Josh Cande Presents The Roadrunner Monitor

  “On Writing” by Stephen King Is perhaps one of the most telling tales of writing an autobiography that any reader will ever pick up. The stories from King's childhood include recountings of his self-published newspapers and personal life that bring light to the darkness which inspires his writing. One of the most interesting stories from his book is writing a tabloid magazine for his classmates that mock the teachers at his high school, which King was reprimanded for and nearly suspended from his school for publishing. While Mercy was found upon King, it appears to have been a pivotal moment in his life as he decided that he did not want to pursue a career in journalism.  “I never got to like Carrie White and I never trusted Sue Snell's motives in sending her boyfriend to the prom with her, but I did have something there. Like a whole career.” One would imagine that a writer would be fond of their characters, and in this quote it is revealed to the reader that King may not ...

In the quest for the next big music star, or even next great song, society scours the internet (and everywhere else, too) for even a hint that an artist has potential. By observing the Billboard Hot 100 , one name you'll come across is David Kushner. Never heard of him? All the better. At 23 years old, Kushner began his professional music career in 2020. His music has been streamed more than 500 million times, and his most notable single reached a peak of 47 on the Billboard Hot 100... so far. Is Kushner the big thing in music? You'll have to listen to "Daylight" to make a decision. David Kushner’s "Daylight" is a somber tune from a baritone voice that explores our inner conception of morality and our struggles with our inner self. The song is haunting, and the accompanying video matches the theme of the music. Check out the full lyrics here . The video starts with Kushner entering a church with a young boy while singing of his desire to stay away from his...

  Albany - The Linn-Benton campus was filled with faces new and old on Thursday, April 20, when the college held its annual ExploreLB event. Laughter filled the air, children ran around tables, and games were played while prospective students met with faculty to learn about Everything the school can offer. Across the campus tables were set up with faculty describing their classes and programs. From Dental Assisting to choral programs, creative writing, human services, anthropology, technology and others, the many opportunities at LB were put on display. Raymund Ocampo interviewed several prospective new choir members in the Learning Center and made sure to advertise his international award-winning program:  “Music is the elective with the largest enrollment, and we’re always looking for new members! We have so many talented people both teaching and performing and we look forward to our travels to the United Kingdom in the summer. Everyone is welcome and we have a lot of fun.” ...

Albany- The Roadrunners split another pair of games on Saturday, April 22, this time with Umpqua Community College.  LB dropped the first contest by a score of 2-1 before winning the second 3-0. The Beaks entered the day with a record of 20-12, including a 15-9 tally in divisional play. At the end of the day, LB stood at 21-13 in the NWAC standings and 16-10 in the South Division. Umpqua started the day with a 19-13 record overall and finished with a 20-14 record after the double header. In the first game, the Roadrunners managed to get on the board first in the bottom of the sixth inning; Camden Christenson singled to get things started. This was followed by an RBI by Titus Dumitru, who singled to left field and allowed Christenson to score. In the top of the 7th, Umpqua managed to get two runs home, which proved to be the final scores in the contest. For the game, LB had 6 hits and struck out 9 times while pitchers Chase Reynolds and Kellan Oakes recorded 10 strikeouts of their o...

Albany – The Linn-Benton Board of Directors held a meeting to review and vote upon several resolutions on April 19, relating to administrative compensation, and campus safety. The event also saw the swearing in of the new Student Leadership Council. Several faculty, as well as community members voiced their opinions on the board’s legislative proposals. The primary interest to many attending was the elimination of faculty librarian positions. The relevant legislation, Board Resolution 32-23, which would increase administrative salaries, was perceived by many to be funded by the termination of these positions. Almost 20 letters were sent in support of the faculty librarians. Impassioned defenses were sent to the board, displaying the strength of the LB community. Tension was in the air as throngs of faculty, staff, students, and community members packed into Calapooia Center to hear the board speak about the potential policy changes affecting campus. Lined along the walls, sitting on ta...

