PCC Courier 11/13/2014

COURIER VOLUME 110 ISSUE 12

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November 13, 2014

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Cairo ends two-week stand-off with signature Philip McCormick Editor-in-Chief

Ryan Kevin/Courier Jamyang Jinpa using his chak-purs filled with vibrant colored sand for the exquisitely detailed Sacred Sand Mandala at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena on Nov. 11. See MANDALA on page 7.

PCC Cares Team helps students cope with grief Kristen Luna Staff Writer

One Thursday afternoon in late October, not yet aware of the sad news that awaited them, the students in the English 100 class walked into the room and took their seats as they do at the beginning of every class. Shortly after, Dr. Richard Beyer and Katherine Swain of the Psychological Services walked into the room caring the burden of having to break the painful news that one of their fellow classmates had passed away.

“Unfortunately we have some very sad news to report, one of your classmates was tragically killed in an automobile accident last night,” said Beyer to the class.

The English 100 student killed, David Echauri, was the third and most recent PCC student to have passed away suddenly in just the last two months. With death being a distressing part of life and something that will greatly affect us all, the team at the psychological services feels that the best way to cope with grief is by learning

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LAVENDER NIGHT OUT Show on love and self-discovery opens at the Playhouse

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Academic Senate President Eduardo Cairo ended a two-week dispute over the fate of $2.9 million in funding for student counseling services and signed a document to secure the money after the administration agreed to add recommendations from the senate, Wednesday Cynthia Olivo and morning.

Eduardo Cairo Cairo had initially refused to sign the document because he said none of his input had been added to it. He also insisted that he wouldn’t sign it because he said he was only given 24 hours to review it.

“This is how it should have occurred in the first place,” Cairo said on Wednesday. “We met today and the process went really well. The document we will be sending to the [Chancellor of Community Colleges Office] is much better than the original.”

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Architects present competing ideas for campus master plan

to manage emotions, and seeking help when needed.

“I wish I could pull out a manual that tells you how to deal with grief but there’s no manual for it because it touches each person differently from their own life experiences. So there is no one way to be able to do it,” Beyer said.

A year ago, Beyer attended a UC meeting and heard about a program called the Cares Team, which is a program designed to help students and faculty manage their emotions in the aftermath of a loss. Then last spring, when two female students were killed in an automobile accident on the 110 freeway late one night, Beyer and three other psychologists decided to formalize the PCC Cares Team and develop a brochure because they knew it would not be the last time students and faculty would be presented with a loss.

“There are common signs [in the grieving process] and if they last longer than X amount of time, you may want some PSYCH page 2

Daniel Johnson News Editor

Three architectural firms presented competing plans for the long-term reshaping of the campus at the Westerbeck recital hall on Thursday.

The Centennial Facilities Master Plan Community Forum hosted the presentations of firms of AC Martin, Gensler, and HGA, whose respective ideas for extensive renovations had some common threads as well as distinct differences.

All three touched on preserving the historic front of the campus by retaining the C building and the mirror pools, better utilization of the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Hill Avenue, and the possibility of expanding to the north side of Colorado through partnerships with businesses or by purchasing land outright.

While declining to indicate a favorite, school officials in attendance responded favorably to all three presentations.

“I thought they were very good pre-

A DISNEY INSPIRED CLASS Professor enlightens classroom with the Magic Kingdom

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Daniel Nerio/Courier Project director Susan Painter and principal Chuck Seeger from AC Martin making a presentation.

sentations,” said Trustee Ross Selvidge.

“I was taking note of the way they incorporated specific things we had asked them to, and also noted that a couple CENTENNIAL page 2

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PSYCH Continued from page 1

individual attention, guidance or counseling session,” said Amanda Han of the PCC Cares Team and Psychological Services. “[The brochure shows] where we are and what we offer so we usually just put it out that way during our first meeting with the students.

And we offer that to the teacher as well.”

The PCC Cares Team offers three levels of assistance to both faculty and staff. The first level is for the team to consult with faculty and staff about the tragedy and help them to explore their feelings so they are better able to handle a profound and significant discussion with their students.

