May 9, 2012

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state of the college. . . . . . . . . .

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csu hunger strike .. . . . . . . . . . .

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baseball advances to super regionals. . . . . . . . .

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‘the avengers’ review.. . . . . . . . . 12 softball pitcher shines.. . . . .

Volume 99, Number 5

14

May 9, 2012

Summer School Offered with Fewer Classes

By Kristine Tuzon

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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lendale will be offering a limited number of classes during the summer due to major budget cuts to the community colleges.

Academic counselor Troy Davis said there are not a lot of classes offered this year compared to previous years.

“It has been scaled back significantly because of the cuts,” Davis said. “It’s a fraction of what’s been offered in the past.”

Jewel Price, dean of student services, said only 120 classes are offered this summer, which is down from 200 offered last year.

Glendale is one of the few colleges offering summer school in the Los Angeles area. Communications major Samantha Jose, 21, was not aware summer school was offered this year.

“I heard there wasn’t summer school,” Jose said. “I thought it was going to be like [See Summer School, page 2]

IN THIS ISSUE News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6 Features.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Center Spread. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Entertainment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-14 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 EL VAQUERO ONLINE

FREE FALLING: During a break from the rain,

Junior Garcia dances around the giant chess board near the cafeteria.

Photo by Paislee Holgate

Zamudio Wins 10,000-Meter Track Event

By Eric Bourse

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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race Zamudio became the 10,000-meter Southern California champion at the Southern California Preliminaries at San Diego Mesa College on Saturday. Teammate Nohemi Martinez took third place.

“I wasn’t expecting to win the 10,000-meter race,” said Zamudio, 18. “I was hoping to improve my time but winning it is the icing on the cake.”

On the final lap, Zamudio quickly took first place and never looked back, to finish in 38:08. Martinez controlled third place for almost the entire race and finished in 38:42.

Karen Rosas took home the same championship for Glendale last year.

Photo by Eric Bourse

GRACE AND STYLE: Grace Zamudio, center, sails past the competition to win the 10,000 meter race at San Diego Mesa College.

In the women’s steeplechase qualifier, Cecilia Nicolas took first place in 11:17 and Angela Martinez took third in 11:32.

“All of the hard work and

preparation paid off for the women today as they did an excellent job,” said Head Coach Eddie Lopez. “Many of them scored new personal records,

even if they didn’t finish high enough to qualify.”

In the women’s 1,500-meter race qualifier, Zamudio took fifth place in 4:43. Alyssa Selve finished seventh in 4:44.

In the women’s 800-meter race qualifier, Lilia Asserian finished third overall in 2:16.

For the women’s field events, Justice Shank qualified to compete next week by scoring 1.60 meters in a nine-way tie for first place in the high jump.

Aside from their qualified races, Nohemi Martinez, Zamudio, Angela Martinez, Selve and Nicolas will also compete in the 5,000-meter final next week.

Rico Gutierrez will compete in the 5,000-meter final for the men’s team.

[See Track, page 12]

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

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NEWS

El Vaquero EDITOR IN CHIEF Jessica Bourse COPY EDITOR Agnes Constante SPORTS EDITOR John Ferrara STAFF WRITERS

Eric Bourse Jonathan Caballeros Alex Gonzalez Marlon Miranda Tatevik Manucharyan Evan Ramirez Isiah Reyes Angel Silva Kristine Tuzon Tex Wells

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Roger Lai Seneyda Rodriguez

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Jane Pojawa

NEWSROOM MANAGER

Richard Kontas

DESIGN ADVISER Charles Eastman FACULTY ADVISER

Michael Moreau

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Tuition Increases to $46 per Unit

By Jonathan Caballeros EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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tarting this summer, all community colleges in California will see an enrollment fee hike of $10, to $46 per unit, as a method to lower state debts.

“The state college system had a $149 million deficit this year, almost $8 million coming from GCC,” said Ron Nakasone, executive vice president of administrative services, “so the fee hike is mainly to cover the debts acquired.”

“It’s definitely going to put pressure on the students,” said Amir Nour, district accountant and interim controller. “Lower enrollment fees helped out with other such as living and book expenses. It’s going to make it harder to attend school.”

The fee hike will be the second time consecutively enrollment

prices, per-unit, will rise, from $26 to $36 in 2011 and $46 for 2012. The cost of enrollment has increased 43 percent since 2010, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) “It’s all about the state,” said Nour, “the amount the school gets is also set by the state, so even though we’re having a fee hike, we might not see a rise in revenue.”

As enrollment fees rise, so does the share of students being given financial aid, from 28 percent of students in 2008 to 44 percent in 2010, according to the LA Times.

Over two-thirds of students are

eligible for full coverage by the Board of Governors (BOG) fee waiver, according to the LAO. Although the BOG is under reform at the moment, about 90 percent of students would qualify for a fee waiver in the 2012-2013 school year, according to LAO. “Luckily I have [fee waiver], so I –Amir Nour don’t have to care so much,” said Cristian Flores, 19, majoring in Computer Engineering, “For others, I really don’t know what to say.”

“I would feel more pressure to get better grades,” said Lorilyn Luong, 20, majoring in Sociology

“If the economy stays this way, then it is likely that [all] fees will increase”

“If you had a C or D in a class, you’d feel more inclined to get a good grade. I knew I would lose money if I got a bad grade.”

Nakasone and Nour said that the health services fee might rise, but are unsure by how much and when.

If the economy stays this way, then it is likely that [all] fees will increase, said Nour. “If the state can balance their budget, then I don’t see why they would make any more fee hikes.”

“There is one tax initiative that might help with the budget for all schools and colleges in California,” said Nakasone, “one that both Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) both agree on called the Brown/CFT tax initiative.”

[See Tuition, page 3]

Limited Summer School Offered [Summer School, from page 1]

winter session only offering science and nursing classes.”

Roni Mehrabian, 22, a psychology major, said he already looked at the summer schedule and wasn’t surprised by the small number of classes offered.

This summer will offer one five-week session from June 18 to July 27.

In past years, Glendale offered two five-week sessions for the summer. The last time it was offered was back in 2009-2010.

Also, while less money is offered to community colleges, tuition is going up for students.

Price said the statewide tuition would rise up to $46 per unit starting this summer.

Registration will be crucial for

students deciding to attend this summer. Priority registration will be offered to resident and current students.

First-time students and students enrolled in other community colleges will find it difficult to register for classes.

“At this point of time in the year, there is a influx of students coming from the LA schools that want to try to get in for our summer,” Davis said. “If they’re not resident students, then their registration date is at the end which means they’re not going to be able to get a class.”

Open registration is offered to all students after the priority registration period. There is a high possibility open registration will close in a short time, depending if classes fill up.

Davis said there will always be open registration, but the chances of students getting classes then is very slim.

If students can’t get classes at GCC, Davis advises them to register in other community colleges as one way to reach their educational goals.

“Let’s face it, students are desperate.” Davis said. “People don’t want to stay in community college for 10 years, and they shouldn’t have to.”

Both Davis and Price advise students who are planning to attend summer session to check online for their priority registration date and time and to not procrastinate because classes will fill up quickly.

Realizing now that summer school is being offered to

Letter: A Yearn For International Politics To Whom It May Concern, I am a student here at GCC and today I got the opportunity to read your newspaper. As a student of political science, I was rather impressed with the local issues that you highlighted. However, I thought that if you were to have more stories on international political news then, as a result, we, the political science majors, would get an opportunity to connect even further with our college newspaper.

Additionally, being an institution of higher learning, we have students that have come here from all walks of life. If we could possibly have a column that highlights the lives of particular students, I believe it would create further interest in the newspaper. Thank you.

Your Reader, Asad Imam

everyone, Jose said she will try to enroll this summer. However, she has other alternatives if she does not get any classes.

“I probably will work or go to a community college in the valley,” Jose said.

Summer schedules and registration dates are now online at MyGCC. Priority registration is from May 14 to 18. Open registration will follow.

Students cannot enroll in more than seven units or otherwise specified online on their MyGCC registration date.

Kristine Tuzon can be reached at ktuzon342@student.glendale.edu

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NEWS

State of College Address Breaks the Bad News

By Angel Silva

EL VAQUERO NEWS EDITOR

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pcoming hardships and how to deal with them were the subject of the State of the College address and Business Lecture Series, where campus president Dawn Lindsay and Board of Trustees president Armine Hacopian addressed the upcoming shortfalls due to recent statewide budget cuts to a full crowd in the Auditorium on April 26.

“We are not going to be doing as well in the next few years, because of finances, because of the budget,” said Hacopian.

Hacopian urged the audience to support the California Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative which, if passed, would increase state revenues by raising taxes and would further fund community colleges across the state.

“It costs us roughly $4,500 to run one class, so you can imagine the impact of budget cuts,” said Hacopian. “We may be looking at as much as $10 million if things really go as they appear to be.”

Lindsay then spoke about the college’s goals for the previous and current academic year and followed up with an overview of last year’s community forum, where educational goals and con-

just do social exchange and comcerns were addressed.

