Issue 13, March 31, 2011

Union

El Camino College

March 31,2011

Club raises money for Japan

Tuition to go up from $26 to $36 Alma Zazueta Staff Writer

Sam Barke Staff Writer

In light of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, The Japanese Cultural Club and Gay Straight Alliance have taken the initiative to set up a fundraiser in order to help raise money.

“No one could have really prepared for a disaster like this, and even Japan was relatively prepared to begin with. It could have so easily happened to us, and it is a wake-up call to western nations,” Ashley Arikawa, Japanese Cultural Club president, he said.

“So many people in Japan are currently displaced and they are in need of a lot of supplies, as well as money to rebuild their communities. As a cultural club, we thought it was necessary to do whatever we could to help their cause.”

The club’s goals are to raise as much money as they can, and all of the money will be donated to the Japan America Society of Southern California, a nonprofit, non-political organization that will forward funds to experienced, nongovernmental disaster relief agencies in Japan that have a proven track record of emergency humanitarian relief and restoration and development of destroyed areas, Lori Suekawa, club adviser, said.

“We all have to help each other out in times of need,” David Park, Japanese Cultural Club member, said.

The club plans to have tables set up on the Schauerman Library for two weeks, from March 28-31 as well as April 4-7. Volunteers from the club will be at the tables on those days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. accepting donations, and the club hopes to also create money via T-shirt sales, although this idea is still in the making.

“It’s been great seeing the club take initiative,” club Advisor Susan OdaOmori, Transfer Center Coordinator and club adviser, said.

The club members are very passion-

Mike Williams /Union Hiromasa Jotaki 20, political science major, prepares messages from students to be sent to Japan that go along with the donations will be sent.

ate about the cause and are anxious to do all they can to raise money to donate towards the relief efforts.”

The Inter-Club Council has lent its hand to help, along with Society of Music, architecture club, and the Inter Disciplinary Exploration Artisan’s Society (IDEAS) Art club. The club has also received help from Faculty and International students.

“We want to convey to students that much of Japan is still in chaos and destruction,” Arikawa said. “The death toll has exceeded 10,000 and is rising as the days pass and bodies are still being recovered.”

“Even though the disaster has not been getting as much press in the past week, the people of Japan still need all of our help,” Arikawa said.

For Takashi Hanano, vice president of the Japanese Cultural Club this event is very important to him.

“We have people in Japan that are homeless right now. People are suffering from the earthquake and tsunami,” Hanana said. “We want to help them. We want to sent money and we want to send clothes and give them food.”

Forensics team is crowned No.1 in the nation Jessica Mendoza Staff Writer

Every member of the forensics team received awards in its most recent competition, and the college was ranked the No. 1 community college in the nation in speech and debate according to the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

The forensics team emerged on top after taking home more than 30 medals at the California Community Colleges Forensics Association state championships in Woodland Hills.

“I knew we had a strong team going into state,” Francesca Bishop, forensics coach, said. “But percentage wise, you never think you will enter a certain amount of students in an event, and all the students will place. It was an amazing result.”

The team of 12 students won various medals. Richard Ewell walked away with four awards, Sydney Awakuni took home five awards and Mark Faaita won four medals. Every member of the team won for a total of 32 awards at the CCCFA state championship.

“It was exciting knowing that the hard work paid off,” Shannon Merideth, 19, communications major, said. “I felt I had a lot to prove, and I proved it.”

Merideth, a first-year debater, won gold.

NEWS LINE Hair donations take place on campus today Come visit the Associated Students Organication table at the Schauerman library lawn today from 1 to 2 p.m. for more information on how your hair can help a cause.

Torrance, Calif

With the help of their coaches the team has been very successful.

“All three of the coaches are really diverse and they all have a good dynamic,” Merideth said. “They are able to help recognize our strengths and help us become better.”

Sydney Awakuni won the Jim Wyman award for top speaker in debate, getting silver in team debate, Lincoln-Douglass debate and the extemporaneous competition as well as earning gold in impromptu.

Mark Faaita won gold in the team debate and Lincoln-Douglass debate, earned silver in the extemporaneous and bronze in the impromptu competitions. Da“All three of the coaches are really diverse vid Saulet won gold in the team debate and silver in the and they all have a good dynamic. They are Lincoln-Douglass event.

Wendy Steiner won silver in team debate, bronze in able to help recognize our strengths and help us the impromptu competition, and bronze in the speech to become better.” entertain event.

Whitney Gamble won gold in the oral interpreta—Shannon Merideth tion competition, and Morgan McNally won gold in Forensics team member impromptu and bronze in extemporaneous.

Tony Liu won silver in team debate and the Lin“The competition and high expectations fuel us to coln-Douglass competitions while James Nee earned do better in the future,” Wendy Steiner, 20, speech comsilver in team debate and gold in extemporaneous. munications major, said. “We expect a lot out of ourShannon Meredith won gold in team debate and selves, it pushes us to work harder.” bronze in the Lincoln-Douglass debate. Albro Lundy The following forensic team students won awards at the most recent competition: Richard Ewell, named won gold in impromptu and bronze in the team debate top speaker in state overall won gold in team debate and and extemporaneous competitions.

Ben Porter won bronze in team debate and Aubrey Lincoln-Douglass debate and silver in the impromptu and extemporaneous competitions.

Manahan won bronze in the persuasive event.

Beginning fall 2011, students will pay an additional $10 per unit due to a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.

“Typically, when fees go up, in this case for tuition, we see fewer students attending,” Arvid Spor, dean of enrollment services, said.

“We’ve seen in the past for about every dollar that tuition goes up, we lose about one percent of students, so we might lose as many as 10 percent of students, but we don’t know,” Spor said.

With this new bill, full-time students taking 12 units will pay $432 per semester instead of the $312 they paid until now.

Among the most affected are going to be students without any financial aid, like Anthony Guzman.

“To students with financial aid, $10 might not seem like a lot, but when you add that to books and other personal expenses it really makes an impact,” Guzman said.

Students that are financially strapped are students that suffer when tuition is increased.

“Historically, what we can say for certain is that students of middle income, low middle income and low income really feel the pinch,” Tom Lew, dean of Humanities, said.

According to an article by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, this fee increase will bring $110 million to the state’s 112 community colleges.

“This really isn’t giving us the money because what they do is they take that out of our budget before we even get it,” Lew said.

This number is based on previous enrollment, which means that if the college doesn’t enroll as many students the following semester it could lose money, something that is likely to happen.

The last time fees went up $6 per unit, in fall 2009, enrollment dropped by about 1,400. This time fees will increase $10 and the campus can more than 1,500 students, Lew said.

The California Community Colleges Chancellor office stated that fall 2009 brought a 0.2 percent enrollment decline to the campus, and a 12 percent enrollment decrease among first-time community college students.

The Academic Senate believes these fees need to stop being raised or just got rid of.

“The general position of Academic Senate says that there shouldn’t be any fee for students at community colleges, that it should be free and open access to students, so I would advocate zero fees for students,” Christina Gold, Academic senate president said.

Hopes are that the fee will stop at $10, but the possibilities of it rising higher still exist.

“It’s possible, but I don’t know that’s likely,” Spor said. “Otherwise the governor wouldn’t have signed the Senate bill to take it from $26 to $36.”

Fry bread fund raiser for upcoming Pow Wow

Conference for health profession majors

Honor and Scholarship Society attending event

Essay workshop for the University of California

A fry bread fund raiser will be held Tuesday for the 13th Annual Pow Wow by the Native American Club in front of the Library lawn from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fry bread, tacos, and dessert tacos will be sold.

For those interested in the medical field, there will be a Pre Health Professional Conference held in the Campus Theatre from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m tomorrow. Interested persons may call 532-3670.

Alpha Gamma Sigma, the Honor and Scholarship Society and service organization of the California community college system, will be having their state convention in Ontario on April 1.

For those in need of help writing their essays for UCs, there will be a UC essay workshop on Tuesday from 1 to 2 p.m held in the Students Activity Center West End hosted by Renee Lozano.

-Tayani Davis

2 NEWS POLICE BEAT Officer responds to student head injury March 15, 7 p.m.–An officer was dispatched to the Music Building on a medical aid call. A male student bumped his head on a wall-mounted speaker and noticed a small amount of blood coming from his head. The officer filed an accident report and the student sought medical attention on his own.

Paramedics called for student having seizure March 16, 8:40 p.m.–An officer responded to a medical aid call in the South Physical Education Building. A female student was having a seizure and paramedics were called to the scene. The student refused to be transported to the hospital and arranged for a family member to pick her. She would seek medical attention on her own at a later date.

Staff member injures finger helping student March 22, 2:33 p.m.–An EC staff member filled out an accident report after injuring his finger helping a student get their keys from their locked vehicle. With a minor cut to the index finger, there was no need for medical attention.

Student conduct violated by skateboarders March 23, 8:30-9:45 a.m.– Officers cited students who violated the standards of student conduct by riding bicycles and skateboards on the inner campus. These students were issued a $150 citation and their names will be added to the campus police database.

