Vicki Purslow

Katie Yasui is a student in J225-Introduction to Journalism.

The last year of high school, with the world opening up in the front windshield, senior projects, and the future just around the corner, Tim Hardy’s rather remarkable story began.

Hardy, a graphic design instructor at Rogue Community College, decided for his senor project at South Medford High School that he would survive in the wilderness for a week with the bare essentials. And to make it a bit more challenging, he would maintain his weight.

So he spent the year reading and planning. When it was time to attempt it, his mentor drove him to the edge of the woods and dropped him off.

“I had the clothes I was wearing, a lighter, a pocket knife, and my Bible,” Hardy says.

His mentor gave him one piece of advice: find food first. Like any true teen, Hardy started working on his shelter first, naturally a teepee.

That didn’t work out so well, so he manufactured a better shelter in a ditch, and after a rather meager supper—he really should have listened to his mentor—he crawled in for the night.

Things didn’t go well from there. His latest shelter was at the end of a ditch, where it sloped back up to ground level. Over this, he had laid branches and packed dirt. His fire was directly in front of the entrance in the ditch. To stay warm, he left the fire he had lit earlier burning.

After he had been sleeping for a while, he suddenly woke up to discover how warm he was. He was downright hot. He looked out of his entrance to see a wall of flames; the wind had pushed his fire directly into his only entrance, and more importantly, his only exit.

He started praying.

He had built his shelter too well this time. He couldn’t break out through the branches and dirt that served as his roof. As it grew hotter, he took the only way out—through the flames. He jumped through the fire, melting his shoes, but escaped without being badly burned.

This was the start of a miserable week. He had hardly a single meal—he lived on whatever plants he thought looked edible. His feet were blistered by his melted twisted shoes, and his tongue was blistered by some of the more acidic roots he tried to eat.

He spent much of the week trying to catch a turtle that seemed to be mysteriously shrewd in the ways of human trapping. He spent the rest lying about exhausted for lack of food. Oddly enough he hardly lost any weight. He says

“I survived,” he says, “Barely.”

Hardy looks back on that week as one in which he learned about life and decided to live it following what he believes God calls him to do.

Not surprisingly, Hardy’s life has not turned out like he imagined it would during his senior year, but he has approached it with a sense of humor and with ears open wide for God’s calling.

He now has been teaching at RCC for “six-ish” years. He says he loves helping student prepare for the future. Grading, on the other hand, is hardly his favorite thing way of spending time.

One of the things, he says, that makes him unique as a teacher at RCC is his faith, which is a very central part of his life.  Hardy is upfront about his faith; at the beginning of each class, he tells his students that he is a Christian.

His beliefs, he says, help him care genuinely about his students.

Though he is passionate about his job, he may not be teaching at RCC much longer. He is still following what he believes is God’s call. He and his family plan to leave for Cyprus in August to serve with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Wherever life takes him, he will never forget that wilderness trip and the lessons he learned from it.

Tim Hardy

Hannah Ullom is a student in J225-Introduction to Journalism.

Meet Krista Vegter, a woman that has noticed semi-trucks all of her life. Now, 34 years old, she has decided to enroll in a program to obtain her commercial truck driver’s license at Rogue Community College.

“I recently went into a truck stop last week and was reminded of my first experiences of going to truck stops and the lifestyle of trucking,” she says. “It was absolutely an affirmation that this is my calling.”

Krista says she remembers going into truck stops and being fascinated by all the “trucker crap.”

“It’s like this lifestyle of rugged, roughneck, just those colorful personalities,” she says.  “It just seemed like fun, you know. Like, I want to be ‘hell on wheels’ and get paid for it.”

Although the exterior lifestyle of a trucker may seem to be fun and glamorous, it actually takes a great deal of dedication, discipline, attention to detail, commitment and hard work to become proficient in ‘ruling the road.’

Krista’s class had the opportunity to venture on a night drive from Merlin to Roseburg in order to experience a different element while driving. It just so happened to be foggy that night heading north on Interstate 5, which plotted difficult driving conditions for the new drivers.

“Teacher told me to throw the truck into 7^th gear because we were going up a really steep hill and my RPM’s were not enough to keep the truck in 8th. So, I took it out of 8^th gear and didn’t realize the Jake Brakes were still on,” she says, and takes a second to reminisce about her fascination of Jake Brakes. “Now, I had just got done searching for trucker hats that said “Jake Brakes.” There is one that says, “Pull my Jake Brake.” Jake Brakes are awesome.”