According to Lindsay, GCC’s munication and conversation that educational goals for the 2011-12 requires interaction between two year revolved around develop- people.”

Also ading skills in dressed was students that the communiwould make ty collaborathem comtives that the petitive in the college particcurrent job ipated in, such market. as the part“You want nerships with students who Glendale Unican speak, fied School you want District to students who expand the can commuMiddle Colnicate, you lege program want students on campus. who have The Midsome basic dle College is skills, you Photo by Tex Wells a high school want students FIRST, THE BAD NEWS: President program that who know Dawn Lindsay addresses the college. is tailored to how to work Glendale Unified sophomores, in a collaborative setting, you want professionalism and you juniors and seniors who are cawant accountability,” said Lindsay.

One of the main issues that arose was that of communication in an increasingly digital world.

“Between texting and [other technology], our students live in a very isolated world,” said Lindsay. “One of the things that business leaders told me in this community is how we have to work on teaching people how to

Tuition Increases to Start This Summer [Tuition, from page 2] The tax initiative would increase income taxes for those who earn more than $250,000 a year, while raising the sales tax a half cent, according to Nakasone and the California Federation of Teachers.

“The tax initiative would help raise $218 million for the state college budget, which the colleges would see by the next fiscal year,” said Nakasone.

Nakasone said that even though the bill is on the ballot this November, the campus budget would still be on a “no-initiative” scale, until the ballot has passed.

“You should see the school running on a mode given the scenario that the bill does not

pass,” said Nakasone, “so should the bill fail, we don’t acquire more debt. If it does pass then we’ll see improvements in the fiscal year” The effects of the state budget cuts have been felt campus-wide — faculty and administration have suffered salary pay cuts, 33 student workers have been laid off, and the price of food has increased on campus.

Nour advises students to become more frugal with their spending.

“At this point [students] still need to enter a ‘saving’ mode,” said Nour, “if you don’t need it, then you shouldn’t buy it.”

Jonathan Caballeros can be reached at jcaball942@student.glendale.edu

pable of college-level work, but are underperforming at a high school level. Although a program already exists to assist students at Glendale high schools, the partnership would create a separate high school on campus, allowing college courses to be taught alongside high school courses.

“We obviously don’t have the ability to expand on our campus; we don’t have the money to expand on our campus,” said Lindsay. “Glendale Unified...is looking at utilizing their dollars to renovate [special needs school] College View across the street and allowing us to put our Middle College in there to help students continue succeeding and transferring back and forth between the colleges.”

Echoing Hacopian’s earlier words, Lindsay mentioned that despite the current successes the campus was still in a financial crisis, and required the assistance of

the California Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative.

“This tax initiative is critical to this district,” said Lindsay. “It could mean the difference between $3.5 million dollars to this college for the next academic year.

Achieving success in difficult times would require continued funding of the college and an emphasis on lowering the costs of receiving an education, and making these concerns known to the state to achieve these goals, said Lindsay.

“I [and] many other people have been actively involved in lobbying and advocacy, not only at the state level but at the federal level,” said Lindsay. “We’ve got faculty and staff involved in all kinds of advocacy because there’s tremendous scrutiny of the community college system. Fewer [See Address, page 4]

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NEWS

CSU Students Are Starving for Education

By Tatevik Manucharyan EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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t least 13 students from six CSU campuses — Dominguez Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Sacramento, San Bernardino and Northridge — have gone on a hunger strike on May 2.

The strike came in response to the CSU spring admission freezes, tuition fee hikes, faculty and staff layoffs and the recent 10 percent salary increase for two CSU executive officials: CSU Fullerton president Mildred García will earn $324,500 a year, and the salary of CSU East Bay president Leroy Morishita will be $303,660 after the 10 percent raise.

The strikers are demanding the following from the CSU Board of Trustees: a five-year moratorium on student fee hikes, the elimination of all 23 campus presidents’ housing and car allowances, the reversal of administrative and executive salaries to 1999 levels, and the extension of freedom of speech areas to include entire campuses.

According to the “Housing and Automobile Allowances” report on the CSU Executive Compensation Web page, nine presidents and the CSU Chancellor are provided with university housing, five presidents receive an annual housing allowance of $50,000, and eight presidents receive an annual allowance of $60,000.

The report only mentions the allowances for 22 out of the 23 presidents.

In addition, all presidents and executives, who do not use a university vehicle, get a $12,000 annual automobile allowance.

On the student side, tuition in CSU campuses has increased by more than 300 percent in the past decade. Students were faced with a 12 percent fee hike in fall 2011 and will have to deal with an additional 9 percent increase this fall.

The on-campus group Students for Quality Education organized the hunger strike. The aim of the group, founded in 2007-2008 by CSU students, is “to build the student movement

for educational rights in public higher education.”

The students were forced to resort to this drastic measure after all other attempts of voicing their concerns to CSU officials and lawmakers failed.

“CSU students have fought back against budgets cuts to education and we’ve tried just about everything you can think to prevent the dismantling of our public university system,” said Donnie Besson, a graduate student at CSU Long Beach, in a California Faculty Association news release.

“We’ve lobbied our state legislators, we’ve mobilized thousands to our state capitol, and we’ve presented new strategies to our board of trustees so that we can change the course and try efficient alternatives.”

The hunger strike followed the May 2 announcement by the California Faculty Association — a union of 23,000 California State University professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches — that its members have voted to authorize a two-day strike at all

23 CSU campuses.

The strike will take place if the CSU Chancellor’s Office and CFA fail to reach an agreement on their labor contract negotiations.

It would be the first-ever CalState system-wide strike.

“The strike vote could produce a shut down in the fall of the nation’s largest public university

system, which would be the largest strike in the history of American higher education,” wrote Joseph Palermo, CSU Sacramento associate professor of history, in the Huffington Post.

Tatevik Manucharyan can be reached at tatmanu@gmail.com

State of the College [Address, from page 3] munity college system. Fewer dollars means better utilization of resources, and some people are criticizing the community colleges because quite frankly I don’t think they understand what we do.”

Also present was Barney’s Beanery CEO David Houston, who discussed how to succeed in the world of entrepreneurial business in difficult economic times and his experiences as a fledgling businessman.

“It’s kind of scary,” said Houston. “I used to have all kinds of doubts.”

“I had no role models when I was a kid,” said Houston. “To me, business people were bold and daring and brilliant, and I knew I was none of those things. But still, I felt the drive, the calling to go into business for myself.”

Houston’s first line of work was as a mobile disk jockey. He later would open a billiards bar called Cues and eventually become the CEO of Barney’s Beanery in 1999.

Learning skills on the job is a large requirement for being successful in any endeavor, said Houston.

“I remember very distinctly having this vision that [the pool] business, much like my DJ business, would require a number of skills that weren’t necessarily directly related to the restaurant business,” said Houston.

Other tips included answering opportunities that arise, showing up on time, being prepared for unforeseen issues, and be flexible and open to change.

“I think there’s no substitute for enthusiasm and naivete in business,” said Houston.

Entrepreneurs help shape the way humans live and adapt, said Houston.

“The world gets better, I think, because of business people taking a risk and providing a product or service that improves our lives,” said Houston. “Because of private industries, things get better and better.”

Part-time student Gloria Sanchez said Houston’s words and experiences were familiar as a businesswoman in the real estate market.

“I did real estate when I was younger,” said Sanchez. “ I just went into it but I didn’t know about what to do with it.”

Sanchez went back to school to learn new skills that would make her competitive in today’s market.

“I have to get more skills,” said Sanchez. “ I need to practice my basic skills, business skills — those are things that you need for life.”

This is the third State of the College address since its inception in 2009, when Hacopian approached Brett Miketta, who runs the Business Lecture series, about combining the lectures with the State of the College Address.

“The dream behind having a State of the College Address was actually Dr. Hacopian’s,” said Lindsay. “She was adamant when I took the position, even as the interim, that this was going to happen.

“This was her vision long before it became my assignment.”

Video footage of the event can be found at http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=O3DOuJEKo_E Angel Silva can be reached at asilva827@student.glendale.edu

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5

NEWS

Coffee Kiosk Under New Management

By Kristine Tuzon

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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fter closing down in December and undergoing renovations in March, the Bean Cafe, the campus’ coffee stand, opened for business on Monday.

The Bean Cafe will offer similar products with reasonable prices. The stand will provide sandwiches and Peet’s Coffee in hopes to increase revenue for the school.

“The products are going to be the same. The only difference is who’s providing it,” said Ron Nakasone, executive vice president of administrative services.

The school decided to contract the stand out to a company called World Coffee Kiosk after trying to find ways to save money within the budget.

Nakasone said students formerly operated the last stand with revenue going toward the cafeteria. The sales, however, were not fully covering the operating costs.

“We’ve been having difficulty with the cafeteria,” Nakasone said. “They’re running a deficit, and the deficit is picked up by

the college.”

Last year, the school spent $110,000 to support the cafeteria.

