Field Notes by Imara

Photo by Savannah West Faculty say a 21% differential tuition surcharge is raising costs across career and technical education and lab-heavy programs, raising questions about transparency and affordability. Students enrolled in Linn-Benton Community College’s career and technical education and lab-based programs often pay significantly more per credit than peers in transfer-focused degree pathways, a cost structure some faculty say is becoming increasingly difficult for students to navigate as total program costs continue to rise. At the center of the debate is differential tuition, a 21% surcharge applied to many CTE and lab-heavy courses. The charge is meant to help account for the higher cost of running hands-on programs that require specialized facilities, equipment, and supplies. But faculty members in some high-cost programs say the model raises questions about affordability and transparency. Rising costs raise concerns about accessibility Mike LeBlanc, faculty department chair...

Photo courtesy of Rocky the Roadrunner Behind the feathers and foam is a performer who builds personality without speaking a word. To most students at Linn-Benton Community College, Rocky the Roadrunner is simply a familiar part of campus life, appearing at games, events, and celebrations across the community. Behind the costume, however, mascot performance involves far more than waving, dancing, or hyping up a crowd. It is a full-body language of improvisation, timing, endurance, and reading a room without ever saying a single word. The student behind Rocky did not exactly plan to end up in a mascot suit. Their first real experience came from a search for something meaningful, a spark that emerged through a Special Olympics Oregon event. What makes Rocky work is not a script or routine but a kind of controlled chaos inspired by cartoon logic, where every prank, interaction, or joke is built in real time and often backfires in some way. Photo courtesy of Rocky. Over time, the role beca...