Racing Robots
Professor challenges his students to create self-driving robotic race cars.
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Wednesday 03.14.18
CURRENT The
American River College Sacramento, Calif.
REPORTED GUNMAN ON CAMPUS INITIATES SCHOOL-WIDE LOCKDOWN
ARC Artist
Student and artist Aliyah Sidqe makes an impression on local art scene.
Page 4
Vol. 69
Ed. 6
Anti-abortion protesters visit ARC By Luis Gael Jimenez luisgaeljimenez@gmail.com
Photo illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor
After the shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead, American River College officials are re-examining many of their secuirty protocols.
Gun scare exposes lack of standardized procedures at ARC during emergencies By Brienna Edwards & Luis Gael Jimenez briennaedwards@gmail.com luisgaeljimenez@gmail.com Parkland, Florida became home to one of the world’s deadliest school massacres when Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was victim to a mass shooting on Feb. 14 Thirty four bullets punctured flesh, tearing apart families and stealing innocence. Seventeen of those bullets killed their targets, taking innocent lives. An entire community and an entire country were shattered. That same day, apprehension spread from Florida to here at American River College, where reports of a man armed with a gun prompted a campus-wide lockdown. The primary Rave Alert sent out to students and faculty at 6:58 p.m. warned them to stay clear of “area xxx.” That alert stood until 7:13 p.m., when a second alert was sent out declaring the Science Department as the area to avoid. Gursiman Singh was in the midst of taking a test in his statistics class in the Computer Math Complex next to the Science De-
partment when the alerts went out. “Everyone’s phone just started buzzing at the same time,” Singh said. “We could hear the helicopter outside but we didn’t think anything of it.” It wasn’t until 30 minutes later when Singh had finished his test and left the class that he checked his phone. “I saw that I had two missed calls from my girlfriend and then I saw the alerts but I had no idea what was going on,” Singh said. “I didn’t see any police or anything but I decided to go back into the room and tell them.” It was only after Singh returned and told his professor that they were in the middle of an active lockdown that the rest of the class was made aware of the situation and the door was locked. According to Singh, the doors were unlocked for most of the lockdown. “We just kept taking the test. Everyone was pretty calm,” Singh said. No arrests were made in relation to the incident, but the incident has caused various departments to re-examine their safety protocols. After a student was recently removed, and subsequently banned for the semester from the
Learning Resource Center, Marsha Reske, Dean of the LRC, recognized that the facility needs to upgrade their security measure. “He was disruptive and scaring students. We have students that are trying to study but they’re fearful,” Reske said. “We’re looking at potentially installing cameras near the entryway and potentially other places around the LRC, to improve safety.” According to Reske, she communicated with Reading Across the Curriculum and Writing Across the Curriculum, which share a building with the LRC, to make sure that they knew the student was no longer allowed access to any department within the complex. But not every department on campus has the same level of communication as the LRC. While some departments are well prepared for an emergency and have had recent and effective training, others are scattered and disjointed, with each faculty member having a different idea as to what is necessary in case of an emergency on campus. For example Jayne Overgard, a mathematics professor, must rely on her own knowledge, if faced with an active shooter on campus. Her department has had no
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training, leaving her actions if ever faced with an active shooter on campus purely instinct. “I don’t recall if we have talked about [a lockdown situation] here but we have talked about it at other schools I have been at,” Overgard said. Departments like the athletics department poses a significant disadvantage when it comes to safety. Classes are spread out with many being held outdoors in open fields, where there is little to no protection in case of attack. Kathy Sullivan-Torrez, a professor in the athletics department, say she has considered the possibility of what she would do if there were to be a lockdown. “You look at our fields here, and you look at all the classes that we teach, whether it’s the pool, whether it’s the gym and then you have the parking garage, where someone could be on top and see the whole area,” SullivanTorrez said. Many students in these classes do not have cellphones on them, leaving the responsibility on the shoulders of the professor to both obtain any information needed in the case of an emergency, and to pass it along to their students.
Campus Safety | Page 2 /ARCurrent.com
ARC TO UFC UFC Fighter Josh Emmett
PAGE 5 began his MMA career here in Sacramento.
Project Truth, an anti-abortion group that travels across the West Coast sharings its beliefs, stopped at American River College on March 5 and 6. John Edgar, a leader within the organization, said the goal of the group is to spread awareness about abortion. “[The objective is] to make abortion unthinkable and educate students on the humanity of the unborn and the inhumanity of abortion,” Edgar said. The group uses images of dead fetuses on posters as part of its campaign. Edgar said that the reason for using such graphic imagery was to show people the “truth.” As a response to the graphic pictures, ARC President Thomas Greene sent out a campus-wide email on March 2 in advance of the group’s protest, warning students that an “outside group” would be displaying images that could possibly be offensive. “They might be displaying images that are offensive to some or engaging in speech that is offensive to some. You may wish to avoid these areas,” Greene’s email said. School administration also posted notices around the area where the group would be demonstrating, warning students of the graphic nature of the images. But Project Truth argues that their message is meant to cause disturbance with the people receiving it. “It should be disturbing; it’s the truth,” Edgar said. “I always ask people what disturbs you most? That I’m showing you the picture or that this is happening to a little human being over 3,000 times a day.” A member of Project Truth who declined to offer her name, said the group used Google to locate the images and that others could find the images and other similar pictures if they used the search engine. Elena Denecochea, Feminists United Club president, said that the group’s message might have a heavy emotional impact on young women. “I think that a woman would be deterred by the images because it’s a sensitive subject and is a personal choice,” DeNecochea said. “But for women like me who don’t view abortion as murder, it won’t change our minds or our abilities to do what we choose with our bodies.”
