Issue 7 Fall 2019

THE RAMPAGE The Student-Run Newspaper of Fresno City College

Fall 2019 | ISSUE 7 | November 27, 2019

Rosario Rushes PAGE 11

Sophomore running back Rico Rosario was one of the bright spots on the way to an undefeated conference record.

Rams' sophomore running back Rico Rosario powers through a San Mateo Bulldogs' defender during the Rams playoff game on Nov. 23, 2019. Photo/Patrick Henslee

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The advisor of the rampage is retiring. We reported on her life and career.

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soccer dominate 12 Women's in playoff shut out.

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Lebron and Kaepernick defined the last decade of player empowerment.

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Sanders' Political revolution on the veteran's lawn Tommy Tribble | Editor-in-Chief ttribble@therampageonline.com

THE RAMPAGE

The student-run newspaper of Fresno City College

STAFF

Editor-in-Chief Tommy Tribble

News Editor Hannah Lanier

Entertainment Editor John Bruce

Sports Editor Ben Hensley

Multimedia Editor Leticia Leal

Online Editor Kris Hall

Reporters

Alfredo Rodriguez Christian Zarcone Derek Bullis Jeffery Gilkison Leilani Bustos Mark Ross Moises Buitrago Natalie Gallegos Patrick Henslee Symmone Woods Toni Woodruff

Business Manager Avery Johnston

Advisers/Instructors Dympna Ugwu-Oju Kathleen Schock

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Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders called for a political revolution on the veterans peace memorial lawn at Fresno City College, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019.

“I don’t have to tell anyone here tonight that we live in an unprecedented and dangerous moment in history,” Sanders began. He called for a political revolution among young people, “the most progressive generation in the history of America.”

“I am going to tell you what no other presidential candidate will tell you,” Sanders said. “And that is that no president, not Bernie Sanders or anybody else, can do it alone.”

Sanders’ Green New Deal rally remarks characterized the climate crisis as a global issue, not just an American or a Californian one.

“Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity,” Sanders said. While the scientists have consensus about climate change, Sanders said that they underestimated the severity of the crisis. “I don’t have to tell anybody here about the drought, and the terrible, terrible fires that have consumed this great state,” he said.

Sanders pledged to invest tens of thousands of dollars in solar and wind energy. He promised that his agenda would create millions of jobs retrofitting buildings to make them energy efficient.

“There are millions of people, including people in this area,” Sanders said, “who cannot drink the water that comes out of their faucet.” Sanders promised to invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure.

“And when we talk about infrastructure, we are talking about clean water,” he said.

While the speech was billed as a Green New Deal rally by the campaign, Sanders predominantly discussed his classic beats, calling

for stronger unions, higher taxes for the rich, and higher wages for the middle class. “We are running on an agenda that tells the billionaire class that they cannot have it all,” he said.

He stressed that the infrastructure spending would involve building low-income and affordable housing. “We are talking about building ten million new units,” he said. “This is the United States of America, we should not, we must not, we will not have a half a million people tonight sleeping out on the streets in this country,” he said.

“It is a disgrace that we have a president that doesn’t understand the first thing about climate change,” Sanders said, as the crowd booed the almostPresidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders poses for a selfie with a supporter, Friday, Nov. 15, mention of Donald Trump’s 2019. Sanders hosted a Green New Deal rally at Fresno City College. Photo/Mark Ross name. replace them with a single-payer highest level of air pollution in the He spoke of the president only system.

“It is horrific that 30,000 country, Arland said. She said that in the beginning of his speech, people in our country die every she sees its impact on her patients characterizing the Trump year because they don’t get to a every day. “We live, we feel, we administration as uniquely doctor in time, ” Sanders said.

“It touch, we breathe and we can corrupt as well as racially, is disgraceful that half a million smell this crisis in our backyard,” Americans go bankrupt because Arlund said. of medically related debt.”

Sanders was introduced by “Bernie is the only candidate Kingsburg City Councilwoman who embodies that slogan, ‘vote Jewel Hurtado, who endorsed him nurses’ values,” Amy Arlund, that day. Hurtado phonebanked a registered nurse and board and canvased for Sanders in 2016. member of National Nurses “This is a very surreal moment for United—a union that officially me,” she said. endorsed Sanders that day—said The rally was well attended, and on stage. Arlund has worked in Sanders’ pledges drew consistent Fresno for 19 years. cheers. A man in the audience “As nurses we have been fighting yelled, “Guillotine,” at any for decades to win healthcare in mention of billionaires. Mentions this country as a human right,” of Trump drew boos and jeers, she said. Arlund was flanked -Bernie Sanders and there were some sparse antiSenator by fellow union members, their Trump chants to, “Lock him up.” children and nursing students Sanders was previously scheduled to speak at FCC in culturally, and religiously divisive. wearing red T-shirts that read, “Save one life you’re a hero, save a October. The campaign canceled He called Trump homophobic, hundred lives you’re a nurse. ” the rally after Sanders suffered racist, and a religious bigot.

She said that Sanders has a heart attack on Tuesday, Oct. The core of Sanders’ speech and been standing alongside nurses 1, and underwent surgery for a his platform was Medicare for the entire time, and is the blocked artery. His campaign All, his signature health plan that only candidate committed to made good on their promise to would eliminate private insurance, strengthening union rights. reschedule a month later. co-pays and deductibles and The Central Valley has the

“

No president, not Bernie Sanders or anybody else, can do it alone.”

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Views expressed in the opinion pages are those of the individual writer and not of the newspaper.

The Rampage is produced by students of the Journalism 11 A, B, C, D class.

The Rampage went to the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) NorCal Conference at San Jose State on Nov. 16, 2019, joining approximately 180 students from 18 different community colleges across the state, earning over a dozen awards for spring and fall 2019 submissions in Regional Publication Awards and on-the-spot categories. Photo/Kathleen Schock

11.27.19 NEWS 3

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ASFA Proposes Gym Curtains, Bathroom Accessibility

Our in depth report on all-gender and non-binary gender accomodation on campus Natalie Gallagos | Reporter ngallagos@therampageonline.com

Fresno City College has taken several steps to provide access and accommodations for all students and has 23 all-gender restrooms on campus, even though 17 of them are locked for use by certain employees, according to Arien Reed, president of the Allied Staff and Faculty Association (ASFA).

There are currently six accessible all-gender restrooms in five different buildings on campus – Building A, the Speech/Music building. T-100, the child development center as well as two in the cafeteria. 12.5% of the 40 buildings identified on campus contain accessible “all gender” restrooms, according to Reed.

In comparing the number of all-gender restrooms at FCC to other colleges, Reed found that Fresno State has 21 “all-gender” restrooms around its campus while MiraCosta College has 18 all-gender restrooms across 48 buildings.

ASFA, a support network for staff, faculty, students and allies, is also proposing gym curtains for the locker rooms and more openly accessible gender neutral restrooms on campus. The association promotes academic success and higher retention rates of LGBTQ students as well as professional development for staff and faculty.

The organization also strives to address issues of school climate and culture for the LGBTQ community on campus and advises the office of the president on important matters.

In Reed’s proposal, he states that over a year ago, Shannon Robertson, the director of construction services for the State Center Community College District, promised to bring gender neutral restrooms to campus. Reed said Robertson kindly and quickly provided a list of alleged gender neutral restrooms, a starting point for Reed’s proposals.

Non-binary and transgender students as well as staff have had to cross from one end to the other on the FCC campus in search of a safe and accessible

restroom.

In his proposal, Reed stated he has had first hand experience.

He is a gay, transgender staff member, and has had to leave meetings or events for long periods of time, in order to find an unlocked all-gender restroom on campus.

“If, for instance, they do not have the time to walk from the Health Sciences to the Child Development Center or T-100 and back,” Reed said, “they must either face the risk of harassment (and thus shame and humiliation) or they must refrain from using a toilet at all and ‘hold it’ until they leave the campus for a location containing a safe and accessible toilet.”

According to Reed, every year, 8% of trans individuals develop urinary tract infections or kidney infections due to avoiding public restrooms for fear of being harassed.

He also explained that at least one third of transgender individuals avoid eating/drinking throughout the day to avoid using the restroom in the first place.

FCC alumni and LGBTQ students identified that lack of safety and inclusive restrooms on campus contributed to unsuccessful completion of transfer-level Math and English courses.

There were experiences of harassment in the binarygendered restrooms, as well as the general hostility on campus towards transgender and nonbinary students.

