March 2, 2011

El Vaquero March 2, 2011

Glendale College

Classroom Chemists

Lab workers isolate molecules for new compounds. Story on page 10.

Photo by Jane Pojawa

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

ASGCC Urges Students to El Vaquero Support Tax Extensions Glendale Community College

editor in chief

Jane Pojawa

Dearest Students of Glendale Community College,

COPY EDITOR

The ASGCC (your student government) is taking a proactive stance in the advocacy of the proposed tax extensions in the upcoming mid-year elections in June 2011. The members of the legislature will be voting on these tax extensions on March 10, 2011, which means that we have a very limited amount of time to act. If the tax extensions are NOT approved, GCC will be taking a 14 million dollar cut which will lead the administration, faculty, staff, and ESPECIALLY students to suffer greatly.

These tax extensions call for the taxes on the property, sales, and income tax to stand at what they currently are. NOTE: They will NOT be increased.

The ASGCC asks that you please take only a few minutes of your valuable time in writing a HANDWRITTEN (preferably so that it is personal) letter to your district representative (can be found at: www.leginfo.ca.gov) expressing your concerns and how NOT PASSING THESE TAX EXTENSIONS will affect YOU: You can mention the following points and/or include a personal story of your own:

Agnes Constante STAFF WRITERS

Michelle Bowles Nik Brkic Alex Campos Ashley Carey Aaron Carlos Toni Davis Vanessa Duffy Christine Gillette Kate Krantz Vaughn Lawrence Marlon Miranda Adriana Orellana Luis Rodriguez Derek Stowe Shearson Unda Erica White Lillian Wu

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

Mario Camino Shaun Kelly Richard Kontas Peter Moyes Tex Wells

Production Manager

Jane Pojawa

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design adviser

Charles Eastman

faculty adviser

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advertising

Michael Moreau Jeff Smith

mmoreau@glendale.edu (818) 551-5214

jsmith@glendale.edu (818) 240-1000, ext. 1427

Send Letters to the Editor

El Vaquero accepts story ideas in news, features, profiles, sports and entertainment from the public. To submit an idea or an article, e-mail the editor at editor@elvaq.com or call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5349.

Letters may be reproduced in full or in part and represent only the point of view of the writer, not the opinion of El Vaquero or Glendale Community College and its district. Letters must be signed and typed and include the full name and address of the writer. El Vaquero is a First Amendment publication.

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Once you have written your letter (which may be sealed), please bring it to the Student Center — NOTE: it should be addressed to the representative of your district — and turned in to the student worker (located right by the entrance) as the ASGCC will be mailing the letters to the legislator of your district.

If you are able to fax the letter yourself from your home/business/work fax machine, please do so.

Please invite ALL your friends to this event and make sure that they, too, write letters to their representatives because this can only be successful if we join our strengths and efforts. Remember that indifference or delay will only create an artificial peace and cannot ever take us in the direction of our goals.

Sincerely,

The Associated Students of Glendale Community College

WANTED: WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

March 2, 2011 Volume 97 Number 1 Features

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Letter s to the editor…

IN THIS ISSUE

News

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I t will take you 50 percent longer to transfer or graduate. If the average student takes four years to get a bachelor’s degree, it will take you around six years.

Both summer and winter sessions will be cut and this will certainly interfere with your plans for transferring or graduating.

There will be an enormous reduction of classes in the fall and spring sessions, which means that registering as a full-time student will be virtually impossible.

Students that receive financial aid may be dropped from the program because they will

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not be able to maintain the necessary units to receive funding from the state.

Students in the GAIN program might not

receive welfare and might be dropped from their medical benefits.

Paying $36-$66 per unit will financially burden a great number of students.

Programs such as Counseling, Transfer Center, PACE, Learning Center, CSI, SOS, EOPS, Math Discovery Center, Child Development Center, Student-workers, SI (Supplemental Instructions), Baja Program, Study Abroad, Athletics among many others will suffer a great reduction of funding and thus will be able to serve fewer students — creating longer lines and reduced available hours.

2-6

7-15

Contact editor@elvaq.com

Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-22 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

On the Cover: Organic chemistry students Pedro Kim, from left, Narega Nazarian, and Adena Issiain are isolating molecules for use in new drug delivery platforms of the sort used by pharmaceutical companies, page 10.

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

3

NEWS

College Board Addresses Budget Crisis

By Ashley Carey

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

T

he Glendale College Board of Trustees is campaigning for a move they believe will soften the blow of the school’s budget crisis, and save students $30 per unit in tuition fees.

The financial crisis, a statewide $25 billion budget gap, will be felt mostly during the oncoming budget year.

Proposition 98, first passed in 1988, guarantees an annual increase in the budgets of K-14 education. Tax extensions first passed five years ago, would help retain some funding for community colleges. The extensions would last an additional five years.

The support of an additional four Republican district represen-

tatives is still needed to ensure the tax extensions make it to the ballot.

“Proposition 98 funding constitutes over 70 percent of total K-12 funding and about twothirds of total community college funding,” Legislative Analyst Office’s website states. “Currently, Proposition 98 spending (General Fund) is almost 45 percent of General Fund revenues.”

Proposition 98 has the option to be suspended, allowing the Legislature to decide at what level to fund K-14 education. A proposed tax extension would preserve some of the college’s funding, but is not yet on the ballot.

Under Governor Brown’s budget proposal, the California community college system would see

a 2.6 percent decrease in funding through a changed census date.

This would mean a $400 million cut to community college funding. A $10 per unit student fee increase is included in the proposal, compared to a $40 per unit increase if the tax extension does not pass.

Community colleges already suffered the majority of cuts under Proposition 98, said Mark MacDonald, a lobbyist with the MacCallum Group in Sacramento.

“If Proposition 98 is suspended, we’re talking about a $1 billion cut to community colleges,” MacDonald said. “We’re talking about a completely different way of doing education in California.”

“We have 2.7 million students at community colleges. We need

to use all of them,”he said.

The board hired the MacCallum Group to lobby for the tax extensions during tough financial times.

“Use us to get where you need to be,” said Board of Trustees Clerk Dr. Hacopian.

“We know that for us, if the governor’s budget would pass, a little over 2,000 students would still not get served. But, if Proposition 98 is suspended, 5,000 students would not get served,” said Board Vice President Mrs. Gabriellian.

Over 2,500 bills relating to the budget have been introduced in the last month, covering a variety of issues. Things like funding, financial aid, contracting, and accountability are among the issues on the bills. Each proposal must

be in print for at least 30 days prior to receiving legislative action, MacDonald said.

“This is the most important election that you will be part of in a long time,” he said. “Assuming the measures make it to the ballot in June, we need student, faculty and staff, and the board promoting the importance of the measures to the college.”

Other topics covered at Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting included accreditation issues, and an overview of the success of the Glendale College nursing program.

Ashley Carey can be reached at Ashley_Carey@elvaq.com

Guild Holds Candidate Forum; Endorses Newcomer

By Erica White

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

T

he Glendale College Faculty Guild held a college board of trustees candidate forum in the auditorium on Feb. 22, then on Thursday voted to endorse a challenger who vowed to tap the college’s reserve fund should the need arise.

The board’s President Anthony P. Tartaglia and member Vahe Peroomian are up for reelection on April 5.

Newcomer and business owner Vartan Gharpetian, who won guild endorsement, joined the incumbents in answering questions read by Faculty Guild President Ramona Barrio-Sotillo.

Glendale Community College is faced with a $5 to 10 million budget shortfall in the coming year. Currently, there is a 5 percent reserve in the general fund that both incumbent candidates Tartaglia and Peroomian pledged to retain. Gharpetian, on the other hand, said he is willing to dip into the reserve to keep the college afloat.

“At this point I think we are in a dire straight of just getting by,” he said.

Gharpetian called for a budget

study involving community participation, and reaching out to the state legislature to get more funding for the school.

“We have to go out there and find more funds for the college by creating better relationships with our legislators,” he said.

President Tartaglia said if the 5 percent budget is spent, “We’re done.

A 5 percent reserve represents, if we’re lucky, a month, maybe three weeks, of the operating budget of this campus.”

W h e n asked about the contract extension and buyout of Vartan Gharpetian former GCC President Audre Levy, Gharpetian said he would have not extended Levy’s contract to begin with, and would have not paid the $300,000 settlement to end Levy’s contract.

“In these tough economic times its huge burden on the college,” he said.

President Tartaglia said “mistakes were made by everyone” in the hiring of Levy, and that the contract shouldn’t have been extended. Tartaglia said it was better to cut their losses rather than continue with Levy’s contract.

The candidates talked about their disapproval of cutting

athletics and P.E. courses.

Peroomian said “they are an integral part of any college.”

Some in the guild voiced concerns about Gharpetian’s political aspirations. Gharpetian had put in a bid for Glendale City Council as well as the GCC Board

of Trustees. He said he wanted to get the community’s reaction to his running for city council and board of trustees, and he received overwhelming support to run for the board.

Neither Peroomian or Tartaglia were endorsed by the guild in

their last election, but both said that an endorsement this time around would be an affirmation that the board was moving in the right direction.

It didn’t turn out that way.

Erica White can be reached at Erica_White@elvaq.com

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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NEWS

Students Troubled Student Government to

by Class Cuts Protest State Budget Cuts

By Luis Rodriguez

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale College has been struggling with the budget for many years, and next year could be worse for students as cutting the winter intersession and other measures are under consideration by the budget committee.

“We are looking at a $3.8 to 4 million budget cut,” Ron Nakasone, executive vice president of administrative services said. “The government proposed increasing taxes for five years,” he said, referring to the June Tax Extension Package.

“The governor is trying to get this on a ballot in June. If it passes, the budget will be reduced by $5 million. If it doesn’t pass, the budget will be reduced by $10 million. Either way there will be a reduction of classes.”

Many people assume that tuition fees pay the cost of maintaining the college. This is incorrect. “The state funds us on enrollment,” said Nakasone.

“We’re generating more student enrollments than we are getting paid for. There won’t be any new employees and we will be reducing student workers. We will cut traveling fees. The board is reviewing whether they can get a furlough. There may not be a winter intersession next year and there will be a reduced summer this year. The budget committee will try to protect the regular semesters. The majority

of cuts will be in the winter and summer.”

Mary Mirch, vice president of instructional services, said,: “We are looking at the budget; There is a $4 to 5 million decrease. We are going to have to look into other options.”

Lack of funding has had a drastic effect on the number of classes that are being offered.

“We cancel classes if there is not a minimum of 15 students,” Mirch said. “Staff have taken a pay cut. We are looking for options on how to survive the next few years. We spend hours in budget meetings. ASGCC addressed the budget on Feb. 23.

We will look at everything that benefits the students.”

Harut Minasyan, a sophomore said, “I rather there not be a winter session so people don’t get their hopes up. I’ve been going to GCC for two years taking over 15 units almost every semester.”

Even with priority registration, many students aren’t getting the classes they need. “I was waitlisted initially in organic chemistry despite registering the very minute of my allowed time,” said student Arabo Andre Avanes.

“It is absurd that each semester business classes are funded and left unfilled yet chemistry, is being treated as if expendable.

“It is an unimaginable view of society.... Poorly funding science shows an unconcerned, careless outlook.”

Luis Rodriguez can be reached at luis_rodriquez@elvaq.com

By Shearson Unda

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

A

ssociated Students of Glendale Community College (ASGCC) officers plan to visit Sacramento on March 14 to join the March in March rally against educational budget cuts and to urge legislators to approve a tax-extension referendum on the June ballot.

The student government, which meets every Tuesday at the Student Center, plans to work on persuading state assembly members and senators to allow the taxextension measure to be placed on the June 7th ballot. The deadline for consideration is March 10.

ASGCC President Janet Shamilian said, “We’re setting up appointments with the legislature and assembly members and we’re tackling those that are more for the [extension].”

Vice President of Finance Pedro Kim said, “The ASGCC is taking a proactive stance in the advocacy of the proposed tax extensions.”

The tax extension would not increase the tax rate, but would merely continue those already in place on property, sales and state income taxes as well as motor vehicle fees.

The upcoming “March in March” is a protest in response to Jerry Brown’s proposals

including budget cuts statewide for Community Colleges.

Browns’ plan could cause a $10 increase in unit fees, which would raise student fees from $26 per unit to $36.

The school system could experience a drastic state fund cut, “If it doesn’t go through (the tax proposal) the community college system will take a 10 to 12 million dollar hit,” said Shamilian.

“It will take you 50 percent longer to transfer/graduate. If the average student takes four years to get a Bachelor’s degree, it will take you around six years,” stated Kim. Also, if these tax extensions are not placed on the ballot, or if they are not passed, GCC must undergo a 15 percent budget cut, “compromising an insurmountable number of services we provide to the students,” claimed Kim. Before heading out to the state capitol in mid-March, the ASGCC has a conference set up with several other colleges, which will take the form of an informal “mixer.” Student representatives are invited to this meeting.

President Shamilian hoped to reach out to other student body presidents at the meeting of the various schools in our region. In her efforts, she hopes to encourage other community college student governments to contact their district representatives and voice their opinions.

Community college supporters will be among

the key advocates of getting this change on the ballot.

According to Shamilian, the protest this month is critical to getting the referendum on the ballot and giving the voters in California a chance to vote to support educational spending.

In addition to ASGCC efforts to lobby for change, “We are hoping to start facebook groups and propaganda via the Internet … a basic letter stating what will happen if the summer is cut out and the winter is cut out,” said Shamilian.