The second level is when the team meets with the teacher and students directly in the classroom to discuss the tragedy and help students understand the grieving process, as well as what to look out for in identifying symptoms.

The third level are for those students and faculty that reach out and request individual guidance or voluntary small group discussions.

“It [grief] may just hit them on a different level and in some it may not register,” Han said. “Others, it may hit them harder, and so we’re there to present some of the common possibilities that we can walk them through and try to elicit some responses from them.

And sometimes they don’t have any responses and that’s OK too.”

For teachers who are extremely close to their students, this sudden loss can hit them as hard as losing a loved one. This rings true for one of Echauri’s English 100

instructor, Gabriella Pina. Pina had Echauri in class on a Tuesday and found out about his death the very next day from the English division secretary who was notified

by Beyer.

“She told me and I took it pretty hard,” said Pina. “I tend to have really good connections with my students so it was difficult for me for the rest of that week.”

One of the exercises that the Cares Team encourage students and teachers to do is to find a way to remember the departed. In the case of Pina’s class, every student wrote a letter to Echauri, which Pina is going to bind and give to his family.

“I think that helped with the healing process, but it was a very difficult class,” said Pina. “It was emotional for everybody.”

Though the Cares Team offers the help of the psychological services, the teachers are really the ones who spend the most time with the students inside the school environment.

“We offer our service to them [instructors] but sometimes the instructor is the best one to handle it for their class because they know their class well,” Beyer said.

“Sometimes it’s not.”

Being a member of PCC Cares Team can be a difficult task.

When they are notified of a students’ death, the first thing they do is look at the students’ class schedule, then they contact the instructors to find out how they should approach the class, and then, if requested, they inform each class with the heartbreaking news.

“I must say it’s a difficult thing

to do, you go in there with heavy hearted emotions,” Han said.

“It’s very unfortunate and very sad, and it can impact so many people.”

“Tragedies happen in people’s lives if you live long enough and you’re going to have them,” Beyer added. “And it’s not that you have them, it’s how you manage the feelings and thoughts that are connected with those tragedies and your resilience with that. We find that our students are very resilient, they’re extremely resilient.”

Since starting this program this semester, the PCC Cares Team has been extremely successful in the new program. They have found people to be willing to take the help that their services offer and they are confident that they can continue to help students and faculty be more successful in their lives.

“The ultimate goal is to have people manage their thoughts and feelings so those thoughts and feelings don’t affect their academic progress and their success here at PCC,” Beyer said. “What we have found through a lot of research over the years is that the students who can manage their personal difficulties effectively tend to be successful students.

Those who can’t end up dropping out, so psychological services is all set up to help them manage their personal difficulties so they can stay in school, be successful, graduate, transfer, get a career and a successful life.”

November 13, 2014

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Cynthia Olivo, the associate vice president of Student Services, said that the collaboration between the senate and administration was a testament to the college’s climate improving.

“This is a great indicator that our college is moving forward,” Olivo said. “What a great topic to bring about our unity: student success.”

The grant money would go toward the Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) plan.

The goal of SSSP is to increase student access and success by providing more counselors, advising, and other education planning services, among other things.

Olivo got an extension for the school so that the senate could discuss the matter. She said she was happy with how Monday’s special senate meeting went.

The senate voted to support Cairo’s signature to the document at the meeting. While talking about the document, multiple senators said that they would like to hear what Cairo’s concerns were with the document in the first place.

CENTENNIAL Continued from page 1 showed that they incorporated projections of growth, which was very helpful.”

“I thought all the plans had very interesting visions,” added Dr. Ryan Cornner, associate vice president for strategic planning and innovation.

“I would have liked to have seen what [Cairo’s] issues with the document were,” Senator Mark Whitworth said. “I’m sure we would all like to hear what they are so that we could discuss them here.”

Cairo then went through his notes and the senate talked about each of his problems with the document. The senate voted in support of Cairo signing the document after being assured by Olivo that its recommendations would be incorporated into the document.

