Volume 116 Spring 2012 Roundup Issue 7

ROUNDUP

Writing lab is treading water

Melissa Trahin mtrahin.roundupnews@gmail.com

A motion discussing the lack of recognition for the English Writing Laboratory was presented Monday by English Professor, Richard Follett at the Academic Senate meeting.

“If it’s going to be the Center for Academic Success and English Writing Lab, let’s say that upfront,” Follett emphasized. “I do not see the support from the viability study.”

Though Follett accepted the combination of both departments, he recommended the reestablishment of the English Writing Lab to be the first priority after the budget issues improve.

“Unfortunately, what we are going to do now, is Pierce College student tutors,” said Follett. “They are marvelous, however, a teacher has taught for many years, they are certainly more experienced.”

According to Carol Kozerachi, dean of research and planning, apportionment can be collected in a centralized model if in fact, a faculty or staff member is present in the building.

Family fun at annual Farm Walk

Families flocked to the Pierce College farm Sunday to participate in the Agricultural Department’s annual Farm Walk Fundraiser.

Though the event was free, the department asked for a $5 donation that will be used to help pay for the feed for the farm animals and keep tractors working, according to Dean of Research, Planning, and Enrolment Management Carol Kozeracki.

Everyone who attended was given a stamp sheet for a scavenger hunt, where participants visit different animals and answer questions about them in order to get their sheet stamped.

There were events all over the farm for people to see all the different animals.

There were horse shows that went on throughout the day, as well as pony rides for visitors to take part in for a fee.

There was also a petting zoo for

anyone to feed the young goats, and sheep shearing to demonstrate how a sheep is shaved. The wool gathered from sheep shearing was piled up for attendees to take with them if they wanted to.

A number of other teaching demonstrations, including a horse that was painted on to show its internal organs, took place as well.

The Dairy Council of California also visited Pierce to show children how to milk a cow.

The manager for the Dairy Mobile Unit, Efrain Valenzuela, came to Pierce with his cow, Buttercup, to teach children about how they get their milk.

“Our goal is to teach children where our milk comes from,” Valenzuela said. He taught the children how to milk a cow by hand but explained it is more efficient to use a machine.

“The machine takes five to seven minutes, much faster than if you milk by hand. If you milk a cow by hand it can take a half hour to 45 minutes,”

Valenzuela said.

In addition to farm cows, the event also featured cow and chick mascots who took pictures with the children There were also other activities, including a pie-eating contest, face painting, and coloring for the children.

Contributing: Maria Salvador

The viability review includes two things, a decentralized model and a centralized model.

“[The center], should be guided by a faculty or staff member with an appropriate degree of a bachelors or masters level to collect apportionment” said Kozerachi.

Also, centralizing the center will allow students to attend tutoring, workshops, labs and other services with less difficulty.

“The committee felt that in looking at the new building and staffing issues, we should adopt the centralized model that will provide the tutoring of support services,” said Kozerachi.

Different scenarios that could save the school some money in hiring tutors were thoroughly explained by Dean of Student Success, Crystal Kiekel.

“Scenario two is less expensive and could work,” said Keikel. “Instead of the instructional assistants, here we would talk about hiring hourly adjuncts.”

Hourly adjuncts would add up to 30 hours of employment as opposed to 60 hours from instructional assistants, according to Keikel, a big difference in budget savings.

Financial aid OneAccount finds a second home

Brent

Financial aid recipients will have a new depository bank take control of their financial aid accounts “on or after May 4, 2012,” according to a notice sent out to OneAccount customers. “It is a strategy that we have been working on and have talked about publicly for some time now, in order to strengthen our offering to customers of the OneAccount”, according

to an e-mail from Higher One Media Relations’ Shoba Lemoine. Students with a OneAccount were notified of the change via email. Students receiving financial aid within the Los Angeles Community College District currently use Higher One’s OneAccount to manage their financial aid disbursements.

Services Corporation (WEFSC) and Urban Trust bank, according to Lemoine.

In the notice sent to account holders, Bancorp Bank will transfer accounts and funds to WEFSC and remove itself of any further responsibility, which will change the choice of law governing the account agreement from Connecticut to Utah.

The unexpected announcement has created confusion and worry about the changes, as nursing major Adriana Reyes explains.

“I thought they put the money in and you take it out,” 19-year-old Reyes said. “I don’t want it to be a whole shin-dig, but when I first saw it I was worried.” Students shouldn’t be concerned as nothing has changed in regards to the way financial aid is disbursed.