This page,”Keep tuition at $26 unit instead of $66 unit” can be found at http://www. facebook.com/pages/ElVaquero/108745835812815#!/ pages/Keep-tuitionat-26unit-instead-of66unit/201653586527705.

In those policy statements they will include small prompts that show the effects of the budget cuts to make the impact clear to the students and staff involved.

“The time to act is NOW. These are exciting times for us students. Our voices matter the most at these times, and, together, unified, we can save our schools, and keep the public education system public,” said Kim.

Shearson Unda can be reached at Shearson_Unda@elvaq.com

Campus Comments Have you experienced any problems adding classes?

Hasanna Jackson 22

Alejandro Lopez 19

Nareg Rostami 21

Music

Undecided

Electrical Energy

“I had no problems.

I have nine classes.”

“The system showed a speech class was open but it was closed.”

“I have OPS priority registration, so I was ok.”

Tara Lall 22 Communications “I am on top of it. Other students have a tougher time.”

­­—Compiled by Nik Brkic and photographed by Luis Rodriguez

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

5

NEWS

Questions Surround Police Administrative Leave

By Vaughn Lawrence EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

C

hief Steven P. Wagg and Captain Nidal Kobaissi were placed on administrative leave, and there is suspicion about whether or not they were qualified for their positions.

In the Dec. 15 issue of the Glendale News Press, reporter Jason Wells asked GCC to provide his publication with resumes for Wagg and Kobaissi.

He was denied the information.

Independently verifying the same information through the Human Resources Office, the Associate Vice President of Human Resources Vicki Nicholson stated that she “can’t give out any information.”

The crux of the problem is that administrative leave is considered a personnel matter, and many of the campus entities that are usually reliable sources of information are legally bound to refrain from comment.

Conversely, the onus of responsibility in reporting is to provide accurate public information and this includes whether public safety is at issue and whether criminal misconduct has been committed. This requires

due diligence.

Since, in the absence of personnel records there is no method of proving whether Wagg and Kobaissi were qualified or not, the next logical step to finding information is to talk to members of the department and administration themselves.

Not surprisingly, members of the GCC police department declined to comment. “I literally cannot tell you anything,” said Cadet Wyatt while he was sitting at the information desk located in the school’s student parking lot. Wyatt would not give an interview and said that none of the other members of the department could give information. He said, “They are not supposed to, if they did I would have some words for them.”

Dispatcher Alex Gonzalez, who works in the GCC Police Office, said that neither he nor anyone else from the department could give an interview. Gonzalez said, “For the newspaper you can’t do that.” At a different time but in the same office, Communications Officer Merrick Wahl would not give an interview for the paper, he said, “No I can’t, sorry.”

The final member of the police department that said he could not

Photo by Tex Wells

ON THE LINE: Stephen P. Wagg, former Glendale Community College chief of police, accepts a call in between

taking questions from a GCC student. Wagg has become the source of mystery among the police department and the school itself, the reason for his leave only raises questions.

give any information was found at the ATM that is located directly outside of the Bookstore. Officer Carthew did not disappoint when toed the party line. Then he suggested that the Office of Public Relations was a great place to find information.

The Public Information Director, Wendy Grove stated in no uncertain terms, “I can’t give out confidential information.”

Wagg’s leave began Dec. 14, and was supposed to end on Dec. 31. He has still not returned. In his absence officer Erin Kurasz was appointed the position of acting captain. Kurasz was the only member of the department that gave an interview, but in reference to Wagg she said “I cannot reveal any info.” She has been at Glendale Community College for 12 years, and is the only female officer in the GCC Police Department.

The department, the administration and members of the Board of Trustees have had

one consistent message: that the suspension of Wagg and Kobaissi is a personnel matter and that public safety has never been at risk.

The spring semester began Feb. 14 with a new acting captain, and many unanswered questions about her predecessors. It looks like only time will tell why Wagg and Kobaissi have been placed on leave from the GCC Police Department.

To contact the police for any information or to report a crime call (818) 240-1000 ext. 4000.

Vaughn Lawrence can be reached at Vaughn_Lawrence@elvaq.com

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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NEWS

Black History Month Features Culture, Music

By Kate Krantz

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

B

arrack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, - a day that marked a milestone in the course of history.

Obama is a leader amongst many other significant figures before him, a point noted in “From Slavery to the Presidency: A Tribute to Our Past, Present and Future,” a lecture celebrating Black History Month, on Feb. 24 in Kreider Hall.

The hour-long lecture featured poems and music acknowledging legendary African-Americans throughout U.S. history.

All dressed in dashikis, robelike dresses from Nigeria, the tune of “America the Beautiful”

by Ray Charles, played quietly in the background as the speakers took the stage.

Before the lecture began, counselor Troy Davis, said, “African-Americans have been around for many years so it is difficult to get the whole black history within an hour.” He then

reassured the students that it’s “not just about slavery.”

Standing at the podium, Davis discussed the roots of Black History Month can be traced to the early 20th century.

He explained how Carter G. Woodsen, an educator and historian, devoted his life to researching artifacts and publications associated with African-Americans.

He published articles and campaigned in hopes for the celebration of a Negro’s History Week in 1925. The celebration was successfully instituted in the second week of February in 1926.

Black History Month is commemorated every February.

Davis highlighted important developments and issues in African-American history from slavery to the present.

He focused on the black experience under slavery, the struggle for emancipation and the response to social, political and economic oppression from the collapse of Reconstruction to modern America.

According to Davis, “separate was considered equal [then]. It was impossible to achieve equality in a turbulent atmosphere.”

Following, he explained the rise of Jim Crow, the Harlem renaissance, the civil rights movement, affirmative action, and the election of the first black president of the United States.

Shedding light on black culture growth and history, Davis mentioned renowned leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman.

In between Davis’ presentations, CABOT (Computer Application and Business Office Technology) instructor Sandy Sheffey and Garfield career center counselor and CABOT instructor Deborah Kinsley recited a poem entitled “We Wear in the Mask in the Morning,” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.

Voices intertwined, Sheffey and Kinley recited other poems during the lecture, including “Mother to Son” by Langston

Hughes from the Harlem renaissance, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou and “I’m Not Giving My Black Back,” a poem written in black dialect by an anonymous author.

“If you really listen to the lyrics and you don’t just poo poo it, there really is a message,” said Sheffey.

And the messages were well received among all. As once stated by Margaret Walker Alexander, “Let a second generation full of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom

come to growth.”

“From Slavery to the Presidency: A Tribute to Our Past, Present and Future” is the first of the Social Science/Humanities lecture series for the spring semester and the next lecture, regarding Women’s History Month will be held tomorrow at 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Kreider Hall.

A special thanks to psychology department chair Jessica Gillooly for making this event possible.

Kate Krantz can be reached at kate_krantz@elvaq.com

Have you seen our magazine?

Online Exclusives at:

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

7

FEATURES

John Queen to Receive Prestigious Recognition

By Michelle Bowles EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

J

ohn Queen, chair of the political science department, will receive the Full Time Faculty of the Year Award from the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges on Sunday.

The award is in recognition of Queen’s outstanding professional involvement based on campus and district-level activities. Queen was chosen by the selection committee for his long-term, fulltime accomplishments.

Queen is also a professor of political science, past president of the GCC academic senate, and the accreditation coordinator.

The awarding organization champions the interests of the state’s community colleges.

The association is built with a professional staff and also citizens that volunteer to better the school systems. They spend time testifying at hearings for the greater good of community colleges. The staff meets with legislators to come up with ideas and forums to continue education at the community level in California.

The faculty award has been granted yearly since 1953. The faculty association is a group of 22 board members from other community colleges. It promotes funding and academic freedom for schools like GCC. It also focuses on the retirement benefits for full-time professors.

The award will be presented at the FACCC Advocacy and Policy Conference on March 6 in Sacramento. Queen’s wife, who is currently visiting their daughter in North Carolina, will be joining him.

“It is nice to get recognized for your work,” Queen said while he was looking at his plaques on his office wall. He laughed and said, “I’m sure this is my last award, I couldn’t get anymore. I don’t know what else I could get.”

Queen was also the winner of another award, the William L. Parker Exceptional Service in 2010. This award focuses on a long-term professor’s committee participation, leadership, outreach and grant work. The award is given out by a committee of former recipients of this award.

It came with a $1,000 prize for academic purposes.

Queen has been a full-time professor at the college since

1992. Since then he has served as the past president of the GCC academic senate for five non consecutive years, from 1998 to 2000 and from 2007 to 2010.

Queen retired from his position last year.

“Other people need to participate in the system. We needed new blood.”

Queen said that even with all his accomplishment the biggest reward comes from teaching at GCC. He has spent time teaching part time at UCLA, Cal Poly Pomona, and Occidental College.

After teaching a quarter here and there at these universities he landed at GCC in 1992. Among all these opportunities he prefers teaching full-time at GCC. “I prefer community college to a university because I enjoy teaching rather than researching.” he said.

Queen was released from teaching two classes and allowed to teach only three because he is the accreditation coordinator for the book, “Institutional Self Study Report in Support of Reaffirmation of Accreditation.

In other words, Queen and everyone else involved on campus are responsible for making sure GCC is prepared to be accredited every six years. This allows the school to stay open, students to get loans, and instruction to continue uninterrupted.

Queen’s colleagues are very supportive of him. They appreciate all of his hard work and dedication towards the school.

“John Queen always seems to be the first to volunteer for a lot of difficult tasks,” Denise Robb, a political science professor, said.

The day after the award ceremony Queen will be right back at it. Due to his passion for teaching, Queen is going to lobby to stop the budget cuts on Community Colleges.

Queen encourages his students and people in the community to get out and vote so students will continue to have the opportunity of community college. With the tax cuts Queen says that the one of the major changes he has noticed is the drop out percentage.

“Students don’t seem to drop out of classes as much; it’s as though they know they might not be able to get the same class next semester,” Queen said.

The professor would like to see people understand the budget crisis the schools are under

Photo by Tex Wells

CONGRATULATIONS: John Queen, chair of the political science department and winner of the Full-time Faculty of the Year Award, is congratulated by Mona Field, retired GCC professor. The formal presentation of the award, given by the 10,000-member Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, will be made in Sacramento on March 6.

opposed to complaining about it.

He wants people to understand that if they want to keep things open for the students, someone has to pay for them.

“I’m optimistic that people realize that if they want things, such as community college, they have to pay higher taxes and that they will follow through,” Queen said.

He suggests that students talk to members of the assembly line and the State Senate. He said he has seen students participate in Sacramento for the March for March and would like to see a

greater outcome this coming March 14.

March for March will be held at the Raley Field and will end at the capitol. Thousands of students and administrators will participate in this march. All of these people are coming together in order to recognize the importance of affordable education for every student. More information can be found at www.iwillmarch.com.

“People have to vote, students have to vote, that’s it,” Queen said.

Other than lobbying, teaching and winning awards Queen

and his wife enjoy going to the movies. The most recent movie was “The Social Network,” which he said they really enjoyed.

They also enjoy taking hikes with the Sierra Club and spending time with their daughters.

Queen proves his dedication to his students and co-workers every day in the classroom and will continue to do so for at least another decade.

“I won’t be retiring for 10 years, at least,” Queen said.

Michelle Bowles can be reached at Michelle_Bowles@elvaq.com

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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FEATURES

A New Beginning for Campus Clubs

By Lillian Wu

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale Community College students who are interested in joining a campus group can begin their research now. During Club Rush, students can join existing organizations or start one on their own.

“I think [clubs] bring unity and camaraderie,” said Scott Melesky, president of the Early Childhood Educators Club.

“When people are all in a club, it brings energy as well. And once you have all of that, you can have something powerful and fun.”

In order to start a successful campus organization, students must follow certain guidelines by laying a good foundation that is solid enough to last until following semester. It involves advertising, marketing, recruiting students, budget planning and administrative work.

After finding at least five students who are interested in joining the club and selecting an advisor employed at GCC, students decide with their advisor how they want the club to function.

Tzoler Oukayan, the student activities coordinator at GCC and advisor to the InterOrganizational Council, said that the paperwork is not very difficult.

“The more time consuming part is planning the club constitution.”

Oukayan said, “I think it’s really (about) getting involved on campus. When I was a student here, my first year I was just a body. I came to class; I went to work. I didn’t really get the college experience. (In the club,) you see the college in a different way. You make new friends, develop skills (… and) discover interests you didn’t know you had.”

“We want Glendale to be more than a transfer institution,” Oukayan said. “Some people do technical training and then there is the traditional student who transfers. We hope that all of them get involved on the campus a little bit more.”

She explained that “it makes a difference” when students get involved in campus events or “anything that engages you in student activity … even if it’s just watching and observing.”

Oukayan stressed the benefits

of starting a club. “I think it’s the leadership experience. You are becoming the founder of something, and that can be significant on our campus. And the skills and the leadership abilities that you put into creating the club are very developmental.

(For instance,) I think it’s a great experience to have to write a constitution. It’s like being a founding father.”

Melesky said he was inspired to start the ECE club after attending Club Rush. “There were 64 clubs and there was nothing for early childhood educators.

We have great teachers and great resources. The students can be represented and learn more about childhood education and more about the Child Development Center. Also the club gives them a place where they can talk about the field and hear speakers.”

The club’s purpose is “to work closely with the Child Development Center in organizing meetings and seminars to support those working in the field.”

Melesky said, “The last ECE Club existed in 1998 but had been dormant for more than 10 years. With the 2010 to 2011 ECE Club that I founded, I wanted to continue their energy and enthusiasm that they had toward early childhood education. I wanted to give the current ECE students a place where they can continue to grow and develop as educators.”

