Vol. 88 No. 8 - April 13, 2018

Music collaborates

‘Torn Pages’ to stage

Stangs beat Solano

2018 Spring Jazz Concert showcases LMC and Freedom High School bands — page 3

Student-written play “Torn Pages” is set to show in the Little Theater April 26 — page 4

The LMC Baseball team wins 6-3 against Solano College despite ejection — page 5

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F.Y.I. Important Dates April is Autism Awareness Month April 25

Last day to apply to be Spring 2018 graduation speaker

April 27

Last day for withdrawal from a full-term class

New campus ceremony LMC will be holding a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Brentwood college campus Wednesday, April 18 at 1 p.m.

This ceremony is free for the public to attend and will be held at the site of the future facility which is at Pioneer Square and Miwok Place in Brentwood. For more information on the Groundbreaking Ceremony, contact Jennifer Adams at jadams@losmedanos.edu or (925)473-7302.

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District defends blocks Critics say web filtering inequitable

By PERRY CONTINENTE @perrycontinente

The controversial URL filtering implemented by the district was discussed with the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of Information and Technology Mojdeh Mehdizadeh at the Academic Senate meeting Monday, April 9.

This follows a resolution passed

unanimously Feb. 26 by the senate opposing the blocking of websites and asking for the immediate halting of such practices.

District Chancellor Fred Wood introduced Mehdizadeh and expressed sympathy about the issue.

“The issue around academic freedom is an important one,” said Wood. “It is critically important

“It does affect students of low socioeconomic status more than we would want to think about.”

to me as well.”

Wood admitted the program’s implementation was less than perfect and suggested better management could have stopped many of these problems.

“A lot of that was because Mojdeh was not executive vice chancellor,” said Wood.

— Marco McMullen, LMCAS President

See BLOCK, page 6

Facts surface from inquiry

Prep for a quake

Light shed on resignation

By ADRIA WATSON @adriarwatson

Experience • Brenna Enos

Nursing student Katie Carignan gets fake injuries.

District teams up with JFK Therapists from JFK University have partnered with the Contra Costa Community College District to offer free therapy sessions on campus to students at LMC, DVC and CCC. For appointments, referrals and further information, contact WellnessLMC@ email.4cd.edu or call (925) 473-7449. To make appointments at the Brentwood location, call (925) 473-7459.

Experience • Adria Watson

Student Ambassador Alexander Chavez.

LMC recruits ambassadors Los Medanos College is now hiring Student Ambassadors to work at high schools. Students can gain leadership skills, learn about LMC programs and support services, have a $10.50 an hour pay and more. If interested, students can pick up an application at the Welcome Desk.

Students learn to handle mass casualty event

By ROBERT PIERCE @RobertP_EXP

The Los Medanos College Nursing Department held its third annual mass casualty simulation-training event Wednesday, April 11. Throughout the campus, student and volunteer actors mimed various injuries and ailments for LMC nursing and medical students to diagnose and treat in a simulation of a real-life disaster response scenario —police and fire students also participated.

LMC Nursing Department simulation faculty members Julie O’Brien Experience • Brenna Enos and Trang Nguyen are the ones who LMC nursing and EMT students practice emergency measures. first created the simulation program and do the annual prep work for it, including making homemade latex and stained glass for the purposes of moulage, or the process of applying convincing fake injuries for simulations like this one.

“It’s about teamwork and safety… which involves police, nursing and fire,” said O’Brien before the event. “The important thing is, during the simulation, students can practice skills while being in a safe environment.”

This year’s event was themed as an earthquake and a resulting explosion. Previous years saw the nursing students respond to the aftermaths of an active shooter situation and a terrorist bombing attack. Mass casualty events are inevitable for those in the medical field, and this simulation aims to give them knowledge on how to handle such a situation.

“The whole goal of this is just getting students ready for skills that they wouldn’t ordinarily get,” O’Brien commented. “With today’s world, with the Experience • Brenna Enos way our society is, with unfortunately all the mass Second-year nursing student Natashia Blas shows off her See PREP, page 6

fake arm and leg injuries during the disaster simulation.

A preliminary investigation by the Contra Costa Community College District into sexual harassment allegations against former Trustee Tim Farley found witness statements appear to support accusations made against him in an anonymous letter that sparked the inquiry.

According to the report by Associate Vice Chancellor Dio Shipp, who serves as the district’s chief human resource officer, “It is reasonable to believe that approximately three years ago Mr. Farley did engage in unlawful sexual harassment.”

In the course of the investigation, Shipp notes in the report that he met with Farley and current trustees Greg Enholm and Vicki Gordon who all attended the Community College League of California Annual Trustee Conference in Monterey in May 2015. The incident is alleged to have happened during a “vendor-sponsored dinner” not far from the conference hotel.

In the report Shipp explains, according to witnesses, Farley appeared to be intoxicated and was engaging in conversation with a male trustee from another district about women’s breasts. During or right after the conversation Farley allegedly leaned over the woman sitting next to him, wrapped his arms around her “and tried kissing her on the mouth.”

The report further alleges that when the woman tried pushing him away, Farley “tried putting his head in her lap and continued to heavily stare at her breasts.” Fellow trustee Gordon then tried to pull Farley away and change the topic to his wife and children.

But Farley allegedly said loudly, See FARLEY, page 6

Bearden elected new faculty leader

By PERRY CONTINENTE @perrycontinente

Professor Josh Bearden was announced the new Academic Senate president in a recent meeting April 9. Bearden, along with “It was an counselor Marco Godinez and professor honor to run Louie Giambattista, ran for the position and I feel like in an election that concluded just before I’m getting spring break. an academy Professor Laurie Huffman revealed the results after joking about people trying to award.”

— Josh Bearden find out the results early.

“I want to say thank you for your profes-

sionalism and participation,” said Huffman who described the debate and election as “lively” before revealing that Bearden was the president-elect.

Henderson congratulated Bearden before prompting another round of applause.

After some prompting, Bearden spoke about his feelings post-election.

“It was an honor to run and I feel like I’m getting an academy award,” Bearden joked before thanking Giambattista and Godinez.

Many approached and congratulated

Bearden after the election, including Brentwood Math Professor Scott Hubbard.

Hubbard, who worked closely with Bearden, explained his hopes for Bearden’s presidency.

“Josh is really good at bringing in student voices,” said Hubbard who credited Bearden’s work in bringing a “big change to GE.” In a statement for his candidacy, Bearden mentioned his experience ser ving on committees and task forces as well as the See PRES, page 6

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Perspectives

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“My autism is like the taste of tepid saké; different, but interesting.”

