LBCC Students for Life have many plans for future

                                              From left: Elizabeth Lang, Rebecca Lang, James Tow, Steven Bowser

The members of Linn-Benton Students for Life look like the knights of the round table when gathered for their weekly meetings. The club is three years old and has two main goals; to help women in need any way they can, and to educate students on life issues.

They table outside the Library at least once a week and brandish, instead of shields and swords, brochures and invitations to events. They are met with equal support and opposition and engage in any debate and conversation put forth.

Their dragons aren't scaly and green, they're

They meet in the Library conference room on Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. They're not religiously affiliated, so anyone can join.

"One of my biggest reasons behind being pro-life stems from Immanuel Kant's philosophy on the Universal Law Theory, which is designed to decide moral and ethical choices," Said Kaden Kyllinstad, a new member of the club, "How this theory is applied is by imagining everyone does what you do and does life continue to function? If you apply this theory to abortion and everybody chooses to abort their child, then within a lifetime humanity will cease to exist."

"We know that life occurs at conception. That's the grounding principle of where we believe what we believe. If the unborn are human, like us, then no reason can justify abortion," said Students for Life President Rebecca Lang.

Students for Life was the club of the year in 2014-2015.

Lang has been the president for two terms, and was the vice president before that for the two terms prior.In that time, she has planned and taken part in the club's diaper drive, weekly meetings, tabling, and several trips for rallies in Portland and San Francisco.

The rallies were on a national level and had representatives from all over the United States.

The diaper drive is a resource for parents who need diapers or formula for their children. They are free to whoever needs them, and donations to the stockpile are always accepted.

"I've always been pro-life, but I didn't really know how to successfully converse about it," said Rachel Hauser, who's been a member for a little over a year. Her friend was in a similar club and Hauser noticed how her friend could articulate her point.

She stopped by the Students for Life table at LBCC Welcome Day and has been going to meetings and been involved ever since. "The unborn truly is human and valuable. If you can show that the unborn is valuable and human then you show pro-life," said Hauser.

The Students for Life have many events coming soon, including a movie day on Wednesday, Mar. 2 in the Diversity Achievement Center. They will be showing "Father of the Bride 2", "Juno", and "August Rush".

"It's a really good way to talk to people about who we are. We want equality for all human beings, born and unborn," said Lang.

At A Glance:

Published in: Linn Benton Commuter

What: Linn Benton Students for Life

Meeting Time: 3:30 Tues. at the Library conference room

Facebook: Linn Benton Students for Life

President: Rebecca Lang

Table: Tuesdays and Thursdays outside the Library

Profile: Amelia Peterson

The only smell is warming mud, dust, and horse hair. It's Spring on the ranch.

Wild Ones Youth Ranch is a non-profit horse ranch for kids from all situations in life to experience mustangs. There are around 30 horses and over 2,000 kids on site annually. There are children and youth from ages 3-18 taking lessons and getting riding time. For staff, it's a 24-hour work week that involves cleaning stalls to mentoring children and everything in between.

Amelia Peterson graduated from LBCC in 2013 with a certificate in Horse Management and has been putting it to good use.

Peterson said, in regards to her education,"The biggest bonus has been all the health-care information. I go to that a lot."

She is the Program Director at the ranch. Teaching lessons and training horses are all part of her job description. She has worked there since it's onset and has been going there since 2003.

"It taught me a lot of patience and humility," said Peterson.

Peterson started riding when she was 13, because a friend at school dared her to do it. She was nervous around horses at the time and only went for a riding lesson because she was told she wouldn't have the courage to. Shortly after, she got her first horse and the fear was history.

Outside the arena she likes reading and sewing. She loves cooking and baking, but she doesn't bake cookies because she has very high expectations and feels like it's too much pressure.

She enjoys her work but because there is no covered arena, working in the Winter can be messy. She loves watching the students grow and learn and become comfortable with themselves. She likes watching those same outcomes with the horses.

"She wants to see the kids and the horses succeed together as a team," Joshua Gershom, an adult volunteer said, "She wants to make sure it's done right, and not just get it done so the kid feels like they can do it even if they really can't."

Peterson owns two Mustangs, Daisy and Ringo, as well as a quarter horse she is currently training. Wild Ones Youth Ranch is home to many mustangs, most of which Peterson has worked with in some way, shape, or form.

On working with mustangs, Peterson says, "They are a challenge, but that makes it all the more rewarding, and when they trust they trust all the way."

Her job encompasses many things that change with the season. In the spring and fall she teaches lessons most of the day and works horses in any spare time. In the winter she does farm maintenance and horse training in the morning and instructs the older kids in the afternoon.

"Summer is kids from dawn till dusk," Peterson says of the peak busy season.

She has been to Utah and Las Vegas to intern with Jim Hicks, a clinician of dressage skills for the western horseman.

"She wants the best from horses and kids. She cares," said Laura Else, Instructing Wrangler and Peterson's long time friend.


At a Glance:

Who: Amelia Peterson

Birthday: July 13

Age: 24

Married: Phillip Peterson, Sept. 5, 2014

High School: Junction City High School