Warrior Life Spring 2012

El Camino College | Spring 2012

EDITOR’S PICKS

summer travel on a student budget

Trouble in Paradise

Vacation to Mexico turns scary

Jolene Combs An influential professor will be remembered

Table of Contents 03 Letter from the Editor

22 No-Mobile Phobia

04 Vacation to the Frontline

One student’s cell phone addiction turns into a life dependency.

Lauren Fletcher

Jorge Maldonado

Mexico’s drug war turns a sunny afternoon into a dark adventure for one student.

24 A D.R.E.A.M.

08 Generations of Culture

daniela messarina

Samantha Troisi

One family’s traditions keep their Italian heritage alive.

10 Signs of Life Eman Elshiyab

Through American sign language, Barbara Gomez educates students about the deaf community.

12 Jolene Combs Viridiana Vaca-Rios A teacher’s legacy remembered.

16 Shaping Ceramics Mike Botica

Mounds of clay transformed into works of art.

20 A Home for Everyone Lauren Neuroth

Foster parents learn the empathy, patience and understanding needed to raise a child in EC’s Foster and Kinship Education Program.

for the Future

Undocumented students bring activism to campus.

26 Beyond the Billboard Mary Alvarez

Students turn off the radio and listen to alternative sounds.

28 Editor’s Picks Top three getaways and colorful fashion must-haves for the summer.

32 Murdock Stadium Shaped EC History

Jorge Camarillo

After 60 years, the doors to the iconic stadium will close its’ doors.

34 Hello, My Name Is? Diane Vay

English names take on a deeper meaning for international students.

36 Ask the President Ashley Curtin

Tom Fallo sits down and answers some personal questions about his life outside EC. Warrior Life is published every fall and spring by El Camino College journalism students. The office is located in Room 113 of the Humanities Building at 16007 Crenshaw Blvd. Torrance, CA 90506.

Single copies of Warrior Life are free to members of the campus community and visitors. Additional copies are 25 cents and may be requested from the office or by calling 310-660-3328 during the fall and spring semesters.

To advertise, contact the Student Publication Advertising Office: 310-660-3329 or ElCoUnionAds000@yahoo.com.

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Letter from

the Editor

Life is the animate existence of an individual through a period of time. It is formed by the choices we face, the experiences we go through and the sacrifices we make. Through self-discovery in our environments, life teaches us about ourselves, and allows us to learn things about others that would otherwise go unnoticed.

And throughout EC there is life.

The campus reflects the diverse practices and submissions of each student and faculty member, which therefore defines their existence.

A group of students rallied around each other to bring awareness and be the voice of undocumented students on campus, while another student is keeping her Italian heritage alive through traditions. From a student who went to the frontline of Mexico’s drug war to an American sign language instructor who is educating her students about the deaf community, these are life stories.

Comprised of talented writers, creative designers and extremely supportive advisers, this edition of Warrior Life tells the sentient tales of the lives of individuals on campus.

As you get a glimpse into their worlds, I hope you enjoy reading and take with you a little bit of each life.

Editorial Staff

Editor-in-Chief Ashley Curtin Photo Editor Mike Botica

Photographers Kyle Borden Mike Botica Vicki Stephenson Kyle Ward

Staff Writers Advisers Mary Alvarez Kate McLaughlin Jorge Camarillo Lori Medigovich Eman Elshiyab Lauren Fletcher Jorge Maldonado Daniela Messarina Lauren Neuroth Samantha Troisi Viridiana Vaca-Rios Diane Vay

Design & Production

Lead Designers Production Assistants Del Parvazi Johnross Gatlin Dylan Cunningham Jennifer Oh Mandy Peters Design Team Blair Tisius Michael Cruz Chelsea Weiss Ashton Fenderson Oscar Orozco Additional Illustration/ Linley Regalado Photography Manato Ushiyama Carolina Chavez Michael Cruz Angelica Flores Professor Del Parvazi Joyce Dallal Oscar Orozco Art 143 Digital Design and Publishing

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Vacation to the Frontline: Drug Cartels, Armed Men Men, and Snow Cones

By Lauren Fletcher

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“He called out of the truck at me, ‘What’s up? Give me your number.’ I kept telling him, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ Usually, when you say that, they leave. I didn’t realize he was some dangerous kind of guy.

But, when he opened the door of the truck, he had a huge gun in his lap,” Carina Gomez, 25, paralegal studies major, recalled of an unexpected and dangerous encounter during a recent visit to see her grandmother in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Many of us take trips home on school breaks to visit our family.

Sometimes those visits take us to other countries. During these trips, it’s relatively rare to hear a pickup line by a heavily armed man, or watch someone pull a gun on a helpless stranger. But this sort of behavior takes place in many areas of Mexico every day.

It had been about three years since Carina Gomez last visited the northern part of Sinaloa, the mid-western part of Mexico, to see her grandmother. As she began to reminisce about her travels to Mexico, she spontaneously decided to plan a trip in mid-January. But, while she knew of the violence in the area, she said it didn’t faze her.

“I really didn’t pay much attention to it,” Gomez said. “I figured I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’m a female and I thought most of the crime that happens over there had to do with the cartels or were against men. And, I knew if I wasn’t going to go during winter break, I was definitely not going once school started. The idea came into my head, and I said, ‘Why not?’”

The area of Sinaloa, where Gomez’s grandmother lives, is mainly influenced by three drug cartels, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, published by The New York Times in 2011. These are the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas Cartel and Beltrán Levya Cartel.

Mexican drug cartels have been fighting it out for territorial control in an escalating series of bloody and frequently fatal armed battles.

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Although Mexican drug cartels have existed for decades, they have renewed and extended their power since the demise of Colombia’s Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s, according to a 2007 Congressional Research Service Report for Congress. And in 2009, there were nearly 19,000 murders in Mexico, making it the sixth most dangerous country in the world, according to Latin Dispatch magazine.

Not surprisingly, Gomez’s mom, Maria, had some trepidation about her daughter’s visit to Sinaloa.

“I was scared that she went alone, but I figured it was fine since it wasn’t the first time she was there,” she said.

There are many smuggling hot zones along the 1,951-mile U.S.-Mexico border including El Paso, Texas; Laredo, Texas; Pinal County, Ariz.; and Nogales, Ariz. These areas are commercial gateways for many legitimate products such as watermelons and tomatoes, as well as illegitimate products, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

bringing back memories of the trips she remembered taking when she was a child.

“Everything was normal,” she said. “People did their errands, shopped; my experience was normal.

Of course I did hear a lot of people talking about [the violence] that’s going on.”

However, boredom from being in one place and a desire to do some sightseeing soon set in. Gomez said she wanted to spend some time with her close friend that lived in the area.

So, Gomez pleaded with her grandmother to allow her to go with her friend to visit the main town of Mocorito, about 30 minutes away.

Her grandmother didn’t like the idea. But, to Gomez’s delight, she relented.

“As a tourist, even though I don’t consider myself a tourist, I wanted to get a different view, see the sights and hang out with someone my own age,” Gomez said.

The two women started in the city of Guamuchil, shopping and eating before heading to the main town of Mocorito. They viewed the sights, went inside the main church in the center of the town and walked around a small shopping plaza surrounded by a garden.

“It was a very traditional Mexican village like a pueblo,” Gomez said.

They took a break from all the shopping and stopped at a small street stand to purchase raspados; a Mexican snow cone is how Gomez described it.

When they started walking again, Luisa asked Gomez if she noticed a blue truck slowly driving by while they were ordering. Too engrossed in her snow cone, Gomez hadn’t noticed.

Her friend told her the two men in the truck were referred to as sicarios in Spanish, or hired assassins when translated into English.

“I didn’t see them and I was glad,” Gomez said.

“I would have been scared.”

Before heading back to her grandmother’s house, Luisa started a conversation with a women she knew.

“The driver gets out and points his gun at the old man in the car, and starts saying, ‘Calm down! Wait, or I’ll shoot you!’”

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And while college officials for many Texas universities warned students to stay away from Cancun for the 2012 spring break, stories continue to illustrate the dangers of traveling to the inexpensive and once-popular vacation spots.

But for Gomez, it was a tour through the picturesque paradise that’s been attracting tourists for decades. She took the long way down south, hopping on a shuttle bus out of Huntington Park, which took about 24 hours for the more than 1,000-mile, one-way trip.

“It was really nice. You got to see the view, the different parts of the country—from the desert out to the beach,” she said.

Once Gomez arrived at her grandmother’s, the first week of her trip was smooth and easy going,

As the two women continued talking to each other over the traffic, Gomez started to get a little bored, but unwilling to leave her only friend in the area and head back alone, she waited.

That’s when the once bright, tourist-friendly day quickly turned scary.

