Vol. 89 No. 5 - Oct. 12, 2018

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‘Books Alive’ enlightens

Local brewery impresses Stangs suffer loss

Students learn from the life experiences of a panel of people with unique perspectives — page 3

E.J. Phair of downtown Pittsburg marries food and drink in a varied and fun pub — page 4

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F.Y.I. Important dates October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month Oct. 15

The last day to apply for Fall 2018 Graduation

Nov 16

The last day to withdraw from classes with a W

Transfer Day coming soon Fall Transfer Day is coming soon. The yearly event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23 in the outdoor quad from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year’s event will feature various workshops and other events throughout the week. For more information interested parties can visit the Transfer and Career Center located on the fourth floor of the Student Services Building.

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The De Anza Dons trounced the LMC Mustangs 34-25 in a crushing defeat — page 6

L M C E X P E R I E N C E . C O M

LGBT issues chronicled Professor traces history in paper

By ROBERT PIERCE @RobertP_EXP

English instructor Jeff Mitchell Matthews has collected much during his time at Los Medanos College — over 25 years of teaching experience, countless memories, at least one egg to the face and a 28-piece collection of issues of The Experience mentioning or concerning the LGBTQ+ community. The oldest issue in his collection was printed during his first semester at the college, Dec. 11, 1992. The right third of the front page declares “Gay issues excluded in new course” in regards to a new “ethnic/multicultural study” program highlighting diverse issues but not those of sexuality or gender. Just underneath the headline is a quote from Mitchell Matthews himself; “We’re not asking anyone to approve or endorse the lifestyle of the gays and lesbians, but just acknowledge

that they exist, and don’t treat them with hate.” In the months following his arrival, the pages of The Experience became a lightning rod for discussions about LGBTQ+ issues and Mitchell Matthews himself was a spitfire. “Until I arrived here, there was never really anyone speaking up… [on] LGBTQ issues,” Mitchell Matthews explained. “There was no loudmouth, so to speak.” Shout at the cave, however, and it will echo back. “Homosexuality is wrong,” penned Experience staff member Erica Brooks Sept. 3, 1993 in a column titled “No apology for philosophy” with the sig line of “To Tell the Truth.” Two weeks later, an entire third of the Perspectives page was dedicated to responses to Brooks’s column. “I am not gay but my brother is, and he recently was critically injured

by a blow to the head from a gay-hater,” said Trevor Marklin. “I believe your paper was irresponsible for publishing the editorial by Erica Brooks.” “The article was ver y good and I would like to encourage her to ‘Tell the Truth,’” wrote Art Mijares. “Ms. Brooks, you wouldn’t recognize the truth if it painted a swastika on your door!” exclaimed a response written by Mitchell Matthews and signed Experience Perry Continente Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Alliance. “We will never go Jeff Mitchell Matthews fans his papers back in the closet, nor will that touch on LGBTQ issues. your kind ever succeed in getting rid of us. We’re here. We’re following. Most of them sided with Brooks and one attacked The Exqueer. Get used to it.” This lead to a chain of responses perience for publishing a column See LGBTQ, page 5 published in the weeks and months

Law would allow pot tax Measure R on the ballot

Hotel 270 set to scare Hotel 270 is the haunted house attraction from Student Life this year. The attraction will be open Oct. 26 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on the first floor of the College Complex. For more information contact the Office of Student Life at (925) 473-7554 or email studentlife@losmedanos.edu

By DALE SATRE @Dale Satre

Experience Perry Continente

Malia Valencia of Financial Aid throws the ball after getting an out while Elaine Ortiz of IT watches.

Staff game a home run Friendly competition between collegues By NICK CAMPBELL @nicky_charles

In pursuit of a good movie Movie night comes to LMC this Tuesday, Oct. 16 in Library LCC-114 at 7 p.m. The first showing will be the Will Smith film “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Future showings include “There Will Be Blood” on Oct. 30 and “Inception” on Nov. 28. For more information students can contact the Office of Student Life at (925) 473-7554 or email studentlife@losmedanos.edu.

The storied tradition of the faculty bi-annual softball game continued this past Friday. Held at the softball field on campus, Los Medanos College staff and faculty played a competitive but friendly game of softball. Typically framed as the A’s vs the Giants, the tradition itself started on a somber note. According to LMC custodian, Clinton Calvin, the tradition began to honor a staff member, Gil Wagner, who passed away in 2016. “We always get together and play a game to honor Gil,” said Calvin. On the mound pitching was none

New construction progresses By ALEX CAMILLI @A_Carnation

Follow us on: @lmc_experience @lmc_experience @lmc_experience

other than Alex Porter, VP of Business and Administrative Ser vices. Observing in the stands was the President of LMC, Bob Kratochvil. The weather was perfect Experience Perry Continente for the game that started off a bit slow at first, until Vice President of Buisness and Technology more players emerged to Alex Porter misses a swing in practice. start the game. Initially the amount of players stood at about evolving from a pick up game of sorts, eight. There was an initial worry that to a full fledged game. the game wouldn’t go on as scheduled. As the players reported to their teams, However, it slowly grew to about 12-15 the game got started and it was a sight players. With the arrival of more faculty, to see LMC professors and staff dressed the game began to pick up the pace, See STAFF, page 5

Experience Perry Continente

Construction on the Brentwood satellite campus near Trilogy.

All the logistics and years of planning have recently come to fruition in the co nstruction of a bigger and better satellite campus. The new Los Medanos College Brentwood campus will in the near future absorb the current center located off of 101 Sand Creek Road. “The construction began this year, but the planning for the new cent was taken care of long before,” said VP of Business and Administrative Services, Alex Porter. The construction of the new Brentwood Center is expected to take roughly 18-24

months and will be located at 1351 Pioneer Square. The new complex is expected to be fully functioning in Spring 2020 with more resources available to students. Compared to the current campus’ size covering 22,000 square feet the new Brentwood center will occupy approximately 55,000 square feet with additional resources, such as tutoring labs, food services and faculty offices. The balance the new Brentwood campus will establish will benefit the student population because counseling and various other appointments can be arranged without having to venture all

See BWOOD, page 5

Contra Costa County voters have a thick packet of state and city propositions on the ballot this November., but a county ballot measure is being proposed as well. Measure R, sponsored by the county Board of Supervisors, proposes to allow and tax the cannabis industry in unincorporated areas of the county, such as Bay Point, Discovery Bay and Pacheco. If approved by a simple majority vote, the county will start granting land and business permits to businesses that grow, manufacture or distribute cannabis in unincorporated areas. The county currently bans commercial marijuana growth and distribution in its zoning districts. According to the county’s contracted consulting firm HdL Companies, the taxes would generate about $1.7 to $4.4 million in revenue. The county would star t taxing $7 per square foot of canopy space for indoor growing structures, starting January 1, 2019. Other tax rates include $4 per square foot of canopy space for mixed-light cultivation structures, $2 per square foot of outdoor cultivation space and $1 per square foot for structures operating as nurseries. This includes a provision authorizing the county to raise taxes with local inflation in the Bay Area. Measure R doesn’t affect personal marijuana growth or use. “Too many unregulated cannabis operations have damaged our precious open spaces, diverted our streams and increased violent crime,” wrote county Super visors Karen Mitchoff and John Gioia in favor of Measure R in the Contra Costa County voter information guide. “Measure R would fund the implementation of strict standards and location requirements for commercial cannabis businesses… [and] See LAW, page 5


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