Volume 118 Spring 2013 Roundup Issue 2

ROUNDUP

President calls for cease-fire

History buffs will not get a chance to participate in Pierce College’s Heritage Days this semester because the college’s president canceled the Civil War reenactment in response to neighbors’ complaints.

“Ultimately, I had to make the decision, and I made the decision to cancel,” Kathleen Burke-Kelly, Pierce’s president, said.

The event draws in a large crowd from the community and features real cannon fire, which creates significant levels of noise in the area.

Pierce’s Farm Center has hosted this two-day event, the only one of its kind in Los Angeles County, for the past three years.

Professor assaulted in Village

Suspect kicks out squad car window in a display of violence and police de ance

Ayoung man was restrained after assaulting a Pierce College instructor in Village 8209 Monday morning.

The man’s identity has not been released due to the ongoing investigation, according to Larry Kraus, associate vice president of administrative services.

Adjunct English instructor Michael Schilf was teaching his 101 class when the suspect peeked his head into the room, according to Liliana Solano, 21, one of the students in the class. He was calling for someone and Schilf told him to stay outside, but he continued to disrupt the class, according to Solano. The situation escalated when Schilf had to

forcibly prevent the suspect from entering the class, according to Solano.

“The kid was fighting against the teacher to come inside the classroom,” she said. “The guy was going ballistic, cursing at my teacher and threatening us.”

The struggle resulted in Schilf pinning the man to the floor, said Solano.

Campus authorities then came into the room and handcuffed the suspect as he resisted arrest, Solano said.

It took four officers to detain the individual, according to Beatriz Sanchez, 27, who had a class in the room next to Schilf’s.

After the suspect was placed in the back of the squad car, he repeatedly kicked at the window until it broke and shattered. He then stuck his head out of the window and began shouting at passers-by.

Sheriff’s Deputy Al Guerrero then forced

him back into the vehicle. Officers drew out their Tasers as they verbally warned him to calm down.

After about 15 minutes in the back of the damaged squad car, the suspect was strapped to a stretcher by several personnel and placed in a nearby ambulance. He was then taken to a hospital, according to Kraus.

By this time, there were several emergency vehicles on the scene surrounding the Village. The entire incident lasted less than an hour.

During the incident, student Frankie Manes (@frankiemanes) tweeted: “It’s a mad house at Pierce right now. People are everywhere looking at what’s going down. Can’t believe I have to watch from in class”

The suspect, who does not attend Pierce, was trying to attack a student in Village 8209, according to Kraus.

“I think it was a girlfriend,” Kraus said.

“There was a restraining order against the suspect.”

The suspect threatened both Schilf and the student he was calling for with death and bodily harm, Kraus said.

“Police showed up as soon as possible,” Kraus said. “Fairly quickly.”

Complete details for the incident aren’t available yet.

“This is a very serious incident. We will be looking at it very carefully,” Kraus said. “It’s going to take a little time.”

It is not yet clear whether the suspect was charged with any crime.

“They might be just interrogating him because he appeared to be under the influence,” Security Officer Pedro Pineda said.

[Contributing: Calvin Alagot, Michaia Hernandez, Carlos Islas]

Heritage Days has attracted over 400 participants that take part in the recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg. This July marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battle.

Ed Mann, an organizer of event for Pierce and also participates, declined to comment. He told the Roundup in an email that he was asked to “stand down by the person at the Farm Center.”

Mann did, however, give a statement in an interview with ABC7.

“A lot of people are going suffer for it. Not just the re-enactors, but all the several thousand people that have come in the last three years,” he said. “This is the only event that would have taken place in the Los Angeles County, and now it’s gone down the drain.”

Robert Teague, a re-enactor, participated in all three Heritage Days at Pierce and thinks they are great.

[See RE-ENACTMENT, pg. 3]

Students protest in statewide Sacramento march

Campus club members head to state Capitol

Marching across the Tower Bridge in Sacramento, Calif., a wave of chants rippled through the crowd of thousands of protesters.

“The students united cannot be defeated.”

Sixteen Pierce College students from the Associated Students Organization and Students Organizing for Success travelled to the state Capitol on March 4 for the March in March, protesting budget cuts and advocating increased college funding.