“That’s when I saw the blue truck coming up,” Gomez said. “They stopped in the middle of the street. The passenger called out of the truck at me, ‘What’s up? Give me your number,’” she remembered. “I kept telling him, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ Usually, when you say that, they leave. I didn’t realize he was some dangerous kind of guy. But when he opened the door of the truck, he had a huge gun in his lap.”

A line of about 10 cars had formed behind the truck during this brief coversation, Gomez said.

“The weird thing was, no one was honking,” she recalled. “They all just waited there.”

That is, until an elderly man driving a Volkswagen honked his horn.

“Both the driver and the passenger (of the blue truck) get out, and they have huge guns,” Gomez said. “The driver points his gun at the old man in the car and starts saying, ‘Calm down! Wait, or I’ll shoot you!’”

Sensing the situation was getting out of control, Gomez offered to give her number to the passenger of the truck if he would get his gun-wielding friend to just leave the man alone.

Thankfully, Gomez said the ruse worked and the passenger called the driver over for his cell phone.

As persistent as he was, he didn’t have pen or paper to write down her number.

The two men then tried talking some more to the women, but, perhaps realizing they were scaring them, decided to finally leave. Before driving away, the passenger looked at Gomez and offered a parting salute by saying, “You impressed me, you left me in awe.” Then the truck drove away.

After they left, a bystander spoke up.

“She told us we need to be careful because they

could have easily taken us with them,” Gomez said.

“I’m not going to lie; during that time, I felt like the city just stopped. Nobody was really doing anything; maybe watching or hiding, because anything could have gone on. And, remember, it was right in front of city hall.”

In a report issued by The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment, it estimated that Mexican cartels receive $39 billion from drug trafficking alone. And in April, Fox News announced that Mexican officials determined there were 47,515 people killed in drug-related violence in Mexico between December 2006 and September 2011.

The day Gomez was returning home, she saw a truck full of armed men wearing bulletproof vests.

“And, you want to know the weird thing?” she asked, “the police didn’t do anything. They would see the guys and look the other way. The gunmen usually had bigger guns than the police did.”

Gomez isn’t the only EC student impacted by the drug war.

Genaro Gonzalez, 30, undecided major, has a godfather who lives in Mexico and while it’s been about 10 years since his last visit, he has no plans to visit that area any time soon.

“My godfather told me these crazy stories about being in a night club and shots being fired and people throwing severed heads into the club,” Gonzalez said. “And they wonder why I haven’t visited in about a decade.”

After such a harrowing experience, Gomez said it wouldn’t stop her from going back in the near future.

“I would totally go again,” she said. “Of course, this time I wouldn’t go alone. I don’t think women should go there alone anymore. If my mom went, I would go. And, I wouldn’t go out anywhere without my family along.”

Maps courtesy of Automobile Club of Southern California

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Generations

 of Culture

Pasta, pets and the unbreakable bond of one Italian-American family

By Samantha Troisi

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My hands are covered in crumbs as I pound away at the bag of Ritz crackers, part of my uncle’s famous baked shrimp recipe. I can smell the cod on the grill and the fresh clams that were just caught today. They’ll be the perfect compliment to the pasta and gravy my family has been making for generations.

It’s the Feast of the Seven Fishes, a southern Italian tradition on Christmas Eve, which is only one of many that has made me into the person I am today.

Defining who you are is something that everyone works toward.

Some people define themselves by the clothes they wear or the career they’ve worked so hard for, but others look to their ancestors and where they came from.

For me, there’s no question about it. I’m a southern Italian girl, raised in America, with spaghetti veins and gravy for blood. I’ve been whacked, spanked and chased with a wooden spoon for the majority of my childhood and wear the scars like a badge of honor.

I know it’s not the same for everyone. America is a melting pot and it seems to me like being 100 percent of anything anymore is a rarity. I have a bit of French in my blood, even though my Sicilian father will never admit it.

But even if someone doesn’t know exactly where his or her culture begins or ends, Gregory Smith, cultural anthropology instructor, said there is no such thing as human nature without it.

“It seems to be important for humans to define themselves and also be a part of a group,” he said. “Life is about relationships. It gives our lives meaning because we’re social beings.”

Social beings? He’s got that right.

Whenever my family—and when I say family I mean aunts, uncles, cousins and pets—get together for dinner, we resemble a circus.

Puppies speed in and out from under the tables and in between the legs dangling from chairs, while my aunts’ voices peck away at each other and the men in the family pay no attention to any of it.

And I don’t blame them.

In my family, volume control doesn’t exist, and I’m sure the neighbors think we’re angry all the time, when really we’re just having a nice family chat.

Thankfully, I’m not the only Italian with a family like this and for some students, language is the most important aspect of their culture to preserve.

“It’s the Italian language that really got to me, it’s beautiful,” Myra Hongola, president of the Italian Club and film major, said. “It’s part of who I am, it’s in my roots and I’m completely fascinated by the language.”

Hongola remembers that after her parents divorce, she grew up with the presence of an Italian woman from the Tuscan region whom she called Nona.

Nona would ask for espresso and biscuits in Italian and eventually Hongola caught on to the language.

“Every morning she would have her espresso and biscuits, which was funny to me at the time because I was a cereal kind of kid,” Hongola said. “She only spoke Italian and when she’d ask my dad for breakfast he would complain that he didn’t understand what she was saying. Eventually, I caught on to certain words and phrases and would say, ‘Dad, she just wants some coffee.’ He was so surprised that I understood.”

My great grandparents, who came from the fields of Sicily at the bottom of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula, passed on many traditions that usually had something to do with food and eating. My family had favorites, such as stuffed shells with fresh ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Hangola’s family

had their own favorites, some shared by my family as well, including eggplant parmigian and lasagna. (Thanks, Nana, for all those carbs.)

While these Italian recipes have been passed down through the generations, traditional foods are a part of many different cultures. Erika Barbero, president of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) Club and Latin American studies major, takes part in a sweeter tradition with her family, one that comes not only from being half Mexican and half Guatemalan, but also from her Catholic heritage.

“To honor the three wise men visiting baby Jesus, we bake a big cake with a little baby Jesus figurine in the batter,” Barbero said. “Whoever gets the slice with baby Jesus is supposed to have good luck.”

Barbero said that finding her culture wasn’t an easy task. Her parents wanted to assimilate to American culture to be accepted and understanding her culture was a journey she had to take by herself.

“I appreciate the history of Mexico and where I came from so much,” she said. “My grandfather would tell me about what it was like growing up on a ranch where he had to work all the time and it’s very different from an American lifestyle.”

It’s stories like those, Barbero said, that have helped her find a deeper understanding of herself and the beauty of her culture.

“People have an idea of the history of Mexico, but they don’t always truly understand the beauty of it,” she said.

“Hearing my grandfather’s stories make me want to work hard and have a purpose. I want to do (my relatives) the favor of going to college and getting a degree.”

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Signs of Life American sign language lecturer shares her world with students.

By Eman Elshiyab

“To everyone else, being deaf is sad; to me, it’s wonderful.”

Barbara Gomez

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Her hand rises as she is about to sign a few words in front of a class of 30. She begins to get nervous while her heartbeat pounds through her chest and 60 eyes watch her hands delicately move up and down, left to right while her fingers interlock and intertwine.

Students gaze in amazement not knowing what she is signing and wondering why she has yet to use her voice, until an interpreter begins to speak for her.

“My name is Barbie, I am your instructor, and, yes, I am completely and utterly deaf,” the interpreter said.

“After today, I will no longer have an interpreter, now, who wants to drop?”

Barbara Gomez, better known as Barbie to her family and friends, is a deaf American sign language lecturer, who has been teaching beginning and intermediate American sign language (ASL) here for almost 19 years.

She was born deaf into a hearing family and grew up in Riverside, Calif., surrounded by a large community of deaf people.

According to National Studies, Riverside has a large population of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, in which the study indicated that approximately 17 percent of the total population of the city is deaf.

Growing up in this community, Gomez said her childhood was an exciting journey.

Around the age of 3, she realized she was different from her peers, but she remembers thinking there was nothing wrong with being deaf.

Although she had hearing parents, she accepted her disability and said

she has always been proud of who she is as a person.

“I have never wished to hear and I have never been ashamed about being deaf,” Gomez said.

But the communication barrier between Gomez and her parents was frustrating at times. Growing up, her parents never learned sign language because they were busy with daily responsibilities, she said. But, as a family, they managed to communicate through alternative ways.

“I was never able to really talk to my parents,” Gomez said. “They wished I could hear and I wished they were deaf. It was frustrating having to constantly write back and forth, but we accepted it.”

At the age of 5, Gomez was enrolled in the California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSDR) located in Riverside, where she learned sign language for the first time.