— Sue Rubin

Vince Lontz

Jordan Neel

GUEST COLUMNIST

WAKANDA FOREVER

Campus seems subject to crime

Let’s not shame video games

I have been a student at Los Medanos College for the past semester and a half and have already noticed questionable actions on campus. College is a place where everyone should feel safe without any threats of crime, but several disturbing incidents trouble me.

It all started with a burglary in the C Lot on campus, which changed my view about the culture of LMC completely. It was a Thursday afternoon and my team and I were just getting done with baseball practice. Four of us were going to get lunch when as we approached a teammate’s car we noticed all four windows had been smashed in, the glass splattered everywhere.

We were in shock because our admiration for LMC had been high until that moment.

I always felt safe parking my car on campus until my friend’s windows were destroyed.

Another troubling incident I witnessed took place in the library. Two classmates and I were working on our homework when all of a sudden we heard yelling coming from the computer area. Once we got up to watch the altercation, we saw a man yelling and screaming into another man’s face. He was disrespecting him with horrible name-calling and racist remarks. The innocent student was simply trying to study, but was interrupted by the rude individual.

The police were forced to remove the man for disturbing the peace. This questionable act irritated me more much more than others I have seen here. As students, we should be able to do our schoolwork in silence rather than be distracted by someone who isn’t even trying to get an education. We are paying for school to learn so we can achieve a better life — nothing should interrupt students from accomplishing their end goal.

A third incident was entertaining, yet disturbing, and occurred in early December 2017 in front of the LMC Baseball Field around 6 a.m. Our team was getting ready for morning workouts when we spotted a trash can out of place. It was odd seeing it in the middle of the walkway, because the can had always been in the same spot and is not easy to move. As we approached the trash can we felt ourselves getting hotter and hotter which was also strange. Once we got close, we noticed a fire burning inside.

After spotting a dirty jacket next to the can, we came to the conclusion that there was a homeless man near the field that night that ignited the can to stay warm.

It got a good laugh out of most of the guys, but when thinking more deeply about it I realized it isn’t funny at all. A man looking for shelter chose to set up camp very close to the field on which we play every day. Seeing this fire made me think of all the different people who could be entering our field and our campus at any time. It is scary to think about, but it is the harsh reality of going to college in Pittsburg.

I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t like LMC. I love it here. I am happy to be saving money on school, playing the sport I love and meeting new people all at the same time. The only problems I have are my experiences with threats and crime.

The school would seem perfect to me if there were only students, professors and staff allowed on campus. All others are a distraction unnecessar y for a college environment.

Video games have been a great source of escapism, from the 1970s game “Pong” to the latest shooter game “Fortnite”. Almost everybody plays video games. An article for Polygon found, almost half the gaming population is between 18-49 years old. With smartphones it has become so accessible for everyone to play games.

There have been many video game adaptations turned into movies — “Super Mario Bros.”, “Resident Evil”, “Mortal Kombat”, “Tomb Raider” — and movies that either feature video game characters or the plot is centered on video games — “Pixels”, “Wreck-it-Ralph”, “Ready Player One” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”. With this form of entertainment being so popular I must ask the question, why does gaming get such a bad reputation?

For many years there have been people who said video games are the number one source of violence. According to The New York Times, researcher and psychiatrist Jerald Block confirmed video games were a reason for the shooters of the 1999 Columbine massacre, and that they “relied on the virtual world of computer games to express their rage and to spend time, and cutting them off in 1998 sent them into crisis.”

I’m not here to defend the students who did the attack, but video games shouldn’t be to blame. Yes it could be the violence in those games were too graphic, but there’s a reason why the ESRB rating system exists — to inform parents what their kids are playing on their gaming consoles. The violence in video games are meant for people 17 and older, not for a 10 year old who can easily be influenced by such content.

Video games are a form of entertainment made for almost anybody, any demographic and any age. Plus, gaming has done more than become a hobby for people who are bored. It has built a community. It’s done more than just provide a way to escape from reality, it’s brought people together.

For example, there are many families that spend the night with each other playing games like “Mario Kart”.

Fans all across the world spend their hard earned money on a gaming event of the summer, E3. Gaming companies Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox use the event to preview new releases set to come out later in the year or the year after.

Some people would argue playing video games is a waste of time. Try telling that to the many YouTube gamers from PewDiePie, Ninja and KSI just to name a few. Yes, the Internet has helped many people who are expert gamers turn their hobby into a career.

While not everybody can be a professional gamer, it’s still something people can get to do for fun with friends and family. I agree that while video games do have plenty of pros, it has its cons as well.

I understand gaming can cause damage too. If you’re gaming non-stop it can make you not want to socialize as much. Due to losing in a level or competition, some become extremely irritable and angry. The solution for this problem is simple. A person just needs to find a balance for when they play.

In some cases, online gaming has even helped with socializing, as they can play with their friends via Internet connection. If someone is aware of their anger at gaming, they may need to take a break from the games they are playing. Most people I know find joy after playing a game, not anger.

Gaming isn’t going anywhere as far as I’m concerned. It is a fun medium for everyone to be a part of.

Video games shouldn’t be to blame for violence as time goes on. We should recognize how fun they can be, how interactive it is, and why so many people dedicate their free time to the virtual world.

Reader Opinion Policy The Experience welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Columns. Members of the LMC community are encouraged to write. If you are interested in expressing your opinions send them to the Experience online newsite lmcexperience.com. They must be typed, signed and include a phone number for verification. They may be edited at the editor’s discretion.

Experience • Kimberly Stelly

Editorial

Zuckerberg fails critically

F

acebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg found himself in an uncomfortable position Tuesday, April 10 when he was made to testify to the Senate in Washington, DC regarding the issue of data collection. Not only have over 87 million people had their information exposed to questionable sources, but it opened the door for many users to be exposed to propaganda during the 2016 presidential election.

This isn’t just a problem specific to Facebook. Twitter is criticized for some of the same things Facebook has done regarding its user’s privacy, such as allowing Russian bots to influence its users and refusing to suspend accounts supporting things like “white nationalism.”

Sites are allowed to get away with this for now, because the government does not regulate Twitter, Facebook or Google. Some might argue people voluntarily use these sites and social media is not a necessity and doesn’t need regulation.

But social media is an important tool that has helped shape our society. It helps us connect with friends, family, community members, political figures and celebrities and is key to news circulation.

Regulation could not only protect users from the spread of online hate, but also foreign political propaganda.

Facebook is in the spotlight right now, but CEO’s of other social media platforms need to be on their toes. Other media are regulated for the greater good, so why not social media?

You can be successful at any age We all hear about the people who achieve a skill or land a high-end job at a young age, whether they are teenagers or young adults.