“The disbursement of funds for students has not changed,” Financial Aid Director Anafe Robinson said. “[The change] is seamless.”

For those worried about what will happen to their myLACCD-

card, Lemoine wrote that existing cardholders may continue using their current card during this time, in order to provide a smooth transition.

Joel Zamora, 26, has been at Pierce for three semesters and isn’t worried about the change.

“The way I understand it, there isn’t going to be a big difference,” Zamora said.

Both Lemoine and Robinson attest the change in the depository bank will not affect the way colleges distribute financial aid and students

-Inside-

For a look at one of the campus food trucks go to page 5 for this weeks feature of the “Hot Sauce Truck.”

will follow the same process they did in the past during disbursements.

Students will be informed by e-mail when their account has transferred over to the new depository, which is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

As Higher One said in the notice to account holders, “[The change] will not change your relationship with Higher One or change the great service and innovative features you get from your Higher One checking account, we promise.”

Did you know?

Pierce College won 13 awards at the California College Media Association awards ceremony on Saturday night, coming in second place overall for most awards won.

Joe Kukuczka

The hand that feeds: Children reach out to feed the kid Boer goats during the annual Pierce College Farm Walk outside the Goat Unit on the Farm. Kal Valasek kvalasek.roundupnews@gmail.com

Ava Weintraub

Cow head: Pre-veterinary major Randi Katz parades around in a cow costume.

With liberty and classes for all

Opposing

two-tier pricing

Higher prices are unfair to students

Santa Monica College’s (SMC) plan of implementing a two-tier course pricing system goes against the mission statements of many community colleges such as Pierce, to provide an affordable education within means.

Under the new plan, SMC would offer high-demand classes at $200 a unit while other classes would cost $46 by the summer. SMC would offer these higher-priced classes after state-funded classes fill up, which they inevitably will.

Administrators at SMC argue that the extra fees attached to popular classes will keep afloat transferrequirement classes, but this solution is ironic. These classes with extra fees are in high-demand because they’re needed to transfer. An extra fee will only turn away more students and make it much harder to transfer.

However, the move by SMC to offer classes at a disproportionately increased cost sets a precedent for other colleges.

The blame does not fall entirely on SMC though. The college argues that these higher fees are in response to the massive cutbacks by the state to education. This year, the college had to contend with a $10 million loss in state funding.

Instead of equally distributing additional sections between departments, this semester, Pierce College ignorantly added 42 sections, which include 1,000 seats, to three departments alone.

More than 100 students stood at the door of each biology class during the first week of this semester.

More than 100 students in each section hoped this would be their lucky day. They hoped that they will receive the golden ticket, the one we refer to as an add slip.

At the end of last semester, it seemed as if everyone was talking about the 42 sections that will be added in English, math and speech.

How then, we ask, is it that we once again stood around classrooms at the beginning of this semester, and hoped that our names will be pulled out of a hat?

The answer is quite simple.

The 42 sections only affect English, math and

speech classes. They do not cover any other area of studies that we, as students, are required to study to transfer to a four-year-university.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Anna

Davies said that the increase of classes in these subjects was done due to the exceptional number of transfer students on our campus.

They want to make it easier for us to transfer to a four-year institution, or so they say.

But lets face it, we all know that we need more than just English, math and speech classes to transfer.

So we cannot complete the general education requirements fixed according to the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) if the only classes we have room in are English, speech and math.

The IGETC states that a student who wishes to

transfer to a University of California institution or a California State University must not only pass English, speech and math courses, but also pass arts and humanities courses, a language course, and social, behavioral, physical and biological science courses.

So what if more students were able to enroll in an English 101 course this semester?

English 101 will not take us anywhere if we have not taken biology and, thus, have not completed the IGETC’s requirements.

The school should make sure to keep a balance in the amount of classes offered by each department.

That way, less people will stand around classrooms hoping for their names to be called out of hats, and more students will complete their IGETC requirements within two years.

This just further complicates an already complicated system. Many students already use their financial aid to pay for current fees, the everincreasing cost of books, and this additional expense for much needed classes only burns students more.

Pierce College has no plans to implement a similar two-tier system, according to Bruce Rosky, Pierce College associative vice president.

The adoption of a two-tier pricing system is emblematic of a much larger problem. Both the state and the community college system must realize that the education system is at the service of the students first, not the other way around.

Community Colleges are the only option for working class students that strive for an education and better future.