The school decided it was best to contract the coffee stand to a private company, modeling after the bookstore, which was contracted to Follett last semester.

“By contracting out, we don’t have to worry about the sales anymore.” Nakasone said.

“Contracting out made sense because the rent we’re receiving was almost as much as if we [the cafeteria] did it ourselves.”

The school will make money with the monthly base rent and will share a percentage of sales with the new company when business picks up. Profit toward the school starts from three percent of sales over $1,000 and goes up, depending on the daily intake of revenue.

New owner Robert Hwang said he would be operating the new stand, providing his own workers.

In the future, he said he would consider hiring student workers.

In hopes of making more money, the Bean Cafe will find it challenging due to its competitor Coffee Bean across the street.

Bioscience major Adis Isayan, 21, said Coffee Bean would make

more profit, attracting not only students, but also people outside GCC. However, psychology major Shuant Ghazari, 19, said he has used the services of the old stand plenty of times before. With the new stand, he said students would stay on campus more often instead of walking across the bridge to get their coffee.

A former Glendale student who works for World Coffee Kiosk endorsed the decision to open up the stand at GCC. Nakasone said the former student said the college was a great place to bring in revenue.

The Bean Cafe will initially offer Peet’s Coffee, but the company is trying to obtain the license to offer Starbucks.

Nakasone said there would be a conversion soon from Peet’s Coffee to Starbucks.

The up and running business will not only bring back coffee and service to the campus, but the additional source of revenue will bring back money to the campus.

Kristine Tuzon can be reached at ktuzon342@student.glendale.edu

Photo by Jonathan Caballeros

CAFFEINE RUSH: The new coffee kiosk is open and ready for businesss.

Police Blotter Highlights Vandalism, Car Theft

By Alex Gonzalez

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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ith less than a month left in the semester, smoking violations have decreased, while vandalism and grand theft auto headline Glendale College’s police blotter.

On May 2, a 19-year-old student who was attending Glendale College pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to allegedly tagging on the campus, officials said.

The student is linked to 31 tagging incidents at Glendale College.

A police cadet at the college noticed the tagging on the student’s notebook and reported it to the college police.

The damage done to the school is estimated at $2,235.

On May 1, equipment from the media arts building was taken, and was not returned. Faculty of the media arts department reported the theft.

On April 30, three cases of vandalism were reported in the San Gabriel building at the same time. Two of the cases were engraved tagging and the third was graffitti.

On April 28, officers reported two traffic stops close to the Glendale campus. The first infraction was on Canada Boulevard and Hiawatha Drive. The other was on Mountain Street and Verdugo Road. The officers that stopped the motorist at both locations

handed warnings and no tickets were issued.

On April 27, a hit and run was reported in the lot B parking structure. According to Glendale College Police, a red Toyota Camry had traded paint with a black Toyota Camry. The driver of the red Camry fled the scene before officers arrived.

On April 26, officers were notified about a female student who was threatened by her husband in the health center. No arrests were made and the case is still under investigation.

Later that evening, a GMC truck and a Ford SUV collided outside the campus. Glendale police assisted in the scene and aided in removing the vehicles from the street.

On April 25, officers responded to a call of grand theft auto. According to the report, a blue Honda Accord was stolen from the parking structure on the second floor. Officers from the LAPD found the vehicle in Downtown Los Angeles and notified the driver later that evening.

Members of the campus community are encouraged to contact the police department to report any illegal activities or safety concerns. (818) 240-1000 ext.

5205.

Alex Gonzalez can be reached at alexgonzo360@gmail.com

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

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NEWS

Statewide Cuts Slash Campus Budget

By Angel Silva

EL VAQUERO NEWS EDITOR

S

tate cuts have slashed Glendale College’s budget thrice during the 2011-2012 academic year, totaling $7.7 million in losses; next year’s budget has been reduced, but will suffer additional cuts if the California Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative is not approved by voters in November.

“This particular resolution... is already a compromise between two other proposed resolutions,” said Board of Trustees President Anita Gabrielian during the April 16 board meeting. “Now it’s the governor and the California Federation of Teachers asking for this.”

The intiative would raise taxes for those making $250,000 more, with an emphasis on those making $1 million, and would raise the sales tax from 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent. Funds from revenue created from this initiative would go to community colleges across the state, including GCC. “We lost $4.3 million in the be-

ginning of the year, $1.4 million in December in mid-year cuts, and $2 million in February,” said Ron Nakasone, vice president of administrative services. “It’s almost $8 million what we’ve lost this year alone.”

The original budget was $78.7 million dollars after the $4.3 million cut at the beginning from the year, down from $83 million last year. The budget currently stands at $75.2 million dollars after the December and February cuts, said Nakasone.

The first of these cuts occurred at the beginning of the educational year, when the California budget cut revenues of community colleges by $400 million.

“When the legislature passed this year’s budget, our funding was cut $4.3 million,” said Nakasone.

According to Nakasone, the state legislature based the 20112012 budget on the prediction of approximately $4 billion in new revenues for the state, and placed guidelines for cuts in case they failed to reach that projected estimation.

“At the time [the legislature wasn’t] sure if [$4 billion] was a wise or reasonable assumption,” said Nakasone. “What they did is they put those trigger language within the budget so that midyear, depending on how much they collected, if they weren’t collecting very much we would have automatic mid-year budget cuts.”

The state revenues were less than $2 billion, triggering cuts.

Community colleges statewide suffered another hit in December.

“Based on [those results], it meant that community colleges took a $102 million additional reduction at mid-year, plus the student fees going up $10 in summer,” said Nakasone. “From that $102 million, our share of it was about $1.4 million.”

The latest cut to community colleges came in February, when California Community Chancellor Jack Scott said that the sudden increase in people attending community colleges was a major factor in a $149 million shortfall.

“Our share of that deficit was $2 million,” said Nakasone.

Nakasone saud there is still $2 million that the college hasn’t accounted for.

“We’re currently accounting for $1.4 million of the cuts,” said Nakasone.

“The other $2 million we don’t have, so we’re actually running a deficit.”

Glendale has a $4 million reserve fund that is generally left untouched –Ron Nakasone that, if necessary, could be tapped to backfill the deficit, said Nakasone.

Further funding would have to come from the tax intiative, which is expected to raise $6.8 billion to $9 billion next fiscal year. About 11 percent that revenue, a potential $748 to $990 million, would go to community colleges.

However, the initiative has to be approved, then placed on the November ballot. The campus can’t afford to wait that long to create its budget, said Nakasone.

“We have to plan for a budget that starts in July, we don’t know what we’re going to get until November,” said Nakasone. “We’re five months already into the year [by then].”

To avoid further shortfalls, next year’s budget is being created with the possibility that the tax initiative won’t pass in mind.

“The reason that we’re using that strategy is that we’re not going to know if that initiative is going to pass until November,” said Nakasone. “So we’re going

“If the tax initiative doesn’t pass, we’re losing another $3.5 million over and above the same cuts”

in with the assumption that it’s going to fail.”

According to Nakasone, GCC’s budget will be approximately $81.3 million if the governor’s tax initiative passes.

“If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to be at $77.8 million,” said Nakasone.

If the California Sales and Income Tax Increase Initiative fails to pass in November, the campus will face the prospect of further cuts.

“If the tax initiative doesn’t pass, we’re losing another $3.5 million over and above the same cuts,” said Nakasone. “For next year’s budget, we’re looking at reducing classes again by 5.6 percent, we’re looking at not filling vacant positions, we’re looking at cutting discretionary accounts, we’re looking at changing benefits for employees, and we’re looking at some type of pay concessions for employees.”

Cuts made this year include the layoffs of 33 student workers following the February shortfall and a 40 percent reduction of courses held in summer, from 200 in 2011 to 120.

Due to the mid-year statewwide cuts, courses will increase from $36 a unit to $46 a unit, with the first price increase starting in summer.

The campus is no stranger to economic struggles, said Edward Karpp, dean of Research, Planning and Grants.

“Every seven to 10 years there’s a financial downturn,” said Karpp. “In 2002 and 2003 we actually did layoffs to deal with financial difficulties in the state.”

A couple of years later the state rebounded and college funding levels returned to normal, said Karpp.

“This time it’s been longer than anyone expected,” said Karpp.

Angel Silva can be reached at asilva827@student.glendale.edu

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FEATURES

Pell Grant Aid Cut to Six Years

By John Ferrara

EL VAQUERO SPORTS EDITOR

M

ajor changes to the regulations in financial aid and course enrollment will go into effect this July, potentially hurting many unsuspecting students in an attempt to demand accountability for their use of already limited funds during a major budget crisis.

Effective July 12, all students will be retroactively limited to a lifetime maximum of six years of Pell Grant aid for all college enrollment, including community and university levels.

“We have as many as 8,000 students getting Pell Grants this year at Glendale,” said associate dean of student financial aid services, Patricia Hurley. “For students who are transferring, if they’re going to be relying on their Pell Grant to pay their tuition at their transfer school then they’re going to have to plan more seriously.”