Abortion Protests | Page 2
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March 14, 2018
Campus safety called into question
News
Protesters say they are not out create conflict ADMINISTRATIONS WARNS STUDENTS IN ADVANCE OF DEMONSTRATION
cont. from page 1 Many students in these classes do not have cellphones on them, leaving the responsibility on the shoulders of the professor to both obtain any information needed in the case of an emergency, and to pass it along to their students. Creating a plan that would apply to every department on campus isn’t possible, but to Biology Professor Kathy Bradshaw, the answer does not lie in the defensive, but that protective measures should be taken to prevent an incident from occurring in the first place. “I am certainly a proponent of training and I think it has helped schools that have had lockdowns and incidents but its just so more important for us to prevent these things,” Bradshaw said. “We can all train ourselves on what to do, but I think as a society it is so important to try to study ways that we could prevent these things.” Although Bradshaw says she would like to see some preventative measures taken, she also does not believe placing a gun in the classroom within the hands of a teacher, is the answer. “I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have a gun myself, or be told that I needed to carry a gun, because it’s not my job, it’s not my job,” Bradshaw said.
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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
File Photo
John Edgar, a member of the anti-abortion activist group Project Truth, stands in front of one of the group’s signs posted by its set up near the Student Center on March 15, 2016.
cont. from page 1 Bud, a leader within the group who declined to give a last name, said that he understands why groups of people might be upset with Project Truth. “I understand why some people are angry. There are people that have had abortions and perhaps they have had people that have condemned them, but we don’t do that. We want to help these people,’ he said. Edgar reaffirmed that the group was there to talk to people — not to create conflict. ”I’m not going to yell and scream at them. I honestly believe most young men and women would not make this choice if they knew the facts,” Edgar said. The group hands out pamphlets with images of dead fetuses and babies as well as images of various historical atrocities like the Holocaust and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Project Truth claims that the dehumanization of these groups is
ASB NOTEBOOK
what eventually led to the injustices performed upon them. The organization makes the connection that fetuses are also currently being systematically dehumanized. “The injustice has spread to the womb,” reads the pamphlet above images displaying dismembered fetuses. According to Bud, they are meant to dissuade young men and women from ever considering an abortion — an act the group equates to murder. Edgar also said that men play a part in the process. “Abortion is partly prevalent because of irresponsible men. The job of the man is to protect, and that’s another reason why I’m out here today: to protect women and children,” Edgar said. But not everyone agrees with Edgar’s message. “You can’t protect women if you take away their right to safe and legal abortions. Women will have abortions regardless of the law and practices available,” Deneco-
chea said. “We don’t want women dying from unsafe procedures. We can’t go back to the back alley abortions.” Edgar said that he has been with Project Truth for 20 years and originally joined because of an experience his wife had earlier in her life. “My wife — before we were married — had an abortion and I saw the way it affected her,” Edgar said. “When one of our children was born still, it all came back. So I’ve seen the effects of abortion on a woman firsthand.” Bud said that many of the members of Project Truth are passionate about the subject of abortion because of personal reasons. Bud also went on to say that many members of the group avoid giving out their full names in fear of retaliation from counter protesters. He said individuals within Project Life had been targeted in the past through various social media platforms.
Copy Editor Hannah Yates Social Media Editor Jennah Booth Staff Alondra Botello Gabe Carlos Cecilia Castillo Juarez Tracy Holmes Alexus Hur tado Michael Pacheco Lily Rodriguez Drake Alexis Warren Faculty Adviser Rachel Leibrock Photo Adviser Jill Wagner Student Worker Mack Er vin III
For weekly coverage of ARC student government, go to ARCurrent.com.
ASB MOVES TO RE-IMPLEMENT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE SERVICES By Jennah Booth jennahpage@gmail.com Student Senate met on March 9 to discuss the re-implementation of reproductive healthcare services for students and faculty. The resolution put forward by the Feminist United Club, requested funding from the administration for the implementation of reproductive health services previously offered in 2016. Feminist Unite President Elena DeNecochea presented 270 signatures collected over the previous semester from students and faculty supporting the resolution. Conflict arose around a portion of the resolution that would require ARC to seek funding for the specific healthcare from “outside sources, including those associated with SB-320,” according to the resolution. SB-320 is a health bill that would mandate all public California universities to offer medica-
Photo by Jennah Booth | Social Media Editor
Associated Student Body adviser Juan Blanco leads a discussion on the Reproductive Healthcare Resolution on March 9.
tion for abortion. The offer could be extended to community colleges that request it. Senator Alexandria Chavez found the mention of SB-320 to be misleading. “From what I read from it, I thought that what it said was that
it would specifically only fund this type of reproductive healthcare. Not all of them,” Chavez said. DeNecochea said that the focus of the resolution was not about SB-320. “It’s not what we are asking for specifically. We are asking for the
services that were previously provided in 2016, which is in high demand for both students and staff members on campus currently,” DeNecochea said. “So SB-320 really is like an option B if our school does not provide the funding or seek other means besides SB-320.” The Student Senate decided to amend the mention of SB-320 and generalize it to include any state funding. “This resolution is not asking for medication abortion. It’s asking for the services we previously had on our campus in 2016, but if our school can not find a way to fund it or seek other means, then we have to resort to SB-320 which does have medication abortion,” DeNecochea said. Chavez made a motion to amend the resolution to include other potential funding from the state. With no objections the resolution passed.