This boarding school provides educational instruction and extra-curricular activities to a community of deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The school’s goal is to prepare students to succeed in educational, social and career opportunities, according to the school’s website.

Gomez lived at CSDR for 18 years and only saw her family during winter and summer school vacations.

There, she learned about the social aspect and meaning behind deaf culture, while constantly being surrounded by deaf students.

“I loved school so much,” Gomez said. “It was just like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter film, except being deaf was our type of magic.”

After graduating from CSDR, she continued her college education at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. before transferring to Golden West College in Huntington Beach where she graduated with a degree in liberal studies.

Shortly after her graduation, she met her husband, Guy Gomez, in church where they were immediately drawn to each other and, after a few dates, decided to get married.

Unlike Gomez, her husband was born hearing into a large deaf family.

But with age and genetic inheritance, he has gradually become hard-ofhearing.

“I had no idea he could hear when I met him because his entire family spoke American sign language twenty-four seven,” Gomez said. “And although he could hear and speak well, his heart and mind are deaf.”

After eight years of being married and two miscarriages later, Gomez didn’t think she was capable of having children. But “by a miracle of God,” as she referred to it, she had her firstborn, hearing child, Gabriel, who is 21 years old.

“I named him after the angel, Gabriel,” she said. “Because he is my miracle baby, my angel.”

About a year later, Gomez was surprised with another “gift from God.” She and her husband welcomed their daughter, Talia, 20 years of age, who was also born hearing, into their lives.

Gomez said she always had a passion for children and when her son and daughter were born, her life was finally complete.

“I now have the ‘American Dream,’” she said, referring to starting a family.

Raising her son and daughter came naturally to her, Gomez said. She could always tell how her children were feeling by their facial expressions.

“I am a mother and mothers just have that connection with their children,” she said.

She taught them how to sign at a

young age and they picked it up naturally, like learning any other language for the first time. By the age of two, ASL was their native language.

Her children had no idea their family was different until Gomez enrolled them in school.

“I remember my mother told me to speak to other people with my voice and not to sign,” Talia Gomez said.

“That day, I realized that not everyone signed like we did.”

Growing up, Gomez’s son and daughter were their mother’s interpreters whenever she needed help, whether it was at grocery stores, drive-thrus, or various hearing events. They became a team.

“I remember when I was six years old, I was late for school and hungry, so my mom took my sister and I to McDonald’s,” Gabriel Gomez said.

“Since we were running late, I told her to pull into the drive-thru and I crawled out of the back seat, went up to the passenger side window and simply said, ‘Hi my mom is deaf, so I’m going to order for her.’ Ever since then all of the drive-thrus and telephone orders have been fulfilled by my sister and I.” Gomez never felt the need to explain the difference between the deaf culture and the hearing culture to her children because she believes both cultures are very similar. But in society, Gomez and her family have had their dealings with people who don’t always understand the deaf culture.

“All you can try to do is educate people with kindness,” Talia Gomez said. “There’s not much else you can do; intolerance stems from ignorance, after all.”

Since some people haven’t educated themselves on deafness, Gomez’s goal is to write a book one day detailing deaf culture and explaining what life for a deaf person is all about.

She hopes to better educate people about the realities of a deaf person and share some of her experiences. This is also the reason she teaches ASL classes at EC, she said. She hopes that

by the time the semester is over, her students will gain a better understanding about the deaf community through her teachings.

“I want everyone to know how normal deaf people are,” she said. “Because me and you, we are the same.”

Several students said they have benefited from having Gomez as an instructor and taking the ASL classes.

“I took Barbie Gomez’s class a couple semesters ago,” Mariam Abassi, 22, sign language major, said. “And ever since then, I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world, like she has, so I decided to major in sign language and become an interpreter one day.”

When Gomez isn’t teaching or taking care of her family, she can be found painting ceramics, crocheting, reading, playing with her dogs or spending time with friends.

“To everyone else, being deaf is sad,” Gomez said. “To me, it is wonderful.”

Illustrations by Oscar Orozco Photograph by Vicki Stephenson

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“She was so energetic and encouraging, yet somehow always demanded excellent work.

I’ve not met another person who can do both so well.

One always knew what was expected with her, and it was a high bar, but she never made it impossible and gave people the tools to do their best.”

Aaron Dobruck

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J

olene Combs

A TEACHER WHO PROVED HARD WORK LEADS TO SUCCESS

by Viridiana Vaca-Rios

Dressed in black slacks and a brightly colored floral blouse, she walks to the front of the classroom. Setting the folders of graded papers on the desk in front of her, she glances at her students and reaches for the marker.

With the sound of the marker gliding on the whiteboard, she turns around and gently points to the word she just wrote: Success.

“Success; you’re afraid of it. Why? I’ll tell you why! Because with success comes responsibility and with responsibility comes more work,” Jolene Combs, El Camino College journalism professor emeritus, said during the Advanced Reporting and News Editing class.

Last July, Combs died at age 69, leaving behind a legacy of success through the hundreds of lives she touched and inspired.

A professor at EC since 1983, Combs helped launch the careers of many journalists across the country, including Jason Reid from the Washington Post and Lauren Sanchez from FOX11 news.

For Dennis Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Dealernews website and former EC student newspaper editor-in-chief, enrolling in Combs’ journalism class is where he discovered what he wanted to do with his life.

“I truly owe my whole professional career to her influence,” Johnson said. “I can’t say that about anyone else, but because of her, I do what I do now.”

Jennifer Vigil, Coronado, Calif. Patch editor and former Union editor-in-chief, remembers being in the newsroom on production night and witnessing Combs slicing her hand on a light table. Without bringing any attention to herself, she quietly patched up her hand.

“I actually kept a pillow by the morgue for those late nights we had and I saw her walk toward the back of the morgue, grab my pillow and wrap her hand in it so no one would see that she was bleeding. She bandaged it and kept going like everything seemed normal,” Vigil said.

“That was what was special about Jolene, that she wanted to be there with us and for us, but she didn’t want to upset us because she got hurt. She never made it about herself.”

Many knew Combs by her welcoming personality, witty humor and the overall inspiring presence she brought into a room. Her inspiring way made them want to work harder.

“She was so energetic and encouraging, yet somehow always demanded excellent work,” Aaron Dobruck, former newspaper editor and publications business manager, said. “I’ve not met another person who can do both so well. One always knew what was expected with her, and it was a high bar, but she never made it impossible and gave people the tools to do their best.”

Raised by parents who were journalists, her passion for journalism was infectious to all she encountered and enabled her to bring out the best in everyone.

“Certain people have a presence and she had that presence,” Johnson said. “She was inspirational yet tough, but she brought out everyone’s best abilities. She didn’t take no for an answer,

“I truly owe my whole professional career to her influence. I can’t say that about anyone else, but because of her, I do what I do now.”

Dennis Johnson

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and it made you want to do better.”

Being successful in her own career, Combs had high expectations for her students. Combs was the first woman inducted into the National Community College Journalism Association’s Hall of Fame for outstanding community college teachers. She was also the recipient of the lifetime achievement award of journalism education from the California Journalism Education Coalition. In addition, she was among the first group of women placed on the EC “Women’s Hall of Fame.”

Dean of Humanities Tom Lew, who was on Combs’ hiring committee, said that working with Combs was always a joy and he never met anyone as caring and dedicated to her students as was she.

“She had a great sense of humor,” Lew said. “She was intensely interested in her students, not only as

students, but as individuals and she always showed that she cared about you.”

As adviser of the Warwhoop, later renamed the Union, the publication won three National Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards and five Regional Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards during her career from 1989 to 2008.

Although Combs received much individual recognition, she was known to be most proud of the accomplishments of her students and their success.

In the spring of 1990, Combs was being honored as community college journalism teacher of the year at the California Newspapers Publisher’s Association in San Diego. Although it was an event where Combs was to be recognized, she brought her students to San Diego and gave them a chance to have their work printed in the CPNAnewsletter.

“She cared so much about us that we weren’t just students to her, we were her family. In the end, she wasn’t just my teacher, she was my mentor and later became my friend: she was my everything.”

Lori Medigovich, journalism professor and Union co-adviser with Combs from 1989 to 2008, said although the event was to honor her colleague, Combs saw it as an opportunity for her students to shine.

“It was remarkable that she did that for her students and it illustrates that was what she was about,” Medigovich said. “Although she was being honored, she cared more about the students than herself.”

While many students got involved with the newspaper because of Combs, Vigil said that coming into the Union staff as a student of Medigovich was a bit intimidating, as she didn’t know Combs first hand.

“I knew Jolene by reputation,” Vigil said. “I was a little afraid of her; she was never mean but she always took stock of you before she embraced you.”

