C URRENT American River College Sacramento, Calif.
Wednesday 02.13.19
The
Drone mapping Design Hub introduces drone career opportunities
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THIS FORMER STUDENT’S STRUGGLE WITH HOUSING IS NOT UNIQUE
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor Former American River College student Courteney Duren-Hill and her son Gavin Hill lost their mobile home during the spring 2018 semester due to an increase in rent. Now, she has relocated from to motel to motel.
ARC provides resources for students in need By Ashley Hayes-Stone ashgstone@gmail.com It’s morning and Courteney Duren-Hill wakes up to her alarm going off in her living room at her single-wide mobile home in Caravan Village near Watt Avenue and Auburn Boulevard. Sighing, she lays in bed for a minute and stares at the wooden panel walls that
make up her home, then looks down at the half-packed bags that litter the floor. She sits up, rubs her temples and walks past the kitchen into the narrow hallway that leads to her 5-year-old son Gavin’s room. She gently whispers into her son’s ear to wake him for school. Gavin shoots out of bed and races to the kitchen to get breakfast as DurenHill slowly treads behind him.
As Gavin gets ready for school, Duren-Hill looks out of the window to the front yard at the little wooden gate that a neighbor made when Gavin was younger so he wouldn’t run out. As she reminisces, she looks down again at the packed bags, which remind her that their 30 days was almost up and she and her son would soon be forced to leave their home, with nowhere to go.
“It was really stressful because I didn’t know where to start and the move out date was approaching soon,” Duren-Hill said. “I got a 30-day notice because the rent was raising and I was behind and I couldn’t keep up.” Duren-Hill’s situation isn’t uncommon among community college students. According to the Assembly Speaker’s Office of Research and Floor Analysis, one in four community college students have experienced homelessness in recent years. Duren-Hill was attending ARC, studying to be an American Sign Language interpreter, when she lost her home during the spring 2018 semester. During that time, she benefited from some of the college’s resources for students, including meal vouchers from Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOP&S) and CalWORKS. Now, Duren-Hill is on academic probation and doesn’t currently attend ARC; meanwhile many students like her continue to benefit from the same programs she did. Funded by the state and the Los Rios Community College District, the EOP&S program helps support college students who are in educational and financial need by providing access to tutoring, enrollment assistance, educational planning and limited financial assistance. Kaela Vivian, who works as Clerk III at the EOP&S center, spoke about some of the benefits the center provides students, mainly counseling and tutoring.
Support Services | Page 2
Renewable energy powers students By Hannah Yates hannahjycurrent@gmail.com Last semester brought big changes to American River College with the installation of 15 new solar-powered trailers across its three campuses, and now faculty is looking to improve the accessibility to these devices. The trailers on campus have three varieties: LED light poles, outlet stations, and electric vehicle chargers, and are worth a total value of over $2 million, according to the Sustainability@ARC website. Don Reid, ARC’s printing services supervisor and campus sustainability representative, initiated the process of receiving the trailers in 2014, at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC). Solar-powered outlet stations, along with sets of picnic benches, have been placed in each the
Portable Village, Computer Math Complex, and near the stadium. The tables can be used for charging phones, laptops, and other devices. Tabitha Hopkins, an anthropology and biology major, told the Current last semester that she hopes to see more of the outlet stations around campus in the future. “I like having chargers out here,” Hopkins said. “There was no form of outlets before [in the Portable Village] so it makes it easier to do work over here.” While the new benches are readily available to any passerby carrying a phone or laptop charger, the electric vehicle charging stations can only be used by opening a phone app, ChargePoint, to unlock them. Vehicle charging stations are usually accompanied by a fee for use, according to Reid, however drivers will find that the solar stations on campus are free.
Photo illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor
American River College students can use the solar-powered outlet stations to charge their electronic devices between classes.
Despite the convenience of free electric vehicle charging, some students and faculty have found that they have trouble parking and accessing the stations. Nonelectric cars are free to park next to the chargers, because there is no designation for electric vehicles. The spaces next to the stations will eventually be painted and labelled to reserve them for elec-
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tric vehicles, though currently the process is held up by the process of painting regulations. “There’s some questions as to whose responsibility it is to stripe everything,” Reid said. Solar-powered electric car charging stations have been placed on the main campus on the north and south sides
Solar Panels | Page 5 /ARCurrent.com
DOUBLE Athlete juggles MAJOR studies and sports
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at ARC
Vol. 70 Ed. 5
One year later
Has ARC taken last year’s campus safety scare seriously?
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AB 302 would let students sleep in cars overnight By Jennah Booth
jennahpage@gmail.com American River College may see one more resource for students struggling with homelessness as a proposed bill would require California community colleges to provide spaces for students to sleep overnight in their vehicles on campus. Assemblyman Marc Berman (DPalo Alto), proposed Assembly Bill 302 on Jan. 29. According to the bill, “the governing board of the community college district shall grant overnight access to those facilities to any homeless student who is enrolled in coursework, has paid enrollment fees, and is in good standing with the community college district.” In a press release on Feb. 1, Berman said that the long-term solution would be to address the problem directly by building more housing, but for now AB 302 would provide homeless students with a safe place to sleep. “Over the last two years, I’ve heard from too many students that they don’t have stable housing and often end up sleeping in their cars,” Berman said. “Unfortunately, this is all too common throughout California.” Existing state law allows the governing board of a community college to use college facilities for specific purposes, like allowing homeless students access to showers. While ARC and the Los Rios Community College District are aware of the struggles students face, they have yet to take a stance on the proposed bill, according to Los Rios’ Associate Vice Chancellor Gabe Ross, who addressed AB 302 in an email to the Current. “Since the bill is so new, our district hasn’t taken a formal position on the proposed legislation at this point as we don’t yet know enough about the details of implementation,” he wrote. Still, Ross said the district does already offer other resources to students who struggle financially, including “CalWORKs programs on each campus, food pantries and other programs built to address food insecurity.” The district also “offers scholarship opportunities through the Los Rios Foundation student emergency fund” and financial support through the Los Rios Promise program for students who struggle with tuition, he said. “That said, housing insecurity and homelessness are obviously very serious issues that many of our students are struggling with,” Ross wrote. “We are glad to see such a concerted effort around the state, and by local leaders here in Sacramento, to tackle this complicated and challenging issue.”
