Vol. 69, Ed. 8

Printing candy Design Hub works on a 3-D printer that will be able to print chocolate

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Wednesday 05.02.18

CURRENT The

American River College Sacramento, Calif.

ARC’S FUNERAL SERVICES PROGRAM ONE OF ONLY TWO IN CALIFORNIA

From AR to UN Former refugee and ARC almuna lands job with the United Nations

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Vol. 69

Ed. 8

How to leave ARC: 101

By Alondra Botello

botelloalondra7@gmail.com

into, until the last semester,” she said. “I go in there and tell them: ‘make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.’”

She also said that some students are drawn to the major through misinterpretation.

“What draws a lot [of students] is: ‘I see dead people,’” Alvarado said.

Alvarado has worked in funeral services for over 15 years, and currently works as a licensed embalmer. Stress and odd hours are common in the field, she says.

“Out of my class, maybe seven out of 15 [classmates] are still in the industry,” she said. “[I was] always sure of it … since I was six or seven I knew what I wanted to do.”

Despite the stress, Alvarado says the work is rewarding.

“I know that somehow I’ve helped a family with closure; with healing,” she said. “It’s good to know I helped.”

Though challenging, the program helps prepare students for their future career.

“The program is very rewarding if the student makes the best of it. It’s a tough program and the student will need to prepare for some serious sacrifices, but

Students are often advised to avoid community college at all costs because for many it is all too easy to get stuck. According to a website called Edsource.org, a study done by The Campaign for College Opportunity has concluded about four percent of community college students transfer in two years while 46% transfer in six years. A lot of the times it is because students end up taking more units than they have to, as Edsource.org explains.

In any case, not one reason matches every student’s unique experience in community college and the time it takes to transfer. A change of major, extra classes and lack of knowledge are contributing factors to the delay.

For former American River College student, Fatima Villafranca, it took five years to transfer to Sacramento State University.

“It took me five years because I changed my major like five times,” Villafranca said. “I went from accounting, to business, to fashion, to philosophy, to psychology and then no one directed me on how to do it right.”

This is common within community colleges. Since it is a cheaper alternative to a university, they have the leeway to explore and change what they want to major in. This was true in Villafranca’s case but she also felt that she was not informed enough to make a wise decision about transferring. “[Counselors] were making me take classes for those majors but they were not telling me to take [general education classes]. Which I should have focused on first,” Villafranca said.

GEs are those classes sometimes students forget that they need in order to transfer to a university and graduate.

GEs are outlined on a yellow sheet students can get from the counseling office on campus or online. The classes listed must be completed along with the lower division classes for the students’ designated major.

Current ARC student, Xochitl Maldonado had a similar experience. Her first counselor advised her to take a class she later found out was unnecessary because it had nothing to do with her major or GEs. Although neither Maldonado or Villafranca said they relied too heavily on a counselor’s advice to make sure they transfer on time, they both admitted that seeing a

Funeral Services | Page 4

Transfer Checklist | Page 2

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

An anatomical skeleton stands in the funeral service education classroom on April 30, 2018.

ARC’s funeral services program in planning stages to open chapel

By Hannah Yates

whut.hannah@gmail.com American River College is home to a small and rare education program: it is one of only two colleges in California that offers funeral services education as a major.

The department is accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education, and there are 59 total FSE degree programs accredited in the United States.

Currently, the department consists of 51 enrolled students, with a limit of 60, and only one faculty member.

The last college before ARC and Cypress, a school in southern California, to offer the major was the San Francisco School of Mortuary, which exported the program to ARC 12 years ago.

The director of ARC’s program, Valarie Rose, attended the San Francisco School of Mortuary before it was shut down.

“I saw it, and I was just like: ‘This is it.’ The old school was pretty cool looking, it looked like a big medical school … it was built in the early 1900s,” Rose said. “I moved to San Francisco, I wound up going and just loved it ever since.”

The school opened in 1930, but

struggled to keep up with the cost of keeping the program there, according to SFWeekly. Eventually, the school was forced to send the program somewhere else.

“As soon as [faculty] heard it was closing, they started working to bring everything to [ARC] and get it approved,” Rose said.

The program still has space to expand.

“We unfortunately don’t advertise it enough here at the college,” she said.

Rose is not only the program director, but the professor for many of the courses required. There are also adjunct professors, most of whom teach lab and online classes.

FSE prepares students for a career as a funeral director or an embalmer. Funeral directors conduct a funeral service, which includes tasks such as paperwork, arrangement of service preferences and communicating with the family of the deceased. Embalmers prepare the body, either for sanitation or for the service, which may include a viewing. They use many methods to make a body presentable, or treat a body out of need for sanitation.

The idea of handling dead bodies makes some uneasy, which is

why Rose emphasizes the benefits of the field.

“It’s not [weird] ... It’s just trying to make them look good — present a good picture for the families,” Rose said. “That’s how they’re going to get their closure, by seeing their loved one looking peaceful and not in pain anymore.”

The misconceptions about funerals and workers are not uncommon. Rose said that in her introductory course, she often comes across students who have a different perception of the field.

“When we teach that class, almost everybody walks in there in black clothing, eyeliner on, black nail polish, the whole nine yards — it’s completely goth. And they’re like: ‘I love dead bodies,’” she said. “After they go through the course, by the end of it usually they’re going, ‘Wow this isn’t about the bodies even hardly at all.’ It’s about what families need and rituals for people to help them get through a death.”

Students don’t always come to the same conclusion, according to Leticia Alvarado, who graduated from the program at ARC in 2016, and speaks at orientations for the students.

“A lot of my classmates didn’t know what they were getting

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Sacramento Zoo

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May 2, 2018

News

A step-by-step checklist on leaving ARC cont. from page 1 counselor, especially one you trust, is important.

“See your counselor every semester,” Villafranca said. “Stay with the same one so that way they know you and you have a relationship.”

Maldonado feels strongly about finding the right counselor that has your best interests in mind.

“I had one counselor that I loved but he transferred out of here but I feel like if you get one good counselor or you’re aware of what you need then that is easier to bounce off of,” she said.

Joe Rust, the director of the transfer center, located inside the main counseling building on campus, recommends students see a counselor at least once a semester to check in. “[The visit] may not be supercomplicated. Just to make sure that everything has been looked at [and to] make sure things haven’t changed,” Rust said. “It is a good time to ask questions and to make sure where you are at in the [transfer] process.”

With the correct support, transferring does not have to be a difficult or daunting task.

The transfer center offers help with applications, university tours, and hosts a variety of workshops according to Rust. They also have a representative from University of California, Davis and Sacramento State come to ARC on most Mondays and Wednesdays.

Beyond counselors, there are two resources available for students to use on their own to monitor their progress.

One resource is called the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum, or IGETC as it is more commonly known.

On this sheet, students must take a specific number of units from each category listed in the pattern in order to transfer. The categories include English commu-

C

The

URRENT An American River College student-run publication.

Co-Editor-in-Chiefs Brienna Edwards Luis Gael Jimenez Co-Managing Editors Mack Er vin III Ashley Hayes-Stone

Photo illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

The goal for a lot of students attending American River College is to eventually transfer to a four-year university.

nication, mathematical concepts information system that reports and quantitative reasoning, arts whether a course’s credits can apand humanities, social and be- ply from one California college to havioral sciences, physical and another. biological sciences and at This website presents up the bottom, two catto date and accurate By the egories specific to information when Numbers: a UC or a CSU. If it comes to the the class a stutopic of transfer. dent is taking is To search for within the patthese classes, tern outlined students first of JC students of JC students transfer in transfer after select the colon the IGETC two years. six years. sheet then the lege they are credits count. currently attendAccording to Ultimately this is a ing, then the college Edsource.org sheet that serves as a visual they’re planning to attend representation of what you need and then their major. From there it to complete to be successful if you will show the lower division major are planning to transfer. Counsel- classes they need to take at their ors can help students fill it out and community college. answer any questions they may Here is where students often have. get stuck: Assist.org outlines lower Another resource available for division courses but not GEs. Stustudents is the website Assist. dents need both their lower diviorg, which is a student-transfer sion classes and GEs to transfer:

4% 46%

ASB NOTEBOOK

Copy Editor Hannah Yates Social Media Editor Jennah Booth

“It took me five years because I changed my major like five times ... no one directed me on how to do it right.”