These people are praised, as they should be, for coming so far in life after being on this earth for a shorter amount of time than the people who achieve the same things later in life.

Some may become discouraged and feel like failures after not becoming famous or mastering a great skill before they are even legally allowed to drink.

Whether someone is in their twenties, thirties, or even seventies, they can be successful.

Young people today feel that they are under pressure to finish college, get a job in their career of choice (or the career their parents want them to pursue), and move out into a nice house as soon as possible.

People today are under the impression they are less smart or less talented if they do not reach their goals as quickly as they would have hoped.

With more people having access to the internet, they are able to hear of all the achievements younger people make, like Auli’i Cravalho, the youngest girl to voice a Disney princess at the age of 16. Or, they see people on Instagram or YouTube become widely popular because of their make up skills or art talent.

People who feel discouraged because of this should remember that some of the most successful people in history did not succeed as teenagers or young adults. Some examples include Stan Lee, who was almost 39 when he made his first successful comic: “The Fantastic Four”.

Henry Ford was 45 when he made the Model T car, an invention that changed the world.

Success can take years of work and building towards the greater goal.

It took JK Rowling seven years to write the “Harry Potter” series and the first book was published in 1997, when she was 32 years old.

It is important that young people understand that they do not need to succeed right here,

Voices

Samantha Navarro GUEST COLUMNIST

right now.

Life does not end when we are young and we continue to learn and develop new skills and passions as time goes on.

Years down the line, people discover new things, make more goals, continue dreaming and have different visions of their future.

Maybe someone wanted to become an actor when they were young, but later realized they prefer to pursue a career in nursing or fashion design.

We continue to succeed as the years go by, even if they are little achievements like making the perfect wing with eyeliner or big achievements such as opening a business.

Like any other achievement in life, it does not come easily or quickly.

Rushing through the process and focusing only on getting results faster will not end the way that one would hope.

A person should not expect to be able to paint something as beautiful as the Sistine Chapel ceiling after picking up a paintbrush for the first time. A person should not expect their muscles to be the size of bowling balls after going to the gym just once.

Success happens over time. It is a learning process and an adventure.ave fun, discover yourself through hobbies and find new ones that open you to another world. Keep an open mind.

Make little goals before aiming for the bigger ones. Do not stress if your friend appears more successful. Be patient and enjoy all this world has to offer.

LOS MEDANOS COLLEGE

Experience

Do the new emergency buttons make you feel safe on campus?

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Member California Newspaper Publishers Association

“The button really doesn’t make a difference, but it’s better than nothing.”

— Alexis Brinson

“We are not going to sit and wait for help, but it is better than nothing.”

— Inas Hassan

“No, because it’s not effective. You still have to wait for help.

If I hear gun shots, I’m running.”

—Donny Lewis Jr.

“[It’s a] good thing for an immediate response to know exactly which building the incident is coming from.”

— Antonio Campos

I think, honestly, it’s better, knowing there’s something immediately available.”

— Israel Nava

“I think it does provide safety. It’s better to have them with the recent school shootings.”

— Abegail Guardian

“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 ........................ADRIA WATSON Copy Chief..............................LILLY MONTERO Perspectives Editor..................JORDAN NEEL Campus Editor ..............PERRY CONTINENTE Features Editor ........................BRENNA ENOS Sports Editors ........................JESUS CANO & HUGO CALDERON Social Media Editor ............. ROBERT PIERCE Photo Editors .............................CHRIS RUIZ & A.R. BROOM Web Editor ........................ KIMBERLY STELLY 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 S.A.C.H.E. club looks to help

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“If music be the food of love, play on”.

— William Shakespeare

Jazz ensamble wows

The Students with Abilities Coordinate to Help Each-other or S.A.C.H.E. club is looking for students who are either already a part of Disabled Students Programs & Services or have an intererst in helping to spread the voices of students with disabilities to join their service-based club.

All students, staff and faculty are welcome to join, and you can email the club’s administrators at sache.club@ gmail.com for meeting details, dates and times. For more information, visit their website at www.lmcsache. weebly.com.

Collegebuys.org offers deals

Los Medanos College students, faculty and staff can visit CollegeBuys.org for information on a host of exclusive deals on popular software programs such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud, as well as discounted hardware from phone cases and charges to full laptops at up to 50 percent off. Visit the website today for more information. Collegebuys.org is sponsored by the Foundation of Califonia Community Colleges.

Art Club presents Paint Night

The LMC Art Club is hosting two nights where they will teach participants how to paint. Art Club will provide the materials and instruction along with snacks April 20 and 27 in Room CC3-307 from 2 to 5 p.m. Participants will learn painting tips, tricks and techniques while creating art themselves. The event costs $20 at the door, but there is a $5 discount if participants pre register online.

For more information you can contact the LMC Art Club Email at lmcartclub@gmail.com

Experience • A.R. Broom

Drummer Michael Wright in motion during the Spring Jazz Concert April 11. Wright and his fellow musicians played several songs that showcase the range and tones within jazz as a genre.

Concert hits the right notes

Student Life cleans out closets

The Office of Student Life is hosting a spring cleaning event where students can donate unwanted clothing in good shape to the Student Life Closet. Clothing that you wish to donate can be brought to the office of student life located near parking lot A to the right of the childcare center.

Clothing donated should not have stains, rips, missing buttons or broken zippers. For more information contact the Office of Student Life by phone at (925) 473-7554 or by email at studentlife@losmedanos.edu.

Awesome Sign Legends

Assist students of sign language practice and help educate the public about deaf culture and American Sign Language with Awesome Sign Legends club.

Club meetings are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Room CC2-213.

For more information please contract Taydi bush at tbodley551@insite.4cd.edu or Yessenia Marquez at ymarquez941@insite.4cd.edu.

LMC buys back textbooks

Th LMC Bookstore is looking to buy back textbooks. students looking to make some extra cash can go to the bookstore May 21-24 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and May 25 9 a.m.noon. For more information students can contact the LMC Bookstore at wwwlmcbookstore.net or visit the Pittsburg campus store.

Earth Day comes to campus

Students will be able to celebrate the environment because LMC will hold an Earth Day event on Wednesday, April 18. This event was put together by the LMC Nature Preserve and will take place at the outdoor quad from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will have many different exciting activities to participate in and booths to visit.

Some activities that will be going on include a nature preserve plant sale, live animals to see, environmental games, and vendors. There will be local green organizations as well as the opportunity to win prizes by entering drawings at booths. Make sure to come to the Earth Day event and celebrate nature.

LMC to hold gospel concert

LMC’s 24th Annual Gospel Celebration is coming up.