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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 Room 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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March 14, 2018
NEWS
ARC to hire new dean for Natomas branch By Alondra Botello
Report of armed man at ARC initiates lockdown
botelloalondra7@gmail.com
By Luis Gael Jimenez
NEW DEAN WILL OVERSEE DAY-TODAY OPERATIONS
The Natomas Educational Center is now hiring a full-time dean, a permanent position that begins in April. According to the posting on Los Rios’ job site, the typical duties of this position include developing and assisting faculty and staff, the center’s programs, services and schedules. Another very important task is overseeing and developing a strong relationship with Inderkum High School, as well as the North Natomas Public Library, both of which are adjacent to the center. Frank Malaret, the current Interim Dean, will hold the position for the rest of the semester while the hiring process continues. “I just started the position in early January and I was brought on as interim until the process of hiring for the college for a full time position for the center is done,” Malaret said. Malaret has experience as a dean. He was Dean of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Sacramento City College for approximately 12 years. He has also served as dean at City College’s Davis Center. Although he has only been working at the Natomas Center since January, Malaret says he realizes the unique programs the center offers to its students. “We do work in association with…Inderkum High School, and there is a program that offers classes to students at the high school embedded in their daily
CORRECTIONS In Volume 69, Edition 06 of The Current, the following corrections are listed: In edition 05 on page 9, the Current incorrectly referred to Kristina Casper-Denman as “Casper-Denmark.” In edition 05 on page 7, it was incorrectly stated that Brenda Baker houses cats in her garage. Baker has not had a cat in her garage for at least seven years.
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Justin Lee
luisgaeljimenez@gmail.com
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The Natomas Center opened in the fall of 2005 to provided students another avenue for taking community college classes. The center is located near Interstate 80 and Interstate 5.
class schedule,” Malaret said, referring to the center’s California Early College Academy. “So when they graduate they have a number of units that they carry into college.” Not only does CECA facilitate college learning to students in high school, but because the Natomas Center is located by Interstate 80 and Interstate 5, it allows students to come from near and far. Some qualities Malaret says he believes are necessary for the fulltime position have to do with being able to manage an important leadership position. “Certainly having a background in instructional administration and, also in administrative abilities, overall, because you are es-
sentially really running kind of like a little college,” Malaret said. Scott Crow, the public information officer at ARC, agrees. The school is looking for someone “who clearly shares the college’s vision, mission, and commitment to social justice and equity. Of course, we are looking for that in all of [our] candidates,” Crow said. According to Crow, another very important quality this position requires is someone who can build relationships not only with the faculty of the center but those in the district, in the community and of course the high school. “ARC’s Natomas Center has developed close relationships with local community partners and the
new dean will need to nurture and grow those relationships,” Crow said. The Natomas Center has similar resources to the main campus. These include counselors, staff that handles enrollment, learning centers, and computer labs. Malaret adds that a prospective dean can lead these types of operations as well as having the skills to oversee putting together a class schedule for the whole center. “You have a whole hosts of different functions that operate here at the center itself in a similar fashion at the way you have it at the main campus except of course in smaller operations [that] you certainly have to oversee [as] the dean” Malaret said.
Thief burglarizes Oak Cafe BANDIT STEALS CHIPS FROM BAKERY — LEAVES FUNYUNS By Brienna Edwards briennaedwards@gmail.com The culinary department at American River College discovered early Monday Feb. 26 that the Oak Cafe was robbed over the weekend. “The bakery was broken into on Saturday night, February 24th. We believe it was between 9:30 and 10 p.m.,” said Brian Knirk, the Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management department chair. A large piece of plywood now covers one of the main doors, though no other damage is visible. “We came in Monday at 6 a.m. and it was like this,” Veronika Yushkova, a culinary student who works at the cafe said, gesturing to the plywood covered door. “Somebody broke in, and they took our basket of chips, but they left the Funyuns, that’s all they took.” Nothing else was stolen, despite the abundance of pricey kitchen supplies housed in the kitchen behind the cafe. The culinary department has no previous history of vandalism said Knirk. “We don’t know who it was,” Yushkova said. The Oak Cafe has a security camera aimed toward the en-
Photo by Brienna Edwards | Co-Editor-in-Chief
A piece of plywood covers one of the doors to the Oak Cafe on March 2 at ARC. The cafe was broken into on Feb. 24.
trance capturing video footage of the event. However, Yushkova said that so far it has been unhelpful in identifying the culprit. Yushkova said that Knirk was just as unaware of the weekend’s events as his students. “Brian called the police; he is the manager here and he didn’t know about it and they are supposed to contact him right away when something happens,” Yushkova said. Knirk declined to comment about his immediate interactions with the campus police. In an email interview to the Current, ARC’s Public Information
Officer Scott Crow said that the situation is still under active investigation.
