ASB ELECTIONS APRIL 8 & 9 VOTE FOR ASB STUDENT SENATE, CAEB AND STUDENT TRUSTEES See page 2
Attempted rape near ARC nature trail american river
current
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Vol. 65, Ed. 10 • March 26, 2014
Petitioner’s mom responds to slap incident
WOMAN PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED IN CREEK AREA BEHIND CAMPUS By Melissa Hurtado & Zach Tierney hurtadom73@gmail.com zt.ztierney@gmail.com A woman was attacked near campus at the east side of Arcade Creek near the American River College nature trail at approximately 10:20 a.m. Friday. The Los Rios Police Department posted Campus Crime Bulletins describing the incident around campus at noon that same day.
The bulletin said an unknown male grabbed the female victim, struck her, threw her on the ground and then struck her multiple times again. The attacker then pulled the woman’s pants and underwear part way down before she was able to scream and fight him off. The suspect fled east after the incident and police were unable to find him when they went to search the area. He is described as a dark-skinned African American male, about 6 feet tall in his early to mid 20s with a thin build and short hair in corn rows or dreads. The suspect was wearing a white Tshirt and dark pants and had a bicycle of
CENSORSHIP AT THE ACOUSTIC CAFE
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AS THE STORY DEVELOPS ARCURRENT.COM unknown make or model that had some pink color. After the incident, the victim went to the campus police office to report the crime and the investigation was handed off to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department since the incident happened under their jurisdiction. Messages were left with the Sheriff’s Department but no calls were returned.
MENTAL ILLNESS MAY HAVE PLAYED PART IN ATTACK By Barbara Harvey barbaraapharvey@gmail.com Following the arrest of petitioner Pavel Postelnyak for slapping theater major Peter Messick at American River College on March 4, Pavel’s mother, Larisa Postelnyak, is speaking out about what she claims is her son’s mental illness. Larisa claims that following a physical altercation that resulted in Pavel being admitted to the emergency room with a head injury, she started to notice a change in his demeanor. “We came to America when he was four years old...Everything was fine when we came to America. He was growing. We go together to the church--he was growing as normal as other boys,” Larisa said. “It was OK, until one time, he was in [a] fight with the other boys,” Larisa said. Larisa claims that Pavel, 16 years old at the time, was attempting to protect his cousin when five men, aged 19 to 20, attacked
SEE PETITIONER, PAGE 3
Courtesy of Larisa Postelnyak
Larisa Postelnyak with sons Pavel (left) and Nikolai (right).
A LOOK INSIDE
2
Actions louder than words By Jonathan H. Ellyson & Michael Pacheco
jonathanellyson@gmail.com mfpach@gmail.com
Mike DePiero, also known as J-Terrible, staged a protest at the most recent American River College acoustic cafe. After being told he would not be able to perform one of his songs the way he wanted to, he instead placed tape over his mouth and proceeded to advocate his situation through a series of written signs. “I had (two) cuss words/on the chorus/this caused controversy/in a free country!/This is college, right?” Each sign displayed a portion of DePiero’s message before being dropped to the floor. “I have been censored quite a few times here on campus, and I just kind of got tired of it,” DePiero said after the performance. “I just felt somebody needed to stand up and say ‘No.’” At open mic opportunities outside the student center, such as Beaver Week or Club Day, DePiero’s performances are often cut short because of their content. “I’ve watched people out here in front of the student center talk about offensive things, cuss, talk about sexual jokes,” DePiero said, “and it offended people in the area, and they didn’t get pulled off of the stage, but I mention the name of a drug (Methamphetamine), and I’m a problem?” The acoustic cafe is meant to be an all ages production, and all performances are auditioned for and approved by faculty adviser Eric Chun. According to Chun, all performing artists agree to follow the acoustic cafe artist agreements which include, “modification of (explicit) lyrics, showing up on time for the sound check, and adhering to the acoustic
SEE PROTEST, PAGE 5
Springtime Voting
Meet the candidates for the upcoming Associated Student Body general election.
5
Photos by Michael Pacheco / mfpach@gmail.com
Mike “J Terrible” DePiero performs a silent act with tape over his mouth with “censored” written on it. DePiero was prevented from performing an original song that he wrote, so he presented his silent act in protest.
Justin Vaughn
ARC choral member goes from from psychology major to music voice major.
7
Sexual Assault
American River College has campus resources for victims, but are they enough?
March 26, 2014
Page 2
News
BVR TXT: info at your fingers
ARC HOPES TO COMMUNICATE SCHOOL WIDE INFORMATION THROUGH SMS NEWS SERVICE
By Melissa Hurtado hurtadom73@gmail.com
In efforts to communicate important dates and deadlines to students, American River College has introduced a new text messaging news service for students called Beaver Text. An email was sent out to all students’ school emails with information about Beaver Text, also known as BVR TXT on March 13. Scott Crow, ARC’s communications and public information officer started this service as another way to disseminate information to students. “The bottom line is communication … in the old days you could stick a flyer on campus and that was communication,” said Crow. “Times have changed and we need to be flexible as far as finding ways to communicate information to students that is timely, that is in a way that respects their schedule and that gives them the opportunity to opt in and out,” added Crow. The messages would include reminders about registration dates, deadlines for dropping classes and other school-wide events. Students interested in receiving the text messages need to email just their phone number and service carrier to arc_pio@ arc.losrios.edu.
