Volume 115 Fall 2011 Roundup Issue 3

HIV/AIDS

Free testing

Parking Lot 1 Oct 24 to 27

Theft in Village building

Scaring in the harvest season

Yearly festival at Pierce begins with families hunting for pumpkins

With all the decorated pumpkins, haunted houses, face paint, and of course, candy, the Halloween festivities have definitely begun.

“All I need to see are the electric colorful carved pumpkins at the festival and that’s when I know Halloween is here,” said rides supervisor Allison McMenamy. “It’s going to be an exciting month.”

The festivities include musicals, comedy and dance performances, rides for kids to enjoy, assortments of carnival food, pumpkin carving, arts and crafts centers, and haunted houses.

The Halloween Festival’s founders and owners, Robert and Cathy McBroom, made sure to bring something different to the festival this year.

“We wanted to switch things up with the activities people could enjoy as well as keeping our favorites such as the corn maze and hay rides,” said Cathy.

Funding the foundation

“This is the one time of year when we raise enough [money], that we actually support the

farm throughout the rest of the year,” said Pierce Farm Center Director, Robert McBroom.

The food will be provided by several catering trucks, and will include everything from barbeque, to roasted corn, and funnel cake.

The Farm Market will sell vegetables grown at Pierce, and pumpkins from Pierce’s Pumpkin Patch.

There is also a carousel, a mini-train, and a rickety, fun tractor-pulled ride.

“Not only is the annual Halloween Harvest Festival a great way for families to enjoy spending time with one another, but the festival is also a huge fundraiser for providing a foundation for Pierce College and that’s something I’m most proud of,” said McBroom.

Families come to pick out their own pumpkins from the patch, while their kids are treated to shaved Hawaiian Ice, and run around with stained red and blue mouths.

“We came last year to buy a pumpkin, and thought it would be nice again this year,” Kelly Shmueli said, as she watched her son look enviously on at the other kids riding the train.

‘Creatures of the Corn’

At night the Harvest Festival transforms into the Fright-Fair Scream-Park.

Children’s laughter is replaced by the screams of classmates.

Fright-Fair offers three haunts: the Factory

of Nightmares Maze, the Creatures of the Corn Haunted Trail, and the Insane Reaction Maze.

It’s not only kids who get to have fun at the festival, but teenagers, and adults who come to the festival get a thrill out of the haunted houses.

Robert McBroom would suggest FrightFair to any college student that wants to get the “shit scared out of them.”

During the day, the festival is geared towards children and families, with its performances and pumpkin carving. Once the sky turns dark, the farm transforms into ScreamPark until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 12 a.m. on weekends.

“The ‘Creatures of the Corn’ is scary for me; it’s intense,” said Dragicevich. “Sometimes people hit the emergency exit because of how real it seems, they really did a good job in getting great actors and good props to frighten people.”

For the full story visit us online at www.theroundupnews.com

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Walking the P.A.T.H. to accreditation

Pierce commi ee prepares for accreditation review with town hall meeting

The Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, (ACCJC), will review the college during March 2013.

The commission will make a judgment on whether or not Pierce will maintain its accredited status. This determines if the classes that students take will remain transferable to state colleges and universities.

This process happens at every public university in order to ensure high educational standards.

In preparation for the review the college has been reviewing many of its policies and procedures along with forming an accreditation committee

The Pierce College accreditation town hall was hosted Thursday afternoon in the Great Hall.

The ACCJC will review “budgets, facilities, technology and human resources,” according to Mia Wood, faculty accreditation coordinator, and an assistant professor of Philosophy.

“Pierce College faces recruitment and enrollment issues that

don’t typically plague selective colleges,” said Wood.

The bad economy, high fees at other universities, fewer course offerings, and changes in the philosophical approach to education, challenge our community to maintain excellence, she said.

“The role of community colleges is changing in people’s lives,” said Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Pierce College President.

Another major hurdle is that student’s needs don’t always match state educational policy, which makes it difficult to plan, she ex-

plained.

“If we let the budget drive our planning, we will never be in control of our course offerings and programs,” said Wood, in her report

The counseling department is overloaded with a large number of students, and faculty members don’t always guide students toward their goals, according to Wood.

“Retention and completion is increasingly difficult,” said Wood. “We know some of the reasons why, but we don’t know all of them.”

Wood blames the California Educational Code for the difficulty in

providing classes for new students.

She cites in her report the other official entities working for better enrollment management.