Staff Alondra Botello Gabe Carlos Cecilia Castillo Juarez Tracy Holmes Alexus Hur tado Michael Pacheco Alexis Warren

Former ARC Student

Faculty Adviser Rachel Leibrock

Fatima Villafranca

not one or the other.

Both resources, the IGETC pattern and Assist.org, when paired can help students map out their college careers.

Ultimately, students do not have to get stuck in community college. They do not have to become a statistic. If they ask questions, decide on a major, take the classes necessary they can be on the road to the university of their choosing.

Photo Adviser Jill Wagner Student Worker Mack Er vin III Contributing Writer Christian Sutton

For weekly coverage of ARC student government, go to ARCurrent.com.

STUDENT SENATE MEETS TO EDIT BYLAWS AND CONSTITUTION

By Brienna Edwards briennaedwards@gmail.com American River College’s Associated Student Body Student Senate met April 27 in its second to last meeting of the academic year.

The main intent of the meeting was to review and discuss recent amendments to the ASB Constitution and Bylaws.

Student Senate President Deborah Hernandez passed the Presidential chair to the sitting parliamentarian to be able to join in the discussion.

This means that for this specific debate, Hernandez, who as president does not have the ability to vote, relinquished her position to the parliamentarian who would act in her stead as president, letting Hernandez vote as a member of the board.

Vice President Earl Crouchley III made a motion to adopt the amended ASB Constitution, which was then seconded by Hernandez in order to make amendments.

A large portion of the time was designated to discussing the removal of a section titled “Absenc-

Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing Editor

Associated Student Body (ASB) President Deborah Hernandez consults with Parlimentarian Tamara Dunning duing a Student Senate meeting on April 27 at American River College.

es, Tardies, Election Failures.”

The section read as follows: “The existence of a vacancy based on unexcused absences, unexcused tardies, the failure to elect a candidate at an election, or recall, shall be determined by a unanimous vote of the remaining elected members of the component of the Associated Student Body.”

Crouchley said the reason for re-

moving this section from the constitution was to give each of the student boards, such as ASB, Club and Events Board and Joint Budget Committee more freedom.

“The Constitution is way more difficult to revise and make changes to in general, instead of putting it in each bodies’ bylaws, which can be altered by those governing bodies themselves,” Crouchley

said.

Senate Adviser Juan Blanco disagreed with the amendment however, and said he was worried about inconsistencies throughout the three boards.

“My only concern with that change is that if CAEB decides to change it, so let’s say CAEB decides that one absence constitutes a removal but Senate and JBC keep it the same at five or whatever number, it’s going to be inconsistent,” Blanco said. “I think having it in the constitution has that blanket for all three boards.”

Hernandez agreed with Blanco and made a motion to keep the section in the constitution, meaning that any absences or tardies would be the same for all three boards.

Senator Alexandrina Chavez seconded the motion, however Crouchley objected instead making a motion to amend the wording, striking the word “unanimous” from the section and replacing it with “two thirds.” Hernandez seconded this motion, letting it pass with no objections.

ASB will reconvene May 4 for its last meeting of the school year.

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POLICY The Current is produced by the students of College Media Production, J410-413. All opinions are signed and not necessarily endorsed by the Current staff. All letters and articles appearing in the Editorial, Opinion or Forum sections are not necessarily representative of the Current staff or American River College policy.

All articles are the property of the Current. Letters must be typed and can be submitted by mail, e-mail or in person at the following addresses: The American River Current 4700 College Oak Drive Portable Village 613A Sacramento, CA 95841 Phone: 916-484-8304 Fax: 916-484-8668 E-mail: Current@arc.losrios.edu www.ARCurrent.com

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May 2, 2018

SCENE

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor

Fashion major Crystal Barrett works on her garment at American River College on April 28, 2018.

Fashion designer shoots for Hollywood

By Ashley Hayes-Stone ashgstone@gmail.com It was the year 1935, the location Paramount Picture Studios, an unsuspecting scene for fashion history to be made. The studio was working on a comedy film called “The Jungle Princess” and asked Edith Head, one of Paramount Studios top designers, to create a dress for the actress Dorothy Lamour — but not just any dress.

The studio wanted Head to create a costume fit for a jungle princess that was sultry, culturally appropriate and met the censorship code.

Head decided to make a variation on the sarong, a southeast Asian piece of clothing originally made for men to wrap around their bodies like a kilt. She put her own design on it, of course.

When her piece hit the screen, not only did it gain Head notoriety, but the dress also become a international hit. Over the decades Head’s designs inspired countless fashion designers, including American River College student Crystal Barrett.

“What I loved about Edith Head is that she never settled for mediocre,” Barrett said.

Applying the same mentality that her idol held, Barrett is working on a collection that brings old Hollywood glamour and everyday wear to life on the runway at Metamorphosis, ARC’s annual spring fashion show on May 5.

“I designed it with the everyday in mind, but my heart runs a little fancy where fashion is concerned,” Barrett said.

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor

Barrett’s sketches of her collection, ‘Jolie Plissage’, sits on display in a collection class in Room 105 in the Science and Fine Arts building at American River College on April 9, 2018.

Like other fashion students, Barrett enrolled in Fashion 382, Collection and Design Production, which provides students a chance to display their talents and create their collection for the spring fashion show at ARC. “This is the last class where the students can display what they have learned,” said fashion professor Anne Dieu, who teaches the class. “The overall feel of the collection class is friendly and [the students] are nurturing and caring to each other.”

Dieu understands the amount of work that the students put into

“I designed it with the everyday in mind, but my heart runs a little fancy where fashion is concerned.”

Crystal Barrett Fashion Major

their collection and admires their dedication to see their designs through.

“Having commitment to this

class is outstanding and says a lot to the program,” said Barrett.

Inspired by the Hollywood glam fashion of the 1940s through 1960s, Barrett’s collection is called “Jolie Plissage,” meaning ‘lovely pleats’ in French. The collection consists of pleated garments complete with jewel tone colors such as royal blue, rusty orange, and rich reds.

“Women are like gems; they are very unique and vibrant, so I want the colors to reflect that,” Barrett said.

Barrett says she feels that the prime time for fashion was during

the old Hollywood days and she wants to bring that to her collection.

“The clothes back then were actually tailored to fit women, not like the clothes we have today,” Barrett said.

It seems that fashion was always part of her genetic makeup.

Her mother would take her window shopping and choose what she liked, then go home and sew together the latest trends for her daughter in their living room.

Following Head’s path, Barrett dreams of creating costumes for movie studios and creating her own fashion legacy and expanding her small business.

Barrett says she lives by her business motto: “Let me make your vision come to life.”

Barrett has a strong definition of what true fashion is.

“If the article of clothing does not make the woman feel good and amazing then fashion is not doing its job,” Barrett said.

Barrett’s advice for future fashionistas is quite simple, she advises them to learn basic math skills, continue to sew, and have passion.

“If you aren’t willing to stay up all night working on a collection then you should consider another profession,” Barrett said.

Barrett’s work, along with collections from other designers, will be on display on the runway May 5 at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center at ARC. The tickets are on sale for $12 and $10 for students, and are available online at Everbrite.com. under Metamorphosis.

