Team Nopar unfazed through the rain Entrants excel in the race

By: ALIYAH RAMIREZ Staff Writer

With more than a year of preparation before the 24-hour Lemon Race at the Sonoma Speedway Dec. 3 and 4, Professor Luis Zuniga and his team of musicians, called Nopar, were ready to take their car on the track. Zuniga had three goals in mind: not be last, not have their car break down, and make it to the checkered flag both days of the race weekend. All goals were accomplished.

Celebrating the holidays during the December race, team Nopar dressed up as a marching band and took their instruments on track to play holiday songs for the drivers and judges. Dubbed the “musicians’ car,” they won the judges’ choice award for their festive performances.

When competing in the lemon race, points aren’t earned only from securing the top speed but also completing the most laps. Of the 140 lemon cars participating in the race, team Nopar completed a total of 220 laps and finished 65th. In the rookie category of 35, the team finished 12th.

On race day, Zuniga knew the competition his team and car, Tromblown, would have to face; however, the weather was unpredictable. The rain troubled even the fastest cars on the track during the first race.

“You can imagine in a race where you are racing lemon cars, the rain will make things that much worse,” said Zuniga. “And that actually worked to our advantage because we were a slower car. This means that because of the rain, a lot of other people have to go slow, or slower than they would

Equity

normally go.”

Despite the races’ pressing obstacles, in sharing a common interest in music and racing, Zuniga’s team-which shares interest in musical racing- believed their ability to work well both on and off the track is their friendship. When entering the race, aside from competing, the team entered the race to have fun without the pressure of placing first or being the best.

“I think music and this racecar are just things that we have that are very palpable, that are common but it seems like we also get along really well,” said Zuniga. “We’ll never get to that point of stress. We were always reminding each other we’re doing this for fun.”

Lemon races are full of fast speeds and challenging turns. Intimidation from other drivers on the track can be a reality check for rookie racers. Yet, Nopar team members went from musicians to racecar drivers, and that was in itself a challenge they overcame.

“It could be a pretty in - timidating experience,” said Zuniga. “To see some of my musician friends get out of their comfort zone, and jump into a racetrack and see them excel. It’s exciting to see them do well.”

Satisfied by their race results at the Sonoma Speedway, team Nopar does not plan on retiring their car, quite yet. Tromblown

Basket

will be back on track at the Thunderhill Raceway Park on May 27 and 28. As the team prepares to make their car even faster for the next race, Zuniga describes his mindset going into new races—similar to race car driver Mario Andretti, “if everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.”

From page 1

Sharing a similar motivation in making her coursework more interactive for all students, the professor of chemistry and MESA faculty adviser, Mindy Capes presented her process with students to make educational texts more comprehensible and build skills in efficient note-taking. Capes introduces the idea of “scaffolding reading” as students interact more with the text through steps of annotations and guided reads, construction of an outline, worked examples, visual representations, and exploring which method works best for the student.

“I agree with all practices that are student-centered,” said Capes. “While some may be more suited for one area or discipline more than others, anytime students’ voice, self, knowledge, background, and culture are at the front of a practice it is worth looking into.”

In addition, presenters spread awareness for gender equity in education and the workforce. Professor Jill Bouchard who also co chairs the biology department, shared her teaching style through a lecture demonstration and a spotlight on transgender scientist Ben Barres’s story of inclusion in the STEM field. Barres’ story reminded participants and her students of the ability to overcome any learning challenge despite stereotypes of gender in the workplace.

Reinforcing the importance of gender equity, English and social justice studies professor LD Green shared their sabbatical work findings on queer and trans inclusion at LMC. Their presentation shared statistics of queer and trans youth to spread awareness of hate crimes and laws targeting LGBTQ+ youth. With their findings, Green introduced to staff and students Canvas resources to learn more about inclusion and unpack the themes which will be featured in their graphic novel, addressing similar topics of the gender conversation.

“I was also glad to connect with a student who resonated with my presentation,” said Green. “Even in the supposed queer and trans bastion of the Bay Area, a lack of safety can persist, emboldened by hateful rhetoric and violence, sometimes closer to home than we’d like to admit.”

During each presentation, the discussion was followed by feedback within breakout rooms. Third-year student Julianna Anastas hopes to see Canvas as a more accessible tool for students and would like to see assistance provided in how to balance a heavy workload and personal growth throughout the semester. In order to incorporate these changes into curriculum, Anastas believes it is only possible when similar events are able to involve all voices on campus.

“I think such events are important because not only is it interesting to understand the other’s perspective, but it also helps encourage a new philosophy to life outside of LMC,” said Anastas. beginning.

From these discussions, students and teachers were able to share their honest reactions to the topics presented and reflect on how to create change in their own learning. With more related workshops coming up throughout the semester, staff and students are encouraged to attend and voice their opinion.

“We want all students to feel heard, welcome, included, and safe so that they can get the most out of their experience at LMC and really thrive as they pursue their goals,” said IDEA Committee Co-Chair Catt Wood.

To ensure a student’s success can grow both inside and outside the classroom, teachers are continuing to adapt their curriculum to be inclusive and remain student-focused for each individual.

From page 4 the semester to result in a collaboration between Miller and her students to determine the grade they deserve.

Even with these negatives from the game, there were still some positives that could be taken. At certain points during the game, the women’s basketball team displayed teamwork with some excellent plays to score the basket. The team showed some incredible alley-oops to each other that brought some cheers from the people who attended the game.

The next home game for the women basketball team will be another conference

Age

From page 2

Lowering the voting age to 16 wouldn’t hurt anyone at all. It would help minors feel like their decisions on their future actually matter. By lowering the age, we broaden the scope of just what minors are allowed to do in this country.

In the end this boils down to a choice. If they have the choice to legally get an abortion then game against Marin College on Friday Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. why not open up their list of possibilities?

For more information on the basketball team, go to https:// www.losmedanos.edu/basketball/womens/.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with them getting an abortion, but if minors can choose to get one, then why can’t minors vote on the future of our nation? After all, we will be the ones living in that future so it should be our right to vote on it.