“I was worried about who would see me walking into the men’s restroom,” said freshman Victor Lee, a transgender student majoring in studio arts. “I wasn’t ready to identify with who I actually am.”

“All the eyes you get while using a restroom specifically for the opposite sex can be awkward and discomforting,” Lee said.

In the last few years, staff, faculty, and students have claimed to raise these issues with the district.

“If I’m honest, a concern is that maybe those against it might use the restrooms to target those using it, hurting them physically

and emotionally,” said Zyeke Mireles, a freshman and trans student. “But I and others simply have to have faith that everyone will be safe.”

According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, 12% of transgender people were verbally harassed in a public restroom, 1% physically attacked, 1% sexually assaulted, and 9% were denied the use of a public restroom.

“Gym changing/showering spaces are also a place where trans persons like myself are especially susceptible to harassment,” said Reed. “Which makes it difficult to utilize the space in which to exercise, making it difficult to alleviate the stress and depression far too many of us experience on a daily basis as a result of prejudicial treatment within a largely ignorant, transphobic, and homophobic society.”

Reed said he believes it would take many years before the campus is 100% inclusive in its facility design for financial reasons. His proposals suggest that in order to help make these facilities 50% inclusive without taking too long of a renovation, many selected restrooms would only need to change the locks and signage on the restroom doors. The cost of these specific changes would come out to $272.14.

Reed said he was approached via email on Aug. 6 by a faculty member who expressed concern for a transgender student who would be using the gym in the Fall 2019 semester. Reed was asked if there were any genderneutral showering/changing/ locker area for the student to use, or a policy that would allow the student to have privacy within areas of the gym.

The same morning, Reed reached out to Pamm ZierfussHubbard, director of athletics and requested a tour of the gym facilities and a discussion about transgender and non-binary students’ access to areas.

Upon the tour, Reed noticed the lack of privacy in the gym changing/shower areas and was reassured that if any student ever felt uncomfortable or threatened

Laduke Calls for new Paradigm

The Environmental and economic activist called for structural change for the earth's survival Patrick Henslee | Reporter

Jeffery Gilkison | Reporter

There are people in this world whose very presence is a call to action, and Winona LaDuke is one of them. The twotime vice presidential candidate, author and activist had a message at the Old Administration Auditorium on November 18: Time to green up.

“The essence of the problem is about consumption, recognizing that a society that consumes one-third of the world's resources is unsustainable,” LaDuke said. “This level of consumption requires constant intervention into other people's lands. That's what's going on.”

She addressed the current state of the U.S. as well as her perceived lack of public environmental awareness, economic inefficiency and the projects she’s involved

in to help recover the prosperity the U.S. basked in long ago. Her proactive message was clear and concise.

“In this moment of time that we are in, perhaps the solution to the problems we face is not in the paradigm which created them. It is time to end that paradigm,” LaDuke said.

She believes that the abundance of issues that threaten the U.S and its people are caused by the very solutions that have been in place for too long. As the Earth decays, our memory of what it once was decays with it.

“When America was great, they had 50 million buffalo,” LaDuke said.

“You could drink the water out of every river and every lake. That’s when America

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at any moment while utilizing the gym locker room, they could let an employee in the area know first who might be able to assist, and to proceed through proper campus channels.

According to Reed, students with disabilities, students who identify within non-heterosexual orientations, and students who possess or otherwise express (via their clothes, behavior, sound of their voice, etc), a non-traditional gender identity often experience dicomfort when changing and showering around heterosexual and cisgender students.

“It is important to note that the reverse is true for the non-LGBTQ students, though concerns for physical safety is not a common theme for non-LGBTQ students in similar settings,” said Reed.

“Privacy in these areas would mean these students can change and shower without fear of stares, remarks, other expressions of judgment, or instances of harassment,” According to Reed, these

proposals have been very time consuming. The audit itself took several weeks to complete.

Writing the report took two months and Reed has had to meet with key personnel, draft emails and summaries about the proposals to the administrators.

He prepared a PowerPoint and presented these proposals on Oct. 17 to the ASG and Academic Senate for voting purposes. Classified Senate has also played a supportive role in these proposals and gave their “whole-hearted support right away, voicing only their unwavering support for our students,” Reed said.

The Allied Staff and Faculty Association plans to make presentations to the Management Council and the President’s Advisory Board and may also be presenting to the Facilities/EHS committee.

Reed said, “My proposals are very important for the wellbeing, and vocational and academic success of our LGBTQ and disabled employees and students.”

Transgender student Victor Lee, enters one of the 6 openly accessible all-gender restrooms on campus. Photo/Moises Buitrago

was great,” she said.

LaDuke says production flaws are a cause for the deterioration of the once bountiful land. Processes like blowing up the tops of the Appalachian Mountains for coal and drilling 20,000 feet under the sea to drain the earth of its oil are a part of extreme extraction.

In attempts to find modern and efficient processes to harvest resources, humans have set themselves up for catastrophe, she said.

“I don’t know which state or which tribe or which country has the budget for climate change-related disasters. None of us do,” said LaDuke.

“If you just take a look at who’s the last served in a catastrophe, that’d be us [people of color],” she said.

According to LaDuke, corporate and industrial practices lead to such catastrophes, but they themselves don’t feel the effects of their actions. Therefore, it’s the public’s obligation to do what’s necessary and stand for what they think is right.

“Sometimes you’ve got to do something really uncomfortable like go stand in front of a bunch of screaming haters,” she said.

“Just stand there, because someone has to say, ‘No, you’re wrong, and we’re not afraid of you because we are water protectors,’” said LaDuke, alluding to the activist practice of combating federal infiltration of water systems held sacred to North American Indigenous communities.

She told the crowd to take pride in standing up for the preservation of land and nature. The responsibility is solely on the shoulders of this generation, and it’s primed for success.

“We are the social imagination of the next world. That is what we dream, that is what we do,” said LaDuke.

She believes that this generation is comprised of people that are passionate and invested in correcting the course the U.S. has set for itself, and they all are able to do so.

4 NEWS 11.27.19

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Dympna's Garden of Reporters

Journalism Instructor Survived the Biafran War, Journeyed to the US and Rebuilt the Rampage, Now She's Retiring

Tommy Tribble | Editor-in-Chief ttribble@therampageonline.com

Dympna Ugwu-Oju should be used to surprises, especially from her students.

For over 10 years, her career has been defined by would-be journalists entering the revolving door of the Rampage– each one entering a newsroom, almost always by accident–without a clue about reporting.

And every time there is a handful that turn into fully formed reporters before the year is out, accomplishing things they never could have imagined.

Still, when the doors to the OAB 251 were thrown open on Nov. 6, and UgwuOju saw her surprise retirement party, she was shocked. Tears came almost immediately.

“This isn’t nice,” she said, crying, smiling and hugging Sydney Monet, a former Rampage reporter who planned the entire thing in tandem with both current and former students.

The room was packed with multiple generations of Rampage reporters. She embraced them one by one.

“When I heard she was retiring, I felt happy for her because she deserves to relax,” Ashleigh Panoo, a former Rampage editor in chief, said. “I also felt extremely lucky to have been one of her students.”

Lynn Badertscher, a best friend to UgwuOju and a retired instructor at FCC, remarked that in all her years she’d never seen former students throw a retirement party for their instructor.

The Mother In her memoir, “What Will My Mother Say,” Ugwu-Oju wrote that she grew up in Nigeria, in an area that was then-called Biafra. Her father died a month before she and her twin, Bernard Edoga, were born.

Ugwu-Oju’s mother was widowed at 26 with seven children.

Her mother, suddenly widowed in a culture that held unmarried women in low-esteem, found herself without a husband, stable home, money, or a plan.

A nun named Sister Mary Dympna suggested Dympna’s first name. St. Dymphna is the patron saint of the mentally disturbed. “Every time you call your daughter, you’ll be calling on St. Dympna to give you the strength you need,” the nun said. Dympna’s mother was an Ibo woman, she was illiterate and spoke no English.

Ugwu-Oju wrote that her mother remembers through the Ibo translator

that St. Dymphna helps mad people. Her mother–widowed, abandoned, hopeless and depressed–accepted the name.

“My mother was a child bride,” she said.

“When my father died, many people believed that my mother’s life was over and subsequently, ours would be over– there was no future for us.”

Ugwu-Oju feels that she can’t talk about herself without talking about her mother and the sacrifices she made for her family.