But whichever way students met Combs, they all knew that there were always good intentions behind

Stefanie Frith 14

everything she did.

Konnie Krislock, Combs’ friend of 50 years, said that one of the reasons she believes so many people cared about Combs was because she showed concern for her students in a way that only her students would understand.

“She loved them, she was very caring and she had high expectations for her students,” Krislock said.

“If someone didn’t meet that expectation that she had set for him or her, I think they still loved her for having those expectations for them.”

And that is why many students went on to win awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges’ on-the-spot competitions. When students would question her decision about whether they were capable of competing in a certain category, Medigovich remembers Combs bringing students into their office and telling them that they would be great.

“The students doubted themselves at first, but after Jolene would give them this pep talk, they usually won something,” Medigovich said. “They would win a plaque or honorable mention. To me, that was really exciting. Students who didn’t think they could do well were being encouraged by Jolene (Combs) and that is one of the things that made her special; she was so encouraging, especially when students doubted themselves.”

For Stefanie Frith, assistant journalism professor at Pierce College and former editor-in-chief of the Union, her time as a student of Combs was not only about learning to be confident in her abilities as a journalist, but about learning to be confident enough to take on any opportunity that would come her way.

“She encouraged me to go for what I wanted, whether I was ready for it or not,” Frith said. “She always told me that if I wanted something, I had to do it now. She would say ‘You can’t wait, it might be gone tomorrow. It’s do or die!’ and because of that, I don’t wait.”

Many of Combs’ students went on to pursue careers in journalism, but one student returned to where her interest for journalism began, at EC. Kate McLaughlin, journalism instructor and co-adviser to the Union newspaper as well as Warrior Life magazine, remembers meeting Combs for the first time in 1997 as a student in the journalism department. Little did she anticipate that she would eventually fill Combs’ position in 2009, when she was hired as a full-time, tenure-track instructor after Combs’ retirement from full-time teaching in 2007.

“Jolene showed me how to be positive and be calm in the face of difficulty, and she always had a chuckle or a laugh when things would get tough,” McLaughlin said. “Having worked with her as a

student and a colleague, I was happy to see that the way she was in the classroom as a professor was the way she was all the time.”

For Combs, spending time with her family and enjoying every minute of every day was important.

Knowing her grandchildren would grow up fast, she attended most baseball games and was there to cheer them on every time they slid into home base.

She valued her family and spent as much time as she could with them and made sure to make memories that would last them a lifetime.

“I think she was a very good example for everyone, especially to women,” Jill Reed, photo editor for the Orange County Register and former Union editor-in-chief, said. “She showed women how to have a career and have a family. She inspired women and made us think,‘Why can’t I work and have a family?’ It was so amazing to see that from her.”

Many people met Combs through her career as a professor, but Krislock met Combs at the University of Southern California campus when they were students. There she not only found a friend, but she found someone who would be there to share some of the most important times in her life.

“We were not only friends, we were best friends,” Krislock said. “We did everything together, our families were close and our children grew up together.

Very few best friends have professions in common and we did. I think we had more meaningful times together than most best friends ever do.”

However, the world of journalism didn’t just lose a professor, those who knew her well lost someone who could never be replaced in their personal lives.

“There are only a handful of people that I can say really care about me and love me,” Medigovich said.

“Jolene was one of those people, and her love for me was unconditional.”

The legacy Combs leaves behind is the memories, the friendships and the life lessons she passed on to her students, friends and colleagues.

The concern and care she had for people and for journalism will forever live through the thousands of students, colleagues and friends whose lives she touched throughout the years.

“She cared so much about us that we weren’t just students to her, we were family,” Frith said. “In the end, she wasn’t just my teacher, she was my mentor and later became my friend: she was my everything.”

15

Shaping Ceramics Photo Essay

By Mike Botica

16

As the double doors to the classroom open, dozens of ceramic pieces sit on shelves. Posters of artists among other colorful ceramic visuals decorate the walls, while the sounds of classic rock and soul music flow throughout the classroom. The mood is relaxed, but students look focused as they use their hands to shape mounds of clay into intricate, and expressive ceramic pieces.

With a new instructor and various levels of ceramic classes, EC’s art program provides students an opportunity to learn the vast potential of ceramics as they shape their creativity into numerous imaginative designs.

“My classes are about learning to express your ideas through art and the processes,” Vince Palacios, who is in his second semester as ceramics instructor, said.

Dating back to 24,000 B.C., ceramic figurines, both animals and humans, were artistically developed from clay and used in various ceremonial events, according to The American Ceramic Society. Eventually, tiles and functional pottery developed and became an intricate part of many cultures, followed by glass blowing in 8,000 B.C. Now, nearly 10 millennia later, pottery has evolved into a seemingly infinite number of designs and uses.

As part of EC’s art program, there are different levels of ceramic classes offered—beginning, intermediate and advanced. Students must take the prerequisite, Art 61 Beginning Ceramics, before enrolling in any of the upper level courses, but as a reward, they will learn to hone their skills

even further, Palacios said. The classes also hold various fundraisers and art shows throughout the semesters where ceramics can be bought.

“The advanced class explores more advanced processes, more difficult and larger forms,” Palacios said. “The training wheels are off. They now learn to take it to the next level. I don’t believe in teaching it like a kindergarten class.”

The steps to creating any ceramic piece follow an identical process, Ulysses Aerola, 25, treasurer of the Clay Club and arts major, said.

First students must wedge the clay by working it through their hands and releasing any air pockets. Then the forming of the clay begins.

“You have to center the clay, bring it up, push it back in, work your way into the clay through the center and bring it up towards the center,” Aerola said.

“Then you want to start doing your pulls and shaping it. That’s basically what you do for all shapes.”

Next step is the drying process in which the clay is left in damp rooms where it starts to become stiff, Aerola said. Once the pottery has dried completely, the bisque firing phase begins.

The pieces are loaded into a kiln—an oven or chamber—and fired at various temperatures as the clay begins to harden, according to The American Ceramic Society.

The last step in the process includes various glazing techniques. From painting to adding textured items, the ceramic pieces take on a new design.

While the students are poised to push themselves to their potential,

many said they are ecstatic to learn from Palacios, who earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and later attended graduate school at Alfred University in New York.

“He is a great teacher,” Jan Davids, president of the Clay Club and undecided major said. “He has a great sense of humor and we’re thrilled to have him.”

Palacios recently took over for Neil Moss, EC’s former ceramics instructor who died in 2010.

While the ceramics department still mourns the death of Moss and sends its best wishes to the family, it is excited about the future of the program.

“Neil (Moss) wanted me to teach for him many times,” Palacios said.

“He was a wonderful man and I feel great about being a part of this program.”

Photographs by Mike Botica

Students in the various ceramic classes offered in the fine arts division follow similar steps with clay to create intricate pieces.

17

Ariadna Protti throws a ceramic bowl from a ball of clay as it starts to take shape on the spinning wheel in the intermediate ceramic class.

18

Frank Barron creates a ceramic vase from pounds of raw clay in the advanced eramic class. form.

19

a home for everyone Aspiring Foster Parents Recieve Educational Training at Ec

by Lauren Neuroth

20

Days went by and his mother still wasn’t home. Left alone in a motel room again at 8 years old, Robert Adams, had to take care of his little sister, April, who has autism. While it was not unusual for them to be left alone for days, the neighbors were uneasy about the situation and immediately called the police.

Adams and his sister were then taken from the motel and placed into the care of their grandmother where they spent a glorious week at her house eating and doing whatever made them happy. But Adams knew it would all come to an end shortly now that he was taken from his mother’s custody and realized he would soon be placed in foster care.

When he was finally assigned to foster parents, Adams and his sister were separated. He was now on the opposite side of Los Angeles away from her, and the difficulty of being without his sister and living with strangers took a toll on him emotionally. But after a few rebellious years, Adams appreciated the stable

and stationary home he shared with his foster parents over the past 10 years.

“Some people are meant to have kids and some people aren’t,” Adams, a peer mentor for foster children who are part of the Foster and Kinship Program, said. “(My mother) wasn’t fit to be a parent.”

While there are as many as 6,000 children in foster care and 50 to 60 percent of those children are cared for by a relative, the Foster and Kinship Education Program provides the proper educational training and resources for people to become certified foster parents, Alexis Estwick, program director, said.

Estwick, who oversees all the classes in this program, said she is continuously improving and updating the program to make sure the information being taught is current and that the teaching styles are effective.

While she loves her job and enjoys helping others, this program was not something that Estwick intended on

becoming part of originally. She was initially working as a social worker for foster care homes, but remembers one of her first cases vividly.

“The mother drank alcohol during the pregnancy and the baby did not respond readily to touch,” she said.

“She didn’t receive a home until her sixth placement.”

