Vol. 84 No. 7 - April 1, 2016

A chili day at LMC

Local art showcased

Mustangs go bald

Classified staff raises funds for scholarships. Find out who won. Story inside — page 3

The current exhibit is featuring works from the Art Guild of the Delta in the LMC Art Gallery — page 4

LMC baseball players shave heads in support of coach’s mom’s fight against cancer — page 5

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F.Y.I. Important Dates April is Alcohol Awareness Month April 15

Last day to submit Early Fall 2016 Graduation Application

April 29

Last day to drop with a W appearing on transcript

Get ready to Walk on Water The East Bay MESA Alliance will be holding its Walk on Water Competition Saturday, April 16.

The competition involves teams designing floating shoes to be used in an attempt to cross the length of the LMC swimming pool by walking on the surface of the water.

Entries are due prior to noon Wednesday, April 9.

For more information visit http://eastbaymesaalliance.com/2016/01/22/ walk-on-water-mesa-competition.

Competition next Saturday The 11th Annual Academic Competetion will be held on Saturday, April 9. Teams of five can compete for scholarships by answering four rounds of test questions provided

by LMC professors. All students who participate in event will receive a Certificate of Participation, a $10 gift certificate to the LMC Bookstore, and an event T-shirt. Registration forms must be completed and turned in to the Student Life Office

by Monday, April 4.

Apply now for aide position Police Services is searching for applicants for an available position as a police aide on campus.

Those interested in the position must have a G.P.A. of at least 2.0 and be currently enrolled in a minimum of six semester units. For more info and to download the application, visit 4cd.net/crpa/pd.

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Center scores high

Child Development Department reaccredited

By ALEXANDRA RIVA ariva@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Child Study Center was recently reaccredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children with a nearly perfect score.

“This is now our second time being reaccredited after our initial accreditation and it is quite a process,” said Pamela Perfumo, a faculty member of the Child Development Department.

The process required the child study center to submit an application to NAEYC as well as a processing fee, and then they had to begin collecting evidence that would best demonstrate their eligibility for accreditation.

“We conducted a lot of self study activities,” said Perfumo. These ‘activities’ included surveys provided by NAEYC that were distributed to the faculty and staff of the program, and the parents and children.

In addition the curriculum of the students was documented, all enrollment files for the children and staff were completed and made up to date, and classroom portfolios were created for each program. A portfolio for the entire center was assembled by Kathryn

See CHILD, page 6

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Child Development student Yvette Quezada assists a child with her shoes outside the Child Study Center.

Parking price grows Lack of revenue caused the rise

By ADRIA WATSON

awatson@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College students may have noticed parking fees have gone up this spring from $40 to $48.

The increase is due to the fact that the money collected from these fees goes toward parking operations, and that revenue fell short during the 2013-2014 school year.

This shortfall hit LMC hard and the gap had to be covered by the Contra Costa Community College District’s capital projects fund, which they have used in the past to provide funding for major parking lot repairs.

LMC Interim Business Director Arzu Smith said the District’s goal is for parking revenue at each of the colleges needs to be sufficient enough to maintain parking operations.

“We went to student leadership and made presentations explaining the situation and that there was going to be a proposal that the fees need to be

increased so that they could be at a break even point,” said Smith, regarding the revenue’s failure to cover LMC’s parking expenses in 2014.

That increase was put into effect this year. The parking permits during the fall 2015 semester remained at $40 but were raised to $48 this spring to make up for what was lost.

According to District Associate Vice Chancellor Jonah Nicholas, Education Code 76360 dictates how funds are collected and how they must be used.

The code states: “All parking fees collected shall be deposited in the designated fund of the district in accordance with the California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual and shall be expended only for parking services or for purposes of reducing the costs to students and employees of the college of using public transportation to and from the college.”

Nicholas said in the last fiscal year — July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015 — the LMC parking revenue totaled approximately $455,000. He explained the semester and daily permits at the school made up more than $400,000 of that revenue, fines made up the remainder

Neuroscientist visits Los Medanos Ph.D. discusses mental illness

By KIMBERLY STELLY

kstelly@lmcexperience.com

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Student Kyle Marshall prepares to purchase a parking permit from the machine in Parking Lot A. of it at almost $50,000 and the parking meters generated less than $2,000. This does not include the refunds given to students who withdraw from classes.

Smith said the finance department at the district office tracks the expenditures and revenues separately for parking throughout the district.

See FEES, page 6

Giving another chance for life

By TYLER MORTIMORE

tmortimore@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College students and staff were given the chance to save lives last week as drives for both blood and bone marrow were held on campus.

LMC’s Alpha Gamma Sigma club partnered with the Be The Match bone marrow registry March 28-30 on the outdoor quad.

Students were asked to join the registry by giving a cheek swab, which provides a DNA sample that can then be potentially matched to someone with a disease like leukemia.

AGS Vice President Ines Torres, who was working the booth, explained that there is a huge need for marrow donors.

“There are over 14,000 patients in need of marrow transplants, and the need for minority donors is even greater,” said Torres.

Because marrow transplants require DNA matching so the recipient’s body will accept the new marrow, people typically have to

Experience • Christian Ruiz

Technician Michelle Ballard of Blood Centers of the Pacific offers See BLOOD page 6 student Francisco Calderon a snack while he donates blood.

“When it comes to the body, the brain is the only organ we don’t fully understand,” said neuroscientist Zack Cope, Ph.D., when he visited Los Medanos College’s MESA Center Friday March 11 to talk about his research and expertise on mental illnesses.

In addition to telling students about his research, he also shared how to pursue a career in his field. “If you’ve done all the research, written all the papers, you’ll have no issue breaking into the field,” said Cope, though he said he didn’t go the typical route to get where he is today– it took him a while.

“I did not have the discipline as an 18-year-old to be a pre-med student,” he said.

“I really had no idea what this field was all about.”

He admitted he “spent so much time messing around as an undergraduate, med school wasn’t really an option for me.”

A few years later, he volunteered at a psychiatric hospital where he got to work with people who had mental illnesses.

