tion charity Month
Nov. 11
Veterans day. Take the time off to honor the fallen and living military veterans
Nov. 24
Thanksgiving day, surround yourself with family and friends.
The Center for Academic Support will be having two more Saturday Specials this semster. Reading and writing consultants are available online for 25-minute appointments. They will be available Nov. 5 and Nov. 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
LMC Marketplace has partnered with the learning communities and put together baskets full of Thanksgiving supplies. Participants who complete the application online before Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. will recieve an email on their scheduled pick up time before Thanksgiving day.
Los Medanos College is under fire after an audio recording was leaked on social media with what has been described as insensitive remarks by a college department manager about “Black people,” prompting a rare response to the allegations from the college president.
One social media post on TikTok in particular, containing the alleged recordings of someone who has been described as an LMC manager, was viewed more than 80,000 times and liked and shared more than 7,500 times as of Wednesday.
The audio, which has not been independently verified by the Experience, features an apparent male voice saying things such as “most white people I know look at Black people like different types of people,” while also complaining about the use of “that coconut oil.”
LMC’s Drama Department will have its first showing of a play in two years Nov. 1619 at 7 p.m.. It is directed by Clint Sides. The play will be here in the Little Theater, with admission being $10 for high school and middle school students, $12 for LMC students and veterans and $15 for general admission.
More than 12 videos calling out LMC and the Contra Costa Community College District were originally posted on TikTok, a popular video sharing app — before also being shared on other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram — by a social media racial justice activist as well as an individual who identifies himself as an LMC employee.
LMC President Bob Kratochvil sent two collegewide emails last month reinforcing the college’s stance against systemic racism and addressing what he describes as “several recent social media posts that contain disturbing information and reference to Los Medanos College.”
“The parties involved in this ongoing personnel investigation, including the manager, were placed on paid administrative leave by the District in June 2022, and – as is the practice with paid administrative leaves – have been directed to not return to any District owned or operated facility,” Kratochvil wrote in the email.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Experience asked
Kratochvil to clarify which “social media posts” he was referencing in the emails he sent out to the campus community. Kratochvil specifically confirmed two TikTok posts, one which featured a video of a woman reacting to audio recordings of someone making insensitive remarks toward Black people and another including an alleged email to See AUDIO, page 7
Following recent allegations of racism made on social media against a Los Medanos College department manager, members of the campus community were given the opportunity to voice their concerns at a special College Assembly Monday. Los Medanos College Associated Students also used their own weekly meeting the same day for students to respond as well.
A video posted Oct. 21 on the social media platform TikTok played an audio recording of an alleged LMC manager making insensitive remarks toward Black people. Additional videos then emerged by an alleged LMC employee about the remarks and an ongoing personnel investigation in which both are involved.
In response to the TikTok videos, LMC President Bob Kratochvil sent a campuswide email Oct. 23 reinforcing the college’s stance against systemic racism.
“We remain deeply committed to the critical work of rooting out systemic racism, inequality, and anti-Blackness at LMC,” Kratochvil said. “We strive to provide an equitable learning and working environment for all students and employees, and to strengthen a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, and racial justice.”
The email led to confusion for some because it did not specify what videos he was referring to. In addition, Kratochvil wrote he is unable to respond directly to the contents of the social media posts because of a personnel investigation.
Despite the vagueness of the email, students were still able to find the videos circulating on social media through TikTok and other platforms like Twitter. During a weekly LMCAS meeting Monday, LMCAS President Jeffrey Bui opened the floor to senators to share their thoughts on
Good mental health and a strong sense of self is vital in order to succeed academically. According to the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center, mental health problems can affect a student’s energy level, concentration, dependability, mental ability, and optimism, hindering performance.
Research suggests that depression is associated with lower grade point averages, and that co-occurring depression and anxiety can increase this association.
Depression has also been linked to dropping out of school.
College students have various reasons to experience depression or anxiety. Some reasons might be linked to academic failure or the pressure from peers.
When a student begins to feel like a failure, it takes a toll on their mental health. Some students might also feel pressured by peers to achieve more or do better.
The overwhelming pressure might cause the student to experience anxiety that could prevent them from being successful.
One study found that five percent of students do not finish their education due to psychiatric disorders and estimated that 4.29 million people would have graduated from college had they not been experiencing such disorders.
Students might also feel tremendous stress due to financial reasons. When anybody is struggling financially, it will take a substantial toll on their physical and mental health.
Ohio State University’s 2015 National Student Financial Wellness Study found that a staggering 70 percent of college students reported feeling stressed about their finances. Trying to pay for classes and loans may lead to students being in debt.
