Notes From Under the Oaks | January 2014

By Martha Calus-McLain '03 | Director of Alumni Relations

A sketch of the earliest building on the Forest Grove
campus

As I look ahead to 2014, only two weeks gone and the rest full of possibility, I have many resolutions. Among them is a hope to acknowledge people who make a difference. This week I am thinking about the great teachers I had throughout my education.

Over the past six months my husband has been reading the Little Housebooks to our daughter, who is completely enthralled with them. I recently overheard them reading a passage describing conditions in the one-room school house where Laura is teaching in negative forty degree weather.

“At half past three they were all so cold that she thought of dismissing school early. The mile that Martha and Charles must walk, worried her. On the other hand, she should not cut short the pupils' opportunity for learning, and this was not a blizzard.”

This passage brought to mind the spirit of the pioneers who founded Pacific in 1849 in the face of immense adversity.

It makes me think of the students who were so deeply committed to their education they found time for it among the competing responsibilities of frontier life.

It reminds me of the courage of teachers, both in 1882 when they commanded one room school houses throughout the west and today when they risk, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to save the children in their care.

I shared this passage when I welcomed a dozen new students into our special ed program earlier this week. In a few years, these students will be alumni who spend their days dedicated to the success of young people. Based on the reactions of the students it was clear the passion and dedication Laura conveyed in her memoirs is still true of aspiring teachers.

Last night we hosted the Student Teacher Alumni Reception on the Forest Grove campus. During the evening we got to hear teachers speak earnestly and candidly about their experiences. Again, the passion and dedication was evident.

I hope none of our alumni are teaching kids who have to walk a mile in negative forty degrees, but I’m sure these alumni have a few stories of their own to share.

I’d love to hear from alumni who are teachers. What inspires you? Do you have a great story to share about students who walked a metaphorical cold mile for their education?

I’d also love to hear from alumni about the teachers who helped them. Who was your favorite teacher at Pacific, before or after? How did they inspire you? Did you ever walk a cold mile for your education?

Send us your stories and as always don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance.

Best wishes,

Martha Calus-McLain '03
Director of Alumni Relations

Alumnus advises students to quit smoking

By Marshall "Preacher" Brown '69

Brown with this trachyostoma patch.

While at Pacific for Homecoming 2013, I read your September 19th Index editorial a “Proposed ban on smoking on campus.” 

Your analogy to being “at home” at Pacific doesn’t ring true. “At home” you do not live in proximity to hundreds of unreleated people.

“At home” young people are subject to many seemingly arbitrary rules, among which almost certainly is “no smoking.”

Very few, if that many, college-aged smokers are “painfully aware” of the health risks they take by smoking. If they were, would they smoke? Smoking vs. drinking is a false comparison. Unless done alcoholically, the effects of drinking seldom linger more than a day; smoking almost inevitably becomes a long-term drug addiction and habit. Finally, even if smokers abide by location rules, friends and others still have to put up with “tobacco stink.”

I do not understand why a young person today would take up smoking. When I started, there were whispers about cancer (that went unheeded by “immortal youth”) and absurd claims smoking would stunt your growth; cigarettes in Oregon in 1965 were 22 cents a pack, less by the carton! Today, so much more is widely known about smoking’s serious, long term damage to health; at three dollars or more per pack, smoking’s up-front cost is obscenely expensive.

After a 20-plus year habit, I quit smoking in 1988. In 2002, I was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer, and in October 2003, lost my larynx, thyroid gland and several lymph nodes, and I’m a lucky one: I’m still alive. I remember asking my oncologist why, if I had quit smoking 14 years earlier, cancer showed up now. “Cancer is very patient,” was all he said.

Hopefully, student smokers at Pacific have a habit far more easily broken than later in life. The proposed ban on smoking on campus is, I feel an opportunity for those who smoke to do the best thing they perhaps will ever do for themselves. Quit smoking. Seriously!

Brown '69 was Editor of The Pacific Index in 1968. This piece was originally submitted as a Letter to the Editor in November 2013. After a tour of duty in the Air Force, Brown worked in IT for 32 years and is now retired and living just north of Seattle. Pre-cancer, Brown was an avid rec cyclist -- he created Cascade Bicycle Club's "Ride Around Washington."