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This story will be updated as more information becomes available at ARCurrent.com
American River College was placed on lockdown by the Los Rios Police Department after reports of a man on campus with a gun at approximately 7 p.m. on Feb. 14. According to Sergeant J. Lampano of the LRPD, there were reported sightings of a man riding a bicycle displaying a firearm near the Science Department at ARC. The man was able to flee the scene before LRPD was able to respond, according to Lampano. According to an email sent out by campus police after the incident, they received a report that man had been seen tucking a gun into his waistband. “At approximately 7 p.m., Los Rios Police received a report from an ARC student of a man tucking a gun into his waistband near bike racks in the science area on campus,” according to the email. The email also described the man as: “a white male adult, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, mid 20s, skinny body type, wearing a white t-shirt, dark baggy pants, and a tan hat. He was riding a black BMX bicycle.” Students received a Rave Alert text and email at 6:58 p.m. The original Rave alert did not list what location students should stay away from, but it was later updated at 7:13 p.m. to say that the Science Department should be avoided. Students already on campus were placed on an emergency lockdown that was lifted at 7:24 p.m. Alexis Warren, a Current staff writer, was in her statistics class when the lockdown happened. According to Warren, her professor, Sonya Reichel locked the doors and another student shut the blinds. As it happened, Warren messaged classmates to update them on the situation. “I’m in class right now and my professor says we can’t leave until it’s clear,” Warren said in a text message to her classmates. ARC Public Information Officer Scott Crow said that the campus was given the “all-clear” by the LRPD after they were unable to locate the suspect. Crow also said that school officials are still trying “get all of the details.” According to Lampano, there were no arrests made at the time of this report. Crow echoed that statement. “Nobody matching the suspect’s description was arrested,” Crow said. Lampano also added that there were no video cameras in the vicinity of the sighting. This incident comes on the same day of a shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead. The LRPD are urging people to report any suspicious activity they might have seen related to the incident at (916) 558-2221 and to refer to report #18-0085.
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March 14, 2018
ARTS & CULTURE
Photo by Jennah Booth | Social Media Editor
Artist Aliyah Sidqe stood above a crowd of onlookers as she spent two hours painting live during American River College’s Black Heritage Celebration on Feb. 22.
Self-taught painter makes splash on art scene By Jennah Booth jennahpage@gmail.com Armed with a paintbrush and clad in paint-splattered denim with a rainbow scarf holding back her natural hair, Aliyah Sidqe stands a full three feet above a crowd of onlookers in the Student Center. Around her, American River College’s Black Heritage Celebration drew crowds of students and faculty during the late February exhibition. Despite the dozens of people bustling around and watching below her, she layers colors on canvas with such ease that it’s impossible to believe she was meant to do anything else. She pauses routinely to engage with friends and answer inquiries from spectators. Sidqe is a self-taught painter and a studio art major at ARC. She has been enrolled in community college for a total of three years, but she didn’t always attend classes during that time. After graduating high school at 15, Sidqe said she felt pressured to enroll in college, but her new found freedom left her with no sense of direction and she was put on academic probation. “I think at first, when I was first here… I wasn’t involved in any clubs or anything and like that, I think, contributed to why I didn’t do so well,” Sidqe says, “It took me taking time off and living life and learning about myself to realize what I wanted from school.” Sidqe returned to ARC — this time, with a defined goal. “I want to work with kids, but in order to do that you have to get a masters in psychology. So I figured I can do studio art, get that degree and then go back for the psychology,” she says. Sidqe has been painting her whole life. Her stamina wavered in high school but she caught a second wind in college and says she came back with a clear direction. While covering a diverse arrangement of subjects, the heart
of her work is a representation of African-American femininity. “I try to represent being a black woman. It’s like two marginalized communities, two minorities in some ways,” Sique says. “I think I just try to fuse those things together and represent people who are not maybe recognized all the time.” Sidqe’s art can be found on a larger scale at three different locations across Sacramento. The largest of her murals is tucked in Opera Alley, in between 16th St. and 17th. St. near Fremont Park. The artwork is spread across the walls of two apartment buildings. Sidqe spent four weeks in the heat of summer 2017 completing it. Sidqe found she could make a profit off her talent and now offers work on commision. Around half of the work she does is for profit and a majority of her commissioned work are portraits. “People love pictures of themselves,” she says. Confident in her direction, Sidqe says she has found her place at ARC. “I think it’s really important to know know where you’re going to really do what you want to do here,” Sidqu says. “So when I came back, it was like I had a direction. I knew what I was going for and so I could be more passionate about it.” Sidqe also found a place in ARC’s Umoja-Sakhu Learning Community. She describes it as a “black student union.” Marti McClellan-Morehouse is a Student Success Support Program Specialist at ARC and an “elder” for Umoja-Sakhu. McClellan-Morehouse has known Sidqe through UmojaSakhu since October. “Basically we have dedicated classes where the curriculum is specific to the African and AfricanAmerican diaspora. She is such an asset in those classrooms,” McClellan-Morehouse says. “I mean, we hear her voice all the time in
“I feel free when I paint. Painting allows me to create whatever world I want. It allows me to free my mind.” Aliyah Sidqe Artist
terms of world issues or issues related to students, women’s issues. She’s very verbal about these things and very creative in, not just the artwork she creates, but how she speaks.” Sidqe’s newfound direction and increased involvement on campus has paid off academically. After a recommendation from her English professor, Bob Lynman, Sidqe enrolled this semester as an honors student. Despite never having seen herself as an honors student, Sidqe says she felt it was important to challenge herself. Tasiya Owens is an honors student at ARC as well and became friends with Sidqe through Umoja-Sakhu. “I am happy to say that I have been around Aliyah in her element and in multiple forms,” Owens says. Both Owens and McClellanMorehouse are admirers of Sidqe’s style and artistic ability. McClellan-Morehouse had the opportunity to see Sidqe paint live before. “It is an exchange between my energy and her energy... It’s amazing,” McClellen-Morehouse says. “I think she is very sensitive to her culture and who she is as a woman, as a black woman,” McClellan-Morehouse says. For Sidqe, her style is an extension of her confidence. “I’m heavily influenced by the ‘70s and women like Pam Grier, who wore their hair naturally and just really colorful stylish clothes they wore made it easier for me to love myself by embracing this
Photo by Jennah Booth | Social Media Editor
Artist Aliyah Sidqe used watercolor paints on her piece during ARC’s Black Heritage Celebration on Feb. 22.