Illustration by Jonathan H. Ellyson
He emphasizes that this new system is not related to the Los Rios Alert system for which students sign up when enrolling for
classes to receive text messages in case of an emergency. These text messages will be in addition to the official emails
sent to students’ Los Rios Gmail accounts from the school. “We want to do whatever we can to deliver important information to students … it breaks our heart to hear students say things like ‘I didn’t know that was the deadline,’” said Crow. ARC student Ashlee Green, said that she thinks this is a good idea for the students on campus because she understand how busy their lives are. “Some people need to be reminded of a lot of things with school, work and everything. Life just gets really hectic and you forget to check your email,” said Green. The school would like to assure students that their phone numbers and information will not be shared with third party agencies and Crow said they will not be spammed. Crow estimates only five to 10 messages will go out to students in the remainder of this semester. He is happy with the turnout of students who have responded. So far an estimated 420 students have opted to receive these messages. “We want to see what the response will be, if this is something students are interested in … we are continuously looking for ways to improve our communication,” said Crow.
ASB announces general election candidates
By John Ferrannini & Melissa Hurtado jferr1995@gmail.com hurtadom73@gmail.com American River College students will be able to cast their votes for the Associated Student Body general election online April 8-9. For the second time, all voting will be completely online through eServices. Students will be able to vote during the times eServices is available, 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. There are three candidates for Student Senate President: current Student Senate Vice President Tami Dunning, Student Senate Director of Legislative Affairs and CAEB Vice President Ross Rayala, and Student Senate Director of Finance Jorge Riley. Dunning said she is excited for the elections and is happy with the amount of people running. “Anytime students have a choice, I’m hoping that is a motivator for getting out to vote, so I’m excited,” Dunning said. Jeremy Diefenbacher is running unopposed for President of the Clubs and
Events Board and said he would be happy to continue being president of CAEB. “I love the organization and I think we did a great job of planning and organizing and expanding our on-campus presence and I would just like to continue doing that,” Diefenbacher said. He strongly encouraged students to vote during this election, saying that students like to complain, but “if you want to talk s--- you have to vote … your vote is your chance to give your opinion, formally. “If you’re not going to contribute to the process, you can’t complain about it, I mean you can, but you can’t expect to be taken seriously because you are just a sideline criticizer … (students) can’t just complain about it and not vote or run or come to a meeting,” Diefenbacher said. Alexander Wrinkle, an economics major and president of the College Republicans club on campus, will run for vice president on a slate with Riley. He will be facing Leslie Milan Fischer and Derek Thomas. The list of Senate nominees is filled with fresh faces, including Cameron Weaver, Kath-
ASBNOTEBOOK
By John Ferrannini jferr1995@gmail.com The Associated Student Body Student Senate voted to approve $1,745.04 to fund their End-of-theYear banquet and to table the bill to give $900 to the College Republicans so they could visit the California Republican Party Convention due to the request being submitted late. The board’s decision was based on the final budget for the year approved by the joint Budget Committee on Feb. 14, which includes money for the End-of-the-Year banquet, but not for the College Republicans, even though the Student Senate had yet to vote on either item.
Multiple members of the board said it was a matter of punctuality, not bias, as alleged by Director of Finance Jorge Riley. “I’m going to respond as the president and I want everyone in this room to hear me out,” Hinton said in the March 13 meeting. “I got this piece of legislation from the Director of Finance (Jorge Riley) sent to me via email Feb. 5, six days before the final budget was to be submitted and signed. Okay?” The bill funding the end-of-theyear banquet and creating an adhoc banquet planning committee was approved at the March 18 meeting. Most of that meeting was devoted to discussing whether the board would ask the adminis-
eryn White, Jose Garcia, and Jonathon Tobey. Sen. Senator Buick is running for re-election and current Sen. Laurie Jones is running for director of finance. In last year’s special election 310 students voted, less than two percent of the school’s student body. Votenet, the new online form of voting, cost CAEB and Student Senate $988.50 each this year. If the amount of students voting in the elections remains the same, then approximately three dollars will be spent per vote. Student Senate President Kenneth Hinton expressed his concerns with the high cost of Votenet and hopes that next year’s board will have a discussion about it. Students will be able to hear from those running and have an opportunity to ask questions during the candidate forums Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Center. Follow the Current on Twitter @ARCurrent for live tweets during the forums.
STUDENT SENATE VOTES TO THROW BANQUET FOR THEMSELVES
tration for an extension of the deadline for signing up to go to the Student Senate General Assembly in Los Angeles on May 1-4. The board eventually voted to do so for Sen. Mendes, who is disabled. At the March 13 meeting, board members introduced resolutions that will be debated at a later date, including a resolution in support of lifelong learning. Current and former members of the board expressed concern at that meeting over the coverage of Student Senate at March in March by the Current. “There are multiple articles in there (the Current) and a lot of them are directly targeting President Hinton,” former Student Senate President Quierra Robey
said. “There’s a cartoon piece that kind of makes fun of him. Remember that he is a student and he is a person and I don’t think we should bully one another.” The Current made numerous attempts to contact Hinton since that meeting, none of which were successful. Riley, former acting ASB Student Senate president, expressed criticism of Hinton’s attitude towards the Current. “He’s representing you and refusing to speak to you. As much as I was hammered by the Current when I was student body president, it was not something I was allowed to deny,” Riley said. “I think its very immature what he’s doing.”
