Photojournalism Week 8 - Sports

Candy Flip Her jams, scoring points for Sick Town Derby Dames at the Wheelie Awesome Mayhem bout on Friday, May 19.

Panda Moanium helps Rough Cut block a player from the Adventure Coast Star Stompers.

Sick Town Derby Dames blocks the Adventure Coast Star Stompers' jammer to prevent them from scoring points.

Photojournalism Week 7 - My Hometown / My Neighborhood

Spearit Beads & Co. is a small business located on 1st Ave. in Downtown Albany, Oregon. It's been in business about 10 years and people commute from all over the state just to visit the store. People visiting from other states make it a point to visit the store when they're in town as well. It's one of the largest bead stores on the west coast.

Shayne Hash and Craig McAnulty are cooks at the Calapooia Brewing located on 140 NE Hill St, Albany, OR 97321.

Column: How to Talk to Someone Who's Grieving

It’s easy to imagine that when someone has cancer, it’s like the inglorious picture painted by the bicyclist Lance Armstrong. Vomiting and other unmentionable things happening to your body, just like a really bad flu.

In reality, it can be much more like a recurring nightmare that grips its scaly claws onto you and every single one of the people you love until the life has been sucked out of you.

You wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.

My dad passed away on May 12 at 11 a.m. He was 53 years old. It was the end to his seven year off and on battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

For me, the grieving process started before he was even gone. There came a point when we knew he wasn’t going to make it.

If you know someone that’s battling cancer, has a family member who is, or recently lost someone to it, I guarantee they’ve heard all of the classic sympathies multiple times. I’d recommend avoiding them. Saying “cancer sucks,” or “let me know if you need anything,” are not always great options.

Also, you know those sad sympathy eyes? The ones that people give you when they feel bad for you? Yeah, don’t do that either.

Being sympathetic is okay, but I guarantee the person who’s grieving is tired of seeing those eyes. They’re just a sad reminder of being sad. Being sad gets old and exhausting and they’re probably trying not to feel sad as much as possible.

Saying, “cancer sucks,” doesn’t even begin to cover it. Chanting it to the person suffering through the ordeal won’t make it any better, either. They know it sucks better than most. They don’t need to be reminded of it.

I’ve heard a lot of “I’m sorry,” or something along those lines and it’s a very good option. It’s a tough situation for everyone. Nobody wants to go through it and it’s hard to watch someone you know go through it. There’s not much that can be done. I’m sorry too. It’s a sorrowful time.

Let them know they don’t need to respond if you decide to reach out to them through a means other than face-to-face. It can be overwhelming when there’s a lot of people reaching out to offer their condolences. Take some pressure off of them by letting them know they don’t need to get back to you.

Another thing is, you don’t need to offer to, “let me know if you need anything.” If they are anything like me, there’s a good chance that they don’t even know what they need.

If you’re serious about the offer of being there for them, bring something to the table. Take them out for a meal or be a listening ear. Ask to go out to coffee or join them on their errands.

They’re likely overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts, just trying to get through one day at a time. Having someone there with them can help ease that. Don’t try to force company on them if they decline though.

Everybody has their own way of grieving.

Juried Student Art Show Reception at LBCC

Photo by Alex Gaub
Michael Bosch poses next to his painting of a Corvallis frat house that displays the word "RAPE" in Greek style letters.


"Whenever the spring semester rolls around, I get so excited. I get to see the fantastic work of student artist," said Anne Magratten, Gallery Mentor.

Art students, faculty, and guests gathered to partake in the Juried Art Student Show award ceremony on Friday afternoon. The gallery features art from current or recent LBCC students with a wide range of style, mediums, and content.

Local artists, art groups, and school officials and faculty awarded students with different types of prizes. The President's Purchase Award is an award in which the president of LBCC chooses one piece to purchase and keep in LBCC's permanent collection, and is used for artistic resource. President Greg Hamann couldn't pick just one this year so he chose two.

"One of the things I find is I always learn something when I do this. It challenges my definition of art when choosing a piece. You enrich our lives," said Hamann. Sin Melendez and the Commuter's very own Angela Scott were honored with the award this year.

People viewing the gallery during the weeks prior to the event had the opportunity to partake by voting on which piece they liked best for the People's Choice Award. This was awarded to Michael Bosch's Frat House painting which featured bold red greek style letters spelling out "RAPE" on a monochromatic Corvallis frat house.

The event wrapped up with Magratten announcing the Student Gallery Coordinators for next year. Michael Bosch will be spending a second year as a Student Gallery Coordinator, and James-Harley Parr will be taking Sin Melendez's place to work alongside Bosch.

Photojournalism Week 5 - Event

Senator Jeff Merkley spoke this week at the LBCC Tripp Theater on Monday.

 He thanked other elected community officials for attending.

Merkley spoke about his views on the cost of tuition being too much, which was met with a round of applause from the audience.