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May 2, 2018

SCENE

ARC houses one of two funeral service programs in state cont. page 1

[it’s] all worth it at the end,” she added.

Dean Won, a biology professor at ARC, teaches Biology 103: Human Anatomy for Funeral Services, a prerequisite for the program.

The purpose of the class is to give potential FSE majors a chance to gain first-hand experience with a cadaver as they study tissues and organ systems in the human body.

Won was asked by the Funeral Service department to make the class in 2010, a few years after the program moved to ARC. Enrollment for the class has always been small, according to Won, with around 15 students in each class.

This semester only eight students enrolled in the course, making it the first semester he has ever had to cancel the course. “[It] was back in 2011, when we offered [the course] for the first time,” Won said. “And this year was the first time it didn’t fill.”

Though Won also teaches a general education anatomy class, the aforementioned class was specifically requested by the Funeral Service Department to prepare students to handle cadavers for the purpose of embalming or dissection.

“For [students] to have the opportunity to dissect a cadaver is big. For many of them, it’s the first time they’re exposed to a dead body, basically,” Won said.

Rose is involved in the class too, helping instruct proper techniques.

“We usually go in, I have an adjunct instructor who helps me, we go over to it and do dissection with them and everything, like we would be doing if we were embalming,” she said.

Won said that some students have had different reactions to the cadaver.

“I had one student — I remember him — it was towards the end of the class. He was just kinda like, right in front of me, kind of tearing up. [He said:] ‘Cutting this guy, I feel so bad,’” Won described.

“That’s more atypical — a student crying — but those kinds of emotions really come out. Most students are just really appreciative.”

Won says he teaches his students to have an appreciation for the opportunity to work with a human body, and requires them to write an essay at the end of the course.

“That’s what I try to teach the students: that the opportunity that they have to dissect a human — this is not an animal, this is not an organ, it’s a human — is rare and precious, and by the end of the course when they write this appreciation essay, that really

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

Funeral service major Tracie Tweet applies makeup on a wax head during the restorative art class at American River College on April 30, 2018.

comes across,” Won said. “It’s like, one of the best things they’ve ever experienced.”

There is a cadaver lab on campus with a few bodies stored. Won says the body that would have been observed this semester will be saved there until the next semester he teaches the class.

If students don’t get to observe the cadaver in that class, they will have to wait until their fourth semester, during which they must take up an internship at a mortuary.

Rose recommends that students find an opportunity to work during their earlier semesters, so they are able to gain experience while learning.

“Their whole fourth semester they spend working in a funeral home. They do an internship currently,” Rose said. “But they’re kind of at the mercy of the funeral home at to what they’re doing, unfortunately.”

The students are not always able to get the right amount of hands-on experience as the program stands.

“We have certain requirements by our crediting body that our students have to do 10 embalmings before they graduate. They have to do 10 funeral services, 10 arrangements, and take five first calls and do five transfers,” Rose said. “So we need them to get more experience, and [California] just changed this requirement because they found that students coming out of these mortuary colleges — the community colleges — aren’t getting enough experience when they come out.”

The department has found a way for students to get hands-on experience even sooner — incorporating it’s own funeral service

CAMPUS PU

LSE

“I am working two jobs as a lifeguard and a retail associate so I will be working 73 hours a week.”

-RAVEN ESPINO Paramedics

facility into the major, and our campus. “[San Francisco] was a working mortuary, and that’s what we’re trying to duplicate,” Rose said.

The proposed non-denominational chapel would serve as a multipurpose educational facility, and would house all of the department’s classes.

ARC President Thomas Greene compared the idea to the Oak Cafe, regarding the experience gained by students when interacting with others.

“It’s really powerful, it’s an experiential model. Students not only learn the theory — they put it into practice, right? So they’re learning with all of their senses,”

“This is for sure what I want to do. I don’t plan on working for nobody. I’m going to have my own funeral home; that’s the goal.”

Shakinah Simmons

Funeral Services Student Greene said.

Rose believes that developing this onsite will help students prosper.

“If they start doing this from day one, when they’re sitting there listening to a lecture on something, they’re gonna be able to put it all together, and go: ‘Oh, I get it now!” she said.

As of now, the department’s classrooms are often shared, such as the Restorative Art class that shares a room with a nursing class.

It would also offer students the chance to collaborate and even

work for their community, according to Greene.

“There’s a lot of opportunity there. I think the other thing that is really powerful for us is that: we’re supported by our community, and if we can provide a direct service back to our community, in a way that really also facilitates high quality learning, a great learning experience for our students — that to me — what a wonderful model, right? And I wish we could do that,” Greene said.

Both Rose and Greene emphasized that it is in the planning stages, and can’t confirm where or when the chapel will be completed. Rose is interested in collaborating with interior design students to plan and decorate the room for services.

There are other collaboration efforts on campus, between departments. Theater students have attended classes of funeral services students to set the scene, according to Rose. The students are told to act emotional and volatile, in a way that challenges students to communicate and plan under pressure and chaos — much like they may face in the career.

“I mean they cry, they stomp, they do everything a real family would do. Because they have no background in this … It’s realistic for them,” Rose said about the fourth semester counseling class.

In a far corner of ARC, students study chemicals, decay, and human tissues. It is an art class, though not the most traditional.

In Restorative Art, FSE students learn how to reconstruct faces; both techniques for embalming and anatomy.

After a PowerPoint lecture, Rose leads the class into the lab portion; “Go ahead and get your

heads out.”

They roll wax between their fingers before adding to a model — their own recreation of the human face — on the desk in front of them. They smooth the wax on to the sculpture to create facial features, and look at photographs and textbooks splayed across their desks for reference.

Erin Secrest, a third semester student, said that the modeling exercise has been her favorite in the class so far.

“It’s a break. I mean there’s lectures, but here’s a break from that, and it’s a lot more hands on,” Secrest said.

Outside the classroom, she has been the subject of questioning from other students for the unique job path she’s chosen — one she’s wanted to pursue since she graduated high school.

“I get a lot of funny looks and like: ‘Are you sure? Why are you doing that? That’s weird,’” she said. “But everybody is kind of like: ‘Wow, somebody has to do it. Good for you for knowing what you want to do.’”

Despite the perceived eccentricity of the students, it is not uncommon for them to know that funeral services is the right path for them before they even join the major.

Some students, like Shakinah Simmons, came to the program after initially pursuing a different degree.

Now that she’s in her third semester of the program, Simmons said she is confident that the major is right for her.

“This is for sure what I want to do. I don’t plan on working for nobody. I’m going to have my own funeral home; that’s the goal,” Simmons said.

What are your plans for the upcoming summer?

“My plans for summer is to go to work, make money so I can go on vacation, go to the casino to gamble for the first time.”

-HECTOR MALDONADO Fire Technician

“I am mostly going to work, finally going to take my college success class and go to Disneyland for the first time.”

“I am traveling to Europe and going to London, Amsterdam and I am going over to New York and Vegas.”

-GEORGE HILLMAN Theater Arts

-KENDELL MATTHEWS Art History

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May 2, 2018

Features

Former refugee begins career at UN ALUMNA GRADUATED FROM ARC

By Christian Sutton current@arc.losrios.edu To some, graduating in less than two years with four Associate’s degrees and an honors certificate after taking 23 units at a time might seem insurmountable.

For a young woman from Kenya, this seemingly insurmountable challenge became her journey to independence.

Edna Simbi grew up in Kenya, in abject poverty without any hope for opportunities beyond high school. Education is neglected for African women because of social stigmatization.

When the United Nations came to help her village, Simbi says she saw the opportunities and independence that an education could offer and it became her goal to work at the U.N. “I saw what it did for people who were educated,” Simbi says.

