Editor-In-Chief
A dozen of maple trees from the Richland Tree Farm were planted on Richland Campus to celebrate a very special Arbor Day on April 29.Although this is an annual event, this year was even more meaningful since the new trees replaced the ones that were cut down last year due to the emerald ash borer beetle infestation that has been affecting North Texas for years.
“So, unfortunately, those trees came down,
but we are replanting. And we are replanting from our tree farm, which is on the west side of our campus,” Dr. Kathryn Eggleston, president of the Richland Campus, said.
According to Janet James, dean, executive assistant to the president, the new 12-year-old trees are replacing some of the 18 trees that were cut down.
“We can only put 12 back because those trees were so mature that they had really deep root systems. So, in order to get all the roots out, it would have torn up the parking lot in the curb and the sidewalk, parts of the parking lot. And they are planting 12, so they don’t have to
do that kind of deep excavation,” James said.
Mike Sills, Texas A&M Forest Service, who was one of the speakers at the event, said that the replacement trees are different species that cannot be affected by this emerald ash borer pest.
The ceremony started with the speakers and then, all the attendees including faculty, community members, and the Green Club from Richland Campus.
Green Club member L.J. Brown who was there to help to plant the trees in Parking Lot W.He heard about the event in his environmental class. Although Brown is not pursuing
The ongoing battle on the issue of abortion has ramped up in recent months. The abortion pill, mifepristone, has come under intense controversy from both sides of the aisle. Otherwise known as “The Pill,” the drug has been the topic of much scrutiny due to its adverse side effects and an allegation that the Food and Drug Administration rushed its approval amidst lobbying from pharmaceuticals.
On April 7, District Court Judge Matthew J.Kacsmaryk, who hears cases in Amarillo at the North Texas U.S. District Court, ruled to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone. He argued the approval was rushed, which led to an unsafe drug being offered in the market. At the same time, a federal judge in the Washington District Court ruled that there would be no changes that would restrict the availability and access to the drug.
On April 12, the Department of Justice appealed Kacsmaryk’s ruling in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision left in place part of Kacsmaryk’s ruling, which blocked steps the FDA had taken to facilitate access to mifepristone. These included a requirement for the pill to be administered in person by a certified prescriber, that it could only be taken up to seven weeks of pregnancy, and that all adverse effects were required to be reported.
Following the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, the DOJ filed an emergency application on April 21 requesting an intervention on behalf of the Supreme Court to preserve the status quo. The high court provided a stay, which is an action taken by a court to halt a legal proceeding (according to www.lawschool.cornell.edu). This stay paused the remainder of Kacsmaryk’s ruling and restored the circumstances that existed regarding the accessibility of mifepristone in the market until the case is heard again.
In his dissenting opinion to grant the stay, Justice Samuel Alito noted, “At present, the ap-
plicants are not entitled to a stay because they have not shown that they are likely to suffer irreparable harm.” He also claims the FDA has not acted equitably because they have “engaged in what has become the practice of leveraging district court injunctions as a basis for implementing desired policy while avoiding both necessary agency procedures and judicial review.” However, he also stated, “That disposition would not express any view on the merits of the question whether the FDA acted lawfully in any of its actions regarding mifepristone.”
The oral arguments in the Fifth Circuit will be heard on May 17. The decision could be challenged again by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the plaintiff - Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. If they decide to proceed with a challenge, another stay could be granted until this case is either taken up by the Supreme Court or they decline to hear it.
According to studies by NBC News and the Guttmacher Institute, over half of abortions are
a degree on environmental science, he said that he enjoys contributing to the nature and community.
Richland Campus has a partnership with the Texas Trees Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that donated originally the trees to the Richland Tree Farm. “The trees are made possible through our partnership agreement with the Texas Tree Foundation who maintains and manages a tree farm on our campus”, James said.
“They are planting trees in public places like K-12 schools, all across of the community to green our community,” Eggleston said, adding, “To help to create a more healthy community.”
“The Pill” continues to be a contentious issue.
done with the pill. Meaning, the resulting ruling of this case will be momentous. Conservative lawmakers are vying for there to be measures to administer the pill, citing a lack of discernment for mailing the pill without discretion or medical supervision. Liberal lawmakers, on the other hand, strive to maintain access as it is.