“Pierce College faculty, staff, administrators, and students have to say what they think, do what they say, and focus on whether or not we think we’re getting things right,” said Wood.

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Hard drives and more than 100 Pierce lanyards were stolen from one of the buildings in the village during a break-in Tuesday morning.

The time of the break-in is unknown. The last person in the building left at 4 p.m. and the first people to come into the office arrived at 9 a.m.

“This is one of the strangest things I have ever seen,” said Public Relations Manager Doreen Clay, as she surveyed her office Tuesday morning.

The building, located in the village in room 8341, has three offices in it: the foundation office, the academic outreach, and public relations office.

“I’ve been here for almost ten years and nothing like this has ever happened before,” said Clay.

The hard drives of Office Assistant Floriya Borzenkova were taken out of her computer and contained important files, but no student information.

Foundation checks were also stolen, but they have already been voided.

“So disappointing that this has happened, that it destroys peoples work,” said Administrative Assistant Kathy Zanghi.

Dust from a fire extinguisher was released around half of the room, leaving many perpetrator footsteps.

“It’s going to take a long time to clean up all this dust,” said Zanghi.

Also a clock in the building was broken by a thrown tomato.

“These are hard times, people are on the edge,” said Clay. nkhoi.roundupnews@gmail.com

Roundup

Lynn Levitt/ Roundup

Pumpkins: Gracya Rivera walks through the festival to pick out a pumpkin to take home and decorate at the Halloween Harvest Festival hosted by the Foundation for Pierce College.

Taylor Rouch, and Temi Fajemisin/ Roundup

Lynn Levitt/ Roundup Scary: A fake cadaver sits in a car.

Jose Romero / Roundup Evidence: Sheriff Deputy Lynch carries evidence away.

Navid Khoi/ Roundup

Where your money goes

Waste of bond money

What could be more useful to students’ than to have a sun dial?

The bond project money is being squandered on frivolous structures around campus. There is campus beautification and then there is just pointless spending.

With the opportunity for the campus to build new structures and purchase new equipment for students to further their education the administration has decided to spend the bond money on a sundial.

What could students possibly need more than a sundial? Thank goodness students now have a way to tell time so they can get to class on time.

If only the administration would have also thought to cut the trees

around it so that it actually worked for half the day.

Many of you may have had the same reaction when first encountering this structure near Parking Lot 8.

That is to ask yourself - why?

With so many things lacking on campus, such as parking spaces, bike racks, a cafeteria or even just new white boards in some of the classrooms somehow the administration decided what students really needed was a pole to cast shadows they can tell time by.

If that was the only waste of bond money, it might not be so bad.

But, if you stroll on down the Mall a little further you’ll find something that looks like a covered bus stop

except the roof is slated so it doesn’t even provide shade.

These structures were part of a single phase of the Mall construction that cost the campus a little more than $3 million of $648,849,497 awarded through various bond measures.

Even if these structures only cost a quarter of that expenditure it would be too much. These pointless structures that now reside on the campus took time to build.

The campus has been without a cafeteria for almost a year forcing students to eat off of roach coaches.

The time spent working on these stuctures could have been used to provide a working cafeteria for students, faculty and staff.

Comic

The voice of Moorpark has been lost

With the recent loss of Ventura, Oxnard, and Moorpark College’s “Student Voice,” the age of newsprint in our community colleges seems to be coming to an end.

As a reporter for the Roundup, it’s a shame to see the hard work of other student-run papers be condemned to the internet.

Sure, they’ll still have their online element and that’s where the trend is headed, but there’s a certain satisfaction that comes from picking up a newspaper and seeing your name in print that only these writers will know.

I can already see myself decades from now telling future generations about how I used to get my news, starting off with a hearty “Back in my day…”

I remember myself a couple of years ago, in the fall of 2009 reporting on the loss of College of the Canyon’s print-edition “Canyon Call.”

Calvin Alagot / Roundup

It is a tangible form of what the college is as a whole, printing weekly, available to you throughout campus, presenting you a vivid picture of the students, faculty, and farm animals that inhabit these 420 acres of land in Woodland Hills, Calif.

As most of the stories in any student paper will tell you, “these losses are due to the California statewide budget cuts,” but the reason to why we’re cutting money from education is still beyond me.

Administrators should be trying to find new ideas to spend bond money in ways that would be more beneficial to students. They could survey students to find out what they think could be helpful .

The administration is hosting a town hall meeting for students to voice their opinions Oct. 5. More events like this should be provided and students should take advantange when they are offered. These bond measures were voted in for approval to make the campus better for those who are attending the college.