“She gave her children away,” she said.

“She gave them to relatives because she believed she couldn’t provide for them adequately. The only ones that she kept were my twin and I.” She rebuilt her life. By the time UgwuOju was 3-years-old, her mother was the first woman to build her own home in her

“

I believe that everybody, regardless of their circumstances in life, deserves a chance. If we can, we should extend a hand to people, and help them get on their feet.”

-Dympna Ugqu-Oju Journalism Instructor

area. “She was just an incredibly strong person, but you wouldn’t know it from seeing her because she spoke so softly,” she said.

Ugwu-Oju’s mother was a traditional Ibo woman, raised to believe that a woman’s value derived entirely from her husband, and her ability to have children. She did not resent this role, even though she became a self-made woman in her time.

“I would say to her, ‘But mama, you are evidence that a woman can do anything,’ but she never really saw that,” Ugwu-Oju said. She couldn’t fathom that a woman could be a man’s equal, even though she was.

“She was my model,” Ugwu-Oju said.

“She was the reason why I achieved, because I never wanted to fail her. I was terrified of breaking her heart.”

Warfare Dympna Ugwu-Oju excelled in school.

And school was her shield–it kept many, much older suitors at bay. She was just beginning secondary school (grades 7 through 12) when her mother’s heart was broken again.

The Biafran war began in 1967 and lasted until 1970. It ate three years of Ugwu-Oju’s life, her family’s life, her mother’s life. It was a civil war, driven by complex cultural differences–Ugwu-Oju, Dympna Ugwu-Oju, Rampage advisor, holding an annual 7, knew none of it. pacesetter award from the Journalism Association of ComThey were pushed from their home, their roof, their water, their electricity, munity Colleges. During her tenure as advisor, the Rampage with only the clothing on their back in has taken this award home several times.

Photo/Larry Valenzuela the space of an evening. evading the enemy, once even saving her Across Biafra, her other siblings were own mother from a burning building. similarly displaced at different times, in Sometimes it doesn’t even feel real. different ways, as the tide of warfare swept “[My twin] would be the one I would through the region. ask, because we were together all our lives, In its efforts to maintain normalcy, ‘Did this really happen or am I making it Biafra compelled students to return to up?’” she said. school during the war, but was forced to travel 100 miles to attend the closest Learning and Teaching in the U.S. school that had not fallen to the enemy’s “No matter how long I live here, I’ll hands. never be a hundred percent American,” Regardless, her mother made it happen.

Ugwu-Oju said. “There’s still a part of me For a week it was good. that’s geographically, internally fixed in a Then it wasn’t. Ugwu-Oju and the place that’s thousands of miles away.” other girls knelt in their dormitory for a Nigeria is home for Dympna, and her nightly prayer. Minutes before they had life there might have been very different. gossiped about the day before, whispered, It was her eldest brother John, who laughed. But as they knelt on the floor a jet screeched through the air and bombed managed to reach the U.S. and obtain a medical residency that brought her to the the dormitory.

United States.

Ugwu-Oju wrote that, “even the most It was inconceivable for a 17-year-old microscopic detail [of that night] becomes girl to leave Nigeria for the United States. vivid and tormenting.” Most of the girls “My mother did not want me to go,” she in her dormitory died that night, as a said.

Her mother wouldn’t be able to terrible light and the deafening sound of control her or the choices she made, as explosions eclipsed everything–except she had so far. heat.

That control is part of why Ugwu-Oju And then nothingness. is the person she is. She considers her “I feel this is my third life,” she said. mother a mentor, a person who pushed Ugwu-Oju wonders why she was lucky and pushed her to succeed, to be better enough to survive when so many others than others because she was a woman. didn’t. She wonders why she didn’t snap, But with that came contradictions. become deranged and lost.

Ugwu-Oju once overheard her mother She thinks maybe it’s God’s grace, but saying something that would haunt her. even that is unfathomable. “I simply She was about 6 or 7.

“So much brain don’t understand why some people seem wasted on a girl, if only she had been born favored and others do not,” she said. a boy, ” she said.

“She’s cut of the same The next 28 months were spent on the cloth with her oldest brother.

So much run from enemy soldiers. Her memoir brain on a girl will just create difficulties details death and struggle, constantly for her.”

Journalism instructor Dympna Ugwu-Oju poses with multiple generations of Rampage reporters, Wednesday, Nov. 6. Ugwu-Oju has advised the Rampage for over ten years. Photo courtesy of Larry Valenzuela

11.27.19 NEWS 5

therampageonline.com It did not discourage her. She became determined to do as well as a man could.

Despite the war. Despite everything.

She knew from a young age she wanted to be a writer, and it was well known that the fastest way to write was journalism.

Her mother, thinking of journalism as the work of television, didn’t think it was appropriate for a marriageable woman.

Ugwu-Oju settled on English.

She enrolled at Syracuse College in New York, eventually studying her true passion of journalism. She wrote for the school paper before joining the Syracuse Gazette–a black newspaper where she felt she could make a difference.

“Many people wanted to recruit me, and I’m sure if I’d really tried I could have gotten into big publications,” she said.

Ugwu-Oju left the Gazette to teach English and composition in New Jersey.

She spent five years in this role mastering the ins and outs of grammar and structure before her husband’s career brought the couple to California.

Her work as an English instructor continued at as an adjunct professor at the Madera Community College Center where she frequently worked with students who didn’t speak it as a first language.

“I felt that my mere presence was motivation for the students, because they could hear I wasn’t born there, and it helped them realize they too could [speak English],” she said.

She loved helping students develop a voice. Seeing students who didn’t think they could write an essay, didn’t think they could write anything, suddenly triumph was the light that motivated her.

The Rampage Throughout her earlier career UgwuOju taught journalism, but at Madera she taught it as an adjunct. But a full-time journalism instructor position opened at Fresno City College. She got the call from Lynn Badertscher.

She asked Ugwu-Oju what she thought about teaching journalism full-time at FCC. “[Dympna] said, ‘It’s my dream,’” Badertscher said.

She got the position, and the fall before her first semester as advisor of the Rampage started, she spent her summer in the Rampage. “[The program] was dead,” Ugwu-Oju said. There was no journalism degree. No curriculum. The advisor was an adjunct, and the Rampage was taught in the evening because it was all the time he had.

Badertscher and Ugwu-Oju found $3,000 randomly throughout the office, probably payments for advertisements in the student-paper that weren’t properly filed. The two got to work, spending that summer writing curriculum, rebuilding the program from the ground up–reviving student journalism at FCC.

One of Ugwu-Oju’s biggest goals was to recruit minority students. “I wanted African Americans because I felt that history is written by people who know how to write, right?” she said.

“

Students make me feel better than I am.”

-Dympna Ugwu-Oju Journalism Instructor

She wanted African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, those that wouldn’t be thought of as typical journalists at that time, or even now.

Cresencio Rodriguez was an editor in chief of the Rampage. Like Ugwu-Oju, he is an immigrant. “I opened up to her about my immigration status and she responded with her own story of being an immigrant and having an immigrant family,” he said. She didn’t look at him strangely. He felt that she understood him.

Ugwu-Oju doesn’t like to take all the credit–she often doesn’t take any.

“Students make me feel better than I am,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with people who come in with different talents.”

She talked about Sydney Monet, a master organizer. Ram Reyes, a designer, an aestheticist, and photographer. Rodriguez, a powerful long-form storyteller.

“We had students who were great at photography, we had people who were great at arts,” she said. The Rampage regularly over-performs at the Journalism Association of Community College (JACC) conferences, competing against over a hundred other students and often placing highly. Again, Ugwu-Oju takes no credit.

Her happiest memories with the Rampage are watching her students do well. She sees students in doubt, without the skills, grow into the role of a journalist–they learn by doing.

She remembers a student named Austin who was unconfident, and trembled when challenged. He competed in the editorial cartoon competition at JACC, and as the names were read, first the honorable mentions, then fourth place, then third... and Ugwu-Oju said with each name he drew further into himself.

And then they called his name for first.

“He came back a different person,” she said.

Patrick Forrest, a former Rampage news editor and writer at Blavity, spoke at the

retirement party about how Ugwu-Oju forced him to write news. She wouldn’t let another black student be pigeonholed into sports writing.

He later said that taking the Rampage at that time was the most consequential choice of his life. “Almost every professional development I have taken from that point has a direct line to that decision,” he said.