The Pierce group met at the Pierce campus at 10 p.m. on March 3 where they boarded an ASO-funded charter bus that took them to the Capitol overnight.

The march began at 10 a.m. on Monday, beginning at Raley Field, crossing the Tower Bridge up to the steps of the Capitol where a rally was held.

PROTEST: California college students converge in Sacramento to participate in a march supporting easier access to higher education on Monday.

Wednesday

March 6

High: 57°

Low: 45°

Partly Cloudy

Around 5,000 people took part in the march, according Dr. Zachary Knorr, a

professor at the University of California, Riverside.

The attendance was surprising to professor James McKeever, the faculty mentor for the trip, who thought the passing of Proposition 30 in the November elections would make students more apathetic.

- Ruben Garcia

Students Organizing for Success member

“I think the turnout is amazing,” McKeever said. “I thought it’d be a third of this.”

Also surprised with the attendance was SOS member Ruben Garcia, who travelled to Sacramento ahead of the bus.

“People are still interested in education,” Garcia said.

rally

Despite the passing of Proposition 30, attendees, including professor McKeever, stressed the importance of continuing the fight to stop cuts and bring back lost funding.

“This is when it’s really more important to sit there and demonstrate that the students who voted for those things are still watching and still care about the issues,” McKeever said.

Though Proposition 30 passed, the price per unit has not gone down from $46, which McKeever said is an important issue to bring to the state government.

“Some people, even Jerry Brown, have made statements about how tuitions are still lower than the national average so we still have room to move up, and I think that’s the wrong way to look at it,” McKeever said. “I think we should be looking at $14 or $15 per unit, or even free actually.”

Former ASO president Ken Sherman was also on the trip, and he was also critical of the cost of community college.

[See MARCH, pg. 3]

Kristen Aslanian / Roundup

RESIST: An unidentified man was detained after assaulting a professor in Village 8209 on March 4. He then

“People are still interested in education.”

Campus protection should be priority

Pierce emergency systems and security should be re-evaluated

Run, hide, fight. This is the advice given by the Department of Homeland Security in a pamphlet on how to respond in the event of an active shooter as distributed by the Pierce College sheriff’s department.

The distribution and instruction of these directions are a reaction to the recent shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora, Colo. Century Theater.

But there are many ways the administration can make these directions more effective for Pierce students and faculty.

Pierce-goers are urged first to run from the danger, but what if someone has not heard the gun fire nor seen the shooter?

To keep students and faculty informed, the administration should look into a text message alert system and the installation of a public address (P.A.) system.

A text alert system proved useful in informing students at California State University, Northridge a few semesters ago when the Pierce neighbor had their own shooter scare that turned out to be a false alarm.

Though there was no real danger, students and faculty were alert of potential danger, and informed, which allowed them to stay out of the potential danger area.

For those without a cellphone, the P.A. system would pick up the slack, such as is present on the campus of El Camino College.

A P.A. system could keep everyone informed of where on campus the threat is regardless of if they do not have a phone, forgot it in their car or just happened to run out of charge.

The next piece of advice in the event of an active shooter is to hide from danger.

The pamphlet also reads that bystanders should barricade entry and lock the door of where you choose to hide out. Therein lies the problem for Pierce students and faculty.

A quick survey of the campus shows that many doors do not lock from the inside, such as in the Village, or a number of rooms seemingly randomly assorted in the Business Education Center and the gyms.

Classroom occupants are encouraged to barricade doors, but with many classrooms having outward-opening doors, this is not entirely effective. The door can still be opened, and a barricaded room is a good indication that there are people hiding inside.

Students and faculty could simply hide and hope their room is not approached by the active shooter, though hoping and praying does little to actually protect one from the reality of the situation.

This means, to truly secure the door, one would have to step outside and put their life at risk to secure the room and its occupants.

One cannot be expected to crack open the door, quickly reach out, turn the key in the slot, and hope they’re not noticed

Should all doors on campus be locked at all times?

Should students and faculty learn secret knocks to be allowed in?

Students and faculty near the active shooter might have no time to run to safety or properly barricade a door, if even possible. So, they must be given an alternative to putting themselves in the line of fire.