Editors-in-Chief Ed Gebing Emily K. Rabasto
Managing Editor
Jonathan H. Ellyson
News Editor
Melissa Hur tado
Sports Editor
Kameron Schmid
Arts & Culture Editor Adnan Ramic
Scene Editor
Barbara Har vey
Opinion Editor Brooke Pur ves
Photo Editor Zach Tierney
Design Editor Sarah Scott
Web Editor
Brandon Nelson
Advertising Manager Korbl Klimecki
Staff Writers
Shedric Allen John Ferrannini Jorden Hales Kyle Moore Kevin Sheridan Sri Sherrell
Designers
Thalia Avila Walter Jones
Staff Photographers Michael Pacheco Alex Panasenko
Adviser
Walter Hammer wold
Photo Adviser Jill Wagner
PROUD MEMBERS OF THE CNPA & JACC
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 Liberal Arts, Room 120 Sacramento, CA 95841 Phone: 916-484-8304 Fax: 916-484-8668 E-mail: Current@arc.losrios.edu www.ARCurrent.com
News
INBRIEF n ASB ELECTIONS
Elections for the school’s Associated Student Body Student Senate, Clubs and Events Board and the Student Trustee will be April 8-9 from 7 a.m. - 11:30 p.m. Students can vote by logging onto their eServices account and clicking on the link to vote. Candidate forums will be held in the Student Center on April 1-2 from noon - 1:30 p.m.
n BROWN BAG WITH LRCCD
CHANCELLOR The Los Rios Community College District Chancellor, Brian King is coming to ARC Tuesday, April 22 from noon – 1 p.m. Students and faculty will get an opportunity to talk and ask questions to King at this event. It will be held in the community room of the Student Center and those who attend are encouraged to bring their own lunch, but cookies, iced tea and lemonade will be provided.
n LOS RIOS NIGHT
The Los Rios Teacher Appreciation Night will be Friday, April 25 at Raley Field where the Sacramento River Cats will take on the El Paso Chihuahuas. Los Rios students and faculty will get discounted rates on tickets if they enter the code: losrios when purchasing the tickets on the River Cats website. The game will begin at 7:05 p.m. and will include fireworks provided by Sutter Health.
n COVERED CALIFORNIA
DEADLINE The deadline to enroll for Covered California, the state’s health benefit exchange, without penalty is March 30. Representatives will be helping students fill out their applications in the Student Center on Wednesday, March 26 from 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.and Thursday, March 27 from 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. They will be in the aquarium room in the Student Center an extra hour Thursday from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. and students are encouraged to bring their laptops and tablets to receive step by step help with the process.
n SPRING RECESS
There will be no classes from April 14 - 20 for spring recess.
n WOMEN’S SELF DEFENSE
The ARC Counseling and Kinesiology and the Athletic Departments will present a two day rape aggression defense class. This event is open to all girls and women 14 years or older. The class will cover the basic self-defense tactics and techniques. The classes are on Friday, April 4 from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, April 5 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. The cost to attend is $20 for Los Rios students, faculty and staff and $25 for outside community members. For more information and to register contact the ARC Business Office.
CORRECTIONS In Volume 65, Edition 9 of the Current, the following corrections are listed: On page 2, aggressive is misspelled in a headline. On page 2, ASB Notebook inaccurately reported that the Joint Budget Committee did not submit its final budget before the deadline. On page 8, Walty’s Cypher was printed without a headline. On page 10, professor Susan Howe’s name is misspelled.
March 26, 2014
Page 3
Club visits GOP convention
ARC STUDENTS MINGLE WITH CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN LEADERS AND CANDIDATES By John Ferrannini jferr1995@gmail.com Behind the speeches and colorful banners of the uniquely American spectacle that is the political convention, there is the smoke filled room. There, according to legend, men in suits and ties with shiny gold clips strategize, sip bourbon, and smoke cigars. American River College student Alexander Wrinkle, president of the ARC College Republicans club, got a taste of this world – albeit outdoors and without bourbon – when he got to smoke a cigar with Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus at the California Republican Party Convention in Burlingame, near San Francisco on March 14-16. Wrinkle, who inhaled his cigar smoke, admitted to being “loopy” when he met Priebus. “I was smoking a cigar and was like ‘whoa this is a little strong,’” Wrinkle said. “That was an odd first impression.” Wrinkle visited several convention related events with five students from ARC including Associated Student Body Director of Finance Jorge Riley and Students
Courtesy of Jorge Riley
Jorge Riley, ARC’s ASB Student Senate Director of Finance, meets with Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, who is running for Governor.
For Life President Katherine White. The Associated Student Body Student Senate was unable to give the College Republicans the $900 they asked for to help cover convention related expenses, meaning none of them were able to go to the convention floor and have a meal with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as
Petitioner: Mom blames illness for slap CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
him with baseball bats. “We [went] to the emergency [room], he was so swollen,” Larisa said. “After this, I saw the difference, [a] little bit. It no coming quick. I just saw sometimes he has stresses...it was a little bit paranoia.” According to Larisa, Pavel has not been diagnosed, despite at one point being involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility. “They not give me any results. I can’t take anything. I want some professional help, and I asked them. I explained [to] them, ‘I am mother, I have responsibility for my kid,’ and they say ‘it doesn’t matter, he is adult, he won’t sign [a release] for you,’ and that’s it. It’s just rules. They have rules, and I can’t go around these rules. I’m just crying and praying,” Larisa said. Messick states that he did not recall any behavior that indicated that Pavel was mentally ill. “He was determined. There was determination, but to me, there was no indication that he was mentally unstable, from what I saw of how he interacted...It’s still inexcusable. The action that he did is still inexcusable.” Larisa wanted to apologize to Messick on behalf of her son. “Firstly I would like to bring our apologies about my sоn Pavel to those he made the trouble,” Larisa said in an email to the Current. “I accept that. I do. I accept that wholeheartedly. It’s unfortunate that there are people that endure trauma and don’t feel like there’s an outlet for them to turn to help. There are outlets there, there are hotlines, there are counseling offices to help,” said Messick. The ARC health center, the services of which are only available to students, currently have no on site resources for mental health. Health center employees refer students to area facilities capable of providing help. If you or someone you know needs assistance regarding mental illness, contact Sacramento County Mental Health Treatment Services at (916)-8751000.
they had hoped. With no money coming from the Student Senate, Wrinkle and Riley decided to spend their own money. “Because we didn’t get the bill, I spent personal money to pay for the girls’ rooms and for most of the food to feed everybody. It pretty much just left me broke,” Riley said, adding he spent
“something like $700.” Nevertheless, the students were able to attend convention related events and volunteer for, meet, and talk with candidates for office from around the state. “We helped put up signs for (gubernatorial candidate) Tim Donnelly and we passed out baby footprints against abortion,” Wrinkle said. “Nine weeks is when most abortions happen so we had footprints about that size.” ARC students passed around a petition asking attendees of the convention if they would support a measure to ban the public funding of abortions and got a mostly positive response. “It was an experiment to see how many people we could get to sign for no funding – federal, state, local – for abortions,” Wrinkle said. “The actual petition initiative signature costs quite a bit of money and its like polling. Only two said ‘I wouldn’t want to sign something like that.’” “It was very awesome. If we got the funding we would have brought more people with us and done more stuff,” he added.