Education to Activism

By Garrett Russell '08 

Russell '08 during his first cross country trip

 An education in multiple forms is a gift of magnitude to any individual seeking to find their own path. My education at Pacific University gifted me more than the role of being a student, or graduate. I discovered I was a traveler, globe hopping with Ellen Hastay's service learning journeys in the great corners of this planet. I found a passion for studying cultural cause and effect throughout history and my own generation by cooking and walking the streets of Europe with Cheleen Mahar's anthropology travel course.

My education inside and outside the walls of Forest Grove propelled me into a world of connecting the dots in both my own life and the web around me. My miles on foot, bike, ship and plane traveling the U.S. and globe since graduating four years ago has supplemented a foundational process, which has me creating films and web series about the connective human experience in both painful destruction and triumphant solution. Turns out that we are magnificent beings of limitless potential.

From the most ignorant, hateful, malicious and unhappy individuals I have met to the iconic joy spouting, innocent, smiling and surviving poverty-stricken child, there is goodwill somewhere within us. I know this sounds like new-age rhetoric, but all it took to create great patriotism in my spirit for the land, people and being of this beautiful, volatile nation was a simple bike ride for a passionate desire to get those without clean drinking water, an option to a new way of life.

I, who once cracked jokes at the plight of spandex-laden cyclists, or even worse, cycle tourists (with their giant pannier bags and ridiculous bright tractor reflectors) found myself to now be one of them. My dear friend and confidant and photographer, Brittany App and I set off on an unsupported trip from San Diego, Calif. to St. Augustine, Fla. The journey was a total distance of over 3,200 miles with over $15,000 dollars raised for clean water and sanitation in Africa and Asia thus far.

As a tribute to the stories of the magnificent individuals we met along the way, of each region and its water abuses and successes and to highlight the vibrant way of life it has been traveling by bicycle, I directed and edited the short episodic web series, "Water Tension."

This series is my humble piece of the puzzle in our conversation of making positive changes and enacting direct and compassionate solutions into our daily lives and culture for the betterment of the children of seven generations from now. The issue of water is a basic, elemental right to all living beings and connects us all to other issues in this world involving the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of our connected future outcomes.

We are one giant family on this floating orb that sports a Dr. Seuss-like plethora of animals, cultural, geological and environmental diversities. Breath it all in. There are a billion different causes with billions of us strong and waiting to act. It is about taking that education, opportunity, passion, frustration and even apathy, and taking action in this moment. For the sake of your own well-being, for the connected plight of those we care about and the life you claim to want to live, we need to let our differences remain frivolous and stride towards seeing our similarities with celebration and understanding.

It may not be a crazy long bike ride. It may not be a documentary. We all have different forms of expression for change, but unless we all start expressing a lot, soon and with open minds, ears and hearts, that seventh generation and our kids will have a life on this earth in which the beauty may be harder to innately experience.

Pass it on. This is a fine generation of young people on this daily-shrinking digital earth, with an hourly-expanding consciousness. Let us do something about expressing who we truly are and where we would like to end up. Let us each choose our own way to make a gracefully, powerful mark on this collective experience.

Visit Russell's website "Cycling for Water"

And so, I ride on. I currently am 500 miles into what will hopefully be a 15,000 mile bicycle trek that has myself and my partner, Sara Miller ’11, following the four approximate borders of the United States. We started in Northwest Washington and are in western Montana on our way east on our first leg to Bar Harbor, Maine. We serendipitously ride for the cause of clean rainwater and healthcare for the very indigenous I met in the Ecuadorian rainforest with Ellen Hastay on a Pacific travel course in 2007.

The communities we ride for consist of strong and beautiful peoples who have inspired my drive toward activism through film and connecting people to promote peaceful solutions. In solidarity with their fight to save their lands and offspring from pollution created by an American company Texaco/Chevron, we are riding in hopes that our cause will connect with other's causes and that a positive movement of service and revolution will dictate the path we move down together. Cheers to clear skies, fair winds and memories worth having. Peace be your journey.

