2025-26 ASMHCC members, left to right: Jared Young, Becca King, Andrew Gonzalez, Liana Navarro, Jeffrey Erickson, Rachel Jones, Niang San Cing, Elaria Salib, Isaias Figeroa, Rhuan Carneiro. Not pictured: Brooklyn Noel, Nam Dang,Stephani Ortiz Moreno. The Associated Students of Mt. Hood Community College’s (ASMHCC) election for student body president and vice president for 2025-26 has concluded, with the Office of Student Life announcing on April 24 that Jeffery Erickson and E

Left to right incoming 2025-2026 ASMHCC president, Jeffrey Erickson, and acting 2024-2025 ASMHCC president Rachel Jones. The new Mt. Hood student body president for 2025-26 has ambitious goals for next year’s student leadership team. Jeffery Erickson told The Advocate during his campaign that his primary goals were to be responsive to the needs of students, build community by running social events for students, put work into cleaning up the campus grounds, and the challenging

HOW THE MHCC CAMPUS MIGHT FARE AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE The proposed $136 million bond measure for Mt. Hood Community College on the May 20 special election ballot would help pay for badly needed repairs and upgrades at the Gresham campus.Perhaps deserving a top priority: Addressing campus areas most vulnerable to devastating earthquake damage. All Photos by Leo Fontneau Daina Hardisty, a geology instructor at MHCC, recently produced a video clip for the college where she argued t

MHCC Barney’s Pantry Photo by Leo Fontneau Mt. Hood students who use Barney’s Pantry are already feeling the effects of recent Trump administration budget reductions. At the beginning of April, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture reduced the amount of food it supplied to food banks nationwide through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which included the Oregon Food Bank, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Steve Herff, coordinator for Barney’s Pantry, said the cutb

WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED APRIL 24 I have high hopes for the 2025-26 student body leadership, as there are two candidates running for both president and vice president of the Associated Students of Mt. Hood Community College (ASMHCC):· Jeffery Erickson and Heart Pham as student body president· Rhuan Carneiro and Elaria Salibas as student body vice presidentErickson said he is running because he’s passionate about making a real difference on campus. One of his top priorities is

The long–sought Mt. Hood Community College bond measure (following a handful of unsuccessful attempts, the most recent in 2017) is finally going to have its moment on the ballot, again.Oregon’s May 20 special election will include the $136.4 million tax proposal for all property owners in the college’s far-reaching district, which was formally adopted on Jan. 15 by the MHCC District Board of Education.The summary submitted to explain the bond proposal to voters mostly focuses

PUSHBACK AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Unfortunately, it’s not a bold statement to say that we live in some very troubling and interesting times. No matter what side of the political fence you sit on, I think that’s something we can all agree upon. I have never been very active when it comes to politics, but as a result of current events, that’s changed. So, on Tuesday, March 4, I decided I would attend my first protest, in downtown Portland. The day began with me nervously ta

2025 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY AT MHCC Celebrating International Women’s Day at MHCC means honoring the women who have continuously worked hard to achieve their own personal dreams and make positive impacts in our communities. The focus in this year’s event, held March 6 in the Student Union, was to recognize some of the inspirational and hardworking women at MHCC, including those in vitally important healthcare fields. Special guest speaker Fernanda Baños Cervantes, communi

Union to vote on new contract The MHCC administration and the college’s Classified Employees Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract, both sides have confirmed. The pending agreement reached on March 5, to be voted on by CEA members by March 17, would replace the previous five-year contract that expired last June 30. Mt. Hood’s District Board has scheduled an executive session prior to its regularly scheduled meeting on March 19 to address the n

A proposed Mt. Hood Community College operating budget for the 2025-26 academic year includes an increase in tuition – but would still exceed expected revenue, pushing the college’s reserves to the limit, according to the college’s budget director. At the Feb. 19 MHCC District Board of Education meeting, Jennifer DeMent, the vice president of finance and administration, presented the college’s budget assumptions for the upcoming year. To address rising costs, a tuition increa