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Feb. 13, 2019
ASB NOTEBOOK
NEWS
For weekly coverage of ARC student government, go to ARCurrent.com.
PUBLIC COMMENT BRINGS AFFIRMED NAMES TO ASB’S ATTENTION By Ariel Caspar arielcaspar@gmail.com The American River College Associated Student Body met on Friday to discuss spring semester funding, and plans for spending. Last semester, a motion, introduced by Senator Eduardo Anguiano on Jan. 29, was passed to allocate up to $1,000 to be spent on expenses for Club Days and events during the spring 2019 semester. ASB has not determined how funds will be spent at this time. According to Brett Sawyer, student life supervisor at ARC, ASB also has approved funds last semester to install new water bottle refill stations, and to refurbish the old ones throughout the campus. Locations for the new fixtures are still being decided. ARC’s Election Day packets will be available on Monday, Feb. 25. All positions are available and ASB encouraged student interest and participation. Sawyer also said that the Beaver
URRENT An American River College student-run publication. Editor-in-Chief Jennah Booth Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor The Associated Student Body discusses future proposals to change affirmed names for transgender students on roll sheets at American River College on Feb. 8, 2019.
Food Pantry will reopen on Feb. 13, from noon to 3 p.m. and that it will be the last day the pantry will be distributing bags. Students are encouraged to bring their own bags. During the meeting, ASB received a public comment from a Sacramento State University student, Sandeep Singh, who requested that they work to change
the current policy of not acknowledging a transgender person’s affirmed name on roll sheets. “I remember one student talking about how the district had a way to change their preferred name when they signed up for courses, but teachers were still provided with their legal name and opted to use their legal name in classes,” Singh said. “I think that’s created
an environment where they did not feel recognized or welcomed.” Singh said that colleges need to enforce respecting transgender rights, by calling them by their affirmed name. ASB recognized the comment and expressed interest in proposing changes. The next ASB meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 22.
Support services help those struggling financially
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor Courteney Duren-Hill and her son get continental breakfast at the Americans Best Value Inn they have been staying at for a few days until their funds run out.
cont. from page 1 EOP&S can also help students pay for fee waivers when they apply to California State University or University of California colleges. When the program has the necessary finances it provides books, school supplies, meal vouchers and gas cards. According to Vivian, specific programs under EOP&S give more services. For example, the Foster Youth program supplies students with gift cards to help pay for groceries and household essentials. The Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE) program, is also offered under EOP&S and gives aid to head of household single parents by providing them with gift cards, gas cards and care packages monthly. EOP&S services are available all semester, except for summer, and the applications are available one or two months before a new semester starts. Students who are interested in applying for fall 2019 can check in April at the EOP&S office to see if applications are available. “It’s a great program, we try to
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help out everyone,” Vivian said. “We are always trying to help homeless people, single parents, anyone you can think of, we are always trying to help students.” Another program on campus that assists students in need is the CalWORKs program, which is located in the Student Services building next to EOP&S. This program benefits students by offering educational planning, workstudy opportunities and career preparation. To qualify, students must be receiving cash aid from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Student Services Supervisor Breanne Holland describes the program as a way of motivating students to further their education in addition to obtaining a job. “We believe that instead of welfare to work, it is education to career,” Holland said. “Statistics have long proven the higher your education, the more likely you are to earn money, the more sustainable career and that’s what our motivation is in here.” CalWORKs has one of the largest work-study programs in the state and puts 80 to 100 students to work, on and off campus, each
semester. CalWORKs also supplies students with school supplies and gives students access to a lending library which allows students to use textbooks from the bookstore until they can pay for their books. The programs also assists with student transportation as well, like giving gas cards to get to school or workshops to help with their education or career goals, according to Holland. Duren-Hill reflected on how certain programs provided at ARC helped her while she was going to school. “I felt like the most helpful programs were CalWORKs and the CARE program because they provided food and a way to get to school and back,” Duren-Hill said. ARC’s Student Services division is aware of students in need, so in an effort to increase communication between programs, the Student Services Building and the Student Center teamed up during winter break. They started a shared Google Drive, a file storage service, where they are now in constant communication. They have resources to help direct students that show up to either place, according to Student Life
Supervisor Brett Sawyer. “We started it so if a student were to come to one of those programs and say ‘This is my situation,’ we can instantly provide resources,” Sawyer said. When it comes to finding a place to live, the Student Center keeps a binder where students can find places to rent, as well as to leave their information for others who are looking for tenants. The students workers in the Student Center are currently in the process of getting that information online, according to Sawyer. The Universal Engaging Inclusive Transforming Education (UNITE) program also has a list of shelters, non-profits and food banks that they have verified for students. The school also provides students with the Beaver Food Pantry, which is held twice a month in front of the gym. The college’s Hunger Resources Committee gets the food from the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services and encourage students and staff to bring their own bag. Duren-Hill says that despite all of its services, she feels that the school should also provide a space where students in need can voice their concerns to a group of people who can affect change on campus. “I wanted it be like a panel of important people to the school, who will listen and could actually make real change,” Duren-Hill said. “It would make students feel like they have a voice and they aren’t just a number.” After months of moving motel to motel, she now finds herself living in a shelter. Despite her current struggle with housing, Duren-Hill says she hopes to finish her education because she understands the importance of having a degree. “I want to go back to school to get a better future for my child and have a career or trade that gets me ahead in life,” Duren-Hill said.
