Volume 128 Spring 2018 Roundup Issue 2

Not afraid to ask for help

Health Center assists students who need support

ANNA CLARK Opinions Editor @AnnaClarkReport

The number of Pierce College students being hospitalized due to suicidal ideations are higher than they have ever been.

But that shouldn’t be considered a bad thing.

With a total of nine students and 11 hospitalizations, Pierce administrators are speaking out on how the hospitalizations are bringing hope into the dark world of depression.

Clinical psychologist Niaz Khani, who supervises over mental health at the Pierce College Health Center, said that the act of hospitalizing a student is meant to help, not hinder.

“When the hospitalization comes into place, it's not meant to be a punitive process,” Khani said. “It's meant to get more attention for the person's suffering.”

In fall 2017, eight Pierce College students were hospitalized a total of 10 times due to thoughts of suicide.

On the first day of the spring 2018 semester, a student was hospitalized, increasing the number to nine students and 11 hospitalizations.

The topic of mental health has broadened across the Pierce campus, with a Suicide Awareness Week being held this past fall.

Khani said the awareness week could be a factor in the increased rate of hospitalizations, as it focused on teaching students about what signs to look for and how to recognize their feelings.

“I personally don't think that more people are feeling suicidal than before,” Khani said. “My hunch

is that they’re just knowing more about what to do and what kind of resources they could have possible.”

Health Center Director Beth Benne said that students who are thinking of suicide have come to the health center because of information that was handed out during the awareness week.

Cheating on tests can make an easy comeback

Students who may want to cheat and plagiarize their way through college may now have their chance.

During the Academic Senate meeting, Distance Education Coordinator Wendy Bass announced the end of a partnership with the antiplagiarism company VeriCite, that also owns Turninit.

Bass said Pierce College had a contract with Turnitin.com that cost the school about $20,000. But the company upped the fee to more than $33,000, so Pierce moved to VeriCite, which provided professors and students access to their services for free.

Yet, now that VeriCite was recently bought by Turnitin, the contract is now terminated. If students and teachers want access to VeriCite’s or Turnitin’s anti plagiarism services they will now have to “pay for it themselves,” Bass said.

Based on analytics from Bass, in 2015, out of 125 instructors using Turnitin for plagiarism checking, 81 percent of them submitted less than 100 papers. Bass reported they couldn’t justify spending that amount of the college’s budget on a plagiarism checker that not many instructors use, so they switched to the free VeriCite.

“We were handing out our name and our addresses, and that's a good thing, if that person had been suffering in silence,” Benne said.

According to Khani, feelings of depression and anxiety are a part of being human.

“We have a lot of people in this society who are feeling depressed

and anxious, and I think that is completely normal because things are always changing in our world,” Khani said. “There's always things happening, so of course that's going to bring up feelings. “

According to Vice President of Student Services Earic Dixon-Peters, everyone in the world has been

Neighbors you don't want to invite over

Rats and mice have been seen across campus in faculty offices

The Pierce community has new neighbors on campus that don't have backpacks, but travel in packs.

The North of Mall construction caused a rodent infestation, which has spread to the Library Learning Crossroads and new faculty offices in Alder since December 2017.

The rodents used to live in the walls on and would come out at night, creating their homes throughout campus.

Department Chair of the Library Learning Crossroads Paula Paggi said she has tried to contact Plant Facilities for assistance setting up rodent traps and disposing of traps with rat and mice carcasses.

“At the end of the 2018 winter session, Plant Facilities found rats and mice nesting behind the refrigerator in the library’s kitchen for warmth,” Paggi said. “Plant Facilities has had gardeners setting up rat and mouse traps all over the library.”

Instructor of Humanities and

History Richard McMillan said he has found rodent droppings on the computer mouse and keyboard he uses in his office and uses Clorox disinfecting wipes to clean his work space. McMillan said he is concerned with the rat and mice infestation on campus reaching his office in the 3100 building.

“Rats are in this faculty office

building because they are looking for warmth and food. Us teachers leave our food and wrappers in our trash cans, thus inviting these pests to rummage,” McMillan said.

McMillan said that professors may be at least partly responsible for the infestation coming to the faculty offices and that the design of the building facilitates rodents' entry.

“I brought my own rat traps and placed them all over my room-behind my door, behind the faculty couch. I’ve caught five rats so far,”

McMillan said. “One downside that makes matters worse is that, at the bottom of each faculty office door, at least three inches has been cut off to help with AC air flow. Those widened door bottoms have helped rats and mice limbo through our doors.”

Adjunct Instructor of English Chris Corning said he saw a rat walking on the staircase in front of the business offices on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

“The rat looked shriveled up, slow and old. It walked toward me. It didn’t seem scared of me at all,” Corning

said, “I contacted Plant Facilities immediately.”

Pierce instructors McMillan, Paggi and Corning have reached out to Plant Facilities to address the rodent problem although Head of Plant Facilities Paul Nieman could not be reached. McMillan said he could offer Pierce ideas on controlling the rodent population.

“Pierce needs to get more cats on campus,” McMillan said.

stressed before.