“The United Nations would come to my village and provide free blood tests, medicine [and] food.

I saw that education empowers. I wanted that empowerment.”

Simbi says that for her, education paved the way to a better life, but pursuing it would be a painful and treacherous journey. For many African women, their education is sacrificed because of the belief that men must be educated to provide, Simbi says.

At the age of 24, she was forced to flee her home, she says. Simbi spent four years in exile as a refugee in Uganda then immigrated to the United States in 2010.

File photo Edna Simbi (left) stands with her friend, Juan Pablo Celis Garcia, at the United Nations. Simbi, a former ARC student, came to the U.S. on asylum in 2010.

“Leaving was so painful, from a path that was equally painful,” Simbi says. “You ask yourself if you’re making the right decision.”

Simbi started American River College in spring 2012. She says that she graduated with four associate degrees and an honors certificate from the Honors Program in 2013.

Simbi says she earned her degrees in international relations, political science, social sciences and language studies all while working at the Student Center, a job she needed to establish residency.

Simbi was accepted into Columbia University and graduated from its School of General Studies. Simbi says the headquarters of the

U.N. initially rejected her because she didn’t have a master’s degree.

Using the resiliency that got her through ARC, Simbi says she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international affairs concurrently, graduating with both in 2017.

Simbi says she ultimately achieved her goal and worked at the U.N. Cecilia Mayers, a student personnel assistant at ARC’s transfer center, says that just before she transferred, Simbi asked the transfer director if she could help other students with their personal statements over the summer because she wanted to give back to ARC. To accomplish this, Mayers

says Simbi enlisted her help even though it is not in her job description. Mayers says that Simbi’s trust in her ability left a lasting impact.

“For her to believe in me was very special. That’s not part of my job title. But her looking at me and saying ‘You can do it Cecilia’ gave me a lot of confidence in my writing,” Mayers says. “She gave me a huge gift.”

Kathleen Collihan, who teaches political science and international relations, mentored her. Collihan says that because of Simbi’s laser focus on working at the U.N., she was in the model United Nations club.

Collihan says she uses Simbi as an example of success in her lectures on the U.N.

“Her desire to give back, help out and make a better world will drive her,” Collihan says.

Although Collihan mentored Simbi, Collihan says she feels she received as much as she gave.

“I learned about the human will and human spirit,” Collihan says.

Simbi says that her source of inner strength comes from her faith.

“I give God all the glory for who I am, where I am and everything that happens in my life,” Simbi says. “I would have died several time over had it not been for the grace, the compassion and mercy of God.” She referenced her favorite passage from the bible.

“Deuteronomy 28: 1-14 calls upon blessings that have been spoken of my life,” Simbi says.

“Those are my blessings, those are the gifts God has given to me.

I give God all the glory for my life, my successes – I owe God that.”

Simbi’s says her courage and faith in God helped her earn the education she aspired to as a young women with few options in Kenya. She says she attained empowerment, freedom and independence through education.

“Being in a position of power means that you can make decisions that affect even you, yourself,” Simbi says. “If you do not have an education, you are ignorant about a lot of things and other people make decisions for you and a lot of times they are not in your best interest.”

Simbi says she plans to come back to California to advocate and share a message with young women in similar circumstances.

“Just be true to yourself, pray, preserver and no matter how hard things get, you can never give up,” Simbi says.

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May 2, 2018

FEATURES

Photo by Brienna Edwards | Co-Editor-In-Chief

Thomas Pfingston shows how his hand made additions will convert a regular 3-D printer into a chocolate 3-D printer, on April 23, 2018.

Design Hub creates 3-D chocolate printer DESIGNER HOPES TO PARTNER WITH OAK CAFE

By Brienna Edwards briennaedwards@gmail.com Thomas Pfingston hunches his tall frame over the battered wooden counter found in the back room of American River College’s Design Hub. The room is small and dimly lit. Every available surface is layered with the half-finished projects of the students who frequent it. A machine perches on the ground as it props open the door, with its large hose bisecting the floor and its loud hum pulsating through the air.

Pfingston fiddles with one of the 3-D printers the Hub provides, trying to fit on a new extension of his own design. It’s red and cylindrical, and not at all created to hold the filament that a 3-D printer would typically hold.

No, Pfingston’s creation is designed to hold a container of chocolate.

Pfingston is in the process of creating a functional chocolate printer.

“Its purpose is basically to extrude chocolate,” Pfingston says.

“Anything that you program on a software in Autodesk called Inventor. So, same concept really but instead of using a filament, a round container of plastic, you are using chocolate.”

Pfingston explains that the chocolate would reside in a tempered liquid state within a container that is placed above the printer, and a plunger will push the chocolate through the nozzle. “[The chocolate] will be in a cool environment so once it starts to extrude through the tip it will basically be printing chocolate layer by layer like a 3-D printer would,” Pfingston says.

Pfingston’s knowledge of chocolate and the temperature it

needs to be to be molded was not just acquired for this project. Prior to studying mechanical engineering, he spent 10 years working in the culinary field.

Pfingston says he always had a passion for culinary arts, and was inspired by his mother and grandmother who baked a lot during his childhood. His first job was even at Cookie Connection in Roseville.

But seven years into his career, two years after graduating from culinary school, Pfingston started developing headaches and stomach aches; he wrote it off as anxiety over his upcoming marriage until a year elapsed and it became too much to ignore.

“I was having some health issues, and with that, I was diagnosed with food allergies — wheat and peanut,” Pfingston says. “It took me out of the game. So then my wife and I decided that maybe heading back to school would be the best idea.”

From there, Pfingston spent a year at Sierra College where he took a few general education classes while trying to determine a new avenue for his future.

“I was confused and I wasn’t to sure what I wanted to do, and with a son on the way and my wife graduating from school with a degree in Spanish, I was really trying to figure out what I could do to contribute quickly,” Pfingston says.

Growing up, Pfingston says that he always loved to draw, and being homeschooled provided him with the chance to be in a comfortable space, where he could comfortably draw and be himself.

The enjoyment he received from drawing, coupled with the fun he had with his cousins, who happened to be biomechanical and civil engineers, combined to create an interest in mechanical engineering; which Pfingston says is not as large a leap from culinary arts as one might initially suspect.

“In culinary you kind of have to have a passion for design as well.

When you are plating something it has to be aesthetically pleasing, and it’s got to pop out; the

textures, colors — it has to look good,” Pfingston says. “So that’s what led me to do mechanical, because I also enjoy design as well.”

However, Pfingston says that Sierra was unable to provide the fit that he needed and so he moved to ARC in the spring of 2017.

“ARC just felt, I don’t know, it was kind of weird, it just kind of felt right to be here,” Pfingston says. “Once I came here it just felt really comfortable and I felt like I could be myself — more motivated.”

“ARC just felt, I don’t know, it was kind of weird, it just kind of felt right to be here.”

Thomas Pfingston Mechanical Engineer

Once at ARC, everything began to fall into place. Pfingston was able to enroll in an accelerated math class, providing him the chance to complete five courses in a semester, and has even given him a paid internship, in the form of the chocolate printer.

“It was interesting because I really wanted to work at ARC,” Pfingston says. And so he submitted his resume to the Culinary Department, the Engineering Department and the Design Hub through ARC’s website.

It was Randy Schuster, a design technology Professor and Design Hub team member, who saw Pfingston’s resume and had the idea to use Pfingston’s dual engineering and culinary talents to help the department.

It was during Pfingston’s second interview, a few weeks before winter break, that Schuster hired Pfingston for a paid internship, with credit, within the Design Hub. Schuster says it has always been one of his hopes to have a chocolate printer for the Design Hub and when he saw Pfingston had

listed ‘chef’ under other skills on his resume it clicked.

