I was wondering today whether or not this year's crop of new hires got the bus ride around the outlying campi. I forgot to ask the new Art History hire about that.
In the "Bendnotes" I wrote back in 1988 (letters to my friends back in graduate school) I mention the trip our group of eleven took around the district. We went south through Sunriver to La Pine, then north to Madras and Prineville and back through Redmond to the Bend campus.
"We rode through the high desert on a bus that used to belong to the Rajneeshies (it was purchased by COCC at the auction which followed the abandonment of Rajneesh Puram). It was very comfortable. It had a microphone set up, heat, and pretty comfortable seats."
"As we rolled past the various volcanic formations, Bruce [this was geologist Bruce Nolf] talked to us about the geology of the region . . . He speaks of time with a geologist's sense, speaking of anything within the past 10 thousand years as 'recent.' . . . At three of our stops we met board members.. . . Except for the building in La Pine, each of the COCC ports were converted store fronts. The off campus activities emphasize the teaching of basic math, computer and literacy skills, and traditional community education activities like oil painting and pine needle basket weaving. They each also have a lunch time lecture series which emphasizes visual aids, slides. I volunteered to do some work next quarter on visual persuasion (yes, I do plan to drag along some John Berger into these conservative communities.)"
So, back now in 2013, I didn't ask my newest colleagues whether they'd made the tour. But I did find out something I wouldn't have known if I hadn't attended the retreat. I found out from new guy Steve in science that the "cadaver cart" in the new science building has a squeaky wheel so he knows when it's passing his classroom while he's lecturing. "Cadaver cart" you ask? Well, the new building (which blocks my office view of the Three Sisters) has a corpse room where they keep dismemberable bodies so that future nurses and doctors can get some hands-on experience.
I'm thinking about leaving my own corpus delectable to my confreres here . . . . should retirony be in force.
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