After his time with the Rampage, Forrest was given the opportunity to interview President Barack Obama. He credits Ugwu-Oju–her pressure to write news, her support–for that chance.

She can tell endless stories about her students' success. She tells these stories with the keen eye of a reporter, with the attention to detail and purpose of a natural storyteller.

Trials With victory inevitably comes defeat, and with triumph comes loss.

Ugwu-Oju lectures often on a famous Rampage foible, when a student plagiarized a Fresno Bee story and, as a result, said that an athlete had been charged with rape when those charges had been dropped.

The aftermath was sudden and shocking.

Players snatched papers from the hands of the reporters. The papers were burned.

Ugwu-Oju was in her dean’s office, defending a student who, unbeknownst to her had plagiarized.

Ugwu-Oju went with the sports editor and apologized personally. She went to the president to explain that students made mistakes. “Nobody went to class, it was like we were bereaved, grieving,” she said. The other students were angry.

It happened because the student was new, taking on a story that should have been covered by a student with more experience. A truly student-run newspaper will inevitably make mistakes, just as an advisor will inevitably take the heat for those mistakes.

“I believe that everybody, regardless of their circumstances in life, deserves a chance,” she said. She believes in second chances, and third, she said perhaps too many chances. Still, she believes, “If we can, we should extend a hand to people, and help them get on their feet.”

It’s hard for Ugwu-Oju to give up on anybody, even students who fall into academic probation, who she’s frequently helped out with appeal letters. “What if people had given up on my mother at age 26 with seven children?” she asks. “Or given up on all of us? Where would we be?”

The student responsible for that famous mistake would become an editor in chief years later, a testament to the redemptive quality of the program, and of the woman who runs it.

Loss Bernard Edoga, Ugwu-Oju’s twin, the one person who has been by her side all her life, died in 2012. He was visiting Nigeria for the sake of a foundation that aids in education and health in Nigeria.

He was shot.

“It threw my life upside down,” she said.

The person who verified her memories, who had stuck with her for the scope of her entire life was gone. “I felt myself descending into hell, literally when he died.”

She remembers being in her office, despondent.

It was Lynn Badertscher that came to her then and talked her into going to class for the first time, after those weeks of grief.

In 2018, Ugwu-Oju’s mother passed away. She thinks that her mother wouldn’t want her to forget who she is.

“She’s incredibly proud of me,” she said, confidently, without hesitation. “But she also always wanted us to remember who we are.”

She says that it’s easy to forget, especially when things are comfortable, when she knows where her next meal is coming from. “Don’t forget that there are people who still don’t have that. She would always admonish me. ‘Don’t forget that there are people who need you.’”

The Garden “There is a saying,” Patrick Forrest said during the retirement party. “Give people flowers while they’re here.” He gestured around the room, at the small sea of local journalists, former and current students.

“Dympna. These are your flowers.”

After former Rampage editors, close friends and the Dean of the Division of Fine, Performing and Communications Arts Neil Vanderpool spoke, Ugwu-Oju took the stage. She said that she might have gone on a couple more years, maybe, and that she’ll miss working with the students the most.

Ugwu-Oju thinks she will spend her free time writing, perhaps another book about raising Black children in America.

The book will undoubtedly concern itself with the divide between Dympna’s Ibo background, and the Black American experience.

Privately, she said that the students are her legacy. “To have lived to do this job and to have been a part of everybody’s success has really been an honor, it’s really a privilege,” she said. She thinks of the other professors who lecture in forum halls, whose students pass by, often anonymously.

She knows that the Rampage, her experience, is different. “To have [helped] these students put their work out there,” she said, “I really feel like I’ve lived my dream.”

Trade in Toys, Reduce Library Fines Hannah Lanier | News Editor hlanier@therampageonline.com

The Fresno City College library is hosting a Toy for Fines drive which provides students the opportunity to not only clear their fees, but to pay it forward. This drive will end on Dec. 13.

FCC students can bring an unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more to the library to clear fees of up to $15.

This is specific to fines for regularly circulated books; not late fees for

laptops, calculators, and other items.

All proceeds from the event will be going to the Marjaree Mason Center for victims of domestic violence.

Donna Cooper, dean of student success and learning said that the children living in shelters because of domestic violence will feel hope during the holidays when they receive these toys.

“These children may have left their homes in desperation to escape violence and by receiving a gift from students at FCC may feel less

forgotten,” Cooper said.

In addition to the charitable acts, a few other changes are underway in the library.

Beginning in Spring 2020, the library will be switching to Primo online catalogue by Ex Libris, “an Israeli-baded software company that develops integrated library systems and other library software,” according to Mia Yang, a librarian at FCC. This system is already used by Fresno State as well as the 22 other

California universities and 110 California community colleges.

Students and employees “will no longer be charged late fees for books in general collections” as well as the new online catalogue, Yang said.

“This means books that are in our nonfiction and fiction collection will not charge late fees,” Yang said.

“Items checked out in the library’s Reserve collection will still have late fees.”

6 ENTERTAINMENT

11.27.19

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Daniel Craig, right, plays Detective Benoit Blanc, a private detective investigating the murder of the family patriarch, and Anda de Armas, right, plays Marta Cabrera, that patriarch's nurse. Photo Courtesy of Lions Gate

'Knives out' modernizes mystery John Bruce | Entertainment Editor jbruce@therampageonline.com

“Knives Out” was able to do what no other recent whodunnit film has been able to do: be good.

That’s not a dig against the other mystery films of the decade. Many of them are worth the praise they received.

Late 2015s “The Hateful Eight” invoked much of Agatha Christie’s spirit, but tripped and ultimately fell over its premise.

Last year’s “Bad Times at the El Royale” tried to do too much at once and fell victim to the alltoo-familiar trouble of running extremely long.

Director Rian Johnson was able to infuse much more of the trademark Christie style than even 2017s “Murder on the Orient Express,” a cinematic adaptation of her work.

Instead of trying to be something it’s not, “Knives Out” opts to be a wholly modern work rooted in the present while very

much calling back to the works proceeding it.

Similar to golden age detective novels, the movie was highly reliant on its stellar ensemble cast. It was definitely a movie for its actors to shed roles and grow into the fabulously written characters.

Chris Evans truly molts his Captain America mask and takes on a more serious role that calls back to the mischievousness of his old roles, namely Johnny Storm from “Fantastic Four” and Lucas Lee from “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.”

Similarly, Daniel Craig sloughs off the bravado of James Bond for a goofy and vaguely Southern (South Carolina, maybe?) detective Benoit Blanc. Don Johnson, interestingly enough in a cop mystery, does not play an inspector this time around.

A problem the movie had is that it misuses actors left, right and center. Frank Oz is not a

Fashion Show Highlight Garments of the World Toni Woodruff | Reporter twoodruff@therampageonline.com

Student Activities collaborated with students to host an international fashion show during Club Rush, Wednesday, Nov. 6, to showcase traditional attire from the students’ home countries, spreading cultural awareness.

“We are trying to grow and share the cultural diversity on campus,” said Janine GonzalesCerda, the international student program counselor.

The fashion show consisted of both women and men in casual or traditional style. With looks ranging from FCC T-shirts to men's attire in countries like Yemen and Iraq to women's attire in Thailand and Vietnam. There

were painted faces and bright colors worn in celebration of Dia de los Muertos.

According to Maile Martin, senior program specialist in student activities, the fashion show is all about bringing awareness to our campus about different cultures through fashion.

International student Manmai Metharittiong is from Thailand and wore a traditional Thai gown for women. Many of the traditional Thai dresses are worn during festivals and ceremonies and are usually made from silk.

She brought the garment with her when she moved to the states for school, “Most of traditional Thai dresses are made from weaving, the one I’m wearing I

“

Instead of trying to be something it’s not, 'Knives Out' opts to be a wholly modern work rooted in the present while very much calling back to the works preceeding it.”

prominent character and is instead thrust into a 10 minute bit piece. Lakeith Stanfield plays the straight man to Blanc’s comic relief when anyone could perform in that role. Katherine Langford does not stand out and unsurprisingly falls very flat.

Despite the second-rate casting,

Johnson’s writing picks up early and keeps trucking along. The 130 minute runtime flashes by because every twist and turn is plot relevant. Indeed, it wastes no time revealing its characters and advancing the plot in an efficient use of writing.

Essentially, each child or child-in-law of the great murder mystery author Harlan Thrombey is about to be exposed or wants something from the old man during his 85th birthday.

