05.08.15

Hands-on creativity

Cutting the cable

Pitch perfect

The Art Department continues to mold to student’s needs. Story inside — page 5

The state of television in a world transitioning toward streaming media. Stories inside — page 7

Softball and baseball pitchers profiled after successful seasons. Stories inside — page 9

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F.Y.I. Important Dates May is National Water Safety Month May 20

Last day of instruction and graduation

June 15

Summer session begins

Get invloved, go and vote The Los Medanos College Associated Students elections will be held May 11-13 online. Most of the positions are being run for unopposed. The nominees are: n Darren Meeks for president n Diona Shelbourne for president n Sable Horton for commisioner of campus events n Teniesha Little for treasurer Visit losmedanos.edu/ LMCAS to vote and for more information on the candidates. The election for District Student Trustee will be held in conjunction with the AS elections. Current AS President Gary Walker is running unopposed for the position. Visit the above-mentioned web address for information on the district election.

Spring finals upcoming Finals week begins May 14. Check with your instructor to confirm the correct date, time and place of your final exam.

Finals conclude May 20.

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Budget nears a balance Lower enrollments, fewer funds

By JOSEPH DELANO

jdelano@lmcexperience.com

Despite weak enrollment for the third consecutive year, the Contra Costa Community College District’s budget is relatively balanced, according to district representatives during a series of budget forums for faculty and staff April 27.

While enrollment numbers for the current year show a shortfall of almost five percent from what was projected, the district reported

just a $242,000 structural deficit.

Gene Huff, executive vice-chancellor of administrative services for the district, said the deficit was to be expected.

“The budget last year was slightly in the red because we expected ongoing expenses to exceed ongoing revenues by that much,” he said.

Lower enrollment equals less money from the state. For each Full-Time Equivalent Student, the

college receives approximately $4,600, which is figured using a state formula based on the total number of students enrolled — which goes toward the operating costs of the district and the colleges within it.

Reasons for the decline in enrollment for the past few years vary. Some of the shortage can Experience • Cathie Lawrence be attributed to construction on Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Huff campus.

See FUNDS, page 6 speaks during a budget forum April 27.

Gospel greatness

Debate over vapors E-cigs the hot topic

By JOSH WOOD and CRISTO RESENDIZ jwood@lmcexperience.com

Members of the local community gathered in the Recital Hall May 2 to attend the 21st Annual Gospel Celebration themed “Celebrating & Supporting African American Males.” Above, members of the LMC Gospel Choir, led by music director Silvester Henderson, entertain a packed house. Using her talents to combine genres such as Gospel, R&B and Soul, right, musical guest Lena Byrd-Miles sings to the crowd during part of the evening’s program.

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

District awards Yeong

Student plays to premiere The Drama Department will be holding its 6th Annual New Play Fest May 11-13 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater. The festival will showcase more than 10 student written plays, and will be performed by students of the advanced acting class. Tickets for the event will be $7 with a student or military ID, $10 general admission and $5 with high school or middle school ID. For more information about the upcoming festival, contact the Theater Box Office 439-2181 ext.

78206 or Department Chair Nick Garcia at 4737801.

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Instructor receives ‘Teacher of the Year’

By KIMBERLY STELLY

kstelly@lmcexperience.com

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

English instructor and Teacher of the Year recipient Michael Yeong.

The Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) has bestowed one of its annual Teacher of the Year Awards upon Los Medanos College’s own English instructor Michael Yeong. This news comes,

appropriately enough, during Teachers Appreciation Week.

Fellow English Instructor Tess Caldwell said, “Michael Yeong has been an amazing colleague, and an extraordinary teacher. He is constantly pushing and challenging his students.

He has been an asset to the

English department bringing a wealth of innovative and creative ideas. Committed, dedicated, and determined, he brings passion, humor and academic excellence to his classroom.”

Dean of Liberal Arts Nancy Ybarra who has known Yeong See YEONG, page 10

Goodbye LMC, hello world Counselor Karp to retire after 22 years

By CASSIE DICKMAN

cdickman@losmedanos.edu

Although she has no immediate plans for life after academia, Los Medanos College counselor Marie Karp is excited about the possibilities.

“I’m just looking forward to doing whatever I want to do,” said Karp, who will be retiring after 22 years here at LMC. Karp, who is currently a MESA

counselor and former transfer center director, said she would like to read more and frequent museums, “and you know, really have fun.”

But there is one definite thing on Karp’s bucket list and it is no small feat — a trip to the Antarctic.

“I better go see it soon, before Experience • Cathie Lawrence you know … everything melts.” said Karp. “And I really, really Retiring counselor Marie Karp smiles as she See KARP, page 6 assists LMC student Erika Velasco.

Pittsburg City Hall filled with an audience for a public debate courtesy of the Los Medanos College Debate Team Friday, May 1.

The eight debaters, split into teams of four, took turns arguing over whether or not electronic cigarettes, more commonly called e-cigs, did more harm than good.

Veteran debater Dennis Tekell spoke first, defining not only what an e-cig was, but also providing some vital statistics, such as 2.5 million people in the U.S. use e-cigs and in ten years the e-cig industry is projected to be as big as the tobacco industry.

The government bench argued while e-cigs have potential for good use, they’re not being used for their intended purpose — aiding smokers in quitting — since they aren’t regulated in the same way cigarettes are, and could pose a greater threat.

The opposition argued e-cigs are a massive improvement upon normal cigarettes and, despite some of the drawbacks, the reduced number of carcinogens — only four, as opposed to the 70 found in normal cigarettes — and lack of secondhand smoke make the e-cigs a safer alternative.

The gover nment team countered that while this is a valid point, e-cigs are not being marketed to current smokers but instead to people who don’t smoke at all.

Veteran debater Josh Noriega argued this would be a concern if coffee, “canned whipped cream, anything that comes out of a microwave and diet anything” weren’t just as bad but worse for you than an e-cig.

With the debate drawing to a conclusion, the team provided a bevy of information for the audience to consider as they shape their opinions on the issue of e-cigs.

Earlier in the day the debate team hosted an intramural debate for the students of LMC, with members of the debate team serving as judges for the debate rounds.

The intramural debate featured four styles of public speaking for students to enter in — worlds debate, informative speaking, persuasive speaking and impromptu speaking.

See ECIGS, page 10

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Perspectives

FRIDAY,

MAY

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2015

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“We have nothing to fear except ourselves.

We are unholy, awful people.”

— Welcome to Night Vale

Brianna Klipp

Rene De Amaral

NEWS KLIPPINGS

AWKWARD SAUCE

Don’t undersell the revolution

Get your work done on time

In recent months, the mantra “Black Lives Matter” and Police Brutality has been brought to the forefront in the media. Race, a topic that stirs tension and avoidance, has caused citizens to choose sides, resulting in a civil war of the establishment versus the victim.

Race has been such a hard lined issue that corporations have attempted to make it less stigmatized. In February 2015, Starbucks attempted to alleviate the issue by starting the “Race Together” campaign, which urged fellow Starbucks-goers to talk about race relations in America. Questions were printed on to cups to inspire conversation, such as “When was the last time you had a person of the opposite race in your household?”

The campaign caused a frenzy amongst coffee-moms and ever yone in between, causing a PR debacle for Starbucks.

In a written response to the negative opinions pouring in, Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz said, “while there has been criticism of the initiative — and I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you — let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise. We leaned in because we believed that starting this dialogue is what matters most. We are learning a lot.”

Race relations have been one of the core influencers in recent riots this past year. In the case of the Baltimore and Ferguson Riots, black Americans are shown being attacked

by Police Officers in what appeared to be civilized confrontations.

As though a ticking-time-bomb had erupted, the officers break into attack mode as they go beyond the threshold of “defense” to unleash their fur y on the suspects.

Meanwhile, “the younger generation is more racially tolerant than their elders,” said the Pew Research Center in a 2010 report entitled “Millenials: Confident. Connected. Open to change.” The executive summary explained further that “they are more ethnically and racially diverse than older adults. They’re less religious, less likely to have served in the military and are on track to become the most educated generation in American history.”

Americans of all races have come to the defense of the victims by advocating in the streets and marching. Their attempt of peaceful protests are typically met with the some citizens who treat the revolution as a joke, as they are seen starting fights with people, looting businesses and setting cars aflame.

President Barack Obama responded, “if we think that we’re just going to send the police to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there without, as a nation, and as a society saying what can we do to change those communities to help lift up those communities and give those kids opportunity, then we’re not going to solve this problem, and we’ll go through this same cycles of periodic conflicts between the police and communities, and the occasional riots in the streets and everybody will feign concern until it goes away.”

If media doesn’t give equal opportunity for all angles to be covered, readers risk the chance of falling into habits of “patternicity,” which is explained in an article in Scientific America, by Michael Shermer, as the tendency to “find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise,” and this explains the fact that making it so that all police will carry their badge of violence, only black people are abused in the law enforcement system and protests will always end in riots.