Paulina León, vice president of the Environmental Club, said she learned about the club from the GCC website and “immediately sent the president a message to see if [she] could join.”

“I wanted to do something active,” she said. “My high school didn’t have any campus clubs.

People are more active here, and I wanted to do something more meaningful.”

León is currently a biological science major, but would like to major in environmental science.

“I thought it would be really helpful to be in a club where you get to see and discuss about the current environmental issues.”

She said the goal of the club is to form a conscience on environmental and humanitarian issues, as well as taking actions in school and out in the community.

Additionally, enthusiasm is needed for the club to become successful. León said, “Running

a club requires some time and dedication as well as passion for what you’re doing. With that and with the help of the other members, your club will run just fine.”

For extra financial support, clubs can hold their own fundraisers on campus. They can also apply for different grants in which ASGCC will help with finances or provide supplies for the event.

“They help us a lot,” León said. “They provide us with everything we need, from tables, booths, audio equipment and more. And sometimes they even help us advertise our events.”

Special Organizational Support allows a one-time grant for up to $250 to clubs registered

with the Inter-Organizational Council.

Organizational Event Support helps clubs with events they want to have such as speakers and field trips. The grant can be applied twice per semester for up to $250.

Both Melesky and León encourage students to join campus clubs. “Being part of a student organization helps you meet a great number of interesting people with different points of view and objectives in life,” León said. “It develops a bigger sense of responsibility and communicational skills that are very important in life. Plus, you get to help the community and the environment while having fun.”

Melesky said, “I think it goes

for any club. When people are interested in something that interests them or want to know more about it, I think that’s good.”

Students who are interested in learning more about starting a club or about other clubs on campus can visit http://glendale. edu/as/iocclub.html.

For more information about the Early Childhood Educators Club, visit http://vision.glendale. edu/index.aspx?page=4696.

To learn more about the Environmental Club, go to GCC Environmental Club on Facebook.

Lillian Wu can be reached at Lillian_Wu@elvaq.com

MASTER Scholarship Program Benefits Math, Science Students

By Lillian Wu

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

The Math and Science Transfer Excellence and Retention Scholarship Program, which was funded by a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for Glendale Community College students in science, technology, engineering, and math, will end in June 2011 after five years.

The MASTER program was created by Sid Kolpas, professor of mathematics at GCC and principal investigator of the program. Although it began in September 2006, the first year (2006 to 2007) was considered a planning year.

Kolpas and Jean Lecuyer, co-principal investigator of the program and professor of physics at GCC, spent hours writing the proposal to the National Science Foundation.

“It was a long, arduous process,” Kolpas said. “They are very prestigious, and they are hard to get.”

Students who applied had to wait a semester before they could enter the program the following semester. Those who were not accepted in the fall could enter in the spring.

“There has always been a

waiting list,” Kolpas said. “This semester there are 40 people. It varies.”

Selin Shirvanian, a third year biology major and one of Kolpas’s mentees, said, “There were many people waiting to be admitted into the program, so I had to wait for a year to get into the program.”

Despite the long wait time, Kolpas said that approximately 200 students have entered MASTER. Currently, there are 56 students continuing from the fall semester. The maximum is 70 students.

Danny Diaz, a second year chemistry major, heard about the program from instructor of mathematics Thomas Voden. “I asked him about scholarships in the [math] field and he told me about the MASTER program.” Diaz was also “in need of assistance like books and supplies.”

Every student who is accepted into the program receives financial aid. “Most of the money goes to students’ scholarships,” Kolpas said. “But the typical student gets $750 a semester or $1,500 a year, which should cover tuition at Glendale College and books, with some to spare.”

To be accepted into the program, students must pass

several requirements. They need a 2.5 grade point average or better and a math placement in intermediate algebra or higher. They also need to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident since they have to apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Some students who do not need financial assistance still join because of the benefits.

One of the rules of the NSF is that scholarship recipients must be a science, engineering or mathematics major. Examples include biology, chemistry, chemical engineering and geology.

The students are not required to finish their courses within a set length of time. “There is not a two year limit especially in this economy when there are not a lot of classes,” Kolpas said.

After being accepted into the program, students can attend a one month summer bridge program held on the GCC campus where they receive a TI-84+ calculator. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., students review pre-calculus and beginning calculus. The classes are four days a week and the fifth day is a field trip to museums such as the Getty.

[See Scholarship, page 9]

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FEATURES

MASTER Program Mentors Math and Sciences [Scholarship, from page 8]

The benefits of joining the program increases from there. Students receive priority registration for classes. They are also guaranteed assistance with transfer fee applications and assigned to a counselor who helps with transfer goals and a student education plan.

Kevin Meza, a MASTER counselor who is also the transfer center coordinator at GCC, said that many students were already exposed to transfer strategies from “workshops, presentations and the summer bridge program.”

Meeting one-on-one allows the counselors to “expand on their knowledge.”

“By being in this program, students make themselves competitive to the schools that they want to transfer to,” Meza said.

Another benefit of the program is the personalized attention from Kolpas and the mentors. Kolpas sends an electronic newsletter to students each week talking about the scholarship.

“He continually sends us informative e-mails about volunteering, internships, scholarship opportunities and words of wisdom, which includes inspirational sayings and advice,” Shirvanian said. “He is a source of information that you can always rely on.”

“I am sort of their father. The father to everyone,” said Kolpas.

“I monitor their grades and how they are doing and try to get them help.”

There are approximately 41 mentors including Kolpas.

Most are faculty but some are staff, administrative assistants or managers. In the past, administration has mentored.

“They are volunteering. They are not getting any money or credit for this. If I didn’t have their help, then it would not have happened,” Kolpas said.

The students spend at least 15 minutes or more with their assigned mentors each week to talk about school and other subjects.

“I mentor five students. More typically, the faculty takes on one to two students,” Kolpas said.

They are like “a father or mother away from home [who] help and advise them.”

One of Kolpas’s mentees is Karina Estrada, a third year who

is majoring in civil engineering.

Estrada said she could talk about school related or personal issues with Kolpas. “It was a way to relieve a little bit of stress. We’ve grown close. It’s almost like we are each other’s therapist.”

Other benefits include books about NSF internships such as “A Guide to Research, Prehealth, Professional, and PostBaccalaureate Enrichment Programs.”

MASTER students have applied to many prestigious internships or jobs. Kolpas said students have applied at NASA, Jet Propulsion Lab, Oak Crest Institute of Science, University of Michigan and Howard University in Washington D.C. To remain in the program, students must maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or better.

They must also enroll in 12 units or more every semester. Nine of the units must be transferable.

Finally, they must have progress in their science and math courses.

Additionally, the scholarship partially funds GCC’s Supplemental Instruction program by adding more supplemental instructors for math and science.

The Huntington Library, the Getty, Staples, PPG Industries and Norris Foundation have all contributed in some way to the program by providing supplies, flash drives and gifts to the students.

“For a while Texas Instruments provided lightly used calculators for free,” Kolpas said. “But in the last three years, part of the NSF funds paid for them.

Texas Instruments provided free software for math and science for the students one year.”

The grant also brings speakers in math and science and funds field trips to other universities and a banquet for the students.

“GCC is helping to support it too by giving me release time and donating time from faculty and staff, or donating printing for advertisements, or rooms to use,” Kolpas said.

Kolpas said that running the program is “high maintenance” and is grateful to dozens of faculty and staff who have helped him.

“One person cannot do this,” Kolpas said. “Think of me as a conductor. But a conductor is not good without the instruments.

Photo by Mario Camino

MASTER SCHOLARS: Professor Sid Kolpas, second from left, stands with Karo Karagezyan, far left, Karina Estrada and Danny Diaz, some of the students who are being mentored through the MASTER program.

It can’t work without everyone else.”

Kolpas’s goal was to encourage more students in the science, engineering and math fields. He also wanted them to complete their transfer, get a bachelor’s degree and become a professional.

“It seems to be very successful both anecdotally and statistically,” he said.

Past students have sent Facebook messages and e-mails to the program announcing their success and thanking Kolpas, the counselors and the staff for their support.

Kolpas and another colleague at California State University, Northridge previously created the Alliance Minority Program, which lasted 12 years.

“We had students who transferred from the AMP scholarship, which ended [in] 2007, to the MASTER scholarship,” Kolpas said. “In a sense, the MASTER is a continuation and modification of the AMP NSF grant.”

Although the NSF grant was not renewed for 2011 – 2012, the future of the MASTER program is yet to be determined.

“The program ends completely in June,” Kolpas said. “If I weren’t leaving, I would have reapplied and not changed it. A couple of faculty modified the proposal a little and it was rejected.”

Meza said, “Sid put a lot of time and effort into it. It would be

hard to replicate it, but we should try.”

Voden, who was part of the faculty who tried to renew the grant, said, “[The program] took a long time to build and it would be sad to see it just disappear.”

Even though Kolpas retired last year, he is teaching Math 145 while running the program and the science lecture series. “I’m moving [to the] Philadelphia [area] to be near my daughters.

My older daughter gave birth to twin boys, and now I am a new grandfather.”

He added that he was sad to leave. “I will miss Glendale College. It will be hard to say goodbye to my friends and students.”

Many aspects of the MASTER program will be missed. Karo Karagezyan, a third year chemistry major, said, “[The program] has helped me a lot because when you are meeting with your mentor and you have a question about something you had in class, you can ask them.

And they are more than qualified to answer about the subject.”

Greg Perkins, another MASTER counselor and EOPS counselor at GCC, said he will miss the “closely knit learning community of students. It’s very exciting to see the energy that those students share as part of the program.”

Diaz said he will miss “Dr. Kolpas, my tutors and the scholarship experience.”

“Having the scholarship relieves me of having to worry about paying for books and allows me to focus on school more,” he said.

“I am sad that the program is ending, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s out of my control. What I can do about it is just continue my school work and do what I have to do to be able to transfer next year.”

Lillian Wu can be reached at Lillian_Wu@elvaq.com

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FEATURES

Students Synthesize New Compounds in Lab

By Derek Stowe

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

Cover Story

S

elected out of a pool of 35 Glendale College applicants, 13 advanced organic chemistry students this winter synthesized six new compounds for drug delivery platforms typically used by pharmaceutical companies.

A drug delivery platform is a chemical agent used for oral, transdermal, intravenous, or nasal delivery to a patient.

This was the second winter session that researcher and GCC chemistry instructor Asmik Oganesyan selected students to work on a specific project. They combined research and lab skills in a one-unit, graduate-programlevel independent study course.

The final 13 students were chosen by Oganesyan based on their enthusiasm for science and their excellence in previous work.

Twelve students were enrolled and one had a conflict with his calculus class but managed to show up consistently.

“I learned to transfer information from my head to my hands, to succeed and be proud, but also to fail and try again and again and again,” said chemistry major Adena Issian. “All the ups and down made us better researchers — a team of great minds that helped one another but also competed in groups.”

Issian hopes to follow in Oganesyan’s footsteps by earning a doctorate in organic chemistry and becoming a college professor.

Students call Oganesyan “Dr. DMSO” because dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a “mean” solvent that dissolves anything.

Though she may be the best chemistry professor they have ever had, she is very demanding and will dissolve any social life students may have planned outside of the lab. Also, “DMSO” sounds like “Dear Mrs. O.” The dedicated students were to meet from 8 a.m. to noon in Room 216 of the Arroyo Seco building but were so eager they arrived at 7:30 and stayed until Oganesyan kicked them out around 2 p.m.

Nader El-Shami, preparing for a career as a forensic scientist said, “My philosophy is to be prepared for the experiments. If you come to the lab prepared, you will obtain better results and the lab will be more enjoyable.”

The research goal was the synthesis of new compounds such as those developed by pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson.

“Projects of this difficulty are attempted in Ph.D-level research, and our students succeeded in learning new techniques and producing these molecules in such a short period of time,” said Oganesyan proudly.

Chemical engineering major Pedro Kim, who plans to pursue a doctorate at MIT, said he used to dread chemistry in high school until he studied with Susan Gendreau at Crescenta Valley High School. From then on, chemistry was his true love.

Photo by Jane Pojawa

THAT’S DR. DMSO TO YOU: Chemistry Professor Asmik Oganesyan volunteers her time each winter intersession to mentor a group of aspiring scientists.

“Our team chemistry” evolved while focusing on this project,” said Kim. “The support we encountered in one another kept (the whole team) going past the tiring hours, and the repetitive tasks (such as isolating molecules actually) became rather enjoyable!”

Be prepared to fail 80 percent of the time, said Oganesyan.

Lecture Warns of Dangers of Cancer

By Christine Gillette EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

C

hemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy are the conventional ways of treating cancer, but GCC biology professor Shelley Thai discussed how antiangiogenesis is a new way of treating cancer.

On Feb. 22 in the Santa Barbara lecture hall, Thai gave a public lecture that talked about new and conventional ways of treatment for cancer and the factors that cause cancer.

“Angiogenesis is a growth of new blood vessels from a pre-existing vascular network,” Thai said to an audience of more

than 80 students and faculty.

Anti-angiogenesis, originally proposed by Dr. J. Folkman in 1980, is a new form of therapy that uses anti-angiogenic drugs to stop tumors from making new blood vessels. Tumors need a blood supply in order to grow.

Thai discussed how age, genetic inheritance, viruses, and chemicals are factors that lead to malignancies and the ways to prevent these factors from causing cancer. The chemical influences rank high on the list.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and 60 percent of those cancer deaths are from tobacco smoke.

Chemical factors, or carcinogens, are substances that can cause

mutations that lead to cancer; tobacco is an example of a carcinogen. Of course this can be preventable said Thai: all you have to do is stop smoking or don’t hang around people that do smoke.