Managing & Copy Editor Hannah Yates Photo & Multimedia Editor Ashley Hayes-Stone Arts & Culture Editor Patrick Hyun Wilson Opinion Editor Imani Smith Social Media Editor Alexis Warren Sports Editor Gabe Carlos Staff Anthony Barnes Ariel Caspar Thomas Cathey Katia Esguerra Irene Jacobs Breawna Maynard Emily Mello Makenna Roy Hameed Zargr y Faculty Adviser Rachel Leibrock Photo Adviser Josh Clemens Student Worker Luis Gael Jimenez
PROUD MEMBERS OF THE CNPA & JACC
PACESETTER AWARD WINNERS JACC STATE CONVENTION 2016
POLICY The Current is produced by the students of College Media Production, J410-413. All opinions are signed and not necessarily endorsed by the Current staff. All letters and articles appearing in the Editorial, Opinion or Forum sections are not necessarily representative of the Current staff or American River College policy. All articles are the property of the Current. Letters must be typed and can be submitted by mail, e-mail or in person at the following addresses: The American River Current 4700 College Oak Drive Portable Village 613A Sacramento, CA 95841 Phone: 916-484-8304 Fax: 916-484-8668 E-mail: Current@arc.losrios.edu www.ARCurrent.com
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Feb. 13, 2019
NEWS
AB 705 eliminates English and math placement tests HIGH SCHOOL GPA NOW DETERMINES PLACEMENT
By Jennah Booth jennahpage@gmail.com Students who are starting their general education at American River College this semester will see changes to their English and math level placement with the implementation of Assembly Bill 705, which has reduced the number of available lower level classes as well as eliminated the placement test. Signed by Governor Jerry Brown in October 2017 and put into effect Jan. 1, 2018, AB 705 is an amendment to Section 78213 of the Education Code, relating to community colleges. It is intended to increase the likelihood of community college students completing their transfer-level math and English requirements within one year, according to the AB 705 page of the California Community Colleges website. As of Feb. 1, the ARC Assessment Center is no longer administering standardized placement tests and students will no longer be required to take a test to determine their placement in English and math classes. Community colleges, including ARC, will use “high school coursework, high school grades, and high school grade point average(s)” to place students, according to the CCC. The bill also “authorizes the Board of Governors to establish regulations governing the use of measures, instruments and placement models” to ensure colleges
are maximizing the likelihood of students placing into transferlevel math and English classes and completing them within 12 months. As of the start of the spring semester, these changes have been fully implemented in the English department. ARC is no longer offering English classes that are lower than transfer-level and students are now placed into one of two transfer-level English writing classes, based partially on their high school GPA, according to ARC’s Dean of English Doug Herndon. “What’s available here now is regular English Writing 300 and then the set of classes we call English Writing 300-plus,” Herndon said. “So they’re a combo of classes and those include English Writing 300, plus English Writing 94, plus one section each of (Writing Across the Curriculum) or (Reading Across the Disciplines).” According to both English Reading department chair Cynthia Youngs and English Writing department chair Kathy Rodgers, who spoke with the Current last semester, the English Reading department is combining with the entire English Area. “This legislation … has the effective merging of the reading department with the English department and the idea is that it streamlines the path through the English composition sequence for students,” Rodgers said. ARC has gradually removed lower level classes over the past year, including English Writing 50
Photo by Jennah Booth | Editor-In-Chief As a result of AB 705, students are now placed directly into transfer-level English 300 or English 300-plus, which includes additional support like Reading Across the Disciplines (RAD) and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC).
CAMPUS PU
SE
“My pops, I’ve never met him. I’d ... ask him about sports and let him know that I’m doing big things.”
-NOAH KEYS Social Science Major
Photo by Jennah Booth | Editor-In-Chief Although the American River College Assessment Center will continue to administer tests in other areas, as of Feb. 1, 2019, it is no longer administering standardized placement tests for math or English.
and 101, according to Rodgers. The English Department will offer many more transfer-level English classes and higher level writing and literature courses taught by professors previously in the reading department, Rodgers said. The Mathematics Department has also made changes in accordance with AB 705, according to mathematics professor Cindy Bredek. Math placement is now similar to English, where students will be placed into a transfer-level math class, either with or without support based on high school GPA and the last math class a student has taken. Unlike the English Area though, there are still lower level math classes available through the Math Media Learning Center (MMLC), for students who feel they need the extra support. “Nobody will be placed there, but if they feel that they would want to take that, they most certainly can,” Bredek said. The only students who will be placed into lower level math classes are those majoring in the Business, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and have not taken Algebra 2 (Math 120). “(Math) 120 is not a transferlevel, but if you are declared to be a science or a business major and you did not have Algebra 2, which is 120, you have to take that,” Bredek said. “That’s really the only time that we would place somebody in a lower than transfer level class. Otherwise everyone gets placed in a transfer-level (class).”
The direct placement of students into transfer-level classes is intended to shorten the student journey through their English and math general education, something that many professors believed was drawn out by the placement test.
“There’s a lot of research that makes me very confident that ... students are really going to succeed using this model.” Doug Herndon Dean of English at ARC
“The belief is that if you’ve got lots of levels below transfer, that it really slows down how long it takes students to get to the transfer level,” Youngs said. “A lot of the tests and whatever devices people were using for placement were doing an extremely poor job.” Rodgers says she believes that the new placement method will provide a more accurate picture of where students should start their English general education. “We’re not able any longer to use, for the most part, our assessment test … instead they’re using multiple measures, which simply means kind of a mix of more holistic picture of the students’ academic preparation,” Rodgers said. “[T]he assessment test often did give students a lower placement than the new multiple measures placement will give them.” According to AB 705, “[a]ll com-
munity colleges are required to be in compliance with AB 705 no later than fall of 2019.” While ARC only recently implemented these changes, other California community colleges have already seen the benefits of changing the placement process. Research by the Public Policy Institute of California found that colleges that implemented a high school GPA-based placement process saw increased rates of students placed directly into transfer-level classes, as high as 77 percent for English and 67 percent for math. According to Herndon, students who feel they have been placed incorrectly have the option to petition their placement with a Petition to Re-Evaluate your Placement (PREP) form. “If students feel like they got placed incorrectly, they can go to the Enrollment Office or they can come [to the English Department Office] and we’ll hook them up with everything they need to challenge that process,” he said. Herndon encourages students who may feel confused or intimidated by the new English placement process to meet with their counselor. In the meantime, Herndon says the English Department staff recognize that students may face unexpected challenges. “I think our concern has always been that there may be students who don’t necessarily succeed in that model and as we work … we’ll figure out how to best serve those students,” he said. “It should work well, it’s just a lot of change for faculty and for students.”