Being in debt may cause a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety. Struggling to afford housing while in college can cause anxiety and malnourishment from not being able to afford food.
32 percent of students reported neglecting their studies at least sometimes because of the money they owed.
If you’re experiencing symptoms of anxiety or depression for whatever reason there are different resources you can reach out to.
Los Medanos College offers resources to help students get care with mental health, financial aid, food, and housing. Los Medanos College understands that supporting students’ emotional and physical well being is vital to academic success. They offer access to resources and referrals to resources on campus and in the community.
On the Los Medanos College homepage under resources, there are different links for each resource.
One of the resources being TimelyCare which provides you with free, 24/7 virtual access to licensed providers for your medical and mental health needs. Start a visit anytime, from anywhere.
In addition to finding resources and reaching out, there are other self care habits you can try to manage stress and anxiety.
One of them is getting enough sleep. Operating in a sleep-deprived state puts students at a distinct disadvantage. They are less productive and may find it more difficult to learn. Getting at least 6- 8 hours is ideal for most adults.
Another thing you can do to improve your mental health is to exercise. Research has found that students who participate in regular physical activity report lower levels of perceived stress.
Regardless of the reasons you might be feeling stressed it is important to remember that there are free and accessible resources there to help you succeed.
Being a college student can be difficult and stressful but you are not alone. TimelyCare delivers free, 24/7 access to virtual care, selfcare, and well-being tools to help students thrive -- including yours.
JUDGMENTEverytime someone comes out with a statement that could be deemed controversial, there’s always a flock of people coming to that person’s defense for the sake of freedom of speech. In some situations it can be just. People’s words can be twisted in ways that completely divert from what they actually meant. However, cases where a person is explicitly using their platform to promote hateful ideas and thoughts should be where the line is drawn.
Los Medanos College has recently dealt with a considerable amount of backlash. Not just on this campus, but across the whole Contra Costa Community College District. A sequence of events that involved racially insensitive remarks allegedly made by a department manager posted on TikTok has made LMC a target on social media as a place of ignorance and hate.
The Experience does not agree with how these events have played out and is entirely against racism. For an inclusive campus to thrive we need to eliminate all forms of hate speech. This means everything: racism, colorism, anti-semitism, etc. It doesn’t matter what is spoken on campus, but if it has to do with the prejudice of another individual then it shouldn’t be tolerated by anybody on campus.
We also want to address how the district has decided to manage this whole situation. LMC President Bob Kratovil indicated that a manager and two employees have been put on leave. But, as of now, they cannot disclose a lot of information on the investigation, as it is currently ongoing.
While the information on the social media posts upset many in the college community, this isn’t about speaking against the college as individuals but coming together as a group with the college to solve this issue.
The college has taken steps by holding an assembly meeting to address what happened. College managers, faculty and staff attended — and even Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh. Many spoke about wanting to make a difference in how employees treat one another while on campus. They spoke out against using violence and stopping racist as well as sexist comments used against one another. They even came to an agreement that they wanted to include the student body in handing the situation.
This is something that everyone faces every day and this campus should be somewhere where you can get away from all that. The staff itself likes to include everybody from all walks of life in our home which is the Journalism Lab.
The Experience is all in with the school. This is an institution for those who wish to further their education and become better people in the long run. As long as everyone is treated equally then we can truly be a unified campus.
Editor-in-Chief ...............MICHAEL BENEDIAN
Managing Editor .....................KAI ARELLANO
Perspectives Editor ................KAI ARELLANO Campus Editor .......................JADEN FORTIER Features Editor .....................TREY HINCKLEY
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, drop them off in Room CC3-301 or email them to LosMedanos.Experience@gmail.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.
Over the past few weeks it feels like Kanye West has been going on a tour of podcasts, posts and news shows promoting his hateful thoughts and comments on Jewish people. West has been making statements that they control all of media and entertainment and that they “own the Black voice”, with that comment coming from a hip-hop podcast called “Drink Champs”. Because of a slew of antisemetic comments West made, he has been dropped from almost every company he has partnerships with which includes Adidas, Gap, Def Jam Records, Balenciaga and plenty other brands have made the decision to no longer work with the rapper.
Now instead of owning up to his actions, West doubled down on his antisemetic thoughts and made Jewish people at fault for his downfall. He believes he is being called out by “the Jewish media.” Despite all the gross negativity West is using his and other people’s platform to spew, there are people coming to his defense that he is allowed to make such comments under the guise of free speech. There is truth to this statement, as comments that most people deem as hate speech are legally protected under our First Amendment right.
However, why should hate speech be allowed to be promoted to billions across the world? What good comes out of that?