Krista proceeds to imitate the common sound that people usually hear when they pass a semi-truck going downhill. “PARBPARBPARBPARBPARP PARRRRRRBBBB PPPPPARRRRBPARRRRRRRB… So, with my Jake Brakes on, going up a massive hill on the interstate, I had the RPM’s drop below a thousand. My biggest lesson, which almost killed the class and myself,” she says.

“I stalled the truck, in the middle of Interstate 5. We came to a complete stop. Our teacher tells me to turn the flasher brakes on. I am like, ‘Where the hell is the flasher brakes?’

“We are in the dark, I see the headlights in front of me, but inside of the cab there was no interior light. So he’s like ‘put the emergency brakes on.’ I almost ripped the signal thing off trying to turn the emergency flashers on.”

She says she finally found the emergency flashers just before a truck came up right behind them.

“There was fog; you couldn’t see a car in front of you. We actually went backwards at one point because I was so frazzled,” she says. “I tried to get the truck to go into 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd… any gear, and it would not, I could not find 3^rd gear to start. So I had to shove it into 1^st gear and we just rode that damn truck at like 3 miles per hour up the interstate where people are going 60-70 mph. It was scary.”

Not deterred from driving and commanding a 48,000 pound piece of machinery, she returned home a couple of days after her frightening lesson of night driving. She lay back in bed, with the intent of watching YouTube videos featuring similar Pre-trip Inspections that she would be anxiously performing at the DMV for her test in two days.

After watching Pre-Trip Inspections for about two hours, Krista stiffly sat up and walked to the kitchen table. She grabbed her Pre-Trip Inspection checklist out of her school binder, walked towards the living room coffee table where she had proudly displayed a bright red Coca-Cola painted Kenworth semi-truck model, bought for the purpose of having a visual reference of studying what she had learned at school.

She picked the truck up off of the table and set it down on an ottoman where she proceeded to recite the Pre-trip Inspection of the model semi-truck as if she were in front an actual truck at the DMV on test day.

“Steering linkage is secure, all of the spring leafs are in tact, spring mounts are secure, shock absorbers, make sure there is no leaks or damage, we will go around to the driver door, oh, before I go there, I am going to go ahead and sneak to the wheels…” She continued like this for a good 25 minutes, carefully combing over her model semi-truck.

“I got this [model semi-truck] specifically to wrap my fat head around this concept of, ‘it’s the opposite of driving in a passenger vehicle when you turn while backing up’. When you turn the wheel right, the trailer turns left and vice versa.

“This trailer really dominates, and every decision you make in this truck should be based upon what the trailer is going to do,” she says. “This thing is like… you know, Big Momma. You don’t want to mess with Big Momma.”

The night before Krista’s driving test crept upon her. She lay down to sleep that night, anxiously awaiting 5 a.m. on her alarm. Her body was exhausted with excitement for the morning that will change her life, but her mind was simply too stimulated and preoccupied with making sure she did not forget the procedures of the test she must perform.

At 7:15 a.m., Krista promptly arrived at what the class called ‘the slab’: appropriately, a bare concrete slab perfect for driving a semi-truck back and around on with cones precisely laid for three different backing maneuvers.

Geese flew and squawked overhead, seemingly cheerleading for Krista’s performance as she confidently stepped up inside the truck with her test administrator.

She the climbed out of the truck, and they combed over the truck together as Krista had been practicing for several day before. She climbed back inside to fire the truck up and perfectly executed the straight backing maneuver and the offset backing maneuver, swooping through the cones as if she had been doing it for years.

Then came the frustrating 90-degree backing maneuver. With a lot of concentration and frustration, Krista backed the trailer between two extremely tight spaced cones. She was then appointed to execute the driving test.

“I feel relieved,” she says. “It’s like going down the roller coaster, like it was going kch, kch, kch, kch, kch, kch, kch for thirty long and exhausting life-changing days. I am done. I have a sense of achievement.”

Dreams come true. Krista will be picking out a witty trucker hat to wear in the near future for her new job, driving a semi-truck near you and anywhere else her 18 wheels may take her.

Sonia Consani is a student in J225-Introduction to Journalism.

Is it water under the bridge when it comes to public safety?

The bridge connecting Bear Creek Greenway to Rogue Community College, between Almond Street and Riverside Avenue, can be dangerously slippery when crossing on a cold morning, or with a little bit of moisture, students say.

Rebecca Dunphy, a student at RCC, walks across the bridge four days a week. Whether it’s raining, snowing, or icy, she said she doesn’t feel safe when crossing, adding it was very dangerous.

Cara McClellan, another student who regularly uses the bridge, agreed.

“It can be very hazardous, and I don’t feel comfortable when crossing,” she said.

