AfterWords

This entry was written by a new (intelligent and ambitious) member of AmeriCorps, Johnny Robbins. (Yes, you’ve guessed it, also participating in the Eco Encore project.)

Although I wish I could have attended (as I am also an AmeriCorps volunteer, believe it or not!) I was just too busy with school work and some other projects related to this blog! Reading Johnny’s entry made me slightly green.

(Thank goodness, I’ve finally managed to get an official tee-shirt, at least.)

However, Johnny came through magnificently, and I hope that you enjoy reading his account of the event and especially the swearing in as much as I did. Also, local news station King 5 is hosting a segment on the AmeriCorps Launch on their website. This link was provided by Tom Murphy, who brought AmeriCorps to the Edmonds Community College campus. Though I’ve been involved with AmeriCorps since June of this year, I hadn’t before realized that AmeriCorps was instituted by President Clinton.

Mucho mil gracias a Johnny e Tom!
(Many thousand thanks to Johnny and Tom!)

“Not knowing what to expect can be pleasantly surprising sometimes. I am a recent inducted Students in Service (SIS) member and the newly appointed Campus Coordinator for SIS, so I was in for one of those pleasant surprises when I attended the Americorps Launch (for those of you who may not know Americorps is the mother organization to SIS). The overwhelming number of volunteers that had come from across the state to attend the launch was inspiring, I would even go so far as to say awe-inspiring. I had no idea that the little bit of service work I was doing would be combined with the efforts of such a large group. I expected to hear some speakers today, but I did not expect to be moved. We were inspired in our service by the words of poets, scholars, and even a politician.

The various Americorps groups represented have different goals and different areas of service, but everyone present had one thing in common: a desire to get things done. Speaker Emily Gilliland shared an old African proverb with everyone. “One spider-web has no strength, but together enough spider-webs can tie up a lion”. I feel like this is a great illustration of what we students can do if we just put our efforts together to accomplish our goals. Emily told us that between the current Americorps volunteers and the alumni there were over 500,000 volunteers working together to promote good. She succinctly noted that this is enough people to start the 33rd largest city in America! That’s a lot of spider-webs. This is truly inspirational knowledge. A lot of people think that volunteering is a waste of time because you just cannot accomplish much, but when you have the efforts of countless volunteers beside you that drop in the bucket really does mean something; it means the difference between the salmon returning to a stream, or not; it means the difference between a child having the confidence to attend college, or not; it means the difference between a person with challenges getting up to smile in the mirror and start a new day, or not.

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This entry was written by Edmonds Community College Business Department faculty member Kerrie Murphy, a wonderful and kindhearted woman involved in the AmeriCorps “Students in Service” program at our school. I, as with Kacie, first got to know her in the North Cascades!

I had the honor to be present at the awards ceremony during the Campus Compact 20th anniversary celebration and visioning summit. Edmonds Community College should be extremely proud that one of our own,


Mitzellah Ah-Fook

, was among those being honored. Mitzellah was awarded the Howard R. Swearer Award for her volunteer work as an AmeriCorps member and as a student in service learning courses, which included the organization of the Rolling Tritons wheelchair basketball club.

The awards ceremony included speeches from former first lady, Rosalyn Carter and former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson. Mitzellah stood on the stage with students from the University of Notre Dame, Tulane University, Georgetown University and Marquette University. It was an incredible moment for Edmonds Community College to stand tall amongst the best of the best and be recognized nationally for our contribution to civic engagement and community service. For more information on the winners, see the following link:

Compact Awards.

EdCC is lucky to receive so much support and scholarship opportunities include the following link. for students like Mitzellah who want to make a difference in the world. In addition to Campus Compact, EdCC receives support from the American Association of Community Colleges to involve more students with disabilities in service projects through grants such as Project Reach. For more information on that partnership see the following link:

Project Reach.

Three cheers to Mitzellah for her dedication to community service and her passion for accessible sports opportunities!

This entry was authored by Kacie McCarty, a talented and enthusiastic AmeriCorps “Student in Service”! Although I couldn’t make the time to help out with Stilly Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force’s tree planting project, I have met Kacie before, with Tom Murphy’s summer quarter LEAF School. I can personally attest to just how unexpectedly hardy Kacie is, after seeing her “rough it” under the open sky in the North Cascades! (I think that a few of the guys there–not to embarrass anyone–were too frightened of predators to sleep outdoors, but did that stop Kacie?)

“This morning I woke up early and walked to school. This would be an exciting day, as I planned attend the Stilly Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force’s “Make A Difference Day” Planting at McCormick Park (what a mouthful!). When I arrived at Edmonds Community College, most of the group that would be going was already there. Among us were two teachers, one student from Central Washington, and six students from Edmonds Community College. Three of these people had been recruited by Johnny Robbins, president of the Edmonds Community College Honors Society Group called Phi Theta Kappa. It was a cold morning and all of us were wearing coats.

Upon arrival in Duvall we went down past the single Port-A-Potty to a tent filled with coffee, bagels, and cookies that had kindly been provided by the Task Force. Over 100 Girl Scouts were at the event, at first piled next to the tent to receive a safety demonstration by Cara Ianni. We watched a demonstration on how to plant trees and then set off to find a pot of our own to put into the ground. There were a total of approximately 50 groups of two, moving surprisingly quickly across the field. After only a few trees each (and halfway done with the 800 plantings we planned to accomplish), we took a quick lunch and bathroom break. The sun came out and most of us took off our coats. The sun was warm and this was hard work! After lunch we continued to move quickly across the field.”