I understand that everyone has a right to their own opinion and rightfully so, but we also have the right to criticize people for said opinions. If everyone is mostly allowed to say whatever they want in this country we should also be allowed to criticize and possibly silence those that make hateful comments. Getting off free for the hateful things we say only enables us to do those things more because we know we won’t face any repercussions for saying them.
People can believe in whatever they want to believe in, but they should not be surprised when they say something completely out of line and face backlash for what they say. Everything we put out there for the public domain to see and hear can have its own potential consequences. We all have to face the consequences of our words and actions, that’s just how the world works.
“If I could master any skill, I’d like to be bilingual. I think that would be cool.”
“I would want to be athletically gifted because it could help with school and scholarships.”
“I would learn a different language because it would be better for traveling.” — Maya Murphy
“I would choose tattooing because it’s what I want to pursue in the future.”
“I would master multitasking —— because I would.” — Stevie Martinez
“I’d like to be better at asking for help, right now I’m too embarrassed.” — A’eline Rubio
If you could master any skill set, what would it be and why?
Students interested in attending UC Davis have the chance to learn more about the university during their series of Transfer Opportunity Program, TOP, group advising workshops that take place Nov. 8 and 9 on Zoom. Students who register for this session for their first time will receive a pre-evaluation of UC TAP coursework. They will also learn tips and guidance from TOP Student Outreach ambassadors, coordinators, guest speakers and can connect with other transfer students. Those interested in attending the zoom can register at https://ua.ucdavis. edu/portal/TOP-Group-Advising.
Election Day is coming up Nov. 8, and there is still time to register to vote. To be eligible to vote in California, a person needs to be 18 or older on Election Day, a U.S. citizen and California resident, currently not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction and not found mentally incompetent to vote by a court. As long as you fit those criteria, you can vote!
Those who want to register can either do that at https:// covr.sos.ca.gov/, request a voter registration from to be sent to your address by calling (800) 345-VOTE or picking up their registration form at any DMV, most post offices, public libraries and government offices and have it mailed at one of the county election offices listen on this website:https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ voting-resources/county-elections-offices.
Join Adam Lopez, LMC’s UCLA rep, as he leads a UCLA Transfer Workshop on Nov. 8 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Zoom. Students can ask all the questions they have on the UCLA transfer process and is open to all LMC students, but especially encourages current and future Honors students to attend. Those interested in transferring to UCLA can check this workshop out at https://ucla.zoom. us/j/93276423840
Need any help completing your UC or CSU application before submitting it? Attend a UC/CSU Application Lab for any assistance that you may need. Students can attend either in-person or online via zoom, leaving plenty of opportunity to attend for those interested.
The lab takes place Nov. 8 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m at the LMC Pittsburg campus. Those wanting to attend the zoom can register for this on the calendar that can be found on the LMC website tab under news.
Personal Insight Questions(PIQs) are one of the most important parts of filling out a UC application. UC Santa Cruz is hosting a PIQ workshop Nov. 9 from 5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. so students can receive support on filling out their PIQ’s. Those interested can sign up for this on the calendar that can be found on the LMC website tab under news.
Stop by and speak with Memphis Latchinson of Saint Mary’s college when they come to the LMC Pittsburg campus Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Students will be able to ask Latchinson any questions they have about the college and will receive any additional information they would like to know. Latchinson will be set up in the Student Union.
Los Medanos College lost and found has numerous items on campus. If you have lost an item, check with police services, which is located in the Campus Safety Building at the front of the LMC campus in Parking Lot A.
Los Medanos College Political Science Professor Ryan Hiscocks explained to a large audience Nov. 1 predictions about which candidates are likely to win in the 2022 midterm election Nov. 8.
The presentation, Do the Math: Voting Patterns and the Midterm Election, was the fourth in a series of pre-election events co-sponsored by the LMC Social Science Department, the LMC Library and the Honors Program.
The Los Medanos College Experience racked up a total of 12 awards announced at the annual Northern Regional Conference of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Awards included two first-place, three second-place, and one third-place awards, among others. The Experience staff also won in General Excellence for the print edition of the paper.
The awards were distributed at the end of the Oct. 22 conference that featured Oakland Roots co-founder Edreece Arghandiwal as the keynote speaker. There were also many different activities for attendees to participate in, including workshops, round-tables and on-site contests.
The awards ceremony awarded winners in the annual regional publication contest as well as from on-site contests at the event. The LMC Experience won in the publication contest.
Michael Benedian, current editor-in-chief of the paper,
During the presentation, Hiscocks answered questions like, “What is the New American Majority of people of color, young voters and single women?”
He responded “people your age are typically democrat,” and then explained the trend that more women have been casting ballots, and there has also been a spike of people of color voting since 2016.