UNION OUTLINES STRIKE THREAT A storm of a different type is brewing on campus. Representatives of the college’s Classified Employees Association who addressed the Feb. 11 meeting of the Mt. Hood student body government delivered a strong message: The bargaining group that includes MHCC’s non-teaching and non-administrative staff is prepared to strike soon if a new labor contract isn’t reached with the college. CEA employees attending an MHCC District Board meeting in November

From Federal to the Classroom Based on interview with MHCC political science instructor Janet Campbell, who led a Feb. 11 Zoom discussion on the topic. What is an Executive Order? On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing over 3 million enslaved individuals across 10 states. However, the enforcement of this order was dependent on Union military victories. While monumental, the Emancipation Proclamation was not passed as a law but

The employment office’s successful efforts to increase the wages of work study positions and to better connect students to those positions created a ‘perfect storm.’ On Jan. 15, Christopher Natelborg, the director of Financial Aid at MHCC, informed students participating in Federal Work Study positions that maximum dollar awards for Winter and Spring terms would be reduced, from $2,400 to $1,500 per term. According to Natelborg, the college had so successfully increased stude

“Goods are available to all students with an MHCC Student ID, and the process is simple.” Barney’s Pantry has a brand-new location, and it’s bigger, better, and more stocked than ever before. Yes, as of this month, Barney’s Pantry has officially moved and now has a larger space to serve students with more new food options. The new pantry – in Building 12, filling the longtime former bookstore space off MHCC’s Main Mall central courtyard – feels just like a grocery store, with

Art by Leo Decklar Our Public Safety team here at MHCC has its hands reached out all over the campus, watching over the safety of the students and staff who attend the school. But what does that all mean? The Public Safety office has staff on campus 24/7, patrolling the campus, watching out for any unsafe behaviors or people, and making sure students and staff are comfortable at all times. They respond to all sorts of calls, ranging from someone feeling unsafe in an area, to

Did you know that by being associated with MHCC, you are participating at the forefront of community innovation? In fact, we are a part of a community movement that has potential to change our country. The opening of the Abigail Court residences last autumn marks not only a first in student housing for our local community, but a first in the nation. College students don’t traditionally qualify for off-campus housing support, even though 20% of those enrolled in community coll

Shari’s Shutters its Doors for Good Will Oregonians ever recover from losing their beloved Shari’s? The Beaverton-headquartered restaurant chain officially and abruptly closed all of its Oregon locations on Oct. 21, leaving regular customers and employees at a loss. That includes the Gresham outlet on Northeast Burnside Road, at the Oregon Trail Center shopping center. The downfall of the largest family diner chain in the PNW began even before the COVID-19 pandemic. According

Photo by Laramie Oedell If you live near any kind of water, be it a small creek or the Columbia River, you will find the water level rises in the winter. Many things affect this, mainly heavy rains, or snow melting from the hills, causing the water to run into surrounding streams. For the ocean, the tides also just change year-round, due to the moon’s gravitational pull on the sea. During winter, when the moon is closer to the earth in our Northern Hemisphere, the tides beco

Inflation in the restaurant industry …What’s really going on here? Inflation is a hot topic across the nation, especially with the looming U.S. presidential election, and it seems that the food industry has been hit especially hard, piggy-backed on the near-dissolution of the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the USDA Economic Research Service the “average annual food-at-home prices were 5 percent higher in 2023 than in 2022. For context, the 20-y

Supporting survivors of violence This month, Mt. Hood has displayed decorated T-shirts in the Library lobby as participation in the nationwide Clothesline Project. Though these shirts may seem to be simply an expression of art, it’s also a way for those affected by violence to speak out against their abusers anonymously. The first Clothesline Project event was hosted by the Cape Cod’s Women Defense Agenda in 1990 after a member discovered that while 58,000 soldiers lost their