Russell '08 is the director of GBR Productions, "Giving Untold Stories a Voice." He was a film and video production and anthropology major at Pacific University. In the spare time he has, he is a musician and gardener. He is the middle child from a large multi-ethnic family and enjoys life activities from jumping out of planes to knitting scarves as gifts. Follow Russell's adventures on his blog: http://cyclingforwater.com/blog/

Food and Thought

By Shane Henry Kwiatkowski '11

Kwiatkowski '11

Apple, Sausage and Brie Layer with Rosemary, Cinnamon, Sage and Garlic

Halloween 2011, Washington DC

Ingredients

1lb ground pork sausage

4 apples (tart variety)

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 wheel brie cheese

large sprig fresh rosemary, or 3 tbsp. dried leaves

2 tbsp. powdered cinnamon

10 or so fresh sage leaves (fresh is better)

olive oil and/or butter

salt and pepper

1

Start by browning pork in pan with a little oil, salt and pepper over medium heat. You’re aiming to brown your meat a little crisp. If you’re not sure what kind of brown, imagine the rich brown wood of the tables and chairs at the Library of Congress twinged in cinnamon, or like dark hazel eyes.

2

As the meat browns, dice one apple and the onion together, minding the apple seeds; they’re bitter like October DC wind. Mix the apple and onion in a bowl with some olive oil and butter and half of each of the spices. The sage might smell bitter when you first tear the leaves, but it will mellow. Some things must have heat applied to remove bitterness, the gentle warmth of convection, conduction and intention stripping away whatever acrid thing may be held within. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3

When the meat has crisped, toss the apple-onion mixture into the pan. Add a little oil or butter if any sticking occurs, though this will be unlikely. You will smell the warm fragrance of the spice and herbs as an offering to the Fall air. The sage will consecrate and invite life; the rosemary for memory; the cinnamon ushers in joy. Perfect for the souls of Samhain. I contemplate the dead as Kelly and Kenzie busy themselves cleaning the table, stringing lights, and readying maple cookies in the shapes of tender, small leaves. I toss the mixture so nothing will stick.

4

Cut the rest of the apples into slices 1/8-1/4” thick, and the brie into wedges. When the mixture is done crisping, remove pan from heat; drain pan of excess fat, leaving a little bit. Put a layer in of sausage then apples and brie in your casserole dish. When I baked mine I laid the slices of apple around the edge of the dish, the moon’s life of full and wane emblazoned in apple flesh on top in honor of passing days and those who have passed.

5

When finished layering, put aside the dish and take the garlic cloves, mash them out of their papery skins. Then put the pan back over low heat and place the garlic and the rest of the spices inside, swirling in a little butter and olive oil. When heated and fragrant, pour over the layer.

6

Cover and bake for 25min. Remove cover and bake for around 10min until the apples and brie are golden-brown and bubbly, respectively. Take out and take to table. Garnish with more sage leaves, cinnamon and rosemary if desired.

Earlier that day at the Holocaust Memorial, I had seen the name “Kwiatkowski” on a board displaying names of Polish lost during WWII, dioramas of great ovens, and thousands of shoes. I do not know how those lost souls spent their Halloweens, but I hope that they were as grateful for theirs as I’m for mine: lights in wine bottles casting soft glows, the radiant smells of warm food, the buzzing of wine, and a prayer to family, whoever or wherever they may be. We drink and eat to the night, and for what life gives and takes.

Kwiatkowski '11 majored in Creative Writing and Anthropology. He aspires to write, act, and travel the world to learn about its people of all kinds, its workings and its magic. Hobbies include thinking about the connectedness of things, cooking, singing and talking with people about nearly anything. Animism is his go-to philosophy, and seeks to honor the spirit of the world through creation and much-too-much laughter. He currently lives in Vancouver, Wash.

Four Facts that Could Save Your Life

By Rachael Burbank '09

Burbank before she stopped tanning

Tanning Fact #1:
People who use tanning beds once a month before the age of 35 increase their melanoma risk by 75%

I stood in line at a tanning salon for over an hour once because it was busy. It was three weeks before junior year prom. I sat in a white wicker love seat looking at Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat posters waiting for the sounds of popping door locks knowing my time was closer to get into a tanning bed. Everything inside Sunsational Tan was white: the wicker love seat, the counter girls’ hair, the hallway leading down to the rooms of tanning beds. It reminded me how pale I was, just like the color of the prom dress I begged my mom to get me. As I sat waiting, twenty or so girls gossiped about their prom dates and how their backless dresses couldn’t have tan lines. Then, silence as the counter girls announced the next victim. Lucky girl.

