Category Archives: Digital Media Class

Richard Inouye and the Jazz Band

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Inouye

Band director Rich Inouye conducts during practice. He says that every concert with the students is a good memory for him. (Theresa Matthiesen)

Cherry blossom trees in bloom may have been the deciding factor for Richard Inouye when he was offered the job as band director at Clark College. “I came out in spring and the cherry blossoms had just bloomed. I remember having my interview and walking out and just thinking, ‘Wow.’”.
This is Inouye’s last spring as band director. He will be leaving, but his students will never forget their time with him. They described their time with him as difficult, rewarding, intense, terrifying and eventful.
Eventful was their favorite description and they shared stories of why. Lucas Hayes has been help run jazz fest for the past four years. “Every jazz fest, there’s always a moment where we hit a bump in the road and you feel a bit of stress and then you come back together,” he said. Hayes described another prank where a student took Inouye’s photo and posted it in Beacock Music Hall. “Every room, in the bathrooms, in the stalls, it was everywhere.”
Dennis Baciuc shared a story that made them all laugh. “In Jazz Fest, I was fooling with a couple of friends and long story short, we needed to borrow his coffee pitcher. So another long story short, we broke the coffee pitcher in the parking lot,” he said. “We found the same exact coffee pitcher from Goodwill and then bought it, cleaned it up and replaced it. Rich does not know to this day.”
The prank they pulled in Greeley, Colorado is also something they are very proud of. Chandler McCoy said that Rich never just gives a compliment. “The funniest part for me is he literally said, ‘that was good.’ Whenever we do something he likes, what he usually says is, ‘I didn’t hate that.’ So when he says something is good, it’s good.”
There have been serious times too. Shelly Williams has worked with Inouye for several years. She has watched him work with kids who need a little of the tough air-force guy. “There’s always a kid or two who need structure and compassion.” she said. “He’s good at working with those kids to encourage them to step up to the plate.”
Hayes says that he was 18 when he started playing for Inouye and wasn’t very responsible as a person. “Pushing me to be more accountable and more responsible, that’s really shaped me over these past four years,” he said. “I can look back at it and I can see a clear difference in who I was four years ago to who I am now. And it’s a difference I like.”
Inouye has poured his passion for music into the band program. One of his students was the first to become a field scholar and finish their bachelor’s degree in music. Since then a total of seven students have become field scholars. “There is no magic pill to being a good musician. There is only hard work,” he said. “You can not be lazy in this business.” His parting advice to students include work hard, have a plan and stay the course.

Welding and Fabricating Life

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Welding is a skill that permeates almost every aspect of life. Medical equipment, pipes and ovens in bakeries. Students graduating from the Clark welding department learn welding and fabrication. It is what makes the Clark program so unique.

Students graduating from the Clark welding department learn welding and fabrication. It is what makes the Clark program so unique.

Welding and fabrication isn’t the only educational option either. Jed Vavold said he chose industrial maintenance welding as a career. While companies are automating so much of repetitive building projects, such as vehicles, there is still a need for people who can fix the equipment when it breaks down.

While companies are automating so much of repetitive building projects, such as vehicles, there is still a need for people who can fix the equipment when it breaks down.

Students learn from teachers who have worked in the industry for a long time. “They’ve got all kinds of knowledge about what’s happening around in the industry,” Vavold said. “And help us know what we need to expect to get into.”

Clark Archaeology Students throw Spears

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Jay Fancher demonstrated 45,000 year old spear throwing techniques to his archaeological students. “You can get the distance,” he said after throwing the third spear. “The accuracy is the harder part.”

“The spear-thrower is a remarkable example of applied physics practiced by ancient humans. By artificially extending the arm…both ancient people and the Aztecs were able to dramatically increase the accuracy as well as the power with which they could launch a spear in the quest for food or in battle” (Feder 2017:185).

When the Spaniards invaded the Aztecs in the 16th century, they could not compete against Spanish firearms, but the atlatl spears could pierce completely through steel breastplates, both front and back.

Maggie Morgan, archaeology student tried throwing the spear with her hand and then with the atlatl. “It helped with the atlatl,” she said.

