sports stars Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace, Albert Pujols and Bryce Harper all have one thing in common: their careers started at community colleges.

Community colleges do the same work as four-year schools, but without the brand name, millionaire boosters or luxury of having four years to play. CCC has done it, and they’ve done it well. That’s why top athletes from all over the country are here.

“Now people know us,” Rhoden said. “They know the school with the funny name in the national rankings is a good one.”

Clackamascoaches

overcome unique

recruitingchallenges

— Compiled by BLAKE THOMASON

Sports wrap-up

by BLAKE THOMASONsports editor

Clackamas Community College athletes come from all over the United States as well as internationally. Here’s how many athetles come from each location in 2013-2014.

Illustration by Brandon C

horum

8 BACKPAGEWEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014