The Richland Drama Department received multiple national awards this semester for their production of “Self-Injurious Behavior,” which they performed at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Abilene on Feb. 27. Preparing since October, the student cast and the director, Professor Andy Long put on a much-rehearsed production of the play for various universities and colleges. They were competing against other universities and community colleges in Region 6, which included New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. “It was very intense. Most of the schools we go up against are universities and schools with graduate programs. And we are a community college with freshmen and sophomores. Some productions are filled with second or third-year MFA students working on their advanced degrees, while our production was filled with less experienced students. It’s pretty impressive that we advanced as far as we did because that is not a normal occurrence,” Long said.
The festival took place from Feb. 27 to March 3 and was held at the Abilene Convention Center. The students participated and competed in individual events and were able to interact with companies that could employ them in the future.
Long considered the performance the best that the drama department gave, due to the audience. He said when they perform at Richland it is different because students, parents and other members of the community are a friendly audience.
“There were 600 students watching our work and they were all theater students that were very supportive and very into what they were seeing. It’s kind of like if you have a computer science thing that you create, and you take it to a competition where it’s nothing but
computer science people. There’s a greater appreciation for it,” he said.
Richland’s Drama Department is the recipient of three national awards following their production of “Self-Injurious Behavior.” . , The Citizen Artist Award is a recognition of programs in higher education using theatrical production to promote long-term societal impact through an artistic lens, and given to 20 productions in the United States.
The Distinguished Achievement in the Facilitation of a Brave Rehearsal Space award was given to nine productions in the United States to celebrate teaching artists who empower safety and general well-being in the rehearsal room community.
Finally, Distinguished Achievement in Stage Management was awarded to freshman
Ava Stipe, who is not only one of 17 students in the United States to receive this award for her role as the production stage manager but also secured full-time summer employment with Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She was one of two students offered this highly coveted position.
While the awards are a wonderful result, the success they feel does not come from the plagues they earned. Long considers the result of their hard work and dedication a thing to feel proud of, having been working for the past 12 years to make sure Richland was able to experience and perform at the Kennedy Center Festival. He considers this a company effort and credits the students for all the focus and effort they put into the production.
“We don’t set out to win any awards. The
goal, always, when we work on a production, is to just be excellent. And to learn as much as possible, and try as much as possible, improve every single time, to help students grow in whatever they are interested in doing. And if you focus on those things, being disciplined, working toward being excellent, sometimes awards happen. You have no control over what other people think of your work. You know, people read your articles, for example, and you have no idea if they like the article, or if they don’t like the article, that’s out of your control. All you can control is what you put into it. And so, we always set out to be as excellent as possible. We were very fortunate this time, and then other people thought we were as well. That’s why we won some accolades and some awards.
“Always we strive to do better every time on the next project than we did on the previous project. I think that’s always the goal, you always want to get better and grow. I think it’s pretty cool that this institution of 18 to 20-year-olds proved that they belong, competing against large universities. And that one of the things that people sometimes forget, because we are a community college, is that we’re higher education also. And just because you go to a community college doesn’t mean your education is any less. You always put forth your absolute best effort. And sometimes it works out and it pays off,” said Long.
Currently, the drama department has two productions planned for this semester. From April 26 through 29, they were scheduled at press time to perform a comedy titled “All in the Timing,” directed by Professor Gregory Lush, and a 12-minute film written by the students to be screened for the public during one of the nights of the play.
The students and director have been invited to present the play to the Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting on May 2. Next fall, the drama department will enter the Kennedy Center Festival again, with Lush as the director.
Richland is growing. Next semester, the school plans to open Red River Hall, a brandnew building stocked full with fresh classrooms.
“We just want to grow all of our programs and grow all of our disciplines,” said Janet James, executive assistant to President Kathryn Eggleston.
The Red River building has a total cost of $36,537,817.
“What we do at Richland is we do our best to infuse into the college classes high school students, so that they have the college experience,” James said.
Red River’s classrooms won’t be limited to any particular subject. Those classroom will be
for general purpose, so any discipline can be there. According to James, students studying any discipline could wind up having a class in the building.
“We have a number of modular buildings on campus,” James says. “We don’t intend to get rid of them, but some of them are aging. And the fact that we’re putting so many classrooms in that building is to help project for the future.”