—Ashley Curtin

March 31, 2011 / El Camino Union

Nursing program remains successful Alma Zazueta Staff Writer

Addie Gallardo, 32, nursing major, anxiously walked toward her patient, the sound of his heartbeat echoing in her head as she gently inserted a needle into his arm.

This is one of the many situations students experience in a small simulation room in the nursing program.

With a first-time passing rate at more than 90 percent, the nursing program has established itself as one of the best in the state, and one of the most valuable for the campus.

“We have spent a huge amount of time making sure that we are aware and know about the latest trends in nursing education,” Kim Bailey, director of nursing, said.

Through an extensive list of service partners the program has been able to keep itself updated on what skills they should be teaching their students and what the national trends are.

The program offers students a first hand experience on the job through two skills labs and one simulation lab.

In the skills lab students practice bed making, bathing patients, and giving injections, among other things, Bailey said.

“Simulation lab is like a hospital environment, we have high fidelity mannequins, and they do all kinds of complex physiological functions, and so we use those to set them up like patients’ situations in the hospital,” she added.

The simulation room is one of the first rooms in the nursing department.

Life-like mannequin forms of a woman, man, child, and baby can be found in the

simulation room.

“You’re able to feel all the pulses, you get to hear different lung sounds and the heart sound. It’s a great learning experience,” Gallardo said.

“The instructors that help you with the open lab area are really helpful and that’s what I really like,” Linda Mann, 24, nursing major said.

The simulation lab is helpful because “That’s were you can make mistakes and learn from them,” Mann said.

Students who are interested can get a two-year associate’s degree if they have the prerequisite courses like anatomy, physiology, microbiology, a doses calculation course, and an introduction to nursing course, Bailey said.

Currently there are approximately 220 students in the program, which are admitted based on a multi-criteria point system, which can be found on the college website.

“Everybody has the same shot at it; we simply rank the students according to their points and take the top 50 or 40 students, depending on how many we’re admitting, so there is no wait list and there is no lottery,” Bailey said.

Before the wait list was taken off about two years ago, student would spend an average of two years on it, Martha Smith, administrator assistant, said.

Now students who don’t get into the system would have to reapply for the following year.

Even with its success, the program is now undergoing budget cuts.

“Last year we took 50 students a semester, and starting fall 2011 we’ll be

Patrick Osborne /Union Nursing student Kelli Conlon administering an IV Push to classmate Kathleen Ozaeta in the nursing center.

bringing in 40 new students a semester because a cut in the grants from the state,” Bailey said.

Due to the bad economy students are also struggling to get jobs soon after finishing the program, mainly because hospitals are not training many new graduates.

“As we hear from the state there is still a nursing shortage, so our nurses are not getting jobs as quickly but most of them are getting placed,” Bailey said.

Still the program will continue to do its best to train students and offer the best education.

“I love taking care of patients. Blood, vomit, poop… none of that really bothers me,” Gallardo said.

“I think what really scares me the most is patient safety, because that’s most important,” she said.

To assure patient safety, the program has created a website that allows faculty all over the nation share their ideas for nursing education quality and safety.

Faculty members have also contributed to the program’s success.

“We have good quality teachers, who put their best foot forward to teach the students,” Smith said. “We care about the students; we want to teach them the best there is and give them a lot of knowledge of what it is to be a nurse, and how to apply everything they learn.”

Single parents get help they need with CARE Nicholette Raecke Staff Writer

For student Samantha Parker and her four-year old child, the Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program doesn’t just help her get an education from EC. It helps her survive the rigors of being a mother.

The program, established in 1982, works with Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) and CalWorks to allow students to continue their education through the financial support these programs provide.

“I’m a single parent, and I belong to CARE. They take care of everything for

me. They give me food vouchers so that I don’t have to take food from my daughter and they provide me with bus tokens so I can go to and from school,” Parker, 21, administration of justice major, said.

To be eligible for the program students must have completed a high school curriculum, have a low income, be able to qualify for EOPS and make a commitment to the program.

“The motivation of CARE is to see that students are self-sufficient and capable of entering the workforce. Some students are transitioning from public assistance, and are looking for alternatives in providing for their families,” Lorena Perez, CARE

paraprofessional, said.

Tasha Harris, office assistant, said the program has about 500 students currently.

Those that are a part of the program receive educational assistance via increased counseling and financial assistance in the form of vouchers and grants.

Counselors and advisers meet with students three times a semester, while educational and self-help workshops take place during the semester. Mentoring, tutoring, and grade checks are also done regularly during the academic year, Perez said.

“Educational assistance is provided in the form of on-site tutoring, counseling and financial help. Vouchers for gasoline,

food and school supplies are available,” Perez said.

The CARE program also helps students who are interested in transferring to universities by waiving transfer fees and providing transfer advisers, Perez said. Those who are interested must submit a contract, agree to completing their studies in a 60-month period, and comply with periodic monitoring throughout the semester.

Legal assistance, for things such as domestic violence or probation issues, is provided via a lawyer from Harriet Buhai Legal Office that visits the campus once a month and sees students by appointment, Perez said.

Proposed plans aim to help EC deal with state budget Nearly 700 course sections could be cut as EC prepares for more potential state budget cuts.

Rabiya Hussain Staff Writer

As a result of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget cuts that would call for a special election in June to extend temporary tax increases, the college may have to reduce the number of full time equivalent students (FTES) it can support to 16,005 and reduce course sections by 681.

In preparation for 2011-2012 the Budget and Planning Committee has put together a proposed budget plan that would help them plan for three possible financial scenarios that could arise.

As part of each scenario the college plans to reduce the size of its operation by freezing faculty, part-time, classified, management and student worker positions, Jo Ann Higdon, vice president of administrative services, said.

“A vast majority of our funding comes from the state, so if the state makes a cut we have no choice.

We have to implement those cuts as well, but the most important thing to remember is that these numbers are just projections,” she said. “They will change.”

The first scenario would take place if Brown’s proposed June temporary tax extension passes voter approval in the special election, which has not yet been announced.

The cuts to the general fund would be approximately $7 million.

At this level, the college anticipates course sections offered to be reduced by 195 and the number of full-time equivalent student the college can support to shrink to 18,005.

The second scenario would happen if the special election wasn’t held at all or the tax extension package was not passed by voters.

EC’s general fund would be reduced by $10.9 million. Proposition 98, which according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, ensures that K-14 schools receive a guaranteed amount of funding from the

state that grows each year with the economy and the number of students, would be funded at a minimum.

The proposed budget plan predicts that EC will have to further limit course sections offered by 370 and full-time equivalent students that the college will be able to support will also be limited to 17,285 students.

The third scenario is essentially like the second, but with no guaranteed funding from the state via Proposition 98.

It would happen if Proposition 98 was suspended by legislative action.

This scenario, according to Thomas Fallo, president of EC, would be the worst case scenario and the cuts to EC would be more extensive. The college would lose $17.5 million of its general fund if proposition 98 is suspended.

In order to compensate the college would have to slash 681 course sections offered and only take on 16,005 full-time equivalent students.

“It’s a terrible thing to say but at this point the $ 7 million cut is our best option,” Higdon said.

As of last Tuesday, Brown said he had halted

talks with the Republican Legislature after the GOP released a list of 53 demands to be made in order for them to support a special election in June, according to a March 29 article in the Daily Breeze.

Among the 53 demands, Brown said he supported some of the Republican reforms but disagreed with other items that had nothing to do with state budget, the article said.

For students, each level of cuts would translate to fewer classes as well as fewer resources such as counselors, Arvid Spor, dean of enrollment services and chair of the planning and budget committee, said.

“Students might have to wait even longer to see counselors, or they might not be able to see one at all,” Spor said, which could potentially delay their graduation date.

Which is why “Students are really going to have to get attuned to registering on time, it’s amazing how many of our continuing students don’t take advantage of registering the first moment they can,” Higdon said. “But they need to because things are getting tighter.”

NEWS

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

3

Student speaker crowned top debater in California Jessica Mendoza Staff Writer

With his quiet demeanor and shy personality, one wouldn’t think Richard Ewell, 22, political science and philosophy major, would be the best at speech and debate on campus.

That’s because he isn’t: He’s the best at speech and debate in the whole state.

“When I first started to debate, I didn’t plan on doing well, I just figured I could do something with my time,” Ewell said, stating how during his first year he barely even spoke to his teammates.

“It’s a good feeling to have accomplished what I have. Debate is kind of my life now, in order to be good you need to give a lot of your outside time to be successful,” he said.

Being a part of the forensics team at EC for two years, Ewell’s competitive

style of debating has reflected onto his success.

During the competitive tournament at state, Ewell has placed gold in team debate, gold in Lincoln Douglass debate, silver in impromptu and silver in extemporaneous. This made him the top speaker in the state, beating out other colleges like University of California at Los Angeles and Concordia University, their biggest competition.

“Richard is one of the smartest people I know,” Shannon Merideth, 19, speech communications major, said. “He’s one of the most looked up people on the team. He doesn’t demand respect, he just receives it.”