“Our whole purpose is to destigmatized the negativity of needing help,” Dixon-Peters said. “The spectrum of health is from the severity of suicide to ‘I just am stressed out.’”

[see Hospitalization on pg. 3]

Turnitin also charged nearly double the cost to community colleges across California than what CSU’s were required to pay. Turnitin was charging CSU’s 97 cents per full-time employee while Pierce was being charged $2.40. Bass said she thinks Turnitin was being unethical with its uneven charges.

[see Academic Senate on pg. 3]

Complete that degree

IGETC courses can be taken online

VANESSA ARREDONDO Managing Editor @v_anana

It might be a full-time job or childcare responsibilities, but whatever the reason some students can’t make it to campus. However, there are state and college initiatives that may help students gain certification remotely.

Gov. Jerry Brown made a proposal last month to have a fully online community college by fall 2019. The $120 million budget proposal is said to benefit 2.5 million adults between ages 25 and 34 who can’t physically attend college, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Eighty percent of Pierce students are enrolled part time. Of that percentage, two thirds work full time or part time, Vice President of Student Services Earic Dixon-Peters said. Because a large percentage also have extracurricular activities, he said, the college needs to offer different opportunities to help them succeed.

“One of the needs that we have is, what can we do to service students?

Do we have the support services online to help students be successful?

Is there online tutoring for an online class, are there financial aid services online, special services,” DixonPeters said. “In some areas we are wonderfully prepared. Can we go above and beyond that? Absolutely.”

Some instructors and

departments have expressed concerns about having general education classes, such as math and English, fully online, stating that a classroom setting is needed to teach the course materials.

“Specifically in the English Department, we have seen that hybrid classes can be more challenging for students because they cannot receive immediate feedback from their instructors or have that interpersonal communication with their peers,” said Chair of the English Department Donna Accardo. “We have found that students succeed better in a faceto-face environment.”

However, Accardo said there is a growing desire and need for students who can’t physically come on campus and take classes.

Distance Education Coordinator Wendy Bass said that Pierce College is behind other colleges when it comes to online education.

“We don’t just want to throw a class online to put a class online. We want to have a lot of student / instructor contact, we want the students to be engaged, we want there to be discussion, and robust learning,” Bass said.

Bass said IGETC is not officially online yet, but the goal is to be able provide them all digitally. Some departments don’t have classes online, and though they can’t force departments to offer those courses, Bass said they encourage them.

[For

Baseball culture pg. 6

Photo Illustration by Randi Love

This is a depiction of a student on the Health Center's Kognito suicide prevention awareness page on the Pierce College website. Kognito is an avatarbased training program designed to help people understand and notice the warning signs of a potential threat.

CAMERON KERN Reporter @ckernroundup

GLORIA BECERRA Reporter @gloriab75636814

Brian Caldera/ Roundup

trap that was triggered sits in the office of Instructor of Humanities and History Richard McMillian on Feb. 27, 2018 at Pierce college in Woddland Hills, Calif.

"Theywillprobablydo everythingforus.We'llbe couchpotatoes.They'llcook, they'llclean,they'llbatheus."

-Yesenia Alvarado, 18, Business Management

Illustration by Wyce Mirzad / Roundup

S

ince Pierce College underwent construction on the back road near the faculty offices, the campus has had a rat problem that is affecting the everyday operations of professors. Administration needs to outsource and contact a professional extermination service to handle the matter, as well as step up fixes in-house. The problem grew duringreconstruction. When the concrete was broken, a hive of rats was discovered underground. They dispersed themselves throughout the campus, but seemed to take to the Faculty Office bungalows located behind the College Services building and the Library Learning Crossroads. If Pierce doesn’t act quickly, the campus could become infested, which creates several problems, including potential health issues.

-Corrections-

Page 7: In the baseball preview for the game on Feb. 22, the game was at Pierce College not Oxnard College.

If you would like to have the newspaper delivered to your classroom please email newsroom. roundupnews@gmail. com

See any corrections we missed?

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Rats can carry many of at least 60 communicable diseases, including Hantavirus, leptospirosis, typhus and meningitis.

One solution is to make adjustments to the trash on campus, making it less accessible.

Professional exterminators are needed because the rat traps placed throughout the faculty offices mean rats are left in offices all day for professors to find in the morning. Rats even can chew their

Pro: Better stick to the books

REBECCA O'NEIL Reporter @RebeccaRoundup

as much information as possible in cramped handwriting on that one notecard that one high school teacher let you bring into your final exam?

Remember how one third of that information ended up being useless, another third you forgot how to use, and the remaining third actually helped?

Technology is that note card—at its worst, a rabbithole to distractions, and at its best, a crutch for a faulty memory.

Although technology can be a useful tool for learning outside the classroom, phones, tablets and laptops should remain as supplementary tools for the learning process.

Imagine the attention required when having a conversation with one person. Now, imagine trying to pay as much attention to that original person with several other people talking to you at the same time.

When teachers permit technological devices in their classroom, even if they include its use as part of their lesson, their students are now virtually connected to hundreds of other information inputs. The educator must then compete with these inputs for their student’s attention in his or her own classroom.