CRIME LOG A few of the crimes on campus from March 5-26. For a full list go to the Los Rios Police Department website at https://police.losrios.edu/clery/crimelog.aspx Drugs: A suspect was arrested in the parking structure for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Meth, LSD or Barbiturates, and a probation violation at 11:21 a.m. March 5. Drug Paraphernalia: A citation was issued for possession of a hypodermic needle and possession of drug paraphernalia near the American River College nature trail 3:26 p.m. March 7. Bomb threat: A bomb threat was reported at the American River College main campus. It was dismissed as unfounded at 12:06 p.m March 10. Grand theft: Grand theft over $950.00 was reported at the American River College main campus at 12:12 p.m. March 17. No suspects have been identified at this time. Loaded Gun: A suspect or suspects were arrested adjacent to campus,
at 10:47 a.m. March 18 carrying a loaded gun, possessing marijuana, narcotics and cocaine base for sale, they were also in possession of metal knuckles. Parking Structure Fight: A fist fight occurred on the first level of the parking garage and left a man semiconscious and unable to move. He was rushed away from the scene in an ambulance with an oxygen mask and the other man involved in the fight was arrested by campus police at approximately 8:14 p.m. March 19. According to the police report the man was arrested for battery and disturbing the peace on school grounds. Indecent exposure: A warning was given to a person for indecent exposure in the American River College Parking Structure at 9:24 a.m. March 25. FOR THE FULL STORY AND VIDEO OF ONE OF THE FIGHTERS TAKEN AWAY ON A STRETCHER GO TO ARCURRENT.COM
March 26, 2014
Page 4
Dining
Feature
on a dime
COOKING AT HOME IS AN AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE TO FAST-FOOD THAT CAN LEAD TO A HEALTHFUL DIET By Adnan Ramic adiramic@gmail.com Most students would rather go out to eat rather than to stay at home and cook a homemade meal. As a result, students find themselves spending more than they should on fast-food. For the same price as a full meal at a fast-food place, students can make food that is larger in quantity, tastes better, and sometimes even costs you less. While some students, like political science major Kyler Harshman, spend $7 or $8 twice a week eating in the cafeteria, other students spend drastically more. Ponciano Avila, a behavorial psychology major, says he spends around $60 a week eating out. There is an alternative to dining out frequently and spending excessively. Students on a budget can cook at home for a fraction of the price and can still have enough to bring leftovers to school the next day. Many college students prefer the “fastfood” method because it is just that- fast. However, cooking at home doesn’t have to be a hassle or time consuming. There are several options when it comes to cooking on a budget. First and foremost, you have to buy your ingredients. Depending on your taste, ingredients will vary from person to person, but culinary arts major Chloe El-Amine stressed that all ingredients should be bought fresh. “Processed foods tend to be more expensive, and it’s not that good for you,” ElAmine advised. Where you get your ingredients is up to you as well. There are a variety of grocery stores where you can get your produce. If you live near a Safeway or Raley’s, that will suffice. However, if you’re looking for more
healthy options, there is a Sprouts Farmers Market located at the intersection of Greenback Lane and Sunrise Boulevard. Not only should ingredients be bought fresh, but they need to be used up. Food and money are wasted when ingredients are left to rot. El-Amine recommended that dishes be focused on vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions. “(They are) the basic building blocks of everything,” she said. When it comes to cooking on a budget, pasta is a go-to dish, because the pasta itself is cheap and you can create a variety of sauces and ingredients to give it a different flavor every time. Culinary arts professor Raymond Salladarre and El-Amine agree. When Salladarre was a college student, he would cook pasta dishes, sausage and homemade burgers. One of the greatest tools for cooking on a budget is a slow cooker, which come in sizes ranging from three to seven quarts. Students who spend six to 10 hours at school a day can easily prepare meat, vegetables and seasonings in the slow cooker before leaving for the day and arrive home to a hot, ready-to-eat meal, with leftovers for the next day. If creating recipes isn’t your thing, plenty can be found with the click of a mouse. The website budgetbytes.com has dozens of recipes that can be made on a minisucle budget. Individual prices for each ingredient are listed along with the price for each recipe as a whole. With the help of online recipe books, not only will students save money, but they will do it with a full stomach. Salladarre has a simple outlook on food. “My philosophy is that since we need to eat to feed our body,” he said, “we should eat fresh, tasty and comforting dishes to also feed our soul.”
CHECK OUT ARCURRENT.COM TO SEE LOW PRICE RECIPES PROVIDED BY CHEF SALLADARRE
“
MY PHILOSOPHY IS THAT SINCE WE NEED TO EAT TO FEED OUR BODY, WE SHOULD EAT FRESH, TASTY, AND COMFORTING DISHES TO ALSO FEED OUR SOUL
CHEF RAYMOND SALLADARRE
Photo illustration by Emily K. Rabasto
College students tend to spend more money eating out at fast food than they do on fresh ingredients to make their own meals instead.