In the fall Ewell, a 2007 graduate of Crenshaw High School, said he hopes to transfer to Cal State University, Long Beach, or Concordia University where he will continue his debate career.

“Richard is going to be phenomenal in the next two years,” Francesca Bishop, forensics coach, said. “He leads by example, he’s always here and prepared to do his work. He’s humble and supportive of everyone, he really is a good

“This has given me a new life, before debate I didn’t care about school... but debate has given me the motivation to be in school and to succeed.”

—Richard Ewell Forensics team member leader and I’m going to really miss him.”

Ewell, a part of the best community college forensics team in the nation, said he attributes the teams success to mainly two things.

“It’s our coaches, but it’s also good kids that really want to learn and are hard working.”

Though the forensic team does not have a captain, many can agree that Ewell is looked up to and respected by the rest of his team.

“He is willing to work with you on whatever it may be, he’s helped the newer people on the team, like myself, in figuring out how everything works,” Meredith said. Ewell comes off as shy but when debating he is far from it.

He said that when he originally joined the team last year, he barely even spoke to the rest of the team.

“He’s very quiet,” Tony Liu, 19, political science major, said. “But when he has something to say, people listen.”

Being a part of this team has not only inspired his peers to achieve greatness, but it has changed Ewell for the better.

“Being a part of this team as made me less of an introvert, it’s allowed me to be more open and I’ve made a lot of friends throughout this experience,” Ewell said.

Participating in numerous tournaments, Ewell has been able to travel to New Orleans for nationals as well as Connecticut, which is the site of the forensic teams’ next competition in April.

Ewell said that after EC he plans on becoming a graduate assistant, coaching debate teams and ultimately going into law to become a lawyer, a profession he claims his speech and debate talent will prepare him “This has given me a new life, before debate I didn’t care about school I was just trying to figure everything out,” Ewell said. “But debate has given me the motivation to be in school and to succeed.”

Cutbacks discussed by faculty Program helps women succeed Jessica Mendoza Staff Writer

At an emergency Academic Senate meeting Tuesday, representatives of the faculty debated the different possibilities of cuts the college is facing.

The Academic Senate is preparing a document to help in deciding what should be looked at in regards to campus cuts.

“Our priorities are to help students reach their goals, being able to check off general education requirements and still offer basic skills courses as much as we are able to in these tough times,” Lars Kjeseth, curriculum chair member, said.

The reality of what is to come for EC’s future will affect everyone who is a part of this community college, with tuition prices already being raised to $36 a unit.

“Nobody is going to get a free pass,” Kjeseth said. “Everyone is going to have to make sacrifices.”

Even though the Academic Senate does not make the final decisions to what courses and academic programs will be cut, what this group proposes will help guide campus administrators.

“We just put it out there to what we feel needs to

be cut,” Lance Widman, vice president of finance and special projects, said. “Somebody is going to have to make the cuts.”

The Academic Senate wants to preserve courses needed for transfer to the Cal State University and University of California systems, particularly those that can meet multiple requirements in general education and majors.

The study abroad program is highly impacted and there are no cost saving estimates or numbers that will lead into making the decision in cutting the program, Gold said.

Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student and community advancement, said in a March 17 Union article that “there are no plans to make changes to the academic calendar” but that with the current budget, the number of courses offered has to be reduced.

Currently, with three proposed scenarios by the college, roughly 200 course sections being cut would be the best possible outcome, with nearly 700 course sections cut being the most drastic possibility. Voter approval of the tax extension package in the special election in June, should it be held, would yield the least amount of sections being cut.

Nicholette Raecke Staff Writer

Women seeking new venues of employment are finding diversified opportunities in the Women in Technology (WIT). program.

The goal of the program is to fill positions in the technological fields with women who have trained on campus in one of the fourteen fields offered.

“We are able to offer many opportunities to women that were once impossible to find. It’s possible to take a basis welding class, with a female welding teacher, and without a lot of prerequisites,” Naomi Tokuda, CTE Pipeline Teacher, said.

Since 2005, the campus has “provided a place on campus for women because they are underrepresented in the fields of computer technology and construction technology,” Victoria Martinez, WIT program coordinator, said.

“Women are actually preferred in the fields we offer, and in Engineering Technology there are many openings. They work with robotic components and materials, and on campus we have a Robotic Club.

We are attending a conference soon for a Robotics Competition,” Martinez said.

Once a student has applied to the program, she

is offered choices for training, and eligible to obtain certificates in such classes as Computer aided-Design/Drafting, Automotive Technology and Fire and Emergency Technology.

“The end result is retention, and by way of the Grad Initiative, we’re pushing for more students on campus to complete their training. Grants are available to those who qualify, including one from Southern California Edison, and Nissan,” Martinez said.

There are industry tours the students take to experience the workplace they might choose in various disciplines. Guest speakers come to campus to discuss the job possibilities with them also. One of the places students will be visiting this semester will be NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Few outsiders are able to visit the facilities, Martinez said.

Employment and internship assistance is also available, as well apprenticeship off-campus. Oneon-one counseling is available and childcare services.

WIT provides mentors for each student, a peer support group, and math and English tutoring is available as well as advisory meetings every semester.

4 EDITORIALS

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Emergency meeting brings no resolution to cuts As a student,when you thought things were already hard enough. Things just got harder.

When Gov. Jerry Brown signed his budget into law, community colleges in California will face budget cuts.

Due to these cuts, the tuition will go up from $26 dollars to $36.

These increases couldn’t have come at a worse time and won’t make things easier for students who already have to face enough obstacles.

Every time tuition goes up, EC loses students and they lose money. So, for the college to increase tuition in wake of this new law doesn’t make sense.

This budget isn’t the answer to trying to solve California’s growing deficit.

Students shouldn’t have to suffer by having their tuition increased because the state wants to reduce the money it gives to education.

Education is the foundation of our society.

The people that attend colleges are the students that go on to become a part of our workforce and stimulate the economy.

With tuition increased, this all changes.

EC, in particular will lose students which is a common theme when tuition goes up.

In fall 2009, when the tuition was increased, the college’s enrollment shrunk by 1,400.

That’s 1,400 students who won’t be paying for their education that the college could use.

The same result is sure to follow after

Illustration by Dan Baldonado

The issue:

Too many cuts with no return for students.

Our stand:

Enough is enough, no more cuts!

this fall’s tuition increase.

Education should not take the burden of a dwindling economy.

The increase in tuition will force fulltime students, taking 12 units, to dig deeper into their pockets to pay the extra $100 that will be charged in fall.

The college has already had enough tuition increases and it’s time for someone else to take on the burden.

Students are lucky enough to be able to afford to pay for their education now.

Businesses and people that own homes should have to take on paying more, since they are more sutied to.

Businesses that are established are more than able to handle paying a little more money to help stop hurting students who aren’t equipped to pay these extra fees.

It’s time to stop the tuition increases and give students who are willing to pay for their education an opportunity to do so, without worrying about the tuition increasing every two years.

—See related article on Page 1

Student parents benefit from programs on campus Campus programs provide greater assistance to student parents than ever before.

When you grow up and you dream about going to the college of your dreams the last thing you are thinking of doing is scheduling diaper changes around your classes.

But some, whether planned or not, find this to be their reality.

In this economic time, being a parent while attending college can not only be difficult, but damned near impossible.

But thanks to programs like the Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program, Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOP&S) and CalWorks, parents are getting a better education while taking care of their children.

These programs provide student parents with ways to

acquire food, financial assistance, the ability to get a better education and the peace of mind in knowing that their child’s needs will be met.

During the holidays, the C.A.R.E./Cal Works program even provides the opportunity for those interested in giving back to “adopt” a family. Once signing up, they can purchase gifts for needy families who cannot afford Christmas gifts.

Think about it, without these programs parents would have to work harder to try and maintain their grades and their sanity.

Trying to attend college full-time is hard enough for students, period.

So to be a parent and a student shows great resilience and determination.

Regardless, times are changing and changing for the better for student parents.

Parents can now attend the classes they need while their children are in childcare.

Not only do these programs help parents care for their children, they also provide them with the tools to be better parents.

Parents are also provided with counseling and mentorship to help them deal with the stresses of not only being a parent, but a student parent.

Although these programs do help students, it is up to the parent to apply themselves to not only these programs but to all programs that are available to them.

Remember, parents, that you are not the only one benefiting from these programs.

Your child is also benefiting by you setting a good example and building a strong foundation for your child.

However programs like these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to parents juggling college and parenting.

At the end of the day, parents still need to practice proper time management, be accountable for their actions and set realistic goals.

—See related article on Page 2

Submissions for Myriad coming to a close April Fool’s Day: Just another excuse to be mean Myriad is the annual literature and art magazine that showcases EC student work and creativity.

Started in 1961 by a group calling itself The Literary Round Table, the magazine was originally named Impressions.

Soon after, however, the name was changed to Myriad.

Writing for Myriad is a very low-pressure way for students to get published so the staff tries its best to publish as many works as possible.

The process for choosing which submissions make the final cut for the magazine takes time.

The staff receives and rates approximately 200 submissions a year.

