New Issue of The Banyan

The new issue of The Banyan, CCC's online periodical of excellent student writing, is available for viewing (http://depts.clackamas.cc.or.us/banyan/). In our search for material, we ask instructors in departments across the campus for nominations of not only academic papers, but also creative nonfiction, science writing, and technical writing. And we could imagine a future issue displaying a portfolio of paintings, an interesting drafting project, or part of a student-made film or musical composition.

For this issue, we found a variety of writings, including an analysis of our country’s current nursing shortage, an exploration of “Seventeeth Century Dutch Genre Painting,” an extensive research paper on “The Role of Spiritual Paradigms in Mental Illness in the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Region,” and a technical report covering “Augmentative and Alternative Communication.” In these files, you will find unique topics, personal essays, reflections on readings, and unusual perspectives.

With this issue, we announce the expansion of our editorial board, with writer/independent filmmaker/instructor Andy Mingo joining writer/instructor Jim Grabill and technical support pro Joel Sheller. And it is our pleasure to recognize the first recipient of the Lesley Award for Writing Excellence: Avery Erickson, for the well researched, creative, and insightful essay “Bark if You Love Me: Exploring Our Unique Bond with Dogs” ( http://depts.clackamas.cc.or.us/banyan/4.1/erickson.htm). Congratulations to Avery Erickson and to the other contributors. Here are just two paragraphs from Erickson's essay:

"There is a variety of reasons and ideas that might explain why the relationships dogs share with us come so close to something utopian. Most of us have at one time or another been in a relationship with another human (unless you live in a cave somewhere in North Dakota), and these relationships can often be quite frustrating; we disagree, argue, get annoyed with, and distrust each other. When we interact with other human beings, we are forced to comply with who they are and accept what they do, something that can be disgruntling to our naturally dominant natures and our wish to control our worlds. With dogs, however, things are quite different. There seem to be two things about dogs that define why our bond with them is so unique: rather than challenge us, they submit to us, and rather than lie and fail us they seem to be entirely honest and truthful. Humans are so prone to telling white lies that it becomes almost impossible to know if they truly mean what they say. Suzanne Clothier believes that what is so reassuring about dogs is that by nature, they have no "concealed feelings" (we will see later how this is a disputed opinion). She comments that it is a refreshing thing to experience forthrightness after the exhausting and frustrating myriad of human communication policies saturated with socially accepted "lying" (103). Dogs do not hide their feelings or wait to tell us how much we are loved and appreciated, something that feels pretty good to us. Simply by being themselves, they make us feel like celebrities, and in essence, to them we are. Canadian author Robertson Davies observes that "[t]he dog is a yes-animal. Very popular with people who can't afford a yes man." What we are beginning to see here, is that dogs are perfect at satisfying our needs, which makes our natures very compatible. Our personalities fit together like puzzle pieces.

"Everyone has a need for love and warm companionship. This is something that goes not only for many American civilians, but many American soldiers as well: when we need a loving companion to stand by our side, dogs are one of the places we turn. Imagine: it's a dark, sweltering night. Noises coming from outside your khaki, army-issued tent jolt you awake in a cold sweat. You've been here for months, thousands of miles from home and family. With no one to keep you company but your commanders and fellow GI's, life has become a dreary existence fraught with impending danger and sobering, harsh realities. This is the situation in which an Army sergeant in Iraq found himself, but things drastically changed for him when a mongrel puppy wandered into his tent. The sergeant reveals in a news report from February: "[w]hen I saw him, I smiled . . . I smiled so big and realized that I haven't smiled in five months" (Hoffman). This is a familiar story for GI's in combat areas. The same news report comments that "across Iraq and Kuwait, U.S. troops are rescuing beaten, starving and homeless dogs, lavishing them with TLC and crediting the mutts with making their long months at war bearable, even joyful at times." Now, having formed powerful bonds with the dogs that "provide them [with] affection . . . and a sense of normality and purpose amid endless days filled with tedium, fatigue, fear and death," these soldiers are desperately trying to get their dogs sent home to the U.S. A few have made it. Dogs are a much-appreciated source of love and companionship; they are always there ready to step in, innocently and lovingly giving renewed meaning to life. In the same news report, explaining the comfort the dogs provide, officer Susan Tianen comments, "We needed something to hug" (Hoffman). By exemplifying the ideals of loyalty, trust and unconditional love, dogs fill our deep need to experience these characteristics."

We will be reading for issue 4.2 of The Banyan around June 1, but CCC instructors can nominate papers before then. Send nominated essays or projects in Word to jimg@clackamas.edu.

Good energy to you--
Jim Grabill, Andy Mingo, and Joel Sheller
Editors of The Banyan