The Advocate, Issue 17 - Feb. 12, 2016

“Everybody’s so busy and they took the time to write something about me. It felt great.” PAGE 3

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Independent Student Voice of MHCC Volume 51 Issue 17

Portland mayor continued coverage PAGE 4

Stars advise Valentine’s giftsPAGE 5

Grab your peanuts and Cracker JackPAGE 8

MHCC’SPAT HANRAHANWEIGHS IN ON RECENTASTRONOMICAL DEVEOPMENTS

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

PAGE 4

OPINIONPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t2

Editor-in-ChiefAdam Elwell

Associate EditorHayden Hunter

Arts+Entertainment EditorIvy Davis

News Editor Gloria Saepharn

Sports Editor Clay Vitale

Graphic Designers Ayla BucknerCody Holcombe

Photo Editor Nick Pelster

Opinion Editor Adam Elwell

Public Relations Manager Emily Wintringham

Features EditorJon Fuccillo

Video Editor Chuck Masi

Video Team Members

Kristina Dawn

Ad ManagerJoseph Frantz

Copy Editor Quincy Smith

Staff WritersLena SimonNicole Kaadi

Monique MallariJoshua Mc LaughlinKonah NimoCandice SandlandBeau Blunck

Web EditorMatana McIntire

AdvisersHoward BuckDan Ernst

Front cover byCody Holcombe

The Advocate encourages readers to share their opinion by letters to the editor and guest columns for publication.

All submissions must be typed and include the writer’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be printed unless requested. Original copies will not

be returned to the author. The Advocate will not print any unsigned submission. Letters to the editor should not

exceed 300 words and guest columns should not exceed 600. The decision to publish is at the discretion of the editorial board. The Advocate reserves the right to edit

for style, punctuation, grammar and length. Please bring submissions to The Advocate in Room 1369, or e-mail them to [email protected]. Submissions must be received by

5 p.m. Monday the week of publication to be considered for print. Opinions expressed in columns, letters to the editor or advertisements are the views of the author and do not

necessarily reflect those of The Advocate or MHCC.

the advocate

E-mail: [email protected]: 503-491-7250www.advocate-online.net#mhccadvocate Mt. Hood Community College 26000 SE Stark Street Gresham, Oregon 97030

In an increasingly tough job market and economy, student re-tention has become the rallying cry for many colleges and universities, MHCC included. And for good rea-son, too: Better retention increases revenue, and students leave with a degree – everybody wins.

However, one school in Mary-land has come up with an interest-ing solution outside of the normal methods of increasing retention, i.e., offering better services or rais-ing admission requirements.

The Mount St. Mary’s University president’s novel idea was to admin-

ister a student survey at the school’s freshman orientation, which would effectively help predict how success-ful the student would be at college. “There are no wrong answers,” the document read. The survey actually was used to determine which 20-25 students the college would cut, as later revealed by an email chain be-tween Simon Newman, the school’s president, and David Rehm (who was demoted from a provost posi-tion in the fallout) published by the Mountain Echo, the campus student newspaper.

The highlight of the email would

be Newman’s quote on not thinking of the students as “cuddly bunnies,” because “sometimes you need to drown the bunnies… put a Glock to their heads.”

Clearly, something is wacky be-yond the typical bureaucratic mis-management. The Advocate’s main complaint, though, is the school’s disconnect with the student body and employees. Any college exists for the service of its constituents, and while running a school day-to-day may force the administration to make decisions that feel otherwise, any institution like this needs to be

absolutely transparent from begin-ning to end.

By administering a quiz under false pretenses to students who were already admitted, to weed some of them out without their knowledge, is flagrantly unethical, and what’s even worse is the firing of tenured staff members for their protest afterward.

This shows a clear disconnect between the student and staff popu-lace, and the management at Mount St. Mary’s.

Read the fine print on the next survey you take

Adam Elwellthe advocate

Grab whatever’s close to you, brace yourself, and whip out your credit card for a trip through the Internet: Domesticated foxes exist.

Yup, just like normal foxes, except not likely to bite you in the jugular or spread rabies.

The project to breed domes-ticated foxes began in 1959 in the former Soviet Union, as an experiment to examine selective breeding processes. There are currently 2,000 domesticated foxes, with 70-to-80 percent of them being classified as having

“elite” social behavior, such as whining or wagging their tails to get human attention.

The program sells the domes-ticated foxes to offset their cost.

The animals’ behavior has been described as solitary like a cat, but they also crave human interaction like a dog.

I’m not saying buying animals because you’re lonely is a good policy. What I am saying is that there are probably no cuddles like fox cuddles, and Valentine’s Day is what you make it.

I know: “Shut up and take my money!” right? You’ve prob-ably already braced yourself for a massive sticker shock, but, not so – they’re only $400.

A little steep, I know, but what else could you spend four hundred dollars on that would be more fun?

You could rent a Lambo-rghini for a day. Ask yourself, though, what really looks more baller, a Lamborghini for a day,

or stroking a solid white fox on your lap while monologuing to your nemesis?