If you could have dinner with one black person, alive or dead, for Black History month who would it be? “It would be Joy DeGruy, she wrote the book ... about how the effects of slavery had long-lasting effects on black people today.”
-JAMARIAH MORRIS Communications Major
“Dr. Martin Luther King because he inspired me to be great, love all people, and to see the light even when things are difficult.”
-LATRELL JAMES Anthropology Major
“I would dine with Sidney Poitier. I love his movies and his acting and I especially love the way that he spoke, too.”
-ISABEL CLEMENTE Kinesiology major
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Feb. 13, 2019
ARTS & CULTURE
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts and Culture Editor
James Kaneko Gallery intern, Frankie Vanity, demonstrates the virtual reality segment of the gallery’s current exhibition, “Ecotones,” an installation by Rachel Clarke which explores the artistic impact of modern digital technology, on Jan. 29, 2019.
Virtual space arrives at Kaneko Gallery By Katia Esguerra
katiaesguerra@gmail.com The advancement of digital technology has impacted the art world. Stepping into the Kaneko Gallery, you may not think it looks like much. However, the minimalist environment was a portal through a virtual reality space where art was experienced through iPads, headsets, remote controls, and a temporary dark room that moved the viewer through space. Art galleries are normally experienced through visual representations that often contain hidden meanings. In this transformative collaboration between technology and art, there were new ways in which viewers are able to experience the art. “Ecotones,” was an installation by Rachel Clarke, an art new media professor at Sacramento State University who shared her vision on the transition of ancient culture and contemporary issues in technology in the exhibit that closed Feb. 12. Those who experienced the installation said it took them to another world. “When I first put the headphones on it sounded like a nightmare, as the visuals came in, it was
relaxing,” animation major Marian Quintero said. “It reminded me of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, like going down a rabbit hole.” A temporary wall to hold a segment of the exhibit was built in the Kaneko Gallery, which took 10 hours to build. Clarke’s installment “Passage” is in the dark room with a projected video which transports the viewers through spacelike visuals and animation. Viewers experiencing the installation saw an iPad stand on movable tripods aimed towards a bright purple, blue, and orange colored canvas. Triangular shapes on the iPad struck a person’s eyes as they experience the animation of these shapes leaping from the screen.
“It reminded me of ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ like going down a rabbit hole.” Marion Quintero Animation Major
“We can’t see [the hidden visual world] and I wanted to try and reveal that. Making the invisible, visible,” Clarke said. “It’s something we share and it really is a way of
revealing our mind’s eyes.” Stephen Blumberg, a composition and music theory professor from California State University, Sacramento, transformed Clarke’s exhibit through the sonic, cultural and instrumental sounds that resonated from the art piece “From the End to the Beginning.” “All of these things are like a magical world where the sounds are associated with these objects and they help to create the sense of life and regeneration,” Blumberg said. The gallery sounds were taken from live recordings, instruments, and audio from a research trip to Tanzania. The art piece, when one entered inside this “magical world” was small, only a few steps forward and backwards allowed the viewers to interact with the items that resonated from the animated objects. “It’s very limited. If you look behind the cage you can see the landscape and the horizon but I can’t see more of that,” said Kobi Cha, a double major in accounting and arts. In addition, Clarke’s vision for this piece conveyed her thoughts on environmental regeneration and the kind of mindset one needs to get in to, to actually start to protect the planet and save it
Photo by Katia Esguerra | Staff Writer
An iPad displays a moving picture of an abstract painting hanging in the James Kaneko Gallery on Jan. 30, 2019.
from possible destruction. “It’s a small biosphere. Beyond the biosphere is this sort of damaged landscape with dead trees and nothing growing. A representation of contemporary environmental destruction,” Clarke said. “When you’re inside the dome, you are in the position of bringing life to this space.” Mathieu Cardinal, a Sacramento State graduate, used his coding experience to program this biosphere to bring life to Clarke’s vision. Ecotone, means a place where
biomes meet. The biomes of technology and art meet, turning the tables around for new media by allowing viewers to participate with the art one-on-one. Clarke recognized a way to combine music, technology, and her studio art profession as a way to experience this vision in an innovative way. “It’s also important to introduce artists the idea of collaboration and interdisciplinary work, working with sound, collaborating with other artists and the way we gathered our materials,” Blumberg said.
Arts & Culture: Schedule of Events Art Club at ARC displays fine art in library Kaneko Gallery
Jazz
Piece$
ARC Studio Jazz Ensemble
Work by Fan Lee Warren @ James Kaneko Gallery Feb. 19 - Mar. 14
Theater Twilight Zone
@ ARC Theatre main Stage Mar. 1 - Mar. 10 Mar. 1, 2, 8, 9 - 8 p.m. Mar. 3,10 - 2 p.m. Mar. 7 - 6:30 p.m.
Fashion Fashion show model call @ Arts & Science building Feb. 22 4:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
@ Woodcreek High School Feb. 21 7 p.m.
ARC Latin Jazz Ensemble @ Woodcreek High School Feb. 23 noon
Jazz Clinic with pianist Scott Collard @ Music building (Rm. 547) Feb. 26 3 p.m.