This two-tier pricing system does not solve any problems, it only overlooks them.

You may say it is ridiculous, but it is a real shame the Board of Trustees voted to postpone the Contract Ed program until it can be re-evaluated.

A second price tier of $200 per unit at Santa Monica College (SMC) could have helped students graduate from community college faster.

Those classes would have still cost students less than the $271 University of California Los Angeles students will pay per unit this summer.

Only two weeks ago, students gathered outside the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting at SMC to protest the Contract Ed program, and the door it may open to privatizing public education.

They shouted and violated the trustees to a point in which police officers were left no choice but to use pepper spray to ensure that no one inside the meeting was hurt once stepping out.

This pressure put on the board led them to vote to postpone the program, which means that many of us students will once again be left without spaces in high demand classes such as English and math.

But it is still not quite clear what all the fuss around the proposal has been. Don’t you see it? The BOT is just trying to help us.

A week after the protest at SMC, the Roundup covered a smaller protest at Los Angeles Mission College (LAMC), which included protesters that participated in the aggressive protest at SMC.

Not all the protesters seemed to understand the subject they are protesting.

“They just keep on raising our unit fees,” Daisy Ramirez, a LAMC student who protested at SMC said, not mentioning the two-tier pricing system at all.

So, students of community colleges, it is time to get educated on the topic.

The additional tier of 50 classes would not have raised the fee per unit in the classes currently offered at SMC, nor would it have cut the any of the 700 classes offered, but would have simply been a solution for students who are desperate for room in classes they cannot transfer without taking.

So what if the classes will be more expensive? With the current budget cuts brought upon us by the state, can we blame students who choose to spend more of their own money on their education?

So it is a shame. It is a shame that because students did not understand the positive impact additional higher priced classes could have had on their education, especially with the financial state California Community Colleges are in.

Those who do understand will now have to suffer the consequences.

Additional sections should be given to all departments that provide classes for transfer

Two-tier pricing is the solution for suffering colleges

Hands-on experience received

Archaeology professor takes students on an annual learning trip

Taylor Rouch trouch.roundupnews@gmail.com

Sitting under white tents, digging and taking measurements, a group of dedicated students take part in an archaeological dig looking for artifacts 400 to 600 years old.

This opportunity for students interested in doing field archaeology work is presented to student annually by professor Noble Eisenlauer.

Emma Nemitz, a 21-year-old Sign Language major, is passionate about the class even though archaeology is not her major.

“This is a good opportunity to apply what I was learning in textbooks to real life,” she said. “I can touch it, I can see it, I can experience it and it’s not a textbook.”

Marielle Stober, screen writing major, has the same passion for archaeology, though not in the major.

“I love archaeology,” she said. “My sister recommended Dr. E, and I’ve taken every anthropology class with him. [My family] is really passionate about archaeology and na-

tives.”

Enduring troubles with location and funding, Dr. Eisenlauer has prevailed, turning his field class into a student volunteer class to preserve it. He worked with a nearby school, trading an archaeology class for a section of land to dig in with his students. Pierce is one of few if not the only two year school to have an actual field archaeology class, Eisenlauer said. In Eisenlauer’s class,

Trying to avoid a fine District struggles to meet state requirements

After having made clear in the past weeks that there will be no faculty hiring for next semester, Pierce president announced Monday that the district is looking into hiring 50 to 60 faculty members.

“We’re in a tricky position,” President Kathleen Burke-Kelly said during an Academic Senate meeting Monday regarding the reports that must be made to the district on the Full Obligation Number (FON)

The FON is a ratio of full-time professors to part-time professors required by the state.

“If we don’t meet the FON initiative, we risk to be fined $68,000 per position,” Burke-Kelly said.

By the numbers

1461 is the number of faculty members the district must employ to meet Full Obligation Number (FON).

1450 faculty members were employed by LACCD this semester.

9 faculty members are missing.

81 LACCD faculty members have retired this year alone.

92 faculty members will need to be hired for LACCD to meet the FON.

$68,000 will be fined per missing position by the state if FON is not met.

5 to 8 new hirees per LACCD campus are predicted by Academic Senate president.

Burke-Kelly said.

“This makes no sense to a normal thinking person,” instructor of automotive service technology Tom Rosdhal said.

Fourteen faculty members are retiring this spring semester, leaving room for new full-time hirees.

“We are thinking that there will be 5 to 8 new hires per campus,” said Rosdahl.