Myriad is not edited by a club, but by the class of English 98.

Editors are dedicated to providing an equal opportunity for all students regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

The class decides what submissions get in, how they’re ordered, and on the final design.

Students can submit up to three pieces of poetry, three pieces of art, and one short story of up to 5,000 words per person.

Every editor is responsible for analyzing, reading, and rating each submission.

Each submission is rated based on a number of criteria, each with its own scale from 1 to 10.

Once every editor has rated a piece, the piece gets a combined rating.

The staff then prints as many pieces as we can, starting from the highest rated and moving down.

The staff usually publishes one piece per artist.

We spend the rest of the class analyzing other literary magazines and advertising for Myriad.

Union

El Camino College

Vol. 64, No. 13 March 31, 2011

E-mail: elcaminounion@ yahoo.com Newsroom: (310) 660-3328 Advertising: (310) 660-3329

CAMPUS INSIGHT

From the editors of the Myriad

The Graphic Design class, Art 43 abcd, creates the design for the magazine and how the magazine will look.

The submissions deadline for this year is on April 6.

We distribute about 1,000 copies around EC, the Library, Humanities Building, etc., by the first week in June.

In addition, there will be an author reading on June 2 at 1 p.m. in the Distance Educa-

tion classroom.

This is a chance to meet your favorite authors and hear them read their work.

We thank the Humanities Division, The Foundation and Professor Peter Marcoux for their continued generosity in aiding the Myriad staff.

We look forward to meeting you.

To learn more about Myriad, go to www.myriadecc.com.

You can also find us on facebook and tumblr.

To reach us, send an email to the.myriad@gmail. com.

The views expressed in Campus Insight are those of the authors. They do not represent the views or opinions of the Union, its staff, editorial board or adviser.

This column is available to students and faculty. All articles may be submitted to Eccunion@gmail.com. Please note that articles may be edited for content and length.

Poking holes in someone’s straw, covering the toilet seat with plastic wrap or filling a person’s water bottle with vodka are all pranks that have been done at some point or another to celebrate, April Fool’s Day. On this day, many people choose to limit themselves to harmless pranks while others tend to “think outside the box,” taking their jokes too far and later regretting that spark of creativity.

A good example is a practical joke done by Randy Wood, a 33-year-old man from N.Y. In 2004, Wood called his ex-wife asking her to go over to his house.

When she arrived at the house, she saw him hanging from a tree in his front yard.

Before he could explain that it was all a joke and that he was actually being held by a lineman’s harness, she called 911 and his house was soon surrounded by policeman and firefighters.

Wood was forced to pay a $1,000 fine, and one year in jail for his joke.

Whether the consequences were worth the expression on his ex-wife’s face, it’s up to each individual’s opinion, but the severity of the possible consequences is what people should keep in mind before pulling their pranks.

April Fool’s Day is celebrated in the United States every year on the first day of the April and it’s a celebration intended to pull all sorts of practical jokes on people.

It’s believed that this celebration began in France and was spread throughout Europe, and that it was the British who later brought this tradition to the United States.

Whether people are trying to get back at some-

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The Union is published Thursdays by Journalism 11 students at El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90506, and is free to the student body and staff.

Unsigned editorials and cartoons are the opinion of the editorial board and do not reflect the views of the student body, staff or administration. Letters to the editor must be signed and must be received one week prior to publication in the Union office, Humanities Building Room 113.

Letters are subject to editing for space, libel, obscenity and disruption of the educational process. Single copies of the Union are free; multiple copies can be requested through the Union.

COMMENTARY one or just have a good laugh, they often celebrate this day as if it where their last and it’s these jokes that usually go wrong.

On April 1, 2009, a man in Chandler, Arizona, lit a match Alma Zazueta next to a gas tank while his Staff Writer friend pumped gas into the car as a joke, unfortunately for him his stunt didn’t amuse anyone when a fire burst out.

And if that wasn’t enough, just picture the two men running away from the scene, with the prankster on fire, and the second man coming back for a baby that was in the back seat.

This video can be watched online on weeklyworldnews.com by searching worst April Fool’s Day prank.

If anything, people might learn a lesson from these pranks and decide to stick to more ordinary jokes.

After all, students might still be able to get a good laugh out of hiding their friends’ phone, or putting salt on someone’s toothpaste.

But whether a person is thinking of planning a joke or not, it’s always good to be prepared because anything can happen on April 1, and the person who planned the joke might end up being the victim.

Either way it is always good to remember what Max Eastman once said: “It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.”

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OPINION

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

UP FOR DEBATE

Who is right in the NFL negotiations?

The players are the ones who play on the field.

With the National Football League owners looking to cut players’ salaries and add two more games to the schedule, the NFL is turning more into the “No Fun League.”

Both parties are in a tug-of-war match to receive more of the league’s $9 billion in annual revenue.

These negotiations need to be ended now and the owners need to give the players what they want.

The players are what the fans pay to see and the players are what bring in the endorsement deals for teams.

The idea that the owners want to reduce the players’ salary and add two more games is ridiculous.

That’s like telling someone who works 9 -5 every day that they have to work overtime and won’t get paid more for it but less.

The negotiations have taken a turn for the worse since the owners called for a lockout after the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations.

A lockout also won’t solve anything.

The players take on injuries and train hard to be in shape to play every season and to withstand the punishment they take throughout each game.

A little cushion for them to fall on in the wallets, will go a long way for them continuing to be the best athletes in the world.

In today’s economy, the players are ready to do whatever necessary to play a sport.

For instance, Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans said he would join the U.S. track team according to an article on Yahoo.

The facts are there. The players aren’t willing to sit back and relax while the owners continue to deny every suggestion from the players association.

For the sake of everyone’s Sundays, the owners need to open their checkbooks and give the players what they want.

They need to give the players the 50-50 split they want or keep things the same.

The longer this process goes on, the more impatient the players are going to get.

The players need a job and are not afraid to go out and find one.

Regardless if it is in the Canadian Foot-

Matthew Simon Managing Editor

Andrew Lim Co-Sports Editor

ball League or the United Football League, the players will find a job playing a sport they love.

Eventually a deal will need to be made so both parties don’t continue to lose money.

By this point the owners have a lot more to lose than the players do.

Fans want to see the best players on the field doing what they are best at.

As of right now, we have no NFL season in 2011.

Some people say that both owners and the players need to negotiate.

The players clearly need to step back and look at the bigger picture.

This disagreement between the players and the owners is all about the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

According to businessdictionary.com,

The owners make all the business decisions.

CBA is the written, legally enforceable contract between the management and its employees; it sets down and defines conditions of employment such as wages and benefits.

According to the current CBA, the players are getting 60 percent of the revenues while the owners are getting about 40 percent.

However, this is very misleading. The owners are the ones paying the salaries for coaches and general managers as well as paying for their office staff, public relations, and the list goes on.

Some of the coaches’ salaries are ridiculous; according to Forbes.com, the highest-paid NFL coach is Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots with a $7.5 million salary.

According to the proposal for the new CBA by the players’ side, they are wanting a straight 50-50 of the pie.

This is really hard to understand considering that the owners are the ones who make decisions for each organization, not the players.

One of the most notorious decisions that made a team go south is the decision to draft Jamarcus Russell who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2007 by the Oakland Raiders.

According the Andrew Brandt, a business analyst for ESPN, Russell was paid a total of $39.4 million over four years and what did he do to earn all that money?

Over three years he compiled some statistics that would place him as the worst quarterback in the league while compiling a horrible 7-18 record.

The owners are the ones taking these business risks.

Eventually, the owners take a hit in the revenues coming in if the product on the field is not good.

Not that players, who are the employees in this case, should just kneel down and say, “Yes sir. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

Clearly, the owners should have the final say on how much the players should be paid.

Illustration by Dan Baldonado

Before attacking Libya, the U.S. should consider risks Once again the United States is fighting a war that is not ours and that we shouldn’t be fighting.

More than 100 missiles showering the country of Libya is a wrong approach to stopping further violence and defending the rights of foreign citizens.

Apparently the purpose of this attack is to prevent Libyan forces from murdering rebels and harming civilians caught between a fight that hopes to overthrow the government of Moammar Gadhafii, leader of that country.

I know that we all deserve respect, and absolutely no one has the right to take our lives away over our ideals, but this war can be seen as wrong in so many ways.

First of all we are now involved in a third fight against a Muslim country and many people may start to see it as a personal attack against Muslims, even when President Barack Obama’s father was Muslim.

I don’t agree with this; I think it might be a better guess to say that we are there for the money, because, oh, yeah, they have oil too.

We’re already told once that we were going to a war with Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction that were never found.

At some point we ended up doubting whether we were there because of the weapons or the oil, and now this is go-

to happen in Libya.

COLUMN ing As always, we are being told that we got involved to protect our fellow brothers.

But what if that’s not the reason, what if what we really want is their resources?

It’s not surprising to hear that this is a fight against cruelty and has Alma Zazueta nothing to do with making money off Staff writer their resources, but it’s hard to believe it.