“If there are any more changes that need to be made we can always send those changes to the [Chancellor of Community Colleges Office] after the document is sent,” Olivo said.

Both Cairo and Olivo said that they believe the administration and senate worked well together during the process in the end and would continue to work well in the future.

“We are looking forward to continuing to work together to make more progress on improving our campus climate and this is a huge step forward,” Olivo said.

Interim superintendent Robert Miller was slated to attend but was absent after undergoing outpatient knee surgery earlier in the day.

Executive Director of Business Services Joe Simonecshi replaced him on the dais.

School officials said the plans will be evaluated and a winner should be chosen by the end of the year.

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OPINION

November 13, 2014

Courier

2014 JACC General Excellence Award-Winner Editor-in-Chief Philip McCormick Online Editor Mick Donovan News Editor Daniel Johnson Opinion Editor Justin Clay Asst. Opinion Editor Hannah Gonzales Features Editor Kristen Luna A&E Editor Samantha Molina Asst. A&E Editor Anthony Martinez Lifestyle Editor Monique LeBleu Sports Editor Daron Grandberry Photo Editor Nagisa Mihara Asst. Photo Editor Paul Ochoa Chief Photographer Concepcion Gonzalez Online Photo Editor Daniel Valencia Scene Editor Charles Winners Asst. Scene Editor Keely Ernst Staff Writers: Ahmad Akkaoui, Reina Aldape, Daniel Axume, Dezarae Balbas, Joey Calderon Guzman, David Grubaugh, Tiffany Herrera, Matthew Kiewiet, David O’Connor, Ashley Park, Sho Tanaka Staff Photographers: Ansis Hoheisel, Erica Hong, Ryan Kevin, Chris Martinez, Daniel Nerio, Kevin Peraza, Scott Spencer, Daniel Vega-Warholy, Saul Villegas, Tiffany Yip Faculty Adviser Nathan McIntire Photo Adviser Tim Berger Advertising Manager Daniel Nerio

The Courier is published weekly by the Pasadena City College Journalism Department and is a free-speech forum. Editorials and comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the institution and its administration, student government or that of the Pasadena Area Community College District.

COURIER

Voting is a privilege, not a chore Hannah Gonzales Asst. Opinion Editor

Midterm elections are well-over, but the projected voter turnout of only 40 percent has become a cause of concern for politicians. Discussions have formed over whether or not voting should become compulsory in the United States.

Mandatory voting is not a new concept.

It exists in about a quarter of all democracies all over the world. Australia requires it’s citizens to vote. If registered voters don’t bother to show up at a polling station they are given a fine of fifteen dollars. There are also a few extreme cases in which voters are arrested and sent to jail.

The problem with mandatory voting is that even in countries where it is the law, it is not rigorously enforced. A $15 fee? Parking tickets costs more. But despite the lax attitude towards enforcing mandatory voting, it is still a requirement that should have never been put into law and should never be enforced in the U.S. The United States was founded on the principals of free will and the right to choose your own government. It is why the pilgrims sailed to the New World and it was why people decided to dump tea in Boston harbor. And although we no longer have a monarch ruling over us from far off Britain, the right to have a life free of dictatorship is still an essential part of living in “the land of the free”.

Despite compulsory voting being less than patriotic, it is also an impractical practice

that our current court systems are unlikely to enforce. The government shouldn’t be concerned about how to get more voters to come to polling stations, but focus more on why people aren’t. Accommodating all voters needs should be a top priority. Perhaps making election day a national holiday or increasing same-day voter registration would have a bigger impact.

Abstaining from voting isn’t all because of voter apathy either. Someone who chooses to abstain from voting may have a good reason and it’s that they feel they don’t know the right answer. According to Proffesor Jason Brennan, an advocate for independent voting, “bad decisions in the voting booth contribute to bad government.” And that’s true.

Political scientists have found that most citizens who abstain from voting are much more ignorant than people who do vote.

Forcing citizens to vote when they don’t know whom or what to vote for would lead to misrepresentation in government and that’s just shoddy policy.