Students should have a say in where the money goes.

What I understood back then, when I first started writing for the Roundup, is that many community college students simply didn’t care about what was going on around their campus. They’re in and they’re out.

What I understand now is that student-run papers provide a service to their college communities, providing them with accurate and relevant information because they actually care.

That’s right, they are doing it for you, the reader.

It is for this reason, that a printedition is so vital to a community college campus such as Pierce.

Aside from The Roundup, the only other print-edition in the Los Angeles Community College District that I am aware of is Valley College’s Valley Star and I’m not so sure how long that’s going to last given this budget crisis.

Along with the loss of the major book retailer Borders and the decline in sales at Pierce College’s bookstore it is clear that we are moving away from print and into the digital age.

Long Live Print!

calagot.roundupnews@gmail.com

—Letter to the Editor—

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to your editorial column published on September 28, 2011 concerning the lack of classes during this fall 2011 term. My response to your editorial is not for, (sic) or against any of your statements made in the column, (sic) but I am rather taking this opportunity to add on a few more observations.

(sic) The first day of school Aug 29 saw a massive rush everywhere in (sic) campus with students trying desperately to add classes, (sic) (at least most of them seemed desperate). I witnessed in each class that I was enrolled in, the professor being in a serious dilemma in (sic) trying to make the best possible

decision to accommodating (sic) all of the students. However, adding 50 or so more students in addition to those 35 or 40 already enrolled, (sic) is a notoriously difficult position to be put in.

(sic) Many of the professors were clever enough to devise methods to get around the situation and in the end, it seemed like those students who sincerely needed those classes did get in, (sic) but they were barely a handful out of the 50 or so trying to add the class.

(sic) My response today is not about those who were trying to add, (sic) but about those who are in the class and drop the moment they see the syllabus and the professor announces his first exam and his grading policy.

Corrections

In Volume 115 Issue 2 in a story entitled ‘Manager accused of theft’ Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Nohles name is spelled incorrectly. Jeff Greenman is a paralegal at the office of the general counsel for the district.

In a story entitled ‘Finding a new addiction’ Randy Katz grew up in a loving home and was raised by her mom. Also, the man Katz slept with was her boyfriend, who she was in a relationship with for many years. He was never married.

Burke Bryant

Dawrin Douglas

Leslie Flores

Louise Kalisch

Jordan Laufe

Lynn Levitt

Tessa Miller

Tavares Robinsongreen

Shabbooi

Mani

Angela Tafoya

Yenifer Velasquez

William Welles

Javier Zazueta

Reporters:

Calvin Alagot

Sean Dullaghan

Temi Fajemisin

Yajayra Gil

Lior Haykeen

Gina Gutierrez

Xavier Hamlin

Carlos Islas

Alana Kennedy

Shannon Ma

Lindsay Martinez

Arash Rod

Taylor Rouch

Alex Smith

Melissa Trahin

Semaj Qaadir

Henry Thomas Walker

Maria Salvador / Roundup

Maria Salvador / Roundup

Searching for work on the college level

Students are taking advantage of job opportunities closer to classes

Thousands of students at Pierce College usually want to work on campus when a semester starts, but only some of them can get this opportunity each semester.

There are two sources available on the college campus that helps students to work. One of them is the federal work-study program and the other one is the campus budget.

The students who want to use the federal work-study need to fill out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form between Jan. 1st and March 2nd of each year and indicate that they would like to participate in the workstudy program.

“[The] federal work- study program is a limited funding program,” said Financial Aid Director Anafe Robinson, who is in charge with the workstudy program.

Around 60 to 70 students work under this program each semester.

“It is a good program. It gives students experience and specialty in their fields.” Robinson said.

In order to qualify for the program each student has to have at least six units at Pierce and meet all eligibility guidelines and requirements.

There are all kinds of assistant jobs available

such as answering the phones or customer service.

“I spoke with one of the ladies here, and she gave me the information how to apply,” said Shakiyah Bowman, 22, who is working 20 hours weekly for the fi rst time at the information desk in the Student Services building. “I do a lot of volunteering. I think that’s how I was able to do this job. I love it.”

Each department at Pierce cannot hire more than three students from the work-study program. However, there is another way that students can work at Pierce according to Robinson.

Each department can hire students with their own budgets. Aleli Paez, 23, who works 40 hours weekly at the Freudian Sip, was hired by this department in 2007.

