Students Work to Stop Tuition Hikes

During the last session, the State Legislation mandated the community colleges, along with other programs, hold back 3.5% of their funding and told them that next year they are going to see less revenue than expected.

The Community College and Workforce Development (CCWD) fund was initially supposed to be funded for $410 million this year. Since the State Legislation has mandated a 3.5% holdback, they are now being funded roughly $395 million. The CCWD propositions funds for Oregon’s community colleges.

If the 3.5% is not restored back into the legislation, then the CCWD will have a $14.5 million gap and community colleges will be forced to raise tuition.

Along with 3.5% being held back from community colleges, the State Legislation has also decided to holdback funds for the Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC), which funds the Oregon Opportunity Grant. If funds are cut here also, there is the chance of 1,150 scholarships being reduced. For every 3.5% cut from the OSAC, 1,875 awards will not be given to students.

On February 13, students and the Oregon Community College Student Association (OCCSA) traveled to the State Capital for ‘Lobby Day’, the first meeting ever held about this situation. Students were there to ask for their 3.5% restored.

“Students are the sole purpose of this event,” said Eric Noll, OCCSA Board Chair. “Even though we’re all from community colleges, students still have a voice and it needs to be heard.”

The meeting started with Noll reading a ‘Letter of Solidarity’ which was written by the many students that were not able to attend. The students all signed the letter concerning tuition and concerning the nature of their financial aid not going up with their tuition. There were a total of 1,398 students that signed the letter.

There were four major questions that were asked to the panel and asked to the three out of six representatives that bothered to show up. The three representatives present were Rep. Mark Johnson, House District 52, Rep. Michael Dembrow, House District 45, and Rep. Peter Buckley, House District 5. The representatives not present were Rep. Sherrie Sprenger, House District 17, Rep. Betty Komp, House District 22, and Sen. Michael Devlin, S-District 19.

“Funding will always open up many questions and debates,” said Ricky Zipp, LBCC SLC President.

Question 1: What will you do to help lower taxes and tuition for students?

Buckley: We have an overall problem collecting revenue and creating a rainy day fund. We need to invest education back into America. If we don’t create a rainy day fund, we will repeat ourselves again.

Dembrow: Community colleges have been grossly under funded. Students who need community colleges has gone up and help for them has gone down and by raising tuition, cutting classes, and cutting teacher hours isn’t helping them one bit. We need to try and turn around the 3.5% holdback as soon as we can.

Johnson: We can correct this problem in two ways. 1.) By observing and hold certain institutes accountable and 2.) Advocate for greater economic growth. We need to regulate spending.

Question 2: How can we help the economy grow if we’re backed up in student loans?

Dembrow: We need a society that invests in the Oregon Opportunity Grant. Community colleges’ have the hardest chance of getting this grant and it needs to change.

Johnson: We extend our resources, both traditional and non-traditional. We need to invest in the Oregon Opportunity Grant and tell stories of students that need this grant.

Buckley: We have to choose to invest in the Oregon Opportunity Grant. We need to give every student the same opportunity as everyone else for this grant. The state is out $300 million and we need to find where to invest. I know that for the next academic year we are putting $10 million more dollars into the Oregon Opportunity Grant.

Question 3: How specifically can state representatives close the gap for the 40-40-20 legislator and the levels of funding plan for community colleges?

Johnson: We need to begin to adopt policies that help us improve that area. We need to ask ourselves, what can we do to make students better prepared and have a little bit of money when they start school?

Buckley: We have to push students even harder to pass the 12th grade because 10% of a school’s budget is spent on remedial classes. We need to make sure we’re reaching every goal possible. It’s not just the teachers, but the parents that need to help. Parents need to make sure to invest in their kids’ future and make sure they’re ready for the next grade.

Dembrow: We need more money out of the system.  Our spending more money on corrections than education needs to change.  We’ve been ignoring higher education for too long.

Question 4: What will state legislators specifically use to employ OSAC?

Buckley: The next academic year $55 million dollars is going into the Oregon Opportunity Grant. In order to do this, we’re cutting money by closing the courts nine days this year, taking more police off of the road, cutting money to prisons. It costs more money to incarcerate someone than it does to educate someone. We are going to push more for higher education than other topics.

Dembrow: One of the challenges that we’ve faced is that people are losing their jobs and are then going back to school. The Oregon Opportunity Grant has a deadline and the people that come in late, aren’t eligible. Apart from extending the deadline, we need to make it available to part-time students as well.