The coverage of the Baltimore Riots is showing promise, as images of protestors protecting police officers and handing out water bottles have made headlines. The protests have shown one thing to be true — that there are 3 sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth.

It’s that time of the semester again folks.

The last few days before finals, when every semester-long assignment is due — with little time left to do it. But you know what’s worse than all our piled-up assignments?

Procrastination.

Procrastinating is a college student’s worst nightmare. Why? Because it adds stress to already stressed lives. What’s worse, it’s completely self-inflicted.

Rather than sitting down and finishing an assignment ahead of schedule, a student may choose to put it off to the last possible minute, which leaves less time for all of the other assignments we have to complete.

Procrastination sneaks up on you. Imagine this, it’s time to write an important essay that requires research. You turn on your laptop and open up a new internet tab. If you use Yahoo, MSN or Bing, you will see the articles that are currently popular at the time.

Say you see an article that catches your eye — you click on it. After all, it’s just one teensy article, how can it hurt? You can do research later. Suddenly you glance at the clock and an hour has gone by. You have read dozens of articles, and maybe some of those articles led to videos and you felt the need to share and discuss the article, or video, with a friend.

Next thing you know, five hours have gone by and your paper is no closer to being done. You lost those hours and you can’t get that time back.

Why do we procrastinate? According to a survey done by the American Psychological Association, 70 percent students consistently procrastinate throughout the school year. Each student has a different reason for avoiding an assignment. Some reasons involve the need to work on another assignment with an earlier deadline. Those students with jobs may not have the to work on it, others simply had better things to do, like watching a favorite TV show was on and they didn’t want to miss. The reasons are endless.

In addition, we assume that even though we are putting off an assignment we’ll have enough time to sit down and do it later on, which is not always the case.

According to psychologicalscience.org, we put off assignments for our future self to handle. We do this because we believe “we’re trying to regulate our current mood and think our future self will be in a better state.” But it’s understandable, not many people want to complete something that, in the long run, doesn’t seem to matter.

But finishing something on time and effectively is important. It’s not good to fall behind in assignments, as it will cause you more anxiety later.

While you may never fully be able to stop procrastinating, you may be able to stop procrastinating on something, which is a step in the right direction.

According to an procrastination may be something you’ll just have to live with but you can effectively combat it and finish your work if you approach it in a different way..

CollegeView offered some helpful advice on how to fight procrastination. Assessing the task, it suggests you split it up into sections, then divide and conquer.

Experience • Tim N. Stelly Sr.

Editorial

Partake in more activities

T

he air of disinterest at Los Medanos College was apparent this semester, what with students not only refusing to participate in certain activities, but making little to no effort in finding out about things happening on campus.

This was demonstrated earlier this semester when the college held its open house. Despite the efforts of those who helped coordinate the event, the turnout was underwhelming.

Now there are some events that do bring in a lot of people, but even with a crowd, it’s hard to get them to invest. For instance, the Lambda Eta Omega Club sold cookies and shamrock shakes for St. Patrick’s Day, and though club members said they were satisfied with the turnout, there weren’t a lot of people who bought things from them. According to LEO President Collin Brown, the club was “very happy with the money we raised, but we could always use more.”

Though funding for school programs come mostly from the school itself, they also rely on students’ contributions but, unfortunately, the people don’t always come through.

Elections are coming up next week and, sadly, there are students who aren’t aware of this.

It’s important for students to participate in things like this, especially if it relates to the way the school is run. It would be moronic to complain about the way student representatives handle things if you don’t do your part and utilize your voting power.

It would be nice to see LMC be a community that not only focuses on getting where you’re going but enjoying where you are, and making the school better by supporting your peers.

Appreciate the past then move on Only ‘90s kids will get this — I miss my Sure you might be spending the morning childhood. Okay a lot of us miss our childhood watching reruns of All That in your underwear regardless of the time period we’re born and but chances are that isn’t all you’re doing. You today’s emphasis on nostalgia reflects this. could be watching TV while simultaneously This generation in trying to work out a way particular seems to be to lie to your boss about hell-bent on shoving missing work because you their obnoxious views hit the bong one too many about which genertimes, or you’re finally ation had the best texting your friend back childhood down the after drunkenly harassing throats of everyone people in “da club” the SOCIALLY UNWELL within earshot. night before.

This is a big probThis is because no lem with people in matter how hard you try my age group and we speak of the past as if and hold on to the past, something from your nothing bad ever happened and we splurge on present reality will always be there to remind things that once brought us great happiness you that you have different obligations to tend to. at a different point in our lives.

Ever encounter one of those people who In fact, a few months ago I had to stop struggle with letting things go? It can be rather myself from spending almost 45 bucks on a sad because it shows an inability to deal with Tamagotchi. The reason I withheld is because, the present. at the last moment, I remembered just how Try to think about the way the world was annoying those things were. before you were old enough to drink. Some Perhaps the reason everyone 18 and older things may have been a little better than keeps saying they feel old is because they keep they are now but you cannot deny that our focusing on a reality they’ll never get back. approach toward a more open-minded and You aren’t seven anymore and though you technologically advanced society has made might find solace in taking a stroll down mem- life as an adult slightly easier. ory lane, it doesn’t compare to the feeling you So go ahead and have a three-hour long had as a youngin. conversations with your loved ones about the The search for a career and complicated clothes you once wore or the music you used personal life will often get in the way of leisure to enjoy, but remember there is a difference time unlike back in the day when your world between reminiscing and using the past to revolved around flare jeans. distract yourself from the present.

Kimberly Stelly

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

And finding a good study partner and eliminating distractions can help. A partner can help you stay motivated and it is easier to concentrate without distractions.

In addition to those tips, CollegeView also said taking a reasonable approach, scheduling appropriate time for assignments and completing the beginning steps for an assignment, will help you stave off your procrastination problem.

Chronic procrastination is difficult to deal with. But with so little time left this semester, it’s important for us to buckle down and get things done.

LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE

Experience

How do you feel about your finals?

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Member California Newspaper Publishers Association

“Overall I’m prepared for my finals. I just feel like I need to study a little more to touch on topics I’m not so sure about.”

— Alexis Coria

“I’m excited for my finals.”

— Holden Keene

“I feel pretty prepared for my finals. My teachers were very helpful and I just make sure I study with a group of friends.”

— Lorena Gutierrez

“My classes don’t start until the summer.”

— Justin McDowell

“My stats class is going to kill me — I’m not confident at all but my child development final? I think I’ll pass that one.”

— Cindy King

“I feel like I need a little bit more time to study but when it comes down to it, I’ll be ready.”

— Billy Wells

“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

Editor-in-Chief .................... JOSEPH DELANO Managing Editor................. BRENDAN CROSS Perspectives Editor........... KIMBERLY STELLY Campus Editor ...........................RATTANA KIM Features Editor ............................JOSH WOOD Arts Editor................................ DAMIAN LEWIN Sports Editor .............................STEVEN LUKE Photo Editor..................... CATHIE LAWRENCE Multimedia Editor.............. JAZMINE GORDON Copy Chief...........................CASSIE DICKMAN Web Editor .................. STEPHANIE PATTISON The LMC Experience is published Fridays by students in the Journalism Program. The newspaper serves both as a laboratory for journalism classes and as a First Amendment forum for campus communication. Opinions expressed in the Experience are solely those of the students and do not represent the views of the college.

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Campus Newswatch National Water Safety Month

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Clubs fundraise for holiday

By GARRETT BELME Staff Writer

Workshop to help with transfer

Students interested in transferring to a 4-year university are encouraged to attend transfer workshops. Join Transfer Academy Counselor David Reyes in this informational session for students to get started on the transferring process or for those that have already begun it.

Students can learn about the process and how to successfully get accepted admission. n Gauranteed Transfers Workshop: Monday, May 11 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brentwood Center, Room 9 n Transfer 101: How to Start the Transfer Process at LMC Workshop; Thursday, May 14 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Student Services Center, SS4-412

Free campus tours available

Get cash back for textbooks

Need to get rid of this semester’s books? The LMC Bookstore is having a Book Buyback on the Pittsburg campus only.

May 14, May 18-21 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and May 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Be sure to bring all CDs, DVDs and supplemental materials purchases with your textbooks.

For more information visit lmcbookstore.net

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Imani Grigsby, daughter of an LMC student, hits a piñata held by Club LEO President Collin Brown at the Cinco de Mayo event in the Indoor Quad.

The upsides to choosing out-ofstate universities Staff Writer

Experience • Ashley Castaldi

Smashing the competition

The Super Smash Bros. tournament was held by the club Gamers United April 30 in the Library Room L-109 and later moved to Room CC-121, where the club holds their meetings. Around 16 members of the Los Medanos College community competed in the event. After each round, the competitiors were divided into brackets depending on the winners and losers of each match. The winner of the competition was Alex Benitez.

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

The smells of fresh Mexican food filled the air on the third floor of the Los Medanos College College Complex. Mexican themed decals hung from light poles, along with streamers in the colors of Mexico’s flag twirling down them.