Hiscocks briefly showed a diagram of different age groups and the voting trends, and noted there was a peak of Gen
Z voters in the 2016 elections.
As for predictions for this year’s midterm elections, Hiscocks explained, “It is really difficult to make a rock solid prediction,” and added he is “basically translating what people have already said.”
He noted that, typically, a president’s political party usually loses in midterm elections and based on history, the democratic party should lose.
To support that prediction, Hiscocks displayed President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, which have been as low as
40%. As a result, he explained that the The Republican Party is “running hard on inflation and Joe Biden,” and that “The republicans want you to vote on food prices and gas prices.”
In conclusion, Hiscocks said that Republicans are favored to win the House of Representatives, but the U.S Senate is an absolute coin toss.
Hiscocks wrapped up by urging students to vote and reminding them that it is not too late to vote, because California allows same-day registration.
won first-place in photo-story essay for the page “A garden of creativity” highlighting the ceramic works of art students. He also won second place in inside page layout, and fourth place in news photo for an image from an Earth Day event.
“It feels gratifying to win something like this. Getting this award just reassures me that I’m doing something right and it also makes a really good bragging tool,” said Benedian.
Perspectives Editor, Kai Arellano, placed fourth place
for his editorial cartoon about the pandemic.
“Winning fourth is huge to me. It just means that my stuff is being recognized now. From here on out, I have a better look at how people view my editorial cartoons or just my art in general,” said Arellano.
Sarina Grossi, former editor-in-chief for the paper, won three individual awards, including second place in critical review, second place in front page layout, and honorable mention in column writing.
Former staff writer, Cara Rieber, won first place in column writing for a pair of opinion articles, one on the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, and the other on the music industry’s double standard for male and female artists. She also won fourth place for a feature photo of LMC students preparing to shoot a video.
Joseph Giddings, former features editor, won third place in sports feature photo for an image of the team catcher practicing.
“The road to success is always under construction.”
With a passion for music, orchestra and band director Luis Zuniga has been teaching at LMC for seven years, but his interest in cars drove him to compete in the upcoming 24-hour Lemon Race. To be a part of the race does not have to come at a high expense, as racers spend no more than $500 on a car and prepare it for a 24-hour race around the track.
Along with the music classes Zuniga teaches, he got involved in LMC’s Automotive Technology Program to learn more about cars. Motivated by automotive professor Earl Ortiz, Zuniga finished the program in 2022 with an associate of applied science in automotive service technology while working as a full-time faculty member. “I basically just found whatever automotive classes were available during the periods when I didn’t teach,” said Zuniga. “Now, obviously, being a full-time faculty there were not a lot of empty spaces.”
Participating in the program for many years helped expand Zuniga’s interest in cars. The program taught him a multitude of skills in automatic and manual transmission, engine technology and more to incorporate in his preparations for the race.
To take on the challenge, a racer has to follow three simple steps of picking a race, team and car. Zuniga and his team of musicians, called Nopar, were motivated to race as they believed their work in music and their automotive interest played an essential role in preparation.
“Whatever it is that you’re doing in music, or in automotive, you do something with your hands,” explained Zuniga. “There’s this dexterity that needs to exist in the connection between knowledge and your mind
and your hands.”
Zuniga formed a team with musicians David Poe, Matt Parfit, Peter Gaylord and Mark Lawrence, and together they have undergone more than a year of work to make a car ready for a 24-hour race. On race day, the first weekend of December, each member will take at least 45 minutes on track and rotate throughout the Sonoma Raceway in hopes to take their car to the finish line.
To find a car with a $500 purchase limit can be hard, but Zuniga and his team bought a 1989 Dodge Colt online and named it Tromblown. Incorporating many improvements from brakes, cooling, safety systems and more, it took a team effort to turn the commuter car into a race car.
“We’ve focused on little tweaks and reducing our chances of killing ourselves,” said Parfit. “Most tasks go better with a beer, laughing is constant, but we’re starting to get slightly jittery as the race weekend draws closer.”
It can be difficult to take an ordinary car and expect the best results. According to the race company, 24 hours of Lemons, the race will be like no other as rookie racers participate in “endurance racing for $500 cars.”
To be the fastest car on track takes preparation, and with hard work anyone can become a racer. With more than a year of hard work, Zunigas’ team will see if Tromblown has what it takes to win their first race.
Team Nopar will be competing at the Sonoma Speedway at 29355 Arnold Dr. on Dec. 3 and 4 along with a group performance. If you are interested in attending the Sonoma Speedway please purchase a weekend ticket that runs at $30 per person and for more information visit the 24 hours of lemons website.