Johnson: We’ve got to advocate for sound policies that puts more money into school budgets. We need to think of more revenue and need to pass bills that create more jobs, which in turn will create more revenue and put people back to work and will put more money back into Oregon.

Recycling on Campus

Recycling on campus has just completed their second full term. To help support the recycling program, the bookstore has been selling specific merchandise, e.g. t-shirts, hoodies, water bottles, and lanyards. Since September, they have sold $2,915 of merchandise and have profited $1,422.

“We are discussing right now, how we want to expand the merchandise selection, and maybe get a little more creative with the clothing designs as we build the brand and move towards 2nd generation merchandise,” said Lawrence LaJoie, LBCC Bookstore Manager. “The great thing right now is that the merchandise is simple yet unique, and universal to everyone.”

Throughout the entire Albany campus, there are four locations, the Courtyard Cafe, in front of Takena, in back of Takena, and at the bookstore courtyard, with orders for two more locations for Spring Term. In order to run each station, it costs $300 each term.

The recycling program has been very successful the last two terms and according to Lajoie, they will continue the program.

“We plan on continuing this program for the foreseeable future to cover all campuses with stations, estimating we need a total of approx 30 stations,” said Lajoie. “After that, we’ll focus on internal areas of campus as well, getting more concentrated on workspaces and classrooms.”

The response from students and staff has been very supportive, and along with the Bookstore’s efforts, they will be able to add more bins each year. The blue recycle bins in the main building hallways are placed and taken care of by college facilities and janitorial staff. They are well marked as to what goes in them.

The new set of recycle bins that the Bookstore has purchased from sales of their “green” merchandise will look different than the hallway bins, and serve the outside areas like the courtyard, the Bookstore atrium and in front of Takena Hall. They will include a bin for composting food items and biodegradable food and coffee drink containers from food services on campus.

“The issue has been education. Since we have new students coming in each term, we are always looking for ways to let new students know what can be recycled and composted on campus, and how to recycle,” said Lori Fluge-Brunker, Master Recycler and an active member of the Sustainability Committee. “We do often find trash in the recycle bins, which can cause the recycle to be treated, in essence, as trash. So educating people about recycling is important.”

In order to help bring awareness to recycling on campus, the Green Club hosted a “Know What you Throw” recycling table during fall term to answer recycling questions.

Along with that event, the Green Club will be hosting a “Waste Audit” where they collect trash from around campus, then sort and weigh the trash to see how much is actually garbage and how much could have been recycled or composted. This will be held March 13 at 1 p.m. and will be made visible to students and staff in the courtyard.




Most students and staff are interested in recycling and in doing it right, it’s just a matter of making it easy and clear for them to do it.

How Community College Journalism Can Thrive

“To be living in interesting times is to be cursed.” - Chinese proverb.

This is becoming too common a motto for community colleges that are losing, or have lost, their school newspapers.

Out of 29 community colleges in Washington state alone, over half of those schools have lost their papers. The reasons include budget cuts, elimination of journalism programs, and lack of student interest.

“Who’s your zombie?” asked the panelists at a discussion titled “How Community College Journalism Can Thrive Amid Cannibals and Zombies.” It was one of dozens of sessions at the Associated Collegiate Press national convention March 1-4 in Seattle.

According to Andrea Otanez, Everett Community College instructor, the “zombies” are a vast array of many different topics. These include not keeping journalism relevant at community colleges, a campus that doesn’t fully support the paper, fast-moving technology, and online websites replacing print.

How can students and staff make it to where these “zombies” don’t come onto every community college campus, totally wiping out the school newspaper and the journalism program?

Jeanne Leader, dean of Everett Community College, said the enemy is within the campus. Journalism is not expensive to have around, and newspapers always seem to do better with a journalism program, she said. Schools need to keep papers in the budget.

“There are certain community colleges that get bad press from the students and the staff about certain articles that were written,” said Leader. “We’re here to inform the community about what is happening, not about people’s hurt feelings.

“If they don’t like what was written, then they shouldn’t have said anything. Our challenge is to engage the community, and if stories are not relevant, then how will we inform the community and move forward as a student newspaper?”

Leader suggested paying students from $10 to $20 for each article, that way students are encouraged to get more involved. Leader also said that every paper should be about quality and quantity. It doesn’t matter if the campus paper is only a few pages long. As long as the articles are well written, that’s what counts.