To find more A&C events at ARC, go to ARCurrent.com
By Patrick Hyun Wilson patrickhyunwilson@gmail.com At the start of the spring 2019 semester, studio art major Brad Carps, used the American River College library as a gallery space for members of the Art Club at ARC, creating a must-see exhibit. One piece, painted by studio art major Max Marchol, hangs on the top floor of the library stairwell, showing the torso and head of a turkey. The animal seems to radiate majestically out of the picturesque cloudscape behind it. Carps’ work hangs in the show as well, he says a piece of his titled “Epilepsy” came about when he was experimenting with different fluids during printmaking. The resulting experimental self portrait
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts & Culture Editor
Brad Carps, studio art major, hangs a nameplate beside his monoprint in the American River College library stairwell, on Feb. 4, 2019.
consumed by a wild inkspill pattern is irreplicable but imbues the piece with a sense of foreboding. The show will be available for viewing throughout the spring
semester and features work from other Art Club at ARC members such as Frankie Vanity, Jade Jacobs, and Jeff Armstrong.
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Feb. 13, 2019
FEATURE
Design technology students map campus with drones by Patrick Hyun Wilson patrickhyunwilson@gmail.com The sound of mechanical buzzing fills the air in the Student Center at American River College. Plastic propellers zip around the room while different groups of students control their movement. Occasionally the objects will impact the ground and a student will have to walk and pick up the drone from the ground preparing to try again. The American River College Design department launched experimental class DESGN 299 in spring of 2019. The unassuming title, Experimental Offering in Design Technology, doesn’t begin to show the breadth of what the class offers students. Every Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon, students at ARC spend time studying and mastering the technology of a drone under the tutelage of design professor Shane Lipscomb. Their class time is split between learning about the safe and proper operation of flying drones, and interpreting the data that the drones produce. Whether they want to bring a unique look to their wedding
videos or map a construction site, the skills students can learn in the class will give them a competitive edge in any industry. “It’s not about the drone, it’s about what the drone can do. So our focus is really on helping students figure out how to use drones,” said Lipscomb. Along with design technology department head Randy Schuster, Lipscomb formed the class after students in other classes showed an interest in drone technology. The creation of the drone class dates back to when a design student wanted to use the Design Hub’s 3-D printer to print the frame of a drone. Schuster assisted the student in his efforts, finding electronics for the frame and together they built a functional drone. Fellow students became interested in drone technology following the creation of the 3-D printed drone, so the students formed a drone club within the design technology department. “[The Design Hub] became the center for student focus when it came to drones,” Lipscomb said. “That’s when the administration started to say, ‘Well how can you guys do this correctly?’”
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts and Culture Editor Students of the drone class, Experimental Offering in Design Technology, gather around Sean Franklin (left), who describes the various operations that are available in the drone unit they were flying in the Student Center on Feb. 2, 2019.
Within other departments there was growing use of drone technology, the photography department was experimenting with drone usage — however there still wasn’t a devoted class
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts and Culture Editor The American River College drone class is an experimental course offered by the design department, providing students with the skills to operate drones in their respective careers and understand how to use the data collected by the drone.
for drones on campus. After the formation of the drone club and administrative interest in expanding the club further, Lipscomb and Schuster began to form the experimental class for drone technology. “(Schuster) is interested in pursuing things that students are interested in and things that could potentially be big for that next generation’s employment,” Lipscomb said. “It had to start somewhere.” Sean Franklin is one of the students who was in the drone club when it first formed in the Design Hub. He now studies aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis, however when Lipscomb called and asked him to assist with teaching the drone class, he jumped on the opportunity. “There are so many opportunities that you can have with drones,” Franklin said. “I’m tapping into some of those opportunities on the side.” Along with another teachers assistant, Franklin formed a company shooting wedding videos using drone technology. During class, students spend time flying drones in groups. They practice the controls while Lip-
scomb and Franklin, along with the other teachers, guide them and answer questions they have about the drones. The final project for the class requires a full knowledge of the operations of drone technology as well as an understanding of the data that the drone collects. Students in the class chose a site on campus and they will use the drones to make high resolution maps of their chosen site. John Cleveland, music recording major, chose the Child Development Center as his mapping site. He had never learned about drone mapping before, so the class was his first introduction to the drone’s ability to map areas. “I fly as a hobbyist so I had no idea what rules I was flying under, I could have been flying illegally the entire time I owned a drone.” Cleveland said.
ON THE WEB
To read about other classes on campus, go to ARCurrent.com
Solar energy stations offer renewable energy to students cont. from page 1 of the parking lots, and the Natomas Center and Public Safety Training Center campuses each received an electric vehicle charging station as well. The stations are mobile and can be moved to different locations on campuses when necessary to prevent damage. “We had a little vandalism with one of them at the Regional Public Safety Training Center,” Reid said. “But we moved it in and it seems to be a better place for it now.” The mobile units were placed on campus with the idea that they would be moved eventually, according to Reid, in order to be more accessible. “Initially we had it in our head that [the stations] were gonna go where they go, and that we would kind of build the infrastructure around where they landed and got moved to,” he said. “We’re kind of moving them around and micro-adjusting.”
