October 31, 2007
The Board of Trustees
will meet on Thursday, Nov.
8, at 5 p.m. in the Hansen
boardrooms. Students, faculty, staff, and the public are
encouraged to attend.
Next Tuesday, Nov. 6, is
Election Day. No matter where you live, there
are races and issues on the
ballot that are critical to
good government--and our
pocketbooks. Please be sure
to vote and let your voice be
heard.
Noted
In
Passing
“On account of
being a democracy and run
by the people, we are the
only nation in the world that
has to keep a government
four years, no matter what it
does.”
––Will Rogers––
Vol. 13, No.4
CC Lyceum Series is growing in
relevance, intellect, and stature
The Centralia College Lyceum series, one
own embarrassment. Still, “The Highest Tide”
of the most popular college and community
has struck a similar nerve in critics and readers
intiatives yet, is definitely coming of age. In the
around the world.
few years since its inception, Lyceum has seen a
In his novel, Lynch tells the story through
continual growth of stature and is enjoying more the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy who spends a
varied discussions by ever more talented and
mostly unsupervised summer on the beach. That
widely recognized people.
cannot happen today, Lynch believes, because
Already a hit on the main campus, the
there isnʼt as much nature available as there once
Lyceum concept moved to CCEast this year to
was. Moreover, fear of crime, sex offenders, and
excellent support and reception by the Morton
pedophiles has put youngsters on a leash. He
students and community.
points to studies that show
When the Lyceum
the average child is allowed
series resumes on Nov.
to roam only one-tenth as
7, one of the Northwestʼs
far from home as they could
fastest-rising literary
thirty years ago. Lynch
stars will take the stage to
believes that children today
describe his process for
suffer from “nature deficit
writing novels from nature.
disorder.”
His first, “The Highest
“To adequately tell
Tide” is already an interMilesʼ tale and crawl inside
national hit and one of the
his marine-obsessed chartop selling new books in
acter, I spent lots of time
the country.
on the water and the flats,
Jim Lynch will offer
watching, listening, learnAuthor Jim Lynch appears on Nov. 7. ing,” Lynch reported. “I rarely
up the Centralia College
Lyceum program on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 1
saw unsupervised children, but it didnʼt cross my
p.m. in Washington Hall. The program is free
mind that I was writing about the last kid on the
and open to the public.
beach.”
Lynch, a former Oregonian newspaper
The Centralia College Lyceum audience will
reporter, is a keen observer of the daily miracles
be among the first to hear from Lynch since his
of nature, and based this stunning first novel on
second acclaimed novel “The Dotted Line” was
his observations as a young boy on the beaches
released.
of Puget Sound. “My intent was to play with
Still on the menu for this quarter, Dr. Jeff
the notion that most of us go through life so
Tepper examines the “Export of Hazardous
oblivious to the natural world around us,” Lynch Wastes,” a chilling Halloween tale if ever one
explained, “that a boy who simply pays attention was, ethnomusicologist Dr. Sean Williams takes
could come across as a genius, even a prophet.”
a look at social development through the lines
As a child about the same age as the novelʼs
of a treble clef, our own Dr. Steve Norton takes
protagonist Miles OʼMalley, Lynch was awed
us diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and
by the popular writings of Rachael Carson.
activist Larry Kershner examines the ethical
Lynch today often finds himself being favorconsiderations of supporting troops in a war that
ably compared with Carson, somewhat to his
is increasingly unpopular at home.
The
Birthday
Roll Call
Being a compendium of imminent birth
date information on eminent members
of the CC family and a few well-chosen
others who wish they had been. Sort of an
“imminent eminence” chronicle.
GEORGANNE COPELAND 11/2
DONNA HUFFMAN
11/2
DANIEL BOONE
11/2
JIM SCAPILLATO
11/3
EARL OF SANDWICH
11/3
WILL ROGERS
11/4
JOAN FREDRICKSON (GH) 11/4
VʼANN KOSTICK
11/6
JOHN PHILLIP SOUSA
11/6
TERRI PEREZ
11/6
MADAME CURIE
11/7
SUSANNE WEIL
11/7
A birthday crew especially fitting the
Halloween occasion. Root Beer and popcorn balls for everyone and many happy
returns of this auspicious birthday period.
Latino artist shows at Washington
Hall and a trip to Peru is in the offing
In a few days––Nov. 13, to be
precise––the Latino Youth Summit will
convene on the Centralia College campus.
Today we concentrate on an outstanding
collateral event; an art exhibition by the
very talented young Latino artist, Pedro
de Valdivia. He created the keynote image
for the Summit as well as for Latino Day
at the Washington legislature. (Among the
collectors of his work is Gov. Christine
Gregoire!)
A Pasco native, de Valdivia was selftaught in art until he was accepted at the
Cornish School in Seattle. He continues to
experiment with his style, but has recognized at least one medium he will continue
to use through his career. He sometimes
uses “found” material––especially burlap
and onion bags––as a canvas for specific
kinds of images.
Sports
11/2-7 p.m.: Volleyball at Grays Harbor
11/5-7 p.m.: Volleyball at Green River
11/7-7 p.m.: VB vs HIGHLINE here
Remember
Set your clock BACK next Sunday at 2
a.m. (or thereabouts!) as Nov. 4 is the correct fallback date this year.
Still over a week away, but Monday,
Nov. 12 is Veteranʼs Day (observed)
and is a holiday. The campus is closed
and few volunteers are expected to be at
their desks that day. Go figger!
“It says,ʼMENʼS ROOMʼ”
Pedro de Valdivia at Washington Hall
“I was wiping up some acrylic paint
with an old gunny sack,” he said, “and I
found the paint was clinging nicely to the
material and held the bright tone I had
mixed.” As the work evolved, de Valdivia
began using specific old commodity sacks
for works the object suggested. In the current exhibition is an image of the Virgin
Mary painted on a South American cocoa
sack and the portrait of a Latino leader on
an onion sack.
“When I can buy or find a really old
sack from a Latin American or South
American port,” he said, “I can sometimes
give my image a sense of age and historical meaning from the medium itself.
With the right subject matter, the burlap
becomes a living part of my art.”
de Valdivia is working on a collection he hopes to take to New York for a
gallery showing.
“I want to mix
some of my nontraditional images
with several more
expected pieces,” he
explained. “I hope
to make contacts on
the east coast that
will help me find an
opening in the marketplace for cover art,
my favorite kind of expression.”
de Valdiviaʼs bright, expressive work
will hang in the gallery space of Washington Hall through the end of November.
What if you could travel to one of
the most fascinating places on earth with
a linguist and an anthropologist as your
guides? It would likely turn out to be the
trip of a lifetime. And so it shall.
Laura Yocom and Greg van Alstyne
will lead a small group on a 16-day dream
excursion to Peru in mid-June, visiting
a floating reed Uru island in Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on earth.
The outing will include the center of the
ancient Incan empire at Cusco, horseback
visits to ancient sites and modern agriculture, an extended, deluxe hike to Machu
Picchu, (mules to haul your stuff and a
chef to cook your meals!) and then a truly
dizzying drop to the Amazon rainforest.
The cost is just $3450 for the June 16July 1 adventure, certainly one of the best
bargains to come along in years.
Contact Laura at ext. 455 or Greg at
ext. 552 to nail down one of the last five
remaining seats on this world-class trip.
What a great opportunity––go for it¡!