The administration needs to look into the installation of indoor locks on all doors on campus.

The last option is to fight, but there is no advice to be given on how to do this besides using anything available as a weapon. This is only recommended in a last-shot scenario.

As for what the administration can do to help with keeping students safe, it is no question that these systems will require a lot of money, a lot of labor, and especially some time to get the plans going.

Though this is true, no cost is too high to ensure the safety of faculty and students. The Roundup encourages the Pierce leadership and committees to begin looking into these costs.

With an extra focus on awareness and preparation in the instance of an active shooter were coming to Pierce, the administration should show it means business by looking into the installation and establishment of these solutions as soon as possible.

Thumbs up & Thumbs down

Academics acclimate to accreditation

The faculty of Pierce College have been working to make sure the college keeps its accreditation. Good job to Mia Wood and everyone else leading the way in accreditation preparation.

Thank you for your hard work.

Corrections:

Volume 118 - Issue 1

Front Page:

-Allan Hancock is misspelled

Opinions:

-EB stands for English Building, not Economics Building in the editorial.

Photo Essay:

-Baseball and basketball were not played in Pierce College South Gym.

A&E:

Arming instructors can save student lives

The question educators, parents and concerned citizens should answer is not “what should we do if another school shooting occurs?”

Rather, they should answer “when another school shooting occurs, how will we be better prepared?”

According to an FBI report covering January to June 2012, violent crime was up across the U.S. At the same time, Calif. logged 531,751 firearm background checks in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Comparing the up tick in firearm background checks against the down slide in overall violent crime in Calif. during an inclusive time frame, one could make an argument of correlation betwixt the two statistics.

The vast majority of gun owners are good, law-abiding Americans, but some of them may be mentally unstable, may not use proper gun safety or may be criminally minded.

It should be a given that someone who would murder children in school has come unhinged, but as was the case with Adam Lanza, no one predicted his path or depth of destruction.

The argument to remove guns from the streets seems highly unlikely since, as Small Arms Survey reports, as of 2007 there were approximately 270 million firearms in the U.S.

If the weapons that were used in Newtown, Conn. and Columbine, Colo. had been properly secured by parents, or if existing laws restricting illegal firearm sales were properly enforced, those places of infamy would be anonymous marks on a map today.

So, while our representatives in Congress fight it out about who is

Heritage Days will not be inherited

Over the weekend, Pierce College President Kathleen Burke-Kelly canceled what would have been the 4th annual Heritage Days. The community has lost out on an event memorializing one of the biggest moments in US history.

more to blame for our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters being murdered in school, let’s stop the bleeding by fighting firearms with firearms in schools and promoting gun safety at home.

Project ChildSafe, an undertaking by The National Shooting Sports Foundation who claims says it is “[t]he nation’s largest firearm safety education program” is where parents can obtain a gun safety kit to help prevent juvenile access to firearms in the home.

Pierce College law enforcement officials recommend three rules for students involved in a school invasion, “Run. Hide. Fight.” Run in the opposite direction form the sound of gunfire to a secure room. Hide inside the room, lock and barricade the door. Fight the active shooter only as a last resort.

Pierce even offers an extension course titled “NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course” for teachers who want to explore basic pistol defense right here on campus.

“Once a school is in lockdown, ‘hide and hope’ . . . maximize police latitude in clearing the building,” is the recommendation of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

Listen, the idea of armed teachers is not one of them roaming the campus, hunkering down in bushes and making bird calls to other teachers during a school invasion like perilous armed citizen responders. Rather, it is a solid last line of rope-a-dope defense when “hide and hope” fails.

Weekly Poll Results:

Are you planning on voting in the March elections?

Yes: 55% No: 45%

Out of 20 votes

Should bike riding be allowed on the Pierce campus?

Yes: 76% No: 23%

Out of 26 votes

Do you park on campus?

Yes: 52% No: 48%

Out of 25 votes

For

By Austin Faber

Teachers should be students’ last line of defense in an attack

Illustration by Maria Salvador/ Roundup

Civil War no more

[

RE-ENACTMENT continued]

“It’s a great event for [reenactors] and the community,” Teague said. “I think it’s terrible that it was canceled. I’d like to see it go on as it should.”