The new hiring will be done through a review of a priority lost that was set up by the Academic Senate in a meeting during the 2011 fall semester, Chair of Chemistry Department Isidore Goodman said during the meeting.

ing things first hand. In a sense, the students participating are interns. Heather Myhan, a 38-year-old student, is in the class for the knowledge.

able to recognize artifacts,” Myhan said. Pierce is the only college in the district to have a total station, which is a laser mapping device that maps the site onto a computer exchange. according to Eisenlauer.

Eisenlauer realizes the importance of the experience.

“It’s exciting for students and it’s good training for them,” Eisenlauer said.

There are currently 81 late retirements and early retirements for the year in the district.

Also, the district has a total of 1461 positions this year, but only 1450 faculty members this semester

With these numbers in mind, the district is to be behind by 92 positions next semester, and will have to hire new faculty members to meet the FON and avoid the fine. There are two ways the district may meet the FON. Either by eploying 1461

faculty members, or meeting a percentage of 63.07% full-time professors. If the school cuts down in sections as opposed to hiring faculty, there is a better and higher chance of meeting the percentage.

“We are looking to hire 50-60 district wide”,

“The list will be looked at by Tom Rosdahl and Kathleen Burke-Kelly, checking what is possible with the funding that is present, if any position is bypassed President BurkeKelly will have to address why at a later meeting with the Academic Senate,” Goodman said.

New ASO board announced

Michaia Hernandez mhernandez.roundupnews@gmail.com

students can learn the basic and mandatory knowledge of archaeological field work while actually being in the field and experienc

“You get hands-on training with Dr. E. doing the basic things you are going to need to do in field school, and you become

It is for this reason that he worked to keep the field archaeology class alive, and why he spends his own money on tools and gas to drive to the location every Friday.

“If I didn’t love archaeology I wouldn’t do it,” he said.

The Associated Students Organization (ASO) elections, held once a semester, were held at the mall April 17 and 18.

The results were displayed in the Great Hall last Wednesday. Shane Mooney will return next se -

mester for his second semester as ASO president.Kevin Sparks will serve as vice president.

Kanny Morgan will serve as treasurer, and Antoinette Mannie will serve as club council president.

To contact the new ASO board call (818)719-6411.

Aurora Ramirez aramirez.roundupnews@gmail.com

Jasson Bautista

Voting: Pamela Hayati, 20, and Jordan Bernandino,19, voting at ASO elections on the Mall April 18.

Kristen Aslanian

Archaeology: Pierce College Student Emma Nemitz, 21, uses a rock shifter at the archaeological site

Kristen Aslanian

Artifacts: Professor Noble Eisenlauer holding artifacts found by archaeology students.

Meet the new ASO board members

Student government executive board for 2012-13 determined after 2-day elections

Current president stays for another term

Student unity and involvement are the Associated Student Organization’s president’s focus on for the 20122013 school year.

The Associated Student Organization (ASO) president Shane Mooney’s first step will be to fill the 52 open senate seats within the student government

“We only have about 15 senators and I want to fill in the seats next semester.” Mooney said. “The more senators we have, the more student activities we can do.”

Mooney said he wants to organize more rallies and events for the students next year.

“I’m going to work with the vice president [of the ASO] Kevin Sparks closely and try to fill the senate seats so we have more senators to work for the communities for the activities,” Mooney said.

ASO clerk EJ Tormes said that Mooney is committed and dedicated to being ASO president.

“It takes a lot of time [to be president]. Shane is really responsible and organized,” Tormes said.

Mooney said he spends about 40 hours a week on his duties.

“It’s about a full-time job,” Mooney said.

Mooney already has experience being ASO president because he became president this semester when the his predecessor transferred to California State University, Northridge.

“I really like student involvement. Getting out there, helping the students out and voicing their opinions in the meetings,” Mooney said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Being involved with student government is a great way to meet life long friends, learn how to organize large events and know what is happening on campus Mooney said.

“Its the only on thing I know on campus were you deal

New club council president wins unopposed

With the Fall semester comes new adventures and new friends.

For Antoinette Mannie, 25, next semester also comes with a new Associated Students Organization title.

After running unopposed, Mannie became the new club council president when 435 students agreed and 52 opposed to her taking on the position.

As the club council president, Mannie will be the voice of the clubs to the Associated Students Organization (ASO).

Her main duty is facilitating weekly meetings with club representatives every Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the Great Hall.

“I would like to effectively communicate the with all of the chartered clubs,” Mannie said.