“Fear is gradually replaced by excitement and a simple desire to see what you can do on the day.”
— Lauren FleshmanPhoto Courtesy of Luis Zuniga Members of Luis Zuniga’s race team, Team Nopar which included music students David Poe, Matt Parfit, Peter Gaylord, and Mark Lawrence, paints his car in time for the race. Photo Courtesy of Luis Zuniga A before image of the car LMC Professor Luis Zuniga plans to paint and upgrade before the Lemon race. Photo Courtesy of Luis Zuniga An after image of all the upgrades Team Nopar has done to the car that will be used in the Lemon race.
By MICHAEL BENEDIAN Staff Writer
With Halloween on the rise, Los Medanos College’s very own learning communities put together a little treat for students to come together and celebrate the festivities. On Thursday Oct. 27, the Student Union building had a halloween party featuring members of the Honors program, MESA, Puente and Art putting it together. The event featured games, food, karaoke, and even painting stations for faces and mini pumpkins.
Honors officer Tatiana Torres took over at the pumpkin painting station at the beginning of the party. She dressed as a student from the “Harry Potter” series and was helping students paint their mini pumpkins that they could take home
for free. Torres was looking forward to seeing the student’s creative side and wanted to take home a pumpkin for herself.
At another station inside the Student Union building was the raffle ticket station. At this station, students could donate an item for the LMC Marketplace Thanksgiving basket and be entered to win a prize.
“We have different LMC sweatshirts that were donated by the LMC Bookstore,” said Honors Ambassador Aalyssa Shepherd. “We also have stickers, masks, books and anything like that.”
As for the food, LMC’s learning programs all chipped in for pizza, drinks and snacks.
Honors program member Heath Galiwango was handing
From above to right: Students get their face painted. The pumpkin painting station has students customizing their own mini pumpkin.
From top to bottom: The Student Union game room is full of students singing their hearts out to Karaoke. Three students in dinosaur costumes are starting a game of Ping Pong.
“Nothing on Earth is so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.”
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” 2022 is a take back to the older Call of Duty games that made the series grow so much in popularity. The campaign continued with what its predecessor “Modern Warfare 2019” did and brought back fan favorite characters from the original Modern Warfare series such as Captain Price, Soap Mactavish and the mask-wearing cover character Simon “Ghost” Riley. The campaign was on the shorter side, taking
between four to six hours to complete the 10 missions. The missions themselves range in variety from action packed car chases to stealth missions wearing ghillie suits, keeping the players attached to the wide range of missions the mode brings.
However, for a single player mode that is built around making a good story, the campaign lacks the strong emotional draw the original Modern Warfare games brought to the series where you were betrayed by allies and had to make peace with enemies. The campaign in some ways feels like a prequel
to the original “Modern Warfare 2” game that was released all the way back in 2009, with the characters looking much younger than they had been in the original games. The campaign is good, but not great, and when compared to its predecessor “Modern Warfare 2019”, it feels a little bit like a let down. However, it is still far from being one of the worst.
The multiplayer mode of Call of Duty is sometimes what players buy the game for exclusively and this year’s game feels very smooth all around, with everything from
“Black Adam” starring Dwayne Johnson went above and beyond with the long-awaited release for this movie. The movie got pushed back multiple times due to script, production, director, and casting problems. These problems forced the movie to take over 13 years to release, according to Dwayne Johnson.
The plot for this movie flowed well throughout as Teth-Adam looked more powerful than any other DCEU character. It portrayed Teth-Adam as a historic figure who gets imprisoned due to his creators’ beliefs that he wasn’t worthy of his powers anymore. The movie’s pace was done very well as none of the scenes felt rushed or forced. All the scenes felt integral to tell the entire story for this character.
The actors played their characters amazingly well, as Pierce Brosnan played Dr. Fate how the character was meant to be played. Dr. Fate is known to have high intelligence and his helmet was
shown to harness tremendous powers.
Aldis Hodge played a fierce and brave Hawkman who showed pure hatred for Teth-Adam throughout the film. It was an enjoyable film from beginning to end that brought out the tribulations that Teth-Adam went through and how his past led to his actions in the present.
The cinematography for the movie was shown through the relationship between Teth-Adam and Hawkman. They were constantly at each other’s teeth fighting multiple times, even through their teamwork against Sabbac. The emotions they had towards one another flowed through to their cast members’ portrayal of their characters. It was fun to watch the back and forth between them , persuading each other that their way is the right way.
