Volume 117 Fall 2012 Roundup Issue 6

Home for new library on hold

Michaia Hernandez/Roundup mhernandez.roundupnews@gmail.com

Completion of the Learning Crossroads building, which will house the library and the food court, has hit a snag following an unexpected revocation of a previously approved surface material system by the Division of the State Architect.

Because of this, it is unclear when the building project will be finished.

A representative from the DSA came this October to inspect the construction premises and determined that pavers supported by pedestals at key exits in the building weren’t attached correctly to the structure, according to Project Deputy Director Ed Cadena.

The DSA wants it anchored to the building, he said.

The problem with this is that certain features of the structure won’t be able to support new changes to the foundation, according to Cadena.

“We’re looking for an alternative solution,” he said.

Because the situation involves an approval process that is out of Cadena’s hands, he says he doesn’t know at this point when everything will be taken care of.

What is unexpected about the entire affair is the fact that the scrutinized system was actually already previously approved by the DSA, according to Cadena.

“It doesn’t look like they made any changes to the code,” he said. “Apparently, someone didn’t look closely enough.”

This seems to be the case, Monica Hassan, public information officer for the Department of General Services, said on behalf of the DSA.

“Upon further review of the approved plan, it was found that the plans were not compliant with the building code and the Field Act; and therefore, the approval was revoked,” said Hassan.

This isn’t the first incident that’s affected completion of the Learning Crossroads building this semester.

Early on, the building was impacted by a water line breaking on site. This caused a an approximate six-week delay in completion, and left estimated substantial occupancy by November, Cadena said.

This was remedied almost immediately, however, because the project team had control over the situation.

The building was slated to be completed by October of this year, according to the original Pierce Project Construction Summary Schedule. “We’re really getting itchy to move in there,” Librarian Paula Paggi said. “Nobody has confirmed [the delays] with her, but if it’s true that’s not good.”

Fighting violence with awareness

Kirsten Quinn/

Strings of T-shirts dressed the Mall in flapping blues, purples, oranges, reds, greens and whites as they caught the wind and painted the southwest end with scrawled messages of pain, anger and hope.

With his back to the clotheslines, Nick Schafer sat straight and still with one hand, half-covered in a white sleeve, touching the curve of his forehead. Running it to the back of his neck or the top of his mouth, only his hand moved for minutes at a time as he stared at a blank, orange shirt.

Schafer painstakingly constructed a letter to a man, his sexual abuser, for the Clothesline Project, a nationwide domestic abuse awareness campaign hosted at Pierce College on Wednesday.

DREAM Act is a pivotal issue

Gonzalo Rey/Roundup grey.roundupnews@gmail.com

With the presidential election rapidly approaching, many controversial topics that could affect Pierce College students are currently in the spotlight, including immigration reform.

Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, and President Barack Obama both hold different views in regards to the topic, possibly making it a critical issue in the race to win the election.

“It definitely will have some impact,” said Kassem Nabulsi, assistant professor of political science. “The magnitude of the impact we cannot predict at this point, but our argument would be that mostly for the Latino community the issue of immigration will be an absolute concern to its constituency. They will make sure that it’s going to be an important issue in the calculation of choosing a president.”

undocumented1,545,894 immigrants have been deported during Obamaʼs term according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.

Kristen Aslanian/ Roundup

Zombies take a stand

Supporters of Prop. 30 dress up for ‘ e Walking Debt’ in L.A.

Calvin Alagot/Roundup calagot.roundupnews@gmail.com

Some one hundred demonstrators in support of Proposition 30 paraded to the governor’s office from City Hall Friday when they were ambushed by a horde of flesh-eating zombies.

The quarter-mile march was aimed at gathering support for the proposition that calls for tax increases to prevent further cuts to public education funding.

The group was comprised of L.A. college and community members from all over Southern California.

Dozens dressed as zombies to symbolize the horrifying obstacle

that will be posed against public education funding if Prop. 30 does not pass.