The cancellation of the event has sparked protests by past participants and spectators, some of which have posted comments on other media outlets’ stories of the termination of Heritage Days.

The cancellation has sparked protests by past participants and spectators, some of which have posted comments on media outlets’ stories covering the termination of Heritage Days. Some comments express irritation with the nearby residents who voiced their complaints, as well as with Burke-Kelly for her decision.

The Civil War Alliance will be hosting a Civil War re-enactment in Vista, Calif. on March 9-10. Information on the event can be found at civilwaralliance.com.

Students unite in march

[MARCH continued]

“When I went [to Pierce], it went from $5 to $11 per unit, and now it’s forty-something dollars per unit?” Sherman said. “That’s ridiculous, community college isn’t supposed to be like a Cal state school where you can’t afford it.”

Other than lowering costs of education, protesters also want the new funding from Proposition 30 to be properly allocated, including SOS member Bernard Hanamichi, who went on the trip to keep legislators accountable.

“We want funding to go specifically to the classrooms,” Hanamichi said. “[Pierce has] the physical space for more classes, but there are lots of students who have to crash courses.”

Sherman also took issue with a proposed 90-unit cap on students who wish to attend community colleges in Calif.

“I have 138 units. If I were to come back to Pierce to try to help myself get a job, I wouldn’t be able to,” Sherman said.

Many protesters held a similar view. Chants of “90-unit cap? That’s a bunch of crap” were frequent throughout the march.

ONLINE REGISTRATION BEGINS APRIL 3

Take advantage of the large number of Summer Session classes offered beginning May 28. Whatever your academic goals, chances are you’ll find a class within the wide selection of listed courses many of which are now available online.

Representatives from all three systems of higher education helped organize the event, including the president of the University of California Students Association, Raquel Morales.

“Our point was to stand in solidarity with one another as the three systems and to get the point across that we need more funding,” Morales said. “The students were really fired up. Hopefully the legislators got the message.

The theme of the event was summed up by the president of the Associated Student Council at the City College of San Francisco, Shanell Williams, who spoke at the rally.

Summer Session 2013 is for you if you are a

❯ Qualified high school student

❯ Community college student ready for upper-division degree work

❯ Home-for-the-summer college student

❯ Business professional on a part-time degree track

❯ Community member who wants to take a university class

SESSION DATES

❯ SUMMER SESSION 1 : May 28 – August 20 (12 weeks)

❯ SUMMER SESSION 2: May 28 – July 9 (6 weeks)

❯ SUMMER SESSION 3: July 10 – August 20 (6 weeks)

The course list is available online at http://summer.csun.edu

“Higher education should be available to all, regardless of their economic means,” Williams said.

Afterwards, participants had a chance to speak with legislators, though the opportunities were not guaranteed without an appointment.

McKeever was pleased with the overall event and was happy to see the students’ passion, especially from the SOS members that had traveled over eight hours by bus to reach Sacramento.

“They are a group of students that really, truly inspire me,” McKeever said.

News Briefs

Learn how to get a job using Facebook and Twitter

The Career and Transfer Center (CTC) is hosting a workshop, “Plugging In: Using Social Media in the Job Search.” The event will teach students how to successfully use social media tools and applications for job hunting. The workshop is on Thurs., March 7 from 1-2 p.m. in the CTC workshop room.

Career and Transfer Center to hold transfer workshop

The CTC will also be helping students learn how to transfer to a California State University on March 12 at noon. The workshop is open to all students and no appointment will be needed.

Sheriffʼs Blotter

Incident Report

February 23 - March 1

–Compiled by Natalee Ayala

Scholarships available at Pierce College Foundation

The Foundation for Pierce College has extended the scholarship applications deadline until March 10. Applications are available on www.piercecollegefoundation. org.

DO YOU SUFFER FROM FACIAL ACNE?

We are currently looking for subjects for an investigational research study. This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of an ultrasound device for treatment of moderate to severe facial acne.

Study candidates must be 18 years or older with moderate to severe facial acne.

Qualified participants may be compensated for time and parking.

Please contact the Multispecialty Aesthetic Clinical Research Organization, MACRO LLC to find out if you qualify for this 6 month study.