The next day, he winds up dead with a slit throat in his study.

But that’s nothing the audience does not learn in the first 20 minutes. What keeps everything going are the constant reveals.

Johnson skillfully writes details that fade to the back, but easily become more prominent and just when it seems easily solvable, another complication is thrown in the mix.

“Knives Out” subverts expectations, but in a way that

doesn’t ruin the integrity of the script, especially in a time where writing is compromised for shock. Throughout the movie, it keeps the audience guessing as to whether or not they can trust the insider-knowledge they’ve been given.

Johnson is not afraid to use humor and even the grand ending is a reward for the audience after being led through a maze of cutthroat antics. One character easily written off early as the comic relief becomes crucial to the sobering second half.

This movie is for those driven by plot, intrigue and strong characters and it is a complex yet simultaneously simple story that tricks the audience into thinking they knew the answer the whole time.

“Knives Out” premieres on Nov. 27, 2019, and stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Christopher Plummer.

packed with me from Thailand.”

For FCC student Itzel Reyes, the fashion show gave her a platform to discuss and educate people on Dia de los Muertos.

Dressed in a hand woven and brightly colored dress, elaborate headpiece and a skull painted face, Reyes is ready to celebrate her ancestors. “A lot of the time in the states people mourn their loved ones, which is understandable but at the same time in our culture we like to celebrate them, so I thought this would be a great time to teach people about it,” said Reyes.

The fashion show overall served as an opportunity for both international students and native students to engage in activities on campus and share their cultures together. Gonzales said she hopes that activities like the fashion show are able to help students Maile Martin, right, senior program specialist in student activities, said the international grow and share their cultural fashion show is about bringing inclusivity, and awareness of other cultures to campus on diversity all throughout campus. Wednesday, Nov. 6. Photo/Toni Woodruff

11.27.19 ENTERTAINMENT 7

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Competitive Speech Moves Students to Tears Patrick Henslee | Reporter phenslee@therampageonline.com

The Fall Intramural Forensic Competition completed its fourteenth active year at Fresno City College on Nov. 20, allowing the best orators at FCC to compete for awards and cash prizes.

Although the competition gave out physical prizes, it also gave students the opportunity to conquer the anxiety often experienced when performing speeches.

The competition was first started in 2005, when Communication Arts Instructor Dan Scott began his tenure at FCC and decided there should be a showcase for the college’s student speakers.

“The purpose of the event was to give students the opportunity to speak in a competitive environment, a little bit different from just a regular classroom, and just give everybody an opportunity to come be a part of the speech tournament,” said Scott.

He wanted to provide a public speaking opportunity to students who had other commitments or conflicting schedules that kept them from taking part in other competitions.

“We try to bring at least one competition here each semester for the students that want to still be involved,” said Scott.

Plenty of students sign up for the event, with the turnout usually ranging between

50-70 competitors. An elimination process sends the speakers through multiple rounds of performing their speeches before the winners are chosen after performing in the final round.

Advancing through all those stages can be stressful, and competitors say it wouldn’t take much else other than your name to be called for the anxiety to start setting in.

“I didn’t even think I was going to be a runner up. I was so nervous about the topic, and I didn’t know how I was going to deliver it,” said Felicia Andrade, who placed third in the informative speaking category.

Andrade spoke about suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress disorder, both issues that have affected her family. She noted that her speech was so moving, a handful of students in one of the rounds were brought to tears. Communication Arts Instructor Scott Hughes with his award-winning students Felicia Andrade, Jorge Romero and Krystal Warkentin after they placed in the informative speaking category of the Fall Intramural Forensic Competition on “You always want to relate to your audience and engage with your audience. Wednesday, Nov. 20. Photo/Patrick Henslee With me having a personal story, I knew “When you’re building up to it there’s doing. there would be some kids who could all this anxiety, but just realizing you’re “You might beat yourself up [about relate to it,” said Andrade. Like Andrade, done with it is like a breath of fresh air,” mistakes], but in the long run it doesn’t most of the students that placed in the he said. really matter that much,” he said. finals didn’t expect to make it that far.

For Bridges, the anticipation leading up “At this point, I’m not as worried about “I’m not going to complain that I got to the competition doubled as a process what other people think, I’m doing this in the finals, but when I saw I made it, I of building his self-confidence. He says for myself,” said Bridges. In the end, he was just like ‘I’ve got to do it again?’” said that he had a lot of issues dealing with and the other competitors stood together Stephen Bridges, who finished in third his anxiety growing up, so this was with gleaming plaques and bright smiles. place in persuasive speaking. something he never envisioned himself

8 OPINION 11.27.19

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An Apology to My Past Self Hannah Lanier | News Editor hlanier@therampageonline.com

Thank you for the lessons.

After years of seeking approval from a significant other, family and friends, I am finally eager to please myself again.

For the past several years, I became a person I was most afraid of–an empty shell of my previous self. I was still me in several aspects, but nowhere near the same fiery, independent person I loved.

I went from being the sculptor that carved the marble to the marble waiting to be carved.

Somewhere in the midst of a serious relationship, embarking

on adulthood and failed attempts to remain myself, I got lost.

I stopped participating in things that brought me joy, and my minimal attempts were motivated by others. To make them proud.

I was living vicariously through the image that I built of myself.

Suddenly, I was one person for my high school boyfriend.

Another for my mother. One for my father. My siblings. My “friends.”

Only to come home to look in the mirror to see emptiness.

I was giving so much of myself to the people in my life and leaving nothing for myself.

The boyfriend needed me to be perfect, not a problem to be solved.

Mom needed me to be an illustration worthy of bragging about on social media.

Dad needed me to accomplish

everything on his terms–to be proud according to his definition.

Siblings needed me to be funny and lighthearted, because my issues were too overbearing.

Friends were nothing more than classmates and a list of favors to be granted.

Damn, that sucked.

Not the people in my life, because I don’t blame them.

I blame me. That’s not a sad cry for help.

Everyone in my life was using me as a bank, each interaction costing more than the previous.

Yet it’s my fault. I gave everyone access to my account.

It took heartbreak to shake me back to reality. I began to build boundaries, finally.

Now, I refuse to seek anyone's approval outside of my own.

I am on my way back.

Back to the version of me that

was unapologetically powerful and abundantly happy.

Like 16-year-old me: A force to be reckoned with.

I miss her, but I don’t necessarily want her back in her entirety. Maybe her confidence, determination.

Rather I wish to grow into this current version of myself. Using the betrayal and discouragements as fuel to help me become the most authentic version of myself—the best version of myself.

I own nothing to anyone. I owe everything to myself.

This is for the boundaries. I’ll set them in stone.

Whether you’re a yes man and a doormat, or a person that constantly disregards your problems because they appear minuscule to others.

Stop.

Start acknowledging that your feelings are valid regardless of the measurement to others.

Start saying no even if people don’t like it, especially then.

It has taken me the loss of loved ones, verbal and emotional abuse, and self-inflicted hate to begin to recognize my needs.

Because what I need is essential to my mental and physical being, and I dare another person to come into my life as a threat to any of these boundaries that I’ve so carefully built.

I will not regret the defining moments of my life, no matter how difficult they were. Instead, be thankful for the lessons that I learned, and hope that those lessons can someday help others.

Dealing with Relatives During the Holidays Christian Zarcone | Reporter czarcone@therampageonline.com

Tis’ the season! Time for turkey, gifts, christmas lights and family.

It can be rough sometimes dealing with relatives during the holidays. So why not prepare and get some tips from one of the greatest holiday films of all time ”National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!”

First, the movie talks about coping with stress. Ellen Griswold is in the kitchen cooking food while family members are stealing her attention so she tries to occupy herself with staying on task of cooking. Everyone has that getaway during the holidays. That one excuse or task they always do to not talk to family. Instead of lashing out on family members you can cool your stress by taking a break.

Second, know that you’re not always going to be in control of what happens. Anything can happen during the holiday season. Family members could be late, some people may get drunk or kids may get out of

hand. In the film Clark Griswold might encourage you to. With had to deal with family members spouses, it's always good to help arguing, his cousin showing up bring each other up. In the film unannounced and the christmas tree burning. Eventually he had to learn that he can’t control everything.

During the season, literally ANYTHING can happen.

Being able to control everything is almost impossible.

It will just increase your stress and put a huge damper on your holiday season.