“ I just came up and filled out the application and turned it in,” said Paez. “Like any other student my schedule fit with their schedule.”

There are currently no more positions available in the work-study program at this time according to Robinson.

Pierce College students who are interested to work may be referred to the Job Placement Center by the Financial Aid office to get help with fi nding a job, or they can participate in the job fair that is hosted each August at Pierce College.

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Meeting the counselors

director. “It’s so important for us to help students reach their educational goals.”

Sheriff’s Blotter

Students received free pizza and college counseling advice during the fi rst Counselors Fair hosted by the Student Advisory Board.

The fair took place in the Great Hall and was open to all Pierce students seeking advice on transferring to a university, completing their education, and on to how to move forward with their careers.

“Our number one goal as a department is letting students know we are here for them,” said Joanna Zimring Towne, Career Services

Although students can schedule a 30-minute appointment to meet with a counselor up to a week in advance through the Pierce Counseling Center online, time slots do fill up quickly. Because of the limited time available, some students like Mayara Fernandez utilized the fair as a way to get her questions answered.

“I tried to schedule an appointment online but there wasn’t a slot open so I thought this was a good opportunity,” said Fernandez, who is completing her last year at Pierce.

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• A mentally ill person was detained for disrupting others on campus in lot one on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

• Property was lost in the CDC Parking Lot according to a student on Wednesday Sept. 28.

• Petty Theft was reported in the Art Quad on Sept. 28.

• The verbal altercation was reported between two males in parking lot one on Thursday Sept. 29th, according to the Pierce College Sheriff’s Department.

• A verbal altercation was reported at the Special Services Building Thursday Sept. 22.

Lynn Levitt / Roundup

Earning an education: Student employee Sarah Liera working at the Freudian Sip on Monday Oct. 3

Shannon Ma / Roundup

Lynn Levitt / Roundup

Friendly advice from a friendly face: Counselor Rudy Dompe greets student Hanna Mae

Arash Rod/ Roundup

Club bakes with love

Made with Love makes homemade goods to give to local charities

Made with Love, a nonprofit campus club formed in the fall of 2010 with the goal of making various baked goods for distribution to local charities, started out with two friends baking goods for fun.

“Basically, me and my friend Bri [Bri Hughes, vice president of the Made with Love club] started baking that semester to relieve stress,” said Andrea Murray, the club’s president. “We made ice cream for our first time and random cupcakes.”

From this, the two decided to form a club that would combine two

of their favorite hobbies: baking and helping charities.

“We both had been doing charities for most of our lives: planting trees, teaching kids and helping them with their homework,” Murray said. “I volunteered at Kaiser Permanente and [Bri] has done a lot of soup kitchen work.”

The Made with Love club has nine members this year, a small increase from the six of last year.

Angela Hale has been a member of the club since the semester it was founded.

“[I joined the club] to try something new,” said the 27-yearold.

During the holidays last year, the club helped raise money to aid 100 homeless people through the

Los Angeles Mission, a non-profit organization that primarily exist to serve those living on Skid Row.

The club’s largest fundraiser in 2010 brought in $300 for Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism advocacy organization.

“I like being in this club because I love baking,” said 18-year-old club member Ranna Sheikhvand. “You get to do something fun and help other people while doing it.”

Besides selling baked goods, cupcakes are one of the main incentives used to collect canned goods for the hungry. For instance, students are asked to bring canned goods and in return they are given a free cupcake.

Made with Love will be holding their first event of the semester

Special Services under new leadership

Michaia Hernandez/ Roundup

Free tutoring available for students

Pierce College has been offering free tutoring for over 30 years and yet students still don’t know about it.

“Students are missing out on a huge advantage being offered to them in the form of free math and English tutoring,” said Supervisor of Math Tutoring Herach Safarian.

The Center for Academic Success offers English, math, and chemistry tutoring. Both English and chemistry are offered in Village 8401 and math tutoring is offered in Village 8402.

English and chemistry tutoring is by appointment and math tutoring is on a walk-in basis.

Ramsin Eyvaz, who grew up in Iran, thinks the tutoring offered is amazing.

“We didn’t have anything like it available [in Iran],” said Eyvaz, who is coming upon his third semester as a tutor.

Tutors don’t get credit for tutoring, but they do get paid. Those interested need to meet certain requirements and go in to formal training before they are allowed to tutor students.

Safarian believes that the student tutors are less intimidating.

“It is tutoring for students, provided by students,” he said.

