UCC Mainstream Online

The Mainstream Staff

Managing Editor
Alicia Graves
Design Editor
Ginger Johnson
Web Editor
Casey Conemac
Senior Reporter
Vaughn Kness
Photographer
Reporters
Theresa Barry
Jamie Glenn
Jacob Lebel
Katie Loomas
Designers
Kayla Towers
Jessica Hundley
Office Administrator
Danielle Hart
Videographer
RJ Harris

Mission Statement

The Mainstream is a designated student forum written to promote the activities, events, and interests of UCC. Its primary focus is on hard news relating to campus events or personnel, especially as students are affected, but features, art work and poetry may be accepted. Any opinions or art presented in The Mainstream do not represent the viewpoint of this newspaper or UCC.

Campus News

Women bring home third place trophy

KENNEWICK, Washington  – Sawyer Kluge hit six 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes of the second half to rally the UCC women’s basketball team to a, 82-80, victory over the Southern Oregon Lakers Tuesday at the Toyota Center. The victory secured a third place finish for the Riverhawks in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament. 

“I’m glad I was able to help get our team back in the game,” Kluge said. “We needed someone to give us a spark. I felt so good to shoot well, after not shooting well for so long.”

Kluge finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Ashli Payne finished one assist shy of a triple double. Payne scored a game high 29 points and pulled down 12 boards to go with nine assists. Romanalyn Inocencio added 13 points and six assists.

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NWAC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

The No. 1 ranked UCC women’s basketball team’s quest for a Northwest Athletic Conference championship ended Mon. March 9 with an 84-70 loss to the No. 4 ranked Peninsula Pirates at the Toyota Center.

“I wish I could say we lost tonight just because Peninsula outrebounded us offensively, or because they hit more three’s than we did, or scored more second chance points,” head coach Dave Stricklin said. “But it wasn’t just one thing they did, they beat us in every possible way they could beat a team.”

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UCC wine program a boost for community

Southern Oregon is becoming more renowned for wine production and viticulture, and UCC has recently – literally – been put on the map in the Umpqua Valley Winegrowers’ wine passport program.

The passport program provides a map and passport for wine enthusiasts to navigate self-led wine tours of the Umpqua Valley. Each winery then stamps the visitor’s passport; after five stamps, a small gift is earned and the traveler is entered into a drawing for local wine.

The Southern Oregon Wine Institute, or SOWI, was established in 2008 and boasts its own Viticulture & Enology program, the first of its kind outside of the Willamette Valley.

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Academic probation and suspension

In the realm of academics, GPA matters for more than simply passing or failing classes. In fact, many different aspects of a student’s college career can be affected by suffering grades, including various forms of financial aid, academic probation, and even the eligibility to attend classes.

For communications student Theresa Barry, the shadow of educational history loomed over her for many years, and made for a difficult time when she decided to return to school. “I was placed on academic suspension in 1980 because I didn’t receive a GPA of at least 2.0,” Barry said.

Students at UCC are required to meet an accumulated GPA of 2.00, or a C average, in order to continue attending classes at the college. The accumulated GPA is calculated by taking the average of all credit hours for which a student has been graded, rather than by a single term. A student’s GPA is affected by both high and low scores, and too many failed classes can result in an overall drop in the score.

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What is The Mainstream?

I have been a part of many great teams throughout my life -- the U.S. Army, UCC Women’s 2013-14 Basketball team and various academic excellence teams. However, none compare to The Mainstream.

The Mainstream is not your typical newspaper. Not even close. Many local newspapers have pages upon pages of content regarding news, sports, entertainment, current events, features, profiles and more. The Mainstream may not rival these other newspapers in any sense but it offers a different incentive: family.

Here in The Mainstream lab, the staff is more than just a group collaborating to make a newspaper, we are a community within UCC.

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Proposed smoking policy includes e-cigarette

UCC Vice President of Student Services Joyce Coleman is creating a new policy for e-cigarette use  on campus.

 “The e-cigarette code of conduct update will be done by the first of June,” Coleman said. Coleman explained that the policy will formally address that the e-cigarette is to be smoked only in designated areas.