The bottom line is voter apathy isn’t a problem we need to fix. It is the problems in our government that perpetuate voter apathy that need to be fixed. Scandals, accommodating big business and promising to fix problems and then spending entire terms raising funds for the next election are just some of the problems in politics that have voters discouraged from going to the polls.

Enforcing a compulsory voting policy will only just drive citizens further into an indifference for whom or what they’re voting for.

Cartoon by Mick Donovan

Choice to end life is an individual right Daron Grandberry Staff Writer

With the highly publicized death of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year old terminally ill California woman who moved to Oregon to end her life, the debate over physician-assisted death has once again become a controversial topic across the country.

Maynard reignited a national debate on right-to-die laws and physician-assisted death when she made public her intention to end her own life on Nov. 1. Since Maynard’s death, many supporters of physician-assisted death have taken to social media and various outlets to help those suffering from terminal illness.

Non-profit organization Compassion & Choices is one of the only end-of-life organizations that assists terminally-ill adults who are considering aid in dying.

According to their website, Compassion and Choices plans to make aid in dying an open, accessible and legitimate medical practice in California within five years. Currently only four states, Oregon, Washington,

Montana and Vermont, have legalized physician-assisted deaths, with Vermont being the latest state to sign physician-assisted deaths into law after passing Act 39 in May of 2013.

Despite the recent increase in public support of physician-assisted deaths, past attempts have failed here in California.

Many people who are opposed of the idea are backed by their religious views that strongly oppose suicide.

However, in the Bible, Proverbs 3:27 states: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” Why does the physician get the last say in how a terminally ill person gets to spend the last days of his or her life? Most importantly, why must one suffer in pain?

On Thursday, New Jersey is scheduled to vote on a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients, moving the state one step closer to allowing physician-assisted dying for terminally ill patients.

California Assembly Democratic majority spokesman Tom Hester Jr. confirmed that the bill —known as the “Aid in Dying for

the Terminally Ill Act” — would go up on Thursday, making it the second time this year that Democrats will attempt to pass the bill. In June, the bill was scheduled to be voted upon but was pulled from consideration at the last minute because of a lack of support.

Nevertheless, support has actually risen depending on how the question is presented.

A May 2013 Gallup survey found that 70 percent of Americans are in favor of allowing doctors to speed up a terminally ill patient’s death when the matter is described as allowing doctors to “end the patient’s life by some painless means.”

At the same time, only 51 percent of people support physician-assisted dying when the process is described as doctors helping a patient “commit suicide.”

Before rushing to judge those who are battling terminal illnesses, we should all put ourselves in their shoes.

Don’t all people have a moral right to choose freely what they will do with their lives as long as they inflict no harm on others? Aren’t we all entitled the right of free choice?

you think that this generation takes voting as seriously VOICES: Doas past generations?

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“I feel like they don’t care as much about politics so they don’t go out and vote. I don’t know why, maybe it’s a feeling that they’re really not doing anything.”

Joe Dahlen, film

“As you mature, you grow out of the mind set that your vote does not make a difference.”

Elizabeth Shadman, geology professor

“I haven’t voted yet so I guess I fall under that stereotype of young people that don’t vote but I know that [voting] makes a huge impact, I just haven’t had the time to.”

“No, they’re too involved with other things like drugs and parties.

Some don’t even know the difference between republicans and democrats or how voting affects us.”

Sophia Revelo, architecture Reporting by: Samantha Molina Photos by: Eric Haynes Eddy Cruz, music

Correction: Last week, the story headlined “$2.9 Million Hangs on Senate Vote” contained an unintentionally truncated quote from Prof. Lynora Rogacs that inaccurately characterized her as being against the signing of the SSSP document. The Courier regrets the error.

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Daniel Valencia/Courier Students race against one another in the Homecoming obstacle course set up by the mirror pools Tuesday.

Paul Ochoa/Courier Students bust a move at the Homecoming dance in the Creveling Lounge on Friday.

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November 13, 2014

Paul Ochoa/Courier PCC marching band opens up homecoming week in the quad Tuesday.