There were a few tables set up for students and faculty members to sit and eat their fresh cooked tamales and enchiladas at the Cinco de Mayo celebration, put forth by both Club Leo and the Healing Hearts, while they listened to the Mexican music blaring from two large speakers There were children from the LMC daycare making maracas and a piñata was available for anyone who wanted to take a swing at it.

Ariel Miller, who’s in charge of fundraising for Club Leo, said she “thought it’d be fun to hold an event that celebrated Mexican independence.”

Miller also said half of the money they raised from selling tamales and enchiladas will go to helping Hearts Heal, while See MAYO, page 6

Other options to transfer

By RENE DE AMARAL

Norrel Cooper accepts defeat as Andre White wins and moves to the final round of the Super Smash Bros. tournament.

— Alice Walker

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

National Water Safety Month is an annual awareness campaign to promote the importance of water safety.

The movement is coordinated by The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals with support from the National Recreation & Parks Association, the American Red Cross and the World Waterpark Association.

The organizations look to bring safe, enjoyable aquatic activities to the American public, from home pools and spas, to waterparks and resort, to public swimming and water recreation facilities.

As the weather warms up, pools are preparing to open and crowds are gearing up to head to the beach. National Water Safety Month is the perfect time to ensure you prepared to spend a fun, safe day by the water.

So remember to exercise cause when swimming, especially in an unfamiliar location, maintain constant visual contact with children and if you go boating, wear a life jacket.

Sign up for the Transfer Center’s upcoming Southern California Tour from May 26-29. The Transfer Center will provide transportation.

For additional information, registration, future tours and tour suggestions contact the Transfer Center at 4737444 or check out its website losmedanos.edu/transfer/ default.asp. The Transfer Center is currently located in the Student Services building Room SS4-435.

“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”

This is the time in the semester when students receive their acceptance letters from the various universities they applied to. And while many Los Medanos College students choose to stay in state, others take the out-of-state route.

When deciding which path to take, each has its own pros and cons, which students must consider when choosing where to go.

According to collegeboard.org, the average out of state tuition at a public university is $22,958, whereas the average California in-state tuition is $6,759.

Students can try to establish residency to receive the residency fee rate, but each state has its own requirements.

Going out of state may be worth the added financial burden for some.

Transfer Programs & Services Coordinator Adé Orígúnwá explained that many students choose to go out of state because it’s a new experience for them.

“Some students have a great sense of adventure and are able to entertain the idea of living somewhere new,” she said. “Going out of state means one will have to learn new weather patterns, local culture and the cheapest way to get home

for the holidays.” in time I wanted to learn what it was like According to www. datamart.cccco. to be completely on my own.” edu/, 111 students from LMC transReyes also said students might be inferred out of state during the 2013-14 terested in the “student life and campus academic school year. In addition, a total life of that school” or “they were offered of 14,247 California community college scholarships/financial aid to attend.” students transferred out of state during In addition, he said the student may want the same year. to pursue the “athletic/sports programs Transfer Programs & Services coun- offered at the school” or “admissions/ selor David Reyes said application requirements students may decide to go might be different/more out of state for a “variety “Some students viable than UCs or CSUs, of different reasons.” and other personal reahave a great California schools may sons that can vary from not offer their ideal major sense of student to student.” or an out-of-state school adventure and Out of state schools may have a better repalso have different reare able to utation. quirements than CaliIn addition, he said stu- entertain the fornia schools. dents may want to move Basic Califor nia out of state to “be close to idea of living transfer requirements family” or because they somewhere include 60 transferable enjoy the “location of the units, completion of CSU new.” transfer school and would General Education, or — Ade Origunwa Intersegmental General like to move away from the Bay Area/California Education Transfer Curand explore another city/state.” riculum course requirements, a minimum Student Ambassador Chloé Cooper 2.0 GPA for CSUs and a minimum 3.0 has decided to transfer out of state so she GPA for UCs. can be close to her family and partake in But this can be a problem as well as a new experience. a benefit.

“I decided to transfer out of state “Since California is a big state some because my family was moving across out-of-state schools will honor our IGcountry and I wanted to be near them,” ETC course pattern,” said Orígúnwá. said Cooper. “However, even before they “Students need to research and talk with made their decision, I was considering the admissions departments of the outtransferring out of state. For that moment of-state schools they are considering.”

Cramming session before finals start

By MARISSA PERRY

mperry@lmcexperience.com

The Center for Academic Support will be hosting its regular end-of-semester Study Slam to help students make it through final exams.

The event will be held in the CORE May 13, from 3 to 9 p.m.

The center will be staying open two hours later so students can study in a place where they are comfortable and can get the help they need.

“This is a cram session, so we are open later than our usual hours of closing at 7 p.m. It is the students last push before finals and everything is drop-in, so no appointment is required,” said CORE worker Sketch Choice.

Peer tutoring will be available for specialized subject tutoring such as biology, business, ETEC, music, French and psychology. Librarians will be available in the CORE as well to help students locate books they might need, and food and drink will also be provided for anyone who shows up.

Students will be able create their own study groups and stay for as long as they need

to get help from tutors, CORE staff and reading and writing consultants. If students prefer to study alone, there will be room for those who choose to do so, but study groups can access them as well.

Consultations will be 30 minutes but tutoring will be available for as long as each student needs.

All students are encouraged to attend to get that extra push before finals.

“The study slam is fun. You can bring your friends and have a big study group, or just chill by yourself for a solo study session,” said CORE worker Christa Leach. “Not only that but there is free food for any participant.”

Whether students are high achievers or are struggling in certain subjects, the Study Slam is per fect to get any additional help.

With final exams coming up soon, the Study Slam is a good way to get that extra study session in before exams begin. For any question about the Study Slam, students can call the CORE at 473-7590.

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“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

— Oscar Wilde

Festival provides opportunity Bartolo’s ‘My Block’ a glowing example

By RENEE SMITH and BEATRIZ HERNANDEZ rsmith@lmcexperience.com

The sixth annual New Play Festival is a series of 10 to 15 minute student-written plays that will be performed at the Little Theater by the advanced acting class for only three nights, starting May 11.

“It’s a very eclectic combination of plays,” said Brian Watson, the technical director for the Drama Department.

In recent years the department has received anywhere from 60 to 100 submissions and the best 10 are selected by Los Medanos College Drama Department Chair Nick Garcia based on their fit for the festival and how well they will work with the Acting II students, who will be performing them as their final project.

Graphic art students also worked on this project by designing the posters for the festivals — those whose designs were chosen have their work displayed all over campus.

“It allows us to come together and perform our craft and experience it with one another, and really learn from each other in the whole process,” said LMC drama student Terrence Alegre.

New Play Festival veteran Federico Bartolo III, recently had his original hip-hop musical “My Block,” that recently ended its run, which was performed in the Little Theater.

“This is my first musical, and my first attempt at ever writing a musical but I’m glad I took the challenge,” said Bartolo, who has written other plays and will also be having another

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Left to right, drama students Samantha Valencia, Briana Solis and Alante Blackmon rehearse “The Split” for the New Play Festival opening May 11. creation of his, that he co-wrote with three other writers, performed at the New Play Festival this year.

The idea of “My Block” came to Bartolo in February of 2014 at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. After having the opportunity to meet Idris Goodwin and KCACTF keynote speaker

Daniel Banks, who are both a part of the Hip-Hop Initiative that works to develop acting skills with hip-hop culture influences, Bartolo learned how hip-hop is slowly making its way into the theater world. Shortly after the encounter the first song performed in the play, “Can’t Do It,” was created.

“Just a couple of years ago Federico was writing his first 10-minute play,” said Garcia, “that was the first play he ever wrote and then a couple of years later he’s writing a full production.”

“My Block” is a reflection of common choices and consequences.

According to Bartolo, the musical tells

“This is my first musical ... I’m glad I took the challenge.”

— Federico Bartolo

See PLAY, page 10

Killer ‘Kombat’ on PS4 and iOS Story and gameplay shine

By JOSEPH DELANO

jdelano@lmcexperience.com

The newest installment in the Mortal Kombat universe, “Mortal Kombat X,” released April 14, has breathed new life into one of my favorite game franchises.

I hadn’t played a Kombat game for quite some years. My first experience was with the original in the early nineties.

I played that game for years as a child, (I am a fully-functioning adult with no aggression issues by the way, gore be damned.)

I’m certain that my parents continued to purchase the games, as we once played as a family. It is a family game, anyway. But I really only remember the original. That being said, I lost interest for more in-depth games in my teens.

I was totally unaware that new Kombat games were being

REVIEW

released on an almost-yearly basis. When the series reboot, “Mortal Kombat,” was released in 2011, it completely missed my attention. Maybe it was bad marketing, or perhaps I just wasn’t interested.

In a brilliant move, the creators of the game, NetherRealm Studios, released an iOS version of the game prior to the release for the larger platforms.

The app, which was free, pulled me into the universe once again. With vastly improved graphics, familiar players and a crop of newbies, I was hooked (pun intended).