The event, hosted by LMC professor Silvester Henderson, features Keisha Renee, a celebrity vocalist who appeared on The Voice. Also featured is Shonte herring, A gospel performer who has appeared on BET along with other local musical guests.

The event will be held on Saturday, May 5 in the Los Medanos College recital hall. Admission is $22 at the door or $20 in advance. Children under 4 get free admission.

LMC hiring tutors

LMC is hiring tutors to work at Pittsburg Senior High School. Tutoring subjects are mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics and foreign languages federal work study welcome.

In order to qualify for the job students need a grade B or higher in the tutoring position’s subject.

Student tutoring hourly wage is $11.50 an hour. Applications can be sent to www.losmedanos.edu/stem/.

Prospective tutors can also contact Anthony Duldulao at (925) 517-3407 or at anduldulao@losmedanos.edu for more information.

What’s lost may be found

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

How to report news

If you have a news tip for a story, or a short item you would like considered for publication, here’s what to do: Stop by the Journalism Lab (Room CC3-301) on the main level or email the Editor In Chief Adria Watson at awatson@lmcexperience.com.

News Briefs: If you are involved in an event that you would like publicized or have a short announcement for the newswatch collumn, stop by the journalism lab and fill out a news form.

— compiled from press releases and staff reports

By LILLY MONTERO @lilly_montero3

Los Medanos College’s Music Depar tment put on the 2018 Spring Jazz Concert Wednesday, April 11. The event was the latest in a series of experimental multi-school collaborations. The concert featured the Freedom High School Jazz Band conducted by director George Chilcott and LMC’s own jazz band conducted by director Steven Earnest.

Freedom and Chilcott were the first to perform. The band played a total of five pieces, with each bringing a change of pace to the performance.

Freedom began on a high note with their first piece “Bay Side Groovin’” by Michael Sweeney. The second piece “Lament” by Benny Golson was just as gloomy as its title Experience • A.R. broom would suggest.

Guitar Player Victor Fuentes focuses intently on the There was yet another music during one of the songs at the Spring Concert. change of pace, and Chilcott

said, “We’re gonna take you to church. Take you to church to hear the sermon.”

That piece was appropriately titled, “The Sermon” by Erik Morales. “My Funny Valentine”

by L. Hart and R. Rogers was a ballad. They ended on a more calm and smooth note with their final piece “Killer Joe”

by Benny Golson.

“This is the LMC Night Band Plus and it’s comprised of college students, high school students, and some of my friends,” Earnest said as he introduced the next group.

Among the group were professional players like Chilcott himself and Larr y Widener from Deer Valley High School. The group also included college students from Diablo Valley College. Other surprise elements, like LMC vocalist Solomon Uhuru gave the LMC Night Band Plus an interesting format.

See JAZZ, page 6

Funds guide path for success

By A.R. BROOM

@AlexanderRBroom

The Los Medanos College Academic Senate formed the Guided Pathways Committee last year to come up with an action plan and submit said plan to the State Chancellor’s office to receive $950,057 over the next five years. If approved, the committee will gain funds to help bring multiple departments of the college together to gather research and make changes that will improve

completion rates for students across campus programs.

District representative, Bob Pacheco, attempted to give a more structured way of thinking and looking at statistics to help the Guided Pathways Committee best spend their time figuring out how to divide the funds and what the program should entail at a meeting March 15.

“We did have a set goal, an agenda and stuff, but we’re still in the process of creating goals, plans and visions that make

sense for LMC,” said committee member and math instructor Scott Hubbard. “We have no idea how we’re going to spend that money ... If you have ten students you could have ten different reasons for why they’re at LMC.” The program is still in its early stages, and one of its short-term goals is to get input from members of the LMC community on what the school can do to further help students. This would involve talking See PATH, page 6

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“Sometimes I start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going.”

— Michael Scott, The Office

Uchis polishes sound

By D’ANGELO JACKSON @DAngeloJackson_

Imagine for a moment the vintage sounds of gliding, 70s guitar drips, crystalline synths, sine pads, the smooth vocal stylings of Yukimi Nagano and Amy Winehouse, sung of course to melodies that are both somber and sanguine, and done with an approach to R&B, soul, reggaeton, electronica and funk. These will become the defining sounds of “Isolation”, the debut album from artist Kali Uchis.

Until now the 24-year-old Colombian-American singer/songwriter has perhaps been most well known for her feature on the Grammy-nominatCourtesy of Pitchfork ed song “Get You” by Daniel Caesar as well as past collaborations with the hip-hop artist Tyler, The Creator. But she has also proven herself before with her own two previous musical works: the mixtape “Drunken Babble” (2012) and the EP “Por Vida” (2015) respectively, testing her range in the realms of neo-soul, pop, electronic, and R&B. The album is supported by its three main singles: “Tyrant” featuring Jorja Smith, “Nuestro Planeta” featuring Reykon, and “After the Storm” featuring Tyler, the Creator and Bootsy Collins.

“Isolation” opens with “Body Language (Intro)”, a pleasant loungey arrangement courtesy of the artist Thundercat, with Kali Uchis floating by vocally while listeners are treated to a few of the main lyrical themes that will occur throughout the album — frustration, departure, and the shortcoming of failed relationships as well as the personal growth that comes with it.

Introductions can be deceiving.

That said, the album truly takes off with the second track, “Miami” featuring BIA, when production picks

REVIEW

Experience • Brenna Enos

The March sisters of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy dance around with swords, a broom and a fan in their attic during a musical number in the Chanticleers Theatre production of “Little Women.”

Orchestra gets experience

LMC music students join Chanticleers Theatre

By BRENNA ENOS @brennasenos

When attending a musical, it becomes all too easy to feast your eyes on the choreographed dance routines, intricate sets and flashy costumes. But an integral part of musicals you cannot always see are the people that bring the music to life from behind the curtain – the orchestra.

For the Chanticleers Theatre production of “Little Women” in Castro Valley, it is the orchestra composed of Los Medanos College students that have brought the timeless music to life, led by LMC Music Professor Luis Zuniga.

Having been Chanticleers Musical Director for the theatre’s previous show of “The Adams Family”, Zuniga was eager to once again work alongside Director John Baiocchi and Choreographer Todd Aragon.

However, this show has been an entirely different experience for

him not only because his last show with Chanticleers was “The Adams Family”, but also because he had the opportunity to conduct his own students.

Bringing some of his “most prepared and hardworking students” to the play has allowed him not only to get to work with them on a more professional level, but it has provided them with an opportunity they “can’t learn in a college class.”

“They’re getting real world experience and are a part of something that is deeply routed on an artistic aspect,” explained Zuniga. “[They] get to play in front of a live audience and sometimes, [musicians] don’t get enough of those experiences.”