March 26, 2014
Arts&Culture
Page 5
It’s not just any other sushi place ‘HEART AND SOUL’ MAKES SHOGUN SUSHI UNIQUE
Shogun Sushi
By Phillip Kingsley mr.phillipk@gmail.com
Phillip Kingsley / mr.phillipk@gmail.com
Owner Jimmy Kil, a sushi chef for more than 15 years, takes pride in putting his “heart and soul” into everything he makes.
CHECK OUT MORE FOOD REVIEWS AT ARCURRENT.COM
Many people enjoy sushi. Some people may have a specific place they prefer to go: Mikuni, Blue Nami, Taro’s, making a trip all the way to Roseville and Folsom. But not everyone knows about the hidden gem right here in the heart of Carmichael. Enter Shogun Sushi. Shogun is located at 7330 Fair Oaks Blvd., just a few minutes from campus. It is a small location but has room for larger parties up to 10, comfortably. Granite countertops give the restaurant a clean look, complimenting the bathrooms which are also very clean. Delicious roll varieties start at just $7 and are displayed beautifully, appealing to your eyes as well as your stomach. One of the popular rolls here is the T&A that combines just the right amount of crunch with the deep fried shrimp to compliment the soft textures of the avocado, crab and albacore tuna. What makes all of these rolls so good is the sushi chef making them, Jimmy Kil, who took over ownership of Shogun last December. Kil has been a sushi chef for 15 years now and it shows. “If you don’t put your heart and soul into making your food, it’s not the same.” Kil creates his own sauces to accom-
7330 FAIR OAKS BLVD. CARMICHAEL, CA
PRICE RANGE: $$
««««« pany some of his original roll varieties and fresh sashimi platters, which gives hisfood a signature taste that will have you salivating and leaving your pallet wanting more. “Good food, good service. That’s all you need,” is Kil’s motto and he has developed quite a loyal following of regulars from it. Whether it be from his past sushi restaurants or new customers. Kil and his wife Paige work together. They make an excellent team satisfying people’s hunger, as well as create a welcoming, comfortable environment. “When people bring their family members then their friends, it means the world to me”, said Kil. Shogun will be releasing a new menu in the next month. Be sure to come in and try it before and after for lunch or dinner Monday through Saturday. 11-3 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
ARC student conducting a music career
SIXTEEN YEARS OF SINGING LEADS JUSTIN VAUGHN TOWARD FUTURE IN OPERA AND MUSIC By Thalia Avila odettethalia@gmail.com While some people are doing their best to become the next big DJ or rapper, Justin Vaughn is concentrating on opera. American River College is home to many talented students, and one of them is Vaughn. He is a music major focused in voice, an ARC Choir member, and wants to start his own choir and become a conductor. Choir wasn’t something he realized he wanted to do until about eighth grade. “It inspires me to be able to bring peace to other people through music,” Vaughn said. Sixteen years ago, he began his career singing in choirs before moving on to solo performances four years ago. This is his fourth year at ARC. His first two years he studied psychology. “My entire family has been very supportive, actually. We’re a very music oriented family. We love music of all kinds.” Vaughn said. Vaughn says he was involved with the choirs here while pursuing psychology. One of the instructional assistants from the music department convinced him to consider becoming a music major. It made sense to him because he was already spending most of his time in the music department and was halfway done with his music degree.
Adnan Ramic / adiramic@gmail.com
“Justin already came to the college with a good voice. He’s matured a lot. A male’s voice doesn’t stop maturing until their 40s,” Hughes said.
With two friends in the ARC choir who support his every step, Vaughn feels confident in his future since they are always inspiring each other. At the end of the day his mother is his biggest fan, supporter, and hero. Not all moms get to be proud of what their children do in life as they grow up. “It’s like watching a mini-me,” choir instructor Ralph Hughes said. Vaughn likes to conduct the class and teaches students while Hughes isn’t around. Hughes believes his teaching can be harsh to certain students at times, but it is above all en-
couraging and he believes that students like Vaughn have endless potential. “My dad sings, so I would sing around the house with him when I was little,” Vaughn said. Vaughn has performed places like Romano’s Macaroni Grill and says that crowds sometimes cry after hearing his voice. Not only do strangers cry, but his aunt cries every time he performs. “I think he’s a very good leader,” composition major David Taylor said. Taylor met Vaughn this Spring Semester in class because he is
new to the choir program after recently switching from commercial music. “I know that Justin is very good at conducting. Sometimes when Hughes isn’t here, he’ll conduct us,” Taylor said. “He’s very expressive in the way he conducts, so that helps us come together as a choir and be unified.” Taylor says that Vaughn has helped him understand the tone of choral music because Taylor has never sung choral music to being with. “He’s really had a strong hand in helping me understand the unity of tone required for choral music,” Taylor said. “I think that the rest of the choir respects him in that way as a leader, which is really cool.” Hughes wants his students to “show human spirit” and only wants to push his students to be the best because they’re one of the better choir groups in Northern California. Hughes’ students take their time to understand the songs, even if they’re from different cultures or religions. The students sing it to honor the intent of the song. “I love being able to share, just share music. It’s such an expressive art form. There’s a lot of emotions and a lot of feelings that can’t be communicated, in my opinion, unless through music – through singing,” Vaughn said.
