The last Telescope Night of the semester was no match for the cloudy sky

Most of the stars that can be seen in smoggy Los Angeles are the ones that line the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But, on occasion, a stellar view of the heavens is made possible by technology pointed at the stars.

Telescope Night, hosted on the observation deck at the Center for the Sciences, invites the Pierce College community to gather around 8-inch reflecting telescopes and learn about astronomy.

For about three years, the event has gone uninterrupted by clear skies.

However, Monday’s Telescope Night got clouded out by overcast skies.

Musical babes

Couple tries to spark interest in music students

ANDREW FORTINCALDERA Features Editor @afortincaldera

Canadian actors and musicians

Steven Allerick and Saskia Garel love expanding their creative abilities by continuing to inspire themselves through their personal lives and their work. After starring in high-profile stage shows like The Lion King, television shows and musical performances, having a child proved to be this couple’s biggest inspiration.

Allerick and Garel were invited to perform by Garineh AvakianAkkus, an instructor of music at Pierce College, for a classroom packed with students. The married couple shared with students their early inspirations for pursuing entertainment as a career path and their experiences working in the industry.

Garel said she attributes her initial desire to pursue music to her parents, particularly her father, who was a jazz musician.

“Inspiration is at the heart of creativity, and I’d say my inspiration began with my parents and the records they shared with me at an early age,” Garel said.

To punctuate the sentiment, Garel sang the songs “The Masquerade is Over” and “The Lady is a Tramp,” which she said are reflective of the music she was exposed to in her early life.

Allerick said that in his adulthood, he drew inspiration from his father’s passing. He said that he took the impact of his father’s death and used it as creative fuel by writing a script that focuses on an entertainer who must address his own father’s terminal illness.

Despite this obstacle, students who attended had a successful night, according to astronomy professor Dale Fields.

“We still did get a chance to get some good views of the moon, and we got a good chance to actually watch the space station fly overhead,” Fields said. “The fact that we got clouded out once is not that bad.”

Astronomy students helped man the telescopes and kept them pointed at the stars and planets as Earth moved.

Joshua Becker, head astronomy tutor, has been participating in telescope night for three years. At each event, he is responsible for getting as many working telescopes out on the observation deck as possible.

“I get to see everyone in the community come here and just freak out about the stuff they see. I get to look at it all the time, but these people, for the first time, get to watch their minds be blown by astronomy,” Becker said.

Fields said that the most rewarding factor in the Telescope Night events is to reach those who have never used a telescope before.

“You get a chance to see the moon or Saturn's rings and know that this is not just some kind of fantasy – that this is a real thing. It is just one of the most beautiful things. The reality of it is something that cannot be denied,” Fields said.

Community member Michal Fontboa heard about the event from a friend who is currently taking astronomy classes at Pierce.

“I think it is great because, as people, we need to continue learning as much as possible. To have these free resources is something that not everyone has access to,” Fontboa said. tarthur.roundupnews@gmail.com

The astronomy department holds two Telescope Nights and two indoor planetarium shows per semester. The events are always free and open to the public.

“Expect us to always have things that you can see up there in the sky ‒ the moon, some planets, maybe a couple of galaxies or a cluster of stars – so you can always find something to look upward at and get a little bit of your imagination stoked,” Fields said.

Avakian-Akkus said that she invited Allerick and Garel to speak to and perform for her music appreciation class on Thursday, May 17 so that they could pique the students' interests in the study of music.

“They’ve worked, auditioned and been in the industry. I hope what they have to say about that inspires our students to actually contemplate taking a couple classes and, if not become performers themselves, just support the arts in some way in the future,” Avakian-Akkus said.

Allerick and Garel’s performance focused on the concept of inspiration. Both spoke of what inspired them to carry on with their careers at different points in their lives.

“Most artists spend a lot of time trying to make their careers work, and it’s easy to forget the things that are really important in life,” Allerick said. “You learn that the relationships that you have and the memories you make are the important things, but sometimes it takes moments like when my father passed to put that into perspective.”

Garel said that she and Allerick have found an inexhaustible source of inspiration in their roles as parents.

“When most people have children, they say their lives change dramatically,” Garel said. “Becoming a parent gave me a whole new source of inspiration; I began creating for my kids.”

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