Gustavo Tepetla started attending tutoring sessions soon after he first came to Pierce. He has been tutored for two years now.

“Since I have been coming to tutoring I have been on the Dean’s Honor Roll every year,” said Tepetla.

Jorge Gallegos, a four-year Pierce student, has been going to the Center for Tutoring for two years.

“It really helps,” said Gallegos.

One of the tips given at the Tutoring Center is to get help before becoming panicked. “We want to create independent

during the Associated Students Organization-sponsored carnival on Thursday, Oct. 13. Any funds they collect from the event will go to the San Fernando Valley Mission Rescue. The club also plans on holding a number of food drives this semester, according to Sheikhvand.

In addition, they plan on providing food for the homeless during Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, according to Sheikhvand.

The Made with Love club meets every other Friday in room BEH 1309. Their next meeting will be held Oct. 14.

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learners, not dependent learners,” said Kathleen Boddicker, the director of the Learning Center.

Workshops, in addition to tutoring, are offered. The workshops are available after 4 p.m. in Village 8407. Topics discussed include academic anxiety, English as a Second Language (ESL), speed reading and vocabulary.

“Our philosophy is that everyone should benefit from the resources we offer,” said Boddicker.

When a family member was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Stephanie Schleicher decided that she didn’t want to go back to working in the field of business.

She also hopes to start a club at Pierce that would bring in peer mentors for students “on spectrum.” This idea originated from her years working at Cal State Long Beach.

“It’s going to be something of a buddy program for students with social anxiety issues,” Schleicher said.

“I found a new interest in special education,” she said.

Schleicher spent the last four years working as a learning disabilities specialist in California State University (Cal State), Long Beach, where she helped develop specialized programs to support adults with ASD.

Schleicher, who is the new dean of special services, utilizes her education and experience in order to better serve the Pierce College Department of Special Services.

“I felt like I needed to grow a little bit more,” she said. “It was also a good promotional opportunity for me.”

Schleicher, who has been working here since the beginning of August, says that her biggest challenge as the Department of Special Services’ new dean is to balance the budget allocated to the department.

“We’re looking at not cutting services to students but looking at how we can do things more efficiently,” she said. “We’re also looking at how we can staff accordingly to serve the students in the best way possible under [budget] constraints.”

The department has had to go through significant budget reductions this semester, according to Schleicher.

She also said that since the Department of Special Services cannot deny services to anybody, the college has had to help subsidize the cost of providing their services for students in need.

In addition to taking over the post for dean of academic services, Schleicher is also a member of the Student Success Committee.

Another thing she plans on doing is expanding the kinds of courses offered through the special services program.

“I’d like to incorporate new technology to the program,” she said.

Schleicher likes to take an active role with running the department.

“The best part is observing processes and [knowing] what’s working well for the students,” she said.

Margaret Figueroa, who had been working in the department for a total of 33 years, also enjoys working with the program.

“I like the interacton with students, and being able to provide asistance when they’re needed,” she said.

Services Offered:

Counseling

Priority Registration

English/Math Placement Tests

L.D. Verification Testing

Interpreting Notetaking

Adapted Computers

Special Orientation

Testing Accommodations

Special Classes

Mobility Assistance

Wheelchair Loan

On-Campus Transportation

Brailler & Braille Printer

Print Enlarger

On/Off Campus Liaison

Tutoring

Eduardo Razo/ Roundup erazo.roundupnews@gmail.com

mhernandez.roundupnews@gmail. com

ASO president answers questions

Calvin

Alagot / Roundup

ASO, Pierce College’s student-run government, is often referred to as our students’ “voice.” What concerns do we have as a growing college community?

As of now, our concerns are the budget cuts, fee increase, and cuts in financial aid. Financial items, but the biggest one I think are the budget cuts, because once you get a class cut it’s gone. You just can’t go.

Associated Students Organization (ASO) President Gabriel Mellibosky on representing Pierce College’s student body, organizing the Oct. 26 rally against budget cuts, and staying on top of it all. Q: Q:

What services does ASO provide the students of our campus? We are the voice of the students, as you said. So anything that the students need representation on, we are the people to come to, which most students don’t know. I have tons of meetings with professors and administrators where I can bring up any problem that the students are facing. We also do the organizing of events here on campus; we do the fun stuff for students. Without ASO we wouldn’t have any events on campus, because the clubs are ASO. We wouldn’t have anything entertaining to do other than just, maybe, playing sports for the school. Otherwise we would come to school and then just go home.

As ASO president, what are your biggest goals for your term?