(310) 963-5001 or macroclinicaltrials@gmail.com

REWARD

For nice young gentleman who helped me find my car in the Pierce parking lot F-8 area, Feb. 8, 2013

Caller identify, color of my car (possibly make) and color and make of your car in order for correct identification.

Contact: Bill

(818) 346-8550

If no answer-leave message

Mohammad Djauhari / Roundup

SACRAMENTO: Pierce College Students Organizing for Success members Ruben Garcia, Bernard Hanamichi Gustavo Sandoval at the March in March on Monday.

Emad Abassi / Roundup Abraham Lincoln re-enactor walking away from the last Heritage Days event in 2012

Geology Club takes a hike

Topanga State Park to hike the two-mile trail to the Santa Ynez Waterfall.

Some walked carefully while others were more daring and climbed up the sides of mountains. President Cuellar yelled, “I’m on top of the world!”

who are involved or interested in the study of geology by hosting different events like camping and hiking.

The sun shined bright Saturday morning in Topanga, Calif. as the Pierce College Geology Club geared up to embark on its first exploratory hike of the of the spring 2013 semester. This was the first hike to kick off this semester with a full agenda of outdoor events that will give students and faculty members opportunities to learn about the earth through firsthand experiences.

“We want to be really active off-campus as well as on-campus, not be such urbanized valley kids,” geology club president, Brandy Cuellar said. “There’s lots of really cool stuff right in our back yard.”

The group of 10 students and faculty members who gathered together in

During their journey to the waterfall, members had time not only to joke around, but to explore and take time to teach and quiz each other on the things they have been learning inside the classroom.

The hikers were joined by Harry Filkorn, adjunct assistant professor of geology, who was enthusiastic and eager to answer any questions members had as they explored rocks and climbed into caves.

“Harry is a wonderful teacher. If you have any questions, he will take the time to make sure you understand,” Vice President of the Geology Club Jennifer Bautista said. “He is very encouraging.”

Filkorn is one of the original members of the club that formed three years ago.

He as well as other founding members intended to bring people together

Members join for different reasons. Some are geology majors, some are not but had interests in the earth’s mysteries, and some just wanted to join with friends.

They are from many different backgrounds and majors, but come together every Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Center for Sciences Building in room 92049 to share their interests in the history of the earth.

“I have been part of the club for about three years now. I like to be around people also interested in geology, paleontology, rocks, and minerals,” club member Saul Galvez said.

The club is open to all Pierce students and faculty members interested in learning more about the earth through activity.

For more information about the Geology Club, contact Head Advisor and Department of Physics and Planetary Sciences Chair John Zayac.

Kristen Aslanian/ Roundup

DIRECTION: Harry Filkorn, adjunct assistant professor of geology, and Brandy Cuellar, president of the Geology Club, look at a map before a hike to the Santa Ynez Waterfall Trail in Topanga on March 2.

Robotics Club takes toys to the next level

Members turn robots to life, connecting pieces and wires

In the Applied Technology building on the west side of campus, some of Pierce College’s brilliant minds have been busy working together in the field of robotics.

The Robotics Club has been busy in their lab, putting together impressive creations while giving its members a good foundation to build off of for science, technology, engineering and math (S.T.E.M.)-oriented students.

Although the main focus is to build and learn about robotics, some members take it to the next step and compete in robotics competitions.

One of the most prevalent competitions are the ones that involve VEX Robotics Design System.

“VEX is great because there is a low barrier for entry when you want start engineering and all the parts are available and it’s really easy to take concepts to reality,” said club president Eldon Schoop.

Electrical engineering student Ryan Collins likens VEX to building Legos.

“You put together the pieces but it’s not exactly challenging,” he said.

The team has done well in the recent college VEX competition, scrimmaging other local college teams, according to Schoop.

Club member Yiran “Yao” Tong, a mechanical engineering student, has been at the forefront as the lead engineer for the robots that have been used in the competitions.

Horses and humans alike welcome spring season

Students get ready to saddle up with 4-legged iends

Tim Toton/Roundup ttoton.roundupnews@gmail.com

Grab your hat, hone your hoot and get your boots down to the vast Pierce College Equestrian Center to see horse science ambassadors connect with the school’s roots.