Repainting the stripes on campus can be a long process, because it must go through the district and contractors, according to Reid. Once the permanent locations of the stations are determined, stripes will be painted to designate their spots so they will be more visible to students. “It’s just time-consuming,” Reid said. “[The parking spots] are going to get striped as ‘e’ (electric) only, it just hasn’t been done.” The trailers are manufactured by DC Solar Solutions, a company based in the San Francisco Bay Area that designs and produces solar and hybrid energy powered products. The company also pro-
“[With] these, you can actually sit down and enjoy the outside.” Johnny Garcia
Legal Assisting major
vides regular maintenance for the units when needed. DC Solar was a sponsor at CHESC to promote their services to universities. “[The keynote speakers] were saying, ‘If you want one of these solar-powered trailers ... go talk to [DC Solar] about getting one at your college,’” Reid said. “So I went out and said, ‘Are you talking to community colleges?’ And they said, ‘of course.’” At first, Reid wasn’t sure if ARC, as a community college, would qualify to receive the trailers, but he scheduled an appointment with the company to visit and survey the campus anyway. “[DC Solar] walked around campus ... and said, ‘You’re ‘going to need about 20 of these,’” Reid said. “That’s when they emphasized — these are all free. [The trailers] are all covered.” The deal had to be discussed with the district office lawyer, and then went to the vice president to review, which took around two
years according to Reid. “[DC Solar] came out for Earth Day a couple times recently, so we had scheduled an appointment with the vice president and president here to talk to [DC Solar’s] lawyer and president,” Reid told the Current last year. “They gave a five-minute pitch, and we moved forward on it. It all happened as soon as she signed it.” Although legal assisting major Johnny Garcia said he hasn’t used the outlets yet, he enjoys sitting at the tables and says they are more convenient than the library. “I think it’s a good use for people cause [more] often than not the library gets very full, and it gets to a point where you can’t find a plug and yeah it’s a little annoying,” Garcia said. “But [with] these, you can actually sit down and enjoy the outside. So if they could also place them around more places with trees that would be a little better.” Even if students aren’t charging their electronics, students like
Garcia may benefit having the tables in other high traffic areas. “If I had to pick somewhere, I would say more [stations] by the lunch area and maybe ... in front of the library,” he said. According to Reid, any of the other three colleges in the Los Rios Community College District can receive solar trailers for their own campuses since the negotiations were completed. “[The trailers] could go to CRC very easily,” Reid said. “Now that the contracts are all in place from our district office, Sac City, Cosumnes, and Folsom Lake College can all have these.” Reid said that signs will be added to the benches for those who are unsure what the outlet stations are or how to use them, and then eventually, umbrellas. “Right now there’s a couple of them that need some love,” he said. “It’s nothing to do with how wonderful we think they are.”
6
Feb. 13, 2019
SPORTS
Athlete balances two sports and school at ARC By Makenna Roy
makennaroy@gmail.com It’s all a balancing act. Many college freshman are tasked with having to adjust to the pacing of their new courses but athletes are also trying to figure it out in between practices and games. From training, to classes and back to practice and ending the day with finishing assignments, wake up and that twice. This was the reality for 18-year-old American River College freshman, women’s volleyball and softball player Rachel Harvell. “I was originally just going to play volleyball and was going to quit softball, but I had a couple of friends that persuaded me into going out and talking to the [softball] coach and seeing if I liked the program,” Harvell said. “I went out to one practice and the coaches were super nice and really focused on me as an individual.” Playing two sports wasn’t Harvell’s intention, but she says that
after going and seeing the program first hand and watching how there were coaches focused on individual positions and on the players, she thought it would be a good match. For Harvell, the hardest part about the entire process was getting her footing, when she began to take on both sports. “It’s fun [playing both sports] definitely two different worlds, but the girls are great,” Harvell said. Learning to adjust to not only one practice schedule and classes, but two, was difficult for Harvell, but she says it became easier because she felt as though she had found a support system that was always behind her with her teammates. “All the girls are literally so understanding,” Harvell said. “It’s almost like having two separate families, which is really cool that I have that sense of support all the time.” Even through Harvell has support systems with her team, she
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo Editor and Multimedia Editor
Multi-sport athlete Rachel Harvell said she feels that playing two sports and going to school can be difficult at times. “There are definetly times where I felt overwhelmed doing both practices, [it] was exhausting at times,” Harvell said.
said that at times finding the right balance between everything still had its challenges. “I really enjoyed [playing both sports], it was a little exhausting but definitely worth it both teams were great and very welcoming but it was a little tough at times when I would go back to back from one practice to another,” Harvell said. While constantly jumping from practice to practice, Harvell said that she found herself always busy and to make sure that she had a plan and was able to keep everything in line. She found herself scheduling everything. “I think my calendar probably helped me the the most so I could stay on track with school and other activities,” Harvell said. When it came down to it, Harvell says she had to find a way to create some balance between everything that she was pursuing, from sports to school. Even if she was able to find herself a way to ease her stress in the slightest, in this case writing and scheduling everything she said she was going to take it. “There are definitely times where I felt overwhelmed doing both practices. [It] was exhausting at times,” Harvell said. All of her hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Harvell’s softball teammate, Jennifer Bartholdi, who has watched her transition from travel softball into a collegiate athlete, has watched her take the challenge and face it head on. “Rachel really took the crazy schedule in stride and ran with it,” Bartholdi said. “I never once saw Rachel struggle with balancing the two sports. She makes it look easy to be honest.” Bartholdi says through this experience she has been able to see Harvell become a better athlete and has watched her passion for the sports grow. “You can tell Rachel doesnt play because shes good at it,” Bartholdi said. “Rachel plays because she loves it, her passion for both sports drives her to do better and be better at every opportunity”. Mariah Lewis, teammate and friend of Harvell, says that since they have graduated high school
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo Editor and Multimedia Editor
American River College athlete Rachel Harvell balances playing volleyball and softball at ARC. Harvell enjoys playing both sports as it brings a challenge to herself.
she has seen Harvel become a more driven and focused version of herself. “She has grown as a person while transitioning into playing sports in college. She’s becoming very determined and persistent in almost everything she does,” Lewis said. “Once she starts something, or she wants to do something I have no doubt in my mind that she will accomplish it.” Harvell says that, overall, her plans for after ARC are still unde-
cided. Harvell says she’s planning on a double major in psychology and sociology, but hasn’t decided where she plans on transferring. Harvell said that in regards to playing sports after ARC that she hasn’t fully ruled out the possibility of continuing to play softball when she transfers, but right now her focus is on the near future. “I am planning on playing both sports next year but only time will tell if it works out that way,” Harvell said.