Dr. Fate also had a vision of the future that he tried to counteract to save his friend. Brosnan played Dr. Fate as good as anyone else could. He let Fate decide what the future could be and leaned more to that direction. He saw every future and chose the one that would end the villain while also saving his friend.
movement to gunfights being the best the Call of Duty series has seen in quite some time. What’s best about this year’s Call of Duty is there’s not one gun or equipment that stands alone from the rest as the clear best in the game. All of the guns seem to play on a level field as while certain situations make certain guns better, the overall feel is very balanced across the board of the 55 weapons. However, one drawback against all of this so far is the multiplayer map sizes which is ultimately negatively affecting the pacing of the game.
This year’s maps are much larger, causing the pace to become much slower, a key difference from past Call of Duty games that had maps with much closer quarters and chaos. All in all, this year’s multiplayer for Call of Duty does a great job of bringing back the classic gunplay that made the original Call of Duty games so successful while also incorporating new features, such as invasion and larger Ground War to help modernize the game.
Special Ops is the third and final mode of the game and has been a staple in the Modern
Warfare Call of Duty series but always as a third mode players seem to forget about. However, this year the mode was revamped and engages with the player more and moves more towards military missions, rather than just the simplicity of surviving waves of enemies. Similar to the campaign, Special Ops ranges in variety of style, as it consists of discrete stealth missions to defend friendly military bases against enemy assaults. The revamped mode went from something that was once so simple to what now has the
The movie did have incredible action within the movie that brought out how powerful each character within the film is. It showed the strengths that every superhero had within them and brought them out in the most opportune time.
The hand-to-hand combat for the fights between Hawkman and Teth-Adam looked great and portrayed the intensity both characters had.
“Black Adam” also had the connection to “Shazam” as to bring on his powers, he would have to say Shazam in order to become the superhero/anti-hero. It’ll be interesting to see how Teth-Adam and Billy Batson, or Shazam, interact after figuring this out, if DC decides to do a movie containing these two characters together.
This movie showed the tough de-
cisions that had to be made, and also had a big plot twist that helped this movie gain over $65 million in the first weekend. The movie showed it earned this first weekend hit.
I would highly recommend anyone to see the film because it’s an enjoyable, action-packed film that does have its comedy to keep the tension low between the characters.
“In this world, there are heroes and there are villains. Heroes don’t kill people!”
— Hawkman in “Black Adam”Photo Courtesy of Activision Characters in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” host an attack on their enemies while they are pinned in a room. Photo Courtesy of IMDb Cyclone holds Black Adam still as Atom Smasher punches him into the ground to neutralize him to talk.
social media posts as well as expressing LMC’s commitment to anti-racism.
From page 1
an employee from the college district referencing an investigation into an alleged threat of violence by a college manager.
Kratochvil would not comment to the Experience Wednesday on the ongoing investigation but reaffirmed that the involved parties — a manager and two employees — were put on paid administrative leave.
“We strive to provide an equitable learning and working environment for all students and employees, and to strengthen a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, and racial justice,” Kratochvil previously wrote. “To realize these goals, we must continue our collective pledge to stand against racism on all fronts at the college.”
On Oct 21, TikTok user Auntkaren0, who has more than 1.6 million followers, posted a video which included the audio recording previously mentioned and demanded the college provide information about it.
Auntkaren0, who has been identified in online media reports as Denise Bradley, dedicates her online presence to fighting racism and holding people accountable for their use of racial slurs or engaging in discriminatory behavior including naming the racist of the day. The video shows Bradley in a vehicle and green screened over the LMC website while reacting to the leaked audio.
“Now I’m not asking but I’m demanding that the college provide us some sort of information about these incidents,” Bradley said. “It is up you, the college, to provide us with an understanding and making sure the campus is safe for your students and that discrimination does not happen.”
Bradley’s video has since spread online through various social media sites, where it caught the attention of LMC officials.
Juliet Casey, director of Marketing and Media Design for the college, said concerns about institutional racism are nothing new and LMC “has been working to create a more welcoming, inclusive and equitable environment to learn and work.”
“From the moment the social media posts came to our attention, the strategy was to act quickly and transparently, and to provide an opportunity for the campus community to work together to combat institutional racism,” Casey said.
A campuswide email was then sent by Kratochvil Oct. 23 indirectly referencing the
The following day, another set of videos were posted on TikTok by an alleged LMC employee who said he had worked with the manager under investigation who is allegedly heard on the audio recording. The employee claimed that not only is the alleged manager racially insensitive but he also criticizes the college’s handling of the allegations.
“Everything I’m saying I just want you guys to understand that I have proof in what I’m saying and that I will reveal the proof via audio, via images, via things that I know,” said the alleged employee.
The LMC Experience attempted to reach out to the manager and the employee allegedly described to be under investigation but have not yet been successful.