style,” Sidqe says. From her style, to her work with Umoja-Sakhu, to her live painting performances, Sidqe exudes individuality and a clear and distinct sense of identity. “I feel that her art is as innate to her being as the thoughts in her head or remembering to breathe,” Owens says. Through her art, Sidqe found confirmation in her identity and
path in life. “I feel free when I paint. Painting allows me to create whatever world I want. It allows me to free my mind,” Sidqe says. “The thing I love most about painting is the fact that there are no rules, there are no guidelines to it and it’s something that I can explore on my own.”
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March 14, 2018
SPORTS
Josh Emmett goes from ARC to UFC By Luis Gael Jimenez luisgaeljimenez@gmail.com From where Josh Emmett is standing, he can hear the music pounding through the arena speakers. He’s waiting for his cue to enter the octagon. The 32-year-old is about to make his professional mixed martial art debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championship — the largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion in the world. He only received notice that he was going to fight four days earlier but he’s ready, even after flying all of the way across the Atlantic into Rotterdam in the Netherlands to go toe-to-toe against a four-year veteran of the UFC: Jon Tuck. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. “It was my ticket into the UFC so I had to say yes,” Emmett said. “I was the underdog and everyone was counting me out, but I wasn’t flying halfway across the world to lose. I was ready to endure anything to get a win and kick start my UFC career.” And endure anything he did. “In the third round, Jon Tuck threw a wheel kick and I went to parry it and it must have hit my finger at the perfect angle and force, and basically, my bone ended up sticking out. Literally, my finger was just hanging on by the flesh,” Emmett said. “It was the weirdest sensation because every single time he would throw a kick or punch, sweat would fly-off him or me and it would go past the
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor
UFC fighter Josh Emmett trains in the octagon with his trainer Joey Rodriguez at on Feb. 14 at Urijah Faber’s Ultimate Fitness. Emmett prepared for his first UFC main event fight against Jeremy Stephens on Feb. 24.
corner of my eye — I kept looking down because I swore he kicked my finger off.” But Emmett finished the fight and started his UFC career the right way: with a win. It was a tough road into the octagon for Emmett, but it was a road that started in Sacramento. After graduating from El Camino High School in 2003, he enrolled in classes at Sacramento City College and American River College in 2005. It was at City College that Emett began wrestling competitively
under the guide of Coach Dave Pacheco. There, he found himself ranked within the top-five wrestlers in the entire state before eventually transferring to Menlo College in the Bay Area. “The problem was that after wrestling, there was nothing really for me to do. I had two choices: I could have trained for the olympics or I could get into mixed martial arts,” Emmett said. “I chose MMA because I’d always been a huge fan.” As a teenager, he would watch the then up and coming UFC.
“I remember watching the UFC fights in high school — that’s way before it was mainstream and before the Ultimate Fighter was even on,” Emmett said. “At the time, I was watching those guys and telling myself: ‘man, I could beat those people up.’ I was completely wrong.” It was a lesson that Emmett would learn rather quickly after he signed up for classes at UFC Fighter, Urijah Faber’s gym in 2006. While taking only basic classes in the beginning, it was only a few months before Faber personally
approached Emmett to gauge his interest in fighting professionally. There, Emmett begin sparring with other hand-picked fighters that all had one goal: to make it to the UFC. “My first sparring day was humbling because these were people who aren’t even in the UFC and they were getting the better of me,” Emmett said. “I thought to myself: ‘if I tried to fight one of those dudes [already] in the UFC, I would have gotten killed.’” He spent months learning the brutal reality of the octagon, but it left him hungrier than ever to make the leap to the next level. “I got into [fighting] because I wanted to be a world champion. I believe in my abilities. Look, there are people that get into this because their goal is just to step foot into the octagon. And after they go 0-1, or 0-2 and get cut from the UFC, their big claim to fame is ‘I made it to the UFC.’ I’m not okay with that,” Emmett said. “I want to be the best fighter in the featherweight division on the planet. And I’m getting closer and closer to achieving that goal.” And now, everytime Emmett enters the octagon, he has only one goal in mind: to win. “I feel like a modern day gladiator. It’s the craziest feeling. We go into the these venues in shuttle buses underground — it feels like we’re going into the Colosseum,” Emmett said. “And then I walk into a tunnel with my coaches and then they start playing the music and I start walking out. All of the crazy-ass fans, it’s just, it’s just insane.”