Tanning Fact #2:
Using a tanning bed for 20 minutes is equivalent to spending 1 – 3 hours at the beach with no sun protection at all. Tanning beds put out 3 – 6 times the amount of radiation given off by the sun.

Growing up on the shore of Cape Cod, I spent summers at the beach. I used baby oil like sunscreen, lathing up every other hour waiting to feel my skin tense up to a crisp. My girlfriends and I would set up on the beach sometimes as early as 9 a.m. and position our chairs like a sundial but moving every hour to keep facing the sun's UV rays straight on. I never wanted to be the first one to leave the beach. So when I grew restless, I’d play volleyball or bocce ball making sure each patch of my skin was being caught by the sun while the rest of the girls proudly wore completely different shades from their front to their backs.

Tanning Fact #3:
Melanoma kills one person every hour. It is the second most common cancer for women aged 25-29. Rates for melanoma are increasing faster than nearly all other cancers.

Kohl receiving treatment

There was an hour on November 20, 2008 dedicated to Glenna Kohl; she was 26. Glenna was a vegetarian, she did yoga, hiked, jogged, and rowed regularly. She was just 5-foot-3 and 105 pounds, yet she was strong enough to work as a beach lifeguard five summers in a row only protecting her skin with SPF 4. To maintain her copper glow, Glenna booked time at tanning salons, baking under a sunlamp as often as once a week. As health-conscious as Glenna was, she didn't connect tanning with skin cancer, let alone it’s most deadly form, melanoma. Let alone at 22 years old.

Read more: Tanning Dangers - Protect Yourself Against Skin Cancer - Cosmopolitan

Tanning Fact #4:
For most people, 5 – 10 minutes of unprotected sun 2 – 3 times a week is enough to help your skin make Vitamin D, which is essential for your health. Getting more sun won’t increase your Vitamin D level, but it will increase your risk of skin cancer. Vitamin D also comes from orange juice, milk, fish and supplements.

I bought a sunhat. No, not just celebrities wear them. My tanned friends probably get anxious when we go to the beach now because I pass around SPF 30 and make sure each of them applies it. Then I do it again 2-3 hours later, like their mom. I’m not taking the risk. I have a lot of moles on my skin and it’s difficult to watch them all and see if they change size, shape and color. I may have put my skin in danger when I was younger, but I wasn’t aware when I was 16 years old. Now at 25, I’m not ashamed of saving myself and my friends from sunburns or skin damage. I’m proud. Now my friends send me messages excited to tell me they wore sunscreen and when they don't, they warn me of their sunburns because they know I'll lecture them. And I'm proud my friends are as aware as I am of sun safety practices.

May is Melanoma Awareness Month but throughout the entire year, The Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope raising awareness to the dangers of melanoma and the importance of early detection and prevention of this deadly disease. 

Burbank '09 volunteers as the social media manger for The Glenna Kohl Fund for Hope. Follow her at @GlennasFund or facebook.com/glennasfund. She is also the Alumni Relations Coordinator at Pacific University.

A Dirty Word

By Devin Higgins '10 

I don’t like to admit it, but I used to be one of those people.

One of those people who thought depression was a dirty word. A word too often used as an excuse by those who just couldn’t cope with how hard life gets sometimes. I thought antidepressants were just something to make a person feel happy, and in our present hyper-medicated society, they were being dished out in favor of doing what was necessary to “get over it.”

Higgins '10

I may have been a little late in coming to the Pacific campus as a non-traditional student in my early 30’s, and by the time I got there, I’d lived quite a unique life.

My parents divorced when I was young.

I survived physical, emotional, and sexual abuse before I was a teenager

I spent time after high school homeless

I was in prison for over a year as a 19-year-old and have dealt with the stigma of being an ex-felon ever since.

I don’t say offer those things to gain sympathy or to portray myself as a victim. Rather, they are simply the facts of my life, and I wouldn’t be a good journalist if I didn’t work with facts, no matter how unpleasant they may seem.

And yet, despite all that and more, I’d somehow found the strength of character to think I could achieve my dream of a college degree. So In 2007, I went back and earned not just one, but two degrees by the time I was done.