More than once countries all over the world have been involved in fights and many people have been murdered without The US getting involved.

A few years ago, there was a strong debate about whether the killings in Darfur, a country in Africa, should be considered genocide.

However, it never crossed our government’s mind to go to war against them.

I know why, because they didn’t have what Libya does, which is oil.

If we fight this war, we are once again going to be seen as a selfish, power-seeking nation that cares about nothing

CAMPUS VIEWPOINTS

Amanda Christin, 20, kinesiology major

Louis Palacious, 22, criminal justice major

Jean Shoemaker, 20, liberal studies major

“The players are. The owners already dictate everything else. The players are there to play so they should be the ones to decide.”

“It’s a privilege to play on a team.

The owners should have the say.

If the players don’t like how the owners decide, don’t play.”

“Their bodies and health are on the line and they are risking their lives. However, it should at least be 50/50.”

else but oil.

I think this is something Obama cares about also and that was why we let the French launch the first missiles, to show people that we have what he calls a “limited role” in this war.

Another reason why I think he is doing this because of the 2012 elections.

Obama had always been seen as an anti-war candidate and that was one of the reasons why he was elected president.

He even got the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Award, and now he is launching missiles to another country without congressional approval.

What I don’t understand is what he means by “limited” if we were among the first to launch the missiles and we are also partially, if not completely, directing the attack.

I just think it’s best for Obama to simply leave everything to France and Britain and focus on our economy for now.

President Obama has been on an official visit to South America to discuss our economic ties with countries there and he should focus on that.

President Obama needs to tell us if we can afford another war, because, after all, we are going to be paying for it.

5

CAMPUS CORNER

Aliah Saleh President Nursing Club

Alia Saleh is president of the nursing club, better known as Iota Kappa Chi, National student nurses Association. The club meets every first Monday of the month in the Ella Rose Madden study room in the Library at 2 pm.

What does the nursing club do on campus?

While we work with the Nursing program, our goal is to provide community service around the Torrance and Gardena area, we raise money or take in donations and do canned food drives for charities. We have a mentors and mentee program for nursing students, so they can get help with assignments.

We’re also the liaison between nursing faculty and nursing students.

Can anybody join or are their requirements?

Anyone can join, but the majority of people in the club are nursing students. You can get a sash at graduation if you meet certain requirements each semester, such as attending certain volunteer events and putting in hours as well as serving on the committee board.

What are some of the events the club sponsors?

We always participate and raise money for the L.A. AIDS walk.

We go to the Torrance churches every month and help them serve lunch to the homeless.

We’re also working with Teens Against Cancer (TAC) with a variety show they will be putting on in the summer. We are also looking into ways to aid those affected by the earthquake in Japan. One way is we have a link for donations to the American Red Cross on our Facebook page.

How does the club help students in the nursing program?

At the beginning of the semester, we had an ice breaker where members got to meet students from other semesters so they know who to call if they have questions about certain assignments or things. We’re also providing study help and review for students in the program or anyone who wants to join after meetings.

What’s it like being in the nursing program?

Its a vigorous chore. You do have to dedicate a lot of time studying and you learn to form almost a sort of family within your group of students; it’s all about team work and helping everyone out and make sure everyone is on the right track studying, you practice skills together in the lab area.

—Samuel Barke

Who is right in the NFL negotiations?

By Jessica Mendoza and Anna Ashkinadze

David Vasquez, 18, journalism major

“The players are risking bodies and could get ries. It’s unfair to the ers if they don’t have the

their injuplaysay.”

Kayla Vidal, 20, paralegal major

Matt Boskovich, 20, physical education major

“Players make so much money off of endorsements. The owners have to deal with all the liability, so they should have the say.”

“Players should have the choice since the commissioners want to add two more games to the season and they are the ones playing.”

6 FEATURES

facebook

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

the best and the worst

Viridiana Vaca-Rios Co-Opinion Editor Rabiya Hussain Staff Writer

You’re at a party with the music pulsating loudly across the room. You make your way through the crowd and meet a stranger. As the party is about to come to an end, you ask the stranger for his or her number and they respond with “add me on Facebook.”

The best

In a time where phone numbers and personal contact information is not needed to get a hold of someone, Facebook has become the tool in communication.

Students like Mary Barrera, 18, psychology major, use Facebook to keep in touch with distant family members.

“I use it to talk to my friends and family in Venezuela who I haven’t seen in a while,” Barrera said.

“Facebook is also very informing.”

Facebook allows you to get into contact with people without an address or phone number. All that is needed is the name of the person you are trying to reach, allowing people to stay in contact with friends and family they may have otherwise lost.

“It is nostalgia with some true friendships, those friendships can be lost over time,” Matthew Cheung, English professor, said.

With an estimated 500 million people around the world using Facebook, according to Facebook, it has become an important tool in different aspects of people’s lives.

“We see connections that weren’t there or noticed before, such as friends of friends of friends; I like it, it makes us more connected but many people don’t realize it,” Jason Davidson, communications professor, said.

Networking is an important part of today’s soci- time, hundreds of people can be connected to any ety. Through networking, people can receive job op- type of economic cause or event. portunities as well as making connections that can “It helps me promote my events on Facebook. become beneficial to their career.

I get more attention online and it also helps people “Facebook is obviously a great networking tool avoid losing connections with one another,” Chrisbecause it emphatian Voynaus, 21, sizes how we’re fine arts major, connected to each said. other,” Davidson Whether it is said. an AIDS walk or According to a charity event ✖ There are more than 500 million active marketing-jive. for the recent Red Facebook users. com, being able Cross Japan reto spread the word lief, reaching out ✖ 50 percent of active users log on to Faceof a business, or to people to help book in a given day. branding, is also support a cause is one of the top benone way people ✖ Users spend more than 700 billion minutes efits of having a use Facebook. per month on Facebook.

Facebook account.

“The advocacy It is said that, for certain groups ✖ The average user is connected to 80 com“Facebook can be is a positive, when munity pages, groups and events. a great resource people can post for generating on Facebook, they ✖ More than 30 billion pieces of content such brand awareness,” can stop bad govas web links, news stories, blog posts, notes as well as building ernments from anand photo albums are shared each month. relationships with nihilating people Information from Facebook.com consumers and and alert people to prospects. injustices around “It’s useful for business, a good way to cut mar- the world and you hear about causes you wouldn’t keting cost. Facebook slashes marketing down to necessarily hear about,” Francesca Bishop, profesalmost nothing,” Cheung, said. sor of communication studies, said.

With the “what’s on your mind?” status update, Facebook users can express if they are looking for a job and can see if others are looking for employees.

Social causes and events are also something that At the end of every day, she would come home can be spread through Facebook and bring attention from her job as a waitress and sign on to Facebook from many. Users can create event invites or can to reconnect with the excitement of the world that post a link on their status bar. Within a matter of she was isolated from at the start of her work day.

FACEBOOK FACTS

The worst

Sudoku Fill every row across, every column down, and every 3x3 box with the digits 1 through 9.

Each digit must appear only once in each row across, each column down and each 3x3 box.

For the solution to the puzzle, visit the Union website, www.eccunion.com

This day, however, was no ordinary day.

Geena Ramirez, 19, film major, came home that night to a month-long journey of being stalked by a man on Facebook who she barely knew.

She got a message from a man with whom she shared a mutual friend and being the sociable type, she responded.

“At first, everything was normal,” she said. “But then he started to ask me where exactly I lived and what color my car was, and then he said he wanted to meet.”

She knew the man contacting her was in a relationship, and his being so persistent and inappropriate with her sent up a red flag in her mind.

“It’s stupid, but because I was so new to Facebook, I didn’t know I could just block him,” Ramirez said. “Instead, I started avoiding Facebook because I was scared to check my mail.”

According to a CBS news report, “There are unique aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Dr. Gwenn O’Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines.”

Due to a lack of face-to-face contact between students, Facebook can “provide a skewed view of what’s really going on,” O’Keeffe said. “Online, there’s no way to see facial expressions or read body language that provide context.”

Amanda Brown, 19, art major, exercises great caution when using Facebook, though she has never run into a problem herself.

“I know a guy who was kicked out of his parent’s house because his parents saw drunken pictures of him on Facebook,” Brown said. “I’m really careful about what I post because my mom is one of my friends.”

ARTS 7

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

ON THE SCENE Dance

Discover the ‘Evolution of Street Dance’ Resident artist Daniel Berney collaborates with Hiroshi Hamanishi and Amy Campion’s Antics Dance Company for a unique performance.

Bringing break dancing and other street dances to the main stage, it begins Friday at 8 p.m. in Marsee Auditorium. Tickets are $15. Interested persons may call 800-832-ARTS for more information.

Photography

Annual student exbition at Schauerman Library Titled “Ithaka,” the annual student photography exhibition’s theme centers around C.P. Cavafy’s poem. Visualizing the poem through black and white, color, digital and film images, student’s work will be on display through the month of April.

The reception will take placeFriday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Library lobby and is open to the community. Library hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, interested persons may call the Library at 310-660-3519.