In a second email to all LMC employees sent Oct 27, Kratochvil wrote that because the content of the videos are related to an ongoing personnel investigation, he is unable to provide specific details to the public but realizes that the insufficient information may have raised concerns among members of the campus community.
“The parties involved with the investigation were put on paid administrative leave by the district back in June and have been directed to not return to any district owned or operated facility,” Kratochvil wrote. “We recognize that the issues, concerns, and feelings brought up by these social media posts extend beyond this particular matter – they can’t be sufficiently addressed only through emails, aren’t going to be alleviated by simply reaffirming our institutional values and commitments, and certainly won’t be resolved quickly.”
In response to the social media posts, LMC repurposed Monday’s College Assembly (see accompanying story) to focus on the topics of combating racism, inequalities and anti-Blackness, along with addressing the concerns of employees. Kratochvil said he invited them to attend and share their thoughts on how LMC can move forward together and identify ways to work toward building a culture of trust, understanding and safety on campus.
This is a developing story.
— Kai Arellano, Juan Cebreiros and Mohammad Najimi contributed to this report.
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the social media posts.
“I feel that this person with those feelings being on campus, it actually makes me very uncomfortable,” LMCAS senator Libby Oye said. “That’s just something that doesn’t sit right with me.”
LMC student representative Marian Martinez said she doesn’t feel safe knowing about the situation concerning a series of videos made by an alleged college employee who claimed he received a threat of violence from a manager.
Bui said this doesn’t look good for the college.
“It’s appalling to hear and I do have trust that the [LMC] president and the vice presidents will make the correct actions, but from now just because of the vagueness it doesn’t feel great,” he said.
That same day, LMC held the College Assembly, which was facilitated by outside consultant Dr. Leah Hollis. She is a workplace advocate
and was brought in to act as a third party and help with the conversation.
“I understand that there is a personnel dispute that is under investigation and with that, as with any investigation, I can’t speak about the personnel issues or the specifics during an ongoing investigation,” Hollis said. “I know that’s frustrating and I’ve been to other schools that have been caught in the same thing where folks want clarity on what’s going on, but the process itself requires more opaqueness than we like.”
Administrator of Justice Professor Anthony Hailey expressed concerns about the safety of the campus along with other faculty members, and he brought up a point that the vagueness of the emails didn’t help.
“I don’t scroll social media,” Hailey said. “So when something’s put out with the assumption that we all saw it, and it was kind of concerning,
and we didn’t get more information that bothers me.”
Counselor Sharlice Wright said the campus community being kept in the dark was also in direct conflict with the college’s professed values.
“I’m gonna be honest, it makes me not proud to be an LMC faculty member,” Wright said. “On one hand you have all this marketing propaganda that says we’re so inclusive and we’ve won all these awards… but then on the other hand, when something like this happens behind closed doors, we want to keep it behind closed doors and we want to keep it shuttered and sheltered and not made public.”
The two-hour long assembly gave Hollis and the college the opportunity to directly address questions and comments from members of the college community while also allowing them to explain how they would like the college to respond to the situation.
As the assembly came to a close, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Office of Instruction Leetha Robertson powerfully tackled the issue of anti-Blackness statements and expressed a desire to move forward from this issue to a brighter future for the college.
“While we’re having our race crisis committees and investigations and policies,” Robertson suggested “tackling it from another end,” by dealing “with people as human beings and meet them at that level.”
Her statement was warmly received by colleagues who showed their support with hearts and thank yous on Zoom in this hybrid meeting.
“I think the model that we have right here on campus where we just want to help focus on our students… whoever we see, whatever the plight may be, how can I help you,” she said. “And I hope that we as a college community can embrace that.”
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possibility to be a staple in every Call of Duty game for years to come.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 is an overall well put together game with minor issues such as crashes and inconsistent servers that are holding the game back so far from reaching its true potential.
The game has already broken the record for most sales of a game in the first five days with a staggering $800 million, doing so in just three days, shattering the previous record held by “Modern Warfare 3” launched all the way back in 2011 by $25 million. The game at launch is not perfect but has potential to be the best in the Call of Duty series history.
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out slices to everyone and making sure people had a bite to eat. After he’s done with his position, he’s looking forward to belting out on the mic when karaoke comes around.
“We actually had a welcome back picnic for Honors a few weeks ago and we did karaoke towards the end of it,” said Galiwango. “It was a hit so I’m excited to do that later on.”
It went off without a hitch and many students participated in the festival feeling by dressing in their amazing costumes. Some students embraced the
scary aspect of Halloween, while others came dressed in cute and funny costumes. Some students even brought nerf guns and proceeded to have a nerf war outside the Student Union building, with some of the students taking advantage of the empty campus to expand their playing field.
