A Thousand Paper Cranes

The ancient Japanese folktale, “The Crane Wife,” begins with a man finding an injured crane and nursing it back to health. This winter, LBCC will feature a play of this story, as well as a giant origami paper crane playing the role of the injured bird.

Intrigued by the origami crane being used in the play, Cory Warren, one of the cast members, went online to try to find instructions on how to fold one himself. Instead, he uncovered some fascinating information on the history of origami cranes, and the legend of the Senbazuru.
“Senbazuru” is a Japanese word which means “1,000 cranes.” According to ancient Japanese legend, anyone who makes a Senbazuru will be granted one wish.

The Senbazuru was popularized by Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl suffering from leukemia due to radiation poisoning from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Sasaki heard about the Senbazuru and decided to make the 1,000 paper cranes, so that her wish of being cured would come true.

Unfortunately, Sasaki died after only making 644 cranes. In memory of her, Sasaki’s classmates folded the remaining 354 cranes, completing the Senbazuru in her honor. Because of Sasaki, the Senbazuru has come to represent a hope for international peace and diplomacy. A peace park in Japan holds a statue of Sasaki, surrounded by a supply of donated Senbazurus that are continuously being replenished. For every Senbazuru donated, a Japanese corporation donates $1,000 to charities promoting peace between nations.

Warren was fascinated by what he had learned about the Senbazuru, and told Dan Stone, director of “The Crane Wife” and performing arts instructor at LBCC, about the tradition. Stone also found this information fascinating, and wanted the cast to make a Senbazuru to decorate the lobby with the intention of sending it to the peace park after the show ended.

Warren took on the task of making the Senbazuru. He put together crane-making kits, handing them out to cast members and students. He organized crane-making parties and folded hundreds of origami cranes himself.

A few people, mostly cast members, helped with the origami. Besides Warren and Emma Barry, who has one of the lead roles in “The Crane Wife,” made the most cranes. “[I] didn’t do a quarter of the work [Warren] did,” said Barry.

“The Crane Wife” opened last week, and the children attending the show were able to see the evolving Senbazuru, now up to 800 cranes, decorating the lobby of the Russell Tripp Performance Center. Warren is hoping to finish the last 200 cranes before the show closes.

Nora Palmtag, LBCC Student, Shares Story of Segregation

Nora Palmtag dives into life with energy and zest. If you see her walking across campus, you may notice her sunny smile. But what you don’t know is that behind that smile is a woman with a truly phenomenal life story, the type you’d expect to see in a hardback memoir on display as you walk into Barnes and Noble.

Just like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and other people you’ve read about in history textbooks, Palmtag was a civil rights activist, fighting for justice in 1960’s Mississippi. Only a teenager at the time, Palmtag stood up for her rights as best she could and stirred up her community so much that the KKK wanted her dead.

Palmtag was born in 1949 in a one-room shack to a 16-year-old mother. She grew up in Clarksdale Mississippi, a place that was full of injustice.

“You couldn’t drink out of a water fountain because it said ‘white,’ and you had to walk another ten blocks to get to the next one,” says Palmtag. “You go through the whole downtown, and there’s no bathroom you could use. At the doctor’s office, you didn’t get seen until all the white patients were gone. After all the white people were gone you’d get seen, one by one, but you still couldn’t use the bathroom there.”

Schools were also segregated, and the black schools were vastly underprivileged. The textbooks at Palmtag’s high school were leftovers from the white school, with pages missing, and vulgar words scrawled across the pages.

A big reader, Palmtag eventually discovered the writings of Martin Luther King Jr., and realized that things did not have to be the way they were. “I decided to go to the white school and see, why didn’t they want us there?” says Palmtag. “What’s going on? Why were the kids allowed to write in our books all the nasty things they did, and tear out the pages before they sent them over to our school? They didn’t even know who we were.”

The kids at her new school hated her, spitting on her and calling her names. The KKK wanted her dead for daring to de-segregate the school. But Palmtag refused to be intimidated into leaving.