“I came here to show support for Prop. 30 which is supposed to fund the schools,” undead Pierce student Bernard Hanamichi said. “If it doesn’t pass we’re going to lose a lot of classes over the course of the next couple semesters.”

The zombies prepared for their attack in a parking lot located at the intersection of Spring St. and 3rd St. Hanamichi, who was dressed as a zombie, is involved in Pierce’s student government as well as other groups that helped coordinate the event such as: Students Organizing for Success

a white T-shirt during Pierce Collegeʼs Clothesline Project for Domestic Violence event on Oct. 24.

Behind him, each color signified a different story, a different kind of abuse.

Pierce students Nick Schafer and Brandi McMullen pen their own message on a white T-shirt during Pierce College’s Clothesline for Domestic Violence event to on Oct. 24. Schafer spent fifteen minutes scribing his account of abuse at the hands of a celebrity, while McMullen penned a

message of resistance and hope for victims.

Over the past four years, Holly Hagan, bookstore buyer for Pierce College and a survivor of domestic abuse, collected about 250 shirts from Pierce men and women affected by domestic abuse, and about half of them flicked and twisted in the wind from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

(SOS) and the Resistance Against the Gutting of Education (RAGE).

Brenda Medina, a coordinator of the event as well as a California State University, Northridge graduate, also participated as a zombie and even helped by applying makeup to others.

“We wanted to symbolize the sucking out of education if Prop. 30 doesn’t pass,” said Medina.

Pierce student and RAGE member, Rueben Garcia, participated in the downtown march as well, but as a student survivor.

“We’re down to the bones and any more cuts will definitely hurt the system as a whole,” Garcia said.

Having recently granted temporary relief from deportation to undocumented immigrants who meet certain guidelines under the executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), President Obama is seen by many as the more pro-immigrant candidate of the two.

Pierce College student Nicholas Klotzman, 23, said he favors Obama mainly because of his support for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a legislative proposal that would grant permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants that arrived to the United States as minors if passed.

“I will be voting for Obama,” he said. “The DREAM Act has the possibility of affecting and changing the lives of many people I know, and he wants to make it happen much more than Romney. It would be a new start for them and would open many new doors.”

The DREAM Act is something Obama claims he has been trying to pass since his first year in office. However, Obama has also set an alltime record for deportations in his four years as president.

According to the most recently updated immigrant removal statistics on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website, a record 1,545,894 undocumented immigrants have been deported during Obama’s term. The figures were published Aug. 25, 2012.

Volleyball still undefeated

Reigning state champs stand 23-0 this season

Power. Harmony. Terrible, crushing poetry in motion. The Pierce College women’s volleyball team embodied this Friday night as they won in straight sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-18) at home on Ken Stanley Court against the visiting ladies of Bakersfield College inside the South Gym in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Head coach Nabil Mardini knows all too well what complacency can do to even the most battle-hardened team, and warned against letting previous good fortune get in the way of their goals.

“They said we were ‘ripe for a loss’,” Mardini told his team in their pre-game meeting.

Some shook their heads, others smiled humbly.

UD/ Roundup

CHAMPS: Pierce huddles before their game against Bakersfield on Oct. 26.

“No, it can happen, just like that,” Mardini said. “Just go out there and do what we do.”

The Renegades (16-5,) still salty after taking only one set in their last three

Roundup kquinn.roundupnews@gmail.com

UD/ Roundup

WRITING: Shaina Barnett, 21, pens her own message on

BRAINS: Teresa Curry from Mission College poses on the front steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Oct. 26

of Learning Crossroads has been pushed back inde nitely

When you were younger, you heard stories of monsters sneaking out of darkened closets and from under beds. Scary stuff for a kid–sure– but you never saw one.

You grew up, and now you don’t have to look under your bed, or behind the closet door.

You know they aren’t real.

You’re lucky. Some of us aren’t.

As it turns out, my monsters are real– very real.