Music

Resident artist featured at Campus Theatre Saxaphonist Ann Patterson will perform original compositions and jazz standards with other faculty of the Applied Music Program.

The performance begins Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Campus Theatre. Tickets are $15 and available at the box office. Interested persons may call 800-832-ARTS for more information.

Talent show benefits youth orchestra Joshua Sherman Staff Writer

The cymbals crash followed by a sweet melody by the violins, as a soothing murmur from the cellos calms the symphony and the music fades.

Members of the South Bay Youth Orchestra will perform in a talent show fund raiser for a night of fun for all ages on Saturday at 7 p.m.

A variety of performers ranging from ages 8 to 18 are collaborating for the event.

“They can juggle, they can tell jokes and it’s fun to show the other side of them outside of the orchestra that we never get to see,” Cosima Luther, principal conductor of the South Bay Youth Orchestra said. “This talent show is very important because it creates a sense of unity in the community.”

Musical performances by the orchestra, dance numbers and solo performances will be featured.

“The idea is to have a fundraiser where the students are actually involved with the event, so that they’re the show and they bring people to watch them perform,” Patrick Schulz, SBYO Artistic Director said.

The once large orchestra is now close to the smallest sized group it has ever been.

This may be the result of the $300 tuition fee that is needed to keep the organization running, Schulz said.

Once a class offered at EC, budget cuts have made it part of EC’s Community Education program. Since Honda is no longer sponsoring the program, Schulz said they are also

Joshua Sherman /Union Cosima Luther, principal conductor of the South Bay Youth Orchestra, helps a cello student with sight reading for the upcoming performance.

looking for new sponsors.

EC, Schulz said, has been generous with providing free rehearsal space for the orchestra.

“The arts right now are struggling a lot with the current economy and we are affected by that.

We want to keep this an affordable orchestra for students,” Luther said.

Established in 1995 by William Doyle, music professor, elementary to high school students learn various music styles including jazz, classic and contemporary. Students also perform with renowned musicians.

“We service a wide range of ages and abilities from so many different schools,” Luther said.

The EC Society of Music is hosting the event, which will take place at the Haag Recital Hall.

“Our role is to support young

musicians because we were all young musicians once who had someone help cultivate our interests and skills in music,” Yilin Hsu-Wentlandt, Society of Music vice president said. “We wanted to do our part so that the SBYO could keep the organization going.”

In addition to the bi-annual recitals that SBYO members perform on campus, this new event is meant to help members bond as well as ease the tension of performing.

“Music has the power to draw so many people together from such different places,” Luther said. “I hope friendships will be made out of this.”

Tickets cost $12 at the door.

More information can be found at www.sbyorchestra.com.

‘Paul’ packs lots of laughs

Film

‘The Great Rocky Mountain RV Adventure’ Explore the natural wonders of the Canadian Rocky Mountains from Marsee Auditorium with John Holod’s film, “The Great Rocky Mountain RV Adventure.”

The last installment of the Discovery Film Series for spring will take place Monday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling 800-832-ARTS for $7.

Eric Farrell Co-News Editor

Art

I.D.E.A.S. Art Club offers Henna fundraiser today Taking place at the Art Quad, the club will present workshops on how to apply Henna, a temprorary tattoo. Beginning at 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., interested persons may bring in desired designs to be applied. Other dates include Tuesday and Thursday.

For further information, interested persons may contact the club at ideasartclub@yahoo.com.

Art

American landscape art exhibition Paintings from the Hudson River to the the Western U.S. will be on display for a free exhibition this Tuesday. Located at the George Nakano Theatre in Torrance, 3330 Civic Center Dr., it begins at 12 p.m. Interested persons may call 310-618-2326.

—Joshua Sherman

Joshua Sherman /Union Members of the South Bay Youth Orchestra are from various cities.

Photo courtesy of Gloria Plasencia “La Catrina” is a finalist for Photographer’s Forum’s 2011: Best of College Photography competition.

Photographer wins big Ashley Curtin Staff Writer

Gloria Plascencia remembers photographing “La Catrina” like it was yesterday.

“It was El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and I noticed a young lady was beautifully dressed up with a painted face making fun of death,” Plascencia recalled.

“She was sitting at her father’s grave and had an umbrella.”

“As I photographed her, she began helping me by using the umbrella to direct the light where I wanted it.”

Now a finalist, Plascencia’s, photograph will be printed in Photographer’s Forum, an international photography magazine. “‘La Catrina” just popped and I knew I had to enter it,” Plasencia said.

Currently in Photography 4, Plascencia was encouraged

by Darilyn Rowan, photography professor, to enter the

competition sponsored by Photographer’s Forum. Known as the magazine for the emerging professional, the annual college photography contest allows students from two-year and fouryear colleges worldwide to enter digital or film photographs as well as color or black and white images.

RISING

STAR “The competition allows students to display photos to the world and get feedback on technique and content,” Rowan said.

Rowan, Plasencia said, has been an influential mentor.

“Gloria is an exceptional student and one of the most talented students in my 22 years of teaching at EC,” Rowan said.

“Her portraits are especially powerful, capturing a great deal of emotion and expression.”

Leaving an executive posi-

tion at a bank to follow her passion, photography was a hobby Plascencia started when her children were born 20 years ago.

Capturing their every movement, she used a basic point and shoot camera to photograph her son and daughter.

“I was obsessed with what they were doing and didn’t want to forget anything,” Plascencia said.

When her children grew up, and didn’t want their mother following them around with a camera, she began shooting landscape photography and enrolled in college.

“It was time for me,” Plascencia said, “to do something for me and photography was it.”

Recently, she entered a contest sponsored by The Daily Breeze and her photograph “Under the Light” was chosen as the calendar’s cover.

One of her life-long goals, she said, is to open her own studio. She encourages everyone to follow a dream no matter what age.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have perfected the role of blubbering, awkward buffoons. “Paul” is the proof.

The film takes on equal amounts of nerdy cultural references, slapstick, potty-mouth humor and subtler, yet refined adventure elements well enough to make it a movie worth watching.

Long time friends and collaborators Frost and Pegg star as two English tourists and alien enthusiasts. The geeks vacation to the U.S. for a visit to Comic-Con and several major alien hot spots in the western half of the country.

Discovering Paul after Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) nearly run over him, Paul tells the two to hide him and drive north.

The antagonists, Special Agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman) and his stupidly hilarious cohorts Agent Haggard (Bill Hader) and Agent O’Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio) provide for a great cast.

Rounded out by Kristen Wiig, playing the role of a one-eyed, Bible-clenching super Christian who befriends and joins the Englishmen and alien on their journey.

The film’s strength is in the

characters. Every character is hilarious, but Paul himself. Rogen’s voice performance seemed lacking. His voice doesn’t fit the bill for Paul, who is brash, eccentric, and very sarcastic, which sounds like something Rogen could voice beautifully but it comes off as disjointed and awkward.

The humor is split between easily digestible morsels of stupidity, such as Agent O’Reilly’s first encounter with Paul that left him crying and fanning his hands like a teenage girl, and more subtle stupidity that may not be funny to the casual viewer. Clive speaks to Graeme in Klingon, a language derived from the “Star Trek” series while attempting to brandish a fancy looking sword that readily crumbles in his hands.

If any or all of that sounds like it’d make you laugh, chances are you would enjoy “Paul.”

References to various scifi conventions are made far and wide, used as a crutch more than a basis for humor.

That may be the deciding factor of the film. Laughing at the quick slapstick humor can only make a viewer so happy. “Paul” is a film that begs to have its more subtle humor and references appreciated in order for it’s viewers to get the full experience.

Photo Courtesy of NBC Universal

8 SPORTS

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

Shorthanded volleyball team beats Santa Monica College Ashley Curtin Staff writer

Having to fight through difficulties and misfortune, the Warriors started out with a two game lead over Santa Monica College last Friday, and never looked back.

Injuries plagued the Warriors this week as three starters went down and players were asked to step up their game.

Some players started in new positions last week while others took on new responsibilities but as a team, it found a way to pull it together.

“It was a great week for us,” coach Dick Blount said. “A win on the road and a win at home. We came back from some adversity, having three players go down with injuries this week.”

A win against the Corsairs puts the Warriors at 3-2 in their conference and 7-5 overall.

The Warriors will face the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros in a conference game Tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Outside hitter Kyle Burgoyne, has a knee injury while Jonathon Pettit and Lawrence Tran are suffering from ankle injuries and they will try to recover and play in the next game.

The Warriors will look for revenge after losing a road game to the Vaqueros

earlier this season and with the upcoming match at home, the team will have home field advantage against its rivals.

“We lost to SMC earlier this year in a tournament so it felt good to take down SMC, our cross town rivals,” Hunter Hovland, outside hitter, said.

The Warriors took a 4-0 lead in the first game behind Nick Dimarco, opposite hitter.

Dimarco totaled three aces on the

“We lost to SMC earlier this year in a tournament so it felt good to take down SMC.” —Hunter Hovland, Outside hitter night as well as getting nine kills and seven digs.

The team never trailed in the first game, winning 25-18.