Daniel Valencia/Courier The PCC marching band performs in front of the CC building for the beginning of Homecoming week.

Daniel Valencia/Courier Kogi Taco Truck makes a stop at the PCC Quad to present free tacos to students who voted in the Homecoming ballot.

Daniel Valencia/Courier Outside the CC building, the homecoming court presents themselves in front of the school to gain some votes.

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FEATURES

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November 13, 2014

Exploring writing with a dash of Disney magic Anthony Martinez Staff Writer

Whether it was frequent visits to Disneyland or watching classic Disney animation, one professor’s childhood memories planted the seed that would soon blossom into a passion for examining Disney and its effects on pop culture.

English professor Tim Melnarik combines the culture of Disney and argumentative writing in his English 1A class “Disney and American Values.”

The class discusses Disney’s influence on American culture, perceptions of identity, and character analysis.

Before settling on Disney, Melnarik taught with general examples of pop culture, such as movies, television shows, video games and comic books. However, he ran into difficulties when students wouldn’t understand some of the references he would make. In order to keep everyone involved in the discussions, Melnarik immediately thought of Disney as a common ground.

“Occasionally I’ll have students in [the class] that hear this is what we’re reading about and they’re like, ‘I don’t want to do 15 weeks on Disney, it’s sugary and cute’ but I always tell them ‘good, then I want you here, this class isn’t meant to be a Disney fan club,’” he said. “It’s just

saying the company is big, its products are everywhere, what effect does that have?”

Just because Disney is a central theme to the class doesn’t mean it’s a walk in the park.

Students still create critical interpretations of the material as they would in any other English class. The first essay, a character analysis, requires students to flesh out deep connections between Disney characters and the concepts of American culture they symbolize.

“It really needs to be an analytical approach to the character so they can get into the relationship between the larger culture and this particular character as an embodiment of it,” he explained. “Because we are talking about the values and beliefs, we’re kind of playing amateur anthropologist.”

Although most might focus on classic Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, the typical Disney universe isn’t the only option to choose from. With Disney’s recent purchases of Marvel in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012, the extensive list of characters is expanded to include those from movies such as “The Avengers” and “Star Wars.”

One such character analysis discussed Boba Fett from “Star Wars” as a representation of capitalism and the free market.

Concepcion Gonzalez/Courier Assistant Professor Tim Melnarik uses Disney history to teach his English 1A classes in the C building.

Other analyses might take a more direct approach with some of the more well-known Disney characters.

Perspective plays an important role when it comes to writing about such a prominent cultural institution. Melnarik noticed a recurring difference between

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how critical students were of the company. His international students would respond with deeper critiques while American-born students were less critical, due to cultural differences.

“If we’re raised with it, we have that tendency of ‘oh, I remember watching that as a kid.’ You know, we have all the nostalgia for it, and they may not,” he said. “They can kind of approach [the prompts] from a purely adult perspective rather than having it colored by warm and fuzzy childhood memories.”

Current student Ala Damra chose to analyze Cinderella and how her actions reflected American women during the time period when the movie was released compared to women today.

“I realized that there was a lot more to Cinderella than what meets the eye,” she said. “Back in the day, when ‘Cinderella’

originally came out, women didn’t have much freedom, so Cinderella looked for a prince to save her from those circumstances. Nowadays, women are so much more independent, so just seeing that transition from then until now…we’re more outspoken now.”

Prior to the class, Damra didn’t know much of the personal history behind Walt Disney. Now, she finds Walt Disney as an interesting and inspirational person because of his determination to create memorable characters.

As a child, Disney faced everyday struggles as he came from a middle class family that hardly had the income to spend on luxuries. He distributed newspapers and sold early artwork in order to help his parents provide for the rest of his siblings. Eventually he pursued a career as an artist and created the entertainment empire that we know today.

The histories behind Walt Disney and Michael Graves speak particularly deep to Karla Padilla, an eager student fascinated with researching everything related to Disney. Padilla chose Graves, an architect, for her research paper since Graves worked on Disney projects such as the Dolphin and Swan Resorts for Walt Disney World.