Of course when it came time to karaoke, the game room saw a crowd of people waiting to sing their hearts out. LMC student Lance Quinones put together the queue for students to pick up the mic, but that didn’t stop the crowd from
joining in. Song after song, the crowd screamed the lyrics and cheered on the singers who would’ve been nervous if it hadn’t been for how accepting and encouraging everyone was.
Professor Scott Cabral arrived an hour after the event had started but enjoyed how the students made it fun.
From Karaoke to pumpkin painting, Cabral’s favorite part of the event was seeing all the different costumes the students had.
“I liked the headless person, the cook from Ratatouille, and my favorite, the three
dinosaurs,” said Cabral. “The dinosaur costumes were so big that the people inside them could barely walk, it looked like and it was hilarious to watch them play the giant Jenga game. All the students deserve a lot of credit for their amazing costumes.”
Towards the end of the event, students cleaned up their messes, said their goodbyes and went home. It was a fun time for everyone all around, a good stress reliever and a great way to bring in Halloween and the last six weeks of the semester.
“Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.” —Benjamin
“We strive to provide an equitable learning and working environment for all students and employees.”
— President Bob Kratochvil
The offense of the Los Medanos College Mustangs has been one of the highlights of the team this season, as they had been averaging over 30 points a game going into their contest against the Foothill Owls. However defense was the team’s key to winning a tightly contested 10-7 game on Oct. 22.
Both teams’ offenses were unable to get any momentum going throughout the game. aEach side punted six times and were mediocre at converting third downs with neither team being able to surpass the 50% mark. Early in the game the Mustangs’ offense was able to march down the field and get inside the five-yard line, however the team couldn’t get into the endzone and ended up turning the ball over on downs after receiver Brian Cruz wasn’t able to secure a catch in the endzone on fourth down. The Mustangs’ defense got the ball back to the offense quickly, however, with defensive back Khi’ron Green intercepting a pass tipped by multiple players.
When the offense came back onto the field this time, it wasn’t with starting quarterback Jake Byrne but instead backup quarterback Brenden Bush. The change saw little success as the Mustangs’ offense was unable to pick up a first down. The Owls were on offense but then gave the ball right back to the Mustangs after their running back had the ball knocked loose by Green. This time the Mustang offense was not going to squander another opportunity given to them by their defense.
Bush connected with receiver Matt Quesada on the sideline for a long touchdown midway through the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead. That would be the only score in the first two quarters and the game went into halftime with the Stangs leading the Owls.
Mustangs head coach Chris Shipe explained the change of quarterbacks and said, “Both guys are playing well and we just want to get both of them opportunities.”
Coming out in the second half both defenses continued their reigns of terror over the opposing offenses unitl midway through the third quarter when the Owls’ offense finally broke through against the LMC defense with No. #28 Jayden Frazier catching a pass out of the backfield and taking it 30 yards for the Owls’ first score of the game, tying the score 7-7.
The Mustangs were able to march back down the field under Byrne, however kicker Isaiah Apostol missed the go-ahead field goal as the clock ran out in the fourth quarter with the game still tied at seven.
After the missed field goal the Owls moved down the field on a Mustangs’ defense that had been giving them struggles all game and got the ball inside the 20-yard line when they were forced to settle for a field goal. Foothill kicker Ty Goldsbury missed the chance to give his team a three-point lead.
From this point on both defenses stiffened up as neither offense could move into field goal range for a chance to take the lead. The Mustangs were near midfield when Byrne threw a pass that was intercepted by the Owls and seemed to seal the Stangs’ fate when the Owls
returned it inside the 35-yard line. However, the defense was called upon one more time to get the
back into their offense’s hands. The defense forced and recovered the fumble they desperately needed with two and a half minutes to go in the game. Bush was given the opportunity to win his team the game with a clutch drive but was hurt in the attempt.
Big plays by running back Zeke Barber and wide receiver Kimahni Tolefree moved the Mustangs to just outside field goal range. However after taking a sack, Bush landed awkwardly on his left arm and came out of the game holding his left wrist. Byrne was forced back into the game when the Mustangs needed a big play to get them into field goal range. He connected with Tolefree, who picked up only nine yards on the play, but a facemask penalty
“I’d rather score 10 points and win than score 49 points and lose,” Shipe commented on the game. “It’s a team game and the defense deserves this.
The team will use the bye week as time to heal as both quarterbacks have been playing with injuries. Going into the game Byrne was nursing a shoulder injury and Bush a thumb injury as well as now a wrist injury.
After the bye week the Mustangs will welcome Hartnell College at home Nov. 5 as they have two more games to get back to .500 on the season.
“I’d