To get students more involved, Leader suggested hosting a booth and giving away “swag,” such as free food, games, or free merchandise with the paper’s logo. It is all about under-selling and over-delivering.

Aaron Alan, a Seattle-area community college student, said his school no longer has a student newspaper because there wasn’t a budget for it and the students weren’t supportive of the paper in the first place.

“My school has been without a print newspaper for about four years now,” said Alan. “We were told that the reason why it got cut was because of certain articles that were written, and that they were not very suitable for the students to know.

“Students have the right to know everything, and if the only reason why they shut us down is because we wrote about a staff member that was doing something illegal, then I know we’re doing our job right.”

Alan and some fellow students have created an online edition of their old newspaper, and are continuing their journalism endeavors, informing the students about the community.

For more information on what is happening to today’s newspapers go to www.whoneedsnewspapers.org.

At-A-Glance:

What: How journalism can thrive amid negativity conference

Where: Seattle, Washington

When: March 3, 2012

Speakers: Jeanne Leader, Everett Community College
                Andrea Otanez, Everett Community College
                Michael Parks, Pierce College
                Rich Riski, Peninsula College 

                Aaron Alan, Seattle-area community college student

Lesser of Evils

In any political candidate debate, they look professional, they don't directly answer any of the questions and turn each questions around to attack their opponents.  This is a typical way they deal with anything.  A lot of voters today feel like the politicians running for office have a lot of empty promises and are only saying what they think voters want to hear. 

People seem to have lost faith in their government and don’t believe a word of what they have to say, especially when it comes to voting time.  Are they saying it only to get votes or are they saying it to actually change the economy and help America?

Many people, especially voters between the ages of 20 and 40, have the same opinion as Brian Lytle.  That all they want is your vote and your money.

“Honestly all they are telling us are all lies just to get reelected,” said Lytle.  “They don't care as long as they get their money.”

What are today’s politicians promising voters and America? 

There is just one Democrat candidate running for president that is always in the news, President Barack Obama.  Obama is promising to create more jobs and that he is going to help the economy turn around. 

The Republican candidates running for president are Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.  Romney has promised that if elected, he will get the government out of business, proposes lowering personal, investment and corporate taxes, to offset the revenue loss.  He also wants to reduce non-defense government spending by cutting regulations and government departments, and is in favor of returning some of the federal power to the state level.  Santorum is promising to cut the budget deficit, balance the federal budget in five years, and to not cut the defense budget.  He also plans to help the economy, global warming, energy independence, the steel industry, and other manufacturing.

Out of everything that they have said, do you actually believe what is coming out of their mouths?  I know I don't.  I am tired of being lied to, but it is not like it will change anytime soon, so when it comes to election time I will choose the lesser of evils.  It is either that or write in Roseanne Barr, as she is also running, but in the Green Party. 

Let’s start with Obama.  His approval rating is currently at a 65%.  25% of voters think he is doing a great job as president and 40% disapprove.  The other 35% had no opinion.  Many people believe that Obama is spending too much money on his campaign and not spending enough time as being America’s president.  I agree.

I think it is better to fix the problems that we have now, rather than make speech after speech of what you’re supposedly going to do once in office. 

Obama has stated that he will create more jobs and to help the economy turn around.  Didn’t he promise all of that in the last election?

Mitt Romney is in second place for the presidential polls.  He has good speeches and tells voters what they want to hear, just like every politician, only better.  Romney has made promises that he will turn the economy around and that students graduating from college will be guaranteed a job. Romney has recently been in the news talking about how he compares Obama’s promises to a Kardashian marriage, that it’s all-false and won’t have a good ending.

“You know, I’ve been looking at some video clips on YouTube, of President Obama, then candidate Obama, going through Iowa making promises,” said Romney. “The gap between his promises and his performance is the largest I’ve seen since, well, the Kardashian wedding and the promise of ‘till death do us part.’ ”

Then there is Santorum.  Santorum is in the lead in the polls, taking Romney’s stance, and is just bad-mouthing every candidate, especially Obama.  Santorum has made promises such as lowering the price of gas, create more jobs, repeal ObamaCare, ban gay marriage and abortion, and send more troops overseas.  Lately Santorum is trying to appeal to the Independent Party, as well as the Republican Party. 

Lastly, there is Roseanne Barr with the Green Party.