Though a large part of his presentation was spent discussing his journey through the field of neuroscience, he stressed the importance of helping those with mental illnesses, explaining these diseases are not only inconvenient, but are costly as well– saying that it can cost See MESA, page 6

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Perspectives

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“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”

— Malcolm Forbes

Kimberly Stelly

Jazmine Gordon

SOCIALLY UNWELL

EARTHTHINKER

The friends you choose matter

Don’t let Kim K define feminism

As it turns out, things start to get really complicated when you have more than a few friends. When the number of friends increase, so do the number of issues. Though there are advantages to having a diverse group of friends and acquaintances, maintaining those relationships is hard work.

In a study done by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University, researchers kept tabs on 1,500 subjects only to find that those with more friends outlived those who had fewer friends by 22 percent.

But there is a heavier burden when you have to deal with more individuals.

There is more of a pressure to work around their personalities and treat everyone the same and if you allow yourself to become close to many people, eventually someone’s going to get neglected.

People often forget that friendships are a lot like romantic relationships in some ways; you have to work to keep them. You can’t walk all over them and expect them to still be there for you cheering you on. If you want to keep your friendships in tact, then pay attention.

Friends are the family you choose and the cool thing, besides them understanding your complexities, is that they actually help you live longer whereas actual family members don’t, according to researcher Lynne C. Giles.

Good friends help you in times of turmoil and duress and can help you find a way out of trouble when you can’t figure things out for yourself.

Though they aren’t without flaws, it’s important that you know when to rely on them and when to let them lean on you.

According to the Mayo Clinic, having friends helps “improve your self-confidence and self-worth” and “encourages you to change or avoid unhealthy lifestyle habits, such as excessive drinking” but the key to those benefits is having good friends, not friends who are going to make you feel small and inadequate.

According to Today, negative social interaction is detrimental to your health.

It can cause chronic inflammation, which can lead to depression, hypertension and even coronary heart failure.

Sure there are a lot of steps between making a few bad friends and dying but life is stressful enough, if you can avoid heartache and stress, then by all means do so.

But so many people are so lonely and desperate that they will put up with anything for a taste of what it’s like to have these sorts of bonds with others, regardless of the fact that those people might be making things worse for them.

If you feel like you constantly have to put up a front around them, they’re ignoring you or you’re not being appreciated, it might be time to have a talk with your friends and let them know you don’t feel valued but only if you think those relationships are worth salvaging.

Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to fix it and you have to let go no matter how long you’ve known each other.

If you want to keep people in your life, you’re going to have to learn how to listen and then learn how to work through problems without being defensive.

Be assertive and don’t let the ones you love take advantage of your kindness.

You will also have to learn that people have other friends, ones that you might not get along with as well but you’ve got to be patient and accepting. It goes both ways.

Chances are if you work on your own flaws, you’ll be strengthening your bonds in the process. It’s hard, but it’s better than being miserable. In the end you’ll become a better person with better friends that can improve your outlook in life.

Feminism is among one of the political trends that is apart of women’s history, and it’s evolving. Over the course of the month of March, the topics of feminism and slut shaming have been widely debated about.

Since they are associated with the recent nude selfie fiasco of the one and only, Kim Kardashian. I was on Facebook and an article from refinery29.com popped up on my news feed, about the photo.

Then I read the comment section on Facebook, and my, did some women think it was a feminist thing.

Now without my feminism senses, I was irritated and thought “oh there she goes again with the nudes, this is getting old” but then the word feminism was on the title of the article, and that’s when I knew something fishy was up, so I read the comment section on Facebook, and some women did think it was a feminist thing.

I skimmed the ar ticle, with some hesitance, and celebrity Bette Midler had harsh words towards Kim K. on twitter.

“Kim Kardashian tweeted a nude selfie today” Midler said. “If Kim wants us to see a part of her we’ve never seen, she’s gonna have to swallow the camera.” Surprisingly Kardashian had responded to the tweet.

“Hey @BetteMidler I know it’s past your bedtime but if you’re still up and reading this send nudes #justkidding”. Normally Kim doesn’t respond back to her “Haters”, but she basically said that she should send nudes as well.

Now, I totally understand why people showed their disapproval of Kim, she’s 35, and is married with 2 children, and before feminism was strong, she just used her body to get her where she is now.

Other celebrities such as Piers Morgan, and Chloe Mortez showed their disapproval on Twitter as well, but Moretz received some backlash since her tweet implied that Kardashian is adding fuel to our body image obsessed culture, and she was apparently slut shaming her, but Moretz responded with “ there’s a huge difference in respecting the platform that you’re given as a celebrity and “slut shaming” something I never have done and would never do.”

I clearly understand what she meant by this, but Kim was never out to be respected by people. According to an article on thedailybeast.com, “[Kim Kardashian] never branded herself a role model, so why does Chloe Moretz expect her to be one? Appearing half-naked on the cover of Nylon magazine doesn’t put her in the best position to moralize about female nudity.”

OK, so Kim K never branded herself as a role model, but why is she shouting feminism all of a sudden? As I said earlier does she know what feminism is? And obviously she’s trying to be a feminist now.

Then I got really upset when Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Amber Rose came to Kim’s defense. These women seem to think that posing naked or showing her body means feminism or empowerment, but I’m starting to think that they don’t know what feminism means and its place in women’s history.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” That is the exact definition of feminism. As a feminist, I think it’s okay to pose nude, but don’t say its empowerment or feminism if you don’t know the true definition of it.

Kim Kardashian is mainly known for her body, so why would it be known for feminism all of a sudden? Why can’t other celebrities not say anything about her even though they posed nude? Yes they can be hypocrites, but Feminism is equality for both sexes, not posing nude to perpetuate body image obsession Bottom line.

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Editorial

Equitable outcomes for all, not few

L

os Medanos College has done a great job with the recent push in embracing equity.

The creation and implementation of the five-year Student Equity Plan in 2014 is a testament to that fact. Now, more than ever, programs and services are available to underprivileged and underrepresented students on campus.

What is sorely missing, however, are the requirements that students of all races and station receive the same level of equitable learning.

Students are required to enroll in and complete a single course in Ethnic Studies. While that is an awesome way to get people in classes to learn about histories that they would normally not experience, it is not nearly enough.

There needs to be an expansion of the ethnic studies requirements for students of our college system.

How can future adults be expected to be inclusive at an equitable level when they are taught in general education classes how to receive passing grades, but not how to embrace each other?

Equity is a necessity, but it seems as though the programs and services meant for certain groups of students tend to be populated and benefitted from by said students.

In such a diverse college community, it seems as though the student body is fragmented; each group of students tends to stick with each other, either in the supported programs, or in practice in the hallways, cafeteria and study spaces.

That may not be the fault of LMC. More likely, it is the product of years of divisive learning and behavioral teachings instilled by a society that does not seem to put much emphasis on sharing the histories of its diverse population with each other.

If the college worked with the California State University and University of California college systems to expand the requirements for future students, then a new generation of adults will enter the workforce and the world more willing to interact with peoples from different cultures.

They would be more willing to encourage those peoples, to fight for those peoples, to raise children with a better sense of what is important in a community.

More importantly, they would be willing to fix societal wrongs. They would be willing to create an environment where students won’t have to struggle to get a foothold.

An environment that naturally nurtures its peoples, isn’t that the goal?

That first step comes by way of expanding courses that inspire positive activity.

The colleges can do this; the question is, will they? Will they invest in the future on a deeper, wider level? We believe they can. More than that, we think they must.

Pop music’s not just for teenagers

Teenage girls can never catch a break.

It seems that any genre of music girls like is usually considered to be subpar compared the music tastes of other genders. This is particularly true in the case of pop music.

Because of its association to teen girls, who are already stereotyped in a variety of negative ways, the genre is seen as having songs with talentless singers and ditzy, meaningless lyrics.

To critics, it is not “real music” because apparently music can’t be good unless it’s filled with traditional musical instruments and complex metaphors and meanings.

But liking indie music with “real lyrics” over the bubblegum pop played on the radio doesn’t automatically make a person deep or philosophical. I know the pop genre is generally simple with its cheesy and repetitive lyrics that anyone can relate to, but that’s exactly why I find it enjoyable.

Pop music is popular for a reason, people like it. The backlash it receives is ridiculous.

I’ve even had my share of criticisms against the genre in the past. All throughout high school I was just as cynical and angry at mainstream music, claiming that the “underground” sound that I knew was far superior to that of pop music.

Even without the pretensions of the underground, pop isn’t as simple as it seems on the surface. For example, Sia’s “Chandelier,” despite its upbeat tempo, tells of the singer’s own struggles with alcoholism and depression.

That being said, not every song has to have a deeper meaning. Artists often use songwriting

Voices

Beatriz Hernandez BEA’S BEATS

as an escape from their problems or feelings.

As a songwriter, it’s too much pressure to be expected to write about the deep sorrows of life in order to create “real music.” In many cases the inspiration for a song comes from the happiness within life.

While writing about hardships can be freeing and relatable on a more emotional level, writing entertaining and catchy lyrics is also a way to bring people together through dance and happiness.

Just because a genre is typically linked to a young female audience, does not mean someone of any gender should feel embarrassed to like it.

When boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC were popular, men all over the world were publicly stating their annoyance for the groups while secretly jamming to “Bye Bye Bye” in their bedrooms when they thought no one was listening.

There’s no need for pop music to be someone’s guilty pleasure. Go on, like and embrace pop music as the fun and exhilarating genre that it is.

Are you OK with spring break being one week or do you think it should be longer?

Compiled

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Adria

W at s o n

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Gonzales

LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE

Experience L M C e x p e r i e n c e . c o m

Member California Newspaper Publishers Association

“Longer than a week because some people have a lot of work and it ends hella quick.”

— Arielle Atreginio

“A week should be just fine but maybe extend it to 10 days so that way everyone can relax and have a little bit of extra time.”

— Ian Valenta

“It’s good how it is because it gives you just enough time to relax but not too much so you can’t get back in the swing of things.”

— Brynna Graham

“A week is fine because you have time to study for tests they have and time to go out of town to see family.”

— Enrique Guzman

“One week is good enough.

I don’t think it should be too long or else people are going to come back really lazy.”

— Danielle Brown

“It should be two weeks because students deserve a break.”

— Dion Powell

“Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

— Thomas Jefferson

Editors-in-Chief................DAMIAN LEWIN and CASSIE DICKMAN Perspectives Editor......YETUNDE OGUNLEYE Campus Editors...........ALEXANDRA RIVA and TYLER MORTIMORE Features Editor............BEATRIZ HERNANDEZ Sports Editors.....................RENEE SMITH and GARRETT BELME Photo Editor.......................JAZMINE GORDON New Media/Marketing.............JAMARI SNIPES Web Editor..........................KIMBERLY STELLY The LMC Experience is published Fridays by students in the Journalism Program. The newspaper serves both as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amendment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

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Campus

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“Sure the world grows monsters, but kindness grows just as wild.”

— Mary Karr

SF theme a hit for Club Day

LMC’s groups turn out for lively event

By KIMBERLY STELLY

kstelly@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College held a San Francisco-themed Club Day in the outdoor quad Monday, March 15. Though many of the clubs were recruiting, some were out to raise money by selling food and others, like Club READ, were just trying to get recognition.

Mandy Klaus manned the booth for club SACHE, Students with Abilities to Coordinate to Help Each Other, where she sold apple roses and cupcakes.

“It’s busier than I thought it’d be – I thought it would be more scarce,” Klaus said about the turnout of the event.

Some of the LMC organizations represented include the LEO Club, Art Club and Honors.

Across the quad, over by the handmade Golden Gate Bridge replica, were representatives from the Mustangs Ambassadors Club, which was started in order to reach out to those employed on campus.

Member Brynna Graham said the club’s purpose for the day was to “sell some pizza and let people know we’re on campus.”

Many of the clubs were out promoting their clubs in hopes

of getting recruitment. Allies was one such club. They were selling beverages – they noted they had sold seven – and informational handouts for those who happened to pass by. President Laya Clark said other than “showing up at our meetings,” there isn’t a special process to become a part of their club. “We meet up on Wednesdays in [Library Room] L105, usually,” she said, acknowledging that, occasionally, they meet elsewhere.

Getting into the newly formed Black Student Union isn’t a difficult process either, according to student ambassador Danielle Brown.

“Just sign up or contact me,” said Brown. She explained the purpose of the BSU was to “unify black students on campus with common interests.” She also stressed that any student can join regardless of race.

Students looking to join or are simply curious can contact her at brownsdanielle16@ yahoo.com.

Anime Club sold a Japanese snack called Pocky in hopes of attracting potential members.

In addition to clubs looking for recruits, there was a DJ who made sure to acknowledge each club and made note of

Experience • Alexandra Riva

Solomon Uhuru of Art Club balances on a railing while assembling a miniature Golden Gate Bridge. what they were selling. Puente members were selling Mexican cuisine while dancing around their booth and members of the BSU, who were giving out candy, followed suit. AGS set up a mock baseball game where students had the chance to hit the ball into the net – a “homerun” – and win free nachos.

The many students that attended stopped to participate in the activities offered– whether that meant helping out the many clubs, dancing along to the music, buying food or getting their caricature drawn courtesy of the art club.

The turnout was high, the weather was nice and most of the clubs on campus got a chance to show students what makes their organization Experience • Alexandra Riva unique.

Puente members Emmanuel Pantoja and Elizabet Curiel boogie down.

Experience competes Newspaper staff wins journalism awards

By DAMIAN LEWIN

dlewin@lmcexperience.com

DON’T SCRATCH THE SURFACE.

BREAK THE GROUND.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR FALL 2016 STAY ON TRACK.

Cook-Off raises money

By SARAH D. GONZALES

GRADUATE AND START YOUR CAREER ON TIME. • Small classes, personal attention • $2,000 Los Medanos College transfer award • $14,000 Honors at Entrance Scholarships RSVP for the April 27 transfer information session at smcadmit.com

Saint Mary’s College of California smcadmit@stmarys-ca.edu

Staff members from the LMC Experience newspaper received four awards during the Spring 2016 State Journalism Association of Community Colleges Conference March 17 to 19 in Burbank. The event took place at the L.A. Burbank Marriott and was attended by newspaper staffs from community colleges across California.

“JACC was bitter-sweet,” said Managing Editor Joseph Delano, who brought home two awards from the conference. He won fourthplace in News Writing for his story following the terrorist attacks in Paris last fall, and an Honorable Mention in an on-the-spot contest in editorial cartooning.

Staff Writer Sarah Gonzales also came home with a second-place award from her participation in the on-the-spot Editorial Cartoon competition.

Her winning cartoon commented on equity and has been reproduced on the Perspectives page in this issue.

“I was really anxious during the completion,” said Gonzales.

She described how her hands were shaking from the pressure of the competition well after she had completed her cartoon. Having left empty-handed after competing last fall at the JACC NorCal Conference, she was happy, albeit “surprised,” when they announced her name during the awards ceremony.

Throughout the three-day event, students from campuses across the state took part in competitions involving a variety of aspects of journalism and attended workshops and lectures featuring talks from those in the industry.

Speaker Jeff Favre, a freelance critic and teacher at Pierce College, educated and entertained students during his critical review workshop.

“I learned a lot about review writing from Favre,” said Staff Writer and first time JACC attendee Tyler Mortimore.

Mortimore, who won second-place in the onthe-spot Critical Review Competition, recalled his participation in the contest.

Competitors were assigned to write a review on a play performed at the event, Mortimore described how, “it was stressful having to absorb a work and review it in less than an hour.”

For some of those who didn’t win any awards, the overall experience of the trip down to Southern California was something that will not be forgotten. For Adria Watson, a first time JACC attendee and one of the newest members on staff, the event was also a “bonding” experience.

“I went in expecting to be really intimidated,” said Watson. She explained how prior to the conference she had expected things to be a little more hectic, but after being given advice from fellow staff members, coupled with her own experiences from having worked on the college paper, the conference was an enjoyable “big learning experience.”

(800) 800-4SMC

sgonzales@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos Classified Senate raised $512.25 for scholarships during its 11th annual Chili Cook-Off March 29.

Staff members competed against each other with home made chili– the grand prizewinner taking home the Chili-man statue and a trophy. This year’s top chef was Umoja coordinator Jamila Stewart with her entry, ‘U’lishus’.

Last year’s winner, LMC Administrative assistant Sylvia Benzler, was present during the cook-off and wished “good luck to all the participants.”

“It’s a great day for chili,” said Benzler, “Perfect weather — all looks good, smells good.

It’s a perfect turnout.”

Experience • Christian Ruiz

Dionna Shelbourne accepts Chili-man for Stewart.

Money was raised through the sale of chili bowls, shots and raffle tickets. Raffle prizes were donated by LMC faculty and staff.

LMC Classified Senate President Linda Kohler said that putting the cook-off together was a group effort.

“The Senate appreciates the

college’s support for participating” said Kohler.

The event started at 11 a.m. in the Los Medanos indoor quad. The smell of chili had students swarming the booths.

“I bought a shot of each chili– and it’s really hard to choose,” said LMC student See COOK, page 6

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Features Marquee Movies just released

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“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”

— Emile Zola

‘Guild’ on display

n “Gods Not Dead 2” Rated PG Genre: Drama, Sequel, Faith n “My Big Far Greek Wedding 2” Rated PG-13 Genre: Romance, Comedy n “The Divergent Series: Allegiant” Rated PG-13 Genre: Adventure, Romance

‘Golf’ at Little Theater

“Radio Golf,” will be showning tonight as well as April 2, 4, 7 through 9 and 11 at 7 p.m. with a Wednesday matinee showing at 10 a.m. April 6. Tickets $7 for students or those with military ID, $10 for the general public and $5 for middle school and high school students with an ID.

‘Sweeny Todd’

The story of “Sweeny Todd” will be performed with 7 p.m. showings beginning Friday, April 8, 9, 15 and 16 and two Sunday matinee performances at 2 p.m.

April 10 and 17. Tickets $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for children 10 and under and seniors on Sunday matinees.

Theater events

The California Theatre is located in Pittsburg at 351 Railroad Ave. For ticket sales and additional information call 427-1611. n A comedy show featuring Erik “Awesome” Alston will be performed Saturday, April 2 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices are $20 general admission, $25 at the door, $10 for students with ID and $15 each for a group of five or more. n “6 RMS RIV VU” tells the story a man and women who find themselves locked in a apartment with a mutual attraction.

The show will be performed beginning April 15 at 8 p.m. and will also be running April 16 with 2 and 8 p.m. showings and April 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $25.

Experience • Cassie Dickman

Artist Ann Vestal speaks with art show attendees during the reception Thursday, March 10.

El Campanil shows

College Art Guild of

The El Campanil Theatre is located at 602 W Second St. in Antioch. For ticket sales and additional information visit elcampaniltheatre.com or call 757-9500. n The International Film Showcase Presents Danish fllm “A War.” The film is Rated R and will be showing Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m. Ticket prices will be $8 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. n Fleetwood Mask, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, will be performing Saturday, April 9 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices are $27 for adults, $25 for seniors and free for youth 18 and under. n The Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, comprised of 45 musicians ranging in age from 15 to 94, will perform various pieve by Mozart Saturday April 2 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $7 for students.

The Delta Art show

is back and currently on display at the LMC Art Gallery.

It will run through April 13.

The gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 6 p.m. For additional information on the show contact 283-2101 or Experience • Joseph Delano

Artwork on display at “Freya” by ceramic artist Rosalinda Grejsen and “Passage” by Clay McNamara.

kstelly@lmcexperience.com

Photo courtesy of elcampaniltheatre.com

Promotional art for Fleetwood Mac Tribute band Fleetwood Mask.

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

Los Medanos College’s own music instructor and choir Director Silvester Henderson enlisted the help of four pianists experienced in both the gospel and secular music industries to help teach a seminar on how to be successful in the field to a collective groups of faculty members and students Tuesday night, March 16 in the Recital Hall.

Henderson introduced each panelist and touched on points of interest in each man’s career. Then he invited first speaker Sylvester Burks to play a song. He chose John Legend’s “All of Me,” which he dedicated to his wife and made it a point to look at her his entire performance.

Burks, who has worked with stars Yolanda Adams and Patti Labelle talked about the most impressive aspects of his career. He was musical director at “Friends” actress Courteney

Cox’s wedding and performed with Luther Vandross at the Grammy’s. He also talked about his upbringing.

“I started out as a child picking up little tunes,” he said. “I taught myself to read music.”

When Henderson inquired what it’s like to be immersed in the industry, Burks said “it’s busy but rewarding ... it’s time-consuming — you have to be dedicated.”

“You have to be willing to sacrifice,” said Speaker Simon Russell. He talked about being willing to step outside of your comfort zone.

“Get out in the trenches and meet people,” he advised.

The other speaker Carl Wheeler said it does have an impact on other aspects of your life.

“You definitely need someone understanding,” he said regarding relationships.

Both Henderson and Wheeler touched on having to work with different personalities.

Wheeler, who has played with Frankie Beverly

tmortimore@lmcexperience.com

Zack Snyder doesn’t have a sense of irony, much less a sense of humor.

When his “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens with the card from Snyder’s Cruel and Unusual Films, it isn’t a joke — it’s a warning to viewers.

“Batman v Superman” erases the just-concluded Christopher Nolan “Batman” trilogy, and so it begins with yet another depiction of the poor Thomas and Martha Wayne getting shot to death in front of young Bruce Wayne, setting the boy on a path toward fascistic vigilantism. We then jump forward to adult Wayne (Ben Affleck) witnessing Superman’s fight with General Zod in downtown Metropolis, which ends with Superman

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and Maze, said, “It was a struggle” because he liked to improvise when he played rather than sticking to instructions, but after awhile he “learned to compromise.”

Henderson said, “If you have an artist that you like as youth, think will you like that person when you’re 40 or 50.” He then paused to gauge the audience’s responses. “The answer is probably ‘yes,’” he concluded.

“Tall but great man” according to Henderson, Minister Derrick Hall who has worked alongside musicians ranging from Bobby McFerrin to Too Short talked about how much his upbringing influenced his presence in the music industry.

“I give my dad a lot of credit. He’d take me to his church to practice early in the morning and I just fell in love with music,” said Hall.

There was a bit of banter between the other panelists Carl Wheeler and Simon Russell who

Heroes stumble over plot

By TYLER MORTIMORE

Judi Pettite, the gallery direc-

Gospel seminar motivates

By KIMBERLY STELLY

Despite box office success film frustrates

T

he Los Medanos

lasering a Wayne Industries building into collapse, and Snyder has no qualms with using the opportunity to show what it’d look like if Batman was in Lower Manhattan during the September 11th attacks.

This leads to a stunted storyline about the ambivalent public opinion of Superman — is he a benevolent God-figure or a too-powerful policeman with no oversight? — led by a U.S. Senator (Holly Hunter), but like most of the of the film’s few interesting bits, Snyder gets bored and moves on without resolution.

On Superman’s side of the story, he’s real sad about being able to fly and having to save people. The man from Krypton (Henry Cavill) splits his time rescuing helpless humans, fetching his damsel-in-distress girlfriend Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and getting yelled at by his Daily Planet editor (Laurence Fishburne).

Nothing is clear in the first hour and a half other than our two heroes feeling dejected and upset at the other’s unilateral crime-fighting and that Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is

up to no good.

The last hour gives us the titular battle and makes a smidgen more sense.

This movie is an utter mess.

Rank amateurism from the editor and writers ensures that nearly every character lacks any sort of logical motivation and the movie jumps from character to character with no rhyme or reason. Snyder drops into dialogue-heavy scenes that feel as if the beginning and end have been chopped off, creating conversations that are at best awkward and at worst nonsensical.

The duel between the main characters is so forced it requires both characters to lose any capability of adult-level communication. It takes many punches and a terrible Batman plan before Lois comes in and mediates like a mother breaking up an argument between toddlers.

Its handling of its female characters is as sloppy as the rest of it. Lois Lane, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, opens an interview with an African warlord with, “Are you a terrorist?”

See MUSIC, page 6

Photo Courtesy of imdb.com

Ben Affleck and Henry Cavil in “Batman v Superman.”

Similarly, when a male character refers to her being a woman, she curtly replies, “I’m a journalist,” as if it’s a binary. She spends the rest of the movie being Superman bait, almost totally helpless. Martha Kent (Diane Lane) is also only seriously involved once Luthor requires her for bait, showing Superman Polaroids

of his mother bound, her makeup smeared. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is strong and capable as the men, but Snyder ogles the former model in slow motion.

Plot holes and other major faults are often present in these big comic blockbusters — though not usually

See FILM, page 6

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Experience • Cathie Lawrence

From left, Logan Bangert, Deon White, Jose Maravillo, Lew Slone and Jake Brandt walk out to practice Wednesday with their newly shaved heads.

Players unite to support fight Teammates shave heads

By RENEÉ SMITH

rsmith@lmcexperience.com

The players of the Los Medanos College baseball team said goodbye to their hair in support of Lori D’Albora, head coach Anthony D’Albora’s mother, who is in her fourth fight against cancer.

The players became aware of the situation after D’Albora came to practice with his new hairstyle.

“I did it myself just to do it with her, to give her someone to have a good-looking baldhead with,” said D’Albora. “They saw me come to practice the day before with a shaved head so they knew what was up, and they wanted in on the fun.”

D’Albora noted that his mom wasn’t surprised the boys cut their hair since they have been supportive of both of them since the news initially surfaced.

The team sent her a get-well card knowing her situation, and after noticing that she was at their home game against Napa Valley College March 19, the first time she was able to get out of the house for something

other than her doctor appointments, the Mustangs produced a special fired up 5-2 victory.

“I think it meant a lot to the guys that she was there, and I know it meant a lot to her,” said D’Albora. “It’s a good little back-and-forth between Momma D and the Mustangs right now. I’m lucky enough to work with a group of guys that care about stuff the right way.”

The idea to lose the locks came from coach Chris Bodishbaugh, who approached outfielders Jonathan Allen and Jared Ambuehl to get the ball rolling.

“We got a good amount of guys

Stangs keep rolling

to do it,” said Ambuehl. “Coach D was pretty shook up but as a team we just tried to come together and I think he knows anything he needs, we’re here for him.”

The team and coaches stand Mustang Strong with the D’Albora family and support Lori in her fight against cancer.

“Keep fighting. My mom had it too so it hits home, but keep fighting because you have so many people in your corner,” said Ambuehl.

“We’re all pulling for you [Lori] and praying for you,” said outfielder Jake Hom. “Every time we take the field, we are playing for you.”

Pitchers Alec McAuley, Matt Davis and Spencer Vincent also wanted to share their thoughts with Lori.

“I will pray for you [Lori] to keep fighting. You have done it before and you can do it again. Our whole team is pulling for you,” said McAuley.

“You [Lori] are in our thoughts and prayers before every practice or game. You have been a big part of our success,” said Davis.

“The strength you [Lori] show to take on an obstacle this great has really brought a positive influence on our team,” said Vincent. “You are with us between the lines as well as in our hearts. We are all with you always.”

Win over Solano extends team streak

By RENEÉ SMITH

rsmith@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College baseball pulled out a 5-3 win against Solano Community College March 25.

The Mustangs struck early in the first inning as catcher Ethan Utler reached first on a sacrifice bunt and allowed outfielder Jonathan Allen to score. Shortly after, third baseman Tony Self would have an RBI single to score Utler, 2-0.

Starting pitcher Jake Brandt, with a combined effort from the Stangs’ defense, had a quick shutdown inning in the bottom of the first to get the boys back into the dugout for another successful round with their bats in the second.

Top of the second, outfielder Jared Ambuehl doubled to right center, which gave way for outfielder Deon White to score, 3-0.

Solano wouldn’t let those runs go unanswered. First batter of the bottom of the second hit a home run over the left field fence, placing them on the board 3-1. However, that would be the only run they would produce in that inning.

The Falcons would once again have their turn with the bats in the bottom of the third where an RBI double would bring the team closer to the Mustangs, 3-2.

LMC’s bats would fall silent again in the top of the fourth and gave Solano a green light to even the score with an RBI single, 3-3.

Experience • Renee Smith

LMC’s Julie Lopez pitches against Delta College.

Recent surge fuels season turn-around JARED AMBUEHL

jambuehl@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Softball team’s six-game win streak was finally snapped Monday as they lost a nonleague game to the tough opponent that is San Joaquin Delta College. The team has been doing well in conference play though, as they have posted a 7-3 record through their first 10 league games.

It is safe to say the team has been led by their power-hitting first basemen, freshmen Jayla

Allen. Allen, who is hitting .549 through 17 games, is leading conference play in hits, doubles and RBI’s.

The team has shown a lot of life since league play began, as they have scored as many as 19 runs in a game (against Contra Costa College last week). On this day, the team played a doubleheader against one of their league rivals, and absolutely destroyed the team in each game.

The first game, they won See SOFT, page 6

See BASE, page 6

Experience • Renee Smith

LMC’s second basemen Jonathan Pluth tags out a Solano player at second base.

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After feeling the pressure of a tie game, the boys came through in the top of the sixth inning, as Allen would answer back with an RBI single scoring White, 4-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Stangs decided to put the final nail in the coffin as Ambuehl produced an RBI single, once again scoring White ending the game 5-3.

After the game, the coaches rallied their players and reminded them to stay humble and hungry.

“The coaches told us the usual thing, that if we put ourselves in a position to win then we’ll find ourselves winning games,” said pitcher David Quintero.

The Mustangs heightened their winning streak to 9 games as of March 29.

Quintero noted that playing against a team that has a winning streak is intimidating, but it is a rewarding feeling to be on the positive side of the streak.

“Ending a streak like we have is really hard to do and with this win against Solano our momentum keeps building,” said Quintero.

The team shows no signs of slowing down heading deeper into league.

“League games get real tense towards the end of the games because our league is pretty evenly matched, so the games are going to be close,” said Quintero. “Our expectation is to keep winning. We want to keep doing the right things to put us in a good position to win. It’s hard to beat a team that keeps doing the right things to get ahead.”

16 (19-3) behind a fantastic performance by the squad’s catcher Brittni Brown. In the game, the sophomore went 3-3 with a double, a homer, and six runs batted in. This game happened at the beginning of LMC’s Spring Break and it saw every hitter in the Stangs’ lineup recording a hit, and 7 hitters had more than one.

During the second game of the doubleheader, Brown had another three hits, along with another double and five more rbi’s. Also on the game sophomore outfielder Renee Smith recorded a 2-3 day with a double and a few batters hit in for her team.

Through the team’s six-game league win streak, the group has seen contributions up and down the lineup, which has lead to more wins and good team chemistry.

There is still work to be done in league however, as it is possible the ladies could get into the playoffs. They are behind Solano College, who is in first place in the league with a 7-1 conference record.

Also, the Napa Valley College Storm Softball team has gone on a surge as of late, winning their last six games. After a horrible start to their season (2-13) things are looking up for them as they are now 8-13.

If the Mustangs can keep approaching their schedule game by game, and keep getting contributions up and down the lineup, it is ver y possible the team can still make the playoffs. Behind strong sophomore leadership, and some solid young hitters, they are a team to watch as the season chugs along.

a person thousands of dollars between treatment costs and loss of productivity.

“A lot of them end up in the criminal justice system,” said Cope.

He posed a hypothetical situation about an intelligent male or female who suffered a mental break in their youth.

“They are now 45 years old and the stress is overwhelming and essentially, the brain starts to break down in ways we don’t understand.”

Student Reiko Kubota asked Cope if there were warning signs of an impending mental breakdown.

Cope replied that there are early indicators. He said it becomes a problem when people begin to adapt to their illness. Though medication can help, it’s not a cure-all solution. “The medications out might help decrease conditions but can’t solve the problem 100 percent.”

Ogorchock stated that bipolar disorder specifically is difficult to try and suppress with medications.

“Bipolar disorder is interesting because it is one of the hardest mental disorders to treat and it affects a lot of people, but we don’t know how to completely treat it, the medicine just sor t of mellows the person out,” she said.

Cope also said there has been an increase in those suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in recent years, especially in 23 and 24-year-olds.

LMC student Kendal Ogorchock was satisfied with the presentation and expressed an interest in neuroscience.

“I think nothing is more fascinating and understudied than the brain,” said Ogorchock. “I learned diagnosing people, especially young people, is hard and doctors are reluctant to do it because of stigmatization, which causes a problem because early diagnoses are a huge advantage to ef fectively treating the disease,” she said.

Some of the experiments conducted by Cope and his peers were meant to test the effects of certain drugs on the brains of lab rats. One experiment included giving them a single dose of the drug Quinapril. They wanted to know if they “treated them with this drug as babies for 21 days, do they still have this huge dopamine release as adults?”

Another test conducted tested the effects of amphetamine on the rats’ brains.

“For two weeks, we’d give rats amphetamine, then put them in chambers to observe their behavior,” Cope said.

The rats also experienced different reactions based on the drug they were given.

They reacted differently to variables like activity, darkness and light.

This anecdote brought up the topic of animal testing.

Ogorchock expressed that in this situation, the animals aren’t being mistreated and they are being used for the greater good.

“I don’t love the idea of animal testing, but you have to practice and experiment on something, and doing such on people when you don’t yet know what will happen is cruel,” she said.

“It could damage lives. They treat the rats with respect and use their findings to benefit society.”

Though not without its controversies, testing on rats does provide scientists with an opportunity to study mammalian brains.

“I thought it was intriguing.

I learned how some of the neurotransmitters worked and thought it was interesting how they were looking at ways of treating bipolar disorder, such as using light-activated chemical reactions,” said Ogorchock.

“I learned failures tell you as much as the successes and good scientists go back to review the data to see either where things came together or where they fell apart,” said Ogorchock. “Part of the presentation was finding work you like, but also having more than one thing fascinate you.”

as odious as they are here — but the real death stroke is how damned serious this film thinks it is. It’s a movie about a guy in tights and a guy in a bat suit, yet there are recreations of 9/11, a bombing of the U.S. Capitol and multiple gun massacres.

Escapism this is not.

“Batman v Superman” isn’t a total loss, however. Eisenberg plays Luthor — essentially a slightly more malevolent Mark Zuckerberg — like a coked-out jackal, gleefully rattling off his terrible lines.

It’s not a great performance, but his liveliness is welcome in an otherwise dreary world.

Likewise, Jeremy Irons takes the Alfred reins from Michael Caine and has a delightful time being a sassy copilot to Master Wayne.

At the end of this brutal, joyless romp, one of our heroes is dead. Of course, with the Justice League movie — clumsily advertised in the middle of the movie — set for release in 2017, we know that he isn’t really dead. But Snyder’s resentment of his audience runs so deep that he can’t even end his movie without showing us that the character is still alive.

From page 5

From page 5

BLOOD MUSIC From page 1

From page 4

donate within their ethnic groups, Torres said, and there is a dire lack of non-white donors. The disparity is even worse when it’s narrowed down from Latin to more specific regions such as Guatemala or Peru, for example.

“We’ve won the contest for most registrants the last two years, and with such a diverse campus, we hope to do a lot of good,” said Torres.

On Wednesday, March 30, Blood Centers of the Pacific dropped in for their Cesar E. Chavez Blood Drive Challenge.

Students had the choice between the 15-minute big needle, whole blood donation or the half-hour ALYX donation, which filters your blood through a machine, taking about a cup of red blood cells and returning the plasma and saline back into the body, leaving the donor less dehydrated than they would be after a whole blood donation.

