Love for muscle cars

[Mustang, continued from page 1]

Alvarez has found parallels between the two majors that most of the men around her couldn’t relate to. Piecing a car back together is a lot like sewing, she said. She feels at home knowing her artistic side is able to thrive even if that means handling power drills and not a needle and thread.

Whether you’re a male or female, drawing strength from your professor is a necessity in any learning process. One of building 3600’s biggest assets would be assistant professor of automotive technology, 39-year-old Michael Van Dyke.

In his fourth year of teaching at Pierce College, Van Dyke, has seen many women work hard and succeed in the program, Alvarez being no exception.

“She is an exceptional student and she has a lot of energy,” Van Dyke said. “She takes the time to learn and figure things out and she has the skill to do the job. She’d be an excellent addition to anyone’s company or dealership.”

Fellow classmate, 44-year-old Robert Lewis of Woodland Hills has no bias against other women in his major, in fact, he encourages it.

“I feel that if they’re educated, if they’re receptive to what the teacher is saying, it’s good working with somebody who has the same likes and desires,” Lewis stated. “It doesn’t matter if they are a male or female.”

Lewis believes that most women are turned off from the automotive industry because they fear too many people think it’s a man’s job.

“Times are changing, people are looking for different sources of income,” Lewis said. “But with the automotive industry there’s cuts, bruises, dirt, grease, and too many women aren’t willing to take the uncertainty of some of the [injuries] that could happen to you.”

Back inside the corner of the garage, behind windows plastered in automotive brand stickers and certification papers, sat 64-year-old professor of automotive technology Tom Rosdahl. In between bites of his post- class lunch, he explained how women are coming to find out they want to be in this profession.

Some women end up being ripped off at a dealership because most men assume they won’t know the difference between what needs to be fixed and how much it should really cost, he said. More and more women find themselves wanting to learn about this profession for their own benefit.

“Knowledge is power,” Rosdahl stated. “If you understand a little bit about a car and the person feeds you a line of crap, you’ll know if they’re telling you the truth or not.”

Alvarez isn’t just doing this for the knowledge, she hopes to utilize her degree and become a master mechanic for BMW or Lexus.

“My ultimate dream is to buy a house one day,” Alvarez stated. “Being able to pass my Mustang down to my kids one days would be pretty awesome too.”

Before Alvarez takes off she makes sure everything is in its place.

“A girl can do anything a guy can do, if not better.” Alvarez said.

Regardless of what day it is, you can always count on seeing a table neatly set up with pamphlets, memos and an umbrella with two people sitting under it, minding nobody’s business but their own.

The free speech area is where opinions and ideas of any sort can be freely expressed with no fear, hoping that the message expressed will reach the thousands of students who walk by every weekday, hoping that you spark a question, an idea, and hopefully an initiative into at least one of them.

If you were to approach the table to inquire as to why they are consistently showing up in the morning and early afternoon every day, they will politely respond, “We are believers.”

Davey Anne and Mary Grace are two of the Jehovah Witnesses who show up, hoping to do their part in their organization by spreading their message.

Anne was a resident of Seattle before she moved out to the San Fernando Valley on a business transfer when one day a Jehovah knocked on her door.

“I believed that religion was a con and represented hypocrisy. I tried to stump the Jehovah’s Witness with questions of my own,” Anne said “but he had a response for everything that I threw at him.”

Grace had been living in Bronx, New York before moving to California 50 years ago.

“I used to be a catholic and during the Vietnam War I became distressed about the war and began complaining to a Jehovah’s Witness who showed me that they do not believe in wars.” said Grace.

We truly believe this is lifesaving work and if we can help one person then it is worth every hour.

Anne said she has been coming to Pierce’s free speech zone for 3 years while Grace stated that she has been doing it for 14 years.

Grace and Anne stated that their work at Pierce is 100% volunteer.

“We truly believe this is lifesaving work and if we can help one person then it is worth every hour.” said Grace.

They really like the fact that Pierce lets them show up on their campus and talk to students , but anyone who wants to legally use the free speech zone as a medium must first get a permit from Student Services.

“It’s free to set up shop and we appreciate that we have the opportunity to reach out to people at their place of business.” said Anne.

They said that they are usually there during the times of 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. so people are not usually home at those hours.

They do not take offence when people just ignore them and pretend they are not there.

“Our presence may get people to inquire about us on a later date.” said Anne.

The old free speech zone used to be by the old cafeteria under some trees so their signature umbrella was not used during those times.

They’ve been doing the same thing consistently for many years but the environment and the people they see change with the times.

“Students seem to be more hurried now days than many years ago.” said Grace. “Back then, even if people were not interested, they would still make acquaintances with us.”

Technology seems to be a significant factor in these changing times as more and more people have gained access to all these wireless devices.

“They got their music and their iPods and texting and don’t tune in to what’s going on around them.” Anne said.

“It doesn’t seem to be very effective, most students walk by.” said Grace.

Not all people are satisfied with how the free speech area functions.

Steven Sheldon is a 19-year-old Pierce student who participated in the annual “Day of Silence” demonstration at the free speech zone which advocates equal rights and treatments for the gay community.

He strongly felt that free speech should not be confined to a “zone” and that it should flow rampant across the campus.

“I feel that if Pierce truly supported free speech, they wouldn’t confine it to a specific area,” Sheldon said “It’s contradictory.”

LEFT: Dulce Capadocia, guest artist, performs a traditional Philippine dance during Friday’s Spring Dance Theatre concert.

BELOW: Students perform “Big Spender,” a musical theater piece from Sweet Charity.