A Man of Many Talents

G.Robin Smith  is a history scholar, author, actor, musician,  playwright, screenwriter, and educator.

Smith attended LBCC from 1973 to 1975, remembering it as "a lovely time." He was in the Swing Choir, student government as 2nd VP, and even worked at the Commuter. He recalls Bill Sweet as an adviser, Judy Green as an adviser in Student Services, and "many other kind and gifted staff, faculty and students." 

After graduating from LBCC in 1975 and from EWU in 1977, with degrees in Theater, Smith worked and toured with various theater groups before starting a Medieval hands-on education company called "A  Knight's Tour." Around 1995, Smith's wife, Cymbric Early-Smith, took over the company and expanded it's educational eras to include Ancient Mediterranean, English Renaissance, American Colonial, and American Civil War. "The company has always been hands-on and interactive in everything they teach," says Smith.

With a "lifelong admiration" of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and a passion for "hands-on history," Smith has taught in hundreds of educational institutions, giving unique, interactive performances in an art form called Chautauqua.

Smith as Benjamin Franklin

Chautauqua is a "presentational, educational tradition" that began in 1878 where performers, dressed in character, present a variety of topics or personalities and "bring them to life."

Smith performs frequently in schools, as well as in theatres, evening fundraisers, and as a keynote speaker for business meetings and conferences. He also teaches Chautauqua technique to theatre students.

He portrays characters such as William Shakespeare, Sir Alymere Gregory du Brand, and Sir Alec Guinness, but he does Ben Franklin more than anyone else. 

His act begins with being introduced as his character. Smith then comes out (usually portraying  Franklin) and presents a biography of 'his life' in the first person, focusing on the theme of the night.

After about 30-40 minutes, he takes questions from the audience for another 30 minutes or so, then breaks character, and lets the audience ask questions of him, the presenter. Then there is an open chat time after for people to just come up and speak to him one on one. His audience members range from third graders up through high schoolers, University and adults, and mixed ages, depending on the event.

He says he does occasionally get asked questions that he hasn't gotten to in his research, but that he can usually can give an answer that "fills in the blank" enough. Then he goes home and researches that one detail so he has it all nailed down for the next performance.

"There are other characters that do attract me such as John Quincy Adams, but it takes a good deal of time - and sponsorship - to bring a character to performance. So, for now, Ben is the one I usually get asked to do." says Smith.

Currently he is continuing to develop his Benjamin Franklin presentation as both an educational program and an effective fundraising tool that he says "doubles as a 'lightning rod' for starting discussions on civic responsibility and encourages collaboration between members of our government."

Raising money for non-profits has been a major focus for Smith. "In early 2012, I took back ownership of The Interactive History Company (www.InteractiveHistory.net) to make it an arm of our non-profit fundraising system." 

He has also taken on the role of General Manager and Director of The Washington Shakespeare Festival and the Skagit 'Everything Renaissance' Festival, "both start-ups with great potential." 

Smith says he would come back to Albany "at the drop of a martin-fur hat," and would love to do a mini-tour of LBCC, OSU, and some area schools and businesses, but  has no plans to visit the Willamette Valley at this time. 

 

His plans for the future include wanting to expand the use of The Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration (www.SOFII.org), "an international idea resource that is free to all." He is its volunteer Ambassador for Washington State. He is also the Managing Director of Shakespeare Northwest, located in Mount Vernon, WA.

Smith looks forward to advancing the Washington Shakespeare Festival into a major innovator of interactive performance and Shakespearean research. And of course, to "enjoy trying to fill in for 'Ben' in helping our world cope and to do good for my fellow creatures, as he did.

For more information on G.Robin Smith's presentation, events, characters, and causes, visit: www.ben-franklin.org

The Oregon Zoo

Being one of those over-the-top animal lovers, I tend to sometimes worry more about animals than I do people. I remember my last trip to a famous zoo, not so fondly.

Walking on hard cement "roads" for what felt like miles, with no trees for shade, and not much in the way of scenery around me, it wasn't much fun. Worst of all, I couldn't help but feel that many of the animals could have had a better set-up. They just didn't seem happy.

When I found out the in-law's were coming to town and wanted to take us to the Oregon Zoo, I thought it would probably be the same depressing scenario. Of course, I agreed to go and decided that no matter what, I would be a good sport and not ruin anyone's day with my overly-sensitive craziness.