RCC student Edward Downing said he fell on the bridge three or four years ago.

Corry Crebbin, director of public works for the City of Medford, said about six years ago when the bridge was installed, he received a few complaints from residents. Since then, he has not received any complaints.

He also said the bridge meets safety specifications.

Recently, a sign was put up warning of the potential danger. It reads, Foot Bridge Slippery When Wet.”

RCC student Ryan Stratton can be reached at Ryan.Stratton.5748@student.roguecc.edu.

At the start of each new quarter, students search for their new classes. They buy books, calculators, pencils, pens and paper and all of the other paraphernalia necessary for attending those classes. And a majority of the students at Rogue Community College deal with money loaned to them so that they can attend school.

Every year, 12 million students—about 60 percent of the United States student population—use student loans to attend college.

RCC participates with a variety of student grants and loans, and they use a company by the name of HigherOne to distribute their loan funds.

Lisa Stanton, chief financial officer for RCC, spent quite a while researching the various options available to the students and finally settled on four choices:

• A local bank
• A loan organization
• Keeping the distribution in house
• An online financial service company

In an interview, Stanton emphasized in researching the options that her primary

goal was to assure “student safety…and cost effectiveness.”

She said that having dealt with lost and stolen checks, replacement times of up to 10 days and the frustration of being unable to replace lost funds made finding a secure sight for Rogue students of utmost importance.

“That made keeping the distribution in-house impossible,” Stanton said. “We have excellent security for our student information; however, we do not have the higher security to protect student information that a bank would have.”

The consideration of cost was equally important.  According to Stanton, it costs approximately $7.00 to issue a check.  After speaking with institutions that did have the distribution in house and finding it was a full time job, she realized that that cost would have to be passed on to the students and the tax payers.

That was unacceptable and “in-house” was rejected. The bank and the loan organization had drawbacks that would directly affect the students and their access to the funds which made them unappealing and they were rejected as well.

Stanton spoke with several institutions that used HigherOne and found some very positive statistics, among them: online access, immediate access to funds, and full banking amenities available to all students.

She also emphasized that although HigherOne banking is available to all students, there is nothing that forces the student to use HigherOne for their student loan banking.

RCC receives the financial aid and student loan money.  RCC then wires that money to HigherOne.  HigherOne disburses that money to a HigherOne checking account or to any account that has been indicated by the student. The primary benefit of a HigherOne account is immediate access to loan funds.

A transfer to another account is made by HigherOne can take as long as five days if a week-end or holiday is involved.

Looking in to the fees, amenities and the mechanics of the loan are often lost in the confusion of starting a new quarter; however, taking the initiative to make some solid decisions on where the funds are to be placed can save money, time and frustration. Not caring or taking the time can cost upwards of $200 a year and that $200 would not be used by the student.

A few of the important issues to decide are:

• Do you want a checking account?
• Do you want to be able to access BillPay?
• Do you want to be able to write checks?
• Do you want an ATM card?
• Do you want email alerts on deposit?
• Do you want instant access to you money or would a 24-72 hour delay be OK?
• What fees are you willing to pay?

To show some examples, we accessed “Find A Better Bank” at http://www.findabetterbank.com and followed the instructions.  In addition to the above questions, we requested accounts especially for students, and second chance accounts.

Also, we requested surcharge free ATM or rebate of outside bank surcharge fees and 24-hour automated banking service.  The banks were chosen at random and with no specific order.  They definitely show that not all bank fees are created equal and for more information and to protect your loans, take the time to look at the accounts available.  These are your loans and your responsibility and in the long run, taking the time now will same money later.

To view a comparison of local banks, click here: Bank comparison

Jason Haberman is a student in J225-Introduction to Journalism.

Eighteen years ago, Gray Conway was a single mother of four relying on public assistance. She decided she needed a new career and thought that she would become a teacher, so she would have a similar schedule as her children. She wasn’t sure how to get started, so she joined the Moving On Program at Rogue Community College and never looked back.

She didn’t become a teacher as planned, but today she is the facility coordinator for the Illinois Valley Learning Center, as well as founder of the Suzannah Stuart Cubbage GED Testing Fee Scholarship. She is also a member of numerous associations and has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others.

“Education is like surfing,” she says. “You finish riding one wave and then here comes another one.”

Conway began her college career in The Moving On Program. Located on the Grants Pass Campus, the program provides knowledge and information to people with limited income and little or no knowledge of where to begin their academic careers. It also helps people with career exploration, exposing them to non-traditional occupations, filling out scholarship applications, and helping them through the first stages of their education.