Tristan Harris, founder of nonprofit Time Well Spent, compared the allure—and insidiousness—of technology to that of a slot machine.

Harris’ comparison is in line with

studies that have found that technology impacts the pleasure system of the brain in the same way many addictive substances do. The former Google employee maintained that technology is designed to be addictive and allattention consuming, even in the way our varied screens are lit and colored.

A study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that students barred from access to the internet tested significantly better than those granted full access to the web during their exams. This study was conducted on over 1,000 students from West Point and researchers indicated that they believe the results differences would be exacerbated in a less rigorous academic setting.

The classes we’ve taken since kindergarten are ultimately and essentially intended to make us critical thinkers. Technology, which puts information and opinions generated by others at our fingertips, encourages its users to ask Alexa, Siri or Google, rather than putting in the work to find the answer or solution ourselves.

Technology is designed to make your life easier or make your life convenient, but now it requires less energy to learn. Since you don’t have to try to figure something out, you just look it up, and your brain is used to not learning.

In the end, the addictive nature of technology suggests that it detracts from our confidence, independence and attention span far more than it assists in an educational setting.

Photographers:

Alexandrina Alonso

George Apikyan

Deivid Beytayoub

Magdalena Briggs

Jacob Bumgardner

Navodya

Dharmasiriwardena

Stephen Nicholson

Erick Salgado

Damiesha Williams

Cartoonist: Beck Shields Wyce Mirzad

own leg or tail off to escape from the trap. With the old metal snap trap, rats are mutilated and leak blood in the offices which created a smell in some of the bungalows.

Someone that knows the patterns and behaviors of these creatures is needed, and soon, because rats have an strikingly high reproduction rate.

John Hopkins University pegs the average pregnancy term of rats at about 21-23 days, with about

10-12 pups being born in each

litter. A female rat can mate with as many as 500 partners during a six-hour period of “heat,” or sexual receptivity, which occurs about 15 times per year. That adds up to as many as 2,000 offspring in oneW year.

Con: Let's bring on the bots

CAMERON

It’s easy to say that technology distracts us, as it’s become so accustomed to our daily lives. Yet people often seem to forget why it distracts us, as it offers endless opportunity.

One evening, I was sitting in my room studying when I heard the sound of a guitar coming from my 9 year-old sister’s room. I walked in and she stopped playing. I asked her to play it again and she said, “get out of my room.” After numerous pleads she began to play Joan Jett’s 1981 hit,“I Love Rock N’ Roll.” Amazed, I asked her how she learned to play this and she said, “On the Internet, now get out of my room.” Which made me wonder, how often do normal people learn something new on the internet? A pewinternet.org study states, “87 percent of people feel that the internet and technology have improved their ability to learn new things.”

Teachers are scrambling to find a way to keep their students engaged when they all have iPhone’s buzzing in their pockets. The use of technology in classrooms are the solution to the problem.

The use of technology is for the betterment of students, as many of them will go on to become our leaders one day. There's no way that teacher-led lectures,

Advisers: Jill Connelly Jeff Favre Tracie Savage Advertising Manager: Matt Thacker

with their outdated textbooks can compete with advances in technology.

Reporter @ckernroundup newsroom.roundupnews@gmail.com

In place of taking a phone away, create an app or game they can study with. Instead of boring the minds of our future world with outdated material, teachers now have this unique opportunity to teach like never before - By not teaching at all, and being replaced by robots.

Some people believe the role of teachers will change into more of a coach and facilitator while the real education will take place between robot and child. There are numerous benefits to having machine teach man, as it will save time, money and energy.

Sir Anthony Seldon, ViceChancellor of the University of Buckingham, said in an article by the Telegraph.co.uk, "Everyone can have the very best teacher and it's completely personalised; the software you're working with will be with you throughout your education journey.”

Seldon said that this technology is already being shipped across the world and is expected to revolutionize classrooms in the next 10 years or so.

We’re living in a sci-fi fantasy world that not even the minds of Ridley Scott and George Orwell could have ever conceived. Some people think technology is a “distraction,” and it is - but is that a bad thing?

ckern.roundupnews@gmail.com

newspaper staff. Under appropriate state and federal court decisions, these materials are free from prior restraint by the virtue of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Accordingly, materials published herein, including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.

“They'llbedrivingforus,they alreadyare.Wearejustgoing tobethepassengers,itmay bealittlebitsaferthatway."

-DylanCalte,19,Kinesiology

“Delivery.Wehavedrones rightnowandAmazon.It's goingtobesoawesome whentheygetthatdone right.”

-Andrew Svolos, 19, Undecided

"Cleaners,carmanufacturing, factories. I think we are goingtohaverobotstoorder food,sonowaiters.Pretty muchworkthatcanbeeasily replaced."

-GorBarsegyan,18,Socialand Behavioral Sciences

Volume 128, Issue 1: Page 1: Danielle Padilla's twitter was not shown. It is @dcxpadilla.

The amount of people being diagnosed with depression and anxiety is increasing, Khani said.

“The education and the outreach is naming what's going on, so it's making help more accessible,” Khani said.