 UCC students who have switched to the e-cigarette to help quit smoking are positive about their switch. “Many physicians are suggesting the e-cigarette and vapor pen as a cessation device to help those smokers who cannot quit by using specialized gum or patches,” student Ursula Angel said.

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Lifestyle

Suffering Social Anxiety

Cheyanne Young, an associate general studies student, suffers from social anxiety depression. For as long as she remembers, she has seen counselors and tried countless medications, none of which worked for her.

“Social anxiety is not something you can control. It’s not a choice,” she says. Social anxiety is an inconvenient disorder in many situations in life, but for a student it can be especially difficult. “Sometimes when I need to ask a teacher for help, I wait until the last minute. I get so nervous that when I ask my question sometimes I stutter, or I worry that I will be a burden. In some cases, it has hurt my grade because I have waited too long to ask for help. I also worry that the teachers think I am not trying because it looks like I am not participating,” Young says.

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Free online tools expand learning opportunities

No matter a fifth grader, an undergraduate student, a truck driver, a retired salesperson, or a medical doctor, every individual has the opportunity to learn almost anything on the Web – completely free.

Since 2008, hundreds of universities all over the world have provided free online access to their course materials through a nonprofit initiative called the Open Education Consortium. Countless nonprofit organizations and individuals also offer online instruction via YouTube video lectures and interactive programming.  

Undoubtedly, a degree from an accredited institution suggests a certain level of competence in a given area and shows employers that a person can commit to a goal, persevere and acquire new skills. There is enormous benefit to being in a physical classroom with a live instructor who holds students accountable and engages them in real, face-to-face discussion. 

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Spring ideas for bucket lists

Tim McGraw sums up the spring break motto: Live life like you’re dying. A bucket list is the perfect way to prepare for spring break, or really, your future in general.

As Paulo Coelho, famous author of The Alchemist says, “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.”

The term bucket list originates from “kick the bucket,” stemming from the Middle ages, referring to execution by hanging when victims as they fell to their death kicked the bucket they were standing on.

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Local food offers healthier choice

Local food, such as that sold at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market is growing in appeal to millennials.

According to a recent U.S. News and World report, 18-to-34 year olds take their food shopping especially seriously: “millennials are hard-wired to do their homework before making any decision or purchase.”

Millennials also expect “a high connectivity with the foods they are eating,” according to author Kelsey Lindsay.

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Blomkamp, story simply “okay” in Chappie

The disappointment of expectation may be worse than its fulfillment. With his first outing, “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp created an aura of splendor around his science fiction pictures. The film positioned his future endeavors as those to keep an eye on, and to accept as being as revolutionary as his first. “District 9” was exciting to watch, but featured a strong narrative allegory for the South African Apartheid history in the treatment of its aliens. Blomkamp’s follow-up, “Elysium,” was crushed beneath expectation, never truly separating itself from its former’s success. It was a failure in its story as well as its blatant representation of the divide between the rich and poor. As muddled as the film was, it still gave the audience a message to consider after the credits had rolled. Perhaps, that is where the anticipation for his newest film, “Chappie,” was created, and then became its downfall.

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Kitzhaber's actions

Abuse of public resources, controversial payments for consulting, a sham marriage, and a pot-growing scheme before marijuana was semi-legalized: these are some of the scandals dogging Cylvia Hayes, fiancée of John Kitzhaber, Oregon’s longest serving governor. And the outcry over these conflicts and the investigations into these alleged ethics violations led to his recent resignation.

 Governor John Kitzhaber, who began his career in Roseburg, Oregon, officially announced his resignation on Feb. 13, stepping down from his position as Oregon’s recently re-elected governor. Secretary of State Kate Brown (D) was sworn in as the governor of Oregon, effective Feb. 18.

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Governor Kate Brown

With the resignation of John Kitzhaber, Oregon now has a new governor. Kate Brown is the second female governor for the state, the first being Barbara Roberts who served from 1991 to 1995. According to Brown’s biography on the Oregon State Governor’s website, Brown has served as Secretary of State since 2008, prior to which she served five years as a State Representative and 12 years as a State Senator. Furthermore, Brown was the first woman to serve as the Senate Majority leader, after being elected by colleagues in 2004.

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