One more term:

with a lot of money and help put it into the right hands,” Mooney said.

Senators of the ASO vote on financial requests that come in.

Senators have to commit three to four hours a week and the only mandatory thing they have to do is show up at weekly senate meeting.

“I’m just trying to get through this [community college]. I couldn’t join any clubs or student government,” 22-year-old student Cassie Dunner said.

Mooney got into student government after he became a member of French club.

“Two of my friends got into ASO so then I joined the following spring.” said Mooney. “From there I just went full throttle.”

New ASO vice president wins three way race

Samantha

The elected Associated Students Organization vice president for 2012-13 plans to lead on the platform of raising money for the school and improving the sense of community students feel at Pierce.

Kevin Sparks voiced his concern about the school losing almost $4 million.

“We need to focus on making money for the school,” Sparks said. “I personally think it’s very possible to raise this money.”

In addition to focusing on financial problems, Sparks plans to help unite peers on campus. This improvement of the college’s community has been a major issue to Sparks, and was his main platform when he ran for ASO president two years ago.

Sparks plans to improve Pierce’s sense of community by throwing more events and increasing students’ awareness of clubs.

“I want to make Pierce more fun,” he said. “No one knows each other. It’s purely an academic school.”

Sparks, who has been attending Pierce since 2009, is currently majoring in political science.

He loves the clubs that can be found around campus and is excited that the number of clubs has doubled from 30 to 60 since he’s attended school.

Although he does not participate in any sports at Pierce, Sparks enjoys running, and was even involved in track and field and cross-country at Crespi High School.

“I’ve heard he’s really charismatic and friendly. I hope he makes changes around here. I hope he has a voice,” 19-year-old Pierce student Daniel Abramyan said.

Sparks says that when it comes to solving these problems at school, he knows that there is going to be some criticism.

“I’m very outgoing,” Sparks said. “I don’t like to argue. I like to solve problems.”

Sparks is prepared to defend himself against these critics, but believes it is more important to be able to listen to people and bend to the needs of the school.

A personal friend of Sparks, Pat Lewis, knows that the new vice president will stick to his word, saying that Sparks is “friendly and willing to talk about any problems you have.”

Though her major is undecided, she aspires to become a surgeon. Mannie became an ASO senator Spring 2011, having enrolled at Pierce back in Fall 2009. She was encouraged to become club council president, by members of the ASO executive board.

“During an ASO meeting, I was approached by EJ Tormes (club council president) and Patty Sanchez (ASO vice president),” Mannie said. “Both of these wonderful ladies asked if I would run in the election for club council president,” Mannie admires her predecessor, Tormes, who has been club council president for two consecutive semesters as well as the ASO clerk.

“Ej is very reliable,” Mannie said. “With so much on her plate, she always makes the time to make flyers for the charterer clubs and responded to my emails.”

Shane Mooney, who also ran unopposed, will once again be the ASO president.

He has only worked with Mannie for a few months but has noticed how dedicated she is.

“I think she will make a great Club Council President,” Mooney said.

One of the things that Mooney would like to accomplish

with Mannie is bring the clubs on campus and the ASO closer together.

Mooney is not the only person in office that took notice of Mannie’s dedication. Fernando Aquino, ASO treasurer, has been working with Mannie over the last semester as well.

“She seems very enthusiastic and willing to help out,” Aquino said.

Recently, Mannie has been working on the upcoming Relay For Life, a fundraising event for cancer patients, survivors, and families affected, which will be held April 28 through April 29.

“She has helped a lot in terms of the Relay For Life and fundraising for that,” Aquino said.

As Mannie begins a new chapter in her life at Pierce, Aquino offers some words of encouragement.

“Get a hold of all the clubs and don’t be afraid of being assertive,” he said.

Brittany Blust bblust.roundupnews@gmail.com

Monica Velasquez mvelasquez.roundupnews@gmail.com

Williams swilliams.roundupnews@gmail.com

Jasson Bautista

Shane Mooney’s term continues.

Jasson Bautista

Club council president: Mantoinette Mannie.

Jasson Bautista

Close race: Kevin Sparks won by 50 votes.

“Anything but a tease,” reads all over the Hot Sauce truck in black bold letters as a statement for the multicultural cuisine.

The family-owned food truck parks outside of the South Gym at sharply 8:30 a.m. but this is not by choice.

Earlier in the semester, Hot Sauce was parked along the Mall along with others, but it was later transferred on a decision that viewed similarities with other food trucks.

