Tuition Hike Reversed

Students celebrate a tuition freeze victory on July 22.
Photography by Melissa Chandler

Students returning to LBCC in the fall will find a welcome change when they look at their tuition bill -- the same rate as last year!

Wednesday, July 22 the Linn-Benton Community College Board of Education’s discussion over a three percent tuition increase —that took effect in June—  had students and administrators in a tizzy.

The meeting began at 6 p.m. with the swearing in of board members by Anne Schuster, Benton County Commissioner. Students lined up at the back of room 103 in Calapooia Hall. They held protest signs that read “Freeze Tuition,” “550,” and “We did our part - Will you do yours?”

Student Leadership Council President, Paola Gonzalez reminded board members, during an address, of student efforts that took place during winter term to raise awareness across the state about education and tuition. Gonzalez reiterated that students were told if they raise the funds necessary to eliminate a tuition increase there would be no increase in tuition.

“If it wasn’t for the talent grants through student government I would not be able to attend this upcoming year,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez wasn’t the only student to share a personal struggle with the Board of Education members.

Michaela Martin is a communications student was last to take the stand on a tuition freeze. Martin is a single mother with no support or contact from the father of her son. Her son is now two years old and she is raising him all on her own. It wasn’t an easy thing for her to admit. While attending school she has to pay for daycare.

“I don’t want to be dependent on the system,” said Martin.

Martin made reference to cost of tuition being minimal for In-State students being only $2.51, which is about $99 for a term. With that divided into three months it is approximately $33, which is a box of diapers that lasts Martin about a month. Martin struggled at this point because diapers aren’t cheap and children need them. When it comes down to it, tuition or diapers, diapers always win.

“Dollar for dollar,” said Martin.

Students have been proactive throughout the year with rallies and gathering the funds to make a tuition freeze possible. This was a key piece of information to the argument.  

“I feel frustrated that charging the students more would even be an option,” said Chelsey Mick. “I feel defensive that the hard work my SLC comrades (past and present) have put into the various efforts both on campus and at the Capitol  to lobby for zero spikes in our tuition felt overlooked.”

Candalynn Johnson a business and political science student is a first generation college student who works three part-time jobs on top of attending college. She has attended college for two years, has received scholarships and is still $9,186 in debt. This debt doesn’t come without pain and suffering. Johnson suffers beyond just debt.

“My day starts at 8 a.m. and doesn’t end until 9 p.m., which causes a lot of strain on my mental and physical health especially with my diagnosis of ADHD,” said Johnson. “This would only get hard if I had to take on more hours of work, and this is why I support a 0 percent tuition increase.”

The board members didn’t show any reaction towards emotions,personal stories or tears shed. After students shared personal stories and board members convened, the meeting was brought back to order to further discuss tuition increase.

President Greg Hamann presented the board member’s with a projection model representing the budget for the future and its impact of the impact on the college’s ending fund balance.

“We will be just fine without a tuition increase [this year],” said Hamann.

During Hamann’s presentation board member’s Jim Merryman and Dick Running continued to argue against the tuition increase back to zero. They were adamant that future students would refuse to pay a higher tuition increase percentage.

“It was a bit ridiculous that they were arguing about $550 million, as they wouldn’t have that money to count on if students wouldn’t have gone out and fought for it,” said Nikki Aman. “I feel like Jim in particular was talking about college like a business with a customer base rather than a state funded institution with students in need.”

Hamann continued to urge board members to see the positive side of this zero percent tuition increase as a benefit and as a possibility. That with the new programs starting soon, LBCC could afford to have a zero percent tuition increase for the 2015-2016 school year.

“How can you be so optimist with a pessimistic budget?” said Lyn Riverstone, board member.

Hamann persevered on with his projections. In the end the Linn-Benton Community College Board of Education voted to freeze tuition until further information became available.

“I feel like it’s a disgruntled victory. We won yeah, but this shouldn’t have been a debate. And more than anything else, our Board of Education shouldn’t be focused on how to squeeze more money out of its students, but rather how to spend the money we’ve already sweat out,” said Mick. “Spend smarter, not more.”

To Increase or Not to Increase?

Linn-Benton reconsiders tuition increase for 15-16 school year

On Wednesday, July 22, Linn-Benton’s Board of Education will hear from students about how they feel regarding a tuition increase and board members may take a vote on whether they still deem an increase necessary.

The Student Leadership Council will be spending the time between now and then recruiting students to attend or speak on behalf of freezing tuition here at LBCC.

In March, the college staff considered various factors that influence a tuition increase. The recommended increases were based on those factors.

The staff recommended a 3 percent per credit hour increase effective summer term 2015 for in-state students, 5 percent increase for out-of-state students and a 5 percent increase for international students. The increases were approved by the Board of Education.

At the board’s meeting in June, members discussed the possibility of rolling back tuition based on state funding, which was not yet finalized but indicated that the college would receive more than expected from the state.   