You could buy a Lego death star for $399.99 off Amazon, but eventually it will just wind up on your floor and turn into a tiny plastic Claymore of pain. A fox would never betray you like that, and there’s no assembly required.

If you’re not sold quite yet, the foxes walk on leashes and can be litter trained. Also they don’t quite bark, but they don’t really purr either – I played a video of one in the Advocate newsroom, and our sports editor immediately asked why we were watching a video of a baby.

Anyway, if you need someone to go in with on a fox timeshare, you come by Room 1369 and we can negotiate.

Whether you’re trying to look like a pseudo bond-villian or simply feel like adopting a recently feral carnivore, foxes could be a great fit.

“As elected ASG (Associated Student Government) leaders who represent our student body, we are aware of and are deep-ly concerned about the current housing crisis in our community.

Of course MHCC doesn’t have campus housing, but it troubles us to know that so many students are facing housing insecurity which greatly impacts their whole life, including their ability to achieve their dreams through study at MHCC. Part of being a responsi-ble student leader is to help iden-tify and minimize the barriers that students face to earn a college de-gree. The current situation about the lack of affordable housing in the area is yet another major barrier that so many students are facing. This is troubling, but also reinforces our values of working

hard to support our students and help them do what they can with what they have.

Currently, ASG is exploring new ideas to address this, including the possibility of an MHCC database that helps our students connect with others to find roommates and affordable places to live. We continue to encourage student support initiatives that are connected to housing insecurity.

We hope wholeheartedly that this crisis is dealt with soon; in the meantime, we as student leaders will continue to do all that we can to help our students through this difficult situation.

Sincerely, ASG President Seth AlbertASG Vice President Lindsay Patiño

Letter to the editor:

Editorial

“Sometimes you need to drown the bunnies… put a Glock to their heads.”

-Simon NewmanMount St. Mary’s

University President

My animal behavior class paid off: Domestic foxes exist

In response to the Jan. 29 housing issue

Corrections: In Issue 15, Vol. 51, the Advocate reported information available at press time, that MHCC Board member Michael Calcagno had pledged $1,000 to the school’s bond measure campaign. He has since retracted his contribution. In Issue 16, we wrote in our editorial that 46 percent of potential voters recently surveyed opposed the bond and 14-16 percent were undecided. In fact, 45 percent of voters surveyed favor the bond. We apologize for the errors.

NEWS PAGEPAGEF e b r u a r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 3

Nicole Kaadithe advocate

Five MHCC staff and part-time instructors were honored by the 17th edition of the Unsung Hero awards at Mt. Hood for their understanding, drive, willingness to take time to help and inspiring others to do the same.

Recipients of the award this month were: Karen Green, mental health instructor; Marian Martini, speech instructor; Jane Kelly, yoga instructor; Cherilyn Nederhiser, Lead Public Safety Officer; and Karen Agresta, math instructor.

The winners were nominated by Mt. Hood students and others.

Some tears were shed during a ceremony in the Student Union, as students shared their heartfelt gratitude speeches about why they felt their own candidate should be the Unsung Hero.

Green was honored for going above and beyond the call of duty picking up extra classes for a sick co-worker and caring about the students’ well-being. The students who nominated her continued to say she makes learning fun, stimulating, and engaging, while inspiring them to work hard and pursue their goals.

Nederhiser was nominated for her positive attitude and taking the time for a smile or positive word, despite her work overload. She is willing to help out and goes above and beyond to ensure campus safety and student welfare.

Agresta was named for her patience and understanding and the willingness to go over the math work and answer questions, taking the time to explain, and going out of her way to help struggling students.

Martini was honored for kindness and compassion toward her speech students, taking the time to listen to problems and concerns

while helping them to stay on track.Kelly was nominated for her

inspirational and positive realness and teaching of compassion and a nonjudgmental view.

Each of the five winners received a plaque and briefly spoke about the honor they were given.

They said they were grateful and had different responses, sometimes emotional, to winning the award.

Green called it “humbling – everybody’s so busy and they took the time to write something about me. It felt great.”

Nederhiser said, “It’s a reflection of the wonderful and awesome people

that I work with. It’s an honor.”Martini said, “ I think I have the

best hobby in the world because I get to spend time doing and teaching what I am passionate about – helping other people conquer their fears and be able to find their voice.”

Kelly responded with an amusing: “Oh, Lord, make my words sweet for some day I may have to eat them.”

Agresta was originally at a loss for words, then finally said, “I’m a math teacher, not an English teacher (which earned chuckles). I am surprised, honored and happy.”

Faculty and staff are awarded at ‘Hero’ ceremony

Emily Wintringhamthe advocate

Did you know: One-fourth of the world celebrates Chinese New Year – also known as the Spring Festival?

Monday, Feb. 8, marked the start of the Year of the Monkey. There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac and each of them fall in a cycle, year to year. The monkey is characterized as witty, enthusiastic and outspoken.

Chinese New Year is based on a lunar-solar calendar, so the dates change slightly every year, but each time, it’s celebrated in various communities across Portland.