While the app is only similar in looks to the PlayStation 4 version, it still allowed me to easily play on-the-go with no financial commitment. The app had features in it that were not in the larger game, namely the ability to upgrade players and gain new powers

Photo courtesy of Gamespot.com

D’Vorah unleashes an attack on Sub-Zero in the newly released Mortal Kombat X, the series’ first installment in nearly four years. and capabilities.

Even though this feature was lacking in the full version, I was not disappointed in anything else in the full game.

The storyline picks up 20 years after the events of the 2011 reboot. There’s a new crop of fighters, most of them

REVIEW CREW

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Movie Summary: The Avengers assemble again as they are put to the test and battle to save the planet from destruction against Ultron. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Written and directed by Joss Whedon. Rated PG-13. Runtime: 2 hr. 21 min.

relatives of vintage characters that play along with the old favorites. Cassie Cage and Takeda are introduced as the children of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, and Kenshi, respectively, among others.

I don’t really play games all that often, and when I do, I gen-

erally do turn-based strategy games, like Civilization. That being said, the story mode of Kombat was pretty good. You play as various characters in “chapters,” combatting three or four opponents each chapter.

There are plenty of old throwbacks that fans of the

series will enjoy, like the Krypt and the tower challenges. Each of which have features that are sure to excite, like the game modifying “Test Your Luck” portion, where as many as 7 modifiers are attached to the game. Modifiers include fiery See MKX, page 10

HHHHH

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Damian says: ‘Ultron’ a marvel

Brendan says: Better than the first

Very few movies these days have the ability to make me feel like a kid again. However, with “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” I found myself transported back to my childhood, fully captivated by the images of my favorite superheroes as they battled their enemies on the big screen before me.

With amazing special effects and a excellent storyline far superior than Marvel’s previous Avengers film, “Age of Ultron” provides an action packed experience for viewers of all ages, regardless if you are familiar with the franchise or its characters.

In addition to the “Marvel-ous” digital effects that were used, most notably for that of the films main antagonist Ultron, voiced superbly by James Spader, the filmmakers did a great job of keeping the audiences attention through dramatic sequences that helped achieve more character development among the superheroes, providing more of a background into their own demons and weaknesses.

An amazing production from beginning to end, this is definitely a movie I would recommend for all ages, superhero fans or not.

— Damian Lewin

“Avengers: Age of Ultron” is the second amalgam of Hollywood A-listers once again gussied up in their Marvel superhero garb that, for the most part, entertained from start to finish.

There were roughly 10 cast members who would be considered main characters based on screen time, and another handful of side characters that we all know and love that got theirs as well. The constant shuffle makes for a lack of character development, especially for the new additions of Ultron, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

The standout of the new additions is Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. If you can get past the ghastly accent, she provides some of the more emotionally charged moments in the film and has some mind-bending powers to boot. She also happens to be the only Olsen sister, the others being Mary-Kate and Ashley, that can actually act their way out of a paper bag.

Some of the quips and playful banter fall flat, but the dark undertones and feeling of despair the Avengers go through gives them a humanistic and relatable feel that engaged me more than its predecessor.

— Brendan Cross

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“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”

— Aristotle

Art shapes students Program inspires creativity

By YETUNDE OGUNLEYE Staff Writer

The mark of a properly functioning, constantly progressing institution is often found in the products it creates. The Los Medanos College Art Department is yet another piece of the puzzle that is student success.

The success of the students is and always has been this institutions main goal. This is a collective effort between the faculty, staff, and students at the college that results in not just a proud student body but beautiful pieces of artwork. The department has been molded over the decades to fit the needs of all students that come to LMC. The art classes and various art transfer and degree programs are packed full with students fresh out of high school, recent major changes, returning students that have already gone on to earn a degree, and those who just seek to enrich their lives with a fun class or two.

When talking to the students in Lucy Snow’s Concepts of Sculpture Art – 60 class, the varying backgrounds and purpose for taking the class had no impact on the enthusiasm that the students had for the art they where creating. Whether it was a student with Math degree from Mills College, like Leslie Rickerd, a student that’s majoring in the arts like Shelby Lefond, or someone just looking to fulfill the general ed requirements like Savior Mack, the students found the class to be an eye opening breath of fresh air.

The Concepts of Sculpture class is a perfect example for the success of the whole department. The class requires he students to use different mediums and sometimes combine two or three of them for a project; the mediums used are wood, clay, plaster, and metal. A lot of the student have never worked with things like metal which requires the use of welding tools but it broadened their horizon’s to a new way of self expression and even inspires them to work with the mediums outside of class.

When asked about her first time experience welding metal in the class Savior Mack said, “ I’m actually thinking about cleaning up the garage and making a work studio for wood and welding. It’s not too expensive, it’s do-able.”

Shelby Lefond , a Graphic Design major, also said that she loves working with metal thinks that the wide variety of mediums aid in helping to produce a unique creative environment and thought process that allows for many stunning art pieces to be made. This class structure allows for each student to create a collection of cohesive bodies of work that span across a sea a mediums because as Shelby see’s, “ Since it’s not narrow you can go free.”

There’s a reason why taking an art class is required in order to transfer to almost every 4 year university in world, there is a an undeniable need for human beings to refine their lives through the arts. This need shouldn’t be ignored or seen as trivial, the gains that a student can receive from taking an art class is imperative to the overall development See ART, page 10

Experience • Ariana Mackson

LMC student Linda Rivera working on her piece for the upcoming Davis Arts Center show.

Sculpture by Erin Tadena

Sculpture by George Tompkins

Sculpture by Leslie Rickerd

Sculpture by Martha Magsombol

Sculpture by George Tompkins

Sculpture by Markeisha Beckham

The Spectrum of Student Sensibility “Clay is my favorite medium, you can do whatever you want with it. I made a hand drum out of clay…I plan on going into the military.”

— George Tompkins

“It was cool working with different mediums, wood was my favorite. I was surprised that I was able to work with all the different mediums.”

“Even though it takes a long time I like the process of framing wood. The art class is inspiring and I do plan on taking more art classes.”

­— Savior Mack

— Ida Manriquez

“It’s very open, there’s not a lot of rules, like we can work with other people and we can make basically anything we want.”

— Shelby Lefond

“I learned patience through the art of quilting it’s a combination of colors, art, and math. Quilting takes a lot of hours.”

“I really like plaster…

I ‘ve been drawing and painting for a while, but I like digital art. I’m majoring in Graphic Communications.”

— Leslie Rickered

— Angelic Gutierrez

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Huff said that when LMC was undergoing construction, and being “gutted,” there was a drop in headcount.

Other issues arose from the lack of funding in the years beforehand as well.

“We had to lay people off and cut classes dramatically because the state wouldn’t fund us as they had prior,” said Huff.

The district is currently utilizing state stability funding again, which it returned to after ending the most recent round of that service in the 2013-14 fiscal year. The funding help allows the colleges to receive money for projected FTES enrollment for the next fiscal year.

The increase would allow the district to have the opportunity to expand after such a period of contraction.

When the district projects FTES enrollment for each college, it is banking on the projection becoming a reality. It stands to reason that a shortfall in enrollment would equal a shor tfall in FTES funding from the state, and that is exactly what has been the trend.

In the fiscal year 2012-13 the district was unable to capture funds totaling $900 thousand due to a 200 FTES deficit. The same was true for the 2013-14 fiscal year, when the district had to borrow the FTES numbers from the summer session to make up for the loss in enrollment according to documents presented at the forum (the documents will be made available online with this story).

This fiscal year, the district had, yet again, a stalled enrollment. The lackluster period has resulted in the district losing out on potentially $2.7 million in revenue.

The hope is the district can end the cycle of having to borrow FTES from summer sessions and return to a self-sufficient model.

Raising enrollment is crucial. The college has been working to raise awareness of the classes offered at Los Medanos College and to get more people involved in college directly out of high school, among other things.

One of the trends the district looks at is unemployment. Jonah Nichols, vice-chancellor of finance for the district, said during the forum “employment is a significant enrollment factor.”

He clarified that as the unemployment rate rises, so does the enrollment in the district colleges.

Through efforts in funding innovative ideas from campus community members and marketing — such as with the district wide, and college specific commercials filmed earlier this spring — the district hopes to raise enrollment to adequate levels in order to release itself from the need for stability funding.

During the forum, language instructor Laurie Huffman asked whether the college is working to attract the 16 thousand students left stranded by the collapse of Heald College and its parent company Corinthian Colleges, Inc. “We are sending reps to Heald … as part of a transfer program for their students,” said Huff.

He added that while he was unsure whether they were going to attempt to get any students from Corinthian’s other colleges, including WyoTech, he said “we will be certain to work with them on those students too.”

LMC Vice President Kevin Horan said changes on campus are in effect to help counter the stagnant enrollment and boost the number of FTES at the college.

“We have strategically expanded our course offerings at the Brentwood Center,” said Horan. “We have expanded the number of courses being offered in English and math that enable students to accelerate through the remedial level course to college level courses.”