However, as Schuster says: “Pfingston knows a lot more about chocolate then he does about 3-D printing.”

Nevertheless this hasn’t slowed Pfingston down any.

“He has spent this entire semester really focused on 3-D printing and it has been amazing, he has done an amazing job,” Schuster says.

Pfingston has learned by trial and error, teaching himself anything he may need to know, including, but not limited to: coding, how the files work and how the programs interact and the manufacturing of 3-D printers.

“This had been a new venture for me because I didn’t know AutoCAD, I didn’t know Inventor,” Pfingston says.

Autodesk Inventor and AutoCAD are both computer applications for 3-D mechanical design.

The programs help with the simulation, visualization and documentation of using a 3-D printer.

“I am the primary designer on the chocolate extruder project,” Pfingston says. “So everything that I have been doing, along with the help of Randy and other people in the Design Hub, has been experimental and a learning development on my own.”

Despite the long hours and the hard work, Pfingston has found enjoyment in this project.

“It’s been a blast,” Pfingston says. “Throughout the time I’ve been here it’s been really cool, [Schuster] set about five or ten minutes aside for various training opportunities and such.”

Pfingston says that Schuster constantly including him in lessons he feels may apply to the project.

“He will be like ‘Get over here!

We are going to learn together,’” Pfingston says, adding that Schuster is always encouraging him to learn as much as he can and to apply his imagination.

Pfingston is currently ahead of schedule. The original plan was

that all the mechanics and design would be finished by the end of the spring semester and then during the fall semester Pfingston would begin assembly. However, he has already started printing parts, and has even made a contact in Silicon Valley that may be able to provide the heating element needed to wrap around the chocolate extruder to keep it warm and pliable.

Schuster hopes that the chocolate printer will be so successful that ARC’s Oak Cafe will be willing to use it.

“The end game — the ideal, the perfect world — is that we got it working well enough that the Oak Cafe would want to use it,” Schuster says. “Because there would be no better praise than the Oak Cafe using our equipment.”

As for Pfingston, he says he is unsure yet where his new skills will take him.

“There [are] a lot of different avenues you can take with engineering, so it’s very vast,” Pfingston says.

He is interested in manufacturing and design, but would also like to travel the world and design on a more personal level, Nevertheless Pfingston can’t let go of culinary completely.

“In culinary there are so many things you could do and it has to be just right… you strive to create or develop the best product within that certain amount of time, and then adapt to changes,” Pfingston says. He has applied that philosophy to mechanical engineering.

“There [are] various different things you can do at different times and so with that I’ve had to be patient and wait and see what I can apply [to my future],” he says.

ON THE WEB

Read more at ARCurrent.com

7

May 2, 2018

Features

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

The primary keeper of the primates, Janine Steele, stands in front of the sumatran exhibit at the Sacramento Zoo on April 25, 2018.

ARC holds

primatology class at

Sacramento

Zoo

Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

A wolf ’s guenon leans on a branch at the Sacramento Zoo.

By Tracy Holmes tdholmes80@gmail.com Anthropology 372 Primatology Field Studies class will be held during American River College’s summer session this year, instead of its usual spring semester.

The class focuses on the observation of non-human primates, according to its instructor, Kristina Casper-Denman, “This class actually came out of a program that was originally started by the Jane Goodall Institute, back in the mid-1980s,” Casper-Denman said.

The class is designed to give students a better opportunity to observe the primates and gives younger, high school students an opportunity to take the course, according to Casper-Denman.

“It started with the idea of the same types of observations that were done in the wild — in places like Tanzania — the same types of observations we would do at very select zoos around the world,” Casper-Denman said. “The Sacramento Zoo is one of those original zoos that was chosen to learn how

to do these observations.”

The primates are sometimes difficult to observe in the spring because of the weather. CasperDenman said.

The students may feel like they are spending more time at the zoo because the shorter session, however it is the same amount of class time, Casper-Denman explained.

Janine Steele, the the primary keeper of primates at the Sacramento Zoo, explained some of the happenings of a few different primate groups. She has worked at the zoo for 16 years.

“They tend to have litters of babies [composed] of groups of three to four individuals. To remember who was with what litter group that year, it made it easier to [name them using] different food groups,” Steele said.

Some of the ruff lemurs, Steele explained, have house names based on food.

“We have a group of cheeses, a group of hot sauces and spices.

We have three different generations in this group.” Steele said.

Steele said the summer class could be a good time for observa-

tion of the primates but more specifically during the morning hours.

When it starts to get hot they tend to become more lethargic and not be out in the viewing area, she said.

In the spring semester the weather is unstable and in the summer primates do not like the heat. However, in the summer, the mornings are nice and cool.

Molli Franchar, an anthropology major at ARC, took the class in the spring after a recent change of major. Franchar said wanted to get into marine biology. She has an extreme love for animals. She took this class after a suggestion from Casper-Denman.

“The class was an amazing experience. It is hands down my favorite course that contributes to my [anthropology] degree that I have taken so far,” Franchar said.

This is the first time 372 Primatology will be offered in the summer session. Casper-Denman wanted to be sure high school students also had the opportunity to attend as well as those just graduating.

Photo by Tracy Holmes | Staff Writer

One of the Sacramento Zoo’s sumatran orangutans perches in its enclosure as it eats a branch of leaves.

8

May 2, 2018

SPORTS

Softball splits home finale

By Alexus Hurtado alexush09@gmail.com The American River College Beavers softball team defeated the Cosumnes River College Hawks in the first game of a double header 10-2 on April 21.

In the first inning, the Hawks’ pitching and batting allowed the team to jump ahead by two runs.

Both teams cheered and supported their teammates from the dugout throughout the first.

The Hawks played competitively and their pitching was strong throughout the first inning.

Both teams kept watchful eyes while at bat and were strategic in their pitching.

The Hawks’ batting, however, fell through after the second inning and there were a lot of fly away balls.

In the second and third inning, the Beavers took control of the game by pitching excellently and hustling to the bases when in the outfield. The Beavers had four runs at the end of the second inning while the Hawks had two.

In the third inning, ARC infielder Hailey Osborn took charge at bat.

The Hawks’ pitching in the third fell short but in the fourth, CRC stepped up its pitching. However, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with ARC. ARC scored five runs in the fourth and continued to push through the game. CRC hadn’t scored any runs since the first and the team looked tired.

ARC stole the first game of the double header and CRC won the second game 10-3.

The Beavers’ batting was a huge reason for their success in this game, according to ARC infielder Elena Avila.

“We were seeing the ball and after we made a couple of mistakes we didn’t let it get to us,” Avila said.

Despite not making it to playoffs, the Beavers said they were still proud of how they played. “[Cosumnes] ranked third and we’re not even making it to playoffs, and we’re definitely better than them,” Avila said.

Infielder Maddie Adams said she also felt that they showed what they were capable of in their last home game.

“We didn’t do as well as we could’ve [this season] and we’re better than we’ve shown, but this game was a true reflection of our abilities,” Adams said.

Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing Editor

Freshman Paul Bhatia swings at a ball during a match against De Anza College on April 21, 2018 at American River College. Bhatia and ARC won the game 5-0 to win a third straight NorCal title.

Men’s tennis wins third NorCal title TEAM LOSES STATE TITLE TO CERRITOS

By Mack Ervin III me3current@gmail.com American River College’s men’s tennis team captured its third straight Northern California Championship on April 21 after defeating No. 2 ranked De Anza College 5-0.

De Anza’s road to the finals included wins over No. 8 Solano and No. 5 Folsom Lake, while ARC took on No. 7 Fresno and No. 3 Foothill en route to the championship.

The matches started well for the Beavers, winning the first two doubles matches with relative ease at 8-2 and 8-3.

