WHAM Meeting

Last week Marquis Spas had their monthly W.H.A.M meeting at the warehouse in Independence, Oregon. It was a meeting to go over What’s Happening At Marquis (WHAM). The meeting lasted about 30 minutes in which several members of Marquis talked about the different things that were going on. The meeting main objective is to get everyone in the factory on the same page.

Marquis has not been doing very well because of lack of sales since the economy went down hill. Also this is the off season for them and the company is just "trying to keep their heads above water until summer rolls around again." commented Mike Oravetz However, they are starting to bring their numbers back up and trying to conserve as much money and supplies as possible.

First to speak was Oravetz, and he just welcomed everyone and said what the meeting was going to be about. Next was Wes Prindel who discussed the financial numbers and showed how the company was doing as a whole with selling spas. Tony Gonzales went over the quality control and congratulated everyone on "having half as many defects as they did last month." Next birthdays and anniversary reminders were presented by Dave Leclerc.

Lastly Cheryl Porter told everyone about the Marquis sponsorships. "We are going to be having a tree with about 50 kid’s names on it that won’t be able to have Christmas this year." She asked that whom ever has a little extra money to buy a gift for a child. Also she talked about the office Christmas party and what everyone needed to bring.

The meeting was really important for all the people at the company. It helped to point out what the company needed to work on both as a whole and individually. I believe that having it all laid out and compared to prior months helps show everyone how the company is doing. The meeting wasn’t really formal just a little something in the middle of the workday. Everyone in the office and warehouse attended and helped with input.

"Smoke 'em if you got 'em"

Legalizing marijuana? Is it closer than we think? According to last weeks Commuter story "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" by Adam LaMascus, the California legislature are having meetings debating whether or not to legalize marijuana. In this story you will find that it helps point out different drug topics that are being discussed in other states.

While reading this story, there were a lot of easy to follow money facts. One of which was "Tax officials estimate legalizing and taxing cannabis could bring in an additional $1.4 billion in revenues to the financially cramping state. I say go for it, and I don't even smoke." It's in plain English that everyone can understand.

Also, the LaMascus states that while in college he has seen the effects of both cannabis and alcohol. He points out that alcohol causes accidents and alters judgments, which some legalization prohibitionists believe marijuana will do as well. However if alcohol, which we know has those effects, is legal then why isn't cannabis when we don't know the exact effects it will have on citizens?

LaMascus also brings up Harry J. Anslinger who opposes the legalization of marijuana. Anslinger says that cannabis will cause accidents and make people under the influence become angry. I really like the fact that the story tells little bits of each side. It gives the reader a chance to decide for themselves whether or not to go with the choices of legalization.

I really enjoyed reading this article because it helps to show you the facts on legalization and what both sides are thinking and fighting about rather than just showing to pros and it gives everyone the chance to make their own choice about which side to be on. LaMascus uses money facts and the topics that are still being debated to help give the reader information on legalization. Also all the facts about the presidents and marijuana use from the past lets you in on the fact that not everyone has been against it and not everyone will be against it.

News Reporting

When I first came into the news reporting class, I didn’t really know what to think. However, after the first few days I knew it would be one of my favorite classes. It’s taught by Rob Priewe, and he really lets you be yourself. So if you’re into writing this is a great class to take.

So far in the class I’ve learned that there are so many different ways of writing a story. You don’t have to stick with one specific style. You can choose one that fits your story best. I’ve also learned that not everyone is going to cover a news story the same way. It’s okay to do things your own way as long as you get the coverage that you need. One of the other things that I learned was on one of the first days of class. Less is more. This is probably one of the best rules I learned. Its helps to cut the rambling and just makes your stories easier to read.

I like the fact that Rob really allows us to talk about what we think about the stories and he actually takes in what we think. It’s really nice to be able to express what I have to say and also listen to what other people are thinking as well. Everyone in the class gets the chance to express their own individual writing styles and give feedback to you and show you something you may have never noticed before. The only reason I really took this class was to just get a feel for reporting stories, and I never thought I’d learn so much. News reporting has really helped me grow as a writer and that then helped me in some of my other classes.

Tara Lee Profile

Has there ever been someone in your life that really influenced you? Maybe more than you realized at the time? Well for me, that person was Tara Lee. She really helped me grow as a person and, in some ways, prepared me for college.

She is 33 years old and a theater teacher at Sprague High School. Lee started out at George Fox as a pre-law pre-med major but switched to majoring in education after she realized that her true love was, and always had been for education. Lee started out as an elementary school teacher and then moved around from grade to grade.

One day she was counseling at a church camp when she got an unusual call for a job offer from the Salem-Kiezer school district to be the new high school theater teacher at Sprague. Lee asked, “are you sure? I’m just an elementary school teacher.” Even though she thought she would be unqualified, she went to the interview.

During the interview she was telling a story about one of her students and the principal started to cry because of the way Lee descirbed her connection with her students. As she left the interview office, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to get the job. Once they called her back, she was a little skeptical but decided to take the job. “It was so weird and out of the ordinary I knew that I had to pay attention to it.”

Now that Lee is the theater director at Sprague she handles all of the productions. Her favorite thing about directing is the progression and growth and seeing all of it come together right in front of her.

In addition, she doesn’t like that she’s always flying solo. She doesn’t want to bring any parents into it because “they muddy the water.” The stress is also a problem when it comes to directing by yourself. Mainly because it’s all on you, if you mess up everyone looks at you. Also, It's hard to be so close to your students and not be able to have all of them in your show.

One of the things I enjoyed most about having Lee as a teacher, was the way she connected with her students. She’s really passionate about them and even though she’s never had kids, she feels like she’s had hundreds. “I’ve learned a lot from just watching and observing.”

One of her former students, Brent Duford, commented "I liked how she could be official, and disciplinary like a good teacher, but also be so very casual and conversational at the same time." While she's directing she actually gets on stage to help you understand what she's asking you to do.

Her teaching styles are very hands on and I believe that helps her connect with her students because they are shown what to do rather than just told. Another student of Lee's, Dani Potter, shared "she is so willing to help us. Like if we have a problem with anything, she is super helpful. from school to the future."

The next production the Lee is directing is Diviners and it is showing at Sprague High School November 12th - 14th and 19th – 21st at 7pm.