In the early 2000s, Graves became paralyzed from the chest down. He did not give up on his architecture career, however.

Graves continued to design facilities with greater accessibility for others with limited movement.

“What strikes me the most is learning about people who go through things and they don’t get set back. We have some many things that can bring us down, but [these] people, for some reason, came out on top,” said Padilla. “This class has me on my toes all the time … when I’m in class my brain opens up, it’s so interesting and I want to go and find out more.”

LIFESTYLE

November 13, 2014

COURIER

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Stopping hate with a kiss at the Playhouse Monique LeBleu Lifestyle Editor

A single woman stands silent amongst a backdrop of looming brick apartments and the oppressive soundtrack of New York city din. It is the aftermath of an unknown trauma, and there begins the play’s series of time jumping vignettes that tell the story of when Callie met Sara.

Well paced, funny, and littered with traffic jokes applicable to L.A., Diana Son’s GLADD Media award-winning Stop Kiss shows all the common ways that two people get to know each other. And yet there’s nothing common about it. Even when Callie and Sara are uncomfortable, it’s comfortable.

Even when they fight, their growing friendship is natural–and continues from the first date, to meeting each others friends, to the desire to share with someone who’d truly appreciate the rare accolades that occasionally come with life.

Angela Lin (“Wallflowers,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) as Callie and Sharon Leal (“Addicted,” “Dreamgirls”) as Sara both convey all the warm subtleties and excitement in the discovery of new love from a growing friendship, and their timing throughout is spot on.

And as the mystery is revealed on the trauma inflicted by an act of hate, there is still light and laughter. And in the dark, there is guilt and fear, but there is also tenderness and hope.

“I think the brutality [described in the play] is realistic. I wanted

people to know that that happened. And I wanted them to be affected,” said Son. Son, a television writer and producer for shows including “Blue Bloods” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” hadn’t seen her play in ten years. As the breadwinner with a husband and three kids, Son makes the balance between L.A. and New York.

Although her play writing had taken backseat for a period, she’s just finished working on the ABC series “American Crime” with show runner and writer John Ridley, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of 12 Years A Slave, which is due to televise in March of 2015.

Son came to L.A. direct from New York for the Lavender Night Out benefit for the LGBTQ community held at Redwhite+bluezz on Thursday night.

After returning to L.A. traffic, she reflected on the similarities between the cities reflected in the plays’ lighter moments.

“I do think there’s a difference with a non-New York audience,” she said ”I did notice there is a lot of driving jokes in the play. I was never really so conscious of them before.”

Prior to the repeal of Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell, Son had been moved by an article in the 90s about a woman–an Army Colonel about to retire—who had had a long term relationship with a woman who later outed her.

The army had threatened to take her pension, putting her in a position to deny her identity within that same-sex relationship and her homosexuality, in order

to protect her financial status stemming from a 20-year career of service.

“I’ve always been attracted to stories that tested the two identities—the one you have of yourself and the one that other people have of you,” Son said. “I am always writing about identity.

But also how you define yourself versus how others defines you, and I’ve always just collided with the outside perception of who I am and what I should be based on the fact that I’m a girl. Or a woman. Or a Korean-American. Or whatever, you know. A writer.”

“The hate crime [in Stop Kiss] is an escalation of lesbian identity harassment,” said Seema Sueko, whose directorial debut at the Playhouse comes with Stop Kiss.

She referenced the “I Hollaback” movement to end street harassment as an unfortunate reflection of the need for works like Stop Kiss.

On the takeaway from the play, Sueko hopes the audience is more moved to reflect on their own love experiences when leaving the theater.

“I hope people remember their own favorite first kisses, and the kindling of their own favorite love. The joking. The dance as we do when a relationship is forming,” she said. “The anticipation.

I hope the they feel that...I want folks to leave the theater feeling like they want to drive home with all their windows rolled down singing at the top of their lungs!”

Artistic Director Sheldon Epps reflects also on the timeliness of the play, which was written and

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Daniel Vega-Warholy/Courier Playwright Diana Son and Director Seema Sueko at the Pasadena Playhouse on Lavender Night Out benefit for Stop Kiss, Nov. 6.

takes place in 1998, and how hate crime and gay bashing is still unfortunately prevalent today.