The No. 2 ranked match was stressful however as Paul Bhatia and Pete Gibson fell behind early on 4-5. However, the team managed to pull out the win 8-6 and send the Beavers into singles play

By Luis Gael Jimenez luisgaeljimenez@gmail.com

Photo by Alondra Botello | Staff Writer

vers only needed one more win to three-peat as champions.

Ultimately Vizcarra was able to deliver that clinching win, as he beat Aditya Goyal 6-1, 6-4 to give ARC the NorCal title.

After the game Kendall said that the team spirit and culture made playing enjoyable compared to playing singles.

“In tennis usually outside of the school you don’t have a team environment, so in this situation you’re able to rely on your teammates and your coaches are basically right on the court with you,” Kendall said. “In regular tennis, you don’t have that option; you’re by yourself.”

With the win, the Beavers faced the Southern California champions Cerritos College in Ojai on April 25 to decide the state champion and, according to Vizcarra, they had a big task ahead of them.

“We’re gonna have to play the best tennis we’ve ever played.

We’re gonna have to push each other and share the energy,” Vizcarra said.

Jabery-Madison also said that it will be a tough matchup, but that

he likes the challenge.

“It will be a lot of fun. It’s always a good challenge for us. We’re definitely going to go in there as the underdogs on paper, but we like that role and last two times that we’ve been there, even though we lost, we’ve probably played the best match of our seasons both times,” Jabery-Madison said.

“I know we’re going to bring it.”

The Beavers were not able to break their duck in state championship games however, as Cerritos swept them in the state championship game 5-0.

The team finished the year a 15-3 overall record.

ON THE WEB

For more ARC sports coverage, go to ARCurrent.com

Women’s tennis falls in the finals TEAM FINISHES 13-2 ON THE SEASON

Infielder Katina Vail runs towards first base during a softball game against Cosumnes River College on April 21.

up 3-0.

Coach Bo Jabery-Madison said that winning all three doubles matches gave them a great boost before playing singles.

“It just changes the dynamic, of the whole match. You go into singles up 3-0 as opposed to being up 2-1 or even down 1-2,” Jabery-Madison said. “It definitely puts their backs against the wall and gives us a nice lift going into singles for sure. Huge to get that 3-0 score.”

In singles play, most matches were closely contested and some looked to be heading towards a third set tiebreaker.

Sophomore Michael Vizcarra said that the team’s energy and support of each other gives them the energy to get through tough matches.

“The support is a big thing in our team. When one yells, we all yell and that that’s the type of energy that flows through when you’re so tired that really pushes you forward,” Vizcarra said.

Robert Kendall beat Mariano Sigifredo 6-1, 6-2 to get the fourth win of the day, meaning the Bea-

American River College’s women’s tennis team advanced to the Northern California Championship against De Anza Community College after a 5-1 win over Chabot Community College on Tuesday, April 17.

The team was on a 10-game winning streak heading into the tournament and made its second playoff appearance in two seasons after going winless in the 2016 season.

The Beavers went into singles play after winning two of their three doubles matches, which meant they needed three wins in singles matches to advance to the NorCal championship.

Coach Steven Dunmore said the team’s performance against Chabot showed they were ready to compete for a championship.

“I’m very pleased, very excited.

I knew it was going to be a close match. Chabot is a very solid and deep team, they have no weaks spots,” Dunmore said. “I’m very happy to have the chance to play for the NorCal Championship.”

Dunmore also gave credit to his players for their durability throughout the season.

“We’ve been really emphasizing the mental and emotional skills. Learning to understand

how to think on the court, how to be focused, how to be confident, how to trust and deal with the nerves and tough competition,” Dunmore said.

“The players have really grown in their skill level, in both the physical skills and the mental ones and that was our goal from the beginning: every week get a little bit better and a little smarter.”

Sophomore player Viktoriya Lavor, who won her match 6-1,60, said the matchup against Chabot could not have gone any better.

“All of our girls played so hard.

We all had to fight mentally and physically,” Lavor said. “It was tough competition but we pulled through.”

Lavor added that the team has built a great bond under the

watch of Dunmore and that they were entering Saturday’s match with high emotions.

“You literally see these girls at their lowest. You literally cry together, you laugh together,” Lavor said. “Seeing that Saturday is practically the final game of our tennis careers is hard.”

Lavor went on to say that the possibility of winning a championship gave her “goosebumps.”

However, the challenge proved to be too great for the Beavers as they lost the NorCal Championship game 5-2 to eventual champions De Anza.

They end the season with a 13-2 overall record.

9

May 2, 2018

SPORTS

Football team preps for new season COACH LOOKS FORWARD TO NEXT SEASON

“Each individual in our program needs to own their academics. We talk about building your resume within your time frame here at American River College.”

By Gabe Carlos legitgmc@gmail.com In 2017 American River College’s football team went on an outstanding 10-2 record, coming up just short of the state championship game.

The Beavers lost to the College of San Mateo Bulldogs 24-21, with ARC missing a game-tying field goal with 20 seconds left on the clock in the NorCal Championship game on November 25.

San Mateo earned its way to the state championship game against the Southern California Champion Fullerton Hornets, with Fullerton winning its second straight state championship, 16-12.

Coach Jon Osterhout is going into his eighth year with the team, and his fifth year as the head coach. After coming off that loss in the semi-final playoff game, he is already planning next season with his team and started spring workouts in January.

After last season, the Beavers also suffered from losing some of the team’s coaching staff on the offensive side of the ball. None of them were fired, however, they left to pursue other opportunities.

It is early in the season so there is still plenty of time to find coaches, but they are still without a offensive coordinator.

Many players have left the 2017 team, including starting quarterback Hunter Rodrigues, who transferred to U.C. Davis, backup

Jon Osterhout Head Coach

File Photo

Coach Jon Osterhout and the football team prepare for the new season after last year’s loss in the NorCal title game.

quarterback Peyton Wilfley, and student athletes accountable and several others on both sides of the we have a lot of resources here on campus and within ball. our Kinesiology athOsterhout knows department who and when By the Numbers: letic to help drive his players are student sucleaving the cess,” Osterteam. With hout said. the bigOne elegest posiment that tion open is part of for comPoints per game Yards per game averaged last the job is petition, averaged last season season.

Osterhout’s Osterhout understandsays there ing of educawill be a fight tion. for it come trainCoach Osterhout ing camp in August. also teaches Kinesiology “I think we do a tremendous job in regards to holding our at ARC and says one of his main

40.2 413.5

goals as a coach is to coach a football team with players whose grades are up to par. This is something that Osterhout emphasizes to his team so it can help elevate the program to a high level that’s not only football.

“Each individual in our program needs to own their academics. We talk about building your resume within your time frame here at American River College, that’s essentially your body of work,” Osterhout said.

He added that the students’ grades are critical for players to participate in the football programs.

“That academic piece plays a huge part in regards to not only

an eligibility standpoint, we’re talking about preparing yourself for the riggers, the academic riggers of what you’re going to see at the university level,” he said.

Blake Martin is a rotational starter at wide receiver for the Beavers who is going into his last eligible season before he can transfer and play elsewhere. Martin says he wants to get back on the grind for his last season.

Martin also shared that even though players have left from the 2017 team, it won’t stop them from making another run this year as he and other sophomores are coming in to make a difference in winning and will show the freshman how to continue it.

“On a winning basis we’re never going to be finished,” Martin said.

“This program is known for football and I’m excited to continue that tradition.”