Thirdly, make sure you give others who are having a hard time with relatives to Created by Clea Doltz from Noun Project. encouragement even if things don’t go right. Things will go wrong towards the end when Clark and if you help encourage others starts to flip out Ellen continues through their hard times they to support him even when he

goes a little insane. In your family those members who take too much on or take those pesky family members, help them out.

Try to give them less of a load on their shoulders.

Sometimes you have to just go with the flow. Things will happen and maybe not in the way you want, so you just have to go along with it all.

There's always those two family members who get into it every year over politics and I'm sure you know who in your family does that. What do you do in those situations, especially when they try to bring you into it? You simply don’t play favorites because then that’ll really shake things up. Just say that you don’t want to talk about

that right now and for everyone to enjoy the food or company that’s in front of them.

In this holiday season know that there may be times when you are giving so much and receiving so little in return. It may feel like you’re doing all the work and everyones receiving all the rewards from it. Look at the season not as a time to get gifts or eat delicious food but to spend time with family, some whom you haven't seen for awhile.

Try not to take too much on during the season. You may be that person in your house that tries to do everything.

This year split the load. You can do something but give other members of your family responsibilities to to help ease your stress. Now if you have those lazy people in your family and you know nothing will get done with them in charge then work with them through this.

Maybe this holiday season they change from a lazy person to a hard worker.

11.27.19 OPINION 9

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A decade of the athlete's voice: 2010 - 2019 Lebron James

Colin Kaepernick

Image courtesy of Fort Worth Star- Telegram

Patrick Henslee | Reporter phenslee@therampageonline.com

It’s easy to talk about why NBA superstar LeBron James is the most dominant athlete of the past decade.

Since 2010, he’s collected three championship rings, three MVP awards, 10 All-Star selections and more impressive yet boring achievements.

But as this decade comes to a close, it’s important to dissect why James isn’t just the decade’s most dominant athlete, but more importantly, it’s most influential athlete.

Golden State Warriors’ All-Star Stephen Curry can be credited with rewriting the playbook for professional basketball in the 2010s, but James picked up the pencil and reillustrated the entire landscape that the NBA and its players would use to write their own stories on for years to come.

In the summer of 2010, sports fans everywhere were captivated by James’ free agency in a way that was never seen before. His process of scouting a new home was famously labeled “The Decision”, and even garnered an hourlong televised event that would allow the world to collectively hear where he would take his talents.

Ultimately, James chose to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat, where he would pick up the majority of his accolades and flourish into the conversation as the greatest player of all time.

“The Decision” shifted the balance of the NBA as everyone was left to watch the Heat carve up opponents with a loose and fun, but domineering style of play that produced some of the best ingame dunks ever.

But James’ “Decision” carried more weight than that.

“James did not glom onto the old guard in 2010; he forged his own path, with his own contemporaries,” said the Ringer’s Justin Verrier. “More than anything, his “Decision” represented a deviation from bygone ideas about success and competitiveness.”

James was escorting out the previous era’s efforts to find success within the confines of the league set before them, and ushering in a new era that put the player in control.

While James was redefining the athlete’s clout, both the media and the public were enthralled by the narrative laid before them. Fans were either advocating for a LeBron-sized acquisition to their team, or chastising him for leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Meanwhile, the media was either just as wrapped up in it, or damning James for unconventionally publicizing his “Decision”. The Boston Globe infamously publicized a spicy critique of James’ perceived abuse of the spotlight.

“Whatever happens, James’s decision to hijack prime time to make his announcement is an act of rather astounding egomania, and it highlights everything that has been wrong with the

Image courtesy of Los Angeles Times

circus-like atmosphere of his brief free agency,” read The Globe’s editorial piece.

Regardless of whether it was right or wrong, the fact is that everyone was captivated by one athlete’s decision to switch teams. Tweets made up of false rumors and public figures insisting they had inside scoops held everyone’s attention.

By 2014, James’ time in Miami was coming to an end, and when it was visible, he made sure the table was set for him to feast again while on a different team. He returned to the Cavaliers after making sure they had a good enough supporting cast with more than one All-Star.

Again James was adding fuel to the fire he had started in 2010, even though the rest of the league hadn’t quite warmed up yet.

“By insisting on making a public decision every four years—and giving himself cover by winning titles, including one after his return to Cleveland—James changed the center of gravity,” wrote the Ringer’s Bryan Curtis.

“Like Jordan urging the world to buy shoes and drink Gatorade, James was telling us it was OK to revel in the idea that you were the biggest free agent on the planet,” he said.

And so the King’s orders were heard, and the player empowerment era began.

Superstars like Kevin Durant didn’t shy away from doing their own ring chasing. Future franchise cornerstones like Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis vocalized their dismay with their organizations and requested trades elsewhere.

What sets these instances apart from generations prior was that the organizations knew they had to honor the requests because there was no stopping the players.

Athletes fully realized their power and would no longer stand to be dangled in front of cameras as objects of viewer entertainment. More and more players interact on social media and publish in the Players’ Tribune, adding to the humanization of the professional athlete.

LeBron James changed the NBA and the sports world like no other this past decade, but his influence is felt in other aspects too.

He has been criticized for vocalizing his political opinion, fighting through Fox News’ journalist Laura Ingraham’s comments to “shut up and dribble” as he calls out the president.

James supports the Children’s Defense Fund and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and he’s collaborated with the University of Akron to provide scholarships to thousands of students starting in 2021. In 2018, he opened the I Promise School to help guide at-risk youth in Akron to a deserved education.

Being the loudest voice for American athletes has paved the way for activists like Colin Kaepernick to stand up for their beliefs, changing their position from figures of entertainment to true, human athletes.

Ben Hensley | Sports Editor bhensley@therampageonline.com

The 2010s re-introduced a new brand of athlete - the socially outspoken athlete.

From baseball and Jackie Robinson to boxing and Mohammed Ali even to olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, athletes have taken a political stance for decades, and have nearly always been met with pushback, and ultimately revered as inspirational characters who changed the ways people view their respective sports.

In the age of social media, this practice which became commonplace for celebrities and politicians shifted to include athletes among the ranks of household names becoming potential role models for today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders.

Colin Kaepernick is one of those role models.

After being selected as the 36th overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers out of the University of Nevada, Reno, he went on to take the starting job of Alex Smith after Smith went down with an injury in 2012.

In his first year, he led the Niners to the Super Bowl, only narrowly losing to the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 34-31.

Kaepernick’s career then continued to trend upwards for a short time. But one playoff appearance, a huge contract and several injuries later saw the quarterback once trending upwards enter uncertain grounds.

Then came Aug. 14, 2016. Kaepernick sat on the bench during the National Anthem prior to a preseason game against the Houston Texans. His protest initially went unnoticed, but during the Niners’ preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, the media and sports world finally caught attention to the protest.

Initially, Kaepernick protested by sitting for the Anthem. It wasn’t until ex-Green Beret Nate Boyer addressed him personally that he began to take a knee.

Quoted in an article by the Los Angeles Times, Boyer said, “Initially, I was pretty disappointed,” when asked about Kaepernick’s decision to sit. After connecting with Boyer, Kaepernick decided that kneeling during the Anthem would bring just as much attention to the issue, while still observing reverence and respect for the nation - specifically for veterans and armed service members who could view sitting out as offensive.

During the pregame performance of the Anthem on their Sept. 1 game against the San Diego Chargers, Kaepernick took a knee - with Boyer standing beside him in support.

The next several months brought social chaos to not only the football world, but the sporting world in general. Multiple athletes, recently including U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe, former Oakland Athletics’ player Bruce Maxwell, and the entire Dallas Cowboys’ team have followed suit taking a knee with Kaepernick, a majority of which were citing their protest to be in the interest of bringing awareness

of the alarming number of African Americans facing police brutality.

From Fox News to presidents Obama and Trump, numerous media outlets and personalities have chimed in on the social aspects and symbolism that Kaepernick portrayed in kneeling for the Anthem.

Regardless of any individual’s stance on the issue, there is no arguing that Kaepernick and the controversy brought on by his protest have brought social awareness and more public involvement in social causes by athletes.

For Kaepernick, unlike other historically notable athletes, the decision to take a political stance cost him dearly.

Kaepernick, who has not played in an NFL game since 2016, remains out of the league. In stark contrast with other athletes who have taken a stance politically, he is arguably remembered more for what he did on the sidelines than for what he did on the field.