After the Moving On Program, Conway started to work in student government early in her academic career and eventually was elected Commissioner of Representation. She says this gave her, “…a broad and sturdy foundation and a deep understanding of college and how it works. I learned who does what, what people needed and where they could get it.”

Eventually this led to her current position, where she has been since 2002.

Located in the town of Kerby, just outside of Cave Junction, it’s easy to drive by and not notice the RCC-Kerby Campus building.  The facility offers a direct link to the TRiO-EOC program.  It is a federally-funded program and offers help to first generation students, low- income students and disabled students.

All of the services are free and include—but are not limited to—helping with financial aid applications, locating and applying for scholarships, educational and vocational planning, and assisting with college enrollment forms. Many don’t know where to get started and this program is aimed at helping those who have little background on how college works.

“We’re stuck in our own perspectives,” Conway says. “College opens us up to the bigger perspective.”

The facility has a computer lab for students and the facility’s location in Kerby can also help locals save time and money on gas by not having to drive all the way to Grants Pass.

She says she has to work within the financial limitations of what she calls “budgetary famine” to provide the best service possible. She loves her students, saying that helping people is her “soul food” and it is a “delight” for her to make a difference in people’s lives and to get paid to do it.

After Conway’s mother died in 1999, she decided to start a scholarship in her mother’s name to help people pay for the cost of the GED testing fee. Created in 2000, the scholarship was created to honor her mother in a “lasting way.” To date, it has assisted 165 people, from all RCC campuses, in paying for the ever-rising testing fee.

Started with only $495, the scholarship now has over $9,000 and twelve scholarships were awarded during the last academic year.

Creating the scholarship has also helped Conway realize her own dream of becoming a philanthropist.

“I thought you had to be rich to be a philanthropist but I realized you don’t,” she says laughin. “You just have to organize people in the right way.”

The scholarship is replenished largely by RCC staff members who elect to donate to it through payroll deduction. In addition, some staff members make donations in lieu of birthdays or other gifts.

Currently Conway is in the process of turning the scholarship into an endowment and to award scholarships with money earned from the interest. Right now she says she’s, “…working hard and crunching numbers”  and hopes to create the endowment on September 6 of this year, her mother’s birthday.

In addition to all her other awards, Conway has also received the Associated Students of RCC Emeritus Award in 1997. She says that at that point she and former dean of students, Tenison Haley, were the only two people to have received the award.

On the plaque inscription, her name reads, Gray “Pinto Woman” Conway. She says the nickname was given to her because she used to drive a brown Pinto station wagon.

“That car saved my life,” she says. She says she was in a severe accident and the steel front-end of the Pinto saved her. “I walked away but the Pinto went to heaven.”

Conway was a woman who needed to help herself. Perhaps that is one reason she is so adept at helping others.

“Life has become less about me and more about the generations to come,” she says.

Josh Howell-Davis is a student in J225-Introduction to Journalism.

Stress Awareness Seminar:

Feeling stressed? Need some tips on healthy choices? Then come to the Stress Awareness Seminar at Rogue Community College from 3 to 5 p.m. on February in the Higher Education Center room 127/129. Guest speakers include Manny Pacheco and others who will speak about acupuncture, nutrition, yoga and the YMCA.  Food and drinks provided will also be provided.

When: February 21 from 3pm till 5pm

Where: Higher Education Center room 127/129

Love of All Religions:

Have you wondered what other religions are really about? What they believe in and more? Stop by the Love of All Religions panel and see what it is all about. There will be representatives of many religions, including like Pagan Ministers, Christian Pastors and Mormon Elders. Food and drinks will be provided.

When: February 25 from 1-3pm

Where: Higher Education Center (HEC) 132

Clubs Day:

Come and see what clubs are offered at Rogue Community College. If  there is not one that you like, you can talk to the director of clubs and learn how to start your own club. There are currently 9 clubs at RCC. They include the Improv club, Club Latino, Rainbow Club, LDS Club and many more.  Some of the clubs will be giving demonstrations of what there club is all about. Food and drinks will be provided.

When: February 27 from 10am till 2pm

Where: High Education Center (HEC) room 127/129

Resume Workshop:

Need help making or revising your resume? Your Student government can help! There will be a resume work shop in March at the Table Rock Campus. We will be able to help you with your resume, and there will also be mock interview and mock applications.

When: March 6 from 9am till 1pm

Where: Table Rock Campus computer lab 125A

Redwood Student Government is off to a great start this winter. Two new interns joined our team: Skyler Westra and Kendra Shannon. We are also currently interviewing candidates for our Student Senator position.