Since the introduction of Kognito, an avatar-based online training program, to Pierce in 2013, there have been a total of 2,165 students who have completed the education, Benne said.

The Health Center began presenting the program in classrooms during fall 2017.

Benne said that she is proud of the students who have completed the training because knowing the warning signs of someone who is suicidal is important.

“It's just like teaching somebody the Heimlich maneuver,” Benne said. “You may never use it, but how wonderful that you might know how to help somebody.”

Khani said that she doesn't want students to fear that if they have thought about suicide, they will immediately be hospitalized.

“That's not the case,” Khani said. “We have been trained and we know which questions to ask. We need to assess risk to themselves and to others. Some of the people we've hospitalized in the past have been hospitalized years ago. So it's not that all of a sudden this came up.”

According to Dixon-Peters, the issue of hospitalizations is not just happening in higher education, but nationally.

“We are dealing with a critical issue,” Dixon-Peters said. “How we deal with these types of incidents, we have what we call a behavioral intervention team.”

The team, which Dixon-Peters said is there to help students be successful, meets weekly and consists of faculty, administrators, both mental and physical health professionals, law enforcement and himself.

“As the committee, if that situation is at that critical level, either law enforcement or a certified health professional will say this person needs to get support now,” DixonPeters said.

Khani said that students should not fear expressing their feelings, because they are not alone.

“The pain is still there, but there are others who are also feeling the pain for different reasons,” Kahani said. “That's one thing that we do with groups. We try to have a focus group so people can relate and they don't have to feel like they're suffering.”

Contact the Pierce College Health Center for information on individual and group counseling or if you are having any thoughts of depression or suicide. The Health Center is located on the second floor of the Student Services Building. (818) 710-4270.

Going the distance for others

Professors do their part to help students with health concerns

KARAN KAPOOR Reporter @KaranRoundup

The Parkland, Florida school shooting had a rippling effect in the Pierce community with students, faculty and staff advocating for campus safety and mental health awareness.

One safety precaution is the Pierce College Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) referral form is a tool offered to faculty on campus to provide a pathway for students with mental health concerns to get the help, support and services they need, said Director of the Student Health Center Beth Benne.

“Let’s not just be the disciplinarian; rather, let us ask if the other person is okay,” Benne said.

The BIT form instructs faculty to notice when students show signs of mental health problems and if they may need professional help.

The administrators, faculty and mental health professionals that manage BIT at Pierce helped treat at least 5 students at risk of suicide in fall 2017.

“It was a big concern last semester. We hospitalized 10 times for suicidality last semester.”

Benne said. “It’s never happened in my 25 years here.”

School shootings have left an emotional mark on faculty, staff and students in many parts of the U.S. One goal that school districts have is to ensure the safety of the campus community.

Vice President of Student Services

Earic Dixon-Peters said one of the incidents that urged the formation of the BIT form at Pierce was the Virginia Tech shooting on April 16, 2007, that left 33 people dead and 23 people injured.

Dixon-Peters said there is a

[from academic senate on front]

“I’m really sad they got bought out, but I personally don't feel much empathy for them because the way they are charging community colleges nearly double than the CSU’s and universities,” Bass said. “It just isn’t fair.”

The committee now has to determine how they will continue to provide anti-plagiarism software across campus.

Margarita Pillado, second Vice President of Curriculum, spoke

workshop available at the beginning of each semester that goes in depth and explains ways for teachers and faculty to detect potential warning signs.

Benne said two to three BIT referral forms are turned in on a regular basis each week by faculty.

“Aside from the provided documentation and training for behavioral warning signs, I think we should rely on additional common sense,” Dixon-Peters said.

“If something is strange, or if there is something odd in some person’s writing, we ask that teachers report it, even if they think it is nothing.”

The range of severity in BIT form cases can range from someone stressing about an exam to

about this development. “It was so unannounced. We are now just trying to find the money or an alternative service,” Pillado said. “Teachers should urge there department chairs to support these programs.”

Plagarism.org conducted a survey of more than 63,700 U.S. undergraduate and 9,250 graduate students and found that 36 percent of undergraduates admit to “paraphrasing/copying few sentences from Internet sources without footnoting it.” 24 percent of graduate students

someone wishing to inflict pain upon one or more individuals. Sheriffs may become involved based on the severity of the case.

Sheriff's Deputy Lazaro Sanchez has been a deputy at Pierce College for about a year and a half, and he said deputies take action during times of urgency.

“We step in when somebody expresses concerns about suicidal thoughts, or when somebody tries to harm oneself or others due to a mental illness,” Sanchez said. “I just encourage anyone on campus to contact us at the Sheriff’s Office if they see anything they think is suspicious behavior.”

The safety of everyone on campus is one of the biggest goals the BIT team hopes to ful-

self report doing the same.

Jennifer Moses, the College Outcomes Coordinator, spoke about the trust between instructor and student.

“The last thing you want is a professor to just use their judgment. You need an objective third party who can technologically verify if the paper has been taken from another source,” Moses said. According to Business Insider, educators and students say young people are finding new and increasingly devious ways to cheat.