Once, Palmtag convinced her mother to take her to another town, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was arranging a march. Palmtag wanted nothing more than to march with the protestors. However, when she arrived, King told her that it was too dangerous, that he wouldn’t be able to protect her. According to Palmtag, King said, “I know what you’re doing. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

And so, Palmtag kept doing what she was doing and survived the abuse of high school. Ole Miss, ordered to de-segregate in order to receive federal funds, offered her a full-ride scholarship, but she refused. She wanted to get as far away as possible from the kids who had hated her in high school, and so went to college in Illinois instead.

Palmtag had been in the top 10% of her class in Mississippi. Even so, she struggled in college. Her parents didn’t support her financially, so she tried to work full time on top of being a full-time student. Eventually she was completely burned out, and decided to strike out for the West with $100 in her pocket.

Palmtag settled in Washington, getting a job with a cable company that eventually took her to Oregon. Upon retiring, Palmtag decided to go back to college, and came to LBCC.

Now, Palmtag is eager to share her story. “It’s not about me, so much as the fact that anybody…can bear anything,” says Palmtag. “If I could survive all this crap I went through, no matter how broken I was in the end, if I could survive it and make it to where I am now, you can survive anything. You can do it.”

Open Source Club Music Website

The unfortunate thing about life is that good music is either free or legal, but never both. At least, that’s the assumption of the general public, an assumption which LBCC’s Open Source Club is trying to change with the debut of their new website, listenvotedownload.org. 

Listenvotedownload.org exists as a way for the Open Source Club to share the bounty of free music with other LBCC students. As the URL suggests, students can listen to the songs on the website, upvote the ones they want to promote, and download their favorites.

“We’ll bring your dead music collection back to life,” said Open Source Club faculty adviser Chris Riseley.

The idea for the website began when Riseley discovered Jamendo.com, a website full of free and legal music. “Everyone who uploads a file there—artists across the world—signs the appropriate release forms,” said Riseley. “There are over 300,000 separate songs.”

Riseley loved Jamendo, but found that there were a bunch of terrible songs along with the good ones. He wanted a way to find the good songs and make it local.

Riseley approached club president Micah DeVyldere with the idea of making a CD of the best Jamendo songs to distribute on campus. DeVyldere didn’t like the idea. “CD’s are dated,” he said, “and there were logistical issues. Like, how many songs do you put on the CD? Chris wanted a whole bunch.”

DeVyldere suggested making a website instead. Riseley loved the idea.

DeVyldere spent fall term writing the website, which is now up and running. The website, listenvotedownload.org, only plays songs from Jamendo.com. Students can listen to the small selection of good songs already on listenvotedownload.org, or they can click on the large plus sign in the corner of the webpage and add their own favorite songs from Jamendo.

“Overall, it’s really easy to use,” said LBCC student Jenny Ramerez, trying out the website for the first time. She had fun scouring the thousands of songs on Jamendo to find something to add to listenvotedownload.org.

“I like indie type music,” she said. “I was tired of listening to the same bands over and over.”

Riseley hopes that eventually, local musicians will upload their songs to listenvotedownload.org, through Jamendo. Using Creative Commons licensing, musicians allow Jamendo to distribute their song for free, but they still own the rights. “It’s a way for students to support local songs,” said Riseley.

Riseley, who knows two DJ’s at KBVR, hopes to get some of the top voted song songs onto the radio. “We hope to use this as a way to help local artists meet local radio stations,” he said.

Whether listenvotedownload.org songs end up on the radio, the Open Source Club plans to leave the site up indefinitely. Students will be able to keep adding to and refining the music selection.

Currently the top song on the website is called "How To Make The Worst Song Ever," perhaps rising in the ranks due to its interesting title. Most of the rest of the music consists of indie songs, including the second and third ranked songs, "Boats Swept Away" and "Elevators."

According to DeVyldere, the ultimate goal for the website is to promote free and open content on the internet, and to, in his own words, “shove free music down people’s throats.”