“Even if you don’t smoke, if you hang around or live with people that do smoke you have a 30 percent higher increase of dying from lung cancer,” Thai said.

Age is another leading factor that causes cancer, but it is a natural human process. As cells get older, they accumulate more mutations, and this is natural because mutations are [See Cancer, page 11]

Isolating molecules can be unpredictable. “We had bad failures, but nobody felt like a failure,” she said. “It’s important to learn from those failures, too.”

She said her advice in the lab is to always take good notes so the experiment can be repeated to get the exact same results: “Words are cheap. Show me your data.”

“Once in a while when your chemistry works, you’re the happiest person in the world,” said Oganesyan. “You’re not humble; you brag about it because you deserve to. Research is all about proving a concept.”

Chemistry major Narega Nazarian, who is planning to earn her doctorate and become a pharmacologist, said the project helped her improve her lab skills, her data analysis and her ability to work in a group.

She said now that she understands the chemical reactions on a deeper level, she feels more prepared for future research programs.

Biology major Arman Agopian, who intends to become a cardiovascular surgeon, said, “It gave me a sense of scientific satisfaction, something which I have been searching for since I was a young boy.”

The class was selected to

present its findings before the undergraduate conference at UC Irvine (UCI) on March 26 and is waiting for a response from Stanford. The research team is planning to publish its results in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Aspiring surgeon Gnel Pivazyan, who has been doing research in a biology lab at USC for the past 10 months, said, “Experiment is like a filter. You pour in several hypotheses that [Mother Nature] may or may not validate, and you collect those ones for which Mother Nature gives her OK.” The much needed, often overlooked career in scientific research is a worthwhile goal to pursue. If students are forced to study chemistry just to get into medical or pharmacology school, they might be fortunate enough to meet Oganesyan and accidentally fall in love with organic chemistry research.

To contact Oganesyan, interested parties can email her at aoganesy@glendale.edu or visit her web page: http://web. me.com/aoganesy/Site/Welcome. html.

Derek Stowe can be reached at derek_stowe@elvaq.com

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FEATURES

Golden Cowboy Speech Invitational Earns Kudos

By Derek Stowe

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale hosted a multistate speech and debate tournament, the 2011 “Golden Cowboy Swing,” followed by a theater show and awards ceremony in a jam-packed Kreider Hall on Feb. 12.

Vaqueros organized the first two days of the festival. The third day was hosted by the Cal State LA Golden Eagles. College teams came from as far as Nebraska, Texas, Maryland and Arizona.

“The people who use this [skill] will often go into politics or law,” said Language Arts Chair Jean Perry. “Business leaders and celebrities such as Diane Sawyer, Jane Pauley and Kelsey Grammer faced their fears and learned good presentation skills through speech and debate.”

This was Glendale’s third annual “Golden Cowboy Swing” contest and featured speech competitions in informative speaking, after dinner speaking, prose, poetry, persuasion and impromptu.

The debate teams argued about whether the federal government should substantially reform its provision of mental health services to the chronically mentally ill.

Vaquero means “cowboy” in Spanish, hence the cowboy theme.

A Golden Cowboy statuette was handed out to the top five contestants in each category.

Another advantage to being an accomplished speech and debater is the fact that being involved in speech and debate can lead to scholarships. The University of Texas at El Paso, Point Loma, San Diego State, North Dakota State University and USC all offer full four-year scholarships for qualified students, said Perry.

“Speech and debate will also improve your job interview skills and come in handy for a doctoral dissertation,” said Tayra Quiñones, vice president of the speech and debate club. Some advanced degrees require an oral examination before and after submitting one’s dissertation.

For the Saturday night awards ceremony, speech faculty and club members performed colorful diversions, dances and a wild west-style skit before a packed house.

In the skit, a young groom gets shot by a bride’s drunken husband

who speaks up instead of forever holding his peace because she never divorced him.

In order to better serve the invitees, Quiñones said that her club’s team competed Friday, Feb. 11 but opted out of the competition Saturday.

Besides setting up 40 classrooms for the invitees and providing meals for 150 people, volunteers from the debate club supervised fun and games such as a scavenger hunt and a piñata contest. They also had saloon gals teach line dancing.

“Tournaments can be so tiring and so stressful,” said club secretary Frankie Dournayan.

“Activities bring [the event] back to being about fun and doing well and encouraging others to do well. If you lose sight of that, then why would you join speech and debate in the first place?”

The speech and debate club started preparing for this tournament last summer. To join up with next year’s contestants, interested students should take Speech 190: Forensics. Forensics simply means truth-seeking.

That’s why it’s often used to describe crime-solving.

Students usually prefer to specialize in one or more of the 11 speech categories. Platform speeches include informative, persuasive and after dinner speech; limited preparation speeches allocate between seven and 30 minutes to prepare; and interpretation speeches imply drama.

There are two types of debates — parliamentary debates for academics; and Lincoln–Douglas debates for disputing logic, ethics and philosophy.

The judges that were required to evaluate the seven ongoing events at a time included volunteer professors and alumni returning with a bachelor’s degree. Credibility, organization, speaking style, voice clarity, eye contact, evidence and reasoning were just some of the criteria.

Speech professor Ira Heffler, who judged and played the drunken husband in the awards ceremony skit, said, “It was an honor to host this tournament.

It’s a unique opportunity, and we are the only school that does so using costumes and a theme.”

Student Rachelle DeYoung from Azusa Pacific University took home the After Dinner Speech award and added her

Photo by Derek Stowe

SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE: In the Golden Cowboy wedding ceremony skit, Re-

nato Mejia (left) plays a sheriff observing Ira Heffler who portrays the bride-to-be’s uninvited and irate husband just before he guns down a startled bridegroom.

name to the award’s title, now the: Conner-Conner-DeYoung Award for her most humorous after dinner speech on the topic of hoarding.

GCC’s Friday achievers included Josh Everman as Top Novice, and Armond Aivazyan and Robert Black as quarterfinalists.

Black’s 8-year-old daughter Saer appeared in the wedding skit and said, “I think I would do better in speech [versus debate] because I don’t like fighting. I want to be an actress. To become what you want to be in life, just practice and believe in yourself.”

The next home speech and debate tournament is the Glendale College Spring Intramural and will be held on May 12 and 13. This time, Vaqueros will be competing against Vaqueros since it’s only for GCC students.

The fourth annual “Golden Cowboy Swing” tournament will be held here in Glendale in February 2012.

For more information, interested parties can visit http://www.glendale.edu/index. aspx?page=4324. To join the speech and debate club, which meets Thursdays from 12:20 to 1:30 p.m. in AD 205, inquire at gccspeechdebate01@gmail.com.

Derek Stowe can be reached at derek_stowe@elvaq.com

Science Lecture [Cancer, from page 10] natural phenomenon that happens to humans over time.

Thai stressed that in order for a cell to become cancerous, that one cell has to acquire lots and lots of mutation, not just one mutation or two.

“Age is one thing, nothing we can do about age, not unless you found the fountain of youth,” Thai said jokingly.

As a person grows older, it’s important to eat healthily and exercise regularly to help prevent cancer. By doing this you can decrease your chances of having cancer by 30 percent.

Thai also discussed cancer caused by genetic inheritance and viruses. Genetic inheritance is an unpreventable factor since it would be in the person’s genetic make-up. Thai said that pre-emptive surgery is a step that should be taken if the person is aware of their family’s cancerous history.

Radiation is another cancercausing factor.

Radiation contributes to two percent of cancer deaths and some examples of radiation is UV light and radioactive material, such as X-rays. To prevent this would be to limit the exposure to radiation and to wear sun

block while out in the sun.

Diet is a cancer-causing factor that can be prevented.

Diet contributes to 30 percent of cancer causing deaths. Obesity, consuming too much red meat and saturated animal fat and excessive alcohol consumption can cause colon, rectal and even prostate cancer. Thai said to prevent this is to try and eat more fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, vitamins and fiber.

Thai ended the lecture with various ways of treatment for cancer. The conventional ways are surgery, which is to have the cancerous tissue and surrounding tissue removed, chemotherapy, a cytotoxic drug that kills cancer cells, and radiotherapy.

“A side effect of chemotherapy is that is affects the normal cells that you have in your body,” Thai added.

Thai received a bachelor’s of science and doctorate from UCLA in molecular cell and developmental biology and has published eight professional articles. Thai has been teaching in the biology department full time at GCC since 2007.

Christine Gillette can be reached at Christine_Gillette@elvaq.com

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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Student Architects

Show Off Work in Gallery Even the smallest detail of a child’s doll house has an architect that is life-sized.

Although the scale model is showcased, the student behind the project is the real star.

F

Photo by Richard Kontas

THEIR STARS ARE SHINING BRIGHTLY: Shahe Gregarian, above, Ronald Hernandez, upper right, and Armen Sarkisian proudly display their projects during the architecture show in the Art Gallery.

rom Feb. 14 to 25, the GCC Art Gallery opened its doors for its first-ever student architecture exhibition, featuring projects produced by the department from spring to fall 2010.

Featured were six residential case study projects (a study of design and structure influenced by famous or newly built homes), seven residential design projects (a created structure for a family setting while adhering to the restrictions of the city and environment), one urban commercial project (an open meeting space design surrounded by shops, restaurants and offices) and two sets of student private projects (a constructed model, inspired by original and creative design).

All of the projects were displayed in both 2D and 3D format.

Production involved manual drafting, AUTOCAD 2D and 3D (twodimensional drawings, generally used for floor plans and elevation view), Basic and Advanced REVIT, similar to the previous, Rapidprototyping (using an enhanced machine which prints a 3D solid model) and basic modeling craftsmanship.

There was also a slide projection show, created by student Armen Sarkisian, documenting the student life in the architectural classes, ASEA program (American Society of Engineers and Architects) and the student projects that were not present in the gallery.

Student Gordon Au displayed three of his own models in the gallery, the “Temple City Mall,” “Case Study House” and lastly, “Surfer’s House.”

Au’s vision for “Temple City Mall” was influenced by his comprehension of the circulation within the vicinity.

“Whenever I drove by, I saw was what needed in the community,” said Au. “Surfer’s House” was Au’s favorite project, in which he was able to show his true colors and creativity. With determination, he spent most of his time improving its structure, columns and base.

“Every change I make always affects something else and that leads to another change,” said Au. Student Ronald Hernandez entered “House for a Painter.” Catering to the interests and daily activities of a painter, Hernandez’s model incorporated workspaces, gallery rooms and meeting rooms, with ceilings reaching as high as 35 feet.

[See Architecture, page 14]

Story by Kate Krantz

Photos by Mario Camino

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FEATURES

Farr Honored by College Theater Festival

By Adriana Orellana EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale Community College Theater Arts instructor Jeanette Farr was awarded the 2010 Excellence in Theater Education Award by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region VIII on Feb. 9 at the Los Angeles Theater Center.

“It was an honor and a proud moment to receive this award,” said Farr, “It was great to see some of my mentors present to watch me receive the award, and I hope to be there in the future, watching my students who I have mentored receive awards.”

Farr was given the award at a dinner during the 43rd annual festival.

Farr holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts with an emphasis on playwriting, and she is a member of the Dramatists’ Guild.

She is an assistant professor of theater arts at GCC and teaches playwriting. She has served as a reader for playwriting awards and has responded to over 200 new plays through the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Farr was a past Chair of the National Playwriting Program for Region VIII, appointed as

Regional Fellow for Region VIII, and served on the National Selection Team for 2010. She was recently appointed National Vice Chair of Playwriting for Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region VIII comprises Central and Southern California, Arizona, Hawaii, Southern Nevada, and Utah. The festival is a good opportunity for students and faculty from various colleges and universities to see each other’s work and participate in several activities. Students and staff can attend workshops and seminars, which include topics such as playwriting, movement, scenery construction, scene painting, and voice.

The GCC Theater Arts Department was also invited to the College Theater Festival to recreate a scene from “Little Shop of Horrors,” its from spring of 2010, from which they selected the song “Suddenly Seymour,” for the festival’s “The Evening of Invitational Scenes” selection.

The production was directed by Melissa R. Randel, with musical direction by Clare Delto, and featured Greg Lewis as Seymour and Lindsey Conway as Audrey,

FEED ME SEYMOUR!: Do-Wop Girls Chelsea Bearce, from left, Carmen Barkan, and Ashley Zabala with Melissa Randell, Lindsey Conway and Greg Lewis were also honored by the Kennedy Center. as well as the Do-Wop Girls, Chelsea Bearce, Carmen Barkan, and Ashley Zabala.

Four GCC students were nominated in the Irene Ryan Acting Competition.

Libby Letlow and Lindsey Conway were nominated for their performances in “Little Shop of Horrors,” and Amanda Fontoura and Edith Kordijan were nominated for the fall 2010 production of “The Servant of Two Masters.”

“I am very proud that GCC students were nominated amongst

the many students from various colleges and universities. They all did a wonderful and excellent job in “Little Shop of Horrors”,” said Farr.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival aims to “encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs, as well as provide opportunities for participants to develop their theater skills and insight.”

“Anyone can participate in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, but I encourage students to participate in acting and theater colleges in the college, as well as audition for plays or participate in the production and the set design and building, so that they can get a better understanding and more comfortable with theater arts,” said Farr.

Adriana Orellana can be reached at adriana_orellana@elvaq.com

Art Gallery: Student Architects Place First in Competition [Architecture, from page 13] Other student projects displayed belonged to Varand Abrahamian, Edwin Aqhajani, Shahe Gregorian, Haik Kirakossyan, Lila Montero, Roxana Perez and Armen Sarkisian.