SPORTS UPDATES Baseball
Softball
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March 15 @ Modesto
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March 17 @ Modesto (x2)
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March 16 vs Modesto
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March 20 @ Cosumnes River
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March 20 vs Santa Rosa
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March 24 vs Diablo Valley
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March 22 @ Santa Rosa
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March 24 vs Santa Rosa
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March 31 @ Santa Rosa (x2)
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March 27 vs Folsom Lake
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April 3 @ Sacramento City
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March 29 @ Folsom Lake
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April 7 vs Sierra (x2)
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Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing Editor
Men’s Tennis •
March 15 @ Chabot
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March 16/20/23 Conference Playoffs
American River College’s Paul Bhatia returns a ball during a non-conference game against De Anza College on Feb. 24 at ARC.
Baseball After a win to start the month, the baseball team lost its last four games in a row, culminating in a 16-6 loss to Modesto on Monday. Their next game is on Thursday
Softball The softball team lost it’s 4th straight game on Saturday against San Joaquin Delta. They now sit at 9-12 with a 1-4 record in conference play. The results of their last game against Folsom Lake were not immediately available.
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March 26 @ Bakersfield
away to Modesto.
•
March 27 vs George Fox @
Men’s Tennis
Women’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team continued it’s undefeated start to the season, beating both Grossmont and Diablo Valley over the weekend to improve to 8-0. The results of their last game against Santa Rosa were not immediately available.
The women’s tennis team earned it’s toughest win of the year against Chabot College on Saturday, winning 5-4 and improving to an 8-1 record on the year. The results of their last game against Santa Rosa were not immediately available.
Claremont •
March 29 @ Cerritos
Track & Field •
March 16/17 Hornet Invitational
•
March 17 Bob Rush Invitational
•
March 23/24 Warrior Invitational
•
March 2728 American River Combined
6
March 14, 2018
SCENE
Invasion of racing robots at ARC STUDENTS CREATE AND RACE ROBOTS FOR MIDTERM
“Instead of typing out all the lines of code, you put commands together using little blocks that snap together almost like Legos.”
By Jennah Booth
Jordan Meyer
jennahpage@gmail.com Ready. Set. Robo! A classroom in the Tech Ed building at American River College became a robotic speedway as students raced custom-made automations against each other, and the clock, on Feb. 28. Jordan Meyer, a professor of electronic technology at ARC, challenged his students to build, code and race an autonomous robot for their midterm. Students were provided with kits to build their robots and base code in the program BlocklyProp. According to Meyer, the goal of the midterm was to build the robot and adjust the code precisely enough that the robot followed a black electric tape track as quickly and efficiently as possible. “Just as sort of a fun exercise, we’re having a race to see who can go around the fastest,” Meyer said. The robots consisted of a board with two motors that power the drive wheels and a propeller activity board that uses two sensors to detect the black line on the floor. “The processor reads the information from the sensors and then sends commands to the motors to tell them whether they need to go forward or backward or turn or whatever,” Meyer said. Students found that creating an optimal code is an essential
Professor
time, if you fuss with it too much you’re going to end up breaking your code,” she said. “I think it’s pretty fast but now, it’s a battle of milliseconds.” Ross ended up in third place with a time of 30.7 seconds, Jason Wilkes took second place with 30.43 seconds and Phil Wiecek won gold with a time of 29.87 seconds. Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing editor
A student-built robot sits on a desk during an electronics technology midterm on Feb. 28. Students had to build a robot from a kit that would follow a black line along the ground.
part of having a winning robot. According to Meyer, BlocklyProp is user-friendly for beginners because it reduces the amount of syntax users need to keep track of. “It is a graphical programing language. So instead of typing out all the lines of code, like you would in a traditional language, you put commands together using little blocks that snap together almost like Legos,” he said. While BlocklyProp may be an easier coding program for most, some first-time robotics students still struggled with the syntax. Austin Kettle, a mechatronics major, found that even simple mistakes made a huge difference in the function of his robot. “It was super hard because I
Fastest Times (seconds):
29.87 30.43 First Place Phil Wiecek
Second Place Jason Wilkes
Third Place Jennifer Ross
Fourth Place Carmen Fasolo
30.7
30.84
didn’t have the numbers right … If you don’t have the right code then it will not work. Mine was just spinning in circles for the longest time,” he said. He managed to get his robot
working the day of the midterm and passed with a time of 33 seconds. “Not the fastest but I just actually got mine working today so I’m pretty stoked,” he said. Jennifer Ross is working to receive a robotics certificate and is one of only two women in the class, but feels confident having previous technology classes under her belt. “If you feel good in what you’re doing and you feel confident, it helps,” she said. Ross was unable to secure the win. She was in second place at one point in the race. “I lost by 0.23 of a second. I’m trying to see if I can get those milliseconds back but at the same
Photo by Mack Ervin III | Co-Managing editor
A student-built robot follows a predetermined line on the ground during an electronic technology midterm on Feb. 28.
Outreach specialist hosts book signing By Alexus Hurtado alexush09@gmail.com American River College admissions outreach specialist, Joslyn Gaines Vanderpool hosted a book signing on Feb. 24 for her book “Our Black Fathers the Brave, Bold and Beautiful.” Gaines’ book signing and the subject of her book coincided with Black History Month, and the book deals with the societal issues surrounding black fatherhood, such as black men being absent or unfit fathers. The main purpose behind the writing of the book was to “dispel common stereotypes placed upon black men and fathers,” and to “preserve the legacy of black men,” Gaines said .