For me, personally, the most important thing is to fight for the student’s rights. Last semester when Danny Axelrod was president, I was a senator but me and my friend were kind of his right hand. We helped him with everything he did, so I knew what was coming and now I am continuing what he started, which are the rallies. When something’s not right with the government, society has to react to it. If we don’t react they will keep abusing us, so that’s why we had that rally last semester. We’re having another rally this semester to show that we are not for these budget cuts. Right now my personal goal is to fight the budget cuts and fee increases.

You are currently organizing the Oct. 26 “Where’s The Funding?” (WTF?) rally. What do you wish to be accomplished through this event?

I’m trying to get, not just the students out to protest about the budget cuts, but

I also want to get the community involved to show that it’s not just a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds complaining about this, it’s our whole community because it’s not right.

On top of all of this you also have your classes, multiple weekly meetings, and participate in various clubs. How do you manage? Do you even sleep?

When I started I wasn’t really used to it, so at first I wasn’t really sleeping or eating that well because I was going everywhere and doing all these things. Now that I am in my third week I’m starting to get used to it, I’m starting to manage my time better. At first it was hard, I have to admit.

RU Online? To see the full interview go to theroundupnews.com

Lynn Levitt / Roundup

CLUB MEETING. Club president Andrea Murray speaks to Made with Love club members during their first general meeting of the semester.

Lynn Levitt / Roundup

Michaia Hernandez / Roundup

Yenifer Velasquez / Roundup

Taylor Rouch / Roundup

Mani Shabbooi / Roundup

TUTORING: Biology major Janelle Reynoso, 22, gets tutored in math by Instructor of Mathematics Dennis New in Village 8402.

Thereviewis in

Cellist Rusian

answer at the end of the performance.

Bergman talked about how students enjoy these concerts.

“I talk less to the audience now. People would ask me question’s and I would get really animated, sometimes I would talk for two hours,” Biryukov said to the audience.

The duo performed Camille SaintSaens: Cello Concerto No.1 in a minor, Op. 33 (1872) and Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky’s: “Variations on a Rocco Theme”, Op. 33

(1877).

“A lot of them say they were surprised, they were shocked, they actually enjoyed it, they stayed awake,” Bergman said.

Samantha Martinez, 20, is majoring in child development at Pierce. She is taking her first music class this semester and this was her first recital.

screamed for an encore.

concerts a year.

Pierce College continued Thursday afternoon with an exquisite performance by cellist Rusian Biryukov accompanied by pianist Maskim Velichkin in room 3400 in the music department. The audience gave a rousing applause and Biryukov began playing music at the age of seven. In 1995, at the age of 11 he started performing internationally as a soloist and chamber musician playing as many as 150 Velichen is a collaborative pianist, a harpsichordist, and a cellist. Biryukov is the director of the “MiMoDa” concert series in Los Angeles. He plays popular music with well-known artist such as Stevie Wonder. The concert was upbeat with Biryukov playing brilliantly and his

jovial manner showing through with his interaction with the audience during a question and

Biryukov’s explained how the appreciation for this music is still here after many years.

“The music was written with passion about the feeling’s and emotion’s of every day life,” Biryukov said.

“The beauty is in you, the beast is in you. Our job is to make life a little better, a little happier for you,” Biryukov said.

Jim Bergman is an adjunct professor of music at Pierce. He organized the Concert @ Pierce series, which are performed in the music department.

“The purpose of these concerts is to expose the students to high quality music that they probably haven’t been exposed to before,” Bergman said.

Bergman explained that a lot of the

students think they don’t like classical music.

“After these concerts I read concert reports. I am reading hundreds of students opinions of what they heard and many of them are not afraid to tell me they didn’t like this and didn’t like that,” Bergman said.

“I was pleasantly surprised. This is the first time I came to a concert here and next week I will be glad to come back,” Martinez said.

Daiale Anderson, 19, is a business major at Pierce. This the first time she heard the cello.

“I never heard the cello before, it is very pretty. It goes good with the piano,” Anderson said.

Biryukov was asked if he suffered any injuries. He held up his hands, the fingers on one hand were larger. He had worn the fingers down on the hand that grabs the neck of the cello.

“Sometimes I have to play to please the audience no matter how I feel. If I am sick, Tired, or sad,” Biryukov said.

Biryukov will be a guest on the “Happy Hour” show Oct. 26 from 1 to 2 p.m. on KPCRadio.com.