Moses said that she and her col-

Rundown Brahma Blotter

These incidents were reported between Feb. 15 - Feb. 21

Reported by: Jordan Nathan and Rocio Arenas

02/20

•Vandalism Restroom

An unknown person broke two paper towel dispensers and smeared feces on the wall of the men's restroom near Village room 8109.

02/21

•Spousal Battery

fill.

“If you see something, say something,” Benne said. “What if the person you’re worried about turns out to be another school shooter? Wouldn’t it make more sense to get somebody help early?”

Mental health professionals at the Student Health Center said they are willing to speak to anyone who needs help. The Student Health Center is located on the second floor of the Student Services Building. They are open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Fridays, they are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

kkapoor.roundupnews@gmail.com

leagues hope that the work students turn in will be original.

“A professor can literally say anybody cheated. I think VeriCite is a protection for students. All teachers want their students’ work to be original,” Moses said. The VeriCite contract is still in affect, however, Bass said its services will disappear by the end of the spring semester.

Other topics discussed at the meeting included the food services offered on campus.

ASO President Efren Lopez and

A husband and wife caused a disturbance in room 4800 at 11:20 a.m.

Pierce College Sheriff’s Station

General Information:

Emergency: (818) 710 - 4311

political science instructor Denise Robb want to ensure students are being properly nourished. Robb previously reached out to Pacific Dining, and they agreed to disburse money for students through financial aid.

“They’re going to give us $600 worth of coupons in $5 increments,” Robb said. “I want students to know they can qualify to get food vouchers.”

Photo Illustration by Randi Love

The photo illustration above depicts a professor filling out a Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) referral form. This form lets faculty members express their concerns about any students who show signs of threatening behavior..

Standing up by kneeling down

special experience to be a part of a discussion at Pierce because it is an extremely diverse campus and he embraces the chance to educate people from different backgrounds about Black history.

McKeever said “it takes a village” of people to raise awareness about racial oppression within our society.

McKeever said that events like “Taking a Knee” are extremely important for the education of people on campus.

In the middle of controversy, football and politics collided in a heated debate that has addressed racial tension with law enforcement.

Pierce’s Blatigenous club discussed Colin Kaepernick’s protest from a sociological and historical perspective by hosting "Taking A Knee” in the Great Hall Wednesday.

In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a stand against racism and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Kaepernick faced criticism from media and eventually the president called on NFL owners to fire athletes who dared to take a knee during the national anthem.

Assistant professor of history

Christopher Strickland and Chairman of History, Humanities, Philosophy and Sociology James McKeever were the two presenters that led the event’s discussion, followed by a Q&A with students in the audience.

“As [Kaepernick] is taking a knee, he is really standing up for people and using his silences as a voice in a sense. He is not wanting to talk so much about his own personal experience, but injustice that is happening throughout the nation and even the world at large. I think college is a great place for those types of discussions to be had,” Strickland said.

Strickland said that it was a

“A lot of students don’t know about the history of African Americans and that is something that make me feel proud to give a speech here. I want to get more individuals aware of what’s going on in our nation’s history,” Strickland said.

“

-Kenny Lemus Student

Blatigenous (Black, Latino and Indigenous) is a group on campus that McKeever started with students at Pierce.

The group’s focus is to work on and discuss issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia and a variety of topics.

“We chose those three groups because those are the groups that have the lowest graduation rate, lowest success rates and worst socioeconomic outcomes,” McKeever said.

“The students here deserve the same education that a student over at Cal State Northridge or UCLA would get. If you go to campuses like that, they are having academic discussions where they are challenging students. We need to have those types of things at pierce. Our students deserve that,” McKeever said.

Communications major Kenny Lemus attended Blatigenous “Taking a Knee” presentation and said he learned more about racism in professional sports.

“This activism goes back to 1919 and how athletes now are doing this not just for themselves but for their people,” Lemus said.

Lemus said college campuses should focus on raising awareness about protests like “Taking a Knee” because it could help the campus community become allies for marginalized groups that need more representation.

McKeever said the “Taking a Knee” protest, which spread from the NFL to other athletic organizations and eventually to local communities, is something that will be practiced from generation to generation.

“Once we’ve learned something, it is not up to us to keep it to ourselves- it is up to us to teach it to the next generation,” McKeever said.

This activism goes back to 1919 and how athletes now are doing this not just for themselves but for their people.”

From Pierce to Behind the Scenes

Former student making a name for herself in special effects makeup industry

Bloody cuts, deep wrinkles and ghoulish pallor; it’s just the sign of another day at work for this Pierce alumna.

Summer Sharaga, 23, is forging a career as a special effects makeup artist. While she said that she has always been intrigued by makeup, it wasn’t until her late high school years that she started to familiarize herself with the process and techniques.

“I would get home from school, and instead of doing my homework, I would watch YouTube makeup videos to teach myself,” Sharaga said.

Sharaga said that she became a fan of professional makeup artist Michelle Phan in 2010. She said that Phan’s videos inspired her to pursue her own career in makeup

“I remember watching Phan’s “Zombie Barbie” video, and I thought, ‘I can do that!’ It was that video that sparked the idea of being able to become a special effects makeup artist,” Sharaga said.