The budget will go to revision later this month, with the hopes of being adopted June 30 of this year.

have this image of wanting to see penguins jumping off of icebergs.”

The Antarctic’s harsh climate and barren landscape may not make it the most ideal destination for even the most adventurous traveler but Karp is no amateur. This past summer she made an equally arduous voyage to a place with similar terrain, yet technically it’s considered the polar opposite.

“I wanted to see polar bears.

And I did, I saw polar bears,” said Karp, of the reason for her recent trip to the Arctic.

“They are really big.”

Karp, who had found an expedition ship through an internet search, traveled to a small island off the coast of Nor way called Svalbard and set sail to search out the local wildlife.

“We got on this ship for about a week and it just traveled north through the ice.” said Karp. “And we were looking for polar bears and walruses and arctic fox and reindeer, and so we saw them all.”

And despite the freezing temperatures, Karp said the trip was quite comfortable.

Passengers were given warm parkas and “it wasn’t too cold,” she said, explaining the temperature was somewhere in the 30s.

But she was presented with an opportunity to experience the full force of the frigid climate — in the form of a polar plunge — which she did.

There was a beach and all you had to do was just run in, said Karp, whose first thought when hitting the water was to get back out.

“Well there was icebergs floating in it, so it was cold,” said Karp, adding that the air actually felt warm after. “It was freezing. It was fun.”

Despite her love of nature, which started as a child during trips to the country with her grandparents and frequenting a couple of friends’ lake house, Karp chose to focus her career on people rather than the environment.

“I wanted to help… in some way,” said Karp, who received a master’s degree in psychology from California State University, Hayward — now California State University, Eastbay — and has her marriage and family therapy license.

Karp’s master’s program focused on issues in the educational system — assessments, learning disabilities and other problems students might face in school.

“For me, school really changed my life,” she said, adding that college “opens up doors and opportunities.

I really wanted to encourage students to do that.”

After college Karp worked in the K-12 academic system as a school psychologist and counselor but she had always had her eye on working at a college. Initially Karp came to LMC for one simple reason — there was a job available.

“Getting a counseling position at a community college was very difficult,” said Karp, who had been working at a school in Antioch when she heard there was a position available at LMC. “I actually started teaching psychology here and then started a few hours of counseling, and then gradually added more and got my foot in the door a little further.”

Finally in 1998, after working for the college as a part-timer for five years, Karp was brought on full time.

In her time here at LMC Karp has been instrumental, said fellow counselor Laura Subia.

“She is the quiet strength and the historian of our department,” she said, adding that Karp is a wealth of knowledge and knows how to answer the complicated transfer questions that come up. “She helped to develop our transfer courses and to develop the transfer center.”

Counselor Sophia Ramirez said it is a loss for both her co-workers and the students, and wished she’d stay longer. “[Karp] has been a great advocate for students and

the Counseling Department,” said Ramirez. “She is also a great colleague and friend, and I will miss her wisdom and laughter.”

Although Karp has enjoyed the tight knit community of faculty and staff at LMC, she said the best part has been helping the students — this is what has made her smile most.

“I feel like I can relate to them,” said Karp. “Because many people are first-generation college students and, you know, maybe they come from families that aren’t encouraging them … or the parents don’t know how to encourage them.”

And Karp, the first college graduate of her family, knows what it is like to defy tradition.

“It’s interesting [because], in my family, basically the goal was to graduate from high school and then I was expected to work,” said Karp who was born to a New York City detective and stay-at-home mom. “But I had friends in high school whose parents were encouraging them to go to college and they kind of said to me ‘of course you’re going to college.’”

So, she started thinking about it.

“I had always been a good student,” said Karp, but her family didn’t have the money to send her to college.

Karp decided to take the New York Regents Exam, in which students who score well can obtain scholarships, and was offered a full ride to Fordham University — she only spent one year there however and received her bachelor’s of psychology from the City University of New York.

“I was born and raised in New York City,” said Karp, who grew up in the boroughs of Manhattan and, later, Staten Island with her two sisters.

She said growing up in the city was exciting, especially in Manhattan.

“There’s a lot going on and I just loved it,” said Karp.

But when she moved to Staten Island that all changed.

“Because, you know, it was so dynamic and busy in the city,” said Karp. “And Staten Island, you know, is more suburban.”

But there were also some benefits to living on the less crowded streets of the New York suburbs.

“The trade off was I got to have a bike that I could ride around,” said Karp. “I definitely couldn’t have that in Manhattan.”

Eventually Karp decided on another move, one that was all her own, and traded New York’s harsh climate for the milder West Coast.

When Karp was about 23 or 24, she traveled with a friend.

“We took a train from Montreal all across Canada,” said Karp. “We got off and on, and had a great time with our backpacks.”

They made their way to British Columbia and then, after meeting a friend in Seattle, headed south, down the West Coast before heading back across the United States.

“It was a great trip, but when we got to California I just loved it. And I just knew I was coming back at some point,” said Karp, who made the move permanently in 1977.

Even though the “weather is fantastic here” said Karp, the locals are what really set the golden coast a part from her hometown of New York City.

“You know one thing I really noticed is that the people in California, and probably all of the West Coast, is they’re very positive,” said Karp.

She said back home people were not always encouraging, and they were more traditional.

“So, in here in California it’s more of a ‘you can do anything’ kind of attitude,” said Karp. “I kinda like that.”

At the end of this semester Karp will make another life-changing choice — she will retire.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. I just feel like I’d like to do something different,” said Karp, adding that no one knows how long they have to live. “There’s other things I’d like to do. I better get to them you know.”

The attendance exceeded expectations said Miller, who predicted that there would probably no more than 100 people present — half way though, the event already boasted more than 300 attendees.

This was the first Cinco

de Mayo celebration put on

by Helping Hearts Heal and Club Leo, and it is still up in the air whether or not it will be back next year. So here’s to hoping we’re not saying adios to the Cinco de Mayo event anytime soon.

MAYO From page 3

the other half will go to funding Club Leo. They are “trying to build a scholarship for active participants of our club,” explained Miller.

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2015

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“Most entrepreneurial ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomic, and then they’ll turn out to be right.”

—Reed Hastings

Illustration by Taylor Stroud Informational graphic by Ashley Castaldi

Audiences transition from TV sets to new tech

By TAYLOR STROUD

tstroud@lmcexperience.com

It could be argued that young people have begun to spend too much time immersed in the small screens of their smar tphones, tablets and computers. But a shift in the content of the “small screen” has changed enough to apply to everybody. Where we once looked to the TV sets in our living rooms to watch our favorite programs, more and more Americans are looking to these small screens instead.

Millions of Americans have relied on television since its invention to watch their favorite weekly programming. But since its invention in the 1920s, television has gone through many changes to enhance the

viewing experience. Over the years color and picture quality improved, new channels were added and in 1999 the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) allowed for the recording of programs so that you didn’t have to watch them at the time they air.

The world of television has been ever expanding, but we’ve reached a point in pop culture that we should have seen coming all along. You no longer need a television to watch TV – all you need is an internet connection.

Streaming, or the playing of video in real time as it is downloaded over the Internet, has become a major way that people watch television. The most popular ways to stream are through subscription ser-

vices such as Hulu, Amazon Prime and the wildly successful Netflix. These websites offer a wide array of movies and TV shows in exchange for a monthly fee – with some websites even offering free versions.

There are many different kinds of streaming services, even some that cable TV stations have begun to offer, but Netflix definitely has earned the most notoriety.

Netflix began in 1999 with a DVD-by-mail service. This was probably one of the first major steps in the downfall of DVD rental stores in that for $5 per month you could order your movie or TV show rentals online and keep them for as long as you’d like. Naturally,

the company began to pick up speed as demand increased with its viewers.

They eventually decided to make a move that would change the state of TV forever: in 2007, they introduced online streaming as a free addition.

At the time, instant streaming was revolutionary. While it was still convenient to receive movies by mail after only a few days, this method wasn’t effective with TV shows. The way shows are formatted for DVD, a season will have multiple discs with only a couple of episodes per disc. With the mail delivery service, you could only rent one or two discs at a time, so if you were trying to watch an entire season, it might take a while with the

waiting time in between the shipping of the discs.

With instant streaming, you had entire seasons ready to watch on your computer screen.

Needless to way, this changed the entire game.

Shortly after the introduction of online streaming, Netflix made several deals to include more shows and movies and offered streaming as a $7.99 per month standalone service.

This was the beginning of a phenomenon known as “binge watching,” or the viewing of multiple episodes of a show in one sitting.

According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Netflix among nearly 1,500 TV streamers (online U.S.

adults who stream TV shows at least once a week), “…the majority of streamers would actually prefer to have a whole season of a show available to watch at their own pace.” 79 percent said watching several episodes of their favorite shows at once actually makes the shows more enjoyable.

It should be taken into account that Americans are becoming increasingly busy with work and other obligations. It’s harder for families to come together in time for the live airing of a TV show. The idea of being able to catch up with TV shows online takes pressure off of missing episodes and becoming lost.