While this was a unique case, it was one that stuck with her throughout the years and made her more passionate about helping people become foster parents. Estwick said that while she would never be a resource foster parent herself, it brings her great joy to know that she can help others achieve their goal of becoming foster parents.

Being in charge of the Foster and Kinship Education Program allows Estwick to teach the fundamentals of fostering children—such as Adams and his sister—so they will have a positive and safe place to call home.

The program is broken into different categories; adult programs and youth emancipation programs.

As an adult, the Pre-Service

Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (PS-MAPP) is the required class for those who want to become a foster parent. It teaches adults to provide safety to themselves and the foster child as well as looking out for everyone’s well-being, Estwick said.

During the certification process, an adult with foster parent experience, a member of Department of Social Services (DSS) and an EC instructor talk about the challenges of raising a foster child and provide insight and experiences on being a foster parent, Estwick said.

“We assume that every child has been through a traumatic, emotional experience,” she said.

The classes teach the potential caregivers how to empathize with their child, differentiate behavioral and emotional issues that are normal and abnormal and understand the sexual development process.

“Adults are getting trained for knowledge, love and how to meet the mental, physical and spiritual needs of the kids,” Estwick said.

If the child has gone through serious emotional trauma or has mental and or physical disabilities, such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or autism, there are special classes an aspiring foster parent must take; D-Rate classes are for children who have emotional issues and F-Rate classes are for medically fragile children, Estwick said.

“These children have been assessed by a professional, and need a strong support system to care for them,” she said.

Unlike PS-MAPP, the Whole Family Foster Care class teaches foster teenagers how to be good mothers or fathers, all while teaching the foster parents how to care for the foster teenager’s baby without becoming his or her parent. The foster teenager must be pregnant or have already had the baby, or be the father of someone who is pregnant or has a child, to be eligible for the class.

“The foster child, the teenage girl, hasn’t had the emotional experience and example of how to take care of a child, makes bad errors in judgment and has the baby taken away,” Estwick said. “This class helps to prevent that

from happening.

People come from many different locations, such as Moreno and Antelope Valley, to take the foster classes offered at EC because the quality of the classes is said to be exceptional, Estwick said.

“We give participants the real information,” she said. “We don’t dumb anything down, and we don’t reduce the difficulty level because we want them to know that this isn’t going to be easy.”

While the largest demographic of aspiring foster parents is Latinos and African Americans, the classes are racially mixed to include Asian and Caucasian participants as well. The ages of the participants usually range from 40s to 60s, but sometimes there are younger people in their 20s or 30s.

While most of the classes offered in the Foster and Kinship Education Program are meant for aspiring and continuing foster parents, there are classes offered to benefit foster youth.

To help foster children transition into adulthood, classes, such as Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success (YESS) and the Independent Living Program (ILP), cover various subjects that will benefit the them and help them succeed when they move out of their foster homes.

Adams, now a freshman at California State University, Dominguez Hills and a peer mentor at EC, believes that if he had not been placed in foster care and didn’t complete classes like the ILP, he would not be where he is today.

“If not for the foster care system, I would not be going to college,” Adams said.

The Life Skills class reaches out to foster children through their guardians and the trainers encourage the children to attend these classes in order to help them understand their situation.

“Some of these kids are told they are not worthy and I enjoy showing them that they are and what the world has to offer so they can aspire to do great things,” Patrick Imamura, ILP trainer, said.

This youth class covers topics such as post-secondary education, career and job development, housing and

financial stability, Imamura said.

“He makes them into a family,” Estwick said.

With recent changes in state legislation, foster children are no longer released from their guardians when they turned 18 years old, which is the age children are considered adults and no longer need guardianship. But most people aren’t ready to move out and be on their own at that age, Imamura said.

It used to be that children between the ages of 16 and 18 were the only ones who could enroll in the ILP class, but now the class is open to foster children and young adults who are between the ages of 16 and 21 or anyone who is on probation because of a bill, which extended foster care youth support to the age of 21, Estwick said.

While many of the adult foster care classes are taken by caregivers not related to their foster children, Estwick said caregivers who are related are expected to know how to provide guardianship.

“Relatives don’t go through a training class,” she said. “They receive the child and their lives are changed forever.”

But whether the caregivers are relatives or non-relatives, all resource foster parents must give everything they have to ensure the well-being of the child they are taking care of, Estwick said.

“They have to be ready then willing to use all of their resources for this child,” she added. “The goal is to increase the willingness on what is best for these kids.”

Family Drawing Courtesy of Kamsiyochi, EC Child Development Center Illustration by Michael Cruz

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No-Mobile Phobia A personal fear of disconnecting from a cell phone

By Jorge Maldonado

E

verywhere you look, you will see one.

Children have their thumbs glued to the screen, texting away. College students walk around campus with it gripped in one hand, constantly checking for status updates. It goes to bed with some people and when it’s brought to the gym, it finds a home in the cup-holders of treadmills and elliptical machines.

It is a cell phone.

Somewhere between the days of needing a cell phone for emergencies and using them to check-in for plane flights, people have become overly dependent on cell phones and many cannot disconnect from them.

I am one of those people, what research and studies have come to term as a nomophobe.

Also referred to as no-mobile phobia or the fear of being without a cell phone, it has become a growing trend among teenagers and young adults during the last 10 years.

A recent study conducted in London reported that men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 were slightly higher nomophobes at 77 percent than those ranging from 25 to 34 years old who came in at 68 percent, according to the United Kingdom’s The Telegraph.

I think of my cellphone as if it were my child. I will never let it die and if it were hungry, I would feed it.

And at night, I can barely part with it when it needs to go to sleep (or charge). I hesitate because then it will be too far away from me.

A person like me suffering from nomophobia may experience symptoms including extreme anxiety and fear associated with being without a cell phone, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

If you’ve ever panicked because you forgot your cell phone at home, or the battery died in the middle of the day, you might have a case of nomophobia.

Or better yet, you break into complete sweats because you lost your cell phone during your daily travels.

“I felt bad, sick inside, everything you need is in there,” Auston Johnson, 19, pre-law major, said about losing his cell phone. “Memories, contacts, it’s a

part of you, it’s more like you need a cell phone to get through life.”

Richard Mascolo, psychology professor, said as a society, we are building a dependency on our cell phones and, therefore, losing the ability to keep those who are close to us in our minds.

“Because of the technological abilities people have become more and more used to talking to their friends in ongoing time; people don’t wait until the end of the day to regale each other,” he said.

According to the website, www.allaboutcounseling.com, a person can start self-treatment for nomophobia by imagining themselves without a cell phone and then gradually spending small amounts of time away from it. Eventually the result would be that you will spend less time with your cell phone than when you first started treatment.

While I’m not yet seeking psychological help for my dependency, I have noticed my cell phone behaviors significantly alter my lifestyle and affect many different aspects of my life.

To put it mildly, I can’t live without it by my side.

I’m awakened by my cell phone and immediately pick it up to check for any missed calls or text messages.

Then I quickly visit Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest for the latest social updates of my friends, because I can’t be the last one to know what’s going on in their lives. After which I scroll through my emails and get up to date on all my news feeds.

Before realizing it, there is barely enough time to get ready and dressed.

As I skip my breakfast, yet again, I hurry off to make it to class or work where, if I’m not being spoken to or entertained, I’m checking Facebook or Twitter on my cell phone.

My phone is always by my side and, at times, I feel as though it screams at me to show it attention.

At the end of the day, I realize that I learned nothing of real importance by checking these social networking constantly, but I do know that Snooki, star of MTV’s Jersey Shore, is pregnant.

On my recent flight to Northern California, I became even more aware of my phobia. Once the plane landed, but before the flight attendant confirmed the use of approved electronic devices, I couldn’t resist and powered on my cell phone. I was filled with relief as it illuminated and notification sounds started playing a melody to my ear. I was connected once again.

To me, keeping my cell phone turned on links me to the world, and turning it off, or not having it with me, limits my ability to communicate and stay up-to-date with all that is going on around me.

“I always keep my phone on, except of course during practice and class time I ignore it, unless there’s a need or (I am) expecting something,” Johnson said.

“It makes me upset (when turned off), it’s like you lost your phone, you lost your love,” Courtney Morning, 19, kinesiology major, said.

Yes, I will admit I am a nomophobe, but the thought of being without a cell phone is ludicrous.

So I don’t expect that moment to be anytime soon.

23

AD.R.E.A.M. for the Future Undocumented students form a club to empower lives

By Daniela Messarina

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As he hears the front door shut, he calls out for his mother, but gets no response. He makes his way into the living room in search of her as a bright light from beneath the front door catches his attention.

Remembering his mother had left months earlier, he awakens from his dream to a quiet voice whispering in his ear to pack his belongings, grab his younger sister and rush to the van waiting outside.