“Pierce College was founded with the principle ‘learn by doing.’ Watching others do, seeing movies of others doing, reading about others doing [do] not prepare you for the real world. DOING prepares you for doing,” Leland S. Shapiro, chair of the Agriculture Department, said in an email.

“People don’t talk enough about conditioning show horses or conditioning riders. I felt it was a big need in the program. This was the time to do it. Everybody is beyond thrilled to have it.”

The Horse Science program at Pierce teaches hands-on: how to condition horses, proper mechanics and equipment of riding, nutrition and husbandry, training and veterinary first aid.

a horse before so we have to have horses like that.

We can’t have high dollar, high power show horses.”

Warner said.

Warner, who usually performs at Farm Walk, will perform a trick training dog and sheep show called “Anything you can do I can do better” with a student at Fiesta of the Spanish Horse charity show May 4 to 5 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

A new class offering, Horse Show Activities, Section AS616, Wednesday, 12:40 to 3:50 p.m., is an intermediate riding class which prepares students for professional level show performances.

Warner feels the new class melds riding, training, and equipment together in a way that will fill a need and benefit students.

“People don’t talk enough about conditioning show horses or conditioning riders. I felt it was a big need in the program. This was the time to do it. Everybody is beyond thrilled to have it.” Warner said.

Marieve Elliott, a 20-year-old equine veterinarian student arrived late in the semester but petitioned to join the class just to observe.

“[Warner] is very knowledgeable and I’m going to be able to apply everything that I learn here to my own work with horses.” Elliott said.

According to Tong and Collins, the members typically work on their own projects but for something like the competitions they work together to brainstorm designs that meet the criteria for the competition. The club is looking for large support from the school and outside funding from private companies to help them take on other projects in S.T.E.M. fields and move onto the next level.

Schoop said that they already have ambitious ideas brewing like working on autonomous drones, a go-cart that would run on renewable energy, and even starting their own college-level robotics competition.

One of the clubs most ambitious goals is to partake in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s yearly rover competition.

Club vice president Salamat Ali-Reza mentioned that if selected, the team will be funded by NASA to build the rover the club designed and run it through live simulations, controlling the robot from Pierce College through the Internet.

“Aside from [everything] we all try to make an effort to volunteer at high school-level competitions as well,” said Schoop.

The Robotics Club was featured in the Daily News as well as Mercury News earlier this year for hosting its first ever VEX tournament that helped introduce high school and middle school students to new career choices.

The club meets Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m.

For more information, you may reach the club at their personal website, piercerobotics.com, or their Facebook page: Pierce Robotics Club.

Paddy Warner, assistant professor of Horse Science, is an energetic and giving expert in animal training who also advises the Boots and Saddles Club and puts on quality horse shows like the upcoming Farm Walk on April 28, Shapiro said.

“We are very fortunate to have her on our faculty,” he said.

There are 18 “beyond safe” trail horses from the Sierras that live at Pierce during the school year. They seem to enjoy the coddling students provide compared to the service the horses provide up North, according to Warner.

“We get a lot of students that have never even ridden

“I hope to transfer to Cal Poly or UC

The equine course teaches:

- How to sit and use your body

- How to condition a show horse

Aspiring horse breeder and veterinarian Janet Peña is taking five equine classes in her third semester at Pierce. She wants to operate a local, lowcost veterinary service when she completes her education.

- Describes all the show equipment

Davis,” Peña said. When asked what she likes best, “Riding with the horses and contact.”

For more information about the Horse Science program at Pierce, visit their website: piercecollege. edu/departments/agriculture/equine.asp.

John Gutierrez/ Roundup

Details: Pierce Robotics Club Yoel Preda works on a robot made of VEX materials on Feb. 21. The robot will be unveiled at the upcoming Club Rush.

John Gutierrez/ Roundup Lined up: Remote controls are ready to be used for future projects at the Robotics Club meeting in room 3808.

John Gutierrez/ Roundup Horsinʼ around: Students enrolled in the Horse Show Activities Class learn advanced lessons that help them prepare with better horse handling skills.

Raymond Garcia/Roundup rgarcia.roundupnews@gmail.com

John Gutierrez/ Roundup

Alive: A robot created by members of the Robotics Club sits in its final preparations in room 3808. The robot will be displayed during Club Rush.