On the other hand, Kaepernick has remained in the spotlight. While it is no longer a weekly talking point specifically, his kneeling protest opened the door for other athletes to take a social stance via social media and other platforms. Nike’s Emmy winning “Believe in something.

Even if it means sacrificing everything,” advertisement featured other prominent athletes such as Serena Williams and LeBron James.

Without Kaepernick’s stance and the potential sacrifice made by him, Williams and James very well may havewell have never been empowered to take a similar political stance.

With social media becoming an ever present part of our daily lives, we tend to forget how recently all of these events transpired, and how recently athletes have been empowered to steer their own careers via public opinions rather than being “handled” by their teams.

Social media has given athletes and celebrities their own voice - a voice defended by the First Amendment - that in most cases cannot be stifled by owners, coaches or other social figures.

Kaepernick held a private workout for seven NFL teams on Nov. 16, 2019, but despite rumors coming from his agent, ESPN reports that he has yet to receive any calls from the teams that attended, still projecting life to the rumors that his absence from the league is related to him being unofficially blackballed by league owners and General Manager’s.

In the politically volatile climate that we live in, the result of Kaepernick’s kneeling should not surprise anybody.

The widespread use of social media mixed with the polarized political climate gives athletes like Kaepernick, Williams and James a platform to express themselves.

Kaepernick, however, took things to a very old school place in a very new school world. As a socially recognizable personality, Kaepernick used live television and limited verbal expression to draw attention to a cause that melted the sports and political world into one.

10 SPORTS 11.27.19

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San Mateo Bulldogs Shutout Rams in Conference Semifinals Matchup Ben Hensley | Sports Editor bhensley@therampageonline.com

The Rams’ quest for a state championship ended in disappointing fashion on Saturday, Nov. 23, following a shutout loss against the College of San Mateo Bulldogs in the CCCAA Football Northern California Semifinals.

The loss saw the Rams come up one game short of their record from last season, ending the 2019 campaign with an 8-3 mark, going undefeated (5-0) in conference.

Offensively, the Rams faced arguably the toughest team in the northern California conference - a San Mateo team whose slimmest margin of victory all season was 12 in a midseason 24-12 win over Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Bulldogs lived up to their rank, shutting out sophomore quarterback Jonah Johnson and the Rams’ offense.

“We just couldn’t get anything going on offense,” head coach Tony Caviglia said following the game. “A lot of it has to do with their defense; it’s the best defense in the state.”

The Rams also suffered a home loss to the Bulldogs earlier this season 17-3 on Sept.

28.

Johnson was under pressure all afternoon from an aggressive Bulldogs’ defense who found their way to the quarterback for a sack four times for a net loss of 15 yards. Johnson ended the day 13 for 28 passing with 130 yards and one interception.

Sophomore running back Rico Rosario was one of the few bright spots on the Rams’ offense, gaining 86 yards on the ground in the loss.

Defensively, the Rams were led by freshman linebacker Steven Scheidt with nine total tackles, two for losses.

“Our defense played good, just not quite good enough to get the win and offensively we weren’t able to put up any points,” Caviglia said.

Defensively, the Rams played a strong game, limiting the Bulldogs to only three touchdowns throughout.

San Mateo native freshman quarterback Luke Bottari threw for 207 yards. He had two touchdown passes and one interception by sophomore defensive back Xavier Alexander.

Following a late first quarter touchdown run from the Bulldogs, Johnson opened the

“

Bulldogs' sophomore defensive back Isaiah Downs breaks up a pass intended for Rams' sophomore running back Rico Rosario during the Bulldogs' 21-0 shutout win over the Rams in the CCCAA Northern Conference Semifinals game on Nov. 23, 2019. Photo/Patrick Henslee

Our defense played good, just not quite good enough to get the win and offensively we weren’t able to put up any points.”

-Tony Caviglia Rams Football Head Coach

second quarter with a 33-yard run, reflecting on the Rams attempts to change up their offensive scheme from the original meeting between the two teams. Johnson ended the game with 61 yard rushing in addition to hit passing numbers.

“We wanted to take advantage of their aggressiveness,” Caviglia said of the different offensive appearance of the Rams, who ran several

optionrun plays early in the game with moderate success.

“We just stalled.”

The game remained close until midway through the third quarter when the Bulldogs extended the lead to 14-0 on a Bottari pass to sophomore wide receiver Connell Ryans.

Bottari would go on to complete his second touchdown pass of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter; a 9-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Mason Starling, who fought through two Rams defenders to come down with the pass in the middle of the endzone.

Defensively, the Rams season ended the same way it began — with hard nosed play and a lights out secondary. The 21 points given up by the Rams was only the second most points given up all year, with the Rams only giving up three more points in their 26-24 win over Modesto Junior College.

“Fresno City College has played good defense for many years,” Caviglia said. “We had a lot of good sophomores on the team and they brought great leadership, and our defensive staff did a great job coaching them.”

Bulldogs' freshman wide receiver Mason Starling reaches over the Rams' double coverage to secure the Bulldogs' third touchdown in their game on Nov. 23, 2019.

Photo/Patrick Henslee

11.27.19 SPORTS 11

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Rico Rosario - The Driving Force Into the Playoffs Ben Hensley | Sports Editor

Moises Buitrago | Reporter Position

Sophomore running back Rico Rosario was arguably one of the most influential and productive members of the 2019 Rams’ football team. Compiling 925 yards this season alone, Rosario held the team’s head above water for much of the Rams’ games in conference, with 560 of his yards on the ground coming in the Rams’ five conference games.

Rosario, a native out of Honolulu, Hawaii, decided to attend Fresno City College after an in-person visit with Rams head coach Tony Caviglia.

“His attitude just wears on people, and the players emulate him,” said Caviglia. “A good leader will make people around him better, and that’s Rico.”

Rosario, who was slowed by injuries for part of the season receives high praise from his coaches for being an “old school style” running back, citing his great footwork and vision, but also his vastly improved performance in the passing game, increasing his catches from just two in the 2018 campaign, to 16 in 2019.

“He checks every box,” offensive coordinator Mark Hetherington said. “The thing we love about him is if we can give him the ball enough we

believe he is going to carry us to victory.”

Arguably, Rosario’s biggest performance of the year came on the biggest stage for the Rams — facing their conference rival the Modesto Pirates. Late in the game, Rosario rattled off an 11yard touchdown run, effectively sealing the deal for the Rams over their rival. Rosario ended the game against the Pirates with 139 yards and one touchdown.

Rosario, never one to take all of the credit for his accolades, considers himself a team player first. Following the game against the Pirates, Rosario credited his offensive linemen for helping push his team to victory.

“Shoutout to my offensive linemen and my defense; they played a hell of a game,” said Rosario following what was an emotional and rewarding victory, essentially sealing the deal for the Rams to repeat as back-to-back conference champions.

“He gave us a spark and injected some big-play capability that pretty much helped us win a conference championship,” said Caviglia of Rosario’s contribution to the team.

Despite the successes that Rosario has had as a Ram,

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leaving his home state to play football left him with feelings of homesickness. A new community meant trying to make new friends.

However, Rosario has found his place at FCC. He was able to find a group of friends that he now calls “brothers.”

“I was able to hang out with people and make new friends, I felt like I was at home again,” Rosario said about his teammates and the bonds that he formed on and off the field the past two years.

According to Caviglia and Hetherington, Rosario has become a person that players gravitate towards because of his easy-going personality.

Hetherington adds that first year running backs seek Rosario’s advice, and Rosario is eager to help out.

“It's not beneath him to give some advice to some of the younger [running] backs, because he was in their shoes last year,” Hetherington said.

“I just can't say enough about him as being an unselfish football player, a smart football player, tough, instinctive. He's a Rams' sophomore running back powers the ball through the defense during the Rams thrilling winner.”

26-24 win over their conference rival Modesto Pirates on Nov. 2, 2019. Rosario finished the game with 139 yards and one touchdown. Photo/Ben Hensley

Rams Keep Rolling After Flipping the Switch Patrick Henslee | Reporter phenslee@therampageonline.com

The Fresno City College men’s soccer team continued their charge through playoff competition with their 1-0 win over Hartnell College on Tuesday, Nov. 26. The FCC footballers’ third straight win was also their second in their 2019 playoff campaign.

Entering the match on Tuesday, the Rams were fresh off of a pair of successful matches that turned around the shaky end of their season that saw them post a 3-1-4 record in their final eight games.