For many students it is too late, as they have already unsuspectingly used up their Pell Grants, some frivolously on unethical expendatures.

Student Ani Shakhverdyan admits to using her FAFSA money for car payments rather than on her education.

Students with subsidized loans will also be taking a painful hit to their wallets, as loans will no longer take six months to begin accruing interest but instead begin immediately following the student’s completion of college.

If congress doesn’t take action, as called upon by President Obama, subsidized loans will also revert from 3.4 percent, back to 6.8 percent.

Previously, any students without a high school diploma or GED, were still able to qualify for federal student aid by taking ability to benefit tests or completing six transferable units at the college level, however these tests have now been eliminated, allowing only those with high school diplomas or GEDs to receive federal aid.

Additionally, the Board of Governors has made multiple changes to the California community colleges regulations regarding repeatable courses, and withdrawals.

In response to political pres-

sure to demand accountability from students, withdraws will now be counted as substandard grades, which will be included in the students three allowed attempts to pass a course. Students will not be allowed to retake a class more than two times, as the college will no longer receive apportionment for the student.

If granted by the board, students with extenuating circumstances such as an accident, illness, or any other circumstances beyond the student’s control, will be allowed to enroll in a course for a fourth time.

“After two attempts our department chairs and faculty, want to sit down with the student and make sure they know the ramifications of not passing the class for the third time, and [they] may have a prescription of how students can be successful,” said vice president of student services Ricardo Perez.

The California community college system is moving in a direction of getting students a degree, certificate, technical education, transferred, or educated in basic skills, and getting them out to make room for incoming students.

“The state has been paying colleges for students who have been withdrawing from classes so many times, or for students who don’t pass their classes and you have students coming in particularly from high school that want to do well, and they can’t get in that seat because [of students] with two W’s or substandard grades, that shouldn’t be taking that seat from a student who will most likely be successful in that class,” said Perez.

However, many students, like Elizabeth Delgado take a different stance on the treatment of college students.

“To deprive our younger generations is very unfair, ... we should have some warning since we pay our taxes,” said Delgado, a retired nurse, and a Glendale college student since 1998.

John Ferrara can be reached at jferrar977@student.glendale.edu

SPARK Club Offers Peer Mentoring Services

By Jonathan Caballeros EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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ccording to the Policy Analysis for California Education, more than half of all new students enrolling into a community college will drop out by the first semester, many with complex reasons, but GCC has a program to keep new students enrolled and thriving in classes, and current Vaqueros can help.

Students Providing Assistance Resources and Knowledge, or SPARK, is a student-run facultyassisted program to help new students with counseling, emotional and other support to keep them from dropping out, while making bonds with second-year students, who already know the resources the school has to offer.

“Our mentors are trained before the new semester,” said Armineh Gourgian, Financial Aid Coordinator, Student Outreach Services faculty and founder of the SPARK program, “with their training, [they] should be able to help their mentees by providing the correct resources.”

Mentors, as well as mentees, also gain great experience towards the SPARK program.

“Mentors get the knowledge and tools for them to be resourceful,” said Cristal Montes, program assistant for the Center for Student Involvement, “They get personal training skills from [the faculty] such as studying to better learn.”

“I personally learned how to better juggle my time,” said Jackie Gonzalez, a mentor with SPARK, “remembering my first days I was so nervous and you feel like you don’t know anyone.

I feel that being a mentor helps.”

The mentors and mentees have a personal Facebook page where the mentees can ask questions for other mentors and mentees to answer help and gain bonds.

“Students can ask where the cafeteria is, and they will get answers by other SPARK members,” said Montes.

Many of the on-campus functions that are run are “shadow days,” days where incoming freshmen students come and sit down in campus classrooms to gain a sense of the life of a Va-

quero. Other events also include “camp days,” an event for all new mentees and mentors to break the ice and exchange information in a fun a friendly manner.

Aside from in-school functions, SPARK holds fundraisers which better help the bond of the students in SPARK and also help bring funds for the program and supplement the scholarships that SPARK provides.

“The fundraisers do help supplement the scholarships,” said Montes, “so the more that gets raised, the better for the mentors.”

“Not everyone who mentors gets the scholarship though,” said Gourgian, “Only the best mentors that show the most commitment and prove themselves get a scholarship.”

Those who participate in the program are also given the opportunity to give back to the community.

“Our latest community service event was in a homeless shelter called Asencia,” said Montes, “mentors and mentees helped feed the homeless and had fun doing it.”

Other community services SPARK has done is “The Great Los Angeles River Clean Up,” in

partnership with Friends of the Los Angeles River, also known as FOLAR. Many mentees, after being in the SPARK program, tend to want to apply to become mentors themselves.

“Without [SPARK,] I would feel lost or scared,” said Melissa Oros, a mentee in SPARK, “I would definitely consider becoming a mentor next year.”

SPARK will have a fundraiser on Thursday at Shakey’s Pizza in Glendale from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Shakey’s Pizza is located at 1133 S. Glendale Ave. For a promotional flyer, visit SM266 or SM267.

For more information on the SPARK program and how to become a mentor, visit the the SOS (Student Outreach Services) room, SM266, or visit SM267 to get an application to become an assistant.

You can also visit the online page for SPARK by going to www.glendale.edu/index. aspx?page=5411 for more information.

Jonathan Caballeros can be reached at jcaball942@student.glendale.edu

Honor Your Favorite Graduate with an El Vaquero Grad Ad Contact Jeff Smith for more information: jsmith@glendale.edu (818) 240-1000 ext 5493

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

SPO

By Marlon Miranda EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

Nothing says baseball like a hot humid day in May and the only thing hotter than the weather was the Vaquero baseball team.

The Glendale Vaqueros swept the San Diego Mesa Olympians 2-0 in their playoff series on Saturday and Sunday.

Head Coach Chris Cicuto was ecstatic with the team’s pitching and offensive production.

“Our batters are very disciplined and we had kept having quality at bats,” said Cicuto.

Game one was a pitching duel with both starting pitchers only allowing one run apiece. The final score was 5-3 with 80 percent of the runs scored in extra innings.

The Vaqs had no problem getting hits, but they failed to drive in any runs going 0 for 12 with runners on scoring position.

Starting Pitcher Cory Popham kept GCC in the game allowing one run on three hits and striking out eight through 8 2/3 innings pitched.

“I had a great defense play behind me and I was able to throw strikes and stay ahead of the count,” said Popham. “We all do our part and we all contribute. I was pleased we were able to get the win.”

The Olympians drew first-blood, scoring in the sixth inning. They could have taken a demanding lead if not for a diving catch by Chris Stroh that ended the inning and left two Mesa runners stranded in scoring position.

Stroh followed his spectacular catch with a home run in the seventh inning to tie the game up at 1-1.“I had issues with my wrist and I took care of it,” said Stroh. “ I went back to how I was playing earlier in the season. It’s funny how small adjustments can turn into huge changes.”

The drama unfolded in the ninth inning, with runners on third and first with one out.

Cicuto instructed the team to go for a squeeze bunt and the play turned into a double play

that ended the inning.

In extra innings, Mesa scored two runs but celebrated prematurely.

The Vaqueros had their backs against the wall. They loaded the bases for Jarrard Julian.

Julian, who hasn’t hit a home run the entire season, took his at bat and ended the game in an epic fashion. He hit a walk-off grand slam to end the game and give the Vaqueros a 1-0 lead in the series.

“We have made it a habit to fall behind and make comebacks all season long,” said Julian. “I am just happy I was able to help our team get the win.”

Winning the game in a walk-off grand slam demoralized Mesa College and infused the Vaqueros with confidence in the series.

“It’s always tough to lose but to lose off a walk-off is really hard. I am happy for Julian and our team,” said Stroh. “ It gave us confidence and momentum in the series.”

Game two took place on Sunday morning.

If the Vaqueros won this game, they would win the series. A loss would mean that they would be forced to play a doubleheader. With Meza needing two games to win the series, they came out ready to play. Their morale was soon crushed as the Vaqueros scored five runs in the second inning and

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ORTS

Weekend Series Starts in Drama, Ends in Sweep 6-0.

added another in the third.

The Vaqueros won game two, shutting out the Olympians

Starting pitcher Alonzo Gonzalez pitched a complete game shutout.

Mesa looked defeated and out of the game.

“Mentally, we took them out of the game early on. They were done after the third inning,” said Gonzales. “I threw strikes and kept them unbalanced and I didn’t allow them to square up.”

Mesa played desperately after giving up runs early in the game:

runners were caught stealing bases and batters tried to extend hits and were caught.

“It’s demoralizing to take that long drive from San Diego to Glendale and lose the way they did,” said Stroh. “It’s going to be an even longer drive back to San Diego.”

The Vaqueros’ kryptonite is scoring runs, while their strong suit has always been not allowing any.

Once the bats came alive and the runs starting piling up, the Vaqueros were ready to bust out the brooms and prepare to advance to the Super Regionals.

“Our pitching has always been lights out, when the bats come alive we are truly hard to beat,” said Popham.