Further Information:

What: A new music website

Where: Listenvotedownload.org

Who: Created by LBCC's Open Source Club

Why: Discover new music that is free and legal to download

Contact Chris Riseley:

Email: riselec@linnbenton.edu

Office: NSH 211

Website: http://cf.linnbenton.edu/artcom/english/riselec/web.cfm?pgID=5664

My Experiences Getting Involved on Campus

I was the only one who didn’t bring a computer to the club meeting. The other members jabbered away in computer talk, which, as far as I could tell, was half English and half obscure acronyms.

“Come to the open source club meeting!” Chris Riseley, my old writing teacher, had said. “It’s for artsy people like you.”

From what I could see, the club was actually for smart computer-geek types.

Getting involved on campus is generally seen as a good idea. Teachers will tell you that extracurricular activities are great for resumes, and foster communication skills. A research project done at California State University found that students involved in extracurricular activities "achieved much higher rates of retention and graduation, maintained better GPA's, and had higher good standing rates."

I talked to some LBCC students on the subject, wondering how those statistics hold up. 80% of those I talked to felt that the extracurricular activities they'd participated in helped their grades overall. One student said, "it gave me another reason to be at school." Another said, "participating in extracurricular school activities is a really good practice for your integrity and self-discipline, and ultimately improves study habits."

I would agree with my fellow students that extracurricular activities have a positive effect on grades and life in general. However, I would like to take it a step further. I think that part of the beauty of extracurricular activities comes from trying new things I never knew I was interested in, which is why I initially took Mr. Riseley up on his offer and went to the Open Source Club meeting.

When I first arrived on campus I only got involved in things I was already interested in. Since I was into Journalism, I spent a term writing for The Commuter. I was given random topics to cover, and I covered them. I began researching and writing about events on campus I never would have attended if I'd been given the choice.

Once, for instance, I was told to do a write-up of the LBCC Psychology club. Psychology isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but I went. Interestingly enough, the club was mostly about helping college students who struggle with depression. I’m a college student, I struggle with depression, and yet under normal circumstances I never would have gone to the psychology club.

Another night I had to go to a concert given by the LBCC music faculty. The performances were magical. I was awed at the talent of the music faculty, and the loveliness of this strange little concert I would never have heard of had I not been forced to cover it.

I began to look at campus involvement in a new light. How many interesting things are there to do on campus that I'd never even considered doing?

According to the LBCC website, the college currently has 27 clubs and 13 co-curricular programs available to students, some with interesting sounding names like “Near-Space Exploration Club,” and “Spherical Cow.” I’m sure that some of the clubs and events on campus are boring and/or pointless. I’m sure that others are fascinating and delightful. We might as well try them out and see for ourselves.

Of course getting involved on campus will help you in a myriad of ways, giving you more connections on campus, personal growth, and ultimately, better grades. But I like to get involved on campus because there are so many interesting things available. College is about preparing for future careers, but how can I know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life if I haven’t tried everything?

When Riseley dragged me to the open source club meeting, I was the odd one out. I didn’t know anything about computer programming. I knew nothing about open source culture and all great free content available to the public online. Even so, I found it fascinating. I went to the next meeting, and the next, because I had discovered an interest I never knew I had.


Get Involved!

Campus Clubs and Events:

LBCC Clubs: http://www.linnbenton.edu/student-life-and-leadership/clubs

LBCC Events: www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=linnbenton.edu_luaktm2u9o6e1ig9tbdiuqe2v8@group.calendar.google.com

LBCC Co-Curricular Programs: http://www.linnbenton.edu/student-life-and-leadership/co-curricular-programs

LBCC Online Club Manual: http://www.linnbenton.edu/student-life-and-leadership/clubs/online-club-manual

Student Life and Leadership:

Website: http://www.linnbenton.edu/student-life-and-leadership

Phone: 541-917-4457

Office: F-120 (first floor of Student Union building)