“Usually we win when we get our serves in,” Hovland said. “We were able to figure it out and get some serves in.”

In the second game, the Warriors protected the net as middle hitters Spencer Fornell and Race Munger combined for

seven blocks.

The team held on to a lead despite a SMC rally to come within two points. A game-winning kill from Hovland, 25-23, put the Warriors up two games to none, with Hovland totaling 15 kills for the match.

“I had been hitting hard angles all game just to set up for that one hit,” Hovland said. “So when I saw a line open, it was pretty easy after that.”

The third game went point for point but the Warriors eventually pulled out a victory 25-21.

Joseph Tanuvasa, setter, had 36 assists on the night, which proved ball control wins games.

“Our consistent ball control and passing has steadied out and the results have been positive,” Blount said.

As the Warriors look ahead to the next game, they will look to improve upon their 3-2 conference record.

Blount said in the beginning of the season that road wins are difficult, but the team defends home court very well.

“The next few conference games being at home is good for us,” Burgoyne, outside hitter, said. “We have a very high percentage (of winning) when we play at home.”

Mike Williams /Union Warriors outside hitter Hunter Hovland spikes past a Santa Monica College player in the team’s 3-0 victory last Friday against the Corsairs at home.

Badminton team gets shut out by Pasadena City College Rabiya Hussain Staff writer

With the team going back to its old habits, the Warriors got shut out once again.

“We’re an optimistic team, we always try to stay positive,” badminton player Tanille Barnes said. “We just try to have fun, while learning something new.”

The Warriors lost 21-0 against the

Pasadena City College Lancers last Friday for the second time this season.

For the next match, the team will be playing against the Compton College Tartars at home next Wednesday at 3 p.m.

After the Warriors’ brief two game winning streak of beating Compton both times by a score of 19-2, they have lost three straight; their record stands at 2-5.

The defeat, however, came as no surprise for coach John Britton.

According to the South Coast Conference 2010 women’s badminton standings report, Pasadena City College ranked No. 1 with 11 wins and only one loss.

The EC players have been working on improving their clear shots, which is a shot hit deep to the opponent’s back court.

Barnes said the Lancers were very good at it during the match.

“We have been working really hard

Losses start to mount for the struggling Warriors Andrew Lim Co-Sports editor

Alex Mistuloff, starting pitcher, was in a jam in the sixth inning with runners on second and first base with no outs after walking the first two batters.

The next batter bunted the ball toward third baseman Atlee Schwab. As Schwab charged toward the ball, he fielded the ball cleanly but threw an off-balance throw.

Garrett Cooper, first baseman, tried to stretch his legs and catch the wildly thrown ball. The ball ended up bouncing by him and both of the runners scored on the error by Schwab.

The inning finally came to a close and EC was down 6-2. The Warriors wound up losing 8-2 to the Cerritos College Falcons last Saturday.

“We just played poorly,” coach Nate Fernley said. “We had that sixth inning where we gave up three runs and they didn’t even get a hit. We gave up a walk and then a walk and then threw the ball away and then the next inning it was a walk, walk and then we threw a double play away.”

“We gave up five runs and that was the difference in the game,” he said.

The next game for the Warriors will be today,

Mike Williams /Union Warriors third baseman Atlee Schwab launches a wild throw to first base vs. Cerritos College last Saturday.

as the Mt. San Antonio College Mounties will host EC at 6 p.m.

“Errors happen and you’re not going to score a whole bunch of runs every game, but we could still move forward from this and look to beat Mt. SAC,” assistant coach Nick Jones said.

EC’s record dropped to 7-15, while only winning one of its nine conference games. The only conference win came from the game against L.A. Harbor College, winning 5-4 in 12 innings.

“It was rough,” Jones said. “Early on we had some good at-bats and walks, which we have not done in a while, but we had too many mental mistakes and we did not score enough runs.”

The Warriors have lost 11 of the last 12 games with nine of those losses being decided by three runs or fewer.

“We’re in it almost every game,” Fernley said.

“This is probably our biggest blowout out of our losses. We’re a run away but we usually give up two or three runs a game by making dumb mistakes. So if we eliminate that, those one-run games go our way.”

Mistuloff, who has been a relief pitcher this season, pitched seven innings allowing six runs with three of them earned; the defense did not help him much with two costly errors.

“He was throwing strikes,” catcher Marvin Flores said. “He was in the bullpen for the whole season and this was his first start. He did well though.”

The Warriors had the first lead of the game when they scored in the first inning. Outfielder Jeff Dorman hit a single and advanced to second by a groundout by Ives.

With Dorman in scoring position, Cooper came up to bat. He fouled pitch after pitch off the Falcons’ starting pitcher Jacob Bell. Finally, as he was fighting to stay alive, he hit a single up the middle which drove in Dorman; that was Cooper’s only hit of the game as he went one for five.

“We just have to move forward,” Jones said.

“We can’t control what has already been done.

You can only move forward from here and it’s just about really sticking to what we do. The hardest part is not getting caught up in all those losses” Twelve men were left on base for the Warriors while only six men were left on base for the Falcons.

“That’s the story of our season,” Jones said .“We’ve made so many mistakes every game. If we just stay locked in mentally and take some good at-bats and do what we’re suppossed to do, we can put up another winning streak.”

on that but we are having trouble with it,” she said. “But we do need a lot more practice.”

Another factor of the shutout vs. the Lancers might have been the loss of Kumiko Noguchi, who is the Warriors’ best player.

“We were playing without our No. 1, player so everyone else kind of had to step up a little,” Britton said.

Another one of the teams’ more experienced players, Yokino Noro, was

confident in the players’ progress despite the loss Friday.

Vanessa Ried was proof that the team was getting better with every match it played, Britton said.

“I’ve been going to every practice session and I can feel myself getting better at the game,” Reid said. “It feels good to know that I’m helping and that I am now getting to a point where I can help others who don’t really understand the game.”

SPORTS

March 31, 2011 / El Camino College Union

ON DECK BADMINTON Tomorrow at 2 p.m. at East L.A. College.

Wednesday at 3 p.m. vs.

Pasadena City College.

BASEBALL Today at 6 p.m. at Mt. San Antonio College.

Saturday at noon vs.

Mt. SAC. Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. vs.

East L.A. College.

GOLF Monday at 11:30 a.m. vs.

College of the Desert at Gary Player Golf Course.

SOFTBALL Today at 3 p.m. vs.

L.A. Harbor College.

Tuesday at 3 p.m. vs.

East L.A. College.

SWIMMING AND DIVING Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. vs.

Long Beach City College and L.A. Trade Tech College at L.A. Trade Tech College.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS South Coast Conference Tournament at Long Beach City College Time TBD

TRACK AND FIELD Saturday all day at Antelope Valley College for the Antelope Valley Invite.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL Tomorrow at 6 p.m. vs.

Santa Barbara City College Wednesday at 7 p.m. at L.A. Pierce College —Andrew Lim

9

Warriors finish behind Cerritos College Sam Barke Staff Writer

With three teams battling for a first place finish at last Friday’s meet, the swimming and diving team beat Rio Hondo College by scores of 163-56 and 15378.

With only Cerritos College standing in the way, individual success was not enough against the Falcons as the Warriors lost by scores of 184-88 and 176-86 to finish second.

“We had a lot of good swims, but Cerritos is a lot stronger and has more depth player wise than what we had,” coach Corey Stanbury said. “We had a few people who were hurt but swam anyway, but other than that we had a great meet.”

The Warriors will be hitting the water again tomorrow at L.A. Trade Tech College against Long Beach City College and L.A. Trade Tech College at 2:30 p.m.

Swimmers Brandon Gregory and Amanda Atkins finished in first place in their 100-yard freestyle swims this past Friday against Rio Hondo College and Cerritos College.

Atkins swam a time of 11 minutes, 43.31 seconds; blowing out her second

Mike Williams /Union Freestyle swimmer Brandon Gregory finished in first place during the 100-yard freestyle at home last Friday.

place competition’s time of 13:39.94.

Gregory swam a time of 10:52.65, finishing better than the second place time of 11:17.16, and also swam a lifetime best in the men’s 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:12.38.

“I was very close to breaking my pool time, the time I have swam at school,” Atkins said. “Just five seconds and I would have gotten it.”

Patrick Hana had two lifetime bests in the breast stroke, and Vince Fiamengo swam a time of 1:57 in his 200-meter freestyle, the best unshaved time he has ever

swam in a race.

“My race felt good, and while I was definitely tired, it was exciting to look up at the score board and see that my time had dropped,” Hana said.

While the dive team will be unable to work with Laurie Dawdy this season due to contract issues, Stanbury’s efforts are shining through the performances of divers Amy Tran and Michael Colbert.

Both have been progressing steadily in their dives throughout the season, performing well on their dives all season.

Tran finished in first place in the wom-

en’s 1-meter board event for diving with a total score of 88.25.

While Colbert didn’t win the men’s 1-meter dive, he pulled off a second place finish with a score of 153.90; a big jump from his fifth place finish the last time he dove against Cerritos earlier in the season.