According to truck owner Rafael De La Fuente, the change didn’t affect the business or publicity.

“I thank God because I am blessed,” he said. “Whatever I sell I am happy.”

Fresh meat, chicken and fries are obtained every morning by De La Fuente before arriving at Pierce.

“Everything is fresh,” De La Fuente said. “It takes a little longer

served with each plate

but it is prepared when you order it.”

According to De La Fuente, the menu expands quite often, giving customers a wider variety of options and a lesser chance of getting bored with the food.

“We are always adding something new for example fish tacos, shrimp tacos, burritos and empanadas,” he said.

In a matter of 10 minutes, De La Fuente sold five cheeseburger and hamburger combos that include fries and a drink, with most sales being from students. His next step is to decide on a special for that specific plate.

“This is delicious. It’s the best cheeseburger I’ve had,” Manny Escoto, criminal justice major, said.

“A lot of people like hamburgers,” De La Fuente said. “I’m planning to put a special but I’m trying to find the right one.”

Service was also a big part on Escoto’s experience with Hot Sauce.

“[They have] excellent service,”

Escoto said. “They give me everything I want they way I want it.”

The Hot Sauce truck offers steak and chicken quesadillas, fish, steak, chicken and shrimp tacos, Chilean empanadas, hamburgers, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, breakfast burritos, chili fries, onion rings and more.

“Sometimes we are going to run out because my truck is not big enough to hold this much food, but I put a little bit of everything so everyone can have a choice,” De La Fuente said.

Considering the daily customers of more than 130 a day, with only one cook in the mornings, Hot Sauce

is quite the truck.

Later in the afternoon De La Fuente is accompanied by his wife and son. The truck is revised by the Health

Brittany Blust

The new Improv club at Pierce College encourages students interested in acting, comedy and those who just want to improve their public speaking to join them this semester.

The Improv club plays games aimed at helping students get over any fears of public speaking and to make members think on their feet.

“Improv club is basically just the start of acting. It’s to get people involved, [since] most people have stage fright,” club member Jay Repollo said. “We have improv games and the people just play and have fun.”

The club plays a game called “freeze tag.”

Two people are given a theme or an idea to act out, when someone else yells freeze, the person that yelled takes over one of the characters.

“Story, story, die” is another game played during meetings that teaches imagination and quick thinking.

“Four people tell their own story but they have to have a really bad ending,” Repollo said. “Whoever told that ending is out and then three are left, and it continues until there is one left.”

Not everyone has to participate at the meetings, if someone is nervous they don’t have to worry about performing during their first meeting Repollo said.

“Our club is more of a social club, you can go there and hang out,” Repollo said.

Not everyone on campus thinks that the Improv club is needed at Pierce.

“I think the whole thing is kind of silly,” computer science major Nick Yoshimori said.”I get nervous and can’t think a lot.”

For other students, however, the experience of doing improv has been a beneficial one.

“When I was unfamiliar with performing I was terrified, and six months later I liked it,” theater costuming major Isabella McCann said about her previous experience with improv.

McCann said she would join the Improv club if she could commit to it but that she’s too busy this semester.

Department every three or four months depending on the situation.

“As you can see we always clean our grill as soon as we finish something,” said De La Fuente.

In May, the Improv club will be holding elections that are open to new members.

The Improv club meets every Thursday at 1 p.m. in the theater tent located by Center for Sciences.

Jasson Bautista Truck: Pierce College students Jaelen Strong and Alma Chavez wait in line March 19 for lunch in front of t Hot Sauce food truck in front of the North Gym.

Farm Walk FuN

Last Sunday, Pierce College hosted the annual Farm Walk, a community event to help raise money to feed the farm animals.

Organizers originally expected to raise $5,000, but they ended up receiving over $20,000 from entrance donations alone, a member of the Boots

and Saddles club Gabrielle Polakoff said.

This amount doesn’t include extra money made from the additional activities or donations.

Among the activities at the Farm Walk were sheep shearing and a pie-eating contest.

By:Kristen Aslanian

Kristen Aslanian Far Left: Agricultural Department Chair Dr. Leland Shapiro accepted a $500 dollar donation from kindergardeners from Haynes Street School in order to adopt a cow.

Left: Josh Vandiver of C & J Sheep Sheering was hired to shear sheep at the annual Farm walk hosted by Pierce College. Sheering is important for keeping the sheep cool in hot weather.

Top Left: Russ Schrotenboer heats up a horse shoe in a farrier forge to demostrate how horse shoes are formed. Every horse has a different shoe size and must be custom made.