Assembling the gallery exhibit was a huge dedication.

In association with Art Gallery Director Roger Dickes, Architecture Department Chair David Martin and significant involvement from Architecture Instructor Paul Chiu, students Au and Hernandez spent a considerable amount of time arranging the displays.

The entire two-week process forced the students and Chiu to give up at least a quarter of their day five times a week.

“If you like design and don’t mind working for less, then go for it. And if you love it, it’s not for the money,” said Au. The students of the Architec-

ture Department dedicated a lot of their personal time to not only the exhibit and competition but numerous assignments and portfolios as well.

“There is a lot of explaining why you’re in this major,” said Chiu. “And every single thing you do, you have to explain why you do it.”

Au, an architecture major, intends to attain a B.A., and then a M.A, while Hernandez pursues a mechanical and architectural design major. The amount of hard work and passion that it takes for this particular major does not go unnoticed and the models genuinely take the most time to produce.

According to Au, each project generally takes two semesters to complete. “Plus, there’s always something I want to change,” said Au. Models are usually constructed using materials such as basswood, foam core, plastic, mu-

seum boards, plexiglass, zap gap glue, rubber cement and “basically anything we can find,” said Chiu.

In Chiu’s Architecture classes, all designs are hand drawn and models are assembled piece by piece.

“It’s like taking apart a person…you have to know the components before building it,” said Chiu.

As emphasized by the students, Chiu is an admired instructor. He spent much of his personal time organizing the gallery, assisting students to analyze presentation boards and advising students on their portfolios.

Chiu’s critiques often sounded like, “Why would you place an elevator in a two-story house?”

However, “friendly” criticism is not his only teaching technique.

In addition, he offers advice, influenced by his commitment to the key objective of architecture.

“It’s the implicit nature of cer-

tain things that drives your imagination. There is some sort of mystery behind it but you have to find a way to give hints to discover that mystery. You don’t want to see the end right away, you want to keep the mystery alive,” said Chiu.

According to Au, there was never a time when Chiu wasn’t available. Even with the lack of Architecture classes during winter session, Chiu’s door was always open.

Aside from the accomplishment of the exhibit, in fall 2010, president Au and four other student members of the GCC ASEA club entered in a table decoration design competition, in hopes of having its project as the main centerpiece during the ASEA 47th annual Awards Banquet. The theme was “a bowl of flower.”

The students and Chiu spent numerous hours working on the project and even endured nights ending at 2 a.m.

With the group’s secret weapon of a mechanical opening and closing flower, the first-place victory was a no-brainer amongst the judges. Martin was pleased with the outcome of the competition and wishes to have the Board of Trustees and local community view the project.

The club’s award winning model is presently contained in a glass display case in front of AT 200. It is certainly an eye catcher.

Currently, Architecture Department students are designing a dollhouse this semester for ASEA’s upcoming competition.

GCC ASEA club meetings will be held every Friday from noon to 3 p.m. in either AT 200 or AT 220. All are welcome so feel free to swing by.

For more information about the Architecture Department, visit Glendale.edu/arch.

Kate Krantz can be reached at kate_krantz@elvaq.com

www.elvaq.com

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

15

OPINION/COLUMN

Non-Enforcement Renders Policy Useless

By Marlon Miranda EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

T

he smoking policy for GCC was revised three times since it’s adoption in 1988 but nothing has changed; smokers are running rampant and no one is enforcing the policy 23 years later.

According to the Glendale Community College District Smoking Policy, smoking is not permitted in any building on campus, in college owned or leased facilities, or in college-owned vehicles. The policy states that “Smoking shall be permitted in designated smoking areas only.”

Interestingly enough, all the smoke clouds around campus have been forming everywhere but in the seven designated areas.

One can attribute the empty designated areas to the lack of signs

or police cadets informing smokers where to go when they are in need of a nicotine fix.

Nursing student Ashley Jackson, 21, feels that it isn’t fair that she has to smell smoke around every building.

“There is nothing worse than when you get your lunch and right when you’re about to eat, you get people next to you smoking and it ruins your meal. The smokers should at the very least respect the fact that not everybody wants to smell their cigarettes all the time — some for personal reasons and some for medical reasons,” said Jackson.

Students are angry. They cannot avoid getting ill from secondhand smoke. Why should nonsmoking students be penalized by those enjoying the pleasure of a cigarette?

Why is nothing being done?

Why are there multiple smokers in front of buildings while campus police walk by them without even threatening a citation? If there is a policy that no one follows and no one enforces, does that policy really even exist?

Public Relations Coordinator Wendy Grove knows that it’s all a process and certain things need to be done before changes are seen.

“There is still an ongoing committee discussion. It has to go through the process, and they will figure out how the signs will be paid for,” said Grove.

If discussions need to be made and funds need to be found, the chances of getting signs up anytime soon are bleak at best.

There has been no noticeable decrease in smoking and campus security shows little to no inter-

est in enforcing the policy. The administration may be giving students some time to adjust to the new policy, or perhaps there is a higher priority that outranks teaching students about where they should smoke.

Angela Sandoval, 19, science major, has been smoking for three years, and said she feels that all this hoopla is for naught.

“Students can’t find classes, schools are lacking funds, [so] why waste money on signs now?

Spend money on opening more sections, adding classes,” said Sandoval.

While designated smoking areas may feel like a prison and make smokers feel like wrongdoers, they should take some responsibility. Students should act like adults and respect the health of others.

According to the US Surgeon General’s Report, second hand smoke contains more than 50 known carcinogens (cancercausing agents) and causes lung cancer and heart disease in nonsmoking adults.

Evidence indicates that there is a 25 to 30 percent increase in the risk of coronary heart disease from exposure to second-hand smoke.

When did attending college become a health risk? The smoking policy at GCC has to become more than just a link on our school’s website.

Are Vaqueros enrolling in school to get a degree or to develop lung cancer?

Marlon Miranda can be reached at Marlon_Miranda@elvaq.com

Text Messaging: Addiction or Connection?

By Kate Krantz

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

A

re you texting while reading this?

Assuming your cell phone just alerted you with a new text message, it’s reasonable to believe that you are deciding whether to text back as the phone shouts for your attention.

Texting is a serious addiction.

It’s a widespread epidemic that has swept the college student population and now that it has taken effect, the recovery is debatable.

An addiction is often classified by the state of being abnormally reliant on a particular habit.

Whether you admit it or not, that text message conversation about what you ate for breakfast this morning falls under this category and is also pointless.

First and foremost, I admit I was a text-messaging addict.

I might as well have been placed in TMA (Text Messenger Anonymous).

Don’t laugh because this potentially will exist sometime soon.

At first glance, texting seemed harmless. It was convenient and quick. I was capable of text messaging as fast as my thumbs could fly.

I used to text on the way to class, during a lecture, eating lunch, completing homework, during family and friend outings

and even while working out.

I was obsessed to the extent that I gave myself bribes such as putting off an assignment an extra day in exchange for texting a friend about how a date went.

On an average, I had 5,000 text messages a month and my family was not thrilled with this new record I set.

I’m still surprised I don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome.

My over excessive text messaging not only took a toll on my grades but relationships as well.

I was completely unaware of this until it resulted in a fight with a friend via texting. I was agitated by the dispute. And I grew even more upset with myself because I allowed my cell phone to control me.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem and I became a programmed text-messaging machine. It was a massive wake up call, almost as piercing as the sound of an alarm clock.

From that moment on, I stopped texting cold turkey. It has been almost half a year and I haven’t had my buttons pushed since.

I repeat, I do not text message.

I don’t send nor do I receive messages in my inbox. You might be reading this and thinking I’m from planet mars but I assure you, I come in peace.

Most earthlings, also identified as students with their cell phones, are a common sight at GCC. The college campus is one large social network.

Whether on Facebook, Twitter, Skype, iChat, AIM or text messaging, students are connected.

On a typical day, college student life consists of exams, composition essays, clubs, extracurricular activities, etc. But how can you focus when such distractions come into play?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to communication.

However, I believe that texting is the largest distraction amongst all forms of mass media and everyone and their grandmother is doing it. So what makes it so bad, right?

Although each type of media is appealing, mind overpowering matter is the hardest obstacle to overcome.

There is not single day when a student isn’t texting in class. The vibration of the phone breaks their concentration as the screen light glows on their face.

To be frank, it’s distracting and disrespectful to not only me but also the professor. Honestly, if you think an argument about how JWoww is hotter than Snooki is more important than education, you seriously have some issues.

You know who you are.

And what’s this nose hovering

over your cell phone as you’re walking business? It’s not attractive nor is it an intelligent idea.

Are you really even multitasking? I’m sure that the woman at the mall who nosedived into the water fountain could tell you otherwise.

When you’re text messaging someone, it is a virtual conversation.

Most people want a response quick and it becomes a habit. It’s like fast food and ordering from the dollar menu at McDonald’s: quantity for a lack of quality.

“You do it because it’s easier for the other person … at least, I do,” said student Angela Marie. Texting might be more convenient for the person on the opposite end but is it really simple for you?

In my past experience, it takes so much effort to send one simple text message and spell check is just the beginning of the errors.

Texting makes conversations longer whereas a one-minute phone conversation takes you 10 minutes via texting.

In addition, a text message is never received immediately and when that occurs, some people tend to take unnecessary actions such as texting, “Hello, are you there?” a thousand times.

Stop. It’s annoying. Just do it old school and pick up the phone. However, I doubt that you

will because you don’t have the courage to verbally say it.

And in most text conversations, that is often the case. It is very common for a person to portray an image through the cell phone screen.

“It’s like Halloween for everyone every day. It’s what you’re scared to be, it’s like a second life,” said student Bong Hoang.

In a nutshell, text messages lack emotional value. Because a text message is neither visual nor auditory, the message is more susceptible to misinterpretation and assumption. I hate to break your heart but we don’t all have telepathy.

Texting has become so common that it’s almost second nature and in turn, the use of body language is decreasing.

“It’s a body shock to most people to even use it,” said Hoang.

With abbreviations such as “BRB,” “TTYL,” and “LOL” on the rise, text messaging has made people anti-social and even greetings have lost significance.

“It’s like a smile and a hand wave doesn’t mean anything,” said student Bernard Leon.

Texting demeans real communication. You can rewrite a text message, but in life, the words you speak are natural and [See Texting, page 16]

16

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

www.elvaq.com

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT/COLUMN

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Bullies, Geeks and Aliens Populate Stinker

By Toni Davis

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

“I

Am Number Four” is very similar to the movie “Twilight” so if you are an Edward Cullen fan, you will like this one. If not, don’t waste your money and time.

In this movie, an alien in human form tries to fit in and falls in love. The high school scene is full of stereotypical teenagers and did not belong in this sci-fi thriller.

Director D.J. Caruso introduces his newest film starring Alex Pettyfer (“Tormented,” 2009) as Number Four/John, an alien teenager from planet Lorien who just wants to be a regular human. Timothy Olyphant (“Hitman,” 2007) stars as Henri, also from Lorien

and John’s protector.

There are nine alien teenagers in human form from Lorien, and together they are called the Garde. Each teen has his or her own legacy and powers. The aliens’ names are their numbers.

Ex: Number One, Two, Three etc.

The Mogadorians are the villainous aliens from Lorien that are out to kill the Garde one by one.

It is never said why they want to kill them or why the Garde chose Earth, but the story continues on.

The teens are sent to Earth with a protector and a necklace charm that will protect them from being killed out of numerical sequence.

On Earth, the teen makes his or her own identity and tries to keep a low profile to remain safe.

This movie is based on a book, which is why some things are left

Try Talking

[Texing, from page 15]

raw. The luxury of a delete button doesn’t exist and you cannot back space.

If a person, one after the other, jumps off a bridge, arching over a body of cold seawater, does that mean you should as well?

The answer is plainly, no.

Text messaging has the same ripple affect and it has become a never-ending crazed fad.

“It’s like cattle. People just follow the crowd,” said Leon.

Does a subconscious even exist anymore?

Due to the advancements in mass media, technology has kept us from achieving one of the most important priorities: living.

And sometimes, texting can place you on the fine line between life and death.

According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis, cell phone use while driving contributes to an estimated 6 percent of all crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year.

Accidents come in all sorts of sizes, and fortunately for student Jack Najarian,

only a fender bender.

Late for a date, Najarian was driving 83 miles per hour on the freeway in medium traffic. More than anything, Najarian was irritated about dropping his brother off at work so rushing to get to his next destination seemed to be the only option.

Waiting at a stop sign to make a right turn off the freeway, Najarian was unaware that the car ahead of him had not made the turn. In the midst of a text, with his head pointing down, Najarian moved his car and smacked into the other car’s bumper.

“All of my anger went away.

It was such a big deal that everything else didn’t matter.

Life smacked me in the face… it could have been worse,” he said.

Scarred by his experience, Najarian admits he is a textmessaging addict.

How much does it take for you to admit you’re addicted?

I ask you, the reader, to spend one day text free. I challenge you to try to have a conversation — the original instant message.

Kate Krantz can be reached at kate_krantz@elvaq.com

out. If a book isn’t popular before you introduce the movie, you should include a little background with a narrator or small paragraph at the beginning of the movie.