Marlon Miranda can be reached at mirandaelvaquero@gmail.com

Photo by Alex Gonzalez

Story by Marlon Miranda

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT: Designated Hitter Adam Ochart (5) swings for the fences Saturday when the Vaqueros defeated San Diego Mesa 5-3 in the first round of the CCCAA playoffs.

Offer expires June 8, 2012

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

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OPINION

The Cannabis Question: Should Marijuana be Legalized?

Tex Wells

By Tex Wells

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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he writing is on the wall and it has been there for quite a while now: marijuana’s time has come.

Everybody but President Obama and the pope have spoken up for it.

Well, almost everybody.

The list of supporters in favor of the abolition of prosecution for possession of small amounts of marijuana intended solely for personal use has grown exponentially and it has caught many by surprise.

Pat Robertson, the owner of a successful Christian television station and self-appointed dean of conservatism and righteous-

ness for the last half a century, caused eyebrows to raise up and jaws to drop, figuratively speaking, when he announced his position on the decriminalization of marijuana.

“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol. This war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded,” said the opinionated televangelist in an interview.

Shortly thereafter, a local newspaper sought the opinions of seven prominent religious leaders from Glendale and the surrounding community on the issue of legalizing marijuana. All three of the female ministers spoke in favor of relaxing the law and so did three of the four male pastors.

A week or two later, on April 7, 114 GCC students — 50 women and 64 men — were asked for their opinion on the issue. In this unscientific poll, the women split evenly with 25 in favor of and 25 against; 50 of the men said legalize it while 14 said don’t make it legal. Eight of the 14 who said don’t make it legal were sitting next to their girlfriends when they turned thumbs down on the proposition.

The reasons the students stated in support of their leanings varied widely.

“You’re going to get more girls saying no because they

broke up with their marijuanasmoking boyfriends,” said a business major in a tangerine-colored Juicy Couture sweatsuit.

“Well it would cut down on crime if it was legalized,” said a 20-year-old soccer player who is yet undecided about his major.

“If you could just go to the store and buy it like a pack of cigarettes that would cut down on a lot of criminal activity.”

Robertson said the so-called war on drugs has been a failure and he pointed to the runaway rates of incarceration, the over-crowding of prisons and the throngs of juveniles in jail for small amounts of marijuana.

He’s right.

The cost of keeping misdemeanor marijuana offenders incarcerated is extremely high: $50 thousand per annum, per offender. That money could be better spent. Public schools would be a good place to start and money spent on drug diversion would be well-spent.

If people can go to a liquor store, buy a bottle of alcohol that is going to wreak havoc on their livers and guzzle it down, why shouldn’t they be able to go to a store, buy a pack of marijuana cigarettes then go home and listen to some good music or just relax and watch baseball, basketball or football?

“Hey, man. People are going to buy weed and smoke it whether it’s legal or not,” said a clean cut-looking young man who couldn’t have been more than 19 years old.

That’s true. Look at Prohibition.

From January 1920 until December 1933, it was a federal offense to make, buy or transport alcohol. The bootleggers thrived, mobsters controlled the liquor industry with an iron fist and anybody who wanted a bottle of booze could get it. That’s the way it is with marijuana today.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out. People who want to smoke marijuana are going to find places to buy it whether it’s in some ghetto, on some barrio street corner, in a social setting or some other venue.

Let’s face it — marijuana’s time has come.

Washington and Colorado citizens will take up the question in November when they choose a president. The time is also right for California. We should be able to choose legal marijuana when we choose our next president in the fall if that is what the people want.

Even though President Obama is on record against the legalization of marijuana, that doesn’t mean that California Gov. Jerry Brown can’t throw his hat in

the ring.

Brown has advocated cutting services for those who need it most, including seniors, disabled persons, in-home health care workers and Med-Cal recipients.

Money brought in from the taxes on legal marijuana could comfortably cover some of those expenses.

The cuts for which Brown is calling would not be necessary if his proposed increase in taxes could be passed in the fall election with the help of Republicans.

The taxes generated by overthe-counter marijuana sales would be astronomical. A veritable windfall would be created and that money could also be used to improve education, health care and help eradicate the budget deficit left behind by the Republican governor who was, mercifully, termed out.

Even the California Medical Association has come out in favor of decriminalizing marijuana although its interest is more scientific than economic. Decriminalization is the shot in the arm that California needs and the economy needs it most of all.

Let’s face it. How bad can marijuana really be if an expresident admitted smoking it although he said, “I didn’t inhale.”

Tex Wells can be reached at mrtexwells@gmail.com

Opinion: Facebook Hinders Real-World Networking

Tatevik Manucharyan

By Tatevik Manucharyan EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

“T

o make the world more open and connected” is Facebook’s mission, as stated on its web page. Indeed, it has suc-

ceeded in making connection an easy and effortless task, and in the process, has reduced friendship to a wall post and a “like” button.

But strong, meaningful connections require communication that goes beyond a comment on a “wall” or the casual small talk on Facebook chat.

Yet Facebook essentially eliminates the necessity to do that.

Now there is no need to actually talk to people to find out how they’re doing. All one has to do is read a news feed and browse friends’ profiles to get a clear idea of where they are, what they’re doing, and what has literally been on their mind lately.

Yes, there’s the option of sending private messages once in a while, but that is not enough to maintain strong bonds with people who live on the other end of

the state, the country or the planet.

At the same time, Facebook has eliminated the need to remember certain things about people, for example, their birthdays.

Now instead of saying “Aw, you remembered!” we are obliged to say, “Ah, Facebook reminded you.”

Seemingly meaningless little details, right? Yet they are very telling of how much a person cares.

What is the point of this “connectedness” on Facebook if it doesn’t translate into meaningful real-world relationships?

On the other hand, we can’t just blame it on Facebook.

They say, “You reap what you sow.” If all we sow is pokes, likes and wall posts, how can we expect to reap true friendship?

We think that Facebook is in-

dispensible to our lives, but on second thought, what does it really give us that other modes of communication cannot give?

Want to keep in touch with friends who are far away? There’s an old-fashioned device called the phone, and it has a nice little advantage — one can actually hear the other person laugh, cry and shout instead of having to make out the meaning of those oh-soexpressive emoticons.

Want a visual to go with that voice? Go on Skype.

Want to network and make connections? Linkedin is the perfect place to do so. No more worrying about job recruiters seeing those embarrassing party pictures.

Finally, there’s the good old e-mail, which works just as fine as Facebook private messages and definitely much better than

Facebook chat.

The upside of all these other forms of communication is that they create more room for meaningful connections and don’t turn people into unproductive procrastinators the way Facebook does.

The bottom line is that it is too easy to get carried away when it comes to Facebook.

It is good to remember that everything is good in moderation, and there are alternative ways of staying connected.

Tatevik Manucharyan can be reached at tatmanu@gmail.com

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Audiences Break Off ‘Five-Year Engagement’

By Evan Ramirez

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

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ore so than any other production company in the last few years, producer Judd Apatow and his crew have been churning out quality adult comedies, one after another. While their storytelling formula has become more noticeable than before, the familiar faces and comedic abilities that the actors bring are still welcome and enjoyable.

There are two varying types of comedies in their canon of films: the comedies, such as “Pineapple Express” (2008), and the romantic comedies, such as “Knocked Up” (2007).

The newest film from Apatow and his crew, “The Five-Year Engagement,” can be added to that growing list of romantic comedies.

After their appearances in “The Muppets” (2011), Jason Segel and Emily Blunt reunite and portray a couple that runs into roadblocks every time they try to get married in “The Five-Year Engagement.”

Directed and co-written by Nicholas Stoller and Segel, the team behind “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (2008) has collaborated once again It’s easy to compare the two, as both follow some of the same storytelling guidelines, but there are enough deviations that allow this film to stand on its own.

Segel plays a likeable goofball, as is the norm in many of these films, and Blunt plays his sweet fiance. Stoller and Segel do a nice job of showcasing these characters’ relationship, and in turn, portraying the beating that it often takes.

Blunt and Segel portray a couple rather well. In interviews Segel has been talking about how the studio wanted him to lose some weight because they didn’t think the audience would believe she would be with him. Whether any of this is true or not, the two are entirely believable as a couple.

The two play off each other with great comedic timing and their eyes really help tell the story, specifically during the scene

where they first they meet. This scene is revisited many times throughout the picture, and during a couple of them there is no dialogue. The two go through their ups and downs but there’s always that sense that they should not only be together, but need to be together.

Oddly enough the film actually ends up rushed, particularly near the end. This could all just be attributed to the nature and circumstances that the film is presenting the audience with during the final scenes.

The supporting cast is stellar. Any comedy fan, specifically comedies on television, will love most of the actors involved. The adorable Alison Brie (“Community”) portrays Blunt’s sister. She gets to act alongside the equally hilarious Chris Pratt (“Parks and Recreation”). Both actors come from some of the best shows on television and they succeed on the big screen.

Also turning in terrific supporting performances are Brian Posehn and Chris Parnell, who both play friends of Segel when the couple moves to Michigan.

