Review- A Scarecrow in Oz

(From left to right) Joseph Johnson, Laural Tannehhill, and Drew May pose in costume for a group photo between showings. 

In the classic story “The Wizard of Oz,” our hero Dorothy stumbles upon a living scarecrow hanging in a random field along the yellow brick road. No explanation was ever given, in that story or others in the series written after it, as to how he got up there. Until now, courtesy of LBCC’s theater group!

On February 6th, the magic of Oz came to LBCC as children from three local elementary schools flocked into the Russell Tripp Center to see this year’s Annual Children’s Play. The play was “A Scarecrow in Oz,” an original production written by members of the LBCC drama club and directed by theater faculty Dan Stone, telling the origin story of the beloved brainless scarecrow.

Once everyone was seated, event coordinator Michael Winder greeted the crowd and explained the rules of the theater through jokes, such as warning them to not leave with the wrong group lest they mistakenly end up with the wrong family, who’ll make them dress up in ridiculous pirate outfits. Yes, that makes exactly as much sense in context. He also asked how many of them had read the book beforehand; about two-thirds raised their hands. 

After Winder was done came the play itself. Most of the cast functioned as a sort of Greek choir that moved parts of the set around, as well as a narrator (Korina Rayburn) who walked around on stage singing a beautiful song about what was going on in the plot. 

Members of the cast and crew prepare for the dress rehearsal that took place on Thursday, Feb. 6th.
The boxes being set up on stage were the key props used for the play; the background cast members would move and manipulate them throughout a scene to create the setting; a bridge leading to Mombi's castle, the interior of the Munchkin home, etc. A single box could be used as a chair, a table with a detached scarecrow head, or even be moved around to make a fireplace, depending on the scene.

The plot opens with a pair of Munchkins, the witch-terrorized group from the original story. The Munchkins were cursed after a failed revolution against the Wicked Witch of the East, and were left unable to have children. The pair of Munchkins in question, Maize (played by Laural Tannehill) and Cornelius (Joseph Johnson), are a married couple working on a corn farm who very much wish to have a child. 

Lacking other options, the two of them decide to leave Munchkin-land to seek out another witch who is rumored to possess a magic capable of creating life. This witch, Mombi (Rianda Linebarger), lives north of the East Witch’s territory, through the enchanted poppy fields and a cursed forest. After a brief yet harrowing journey, they reach Mombi’s abandoned castle and successfully make a bargain for her magic: she gives them an enchanted silvery paint, which they can use to create the child they desire, but they must use it ONLY ONCE!

Returning home, they start gathering up some old clothes, a burlap sack, and a lot of straw. They put all of these together in the shape of a person, and painted a face on it. That’s when the real fun started.

The cast delivered their lines like a preschool teacher reading a storybook to their class, in the best way possible. Lines were spoken in an engaging manner that kept the audience’s attention throughout. The children also got a lot of laughs out of many choice scenes. They really enjoyed all the scenes with the scarecrow, named Cornwall by his parents, such as him learning to walk, learning about farming, and having a birthday party. This was thanks in no small part to the perfectly conveyed sense of child-like innocence his actor, Drew May, brought to the role. 

As for Mombi, she was easily a crowd favorite with her high-pitched, over the top delivery and her tendency to go off on long, rambling tangents. It won’t surprise anyone that she returns later in the play, and the way they decided to have her return to the stage made all the children in the audience completely lose it!

In this scene from the play, the naive Scarecrow receives a visit from the pet bird of Mombi. The individual pictured in the background is non-diagetic; he's there to physically maneuver the bird and provide a place for it to perch.

At a Glance:

WHAT: “A Scarecrow in Oz”

WHEN: Showtimes were Saturday, February 8 and Saturday, February 15, from 2 to 3 p.m. 

WHERE: The Russell Tripp Performance Center at LBCC’s Albany campus, 6500 Pacific Blvd. SW

ABOUT: Play runs for about 45 minutes

Starring: Laural Tannehill as Maize, Joseph Johnson as Cornelius, and Drew May as Cornwall. Other cast members include: Falyn Lazarus, Sarcon Majors, Shayanne Bolton, Sophia Brown, Korina Rayburn as the singing narrator and lyricist, and Rianda Linebarger as Mombi

Swipe Out Hunger

If you’re a student that’s struggling to cover food costs, you should know that there’s a large variety of ways to get help available on campus. One of the quickest and easiest options would be Swipe Out Hunger, a national food aid program currently being run here on LBCC’s main campus.