Top Right: Fourth grader Jordyn Mcbroom eats whip cream during the pie eating contest held at the annual Farm Walk hosted by Pierce College on Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Kristen Aslanian

Lining Up: Community members line up for tractor rides through the hay unit at the Farm Walk hosted at Pierce College Farm Sunday, April 22, 2012.

The 1,2 Step

along with last semester’s dance concert were inspiration for the title of the show, “Melange 2”.

The Pierce Dance Theatre’s spring concert premiering May 18 will feature a wide variety of entertainment for everyone in attendance.

The student dance company will showcase a variety of performances including ballet, hip hop, ballroom, musical theater and improvisation during the hour and a half show.

“I try to balance in sound and look,” concert director Marian Weiser said. The eclectic styles in the concert,

“We had “Melange 1” last fall and thought we were going to be back into the big theater by this one but since we weren’t I’m using a ‘Melange 2’,” said Weiser. There will be a guest performance by two professional tap dancers “Bev and Hap”.

“I usually have three professional companies come,” Weiser said. “We only have one at this point because of the location and limitation of our little theatre. I didn’t invite the people we usually invite.”

Loren Regina, Russell McFadden,

Diane Cabrera, Jorge Arroyo, and Adylenne Solis are the student choreographers with dance routines in the concert.

Sandra Allman, Jacqueline Eursanio and Jenny Ghiglia are professional choreographers from the Pierce staff that worked on the dances.

“My friend was in a dance concert

before and I know they practice a lot. It’s hard work,” Ashlyn Myers said. The dancers have been practicing their segments throughout the week and the full show every Sunday since

the auditions in March.

The concert will have solo, duet, trio and larger group dances.

“I love to dance and to watch it,” anthropology major Vicki Rivera

said. There are three concerts, May 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. and a matinee on May 20 at 2 p.m. and cost $10.

The Pierce College Theater will be sticking to its modern-themed plays for the semester by performing the comedy “The Little Dog Laughed” beginning April 27 in the Performing Arts Complex.

This new play touches on adult subject matter with a comedic approach and is not recommended for children under 17 years old due to brief nudity.

One of the main characters of the play is a hopeful movie star who is gay and his agent is trying to help his success by keeping him in the closet.

“It’s still a stigma [being gay in Hollywood] and may be the last bastion of homosexuality being

covered up,” theatre manager Michael Sande said.

While there are characters in movies who are gay and open about it, in Hollywood, not many of the openly gay actors get leading roles playing a heterosexual character, Sande said.

“As far as we’ve come in certain other areas on gay rights or people’s acceptance of gays and lesbians, Hollywood, for whatever reason has decided that America’s not ready for that [gay actors in leading roles] quite yet,” said Sande.

“The Little Dog Laughed” takes a light-hearted approach to dealing with this contemporary subject matter.

“I didn’t see the last play, but I want to see this one because I like what it’s about,” Pierce student Maria

Carillo said.

The play stars Holly Eisman, Jordan Jones, Vince Cusimano, and Shannon Mary Dixon.

“The actors in the play are strong and need to be to carry the show because there are not many set changes to capture the audiences attention,” Sande said.

“I’ve never heard of that play but I don’t go to them [theater plays] very often,” science major Brian Miller said. “I like that it’s not an old Shakespeare type play.”

Sande said the theater is taking on newer plays but it does take time to get the rights to perform them.

The critically-acclaimed Broadway comedy “The Little Dog Laughed” premiered in 2006 and was written by Douglas Carter Beane.

Rehearse: Vince Cusimano (left) and Jordan Jones (right) share a scene during dress rehearsals.

Ballet bars: The Musical Jazz Dance Group practice a routine for their upcoming May 18 production in their studio.

Brittany Blust bblust.roundupnews@gmail.com

Ready for the postseason

kperez.roundupnews@gmail.com

This season, the tennis team was struck with a series of injuries that left two top players out for the majority of the season.

However, after a relatively successful campaign with more wins than losses, the team has entered playoffs and has won its first round against Saddleback College on April 17.

“The tide is turning,” Pierce College tennis team’s head coach Rajeev Datt said.

The team is also set to play in the prestigious Ojai Tournament April 26. Datt described it as the “Wimbledon for college players,” and he expects coaches from four-year schools to recruit players from the team.

Though the team remains optimistic of their chances in their upcoming tournaments, they acknowledge their expectations at the beginning of the season have diminished.