•

Season Records 2015: 7-4 (Lost in Gridiron Classic Bowl)

•

2016: 10-3 (Lost in State Final)

•

2017: 10-2 (Lost in NorCal Final)

Baseball signs off with a win

BEAVERS FINISH WITH A 14-25 OVERALL RECORD

By Michael Pacheco mfpach@gmail.com

Photo by Jennah Booth | Social Media Editor

Freshman Eva Spindler goes for the tennis ball during a women’s tennis match against Chabot College on April 17, 2018.

Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing Editor

Sophomore Michael Vizcarra waits for a return ball during a match against De Anza College on April 21, 2018 at American River College.

The American River College baseball team scored a victory over Galivan College, winning 1118 in the last game of the season on April 24.

Gavilan started the first inning with a run, with the Beavers scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the second inning off a hit from shortstop Lane Field.

In the third inning, Gavilan got a run after a walk with the bases loaded, to which the Beavers responded with three runs of their own, followed by another run in the fourth inning.

The Beavers loaded up the bases in the bottom of the fifth, leading to runs from Field and second baseman Christian Murua, followed by two more runs off of a hit from third baseman Will Floyd.

They lost their lead in the sixth inning however, with Gavilan scoring eight runs, leading to a 10-10 score at the end of the sixth inning, resetting the game.

Shortstop Matt Clarke, who is moving on to University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, noted that despite this shortcoming, the team did not lose focus.

“We made a couple of mistakes but for the most part I felt like

Photo by Michael Pacheco | Staff Writer

A Galivan College baseball player swings at a ball during a game agaisnt American River College on April 24, 2018. ARC won 18-11.

we were pretty much in control,” Clarke said. “We had one bad inning, but other than that we kept pressing on.”

Gavilan scored another run in the seventh inning off a hit from their center field Justin Nelson, to which the Beavers responded with a triple off of a hit from outfielder Logan Hall, followed by two runs off a hit from outfielder Justin Bejarano, two more from Field and a walk after that, resulting in the eventual final score of 18-11.

Far from a clean win, but assistant coach Preston Vancil said he was overall content with the team’s performance.

“Anybody that was here for nine

innings got to see a pretty sloppy college baseball game, unfortunately,” Vancil said. “At the same time, I’ll take a sloppy win over a clean loss any day of the week.”

The Beavers end their season with an overall record of 14-25, finishing 8th in the Big 8 with a conference record of 8-16.

Season Records •

2015: 17-18

•

2016: 15-21

•

2017: 17-23

•

2018: 14-25

10

May 2, 2018

ARTS & CULTURE

Photo by Jennah Booth | Social Media Editor

“Slivir,” by Trent Duaine Woodley, sits on display at the James Kaneko Art Gallery on April 24, 2018. The ceramics piece is one of over 70 works at the 2018 Annual Student Exhibition Competition. The piece won the Best of Show Award.

Kaneko hosts Annual Student Exhibition OVER 70 STUDENT PIECES ON DISPLAY

By Jennah Booth jennahpage@gmail.com In a celebration of student artwork, American River College’s James Kaneko Art Gallery held the opening ceremony for its Annual Student Exhibition Competition on Wednesday.

First through third place awards, as well as best of show, were handed out during the ceremony.

Patricia Wall, a retired professor of art from Cosumnes River College, juried the show and chose the award winners.

The show features over 70 paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces created by ARC students.

According to Patricia Wood, the galley’s director, Kaneko received

over 300 pieces to be considered.

Trent Duaine Woodley, a studio art major, won best of show for his ceramic sculpture, “Slivir,” inspired

by Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology.

While it may have started as a three-headed dog, the sculpture now features three humanlike faces, with multi colored mushrooms sprouting from their crowns.

“I actually sculpted a couple dog heads and I didnt like it so I cut off the muzzles and turned them into human heads,” Woodley said.

Woodley had two others pieces in the show with a similar theme.

“Actually all three of my pieces are mythological, I do like mythological themes,” he said, referring to his sculpture of Medusa and his linoleum block print of Pan. While his sculpture of Medusa was a final for a figure sculpture class, “Slivir” was a personal piece.

“It was probably about an eight month process from the time I started,” Woodley said.

Woodley also received the Gary rangement of found objects Pruner Scholarship earlier in the payed over a scenic print of Lake year. “Gary Pruner used to be the Tahoe: from clippings from articles painting instructor here and if you and books to pieces of driftwood go down the hallways in the culi- shaped like guns, the largest of nary department you can see his which is wielded by a plastic manpaintings use very beautiful color,” nequin hand and donned with a he said, “Basically color theory, col- figure of Jesus hanging from the orful pieces, colorful art cross. “Sticks and stones By the is what they typically may break my…” is give the scholarpainted across it Numbers: ship towards in bold letters. and my pieces Marie asks tend to be very each viewer to colorful.” decide what Submissions Currently on Among the they take from received by display in the her work and other award the gallery Kaneko winners, Sheila what the piece Parmar took third means to them. “I’m place for her “Flower asking the viewer to Bowl” sculpture and Kiana consider free will,” she said, “I Brown was awarded second for found pieces that supported the her silver gelatin print photo titled idea of consideration of weapons, “Childhood.” and the weapons of war, and the The first place award went to re- weapons of ideas. So up here it tired Army veteran and returning says ‘in war we trust’. Its considerart student, Renee Marie, for her ing all the aspects of our aggresmixed media piece, “In Free Will sion and this is what we have as We Trust.” human is our free will.”

The large work displays an arMarie said that while her art is

300 70+

open to many interpretations, it also serves as a form of activism.

“I served 20 years in the military so I have a feeling about defense versus war,” she said, “Defense is at times a necessary engagement but there’s a moral injury when you engage in the aggression that we have in our world against one another. And that’s what, for me, this piece questions how is free will helping and hurting us?”

According to Marie, her themes are discovered and guided by the objects she finds. “Art is everywhere, waiting to be assembled,” Marie said about her works.

Marie’s second piece, “The Painted Lady” hangs a few feet from her winning work, also a found object, mixed media piece.

“The Painted Lady” was actually purchased by Wall.

A second award ceremony was held on April 25 with awards given out including the Dean’s and President’s awards as well as a People’s Choice award. The student art show will run in the Kaneko through May 4.

Cardi B’s ‘Invasion of Privacy’ worth a listen

By Alexis Warren

alexis.warren81@gmail.com After a much anticipated wait, “Bodak Yellow” star Cardi B, released her first studio album: “Invasion of Privacy” on April 6.

At this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards, Cardi B took home two awards, Best New Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist. At the end of her acceptance speech, the rap star announced that her album would be coming in April and for fans to “stay tuned.”

The 13-track album includes features from hit artists such as Chance the Rapper, Kehlani, 21 Savage, and SZA, to name a few.

These featured artists created an even bigger buzz for the album because she collaborated with

many popular names in the music industry.

I really liked the album overall, and I think Cardi B exceeded expectations for it being her first studio album. There are several songs on the album that people can relate to when it comes to going through relationship troubles, because she seems to be rapping about a previous failed relationship.

A personal favorite of mine off the album is “Thru Your Phone.”

This song is a bit different from the rest, because she is singing along with rapping.

On the “Thru Your Phone” chorus, Cardi sings, “I went through your phone last night, saw some things I didn’t like,” followed by, “All I can see is you and her in different scenarios.” In addition to

“There are several songs on the album that people can relate to when it comes to going through relationship troubles ...” those hinted infidelity lyrics, Cardi raps in “Be Careful”, “You might have a fortune, but you lose me you still gonna be misfortunate.”

This song along with a few others such as, “Be Careful” and “Ring,” speculate Cardi and rapper fiance, Offset, might’ve been going through relationship problems as she hints in the lyrics of those songs.

In an interview with media ex-

ecutive and radio presenter, Ebro Darden, Cardi squashed the rumors pertaining to the track “Be Careful” being about Offset by saying, “I wasn’t talking about Offset, I was just talking about things that I relate to and that have happened to me. I heard the record before I was in love with Offset,” she said.