Sharaga enrolled at Pierce College for the spring semester of 2013 and took a beginning stage makeup class, which allowed her to learn the principles of theatrical makeup. Shortly afterward, she left Pierce and enrolled in the Cinema Makeup School of Hollywood.

At the school, Sharaga was a part of an 18-week master makeup program, where she learned about beauty makeup, special effects, character makeup and much more.

After finishing the program,

Sharaga applied for a workstudy program at Nocturnal Designz, an emerging special effects shop specializing in design and production of makeup effects and the fabrication of props for the film and fashion industry.

CEO and owner of Nocturnal Designz, KC Mussman, said that she was very impressed with the work Sharaga did in her time with the company.

“Summer was here last year and she was absolutely amazing,” Mussman said.

“She was very innovative and brought so many fresh ideas to our work process. She would always target a problem, and trouble solve it in a very unique way.”

Mussman mentioned how Sharaga once brought in a baking funnel to help dry departs of molds.

“It was impressive, and to this day, we still use this technique at the lab,” Mussman said.

During her time at Nocturnal Designz, Sharaga worked on the film “Daddy Issues,” of which Mussman was department head. Sharaga was also involved with the pilot of a show called “Sunset’s Best,” where she did the make-up for

the casting crew.

Logan Vamosi, one of the actors for Sunset’s Best, worked with Sharaga set. Like Mussman, Vamosi said he was impressed with the quality of work Sharaga produced.

“Summer did our makeup on set and everything looked so real. You can tell she took her job very seriously and she knew what she was doing,” Vamosi said.

Sharaga said that, on several occasions, people have tried to take advantage of her work.

“Someone once reached out to me via email and asked if I could do a full on prosthetic mask, be on set all day, and do some corrective makeup for their other actors. But they weren’t willing to pay for me or the items I needed to get to create what I was being asked to do,” Sharaga said.

Nonetheless, Sharaga said it is experiences like those that have allowed her to always be ready for anything.

While Sharaga said she has had her fair share of amazing opportunities as a special effects makeup artist, she wants to continue to further her education and obtain her Bachelors of Arts.

“I’ll be returning to Pierce this upcoming fall to finish the

rest of my general education courses, and then transfer to CSUN or UCLA,” Sharaga said. Sharaga also has a few words of encouragement for anyone who wants to be in the same field as her.

“Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone,” Sharaga said.

lllerenas.roundupnews@gmail.com

Former rapper has ‘No Limit’ to her potential

Sonya C returns to college to continue education and plans to open a cafe after graduating

an Art 501 class about a year ago. Giron, a physical therapy major, said that Miller has helped her succeed and is always there for her.

If you were a celebrity, would you ever consider returning to school?

Rapper, mother, student---she’s done it all and is coming back for more. After having a soiree with fame, she wants to put her talents towards an education and prospective business venture.

Sonya Miller, a hardcore rapper in 1993, decided to go back to school and get an education in Theatre Arts after years of musical success. Her stage name was Sonya C. Miller, born and raised in New Orleans, graduated high school and then moved to California. Miller established her career as a rapper when she got signed to a record label.

She began performing as an affiliate in the group TRU, which she said was in the same clique as NWA. The group’s music was banned from the radio due to profanity.

Miller was married to rapper Master P for 24 years, and together they opened a record label named No Limits Records.

They had seven kids and raised them in the entertainment business. Miller was a celebrity mom who decided to stay at home to care for her children. She said she felt trapped at home, but she wanted to always be there for her kids.

She decided that she wanted to go back to school and finish her education. Miller’s youngest son was in the third grade when she decided to go back to school.

During that time, she was going through a divorce, which she said made a big impact in her life.

Miller raised a celebrity son, Romeo Miller, and had a celebrity

husband. She was attending school, taking care of her kids, and dealing with a divorce.

“You’re never too old to go back to school,” Miller said. Age doesn’t matter you can still keep going

in school and get an education. Even if you have children, they don’t stop you. Her kids are also

“Sonya is a fantastic and phenomenal woman, a heart of gold who inspires me to be as sweet as she is,” Giron said.

Miller is studying theater arts and graduating this year with a Certificate of Achievement for Technical Theatre. She’s enrolled and completing her remaining classes.

Casey Cowan Gale, a theater instructor at Pierce College, recalls her first impression of Miller.

“She’s a wonderful student because she brings a different perspective to class, than the average Pierce student,” Gale said.

Miller is also taking a voice dictation class and broadcasting, as she tries to figure out the direction of her future.

Because Miller was a rapper, she enjoys being on the mic, so she said she takes classes related to the entertainment field.

“I love photography. I love theatre, and now I’m loving broadcast,” Miller said.

After Pierce, Miller wants to continue to do theater. She plans to open a New Orleans-style café restaurant. Her son found and purchased a spot for her to establish her business and sell authentic New Orleans foods such as, po’ boy sandwiches, beignets and gumbo. Her goal is to bring New Orleans to California and open a couple businesses in different communities.