Tightly holding his sister’s hand, he settles them into the van before he asks his mother’s friend where they are headed.

Instead of a response, she hands them each a sleeping pill and before he knew it they had traveled more than 2,000 miles from San Salvador, El Salvador to Mexico City, Mexico.

Crossing the border 14 years ago and making his home in California, Jose Cruz barely remembers the transition from his native country to the U.S. Growing up, he never felt different than the other children and excelled in school throughout the years.

Cruz’s dream of attending a university was attainable in his mind until he started going through the college application process. It was at that moment that Cruz realized his undocumented status would hinder him from receiving an affordable college education.

“I always thought I was going to go to a university, because I graduated high school with a three point five GPA,” Cruz, 20, economics major, said.

“I was disappointed in myself. [There were] months that I didn’t want to do anything. It was depressing because all my friends were applying and getting accepted into colleges.”

There are roughly 65,000 undocumented students across the U.S. who graduate from high school each year and still have a “difficult time accessing their education at an affordable price,” according to the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center.

These students have the dream of attending a university without the worry of attaining citizenship.

But in 2010, the Senate failed to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien MinorsAct (DREAM), which would provide individuals brought to the U.S. illegally between the ages of 12

and 35 a chance to obtain legal status in the U.S. as long as they enlist in the military or plan on attending college, according to the website dreamact.info.

Before losing hope in the educational system, Cruz attended the 4th Annual Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference at UCLA in May 2011.

The conference helped educate undocumented students on attaining a higher education and provided activities to bring these students together.

There, Cruz met Alvin Dharmawan, an EC student who migrated from Indonesia in 1991, and they eagerly exchanged the same ideas of starting a support group for undocumented students on campus. Their combined efforts helped them form the El Camino Dreamers as a way to provide support, advice and education on campus.

“I thought there needed to be a group (at EC) related to AB 540 students,” Cruz said about the Assembly Bill 540 which allows qualified undocumented students the opportunity to pay in-state tuition. “That’s where the idea came from. Luckily, I met students who had the same idea and who wanted to start the club.”

After working numerous hours to create a community of undocumented students, the El Camino Dreamers formed on campus last fall. Now comprised of about 15 students, the club meets every Tuesday in the Student Services Building with the help of Rene Lozano, the club’s adviser and counselor at EC. Lozano, who migrated from Mexico to the U.S. with his family when he was 6 years old, said he experienced similar difficulties throughout his life.

“I didn’t know what options I had or didn’t have,” Lozano said. “If anything it was uncertainty, rather than what [undocumented students] are going through now. I didn’t know if I was going to get into college one day, [receive] financial help, or if they were going to accept me.”

Therefore, EC Dreamers has become a support group for undocumented students.

The club also organizes programs, offers workshops and provides overall support to students of

various races.

“I’m undocumented, but I’m not Mexican,” Cruz said. “That’s the ignorance that’s out there. Being [part of] a multicultural club doesn’t focus on just Latinos. There are so many ethnicities and races out there, but we can only do so much by putting our club out there [for people] willing to join.”

While the DREAM Act would help undocumented students’ pursue a higher-education, Lozano said his goal is to advise as many students as he can and help them graduate from EC or transfer to a university.

He added that education provided him with many different social and career opportunities.

“Who would have thought I would become that person one day?” Lozano asked about him being a counselor at EC. “Education gave me that; how else would I have gotten that, no other way. I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than counseling.”

One way the EC Dreamers helps participants attain a higher education is by providing scholarship information during its various meetings and workshops.

“I get a whole level of fear and hesitation [from students],” Lozano said. “The fact that I can say, ‘Hey, there’s scholarships for AB 540 students’ is important. These students then feel a sense of importance and don’t have to hide and be in the shadows of education.”

The club also continues to inform participants about new legislation in the works, which undocumented students might benefit from in the near future.

Lozano said a recent bill, AB 131, was signed into law this past October, allowing undocumented students attending community colleges or universities in the CSU or UC systems to qualify for state aid and the Board of Governor’s Fee waiver starting in spring 2013. He plans to conduct a workshop in the future to educate students about the new bill and what steps they need to follow in order to qualify.

Lozano went on to say that another proposed bill in the works would grant undocumented students who graduate from college permanent residency.

“That’s why I tell these AB 540 students to get an education,” Lozano said. “If that [bill] exists one day, then the best chance of getting residency is by staying in school.”

While Lozano takes pride in advising the EC

Dreamers, students like Cruz are eager to share their experiences with new club members and plan to stay involved once they transfer to a university.

“I never thought [the DREAM Act] would pass through the House of Representatives,” Cruz said.

“People didn’t know it was going to happen and it did. That’s such a big step and it shows we are making an impact and our voices are being heard.”

Cruz and Dharmawan said nothing would hold them down as they pursue their college dreams and continue to motivate other undocumented students through activism.

“A lot of undocumented students out there think that education is impossible,” Cruz said. “Nothing is impossible if you set your mind out there to do it.”

Illustration by Oscar Orozco

25

Beyond the

M

U

S

IC

Students disconnect from mainstream Radio and plug into diverse genres

By Mary Alvarez

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As I drive to my first class of the day, I turn on the radio to Adele’s newest single “Someone Like You” blaring from the car’s stereo speakers. I quickly switch the station, but I hear the same song playing through the airwaves. I do all I can to change it, but once again Adele is belting out the same lyrics on a different station. Already hearing this song three times in less than five minutes, my only alternative is to turn the radio off completely.

Music is an emotional medium. For each experience in someone’s life, there is a song to describe the feelings they have gone through and those songs become favorites, never getting old. But in the 21st century, the radio has killed the video stars.

Whatever happened to the days when a genre dominated the music charts and musicians became popular for their cutting edge image and artistic talents?

Today, the Billboard—a weekly music chart that tracks a song’s popularity based on sales and airplay—offers no originality and therefore, music labels seek artists who are willing to completely alter their image to reach fame.

“I’m not a fan of the Billboard Top 40,” Claudia Mercado, 23, human development major, said. “I actually call it top garbage.”

While many other students aren’t drawn to the hits that are consistently played on the radio, they also find themselves disagreeing with the Billboard’s

charted hits. These students instead use alternative sources such as iTunes, Pandora and Spotify—digital music services streaming music from major and independent record labels—to find new songs that emotionally charge them. Because hearing the same song twice in one hour on various radio stations can be annoying.

Since many radio stations constantly repeat songs throughout the day, the song’s popularity immediately rises on the Billboard music charts, but is quickly out-played to music fans.

And if the radio isn’t bad enough, students also said it is hard to support artists who change their original style to find instant Billboard success.

“Who really wants to listen to the same crap over and over?” Brandon Darden, 28, business and music major, asked. “The radio plays out the few artists that are actually good.”

From various genres to artists originating in different countries, the world of music goes far beyond the mainstream Billboard music charts.

Whether students are looking to relax, study or dance the night away, the artists and bands recommended in the various genres provide alternative sounds to listening to the same songs repeatedly played on radio stations.

EC students offer their pick of alternative sounds to mainstream music.

1

Alternative Hip-Hop

2

Dream Pop

3

Rap

4

Mexican Rock/Pop

5

Deathcore

6

Folk

7

Alternative Rock

Styled rhythms accompanied by rapping.

• Kid Cudi • Danny Brown • Kanye West

• M.I.A. • Frank Ocean

Subgenre of alternative rock that fuses post-punk and arrangements of ethereal sounds to turn bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy songs.

• Lykki Li • Beach House • Chairlift

• Lil Wayne • Kendrick Lamar

A subgenre of rock or pop using Mexican influence with American sounds.

• Alejandra Guzman • Julieta Venega • Ximena Sariñana

• Café Tacuba • MANA

A form of death metal influenced by hardcore punk styles.

• Suicide Silence • The Black Dahlia Murder

• Job for a Cowboy • White Chapel • Winds of Plague

A type of music started in a certain nation or region and consisting of national culture.

• Joanna Newsom • Bon Iver • The Civil Wars

• Andrew Bird • Jenny Lewis

Music with a prominent guitar presence.

• Radiohead • The Smiths • Coldplay

9

Post-Punk Revival

10

Chillwave

11

Shoegaze

12

Electronic Dance Music

13

Dutch House

14

Dubstep

• The XX • The Weekend

Rhyming lyrics that are often accompanied by beats.

• Drake • Soulja Boy • Rick Ross • Childish Gambino

8

Indie Rock

• Arcade Fire • Florence and the Machine

A subgenre of alternative rock that includes grunge, punk and garage rock, and indie pop.

• Best Coast • Yeah Yeah Yeahs • The Dum Dum Girls • Vampire Weekend • The Shins

A subgenre of alternative rock influenced by the sounds of ‘60s garage rock, late-70s post-punk and early-80s new wave music.