- Paddy Warner Assistant Professor of Horse Science

Brahmas win invitational Tennis team defeats Fullerton, Victor Valley and San Diego City without dropping a single match

Danielle Meegan/Roundup dmeegan.roundupnews@gmail.com

The Pierce College Tennis team came out on top by winning both singles and doubles matches during the Brahma Invitational on Saturday at the tennis courts.

The Brahma Invitational consisted of four teams: Pierce, Fullerton College, Victor Valley College, and San Diego City College.

According to Pierce’s tennis coach Rajeev Datt, the invitational was a flight tournament.

He explained that each pair of doubles would play one set against the three other teams. The same would go for the singles matches where each player would play one set against one player from each school.

Each player and each pair of doubles were matched up to the same ranked players on the other teams.

After the match, whoever won the most sets out of the four players with the same rank won the flight, as well as the rank. The same went for doubles.

The invitational started with doubles, something the Brahmas usually do at the end of their matches.

At the beginning of the match, it looked as though the Brahmas were going to wear themselves out early. After all three pairs swept San Diego City, they started to find their groove, especially doubles partners, Nathan Crosby and Kevin Nam.

While their teammates dropped their sets against Fullerton, they battled in a tiebreaker to win 7-5. Fullerton applied pressure by coming back after being down 5-4. They would lose the set by a double fault, where both of their serves hit the net.

The last doubles match up was with Victor Valley. These matches were so physically demanding for both teams that some players slammed into the fence trying

to hit the ball.

But Victor Valley’s extremely powerful forehands could not keep up with Pierce as all three pairs were swept. They also did not allow Victor Valley to win more than two games.

The Brahmas’ domination continued into the singles matches. They swept their match-ups, except for Aaron Goodwein, who lost one set, 2-6, to San Diego City.

Five players had won a set where they stopped the opposing player from registering a single point. Crosby had two 6-0 sets. By the third singles match, his enthusiasm was growing rapidly with every winning point because he knew he was going to go undefeated for the day.

Eitan Fattal would only win two of his sets due to a Fullerton player forfeiting on the game.

-

“I guess he had a head cold and it just drained him after he played the doubles and a couple of singles,” Datt said. “He was just too tired.” Datt said he wanted this invitational to be a learning experience for his team.

“[By] playing one set and moving on, then one set and moving on,” Datt said. “They have to learn how to quickly adjust to different game styles.”

Datt believes with the multiple wins in the invitational, this will boost up the team’s confidence in future matches, especially for Nam.

“This is the first time he’s won a match. He won all three doubles.” Datt said. “He and Nathan won their number three flight. They actually went undefeated today, which is fantastic.”

Nam also feels that his confidence was raised not only in his playing styles, but to be on the team.

“I guess I feel like I can hang around these guys now,” Nam said. “The coach has always told me that, but results never showed. And today [they] definitely showed.”

Men’s basketball loses first home playoff game in 39 years

Brahmas lose to Palomar in blowout game

Javier Meliton/Roundup jmeliton.roundupnews@gmail.com

Despite playing hard defense throughout the game, the men’s basketball team was defeated by Palomar College 73-55 in the first playoff game in Pierce College in 39 years.

The Brahmas started off the game slow taking seven minutes to score their first points, but their defense kept them in the game throughout the first half and were only down six at halftime.

Pierce head coach Edward Babayan thought point guard J.R. Williams was big most of the game, but was injured on a hard foul in the first 30 seconds of the second half which started on a 10-1 run for Palomar.

Williams would return to the game after a two minute break.

“J.R. made us go the whole year, he’s been the catalyst and

without him we struggled a little bit and we were already struggling offensively and then you take our point guard out of it and it makes it pretty difficult,” Babayan said. “We struggled and I feel like we didn’t make the best decisions out there on the court.”

Palomar center and co-MVP of the league Joe Vaz scored 21 and clogged the paint most of the night making it difficult for any Brahma to get to the basket and the other coMVP and point guard Dejuan Ervin was unstoppable scoring 21 points.

“We had a lot of ball movement, listened to our game plan, and we followed up and executed,” Ervin said. “I was looking for my shot and trying to be aggressive and getting my teammates involved and basically doing what I have been doing all year.”