It took a complete nervous breakdown a year ago to discover I had severe depression, along with elements of social anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it made it all seem pointless. Like I’d wasted my time and that I was one of those people who just couldn’t “get over it.”

I felt terribly alone.

According to the World Health Organization statistics from 2011, over 121 million people worldwide are affected by depression and its component ailments. By 2020, the WHO projects depression to be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease and productivity lost to total disability.

Right now, it’s fourth.

What’s potentially more frightening is the WHO estimates fewer than 25% of those affected have access to the care which makes depression manageable, and much of that comes as a result of the social stigma surrounding it.

According to recent statistics, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages 14-24, and the second leading cause of death among college students ages 20-24.

Depression is not an isolated illness. It doesn’t care how old you are, your gender, or where you come from. And not dealing with it and refusing to accept help to treat it is probably the worst thing a person can do.

If you, or someone you know is showing signs of depression, they need your help. They need you to listen to them and have someone to talk to and be non-judgmental. It’s far from easy for everyone involved, but it’s necessary to know they’re going to be okay.

Since my diagnoses and I can tell you some days are easier than others. I take medication every day to help my brain heal, but have struggled to find counseling or therapy because access is limited by health care providers. Yet, I’ve soldiered on on my own, hoping to find some peace of mind.

There are days where I want to give up and stop thinking I still need to go through all this, but I also know that it’s part of a very long process that requires patience and a willingness to accept change.

People with depression often feel alone. The best thing we can do is make sure they know they’re not.

Higgins '10 was a journalism major with an emphasis on writing and broadcasting at Pacific. He was the Sports Editor for The Pacific Index. He is now the play-by-play voice for Linfield Men's and Women's Basketball, but asks you to not hold that against him. He is also a Staff Reporter for The Reflector in Battle Ground, Wash., covering news and sports in Northern Clark County and  a Producer/Field Reporter for KFXX/ESPN Sports Radio 1080AM "The FAN" in Portland. He lives in Vancouver, where he enjoys writing, reading, movies, photography, travel, and spending time with his infant son, Daniel.

Autism Awareness Month

Francis '99

Liz Francis '99

So, here it is, almost the end of April. 

April, if you are my Facebook friend know by now, is Autism Awareness Month! 

This year, I thought I would try something new and I dedicated my Facebook page to Autism Awareness Month. Every day, I posted a new fact or thought about autism and pictures which encourage awareness and education on the subject of autism. And, I got tremendous responses! 

So many people have thanked me for doing this because a lot of them don't know much about autism. I love the feeling I get when I am able to help educate others on autism and how it is such a major part of my life. My son, Allen is almost seven now and is just thriving in first grade! He is still in the Structured Routine Center program at Sexton Mountain Elementary school which is a specialized classroom for children with autism taught by an amazing staff, including Ashlee Yokom. 

He has been showing tremendous improvement in academics, speech, and social skills. He is much more active socially and is not as tentative about initiating language. I also know this is due to his private speech therapist, Megan Snow, who has been amazing in Allen's language development. So much has been happening in our household over the last year, including the arrival of a baby cousin for Allen, who he absolutely adores! 

Overall, this April has been a good chance for me to spread the word about autism and help others understand that although April is Autism Awareness Month, autism is a daily thing for me and my family and I want others to know and appreciate both the challenges and the joys of raising a son with autism.  

For those who want to help, I am sponsoring a team in the Autism Speaks walk this August and I would love it if people would join our team and walk with us, or if you can't make it, you are welcome to make a donation towards our team. All funds go to Autism Speaks, an organization that helps educate on the topic of autism, and also researches the causes and treatments of autism so that people may benefit from new techniques. I am attaching a link to my walk page. Thanks to all who have read my Facebook page and have asked me questions about autism.  

http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1010337&lis=0&kntae1010337=AD7B0605F05D409FA3618AC8B871944C

Francis '99 was an art major with an emphasis in photography at Pacific. She is the Office Manager at Degenkolb Engineers in downtown Portland and has been with my company for a little over three years. She is about to celebrate her 13^th wedding anniversary with her husband, Jason. Along with autism awareness, Francis also enjoys photography and wine tasting. She still hangs out with a lot of her friends from Pacific and they continue to hang at their old college hang-out, the Dublin Pub.  But her son, Allen, is the highlight of her life since college.