“The Oregon Legislature delegated $550 million towards the community college support fund, which was the amount requested from multiple community colleges, including LBCC, to alleviate the need for a tuition increase,” said Michael Jones, SLC volunteer.

LBCC Board Meeting to be held 6 to 8 p.m. in the Boardroom Calapooia 103.

Magic Mike XXL Movie Review

Channing Tatum takes the stage for another striptease session

In 2012, Channing Tatum starred in the first Magic Mike film. Three years later the sequel: Magic Mike XXL. Most of the original cast appears in this film. Tatum (Magic Mike), Joe Manganiello (Big Dick Richie), Matt Bomer (Ken), Kevin Nash (Tarzan), and Adam Rodriguez (Tito). There is a surprise appearance from Michael Strahan, Jada Pinkett Smith and Elizabeth Banks. However, in Magic Mike XXL there is no Matthew McConaughey (Dallas) or Alex Pettyfer (The Kid).

The sequel had several let downs throughout the film. To start off Mike finally had the business he wanted from first film and he was doing alright for himself, but then the “guys” call him up and persuade him to come on a road trip instead. But that isn’t the problem; it’s the way the business just seems to disappear from the film completely. Big Dick Richie threw Mike’s phone out of the vehicle and then poof Mike’s future business was no longer in the movie or even mentioned.

The next let down was the lack of dancing throughout the film. There was a lot of down time, and would have been nice to see more dancing from the cast. It felt like the first Magic Mike had more dance scenes.

One last downer would have to be the scene with the older woman with the wine. It was completely pointless. I am not against older women finding their sexuality by any means, however it just didn’t seem to fit in the film. It felt out of place, like a last minute throw in because they needed some cougar action.

Magic Mike XXL wasn’t all bad though. The best scene by far would have to be the end dance scene. Each cast member had a performance tailored to their character’s personality. They performed their character’s personality exactly and it was perfection. I couldn’t have enjoyed the ending anymore unless I was there at the stripper convention myself.

Another excellent scene that needs to be highlighted was the pit stop. Poor Big Dick Richie and his fear of fire. Nobody would have expected to see a man of his height and stature perform the striptease with Cheetos and water as he did for a lucky convenient store cashier. It was hilarious watching the cast outside rooting him on every step of the way.

The film was basically a male-bonding road trip to a stripper convention with several pit stops along the way. With that being said, I think the next dance film Tatum should perform in he should leave his clothes on because he’s an amazing dancer and has no need to strip.

STARRING: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer
DIRECTOR: Gregory Jacobs
WRITER: Reid Carolin
PRODUCTION: Iron Horse Entertainment

GENRE: Comedy

RATED: R
OVERALL RATING: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Musically inclined to mathematically defined

Sheri Rogers journey to mathematics instructor

As far back as fifth grade Sheri Rogers knew she wanted to be a teacher.

“Both of my parents were teachers so that might have been part of the influence,” said Rogers.

Prior to joining the RoadRunners, Rogers taught fifth and sixth grade general music and choir classes for eleven years at Irwin Middle School in Fort Bragg, N.C. She also worked at Cleveland Community College in North Carolina for ten years as a full-time mathematics faculty member.

In September of 2010 Rogers came to work at Linn-Benton Community College. She teaches mathematics courses all year long as a full-time faculty member. She learned of the job at LB through an online job posting and wanted to come be back home in Oregon. She felt the opportunities for faculty were ideal for what she was seeking and better suited to the teaching style she had sought.

“The focus for faculty is on teaching rather than on research,” said Rogers.

Rogers spent three and a half years completing her bachelor’s in music and a minor in mathematics at Methodist University Fayetteville, N.C. and another year and half on her bachelor’s of science and math.

Throughout her education she excelled at math. It helped her feel encouraged to pursue a career even further into mathematics.  

“I love math because of the problem solving,” said Rogers. “There are so many different approaches to a problem.”

In the fall, Rogers will be teaching four classes: Math 15, Math 95 Intermediate Algebra, Math 211 Fundamentals of Math, and Math 241 Calculus.

Ashley McDowell, a previous student of Rogers had struggled with math until she met Rogers during the spring term while taking Math 95.

“No matter how hard the problem was Sheri was always willing to slow things down and teach the students,” said McDowell. “I would take  another math class with Sheri because she is an extraordinary teacher who actually makes math interesting.”

It isn’t every day that instructors receive the gratitude they deserve for the education they provided. However, when they do receive it, it can be that little nudge that keeps the instructor going.

For Rogers it isn’t about the job, it is about making a difference for the students. She appreciates when students come back, write a letter, or even send an email and simply say they understand something because of how she explained it.

“Sheri without you I probably wouldn’t have passed math,” said McDowell. “She is kind and patient and for that I owe her a huge thank you!”

Rogers finds it interesting and rewarding to work with a variety of students at the community college level. Each term there is a new challenge to meet and she takes it head on.