On Feb. 6, the Oregon Convention Center hosted the Chinese New Year Cultural Fair and the Vietnamese New Year celebration, Tết Nguyen Dan. Traditional dances were performed back-to-back and the exhibit halls were filled with vendors supporting local businesses and organizations.

Starting on Feb. 8 and running through Feb. 22, the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Old Town Chinatown, Portland, will host celebrations equipped with lanterns, cultural activities, lion dances and more.

“Since Chinese New Year is the most auspicious holiday in

China, the garden produces the largest festival of our year,” said Gary Wilson, director of events and programs for the garden. “We produce 15 days of cultural programs, with the weekends full of activities and performances all day for both weekends.”

Put simply, most of the traditions of the Spring Festival symbolize hopes for prosperity and luck in the year to come.

Hong baos (red envelopes) with ‘lucky money’ are a common gift to wish someone good fortune.

“Usually, the married couple gives [a red envelope] to the kid, or grandfather gives it to father – to one generation, or couple generations down,” said Steven Ying, chairman of the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.

The Spring Festival is very family-orientated. Each year, on the eve of the New Year, families gather together for a reunion dinner. A common dish to serve is a dish of sticky rice and according to Ying, it represents ‘the unity of the family.’

“It means they stick together, in a family, in a circle,” he said.

Lion dances are often an exciting part of the celebrations, which also symbolize blessing and prosperity.

Mt. Hood students also shared with the Advocate some of their own customs.

Trà Phan, who is studying communications, described some of the common Vietnamese New Years traditions of her family. “My

parents usually give us lucky money. You can still get lucky money [while in college], but mostly when you’re younger... not always after high school,” she said.

“We like to go visit our elders and wish them a Happy New Year.

We visit all of our family and we have dinner altogether,” she said.

Chinese New Year brings families together for 15 days

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The Portland Lee’s Association Dragon & Lion Dance Team performing a traditional Chinese lion dance at the Chinese New Year Cultural Fair on Feb. 6.

Photo by Jason Phung

To view the full unabridged story, visit:advocate-online.net

Joseph Frantzthe advocate

On the 17th of May Portlanders will cast their vote for a new mayor.

Current Mayor Charlie Hales will not seek re-election, so for the 53rd time the city of Portland will have a new mayor. It’s unlikely many of the previous 52 assumed the office in such dynamic and turbulent times. The city’s infrastructure is in dire straights, its homeless situation has officially been declared an emergency, and rent is higher than it is for our students.

Where does Portland go from here? How can residents and officials affect positive changes in the community while addressing the housing and infrastructure issues?

If you were to ask mayoral candidate David Schor, he’d say, “Let’s have that conversation.” He was kind enough to visit our MHCC campus to carry on this conversation with The Advocate.

Born and raised in Oregon, David Schor is an Assistant Attorney General for the Oregon Department of Justice where he “fights corporations to get the money they owe to the people of Oregon,” according to his website, www.portlandforschor.org.

He also has a background with nonprofits, having worked with both the ACLU of Oregon and the Oregon Justice Resource Center. A self-proclaimed “dark horse” in the mayor’s race, Schor was actually one of the first to enter the campaign back in October, after Hales announced he would not run for a second term.

Schor said he believes that of all the candidates in the upcoming election, he has the most intricate, well-planned vision for Portland. Asked what separates him from other candidates, including Ted Wheeler, Jules Bailey, or MHCC’s own part-time instructor, Sean Davis, he pointed to one word: “revenue.”

Take the Rose City’s current housing issues. Schor said public officials “aren’t talking about where to get revenue to deal with the affordable housing crisis… I’ve heard their talking points and there’s no plan for revenue.” Schor’s plan includes an 8 percent tax increase on the top 1 percent of (income) earners

in the city. By his estimate, that top percentile consists of individuals making more than $350,000 a year, he said.

“We have a huge amount of wealth in this community and it’s disproportionately allocated. There are… people in this town that are actually benefiting greatly from this crisis,” Schor said.

He would target this specific population of Portland with his new tax, and have all of this new revenue go towards the development of city-run, low income housing, he said. It is unclear exactly how many housing units this would create, or where they would be located, but compared to other candidates Schor thinks his is the most specific housing plan so far, he said.

Another unavoidable aspect of Schor’s campaign is his perceived tie to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

Schor “feels the Bern,” to put it mildly. He has a Sanders quote plastered across the homepage of his website and he also credited him for inspiring him to run for mayor when he did. Schor is hoping to ride the wave of Sanders supporters as they hit the polls in May to decide

the Democratic nomination for president between Sanders and Hillary Clinton, former first lady and secretary of state.

When asked if he considers himself a Democratic Socialist, Schor responded quickly and emphatically, “I’m happy to wear that label.”

As perhaps the best example of that outlook, besides his proposed housing tax, Schor’s economic plan includes raising wages for all Portland city employees (whether full- or part-time) to at least $15 hour.

“I don’t expect to win,” said Schor about his first campaign. “I hope to win.”

NEWSPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t4

Konah Nimothe advocate

The buzz over a massive new planet in the solar system has stirred up controversy among

scientists from California Institute of Technology and NASA, over proving the planet’s existence through modern conjectures.

Although the researchers have not really laid eyes on the planet they have given it a name, “Planet Nine,” AKA Planet “X.”

In fact, Planet Nine is said to be ten times the size of earth and it orbits 20 times farther from the sun.

M H C C a s t r o n o m y instructor Pat Hanrahan, shared that he also is on the fence with his belief on the existence of Planet X.

He made it clear that scientist do have ideas on where to search for the new discovered planet, but the problem is distance.

The recent discovery was made through a mathematical module that allows scientists to see farther than Neptune. Through that, they detected that objects in the Kuiper Belt – the field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune – had orbits that were pointing in the same direction, showing the gravitational pull of an undetected planet.

“Almost all the larger Kuiper Belt objects that we’ve found so far are within about 100 Earth/Sun distance (AU),” Hanrahan said. “The proposed planet X may be as far as 1000 Earth/Sun distances and that makes it a huge challenge to

find! Whether we find this out or not, there are certainly a lot more objects about the size of Pluto out there.”

This is fueling debate among scientists from NASA. They are emphasizing that the existence of the new planet has not yet been proven. But Caltech scientists have stated, “The new simulations support suspicions of a ninth planet first voiced in March 2014, when researchers noticed that a dozen objects far beyond Neptune all crossed the mid-plane of the solar system at roughly the same spot

as their closest approach to the sun.

“Interactions with the known giant planets should have r a n d o m i z e d those crossings by now. The probability of such a clustering happening by

chance is just 0.007 percent, the new study finds,” the Caltech researchers noted.

Mt. Hood’s own, Hanrahan, said that he thinks something may be affecting the orbits of somewhere between four and 12 Kuiper Belt objects. If there truly are 12 affected objects, then there is a possibility that Planet X could exist.

Now, there’s also confusion among scientists over whether Neptune, too, is affected.

Even if there is a Planet Nine, Hanrahan said that it is certainly not a threat to Earth by potentially crashing into us.

“It could be sending more comets towards Earth but that’s the only thing that can cause (damage). It’s fun to think about,” he said of the possible discovery.

Scientists discuss evidence pointing to a ninth planet

Portland residents’ mayoralcampaign is not a Schor thing:

Web Photo

“The proposed planet X may be as far as 1000 Earth/Sun distances and that makes it a huge challenge to find!”

- Pat Hanrahan MHCC astronomy instructor

“We have a huge amount of wealth in this community and it’s disproportionately allocated.”

-David Schor Portland mayoral

candidate

David Schor explains his platform for PDX mayor

An illustration of Planet X’s actual size in comparison to Earth.

Act Two: building a revolutionUrinetown: Part 2 of 3

Nicole Kaadithe advocate

Hanging in the Fireplace Gallery currently at MHCC is a series called “Making the Best of the Bleak,” by Tatyana Ostapenko.

The paintings are a series of pic-tures and moments that bring atten-tion to average people who live in strife, including political and social upheaval, due to the recent histo-ry of the former Soviet Union as it broke into Russia and several sepa-rate republics.

The paintings were chosen be-cause they depict “social ambiva-lence, political uncertainty, and the daily lives of people caught in the midst of momentous changes,” Osta-penko wrote in her artist statement

She continued, “I’m after the fa-miliar yet confounding, common-place yet unsettling, the uncannily mundane, and the ordinary strange-ness. My subjects’ confusing and confounding motivations expose the rudderless and rapidly shifting envi-rons of the places torn off from es-tablished meaning.

“I wish to communicate the re-luctant repulsion/attraction I feel toward my place of origin, and to expose the sentimentality of nostal-gia as well as an émigré’s moral dif-ficulty at passing judgments on the land left behind,” she wrote.

Each picture tells a different story, and these are stories she chose to make a viewer think or be more aware.

The people are used as part of the scene as to depict a whole social and historical aspect. In the paint-ings they are individual, yet don’t stand out as the main focus, with turned heads, partial features, or blurry or less-defined character-istics that somehow enhance the emotion of the image.

Ostapenko was born and raised in the part of the former Soviet Union that is now inde-pendent Ukraine.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts (studio practice) from Portland State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Business from Georgia State University.

She’s been painting for only three years and appreciates the separation of the art world from the business-social world. She likes how the separation can help with a different perspective because for an artist it is too easy to get lost in creation, she said.

Making the Best of the BleakFireplace Gallery in the MHCC

Student Union, Feb. 2-26.Tatyanaostapenko.com

Quincy Smiththe advocate

Act Two of “Urinetown,” this winter’s musical production at MHCC, sets the stage for the re-bellion of the people of Urinetown. With one company in control of the city’s water supply and usage, charging people to use the public restrooms, it’s become time for the citizens of this fair town to finally take a stand.

Jared Marchant portrays Officer Lockstock on the stage this month. Marchant says that Act Two holds some serious changes for his char-acter. In Act One, Lockstock “does everything he does because the law must be upheld. And he takes great pleasure in giving out the punish-ment,” Marchant said. But in Act Two, he has a moment with a fel-low officer where he admits he has doubts about whether he is doing the right thing for the people of Uri-netown.