As students took turns launching spears, the class responded with exclamations and chatter over how far away spears landed. “It’s amazing, it’s a stick,” Fancher said. “That’s all you needed in terms of technology to get that distance.”

Andrea Smith was able to throw a spear through the plastic shelf the target sat on. The spear was not sharp and remained undamaged.

Fancher joked, “And that’s why you sign the waver.”

Early atlatls were made of bone and ivory, which was much heavier than wood. It was eventually replaced by the bow and arrow, Fancher explained. “With this you have to get big and rear up,” he said. “But with the bow and arrow you can stay low.”

Megan Armstrong said it was easier with the atlatl. It’s not heavy, the handle helped balance the weight. “It was weird,” she said. “I’m literally throwing something that’s the same height as me.” Armstrong is also in archery. She said atlatl throwing is easier because archery requires more arm strength. However, archery is still more accurate.

Fancher does atlatl throwing with his archeology classes and STEM camp middle-schoolers during the summer.

The archaeology students clearly enjoyed the event, cheering each other on and chatting over their experience.

Puyallup, Washington has an Atlatl Club called Skookum Archers that was just started April 2017. They have the equipment to try out and is open to range members and non-members.

The World Atlatl Association website has a comprehensive list of events. There are classes, competitions and just casual events for those who are newly interested in the art.

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry-To-Go Event is like Tweeting

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Frank O’hara’s Lunch Poems is the inspiration for the Poetry-to-Go event at Cannell Library, May 14th from 11a.m. to 12p.m. O’hara used his lunch hour to observe his surroundings and listen to conversations happening around him to write a complete poem. He later published the collection of Lunch Poems, in a small book that could be kept in your pocket and read a poem on your lunch hour.

English professor, Dawn Knopf says that it’s a way for poets who usually agonize over every detail of their poetry to choose, accept and let go.  “Those errors and imperfections, become part of the poem itself, part of the beauty,” she said. 

While Knopf enjoyed the Juxtaposition of tweeting at the event, she also said that this is a lot like tweeting. You’re in the moment, choosing what is important, talking about them and then releasing it to the world to be read.

There will be three typewriters set up, students can stop in and request a poem. Poems will be written in O’hara style, using surroundings, conversations, or information from the student. Personalized requests can be made to give the poems to loved ones or for special occasions. Students can also spend some time on the typewriters, getting a feel for them and typing out their own poems.

Knopf says that in our busy lives, Ohara’s Lunch Poem style is a way for us to check in with ourselves and our environment. Instead of checking our phone newsfeed we can be introspective, something that most of us don’t have a chance to do often.

Vox Populi – Tech We Use Daily

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If you watch people on the Clark campus, you’ll see many walking and using their cell phones. We asked a few how much they relied on technology for school related work and if they had any embarrassing moments using technology. The answers ranged from serious to comical.

Eric M. Lamberg of Stony Brook University conducted a case study of walking and cell phone usage among young people. They found people who texted and walked showed a 13 percent increase in distance traveled by passing their intended location and a 61 percent increase in deviating off course.*

Travis Harwood, an adjunct Biology Instructor at Clark says he relies on technology heavily for a variety of reasons. Student learning styles, data collected in class is projected, videos or posts on Canvas.

Harwood shared that he gets too involved with messaging on his phone. “I’m walking well past the place I was supposed to turn,” he said. “I have to turn around and head back the other way.” He says he never uses his phone while crossing the street because he doesn’t want to die.

Bryant Collins, 26 and an AA transfer student said 90 percent of his work is done on his smartphone, “The Canvas app has saved my life. I’ve had no missed assignments.”

Collins said, his girlfriend almost walked into traffic while texting. He reacted quickly, pulling her back onto the sidewalk before she could get hit by a car.

Liam Smith, 18 is working on his general AA. Smith used technology the least at 80 percent, he likes taking hand-written notes the rest of the time.

Smith said, “My older sister always trolls me and posts on Facebook these really embarrassing pictures.” It annoys him, but she’s older so she feels she can do what she wants, he said.

*“WALKING AND TEXTING AT THE SAME TIME? STONY BROOK STUDY SAYS THINK AGAIN.” Stony Brook University Newsroom, University News, 18 Jan. 2012, http://www.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/general/011812WalkingTexting.php.