Instead, the movie starts out with a burst of action and Number Three is killed by the Mogadorians, which starts the hunt for Number Four. The high school’s bullies are the football quarterback, Mark James and his clique. The bullies pick on a geek named, Sam Goode, who believes ALIEN ANGST: John just wants to go to high school, date a photographer and in aliens and UFOs. John lead a normal life. Unfortunately, his past is hunting him down. stands up to Mark and his friends for Sam. Instead of saying believes in aliens. ground as Twilight with a hint of “thank you,” Sam says, “I am not John meets and falls in love X-men. The alien side of the story a person you want to be friends with Sarah Hart, a junior, who is is great and will have audiences with, trust me.” This is a rude obsessed with photography. on the edge of their seats, but statement, but he says it because This story is too predictable [See Number Four, page 17] no one else talks to him since he and has the exact same back-

Toni Davis can be reached at Toni_Davis@elvaq.com

www.elvaq.com

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

17

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / SPORTS

Men’s and Women’s Basketball End Season

By Marlon Miranda EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

T

he men’s basketball team dominated the Bakersfield Renegades and cruised to a 76-57 with at home on Saturday while the Lady Vaqueros lost 74-40 to the Renegades in the second game of the night at Verdugo Gym.

Women’s

The Lady Vaqueros had a tough time stopping the Renegades. They were at a height disadvantage to begin with, and Daniella Ruvalcaba, a freshman forward, got in early foul trouble in the first two minutes of the

game. It was the beginning of the end for the Lady Vaqueros.

The score was never close as the lead kept growing and frustration reached boiling point in the winding minutes of the second half. Six technical fouls were called in the closing minutes, four of which belonged to the Lady Vaqueros.

Head Coach Carrie Miller felt that the season was going to be a learning experience considering there were nine freshman on the team.

“Each game has been a learning experience, the season has been tough and especially this game,” said Miller. “The girls are frustrated with the game as well as the season.”

The Lady Vaqueros declined interviews following the game.

Before the game both team’s honored the sophomores on the team by thanking them and giving them flowers. The sophmore players were greeted by parents and loved ones. Among the players honored was men’s team captain Narbeh Ebrahimian.

Men’s

Photo by Mario Camino

RUNNING ON EMPTY: Lady Vaquero’s Chelsea Baquiero (11) and

Alexandra Mancillas (1) forcing a turnover off a double team.

Movie Review [Number Four, from page 16] resembles the one in Degrassi:The Next Generation, a teen-soap that used to be a hit.

The acting isn’t bad at all: everyone played their part very well, but some characters could have been left out. Alex Pettyfer nailed his character well and shows every emotion to make the viewers feel it. Timothy Olyphant was excellent on his part also. It is a little hard to take Sarah, actress Dianna Argon (“Glee”), seriously. Her character belongs on “Glee” or Disney TV shows, not movies. The same goes for Callan McAuliffe and Jake Abel, who play Mark and Sam: they belong on the Disney channel, not in a sci-fi movie. Maybe their

acting would have been better with different characters other than high school stereotypes.

On the plus side, the action was great, the graphics were good, and the animation of the giant beasts fighting is interesting and leaves the viewer wanting more. It is like Jurassic Park dinosaurs or Transformers’ autobots fighting each other.

“I Am Number Four” is an action/sci-fi/thriller rated PG13. Runtime is 110 min.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars.

 Toni Davis can be reached at Toni_Davis@elvaq.com

In the men’s game, the Vaqueros needed a win to clinch a playoff spot. With playoff implications the Vaqueros came out sluggish. The team possessed a height advantage over the Renegades, which allowed players to block shots and shut down the paint, forcing the Renegades to rely on mostly outside shots. The Renegades tried to add pressure by pressing the Vaqueros.

Head Coach Brian Beauchmin said he prefers when teams try and press the Vaqueros, because it’s what they practice for.

“We want teams to press us, we know how to attack the press, it’s what we practice every day,” said Beauchmin.

Suilaiman Sekamwa, a freshman forward, had a great game. He scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, eight of which were offensive. Sekamwa had four straight games with double digit rebounds.

Sekamwa knew he was in for a big game when he looked over and saw the Renegades only had one big on their team.

“They only had one big guy, I knew that I had a chance to be great,” said Sekamwa. “Mentally I am always prepared to do my

Photo by Mario Camino

HEADING FOR THE PLAYOFFS: Vaquero Marquis Brooks protecting the paint, blocks Renegade player on a lay up attempt.

job, that’s the great thing about being in this team, we are always prepared.”

At the end of the half the score was close, but starting the second half the Vaqueros put the clamps down. They suffocated the Renegades and blew the game out. The Vaqueros got a stop in every possession and confused the Renegades with their defense.

“We are the leading team in points allowed in our division.

Our defense is what defines us.

When we execute, we are really hard to score against,” said Beauchmin.

Nate Bryant a freshman guard, did his best Kobe impersonation and scored a game-high 18 points. Every time the Renegades were poised for a comeback, Bryant scored and stopped the momentum from building. Bryant hit four shots behind the arc and drove the paint with reckless abandonment.

“I see the court very well, I

have a knack for finding the open lanes,” he said. “The press they tried on us was broken easily, that allowed me to penetrate with no trouble.”

The regular season ended with the Vaqueros winning 18 games (7-5 in division) and finishing in third place in the division.

With the victory the Vaqueros earned a trip to the playoffs.

The Vaqueros earned the 14th seed in the Southern California Regionals. They played the 17th seed Long Beach City College on Feb. 23.

LBCC defeated GCC 82-73 in the first round of the playoffs.

Sekamwa kept his double-digit rebounding streak alive with 10 rebounds. Foul trouble plagued the Vaqueros as three starters fouled out of the game.

Marlon Miranda can be reached at Marlon_Miranda@elvaq.com

18

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

www.elvaq.com

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT/COLUMN

Spring Sports Preview

By Alex Campos

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

BASKETBALL Men’s- Coach Brian Beauchemin 18-11 overall (7-5 in WSC South) Last 3 games: *- denotes playoff game • Wednesday, Feb 16 @ College of the Canyons 73-65 (Win) • Saturday, Feb 19 Home vs.

Bakersfield College 76-57 (Win) • Wednesday, Feb 23 Home vs.

Long Beach City College 73-82 (Loss)*

Next 3 events

• Saturday, March 5 Ben Brown Invitational @ CSU Fullerton, 10 a.m.

• Friday, March 11 Occidental Distance Carnival @ Occidental, 6 p.m.

• Saturday, March 12 Northridge Relays @ Northridge, 9 a.m.

“We demand that our athletes show respect. They are a very classy team”- Coach Lopez

Athletes to watchHarold Tabora- Hoover High School Rafeal Reyes- Lincoln High School

CHEERLEADING

Coach Jessie Moorehead Just came back from Nationals in Florida, where they finished in 8th place.

“We came in 8th in nationals which is one of our lower rankings in recent years. But the experience was great for all of us.

We had a lot of fun. Unfortunately we made some unusual mistakes in the performance, but overall we had a great trip.”

GOLF Women’s Coach - Eddie Lopez

Men’s- Coach Greg Osbourne Last two events:

• Saturday, Feb 19 Pomona-Pitzer Last 3 tournaments all-comers @ Pomona-Pitzer

• Monday, Feb 21 Santa Barbara Notables City College/WSC @ Alisol Women’s- Coach Carrie Miller

Ranch CC- Third Place 0-24 (0-12in WSC South) Carissa Porter- 1st in 100 m and 200 • Wednesday, Feb 23 Ventura m dash (12.36, 25.82) Invitational @ Crystal Aire CCLast 3 games Karen Rosas- 1st in 1-mile run First Place • Saturday, Feb 12 Home vs.

(5:11:56), 2nd in 3,000 m (10:13:56) • Monday, Feb 28 Ventura West L.A College 53-59 (Loss) Alyssa Selve- t1st in 800 m College WSC @ Ventura CC• Wednesday, Feb 16 @ College (2:22:69) Second Place of the Canyons 38-106 (Loss)

• Saturday, Feb 19 Home vs.

• Friday, Feb 25 WSC Relays @ Next 3 tournaments Bakersfield College 57-76 Ventura

(Loss) • Monday, March 7 Allan Notables

Hancock/WSC @ Santa Maria CC, 10 a.m.

“I am very proud of the team with what they’ve gone through. 4x800 relay teams placed 1st and 2nd • Tuesday, March 8 GCC

Invitational @ Alhambra GC, They still play hard and they 1st – Sanchez, Rosas, Martinez, Noon have gotten better as the season Selve (9:48:64) • Monday, March 14 Southern progresses. I’m very happy that 2nd- Kaneichi, Ochoa, California Invitational @ La the team has continued to play Nicolas, Kelly (10:04:71) Purisma CC, 10 a.m. hard.”- Coach Miller

Next 3 events Players to watch

TRACK & FIELD • Saturday, March 5 Ben Brown #1 player- Brennan Amirkhizi- Taft Invitational @ CSU Fullerton, High School Men’s- Coach Eddie Lopez 10 a.m.

• Friday, March 11 Occidental #2 player- Michael TimpsonLast two events: Distance Carnival @ Crescenta Valley High School • Saturday, Feb 19 Pomona-Pitzer Occidental, 6 p.m.

all-comers @ Pomona-Pitzer • Saturday, March 12 Northridge “Our team this year is

Relays @ Northridge, 9 a.m. tremendously solid. We have a lot Notables:

of younger guys, and they’re all Neil Jones- 1st in 800 m (1:57:36) Athletes to watch very mature for their age.”

Ronnie Marquez- 6th in Shot-put Karen Rosas- Bravo Magnet LA City – Coach Osbourne (11.74 m) Angie Martinez- Burroughs High

School BASEBALL • Friday, Feb 25 WSC Relays @

Ventura “The thing about our two track Coach Chris Cicuto- 9-3

teams this year has been amazing Notables team chemistry. It was raining at Last 3 games

the Pomona-Pitzer meet, and I 2nd in 4x800 m relay (Tabora, Jones, asked the athletes if they wanted • Friday, Feb 18 @Rio Hondo Anderson, Avila) (8:09:77) College- 0-5 (Loss) to sit in the bus until the relays • Thursday, Feb 24 @ Pasadena were done. And they said no, 2nd in 1,600 m sprint medley City College- 6-5 (Win) they stayed outside in the rain to • Monday, Feb 28 @ East L.A (Weathers, Reyes, Adams, Robles) support their teammates” (3:39:16) College- 5-6 (Loss) - Coach Lopez

“Making the playoffs in this day in this conference is a great accomplishment. As a team we all improved greatly over the season”.-Coach Beauchemin

Next 3 games

• Saturday, March 5 home vs.

L.A. Mission College. Stengal Field, 1 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 8 home vs.

Citrus College. Stengal Field, 2 p.m.

• Thursday, March 10 @ L.A. Valley College. Valley College, 2 p.m.

•

“In our league, there are no easy games. If we stay healthy, we should be successful” - Coach Cicuto

Pima (AZ) 2 p.m.

“The important thing is to get the best players to compete in the best way possible. Hopefully we improve in conference play.

We’ve lost 4 tough matches, but we were in every match”- Coach Mackay

Players to watch:

Players to watch Sako Chapjian- Hoover High School Scott Hong- University High School

SOFTBALL

Tuesday, March 1 home vs.

Bakersfield College- in too late for press

Next 3 matches

• Thursday, March 3 home vs. L.A Pierce College 2 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 8 @ Ventura College 2 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 15 home vs.

Coach Dave Wilder- 4-7 Last 3 games

Alex Sarkissian- Glendale Trevor Campbell- Burroughs High

•

Women’s – Head coach Bob Donaghy (1-2) (0-1 in WSC)

Last 3 matches • Tuesday, Feb 15 home vs.

College of the Sequoias- 5-4 (Win) • Thursday, Feb 24 home vs.

Santa Barbara College- 0-9 (Loss) • Tuesday, March 1 @ Bakersfield College- in too late for press

• • •

Saturday, Feb 12 home vs. San Diego Southwestern College (double header)- Game 1- 3-2 (Win) Game 2- 0-4 (Loss) Tuesday, Feb 15 @ L.A Pierce College- 11-3 (Win)

Thursday, Feb 24 home vs.

Oxnard- 2-5 (Loss)

Next 3 games • Saturday, March 12 @ Cypress College Noon/2 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 15 @ Bakersfield College 5 p.m.

• Thursday, March 17 Home vs.

Santa Monica College 1/3 p.m.

“Pitching is the strong point for us. With LHP Brandi Morin progressing and Jennifer Meza starting to come back to where she was at the end of last year, hopefully they can put out some wins.”

Players to watch: LHP Brandi Morin- Grant High RHP Jennifer Meza- Verdugo Hills High

TENNIS Men’s- Head Coach Bob Mackay (4-4) (1-0 in WSC) Last 3 matches • Thursday, Feb 17 home vs.

Fullerton College- 9-0 (win) • Thursday, Feb 24 @ Santa Barbara City College- 7-2 (Win)

Next 3 matches • Tuesday, March 3 @ Santa Monica College, 2 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 8 home vs.

Ventura College, 2 p.m.

• Thursday, March 10 home vs.

Allan Hancock College, 2 p.m.

Players to watch Sevana Zargarian- Clark Magnet High School Samantha Sismundo- Glendale High School

“Three of the team in our league finished in the top 10 in state last year. We have been training and practicing really hard, but we have a very tough conference. I am very happy with our team, they make my job very pleasurable. I have no complaints.”

- Coach Donaghy

Alex Campos can be reached at Alex_Campos@elvaq.com

www.elvaq.com

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

19

SPORTS

Chemistry: The Science of Men’s Track and Field

By Erica White

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

W

hen thinking of track and field, most conjure up the image of running. It’s more than that.

“Everyone thinks you go out there and just run,” Coach Eddie Lopez said. “The competition is tough.” Track and field is a demanding sport. Long distance runners run 70 to 80 miles a week.

