Feminism celebrated Club hosts panel on common misconceptions

have an abortion,” Robb said.

given was to explain what the basic definition of feminism is.

going out with the family to purchase Christmas trees while absorbing the experience of the holidays,” McBroom said. “It brings the community closer together.”

Frankie Paglianti, cashier at the Farm Center Market, was eager for the upcoming activities while preparing the centers for one of their biggest events of the year.

“It’s like a winter wonderland,” Paglianti said. “If you buy a tree over five feet, you get a picture with Santa and a free hayride.”

Factor Funes, a Farm Center employee who deals with manual labor, was also excited for the possibility of another busy season.

“I like the festivities, especially working with the trees,” Funes said. “It is hard work setting up everything for this event, but it’s worth it in the end.”

The event also features a “Family Entertainment Package” that includes most of the services offered at the event for the price $26.00.

After “Santa’s Magical Wonderland” ends, the next event for the Farm Center will be its annual Easter weekend celebration.

The Pierce College Feminist Club hosted the Feminist 101 Panel on Monday, Dec. 2 in the Great Hall, where students and faculty addressed misconceptions and the history of feminism.

The panel included club president Michelle Borsco, Professor of Sociology James McKeever, Professor of Political Science Denise Robb, and Serena Josel, a representative from Planned Parenthood.

The term feminism entered the English language in 1910 and its meaning has been manipulated from then on, according to Robb.

“In this day and age, women are still being suppressed for many things, and society is not acknowledging it or doing anything about it,” Robb said. “Feminism doesn’t involve hating men, but just about pushing for equality.”

The first question the panelists were

“The basic idea of feminism is that men and women are equal, but to me feminism is more of a sisterhood where women come together to help support one another in this movement,” Josel said.

McKeever said he supports womens rights and that being a male feminist isn’t a negative thing.

“I think being a feminist has made me more understanding of what women go through,” McKeever said. “It allows me to be a more complete human being.”

A man’s role in feminism is to be supportive of women and not make decisions for them, according to McKeever.

Another panel question was if you need to be pro-choice to be a feminist.

“There is a feminist group I researched that was pro-life, but I think it causes a big problem because feminism is about supporting women’s decisions, not telling them they can’t

McKeever explained that it is fine for a woman to ask an opinion on a decision, but it’s up to them to make up their mind.

“What a woman decides, such as having an abortion or not, is between herself and a physician, but it is okay to ask for opinions,” McKeever said.

Feminism has a while before it reaches the history books, but with persistence and hope women will soon be fully equal, according to Robb.

“Yes there was the civil rights movement but there is still suppression and women must work towards equality,” Robb said.

Josel and the rest of the panel foresee a bright future for feminism hoping that young Americans can turn this movement from a belief into an action.

“I am very optimistic about the future of feminism,” Josel said. “I am confident that young women and men are increasingly recognizing that gender is a construct and that people should be treated equally.”

The Foundation for Pierce College will receive $241,920 over the next two years as part of a grant from the Amgen Foundation to fund the Amgen Biotech Experience, aiming to provide a more hands-on science education to the campus.

Sherry Tsai is in charge of overseeing the program in the Los Angeles area. She took on the position of site director after Marty Ikkanda retired, a professor of biological sciences from Pierce who joined the program two decades ago.

More than 20,000 students are taught through this program in southern California, with nine other sites across the United States and the United Kingdom.

“I think that it’s a great program that really impacts the LA area,” Tsai said.

The funds given to Pierce College will help extend science education to other schools in the area, giving teachers the necessary skills and equipment to pass this knowledge to interested high school and middle school students.

Pierce is the center of the program in the Los Angeles area. The grant from Amgen is directed to the Foundation, which then distributes the funds to the other centers for the program in the state.

Karin Steinhauer, coordinator for the Pierce site and lead laboratory technician, organizes and runs the workshops where teachers are given the knowledge necessary to run the program in their classrooms, as well as sending out the equipment needed for the program curriculum.

“This is a really good example of how industry can directly help the school districts,” Steinhauer said. “This is one of the few ways the kids can still get hands-on learning.”

The training, curriculum, equipment and supplies are offered for free; the schools just need to ask for the training and then send the teachers to the workshops.

The curriculum is even aligned to the STEM requirements for education. The program only covered schools in Conejo, California in the first years, but now the LA sites cater to over 200 schools in the area.

“The program was started in 1990 by a group of Amgen scientists and local educators,” said Kristen Davis, one of Amgen’s media contacts that deals with questions related to company philanthropy, among other topics.

The program expanded its curriculum in 1999 with the help of Ikkanda, and continued to grow in size each year.

“The Amgen Foundation supports science education efforts that provide pivotal, hands-on science experiences for students,” Davis said.

Amgen has committed more than $8 million to the project in schools since it began in 1990, according to a press release.

Alongside support for the biotechnology program, Amgen has donated more than $80 million in science education funding to other nonprofit organizations around the world, according to a press release.

Baseball: Brahma coach Bill Ford throws up his hand in triumph as his balsa team comes up with a double play to halt the threat of a Pasadena rally. If you look closely you can see the play in Coach Ford’s glasses. Looking on the pitcher Mike Summers. Photo by Ron

Baseball: Alex Sawson, 20, economics major, and Eric Bloom, 26, assistant coach, former Pierce baseball player, re-enact the photo from 1962 photo

Songleaders, who will also be on the basketball scene throughout the season, are (l-r) Arlene Karlin, Sue Pottle, Jan Sherman, Donna Atkinson, and Head Song-leader Marti Paulsen.

Brahma Flashback

Looking back at 75 years

Story by: Monica by Carlos Carpio

Cheer: Rushanda Duquesnay, Karlanda Duquesnay, Emmanuel Jefferson, Morgan Winston, Serna Baltazar, Samira Faal do their best to re-enact the cheerleaders pose from the 60s on Nov. 17, 2013.

The dust-covered planes of what was once an all-male college that focused solely on agriculture have come a long way in 75 years.

From becoming co-ed to building a new state-of-the art library and planning for the expansion and modernization of new classrooms, the essence of Clarence W. Pierce School of Agriculture, now known as Pierce College, has stayed the same. Dr. Leland Shapiro, Agricultural Department chair, remembers the Quonset hut that served as the first and only classroom of Pierce when it first opened in 1947.

In recent years, Pierce has also been known for the sports programs, most notably its three-time state championship women’s volleyball team.

Athletic Director Robert “Bob” Lofrano credits the students for making the programs well known.

Sports such as Womens Volleyball, as well as football, have come a long way since the 90s, according

Typewriters: Pierce journalism students type busily at the recent Journalism Association of Junior Colleges convention.