LBCC "Spring's Light"

Emcee Leslie Hammond talks up the crowd Friday, May 16, 2014, during "Spring's Light," the third annual prose and poetry fundraiser for LBCC's English Department. The event, which supports the LBCC English Endowment Fund, filled the atrium of LBCC's Benton Center in Corvallis. Money from the event supports literature, arts and students

Michael Winder humors the crowd at "Spring's Light" with a story he calls "You Are Invited to the Sparkle Barbecue."

LBCC graduate Jennifer Hartsock shares her young adult fiction. She was among a dozen readers who alternated between providing poetry and prose, humor and serious commentary. 

To see more photos from this year's event, see Rob Priewe's photostream on Flickr.com.

LBCC instructor Gary Westford shares his '60s stories, poster art

Graphic arts student Pauline Evans admires one of the concert posters on display Tuesday during a talk by LBCC art instructor Gary Westford.

ALBANY -- Borrowing a phrase from the counterculture, Gary Westford quipped, "What a long, strange trip it's been."

That's how Westford wrapped up his "Sixties Presentation" Tuesday afternoon at LBCC, a sort of final lecture for the art instructor who will wrap up his tenure at the college at the end of this term.

Gary Westford

During his hour-long talk, Westford reminisced about attending San Francisco State College during the peak of one of the most exciting eras in U.S. history.

Westford's years at the community college coincided with the anti-war, social justice movements that embroiled his campus almost daily in clashes between students and police. Meanwhile, he had a front-row seat to one of the major musical movements of our times.

As part of his talk, he showed off signature pieces from his psychedelic rock music poster collection by Wes Wilson, David Singer, Stanley Mouse and others. Their work touted "mind-blowing" concerts by the likes of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, the Chambers Brothers, and Big Brother and the Holding Company. The dozen or so audience members nodded along with Westford in appreciation of the musical talents that came through town, from Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin and The Doors, to Chuck Berry, Count Basie and Albert King, every bit the equal of legendary bluesman B.B. King.

Along with the posters, Westford shared photos and an iconic video performance by Buffalo Springfield: "There's something happening here, but what it is ain't exactly clear ..."

What was clear to Westford is that he was fortunate to have a choice view of history during his years at SF State, from January 1968 to 1971. He arrived on a wrestling scholarship, the son of a U.S. serviceman who was at Pearl Harbor and a career military nurse. While once tempted to follow his father into the service, he has no regrets today that his life took a different path. After college he worked as a probation counselor, along with earning a master's degree in art.

"I wanted to be an agent for change in the system," he said. 

In 1979 he landed in Salem, Oregon, teaching art to prison inmates. He worked two decades in the state's correctional system before joining the art faculty at Linn-Benton. This spring he will be retiring, along with graphic arts colleague John Aikman.

On Tuesday, Westford relished the opportunity to share his passion for art, music and education, and how they collided spectacularly during the late-1960's. He described what it was like to live in Haight-Ashbury, the epicenter of San Francisco's counter-cultural revolution.

"The scene was like from another planet," he said. "I knew it was a very special time." 

He likes to think that what happened there made a difference, sowing seeds of exploration and discovery. Though he acknowledges "the jury is still out."

Westford also recalled the "Human Be-in," a January 1967 gathering of upwards of 30,000 peace activists in nearby Golden Gate Park. While Westford didn't attend the event himself, he has documented it with a short film, courtesy of footage supplied to him about five years ago by Albany resident Bob Ramsdell.

Westford collaborated on the seven-minute film with Ken Long of LBCC's media services department. The film offers a unique viewpoint of one of the era's pivotal happenings.

It concludes with another popular saying from that era: "If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem."

Those who would like to catch an encore presentation of Westford's talk can join him at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, in Room 106 of North Santiam Hall at LBCC's Albany campus. 

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"Spring Light": A Fundraiser for LBCC English

LBCC English instructor Chris Riseley serves as master of ceremonies during "Spring Light," a fundraiser last Friday, April 19, at the Benton Center in Corvallis. Featuring LBCC faculty and friends, the event raised money for English department programs such as the Valley Writers Series.