Segel and Stoller take a bit of a risk with “The Five-Year Engagement,” if not only based on the fact that they decide to uproot the characters from an already comfortable situation early on in the film. However, this allows for a whole crop of funny supporting characters to make their way into the picture.

In a way this ends up hurting the film though. When a film has to sideline such strong comedic actors like Brie and Pratt in favor of the story, it actually doesn’t work. Sure, the two show up every once in a while, but seeing that the film doesn’t take place where they’re living, they aren’t always present.

Much like the hugely popular “Bridesmaids” and every other mainstream romantic comedy, parts of “The Five-Year Engagement” get bogged down in tired cliches. It just ends up seeming like there’s a specific guideline that has to be followed for each one of these types of movies, and it’s ultimately disappointing.

This rings even more true

when the couple begins to have trouble in their relationship.

What makes this frustrating is that a talented writer and actor like Segel is behind this, a person who has proved that he has the ability to avoid this particular problem.

However, even though those cliches present themselves, in turn it actually presents IT’S NOT WORKING OUT: Emily Blunt and Jason Segel play an ill-starred couple in “The one of the Five-Year Engagement.” best parts of the film. It’s the way that Stoller With two talented writers and the two leads help make up for and Segel deal with the romantic a brilliant cast behind “The Five- many of them. comedy pitfalls.

Year Engagement,” it ends up There’s always the breakup soaring over many of the pitfalls and the inevitable reconciliation. other romantic comedies. That’s The two do a nice job of explor- not to say that it doesn’t have its ing this even further, rather than problems, but the supporting cast, Evan Ramirez can be reached at just following the norm. eramire678@glendale.edu led by Brie and Pratt, along with However, there are some nice deviations that are thrown in during the middle of the film, including Segel’s character’s growing affinity for hunting, which results in him growing a Grizzly Adamsesque beard. It’s not only played for laughs, though they are plentiful, but instead it adds some nice character development to help both streaming and Blu-ray, or

By Evan Ramirez move the plot along. any hard copy format for that EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER These comedies tend to get a matter. ormat wars have always been lot of flack for their inflated runThe biggest pro is the fact that prevalent in the entertainment a person doesn’t have to wait to times. “The Five-Year Engagement” stretches to 122 minutes industry. Currently there is a bat- watch what they’re craving for. but this actually allows for the tle going on between Blu-ray, Many people have an itch that character’s relationships to ex- DVD and streaming. For some- needs to be scratched, and somepand much more than if it were one who is looking to get the times that itch won’t last long. most out of film or a television Whether it be a documentary or only 90 minutes long.

There’s something appealing series, the best possible option is an, ’80s classic, chances are it’ll about raunchy comedies. It’s why still buying a physical disc, and be available for streaming on a Apatow and his production com- right now that’s Blu-ray. provider like Netflix.

Now vying for a piece of that pany have had success in the past Another positive is the abilfew years. It’s also why films like pie is online streaming. Online ity to consume entire television “The Five-Year Engagement” are streaming is the ability to instant- seasons in one sitting. While this talked about and remembered ly watch movies on a computer might not be a preference for more often than the fluff that’s or TV via the Internet. There are [See Format, page 12] put out during January every year. pros and cons that come with

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Blu-Ray vs Streaming Media: Which is Better?

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‘Avengers’ is Thor-oughly Enjoyable

By Eric Bourse

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

E

ver since the release of “Iron Man” (2008), “The Avengers” (2012) has had an enormous amount of hype on its shoulders.

Four years later, the Avengers has finally assembled in spectacular and immensely entertaining fashion.

The film is written and directed by Joss Whedon (“Serenity,” 2005) and features an ensemble cast with Oscar-nominated actors such as Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and Mark Ruffalo in his debut as Bruce Banner. Also reprising their roles are Scarlett Johansson as super-spy, Black Widow, and Chris Hemsworth as the god of thunder, Thor.

The film kicks off with Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, and his plan to rule over Earth using an army of alien warriors as well as harnessing the power of the Tesseract, a cube with unlimited energy first seen in “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011).

Nick Fury (Jackson), director of top-secret spy agency, S.H.I.E.L.D., contacts the planet’s mightiest heroes to fight the global threat.

Unfortunately for the good guys, the god of mischief, Loki, has an ace up his sleeve: the heroes themselves. Before the

Avengers learn to work together, they butt heads any chance they can get, especially Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.).

These scenes showcase Whedon’s signature dialogue that’s full of engaging witty banter with just the right amount of pop culture references as well as the chemistry between the cast.

Mark Ruffalo does a commendable job replacing Edward Norton as Bruce Banner and has made the character even more likeable than before. Although he doesn’t share as many scenes as the rest of the Avengers, his performance as the calm scientist who can turn into the unstoppable Hulk if he stubs his toe hard enough, stands out in the film.

The biggest knock on the film is that because of its huge story and amount of superheroes, the emotional struggles of the Avengers are mostly talked about vaguely instead of shown (aside from Bruce Banner). Captain America’s struggle with adjusting to the modern world and the relationship between Black Widow and Hawkeye are shown subtly or not enough.

However, the most unforgettable facet in the film is its action.

The action set pieces are large, exciting and never get repetitive.

Whether it’s Iron Man fighting Thor or the Avengers taking on a huge army of alien invaders, the

A FIGHT TO THE END: Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans fight to protect New York City in “The Avengers”. excitement coming off the screen is laudably filmed.

Unlike other action films with massive city battles like “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” the battle royals aren’t filmed with unnecessary angles or over use of the shaky cam technique.

Although “The Avengers” is only the second film he has directed, Whedon’s superhero epic is one of the best comic book films ever. Despite the two and a half hour length, the film never lags as the pace is just right and

DVD, Blu-Ray and Streaming [Format, from page 11] some, having to twiddle one’s thumbs a couple days in between episodes while waiting for a new disc to arrive can be infuriating.

If a series is available to stream it makes getting the content much easier.

There are also negatives that follow. It could be easily said that any of the pros that come from streaming can be negated with a hard copy of whatever that person wants to watch. A person can just as easily go out and buy a televi-

sion season on Blu-ray and have it there all the time.

More often than not, a person might be in the middle of watching a series via streaming, and the show might just disappear.

Sometimes these companies lose the deals that they have with each studio and in turn, lose the rights to stream their top shows.

Then there is the actual quality that a person gets when viewing a streaming product, in comparison to a Blu-ray. Currently, if a person is using an HDTV, a Blu-ray disc will always look better than

streaming. The quality might not be as vastly different as say, a DVD versus a Blu-ray, but the differences are noticeable.

There’s also the fact that when a person streams a film they might have to deal with buffering. However, using an Ethernet cable rather than relying on Wi-Fi will help combat against this. That special moment during that TV show or movie might just be ruined [See Format, page 16]

thoroughly engaging from start to finish.

“The Avengers” is 142 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.

5 out of 5 stars

 Eric Bourse can be reached at ebourse741@glendale.edu

Track Teams Qualify for SoCal Finals [Track, from page 1] men’s team.

“The women are peaking at the right time,” said Lopez.

“They just have to stay healthy and maintain the focus that they had today.”

The men’s team couldn’t make the same noise as the Lady Vaqs on Saturday. The team qualified for two finals next week.

In the men’s steeplechase qualifier, Vladimir Diaz took seventh in 9:49. Yeltsen Vasquez took ninth in 9:50 and Issac Diosdado finished in 10:00.91 to take 12th place.

Robert Pullido qualified to compete next week in the hammer throw by finishing 11th with

a 43.75 throw.

“The men had a tough time today,” said Lopez. “A lot of them just couldn’t compete and have that focus like the women’s team.”

“It was really disappointing to say the least,” said Alexander Nelson, who finished 19th overall in the 1,500-meter run. “The clock in my race malfunctioned which threw some of us off but I just didn’t have it in me today despite it.”

The qualified competitors will return to San Diego Mesa College for the Southern California Finals on Saturday.

Eric Bourse can be reached at ebourse741@glendale.edu

www.elvaq.com

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

13

SPORTS

Corey Popham Does His Baseball Thing

By Alex Gonzalez

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

C

ory Popham is doing his thing in the baseball world Since the age of 4, Glendale College pitcher Cory Popham has been passionate about one thing: baseball.

“Ever since I could, I’ve been throwing a ball,” said Popham, 20. “It’s just the sport that I like the most. I love being a pitcher and being able to control the pace of the game. It’s just always been something since I was a little kid that me and my dad and my brothers have bonded over.”

During his time at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, Popham played at the varsity level since his sophomore year. But at the time, 5-foot-2-inch Popham had to grow into his role as a pitcher for the Minutemen.

As a sophomore, Popham started out slow in his high school career. In the nine games he played that year, his total earned run average was 4.10 and he pitched in 27.1 innings.