Being that we're in Oregon, you can pretty much count on any trip, anywhere consisting of a whole lot of trees, ferns, and greenery. The Oregon Zoo, located in Portland and spanning over 64 acres, was no exception.

When we first walked in and began on the trail, filled with trees and shade, we looked down at this huge woodsy area where two bear cubs were splashing around and wrestling in their own little "hot tub." One of them balanced his paws on the railing and stood up before the other guy sent him splashing down into the water. It was quite a fiasco, creating smiles and laughs amongst all who were lucky enough to witness it.

The path continued on as we saw a couple of bald eagles nestled peacefully in their trees with a very wide stream full of some pretty large fish for them to feast on, should the need arise. We were able to admire the fish as well, through a tunnel with a clear glass enclosure.

We caught a glimpse of the beautiful cougar who had chosen to nap in the shade, far away from the viewing area. If she wanted privacy, she would have it, and that's just the way it was. The polar bear also enjoyed that option, but he did come out to do his business before returning to his nap. We were grateful for his appearance.

Then there were animals that clearly enjoyed being the center of attention, like the sea otters. They swam happily along on their backs, continuing to circle the parameter of the pool, and all along the glass that stood between us and them. I'm not sure it could get any cuter than that.

One of the highlights was this amazing monkey called a Mandrill. He sat just a foot from the glass barrier as his beady, little eyes glanced back and forth at each of us, as if we were just as fascinating to watch as he was. At one point, he threw up his hand for a quick, casual wave. There's really no explaining this guy's expression other than perhaps an ornery old man sitting on his front porch watching all the neighborhood happenings.

Elephants, crocodiles, snakes, bats, and hippos, everyone was there. Giraffes, gazelles, penguins, and pigs. They all seemed to be content, relaxed, and either entertained with people watching, or oblivious to it.

I must say, one of my favorite parts of the day was my experience at Lorikeet Landing. These small, beautiful parrots are anything but oblivious to their visitors. You can purchase a small cup of nectar and once you approach them or raise your arm with the juice, they land on your arms and drink it up. They are so gentle and friendly; it's quite a thrill. But beware, the juice comes back out quicker and farther than you can imagine.

You can witness several feedings throughout the day, enjoy a birds of prey demonstration on the lawn where an eagle or hawk may fly inches from your head, and see how big an elephant really is when it's standing three feet in front of you, stretching it's trunk to pick up carrots and celery.

There's train rides, a petting zoo,and summer concerts. Plenty of refreshments, mister's to keep you cool, and of course all the sugary goodness you can imagine.

There wasn't much I didn't get to see in the short time I was there and my visit was a success. It was beautiful, relaxing, and restored my faith in the zoo experience. And did I mention it's only $10 to get in? What a great place for a day trip with family, friends, or the little ones. 

For more information about visiting, conservation, exhibits, and events, visit www.oregonzoo.org

Catching Up With LBCC President Hamann

Greg Hamann began serving as the seventh president of Linn Benton Community College in February 2010 and has recently been elected Chair-elect of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).

Hamann is grateful for the opportunity to serve and feels this is also a great opportunity to “draw national attention to some of the great, innovative things that people at LBCC are doing.”

The AACC is the leading proponent and the national “voice for community colleges,” supporting and promoting its member colleges through “policy initiatives, innovative programs, research and information and strategic outreach to business and industry and the national news media.”

We got a chance to catch up with Hamann and find out more about his new role and how it might affect Linn Benton students in the future.

WHO IS THE AACC?

The AACC is the National Association of about 1600 community colleges in the country. This is our professional association with about 1300 of them being members of the AACC. Then there is a specific group within the AACC, which is the collective membership of the presidents themselves of the institutions. They work together to develop professional development opportunities and talk about where we need to be moving strategically. 

So it’s a place in which we’re able to collectively think about the role of community colleges and then to develop programming that helps us as a group to think in specific directions and move in specific ways.

WHAT IS THE FOCUS OF AACC AT THIS TIME?

At the national level, the discussions are around two things. The presidents aren’t leading this discussion but we’re trying to get our head around it to understand what it means for us. The prominent national discussion is how to get more people who try college to be successful at college because the vast majority isn’t.

If you look at this community, in our district alone, if you take the population 25 years and older, (according to the 2010 census), 26% of the population has done some college and never completed a degree. So what does that do to our capacity to support innovative, growing businesses that would produce employment and economic vitality for this community? It limits us. We need to fix that. 