“He loves the people of this town very much... He does what he does because he wants for there to be or-der, he wants everybody to be okay,” Marchant said.

Officer Lockstock also happens to be the narrator of the show, which Marchant enjoys.

“This may be a little biased be-cause this is my character, but I think he’s one of the most interest-

ing characters in the play. He weaves through everything and he’s part of it, but he’s able to take a step back from it as well, kinda going ‘Hmm. Do you all see what you’re doing?’ ” said Marchant.

One of the major perks of being the narrator of a show like this is that it makes one unkillable.

“They can’t touch me if they want the show to end,” Marchant said with a laugh. Act Two brings out the extremes of the character. He is shown laying down the law in some moments, and questioning the morality of his choices and express-ing love for the people he has vowed to protect.

At the center of it all in Urine-town is Bobby Strong, played by Austin Peters.

Bobby is the symbol and the leader of the town’s revolt against Urinegood Co. , the company con-trolling the water.

“Bobby is a revolutionary. At the start of the show, his father gets taken away for peeing on the streets, because that’s illegal,” said Peters. This ignites the fuse in his thinking about the state of the town’s society, which is set ablaze thanks to inspi-ration from his love interest, Hope Cladwell, who convinces him to fol-low his heart.

“He rallies the people and gets them to join his revolution. In Act One, it’s just building, and Act Two is when it starts,” said Peters.

To find out what happens in the end, come see the show in the Col-lege Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 19-20 and Feb. 26-27, or 2 p.m. on Feb. 21 or 28.

At the door tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and Mt. Hood students and staff. Advance tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors, MHCC students and staff.

Look for this picture for more stories on Urinetown.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 5F e b r u a r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 6

Aquarius - Aquarians are the worst. Seriously, save your-self the time – Don’t get them anything. Maybe dog poop; the humor might be lost on them, though, since they’re so terrible.

Pisces - Pisces are all about that vape lyfe. Get them some juice, 18 milligrams of nicotine, they know what they’re doing. You probably already know because they’ve told you about it.

Aries - Aptly named after the Greek god of war, your Aries valentine would do a cartwheel if they got a cross-bow. Bonus points – get them stuffed animals for target prac-tice.

Taurus - The Taurus in your life could stand to grow a

pair; get them that trailer hitch that has blue balls on it. They will be eternally grateful.

Gemini - Geminis love live music, so serenade them with a piccolo. They love surprises, too, so get as close as possible without them knowing before you start playing.

Cancer - Every Cancer could stand to use some sto-gies. Menthols or regular is your question now.

Leo - Leos are too proud to ask for help. Surprise-clean their house for them, but leave all the trash in their bed so they don’t feel guilty later.

Virgo - Virgos are a dichot-omous bunch. Your options are power tools or flowers, but, for full credit, get some power

tools and cut some flowers from their lawn for them.

Libra - Zoo passes. All of them. At least five years’ worth, and a commemorative T-shirt.

Scorpio - The Scorpio in your life appreciates fine, un-conventional dining. If ever there were an occasion to call for a taco pizza, this is it.

Sagittarius - Everyone loves chocolate, and Sagittar-ians love drugs. Make your own truffles, and take the lib-erty of adding your own spe-cial ingredients.

Capricorn - Korn albums. I’ve said it like three times now – if you haven’t stock-piled nu metal albums by now, you failed.

Above on the left is “The Fountain,” a painting being sold for $500. Above right is “Stretch”, one of Tatyana Osta-penko’s works hanging in the Fireplace Gallery. Below is “Front Loader” going for $1300.

Artist explores repulsion and attraction

Photos by Nick Pelster

Gift Ideas For Your Valentine HORRORSCOPES

Graphic by Cody Holcombe

discuss new album, party with Portland

Chinese New Year brings MHCC Oriental fruit and candiesIvy Davis, Gloria Saepharn, and Matana McIntirethe advocate

Rambutan

Ivy - “This thing looks like a sea urchin - I don’t know why any-one would want to put this in their mouth,” were my first thoughts. So the outside is hairy, but the inside looks like a large peeled grape, and the seed in the middle looks like an almond. After getting the rambu-tan peeled you eat the soft squishy grape-looking layer, avoiding the seed in the middle. Surprisingly, I didn’t mind this fruit. It had a very light, mild, sweet flavor. Eating around the almond-like pit was dif-ficult because parts of it kept peel-ing off. All in all, I enjoyed this crazy fruit - I even took the leftovers home.

Matana - I was excited about this one because I was led to be-lieve that it was similar to ly-chee, a fruit I’m still excited to try. But, oh, no. Nope, I couldn’t do it. While the fruit did taste decent, it was so hard to bite into and pieces of the pit

would tear off with it. Not worth it for me.