“One would think there would be no reason to do this play anymore. That those kind of [violent] responses from haters would not exist anymore,” said Epps. “But sadly they still do, so the play is as pertinent and as timely as when it was written.”

“More than anything, despite the fact that it’s aided by an act of violence, it’s really a love story,” Epps added.

Panelists Valerie Udeozor from PCC’s Nursing Department with hate crime survivors Ismael and Deena Ileto will participate in “Talkback Tuesday: Rebuilding after the Hate” after the show on Nov. 18.

PCC counseling, LGBT Safe Zone, Queer Alliance, and Cross Cultural Programs will be in attendance and PCC has made 50 free tickets to “Stop Kiss” available for that night only. Those interested can contact Udeozer at vaudeozor@pasadena.edu.

Reina Aldape Staff Writer

diameter. On the last and final day, a dissolution ceremony takes place when the monks deconstruct the mandala, handing out the remnants of the colored sand to the audience.

“It’s really amazing how they designed it and the tools they use, it’s a fantastic piece of artwork,” said Ned Lemming, an onlooker of the dissolution ceremony who has followed the days of construction and completion.

During the dissolution ceremony the monks sweep up the colored sand to symbolize the impermanence of the universe.

This is done with the intent of showing that there is a start, middle, and finish of all that exists.

The colored sand is then distributed to those who attended the ceremony, given as a blessing for their personal health and healing.

“It really depends on the schedules of the monasteries, they travel the world doing events like these,” said Yu. The delegation of monks come from the Drepunk Gomang Institute in Karnataka, India. The sand painting style Kultson Kyikhor, which means “mandala of colored sand powder,” is one of the oldest artistic traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.

“The word mandala means ‘circle,’ a representation of the universe,” said Yu. In Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism, it is said that wherever a creation of a sand mandala takes place, any receptive being and surrounding environment are blessed.

Gallery of photos online at pcccourier.com.

Mandala colors Pasadena Amongst the different types of religious artwork, the creation of a colorful sand mandala by Tibetan monks is a must-see.

From Nov. 5 to Nov. 9, the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena put on a special event known as the Sand Mandala.

This event was a delegation of six monks who carefully and precisely constructed a mandala design from sand using a handful of tools.

The event took place over the course of five days and an opening ceremony on day one started off with chanting, music, and mantra recitation. The monks begin drawing the design of the mandala, meticulously drawing out each fine line that can take up to three hours to complete.

“The designs of these mandalas are codified in the Tibetan religion, and the monks must follow a strict pattern,” said Christiana Yu, director of the museum.

Over the course of the next couple of days the monks, usually four at a time, spend hours a day pouring millions of grains of sand using a Chakpur, a metal funnel-like tool. This funnel is filled with colored sand delicately filling the pre-drawn lines of the design. The entire mandala is composed using only five colors, representing the northern, eastern, southern, western, and central parts of the universe.

The end product is a beautiful design with an intricate pop of colors that is about four feet in

SPORTS

8 COURIER

November 13, 2014

Women’s basketball skews young this season Philip McCormick Editor-in-Chief

Saul Villegas/Courier Freshman forward Regerina Baker shoots the ball during practice last Thursday in the Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.

Coming off of a 22-8 season that saw the Lancers reach the SoCal regional playoffs, the women’s basketball team will be looking to bounce back this year with a team filled with freshmen.

But for head coach Joe Peron, who is in his 19th season as head coach with an impressive record of 434-125, expectations are high.

“I’m not worried about this team being good,” Peron said.

“It’s true that I don’t have the experience that I’ve been used to having over the past few seasons.

It’s been a while since I had a team of mostly freshmen. But some of these athletes had really good high school careers.”

One new addition to look out

for on the Lancers is point guard Judith Espinoza. A freshman out of Eagle Rock High School, Espinoza won a city championship there while scoring 2,300 points, according to Peron.