We had a variety of successful events this fall term, including a Halloween Event with a costume contest and piñata, several themed open mic events with great turnouts and a few clubs days. We feel that our events last term were enjoyed by students and an overall success.

Coming up this term, we have even more exciting events planned. We are hosting a Student Forum which will include students and faculty to answer any questions that students may have about RCC. Students are encouraged to ask question about tuition and class costs, college policies, voter registration, or anything else they’d like to know. We also have planned a Valentine’s Event, and a Mardi Gras-themed open mic.

We are excited to now have three new clubs on campus. We have a Writers Club for students interested in working together to share their works, pursue getting published, and more. If you are interested in joining you can email RogueWritersClub@gmail.com or call Club President Frank at (541)450-0452.

Also joining us is Secular Students of Southern Oregon, a club that provides a safe an inclusive space for students identifying as non-spiritual, non-theist, or non-religion to share thoughts free of judgment. If you are interested in joining, you can email Liela@asgrcc.us.

We also have a dance club for students to explore creative expression through movement and music. If you’d like to join, you can email rcc.rwc.dance@gmail.com.

We are seeking students interested in starting a Native American club for support for Native American students at RCC. If you are interested please contact Bob Floyd at asg.pres@hotmail.com . Clubs still active on campus are the League of Extraordinary Nerds, Alcoholics Anonymous Club, Drama Club and Latino Club.

If you have any questions or would just like to talk to us, feel free to come see us. Our office is located in the student center behind the fire place. We’re looking forward to another great term here at Rogue Community College Redwood Campus.

Byline Staff Writer

Transitioning from military to college life can be a big change, but it can be done.

Two years ago, David Grosenbach was doing mechanical work on vehicles for convoys in Afghanistan. Now, he’s one of 1,600 veterans enrolled at Rogue Community College.

As an Infantryman for the Army National Guard, Grosenbach helped prep the vehicles for long hours on the road. On some trips, he would accompany them.

“The convoys would last anywhere between 8-16 hours, so when you’re on the road that long you want to make sure that everything is working because when it’s not working, that is when you’re on your own,” Grosenbach said.

Grosenbach has been serving in the National Guard for 12 years. Previous deployments include Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is looking to go back to Afghanistan in the next couple of years.

Teri Smith, an RCC veteran’s advisor, said veterans like Grosenbach have an additional layer of life that needs to be addressed as they integrate back into student life.

“To sit and read a textbook or focus on lectures can be difficult when you have been trained to also be aware and respond to any noise or distraction,” Smith said. “As civilians we are wired to live in a ‘110’ world, but when someone joins the military we work really hard to rewire them to survive the ‘220’ world of combat.  Unfortunately then they come back home to the same ‘110’ world and they aren’t ever rewired.”

As a current RCC student, Grosenbach said it’s a little weird being in school again.

“The weird part is being around 18-19 year old people,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’m much older. It’s really hard to relate to them.”

Though military experiences are much different than the daily responsibilities of civilian life, RCC veterans, like former Marine, Ben Carleton, try not to be judgmental.

“I don’t look down at the people in my classes or think I am better than them,” he said. “I have my own life experiences and they have theirs.”

Carleton has toured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We did contact patrols, where you draw the enemy out to shoot at you and another squad flanks the enemy and kills them, and recon patrols, trying to find out where the enemy is, and of course, smiling and waving to the locals—trying to win hearts and minds,” Carleton said.

Now he wants a career in Law Enforcement. He has a 3.96 GPA and will be receiving his Associate in Applied Sciences in criminal justice this spring. He then plans to go on to get a bachelor’s degree from Southern Oregon University in criminology.

Grosenbach is planning to finish his Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer and go to SOU, either for a nursing or teaching degree.

Byline Staff Writer

Rogue Community College’s Diversity Programming Board is hosting a free event on Nov. 15 with a panel discussion on religion and spirituality.

Erika Giesen, RCC social science instructor, said the goal of the discussion is education.

“People will be able to hear about the different religions—the commonalities between them and the differences,” she said. “It’s also to dispel stereotypes.”

Six different representatives will be present for the different religions and spiritualties including Buddhism, paganism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Native American (Potawami).

There will be ground rules for this event to help prevent controversy. For example, when questions are asked they will be written on note cards to prevent inflammatory inquiries.

Giesen said she hopes to hold similar events at other campuses.

“Riverside Campus hopes to hold an event on the Redwood Campus in the spring,” she said.

Giesen said there will be two classes attending, but hopes more will show for the event “I expect about 50 people, but hopefully 100 will come,” she said.

The event is scheduled 1-3 p.m. in Room 132 of the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, 101 S. Bartlett St. There will be light refreshments and the seating is limited.