With eight weeks to rehearse, the orchestra has been working to perfect their music and adapt the original score to fit their instruments cohesively. Due to the show’s intense list of 24 musical numbers, the orchestra has spent a lot of time practicing

Experience • Brenna Enos

LMC music student Lucian Baxter plays piano in the orchestra for the show “Little Women” at Chanticleers Theatre. together. LMC strings player Lucian Baxter believes they have closely bonded in a unique way.

“We have a lot of in-jokes about the characters and songs, so it sometimes feels like we’re communicating in our own special language that no one outside of this production knows like we do,” explained Baxter. “Every one of us has put a colossal amount

Students stage a suspicious show

of energy into making this musical go well, and we’ve really bonded over how committed we are to the musical.”

Among those who make up the tightly knit band, is saxophone player Tony Hendrix who has been in the LMC music program for six years, and scored his first taste at live pro-

See BAND, page 6

See KALI, page 6

‘Torn Pages’ is a murder mystery

By ALEX CAMILLI @A_Carnation

The Los Medanos College Drama Department is bringing the play “Torn Pages” to the Little Theater beginning Thursday, April 26.

“Torn Pages” is an ominous blend of mystery and crime containing adult themes and directed by Drama Instructor Nick Garcia.

There is no target audience or age restriction, but the scenarios explored throughout the play may have the storyline take a grim turn.

Accepting how instances in history set around socially built presumptions, will make the allegory within the play shine through to reach audience member without feeling like the idea being conveyed is forced. The disconnect that time causes to issues that are still prevalent, combined with how it is introduced, can breed a discussion the au-

dience can appreciate as part of the artistic direction as a whole.

The script has gone through minor reiterations from the original conception and through multiple rehearsals. The cast is confident the finished product will reflect their hard work.

“This kind of feels like our last hoorah together because most of us are transferring at the end of the semester,” said actor Jimmy Darling.

Actor Teryn Macallan will also star in “Torn Pages” and describes the production experience as “democratic,” because his contemporaries all had great ideas but had to vote on what would be right for the play as a whole.

On the day the theme was developed, Experience • Adria Watson decisions had to be made split second that Detective John McGregor (Jimmy Darling) and Amelia Swanson (Yessica Morfin) best suited the noire themed play, which

REVIEW CREW

‘A Quiet Place’ Movie Summary: Horror film “A Quiet Place” hit theaters April 6 and features the husband and wife duo of John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Centered on a family forced to live their daily lives in silence due to creatures that hunt by noise, this movie has gained a lot of attention for its unique style and terrifying plotline.

See PAGES, page 6

rehearse an interrogation scene from their student-written play “Torn Pages.”

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Perry says: Well executed but generic

Adria says: Jim Halpert did that

Kimberly says: Made my anxiety worse

Writer, director and star John Krasinski develops the family of his new film “A Quiet Place” into compelling original characters almost entirely without spoken dialogue.

The film’s empathetic approach to character and family may be its single greatest achievement.

So it is unfortunate when the situations these characters are forced into and the way they unfold are so familiar.

Beyond the central gimmick of silence, and a tense scene involving a bathtub, almost every plot point is something we have seen before.

The plucky children and the long legged beasties that drive the plot are nothing new.

That is not to say that the film is bad, it is just unfortunate that something truly special was limited by its rating and didn’t take the chances that it could have.

— Perry Continente

John Krasinski’s directorial debut “A Quiet Place” is packed with intriguing and stressful thrills that will keep audience members on their toes. Although the film’s horror element lies within the fact a family with young children are trying to survive a post apocalyptic world, quietly, to avoid getting eaten alive by a demogorgon doppelganger, the most thrilling part of the film is seeing how far the parents are willing to go to keep their kids safe.

Krasinski does a great job with the character arcs in “A Quiet Place,” you think you know what is going to happen wiht them but the opposite occurs and by the end, Emily Blunt and Millicent Simmonds characters are the storylines true protagonists.

“A Quiet Place” is a standard horror film that anyone who is used to watching this genre between their fingers can stomach.

John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place,” was well-acted and decently directed but begs us to ask the question: Hey, why are you guys making babies during the apocalypse?

From the minimal dialogue, to casting a deaf actress who’s disability isn’t played as a hindrance to the rest of the characters, it just does so many things right. Another unique aspect of this film was its effect on the audience. If you see this in theaters, you can feel people trying their hardest not to make noise. It really adds tension to an already tense movie watching experience.

There are some scenes that could have been better fleshed out if they were slightly gorier. Gore doesn’t usually make a movie better, but including a little more explicit content would have made certain scenes have a more lasting impact on the viewer

— Adria Watson

— Kimberly Stelly

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“Sometimes you win.

Sometimes you lose.

Sometimes, it rains.”

— Bull Durham

Mustangs overcome obstacle

LMC gets 6-3 win

By HUGO CALDERON @HugoCalderon09

Los Medanos College emerged victorious against Solano College, winning 6-3, despite head coach Anthony D’Albora and starting pitcher, James Biles being ejected from the game.

In the fifth inning the umpire tossed Biles and D’Albora out.

Biles was trying to communicate with his coach from the mound. Interpreting this as something negative, the umpire overrode the warning that was given to Biles moments before and sent him off right away instead.

“It’s a good reminder that there are a lot of things that you don’t get to control. We don’t get to control the decisions that people make,” said D’albora. “The best thing we can do is put our head down and play hard.”

Myles Coston kicked off the Mustangs’ scoring, hitting an RBI double in the first inning.

That was his 14th RBI of the season.

“It felt good to get us on the board early,” said Coston. “I’m just trying to help the team as much as possible, trying to be a leader and trying to lead by example.”

The Falcons leveled it the following inning courtesy of

Nik Dodson’s RBI single, but would have to wait until the fifth inning to touch home plate again. The Mustangs responded to the ejection by scoring two runs the following inning thanks to RBIs from Jason Ochoa and Jose Vasquez.

Ochoa also scored the second run of the inning, increasing his team’s lead to 5-2.

“Especially with our coach getting thrown out and our pitcher getting thrown out, it’s always nice to pick up the guys that have a good day,” said Ochoa. “What I tr y to preach is to take it one pitch at a time.”

The Mustangs ended the scoring in the seventh inning through Riley Cleary’s RBI single in which Vince Lontz scored an unearned run.

“I think today was as much as a team win as it could have been and that’s a good thing for us,” said D’Albora. “We talk everyday about being really good in the routine, all three phases. Making routine plays defensively, taking as many quality at bats as possible, and executing our pitches.”

Los Medanos will travel to Solano on Saturday, April 14.