Gaines and her co-author, Anita Mcgee Royston, came together to write this book after meeting at a conference and discussing their experiences growing up with their fathers. At that conference, Gaines and Royston said they were shocked when one of the speakers showed statistics trying to correlate black college student’s poor success rates to many of those students having absentee fathers. “The speaker made it sound as if all black men were responsible for the issues facing the educational system and were derelict in their duties as dads,” Gaines said. Gaines and Royston say they grew up with supportive fathers who provided them a shining example of what a black man and black father could and should
CAMPUS PU
LSE
“Our facilities are a little different, so depending on if you are teaching outside, [the goal is to] try to get to anywhere that you are covered.”
-KATHY SULLIVAN-TORREZ
Kinesology and Athletics
Photo by Alexus Hurtado | Staff Writer
“Our Black Fathers Brave, Bold, & Beautiful,” co-written by Joslyn Gaines Vanderpool, talks about the social stereotypes of black fathers.
be. They knew what this speaker said didn’t truly reflect on all black fathers. Throughout the book, the authors showcased the stories of people who were raised and nurtured by men other than their biological fathers. “Well, I personally knew plenty of fathers who were extremely engaged in their children’s upbringing because they existed in my neighborhood, in our churches and throughout the community,” Gaines said. “And they came in the form of biological fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, uncles, deacons, teachers, and men who stepped up when others couldn’t or wouldn’t,” Gaines said. Gaines and Royston wanted to then uncover the often discard-
ed legacy of black men through people telling the stories of their black fathers. Gaines father was born in the twenties during the Great Depression and endured harsh and brutal racism while growing up and also when he became a grown adult raising his children. Despite the obstacles Gaines’ father faced, he still strove to be the best father he could be and gave Gaines a strong foundation on self-love and how to love herself as a black woman. “Back stateside, my father rescued me from my daily second grade hell of being called a wide range of derogatory names, the ‘N-word’ being the most prominent racial slur directed towards me,” Gaines said in “Our Black Fathers.”
What would you do as a professor in the event of an emergency? “I would try to keep students calm and plan what to do if someone were to get into the building.”
-KATHY BRADSHAW Biology
“Usually I lock the door when I go in anyway; even when I leave the door open, the door is locked and ready to close.”
-JAYNE OVERGARD Mathematics
“I don’t normally have the door locked. So, it almost would mean that a student would be the one who would end up locking the door. “
-KATRINA WORLEY Anthropology
7
March 14, 2018
OPINION
CURRENT EDITORIAL
Failed Rave Alert should serve as wake-up call By the Current Editorial Board current@arc.losrios.edu
“Police are responding to a crime in progress at XXX. Avoid the area.” This was the message that students and faculty received on Feb. 14 after police alerted to reports of a man with a gun at American River College. For those off campus it was a terrifying message to receive after the Parkland, Florida shooting that took place mere hours before. Minds immediately turned to the worst possible outcome, as they feared for the lives of those still on campus. Hearts raced as fingers flew across keypads, desperately trying to contact their friends and loved ones. However, for students on campus, the fear — while present — maybe was not as prevalent. There was no indication as to whether or not they were in real danger. Some students like Gursiman Singh had no idea that there was a lockdown, even after receiving the Rave Alert. Singh was taking a test when the original Rave Alert was sent out and everybody in the classroom had been asked to turn off their cell phones. Singh and his classmates sat in the Computer Math Complex immediately next to where the suspect was originally reported for 30 minutes with the door unlocked and open with no clue that there were reported sightings of a man with a gun in their vicinity. At the same time that Singh and his class were taking their test, other professors were asking their students to shelter in
Photo illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Co-Managing Editor and Multimedia Editor
The Rave Alert sent out on Feb. 14 warning students to stay clear of area “XXX” could have had much worse consequences if there had actually been an active emergency situtation on campus.
place and take cover underneath desks, while others simply locked the doors and continued on business as usual. One thing is clear: There is no standardized emergency plan across campus — where one department may have regular training from the Los Rios Police Department like the library, another has professors struggling to develop their own plans in case of emergencies like many of the professors inside of the multi-subject Davies Hall, where departments, and subsequently their professors have no standardized procedures. A professor should not bear the responsibility of creating his or her own emergency plan in the case of an active shooter. For a school with a student popula-
tion of over 30,000 and a fully functioning police force located on its campus, this is unacceptable. Since the beginning of 2018, just three short months ago, there have been 14 school shootings in the United States. The administration of ARC would be foolish to think that our campus is somehow protected from the threat of an active shooter. Leaving students and faculty in the dark only creates more of a threat. We have buildings such as Davies Hall that are old and outdated, and designed impractically to the point that the professor is standing farthest away from the door, making it nearly impossible for he or she to get to the
door to close it. Starting in elementary school and going all the way up to high school, children are taught what to do and where to go in case of an earthquake, fire and even intruders on campus through the use of practice drills. These drills simulate escape plans and procedures and are practiced in order to avoid the chaos and panic that would come from an actual emergency. ARC has no such drills at the campus-wide level. There is no way to know which departments are prepared to take action in case of an emergency, no way for students to know where to go or what to do. They are forced to place all of their trust — their entire lives —
in the hands of their professors, in the hands of the administration of each department, and hope that they are fortunate enough to be in a department that has gone though the training provided by the police department. However this is all dependant on the students and the faculty being notified of such an event with relevant and useful information. ARC also lacks any mass communication infrastructure such as an intercom system like many other schools — the Rave Alert system has already shown that it is not an effective way to warn students and faculty of an emergency situation. The Rave Alert system is based-off how students and faculty choose to receive notifications from the school and the district when they originally set-up their online accounts. Meaning, while some students received text alerts, others got emails or phone calls — some people may have even received combinations of alerts. But when the alert is so vague, it is nearly pointless. The administration of ARC needs to take more steps so that their student body is prepared for the event of an active shooter at campus. The blunder of the Feb. 14 Rave Alert should be considered a valuable learning experience for the school. It should be a top priority for ARC to ensure that something like this never happens again the way it did. A bruised ego is a lot easier to recover from than the loss of a life due to inaccurate information.