According to Lawrence LaJoie, the Director of Enterprise Services at LBCC, the program normally works by taking funds from a campus’ meal plan program and using them to cover food cards to be handed out to students in need. LaJoie came up with the idea of funding the program using the “rounding up” donation that you may have seen at food vendors throughout the campus.

Already the program has raised more than $1,500 from rounding up and other donations, LaJoie noted.

The biggest difficulty the program faced early on was its original distribution method; at first, students needed to submit a Google form, which would send a notification to four different people for confirmation. The problem with this method, according to LaJoie, was that these four people often weren’t able to respond to the notifications fast enough. As the purpose of the program is to provide students with a little extra money for a quick meal, LaJoie and others spent the rest of last Fall term coming up with a better method.

The new one they ultimately came up with is both simple and accessible: Simply go to the First Resort desk in the Learning Center and ask for a food card. After filling out a short form, you’ll receive a $10 card valid at any food vendor on campus as well as contact information for other food aid programs.

Abby Grewatz is the First Resort Coordinator in charge of distributing the Swipe Out Hunger food cards.

“I think there are a lot of students here on campus who are experiencing food insecurity,” said Grewatz. “Sometimes it feels like there aren’t a lot of things that we can do to help with that.”

Few people go to the Learning Center intending on asking for a food card, Grewatz said. Often times she’ll offer it to someone if it sounds like they might need it, when they say things like they haven’t had the chance to get lunch, or that they don’t have the money for it that day.

First and foremost, she wants people to feel comfortable with coming in and asking for it, elaborating on how easy the application process is. “We don’t ask questions here,” she said. “If someone comes in to ask for a food card we’re not going to quiz them on anything, we’re not going to interrogate them on anything. If they need a card, we give them a card.”

Grewatz also expanded on how the application process works. The form is a small sheet of paper, on which a person writes their name, the date, and their X-number (this information is only used to keep track of how many people have used the program). After completing the form, students are given an envelope that contains the card and contact information for the other aid programs.

Grewatz felt that giving students information about the other available programs was even more important than giving them the food cards. When asked if students could apply for the food card multiple times a term, she said yes, but also said that if a person’s food needs are enough to require it then they should strongly consider looking into some of the other programs.

One of these options is called the Linn-Benton Lunch Box. Run by the Student Leadership Council, students can go through a simple application process at the Student Union office, located in F 120 at the northeast end of the courtyard, and pick up a certain amount of groceries depending on how many people live in their household. This program is currently available for students to use twice a year.

The other option that both LaJoie and Grewatz had a lot to say about was food stamps, otherwise known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which is a valuable resource that too few students on campus make use of. According to LaJoie, applying for food stamps carries certain stigmas with students. He believes students in need of money for food should feel free to seek out anything that might help them.

“They think that them accepting those types of benefits prevents somebody else from getting them, but that’s not true,” he said. “If you’re eligible, you’re eligible; you’re not preventing anyone else from getting those benefits. You’re entitled to them if you meet the criteria.”

He also spoke about how eligibility for college students works, saying, “It used to be tied directly to work requirements. It still is, but there’s still an easier way for students to become SNAP-eligible without work requirements. If they’re a [current] student, they’re pursuing a degree, and they don’t live with their parents, it’s much easier for them to become eligible for SNAP benefits.”

For other benefits available to students facing food insecurities, contact Amanda Stanley, LBCC program coordinator and resource navigator, at the Roadrunner Resource Center in Takena Hall or email her at stanlea@mail.linnbenton.edu








At a Glance:

Swipe Out Hunger: Provides a $10 meal card for students facing food insecurity

Where Students Go for Help: Learning Center, for the Swipe Out Hunger card; The SLC office, for the LB Lunchbox; Amanda Stanley for advice and information on other options.

Contact: Abby Grewatz, First Resort Center, grewata@linnbenton.edu

How to Donate: At all food vendors on campus,ask to round your purchase up to the nearest dollar. The cashier will ask if you want to round with cash purchases. If you want to donate with a card purchase, you’ll need to specify that you do BEFORE inserting your card.


SNAP/Food Stamps website:
www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program

JN-216: What My First Story Will Be

My first story will be about the "Swipe Out Hunger" money drive going on at the Albany LBCC Campus. I'm planning on getting in touch with someone working at the courtyard café and the bookstore, and seeing if anyone's interested in an interview after their shift's over. I'm also planning on talking with the management at both establishments.

