Campus News
Training with tires for Mount Denali climb
Students at the Technical Center on the west side of campus have been noticing an unusual sight most afternoons.
A man with a large pack on his back repeatedly drags a heavy tire up and down the hill from the gym to the childcare center. The tire is connected to him by a long rope attached to his back as if he were the legendary Sisyphus himself.
David Rickman, an emergency room doctor at Mercy Hospital in Roseburg, Oregon, is training to climb the tallest mountain in North America. A seasoned climber, Rickman is taking on Mount McKinley in Alaska, also known as Mount Denali. Denali stands 20,320 feet high at its peak, ranking as the third highest of the Seven Summits, the seven highest mountains on the earth’s seven continents. The only two higher of the seven summits are Everest in Nepal at 29,029 feet and Argentina’s Aconcagua at 22,841 feet.
Payne signs with Eastern Washington Eagles
After two illustrious seasons, UCC sophomore Ashli Payne made an April 15 announcement that she was headed back to her home state of Washington to finish her college basketball career.
Payne, a two-time NWAC south region player of the year, signed on National Signing Day (First day recruits can sign with prospective colleges) letter of intent with the division one Eastern Washington Eagles out of Cheney, Washington to play basketball for the 2015-16 season.
Lifestyle
Restructuring adult high school diplomas
The average salary for a high school graduate is $10,000 more than a non-high school graduate, a number which in Douglas County could mean the difference between being poverty stricken or having the means to live and thrive. However, Douglas County’s adult high school program at the Woolley Center is facing restructuring that will affect students enrolled in the program.
Local high schools will no longer refer their students to the Woolley Center for its adult education program after the spring term. The program instead will focus its attention on students no longer eligible to attend a high school. “There are around 10,000 adults that reside within Douglas County who still do not have their high school diploma,” April Hamlin, adult basic skills coordinator at the Woolley Center, said.
Resources for local housing challenges
Homelessness is frequently listed among the biggest concerns for the state of Oregon. Oregon’s problems persist with all forms of homelessness, from veterans to chronic homelessness. Although this statistic has gotten slightly better over the years, Oregon’s continued low ranks remain a blemish on the state as a whole.
Roseburg serves as a base for many homeless, this being an area where 17% of Douglas County’s poverty percentage comes from. The recent recession and the crumbled housing market marked an influx of new homeless in 2009. 16% of homeless people are listed as chronically homeless, meaning they have been without a home for over a year. About 1 in 50 homeless are children; and rates for teenagers and college students has risen in the past years.