Protest: ‘I was censored’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 style.” Chun said that DePiero’s song had a good message conceptually, but the lyrics included profanity to emphasize his passion. Artists are supposed to modify their lyrics, but some seem to instinctively sing the unmodified versions of the songs. Chun describes this as a gray area. Action like that taken against DePiero isn’t appropriate for all artists who use profanity. Chun told DePiero he wouldn’t be allowed to sing that song after receiving complaints from listeners the last time DePiero performed. According to The Guide to Student Rights and Responsibilities, “policies, regulations and the State Education Code prohibit expression which is obscene, libelous or slanderous according to current legal standards.” The current legal standards under the First Amendment protect artistic expression. Expression which is obscene is not protected under the law, but as outlined in the Supreme Court decision of Miller v. California, if obscene expression is artistic in nature it is protected. School policy defaults to the law regarding a student’s right to free expression and the law protects artistic expression. When asked to clarify the reasoning behind asking DePiero not to perform the song in question besides receiving audience feedback, Chun replied that he was advised by the Dean of fine and applied arts Adam Karp to not comment regarding this issue until Karp had resolved it. In an interview, Karp stated that he recalled giving no such advice to Chun regarding commenting in interviews. Karp works with the faculty who lead students in extracurricular activities like the acoustic cafe in coming up with terms and expectations like those listed in Chun’s artist agreement. The decision to allow some content and not allow other content rests solely on the faculty advisers. The fine and applied arts department doesn’t want to stifle any students creativity, but according to Karp, in other department productions such as art shows or theater performances, when questionable content is present, the audience is given notice of that content. “We’re not looking to censor anyone at all,” said Karp, noting that the acoustic cafe is voluntary for students and not tied to any class or club. At the time of publication Chun was unreachable to comment on the acoustic cafe’s policy on not allowing artists to sing certain songs based on complaints about those songs or if that policy was laid out in the artist agreement consented to before the audition process.
TO SEE A SLIDESHOW OF HIS PROTEST, VISIT ARCURRENT.COM
March 26, 2014
Page 6
CAMPUS
PULSE
If you could commit any crime and get away with it, what would it be?
“I would take you home with me. It wouldn’t be a crime, you would go.”
-ARJUNKHAN Criminal Justice
“I’m a Criminal Minds freak, so I love seeing someone stab someone else. I want to stab someone, but I don’t want to kill them.”
-ALIGOOCH Nutrition
Pam Walker: From ARC dropout to ARC president By Barbara Harvey & Jorden Hales barbaraapharvey@gmail.com halespersonal@gmail.com American River College Interim President Pam Walker first set foot on the ARC campus in the late 1960s. “I came here, to AR, but I dropped out in 1967. I was a kid that was chicken,” Walker said. “I got an opportunity to come to AR. My aunt was going to pay for me to come to school here, and they gave me the opportunity to come over and register,” Walker said. “It was only 5,000 students at that time, but it was so big to me, I was so afraid. I didn’t know how to ask a question.” Walker, who grew up on ranches in rural California and Oregon, explained that she felt intimidated by the size of ARC. “I came from a small community in Oregon, and I didn’t know how to ask ‘Where do I go to get this?’ or ‘What do I do?’ and it scared me so much, I got back in my car and drove back to my aunt’s house. I registered for all of my classes, and never came back. I said, ‘Nope, I can’t do it.’” Eventually, Walker pursued her education at Eastern Oregon State, before returning to Sacramento for her master’s degree at Sacramento State, followed by a doctorate in organization and leadership from the University of San Francisco. Walker believes that her background in ranching helped encourage her to pursue a career in education. “I thought it was the great equalizer,” Walker said. “My dad was an old cowboy, and he would say often, ‘You know Pam, if you want
-ALISAMAEDER Criminal Justice
“Murder. How? That’s for me to know and the victim to find out.”
-DOMSALAZAR-TURNER
“Kill the president.”
-MIGUELGONZALEZ Art New Media FOR MORE CAMPUS PULSE, GO TO FACEBOOK.COM/ARCURRENTCOM
to start to learn to work with your head a little bit more than your hands, you’ll go a little farther,’ and I think that was his way to say ‘think about things you might do differently.’” Following an extensive career in high school and college athletics and administration, Walker returned to ARC as the dean of science and allied health in 2001, where she remained for 10 years, later becoming the interim president in January, 2014. In her time as a faculty member at ARC, Walker has implemented a “servant leader” mentality, which has empowered her staff and prepared them to pursue better opportunities for themselves. Walker, who is known by her peers to be a strong student advocate, places a lot of emphasis on acting as a professor of sorts to faculty as well. “One of the most important things she taught me as a leader is to teach other people what you know,” interim vice-president of student services Robin Neal said. “Be a good mentor, be a good coach to the people who work for you, because the idea of succession planning is you want make sure that you are giving people opportunities to put themselves in a place where they’re ready to step up to become a leader.” Walker, whose time as interim president is coming to an end, admits that she will miss the position. “Yeah, I’m actually having fun. I like it, but I always have my other job. I’m going to go back to vice president of student services so I still get to be on campus,” said Walker. “I hope my legacy here will say that I cared a lot about this place, that I worked really hard in
Barbara Harvey / barbaraapharvey@gmail.com
“I hope my legacy here will say that I cared a lot about this place, that I worked really hard in support of it, and we’re going to leave good people in all the right spots to keep helping,” Walker said.
support of it, and we’re going to leave good people in all the right spots to keep helping.” Walker believes that her first experience at ARC taught her a valuable lesson about the college experience. “When I think about it, 5,000 people, that was a lot of people. I grew up in a community where there were only 36 kids in my graduating class from high school, so 5,000 was just massive to me,” explained Walker. “It taught me a lesson about being on college campuses. I always try to help somebody. “Even in this position today, if I see someone who’s standing there, not quite knowing where to go, I’ll try to walk them across campus and at least get them to the right place, because it’s scary when you’re coming for the first time.”
Summer Words brings Rita Dove to ARC By Barbara Harvey barbaraapharvey@gmail.com
“Murder, with a knife.”