That’s our local picture, but it’s a part of a national picture and that is: we need to help students complete. We need to help them to achieve the educational outcomes that they said they came here for. Way too many of them get sidetracked, give up, meet what they obviously feel are insurmountable obstacles, and most often I think they just feel sort of lost or alone in that. So we need to think about how to come along side students and lead them… to make it possible for them.

WHAT OBSTACLES ARE STUDENTS FACING?

Frequently, we’re the problem. The way in which we deliver education makes it structurally difficult for them. Maybe they need to be doing their coursework in the evening. Maybe they need to be doing it all online. Maybe they need to be doing it on weekends. Why do you need to quit your job to go to school? Or maybe you’re trying to balance a family life with a partner who works so you have to be home with your kids. So how do we make that work? Our educational model is designed around 19 year-old's that have nothing else to do. 

The other thing that is being discussed at the national level is the business model for higher education. How does it work financially? It appears the cost of education keeps going up. It goes up faster than the inflation index. There are a lot of great explanations for that but that doesn’t solve the challenge that students face in terms of availing themselves to the opportunities that a higher education might provide them. So we’re going to need to fix that. If we don’t fix it, somebody will fix it for us. Education is going to cost less in the future. So we need to ask ourselves, how do we do that?

There’s a whole movement around what we call open-source educational resources, which means that the textbooks, the course design, and the assessment of a huge number of contact areas that we teach could be available to anyone and everyone… for free. 

It’s already true in a lot of areas. You can go online and you can take MIT’s basic biology class right now, for free. You can’t put that together and form a degree, but those resources are out there now. So what does that mean for us? What is our role?

What we’re doing, both nationally and also here at the college, is thinking about and actually starting to plan what that is going to look like and how we’re going to have to be different. I think we’ve done some pretty good work in thinking about what that may be. Probably some of it’s a bit controversial too.

A NEW COURSE CALLED “DESTINATION GRADUATION” WILL BE OFFERED BEGINNING FALL TERM. IS THIS A REQUIRED COURSE DESIGNED TO GUIDE STUDENTS TO COMPLETION?

This is a class for all new students who are degree seeking. What we have learned is that what a student does and decides within a really short period of time after starting college tells you a whole lot about whether or not they will actually succeed. 

So if we can connect with students in ways that encourage and force them to actually develop an academic plan, it’s incredible how much of a higher probability there is that they will actually achieve an educational outcome. So we’re going do that. And that’s really what Destination Graduation is about. 

It’s about saying you come to us, you say that you’re degree seeking; that means you want to graduate. We’re going to talk about a plan to get there. We’re not just going to say, “Oh yeah, it’s going to be great to graduate.” We’re going to sit down and we’re going to make that plan so you know what step 1, step 2, and step 3 is.

WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR LBCC?

I think it is best captured in what we are discussing as our new mission statement. “To engage in an education that enables all of us to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from the cultural richness and economic vitalities of our communities.” I would say that’s my vision for us. 

There are some key components there that distinguish us from other institutions. One, we care about how our education impacts this community. We’re not a private institution that is located somewhere and cares about how they impact New York. We care about impacting Linn and Benton counties. This is OUR community. 

Another thing it says is that your benefit and your community’s benefit are inextricably tied to each other. At some point, I would love every student to be able to say not only what they’re going to do with their life, but how their life is going to make their community better. 

The third thing that it says is that for this to work, it has to be for everyone. It can’t be just for those that can afford it or those that have the right background, because anyone who can’t contribute to this community extracts something from it. I think everyone has the potential to contribute. We just need to feed that potential. 

This is a conversation that’s starting to happen everywhere and I hope we turn this into reality. I don’t want to live in a world where 10 percent of the population has something and the rest of us are all trying to have it. I think public education, especially community college education, is the best chance we have for all of us to succeed and thrive.

ARE THERE ANY NEW COURSES/PROGRAMS YOU FORSEE FOR FUTURE LBCC STUDENTS?

I do think, in general terms, there’s certainly areas in which we look to grow and expand. There will be an ever increasing need for people to work in a variety of health occupations and areas. Nursing is the one we sort of fixate on but there’s dozens of other ones and some that we don’t even know the names of yet. With coordinated care, under health care reform, there are going to be a whole plethora of people who are specialists in coordinating care. Nobody has a training program for that person yet. My guess is we’re going to have one someday, someday real soon. 