“She’s a scoring point guard,” Peron said. “I’ve enjoyed having scoring point guards on my teams. I haven’t had one in a few seasons, so she’s going to be fun to watch out on the court.”

Peron said that he is looking to returning sophomore and team captain Emily Thach to lead the Lancers on and off the court. Thach said that she didn’t know she would be coming back as the team captain, although she is up to the challenge and responsibility that comes along with the job.

“I’m definitely not used to being the leader,” Thach said. “I

was more like the little sister last season. But I have a really good team around me this year. I won’t have any problem leading them and I know I can rely on them to help me pick up the slack when need be.”

PCC lost a key asset in the paint, with center Kaitlyn Parks, who grabbed most of the Lancers’ rebounds last season, having moved on. But Thach said the team is still pretty tall. With sophomore Chanelle Fisher at six-foot-three and freshman Dariel Johnson at six-foot-one, Thach said that the Lancers should be fine close to the rim.

“There’s still a lot of talent on the floor,” Thach said.” I feel like we’ll make it back to the playoffs and be able to play well against the good teams out there. It’ll be a good season.”

Volleyball ends losing streak with sweep at home David O’Connor Staff Writer

The women’s volleyball team finally broke a four-game losing streak, but more importantly their win in straight sets over LA Trade Tech enabled sophomore’s Megan Williams and Sabrina Takeuchi to taste victory in their final home game in a Lancers uniform.

In a touching and memorable gesture, PCC presented Williams and Takeuchi with roses and a

bouquet of flowers prior to the game as the sophomores held their arms around each other.

Freshman Lahiz Longobardi praised her team for its application, which helped to produce a memorable sendoff to Williams and Takeuchi.

“The energy from the girls on the court was great and helped us to give our sophomores a gift,” Longobardi said.

The Lancers surged out to a 9-3 lead courtesy of some consistent serving by freshman

Michelle Boyd, who held five consecutive serves mainly due to several potent kills from Longobardi, also known as “Rio” to her teammates.

The lead was short lived, as PCC reverted back to old habits by allowing the Beavers to draw level at 9-9 because of some tentative play, sloppy errors and misdirected offense.

PCC was able to shake off this concentration lapse by closing out the first set, thanks to Longobardi reeling off a handful of

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sewed up the set with a blazing kill.

Setter Williams played a crucial supporting role with 42 assists as she orchestrated countless opportunities for Longobardi, who dominated with 26 kills.

Williams flew under the radar for the Lancers by producing a steady serving performance and also stalked the net with authority by reading the Beaver’s play.

Head coach Bill Sanchez felt that his team’s experience and Longobardi’s hitting were the difference in the win over Trade Tech.

“I think we have a little more experience than them and fortunately for us they’re not the greatest blocking team,” Sanchez said.

“You get a hitter like Lahiz, you get them hot a little bit then they feel like King Kong and they can take on the world,” Sanchez added.

The Lancers move to 4-7 in conference play and next face Long Beach on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in an away game.

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unreturnable kills and freshman Chy’annea Hodges chipping in with a couple of kills and an eye-catching block winner from the Beaver’s searing kill attempt.

Libero Takeuchi heaped accolades on Longobardi for her starring role in the team’s fourth conference victory and felt that a couple of team talks helped them to overcome a four-game losing streak.

“Rio stood out tonight, she didn’t miss a kill,” Taekuchi said.

“We spoke about why we give away leads and what we needed to do to play better.”

Longobardi hit top gear in the second stanza with some explosive hitting, soaring jumps and crafty precision that strong armed Trade Tech into submitting the set.

The Brazilian-born outside hitter put on a kill-exhibition by producing an unstoppable roll of six consecutive winners. It wasn’t all pounding power from Longobardi, as she also showed some rare finesse by catching the defense by surprise with a wellplaced drop shot. Fittingly, “Rio”

9/12/14 10:46 AM

Nagisa Mihara/Courier Lahiz Longobardi, freshman outside hitter, spikes against Alejandra Gomez, freshman middle blocker from Los Angeles Trade Tech during the South Coast Conference match.