This is where the DVR has See TV, page 6

HOW PEOPLE STREAM

Top Shows TELEVISION n Game of Thones (HBO) n Good Work (E!) n Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX) n The Walking Dead (AMC)

Netflix wows with exclusives

by TAYLOR STROUD

tstroud@lmcexperience.com

NETFLIX

n DareDevil (Netflix Original) n Orange is the New Black (Original) n Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Original) n Friends n Parks and Recreation

HULU n Deadbeat (Hulu Original) n RuPaul’s Drag Race n South Park n Family Guy n Broad City

”Portlandia” screen capture courtesy of IFC

Fred and Carrie watch every season of “Battlestar Galactica” in one sitting.

The binge-watching epidemic

By ASHLEY CASTALDI

acastaldi@lmcexperience.com

You may have only heard of “binge-watching” in the past year or two, but it has been around for a while. In the 1980s, people got together to watch marathons of their favorite shows on television.

Now, watching hours of your favorite shows is much more easily accessible with streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and many more websites and apps.

Binge watching became an “epidemic” in recent years and most people blame it on Netflix.

Netflix is the most used streaming service with over 61.4 million subscribers worldwide. You can watch unlimited amounts of

television at once, which many people prefer.

Netflix puts up entire seasons of shows at once, giving people the opportunity to watch the show of their choice for hours on end. The general definition of binge-watching is “viewing the same television show for two or more episodes in a row.”

It is difficult to measure exactly how long you have to view a show for it to be considered a “problem.”

Many shows run on television in slots of 30 minutes, but with commercial-free streaming, they are shortened to about 22 minutes.

There are hour-long programs that run for about 44 minutes on Netflix, and then there are shows like BBC’s

“Sherlock,” with a running time of about 89 minutes per episode. So if you watch two episodes of “Parks and Recreation” and your friend watches one episode of “Sherlock,” then by definition that would mean you are the one with the problem.

Amazon Studios, however, plans to release their original content a little at a time. Their reasoning for this is to avoid spoilers for shows because people will watch the entire seasons at once, and so that they can have an active social media buzz week to week like regular television. Most viewers prefer watching television shows after they have aired so they can watch them back to back and not See BINGE, page 6

Netflix has broken new ground as one of the first online streaming services to provide original content. Ranging from TV shows to comedy specials to documentaries, Netflix has proven to be a powerhouse not just in popular content offered but that which they produced themselves.

While the company had released a number of original titles since 2011, July 11, 2013 marked the release of it’s most popular original yet, “Orange is the New Black.”

The show, based on Piper Kerman’s memoir “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison”, follows fictional Piper Chapman’s adjustment from comfortable suburban life to, well, prison.

What made this show’s premiere unique was that it wasn’t provided in weekly installments – viewers were given the entire first season at once.

While some instantly dedicated viewers binged on the season and finished within a few days, others were able to watch at their own pace and could space it out for months if they so desired.

The second season premiered a year later in June of 2014. That month the series received 12 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations in addition to 13 nominations for original drama House of Cards. “House of Cards” won its first Emmy in 2013, making history as the first web-only series to win a Primetime Emmy.

Which do you prefer: Cable TV, Hulu, Netflix or something else?

Compiled

“Netflix because sometimes I don’t want to wait for commercials.”

— Kalia Johnson

“Netflix is cool, I just don’t have the time.”

— Moses Lawson

“Netflix is easier, faster and really nice.”

— Robert Brown

by

Ashley Castaldi & Taylor Stroud

“Independent anime sites [like Crunchyroll] ... I watch a lot of anime.”

— Julian Johnson

“Netflix for sure... I’m really busy and don’t always have time to catch what’s on TV.” — Marc Dale

“Redbox .... It’s convenient because it’s near my house.”

— Kira Wilson

“Hulu. It has the best shows.”

— Brandon Burks

“Online torrents.”

— Valentino Spencer

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LMC baseball honored Awards plentiful for sixth-place Stangs

pitcher Mike Alexander who was the workhorse on the When a team finishes in staff pitching in a team high sixth place and misses the 89 innings.

Utler was happy to be recogplayoffs, there is usually not a lot to be excited about, but Los nized with the award, but said Medanos College baseball had the award motivates him to plenty to be excited about after get better for the next season.

“It just motivates me to get the season as seven players were honored with Bay Valley better for next year because there is definitely still room conference awards.

“Not quite the finish we for me to grow,” he said.

While the award motivated hoped for, but definitely some guys who put together some Utler, it meant something a good numbers,” said head little different to Alexander.

The award was a sign of coach Anthony D’Albora before the conference awards meet- accomplishment for Alexander ing, and it appears everyone who hadn’t played organized involved in conference voting baseball in five years before this season. agreed.

“It makes Despite me feel accomthe record, “It motivates me plished coming t h e M u s - to get better for from where I tangs were awarded with next year because was at a year ago to now,” one player there is definitely he said. named to the still room for me The one and first team, only first team o u t f i e l d e r to grow.”

— Ethan Utler selection was Jerome Hill, Hill, who knew two players to the second team, three coming into the season, he honorable mentions and one was going to have to be one of player, Jared Ambuehl, was the key offensive players. He was not just one of the keys on awarded with a gold glove.

The honorable mention offense, he was the key as he awards went to infielders led the team in batting average, Derek Slate and Carlos Carrillo runs and stolen bases as well who consistently contributed as finishing second on the team on offense and starting pitcher with 18 runs batted in.

“Last year I knew I was batBrian Womack who had a dominating stretch of three tling for some playing time, but straight complete game wins. I knew if it was a close game The two players who were I’d be to come in and play for honored as Second Team defense. I just needed to get All-Conference were catcher my hitting to come around and Ethan Utler who was second eventually it did and I got the on the team in runs batted in late start last year to finish and will be returning to the off the season,” Hill said. “I team for 2016, and starting See BASE, page 6

By STEVEN LUKE

sluke@lmcexperience.com

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Centerfielder Jerome Hill steadies under a fly ball during a 7-2 win against Mendocino College March 12. Hill finished the season as the team leader in batting average, hits, stolen bases and was awarded Bay Valley First Team All-Conference.

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“Awards mean a lot, but they don’t say it all. The people in baseball mean more than statistics.”

— Ernie Banks

Jared Ambuehl REAL TIME WITH JARED

Put PEDs in the past On Marty Lurie’s radio talk show on KNBR 680, another issue about Barry Bonds came into view, this time whether or not he should be welcomed back in the Giants organization as a coach. There is no doubt if Mr. Bonds wanted a coaching spot schooling up the Giants hitters, he would be overqualified for the job.

Whether or not Bonds wants, or should want, a place in the organization which gave him the pedestal to become one of the greatest players in the history of the game is a completely different issue. But I’m here to tell you if he did, the team in the city by the bay should welcome him back with open arms.

Who knows if Bonds even has the itch to get back in the game he played so stunningly, but the league has seen admitted steroid user Mark McGwire welcomed back as a hitting coach by the St. Louis Cardinals and now he holds the same position for the Los Angeles Dodgers, so there is precedent.

The MLB has also let Alex Rodriguez continue to get at-bats for the New York Yankees after serving a yearlong suspension last season.

McGwire apologized and A-Rod got caught, but any way you slice it, they are back in the game.

However, not ever yone believes it is the right thing to do to let Bonds back in the league. Keith Olbermann, an ESPN anchor who is always in the news for his controversial opinions, had this to offer about Bonds becoming a coach according to nbcsports.com.

“You cheated the game. You dishonored the game. The game has been better off with you forgotten, with you in the wilderness, with your statistics as meaningful as video game numbers,” he said. “Barry Bonds is a liar, a cheat, a shame to this sport, and to all sports and to this country.”

See PEDS, page 10

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Sports

Quotable

E X P E R I E N C E

FRIDAY,

MAY

8,

2015

9

“Hitting is timing.

Pitching is upsetting timing. ”

— William Spahn

Pitching stars prevail

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Jenna Leavitt pitched in both games against San Francisco and ultimately finished with 11 strikeouts in a total of eight innings Jan. 31.

Mike Alexander pitched all nine innings, faced 34 batters and finished with five strikeouts in a win against Mendocino on March 12 with a final score 7-2.

No. 10 shines on field

No. 17 shows resolve

By LOGAN JONES

By JOSH WOOD

During springtime at Los Medanos, baseball and softball take over as the sports that finish off the year. During the softball season, Jenna Leavitt took over the pitching mound.

She dominated.

These little words on a page don’t give her pitching near enough credit. However, if you were at the LMC diamond on game day, her pitching performances left you baffled and speechless.

She finished games and was difficult to hit off of all season long. Six shutouts, two one-hitters and two no-hitters are some of the achievements “This girl I think was the most she put on her resumé. One dominant pitcher.”

— Tim Rognlien of the no-hitters was a perfect game. In total, she pitched 103 receive her four-year degree, but is grateful innings this season in conference.

“This girl I think was the most dominant for her experience in the softball program.