“Had Colbert not messed up on his last dive, he could have beat the first place guy,” Stanbury said “It was a new dive, we were unveiling and we didn’t have much time to practice it.”

While Stanbury believes they will beat Trade Tech and not fare well against Long Beach, he is focused on getting as many swimmers and divers as he can to the diving and swimming regionals and hopefully to the conference champions. “(Stanbury) is more focused on getting us ready for the conference championship then for us to swim well in a duel me,” swimmer Paul Hiney said. “We treat our meets as another practice to get us more in shape and prepare us for conference.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what Mike and Amy can do. Amy has beaten everybody but two people so far in the conference,” Stanbury said. “These divers started from ground zero and their performances are getting better meet by meet.”

Women’s tennis team ends season in second place Alma Zazueta Staff Writer

Trailing 5-1 in the second set, tennis player Lindsay Guardado faced Mt. San Antonio College’s No. 1 player Jourdan Jefferson.

Despite a bruised ego after a 6-1 loss in the first set, Guardado responded with a furious rally; scoring three straight points to come within a point of tying the set, 5-4.

With momentum on her side, Guardado adamantly swung to cap what appeared to be a sure comeback.

Gaurdado’s racket connected on nothing but air, and she could only watch as the ball and her

chances bounced away.

“The first time I played her, she was injured and we went to a third set,” Guardado said. “It was a really close game, but it kind of brought my self esteem down when I (lost to) her.”

With one last opportunity to tie, she whiffed again, and just like that, the match was over, 6-4, giving the Warriors a 7-2 loss last Thursday at Mt. SAC. “It was just a bad game,” Guardado said. “I had the mentality already that I was going to lose.”

It was the third and final conference match of the season against Mt. SAC. The Mounties swept the season series against the Warriors, 3-0.

“Mt. SAC’s No. 1 (player) was a very strong hitter, but I think Lindsay came out strong too,” assistant coach Teila Robertson said. “She did really well moving her around the court, I was really happy with her performance.”

Later that evening, Guardado teamed up with tennis player Carolina Mendoza in a doubles match that gave the Warriors a second loss.

“They were just way more competitive, they would attack both and we would just sit there and watch,” Guardado said. “Not that we were lazy but we went by really quickly, it was like a 20 minute game.”

The only two points of the

match for the Warriors came from tennis players Jillian Dineros and Ashley Bell.

Bell, one of only three returning players on the team, won her singles match, 6-0, 6-2.

“Mt. SAC is usually really hard to beat in general,” Bell said. “We wanted to win but in the end they were just better.”

It was the team’s fifth loss of the season, snapping its threegame winning streak, a seasonhigh.

Next Thursday, the Warriors will test their skills at the SCC conference tournament, in which Bell said she hopes to give a good performance.

Guardado said she is also con-

fident in her own skills but is also aware of her opponents’ talents as well.

“My record is pretty good, I have a chance at getting far,” Guardado said. “I don’t know about taking it all because there are a lot of more competitive people out there.”

Meanwhile, her teammates continue to support her.

The team ended the season second in their conference, with Mt. SAC taking the first place.

“From the beginning of the season we started off a little bit slow,” Robertson said. “They just kept being consistent and working on their shots and they just got better with every game.”

Team edges Mt. San Antonio College in 5-4 thriller Jorge Camarillo Staff Writer

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Roger Morris /Union Tennis player Andrew Sarawasi returns a serve during the win against Mt. SAC.

With rain drizzling down and the score tied at 4-4, Warriors tennis players Yasuto Miyawaki and Jonathan Fisher wanted to make sure they closed it out in the second set against Mt. San Antonio College.

The teams battled back and forth for the lead, matching serves and backhands as the court turned into a frantic game of Pong on steroids until finally it was match point for Miyawaki and Fisher.

With the Warriors taking the crucial fifth point, Fisher capitalized on the lead, taking the final point and Fisher could only let out a scream of joy as they locked up their doubles match, 6-3, 6-3.

The point secured a 5-4 victory against the Mounties last Thursday.

“It was the deciding factor,” coach Steve Van Kanegan said. “It came down to that; whoever won that particular match would win the team match.”

The Warriors will look to carry the momentum from the win to the South Coast Conference tournament, beginning Tuesday.

“I’m expecting good competition,” tennis player Atilla Lassu said. “A lot of these guys

are really, really good and you definitely can’t underestimate them. “It’s going to be fun, but also tough.”

The top three players for the match were Fisher, Miyawaki and Andrew Sarawasi, scoring points that helped the Warriors edge the Mounties.

“It feels great. I love it,” Fisher said. “At the beginning of the season, I was kind of 50/50 for winning and now lately I have been winning. It feels good especially and winning it for EC was a bonus.”

The team took the season series against the Mounties, 2-1.

“It turned out very favorably, we ended up winning 5-4 and going into doubles,” Van Kanegan said.

Warriors Lassu and Sarawasi defeated Marcelo Bautista and Eric Kao, 6-0, 6-3 and Anthony Espinoza and Steven Sato lost to Benson Kim and Peter Kung, 6-3, 6-3 in the other double matches.

“Doubles looked pretty good today, we have struggled the last few times,” Van Kanegan said.

“A little sloppy, but today especially our No. 2 team was more together, more energized and more consistent.”

It was the team’s second consecutive victory after sweeping Long Beach City College, 9-0.

“Jon and Yasuto played a great set of doubles and Andrew played very well in singles and doubles,” Van Kanegan said. “Jon played a great match in singles; those were our key player’s (today).”

Even with the win, Van Kanegan said there is still plenty of room for improvement for the team.

Van Kanegan said the tournament is expecting 18 single players and approximately 12-15 doubles teams.

“Top six single player’s and top three double’s team, that’s all we got,” Van Kanegan said.

Van Kanegan said the players are really looking forward to the SCC tournament.

“I’m expecting a couple of our player’s and a couple of our doubles teams to do well,” Van Kanegan said.

EC is currently 8-5 and secured second place in the SCC. “(Our season’s) been up-and-down, we had a couple of matches where I felt we could have been more consistent and more enthusiastic and there were other matches where we come ready to play,” Van Kanegan said. “Some days the players have it and some days they don’t, we have had a good season, but definitely up-anddown in terms of consistent, energy and enthusiasm.”

Track and field team continues to display dominance in the state Joshua Sherman Staff Writer

In a surge of record breaking performances and new state leaders, the track and field teams seem to be building up to a climactic finish for state championships in May. Runner Shale’ Garland swept the competition in the 100-meter run, running it in 12 seconds flat and becoming the new state leader in that event.

“I can be nervous, but I have to think about achieving a personal record,” Garland said. “And I have to work on what I didn’t do on the race before.”

She also made the All-Time ECC Performer List, ranking fifth.

“I started off where I ended last year and I’m doing much better,” Garland said. “I have to get stronger and get the right mindset when I’m running.”

The track and field teams head to the Antelope Valley Invitational to face various contenders Saturday.

Runer David Cardona returned to win the traditional 2-mile race later in the evening with a time of 9 minutes, 20.39 seconds, while Tito Lezama placed third.

Warrior Maria Colin also won in the women’s

traditional 2-mile in 11:47.36.

The field event performers didn’t have trouble finding their way into the record books as Nestor Romero threw the hammer even further than his record-breaking performance last meet with a mark of 149 feet, 5 inches.

On a similar note, Rukayah Bent-Mikail be-

“We depend on each other 24/7.

These guys are the reason why I work as hard as I do.”

—Anthony Lewis EC Sprinter

came the new state leader, winning the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 10 1/4 inches.

She now ranks ninth on the All-Time ECC Performer List.

The high jump event featured Warrior Michelle Woodruff win with a jump of 5 feet, 2 inches that didn’t trump her previous mark last week, placing her as the seventh on the All-Time ECC Performer List.

The EC shot putters dominated the competi-

tion consecutively, placing in the top three.

Jason Harrell won his event with 49 feet, 4 inches and Richard Smith came in second with 48 feet, 4 inches and Jovan Beason placed third with 47 feet.

“I’m glad I made it over and placed,” Kara Kalmar said.

Kalmar remained undefeated Friday as she vaulted 11 feet flat in the pole-vault.

“I was expecting to hit 12 feet,” Kalmar said.

“But the season has been going pretty good for me and I’ve been improving throughout the year.”

“I feel like my form wasn’t there and I could’ve done better. I tried my best and there is always next time,” she said.

The men’s 4x800 meter relay team came out triumphant despite a close race against Riverside’s team.

“I think I did good, but the team did excellent as a whole,” Anthony Lewis said.

Winning with a time of 7:42.08 over Riverside’s time of 7:42.82, the men’s relay team of Vincent Bui, David Cardona, Lewis and Jose Lezama placed fourth on the ECC All-Time Top 10 List, collectively.

“We depend on each other twenty-four seven,” Lewis said. “These guys are the reason why I work as hard as I do.”

Roger Morris /Union Warriors pole vaulter Katrina Wilbanks attempting a vault during the team’s invitational at Riverside City Community College last Friday.