I’m old by community college standards, and I have a child the same age as some students here on campus. There’s a major generational gap between me and many of my “peers.”

This is terrifying to many older students, and I’m no different.

I think about it all the time. Was I like you back then? Was I ever this young and dumb?

I don’t know when it happened, but when I wasn’t looking, somebody came in and changed everything.

Now I sound like a moron when I try to explain simple concepts, because we don’t even use the same words anymore.

I’m a “word” guy. What happened to my beautiful language?

What’s an emoticon?

It keeps me up at night, wondering if I’m just so out of touch that I should crawl back into a hole and wait for it to pass.

I am disabled, but though I’ve tried for years, the Social Security Disability Insurance system is more like a house of mirrors than a legitimate social service.

I paid them, but they don’t pay me. That’s how it works, apparently.

Money is the biggest monster of all, and if you don’t already know that, you will. I took out a student loan last semester, and I’ve been feeding my family off that all summer.

See, Veterans Affairs doesn’t pay my G.I. Bill during times we aren’t in class.

Spring and Fall semesters are covered, and I am grateful; but for six months out of every year, I don’t get a penny. Scary isn’t even the word for it.

It’s nearly November, and the money has been gone for almost a month now.

My kid needs clothes, because he grows like a weed. I love to watch him grow, but buying shoes every other month is rough. Rent is due tomorrow, and I can’t pay it.

This monster is evil, because most of my neighbors pay under a hundred bucks per month in rent, as they are part of the Section 8 program.

But not me. I pay the full rate, because I’m an honorable idiot.

That terrifies me. I stay awake at night, unable to stop the monsters from sneaking up from under my bed.

They scratch and claw at me, but I can only keep fighting them off.

I have so many people counting on me to not fail them, and I don’t know how to live up to my end of the bargain without going completely under, because my rules of engagement and yours don’t mix.

Each monster is more powerful and terrifying than the last, and they don’t seem to care that I don’t believe in monsters.

It is not requisite that I believe–hey are there nonetheless.

Most days, I am able to fend them off, drive them back.

But some days– like today– it’s so hard not to collapse under their weight.

The monsters are real, whether you see them or not.

Thumbs up & Thumbs down

A ghoulish thumbs from a grateful Library staff to the plumbers who sprung to action when a water main line broke over the weekend.

Surveillance cameras necessary

Pierce College, the jewel of the Los Angeles Community College District, is becoming more and more tarnished with every week due to mounting budget concerns.

But as your mother always told you, there are some things that you simply can’t skimp on. Deodorant, food, toilet paper–you get the point.

One of those items is campus safety.

The good people over at the sheriff’s station are working desperately to ensure our safety, but they are fighting with both hands tied behind their backs.

Pierce College, the second largest and most populated campus in the district, has one of the least effective security camera systems.

Couple this with the fact that we are also the only college campus in the district who has lost their cadet program (thus far), and we have the makings of a terrible tragedy.

So let’s review– we have 426 acres, 23,000 students, an extremely small contingent of dedicated officers, zero cadets, and a camera system that only covers a tiny amount of our campus.

Are you scared yet?

How about if you’re the poor student whose car got stolen out of Parking Lot 7 earlier this semester?

No cameras mean they couldn’t even get a description of whoever

Running out of budget rope

$46.4 million of the Los Angeles Community College District’s state funding was cut in the past year, and the District is scrambling to stay afloat with those tens of millions gone.

did it, after the fact.

If you’ve been in the North Gym lately, you already know that there has been a number of lockers broken into.

No cameras anywhere near the gyms means no luck prosecuting.

Are you not getting the picture yet?

“More eyes is always better. Surveillance would be a deterrent and camera footage provides vital evidence

-Angel

Northern Illinois University. Indiana State University. University of Arizona. San Diego State University. University of Washington. Virginia Tech. Ohio State University. Texas A&M.

These are just a few of the campuses across our nation where shootings have occurred.

We have an open campus where just about anyone can walk right in.