A preliminary list of questions I may ask includes:

1. How long will the drive last?
2. How much has been raised overall?
1. How does that compare to the amount you were anticipating?
3. Are there any ways you would like to see the service expanded?
4. How many students would you estimate have applied so far?
5. On average, how many students would you say decide to donate?

My 3 Goals for: "News Reporting and Writing"

1. Finish the class with an A

2. Get at least one article put in the commuter

3. Get my work noticed by someone outside of the LBCC campus

Santiam Hall Remodel, Nov. 13th - Dec. 2nd

Over the course of the last term, construction crews have been working to install shear walls to the Santiam Hall and Industrial Arts A buildings in anticipation of an earthquake. The purpose of the shear walls is to absorb shock waves from said earthquake and redirect them down towards a building's foundation. The process of installing these walls is a lengthy one, documented with the photos below, taken over a period of 3 weeks.

The work begins by digging up parts of the concrete walkway adjacent to a building's walls, in order to get access to the walls' supports. Once the right depth has been reached, crews will begin drilling holes into the supports, as well as the walls themselves, to prepare for the next step. This process of drilling produces a large amount of concrete dust, which must be periodically cleaned up with an industrial vacuum, as seen above.

Once the trench has been completed, the real work begins. Rebar supports are stuck into
the holes dug into the walls, and kept in place with a special kind of construction-grade epoxy.

After the support rebar is put in place, additional rebar is attached to it in a grid pattern in order to extend the wall supports. Longer bars of rebar are also attached, which will be used to extend the grid upwards along the wall. Note the layers of holes lining the top of the wall; additional bars of rebar will be added into these as well to provide a strong foundation for the shear wall mounting.

Once all the rebar that needs to be directly attached to the building's foundation has been installed, the trench is then refilled with concrete. Several weeks later, one can hardly tell that the concrete was ever dug up in the first place.

Another grid of rebar is installed along the wall, using the supports added to the top and bottom. For the initial bars used to set up the grid, most of the installation work is done with a mobile lift. However, sometimes parts of it need to be adjusted, requiring a more direct approach. 

Once the initial grid has been set up all that remains is to add in additional bars of rebar to reinforce it. This more extensive work calls for the addition of a large array of scaffolding along the front of the building. Once the work is done the crews will shift their attention to doing the same in another area of the building.

Forum Post Week 1 Response

Class Goals

1. Firstly, as mentioned I'm hoping the class will give me a good idea of what to expect from a career in Journalism. 

2. I'm also hoping to relearn some of the finer points of photography that I've forgotten in the last few years since my last photography class. 

3. Lastly, I suppose a more personal goal would simply be to enjoy myself while working on class projects. It's been a while since I've had a mindset in a class other than, "This is due at the end of the week, need to get to work asap." Which I can honestly say that I've succeeded at so far.



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1. The class has definitely provided the perspective I'd hoped it would. Not only do I now have a clear idea of how journalism works as an industry, but the variety of assignments meant I also have a clearer idea of what kind of journalism I'm interested in engaging in. The assignments I feel I did best at entailed obeserving the interactions of others and capturing the interesting moments that came up.

2. Well, I spent weeks trying to remember what all the settings do, before giving up and just going with the default settings. The quality of my photos improved, but I still feel like I was leaving all the important parts of the work to the camera.

3. I did succeed at this goal in that I had a great time taking photos, and I enjoyed seeing my work get printed in the Commuter as much as anyone else. Still, I have to wince slightly at the mention of avoiding needing to rush to get assignments in on time.

Week 10 Forum: "Best Photojournalism"

Poetry Club member Daniel Glenn gives his thoughts on the poetry book the club
members are reading from, while fellow club member Gordon Jiroux looks on.
Thursday, October 17th, Albany DAC Center

I think this photo stood out from my other work because of the natural emotion it shows. I feel it captures my personal approach to photography, that being trying to capture distinct moments in time.
While working on the assignment this picture came from, I was constantly tweaking my camera's settings trying to get the best results in terms of lighting and composition. This was actually the first assignment I'd done with an actual camera, and as such I was kind of learning as I went along. I also initially struggled with timing a shot right. As such, a great many pictures I took ended up too blurry to use; nowadays I've corrected both issues by just using the P setting and making tweaks in post, and by switching to "Sports" mode when a person's about to make a movement or gesture I want to capture. Fortunately I gradually got better at both over the course of the assignment, with this photo being one of my first successes in it. Along with those two factors I also regret not figuring out how to set my camera to a higher quality setting. At the original size the photo's quality looks fine, but if it's enlarged it gets pretty blurry, as seen below: