Vol. 85, No. 11-Nov. 18, 2016

Afro-Latina speaks out

Quijada finds his seat

Stangs beat Panthers

Favianna Rodriguez gives a lecture on immigration, climate change and sex positivity — page 5

Actor Brian Quijada performs his one man show entitled “Where Did We Sit on the Bus” — page 6

The Los Medanos College football team picked up another win with a final score of 27-20 — page 8

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F.Y.I. Important Dates November is American Diabetes Month Nov. 18

Last day to withdraw from full-term classes with a “W”

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LMC talks political results Election 2016

Campus reacts to Trump

By CASSIE DICKMAN

LMC offering a safe space Every first Thursday of the month, Student Life will hold “A Place to Talk” where students can express their thoughts and feelings about topics concerning today’s society. This month’s topic was the 2016 elections. the meetings are open to the whole LMC community and will be held in the Student Life Office.

For additional information on future events contact lmc.studentlife@gmail. com.

Study Slam on campus The Los Medanos College Center for Academic Support is staying open late Thursday, Dec. 8 from 3 to 9 p.m. for their annual “Study Slam” event to give students an opportunity to study for final exams There will be reading and writing consultants and peer tutors available for students as well as pizza and snacks for Study Slam participants.

cdickman@lmcexperience.com

After the 2016 presidential election results were called and a campaign season that has been described as “divisive” and “nasty” came to a close and many people found themselves unsure if they have a place in this country’s future, the Contra Costa Community College District wanted to reassure all of its community members that the district’s commitment to them had not been altered, despite what is going on nationally.

Two separate, yet similarly worded, emails signed by the District’s three college presidents and District Chancellor Helen Benjamin were sent out to students and employees Thursday, Nov. 10 to address concerns about how the election would af fect them— particularly with regard to equity, inclusion and equality for students and society.

“What has not changed is the foundation our district is built upon. We welcome and support diversity, and we hold a space for students, faculty and staff with a wide range of history, experiences and perspectives to engage in a civilized and peaceful manner,” said the email addressed to district employees. “This is not only a

Experience • Dennis Trammell

A close-up of the variety of pins handed out by the Library staff featuring Professor Jeff Matthews as he prepares to take the mic at the peacful protest held in the outdoor quad Monday, Nov. 14. See story and photos on page 3.

Impact of presidential pick questioned

By PERRY CONTINENTE Staff Writer

Donald Trump’s new status as president-elect has sparked elation and outrage in seemingly equal measure. Perhaps the only common factor in people’s reaction to Trump’s surprising and controversial victory has been the intensity of the reaction to it.

It is perhaps indicative of today’s increasingly partisan See REACT, page 10 America that no president in

recent history has provoked such an intensely polarized reaction from the public.

Professor Dave Zimny is particularly worried about the effects of a Trump presidency on the Supreme Court.

Supreme court members are elected for life and, due to Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacant seat and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s failing health; Zimny expressed concern about a far right Supreme Court.

“Ginsberg, she is in her ‘80s,” said Zimny, “She is in poor health.”

Zimny added that such an appointment would “lock in a conservative majority for the next 20 to 30 years,” in the Supreme Court.

A probable effect of a right wing Supreme Court is the overturning of abortion rights as a federal law.

“Roe v. Wade is in danger,” said Zimny. “The court has

watered it down so much.”

Zimny explained exactly what an overturn would entail for this nation.

“Many states, especially conservative states, will go back to the ‘50s where abortion is a crime,” said Zimny. “Illegal abortions are dangerous — people die from those.”

Student Julia Ford was more assured about the future of women’s reproductive rights.

See TRUMP, page 10

Wood appointed new chancellor

Benjamin to retire in December district’s students.

“My DVC experience The Contra Costa Commu- changed my life, and I am nity College District will have living proof of the power another familiar face in charge and impact community colwhen longtime Chancellor Dr. leges can make,” he said in Helen Benjamin steps down in a statement.

Wood is taking over for the December. The District Board outgoing Benjaof Trustees voted min, who surprised unanimously Nov. many when she 4 to select Dr. Fred announced her Wood as Benjaretirement this min’s replacement.

May. Benjamin has Wood grew up in worked within the the East Bay and district since 1990, the first-generation when she was the college graduate dean of dean of started his college Language Arts and career at Diablo Humanistic Studies Valley College, where he was both “I am living and Related Occupation here at Los a student and later proof of Medanos. She was an instructor. named chancellor “He has walked the power 2005. the paths many of and impact in Contract negotiour students are working to do,” community ations for Wood are ongoing and the trustee Greg En- colleges district said they holm told the East can make” hope to finalize it Bay Times.

Wood comes — Dr. Fred Wood at their Dec. 14 meeting. to CCCCD from Wood comes in at a time of University of Minnesota Crookston, where has served relative flux for the district, as the longest serving trustee as chancellor since 2012.

He oversaw a period of ex- John Nejedly unexpectedly pansion at the college, adding died in his hotel room Oct. a 36,000 square foot wellness 9 while attending the annual center and a multi-million dol- convention of the Association lar remodel of the century-old of Community College Trustees. The district is currently electrical infrastructure.

Wood said his time as a accepting candidates for his student at DVC gives him key Ward 4 seat. A list will be insights into the needs of the announced in December.

By TYLER MORTIMORE

tmortimore@lmcexperience.com

Kennedy-King spots open The Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship application is now available.

The deadline to apply is Feb. 3, 2017. The scholarship gives awards to members of underrepresented minority groups in California. For more information and to apply contact the Scholarship Office at 473-7520 or visit kennedyking.org.

Fall potluck in Student Life Student Life has planned a campus community fall potluck Tuesday, Nov. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. in L-109.

For additional information contact Student Life Coordinator John Nguyen at knguyen@losmedanos. edu or call the Student Life office at 473-7554.

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Los Medanos College student Paul Murillo shares his story at the Cultural Conversations event Tuesday, Nov. 15 in L-109.

Students share stories

Hardships create influential speakers

By KIMBERLY STELLY

kstelly@lmcexperience,com

Five students were chosen to speak to an audience of their peers during Los Medanos College’s second successful “Evening of Cultural Conversations.” The event held Tuesday, Nov. 15 in L-109 was meant to invite the audience to understand their personal struggles and journeys.

The event led by Instructors Marie Arcidiacono and Laurie Huffman, began its planning back in July.

“It means so much to my journey as an educator because I can see I can do

what I love to help and inspire students — they trust Laurie and I with their stories,” said Marie Arcidiacono. Huffman said she was excited about the diversity of the speakers. In terms of choosing the speakers, her and Arcidiacono picked some students and some volunteered as well.

Huf fman prepared the audience for what was to come saying, “The power of storytelling will come alive tonight.” She then introduced Ahmad Salman, who gave context into the meaning and history of Islam. He acknowledged the many sects as well as dispelling myths

that it’s a religion of violence and intolerance.

Paul Murillo was the next to speak. Huf fman said, “Not only is he a role model for the class, he’s one for this entire college and this community.” Before he began however, there was video titled “#MissionRise” showing a group of his peers pulling his wheelchair up a mountain. At a point in the video, they picked him up and carried him.

At the beginning of his journey, he was troubled. He got involved with a gang and he ended up having to go to

See STORY, page 10

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“Trump enters the White House as a lone wrecking ball of conspiratorial ideas.”

— Matt Taibbi

Tyler Mortimore

Jeff Matthews

NO RHYTHM, ALL BLUES

GUEST COLUMNIST

Clinton failure was preventable

Thick skins key for Trump years

“For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”

This was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s bold prediction in July. Those moderates, sickened by the boorish bigotry of Trump, would rush out to vote for the Democrat they’ve spent three decades loathing.

This moronic plan — which would only provide a pyrrhic victory for a would-be President Hillary Clinton before sinking her in 2020 — blew up in Democrats’ faces four years earlier than expected.

Clinton’s loss might go down as the most preventable defeat in modern presidential history, with Clinton managing to lose about four million of the votes President Obama won in 2012.

There are many reasons why she lost, but two follies stick out in particular — her decision to ignore the white working class voters who twice helped elect Obama and her failure to motivate black and Latino voters.

In 2012, Obama released a series of powerful ads regarding Romney’s dealings with Bain Capital and resulting devastation.

They featured interviews with white male boomers who lost their jobs and had their pensions stolen to pay for Romney’s car elevator. According to the New York Times, Bill Clinton suggested the 2016 Clinton campaign target these voters, but campaign staffers laughed him off. Clinton would go on to lose Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by a total of about 100,000 votes.

Liberal pundits have waved off this criticism, saying Clinton shouldn’t have reached out to racists. But ignoring a demographic majority is nothing but a plan for failure when competing in electoral politics.

“We have to compete everywhere,,” said Obama after the election. “The key for us… is to say your concerns are real.”

Which is to say, Democrats don’t have to return to the dog whistle racism of the Clinton era, but they do have to appeal to the working class, white and otherwise.

Clinton’s economic proposals were in many cases better than Trump’s, but, as voters proved, being better than the worst isn’t exactly appealing, and this showed in her strategy with minority voters.

Clinton believed she could appeal to non-white voters with a blasé anti-racism platform. She did this while telling voters how noble past Republicans were, and how aberrational Trump is. She did this while video of her calling black boys “super predators” was shared on social media. And she did this while not offering much in the way of economic flair.

This is what sunk her — running against bigotry she once promoted while pushing vanilla economic policies to a working class who still aren’t up and running after a historic depression.

America has a fascination with non-establishment candidates, and Democrats chose the most establishment candidate in history to run against one.

Democrats have to reckon with a (shrinking) white majorit if they want to win elections over the next couple decades. They can still have a robust anti-racism platform, just like they can support marriage equality while courting more conservative black and Latino voters, but if you write off the vote of everyone with personal biases, you’d end up with fewer votes than the Green Party.

Democrats need to start protecting the working class again — workers of all races.

It’s time for Democrats to earn back those white blue collar votes in Pennsylvania and to give black women in Milwaukee something to vote for, not just someone to vote against.

I understand that many of you are pissedoff, afraid and/or worried by the election of Donald Trump, and rightfully so. This is the first time the political shit has really hit the fan in your young lives.

I remember freaking out when Reagan was elected as president (against my vote) in 1980, the same year I started to come out as gay. By 1986, when I tested HIV+, Reagan was still in office, yet he still hadn’t even mentioned the word AIDS publically, although tens of thousands had already died.

By that point, in my mid-20’s, I had moved to another country, since I felt so unwelcome in a still very anti-gay America. I thought to myself, if I’m going to feel like a foreigner, I might as well be one, and ended up living in London and Helsinki as an expatriate.

Unlike many of you, I’ve always known what it felt like to be a triangle in a world of circles. Even as a child, I knew I was queer long before I knew I was gay.

To understand and resist this government, now more than ever, you need to be able to read well, reason clearly, and think critically.

Learn how to decipher facts from bullshit on the internet and cultivate an attention span that’s longer than three minutes. Learn how and when to respectfully and intelligently confront uncivil behavior, and know when and how to compromise. Stop believing that all opinions are equal, and learn how your government works!

Most of you are completely turned off by “politics” because all you’ve ever known is the ugly demonization and lack of civility and intelligent discourse that is the new normal in politics. It hasn’t always been this way, and it doesn’t need to stay this way. But remember that evil powerful people want you to be stupid and unengaged.

That’s how demagogues step forward and capitalize on seething resentments, fears and racism, using blatant appeals to humanity’s worst instincts. This is how Donald Trump was elected. And he appears to be intent on destroying many of the American values I cherish: n Honoring and respecting all people, regardless of race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, economic class, gender identity, or religion, and treating everyone with dignity and equality under the law. n The right to peaceably assemble, a free and unfettered press, the right to be free from governmental imposition of theological views. n The freedom to make personal health care decisions without government interference and the preservation of a civil, secular, unmilitarized society.

To those of you who voted for Trump because you’re hurting economically, or feeling out-of-place in your own country, or feel like somehow, for some reason, you’re not getting your fair share . . . I’m sorry, but I don’t think Trump going to do anything to help you out. Eventually, you’ll recognize this.

But know that he can do much damage to the American values and civil liberties I mentioned above, many of which I know you also cherish. I hope you’ll join us in the fight to protect these freedoms when the time comes.

And to those of you who didn’t vote for Trump, forget about “Safe Spaces.” America has just become a much less safe space for most of you. Grow a thick skin and learn how to create your own safe space.

Join organizations that share your political values and goals, and donate your time and energy. Call your political representatives regularly on the phone. Engage in non-violent, non-destructive civil protests. Become watchdogs of our civil liberties in the face of the unprecedented national threat of a Trump presidency.

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Editorial

Trump fears legitimate

W

ith the outcome of the 2016 election, life as we know it has changed. This election has made history, but not in the way we hoped it would.

As soon as the new president-elect was announced, protests broke out on college campuses across the country. To a lot of people, these demonstrations seem confusing or worthless.

Protesting is a lot more than being angry or violent. It’s about using your voice and speaking out about the injustices in our system. These are real people fearing for their lives, and for good reason.

We shouldn’t dismiss protesting as something that won’t matter. That’s what millions people thought about their vote and look at where that got us.

Ensuring people’s safety and fighting for their basic rights is not something that will come through passivity. We must actively work every day toward becoming the equitable country we’ve always advertised ourselves as. It’s hard to argue that “we must keep hate out of this nation” in these times when this country has already proven its hatred by electing a president who called Mexicans rapists and a vice president who believes conversion therapy can turn someone straight.

Now is not the time to call people dramatic or too politically correct for expressing their legitimate fears this administration has caused. It’s time for people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ and whoever else the Trump administration deems a threat to stand in solidarity.

Transitioning into a decent society While people are focusing on the president-elect’s outright discriminatory attitude, the LGBTQ community should be focusing on the gubernatorial election in North Carolina.

Is current Governor Pat McCrory going to be re-elected and continue to discriminate against transgender individuals seeking the freedom to choose what bathroom they use, or is Attorney General Roy Cooper, who has refused to defend the law, going to run the state?

Nine days after voters cast their ballots, and the tight race has yet to be called.

While the state of North Carolina waits to find out, here is what they should be asking themselves— is it so radical to want to use the bathroom you are most comfortable going into?

Since when has a sign on a door reading “women” stopped someone from following anybody into the bathroom with ill intent?

Enacting legislation forcing you to use the bathroom that matches your gender at birth will not stop someone from breaking laws they are already willing to break.

The real reason people are for HB2 has nothing to do with “protecting” their children.

It does have everything to do with not wanting to advance transgender rights.

But what if your own son, brother or father told you that they are transgender? And they’d also like to start using the women’s restroom because they feel like a woman going into the men’s restroom makes them feel uncomfortably dishonest.

Would you do what so many have done before and shame them, saying they are wrong for feeling like a woman, insist they wear the

Teresa Gaines T TIME

clothes they feel uncomfortable in and use the restroom they will “pass” in? Would you send them to therapy to “fix him?” Would you kick them out of your home?

LGBT demographer Gar y Gates, of the University of California Los Angeles School of Law’s Williams Institute, estimated the country’s transgender population to be 700,000, or about 0.3 percent of adults.

So why are we even wasting lawmakers’ time on an issue so seemingly insignificant?

Because that seemingly small number is growing. It is finally a reality that people can even fathom facing— their country respecting their basic human dignity and recognizing their rights.

I work at an LGBTQ community center in Concord as a Youth Outreach Counselor. This week a youth reached out to me about transitioning. They changed their pronouns and wanted to be introduced to a case manager. I couldn’t be more proud of this 14 year-old for taking charge of their life.

What would you do if someone you claim to love and care about simply wanted to use the bathroom they are most comfortable using?

Would it be so radical to just let them?

Reader Opinion Policy

The Experience welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Columns. All members of the Los Medanos College community — students, faculty and staff — are encouraged to write.

If you are interested in expressing your opinions on campus, national or world issues, bring your submissions to room CC3-301 and put them in the Perspectives Editor’s mailbox or mail them to Experience c/o Los Medanos College, 2700 E Leland Road, Pittsburg, CA 94565. You may also send them electronically through the Experience online newsite lmcexperience.com.

Letters and columns must be typed, signed and include a phone number for verification. They may be edited for clarity, content taste and length at the editor’s discretion.

Voices

LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE

Experience

What fictional character best describes you?

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California Newspaper Publishers Association

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“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

“Belle from ‘Beauty and The Beast,’ mainly because she’s so into her own world and she’s very caring.”

— Abbie Major

“Heimlich from ‘A Bug’s Life,’ because I’m self-conscious, and Eeyore because he’s always depressed.”

— Adeeb Nazam

“The character I played in ‘Ruined.’ She was a singer and a very strong person, very quiet.”

— Elysse Green

“Superman.

People tell me I look similar to him. I like to help, I also try to motivate people to do well and pursue their dreams.”

— Erwin Rodriguez

“Batman, because I’m Batman.”

— Sketch Choice

“Tweak-tweak from ‘South Park.’ He’s super nervous all the time and always in his own head, but when the chips are down, he has his moments.”

— Marquis Brown

Editors-in-Chief ..........BEATRIZ HERNANDEZ and KIMBERLY STELLY Managing Editor..................CASSIE DICKMAN Perspectives Editor.........TYLER MORTIMORE Campus Editor .......................ADRIA WATSON Features Editor ................SARAH GONZALES Sports Editor ....................... GARRETT BELME Web Editor .........................LISSETTE URBINA 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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“Leadership is not about the next election, it’s about the next generation.”

— Simon Sinek

Students stand against bigotry The era of Trump looms

By SARAH D. GONZALES

sgonzales@lmcexperience.com

Students and school administrators gathered at the Los Medanos College outdoor quad in front of the student services building for a peaceful protest following the results of the U.S. presidential election Monday, Nov 14.

Many citizens have expressed fear after seeing numerous hate crimes arise following the presidential election.

The ‘Safe Space’ protest was to provide students and staff a way to voice their thoughts and feelings and to show support for the marginalized groups that have been the most at risk.

“It’s basically trying to give a safe space for folks to really share how they’re feeling,” said Carla Rosas, Director of Student Success and Support Programs, “We know there’s a lot of emotions regarding the outcome of the election.”

The protest was organized by a handful of LMC faculty and staff members. Speakers were set up on either side of the stairs in front of the student services building and attendees arrived holding posters, signs and flags to show their support.

“We wanted students to know that the administration does care,” said Assistant Director of EOPS Steven Freeman Jr. The initial idea for the protest began with LMC’s Alternative Media Specialist, Kenneth Purizaga and Info-tech and Services faculty staff member Rashaad Mcalpim.

They had come up with the idea the week before and with help from the staff, had plastered posters promoting the event, across the campus.

“It was me and him [Purizaga] in the beginning,” said Mcalpim, “We then had a small group and then everybody jumped in.”

“We ended up organizing it with a bunch of staff and administration — it was a collective effort,” said Purizaga, “We felt it was a much needed event.”

The microphone was open to whoever wanted to speak. A handful of students and even a couple of staff and faculty members voiced their support and thoughts.

“I’m white, I’m straight, I’m a woman and I speak from a privileged position that I did not earn,” stated LMC professor Stacey Miller, “I want you to know that I am your ally, I am your advocate and that I will do whatever I can to support the students here at LMC.” LMC student Jeremy Forsberg also spoke out to crowd about how he felt after the election.

“When I woke up that next day and realized what had happened, I had this feeling that this country or that the majority of this country doesn’t like me — that this country doesn’t love me. It doesn’t like or love the people that look like me. That’s the feeling that I got and I don’t think

Experience • Dennis Trammell

LMC professor Jeff Matthews wields a flag at a demonstration on the outdoor quad Nov. 14 in response to the election. that is something we should settle for,” he said.

Former LMC student Jake Mendoza comes from multiple demographics targeted by Trump rhetoric.

“I’m a queer Jewish Hispanic American. My family, our culture, our heritage has been torn apart by normalized white supremacy and people have the nerve to tell me that hate has no place in this country.

This country is built on hate and the vote for Donald Trump is proof of that. The vote for Donald Trump is proof that we have normalized it without a doubt.”

Mendoza also expressed that groups more likely to be affected by the election should feel free to give voice to his or her anger.

“Hate has every place in this country and everyone here right now has every right to be angry about it. Everyone here has every right to feel oppressed, shit on and kicked around by the white supremacies normalized state.”

LMCAS President Israel Castro also voiced his support of his peers.

“You may be feeling overwhelmed, you may feel hopeless, even isolated, but we stand firm on the fact that we were born in such a time as this.

We are the game-changers, right? We are those people that will bring the change,” he said. “And that this new generation stands up — we have to remember that by standing together, there is power. Unity is power.”

He emphasized that it is okay to feel upset by the recent events but he urges people to keep their heads up.

“It’s not over. We’re not ending here. We may feel sad, we may feel hopeless. But everything still continues and it’s up to us to really determine what we need to do to make a better state, a better country.

What we want to reflect and the values that we stand for.”

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Students hold signs in support of groups attacked by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.

Election a rude awakening for Dreamers

By KIMBERLY STELLY

kstelly@lmcexperience.com

Members of both the local and Los Medanos College communities gathered in SSC412 to discuss the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program instated for immigrants seeking citizenship.

The forum, led by Attorney for the International Institute of the Bay Area Juan Ortiz, had an open dialogue about other programs and options that might be beneficial.

“We want to know if people are eligible for other types of relief,” said Ortiz.

The topic has come up because under the Trump administration, the act could be overturned.

Ortiz was there to inform the attendees and their loved ones

about their options if DACA is terminated.

Ortiz said, “even if DACA is terminated, it was always meant to be a temporar y benefit,” explaining that he wouldn’t exactly be surprised by the overturning of the act.

He did however, express that the organization didn’t expect things to happen so soon.

“We though Hillar y was going to win,” he said. “We thought this program would be around longer.”

He said whatever the outcome, “If you want to be on the safe side, ideally you want to apply before [Donald Trump] is sworn in.”

He mentioned other ways of receiving help with immigration. Uvisa would give victims of violent crimes four years of

temporary citizenship. This included victims of domestic and aggravated assault who have suffered mental or physical abuse.

“A lot of people who have been victims of crime don’t even know this benefits exists,” Ortiz said, adding that though it’s helpful, it’s a difficult thing to obtain because of its specifications. If you do obtain an Uvisa though, the next step would be striving to get a Lawful Permanent Resident card, also know as a “green card,” which according to dhs. gov, allows people who “are non-citizens who are lawfully authorized to live permanently within the United States.”

One audience member inquired about asylum for LGBTQIA immigrants — which

is an immigration benefit that allows certain foreign nationals who fear persecution to remain lawfully in the U.S. indefinitely.

Ortiz said he doesn’t know a lot about the rules and regulations surrounding it, but that there are local organizations that could assist with those services.

Ultimately, the decision in moving for ward with one’s immigration status is on them.

“It’s up to you to make the best decision for you and your family,” he said.

For more information call 237-8581 or email Antioch@ iibayarea.org.

You may also contact Director of Student Life Teresa Archaga at 925-473-7552 or email her at tarchaga@losmedanos.edu.

Professors explain electoral college confusion

By ZACHARY SAID Staff Writer

In this year’s presidential election, Republican candidate Donald Trump won the majority of the Electoral College with 290 electoral votes and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton receiving 232. The Electoral College has a total of 538 votes, 435 matching the number in the House of Representatives, 100 from the senate, and three from the District of Columbia.

Trump’s win highlights an inherent problem with the Electoral College system. The Electoral College’s majority does not always fall in line with that of the popular vote. In fact, Clinton won the popular vote by more than a million votes, and that lead continues to expand. This has brought about a lot of debate recently on whether the Electoral College is still viable.

Trump’s Electoral College victory and popular defeat has happened four other times in

the history of presidential elections, the most recent being George W. Bush’s win in 2000.

“I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win,” Trump said in a recent “60 minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl. In a later tweet he backtracked, saying, “The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play.”

“The popular vote only matters on the state level, not national,” said LMC Political Science Professor Milton Clarke.

In the current system, each vote is counted in the popular vote. The popular vote then informs how each elector votes for the state.

In some states, electors pay a fine if they go against the popular vote of the state, but the vote is still counted.

In 24 states, however, this is not the case. In

these states, electors do not have to vote based on their state’s popular vote. There seems to be no clear rulebook in terms of how electoral votes are handled in each state.

“I’d like to see it more uniform in the sense that electors should be forced in all states to vote for the candidate with the popular vote,” said Clarke.

In 48 states, a winner-take-all rule is employed and whichever candidate gets the majority of the popular vote in that state wins all the electoral votes of that state. But Maine and Nebraska do not have this rule. In these states, electoral votes can be split between candidates. “One way to make the Electoral College more fair is to get rid of the winner-take-all system that 48 states now carry,” said LMC Political Science Professor David Zimny.

The Electoral College system may be hard for voters to understand and even when they do,

it might not seem to be in their best interest.

“This is my first time voting, and I don’t know how the system works,” said student Marquis Brown. “It’s not fair that electors aren’t necessarily bound by the popular vote.

In response to the election, people have sprung into action in an attempt to get rid of the Electoral College system, or at least amend it.

“I really hate the Electoral College, “ said Zimny. “The Electoral College keeps us from being a more democratic nation.”

There’s a petition on MoveOn.org to abolish the Electoral College. It asks voters to sign, in order to “amend the Constitution to abolish the Electoral College. Hold presidential elections based on popular vote. One person one vote to determine the one leader who is supposed to answer to all the people of the country.”

Zimny, however, has a different point of view.

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“This world is but a canvas to our imagination.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Newswatch Ceramics Study Slam providing support

Get help with that last minute push before finals. The Center for Academic Support is staying open late and providing reading and writing consultants and peer tutors for you on a completely drop-in basis.

Pizza and snacks will be provided for Study Slam participants. The Study Slam will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Remember, it is a drop in only, so don’t miss out!

sale held at LMC

Apply for a CSU and UC

It is that time for students to start applying to CSU’s and UC’s during the Fall 2017 semester. Come by the Transfer & Career Services to get help with your CSU and UC applications, some of which are due Nov. 30.

You can also visit the Transfer Center to meet with representatives from many four-year colleges and universities throughout the semester. To make an appointment, stop

by Transfer & Career Services, Student Services Center, Level 4, or call 925-473-7344.

Thanksgiving basket drive

This November will mark the 7th year the Umoja Scholars will host a Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway for LMC students in need. Supplies are limited and baskets will be given out on a first come, first serve basis.

Priority will be given to students who have not received baskets in previous years.

Eligible recipients must be current LMC students, will be contacted for pick-up by tuesday, Nov. 22, and will be required to fill out waivers. Students who are interested and have any questions are advised to contact Jamila Stewart at jastewart@losmedanos.edu or (925)-473-7602.

Delmar offers resources

Meet with Maurice Delmer, U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at LMC on the third level of the College Complex in Room 800.

Delmar, a former Marine, currently works as an Outreach Specialist for the Concord Vet Center. He is also a UC Berkeley and Diablo Valley College Alumni. Stop by with any Veteran services, resources, or benefits questions between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Maurice Delmar can help you.

Apply for Scholarships

There are two scholarships that could potentially interest you. The Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship awards a number of two-year scholarships of $5,000 per year to students who transfer in the fall or spring. For information and to apply, visit http://www.kennedyking.org The other scholarship is the California Strawberry Scholarship. Open to high school seniors and college students with a parent or parents employed for the last two consecutive seasons in the California strawberry harvest, and be a full-time student in an accredited college or university. For more information, visit http://www. californiastrawberries.com

New options for Financial Aid

Students now have a few more options when it comes to recieving their financial aid. n The Money Network Enabled College CashCard: a reloadable prepaid account where you get your funds within 24 hours n ACH/Direct Deposit: funds are delivered to the recipient three to seven days after they are disbursed

Counselors ready to assist

Looking to make an educational plan, or review your current one? LMC offers general counseling at both campuses.

Drop-in hours are offered weekly. Students must have a student ID number and a photo ID to meet with a counselor.Appointments at Pittsburg can be made in person, by calling the Counseling Department at 473-7449, or by visiting losmedanos.edu/counseling and clicking on the Make an Appointment link. Appointments at the Brentwood Center can be made in person, or by calling 513-1625.

Tutoring help is provided

Students who need help and are seeking tutoring in Math, Chemistry, Accounting and Spanish, contact Ramon Coria at racorias@yahoo.com or call at 778-6071 if you have any questions.

Daily cancellations online

Professors sometimes cancel classes unexpectedly and often can’t tell their students in person. The LMC website offers a daily class cancellation page for students to see if their class has been canceled. For the list of daily cancellations, visit www.losmedanos.edu/classcancel.

The LMC Experience Facebook page also posts class cancellations as well as other campus updates. Visit www. facebook.com/lmcexperience.

What’s lost may be found

Los Medanos College’s lost and found has numerous items found on campus. If you have lost an item, check with Police Services, which is located on level one of the College Complex. Inquiries must be made in person.

Get your updates on the ‘Go’

With Ellucian Go, Students can now check their class schedules, regster, manage education plans, manage waitlists and more through this app. Ellucian Go is available to download for iPhone and Android phones.

Once the app is downloaded, students have to search for “Los Medanos College” and then continue logging in using their Insite ID and password.

Career assistance offered

Students who need help figuring out their career path can talk to Career Counselor Kristen Freeman. Schedule an appointment by calling 925-473-7444. Freeman is available Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Los Medanos College students Jessica McKinnon and Brooke Hammerson view the mugs on sale at the ceramics sale Tuesday, Nov. 15 in the outdoor quad. The event lasted two days also taking place Wednesday, Nov. 16. In addition to mugs, other pieces such as skulls and serving plates were also sold as well as some baked goods.

Biannual drive draws life

Blood out, blood in

By SARAH D. GONZALES

sgonzales@lmcexperience.com

Los Medanos College received its biannual visit from the Blood Center of the Pacific for Blood Drive Wednesday, Nov. 9 in Room L-109. The event was organized by members of Student Life and saw over 20 donors.

“We coordinate all of this.

All the volunteers make sure that all the folks here have all the stuff they need in order to make this successful,” said Student Life Coordinator John Nguyen. “The students and the staff — whosever is a member at LMC — they were able to go to Bloodheroes.com and sign up for an appointment to donate blood here at Los Medanos College.”

The blood drive was open to students and staff from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants were able to either sign up online beforehand or come in for a walk-in appointment.

Experience • Sarah Gonzales

Phlebotomist John Lopez drawing blood from LMC student Crysta Beckwith’s at the Blood Drive Nov. 9.

The process for donating blood included a series of questions to ensure their blood was compatible for donation.

“Normally they would fill out questionnaires online. We would then review the answers and perform a small physical, check their blood pressure,

temperature and iron levels.

When they pass all that, then they donate,” said John Lopez, phlebotomist for the Blood Center of the Pacific. “It’s fun and serves a great purpose, but we often don’t get enough blood to meet the demand of the people that can donate — only about

three percent actually do.”

The donation process takes roughly an hour, but only ten minutes is spent actually donating blood. After giving blood, participants were required to stay in the area under observation for 10 or so minutes. LMC student volunteers provided snacks and water for blood donors.

Admissions and Records Employee Diane Ferguson participated in the blood drive.

“I’ve given blood since I was 17,” said Ferguson. “I think it’s important to give blood, especially now because my blood is not rejected for babies with sickness like anemia.”

LMC resident RC Kubota had also given blood and shared her enthusiasm.

“It’s the first time I passed the iron check- on the first poke! I was so happy,” said Kubota. “Even though giving blood makes me nervous, I started, partly because my sister shamed me into it. My younger sister started donating and then dragged my middle sister and they worked on me!”

See DRIVE, page 5

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“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.”

— Angela Davis

Activist pitches social justice Lecture covers rights

By TERESA GAINES

tgaines@lmcexperience.com

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, American Afro-Peruvian artist Favianna Rodriguez gave an hour-long talk to students and faculty in the Little Theater on the need to create social change. The self-identified activist has traveled around the world to locations including Mexico, Peru and Montreal to spread awareness for racial justice, gender and sexuality equality and the power of visual art.

She began the hour by explaining how her upbringing ultimately led to her drive for social change. She is a first generation American, the daughter of immigrants from Peru and grew up in Oakland.

Her parents were not supportive of the art she created as a child; they encouraged her to strive for a career as a doctor or an engineer.

Rodriguez followed this career path up until she dropped out of UC Berkeley and lost thousands of dollars in scholarship funds to pursue her vision as an artist.

Her art takes the form of activism and vice versa. Her views on racial justice stem from how she saw her identity represented in the media growing up in the 1980s.

“As a young person, I never saw a positive representation of myself. If you only ever see white people on television but then go to school and see the reality of the world, it messes with your mind. I had to decolonize my own mind.”

One of her most well known pieces is an image of a butterfly with two people inside of its wings with the caption “migration is beautiful.”

“The monarch butterfly will cross borders; their DNA tells them where to migrate to,” she said. “We look at these animals and say it’s beautiful.

But never do we say this about humans.”

She is grateful to live in America.

“Many people come here seeking refuge, a better life.

Visiting Peru made me so happy to live in the United States.”

She tells us to change our thinking about those people who seek refuge, “Do you all want to leave your home and not know what’s going to happen? Your heart is breaking, but you know you have to leave to survive. Immigrating is not easy; it’s a huge act of courage.

We need to protect them.”

While passionate about protecting immigrants, she also wants to protect the climate.

“The way we treat women is the same way we treat the earth. We rape it; we exploit it. Respect where you come from. I can’t believe people call it climate change, it’s climate crisis.” Through her art, she wants to help people understand the crisis the world is facing.

Rodriguez had a personal

PROF From page 3

“I don’t think we’ll get the Electoral College abolished in your grandchildren’s lives,” said Zimny. “It is more likely that we’ll have another constitutional convention before we abolish the Electoral College.”

Other moves are being made for the future of presidential elections. An article on nationalpopularvote.com states, “The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

So far, 10 states have signed, along with the District of Columbia. Under this bill, states would have to give the electoral vote to whichever candidate wins the popular vote.

However, if the bill were passed, it would be too late to

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Activist Favianna Rodriguez talked about immigration, sexual education and women’s right to choose in a lecture Nov. 16. reason as to why she told the audience next about her enthusiasm for healthy sex education. She transitioned into this topic by “coming out of the closet” about having had an abortion when she was 21.

She highlighted how abortion is not an easy thing as a woman to tell others about, especially for her — she didn’t tell a single person that she’d had an abortion for ten years after she had the procedure.

“I was never taught or empowered to speak up for myself about decisions of relationships or sex,” Rodriguez said, “I needed to come out about my abortion. There I was, an empowered artist, yet still in the closet and feeling ashamed. So I came out. Now I come out whenever I have the chance. I am ready to be unapologetically myself.”

She now is a hard advocate for a sex positive culture. Some of her work portrays vulvas made of multiple colors. Another poster includes the text: “It’s my body. It’s my pussy.

Get over it you patriarchal fuckhead woman hater.”

The abrasiveness of her speech and art often led the audience to giggle or hoot in embarrassment.

But Rodriguez didn’t even blink when she told student and faculty that she didn’t know what a clitoris was until she was 25-years-old.

“Imagine if we were actu-

ally taught how to negotiate in relationships, how to flirt, the different ways to have sex, how to even have it, how to enjoy it. It’s like being an athlete. You have to practice.

If you want a healthy sexual relationship with yourself and others, we can’t slut shame. I am slut-positive.”

Art 5 student Bianca Castaneda said before the lecture began that she was there because, “I am interested in what standpoint she takes. I like her, we’ve talked about her in class and she’s inspiring. I felt myself connect with her.”

Through her bold and provocative art and speech, Rodriguez made it clear to people her reason to be an activist, “It’s all about having agency to speak up for yourself.

To advocate, to say no, to fight for your rights.”

During the question and answer segment of the event, art student Nicole Barakat couldn’t hide her enthusiasm when she told Rodriguez, “Did you come from my dreams?

You’ve been saying what I’ve been thinking for years.”

In response to that comment Rodriguez simply stated, “I’m just expressing how other people are feeling. I want people to think about how they can tell another kind of story. As an artist, I’m interested in telling a good story and challenging the narratives that we have inherited.”

affect the 2016 election in any way. So in an effort to shift the electoral vote to match the popular vote, a petition on Change.org urges electors to vote for Hillary Clinton.

“We are calling on the Electors to ignore their states’ votes and cast their ballots for Secretary Clinton,” reads the petition.

In addition to deeming Trump unfit for the presidency, the petition also points out that technically, the Electoral College has the power to give the presidency to either candidate.

According to the petition, in most cases, if electors vote against their parties, they are often fined “but they can vote however they want and there is no legal means to stop them in most states.”

The electors vote Dec. 19, so they still have time to decide.

For more information, on the

petition go to https://www. change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19?source_ location=discover_feed.

— Kimberly Stelly contributed to this report

DRIVE From page 4

Blood Center of the Pacific is a non-profit, community based organization that provides blood to hospitals across California and provides aid for over 50,000 patients per year using the donations by community volunteers.

“This is a really great oppor tunity for the campus community to come together to do our part and help other people,” added Nyguen.

To learn more about this organization, visit www.bloodcenters.org.

DON’T SCRATCH THE SURFACE.

BREAK THE GROUND.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING 2017 AND FALL 2017 STAY ON TRACK.

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 December 15 transfer information session at smcadmit.com

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

(800) 800-4SMC

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“If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?”

— Amy Adams in “Arrival”

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Brian Quijada captivates his audience with effortless humor and “thoroughly entertain(s) his audience without missing a beat.”

‘One Man’ seamlessly delivers

By BEATRIZ HERNANDEZ

bhernandez@lmcexperience.com

Using a mix of spoken words and the musical influences of Latin and hip-hop paired with humor, Brian Quijada’s “Where Did We Sit on the Bus?” captivated the Los Medanos College Little Theater whilst touching on deeper issues regarding race, immigration and identity.

The one-man show follows the life of Quijada up until his proposal to his wife.

It is based on a question he asked while learning about Rosa Park’s involvement in the

REVIEW

civil rights movement. While he knew where the black and white people sat on the bus, he noticed there was no mention of his people, so he asked, “where did we sit on the bus?”

As nonblack people of color often get excluded from the narrative, his teacher was clearly taken aback when he asked his question and brushed it off with a “Oh, they weren’t around.”

This story makes an important point and explores a side of Latinx people others often neglect.

One of the most captivating parts of this show is how easy it is to relate to Quijada’s journey because it’s told so genuinely, nothing

about it feels phony.

He allows himself to be vulnerable and tell his story and parents’ journey of coming to this country.

Being performed in a space like the Little Theater made the storytelling feel more personal and intimate.

One-man shows are not easy in the slightest.

Artists always run the risk of a bad crowd or jokes not landing, and it can be especially stressful without an acting partner. However, he was able to thoroughly entertain his audience without missing a beat.

One of the most unique aspects of his

show was his use of Bluetooth technology and live-looping. The app he used allowed him to move around the stage and control his soundboard at the same time.

He effortlessly mixed humor in with the more serious topics by using music to set the mood based on which sounds he emphasized.

It was interesting to see how looping the simple sound of a cough or clap looped would change the overall vibe of a story he was telling.

In the end, he promised that from that point on he would explain to others and to his future kids where they sat on the bus and where they fit in history.

‘The Stage’ is set for A7X

Marquee

Movies released

n “The Edge of Seventeen” Rated R Genre: Comedy, Drama n “Nocturnal Animals” Rated R Genre: Thriller/Suspense n “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Rated PG-13 Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy n “The Eyes of My Mother” Rated R Genre: Horror n “Manchester by the Sea” Rated R Genre: Drama n “I Am Not Madame Bovary” Rated NR Genre: Comedy, Drama

Off the grid

Off the Grid food trucks and a beer and wine garde provided by Lucky 13 will be at John Buckley Square in Pittsburg every Friday night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information visit offthegrid.com.

El Campanil Events

El Campanil Theatre hosts Nashville recording artist and Antioch native Toree McGee, backed by band RodeoHouse on Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. The event is reserved seating only, tickets for adults are $20 and youth are $18.

Black Friday Sale

The Railroad Book Depot is having a Black Friday sale special. The entire store will be 30% off for all items including books, sports merchandise and gifts. The Book Depot is located at 650 Railroad Avenue.

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

Avenged Sevenfold gives fans a surprise

By ATREYU HINCKLEY

ahinckley@lmcexperience.com

Avenged Sevenfold decided to drop their seventh studio album “The Stage.” Many speculated that their album was going to be named “Voltaic Oceans” and released Dec. 9, after pro-wrestler and friend of the band Chris Jericho posted a picture of the album name and release date.

It turns out the band and Jericho did this to throw fans off in order to release the new album by surprise. It seems fans should have anticipated a happy Halloween instead of an early Christmas present Avenged Sevenfold’s new album focuses on topics out of the norm for the band, such as artificial intelligence and Darwinism. “The Stage” also introduces new drummer Brooks Wackerman, former drummer of punk band Bad Religion and the band’s first album under the label Capitol Records.

Leading off the album is “The Stage.” The song consisted of speed riffs by lead guitar player Synyster Gates and double bass drum patterns by new drummer Wackerman, a combo that has been missing since their 2010 album “Nightmare.”

The lyrics of the song cover ego, selfishness, slavery and war. The music video for the song was released the same day, which shows a crowd of people watching a string puppet performance of war and violence. While cheering on and applauding the violence, it turns out the people themselves were string puppets and controlled by what is assumed to be puppets of the U.S. Government, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The second song “Paradigm,” takes a different route of lyrics and sound, going for a more agro-punk sound while

REVIEW

REVIEW CREW

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

‘Arrival’ sticks its landing

Movie Summary: “Arrival” follows linguist Louise (Amy Adams) and physicist Ian (Jeremy Renner) as they attempt to decipher the strange language of a recently-landed alien race.

Their work is made tense by trigger-happy generals who think the extraterrestrial visitors are here for war, not peace. The sci-fi movie currently has a 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Photo courtesy of avengesevenfold.com

focusing on technology. A relatively short song for the band’s standards, the song looks into what the future would be like if humans were to be overcome by technology, and become machines themselves. “Creating God”, the fifth song of the album, focuses on Darwinism and questions if we created a design that God would have wanted if he does exist.

Closing out the album is the song “Exist”, the band’s longest song clocking in at fifteen minutes and forty seconds.

Instrumental for most of its run-time, the song focuses on the question of religion and faith within society’s minds of what the future holds. The last four minutes of the song features See REVIEW, page 10

HHHHH

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Jonathan says: “I highly recommend it”

Tyler says: “Fantastic film”

“Arrival” is phenomenal.

As the movie progresses, I was sucked into the backstory of Louise and Ian. The film is like a combination of a Jason Bourne movie mixed with “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” I believe this to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade.

The plot is solid and transitions well from scene to scene. The only flaw is that as the movie progresses, it stagnates a little while before the climax, though the lull is barely noticeable.

Overall, this movie was great. The actors fit the roles of the characters they play.

Adams usually plays strong women in her movies, and doesn’t disappoint in “Arrival.” Renner usually plays parts that are mysterious and introverted. In this movie, however, he’s determined and outgoing, his performance more dramatic and powerful.

This isn’t a movie that you go to if you’re looking for quick action and fast story, but for the frequent movie-goer who gets into movies, I highly recommend it, it will not disappoint.

“Arrival” keeps you wondering what happens next.

This is a must-see.

How is it that E.T. picks up a working vocabulary just a few days after arriving from the far reaches of space? How does the cockroach alien of “Men in Black” speak English so fluently minutes after crashing into a farmhouse? It’s an oft-overlooked issue with sci-fi movies, and it’s explored beautifully in Denis Villeneuve’s fantastic new movie “Arrival.”

Villeneuve, director of “Prisoners” and last year’s thrilling “Sicario,” changes gears and shows a remarkable knack for hitting emotional beats, given extra beauty by cinematographer Bradford Young’s eye.

All the expert execution would be for not if the lead performance was lacking, but Amy Adams delivers yet another fantastic performance as Louise, a woman at the top of her field and in the depths of loss. The five-time Oscar-nominee gives incredible depth to Louise, from her maternal grief to her alien-inspired awe.

Communication is complicated. When it goes bad, it can end marriages, divide a country, or precipitate a war. When it goes well, however, it can create empathy where there was once none, assuage the frightened, or embolden the ordinary. Let’s hope that the future gives us more Louises and that both the fiction and nonfiction resembles “Arrival” more than “Independence Day.”

— Jonathan Little

—Tyler Mortimore

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— Philippe Petit

The ‘dude’ behind the hammock Truong shares vision

By TERESA GAINES

tgaines@losmedanos.edu

He is known on campus as “hammock dude” or “slack line dude.” That’s because it’s pretty hard to miss the guy sleeping in a hammock in front of the Math building or a small crowd of people gathered around to watch or try their own foot at his slack line stretched between two trees.

But although he is known for his physical presence, there is actually a dark-humored, pensive and artistic mind that is “slack line dude.”

22-year-old Ronnie Truong hasn’t always enjoyed getting a lot of attention. Growing up, he never thought of himself as outgoing. But he found himself increasingly captivated and changed by the satirical and black humor of comedians such as George Carlin and Louis C.K. He credits his outlook on life to these comedians and their philosophical social commentar y. Now he feels comfortable enough to leave a joke for each of his teachers at the end of the tests he takes.

“I just realized there are eight billion people on Earth –– ten of them don’t like you.

Who cares about that ratio?

Why would you put your happiness in someone else’s hands?”

In his spare time, Truong

writes in a journal that consists of his own personalized sections such as “advice and tips,” “jokes,” “stor y time,” “superb humans” and “phrases (vocabulary) & quotes.”

He is not one to forget a line in a TV show or stand-up routine that he feels resonated with him. Instead of loving it in the moment and potentially forgetting, he writes it down in order to remember and reflect on it. He said he also wants to pass it on to his kids and that everyone should write their thoughts down more often.

“I know ten years from now, hell, probably just in one year, I’ll read this again. If your life is wor th anything, create.

Tattoos, or writing, in ten years you’ll look back and think I’m so glad I did that. Your brain is art. But I can’t help but think that too many people just sit and do nothing.”

Truong considers himself to be an artist. He made the hammock and slack line you see on campus. To be technical, you actually see the eighth hammock he has ever made.

“People at my old school loved it and so I left the hammock up for them to enjoy.

But it got cut down, so I put up another one. Then that one got cut down and I put up another one. I was about to put up a permanent one with chains

Experience • Teresa Gaines

“Hammock dude,” Ronnie Truong writes in his journal at his favorite spot in front of the Math building. but it was too expensive and too much effort.”

He utilizes any materials he can in order to make his visions come to life, “My first hammock was just pure shoe strings, crosshatched. The first thing when I buy shoes is take out the shoestrings and replace them with zip ties. Can you tie your shoestrings in a second? I’m efficiently lazy. For example, how would you close the door when you’re lying in bed? I tied a shoestring from my bedpost to my door so I can pull it and not get up.”

He also creates and sells

small items such as jewelry, hacky sacks and transmission shift knobs but has not had any luck with them on the market.

He understands that it is hard to make a living selling his own art, “I continue making my art but I just don’t have an outlet to people. People think my stuff is really cool and then say no to buying it. I don’t mind, I’ll still make stuff.”

The closest solution he could think of was to become a welder. He has a full schedule of welding classes at Los Medanos and feels that it is a profession that allows him to

make money and stay in touch with his drive to create.

And if that doesn’t earn him enough, he also is working to achieve a real estate license.

Ultimately he said, “My goal is to make enough money to spoil my parents. I want more pieces of paper on my bedroom wall. Without pieces of paper, you can’t get a job, you can’t go out and socialize, can’t have fun. It’s sad that you need a piece of paper to live, unless you want to go out and live in the wild,” Truong said adding, “I want to be the definition of independent; I want to know

how to take care of myself.

Turn nothing into something.

I had the idea that, maybe if I got a really long clothe and rope and made a hammock?

And it worked. Welding is the next step.”

He even had a keychain hanging off of his backpack that he sauntered himself. It was a metal heart with a dollar sign within it. “My motto is ‘love and funds.’ I mean, you can’t do anything in life that you love without the funds.

I have a lot of projects I want to start on but don’t have the money,” Truong said.

University of San Francisco

P L E A S A N TO N

Experience • Jonathan Little

Cook-Off Chair Shondra West assisting one event supporter with her “Chicken Bok Choy” that received second place at this year’s fundraiser.

Soups fund students Cookoff aids scholarships

By ADRIA WATSON

awatson@lmcexperience.com

The 7th annual Soup CookOff held Tuesday Nov. 8 –– ­­­put on by the Los Medanos College Classified Senate –– raised $949 in fundraising money, which will contribute to student scholarships.

Nine soups made by members of the LMC community were entered. Four judges were selected to walk about the event, taste each soup and decided which soup satisfied their taste buds the most. The judges included DSPS Alternate-Media Specialist Kenny Purizaga, Foundation Manager, Trinh Nguyen, MESA Faculty member Nicole Trager and LMC student Nick Murphy Senior Admissions Faculty Imelda Lares’ soup “Grains of Paradise” won over the judges, giving her the first place title.

Following Lares, Cook-off Chair Shondra West received second place with her Chicken Bok Choy and third place was awarded to Human Resources Kathy Griffin for her All-HandsOn-Deck Clam Chowder.

“The most adorable soup was

Experience • Adria Watson

Imelda Lares’ first place soup “Grains of Paradise.” made by children from the Child Studies Center: Banana Soup that won Honorable Mention - Most Creative & Original,” said West in an email sent out to LMC staff and faculty members, thanking those who came out to show their support.

West also expressed that being apart of the cook-off is a fun opportunity to give back to students because when she was in school, scholarships helped her.

Admissions and Records Assistant Linda Jackson shared similar sentiments about the cook-off and although this was her first time participating, she shared that what made being apart of it more fun is that she

got the opportunity to be apart of it with her daughter, transfer and career ser vices Senior Admin Secretar y Meagan Jackson.

“It’s fun, anything to benefit the students and I get to do it with my daughter,” said Linda Jackson while Meagan Jackson added, “Mother daughter teamwork” in agreement.

Counselor Jess Moniz’s who was attending the soup cookoff for the first time said they enjoyed seeing LMC come together as a community.

“This is definitely good for student and staff morale and having the students see the staff working together to put on an event for ever yone,” said Moniz.

LEARN TODAY. CHANGE TOMORROW. PROGRAMS IN: MANAGEMENT | TEACHING | NURSING Call to make an advising appointment today pleasantoncampus@usfca.edu or (925) 867-2711 usfca.edu/pleasanton

6120 Stoneridge Mall Rd., Ste. 150, Pleasanton, CA CHANGE THE WORLD FROM HERE

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“When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.”

— Bill Shoemakerv

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Los Medanos College’s quarterback Gabe Taylor takes off to scramble against Hartnell defense during the team’s 27-20 home victory over Hartnell.

Stangs end season with big W

Late touchdown propels team to eighth win of the year

By ANDREW GONZALEZ

agonzalez@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College Mustangs muscled their way to a 27-20 victor y over the Hartnell Panthers in the Nov. 12 contest which saw the winning team deploy late-game heroics en route to its eighth win on the season, and a bowl bid. Z’andre Givens provided the game’s definitive play with his 30-yard catch and run for a touchdown with 17.5 seconds left to play, improving the Mustang record to 8-2 in the final game of the regular season.

LMC needed the game-winning touchdown since the team struggled to find consistency on offense after nabbing an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Stangs got off to a hot start when the special teams forced a J’uan Campbell fumble on the opening kickoff and recovered the ball setting up the Mustangs in scoring position at Hartnell’s 33 yard-line. The Mustangs capitalized on the opportunity when quarterback Gabe Taylor scored with his legs on a 14-yard touchdown after only four plays, putting LMC up 7-0.

Hartnell looked to answer back after being set up with good field position at their own 36-yard line, but LMC’s defense swarmed the Panther ball-carriers and forced a punt.

The Mustangs then found themselves pinned back on their own six-yard line and, in attempt to create breathing room, Taylor heaved a ball

down the right sideline to his receiver but was intercepted.

At the LMC 40-yard line, the Panthers gained 32 yards on three run plays to bring the ball down to the eight-yard line. The LMC defense bent but didn’t break as they began to fight back and forced Hartnell to settle for a field goal, bringing the score to 7-3.

The Panther defense came alive on the next possession and stifled the LMC offense, forcing two negative yardage plays and an incompletion.

Building on the momentum of their defense, the Hartnell of fense star ted their next drive firing, mixing in runs.

The drive was highlighted by a 24-yard pass to Marcus Washington where he was drilled by Antwan Hendricks, but managed to hold on. The catch was crucial, as it brought the ball down to the three-yard line where Sherrod Hawkes ran in a TD giving Hartnell its first lead of the game at 10-7.

LMC looked primed to re-capture the lead as running back Billy Wells took a handoff and scampered up field for 40 yards, but the Hartnell defense rallied as Wells was stripped of the ball just as he was going down, which resulted in a Hartnell recovery.

The LMC defense was not ready to let Hartnell extend its lead, getting a huge sack on second down which created a long third down for the Panthers, which they could

not convert.

Both teams traded possessions that saw them move backward because of penalties and failed to convert the resulting third downs The Mustangs then mounted a long 11-play, 58-yard drive where they ran through the heart of the Hartnell defense, bringing the ball close to the end zone, but settled for a field goal attempt that sailed wide right leaving the score 10-7.

Hartnell answered LMC’s empty possession with an empty possession of their own, with just under two minutes left in the half.

LMC started out with a quick first down after a run up the middle and a short sideline pass, but found itself facing a fourth down and four. The Hartnell defense called a blitz with the hopes of sacking the QB, but the LMC offensive line held up and Taylor hit Tyrone Roberts on an eightyard crossing route on the left side of the field.

With momentum swinging their way, LMC rushed to put points on the board as the clock was expiring, but endured another field goal miss, ending the half with Hartnell leading 10-7.

LMC received the ball to star t the second half, but could not manage a single first down. To make things worse, the fourth down snap was a low one that punter Michael Church could not control, and the Hartnell special teams

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Namontte Grisby busts through the Hartnell defense for a touchdown. unit recovered at LMC’s 12yard line.

Despite finding themselves defending their own goal line as soon as they stepped on the field, the Mustang defense ended Hartnell’s touchdown hopes after three plays, resulting in a Panther field goal.

With Hartnell leading 13-7, LMC looked for a spark to turn things around. The Mustangs turned to their ground and pound running game to lead a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped off

by Namontte Grisby’s rushing touchdown. It was not a good day for kicker Tellez, as he missed the extra point leaving the score at 13-13.

On their next possession, the Panther offense faced quickly

faced third down, but they struck when it counted most, as quarterback Dorion Isaak connected with Randy Ivey on a 35-yard pass into LMC territory. After four rushing plays, Hartnell was down to the six-yard line facing a third and goal. The LMC home crowd was roaring behind the Mustangs pleading for a stop, but Isaak made another key pass, connecting with Elisha Peat on a six-yard pass for a touchdown to put the Panthers back on top 20-13.

LMC got the ball back as the fourth quarter began, and after two short runs and a false start penalty, the team was staring down a critical third down at their own 22. Taylor then found

Billy Wells on a short pass he managed to turn up field for a gain of 20. Just outside Hartnell territory, running back Isiah Turner made his way into the Panther’s den, taking a handoff 41 yards to put the Mustangs in scoring position.

The Mustangs sat at the 17-yard line when Taylor hit Morgan Benjamin streaking through the middle of the defense for an easy touchdown, leading to another tie, this time at 20 points apiece.

In a game that saw the two teams answer each other after points were put up, the next three possessions were quiet, as they all lead to punts when neither offense managed any See FBALL, page 9

LMC is bowl game bound after final win

Mustangs to take on Monterey Lobos

By GARRETT BELME

gbelme@lmcexperience.com

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

LMC Head coach Chris Shipe gets drenched in Gatorade after his team pulls off a late victory.

The Los Medanos College Mustangs finished the regular season with an impressive 8-2 record and will be playing in their first bowl game since 2004 as they take on Monterey Peninsula College in The Living Breath Foundation Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. in the Rabobank Stadium in Salinas.

LMC will enter their bowl game with loads of momentum having won five of their last six contests..

Getting invited to a bowl game is a great honor, which is something that head coach Chris Shipe expressed.

“Making a bowl game is a tremendous accomplishment for our team and program. They’ve been working hard all season and it’s a great reward

for them… our players and staff are very excited for this opportunity,” said Shipe.

While the whole team played well, it was particularly the play of quarterback Gabe Taylor that led the team to where they are now.

His 20 touchdown throws were good enough for second in the division, comeing up just one shy of the division lead.

While this is the biggest game of the season, Taylor is tackling it like any other game saying he’s preparing, “same as every other week. Studying film to see what their defense does to certain plays and going to practice expecting perfection out of myself.”

For more information on LMC football visit http://www.losmedanos. edu/football/

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“The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.”

— John Madden

Steven Luke QUIETLY THINKING

No HOF for Schilling?

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Los Medanos College’s Caitlin Sadler hits the ball towards Napa’s side as their defender tries to stop it.

Stangs stomp Storm

By TYLER MORTIMORE

tmortimore@lmcexperience.com

The Los Medanos College volleyball team clinched the Bay Valley Conference title in a thrilling match against Napa Valley College Monday night, winning 3-0.

The win puts LMC back in the playoffs after narrowly missing out on postseason play last year. After losing to Napa 3-2 early in the season, the Mustangs came to play, according to head coach Lou Panzella.

“Our girls knew we were playing for first.

When we lost at Napa, I felt like we played poorly. This time, we played clean, our ball control was good,” said Panzella. “The only surprise to me was that it was a three set match.”

The night began with Panzella and the Mustangs coaching staff showcasing both teams’ outgoing sophomores, including LMC players Caitlin Sadler, Janessa Sei, Savannah O’Neal and Calissa Leming.

The Mustangs drew first blood in the first set. The game seesawed as the lead was passed back and forth until LMC tied the game at 14 and scurried ahead on the strength of several serves in a row.

“We served great. Over three sets, we only made six service errors compared to 10 aces,”

said Panzella.

With the score at 24-20, freshman Vei Finau finessed a ball into open space to win the first set.

LMC opened the scoring again in the second set when Ayanna Burnett blocked a Napa hit at the net. The Mustangs raced out to a 5-1 lead with an ace from Erica Wilder and a devastating kill from Finau, who seemed to levitate while she lining up a thunderous blow. LMC went up 7-1 with a gentle touch from Sadler that sent Storm players somersaulting and Napa coaches calling for a timeout.

LMC kept Napa at arm’s length the rest of the set, securing the game point when Leming lobbed a laser-guided ball deep into Napa’s corner, making it 25-13.

Napa looked downtrodden as they made their way back onto the court for what would be the final set, but they shed the mood after an opening ace. This set would turn out to be the most competitive, with stunning feats of athleticism and poise by both teams. LMC was able to jump out to a four point lead on the back of three aces, but a Napa timeout disrupted their rhythm and the Storm tied it at 10 after an impressive volley with a number of blocks on either side.

LMC went on another scoring run to make

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it 17-12 before another Napa timeout. Sam Rhodes resumed play with a fizzing serve that a Napa player sent arcing back toward the exit.

Another sublime play by Finau put LMC just five points away from the title at 20-14, but Napa wasn’t about to roll over quite yet.

“They had just won at Solano and again at Mendocino after going down two sets, so we knew they could get behind and win,” said Panzella. “We really didn’t want to go to a fourth set.”

After making it 23-19, Napa scored three straight to make it a one point set, but LMC settled down and scored two straight to finish the set and the match.

“There’s going to be ebbs and flows. Our hitters played really smart,” said Panzella.

“We managed to make plays when we had to.”

The Mustangs followed up their dominating performance with back-to-back road victories over Solano and Yuba to extend their win streak to eight games.

Panzella hopes LMC can secure a home game in the first round, on Nov. 19.

The Mustangs are undefeated in the Los Medanos Gym this season. For more information on LMC volleyball visit http://www. losmedanos.edu/volleyball/

There is a player who has been on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for four years with his vote percentage rising each year.

There is a player who has been on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that owns three World Series rings as a player.

There is a player who has been on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that finished second in the Cy Young Award three times, finished in the MVP voting as a pitcher four different times, owns a career earned run average of 3.46 and has a stellar ERA in the postseason of 2.23.

Despite all of this, Curt Schilling may never make it to Cooperstown, and he doesn’t deserve to.

The Baseball Writers Association of America have received criticism in the past for the stance some of their Hall of Fame voting members have taken against voting for players who have been connected to steroid use. Players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rodger Clemens and Barry Bonds have been left out even though they are the best players of their time due to their connections to steroids, but Schilling does not have a connection to steroids.

Instead, Schilling is a player whose numbers are good enough for the hall, but he sits on the border because he doesn’t have 300 wins — a number that has been a benchmark for players in the past.

This is a changing world though, and wins are becoming less relevant as the baseball world begins to embrace advanced statistics.

As the win becomes an irrelevant stat, Schilling would be a relative lock to be enshrined, but it’s been established that writers use their values in their voting practice, and over the years Schilling has tested their patience with his off the wall remarks, and Monday he took it to new heights.

A picture of a Donald Trump supporter that reads “Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required” went viral recently and Schilling went to Twitter to let his followers know that he felt this shirt was, “OK, so much awesome here ...”

Schilling since deleted the tweet and spent the day explaining to upset followers that it was a joke to show that liberal media has been so bias that people, including himself, are upset with them.

That didn’t stop writers with votes from taking notice and Jon Heyman, one of the most wellknown baseball writers for his appearances on Fox and MLB Network, responded.

“Schilling favors lynching apparently. Not really sure I can stomach voting for him for the hall anymore,” he said via twitter.

It wasn’t just writers, though, as fellow retired starting pitcher Dan Haren also commented taking a jab at Schilling with a joke about Schilling’s crowning moment, pitching in the postseason while his ankle was bleeding.

While the world changed Tuesday and it appears we as a country have no more core values, the people of baseball continue to have values against steroids, drugs, gambling and lynching, especially when the lynching involves their own kind.

See HOF, page 10

FBALL From page 8

big plays.

When LMC received the ball again, the clock stood at 2:22, the score stood at 20-20, and the Mustang offense stood ready to take on the Hartnell defense.

After five plays, the LMC offense managed to gain 14 yards with the help of a penalty, and faced a fourth and two at the Hartnell 47-yard line. Taylor faked a handoff to his running back, stood tall in the pocket, and fired as he saw Jelani Davis on a crossing route for a gain of 16 yards. The next play was more of the same, with Taylor hitting Davis this time for a gain of five, but on the following play, he was sacked, and then threw an incomplete pass on third down.

The Mustangs stood at Hartnell’s 30-yard line, debating the gutsy move of going for it on fourth down and nine, or kicking a 49-yard field goal. They trusted their gut. Taylor took the snap, began rolling to his right as the wall his offensive line created started to collapse, and then found himself within the grasp of several defenders, as the home crowd began to let out its sighs of disappointment.

But the play was not over.

Taylor shook off one defender, spun around and started running to the left sideline when he saw Givens waiting patiently 10 yards up on the boundary of the left sideline. Taylor threw his pass and the ball hit Givens right on his hands. He

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

LMC’s Namontte Grisby trots in for a touchdown. turned and saw no one except a defender who came at a hard angle and missed the tackle, and the Mustang was off to the races.

Givens sprinted up the left hash mark as fast as he could and would not be touched until the ball had crossed into the end zone, making the score 27-20 with 17.5 seconds left to play.

Taylor and Givens’ heroics lifted the spirits of the crowd and the team — which seconds prior seemed to have been crushed — as roars from the stands filled the LMC stadium.

The best the Panther offense could do on the next possession was heave the ball up and hope for the best, but the ball was tipped and intercepted by Daniel Sheppard, putting the final nail into the coffin.

The celebration continued onto the field after the clock struck triple zeroes, as the final game of the regular season had emotions high for both teams that laid out everything they had on the field.

The season was a successful one for the Mustangs, finishing at 8-1, and Givens summed it up.

“It was a great experience, a blessing, those boys carry and motivate the team,” he said about his teammates, who were all smiles on the field at the game’s conclusion.

This victory puts the Mustangs in their first bowl game since 2004 as they will now face the Monterey Peninsula College Lobos Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. in the Living Breath Foundation Bowl at Robo Stadium in Salinas.

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core value of our district but an aspiration embedded in our vision and mission to serve our students and communities.”

The district leaders also wanted students to know that all the previously offered programs and assistance will still be available to them.

“As public institutions of higher education, we will continue our work to ensure every one of you has full access to our colleges and centers, as well as to the support needed for you to succeed in your studies,” said the email addressed to students. “We are also deeply committed to protecting the rights of our undocumented students to attend our institutions and receive state aid under the provisions of AB 540, enacted in 2001, and the California Dream Act, signed into law in 2011.”

Theses pledges are reflected in the district board’s “Diversity” and “Equity in Student Achievement” policies, which are meant to make sure all areas of the three-college district are welcoming and able to help everyone succeed, and the email sent to district employees urged all staff, faculty and students to implement and follow them.

Despite the emails being sent out district wide, Los Medanos College President Bob Kratochvil wanted to specifically address his college’s concerns directly and calm the tensions and strong emotions this campaign season has created. He urged students to take time to reflect and come together so LMC can move forward.

“We need to recognize that many among us are deeply troubled by much of the messaging — around tolerance and divisiveness — that seemed to emerge throughout this election, and that we have students and colleagues who may feel anxious concerned or even fearful about the future,” he said. “It is important for us to hear and support each other.”

Kratochvil stressed the need to adhere to the college’s culture of respect, inclusion, diversity and academic freedom. Several activities aimed at upholding these principles were held the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following the election — a “safe space” rally (see accompanying story), a “Place to Talk” event and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) informational workshops — and he said similar future events were in developmental planning stages.

At the “A Place to Talk” event, put on by Student Life Tuesday, Nov. 15, members of the LMC community were offered an opportunity to talk about how the election was affecting them.

“There has been a lot of frustration and anger, sadness and all types of different emotions that were stirred up throughout this week and last week so we wanted to provide an opportunity for all of you to get together and really to express how you’re feeling,” said Student Life Coordinator John Nguyen to attendees.

ALLIES President Akila Briggs, who is also a student ambassador and LMC Library worker, chose to shut off all of

TRUMP From page 1

“I don’t think he can overturn all of that,” said Ford about Trump’s ability to affect Roe v. Wade.

First-year student Loraine Fonseca’s thoughts on the matter were more drastic.

“I think he is going to take abortion away,” she said.

Beyond the response to Trump’s policies, many people are impassioned by his rise to power and its possible effects on a social level.

Second-year student Robert Brown had a positive outlook about the election and its results.

“My hopes are that he will bring something new, different and vibrant to the economy,” he said emphasizing the need for this country to be positive and optimistic about the future.

“We should give him a chance,” said Brown, “It is horrible to me that people are hoping for him to fail.

Why would we hope someone makes things worse?”

Experience • Beatriz Hernandez

Laurie Huffman and Marie Arcidiacono present.

STORY From page 1

her electronics and go to sleep at about 7 or 9 p.m. on the night of the election because she didn’t want to watch the various states bounce back and forth between the presidential candidates, but when she awoke the next morning, she said found herself in a very different world.

“I remember coming into work and as soon as I got here my boss gave me a hug and she said that ‘you check off a lot of boxes of the things that Trump supporters are against,’” said Briggs. “It’s a very white-power type of society where if you’re a minority, that’s automatically one strike against you, if you’re a woman that’s another strike against you [and] if you’re LGBT that’s three strikes, you’re out.”

Briggs explained, despite experiencing fear and confusion, being on campus helped.

“I really did feel safe here at LMC knowing that there were so many people that did care,” she said.

Some students used the moment to express their frustrations with the country’s failure to deal with certain issues until recently and also how their views of the U.S. have been altered.

“I am disappointed in not just people who voted in Trump, but a lot of people in general. In how people decide to pretend that these problems don’t exist because they don’t want to ad-

dress the problems that we’re facing now,” said LMC student Fernando Hidalgo-Chinchilla.

“We’re always bragging about how great of a country America is, how we have all these values, how we’re a diverse community — and we’re realizing that a lot of that is a lie.”

LMC student Giovanni Gonzalez said he thinks it is going to be a tough four years.

“I feel like I’m disassociating.

I don’t even know what’s real,” said Gonzalez. “[Trump] becoming president … reaffirms the racists, it reaffirms the homophobic people. He played on white nationalism, he played on white supremacy and he got the vote.

But DSPS worker Kenney Purizaga, even though he agrees that Trump is not good for the country, has a different vision for the future.

“For the next four years it’s going to be the season of love. We have to rely on each other and we have to have each other’s back,” said Purizaga.

“Whatever may happen, just know that … we’re a community and that’s what we’re here for.”

Hidalgo-Chinchilla echoed these sentiments.

“It’s okay to feel despair, but don’t fall into it, we’re all scared, we’re all worried, but we have to keep going forward.

If we give up, that’s when us minorities are truly defeated,” said Hidalgo-Chinchilla.

Brown’s hopefulness is, perhaps, an echo of President Barack Obama’s measured reaction to Trump’s victory.

“My hope is he makes things better. And if he does, we all benefit from it,” said Obama about Trump’s appointment.

Enthused protester and former LMC student Jake Mendoza was less optimistic about the appointment.

“It gives license for people to act on hate,” said Mendoza asserting that Trump’s victory is a moral loss for the country and creates an environment in which blatant racism, sexism and homophobia is encouraged.

“We are not better than this, this is us,” he said explaining that the latent bigotry present in this country will be exacerbated by Trump’s victory.

Second-year student Marquis Brown, however, expressed trepidation about the current protests.

“I get that they are trying to make a statement,” said

Brown, adding he disapproves the tone of the protest, and the possibility of violence. “People are crazy these days,” said Brown, clearly ambivalent.

Zimny’s view however, was far from conflicted, “It’s a terrible day for the nation.”

HOF From page 9

Should they look past this and ignore those values? He didn’t cheat, he didn’t do drugs and he didn’t bet on sports that we know of.

He thinks it’s funny to joke about killing people and has made remarks in the past about women that cost him his job at ESPN. He e has done everything in his power to offend as many people as possible and was already a borderline Hall of Fame player, and when you add those two simple things together Schilling doesn’t deserve to be enshrined even it is petty.

Although this isn’t the first time or the last the college, community or countr y has faced challenges, Kratochvil, too, offered words of encouragement in his email and suggested the LMC take this time to reflect “We will get through it over time, through dialogue and understanding and with healing,” he said. “We can begin to come together around our collective commitment to serving students and supporting one another, by rising above intolerance and embracing inclusion.”

At the “A Place to Talk” event, Dean of Student Success Dave Belman said he wanted LMC to be a safe space for all of the 10-12 thousand students who attend classes at its campuses.

“I do think that we have an obligation as a college to educate, and part of that is about challenging what we’re seeing in our world. I don’t want to sweep this under the rug as an institution,” said Belman.

“I hope that we keep talking about it.”

A full version of the district’s diversity and student equity policies can be found at http:// www.4cd.edu/gb/policies-procedures/board/BP1023.pdf and http://www.4cd.edu/gb/ policies-procedures/board/ BP2059.pdf, and other local election results are displayed in the accompanying graphic.

a continuation school.

“I didn’t read textbooks — I read what I saw on the streets.”

After going to juvenile hall, Murillo said it hardened him rather than helped him. He had a moment of existential conflict with himself because he knew that this isn’t the direction that his life should have been going in. he decided to make a change when four days after he turned 19, he was shot four times. Once in the head, his jaw, his neck and his shoulder.

“When I though my life would change for the good, it became a nightmare,” said Murillo.

He was told he would never talk or walk again. This news devastated him. He shut out his family, friends and god.

On top of ever ything, he faced abuses in the hospital he stayed in. “I felt defenseless,” he said.

But he received a miracle.

After receiving a visit from an RT who discovered that he could once again speak, he knew there was no limit to what he wanted to achieve.

He’s now regained feeling in other parts of his body and he has reconnected with his loved ones.

Diana Cobian talked about her experiences with having cerebral palsy. Though she faced excruciating pain due to multiple surgeries, she never gave up on pursing a fulfilling life.

She noted that God was also a huge part of how she was able to make it through her struggles. One particular night, after having a major surgery on her left leg, she was having intense muscle spasms. Her mother had given her medicine already so there wasn’t much she could do about the pain. She told her mother at the time that the only thing left to do, was to “just pray.”

At the end of her presentation, she said life wasn’t meant to be all good times, as people will lead you to believe.

“Life was not meant to have a happy ending, it was meant to be lived,” she said.

After a short intermission, Contra Costa Community College District Chancellor Dr. Helen Benjamin made a short speech about her educational journey. She talked about “keeping it moving.”

She grew up in the segregated south, but she didn’t let that stop her pursuit of education.

She pointed out the benefits in growing up around people color — it was motivational for her.

“Getting an education is supposed to cultivate you, make you different — better.”

She said if you’re not being changed by your education, then you need a refund. She said luckily, at LMC, the

faculty and staff are great so the students have spent their time at this institution well.

“I will not stop working on behalf of the students — that is my life.”

Veteran Justin Kerns took the stage to talk about his transition from the United States military to civilian life.

“Culture shock is a mild way of putting how I felt,” he said.

After witnessing the horrors of war, he suffered through PTSD and survivor’s guilt. He said this was especially hard to deal with because he had more friends die after war than during it. In the background was a slideshow of his friends who have passed.

He said the statistic saying 22 veterans commit suicide a day is frighteningly accurate.

He need to “find a way to cope” so he began to drink.

Also, he was working 60-70 hour a week in a grocer y store and going through physical pains from injuries he sustained as a soldier. He had accumulated a bit of debt from attending a few for-profit institutions.

His miracle came in the form of a check. He was able to wipe out his debt and have money left over to put away.

Dolce was the last to speak.

She talked about the internal struggle she faced because being the first American born child in her family was a lot of pressure, especially because her traditional Mexican values clashed with her goals often.

“Education is not valid in my family,” she said. She grew up having to help tae care of her siblings and be a good example for them. “I have to keep my head up all the time,” she said.

She also had to be translator for her parents. “How can your parents help you with your homework when they can’t even read the instructions?”

She had to pause for a bit, as she was starting to tear up. At this point, she had started talking about what it was like having to help a family member with autism.

After relaying a particularly taxing experience, she “I’ve been able to transform my pain into peacefulness,” she said.

She ended her speech with the quote “falling down is an accident, staying down is a choice.”

The event was then concluded. Huffman expressed that she hopes this event will be continually successful as time goes on. Attendees were encouraged to take pictures with the speakers.

Arcidiacono expressed that these sorts of events are important because you never know “how your story could help someone going through a tough time.”

— Brooke Sampson contributed to this report