I also think that we’re going to see a need for people to work, not just sort of ideally but very practically, in the area of alternative fuels and alternative energies. So I anticipate in the very near future that we’ll see a significant transformation of programs, like our automotive technology program and our mechatronics program, that will move us into thinking a whole lot more broadly than diesel and gasoline. I think that that’s an exciting proposition. I would love to be a leader in supporting that economic cluster in this area. 

There are some programs that are growing at this institution that would appear to have nothing to do with jobs. Our theater program, our music program, some of our language programs, poetry, writing… 

One of the things that are in our mission statement, as proposed, is that it isn’t just about economic vitality; it’s about cultural richness. Our quality of life is not determined solely by our paycheck, and we want to make sure that that is tangibly represented in the work that we do. 

So I think that what you’ll find is that we’ll be more explicit in why we do those things… why we do theater, why we do choral, why we do baseball; you know, the things in life that remind us that life is supposed to be fun. And maybe that’s why they were first invented but sometimes we forget why.

I think we’re going to see ourselves being way more intentional in talking about why we do these things and why they matter. I think that will help students too. It will help all of us, not just students, to be more intentional about how we choose to participate. 

If we really think theater enriches our lives, maybe students will go to the theater. Or journalism… maybe we’ll read the paper, maybe we’ll try our hand at writing. 

So much of our problems as a culture right now are related to our inability to constructively communicate with each other. Our music and writing is all about communicating, and we need to rediscover that.

WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF ACHIEVING SINCE YOU STARTED HERE IN 2010?

I don’t think much in terms of personal accomplishments. It’s been an interesting time with such significant challenges.

I think I’m proud of having helped us to be in a pretty positive place, in pretty challenging times. And that is the collective capacity of all the people who are a part of this, not just me.

Our physical environment has changed so drastically since I came here. I’m proud that we’ve gone through some really challenging times pretty unified.

I don’t think we, as a community, feel defeated. I think we feel like there’s hope. I think we have a stronger sense that we have the capacity to design our future, which is really the definition of hope.

Advertising Blog - Do The Dew

If you're any kind of bad-ass, then you definitely "Do The Dew." Mountain Dew's ad campaign called Do The Dew has a series of commercials featuring great martial artists like Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris, hot, new actors like Channing Tatum, and many unknown, everyday "bad-asses" like you and me.

A great example to start with is Steven Seagal's commercial.
http://youtu.be/sgAL9_AMUpI
Steven Seagal strolls into a market for a soda in the middle of a robbery. The bad guys try to take him out but trip, fall, and crumble around him. (He's just that cool.) When he goes to pay for his soda, (Mountain Dew of course), he leans down to give the clerk an autograph, accidentally headbutts him, and he's out for the count as well. He then manages to knock the cops out when he opens the door to leave. The message? Steven Seagal is the ultimate tough guy and HE drinks Mountain Dew.

And who could forget the one with the ram?
http://youtu.be/Tt6C6P3bJq8
An ordinary, average looking gentlemen (Joe Dirt's brother perhaps) finds himself out in the woods with a big ram coming between him and his Mountain Dew. He has "no choice" but to ram the ram and take him out. It's hilarious. The message? There's nothing a man won't do for his Mountain Dew. It's just that good.

Another entertaining and comical commercial was Mountain Dew Master.
http://youtu.be/3yAHg7GdjAs
A man travels to a monastery to train with Buddhist monks. It starts off serious and profound, until you quickly realize he has begun training to be a hand-slapping master. This one really cracked me up. In the end, after all the pain and strenuous practice, he cracks open a Mountain Dew. The message? Wherever you are, whatever you do, nothing quenches like a Mountain Dew.

There are many more of these commercials that get the same message across. I really can't think of another soda company that's come up with a gimmick as entertaining and effective as this one. In my opinion, it appeals to a younger crowd, which appears to be their target audience. If I had to pick a weakness about this campaign, it would be that older generations may be left out or may not be quite as entertained by the wild, bad-ass angle that these commercials portray.

I think one factor that leads to a successful commercial is whether or not they are memorable. I feel that these most certainly are. They are so comical that you cannot help but watch, which I think is probably the most important aspect of all. The whole point is to get people's attention and keep them from turning away. For me, they succeed every time.

The "Do The Dew" campaign started in 1993 and continued for 19 years. In April of this year, a new "How We DEW" tagline and multi-million dollar advertising campaign was launched with the help of rapper Lil Wayne. Check it out at www.mountaindew.com