• The Crocodiles • The Drums • The Rapture

• Interpol • The Sounds

Music that uses synthesizers, looping, sampling, and vocals which are heavily filtered using software on a laptop.

• Toro y Moi • Washed Out • Neon Indian

• Panda Bear • Twin Sister

A subgenre of alternative rock that uses guitar riffs, pedal effects, distortion and the vocals have distinct sound, which are the core melodies.

• Mazzy Star • The Black Ryder • Tamaryn

• La Sera • Wild Nothing

Electronic dance music is intended to be played at nightclubs while a DJ mixes live music consisting of electro, house, techno, hard style, bass and drum.

• Kaskade • Daft Punk • Atrak

• Calvin Harris • John Digweed • Armin van Buuren

Also referred to as “Dirty Dutch,” this is a style of house music that has a harder electronic edge.

• Diplo • Afrojack • Dj Chuckie

• Hardwell • David Guetta

A genre of electronic dance music that uses heavy modulated bass with silence to create build-ups for a heavy crushing bass drop.

• Nero • Datsik • Rusko

• Skrillex

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Editor’s Picks

SUMMER ESCAPES editor’s TOp three budget-friendly VACATIONS

Catalina Island About 26 miles off the coast of South California, Santa Catalina Island is a quick getaway any day of the week. Avalon is the major city on the island and is positioned around Avalon Bay—the main dock for cruise ships, freight lines and passenger boats.

Getting there is easy and affordable; book a ferry reservation online at Catalina Express (www.catalinaexpress.com) or Catalina-Marina Del Rey Flyer (www.catalinaferries.com) and save some money on a round-trip ticket by filling out a questionnaire.

When it comes to lodging, pitching a tent at Hermit Gluch Campground is the most economical accommodation. The campground is located 1.5 miles from Avalon and each campsite ($21 per night) or tent cabin ($50 per night) offers picnic tables, BBQ grills and a full service bathroom. Spend some time lounging on the beach or take advantage of the student discounts on bike rentals, walking tours and miniature golf games. More adventurous activities include the zip line, parasailing or ocean rafting.

San Francisco

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Filled with arts and culture, plenty of shopping and numerous restaurants, San Francisco is a fun trip to take during summer break. Hop on the California Shuttle Bus (www.cashuttlebus.com) from Union Station in downtown L.A. for daily service between L.A. and San Francisco ranging from $30 to $45 one way. Affordable lodging is available to students at Hostelling International: San Francisco Hostels (www.sfhostels.com). With three different locations throughout the city, students will have the opportunity to stay in a five-star location for a quarter of the price. The hostels are equipped with dorm rooms ($30 per night) or private rooms ($75 per night). Each of the three hostels also offer free walking tours around San Francisco along with discounted museum tickets, half-priced transportation to the Golden Gate Bridge and discounted tours through Yosemite.

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a year-round resort located in the San Bernardino National Forest. Just a short ride from Southern California, this destination gives students the opportunity to escape the commotion of the city and relax next to the calm lake. Take the Metrolink (www.metrolinktrains.com) brown line from Union Station in downtown L.A. to the San Bernardino Station. To receive 10 percent off the round trip ticket price, students must show a valid student ID to the fare inspector at the time of purchase. From the San Bernardino Station, take a Mountain Area Redional Transit Authority bus (www.marta.cc, $1.50) up the mountain to Big Bear where it will drop you off outside the entrance of the hostel. The most economical and lively lodging choice in the area is Big Bear Hostel (www.bigbearhostel.com). The hostel offers private rooms ($35.99) or dorm rooms with water views ($19.99). The Big Bear Hostel is equipped with free Wi-Fi, a game room and lounge areas. The hostel also provides guests with the opportunity to participate in many activities including free, guided hiking tours, discounted mountain bike and kayak rentals and much more.

With crashing waves, tall mountain sides and busy city streets, each of these budget-friendly getaways provide endless opportunity for adventure or leisure.

These itineraries are packed with affordable accommodations and plenty of discounted local flavor so your wallets won’t feel the strain. Whether traveling by ferry or by bus, these short traveled trips throughout California are sure to fill your summer with fun!

Illustrations by Del Parvazi and Carolina Chavez

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Editor’s Picks

COLOR IN THE SUMMER Bold bags, neon sunglasses and bright scarves are just a few of the things that will help make your wardrobe colorful this summer.

While all of us are on a tight budget, Old Navy, H&M and Forever 21 are a few stores that will get you the summer fashion must-haves at a low price.

From pastels to naturals, the newest trend in fashion is to bring various colors into your wardrobe paired with bright accessories.

This season, orange is one of the hottest colors. Whether men’s or women’s fashion, this color is seen in shirts, shorts and sunglasses.

No only are the other colors of the rainbow fashionable, but prints are a must have. The ‘60s and ‘70s are back with clothes and shoes consisting of shapes and bold neon patterns bringing back the peace, love and happiness.

From colorful flip flops to straw fedoras, being in style on a budget is easier than ever with these fun finds.

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MEN’S FASHION

WOMEN’S FASHION

Old Navy Fedora $15 Forever 21 F4286 Sunglasses $5.90 Old Navy Printed Flip-Flops $5 H&M Sunglasses $5.95 H&M Scarf $9.95 H&M Bag $39.95

H&M Sunglasses $5.95 Old Navy Raffia-Bowtie Straw Fedora $12.94 Forever 21 F2079 Sunglasses $5.80 Old Navy Printed Glitter Flip Flops $6.94 Forever 21 Sm Nylon Boston Bag $24.80 H&M Scarf $9.95

Photographs courtesy of www.hm.com, www.forever21.com, and www.oldnavy.com

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Murdock Stadium Shaped EC History

By Jorge Camarillo

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It was November 24, 1949. The Warriors’ homecoming football game was sold out, with more than 8,500 fans crowding the stands. There were many big names in attendance, including EC’s first president Forrest G. Murdock and various members of the board of trustees when the doors to Murdock Stadium officially opened.

The Warriors would lose their inaugural home game against the East Los Angeles College Huskies, but the stadium became home field for many teams and helped shape EC’s history.

“It is an iconic facility on campus,” Tony Barbone, director of athletics, said. “And it has been part of a lot of student athletes’ success here at El Camino College.”

Murdock Stadium, previously named Alondra Stadium and Camino Stadium, is very well known in the South Bay community. Built in 1949 and costing around $2 million, the sta-

dium was renamed in 1958 in honor of Murdock, president who served from 1946 to 1958, according to an article in the college’s then-named newspaper, The Warwhoop.

Not only is it the largest venue of its kind of any community college in the nation, according to a story in the Union published in 2009, the stadium is a landmark for the local community.

“It’s one of the greatest stadiums in the country,” John Featherstone, football coach and former wide receiver for the Warriors’ football team from 1967 to 1968, said.

The stadium is also a prominent part of EC’s history because of its shape, Barbone said.

Designed like a horseshoe, the stadium is made up of a regulation size football field, but was built without a track in the center. The stadium holds up to 12,500 fans and the stands are positioned in close proximity to the

field as a way of making spectators feel part of the action.

The field is made of natural grass and there are six light towers that shine directly onto the action during night games, according to the website www.lasports.org. Both sides of the stadium are equipped with press boxes that hold between 15 to 20 fans, commentators or reporters as well as having an electronic scoreboard.

But the most unique feature of Murdock Stadium is the underground tunnel that leads to the field.

“The tunnel is our trademark and it brings us good luck,” Featherstone said. “It’s exciting for our players to walk onto the football field because of its tradition and history.”

Murdock Stadium is the only community college to have a tunnel leading from the locker rooms to the field, according to the EC Warrior Football 2009 Media Guide.

And EC is one of only two stadiums in Southern California to have built such a tunnel, the other being USC, according to the EC Warrior Football 2009 Media Guide.

Murdock Stadium isn’t just home to the football team. The men’s and women’s soccer teams use the stadium to host their matches. The soccer teams alternate play during the weekdays while the football team’s games are played on Saturdays.

With a banner hanging in the tunnel, which reads “Championships are won between the walls,” EC has won many conference, state and national championships at Murdock Stadium showing how successful EC athletics have been throughout the years.

The football team won 10 conference championships, eight bowl game championships and a national championship in 1987.

Barbone, who has been the director of athletics since 2009, said he has a favorite memory of Murdock Stadium.

“The first football game I witnessed here at Murdock Stadium (is memorable) because I had the opportunity to observe the venue and its history,” he said.

Murdock Stadium not only has a lot of meaning to athletics, it has also been a big part of the community.

Many events throughout the years were hosted at the stadium including

major holiday celebrations, concerts, various high school athletic games and many graduation ceremonies.