The concert series continues next Thursday with violinist Ji Young An. R U Online? For more photos and multimedia visit www.roundupnews.com

Future Performances

A tale of two teams

Brahmas leash Vaqueros

Midfielder Jessica Gonzalez displayed great soccer and scored twice to guide the Brahmas to victory against the Vaqueros on Friday.

The Pierce College women’s soccer team defeated Glendale City College in an away game by a score of 4-0.

Glendale only managed one shot on goal.

“I had an easy game since only three shots were taken at me,” Pierce’s goalkeeper April Russell said. Stopper Emily Streb played a good defensive game holding the Vaqueros and sending passes to the Brahma midfielders.

“I was trying to distribute instead of clearing the ball,” she said.

Sophomore Jessica Gonzalez scored 14 minutes into the game with a powerful shot that hit the

BRAHMAS of the WEEK

underside of the crossbar. She scored again 10 minutes later when midfielder Stephanie Gilbert gave her a long pass from half field.

15 straight victories

do was endure but he praised his team’s effort.

The Brahmas’ continued to control the game in the second half guided mainly by midfielder Daisy Alvarenga, who used her strong ball control skills to set up forward Janelly De La Puente to score the third goal.

Alvarenga capped an excellent game with a strong shot from the right wing that hit the back of the net just inside the far post.

The game had been free of serious fouls until De La Puente was tripped at the left side of the penalty box injuring her knee.

The Brahmas’ next game, which will take place at home on Friday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m., will be against Bakersfield College.

“They will be our toughest test,” said Pierce College soccer head coach Adolfo Perez. “They are the most physical team we are going to play.”

The Brahmas women’s volleyball team maintains their perfect record so far beating the Cuesta College Cougars in an away game on Friday.

Brahmas came out a little flat but pulled through the first set according to head coach Nabil Mardini.

“We started out slow in the first game,” he said. “But we made some adjustments on our end and then won the game very easily.”

The team had to cut down on their errors since the long ride to Cuesta, north of Santa Barbara, affected the performance according to team setter Janelle Futch.

“We might have been a little tired,” said Futch. “The van is always a time for us to bond though.”

Ban and freshman Sakurako Fujii both had nine kills to help the

“Even without our big in the middle,” said Mardini. “We will manage.”

The Brahmas also defeated Oxnard College Condors in three straight sets on Wednesday.

The most valuable player of the game was awarded to 2nd year player Veronika Ban who led the team with seven kills, played aggressively and spiked.

Head coach Nabil Mardini said the team has to keep playing its type of game.

“The Oxnard team played a different style than us. We need to keep developing our style and control the rhythm of the game,” Mardini said.

Both wins bring Pierce’s season record to an impressive 15-0.

The Brahmas’ will play their first conference match tonight at 7 p.m. against Bakersfield at home.

Brahmas’ cause.

Vaqueros’ soccer head coach Jorge Mena said all his team could

Danetta Boykin led the team with 13 kills, sophomore Veronika

Sophomore Jasmine Levi rolled her ankle during the game and picked up an injury but will hopefully be back for next week’s match according to Mardini.

Soccer Football Volleyball

Emad Abbasi / Roundup

Dribble: Midfielder Jessica Gonzalez dribbles the ball past Glendale College’s defender freshman Erin Ingram.

Henry Walker/ Roundup

Angela Tafoya/ Roundup Shot: Daisy Alvarenga attempts to score at Glendale College.

Victor Karmont/ Roundup

Sean Dullaghan/ Roundup

Tessa Miller / Roundup

Going for the kill: Pierce College women’s volleyball team imposes their play style against theCuesta College Cougars.

UD / Special to the Roundup Emad Abbasi / Roundup

Jessica Gonzalez scored twice in the Brahmas’ victory over Glendale College. She leads the team with six goals so far in the season.

Gregory Wanamaker scored two touchdowns on 13 carries for 36 yards rushing on the Brahmas’ Saturday loss against West LA College.

Sophomore co-captain Veronika Ban received the MVP honors in the Brahmas’ victory against Oxnard College on

Victor Karmont / Roundup Burns: Freshman Jessica Burns goes for the kill against Cuesta College on Friday.

Jose Romero / Roundup

Compiled by Rodrigo Carbonel and Navid Khoi

Down, but not

Greg Wanamaker’s perseverance has taken him a long way in life

As night fell in the streets of New Jersey on September 6, 2009, gunshots rang out and 22-year-old Gregory Wanamaker got hit by six bullets while five of his friends were struck by gunfire.