As he entered his junior year, Popham grew a foot taller and had gained experience at the varsity level. That year he improved his pitching stats and overall innings. In the 13 games that he started, Popham lowered his ERA to 3.37 and pitched a total of 52 innings. The Minutemen made a postseason run advancing to the California Interscholastic Federation finals but lost to to San Jacinto 5-4 “That was tough,” said Popham. “That really motivated me my senior year to work hard.”

Popham had his goal set and he dominated in his senior year.

Just like his previous seasons at Maranatha, Popham improved his pitching stats. In the 12 games that he started, he lowered his ERA to a mere 1.34 in 83.1 innings pitched.

The Minutemen won a CIF run and I knew that Coach Cicuto championship that year. He also got guys placed at the next levreceived team MVP honors and el,” said Popham. “I heard nothwas selected to ing but good the Pasadena things about Star-News AllCoach Cicuto Area team. and he made After high me felt really school, Glenwelcomed and dale College sold the prowas not in his gram to me.” sights. UniverDuring his sity of La Verne time at Glenand Occidental dale College, College were Popham has interested in developed Popham, and into the pitchin the end, Poer that has Photo by Alex Gonzalez d e l i v e r e d pham decided to enroll at GAME CHANGER: Vaquero pitch- solid numbers O c c i d e n t a l er Corey Popham is sought after by for the VaqueCollege. ros in his one numerours universities.

H o w e v e r, season.

Popham developed bicep tendini“I feel like I’ve really grown as tis at the start of the season and a player and as a teammate here was forced to medical redshirt for in as opposed to the two years at the Tigers for his freshman sea- Occidental,” said Popham. “The son. coaching staff is always accesPopham returned for the Ti- sible here and the coaches have gers last year and was able to finish the season. But off the field, Popham struggled to pay for his education.

“I wanted to help [my parents] out financially,” said Popham.

“If I was going to go to school, I wanted them to be spending that money on something they would want me to me enjoy. I wanted to come to Glendale to get a division one scholarship.”

In his decision into coming to Glendale, Popham had a variety of reasons he should play for the Vaqueros.

One reason was that Popham’s father is good friends with head baseball coach Chris Cicuto, and his family. Another reason was that he had friends that played for Cicuto and he knew that he was helping players improve their game.

“I knew that my friends had great success and they had a great

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always made me feel welcomed here.”

From the coaches’ view, Cicuto has seen Popham develop into an elite pitcher.

“Cory has really grown into his own,” said Cicuto. “He came into camp doing his own thing and has always been the guy that works hard.”

Cicuto said that within the last month of the season, Popham has taken a leadership role, a role where he doesn’t bark out orders, but he leads by example.

“Cory’s unique qualities is that he has an understanding of the game. He understands the pitching mechanics and he shares it with other teammates,” said Cicuto.

Cicuto knows that Popham wants to be the best. He knows that after a 4-hour practice that Popham will go home and work on his game, even on the weekend.

Pitching coach Ivan “Woody” Lopez knows what kind of player

Popham is.

“Cory is a competitor, he has a really good head on his shoulders, really knows how to pitch, really understands the game of baseball,” said Lopez. “Its all about attacking and it’s all about the attack mode that he has.”

This past season for Popham is his only season at Glendale. He will be playing for either a division one or division two school.

He has had talks with Delaware University, San Francisco State and Pacific University.

He will not make his final decision until the end of the season.

But as of right now, Pacific maybe the school of his choice due to the fact that they are offering more money in the scholarship.

“He’s setting the tone by example”, said Lopez. “His leadership is by example. A lot of guys see him putting in that hard work, and they follow. That’s who he is.”

Alex Gonzalez can be reached at alexgonzo360@gmail.com

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

www.elvaq.com

SPORTS

Underhander Overwhelms Competition

By John Ferrara

EL VAQUERO SPORTS EDITOR

S

he led the conference in strikeouts, now she’s leading her team into the post-season.

Brandy Morin’s frame is small, but her long arms give her an intimidating, roundhouse delivery, accompanied by a deep grunt that leaves batters paralyzed.

“She’s had about the best performance of anybody that’s ever pitched here,” said coach

Dave “Hawk” Wilder.

Morin is the first softball pitcher in the history of Glendale College to have a 20-win season, and her championship caliber skills will be needed as the school seeks its first state title.

“I’m nervous, I’m always nervous, but once I throw my first pitch I’m good,” said Morin, who finds confidence through her teammates, and takes the mound every game with a “try to beat us” mentality.

Morin’s teammates describe her as sweet, goofy, and a positive influence.

“It’s been an honor catching for her, she’s one of the best pitchers I’ve ever caught,” said Jena Kaser.

Morin, 19, started pitching when she was 8-years-old, but admits that it didn’t always come naturally.

“I wasn’t good at all until about my third year playing,” said Morin.

Vaquero Sports Summaries Scores Men’s and Women’s Track and Field: Saturday — So Cal Prelims at San Diego

Women - finished third

Men - finished seventh Softball: April 6 — beat L.A. Valley 6-5, lost 6-4 April 10 — beat Bakkersfield 9-0, 3-2 April 17 — beat Citrus 2-1, lost 7-6 April 18 — beat Santa Monica 7-6 April 19 — lost to L.A. Valley 7-5 April 24 — beat L.A. Mission 8-0, 8-0 Saturday — beat Ventura 6-2 Sunday — beat Ventura 1-0 Baseball: April 26 — beat L.A. Mission 8-6 Saturday — beat San Diego Mesa 5-3 Sunday — beat San Diego Mesa 6-0

Men’s Golf: April 6 — finished first at Marshallia

Ranch CC vs.Ventura College April 11 — finished second at San Dimas

GC vs. Citrus College/WSC April 16 — finished first in WSC at

Oakmont CC April 30 — finished third in WSC Finals at Marshalia Ranch vs. Santa Barbara Men’s Tennis: April 5 — lost to Santa Barbara 7-2 April 6 — beat Victor Valley 8-1

Her speed and ability to hit the ball originally landed her in the outfield as a kid, and it still shows as she boasted a .432 batting average and 11 steals on the season.

However, motivated by her father and the advantage of being lefthanded, Morin decided to challenge herself and learn how to pitch.

Despite her impressive performance this year, her career at Glendale seems to be a tale of two seasons. Morin was beaten out for the starting job last year by former sophomore Jennifer Meza.

“She wasn’t ready last season,” said Wilder. “She was not mentally ready to play, and she did a 360-degree turnaround to become not just a good pitcher, but a major pitcher.”

“I looked back on what I was doing, and was like ‘that’s not me,’ … I just pushed myself to get back in it again,” said Morin.

Teammate and best friend of seven years, Nancy Pinedo, is thrilled for Morin’s success.

“Once I knew she was the ace for this year, I knew we could go all the way,” said Pinedo.

Coach Wilder and Morin attributes much of her success this season to her rise-ball, which is a pitch unique to softball that starts off in the strike zone, and then

rises out of the zone last second.

“Her rise-ball is her best pitch, it saved her,” said Wilder, who also likes her changeup and backdoor curve. “She throws hard, she has great movement on her ball, and she hits her spots, that’s what makes her so good.”

Her coaches and teammates aren’t the only ones to notice Morin’s incredible play, as many universities are actively scouting her.

Chaminade University as well as Cal State Sonoma, Cal State San Diego, and Cal State San Bernardino seem to be those most interested.

Morin and Pinedo, who have played together since high school, would both like to play for Chaminade in Honolulu, Hawaii, however Morin is also considering staying close to home, so she can still visit her family.

Morin dreams to one day play for the U.S. national team like her idol Cat Osterman, who is lefthanded and has a similar grunt.

It will be very difficult for coach Wilder to see Morin transfer after her spectacular season.

“I’d want her as a daughter, that’s how good she is. She’s a great kid,” said Wilder.

John Ferrara can be reached at jferrar977@student.glendale.edu

Women’s Tennis: April 26-29 — doubles lost to Santa Barbara 6-3. 6-4 in semi finals at Ojai Tournament May 3-5 — doubles lost to Ventura 6-3, 7-5 in Regional Tournament

Upcoming Events Men’s and Women’s Track and Field: Saturday — So Cal Finals at San Diego

Mesa 10 a.m.

May 18-19 — State Championships at

Cerritos 10 a.m.

Men’s Golf: Monday — State Finals at Santa Maria CC Men’s Tennis: Thursday - Saturday — State Finals TBA

Women’s Tennis: Thursday - Saturday — State Finals TBA Softball: Friday — Super Regional Playoffs at

Cypress 2 p.m.

Baseball: Friday — Super Regional Playoffs at Orange Coast 2 p.m.

For more information see: http://www.glendale.edu/athletics/

Photo by John Ferrara

BEST IN THROW: Lady Vaquero Brandy Morin leads her team to victory, as softball advances to the Super Regionals Friday.

www.elvaq.com

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

15

Calendar On Campus ASGCC Men and Women of Distinction Nominations — ASGCC honors five men and five women each year. They will be recognized at the 2012 Honors and Awards Banquet. Nomination forms are available in the student center.

Deadline to submit the forms istoday. For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 3033.