“I have everything going for me and there’s nothing that can stop me but myself. I’m going to go all the way up to the top,” Miller said.

very supportive and proud of her decision to go back to school.

in

Cynthia Giron met Miller

Natalie Miranda / Roundup

Sonya Miller stands on the Mall in front of the bull at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Feb. 22, 2018. Miller is a former rapper and the mother of seven.

Brian Caldera / Roundup

Make up and special effects artist Summer Sharaga applies makeup to herself in her home art studio in Chatsworth, Calif. on Feb. 25, 2018.

“She would always target a problem and solve it in a very unique way.”

-KC Mussman CEO, Nocturnal Designz

LUPE LLERENAS Reporter @lupellerenas

CAMILLE LEHMANN Reporter @camilleslehmann

Here batter, batter

As baseball season hits its stride, the Brahmas look to improve on a 2017 season in which they narrowly missed the postseason.

One month into head coach Bill Picketts’ fifth season, the team sits at 4-10 following a rocky 0-4 start.

Infielder Brandon Lewis was set to go to CSUN following last season, but he returned to Pierce and currently leads the team in runs (13), home runs (3) and extra base hits (8).

With their top pitchers from last season moving on, sophomore Alexis Miranda has stepped up, throwing nearly 20 percent of the innings for the Brahmas, while freshman Barrett Vonderau has struck out 17 batters in 15.1 innings.

Photos by Shae Hammond Copy by Joshua Manes

Top: Kayleen Juarez eats french fries and a burger that she bought from the food truck in front on the South Gym, while listening to music on her phone at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Feb. 20, 2018.

Left: Ty Isbell practices fielding ground balls with a teammate on Joe Kelly Field at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Feb. 26, 2018.

Below: The pitchers of the baseball team watch as other players practice bunting drills and fielding exercises on Joe Kelly Field at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif. on Feb. 26, 2018.

Far Bottom: Assistant coach Eric Bloom speaks to Brendan Lavallee during practice on Joe Kelly Field at Pierce College in Woodland Hills Calif. on Feb. 26, 2018.

Dear Students, History is in the making and time is calling out for your attention. The sacred power of education, advancement and equality is the key to the success of our society. Endowed with empathy, devotion and envisioning endless possibilities towards progress, I believe that, you the students are the gateway in passing the solemn transfer of this great power to our next generations. Here in America, we are blessed with the Declaration of Independence that serves us the rights of equal opportunity. It is only upon us to preserve these rights, promoting peace and progress. I stand to remove the burdensome student loan and heavy debt conditions. I stand to create new better paying jobs and to remove economic hardships faced by the students for many years. It is in this noble cause that I stand to serve and protect your future, asking you for your heartiest help and participation. God bless you and God bless America.

I will fight your fight, for your rights and for your future. I will be your champion for humanity. I will set our youth on a winning path and strengthen women in the workforce. Women are pillars of our workforce and TIMESUP for sexual harassment.

Brazilian-born Brahma

Assists leader captains and mentors young players on the team

keep playing, so for this I needed to get out of Brazil because you can’t do that in Brazil, it’s too hard.”

Bernardo Roese was awarded “Male Student Athlete of the Year,” Western State MVP, and led the CCCAA State in assists per game last year. This season he has the responsibility of leading the men’s volleyball team.

Roese, a sophomore, is from Novo Hamburgo, Brazil where he graduated from high school and started his career as a professional volleyball player.

Roese said he started playing from a young age because his dad played professional volleyball in Brazil, in which he was part of the national team and also got the opportunity to play in Europe.

“I started playing in fourth grade. I think I was 10 or 11. It was always my dream to play volleyball,” Roese said. “My dad is who inspired me and I’d look at him and say ‘I want to be like you.’” Roese leads this season in assists with 214.

Roese said sports play a big role in his family, and before turning to volleyball he tried soccer, basketball, tennis and boxing.

“As a child I always liked playing sports, but I chose volleyball because I think I’m just better at volleyball,” Roese said.

Two years ago, Roese decided to leave Brazil. With help from an uncle, he sent his video to Pierce and joined the team. He said it was a tough choice to leave Brazil, but he did it to pursue his career in International Business and play the sport he loves.

“Here the sport has way more support from the government and the cities. We don’t have sports in colleges or universities; you either play or you study in Brazil,” Roese said. “I want to study, but I want to

Roese said he’s majoring in business because he plans on opening up his own business in Brazil, like his family, when he’s no longer playing. As for now, he said he is satisfied with playing for Pierce for his second year and being the captain of the team.

"Normally players like him transfer on, but he came back to win a championship with us so that is really special."

Head Coach Lance Walker said Roese is a good leader, the center of the team and the decision maker.

He’s happy with his performance and likes having him on the team.

“Normally players like him transfer on, but he came back to win a championship with us so that was very special,” Walker said.

“He’s turned down opportunities to come back to Pierce and that says a lot about him and how he feels about the team.”

Roese said he considers his teammates to be like family and believes that making great friends is more important than success.

“Of course winning is always good, but this is going to be over,” Roese said. “Volleyball passes, but what stays is the friendship and I think we’re all really good friends.”