“My favorite part about LMC softball is I love pitcher in the Bay Valley Conference. Without a doubt,” said Head Coach Tim Rognlien. competing. I love playing the game and I’ve “Her totals were outstanding, she averaged met some really cool friends here,” she said.

For the 2015 season at LMC, she averaged two strikeouts per inning.”

With accomplishments like that, it’s no 6.17 strikeouts per game and totaled 57 strikewonder she was unanimously voted in first outs in conference. Her fielding percentage team all-conference in the Bay Valley and was far above average at .961 and only had nominated for the all-state team, but ultimately two errors on the season.

Softball will always be a part of her life, came up short. She was also runner-up for and she will continue to play in a recreational Bay Valley Pitcher of the Year.

But prior to striking out batters as a Mustang, league in Concord. She does not want to play fast pitch anymore and instead will focus on she was doing it at Concord High School.

Her junior and senior year she received school.

After school she hopes to become a rapitcher of the year back-to-back in 2011 and diology technician because “they make good 2012.

As a senior at Concord High, the softball money and the field has opportunities for team made it to North Coast Section cham- advancements.”

When not out on the softball field, she loves pionship. She pitched the entire game that spending time with family and friends. She clinched the championship.

In her first year at LMC Leavitt also made has a passion for water and loves being out first team all-conference. However, the following on the boat, sometimes being towed riding a season she was unable to play because she was wakeboard or sitting in an inner tube.

The Leavitt family has always been suptwo units short and had family concerns. But fast pitch softball was yet to be over for her. portive of their star pitcher.

“My mom and dad have come to all my games This season the Stangs saw the return of Leavitt with a new coaching staff ready to since I was 7. My brother comes whenever he has the day off work. My grandparents, aunts, bring change to the program.

“The coaching staf f is wonder ful and and uncles keep all the newspaper clippings have made countless improvements to the they can,” Leavitt said.

In fact she first saw her brother play baseprogram,” said Leavitt. “I can’t explain how grateful I am to the entire coaching staff for ball and liked the idea of sharing a common sport with her sibling. Softball and baseball all they’ve done for us girls.”

At this semester’s end, Leavitt will have an are definitely Leavitt sports for the entire AA in Liberal Arts for Health and Sciences. family. No. 10 for LMC softball dominated, and Next fall she will attend Cal State East Bay to her pitching domination won’t be forgotten.

“If I want something, I’m going to go get it,” says Mike Alexander, pitcher for the LMC baseball team.

Alexander ended this season with a whopping 74 strikeouts, placing himself as the strikeout leader this season giving him an average of 7.48 strikeouts per start.

Alexander said, “I started playing tee-ball when I was 4,” and since that time, he hasn’t felt the same without baseball.

But Alexander ended up straying from that path, and in the winter of 2009, Alexander was introduced to Oxycontin. “I’d do something wrong, I’d feel it, he was spending time with and Ken would point it out. ” — Mike Alexander some friends, and “a line kind of appeared.” Alexander caved in to peer pressure. “The next thing I began taking classes at Cypress City College and Fullerton City College. Even after just knew, I was addicted.”

He stuck around DVC until early February, coming out of recovery, Alexander kept basewhen he dropped out and moved to Monterey ball as a part of his life, even if it was only the in an attempt to get clean on his own. “I ended rare game of catch with a friend.

In the fall of 2013, Alexander got the itch. up going to rehab in Berkeley for three days,” Alexander said. Ultimately, the need for a fix “I felt like I needed to be doing something,” was too strong, and he spent the next one and he said. That something was baseball.

“I tried out at OCC,” said Alexander. “I didn’t a half years hunting the next high.

Alexander eventually moved down to South- make the team, which was expected, but still ern California. “I moved to Huntington Beach a blow. I was out of shape and hadn’t really and stayed with my mom,” he said. Alexander touched a baseball in a long time.”

Deflated, Alexander returned to his focus began attending Orange Coast College while on academics and his occasional game of still under the influence.

In April of 2012, he checked himself into catch, but in March of 2014, the itch returned.

“My dad suggested calling Ken,” said Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach.

“I got sick of a pill controlling every single Alexander. Ken Acosta was his high school pitching coach. “When we first met, I didn’t moment of my life,” said Alexander.

“I was in detox for 8 days,” he said. “There think he knew what he was talking about,” was nothing for you to do in detox except Alexander admitted with a chuckle. “I was an play board games and smoke cigarettes. A ignorant adolescent.” Alexander continued, “I’d do something wrong, I’d feel it, and Ken lot of cigarettes.”

Once out of detox, Alexander stayed in would point it out.” He jokingly said that he something like a house, in a semi-independent began to think Acosta might know what he living situation. “They gave you $75-150 a week was talking about.

He started seriously training again in March, for groceries. They taught you how to live life without the pill.” Alexander’s recovery would and when he contacted Acosta, Alexander ease him into a routine. “You woke up at 7:30, made the move back up here and was given did your meditation, made yourself breakfast a bullpen session to try out for LMC. Alexander now comes off of a fantastic debut and then went to the morning meeting.”

“I was there for about four months,” he said. season, and is hopeful for the future. With In August later that year, Alexander emerged strong determination and a rekindled flame Alexander has something to demonstrate. clean and sober.

“I went back to Orange Coast College,” If Alexander wants something, he’s more Alexander said. “I really wanted to focus on than proven that he’ll take the steps to get it. school. Unfortunately I got put on academic He’s handled addiction to begin handling a suspension, and had to transfer.” Alexander baseball once again.

Jenna Leavitt ljones@lmcexperience.com

Mike Alexander

jwood@lmcexperience.com

L O S

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Back Talk

BASE

PEDS

knew coming into the season that I’m supposed to be the guy in center field the whole way through so I just worked hard to produce and stay in that spot.”

His hard work paid off not only for him but the Mustangs as well.

The final award for the team was a defensive award for Ambuehl who did not make a single error in 34 games in the outfield and has not made a single error dating back to his time at Heritage High School in Brentwood, Calif.

While outfielders get fewer opportunities to make mistakes than other defensive players that is still quite an accomplishment, and was the reason he was honored with the Bay Valley Gold Glove Award.

With that many players winning awards, it’s easy to see this team had potential to be better than their sixth-place finish suggests. Ambuehl said they had the ability and talent to be a better team.

“I think, our kind of team, we didn’t have a bunch of D-1 (division one college) guys, so we needed to make all the routine defensive plays and it just didn’t seem to happen that way, and then calls started to go against us a little bit,” he said. “Every game was like a run or two, and we could’ve been looking at a 20-16 season instead of a 17-19, but it just didn’t work out that way.”

Even winning half of the close games in conference would have dramatically changed the Mustangs season as it would have given the team four conference more wins, and a third place finish in the Bay Valley.

Ambuehl wasn’t the only player who believed this team had the talent to finish with a better record, his sentiments were echoed by Hill, Utler and Alexander as well as by D’Albora.

With the season over and the awards out of the way, D’Albora will look to rebuild around returning award winning players Ambuehl, Utler and Alexander and get back into the playoffs in 2016.

These comments came in his show after Bonds was brought on as a hitting consultant of sor ts in this year’s Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ. For one, it is just Spring Training.

I understand Olbermann has a huge background of baseball knowledge, but he lets his emotions run wild when he does his show, which will always be the reason why I will not completely agree with him.

This is one of the topics in baseball in which I do not agree with Keith Olbermann, who I respect as a great baseball mind and news-person. Everyone deser ves a second chance when it comes to the issue of PED’s. It does not necessarily mean the player should ever be in the Hall of Fame, but as far as not letting a PED user be a coach in the MLB, well I think that is just plain childish.

Steroids or not, anyone who knows the game would know that Barry Bonds would make for a great hitting coach. The guy has every record in the books and a baseball family/ background you would not even believe. If you played in the big leagues, and your dad is Bobby Bonds and your Godfather is Willie Mays, I think that automatically qualifies you for a spot on an MLB team as a coach, let alone if you are Barry Bonds.

The thing that will always go against Bonds is the media.

In all the interviews I’ve ever seen him give, whether it was during his playing career or after, he has not come off as a particularly likeable person to the public eye. You cannot blame the guy, though, after all him and his family have gone through in court trying to clear his name.

As long as Barry stays away from the league, and the San Francisco Giants organization, Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens’s job is safe. But based on Brian Sabean’s history of bringing veterans to his ball club and former Giants players in to coach from time to time, I would say if Bonds wants it, Sabean will think long and hard about bringing him back even if Meulens is doing a good job.

From page 8

MKX From page 4

floors, health bonuses, tilting floors and hyper-speed.

While the game itself is beyond reproach there are a couple small changes I would have made to make it more realistic.

The X-ray attacks that each player can do at some point in combat are very violent (great) and extremely graphic, (even better) but the depiction of the move always seems to indicate that someone would die from the attack. That is not the case, most of the time, you could reduce a health bar by half.

Perhaps there could have been a setting that disabled the X-ray attack until such a time as it would K-O an opponent.

PLAY From page 4

the struggles and consequences that come from the decisions we make in our everyday life.