Scene
Each summer for the past three years at American River College, the English department has presented Summer Words, a threeday creative writing colloquium that includes workshops, readings, and panels. This summer, former Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner Rita Dove is the keynote speaker for the event. Creative writing faculty and other published authors and poets will hold panels and workshops May 29 to June 1, geared toward generating interest in ARC’s highly successful creative writing department. “It’s a three-and-a-half day event that is allday creative writing panels, workshops, readings. It’s the American River College creative writing faculty, but then it’s also a number of guests, most notably a keynote speaker,” said English professor Michael Spurgeon, who is currently organizing the event. ARC boasts an acclaimed creative writing department, with alumni such as Jarhead author Anthony Swofford and local author Jodi Angel, described in Marie Claire as an “indiepress star.” Since ARC English professor Christian Kiefer developed the idea for Summer Words three years ago, various faculty have donated their time to support and develop the program, which sees an increase in participants every year. “Well, in the summer time in particular, there’s a lot of writing conferences all over the United States, all over the world, really, and really it was just looking at our faculty and looking at those kinds of events and thinking, ‘Well, we have the ability to do that, we have a faculty good enough, strong enough to pull that off,’ and that’s really it,” said Kiefer. “When we secured [former U.S. Poet Laureate] Phillip Levine for the first one, that’s where it really started to feel real, and legit, like on the scale of what’s happening on a national level. That level of writer, and that level of instruction.” “The original objective was at least twofold: one, we really think we’ve got a spectacular creative writing program, a national -quality creative writing program,” Spurgeon said, “So one thing we wanted to do was to bring another sort of high-quality component.”
The second objective of the colloquium is to generate interest in writing among students. “Some participants might attend and then say, ‘Hey, I liked that creative writing program there. I think I’ll go take some classes,’ so that was part of it,” continued Spurgeon. “It was really about providing access to the members of the community, who might otherwise not have access to an event like Summer Words.” Community accessibility remains a strong focus for the committee in charge of Summer Words. “One of the things that’s really important to us, and to the (Albert and Elaine Orchard Foundation) that’s giving us the money to put it on, is that it be an affordable event, so that students at the community college can afford to go,” Spurgeon said. “We have 30 fully funded scholarships for American River College students, and we have 20 scholarships for area high school students, and that’s about providing access for students that wouldn’t
typically be able to go to this kind of conference. Other conferences can be upwards of $1,000 to attend. We only charge $95, so it’s really about that access.” Spurgeon feels that students should attend Summer Words for the opportunity to develop writing skills and have fun. “I think one of the reasons we have such a robust creative writing faculty is we’ve got a robust creative writing student body. I think, particularly for students who are interested in writing, it offers a rare opportunity to interact with not just the faculty, but a number of published writers in a fairly intimate setting. It’s just three days of fun,” said Spurgeon. The deadline for currently enrolled students to apply for a scholarship to attend the event free of charge is April 15. Scholarship applications can be located at SummerWords.org.
March 26, 2014
Opinion
Page 7
Poor resources for rape victims
No means no!
COUNSELORS AND STAFF WORKING FOR SAFE SPACE DESPITE DEFUNDING By Brooke Purves brookempurves@gmail.com
Barbara Harvey / barbaraapharvey@gmail.com
CURRENTEDITORIAL USE YOUR VOICE STUDENT ACTION CAN DETER SOLICITORS FROM DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR ON CAMPUS current@arc.losrios.edu Even before the arrest of a petitioner accused of slapping theater major Peter Messick on March 4, American River College students were questioning the advisability of allowing the campus to operate, as Dean of Student Services Manuel Perez put it, “like a public park.” Since the beginning of the semester, some students have noticed an increase in the aggression of petitioners and sales people in their attempts to persuade students. In a series of recent online polls conducted by the Current, 85 percent of respondents stated that they believed campus petitioners are too aggressive. On the Current’s facebook page, ARC student JoAnne Lewis-Young said, “I don’t like being harassed … I would want (petitioners) kicked off campus. I think a lot of people feel this way.” Legally, the administration at ARC cannot restrict petitioners from coming onto campus.
ASB SHOULD PROTECT RESERVE BOOK ACCESS Dear Editor, I stole a reserve book from the library. I took it back within minutes, but no one noticed. The Current reported in February that the Associated Student Body Student Senate had concerns with the affordability of textbooks. I agree with this whole heartedly, however I feel the ASB should also be looking closer to campus and the problems that exist with our book reserve system. As a student with financial difficulties, the books available on reserve have been a lifesaver for me. But there have been times when those books have been stolen, your paper reported on this two semesters ago. The number of reserve books is already limited with out them “walking” out of the library with no one noticing. Librarians, as helpful as they are, don’t look at student’s IDs when checking out these books. Couple this with the imposing magnetic detectors not reacting the to book that I, in my rush to class, put into my backpack, stu-
The campus is a public space, and political or religious groups, solicitors and others are allowed to peaceably assemble, as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Such persons are not, however, permitted inside buildings, and may not disrupt the learning environment, according to Perez. While the situation may seem out of the control of students, they can use what power they hold – their ability to say no – to influence change. According to campus petitioner Donte Sloan, petitioners are compensated for their work at a rate of $1 per signature collected. If students refuse to sign petitions, such groups would begin to look elsewhere. Ignoring the attempts of petitioners and others, particularly the aggressive individuals among them, could help to decrease the appeal of ARC as a place to disseminate materials. Petitioners, and all other campus visitors, need to respect that this is
an institution of higher learning, and as such, a certain amount of decorum is expected. Students should never be harassed on their way to classes, regardless of whether or not they might be interested in supporting various causes. Perez wants students to be aware that concerns with safety are taken seriously, and will be met with action if valid. “If there’s ever any suspicion or allegation that this person could be a violent person, or has anything that’s potentially breaking our campus policies or visitors standard of conduct, police should be notified right away,” Perez said. Protecting the learning environment is essential to student success. If students continue to be harassed, or, as in the case of Peter Messick, attacked, it jeopardizes productivity, as students who feel threatened on campus are not likely motivated to continue pursuing their educational goals here.
LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR
dents like myself are impacted with no possible recourse. Along with lobbing, The ASB should see what they could do to improve the number of books available on reserve and work with the library to see how they can keep the books for students to use. This would help ensure that students with financial hardships can still receive the education they deserve. Sincerely, Jeff Gonzales Concerned Student
MESSAGE FROM STUDENT: BACK OFF THE BANQUET Dear Editor, As a former student leader at American River College, I’ve noticed several stories popping up regarding the Student Senate. Most of them quite negative, and most of that negativity uncalled for. I want to correct some factual errors I’ve found but more importantly, debunk this idea that it is okay to berate these volunteers, and that doing so effectively turns students off of participation.
In regards to accusations that the board is spending “Student Money” on the End-of-the-Year Banquet, the banquet isn’t coming from the student representation fee. It legally can’t. The SRF is established by a vote of the students at each individual campus, and the rules of that fee are contained in the California State Education Code. It can ONLY be spent on things which relate to advocacy in some form, such as the General Assembly or the March in March. If a board were to attempt to spend something like the banquet out of the SRF, it would eventually be stopped by the President, Adviser, or eventually the Business Office though I doubt it would get that far. The banquet funding would actually come from the General Fund, which consists primarily of a stipend the ASB receives that comes from sale of the Student ID Stickers. This is because originally those stickers, prior to being bus passes, were sold by the Student Association as discount cards to the students. The administration bought that program after the agreement was made with RT, and offered to fund the ASB’s General Fund based on those numbers. A small
Where would you go for help if you were sexually assaulted? Students can receive on-campus crisis counseling for sexual assault at the counseling office, the campus police hold sexual assault workshops each semester, and American River College refers students to WEAVE (Women Escaping a Violent Environment) for sexual assault issues. But these programs are not enough. Firstly, information about most of the resources offered through referrals is available to victims only if they come to campus to report or seek help for the crime. There are no links to resources on either the counseling or health center websites. “There’s not really a good way for students to get help on their own if they don’t come in and ask,” college counselor Mike Sachau said. Secondly, the on-campus counseling that is available to students who are victims of sexual assault is short-term counseling. Students may find longterm off-campus services to be economically unavailable, even if they have health insurance. Although there is significant room for improvement, some staff members are working to make
portion of it also comes from general fundraising and the bike lockers. These are entirely distinct resources. Keep in mind, the banquet is a very long standing tradition. The one year in recent memory that it did not occur was because of severe dysfunction where almost nothing was passed, and several years prior to that it was a very corrupt board. It is a time of reflection, a time to recognize what a board did accomplish, and not just the board. Last years banquet awarded students who were not involved in the board in any way but who were still involved. Because that is the purpose of the banquet to recognize those students who have advocated for the education of their peers and the mission of the campus. If they can find ways to cut back on the price, of course. Do so. But from what I’ve read this has been a very odd year for the Senate, and the fact that they’ve managed to keep up at all and to get funding out to any clubs in the midst of vacant positions and constant scandal, is an accomplishment. I don’t think a single dinner, at the end of a long year, and an award, which will be their only physical reminder of their service since
mental health and sexual assault information more readily available to students. College nurse Michele Arnott is working on a pamphlet with updated student resources, and hopes to have the project completed in time for fall semester. This pamphlet would be an important item to put in the hands of incoming students, and should be highlighted during orientation. Even without full funding, counselors and nurses also work to create safe spaces for students to share their experiences. When faced with a crisis situation, Sachau does a threat assessment and makes follow-up appointments to confirm the student has been able to access the referred resources. Sachau and Arnott both affirm that an additional role of the counselor or nurse is to help students to report the crime if they choose to. “There will be times when you are going to have to use your voice,” said Arnott with regard to reporting and asking for help. “We will listen to what you have to say and won’t ignore it.”
THE NEXT RAPE AGGRESSION DEFENSE CLASS IS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 4 AND 5. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 2
participation does not appear on your transcripts nor do you receive any grade or scholarship for it, is a very small thing and I would hardly call it “serving themselves”. I think any student who honestly thinks that this award is such a big deal, should serve on the board. There are usually vacant positions and when there is not, there are Representative positions, there are committees, there are things a student can do, and the hours you put into it will exhaust you. You will suffer burn out worse than any class you have ever taken, and you will do it for little to no reward, and little to no recognition. When you come out of it you will have a plaque and a lifetime of experiences that will follow you to your university, your job, and the rest of your life. And you will remember every single gray hair and sleepless night, and wonder why on earth you ever did that to yourself. And then you will look at that plaque and remember, it was to accomplish something good, no matter how small. Sincerely, Kindra Pring American River College Alumni
American River College sophomore catcher Jordyn Bradley warms up before stepping to bat during a softball game against Napa Valley College on March 6.
Swing into spring Photos by Emily K. Rabasto ARC spring sports are now in full swing and many of the teams are in the middle of their season. The baseball team has a record of 7-13, and currently is in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The softball team’s record is 9-15, after losing their last five games. The men’s tennis team is 11-1 this season and they have won seven straight matches. The team is currently in first place in the Big 8 North Conference and ranked sixth in the state. Their next match is this Friday at noon in Fresno. The track and field teams host the American River Invitational with events starting at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Nathaniel “Tate” Yurica juggles tennis balls before a doubles match against Folsom Lake College on March 21. The tennis team is ranked sixth in the state and first in their conference.
During a game in Stockton against San Joaquin Delta College, the baseball team lines up at the dugout to cheer and support their teammates at bat.
American River College diver James Kent tucks into a backflip from the short dive in the AR Trials and Finals swim meet on Feb. 22.