Despite calls for it, a gun ban is not the answer By Brienna Edwards briennaedwards@gmail.com With gun violence on the rise and an increase of mass shootings being reported by the media, the discussion on gun control has been on the minds of everyone. Gun control isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and has the potential to lead to increased safety — which is something that everyone wants. However, there are people that aim to get rid of guns altogether, to ban them and take them away, and that just isn’t the answer. This desire to ban guns can be blamed in part on some of the many recent discussions held by political leaders over the past few months. As educated as these politicians are, many of them are wholly ignorant on the topic of guns, with very little knowledge of guns and absolutely no understanding them or their place in society. In parts of this country, owning a gun is a way of life. Guns have no place in schools; weapons have no place near children or innocent people trying to learn. Guns don’t belong on the streets, lined by houses where families sit together at night
watching television. However, they do belong in the hands of responsible adults who have been through proper training, know what a gun is capable of and have no desire to harm another human being. As stated earlier, for some citizens owning a gun is a way of life, especially in more rural locations, such as most of Wyoming. A gun is needed for protection from people or animals, but a gun is also needed to eat in places with less available food, and to a lesser extent for sport, such as shooting competitions and the like. The problem of misconceptions also stems from people simply not knowing the laws that are already in place. Federal law states that a person 18 years of age or older may purchase a shotgun or a rifle, but cannot purchase a handgun until the age of 21. It also says that before any purchase of a licensed firearm in any state, dealers must perform a background check on prospective buyers. However only nine states, California included, require a background check on all gun purchases. Maryland and Pennsylvania require background checks only on handgun purchases.
This means that someone can buy a gun from their neighbor without undergoing any background checks. In California if one neighbor wished to buy a gun from the other, it is required that the firearm must be transferred through a licensed California dealer, who is required to conduct a background check before selling the weapon. Standardizing these laws so that every buyer in every state, licensed or unlicensed, has to pass a background check is a completely reasonable law. That said, California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Adhering to California law, a buyer must wait a 10 day processing period during which a background check is conducted. A person can own a registered assault rifle, but cannot buy one. A gun owner may also own a magazine that holds up to 10 rounds, though it is also illegal to drive out-of-state ammunition over state lines. In addition, starting July 2019, background checks will be required for consumer ammunition purchases. Now, these seem like great steps for increasing gun control.
No assault rifles? Perfect. But it’s important to know what classifies as an assault rifle. An assault weapon is classified as a semi automatic weapon, with two or more additional features. This could be as extreme as a grenade launcher mount, to something as archaic as a bayonet mount, or something as deadly as a bump stock, which was used in the Las Vegas shooting last October, when 58 people were killed and 851 others injured. A semi automatic rifle typically fires one round for each pull of the trigger. Whereas an automatic rifle will continue firing until the trigger is let up, or the gun runs out of bullets — whichever comes first. The addition of the bump stock essentially blurs the line between the two types of rifles. It allows a semi automatic to fire at a much faster rate than previously possible. “Possessing firearm parts that are used exclusively in converting a weapon into a machine gun is illegal, except for certain limited circumstances,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said after the the Las Vegas shooting. Automatic weapons do not belong in our society, as there is no purpose for them; they cannot be
used for anything except killing people. The bullets are too small, and thus useless for hunting, and defending a house from intruders with an AK-15 assault rifle isn’t any more effective than a shotgun or handgun. Americans should be able to own guns after undergoing proper training and background checks. Should they be able to buy semi automatic weapons? No. Should they be able to buy the equipment needed to convert their firearm into a semi automatic weapon? No. The United States has progressed and grown as a society since the Second Amendment was written. Some say that because of our country’s growth, the reason behind the second amendment — to defend ourselves against the uprising of a tyrant or unjust government — no longer hold true. That may be true but it doesn’t mean that guns no longer have a place in society. It just means that the roles guns have in our lives has altered through the years. And so we must develop new laws that both keep citizens safe, but also do not take away our rights.
8
March 14, 2018
PHOTO ESSAY
The “Cognitive Dissonance” exhibition was designed to represent humanity and how everyone is connected; each piece can stand alone, or as a collective unit.
‘Cognitive Dissonance’ at the Kaneko
By Brienna Edwards | briennaedwards@gmail.com “Cognitive dissonance is about exploring and experiencing the many layers of life no matter how uncomfortable it is,” artist and ARC professor Linda Gelfman said about her exhibition. “It’s about beliefs that are put into place, then experiencing something that rocks those beliefs, and the awkward feeling that comes from that role.” Gelfman said she designed her piece to be looked at as one continuous collection, and together it was designed to signify the human experience. “Cognitive Dissonance” will be on display in the Kaneko Gallery through March 15.
A variety of different colors and textures were used to create depth and dimensions.
The majority of material used in the exhibition was repurposed from thrift store finds and discarded fabrics.
Gelfman also makes a statement against sexual harassment many of the dolls are in suggestive poses, with hands on zippers, or reaching for other dolls.