Hidden paradise dilapidates away

e Braille Trail sensory nature walk requires additional funding to achieve restoration vision

The sky hinted at a rain storm but that didn’t stop Dr. Leland Shapiro, Pierce College professor of animal and veterinary sciences, from showing off his hidden paradise.

“In the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, this place was thriving,” Shapiro said.

The “place” Shapiro speaks of is the Braille Trail, an all-access sensory nature trail located within the school’s arboretum. What once was a display of flourishing, exotic and native greenery now plays home to overgrown bushes and vacant planters.

Originally established on April 20, 1970, the trail’s purpose was to serve as a learning tool for the visually impaired. The weathered plaque at the entrance of the trail spells out each individual donor and provides a brief history of the trail’s origin, all in both English and braille.

“This Braille Trail helps one part of our community that can’t see, and I don’t understand why we’ve let it go to pot,” Shapiro said.

Accompanying the introduction is a raised map of the path, meant to provide a touchable route for the blind, now vandalized with carved graffiti and in much need of repair.

Hundreds of feet of rope act as a hand-held tour guide with a knot in place to let the walker know when to stop and read the plaque describing what is in front of them. While most of the plaques have commendably stood the test of time, the plants they are describing have not.

Shapiro came to a slow halt, “Here it says ‘dawn redwood’ and I don’t see the dawn redwood.”

Instead, a dirt emptiness filled where the dawn redwood, also known as a metasequoia, once stood.

Overgrown brush, weeds, discarded cans and bottles emphasize the dire need of maintenance the trail requires.

“See, a lot of people look at this as a bush, but it’s not a bush, it’s a learning tool. Each one of these plants is part of a community and they were planted here for specific reasons, to teach horticulture,”

Shapiro said.

Dick South, professor emeritus of horticulture, has seen the trail go through its ups and downs over the years since its inception.

“It’s a shame that it was allowed to degrade the way it was but something like that takes a lot of “upkeep,” South said. “Maintenance is a big thing. It’s easy to plant something, it’s much more difficult to keep it maintained.”

Pierce College student Janette Vazquez, 19, stood just a few hundred feet from the elusive trail, not even aware of it’s existence.

“I’ve never seen it,” Vazquez said. “I think people would like the idea, just to hang out over there and see nature.”

With the spread of awareness, Shapiro believes that the trail could easily be restored back to its prior condition.

“There’s a lot that can be done but we need some coordination on that. I would like something to be offered for future generations.”

Shapiro hopes for a grant to help fund the restoration of the Braille Trail. He encourages those in the community who are interested to band together and help restore the trail to its former beauty.

Posted on the entrance plaque is a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead that seems to echo Shapiro’s hope for the trail.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

TCG Club: Drawing the heart of the cards Trading card game club uses Magic to bring students together

The Trading Card Game (TCG) Club has turned into an organization, and a place where students can come together and play card games in a structured environment on the Pierce College campus.

Students would huddle up around the old library playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, Magic: The Gathering and various other games.

President of the TCG Club, Garret Williams, created the club to give a sense of structure to the small community on campus.

“We decided to do the organization because we wanted to create a place where everyone can group together and have a place to play,” Williams said.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game is based on a fictional card game, Duel Monsters in the manga/anime Yu-gi-oh! created by Kazuki Takahashi.

points down to zero. You try to win the match, with the monsters magic cards and try to counter them,” the club's webmaster Austin Reveche said.

Magic, another trading card game, was created by Richard Garfield and has approximately twelve million players world wide as of 2011.

“Magic is different because you need a land to produce mana (energy) and that mana will be able to cast the creatures and spells,” Jefferson Matthews said.

“Unlike Yu-Gi-Oh!, you need the correct amount of mana, to do what you need for the term.”

Currently, the TCG club is still building their foundation and now consists of 10-12 members who are committed to the organization.

According to the Associated Student Organization (ASO), the TCG Club is now an official Pierce College campus club.

Last semester, a few students started the TCG club because of the large interest in card gaming.

“It is similar to the show itself. You have at least a 40 to 60-card deck and you play one on one, or multi-dual, and try to deplete your opponent's life

Award winning Los Angelesbased photographer, Kirk McKoy, will be the next featured speaker in the Media Arts Speaker Series on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m.

Kirk McKoy is scheduled to be sharing his photographs as well as his experiences working for news organizations and as a portrait photographer.

Mckoy

With the workforce becoming ever more competitive, students will have to learn the skills necessary to stay one step ahead of the competition. Offering courses in network technology, computer science, automotive service technology and welding, students looking to thrive in an ever-changing and advancing world can seek the education and training here at Pierce College.