Custard apple (Mang Cau

- Vietnamese)

Ivy - I really wasn’t sure about this one. The “apple-like” fruit real-ly wasn’t apple-like. The fruit had a lot of seeds to work around and af-ter tasting the meat of the fruit, all I could think was a) “This is terrible, why would anyone eat this;” and b) “I must have picked an unripe one.” If it wasn’t for the Thai restaurant I recently visited that served up Mang Cau-flavored candy (which was much better), I would have zero hope for this fruit.

Glow - The fact that the fruit was hard as a rock made me think that it was like an unripe avocado. I first ate the bit that held the seeds, so I didn’t get a “taste” of the fruit, as I should have. I pretty much spat out what I had and didn’t finish eating it. It was unripe and tasted bitter.

Lotus root cov-

ered in sugar

Matana - Okay, the lotus

root was cool. The flavor was a little off for me, but the texture and

look of the lotus root was so in-

triguing that I kept eating it. I would defi-

nitely eat this again, but I suspect I’d have to be in a

certain mood.

Glow - I couldn’t finish the lo-tus root, because it was saturated in sugar. Lotus root isn’t known for its sweetness. The root has more of a subtle sweetness and the sugar was rather fermented into the root, rather than covering it. I liked it un-til I couldn’t eat it anymore. If you enjoy sugary, candy-like textures, this is a great snack for you. This is a seasonal, good luck food for Chinese New Year, so it doesn’t stick around for long.

Ivy - This thing was weird and I will never eat it again. It wasn’t bad tasting - but so different from my usual sugared mango (the only type of sugared candy I will eat.) I couldn’t eat my whole candy, so it’s in the trash now.

Starfruit

Matana - I’ve never had starfruit before, and I think maybe I was ex-pecting something highly acidic, like pineapple. However, starfruit was really light and had only a little bit of that citrus acidity. Overall, I enjoyed it and ate a good amount.

Ivy - Star fruit is a classic; I’ve had it so many times it’s really not that crazy or rare. The fruit tastes a little citrus-y but has a lighter flavor with less pulp content then an orange or a lemon. Very good and cute!

Mogu Mogu nata de coco

with mango juice

Glow - The smooth-like mango juice easily went down, but the man-go-flavored jellies were like larger coconut meat. The mango jellies are plastic-like, but we read that it’s “hardened” coconut juice. It’s a good

drink, but I’m not too fond of many sweet things all at once. I drank this last, so it may have been impacted by the previous sweet food I ate before it.

M a t a -na - Pretty much mango juice crossover with bubble tea. I’ve had sim-ilar drinks before, with jel-lies, but nata de coco is different, since it is physically derived from coconut. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would have it again.

Dried persimmon

Glow - Persimmons are plump-like fruit that looks like a tomato; luckily, it’s not a tomato because when I grew up, I disliked them. I actually grew up eating fresh per-simmons and they were always sweet and tasted good. They can be soft or hard and crisp. The dried persimmon reminded me of what I used to love and I enjoyed it. I real-ized that I was supposed to rinse the fruit once I opened it, but it was too late by the time I got home. It was soft and tasted like sweet potato.

Matana - Weird. I didn’t know what to think, honestly. I don’t really like sweet potatoes, in the way that I don’t prefer them. The same goes for these. While the heavy, chewy consistency of the persimmon was interesting, the taste was just too yuck to eat it in the future.

Taro root

Ivy - I love the taro flavored bubble tea but this was not

what I was expecting. Af-ter peeling and cook-

ing the root we were able to finally taste it. Unlike my favorite

bubble tea flavor, it was very bland and had more of a salty taste than a sweet

one. I sprinkled mine with salt and

pepper and finished it, no problem.

Glow - I love taro root. I com-pletely forgot what it tasted like when I was younger, but once I took a bite of this, the flavor ex-ploded in my mouth. It tastes like a soft and lighter taro bubble tea, but warm. Ivy ended up putting some salt and pepper on it, and it actually tasted nice.

Matana - Oh, man, no. I can see how its value is held, but I’m just not a bland potato girl. I was looking for more of the sweet, light flavor of the bubble tea and was disappointed when it wasn’t that way.

Editor notes

Ivy - There is one thing I learned and it is that any Japanese/Chinese/Oriental fruit or candy is not near-ly as bad as that 1000-year- old egg Gloria fed me.

Glow - My grandpa ate it up, when I gave it to him. I liked it, too...

Jon Fuccillothe advocate

As I entered the infamous Green Room,

also known as the backstage room in Southeast Portland’s very

o w n

Doug Fir Lounge, I was greeted by two smiling faces: James “JPatt” Pat-terson and Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner, who make up the electro-pop dance duo, The Knocks.

It wasn’t long ago that The Knocks, who are from NYC, were opening up and on tour with

Ellie Goulding when they played a previous Doug Fir Lounge show. This was their first U.S. tour back in 2012, with the Canadian sensation

that is Goulding.Both Patterson,

29, and Ruttner, 28 were stoked to be back in town. They tend to think of the Doug Fir as their home away from home while

visiting Portland. They couldn’t be more thrilled to be the main act this go-round, compared to opening up for other “bigger” acts.