SALEM – The Roadrunners baseball team split a pair of games with the Chemeketa Storm on Saturday, April 15. The Beaks won the first game by a score of 3-2 before losing the second with a reciprocal score of 3-2. Improving their overall record to 20-12 over the past week, the Roadrunners recorded five consecutive wins over Chemeketa and Mt. Hood. This winning streak ended in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday with the loss to the Storm. LB took advantage of errors in the first game to score 2 runs. The first game was scoreless until the top of the sixth inning after Titus Dumitru singled and then Trey Nelson doubled, allowing Dumitru to head for home. Nelson then advanced to third on an error, and advanced to home plate after another error. Chemeketa managed to score a run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a single by Chemeketa’s Biddinger. With the score at 2-1, the Roadrunners ended up putting the game away after Durham Sundberg was walked to first and then scored af...

Almost one year removed from winning the championship, the Linn-Benton Baseball team finds itself in a challenging yet highly promising scenario this season to take home another NWAC title. Sporting a 15-11 record after a loss to Mt. Hood, they are focused on the April 13 game at home versus Chemeketa. As the season continues into the second half, the men have the goal of repeating as champions of the NWAC, according to coach Andy Peterson. “We want to make the playoffs, win our games and take home another title, definitely. That’s the plan,” Peterson said. “We have a good amount of returning players, this team is a family, and we believe in one another. Our pitchers are great, our hitters are great and we just need to execute.” As Pacific Association Division Coach of the Year and part of the coaching staff that helped bring the Oregon State Baseball team to the College World Series, Peterson’s laurels are as impressive as one could ask for. His focus on team chemistry has manifested ...

  TOPIC: "ON WRITING” -- After reading the first 50 pages of Stephen King's "On Writing”:         King's book is rich in description and vivid stories about his childhood, and the reader is adroitly informed of the upbringing which lead him to be the writer he is. While stories of a personal printing press and malicious babysitters illuminate the audience to the darkness and horrors of King's experiences and inspirations, it is not any horror story that is most memorable to me. Instead, King's adventures with his brother seem to me to be the fuel behind his entrepreneurism and willingness to put himself into the world. Perhaps no anecdote is as telling as his magnet experiment with his brother, encapsulated by the following: "Dave cut the cord off an old lamp someone had put out on the curb with the trash, stripped the coating all the way down to the plug, then wrapped his magnetized spike in spirals of bare wire. Then, sitting on the floor in the kit...

$975. That wasn’t the amount that I wanted to owe Chemeketa Community College. With a half grimace on my face while staring at the balance due section of the college’s website, I faced a significant obstacle in attending in the fall semester.  After several years away from college, I had taken a piano class in the winter of 2022. Getting an A in the course encouraged me to take another, and I figured that in the spring Spanish 101 would be good for my working life as well. Owing the college money was a problem, however. So, I figured that searching the surrounding area for community colleges might offer the opportunity to receive financial aid. Luckily, owing one college money won’t stop you from getting financial aid from another. Linn-Benton, only 30 minutes away from my home, seemed like a good campus to explore. On a sunny August afternoon, I drove over to Albany and toured the Linn-Benton campus. This was after a conversation with my mom, wherein she told me that she couldn’t ...

Welcome back to my blog! Since my last blog post I have solidified my decision to be a Journalism major and a Spanish major. I really enjoyed making my contributions to the Commuter and participating in school journalism last term. I think that in this feature writing class, I will enjoy formulating my formats for writing more stories for the Commuter as they grow more sophisticated in their structure and precise in the unfolding of their narratives. What I'm looking forward to learning in this class is the different types of articles that might be written for newspapers or online media and the manner in which material might be presented in an engaging way. I think that my first goal for the term is to create a format for my research summary pieces, because I love to read peer-reviewed journals and present the information from them in a simple format that is easy for persons to understand who have a limited education in the topic at hand. My second goal is to write 10 pieces for th...

       In the midafternoon light, Oakie sat in the beanbag chair watching the projector display the documentary onto the screen. If not for the bright sun beaming outside the window, the golden gleam of an object beneath the screen would not have attracted Oakie's attention. Placing her hands on the sides of the bean bag and rising up from the bag, Oakie adjusted her skirt, tilted her head curiously to the side, and moved towards the object. Hidden beneath a rolled up carpet, she moved it to the side to discover a compass. It couldn't have been used in hundreds of years.