The bullets pierced through both of his kneecaps and broke his right fibula.

“I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Wanamaker.

The insurance company was only able to cover his stay in the hospital for one night; he left the hospital with two bullets still lodged in his fibula.

Now in his second year at Pierce, Wanamaker is blossoming into a offensive star at the running back position.

“He is a hard runner, who is not afraid to hit or get hit,” said assistant head coach and running back coach Jason Sabolic.

He started playing football at the age of seven in his hometown of Camden, New Jersey.

Wanamaker’s high school football career got off to a rocky start when he tore his ACL and MCL in a scrimmage before his first career game as a freshman on varsity.

“I love to overcome adversity,” said Wanamaker.

Running back was not the only position that Wanamaker played in high school as he also played linebacker and excelled at it.

A three time all state player at both the running

back and line backer position in his career in high school.

“Anything that he puts his mind to he can do it,” said head football coach Efrain Martinez. “(He is) one of the strongest individuals I have ever met.”

The prep school Wanamaker attended since he was in kindergarten was a scam, so he could not receive any division one scholarships because he never had the proper English and math requirements.

Wanamaker’s first career start in college was similar to the rest of his career in football, another injury that sidelined him for the year.

“I couldn’t cry or nothing, I was just so frustrated,” said Wanamaker. “I thought to myself I have to go through this whole wheel chair process again on my leg.”

He broke his left fibula in the third week of the 2010 season on the road against Fullerton College.

A medal rod and two screws were placed in his leg because of this, and doctors told him that he might not be able to play again, and even if he did it might take up to three years to play again.

“Teammates of mine talked about me saying I couldn’t come back, coaches doubted me also saying there is no way I could come back,” said Wanamaker. “Every time I worked out, or did my therapy that would always stay in the back of my mind and it fueled me to prove all my doubters wrong.”

Wanamaker had many offers from junior

inspiration to his teammates.”

-Jason Sabolic Assistant head football coach

colleges in the east that wanted him to be the face of their school.

“I chose to come to Pierce because I knew I wouldn’t be the starter, and that I would have to work my way from the bottom of the depth chart to the top,” said Wanamaker. “I don’t shy away from anything, I love a challenge.”

Being a team player is what Wanamaker stands for and he prides himself on it.

“He is a vocal leader, as well as an inspiration to his teammates,” said Sabolic. Not only does he inspire his teammates but he also wishes to inspire his family.

“I got little nephews and nieces that look up to me and I enjoy being their role model,” said Wanamaker.

According to both coaches Efrain Martinez and Jason Sabolic, they have never seen a athlete who has persevered through so much and never quit after everything Wanamaker has been through.

“Everything I’ve been through, all the struggles is what drives me every day to become the best I can be,” said Wanamaker.

Scrambling around

Brahmas lose conference opener

Alex Smith / Roundup

Offensive struggles crept up on the Brahmas’ offense again as they struggle in their first conference game of the year.

Pierce traveled to West Los Angeles Saturday looking for the first win.

West Los Angeles College defeated Pierce 44-21.

The Brahmas offense is still trying to find answers as they failed to score any points in the first half.

“I think it’s just the chemistry, once we get the chemistry together and learn how to play with each other because we rotate a lot, especially with the quarterbacks being switched around,” said offensive lineman Casey McDonagh.

The first touchdown by the Brahmas was made in the first two minutes of the second half on a Greg Wanamaker two-yard rushing touchdown that was set up by a 60-yard pass by Matt Rasmussen to receiver Mathew Jones.

“Once we start playing a little more physical I think we’ll be fine,” said McDonagh.

Pierce had seven penalties and two turnovers in the

loss. The offensive line had issues protecting quarterback Matt Rasmussen allowing him to be sacked six times during the game.

Rasmussen started his second game in a row as he threw for 293 yards on 20 completions.

Head coach of the West La Wildcats, Marguet Miller, admitted he knew it wouldn’t be an easy win saying, “We wanted to be 1-0 and start conference out the right way, Pierce is a good team and it’s always been close games so we really had to be ready.”

The Brahmas still have a chance to get it together in their second conference game of the season.

“It’s up to the players and see if they want to come out and respond and we just go to play hard and play strong all the way through,” said Brahmas’ assistant coach Jason Sabolic.

Pierce will travel for their second conference game of the year as they take on Glendale College Saturday at 6 p.m. as both teams will be looking for their first win of the season.

asmith.roundupnews@gmail.com

“He is a vocal leader, as well as an