ASGCC Petitions — Get involved and be a part of student government. Pick up a petition today or Thursday in SC 201. For more information call (818) 2401000, ext. 3033.

ASGCC Academic Decathlon — Watch as teams of five battle for scholarships. Friday starting at 1:30 p.m. in Kreider Hall. For more information call (818) 2401000, ext. 5602 or email: aspres@ glendale.edu.

Adopt A Classroom— Join the Campus Beautification Project and help improve classrooms.

This has been rescheduled to May 19. Continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in SC 212. Project begins at 9 a.m. and is followed by tacos and music in Plaza Vaquero at 12:30 p.m. Sponsored by ASGCC and the Facilities Department.

For more information or to sign up call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5602 or email: aspres@glendale.edu.

ASGCC Candidates Forum — Question and answers with the candidates. May 21 from 12:30 to 1:30 in Plaza Vaquero.

ASGCC Elections — Vote for your candidates. May 22 and 23 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Plaza Vaquero. For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 3033.

EVENTS Health Fair — Learn about various health issues, drug studies and more. Sponsored by the ASGCC, the Health Center and Nursing Dept. Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Plaza Vaquero.

Multi-Cultural Fair — Featuring ethnic food, dance, clothing, history, games and more. Sponsored by ASGCC. Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Plaza Vaquero.

VOICES Conference — Topics include high school students transitioning to college, mentoring, scholarships and more. Friday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in SC 212.

Yoga Class — The WeBeBodyMovin club hosts this free class Friday at 1:30 p.m. in SN 104.

End of Semester Carnival — Featuring food, music, a dunk

tank, a rock climbing wall, water balloons, games and more Sponsored by ASGCC. Free. Tuesday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Plaza Vaquero.

FUNDRAISING GCC Rough Riders Power Soccer — Help raise funds to send them to the 2012 Championships in Indiana. Multiple programs available. To donate or for more information call Benny Aviles at (818) 652-9086.

SPARK Shakeys Night — Help raise funds for the mentoring program. Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at 1133 S. Glendale Blvd.

For more information email csi@ glendale.edu.

Soccer Tournament — VOICES is sponsoring this annual event.

The winner’s prize is $360. May 19 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Sartoris Field. To register or for more information call (818) 741-8062.

DANCE Dance Performance 2012 — Featuring GCC student dancers and choreographers, directed by Dora Krannig and Lynn McMurrey. Seating is limited. Early arrival is advised. No children under 5 admitted. Free. May 22 at 8 p.m. in the Dance Theatre, Sierra Nevada Gym.

MOVIES

PLANETARIUM

Friday Flix: — A screening of the 1973 film “The Three Musketeers,” starring Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch, on Friday. Then, on May 18 the 1969 Sam Peckinpah film “The Wild Bunch,” starring William Holden. Films are free at 12:30 p.m. in SG 334.

A discussion facilitated by instructor Mike Petros follows the screenings.

Evening with the Stars — “The Rings and Moons of Saturn” May 19 at 6:30 and 8 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. No late arrivals. For more information, visit www.glendale.edu/planetarium.

MUSIC Chamber Singers Debut Concert — The college choir will perform opera vignettes. Directed

by Jayne Campbell. General admission $7, students and seniors $5. May 19 at 7 p.m. in the Auditorium. For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5829.

Orchestra Concert — The GCC orchestra will perform it’s first concert of the year. Conducted by Beth Pflueger. General admission $10, students and seniors $7. May 20 at 3 p.m. in the Auditorium.

MEETINGS Business Division Advisory Meeting — Learn about GCC’s business division offerings, network and give input. Free. May 17 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in SC 212. For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5484.

Board of Trustees Meeting — May 21 at 5 p.m. in Krieder Hall.

For more information visit: www. glendale.edu/boardoftrustees.

WORKSHOPS

LECTURES

Transfer Workshop — Learn about the transfer process and maximize your chances of transfering to a four-year university.

Today from 5 to 6 p.m. in SF 108.

Science Lecture Series — “Our Baby Universe: Viewing the Afterglow of the Big Bang.” Speaker is aerospace engineer David Naiditch. Free. Thursday at 12:30 in CS 177.

“Successful Interview Strategies” — Focuses on different interview styles, dress, body language and self confidence. May 16 from 1 to 2 p.m. Free. Career Center, San Rafael Building.

more information call (818) 2422113 or visit www.fbcglendale. net.

driguez. Runs through May 20.

Tickets and showtimes vary. 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. For more information visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org or call (626) 356-7529.

Around Town EXHIBITIONS Free Fridays at LACMA — LACMA. Various exhibits, jazz and films. May 18 from noon to 10 p.m. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information call (323) 857-6000 or visit www. lacma.org.

L.A. RAW: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to Paul McCarthy — Pasadena Museum of California Art. This exhibit features over 120 works from 41 artists. 490 E. Union St., Pasadena.

Runs through Sunday. Adults $7, seniors and students $5. For more information call (626) 568-3665

or visit www.pmcaonline.org.

Portraits of Renown: Photography and the Cult of Celebrity — The Getty Center. This exhibition showcases celebrity photos from the 1840s through 2000.

Runs through Aug. 26. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles.

Free. Parking is $10. For more information call (310) 440-7300 or visit www. getty.edu.

FESTIVALS Lit Fest Pasadena — A book festival, featuring readings, panel discussions with California authors, hands-on activities for kids, food trucks, music, poetry

and more. Authors include Pulitzer Prize-winners Jonathan Gold and Daniel Howe. Free. Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Pasadena’s Central Park. Corner of South Fair Oaks Avenue and East Del Mar Boulevard. For more information visit www.litfestpasadena.org.

MUSIC Ergo Musica — Glendale Noon Concerts presents Adriana Zoppo, viola d’amore, with Anthony Brazier and Asuncion Ojeda, Baroque flutes. Free in the Sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Glendale, 209 N. Louise St. May 16 from 12:10 to 12:40 p.m. For

“A Night at the Movies” — Alex Theatre. Featuring the Glendale Pops Orchestra. For 10 percent discount order online using promo code “GCCPops” 216 N. Brand Blvd. Friday at 8 p.m. Ticket prices vary. For more information, visit www.alextheatre.org.

THEATER “The Heiress” — Pasadena Playhouse. Starring Richard Chamberlain, Heather Tom and Julia Duffy. Directed by Dámaso Ro-

WELLNESS Free Health Clinic — Tuesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. by appointment (limited walk-ins as space allows). 134 N. Kenwood St., third floor, room 330. No job or sportsrelated physicals. For information call (818) 243-2105, ext. 202 or visit www.glendaleclinic.org.

Compiled by Richard Kontas Send event information to: elvaquero.editor@gmail.com

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

www.elvaq.com

VAQUERO VIEWS

Business Division Lecture Series

Photo by Tex Wells

MAKE IT YOUR BUSINESS: David Houston, chief executive

officer of Barney’s Beanery, and Brett Miketta, GCC computer science professor and coordinator of the Business Lecture Series, take questions from business students at the conclusion of Houston’s talk, which he seasoned with humor and anecdotes. To watch the lecture, scan the QR code at right or visit http://youtu.be/IfE8IBgPp1k.

Media Formats Confuse Consumers [Format, from page 12] by a buffering break, though.

If you want to stream a film on Netflix, chances are you’re going to be watching a film that has probably been on cable for a while already. Sure, every so often the company will get newer films, but they’re never usually the heavy hitters that you really want to see.

With the integration of Netflix into almost every Blu-ray player and all game consoles, getting the content is rather easy. The same can’t necessarily be said for Amazon Instant Video. The following solution might only work for people who use Amazon on a consistent basis.

Signing up for Amazon Prime at $79 a year, which used to only include free two-day shipping on all items, now offers members the ability to stream thousands of shows and movies, many of which are also offered on Netflix.

Netflix and Hulu have more similar pricing models in comparison to Amazon. Netflix has various prices. Recently the company introduced a streaming only option for $7.99 a month. Customers can also get one DVD and unlimited streaming for $15.98, or Blu-ray for $17.98.

Hulu Plus offers members the ability to watch most new shows from ABC, NBC, FOX and the CW. For a monthly price of $8, it’s a nice alternative for

anyone who wants their new television shows right after they air.

Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have tapped into a prosperous market. While they still aren’t able to stream shows like “Game of Thrones” or “Curb Your Enthusiasm” from channels like HBO as they air, the companies are still able to get some quality programming.

If a person owns a newer TV or a Blu-ray player, chances are they have built-in apps that allow that person to connect to either Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or Hulu. If not, they’ll have to splurge on one of the previously mentioned items, or a Roku Box or game console.

Quite possibly the biggest factor that can go into making the decision of whether a person chooses streaming or Blu-ray is whether they like to physically own that content. Owning a vinyl record isn’t the same as downloading a song or album digitally.

The same can be said for owning a Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection, with all of their essays and special features, in comparison to viewing a film from the collection via Hulu Plus.

There’s certainly room for both formats to prosper, though hard copies of actual content is still the preferred route.

Evan Ramirez can be reached at eramire678@glendale.edu