The chances of cameras actually preventing anything in these instances is a matter of debate; but on the ground, it’s a no-brainer.

Sheriff’s Security Officer Angel Morales believes that more cameras at Pierce is a necessity.

“More eyes is always better,” Morales explained. “Surveillance would be a deterrent, and camera

footage provides vital evidence.”

With a more robust security camera system, law enforcement personnel would be better able to see more of the campus, and by proxy, be more prepared to deploy to escalating problems.

In other words, more cameras would make you safer by not only deterring criminal behavior before it happens (Smile! You’re on camera.) but also documenting criminal activity as it happens.

That car that got stolen– we could have used video footage to identify the thief.

If the unthinkable happens, and we do have an armed assault situation on campus, the sheriff’s station would instantly have eyes on that area.

The solution is simple: bring Pierce College up to speed with the rest of the district in this vital, yet overlooked security measure.

Anyone arguing that this a budget issue should be flat out ashamed of themselves.

Classes are a budget issue. Beautification is a budget issue. Cameras are a safety issue.

You don’t skimp on the safety of your students. You just don’t. No amount of manicured grass or shiny new buildings will matter if we have a real-world situation erupt here at Pierce.

The only force between us and the danger is our sheriff’s station, and they should have whatever they need in order to keep us safe.

You’ve already axed their cadet program. This makes surveillance equipment even more a necessity than ever before.

Buy cameras. Install them. Wire it in to the station so our officers can do their jobs.

They deserve it, as do our students.

Sure the budget cuts are a bit unnerving, but that’s not fear.

Real fear is being responsible for the safety and well-being of 23,000 people, and knowing you can’t see them.

An autumn breeze fuels a dancing collage of leaves and litter on Pierce College’s Mall, its hushed roar casting a sickly ironic serenity under the midday sunlight of a school gunning towards a cliff.

The state is $15.7 billion in the hole. That figure has risen from $9.2 billion since January. Boo.

The cuts have forced the LACCD to, as the District’s Chancellor Daniel LaVista writes, “balance the needs of its students, faculty, and staff with having colleges further reduce classes, restrict hiring, and freeze purchasing in addition to using balances to minimize impact on programs and services.”

An all-caps “We’re running out of rope!” would have been fine. Anyway, that was then; This is worse.

The LACCD’s final budget of the 2012-2013 school year

outlines the worst case scenario wherein Proposition 30, a state tax initiative to fund schools, doesn’t pass.

That gut-churning account of a sinking ship LaVista described with business-memo verbiage?

Remember those tens of millions of dollars taken from the budget this last year?

They’ll be joined by hundreds of millions more dollars, the budget projects.

LACCD will be left with a tick under $340 million less in state funding.

The cuts would plant the LACCD, along with the rest of the state’s schools, deeper in the red than any helping hand could reach.

[See OPINON, RU ONLINE]

The monsters are real Monsters are still every bit as scary to adults as they are to little children

Morales

Dying for change

The Prop. 30 advocates carried signs reading “Yes on 30.”

While the zombies wore T-shirts saying “NO MORE FEE HIKES!” and “Budget Cuts Kill” written in blood.

The group shouted chants as they marched saying “They say cut back, we say fight back!”

“Hey-hey, ho-ho, these budget cuts have got to go!” said the march. “Yes on 30, budget cuts do me dirty!” The walk turned into a run when the zombies jumped from an alleyway on the way to the governor’s office.

News BRIEFS

Screams and laughs could be heard up and down Spring Street as the zombies chased the march past their intended destination on 3rd Street.

Organizers had to call for the demonstrators and zombies to return to the governor’s office where teachers and students took a moment to speak about the importance of voting for Prop. 30 and taking a stand for public education funding.

Cars honked in support of the demonstration that ran until later in the afternoon.

Members of the American Federation of Teachers spoke after the march, as well as student

Student faints in North Gym Campus police and paramedics responded to the North Gym when an unidentified female student passed out around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, according to officials.