LBCC English instructor Robin Havenick reads poetry and prose during "Spring Light." Among the passages she read were a bit of "Canterbury Tales" and poems by Frieda Fredrickson.

Kiera Lynn Eller and Crash perform as Little Brother during "Spring Light." They are students at LBCC and involved in the college's Poetry Club. More photos from this event are posted on Flickr and at "LBCC Journalism" on Facebook.

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Peter Jensen Next Up in Valley Writers Series

LBCC English instructor and Shakespeare aficionado Peter Jensen will discuss his new book, "Shakespeare's Lovers," at the next Valley Writers event on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Jensen will read from the novel and "describe his journey of research and discovery" beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Room 106 of North Santiam Hall on LBCC's Albany campus.

In addition to publishing "Shakespeare's Lovers," a fictional mystery that focuses on the playwright's life in London and Stratford, Jensen recently updated "Shakespeare's Name Code," a chronology  of research concerning Shakespeare's autobiographical code.

In addition to sharing his expertise on Shakespeare, Jensen teaches fiction, science fiction and writing. He earned is bachelor's degree in English, philosophy and anthropology at the University of Michigan and his master's in English from New York University.

For more information, go online to shakespearessonnets.googlepages.com/home.

The next event in the Valley Writers series will feature Charles Goodrich, Marjorie Sandor and George Estreich from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in the Fireside Room of the Calapooia Center at LBCC.

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Review: “The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)”

Siva Vaidhayanathan - Photo courtesy of Anne Helmond

All who are fascinated by Google should add “The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry)” to their reading list. This book by media scholar Siva Vaidhayanathan is an essential companion to Ken Auletta’s “Googled” and “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis.

As Vaidhayanathan notes at the outset, his examination is not a rehash of Google’s storied history, which is adequately detailed by Auletta and others. Rather, he proposes a series of questions about Google, its mission and its outsized and growing impact not only on individuals but society. He focuses on Google practices and their impact on privacy, copyright and censorship.

While enthusiastically endorsing much of what Google does and the services it provides — “Google has made my life better and richer” — he encourages readers to go beyond the company’s famous “Don’t be evil” motto to consider the broader implications of the company’s business practices. More than anything, we need to remember that Google exists as a profit-making enterprise beholden to its shareholders. Yes, it provides users with information through its industry-leading search services, but it makes its billions by targeting advertising at those same users.

As the author notes, Google’s main business is “consumer profiling.” It takes all those searches by users and turns them into leads for advertising to those same users. And for the most part we are content to just go along with it.

Likewise, we seldom hesitate to give over to Google personal data as we make use of all its various platforms, from Google search to Blogger to YouTube to Google Docs. The company processes that data and combines it with everything else it learns about us to further “enhance” all those same services.

This all seems fine as long as the company purports to “don’t be evil.”

The dilemma becomes “How much do we want to control what we do using Google?” vs. “How much are we willing to allow Google to control us?” For example, my Media & Society class has been debating the “filter bubbles” that gradually begin to erode the diversity of our online searches as Google’s sophisticated algorithms offer results more and more in keeping with our interests and opinions.

As Vaidhayanathan notes early on (p. 9): “If Google is the dominant way we navigate the Internet, and thus the primary lens through which we experience both the local and the global, then it has remarkable power to set agendas and alter perceptions. Its biases (valuing popularity over accuracy, established sites over new, and rough rankings over more fluid or multidimensional models of presentation) are built into its algorithms. And those biases affect how we value things, perceive things, and navigate the worlds of culture and ideas.”

The author also explores questions surrounding the Google Books Library Project, an initiative to scan and make available all the world’s books, including works contained in the libraries of universities. While a noble effort in many ways, it runs smack into copyright concerns as well.

Likewise, Vaidhayanathan examines how Google’s products are “customized” from one country to the next — according to local laws and customs, the company notes. Some call it censorship, noting the business incentives that Google has for remaining on good terms in its host countries. The issues raise a variety of interesting free speech and freedom of information questions, which the author notes are constantly in play depending on the political status of each nation.

“The Googlization of Everything” is a thought-provoking read, providing a solid groundwork for evaluating Google both as a force of business and a force for democracy.

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