Athletes train daily year around conditioning for the track season.

“We are very demanding,” Lopez said.

Lopez refers to his athletes as “kids.” As the head coach of both the men’s and women’s team, he not only tinkers with budgets and numbers, but life as well.

“You have to know how their lifestyle is at home. If they have money for the bus. Did they eat breakfast, lunch or dinner? Did they fight with their girlfriend?”

Lopez said. All can serve as distractions to any student athlete.

“I tell them once they get in the tunnel they have to able to get rid of all that and enjoy the workouts.”

The Glendale coaching staff recruits 3/4 of the men’s track team. They encourage student athletes to come to Glendale to develop their skills and work on getting a scholarship. “The investment is long term not short term.” Lopez said, “(If) you develop you’re going to get more money.”

With currently 30 men on the team coach Lopez and his assistant coaches work together to give each player the time needed to succeed. “Chemistry is so important. We make sure the coaches are on the same page with each other and with the athletes. That’s how you make a team,” Lopez said.

Sophomore and team captain Ricky Avila said trust between the coaches and the athlete is essential. “Coach Lopez knows how to push but not too much. He’s worked with some of the best and I fully trust Lopez and what he’s doing.”

Avila acknowledges that chemistry is important too and stressed that supporting each other is necessary for teamwork.

“We should always be cheering

each other or it just becomes an individual sport. We always try and go support each other even when we are not in an event,” Avila said.

On Feb. 19 at the Pomona Pitzer’s all-comers meet, Lopez said the men’s 4-by-100 meter relay ran well. “They had one of the fastest times 42.89.” The team supports each other. “There was no one complaining Saturday. It started raining. I told them to go on the bus, but the majority of them stayed to watch the relay in the rain,” Lopez said.

“Student comes before the athlete,” Avila said. The track and field athletes take classes together, host study groups and hang out after practice. “We help each other mature in school and track,” Avila said.

It’s still early in the men’s track season with only one meet under their belt coach Lopez is optimistic. “They are getting good. This is probably the best start we’ve had,” Lopez said.

Erica White can be reached at Erica_White@elvaq.com

Photo by Shaun Kelly

STICK IT: Javelin thrower Phillip Garrubba practices for the next meet.

Women’s Track and Field Runs on Commitment

By Michelle Bowles EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

B

eing fast on your feet, a quick sprinter or a high jumper won’t get you on the women’s track team. Hard work, dedication and willpower are all traits that Coach Eddie Lopez looks for in his athletes.

“This is the best start we’ve ever had,” Lopez said. “I’ve had no complaints so far this season.”

There are 22 women on Lopez’s women’s track team.

This isn’t including the men’s track and field that he coaches as well. Lopez is the only coach on campus that manages both a female and a male sport. All of the practices are coed.

Lopez said that toward the end of the season the team turns into a sisterhood for the women and a brotherhood for the men. The team and coaches travel together almost every Friday and Saturday, sometimes hours away.

“We practice daily, even Saturdays for two hours at a time,” Lopez said.

Women’s cross country team

members run from 70 to 80 miles a week during practice.“The sprinters may not run as much, but it is quality work,” Lopez said.

With this kind of long-lasting endurance Lopez has no choice but to make cuts from his team.

He said that many people would like to be on the team, but cannot seem to keep up with the stamina that it takes to run every day.

“I can tell in the first week of day if they will make it,” Lopez said. “I don’t cut them, they cut themselves.

“The investment in an athlete is long term and every person takes up space and time.”

The performance of the sport does not only affect whether or not Lopez will keep the women on the team, but it also has an impact on their personality and education. As a coach Lopez feels that it is his responsibility to be able to read his athletes. They must be physically, mentally and even socially ready to join the team. He went on to describe how his runners can’t have too many distractions when they run.

He wants his runners to concentrate on nothing but the scenery of California, the wind at their backs, and getting to the finish line.

“I tell them, you run, I’ll think,” Lopez said. “It’s not a dictatorship, but almost” he said laughing.

Lopez said that he saw great dedication from all of the athletes at the last meet they had. It was raining and cold out and the half of the team had finished their event. Their coach had given them the choice to go sit on the bus and stay warm and wait for the other members.

Lopez said that not one athlete chose to go wait it out on the bus, they all showed respect for their teammates and stuck it out in the rain and watched them finish their events.

Respect is something that the team works on every day. Lopez tries to teach his team to respect themselves first of all, and others second. Last year members used this skill at the Western State Conference. Even though they did not place first, as they all worked

so hard to get, “We all walked out with respect,” Lopez said.

Self-respect is a big part of being on the track team. Track is a sport that is all about numbers, statistics, and placing. The players are constantly reading up on themselves immediately after a meet and comparing themselves to the other athletes. Without respect for themselves the critiquing and analyzing could become unforgiving.

There are two players on Coach Lopez’s team who stand out with exceptional respect and statistics, Karen Rosas and Angie Martinez. Rosas has been running for GCC women’s track for two years now and is the captain of the team. She graduated from Bravo Magnet Los Angeles High School. Rosas will sometimes run a double of the 10K. One 10K is 25 times around the track.

“She is the all American favorite to win the WSC rallies, the 10K and or the 5K,” Lopez said.

Martinez was labeled the Runner of the Year out of 13 different colleges, for cross

country last year. This makes her one of the top runners in the state. She graduated from John Burroughs High School in Burbank.

The women’s and men’s track and field team has always been a sport the GCC has been proud of. Two years ago they came home with a State Championship from Antelope Valley College. In 2010 nine athletes won the AllAmerican honors award.

Even with such a successful team, the track and field athletes are also feeling the effects of the budget cuts that are going around.

“The track team is being affected by the lack in investment due to all of the traveling,” Lopez said. “The dean has been very supportive for the team though.”

To travel the team must find a way to afford uniforms, sweats, gas, and the bus, equipment for the team and even food for the athletes.

“The athletes are only given

[See Track, page 20]

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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SPORTS

Catcher Myles Neimeyer Brings it to the Plate

By Alex Campos

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

F

or some people, community college is used as a middle ground to make an easier transition into a four-year school.

Some people go to four year schools right out of high school, only to endure difficulties and come back to a community college. The latter was the case for GCC catcher Myles Neimeyer.

Neimeyer, 20, is now a catcher for the GCC baseball team. Out of Maranantha High School in Pasadena, he also went to Ouachita Baptist University, a Division 2 school in Arkansas.

He played baseball at Ouachita, but it was not what he expected.

“The coaches and I ended up not seeing eye to eye, and it led to me quitting halfway through last season” said Neimeyer. “It was a big test for me personally and mentally, but now I’m here playing for a much better team and for the best coaching staff I’ve ever played for”.

This is his 16th year playing baseball, having played in local leagues such as the Crescenta Valley Little League, Babe Ruth league and the Crescenta Sports Association.

Neimeyer is a local guy, growing up in Pasadena. Baseball

has always been a love of his, having played since the age of four. When he was 12, he played on the Pomona Titans travel ball team, a team that was ranked in the top 10 in all of California. He said his most memorable moment in little league was “hitting a walk-off home run in the USSSA qualifier tournament in Chino Hills.”

At Maranantha High School, he was an all-league catcher twice, making first team allleague as a junior and second team all-league as a senior.

At GCC, Neimeyer, or “Long-cut Larry” (an inside joke nickname given to him by outfielder Justin De La Nunez), wears the number 31, just like his favorite baseball player, former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza.

He says Piazza is his favorite baseball player because “he was a catcher, and a really good one. I don’t know, he was just my idol.”

Neimeyer said that “in my 16 years of playing ball, this GCC coaching staff has been the best staff I’ve ever played for.”

Neimeyer loves playing for the Vaqueros. “This is the most talented team I’ve ever played on.” Neimeyer said. “We have such great team chemistry. I also love this team because our

coaching staff works as hard as we do, is as dedicated as we are, and it’s a special thing to play for a coaching staff that gives us 100 percent on and off the field.”

Coach Chris Cicuto said of Neimeyer, “He’s one of many catchers so he gets limited playing time.

He still works Photo by Sara Kert hard every day CHICKEN GOES FOR $30: Vaquero catcher Myles Neimeyer (31) enjoys baseball as and I couldn’t much as the South, rap music and playing the violin. be happier with him. He is developing into a team of his strong work ethic and the the violin. He is a big fan of the leader.” way he handles business on and South, and hopes to live in Dallas, “Myles is one of the best off the field. He has earned every Texas when he is older. He loves team guys I’ve ever played with” right to be on this team and he’s rap and country music. Before said pitcher Nick Woodward. definitely a teammate you want to every game, Neimeyer listens to “Whether he’s in the game or not, have on your side. Playing with the song “Bought a Chicken” by he will do anything he can to help Myles has been a pleasure thus Gucci Mane. his team win” far because not only does the guy As for the future, Neimeyer Outfielder Scott Hong summed constantly make you laugh, but hopes to transfer to a four-year up Neimeyer by saying “I’ve only his demeanor and mannerisms school down South. As far as known Myles since I’ve been to remind you that he doesn’t take baseball goes, Neimeyer hopes GCC, but I have only respect even one day for granted.” to “enjoy the ride for as long as and great things to say about Outside of baseball, Neimeyer it lasts”. him. Myles has a personality that is also a good student with many any team he will ever be on will hobbies. He has a 3.0 GPA at GCC Alex Campos can be reached at Alex_Campos@elvaq.com appreciate, and that’s because and spends his free time playing

Women’s Track Looking Forward to Another Stellar Season [Track, from page 19] $5 for food a day when we travel.

Five dollars doesn’t buy you anything,” Lopez said.

When asked if what type of improvements he would like to see this year he answered with, “We dominate on the track, but need work on the field.”

No matter if they win or lose, Lopez said that the GCC women’s track and field will always have class.

Michelle Bowles can be reached at Michelle_Bowles@elvaq.com

THEY’RE OFF: Leading the Lady Vaqueros on a practice lap is team captain Carissa Porter, from left, Rita Assoian, Brittany Dacoff, Montana Balfour and Daniela Pollard.

Photo by Shaun Kelly

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Wednesday, March 2, 2010

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SPORTS

Lady Vaqueros Lose to the Other Vaqueros

By Vaughn Lawrence EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale Community College Women’s Tennis lost 9-0 to Santa Barbara Community College on Thursday.

In an interview with Coach Bob Donaghy before the match he said that tennis is a “combination of boxing and chess.” He spoke about how his team was in a tough conference, and that his coaching philosophy is to “work hard, be prepared.”

To prepare for the match Donaghy said that his players “practice three days a week,” and then “after practice go down to the fitness center for an hour.” For the match against Santa Barbara he said that the amount of players on the team “went from nine to six, and I am nervous.”

The competition began with singles, and when that was completed the players moved onto doubles. Throughout the match the players battled hard and did not give up when they were down. They did not let their emotions show, and they exuded sportsmanship for the duration of match.

During the match any onlooker could see Assistant Coach Deo Sy running from court to court talking to the players. Sy said he was making sure that the players were “trying to stay positive,” and he told the players to “make sure your opponent earns the point.”

Afterward the players did not hang their heads low, but instead congratulated their opponents and felt good about giving their all. Any GCC Women’s Tennis fan could see how they work together on the court. Though the sport is competitive the players do enjoy what they do, Sevana Zargarian said “It’s fun yeah, it’s just doubles is more intense.”

The players on the Women’s Tennis team know they will face challenging teams, but they enjoy it.

“We do much better when we play with schools like this,” Zargarian said.

There was obvious sportsmanship from both teams during the match. The players give high-fives whether or not they win the point.

Samantha Sismundo said “high-fiving is what keeps us up,” and Zargarian said that “it’s

really important to communicate in doubles.”

Zargarian and Sismundo have aspirations of transferring to the University of California Irvine.

Since they have practice three days a week balancing school and tennis can be difficult, “its tough” Sismundo said.

When talking about what went wrong and how they were going to prepare for Tuesday’s match against Bakersfield College, Sismundo said “we all need to work on our weaknesses,” and Zargarian said they have to be persistent in “preparing for every single game.” They will also be running the hill between the upper parking lot and the lower parking lot at GCC as usual.

Donaghy commented on the upcoming opponents at Bakersfield College, he said “Bakersfield isn’t going to be as tough as Santa Barbara.” He also said that losing only makes his team better. As his final comment Donaghy said “if you want to see how good you can get, you play the best.”

Vaughn Lawrence can be reached at Vaughn_Lawrence@elvaq.com

Photo by Tex Wells

TEAMWORK: The Lady Vaqueros huddle with head coach Bob Donaghy before the loss to Santa Barbara on Thursday.

Fullerton Hornets Smashed by Vaqueros

By Nik Brkic

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

G

lendale’s men’s tennis team beat Fullerton College 9-0 on Feb. 15 at Glendale.

This was the Vaquero’s third win of the season. All three of Glendale’s wins were 9-0 shutouts.

It was a great day for tennis.

In the middle of a rainy, windy week, Feb. 15 was surprisingly bright and warm.

The Vaqueros top two singles players Alex Sarkissian and Trevor Campbell played very well. They both won in straight sets.

Number one singles player Sarkissian used strong serves to beat his opponent 6-0, 6-0. The beginning of the match was slow, with both players missing first serves. Sarkissian began to hit first serves with consistency leading to an increase in confidence and a stranglehold on the match.

Sarkissian was able to rip forehands deep into the back

court. His solid backhand strokes gave Fullerton’s Kevin Reifler nowhere to hit the ball.