“She fainted,” Deputy Bryan Chavez said.

When police arrived, they found the student on the floor, and she was still breathing.

Witnesses declined to elaborate on the matter.

presidents from different colleges.

The event was organized by members from Region VII of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), which represents 14 community college campuses in the Los Angeles area.

T-Shirts tell the tales of domestic violence

The Clothesline Project was created in Cape Cod, Mass., by a coalition of women’s groups to educate the passer-by, break the silence and bear witness to violence against women.

“It started 20 years ago with women hanging their laundry and talking over the fence,” Hagan said. “It’s very empowering. It’s a way for someone to express what happened to them in a safe way.”

Throughout the heat of the day, students walked along the clotheslines in contemplation, expressing support and often stopping to write a message on their own shirts.

“When you hear the word domestic violence, you don’t think maybe the person next to you went through it,” Melanie Centino, a health education intern at the Pierce College Student Health Center, said.

She pointed to an orange shirt written by a woman who was nearly killed by her boyfriend.

“It hits you when you hear that story,” Centino said.

Occasionally, survivors of abuse express their stories for the first time on the pressed, solid-color shirts, Hagan said.

Facebook to promote the event, inviting 2,750 people.

Only 89 replied to say they are “going,” while 76 said “maybe.”

According to John Fraser, president of Region VII, “The Walking Debt” march took about a month to plan with permits being approved only days before the event.

“The turnout was inspiring considering the dismal parking situation in downtown by City Hall,” Fraser said. Fraser, who also spoke in front of the governor’s office during the event, did much of the preparation for the event.

The organization geared toward improving student success used

Material fees are disputable

Material fees have been around for over 20 years, according to Associate Vice President of the Administrative Services Larry Kraus.

While non-payment could result into a hold being placed on your record, Kraus attests the material fee is disputable if there is a reasonable explanation.

Fees are posted in the schedule of classes.

The incident report information for this week was not provided by the sheriffs even after multiple requests by the Roundup. The requests have been made since the beginning of the semester, and all that has been provided was the report for September. It is our goal to keep the students informed by providing this information every week.

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Written by a woman who spoke of her abuse for the first time on Wednesday, a white T-shirt illuminated solid, block letters penned in blue, black and purple ink: “I trusted you. You betrayed me. Then you went off and had a nice life … and now I don’t trust people.”

Students battle painful memories while writing, struggling to give voice to their experiences and continue on the path toward healing.

“Just because you’re a dude doesn’t mean it hurts any less,” Schafer said. “It just sucks because I can’t talk about it.”

Halfway through his letter,

Schafer filled the fabric with small, cramped script. His brow slightly creased, he pushed through a mental reel of his abuse to uncover words he’d saved for this man.

“Everyone just makes a joke about it. No one takes it seriously. But it’s not funny to me,” Schafer said. “I just wish it didn’t happen so I wouldn’t have to write this.”

One woman, who wished to remain nameless for her own personal security, found the strength to write her message with others in mind.

“I write this because I see a lot of girls on campus. I see their boyfriends yelling at them or grabbing their arms,” the woman said. “I know that if I’m not writing this, they’re not getting the message to leave.”

“ Everyone just makes a joke about it. No one takes it seriously. But it’s not funny to me.”

-Nick Schafer

She has participated in the Clothesline Project every year at Pierce since 2007.

Though she successfully left her abuser six years ago, she still struggles to forget the way he made her feel.

“It seems like no matter how much school you get, how many classes you take, you still always feel unworthy. You can’t shake it. It’s always a fight to squash those feelings,” the woman said.

When asked if she felt brave sharing her message that morning, she said: “I don’t feel courageous.” But her eyes were wet with tears as she drew from years of brutal, burning memories to construct the core of her story: “I had the courage to leave my abuser.”

Lynn Levitt/ Roundup

THE WALKING DEAD: Celena Hill, Proposition 30 supporter, dressed as a Zombie during, “The Walking Debt” march.