For more information on Los Medanos College baseball go to http://www.losmedanos. edu/baseball/

Catcher on the road to success

By LILLY MONTERO @Lilly_montero3

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Victor Anguiano keeps a smile.

Photos by Cathie Lawernce • Experience

James Biles delivers a pitch during his five innings of work (top photo). Riley Cleary and Jose Vasquez channel their inner bash brothers after knocking in a run (left). Myles Coston closes the game (above).

Mustangs’ catcher, Victor Anguiano, has a history of bypassing the easier path in exchange for something harder, but more satisfying.

When he was young he found he was good at soccer, but baseball was where his heart was. And though baseball wasn’t easy, it was the difficulty that motivated him.

Anguiano is like that in a lot of aspects of his life. He has always had a knack for english, but in college decided he wanted to major in biochem. When he tore his posterior labrum there was a surgery that would have fixed the injury, but he decided to work through it because the recovery

would have taken him out of the sport he loves most for almost a year. The same is true when he decided to go to University of California, Davis with the potential to play ball instead of going to a junior college to improve.

He wanted to work hard and prove himself like he always had, like his favorite character Naruto does.

A phrase that always stuck with Anguiano was something one of Naruto’s apprentices once said. “‘I can’t take the short path, because I know Naruto won’t be waiting for me at the end of it’,” he paraphrased. “I always thought that was so cool. So I was always like ‘You’re not going to find me

at the end of the shorter path.’”

When he got to Davis though, Anguiano found that going to a junior college might have been the harder, but more satisfying path and he had missed it. The Davis coaches had seemed interested in him in the summer before his freshman year, but when he found himself a semester into it and not playing ball, Anguiano realized his mistake.

“I was miserable at Davis,” he admitted. “I thought I could live without [baseball], but I couldn’t.”

Anguiano doesn’t regret the experience though. It humbled him, brought him back down to earth, and gave him a chance to improve himself on the longer and

harder path. Now, he’s focused on becoming the person that others have always seen in him.

Anguiano has always had a strong support from his family, teachers, and friends. His high school English teacher, Andrea Murphy, was always challenging him to stay focused in class and supported him on the field.

“Once it becomes hard, that’s when you get engaged,” Murphy once told him about his work ethic.

Anguiano has always been motivated to do better by the people in his support group, but within the past few years he has lost quite a few of them. His teacher Murphy, his friends’ grandfather See CATCH, page 6

2016 MVP adds award Sadler is recognized at state level

By JESUS CANO @y2j_Cano88

UKULELES = HEALTH Music can lower blood pressure.

Back in 2016, Caitlin Sadler was the queen of the court for not only for the Los Medanos College volleyball team, but the entire Bay Valley Conference.

But In the classroom, she exemplified the definition of a true scholar athlete, and the state took notice.

Over spring break, Sadler was one of 18 4.0 GPA-performing student athletes in the California Community College Athletic Association to win the athlete honor roll award.

“I felt really proud to represent my conference and be one of the few athletes in the state to win!” Sadler said.

There were two requirements to qualify for this award, and Sadler met both of them with flying colors.

First, she maintained a 4.3 grade point average her sophomore year, something very few student athletes can do. In addition to that, Sadler maintained a part time job, only adding to how much Sadler has on her plate. Sadler said this was definitely one of the most stressful times of her life.

“It can be difficult being a full-time student and athlete. It See AWARD, page 6

Experience • Cathie Lawrence

Caitlin Sadler (#2) goes for the kill against Napa.

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Back Talk PAGES AWARD BAND From page 4

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created tension to ensure the concept is well constructed.

“After that day we had a very strict and rigid concept on we needed to achieve,” said Macallan.

Both Garcia and Instructor Jack Nicolaus have overseen the production and were both motivated to ensure the many dynamics in the play are implemented to strengthen the plot and performances of the actors.

Character design is essential to building a compelling drama, but actress Anna Pintzer feels that establishing the orientation of a character can create necessary conflict.

“I think that stereotype versus diversity, plays a big part just because we have characters of different sexual orientations or different race and dif ferent backgrounds,” said Pintzer.

“Torn Pages” will be showing April 26-28 and May 2-5.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 with student I.D., $10 with a high school I.D. and $7 for the May 2 matinee viewing.

forces you to manage your time and prioritize,” Sadler said.

“With so much on your plate, you really have to decide what deserves your time. You have to be on top of your schedule, making sure you don’t miss anything. Having a planner helped me to keep everything straight.”

The second requirement was to be the MVP of their conference, and Sadler did so in 2016. In a season where LMC went 11-1 in conference play, Sadler dominated the court with 239 kills, averaging 2.54 kills per set.

“Caitlin worked really hard in the gym, games and classroom,” volleyball head coach Lou Panzella said. “She expects to work hard and give her best.

She totally earned this award.”

While Sadler’s career ended with the Mustangs in 2016, she continues to attend LMC and received an Associate’s Degree in both Administration of Justice and Behavioral Sciences in December.

After LMC, Sadler hopes to continue her studies in the State’s capital by attending California State University, Sacramento.

KALI From page 4

up pace yet still remains down-tempo. The track opens with chirpy digital notes that dirge in the background until the song is over, while the singer reflects briefly on what has come put of past ambitions and how far she’s come as well as who she has developed into.

Things begin to change sonically with the next track, “Just A Stranger” featuring Steve Lacy, both in song and production. The track goes upbeat even further, but has a distinctly more electronic sound accompanied with lyrics suggestive of living a life that’s fast and either rejecting those who can’t keep up or pushing away people because of it.

However, the album takes an underwhelming turn with “Flight 22”, which, while easy on the ears in terms of arrangement, just comes across as a bit old-hat, like an effort to create an “oldies” style ballad with vibrato-tone guitars, string sections and all.

The rest of the album can be seen as a series of innovative ideas sandwiched between polished yet safer takes on the kind of material the artist has released in the past.

Of course, this isn’t to say that safe is strictly negative, just that it’s passable and not exceptional which can perhaps be the main criticism of some of the music on the album when compared to its more standout moments.

Despite these criticisms, the good greatly outweighs the bad and Kali Uchis has shown her ability to branch out, and quite free-flowingly at that, into other ways of delivering her music sonically while also demonstrating her remarkable taste in collaborators.

CATCH From page 5

Windell, whom he also referred to as grandpa, and a friend of his Marcos Huerta have all passed. And though it hurts a lot, Anguiano just tries to stay focused on the support they gave him and doing the best that he can.

“I dedicated this season to them,” he said. And though it hasn’t been his best it’s in line with the long and hard path he always been so dedicated to.

“I’m a work in progress, but I’m doing my best.”

In spite of parts of his season, some of which he refers to as a “slump”, others recognize his hard work and positivity.