“The game plan was really to just keep doing the things we did well in our last game,” said head coach Eric Solberg.

That last game was a 2-0 victory over Cabrillo College in the first round of the

“You can tell they’ve flipped the switch. You can tell in practice, just by how they’re talking to each other."

-Eric Solberg Men's Soccer Head Coach

Northern California Regionals, but the second round placed the Rams against a Hartnell squad with an 11-6-3 record.

“We knew they were going to clog the middle of the field, so we needed to do one touch in the middle and bring it out wide.

That’s exactly what we did in the first half,” said Solberg.

FCC was in the driver’s seat in the first half of the match. The Rams were dividing the Panthers’ defense with their middleout approach and dissecting the field with well-timed passes met with soft, controlled touches and footwork.

The Rams were finally looking like the same team that outscored opponents 25-1 through their first 12 matches.

“We thought they might sit a little bit, and they did early, but our energy was really good early on in the game. It just felt like it was coming and it finally did,” said Solberg.

FCC was finally successful with a scoring opportunity when sophomore forward Michael Vega’s deflected shot on goal was headed back into the goal by sophomore forward Mason Gonzalez at 27:00. Vega was credited with the assist, and the Rams went into halftime on top 1-0.

Although they didn’t play up to the same level in the second half, FCC’s control was replaced with a gritty energy that also hadn’t been seen at home since their win against Folsom Lake College on Oct. 25.

The team’s turnaround adds to their rollercoaster narrative this season, but Solberg attributes it entirely to the players.

“I think these guys understand who we are

Rams' sophomore midfielder Eduardo Segiura drives through the defense while forcing his way toward the goal in their match against Hartnell College on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. Photo/Patrick Henslee

and where we are. I feel like we’re getting some energy as we come down the stretch, for sure,” he said.

“You can tell they’ve flipped the switch.

You can tell in practice, just by how they’re talking to each other,” said Solberg.

Being able to shift gears and perform to potential when it’s expected has been built into the program at FCC. A winning culture has become a well-communicated tradition that’s hammered home when

players are recruited to the team.

“When guys come here, they expect to get deep in the playoffs and have a run. To be honest with you, that’s the reason the majority of them are here,” he said.

The Rams will try to go even further into the playoffs in their home match against eleventh-seeded San Joaquin Delta College on Saturday, Nov. 30.

12 SPORTS 11.27.19

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Volleyball Secures Round One Victory in NorCal Regional Championship Game Ben Hensley | Sports Editor bhensley@therampageonline.com

The third ranked Rams volleyball team (29-2) continued their stellar season on Tuesday, Nov. 26, defeating Santa Rosa Junior College (17-13) three sets to one, 20-25, 25-14, 25-11, 25-14, advancing to the second round of the NorCal Regional Championship.

“I think we came out really excited to play a good team, and we played a good team,” said head coach Kieran Roblee following the victory.

The Rams continue a season in which they have been absolutely dominant, winning the conference with an undefeated mark for an unprecedented thirteenth consecutive season.

The win, however, did mark a small blemish in the Rams’ season; the Rams dropped their first set in 61 days, dropping set one to the Bear Cubs 25-20.

“Our energy kind of showed in the first set; we had a little bit too much that was bottled up, and we just needed to release it a little bit,” said Roblee.

Fresno City came out in the first set with several mental errors, showing gaps on defense and over-striking at times, before finally settling in towards the end of the first set.

After figuring out a strategy against a resilient Bear Cubs defense, the Rams controlled the rest of the match seemingly on cruise control, back to their trademark dominating style.

“Santa Rosa is a big blocking team, and we kinda knew that going in that we were going to try and find some hands,” Roblee said. “I think the key was for us to be ready for that. We haven’t seen a lot of that this season and then it was kind of like an eye opener.”

Sophomore pin hitter Julie Castleman was seemingly unstoppable, leading the

Rams with 24 points, including a team leading 22 kills on the night.

“I thought our tempo and our offensive set was fantastic,” Roblee said.

Defensively, freshman libero Ali Santoyo led the Rams with 23 digs, with freshman setter Julia Pagani pacing the team with 34 serves.

On the other side of the net, Santa Rosa came into the match after defeating Hartnell College three sets to one on Nov.

“

Our energy kinda showed in the first set."

-Kieran Roblee

Rams' Volleyball Head Coach

23 in the play-in round of the Northern California Regional Championship.

The Rams are in pursuit of a state championship berth after falling short to the American River College Beavers who defeated the Rams in five sets for the 2018 state championship.

But for now, FCC looks to continue to dominate in front of the home crowd, solidifying a home advantage at least throughout the second round of the

Rams' freshman pin hitter Taylor Dilley serves the ball during the Rams' 3-1 win over the Santa Rosa Bear Cubs in the first round of the NorCal Regional Championships on Nov. 26, 2019. Photo/Ben Hensley

playoffs where they will face a tenthseeded 21-8 De Anza College team who come off a close 3-2 upset win over seventh-seeded San Joaquin Delta College.

“You know, we love when we get to play at home,” said an enthusiastic Roblee about playing in front of the FCC home crowd.

“Whoever makes it to the next

round, it’s gonna be elevated even more and we just have to be engaged and focused on the immediate situation.”

While the time of the match remains to be determined, the Rams will host De Anza on Saturday, Nov. 30 in round two of the NorCal Regional Championships.

Women’s Soccer Wows in Playoff Start Moises Buitrago | Reporter mbuitrago@therampageonline.com

Women's soccer head coach Oliver Germond celebrates during the Rams' 3-0 win over Foothill College on Nov. 26, 2019. Photo/Moises Buitrago

As the cool November air rolls around late in the fall, so does the intense heat of the Fresno City College women’s soccer playoffs.

The Rams’ women’s soccer team finished the regular season 182-2 and ranked #3 overall in the Northern California Region.

The team currently boasts a 2-0 playoff record and enters round three of the Northern California Regionals after making quick work of Foothill College in the first round of the playoffs and Folsom Lake College in a competitive second-round matchup.

The Rams defeated the Foothill College Owls on Nov. 23 3-0 in a contest where the team only needed 16 minutes to put three goals on the board.

According to head coach Oliver Germond, the Rams early high energy offense hasn’t been present for much of this season, but even the players saw the turnaround in that match.

“We came off a loss to end the regular season, and I felt like that just really made us realize that we needed to come ready. We need to show up and give everything. I think that's exactly what we did,” said freshman forward Megan Galvan.

The first goal was scored by sophomore defender Kiki Montano

Patrick Henslee | Reporter phenslee@therampageonline.com

and assisted by sophomore center Anai Rosas in the first four minutes of the matchup. Montano’s goal was soon followed up by one from Galvan.

At 7:00, Galvan’s goal came off the post and crossed the line, but it was only after a late whistle that the team was awarded the goal.

Freshman left winger Brooke Wristen was credited with the assist.

The final goal also came from a Rosas assist when sophomore defender Julianna Garcia rifled one into the net at 16:00.

In the second round of the playoffs, the Rams battled Folsom Lake in a Tuesday match that was ultimately decided by a penalty kick shootout.

Both teams were held scoreless during regulation despite the Rams’ ball domination. Similar to most games this year, FCC held possession of the ball and control of the game, but uncharacteristically couldn’t make anything of it.

The Rams were aggressive for the first half of the game, and were able to create opportunities for themselves, including a few corner kicks that they were unable to capitalize on.

“We were the aggressor in the first 20 minutes of that game, and that's when we created opportunities. That's what we talked

about, and I thought we did a great job,” said Germond.

As the game moved on, the play become more physical with both teams drawing penalties late in the game. The match moved into overtime, where both teams drew flags.

The first came from Folsom Lake’s sophomore forward Sarah Freed, who received a red card for some physical contact against a Rams player. The second came from Rams’ defender Bella Hopkins, who also received a yellow card of her own after inducing some rough contact.

When overtime concluded, both teams remained scoreless and headed into a penalty kick shootout.

According to Montano, the team felt excited and confident heading into penalty kicks. “We didn't want to feel nervous. We're trying to make our nervous emotions into some excitement” said Montano.

The victory was sealed by the efforts of FCC’s freshman goalkeeper Melanie Jimenez’s amazing efforts. Folsom’s first shot sailed over the goal, but the next two were stopped by Jimenez despite their picturesque placement toward the corners.

The date and opponent of the Rams’ next match remain to be determined as seeding follows.