–Compiled by Monica Velasquez

Lynn Levitt/ Roundup

PROTESTERS: Zombies take over city hall in support of Prop. 30 in downtown, Los Angeles on Oct. 26.

Lynn Levitt/ Roundup

ZOMBIE: Michael Cortez, Gabriel Ayon, Keith Hernandez at ʻThe Walking Debtʼ in support of Prop. 30 and against Prop. 32.

[cont. from ZOMBIES pg. 1]

The Art of Presentation

Every year, the Art Department hosts shows at the top of the hill of Pierce College. Monika Del Bosque, Pierce College gallery director and assistant professor of art, teaches Art 519, Exhibition Design. The class provides working knowledge in exhibition lighting, preparation, and installation. The students of this class are given the task of preparing each exhibition. Before the students start setting up their first gallery exhibition, they practice on a mock-up design. This helps the students get a better look at the gallery before handling original works of art. Currently, the students are preparing the gallery for its next exhibition, featuring the works of John Corbeil. The opening reception will take place at the Art Gallery on Nov. 1 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Photos By: Carlos A. Carpio

Corey Duran makes final preparation before placing the art on the gallery wall.

Corey Duran, Daniel Cruz and Noemi Santiago, Teresa South (L-R) inspect a frame for signs of damage.

Nicole Ellsworth carefully pulls the protective tape off the glass of a canvas.

Assistant Art Professor Monika Del Bosque climbs a ladder to address the importance of lighting in a gallery to her students.

Entertainment

Playʼs director an actorʼs teacher

Anita Adcock is an actor’s teacher, a portrayal developed through the work she took on and experience she took in during her travels.

Adcock, an adjunct theater arts instructor, is directing this semester’s premiere play, “How the Other Half Loves.”

She took the part-time position at Pierce in 2001, but this is her first time directing a production on campus. She chose “How the Other Half Loves” for her debut as director for its British playwright, Alan Ayckbourn.

Show delivers shucks and jives

‘How the Other Half Loves’ a hit during its campus debut

“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”

The announcer of a boxing match shouts in excitement after a quick right by George Foreman sends his opponent to the mat.

It really came out of nowhere.

Alan Ayckbourn’s “How the Other Half Loves,” which had its Los Angeles Pierce College Theater debut Friday night, premiered in 1969 as the ninth of what today is more than 70 plays by the heralded master of the absurdist’s genre of

comical theater: British farce. A 43-year-old play of a foreign niche genre might sound a little outof-left-field. But, really, it was more like Foreman’s right glove.

Six characters compose three married English couples. The husband of a working class couple and his boss’s wife drag in a third couple when they use them as their alibis to cover up their affair.

It may not seem to add up. And, really, it’s not entirely meant to. But, long story short, a Friendsmeets-Monty-Python brand of hilarity ensues.

An unshifting set of two living

rooms spliced together, replete with alternating patterns of wallpaper and two overlapping dining tables, proves a fittingly surreal playground for the the play’s farcical antics.

When the players pick up telephones ringing some four feet away from them, the audience is beckoned to play along and suspend belief.

The set is just as ridiculous as it is ingenious. The plot, characters and set all uniformly express a haphazard intertwining of things normally kept private.

The plot shucks and jives, and it’s better experienced being dragged

Singing competition coming to campus

Michaia Hernandez/Roundup mhernandez.roundupnews@gmail.com

Aspiring student vocalists will get a chance to showcase their talent through the first “Pierce Idol,” a campus-wide singing competition formatted similarly to “American Idol."

Auditions for the event, which is sponsored by the Associated Students Organization’s Social Cultural Committee, takes place Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. in room 4460 behind the Center for Sciences.

Through auditions, organizers

hope to gauge the number of students interested in competing in the actual competition, according Sofya Sargsyan, member of the committee.

“I don’t know what the turnout is going to be. I hope to have a lot of people,” she said.