Many celebrities have publicly supported “Invasion of Privacy” since it dropped. Throughout the album, Cardi references and gives shout outs to artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, as well as model Chrissy Teigen.

On, “I Do,” featuring singer SZA, Cardi B raps, “They said by now that I’ll be finished, hard to tell.

My little 15 minutes lasting long as hell, huh?” The doubts of her haters slowly faded as the album started climbing the music charts

Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records

Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy”exceeded expectations for a debut album.

along with earning a ‘trending topic’ spot on Twitter.

“Invasion of Privacy” recently debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, according to Billboard.com.

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May 2, 2018

OPINION

CURRENT EDITORIAL

Journalism has rules, too

By Current Editorial Board current@arc.losrios.edu

Since the beginning, journalists in the United States have been taught to live by objectivity, but in our world today that’s becoming more and more difficult to do.

In the aftermath of Stephon Clark’s death for example, there has been backlash towards the press in Sacramento in regards to the coverage of his death and the circumstances around it.

In cases like this, the sensitivity of the issue stirs up a lot of emotion within people, journalists included.

The public overall tends to forget however that we as journalists are people with strong opinions, biases and feelings just like non-journalists. We have a tough job being aware of these biases and opinions and keeping them check when it comes to our work.

There is also a lack of respect from the public for journalists and the important job that we do, and the public needs to take the time to educate themselves on our role in media and how we’re supposed to go about accomplishing that.

In the media, however, there is a problem with how stories like these are covered and the angle they are reported.

For example, the public rightfully becomes upset when an unarmed person of color is not only gunned down by police, but afterwards, their criminal past and lifestyle overall is picked apart in the news.

The aforementioned occured in the cases of Mike Brown, Alton Sterling, Stephon Clark and

Photo by Alexus Hurtado | Staff Writer

Reporters gather on the street in front of the Sacramento District Attorney’s office during a Black Lives Matter protest on April 4, 2018.

countless others.

As another example, Clark’s brother Stevante Clark has been portrayed as ridiculous or ignorant in the media because of how he chooses to grieve his brother’s death.

There is an unfair hypocrisy from the public towards the media, we’re often looked at as “vultures” or “disrespectful” for covering the story.

Simultaneously, if we were not to do our job and cover it, the public would be upset and feel as though we aren’t giving attention to what’s important to them.

For example during a protest on April 4, mere days after

Clark’s death, one of his family members spoke on his family’s behalf. She became extremely emotional and began to cry and fell to the floor.

Reporters, including myself, saw this as a important photo opportunity and began shooting; in the meantime leaders of the protest began yelling at us to stop photographing due to the sensitivity of the moment.

Protesters continued to yell and cuss at reporters in their faces and through a megaphone as they tried to get their photos and sources.

Media outlets were then pushed to one side of the street and yelled at to “say his name.”

All of this transpired in front of the district attorney’s office, a public setting. In that moment, it’s as if the crowd disregarded our right as journalists to photograph and document in a public place.

These protesters and how they interacted with the press, irritated me as a journalist. I know that the journalists that were present weren’t there to exploit or take advantage of the family. The reporters were only doing their job.

On a personal level as well these protesters angered me.

I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement, but while I, or any other journalist, are on

the job we have to leave our biases and opinions at the door.

Doing this doesn’t mean we don’t support the cause any more or any less, or that we’re putting our jobs before our personal values.

As journalists it isn’t our job to be liked by the public 100 percent of the time. It is our job however, to serve the public and to do our due diligence when covering events and issues that may be sensitive or controversial.

The public has a responsibility and right as well to question the media and journalists.

Mexican immigrants deserve the American Dream

By Cecilia Castillo Juarez Ceciliacastillojuarez0@gmail.com

Recently, at the request from United States President Donald Trump, California Governor Jerry Brown agreed to send the National Guard to the California Border to protect Americans from gang activity and illegal immigration.

Being first generation of two Mexican parents, I believe that the American Dream is not just for people that were born on American soil, but for anyone who is willing to make the journey to better their future as well as their family’s future.

Therefore, I don’t agree with our governor’s decision to have the National Guard “watch” the border, for everyone should have a chance to pursue a better life. The government shouldn’t have so much power over someone else’s future.

This is an issue, a decision that affects the lives of many people in California, but even more specifically our own classmates at American River College.

As a member of the Latinos Unidos club on campus I know there are members who have been affected by this decision — includ-

ing political science major Alexandrina Chavez, president of the club and a senator in the Associated Student Body.

“California has been so against the border and for the undocumented community and the Dreamer community and having that, we’ve been passing sanctuary laws,” Chavez said.

California is a sanctuary state, which means that the police won’t detain or arrest an undocumented resident unless they’re suspected of a serious crime. This means an officer can’t work with the federal authorities to try to get an undocumented individual deported.

As such, Chavez was baffled by the governor’s decision regarding the border.

“It contradicts our laws and all the things that we have been doing to protect the community to just allow the National Guard to come like that,” Chavez said. “I don’t think it was a good decision at all and makes no sense.”

This is not the first time a border wall has been discussed between the U.S. and Mexico. The issue stems back to arguments over the Rio Grande river, according to Ricardo Caton, the Latinos Unidos club adviser and a Chicano history professor.

“This is more of a political stunt if you will, the notion of creating a physical wall or even sending military troops to [the] border.”

Ricardo Caton History Professor

Photo Illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor

Staff writer Cecilia Castillo Juarez holds a 1988-era photo of her parents in their home country of Mexico.

“[The Rio Grande] changes course, it doesn’t stay the same year after year so the United States and Mexico to an extent have had an agreement that part of boundary will be the Rio Grande,” Caton said. “It’s just a natural boundary that separates the two countries.”

Regardless, if a wall is built or the National Guard is charged with stopping people from coming over the border, it won’t work because no matter what people will find a way to get here because of want and need for a better life for themselves and their families.

“This is more of a political stunt if you will, the notion of creating a physical wall or even sending military troops to border. Now granted this is not new, we know this was done before,” Caton said.

The U.S. has a history of convincing immigrants to come here to work, but then wanting to kick them out. However, immigrants have contributed a lot to this country economically, politically and in all forms of entertainment.

I know that not every immigrant that comes to the United States is perfect, but just because there’s

one bad seed doesn’t make all of them bad seeds.

If the United States really wants a solution to the border, they need to have an actual discussion with Mexico. A discussion without scapegoating or saying rude, racist things about the people coming here.

America is supposed to be the land of the free where anyone can be anything and where they can achieve their dream to the pursuit of happiness.

Building walls or sending troops to the border is a waste of time and money — especially in the political climate now. More fear tactics just create bigger problems, not just with the government, but with the people in those countries as well.

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May 2, 2018

Backpage

Concerts That Will Make Your Summer:

Your summer is meant for concerts and fun

Depeche Mode: May 24 @ Golden One

G-Eazy: July 28 @ Toyota Amphitheatre

The summer is meant for sunshine, sunglasses and of course concerts.

There’s a show for everyone’s music taste so here are some shows that will be an amazing time. Grab your friends and and some boots and go see Lady Antebellum because a country concert in the summer is a must and they won’t disappoint. If rap is your thing, go see G-Eazy and get hyped with the crowd as he brings the Bay Area to Sacramento. If you want to relive those middle school days, let your inner emo kid resurface and jam out to some Paramore. If you’re looking for old school alternative rock, you should check out Depeche Mode, because they put on an amazing show and you won’t get enough.

Lady Antebellum: August 17 @ Toyota Amphitheatre

Paramore: July 21

@ Shoreline Amphitheatre

For an extensive list of concerts, head to www.arcurrent.com