Archives: Students

Death of the Telephone

During the first season of Downton Abbey, there was an amusing bit when the family decided to install a telephone. It being 1914, no one knew how to use one. Several members of the household even questioned whether it was necessary at all.

Student reflection: Sustainability extends far beyond Earth Day

by Alex Mihm

Humankind’s imprint on our surroundings is everywhere, commingled with the natural. I am typing this on my back deck. The moon, nearly full, casts stark silhouettes of the cedars before me. The wind’s breath sighs through the boughs, and somewhere nearby a fussy crow is doing a poor job of keeping the location of its nest a secret. On a hillside across the Willamette, three towers flash red in a jerky rhythm. Straight overhead a commercial jet just narrowly avoids a collision with the Big Dipper. All of this is my —­­ our —­­ world, and it is important to remember that, no matter what we invent or build, nothing we can own will elevate us above it, for we are still natural beings born of the Earth. We need to understand how connected we are to this place, and then cultivate that relationship with both enthusiasm and respectful deference.

Student reflection: pursuing the dream of college

by BreeAnna Bender

The year 2008 was a very difficult year for me and my young family. My husband was injured at work, which made me the sole provider for my family. In addition to raising my two young children and working full-time, I decided it was time to change my life. Only I didn’t know how.

I had always wanted a college education, but I felt it was out of my reach. My reality was filled with children, work and everyday life. How on earth was I going to find time to go back to school? As if someone was reading my mind, a commercial for Marylhurst University came on the television. It spoke of a university that catered to the needs of working-adult students who lead busy lives, but that wasn’t what made me jump on my computer as soon as the commercial was over.

They had a degree in English Literature and Writing.

A Slanted View

by Simon Tam

I play bass in what’s often known as the first and only all-Asian American dance rock band in the world. We perform at many of the largest Asian cultural festivals in North America. We’ve been featured in and on over 1,500 radio stations, websites, magazines, and tv shows talking about the Asian American experience. My band members and I often facilitate workshops on cultural diversity, racism, and stereotypes about Asian and Asian American culture. In fact, when you look up information on the band, it’s hard to find anything that doesn’t associate us with Asian American culture, which is why when the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) said that our band was disparaging to persons of Asian descent, I was rather shocked.