Each character embodies a new struggle and the actors portray the message of the characters through relations in their own lives.

“The actors are being truthful to the characters because they can relate to their character off of the stage,” Bartolo said.

Actors were chosen through a short audition process and those with the ability to sing or rap were encouraged to come try out. The actors within the musical showed promise and filled out the idea of the characters.

Among the cast was rising comedian and LMC student Lenard “The Kyd” Jackson who is no stranger to performing on stage. Jackson has performed with big names such as Kevin Har t, Tommy Davidson and Luenell and hails from a performing arts high school.

Jackson said he was excited to be a part of this original production.

After its opening night, “My Block” had gotten a lot of at-

From page 8

The only other thing I would have added into the game was some way to tie the iOS app into the PS4 version. I had spent a lot of time and effort on my handheld device building up a team of players, and a tie-in would have made it all the more worth it.

All being told, this game is a killer and well worth the time it takes to rub a few pennies together. It makes other, similar fighting games look like garbage. It’s the fastest-selling release in the Kombat universe, and with good reason.

The game, which is available for $59.99 at most stores, is playable on iOS, Andriod, PS4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.

My official rating is 10 out of 10 dismembered elder gods.

tention and the word spread.

“As the show went on the ticket sales got better,” said Garcia. “The last night sold out.”

And overall it seemed to accomplish its goal.

“Something that we were hoping with this play is that it was really going to speak to a lot of people in our community who might be going through some similar things or have seen some people go through similar situations,” said Watson.

As someone who wrote for the New Play Festival last year, Bartolo has seen the success of the festival’s main goal — to give LMC playwrights the oppor tunity to have their creations performed on stage.

Submissions for the festival are open every year and are not limited to only the drama department.

“It’s going to be great to see how much further him and other future students can go with this opportunity,” said Watson.

The New Play Festival opens at the LMC Little Theater May 11 and will run through May 13 with 7 p.m. showings.

Tickets cost $7.

Web

E X P E R I E N C E

F R I D AY,

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8,

2015

10

It’s over 9,000

TV

From page 7

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

The new bottle-filling stations in the Student Services Building have been active for only a few short months, but have already saved more than 9,000 bottles of water. Jim Martin, process technologist, says he fills his bottle at least four times a day. The fountains have a meter that displays the number of bottles saved by using the filling feature to reuse containers. Los Medanos College President Bob Kratochvil said that the “stations are expected to be a standard for all new space in our construction projects.” He added that the existing fountains around campus are planned for a long-term overhaul. “Hopefully, slowly but surely, all drinking fountains can be converted to these filling stations,” he said.

YEONG

BINGE

From page 1

From page 7

have to wait an entire week in agony to find out what happens after the cliffhanger.

For April Fool’s day, Netflix created a series of videos called “Binge Responsibly” and one would auto-play between episodes if you binge watched.

The videos were actors from Netflix original shows with messages such as “Go outside,” “Take a shower,” and “Call your mom.”

Binging is a brief period of excessive indulgence. Research is being done to try and link things such as depression to people who binge-watch television. Because the definition of binge watching is so unspecific, it is difficult to measure accurately and get an answer.

The research is interesting because of addiction symptoms that are present in these individuals. They have no self-control to stop letting Netflix auto play the next episode or to get up and be productive.

There are people against binge watching because they believe it ruins the program.

Jim Pagels, a writer for slate. com, says that episodes lose their integrity when watched

ART From page 5

of themselves as a person, this is why having a properly functioning Art department with great all encompassing ar t class is so impor tant.

Angelica Gutierrez noticed this first hand, after switching her major from Psychology to Graphic Communications, she describes the process of creating sculptures in the class in a cathartic way stating, “ It helps you see things in a dif ferent light, because it really helps you see things in 3D, you see things in real life.”

Another great thing about the Art department is that it allows student to use the facilities, on request, for their

all at once. He believes that shows take time to digest, that each stor y arc needs to be mulled over. Pagels believes that the connection you make with the characters and shows should last longer.

Cliffhangers and suspense are an important part of the show.

Pagels suggests viewing or joining an online community for the show itself, where viewers provide their own analysis, make predictions and just talk about the show.

However, others see binge watchers as intelligent people with a healthy brain. They are smart because they can focus on the many different arcs of the show and continue watching episode after episode. They have a good attention span and react to the multiple stor ylines. Also, people don’t always binge watch alone! They throw viewing parties or watch with a friend, marathoning a show just like years ago before streaming.

If you Google search “binge watching,” articles come up on “how to binge watch” whatever show and “top shows to binge watch” This behavior is being encouraged.

own personal art that they create outside of class. George Tompkins has his eyes set on the military, although he has great talent and loves ar t, uses the art room to fire the clay pieces he make at home, which he agrees, contributes to his own personal growth.

It’s clear from the appreciation of LMC students that the art department is going above and beyond the needs of student body. This is undeniable when the individual needs of each student are not only attended too but the other interests of the students are inevitably enriched as a result.

When a math major can use the art of quilting.

Follow the LMC Experience online at lmcexperience.com

for many years said “I can tell you that he is passionate about teaching, committed to his students, open to new ideas and one of the kindest and most humble people I know. He deserves this award and I am delighted that he is receiving recognition of his service to this college and our students.”

LMC English teacher instructor Jo Ann Hobbs made similar statements.

“I was really happy for him.

He’s very passionate about his teaching.” Hobbs noted that part of the reason he teaches so well is because he engages the students both inside and outside of class.

He takes his time to ensure his students know what’s going on.

“I think he’s always thinking about student success. The passion he brings is a big reason students resonate with him.” He likes to connect with students, that’s what he’s all about,” said Hobbs.

According to the Contra Costa County Office of Education, “one instructor from CCCCD is submitted to the TOY program for his/her outstanding body of work with their designated college.

The colleges rotate each year between Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa.”

This year, it was Los Medanos College’s turn.

“He has just been delightful to work with; this is a well-deserved honor for Mr. Yeong,” said Caldwell.

In order to be honored, there is a process in which the CCCOE reviews applications submitted by the schools, then after obser ving and discussing the instructor’s body of work, the teacher of the year are announced and rewarded.

“It’s an honor to have one of our colleagues In the English Department recognized in that way,” said Ybarra.

Yeong could not be reached for comment.

proved effective – but there exists a limit of space. Viewers typically won’t have enough space to save an entire season’s worth of episodes to catch up on.

One appeal of Netflix is the ability to sit down at absolutely any time and watch any number of episodes you have time for.

At times, one might not even be able to finish one episode (Netflix always saves your spot), but other times one might have an entire free Sunday to spend catching up, or “binge watching”.

Netflix does receive some criticism, however, for not being up to date on the latest films and shows. Sometimes a show will be one to two seasons ahead of the latest one available for stream. One of the newer streaming services Hulu has an appeal unique from Netflix in that some weekly cable television shows update the site with each week’s new episode. In addition, Hulu offers both a paid and a free subscription service – at this point, it’s actually the number one free TV streaming website in the U.S. Whichever service(s) you use, dif ferent options are available for different kinds of viewers: those who like to keep up with shows in a timely manner and those who prefer to wait until a season is over to watch it at their own pace.

Now, while streaming has grown wildly popular (in 2014 there were 95 million consumers of online TV in the U.S.), it wasn’t until very recently that cable television experienced tangible changes in viewership as a result of streaming.

According to Wall Street Journal, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau said that 40 percent of TV-rating declines in the third and fourth quarters of 2014 were attributable to streaming services.

This could have been for many reasons. Perhaps viewers are cancelling their cable ser vices in favor of online streaming – it is significantly cheaper. It could be a matter of convenience, seeing as streaming services can be accessed anywhere with an Internet connection, including cell phones. Or people could be less interested in cable programming and more interested in online-exclusive shows such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards.

Online streaming services have acquired massive viewership, with Hulu having over 6 million paid subscribers and Netflix over 39 million, but it has only recently meant less viewers of cable television.

A few cable programs have proven there to still be a solid cable TV audience. 2015’s drama Empire was TV’s highest rated first-season finale in 10 years with 23.1 million viewers, and comedy The Big Bang Theory topped 2014 with an average of 23.4 million weekly viewers.

Some television hits are standing strong amidst the massive popularity of Internet TV. Again, what’s looking to be a shift from cable TV to online streaming has only just begun, so only time will tell if streaming becomes big enough to eclipse television completely.

ECIGS From page 1

The first place team for the worlds debate was John Paul Castillo and Dalisha White.

Anise Gonzalez and Kalee Kennedy clinched second place and Dulce Gutierrez and Kyle Williams locked down third.

Informative Speaking had an unbreakable tie for first place between Kathryn Dudoroff and John Villanueva. In third place was Kristina Cruz.

Arlena Perez took first place in Persuasive Speaking.

For second place there was another tie between Xiuqing (Peggy) Chen and Tonja Razmek.

Finally, in Impromptu Speaking Ashley Pederson took first place. Richard Stanfield took second place and Crysta Beckwith in third.