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Cecilia Alvarez Main Entry; Footage from “The Art of Cecilia Alvarez”

I attended Cecilia Alvarez’s inaugural Brown Bag lecture at Edmonds Community College on October 18th with my Cultural Anthropology class, taught by Tony Tessandori. There was a lively debate the next class period which led me to believe that the talk had been a success. Cecilia, from my personal experience, engenders controversy unconsciously. And unforgivingly.

In the class discussion I was an unabashed (and occasionally snickered at) supporter of Cecilia’s passionate and blunt warnings of the woes of irresponsible consumerism, self-determination for traditionally oppressed subcultures in North America and beyond, and the violence of environmental ignorance.

I feel as though some of the background written and cinematic material that she suggested before her lecture could widen the perspective of the debate:

Massacre of the Dreamers, by Ana Castillo, is about the execution of court philosophers in Moctezuma’s court. Their crime had been to warn their ruler in the years approaching annhilation about the coming destruction. Castillo then goes on to draw a comparison to modern society’s “deaf ears” to its own brand of “dreamers”.

Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, by Carl Sagan
Excerpt: Page 136-137
“There are, it seems, three principal states of mind in human beings: waking, sleeping and dreaming. An electroencephalograph, which detects brain waves, records quite distinct patterns of electrical activity in the brain during these three states.* Brain waves represent very small currents and voltages produced by the electrical circuitry of the brain. Typical strengths of such brain-wave signals are measured in microvolts. Typical frequencies are between 1 and about 20 Hertz (or cycles per second) - less than the familiar 60 cycles per second frequency of alternating currents in electrical outlets in North America. “–Carl Sagan

Almanac of the Dead, by Leslie Marmon Silko
Book Review:
“How do I summarize this 763 page novel? First we have Seese, a drug addict living with several homosexual men, one of which is the father of her baby. Her baby is stolen and she goes off to find him and tracks down a psychic woman she sees on TV. Lecha has been finding people for years and has made a good living from it, but she’s decided to take a break as she realizes that she can only find the dead, never the living. She goes off to Tucsan, where Seese finds her, to live with her twin sister, Zeta. Lecha has decided that it is time to translate the Almanac that has been passed down for thousands of years.”–Judi Clark (June 28, 1999)

Woman on the Edge of Time, by Marge Piercy
“The woman “on the edge of time” is Consuelo (Connie) Ramos. A Chicana in New York City, she is in her mid-thirties, once beautiful, now worn and disheveled, once a college girl, now a pickpocket, both loving mother and “child abuser” (her child taken from her), a mourning widow (unmarried), a heroically sane woman labeled insane.“–www.margepiercy.com

These movies (showtimes kindly provided by Monica Tobin) are going to be screened in the library this week:

1. “El Norte” (1983) 141 minutes Feature Film
   Library Showing: Tuesday, 10/23, 12:30-3pm LYN 303
   El Norte is a realistic picture of both the Guatemalan government’s oppression of the Quiche Indians and the hard life of illegal immigrants in the United States…more at “http://www.allmovieguide.com”.
2. “Brazil” (1985) 131 minutes Feature Film
   Library Showing: Wednesday, 10/24, 12-2:30pm LYN 303
   In this nightmarish futuristic satire from director Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Pryce plays Sam Lowrey, a government statistician who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him…more at “http://www.allmovieguide.com”.
3. “Granitos de Arena” (2004) 60 minutes Documentary
   Library Showing: Wednesday, 10/31, 12:30-1:30pm LYN 303
   For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico, but always in the constant shadow of popular resistance…more.
4. “When the Mountains Tremble” (1984) 83 minutes Documentary
   Library Showing: Wednesday, 11/1, 12:30-2pm and again during Ms. Alvarez’s reception on Friday, 11/3, 5:30-7pm LYN 303
   This documentary on human rights abuses in Guatemala is narrated by Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace prize for her courageous struggle against the military regime in her country. Menchú is a Native American and in this documentary, it is explained that three of her family members were killed during the long fight against the repressive government…more at “http://www.allmovieguide.com”.

Abrazos [”hugs”],
Cecilia [Alvarez]

(Stop any student on the main campus; if they’ve been at Edmonds for more than a two quarters, they’ve probably heard of her.)

Our incredibly talented English instructor Holly Hughes has recently been awarded her second master’s Degree in Creative Writing, pioneering a new writers’ workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

Rumor has it that a celebratory reading will be held at 7 p.m. on November 8 at the Van Valey House, 2130 Colby Ave., Everett. ( Call 425-257-6306 for more details.)

And I am one of her former Poetry students who is definitely planning to “crash” the party. Just look for the madly cheering Indian girl, who will be summarily hushed and reminded that she is at a poetry reading, not a football game. I’ll try to contain myself, but Holly remains one of my favorite English teachers from Edmonds Community College!

Even for those who haven’t had the true pleasure of experiencing one of Holly’s classes, this promises to be an event of note. Holly has published in multiple landmark literary magazines and anthologies, including “The Midwest Quarterly”. Her poem “The Bath” was featured in the prestigious “Alaska Quarterly Review” (Fall/Winter 2004
Vol. 21, No. 3 & 4). If we ask nicely, she might even share some excerpts of her work!

Holly (in addition to having her Analytic Writing class involved in the Eco Encore project this quarter), is the faculty advisor for Between the Lines, our college’s literary arts magazine.

A busy woman who never fails to convince students that they can have as much of her time as they need, for whatever reason.

Holly introduced me to modern poets such as Elizabeth Bishop and David Wagoner, whose work has had an indelible influence on my own.

Congratulations, Holly!

Is anyone here published or soon to be published in “Between the Lines”? I believe that one of my poems is appearing in the upcoming edition. I’m going to post a verse from my submission; please do likewise!