Batting coach, Chad Highberger said, “He works his butt off. No matter what happened that day off the field, he’s gonna show up every day and be that same guy on the field,” and that his teammates appreciate having him “the same Vic that’s always pumped up and energized and ready to play.”

Anguiano’s already focused on next season. “Next year’s gonna be my year for sure,” Anguiano he said. Just like his favorite character, Naruto, he plans to work hard for it.

JAZZ From page 3

“There is no one leading the band, so we’re tr ying something new and unusual,” Earnest explained. “That is, we’re playing by feel and so we have a cut off expert up front [to lead us].”

The group also played a variety of pieces ranging from the classics to a heavy bluesy sound. The first piece was “Doin’ the Bathtub Boogie” by Gordon Goodwin, followed by “Singing in the Rain” by Arthur Freed with vocals by Uhuru.

“Wah, wah!” by Howard Rowe came next and “Blu’z Jam” by Three Guitar Guys turned out to be a crowd favorite. Uhuru made a final appearance for the Plus band when singing “You Stepped Out of a Dream” by Nacio Herb Brown.

To close, Earnest brought back the Freedom High School students for an encore. Together they played the impromptu piece “Song From my Father” which was not included on the flyer. The song was what Earnest described as a fun exercise to evaluate the band’s sight-reading.

“The band has not seen the music, the director has five minutes to talk it through and answer questions… So we’re going to do that right before your eyes,” Earnest said.

Like their performance for “Blu’z Jam”, the band meshed well together and produced a big finish. Director Earnest looks for ward to more collaborations like this one and suspects there will be another sometime in May before finals.

PRES From page 1

connections he has m a d e i n t h i s c a p a c i t y.

Bearden also emphasized “building a better, stronger academic senate” with the connections he has made so far.

Bearden also expressed his desire to properly utilize guided pathways and preserving the curriculum, while exploring options to improve it.

“I will work to build consensus around any potential changes, communicate with DVC and CCC Academic Senates and pledge to advocate on behalf of our faculty during my time in office,” Bearden wrote.

Current LMC Academic Senate President Sylvester Henderson expressed his satisfaction with his tenure in the position and the progress made during that time.

Henderson hopes Bearden will fill the job well and “take the job seriously.”

Henderson also said he hopes the senate will continue to be a voice for faculty and staff under Bearden’s leadership.

Bearden won the election with over 50 percent of the vote, with his closest rival receiving 17 percent fewer votes.

From page 4

-fessional performing through being in the musical.

For Hendrix, playing at the professional level is “a little bit scary” at first, but after the first weekend he has been “feeling a bit more comfortable” and already believes that he has “gotten better at [his] reaction time and catching subtle hints in conducting.”

Very familiar with live performing, clarinet player Jessica Anderson had been in the orchestra for multiple musicals at Heritage High School but appreciates the professional atmosphere of playing with a higher-level company and the struggles that come with it.

“The biggest struggle [of the show] was definitely the time it took to transpose the French horn and cello for my own instrument,” said Anderson.

Despite the difficulty, Anderson has enjoyed her experience and likes the “higher caliber” atmosphere of the show she and her classmates can experience.

Other LMC students that make up the “Little Women” orchestra are Gabriel Rodenbron (flute, piccolo), Jessica Motta (percussion) and Brennan Russell (oboe, English horn).

While the band was predominately composed of LMC students, Chabot College student Camden Daly also joined the orchestra on piano. With 17 years of experience under his belt, Daly has enjoyed learning more about music through being a part of the musical and through having Zuniga as his conductor.

“Working with the orchestra and Zuniga is a really rare experience,” explained Daly. “[Zuniga] has been doing music for so long… working with someone who pushes his people is a great person to work with, because you know that you’ll have a good show.”

“Little Women’s” first few shows have already passed, but the show will continue to run April 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28, and May 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. Matinee shows will also be of fered April 15, 22, 29 and May 6 at 2 p.m. For more information please visit www.chanticleers. org/magic.

PATH From page 3

to many campus departments, students and staff and administration — something that Hubbard says will take a lot of time.

“The ultimate goal is to have six to eight sub-committees getting voices from ever ybody,” said Hubbard. “This is just the beginning stages, but hopefully we’ll have lots of groups like this.”

For the five year long program to be a success, Josh Bearden, a Social Sciences instructor at LMC, says that everyone getting on the same page, everyone getting organized and how to figure the details out is important.

“The counselors and the instructional faculty, or student services, it’s got to get ever ybody on board to be truly successful. Have the people who were in the room representing these groups go back to their groups and work on the plan and build some unification that way.”

Julie VonBergen, the cochair of the Guided Pathways Advisory Committee and Math, instructor was happy with the way the meeting went.

“We had some good feedback that we can include in our plan, and we had good strategies for vision and how we wanted to move forward in the discussions with the campus community,” said VonBergen.

“In the first year we talk about developing pathways, implementing pathways, what types of changes we want to make on campus, what questions we have and getting answers to those questions about data and student life on campus.”

With the research on Guided Pathways being limited and the state control of how money is being spent, the committee appears to be excited about the possibilities the program has.

“What LMC needs is not what CCC needs, or DVC needs, so it’s actually kind of a good thing that the state is not being super restrictive,” said Hubbard.

F R I D AY,

FARLEY From page 1

“I love my wife, but she’s not here,” then tried to hug the woman again.

As of press time, the Experience has made numerous unsuccessful attempts via phone and email messages to contact both Farley and Gordon for comment about the incident noted in the report.

The investigation also found that former district Chancellor Helen Benjamin, who was at the conference in Monterey but not at the dinner, “received several complaints from other trustees and chancellors from other districts about the inappropriate behavior” the previous night.

The report also said that at least one unnamed district trustee apologized to the woman for Farley’s behavior.

When contacted by the Experience April 11 for details about the district’s response to the incident three years ago, Benjamin said she had “absolutely no comment.”

Shipp sent his preliminary findings and anonymous letter to Governing Board Vice President John Marquez Feb. 20 to discuss how the board should handle the situation

PREP From page 1

shootings and all the horrible things happening, this is going to give them some skills.”

A major element in mass casualty training is teaching a student how to triage, or properly allocate limited resources in a crisis. In an event like a bombing or an earthquake, response teams often simply do not have the time and medical equipment to treat every victim, and the triage process involves deciding who needs immediate attention, who is safe to leave waiting, and who can no longer be helped.

Nguyen teaches her students a version of triage that she calls SALT, or Sort, Assess, Life-Saving Interventions and Transport or Triage.

The simulation, along with other small-scale ones the department runs regularly, allow students to apply these principles in a pseudo real-world setting beyond the textbook and quiz.