The Beach Boys performed concerts on the field of Murdock Stadium in the 1980s and it was also home to the North American Soccer League’s Los Angeles Aztecs. The U.S. Men’s National Soccer League played qualifying matches at the stadium and it hosted outdoor competitions during the 1984 Summer Olympics, which took place in L.A. Also, Murdock Stadium was used during the filming of five major motion pictures dating back to the 1970s.

Movie executives liked the stadium because of its horseshoe shape, which really caught many production crew’s attention when choosing a location, according to the EC Warrior Football 2009 Media Guide.

These movies included a remake comedy of “The Longest Yard” starring Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds and Chris Rock; the comedy “Cheaper by the Dozen” starring Steve Martin; the black comedy “The Lady Killers” starring Tom Hanks; the romantic comedy “The Other Sisters” starring Diane Burton; and the comedy “The Best of Times” starring Kurt Russell and Robin Williams.

While Murdock Stadium will be torn down next fall, it has influenced people’s lives and many said the

memories will never fade and the stadium’s legacy will forever be remembered.

“There are many students’ and staff’s lives who have been impacted because of the history of Murdock Stadium,” Barbone said.

Many coaches and athletes said they would always remember the first time they ran onto the field of Murdock Stadium with the roars and cheers of their fans filling the stadium with such positive energy.

“Those are fond memories,” Featherstone said. “You feel young again and when you walk on the football field through that tunnel it brings fond memories because of the history.”

After 63 years as part of EC’s history, Murdock Stadium will close its doors the same way they opened; this fall, the football team will play its last home game at the iconic stadium.

“I fell in love with Murdock Stadium in 1967 because of its shape and the famous tunnel that leads to the football field,” Featherstone said. “We have a major college stadium and I am sad to see them tear it down.”

Photographs by Mike Botica (Top Photo) and Kyle Ward (Background Photo)

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Hello, My Name Is? Accounts of international students taking on new identification in the U.S.

By Diane Vay

Sitting in front of the television in his home in Vietnam, he is mesmerized by the Disney character dressed in green flying through the sky. He is just 10 years old and watches the movie over and over. But “Peter Pan” wasn’t just Phu Huynh’s, 21, communications major, favorite character while growing up in his native country, it was the English name he adopted in 2010 when he moved to the U.S. to attend college.

And like Huynh, using birth names while in the U.S. has become somewhat of a distant memory for international students.

As part of the International Educational Systems, many countries require that students adopt an English name for educational and social purposes starting at a young age, Xiaodong Shan, Chinese and Japanese professor, said. And after months or even years of using their new name, it becomes more than just a nickname; rather it takes on a deeper meaning in many international students’ lives.

“This topic is a very cultural and linguistic phenomenon,” Shan said.

Shan, who goes by the first name, David, went through the experience when he moved from Japan (originally from China) to the U.S. “I changed my name for the convenience,” he said.

Since English is taught throughout schools in China and is a required language for students to master before entering college, many students in China adopt English names and use them as nicknames in the context of Chinese-language.

“My dad’s friend told me that (Demi) was short and easy to remember,” Cheng Toi Fan, 17, an economics major from China, said. “It was because I needed an English name at that time that I decided to use it.”

But Fan admits she sometimes dislikes her English name, especially when she goes on social outings.

“I love going to Disneyland, but every time I go there, I can never find a name tag with my name,” she said. “At least make a name tag with a name similar to mine.”

Another reason international students acquire English names is because of the difficulty of pronouncing

the tones and syllables in their given names. The mispronunciation poses a problem during their stay in the U.S. “Students get tired of people mingling their names up, so they change it,” Evelyn Uyemura, English as a second language professor, said. “I feel bad when it is the sixth week of school and I can’t remember their names.”

From the age of 6, Ching Yee Tsoi, 20, a psychology major from China, has been referred to as Angel. The use of her English name was for the sole purpose of communicating to others in English.

“In China, you have to give yourself an English name,” Tsoi said. “English names are used for academics and among friends.”

Some international students believe their English names help them become more recognized by their peers as well as their professors. International students who use an English name are more readily identifiable, Uyemura said.

Some students such as Huynh have experienced little to no pressure when choosing an English name.

Rather than having to take an English name by force, Huynh decided to do so on his own as a child.

Huynh remembers watching his favorite childhood movie, “Peter Pan” and as time progressed, he grew a liking toward the Disney character so he adopted the name, Peter, as his own.

“The second reason why I chose the name Peter was because I found it similar to my name, which also starts with (the letter) P,” Huynh said referring to his birth name Phu. While having an English name may allow international student to become recognized among their peers, some feel it allows them to break through social and language barriers.

“Maybe some people may be shy of others so they use an English name to not feel or sound weird,” Ahmed Hatahet, 20, film major, said.

Although some say changing a name is like changing a person’s identity in both behavioral and cultural terms that is not always the case.

“I have had students who, in the middle of the semester, change their name to an English name,” Matthew Kline, English as a second language

(ESL) professor, said. “I have never noticed a change in their behavior.”

Having a new name is one thing, but adjusting to being called their English name takes some time getting used to for many students.

“It took me a while, I think two months, to get adjusted to my new name,” Huynh said.

As Tsoi grew more confident using her English name, Angel, she said many people made fun of it.

“I remember during Christmas, my teacher would always ask the class, ‘What should we put on top of the Christmas tree, a star?’” Tsoi said. “My classmates would yell out, ‘Angel!’”

And for this reason, Tsoi said she wanted to change her English name.

But despite the fact that she was made fun of for her name, she also had memories that made her think twice before changing it.

In the summer of 2003, Tsoi said she remembered greeting her teacher with a smile. Much to her surprise, the teacher said, “Of course the smiling girl is named Angel.” And her English name stayed with her.

While many consider having an English name convenient, some people feel as though it is unimportant.

“International students plan to stay two to four years,” Kline said. “I don’t think having an English nickname really matters.”

Aside from this idea, some international students said they chose an English name as a way to give them an American identity and to feel a sense of belonging in their new lifestyle.

“I might not use my English name when I go back to Vietnam,” Huynh said. “But it will become part of good memories while living in America.”

Illustration by Michael Cruz

WITH TOM FALLO

by Ashley Curtin

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Where are you originally from?

I was born in Queen of Angels Hospital in downtown L.A. and have been an “angel” ever since.

What is your heritage?

I’m Irish, Italian and French.

Ask the President After a very busy week attending work luncheons, participating in academic meetings and analyzing the college’s budget, President Tom Fallo got comfortable in a wingback chair and answered a few questions about his life.

Where did you attend college?

I started on a football grant and aid—believe it or not with this little body, but I was fast—at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) for a year. I played on the freshman football team and came down with mono during spring training. So I transferred to UCLA that summer and got a perfect grade point average; a one. I learned how not to study and learned all the bad habits and I will never forget they asked me to come to the Counseling Office and said that I needed to think of some alternatives and learn to study. And then I came to El Camino College and that was the real change. El Camino was the foundation of my opportunity. I eventually transferred back to UCLA and got a bachelor’s at UCLA then a master’s at UCLA and then later in life, I got a doctorate degree from Pepperdine University.

What was your first job?

My first well-paying job was in high school, a summer job where I worked at Albion Knitting Mills. I was in charge of six knitting machines and there were eight to twelve spools and you had to always keep the spools tied because if they ended then you would have a snag. They were knitting Letterman sweaters. I swore I would never make it through the first day because those spools were breaking all the time. But the best job I ever had was in college; I worked at Golden Cream Farms and that is where I started eating a lot of ice cream.

What is your favorite type of food?

Undoubtedly Italian. It is because of my heritage, but I have visited Italy probably eight times now and I love it. There’s not one flavor of gelato in any town that I haven’t tasted. I am a vegetarian so pasta is what I love.

What city did you like best while visiting Italy?

I loved Milano. Most people don’t like Milano, but I love Milano. I would go back tomorrow.

Do you have a special vegetarian meal you like to eat?

I think that the vegetarians are now starting to eat very well especially in Los Angles because there are so many options. I can go into almost any restaurant and say ‘Fix something for me,” and whether it’s steamed vegetables or vegetables with some pasta or something like that. But I like all kinds of food; I love Thai food, I love Vietnamese food.

Do you have a favorite restaurant?

I guess my three favorite restaurants in Los Angeles are, not in this order, Bizarre, it’s in the SLS Hotel, Rivera in downtown L.A. and Maleese in Santa Monica.

What type of music is downloaded on your iPod? Mostly jazz, blues and some classical. I love Miles Davis and a lot of the female jazz singers; there is nothing better than Ella Fitzgerald.

Sarah Vaughn is another great one.

Photograph by Kyle Borden

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