Men’s basketball looking for playoff push after big win By Anthony Barnes
anthonylbarnes@gmail.com After a season high five-game losing skid, the American River College men’s basketball team is coming off a two-game winning streak and are hoping that this momentum can carry them into the playoffs.
“We came together and figured out what we needed to do, switched things around and figured it out.” Thomas Edwards Small Forward
The team is coming off a 24-point win over Diablo Valley College on Feb. 5 and now have their sights set on the playoffs. Head Coach Mark Giorgi talked about what it could take to make
the postseason. “It’s going to be where we finish in conference, we would definitely be in if we finish in the top four,” Giorgi said. Coach Giorgi also expressed that taking care of home court would be key in closing out the season as well. “We have four home games and two away, we’re trying to win those four at home for sure.” Giorgi said the team has a simple goal as the season winds down. “Just win. We’re just trying to get to the playoffs and then anything can happen.” Sophomore guard Thomas Edwards spoke on the five-game losing streak and what caused them to slump. “We weren’t clicking, we weren’t playing together as a team like we normally did in the first fourteen games of the season,” Edwards said. “Our attitude and our team chemistry was out of sync”. Despite that stretch, Edwards expressed optimism for the remaining games of the season.
Photo by Anthony Barnes | Staff Writer
American River College basketball players look on during a three-on-three scrimmage at practice on Feb. 6, 2019.
“I feel confident, we have enough guys that are healthy to get the job done,” he said. Third year guard Armoni Rivers echoed similar optimism when talking about making the playoffs. “We came together and figured out what we needed to do, switched things around and fig-
ured it out,” he said. Rivers also noted the teams style of play had improved as well. “Were starting to move the ball like we used to and being a lot more selfless, hopefully we can get a few more going.” The Beavers are currently 14-8 after the team’s win in Modesto
on Feb. 8. The Beavers next home game will be Feb. 14 against San Joaquin Delta.
ON THE WEB For more sports coverage, read at the AR Current website.
7
Feb. 13, 2019
OPINION
CURRENT EDITORIAL
Rave Alert system isn’t enough By Current Editorial Board current@arc.losrios.edu
On Feb. 14, 2018, the American River College community held its collective breath as the campus was placed on lockdown after reports of an armed man on campus. Los Rios Community College District’s emergency communications system failed students that day as it sent out a cryptic message warning students to stay clear of “area xxx.” A potential shooter could have been roaming the campus and students were left totally unprepared for a lockdown situation — wondering what to do, how to protect themselves and if they were in immediate danger. Should they leave the classroom, barricade the door, or hide under their desks like they were taught in grade school? To make matters worse, ARC’s lockdown came hours after the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida, during which a gunman opened fire at Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 students and staff and injuring 17 others. In the wake of the shooting and for the first 15 minutes of the Rave Alert, students and faculty had no idea where the potential danger was located on ARC’s campus. While nothing ever came of the reported gunman on campus, this event shone a light though the holes in ARC’s and Los Rios’ emergency procedures and alert system; holes the administration, the district and the LRPD all promised to patch for the sake of their students’ safety. Almost exactly a year later, nearly nothing has changed. On the evening of Dec. 11, 2018, a masked man approached 41-year-old librarian Amber Clark in the North Natomas Library parking lot, which is shared with ARC’s Natomas Center satellite campus. The man, later identified as Ronald Seay, fatally shot Clark before fleeing the scene as Los Rios community college students were attending classes only a few hundred feet away. Students and staff across the district
Photo illustration by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor In the case of an active shooter or other threat on campus, American River College should do more to prepare its students and faculty on emergency procedures.
were notified by a Rave Alert that there was a crime in progress at the Natomas Center and to avoid the area. ARC’s Public Information Officer Scott Crow confirmed that the Natomas Center was on lockdown during the emergency and said they were alerted to the situation through Rave Alerts. “At that time the Natomas Center was shut down as a precautionary measure,” Crow said. But if students at the Natomas Center were notified of the lockdown through Rave Alerts, students at ARC and throughout the rest of the district were left in the dark, as the messages they received never mentioned a lockdown or a shooting. Some students did not receive any emergency notifications at all, like psychology major Alexis Prokes, who was attending class at the Natomas Center the night of the shooting. “I did not actually know what was happening until a friend of mine who wasn’t even on campus anymore texted me asking if everything was OK,” Prokes said.
In theory, sending out a school-wide notification is the most efficient way of alerting students, but the margins of error that come with the system of communication are far too wide and students and staff are left unprepared if and when the system fails them. Adding an intercom system throughout campus would serve as a backup to notify everyone on campus of any potential threats and would serve as an efficient backup to Rave Alerts. Crow says that in order for students to receive Rave Alert notifications to their cell phones, they must have a current phone number on their student profile. “In order to receive these alerts it’s really important that students go into eServices to update their emergency information,” Crow said. If a student recently changed their cell phone number or got a new phone they might be left clueless as to any life-threatening incidents occurring on or around campus. With such a large student population and a very open campus, it is critical
that every student and faculty member be aware and prepared for any emergency situation. Not every student owns a cell phone or carries one regularly. Also, most instructors require students to turn off their devices while in class. Without a cell phone, Rave Alerts simply will not work. In the event of a possible on-campus shooting, all students and faculty should be provided with the proper techniques to protect themselves. Prokes says she has never had a professor go over the proper procedure in the case of a lockdown on ARC’s campus. “I’ve never actually had a teacher go over what to do just in case something like that does happen now that I’m really thinking about it,” Prokes said. “Run, hide, fight” is the U.S Department of Homeland Security’s “best advice” for people who find themselves in a mass shooting situation. Although ARC offers faculty active shooter training throughout the year, it is only done upon request by each department on campus, according to Crow. “Training is an ongoing process, not a one-time thing and these kinds of trainings are done on a department level upon request,” Crow said. In the case of an active shooter entering campus, there should be absolutely no uncertainty about what to do. Students should expect the school they’re attending to provide them with the tools and resources to keep them safe. The LRPD and the Rave Alert system does the best they can to provide security, alerts and emergency response, but safety takes more than that. It takes preparation — and an unreliable alert system is not enough. Nobody ever wants to think that something as horrific as an active-shooter situation would ever happen here, but if we’ve learned anything from the lockdown a year ago and again in December, it’s that situations like that happen closer to home than we’d like to believe.