“It has always been good, open-ing shows,” said Ruttner on playing shows in Portland. “They (crowds) either love or hate you. They just kind of listen when you’re opening shows... It’s kind of hit-or-miss, compared to playing your own show where they are all there to see you. It’s surreal to play these sold out shows.”

The pair admit it’s nice to be in a state where marijuana is legal, citing both Oregon and their recent show in Seattle.

“The PNW is pretty crazy in general,” said Patterson. “Seattle was the best spot on the tour yet (said prior to the Portland show).”

The duo formed in 2009 and have music critics drooling and

dancing their asses off in praise of their songs and producing skills; so much that it landed them a ma-jor record label deal with Atlantic Records. Before putting their own music first, The Knocks once upon a time produced beats and remixes for Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Flo-Ri-da, Goulding, and others.

Their debut album, titled “55,” drops March 4. They have songs on the new album with such artists as Wyclef Jean, X Ambassadors, Walk The Moon and Cam’ron. Wowzers, you should be excited already. I sure as hell am.

The Knock’s track with Wyclef Jean, “Kiss the Sky,” has taken the dance scene by storm. The two were excited to work with a legend like Jean, whom Ruttner grew up idol-izing.

“That was a really cool experi-ence,” said Ruttner. “Our good friend

Nick from Walk The Moon worked with him, and Wyclef wanted to use some younger producers. We went and worked with him in New Jersey and sparks were lit right away. It was originally for his album. We made so many songs right away. I knew right away it was more of a Knocks song then a Wyclef song.

“It happened really quick. I was hoping he would let us use this on the album and right away he said ‘No question, this is for your album,’ ” Ruttner said. The group will also serve as the executive producers for Jean’s album.

2/5 on the crazy fruit scale

PAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e tARTS & ENTERTAINMENT6

Web Photo

Left photo is the Rambutan. Above photo is sugar-covered Lotus root

Fruit photos by Ivy Davis

Scan QR code to continue the story on our website,advocate-online.net.

SPORTS PAGEF e b r u a r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 7Mt. Hood women fall to ChemeketaSaints men can’t

weather the Storm Their losing streak is stretched to ten games

Jon Fuccillothe advocate

It was yet another loss for the Mt. Hood Saints men’s basketball team, who dropped a 71-66 contest Wednesday in the Mt. Hood gymnasium to its South Region foe, the Chemeketa Storm.

With the defeat, the Saints (1-10 in the South Region, 4-18 overall) extended their losing streak to 10 games. They’re tied with Grays Harbor for the longest active losing streak in the entire NWAC. The Saints last won a game back on Jan. 2 when they beat the Umpqua Riverhawks, 80-75.

“Obviously when you’re losing, you’re dealing with extra emotions. Mentally it drains on you,” said Saints head coach John Hawley. “You can’t live in the past and as coaches we aren’t adding any extra pressure. You have to accept what it is... Let go of what was... And have faith in what will be.”

During their game with the Storm, the Saints came out flat. Thankfully, their counterpart came out just as slow. Eventually the Saints would take their first lead 19-17 with 6:40 left in the first half. They would quickly see that lead vanish, though, and headed into the locker room down 33-25. With less 45 seconds left in the first half, Storm freshman guard Tregg Peterson showed off his hops with a fast-break slam dunk that drew the crowd to its feet. Even Saints fans were cheering and in awe after Peterson’s pretty flush.

Hawley said his team’s slow starts have long been a problem. “Its been hurting us all year long,” said Hawley, with the Saints trailing early in games and then trying to dig their way out of a hole. “We just aren’t consistent on the offensive end and we had good looks all game long, but couldn’t finish.”

Why?“I don’t know,” said Hawley who paused for a little while

to think about that simple, yet open-ended, question. “We shoot a lot in practice and we’re moving well without the ball and being less selfish these past five or six games.”

If one positive came out of this game, Hawley pointed towards Mt. Hood’s free-throw shooting. The team finished 20-of-24 from the charity stripe.

“Best we have shot from the line in a very long time. That’s a big plus for us, since we haven’t shot so well from there throughout the year,” he said.

Prior to the game, Storm head coach David Abderhalden said he planned to hone in on Saints sophomore guard Jamal Muhammad, who has been struggling from the field, of late.

Jon Fuccillothe advocate

Once again the “Fab Five” made a serious push at beating the Chemeketa Storm Wednesday night in the Mt. Hood gymnasium, but fell just short in the final minute, losing 61-56.

“We were down by one point with a minute to go and we missed two easy shots in the paint, but both were good looks from about five and seven feet out,” said Saints women’s head coach John Hawley.

“And then when we were down by three points, we missed a three-

point attempt by Madison Weaver with less than 10 seconds left. We just couldn’t hit that big shot down the stretch,” he said.

With less than 20 seconds remaining, sophomore Lacey Weddle fouled out and the Saints – playing with only five players due to roster issues for the past two months – were left with four players on the floor, which made assignments more difficult.

Mt. Hood had trailed for much of the second half.