Palomar shooting guard Chauncy Sirles came off the bench and had three 3-pointers in the first half and another two from behind the arc in

Singles:

#1 Richard Catabona

Defeated Fullerton College, 6-1

Defeated Victor Valley College, 6-0

Defeated San Diego City, 6-1

#2 Aaron Goodwein

Defeated FC, 6-1

Defeated VVC, 6-2 Lost to SDCC, 2-6

#3 Eitan Fattal FC defaulted

Defeated VVC, 6-0

Defeated SDCC, 6-2

Doubles:

#1 R. Catabona/E. Fattal

# 4 Nathan Crosby

Defeated FC, 6-1

Defeated VVC, 6-0

Defeated SDCC, 6-0

#5 Alex Kokonis

Defeated FC, 6-2

Defeated VVC, 6-0

Defeated SDCC, 6-4

#6 Kevin Nam

Defeated FC, 7-5

Defeated VVC, 6-0

Defeated SDCC, 6-2

Lost to FC, 4-6

Defeated VVC, 6-2

Defeated SDCC, 7-5

#2 A. Goodwein/A. Kokonis Lost to FC, 3-6

Defeated VVC, 6-0

Defeated SDCC, 6-1

#3 N. Crosby/K. Nam

Defeated FC, 7-5

Defeated VVC, 6-1

Defeated SDCC, 6-3

the second half.

“He was making tough shots and pulling from deep and he was a couple feet behind the line so it looks like he has that range,” Williams said.

Williams led the way for the Brahmas but it just wasn’t enough and that leads to the question most people will be asking “will he be back next year?”

“We don’t really have a backup point guard so I’m like the floor general in a sense and the offense is predicated on what I do with the ball,” Williams said. “Yeah, I’ll be back next season.”

As the game was coming to an end coach Babayan was pulling out his starters and Williams was heard coming to the bench saying “let me finish this game out coach.”

The Brahmas end the season by making history for Pierce.

Brahmas defeated by Mt. San Antonio

Women’s basketball team loses to top-seeded team

Lauren Holmes/Roundup lholmes.roundupnews@gmail.com

The women’s basketball team lost in the first round of the CCCAA Women’s Basketball Southern California Regional to the number one seed Mt. San Antonio College, 49-77 on March 2.

Mt. SAC’s guard Morgan Mason led all scorers with 22 points, shooting nine for 18 from the field while also grabbing seven rebounds and four steals.

Mason doubled her season average of 12 points per contest while playing the least amount of minutes among her starting teammates.

Mason wasn’t the only problem for Pierce, as they were outplayed in nearly every aspect of the game.

The Brahmas struggled from the

very beginning, trailing Mt. SAC 17-38 at halftime.

“I think they out hustled us from the start,” said Brooke Castle, sophmore guard and forward for Pierce. “When it came down to it they were just running after every loose ball.”

Mt. SAC went on several scoring runs with little resistance from the Brahmas.

“Basketball is a game of runs, we just had more runs than them and were able to extend our lead,” said Brain Crichlow, Mt. SAC’s head coach. “Pierce is a great team. We were just able to make adjustments.”

Pierce was unfortunately unable to adjust themselves. They were out rebounded 26-50, which lead to Mt. SAC’s 19 second chance points.

“I feel like if we would have ran the plays, not only would it have

[given] us a better percentage of a shot but it would have put us in a better position to rebound the ball,” said Castle.

The Brahmas struggled to keep possession of the ball on both offense and defense.

Mt. SAC’s collapsing half court defense kept Pierce on the edge.

“We would look up and they would be there [half court],” said Kameron Jones, Pierce’s starting center. “We knew coming into the game that they were a good defensive team because they haven’t lost any games this season.”

Mt. SAC forced the Brahmas to play outside of their normal game.

For the full story, visit theroundupnews.com

Kate Noah/ Roundup

FOREHAND: Alex Kokonis returns a volley during the Brahmas singles win against Victor Valley.

“I guess I feel like I can hang around with these guys now. The coach has always told me that, but results never showed. And today [they] definitely showed.”

Kevin Nam Brahma Tennis