Sargsyan said that they are looking for a maximum of 20 to 25 acts for “Pierce Idol,” which takes place in the Great Hall Nov. 15 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

She will be judging at the auditions, along with another musically inclined professor.

For the competition, on the other

hand, the judging panel will consist of a number of professors with a background in music.

“I think that we don’t get a lot of opportunities [like this],” Sargsyan said.

The judges will select the best performances and choose the top three performers.

First, second, and third place winners will be awarded large, medium, and small trophies, respectively.

Students who wish to audition must bring an instrumental track of their song of choice on a CD on Friday, Nov. 2, 2012.

behind rather than spent trying to keep up.

The characters aren’t so much introduced as dumped on your head, say, like a bowl of air-freshenerscented soup or the contents of a leaking, upstairs toilet.

Frank Foster, the boss of the other two husbands, is brought to light as an unrelentingly absentminded sleuth by Michael Chandler, and he picks out laughs from places few would ever find them.

Allison Kranz wrenches the jerkily timid Mary Featherstone out of her shell.

“He writes these very, very funny comedies, but there’s also an undercurrent to them that’s very serious,” she said.

Before she became a professional instructor for theater arts, she was an actress.

Born in Nottingham, England, Adcock knew early on that she wanted to act.

“It’s just one of those things that you knew from an early age you wanted to do. I think a lot of actors are like that,” she said.

Her family thought she was “mad,” but remained supportive, according to Adcock.

“They still think I’m mad,” she said.

Partly to pursue her education and acting career, Adcock moved to Paris by herself when she was 17 years old. Another reason she left England was the “depressed” environment she was around, she said.

“When I was very young,

around 9 or 10 years old, I knew I would not live the rest of my life in England,” she said. “We had television, and we had movies, and we could see that the world wasn’t like that everywhere.”

Traveling from England to France wasn’t difficult for Adcock, despite her family’s financial status—she described them as “poor” back then— because of grants provided by English universities and the affordability of traveling there.

“You could go on a boat for $20. That was a while back, of course,” she said.

Not unlike many before her, she fell instantly in love with Paris.

“It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and anybody who’s been there would know that,” she said.

After some time there, Adcock then decided to move to the United States over 20 years ago with the prospect of having an easier time finding acting jobs.

Her English drama school training, however, led her to not only act alongside her cast mates, but also teach them with proper vocal techniques for acting.

“[The American actors I worked with] were losing their voice and wondering why I never did,” she said.

From there, she decided to start teaching professionally, because her age prevented her from getting many roles.

“They don’t write many parts for older women,” she said.

She brings the experience of a seasoned actress to her job at Pierce, as well as the practical lessons she learned when she was in training.

Courtesy of Lynn Levitt

STRUGGLE: Bob (Vince Cusimano), and Teresa (Victoria Sanchez), have a very destructive and physical relationship, during the play “How the Other Half Loves”, at the Performing Arts Complex, Pierce College, Oct. 20. Ma Go esman/Roundup mgo esman.roundupnews@gmail.com

CARRY: Sophomore running back Talir Satterfield-Rowe (5) attempts to elude a chasing Antelope Valley defender during Pierceʼs 43-20 victory on Oct. 27 at Shepard Stadium.

Volleyball stays perfect

matches against the big red machine, came out with power of their own, going up early in the first set on Oct. 26.

Sophomore outside hitter Danetta Boykin, who had 17 kills on the night, helped put the Renegades on their heels.

Sophomore setter Jannelle

Futch put 33 assists on the board, rounding out the devastating Pierce offense, while injured middle blocker Jessica Burns cheered from the sideline.

Burns, who sat out the match after she re-injured her ankle, said it was hard not to play.

“We play for each other,” Burns said. “If I can’t be out there, I want to be an exceptionally great teammate.”

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the first game was in the books, Pierce winning 25-18.

Boykin had three straight kills early in the second game, flustering the Renegades’ offensive efforts from the jump.