“I had fun today,” said Sarkissian “The guy I played is from Switzerland. It’s good to play guys from Europe.”

Number two singles player Campbell won his match 6-0, 6-3.

Campbell’s ability to tactically use spins helped him win his match. He hit looping shots to put his opponent Jason Nguyen off balance. “I won because was moving in and attacking.”

Campbell is undefeated this season with a record number of winning matches, 7-0.

The one match that was not won in straight sets was the match between Glendale’s Stephan Mamann between and Fullerton’s Pablo Fajardo.

Fajardo took the first set 6-2. Mamann was resilient and continued to grind out points. He ended up winning the next two sets to take the match.

The Vaqueros four, five and six singles players all won in

Photo by Nik Brkic

POWERING UP: Vaquero Alex Sarkissian is one of GCC’s top-rated players, taking both his matches 6-0, 6-0. convincing fashion. Grayson Frazier won 6-1, 6-0 against Sam Ngo. Dro Maamoudi beat David Phan 6-2, 6-2. Andre Ratavousian finished his match against Ivan Cahuana with a score of 6-1, 6-1.

“We are a good team. When we are healthy; we are a very good team,” Coach Bob MacKay said. The Vaquero tennis team beat Santa Barbara City College 7-2 on Feb. 24. This brings the

team’s record to 4-4. Glendale’s next match is on Thursday at Glendale against Pierce College.

Nik Brkic be reached at nik_brkic@elvaq.com

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SPORTS

Rolling Gauchos Flatten Rough Riders

By Shearson Unda

EL VAQUERO STAFF WRITER

T

he Glendale Rough Riders played host to the Santa Barbara Rollin’ Gauchos in a United States Power Soccer Associate sanctioned champions league match up Feb. 20 at the Verdugo Gym. The Rough Riders lost two matches to their more experienced rivals from up north and were able to only bypass the Rollin’ Gauchos once in the two-game series, with the first match ending up 3-1 and the second match 2-0.

Glendale veteran Benjamin Aviles was knocked out of commission early in the first match as his chair experienced, “motor-shock” when an opponent collided with his wheel chair.

“The hard, direct impact of metal guards caused my motor to shut down,” explained Aviles.

Things began to look bright as the center and captain Joey Wells placed a ball into an open goal off of a bounce from teammate Kelly Wong. That was the only goal the Rough Riders would score for the remainder of the weekend.

The Rollin’ Gauchos tied the match later in the first half of match one. In the second half the Gauchos took the lead off a set play from the corner and then added another goal to win the first match.

“The last game was a really tough one,” said captain Joey Wells. “We got the lead and then we gave it away right away… it was a very good play by Santa Barbara; it was a nice shot on the play. And then we played hard the second half and there was a couple of them (plays) where we weren’t looking.”

In the second match the Rollin’ Gauchos picked up two goals in the first half, which proved to be more then enough.

“Our team played spectacular on defense and improved with on court communication with each other” claimed Aviles. “In the end we just gave Santa Barbara too many opportunities with set plays.”

Power soccer is a growing sport and has many similarities to soccer yet incorporating other rules that make the game much more unique.

Rough Riders, Head Coach Cindy Wells explained, “Each team has four players… We take a thirteen-inch ball and they have to use their metal guards. They have to use their guards to hit the ball and they have to get it into the goals.”

The sport is played on a basketball court and at each end of the court two metal poles stand about 10 feet apart and serve as goals. Players use powered wheel chairs with built in metal guards, which participants use to maneuver a ball towards the oppositions goal.

“It such a fun game,” said Wells. “It does so much, it helps them physically and mentally and I mean I get so much out it.”

Glendale has even formed an expansion team know as the Wild Wheelers. They too had a match lined up against the expansion squad from Santa Barbara the Rollin’ Rebels. Unfortunately with members dropping out they were forced to only have nonsanctioned scrimmage matches.

The Glendale Rough Riders do not take training lightly.

“We practice twelve to four on Sunday… we work on plays, drills, teammate coordination and how to pass and receive,” said Aviles.

The first weekend of March the Glendale Rough Riders will be traveling to Tempe, Arizona for the “PowerBlast” tournament.

This tournament will host various teams that involved in the United States Power Soccer Association conference.

For more information on how to join to or become involved in power soccer visit www. powersoccerusa.net.

You can also search for the Glendale Rough Riders facebook page.

Shearson Unda can be reached at Shearson_Unda@elvaq.com

elvaq.com

Photo by Mario Camino

HIGH ROLLERS: Glendale’s powersoccer teams played well, but not well enough to defeat Santa Barbara in last week’s competition.

Vaquero Sports Summaries Scores Women’s Tennis: Feb. 10 — lost to Mt. SAC 9-0 Feb. 15 — beat to College of the Sequoias 5-4 Thursday — lost to Santa Barbara College 9-0

Men’s Basketball: Wednesday — lost to Long Beach City College 82-73 (Finished 18-11)

Women’s Basketball: Feb. 09 — lost to Citrus College 69-31 Feb. 12 — lost to West L.A. College 59-53 Feb. 16 — lost to College of the Canyons 106-38

Baseball: Thursday — beat Pasadena City College 6-5 Monday — lost to East L.A. College 6-5

Men’s Golf: Feb. 07 — Finished 5th at College of the Canyons tournament Wednesday — Finished 1st at the Ventura International

Men’s Tennis: Feb. 11 — beat Victor Valley 9-0 Feb. 17 — beat Fullerton College 9-0 Thursday — beat Santa Barbara 7-2 Softball: Feb. 15 — beat Pierce College 11-3 Thursday — lost to Oxnard at 5-2

Upcoming Events Women’s Tennis: Thursday at Santa Monica College 2 p.m.

Tuesday vs Ventura College 2 p.m.

Baseball: Saturday vs L.A. Mission college 1 p.m.

Tuesday vs Citrus College 2 p.m.

Men’s Golf: Monday — Tournament at Santa Maria Country Club Tuesday — GCC Invitational

Men’s Tennis: Thursday vs Pierce College 2 p.m.

Tuesday at Ventura College 2 p.m.

March 15 vs Pima 2 p.m.

Softball: March 12 at Cypress Noon/2 p.m.

March 15 at Bakersfield at 5 p.m.

March 17 vs Santa Monica 1/3 p.m.

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

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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Calendar On Campus events

LECTURES

Club Rush — GCC has numerous student clubs and organizations that focus on a multitude of interests. Existing clubs are recruiting members and students are also encouraged to start new ones. Today in Plaza Vaquero.

For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 3126.

Womens History Month — “The Parent/Teacher Role in Gender Role Development: How can young boys and girls standup against gender unfairness?”

The speaker is Bill Sparks. Today in the Child Development Center 111 from 1:45-3 p.m.

Persian New Year — Nowruz Bazaar event sponsored by GCC’s Persian Students Association, featuring booths with musical instruments, tea, art, crafts, food and dancing to Persian music. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 10 in Plaza Vaquero.

10th Annual Athletic Hall of Fame — Banquet and induction ceremony. J.W. Smith Student Center. March 12 at 5 p.m. For more information or tickets call 818-240-1000, ext. 5201 or 5764.

Womens History Month — “Women’s Health, Top Priority.”

Speakers are Glendale Commission on the Status of Women chairperson: Paula Devine and Marie Daielian, GCC student representative to the Commission.

Thursday in Kreider Hall from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

FINANCIAL Campus Project Support — For projects on campus with innovative ideas; funding grants are available through ASGCC for up

to $2,500. The deadline for application submission is March 9.

For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 3033.

Free Money — Last chance to apply for scholarships to be awarded in July 2011. Do you have a 2.5 GPA and 12 completed units? Scholarship opportunities await you. The deadline to apply is March 13. For more information visit: www.glendale.edu/ scholarships or call (818) 2401000, ext. 5591.

Free Tax Preparation — Volunteer income tax assistance.

Income limit $60,000. No appointment needed, allow approximately 4 hours. Saturdays in SR112 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

workshops “Effective Resume” — Focuses on essential resume-writing prin-

ciples, formats and content. Today at 1 p.m. Free. Career Center, San Rafael Building. For more information call (818) 240-1000, ext. 5407.

“Learn to Meditate” — Meditation is said to help to clear and calm the mind. Free. Every Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. in AD 243. For more information call (818) 551-5192.

CLUBS Knaute Couture — Knit, crochet and relieve stress all while helping charity. Meets today in Plaza Vaquero from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. For more information call (818) 279-3945.

MOVIES Friday Flix: — A screening of the 1940 Disney classic “Fantasia” on Friday. In conjunction with Women’s History Month, on

March 11: “Iron Jawed Angels” starring Hilary Swank and Anjelica Huston . Films are free at 12:30 p.m. in SG 334. Discussions facilitated by instructor Mike Petros following the screeenings.

PLANETARIUM “Spontaneous Fantasia” — A real-time animation created live for the full-dome digital theater J. Walt, a programmer, artist and composer. Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 and 7 p.m. For tickets call (626) 688-0778. For more information, visit www. glendale.edu/planetarium.

PARKING ALERT Civic Auditorium Parking Lot Closures for Friday — Parking structure will be open to students from 6 to 10 a.m. Lot 31 will be open to students from 6 to 11 a.m.

Lot 31 will be closed to students.

Around Town exhibitions “Japan in Blue and White” — Pacific Asia Museum. The exhibition features blue and white ceramics, textiles and woodblock prints Runs through Sunday.

Ticket prices and hours vary. 46 N. Robles Ave., Pasadena. For more information call (626) 4492742 or visit www.pacificasiamuseum.org.

“The Lure of Myth: British Drawings from The Huntington’s Art Collections” — Huntington Library. Featuring the work of 18th and 19th century British artists. Runs through Monday. Ticket prices vary. 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For information call (626) 405-2141 c or visit www.huntington.org.

“Larry Fink: Hollywood, 2000– 2009” — LACMA presents a collection of Finks’ Vanity Fair Oscar-night party photos. Runs through April 3. Ticket prices and hours vary. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information call (323) 857-6000 or visit www.lacma.org.

“Daniel Wheeler: Bloom”— Pasadena Museum of California Art; Project Room. Exhibition features both video and structural elements. 490 E. Union St., Pasadena. Runs through April 24.

Museum hours vary. For more information call (626) 568-3665 or visit www.pmcaonline.org.

“In Focus: The Tree” — The Getty Center. This exhibition presents a range of photographs that reveal various artistic responses to the perennial subject.

Runs through July 3. Museum hours vary. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. Admission is free and parking is $10 per vehicle. For more information call (310) 440-7300 or visit www. getty.edu.

MUSIC Los Angeles Flute Orchestra— Glendale Noon Concerts presents a 12 member ensemble that performs on a range of flutes. Free in the Sanctuary of the First Baptist Church of Glendale, 209 N. Louise St. Runs from 12:10 until 12:40 p.m. today. For more in-

formation call (818) 242-2113 or visit www.fbcglendale.net.

events

Apick. 216 N. Brand Blvd. One show only March 11 at 8 p.m.

Tickets prices vary. For more information call (818) 243-2539 or visit www.alextheatre.org.

“Dance For Equality Fundraiser” — Avalon. DJ sets will feature Moby and the Crystal Method.

Raising funds to overturn Prop. 8.

Tonight from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. 1735 Vine St., Hollywood. Tickets $25 online, $35 at the door. For more information visit: www.couragecampaign.org/Avalon.

“The Comedy of Errors” — A Noise Within. William Shakespeare’s classic directed by Michael Michetti. 234 S. Brand Blvd. Runs through May 14.

Ticket prices and show times vary. For more information call (818) 240- 0910 or visit www. anoisewithin.org.

7th Annual IronBruin Triathlon — UCLA Campus. Open to all: come watch, volunteer or preregister to race online. There will be no race day registration.

Proceeds to benefit The CARE Foundation. Sunday at 7 a.m.

405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles.

For more information visit: www. ironbruin.com.

COMEDY

theater “Beneath The Veil” — Alex Theatre. Timed to commemorate International Women’s Day it is produced and directed by Mary

“Death by Roo Roo: Your F’ed Up Family/Soundtrack” — Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

Total comedy improv, not for the weak of heart. Friday at 9:30 p.m. 5919 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Tickets $8. For more information call: (323) 908-8702.

“Rudy Moreno’s Latino Comedy Showcase” — The Ice House Comedy Club. Tonight at 8 p.m.

Tickets $12.50. 54 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. For more information call (626) 577-1894 or

visit www.icehousecomedy.com.

“James Young Entertainment presents...Now What?” — ACME Comedy House. A unique mix of cutting edge comedy and drama. Thursday at 9 p.m. Tickets $15 online, $18 at the door. 135 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles.

For more information call (323) 525-0202 or visit www.acmecomedy.com.

WELLNESS Free Health Clinic — Open Tuesdays 5:30 to 8 p.m. or until capacity is reached. 134 N. Kenwood St., third floor, room 330.

No job or sports-related physicals. For more information call (818) 243-2105, ext. 202 or visit www.glendaleclinic.org.

Free Yoga in the Park — Runyon Canyon Park. Free yoga lessons are offered everyday at 10:30 a.m. 2001 N. Fuller Ave., Los Angeles. For more information call (323) 666-5046 or visit: www. myspace.com/runyoncanyonyoga.

Compiled by Richard Kontas

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

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VAQUERO VIEWS

Cheerleaders Win National Award

Photo by Tex Wells

SKY HIGH: Kevin “Nemo” Zelaya and Veronyka Lamb perform the gravity-defying Cupie maneuver, which they perfected after weeks of rehearsal. Both cheerleaders are members of the college’s team that recently won eighth place in a national competition.