“We had a really strong line-up,”

Datt said. “I’m hoping we’re gonna finish in the top five in the state. At the beginning of season I thought we were gonna win state.”

The two players who sustained injuries were David Engelberg and Richard Catabona.

Engelberg suffered from tendonitis early in the season while Catabona suffered from an impingement in

his shoulder, affecting his arm and elbow, according to Datt.

“Every time [Catabona] tried to hit a serve, he had immense pain to the point where he could barely hold onto the racket,” Datt said.

Engelberg, meanwhile, has recovered and returned to the tennis court. The rest of the team has strived to not let the bad luck affect them.

Patrick Massey, also in his second year and set to play singles and doubles in Ojai, feels that although the team has been struck by bad luck, Coach Datt has trained them well and all they can do is move on.

“Just sticking around as a team, as a unit, we really hung in there together despite the injuries and played strong,” Cardenas said.

Thatʼs all folks...

Brent Spector bspector.roundupnews@gmail.com

With seven state champion banners hanging in the Pierce gym, the men’s volleyball team has a heavy legacy to uphold, but this past season has only reinforced their determination after they placed fourth in the Western State Conference.

“There is not a team in the state that we couldn’t beat any other day,”

Pierce’s libero Lucas Yanez said.

standards and felt the team played hard all season.

“They competed well during the year, but faltered at the end,” Lofrano said.

The team hasn’t made the playoffs in the last two years, but that hasn’t crushed Stanislawski’s hope of a victory next season.

“There’s always the shouldacoulda-wouldas,” Stanislawski said. “We will have a good team next year and are looking forward to our new gym.”

Besides one loss to Santa Barbara and two losses to Ventura during the season, the team has remained undefeated. Both Massey and Cardenas described a victory against Santa Barbara during a home game as a highlight of the season.

“The best is still yet to come,” said Cardenas. “We look forward to making some noise in the

Head coach Eddie Stanislawski felt the team was well balanced this year. Competing in the harder of two conferences, the Western State Conference rather than the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, made winning the championship tough.

“We had control of our destiny,” Stanislawski said.

Athletic Director Bob Lofrano is familiar with the team’s high

Teammates said that there needs to be more team bonding to build trust and communication, they can’t wait to get going for next season.

“I’m really excited because I’ve been sitting on the bench the whole season wishing and thinking how badly I wanted to play,” Pitt said. “Next year, next year.”

Baseball teamʼs early lead not enough against Citrus

Melissa Trahin

Kevin Perez mtrahin.roundupnews@gmail.com

The Brahmas’ baseball team could never figure out Citrus College’s starting pitcher Mikey Ramirez, who pitched a complete game against them.

Ramirez (7-1) allowed eight hits, three runs, and gave out only three

walks over his nine innings in the victory of the Owls over the Brahmas 4-3. He has a total of 60 strikeouts this season.

“At first, his [Ramirez] pitches weren’t overpowering, but after we scored our runs he settled down and was using all his pitches effectively,”

Pierce’s freshman Cody DeSpain said.

Even though Pierce dominated early, scoring in the top of the second inning with a solo homerun from infielder Kevin Torres, the Owls turned the game around to their favor.

“They [Citrus] took the lead late in the game so there wasn’t too much time for us to come back,” DeSpain said. “We were just struggling to get base runners.”

Brahmas’ pitchers Brian Nostaja and David Carver maintained Pierce in the game until the bottom of the seventh when designated hitter Alex Mancillas hit a two-RBI double to center field to give Citrus a one-run lead.

“Our pitchers definitely did enough for us to win, but we just didn’t give them any run support,”

DeSpain said.

Infielder Brandon Rapoport made the score 3-0 on the top of the third inning when he singled to third base bringing two runners Kevin Torres and Greg Koll home.

The Owls took bases on errors by Pierce, allowing them to score two runs on the bottom of the third inning and later two more on the bottom

of the seventh when Nostaja was replaced by Carver.

Citrus’ first baseman Ricky Mount was intentionally walked twice during crucial innings, the decision didn’t benefit the Brahmas in the end.

Mount singled to center field on the bottom of the third inning scoring second baseman Shane Fraijo.

Joe Kukuczka

Tennis: Sean Dullaghan of Pierce College returns a shot from Bakersfield College during his singles match on March 1.

Emad Abbasi

Spike: Brahmas volleyball teamʼs defensive specialist Nick Nisperos attempts a spike against Long Beach College Feb. 8.