Barr has made it quite clear that she doesn’t think that any of these two parties are living up to their promises and has taken it upon her, to run for president.


“The Democrats and Republicans have proven that they are servants - bought and paid for by the 1 per cent - who are not doing what's in the best interest of the American people,” Barr said.  “Vote for me, I’ll fix this shit!”


If Barr becomes the official candidate for the Green Party, she will campaign to make war illegal, legalize marijuana, change the demographics of government, and outlaw bullshit.  The Green Party’s presidential nominee will be selected at a convention in Baltimore in July.

It is still too soon to determine who to vote for, if any of them, really.  No one will truly know if what they are saying is true, unless they get elected.  So I encourage all of you to think before voting.  Don’t vote for someone just because they’re in the lead or because they seem the most popular.  Vote for someone who appeals to you and to you can relate more to.  If that is no one that is ahead, remember there is always a write-in.  Candidates can still win by a write in.  Just remember to do your research before voting, you don’t want to make the wrong decision.


At-A-Glance:


Barrack Obama
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum
Roseanne Barr
 

Beth Hogeland:LBCC's New Vice President of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development

Taken by Amanda Hayden.

Beth Hogeland has been named the new vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development and will be replacing Carol Schaafsma, once she retires in June.

"Beth is highly qualified to become the next Executive Vice President of LBCC.  As a faculty member and a division dean, Beth demonstrated her commitment to helping students succeed and her passion for serving our local communities," said Carol Schaafsma, the current vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development.  "She is a thoughtful and inspiring leader.  The students and faculty at LBCC are lucky to have the chance to work with her as Vice President."

As soon as people walk into Beth Hogeland's office, they are instantly greeted by the smell of roses and lilies that just fill the room. Hogeland is often occupied behind her desk, but is always welcoming to visitors. Her office is mostly bare, apart from the handmade quilt on her wall, the glittery butterflies hanging from the ceiling, and pictures. She has very few pictures on her desk, but the ones that she does have, are a picture of someone that she knows and then a picture of her new dog.

She has a quiet, gentle demeanor and was really surprising when she playfully shouted at her assistant and asked what she is most famous for. 

Hogeland has served as dean for the Liberal Arts, Social Systems, and Human Performance division since 2009. She also served as dean of LBCC Family Resources and Education from 2002 to 2009. Apart from being dean for the past 10 years, Hogeland has also taught at LBCC. She was a teacher here for 12 years and has been here for a total of 21 years.

Hogeland holds a doctorate degree in human development and family science as well as a master’s in education and a bachelor’s in child development and elementary education.

"I've only known Beth for a couple of years, but I would have to say that her work ethic stems from a commitment to our students and to making LBCC a place for people to thrive. The "community" aspect of our community college is important to her," said Scott McAleer, an instructor for history.   "Reading between the lines a bit it seems to me that she see's LBCC as much more than the sum of its parts. She sees the whole community and I think the VP position is an ideal platform for her to foster that vision of the college. Its a bitter sweet transition for our division however because we will miss having her as our Dean."

What is Hogeland most famous for?

Hogeland helped bring family resources onto this college. She helped train the staff and has designed to make the community a better place. Hogeland has a background working with kids and family's.

Any faculty, and students, that either know her or have met her, have nothing but kind words to say.

“Beth has an outstanding work ethic and is really devoted to LBCC,” said Jeff Davis, Regional Director for Benton County. “She has invested so much time into child development, the athletics, the arts, just so many areas of this college. She knows what students like and I am very excited that she is the new vice president.”    

Commuter: What is your first act of business as the new vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development?

Beth Hogeland: I can’t answer this question just yet, as I won’t be replacing Carol Schaafsma until June 30. However, over the next couple of months are going to be full of training and hiring a replacement for my current position.

C: Why did you choose this career path?

B.H.: I applied for this position because I want to feel like I am giving something back to this college. This is going to be the last job I do before I retire and I just want to make sure that I leave here in a better place and make sure that I help in any way I possibly can.

C: What experience do you have?

B.H.: While I don’t have any experience as vice president, I do have experience at this college. I have been a dean here for the past 10 years and have also taught here for 12 years.  I know how students learn and what they need to achieve their goals.

C: What do you think will be the most challenging part of your new job?

B.H.: The job will be the most challenging. I have never done this before and there are still so many things that I do not know. 

C: What do you think will be the most rewarding part of your job?

B.H.: I hope that I will be able to help the entire school, rather than just parts of it. I hope to be able to see that what I have invested my time and resources in, makes a difference.