“The machine does everything,” said phlebotomist Kathr yn McClelland. “We just have to test it and then it’s ready to go, it’s mostly for trauma patients.”

Turnout was lower than expected, but some students were donating for the first time.

“I’ve always wanted to, I missed out on it last time,” said Andre White. “It didn’t take as long as I thought it would.”

Once their donation was over, students were directed toward the state-mandated recover y area, where they were greeted with all sorts of snack foods — everything from Oreos to trail mix — as well as beverages.

Munching on a granola bar and sipping an apple-flavored Capri Sun, White said he was glad he donated.

“You gotta help the people in need,” said White. “They may end up helping you back.

have also dabbled in both the pools of secular music and gospel as well. Wheeler has worked with Tony Toni Tone and Russell has worked with groups like The James Brown Band.

They spoke on how learning music from church is different from learning music from a technical standpoint.

“There’s dif ferences between learning in an African American church than what the institution tells you,” said Henderson. “You just sit down and they tell you to play, they don’t say ‘this is a C major.’”

Russell’s was then invited to play a song and encouraged to sing. Following his performance, he talked about his dedication to his art.

“I gave my life to this instrument,” he said. “You can hurt people with your music, you can uplift people with your music and you can put people to sleep with your music,” said Russell.

They then moved on to salar y. Henderson said the pay depends on “your talent and the budget of the church.”

The panelists agreed that the starting pay for newcomers is anywhere from $250 to $300.

The panel was also asked about their principals when it came to working with secular artists.

“Secular songs are alright with me. Love songs are great – I sing love songs to my wife. I’m not gonna be in the bedroom singing ‘Amazing Grace,’” said Hall.

“In the secular world, you get work when you get work,” said Russell. “Now when I do a gig, I study. We have to be versatile.”

Burkes talked about the world of mainstream music inquiring, “what happened to real music?” Hall responded saying that it isn’t as meaningful.

“The music on the radio is a short change of what music really is,” Hall said.

Panelists had a chance to express what they wanted to do with the next five to ten years of their lives. They all wanted to continue working but from home so that they could focus on their families.

In the end, Henderson invited all men to play one song together on the same piano.

All took turns putting their own spin on the same hymn as the audience applauded.

Henderson then thanked everyone for attending and everyone was released.

COOK From page 3

Tito Ramos, “They’re all really good.”

Chili cook-off participants also seemed happy with the fundraiser event.

“It’s my first time. I’m nervous — we have a lot of regulars,” said Caroline Moyer with her chili entry ‘Veggie Adobo.’

“But it’s fun to be out here, feeding students and staff”

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From page 4

FEES From page 1

“The goal is not to make money off of this. The goal is to really just get enough money so that we could maintain the parking operations,” said Smith, “Therefore the student only really pays for what the real costs are.”

The money goes to the district and is put into an account for all the colleges. It is used for expenses related to parking operations, such as aides, police and officers, and maintenance-related issues.

Senior Traffic Officer Michael Hotton added the revenue is also used for staff permits and paper used for the parking permit machines.

“They’re what we call ‘restricted funds,’ so we can’t use those funds for just anything,” said Hotton, “They have to be parking and equipment related for the functionality of our schools.”

Hotton said parking revenue citations also go into the operation funds. Any Police Services district wide issues tickets at a cost of $40 for a general citation but due to the shortfall from the 2013-2014 year, the college increased the cost to $48.

Campus police use their portion of the funds to pay an outside company to manage the citation system. They also have to pay county fees, court fees and DMV fees.

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Child Development student Yvette Quezada plays with children outside of the Child Study Center.

CHILD From page 1

Nielsen, director of the child study center, which included parent handbooks and registration materials along with other information about the center.

Another aspect of the reaccreditation process was that an evaluator was sent by NAEYC would come to the child study center and observe a few different classrooms, then looks through and reviews all of the documentation submitted by the child study center.

“She offered so much high praise to our director,” said Perfumo about the evaluator.

“We really are an example of how it should be done.”

While it is not necessary for preschools to be accredited, it is beneficial and leads to more opportunity for the students and program as a whole.

“In order for us to apply for other quality assurance we have to have and maintain NAEYC accreditation, so that’s the benchmark. If we don’t have this then we can’t apply for state funding or any other resources,” said Nielsen.

Angela Fantuzzi, a faculty member of the Child Development Department, recalled the time-consuming accreditation process which takes place every five years.

“You have to assess your own program and it includes ten different areas. It is really thorough and it’s a lot of work for the teachers, for the director,” said Fantuzzi.

The child study center received impressive scores on their accreditation reports. In some categories scores went above 100 percent. The lowest score was that of 96 percent.

“To get accredited you have to be willing to continue to grow and implement all the changes in the field so if the state comes up with new benchmarks, we need to see how we can incorporate

those into our program,” said Nielsen.

“So it’s constantly, always looking at quality,” she added.

After completing the process, Fantuzzi says, you can be sure that ‘your center is quality’ and emphasizes just how important quality care is to the development of children.

“So, with all of the studies saying that we are accredited and that we are quality it is almost saying, you know, we make a difference in the lives that come through us,” said Fantuzzi.

Impacting the early education and development of young children is just one of the advantages of the child study center. LMC students striving to ear n an early childhood education degree may also find opportunity in the child study center where they have access to hands on experiences they might not get at other schools. Students that spend time in the child study center are referred to as ‘interns’ and can be recognized by their green aprons.

“If we didn’t have the interns, we couldn’t survive,” said Fantuzzi.

NAEYC ratios are one teacher for every nine students.

Without the interns, the ratio of faculty to student would be roughly one to 20.

The program is a collaborative effort among faculty, interns, parents and, of course, the students. It is greatly stressed that quality education and care is provided to all students. Despite the high scores on the accreditation report, Fantuzzi says there is still room to improve.

“I’m not going to say we are perfect because that is a lie. There is always room to improve, there is always room to grow. But what we have here, it’s a beautiful thing,” said Fantuzzi.

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