“They usually have to do these drills in hospitals,” O’Brien commented. “But we’ve taken that to the school so that by the time they go to the hospitals, they’re already going have the heads up on how to triage and how to handle a mass casualty. We’re hoping that never happens of course, but you have to be ready, and

BLOCK From page 1

Wood then tur ned the meeting over to Mehdizadeh, who gave a brief recap of the system and the issues with it.

“Freedom versus security is the heart of the issue,” said Mehdizadeh, who hoped to “get us to a place where we can engage in dialogue about moving forward.”

Before moving on to taking questions, Mehdizadeh explained a recent upgrade in Internet speed has made the blocks necessary, especially given recent security breaches at other colleges.

“The real issue is about malware,” said Mehdizadeh, mentioning the recent attacks on Los Angeles City College as an example of what a lack of security can cause.

The LA College was infected with a virus that locked them out of their systems until a price was paid via cr yptocurrency.

“That’s the reality of the world in which we live today.

There are crazy people doing crazy things and our goal is to limit the exposure,” said Mehdizadeh.

Librarian Roseanne Erwin, one of the authors of the resolution opposing the blocks, was sympathetic with the need for security but viewed the blocks as censorship. Erwin mentioned a website blocked under the “Adult” category, www.dragqueenmerch.com as being a problematic site to block.

To unblock this, students

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since it involved Farley, the sitting board president.

In an email response to Shipp obtained by the Experience, Marquez explained that although saddened about the incident he believed“a thorough investigation by an outside investigator is warranted.”

But when Farley resigned Feb. 26 and Marquez was named to replace him as president, the board decided close the case.

“I took it to the board because I’m just one individual, it’s not up to me… I’m just the president and I believe in democracy and I go with the majority of the vote of the board,” said Marquez in a recent interview. “What it determined was that Farley had resigned and there wasn’t much more we could do in terms of getting a remedy as was being requested by the [anonymous] complainant — which mentioned a training and apology by Farley — he’s out of the picture and that’s the fact.”

Marquez said that he suggested to the board that even though Farley had resigned and they can’t force him to apologize or to participate in sexual harassment training,

that the board can still provide that training for everyone on the board and employed in the district.

The district’s Human Resource Department is now providing sexual harassment prevention training to all employees at each college and at the district office beginning Thursday, April 19.

According to an email sent to district employees March 29 by HR Support Services Manager Andrea Medina, the training will look into “all forms of harassment and how employees can handle these situations effectively and respectful,” and will cover addressing incidents of sexual harassment, potential liability and practicing tools for identifying, preventing and correcting sexual harassment — including discussions surrounding preventing abusive conduct and gender identity discrimination Marquez added that this training has been in discussion but had not been scheduled until now.

“We as a board should get the training because if one board member allegedly did something like that, then we all should get some training,” said Marquez.

this is going make them as ready as we can.”

The scale of the event is both exciting and a little intimidating for nursing students, who are required to participate in it during their second year in the program, either as a patient or as a nurse.

“If we were doing this last year, I would not have been able to do it,” said Victoria Darrow, who participated in the program as a nurse working with blunt force trauma injuries. For her, the event is a great lesson on “how to handle stressful situations” and remaining “in a calm and collected manner” while working a sensitive job.

Erika Talens, who also participated as a nurse with the blunt force trauma team, described herself as “nervous and excited” ahead of the event, but also said she was “grateful” for the volunteers and for the opportunity to “show… our real skills.”

Students not only participated, they also helped O’Brien and Nguyen with the prep work for it; along with faculty, staff and volunteer nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists from regional hospitals including Kaiser and John Muir, several alumni of the LMC nursing program returned to help set the event up.

“I had a great experience. It was fun. It was intense,” said

Moreen Redita, who volunteered along with Acela Vergara and Ashley Moore. All three are past LMC nursing students now pursuing bachelors in nursing at Cal State East Bay. “Last year’s theme was a shooting, and unfortunately it was all too real,” said Vergara, taking time to praise the actors.

“Your heart was racing even though you knew it was fake.”

While the event can be intense and even a bit frightening, it can also be an eye-opener, and a unique opportunity for students to understand what their actual careers will look like.

“In class you learn a lot of textbook,” said Moore. “This taught a lot of real world and how chaotic it can be, really puts it into perspective… We had such a good experience last year, we wanted to give back.”

That desire to give back is what Nguyen and O’Brien assume attracted such a large amount of volunteers. According to O’Brien, they did no advertising for the event but had so many volunteers they “almost had to turn people away.”

“There’s people that just want to be a part of it,” said O’Brien. “Everybody in nursing knows that, if I see an accident on the freeway, we need to stop, so there’s nothing more than preparedness.”

would be required to disclose their interest in such sites presenting an issue for many.

“I think that because this site is associated with non-heteronormative behavior the algorithm blocked it,” said Erwin who feared the blocking of such sites reflects poorly on the district.

As of press time www. dragqueenmerch.com is still blocked.

“Judgment is communicated, unfortunately,” said Erwin.

Library director Christina Goff also weighed in on the blocks.

“We are censoring our students,” said Goff. “If you are not lucky enough to have outside campus access to your own network you are getting limited access.”

“I understand security and the need for a firewall,” she said, “but censoring at point of use based on what an algorithm deems acceptable goes against everything we stand for at community college.”

Mehdizadeh addressed these concerns.

“We talk about being inclusive and we love our students and our community. I don’t think we are going to see any backlash,” she said. “If the student is uncomfortable I understand that. They can say it’s for research — they don’t have to out anything about their personal lives.”

Addressing the economic implications of the blocks, LMC Associate Students President Marco McMullen added to the conversation.

“I want to focus on who does

this really affect?” said McMullen. “It does affect students of low socioeconomic status more than we would want to think about.”

He also discussed the time sensitive nature of homework assignments saying that a lengthy unblock time could inhibit education.

Mehdizadeh explained the plans for improvement of the system. These including circulating a custom message which would direct students on how to unblock websites, replacing the generic message currently displayed that has no instruction and suggesting a four hour maximum time limit for unblocking sites from Monday to Friday.

When asked about unblocking on Saturdays and Sundays, Mehdizadeh explained given the small amount of traffic on those days, such issues would be unlikely but the district will monitor the volume of requests during those time periods and act accordingly.

At the end of the meeting, it was clear the conversation was far from over.

“I think some very important points were made in regards to academic freedom,” said Mehdizadeh, going on to discuss the current deficiencies with the product. “It’s generic… I think that’s part of the challenge. If it was more exacting it would save us a lot of effort, but sadly it’s not.”

She remained hopeful about improving the product in the future, saying that feedback will improve the product and its implementation.