Although Roese describes his temper as “explosive,” he has a good relationship with his players and tries to lead them the best he can.

“I can’t be that explosive with some of the players because if I

am, they might get scared,” Roese said. “They have a lot of respect for me and they expect me to lead them. I’m trying to be a leader for this young group of guys, and I try to do my best.”

Brett Norkus, freshman, said Roese always knows what to say to them. He talks to them about things they need to fix and will frequently give motivational speeches to the team. Roese can also be very “explosive.”

“You always just take it and go with it because he knows what’s best for the team,” Norkus said.

Norkus also said Roese is one of their strongest players, and the

Corsairs sail, Brahmas trail

team would be in trouble without him.

“In a few years, we will definitely need another Bernardo,” Norkus said.

Roese said he wants to return to Brazil after completing his education at Pierce and go on to play professional volleyball in Brazil for another 10 to 12 years, or until his body says it’s time to stop.

“I plan on playing however many years I have,” Roese said. “I’ll try to play because I love it. I love the sport.”

FELIPE GAMINO Sports Editor @fgamino13

After softball season was delayed for the first two weeks, the team was set to prepare for the game against Moorpark College on Thursday, however the season has been cancelled.

The team originally lost six players and they were in danger of not having a season. However, they did get players to field a team, but according to head coach Breanne Parr not all were cleared.

“Not all players were cleared on time,” Parr said. “Unfortunately, because of that, we don’t have a team and we are not going to have a season.”

The team last year finished with a 2-33 overall record, and their pitcher Madison Tupper died in May.

A new player to the softball team said she looked forward to the upcoming season, she said she wanted her name to remain anonymous due to potential repercussions.

She came out to join the team because they needed girls, but said didn’t have much of a reaction in terms of the season being cancelled.

“They just needed girls and

we needed to get everything done before the 22nd and some of us were not cleared. We didn’t have enough classes, so that was why softball season had to end.” she said.

The unnamed player said that there should have been more girls on the team even before the season was started.

“They [the coaches] should have been recruiting more girls before the season,” she said. “They wanted to have a team and a good season and they wanted committed girls so that should be up to them.”

She said that if the coaches knew they weren’t fully focused on the team, they needed to bring players in who would be interested.

“If they already knew that girls weren’t committed, they needed to start searching for girls who would be committed,” she said.

The unnamed player said that the coaches procrastinated in their recruitment and that they should have taken it more seriously.

Athletic Director Moriah van Norman said that not having a team this season is frustrating, but has faith that the team will rebound.

“It’s sad for the players and coaches, because they wanted to have a season, but I believe that the program will rebound from this,” van Norman said.

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Former Brahma Jackson Meticchechia led the Santa Monica College Corsairs to victory in straight sets over men’s volleyball (25-22, 2523, 25-15.)

Meticchechia is the head coach of the Corsairs. He said he played for Pierce just before Lance Walker came in to coach and was glad to be playing here again.

“It’s always nice to walk into your old gym and just compete. It brings back good memories,” Meticchechia said.

With the loss, the ranked no. 8 Brahmas drop their overall record to 3-4.

The Corsairs, ranked no. 5 in the state improve their record to 4-3.

Morgan Wadlow, outside hitter, said Meticchechia was able to read their moves easily since he had also played at Pierce.

The Brahmas led the Corsairs during part of the first set, but lost the lead and were beat by three points.

During the second set, the Brahmas struggled and were down by five points by their first timeout. They were unable to catch up to the Corsairs, losing the second set, 25-23.

Bernardo Roese, team captain, was given a yellow card during the second set and did not return to the game.

Wadlow said that the lack of positive energy that the team showed affected the overall outcome of the game, and their response to Roese’s behavior wasn’t the best.

“Individually as players on the team, when something like that happens, you have to take it upon yourself to come out of your shell and play better,” Wadlow said. “But it seems like we took it in a negative way. We got down on ourselves, and as a team, it showed.”

In the third, Brahmas fell behind quickly and were unable to gain control of the set, losing the game to the Corsairs, 3-0.

Wadlow said he knows Meticchechia and has played club volleyball with him, so it was an emotional game.

“If I’m playing against someone I know, I’m always coming with just that much more energy because I want to beat them,” Wadlow said. “Also, you're my friend, so I want to talk about it after the game-type of thing.”

Blake Omartian, left back, said he thought the team did well and is sure that they will improve, so he’s not worried about this loss.

“They didn’t do anything special. They didn’t catch us by surprise,” Omartian said. “I think we pretty much beat ourselves.”

Meticchechia said his team just caught the Brahmas on an off day, but expects them to become a stronger team.

“They have a lot of athleticism, a lot of good volleyball players, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the postseason,” Meticchechia said.

The Brahmas next game is on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. where they will face Long Beach City College for the second time this season.

Shae Hammond/Roundup

College's Blake Omartian dives for the ball in the straight set loss against the Santa Monica College Corsairs on Feb. 23, 2018 at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Natalie Miranda/Roundup

ROSA

ORTEGA Reporter @RosaGabOrtega

-Lance Walker Head Coach Men's volleyball lost in straight sets; drop to 3-4 in season