Weekly Update, June 6

LBCC’s 46th annual Commencement Ceremony will be held Thursday, June 12.  1,140 degrees and certificates will be awarded to 875 candidates this year, and approximately 100 students will receive their General Educational Development certificates at the event.

Patty McMenamin, left, and
Carol Raymundo

The Office of Disability Services and the Student Assessment Office welcomed new coordinator and manager Carol Raymundo at a joint open house Thursday. Carol will manage both ODS and Student Assessment, working closely with Patty McMenamin, who is the Testing Coordinator. Carol previously worked with ODS as an Instructional Specialist with Assistive Technology. The two departments both support proctored testing for students with testing accommodations. Student Assessment also provides services such as the Computerized Placement Exam, GED exams, external college and agency exams, CLEP, and Pearson-Vue exams.

LBCC has trained its first Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT. Nine LBCC staff completed the 24-hour training last week, learning basic search and rescue techniques, medical triage and basic treatment. Marcene Olson led the team training, which included a simulation disaster on the last day. CERT teams are called to respond in the case of a major disaster until local emergency responders can arrive on the scene. Future training sessions will be offered. If you’re interested in becoming part of LBCC’s CERT, watch your email for future training dates or contact Marcene Olson. (photo, back row, left to right: John Rehley, LeAnn Schamp, Duane Jensen, and Jim Wixson. Front row, left to right: Lori Fluge-Brunker, Stella McCauley, Barb Horn, Angie Klampe and Marlene Fantus.

Two LBCC staffers, Rich Bergeman and Katherine Cellerini Moore, will have their artwork displayed in the Around Oregon Annual Juried Exhibition at the Corvallis Arts Center through July 5.  Juror Martha Lee of the Laura Russo Gallery in Portland chose their pieces, along with 42 others, from 475 pieces entered.

Weekly Update, April 4

LBCC Phi Theta Kappa students honored business and accounting faculty member Jack Stone at their annual Induction Ceremony held Feb. 21. The students honor one LBCC staff each year at the ceremony.

Rich Bergeman, former journalism instructor and current LBCC Art Gallery coordinator, has published the book “Exphrasis II: A collaboration of poets and artists from LBCC." Images and poetry from the book are on display as part of an exhibit in the South Santiam Hall Gallery through May 2. LBCC's Poetry Club will sell copies of the book for $20 during the exhibit reception Tuesday, April 15 from 3-4 p.m. in the gallery, or purchase online for $19.79, plus approximately $8 shipping, at: www.blurb.com/b/5158933-exphrasis-ii

"Better Know Your Data" statistics show that 61 percent of LBCC students who started fall term 2013 are currently re-enrolled for spring term, with an average of 11 credits apiece. Stats from “Better Know Your Data” and the Institutional Research team.

Plan to attend the president's forum Thursday, April 10 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Forum, room F-104. Hear from President Hamann on LBCC directions, opportunities and challenges. Come prepared to ask questions.

LBCC’s landscape is a bit “greener,” thanks to grounds manager George VanKeulen and his team. The college has not used any pesticides or herbicides to combat weeds and bugs for more than a year. Instead, George's team focuses on keeping the grass cut and laying down copious amounts of wood chips to suppress weed seeds. But, you may see a few more dandelions in the grass, says George, which, by the way, are edible and quite good for you. His team also is working to remove a large number of plants around campus and at the Benton Center that died over the winter due to freezing temperatures. Those plants will be chipped and used around campus to help suppress weeds.

Art Gallery Coordinator Rich Bergeman Lands Art Residency

Contributed story
Edited by Lori Fluge-Brunker

Sink Site by Rich Bergeman.

LBCC Art Gallery coordinator Rich Bergeman was chosen to participate in a four-week art residency at Playa in Eastern Oregon, a nonprofit organization supporting creative work in the arts, literature, natural sciences and other fields.

Stratton Root Cellar by Rich Bergeman.

Rich has spent the past several weeks working on a photo project in nearby Fort Rock Valley, where he is looking for homestead sites and early towns that sprang up in the early 1900s, only to disappear within 10-15 years when the realities of farming in the desert finally sank in for those early settlers.

"An area that now looks like a sparsely populated sage-brush covered desert for a brief time sported a dozen small towns and a couple thousand homesteaders," wrote Rich in a recent email. "Today it's hard to find a trace of any of that, so my project is to find what traces there are and make some pictures."

Rich actually began work at the college in 1976 as a media writer (writing press releases for the college) in what is now College Advancement, then moving to the position of public information coordinator in 1979.  He quit to, as he puts it, "regain my sanity" and get a master's degree at OSU, after which he promptly returned in 1981 to teach journalism -a job he held until his retirement in 2007.

"I was lured back to run the galleries part-time in 2009 with a package of incentives that included my own office (aka storage closet) and wastebasket," wrote Rich. "Overall, I guess that's something like 33 years. It's kind of depressing when you add it all up - I need to get a life!"

Located in Summer Lake in Lake County, Playa manages a two residency programs, and supports those who are committed and passionate about their work and who will benefit from time spent in Playa’s remote location. Fellowship Residencies are Playa’s primary program, which span two multi-month sessions each year.

For more information on Playa, visit: http://www.playasummerlake.org/

(Lori Fluge-Brunker is a communications specialist in the College Advancement Marketing office.)