Sophomore outside hitter Sakurako Fujii added 8 kills for the Brahmas.

With a bye coming up, the ladies of Ken Stanley Court could kick back and let it all go to their heads.

But that is not what champions do.

Sophomore libero Danielle Hochman is already looking forward to their next practice.

“After winning tonight, I’m focused on Monday’s practice,” Hochman said. “It won’t matter that we won this one.”

For his part, coach Mardini took his team’s accomplishment in stride.

“They were great,” Mardini said. “They played very well.”

It’s a long, draining season, but to watch the women’s volleyball team is to watch pure energy, even this late into the game.

After 56 matches in a row, they still want more.

Football wins big game over Antelope Valley Brahmas win sixth straight game, 43-20

Pierce all season, and Saturday was no different.

here acting like a bunch of thugs.”

Team discipline and energy were both at an all-time high Saturday night as the Brahmas defeated the visiting Antelope Valley College Marauders 43-20 at Shepard Stadium.

Freshman quarterback Nick Arbuckle battled through a fractured bone in his lower ankle to lead his team to victory in the Oct. 28 game highlighted by brilliant defensive play and fantastic individual effort on both sides of the ball.

It was a battle of the top receivers in the American Pacific Conference, with Pierce freshman wide receiver Jaelen Strong pitted against Antelope Valley’s Zikerious Ware in an impressive offensive joust for the end zone.

Strong, who had scored 72 points on the season on his own coming in to Saturday’s game, spread the defensive secondary thin all night. With Strong pulling defenders two and three deep, sophomore wide receiver Joe Morris was able to capitalize on the shift and add long yardage to his stat sheet.

Morris returned a punt for a touchdown to put the Brahmas up early, and a high snap forced a Marauder safety, putting two free points on the scoreboard.

But, penalties have plagued

“Silly mistakes, they made silly mistakes,” offensive line coach Michael Hoffman said. “Jumping offsides, false starts, snap counts–we should have put sixty points on the board.”

However, the offensive line, for all their missteps, did the one thing that defined Saturday’s matchup–they protected their quarterback.

Arbuckle was severely impaired by his injured ankle, and although the athletic trainers made sure he was cleared to take the field before gametime, it was evident that his mobility was limited mainly to the pocket.

“I’m not moving real well,” Arbuckle said midway through the third quarter. “But I’m trying hard.”

Arbuckle credited outstanding protection from his offensive linemen for his good fortune.

“They are doing an awesome job,” Arbuckle said. “They are giving me time [in the pocket].”

The entire team had been working on their individual discipline, according to Arbuckle.

“We found our discipline,” Arbuckle said. “No more dumb stuff.”

According to Arbuckle, the team stopped worrying about how they were acting and just focused on playing the game.

“We are playing top-tier football,” Arbuckle said. “Instead of being out

The “nail in the coffin” came when sophomore cornerback Martin Hill interception a pass in the end zone with 4:20 left in the third quarter to end an Antelope Valley drive in Pierce territory.

Just three plays later, Strong once again spread the Marauder defense thin as Arbuckle connected with him on slant pattern pass through the flats.

Strong’s work earlier in the game had set up the defensive to fall victim to his speed and athleticism late, putting Pierce up 36-20.

Pierce made it a three-possession game after Arbuckle connected with sophomore tight end Beau Sandland for a 37-yard touchdown pass.

“That was crazy,” Sandland said of his touchdown.

Sandland crossed the endzone with a Marauder defender on his back after carrying him roughly 4 yards.

Coach Martinez got drenched with another water cooler, along with one of the evening’s referees, and the post-game celebration brought fans down from the stands to congratulate the team.

Saturday’s victory ties Pierce with Santa Monica College at the top of the American Pacific Conference standings, and sets up next Saturday’s matchup between the two teams played at Santa Monica at 1 p.m.

Steve Palma/ Roundup

“After winning tonight, I’m focused on Monday’s practice. It won’t matter that we won this one. ”

-Danielle Hochman