At-a-Glance:

Who: Beth Hogeland

What: New vice president of Academic Affairs and Workforce Development

Where: SSH-101A

Email: hogelab@linnbenton.edu

Phone: 541-917-4911

Voodoo Dougnuts: The Magic is in the Hole

Photo taken by sha-put-ski from Flickr.

People often ask why anyone would stand in line from anywhere to 10 minutes to an hour, just for doughnuts.  It's because it is the BEST doughnut you will ever have hands down.  To most people it is hard to say which is the best, but the most famous one, and the one that is always sold out, is the Bacon Maple Bar, which is just a maple bar with two strips of bacon on top of it.
 
According to the “Bacon Goddess”, she too believes that the Bacon Maple Bar looks to be the best creation ever.

“I found the most amazing place... where doughnuts are more than just tasty snacks.  There was a voodoo doll doughnut, doughnuts with candy and cereal on them, doughnuts with grape sugar dust, a doughnut that looks like a blunt and doughnuts that look like naughty bits. And, yes, one doughnut even contains bacon!” blogged the Bacon Goddess.


Voodoo Doughnuts always draws in a crowd.  It doesn’t matter what time it is, there is always a line at all three of their locations.  They are located in two different places in Portland and have just recently opened up a new location in Eugene. 

Voodoo Doughnuts has been around since 2003.  The owners Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon have been friends for awhile and wanted to start a unique and different business that was fitting for Portland.  When they first started Voodoo Doughnuts, none of them knew how to even make a doughnut, so they went down to Los Angeles to learn from the doughnut masters and learned how to make doughnuts from the ground up.

They are most known for their unusual doughnuts and their eccentric décor in all of their shops.  They are also known for their iconic pink boxes with their logo on the cover.  All over the outside bricks of the first Voodoo Doughnuts location, they are all painted gold with sparkles.  Then as soon as visitors walk inside they are instantly greeted not only with the smell of fresh doughnuts, but with the color pink.

Pink is their trademark color and is in all of their locations.  Also along the walls are giant plastic doughnuts, merchandise, and underwear inside a frame.  In ever location there are also chandeliers, randomly placed.


It has been known that once people have bought their doughnuts and have walked away from the building, people will offer money for your doughnuts.  They have also been featured in the new hit TV show “Grimm” and were featured on the Food Network.

The new Rogue Bacon Maple Ale.
Taken By Justeen Elliott

“Every time I go to any Voodoo location, as soon as I step out the door, I have at least two bums asking for doughnuts and when I’m walking down the street I have at least three people that are offering me money for my doughnuts because they don’t want to stand in line.” said regular customer Cheryl Davis, from Portland.

Voodoo Doughnuts has 44 different doughnuts available, in both regular and vegan.  If visitors are confused as what to get, why not get a Voodoo Dozen?  With a Voodoo Dozen they pick all of the doughnuts for you, which makes it easier for you and for them, as it saves the next customer’s wait time.

Some of the most random ones people will find there, apart from the Bacon Maple Bar, are the Voodoo Doll, the Gay Bar, and the Maple Blazer Blunt.  The Voodoo Doll is a raspberry filled voodoo doll with a pretzel through its heart.  The Gay Bar has all colors of the rainbow on it, aka fruit loops.  Finally, the Maple Blazer Blunt is a doughnut shaped like a blunt with maple frosting and red sprinkles on the side.  The Maple Blazer Blunt doughnut is basically a doughnut shaped like a cigar.

Not only do they sell doughnuts, but they also sell ale.  Rogue Bacon Maple Ale to be exact.  This is one of their newest creations and is based on their Bacon Maple doughnut.  They are starting to sell these at every Voodoo location along with at the Rogue Stores and on the Rogue Ale website.

One other thing that Voodoo Doughnuts does is they are ordained ministers.  People can get married at any of their locations.  The weddings cost anywhere from $25 to $5,000.  Wonder what the cake is like?  It’s a voodoo cake!

Have a special occasion coming up?  Then why not get a special order of doughnuts?  They have four packages, and they all cost $35.  They have a unicorn, where they place miscellaneous doughnuts around the decorated unicorn center piece.  They also have a cowboy, a robot, and a spaceship, where, much like the unicorn center piece, they place random doughnuts around them.

If there is something that visitors wanted to buy, that wasn’t available in the stores at the moment, then they can go to their website and order anything from a $5 gift certificate to women's underwear.