Hair and heritage
EMBRACING A NATURAL PART OF ME By Makenna Roy makennaeroy@gmail.com Throughout the history of this country, black women have been trained to not speak too loud and to keep their opinions quiet so they can blend into the background and take up as little space as possible. It can be hard to stay in the shadows and not bring attention to yourself when the hair sitting on top of your head has already done the talking for you. Recently I’ve noticed more black women than ever wearing their hair natural, but just because it’s more common doesn’t mean that all of the hurdles that women who have worn their hair natural have faced in the past are gone. In 2019, black women are not being subjected to the physical hair pulling of the ‘60s, but they are still dealing with the stereotypes connected to the historical mistreatment of black women regarding their hair. From the unwanted advances to touch a black woman’s hair to the condescending comments about the height or the space it occupies, these encounters haven’t gone away but instead have shifted to underhanded remarks. I’m not saying that these are the realities that all black women who wear their hair natural face, but I am
speaking from experience. Hair type and texture are not the defining factor of a person, not all people who have very curly or kinky hair think the same or have the same opinions. Just because people have hair that appears similar doesn’t make them one and the same. Dronme Davis, a sociology and African American studies major at American River College, says her natural hair has impacted her choices in regards to her education. “[There’s] this continuous barrier to jump over and I want to be true to myself, I want to be proud and natural but then I also have to consider realistically, ‘Is this going to affect the school that I get into?’” Davis said. In my experience it can be hard when I go class and want to participate, but feel as through I am unable to because I have “black hair” and whatever I say is going to be twisted and made to seem radical or race related. “In education they talk about how important collaborative learning is and everybody can sit together and share their opinions, that’s great and that’s beautiful but there’s a whole group of people that every time we do that, we get bashed for it,” Davis said. When you are constantly surrounded by a society that believes in
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Edior Black women have been historically criticized for their natural hair. Today, they find power in embracing how they choose to wear their hair, natural or otherwise.
the ‘loud black woman’ stereotype, it can be hard to find the right words to say. In a time where anything you say can negatively impact all who look like you, your words have to be carefully crafted and thought out. If you make one misstep as a black woman, not only will your points and opinions be invalidated, but you risk the possibility of people forming an opinion for all black women based on your singular statement. Black women are faced with the daily decision to continue wearing their hair naturally or succumb to to the pressures that society places upon those who choose to wear their natural hair with pride. “It’s so damaging growing up
in this world where the media and society is telling you that the thing growing out of your head is going to be what stops you from getting job opportunities,” Davis said. “From making friends, from having relationships, from being seen and taken seriously.” There can be uncertainty and fear when all you want to do is embrace a piece of you that connects you with your heritage but are afraid that it may stop you from being taken seriously because it is seen as dirty, messy and unkempt. But with more and more black women embracing their natural hair, we are able to feel an emerging sense of comradery. Although this discussion may seem miniscule
to others, black women have been able to gain a sense of togetherness through embracing a part of themselves that society has historically degraded them for. “We’re really taught that realizations happen overnight and selflove happens overnight, but this feeling of black women feeling shame for their hair is centuries and centuries long and so you have to be patient with yourself in getting over it,” Davis said. In a society where black women are constantly feeling shame for a natural part their bodies, acceptance can be easier to find when others who have the same features are engaging in a similar journey.
8
Feb. 13, 2019
PHOTO ESSAY
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts & Culture Editor
Dance major Latraye Allen performs a hip-hop routine in a dance studio at American River College, on Feb. 6, 2019. Allen is enrolled in the Dance Production: Studio and Stage class and says his main focus is in hip-hop dancing.
The legacy of dance
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor
Cat Vandervan, teaching assistant, leads warm ups in the American River College dance studio during Dance Production: Studio and Stage, on Feb. 6, 2019.
By Patrick Hyun Wilson & Ashley Hayes-Stone
patrickhyunwilson@gmail.com & ashgstone@gmail.com
Music echoes off the walls of the dance studio. The wall of mirrors extends the room beyond its natural edge and students of dance warm up and practice their moves. Sunny Smith has taught dance at American River College for 20 years. She says her goal is to prepare students for the dance industry in all aspects. “You can’t perform forever, so you’ve got to know how to teach,” Smith said. She is planning to tour between various high schools in the Sacramento area, introducing students to ARC’s dance program, throughout the spring semester. The dance program offers Production: Studio & Stage where students can learn to choreograph. The program additionally offers classes in ballet, jazz, hip-hop and contemporary, which are transferable to a four-year college. ARC will host the Dance Spring Concert from May 17 to 19, on the ARC Main Stage.
Photo by Ashley Hayes-Stone | Photo and Multimedia Editor
Dance major, Jeremy Xiong break-dances in a dance studio at American River College during the Dance Production: Studio and Stage class, on Feb. 6, 2019. Xiong describes himself as a b-boy.
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts & Culture Editor
Is Foss assists fellow dance student José-Antonio Gomez as he practices his form during his warm-up in Dance Production: Studio and Stage class at American River College, on Feb. 6, 2019. Gomez is a first-year student in the dance program.
Photo by Patrick Hyun Wilson | Arts & Culture Editor
Dance major Kenedi Patania warms up during the Dance Production: Studio and Stage class on Feb. 6, 2019.