“We just didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do,” said Hawley. “We got good looks in clutch

situations, but couldn’t finish.”The Saints only shot 24 percent

from behind the arc (4-for-17), which proved to hurt them in the losing effort.

Sophomore Alexis Imbler finished the contest with a double-double (13 points and 12 rebounds), while sophomore teammate Weaver finished with 16 points, along with eight rebounds. Sophomores Weddle and Delanee Martin both chipped in with 10 points.

The Saints fell to 2-9 in the South Region, and 7-15 overall. They next play at 2 p.m. Saturday in Albany against Linn-Benton.

After Wednesday night’s opener, the women are 7-15 with five games left

Photos by Jon FuccilloThe Saints gave it their best shot, but lost a close contest at home.

For the rest of the story on men’s basketball, visit us on the web at advocate-online.net

Clay Vitalethe advocate

As the weather steadily warms with the transition into spring, it can only mean one thing: Baseball is back.

Mt. Hood’s Oslund Field will once again be peppered with the shells of sunflower seeds while resonating the sound of popping gloves and cracking bats. This past week has given the Saints their first chance to practice outside of the gymnasium and start working on fundamentals before heading out to Western Nevada College during the weekend of Feb. 27-28.

That trip will mark the fourth consecutive year the Saints travel to Carson City, where the four-game series (two double-headers) is called both challenging and rewarding by Saints head coach Bryan Donohue. The WNC Wildcats will enjoy a four-week head start on Mt. Hood by the time they meet, as the Scenic West

Athletic Conference begins

play in late January. Not only will this provide a huge test for the Saints, but there’s a bit of an underlying story to this matchup: WNC recruits heavily out of the same

region Mt. Hood scouts for talent, with rostered players from Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro and Medford, among others. This no doubt adds a little friendly rivalry between the programs, and Western Nevada helps offset the Saints’ traveling costs to make the series happen.

Before the late February weekend that signals the beginning of Mt. Hood’s preseason, Donohue provided some insight into the coaching methods and practice drills the Saints will be working on. “We get in lots of gym time, live scrimmaging and really try to focus on team defenses,” he said.

The team’s scrimmage really emphasized in-game scenarios and tactics on both sides of the ball, while implementing a twist to the game. Innings were modeled to begin with a base runner on first, who was given the green light to

steal second base. If he slid in safely, it would count as a run for his team, and he’d have the opportunity to take third, hoping to tally another run. The hitter was tasked with managing his at-bat knowing the runner may look to advance on the base paths. If a runner crossed home plate, just like in real baseball, it also counted as a run. The pitcher and defense behind him are aware of the set-up, so they have to make in-game adjustments to counter the offensive strategy. As usual, three put-outs allowed the split squads to switch places, allowing the defense to come off the field and take its turn at the dish.

This drill just goes to show the intricacies of the game, and how much there is to consider with every pitch thrown. Especially

when an Isaac Benard steps to bat and grooves one over the center field wall, rhythm can go out the window in a hurry, much like in a real baseball game.

While the final 24-man roster will be decided by Monday, there are many returning players from the group that won last year’s Southern Region, a Saints team that went all the way to the NWAC title game.

“We have a lot of experience. The returning players bring a ton of knowledge, and this is an old team versus last year,” said Donohue. An “old team” is a huge boon f o r a program looking to get back in the tournament,

and this time see it through to reign over the conference. With age comes the tools and knowledge learned from past, something Donohue also pointed out “Last year, we have no regrets. We did all we could to win, and our guys will attest to that. We didn’t have a single player who had played in a collegiate tournament before,” he added. They will, now.

There are nearly 40 team hopefuls at this point, and the players have impressed the coach,

so far. “From what I have seen, especially since the winter break, this is a group that is determined to (help us) get over the hump”, he said. The 2016 edition of the Saints is expected to feature quite a few returning sophomores, including All-League right-hand starting pitchers Seth Rayburn and Nate Hunter, and fellow All-Leaguers third-baseman Nolan McCall, shortstop Jay Rogers, infielder Kody Matthews and the aforementioned outfielder, Benard.

The Saints are putting in the work early, taking the field six days a week as well as logging hours in the weight room in order to “figure out who’s who in the preseason,”

according to Donohue. With the likes of last year’s champion,

Lower Columbia, the No. 1-ranked Edmonds Tritons and perennial contender Everett around, Mt. Hood

baseball will have a tough road to navigate, but this

experienced team just might have what it takes to get the job done.

SPORTSPAGE a d v o c a t e - o n l i n e . n e t8

Saints come marching inBaseball returns to Mt. Hood’s Oslund Field, along with six All-Leaguers from last season. A team whose playoff run led all the way to the 2015 NWAC championship game prepares for another successful season.

Field conditions were good enough to allow the Saints to practice outdoors this week. One side of the split squad huddles together (above) before live scrimmage as head coach Bryan Donohue (left) provides instructions from all over the diamond.

All photos by Nick Pelster

“From what I have seen, especially since the winter break, this is a group that is determined to get over the hump.”

-Bryan Donohue Head Coach

Check back next issue for Mt. Hood softball coverage