If you're still skeptical, why not go down and see for yourself what they are truly like?

At-a-Glance:
Open: 24 hours a day
Prices: 95 cents to $3
Service: Fast and friendly
Must Have: Bacon Maple Bar
Grade: A
Addresses: Voodoo Doughnut
                  22 SW 3rd Avenue
                  Portland, OR

                 Voodoo Doughnut Too
                  1501 NE Davis St
                  Portland, OR

               Voodoo Doughnut Tres
                20 East Broadway @Willamette Ave.
                Eugene, OR 97401

Destination: Japan

The view from the Enoshima Lighthouse Observatory. 
Taken by Justeen Elliott

A praying monk.
Taken by Justeen Elliott

Japan has many different attractions. The best ones near the southern part of the country would have to be the temples.

Since the March 2011 Japan tsunami, many people think that Japanese citizens are helpless and unhappy, but that is not the case.  It is actually quite the opposite. The people are still generally happy, friendly, and take pride in everything that they do.

It has now been months since the media began painting the picture of an entire country strewn with garbage in their narrow streets, that many people are suffering without work, and that the ancient temples are in ruins. Japan isn’t like that at all. They are doing as great as ever.
It has been a year after the devastating tsunami hit Japan and since then, businesses are thriving, the temples are always full of people, both locals and tourists, and trees are getting ready to bloom in the spring.

The Cosmo Clock 21 and the theme park next to it.
Taken by Justeen Elliott

According Jason Hedrick, a travel agent at Portland's Azumano, it is now safe to travel to Japan, and visitors actually help their economy recover.

"I believe that Japan is a safe country to travel to again," said Hendrick.  "Not only would traveling there help prove to others that it is safe, but it will also help their economy boom once again."

Walking through various businesses and malls, visitors can see that each business is full of all sorts of people.

A grave stone at the Hase-Dera Temple.
Taken by Justeen Elliott

The people are very friendly and will help tourists, even without being asked for help.  Whether they're locals, military, or citizens, they're always willing to help.

"Every time I see someone who looks like an American, or that looks confused, I always try and point them in the right direction, or if I'm able to, help take them to their destination," said local Yokosuka native Akina Del Rosario.  "Since I know how hard the train stations are, I try to help people as much as I can."   

There are three major cities near Yokosuka:  Kamakura, Enoshima, and Yokohama.

Kamakura has around 20 different temples. Two of the major ones are Daibutsu and the Hase-Dera Temple.

Taken by Kent Elliott

 Daibutsu's main attraction is the giant bronze Daibutsu statue. It was built in 1252, and the name means “Great Buddha”. For only 200 yen (roughly $4.00), visitors can climb inside to see what the interior of the statue looks like.

 The other major temple is the Hase-Dera Temple. This temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of the Jodo-shu sect.

The Cosmo Clock 21.
Taken by Kent Elliott

 Enoshima is an interesting place to visit. The Enoshima Lighthouse Observatory is there. The lighthouse on the island takes a couple hours to walk to, and along the way visitors may view various businesses, meeting some of the monks that are walking about. They might even pet some of the random cats that are lounging along the way. Once at island's peak, the view is breathtaking. Visitors can see for miles and miles, and if lucky enough to get there at dusk, they will have an excellent view of Mt. Fuji. The lighthouse has been around for well over a century, and is a new landmark on the highest point of Enoshima Island. It is 59.9 meters high, at only 119.6 meters above sea level.

The Enoshima Lighthouse Observatory.
Taken by Justeen Elliott

The most awe-inspiring attraction in Yokohama is the Cosmo Clock 21. The Cosmo Clock 21 was built in 1989 and is the world’s largest clock (369 feet). When it opened in 1989, it was the world’s largest Ferris wheel; it is now the second largest, behind the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore. The Cosmo Clock has 60 passenger cars, each capable of carrying eight people, and takes about 15 minutes to complete a full rotation.

The view from the clock is spectacular. Once at the top, visitors can see the nearby theme park from above. With the lights on, it makes the view so much more beautiful. If lucky enough to experience the ride when it is exceptionally dark outside, it is even more lit up than the usual breathtaking view.

It is safe to say that Japan isn’t still suffering after the tsunami and all of the recent earthquakes. They’re doing just fine.

 At-a-Glance:

How much?

Travel information.

Flights.

Good food.