James suggests that while Red River can expand the space for classrooms for the time being, it could become the successor to older buildings on campus.
“If those modular buildings would have to go away because they have a shelf life,” she says. “We would have sufficient classrooms without them.”
Red River Hall is scheduled to be open to students in November.
#1
‘Oppenheimer’ (Opens July 21)
Christopher Nolan helms this biopic about the creation of the nuclear bomb. Starring Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who invented it.
#2 #3
‘Ghosted’ (Streaming)
This all-new comedy features the two stars who supported in Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out,” a great tale about a murder most foul. I’m talking about Chris Evans and the Oscar-nominated Ana De Armas. This new tale streaming exclusively on Apple Plus has been receiving mixed reviews, but it is just a stupid silly comedy.
‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ (June 9)
This one is a prequel following the events that occurred before past adventures with Shia LaBeouf and Mark Wahlberg. Ridiculous dumb fun for the kids. It is set in the early to mid-1980s. From director Steven Caple Jr., who helmed “Creed II”.
#4
‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ (May 5)
The latest installment of director James Gunn’s action-comedy series set within the Marvel Universe will feature the last appearance of Dave Bautista’s Christmas-colored alien Drax.
#5
‘Asteroid City’ (June 23)
Filmmaker Wes Anderson is a director I am always excited about. This summer, his signature style hits the screens yet again with a story about a remote town hosting a space cadet convention. Boasting an all-star cast including Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie and Edward Norton.
#6
‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One’ (July 12)
This action-thriller is the seventh entry into the lucrative series that has kept star Tom Cruise at the top of the A list. Director Christopher McQuarrie returns as well, with Part Two slated to release in Summer 2024.
#7
‘The Little Mermaid’ (May 26)
This live action update of the 1989 Disney classic stars relative unknown Halle Bailey as Ariel. Also featuring Melissa McCarthy as the villain Ursula, who wants to steal Ariel’s voice for her own self-serving interests.
#8
‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ (June 30)
This adventure must overcome the absence of franchise helmer Steven Spielberg, instead featuring James Mangold as director. With Harrison Ford, of course, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and John Rhys Davies.
‘Fast X’ (May 19)
10 movies in, and this Vin dDiesel-powered soap opera remains a blockbuster sensation. This one features Jason Momoa as the villain who seeks to destroy Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel’s) entire family.
#9 #10
‘The Flash’ (June 16)
With a $200-million production and the pressure of fitting into the DC universe, this superhero romp stars the controversial Ezra Miller as the titular Flash. The film also combines a number of cameos from DC’s past, including Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton reprising their roles as Batman.
“Polite Society” -- This Indian comedy finds a girl dreaming big of becoming a stuntwoman while her older sister wants to get married to a man with ulterior motives. Very enjoyable tale is good family fun.
“Renfield” -- Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage hams it up as Count Dracula in this actioncomedy about his assistant Renfield, played by Nicholas Hoult. Renfield puts up with the count’s hijinks and the ridiculous day-to-day life as a vampire.
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”
-- This one greatly improves over the past entries that were too serious for their own good. Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez and Hugh Grant star in this engaging tale that is just sheer fun splashed with a lot of whimsy.
“Tulsa King” -- Sylvester
Stallone stars as a criminal who is released from jail only to find his new assignment is running things in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This one is a one season limited series featured exclusively on Paramount +.
“Scream VI” -- Ghostface is still around, tormenting various members of the film community and scaring the pants off people in the Big Apple. With Courtney Cox and Jenna Ortega, fresh from her role in “Wednesday.”
-Ricky MillerThe whole “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” phenomenon edges on two of the three codirectors, Aaron Horvath and Michel Jelenic, who were behind “Teen Titans Go! to the Movies” in 2018. I think that’s why Universal Pictures gave them the green light for this new project.
The voices for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” include well-known performers Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Jack Black and Anya Taylor-Joy. They compliment a fun and enjoyable screen adaptation that despite all the success kind of falls flat.
This new version improves nicely on the 1993 live-action version of “Super Mario Bros.” starring John Leguizamo as Luigi Mario, the late Bob Hoskins as Mario Mario and the late Dennis Hopper as King Koopa. That one just kind of came and went without much fanfare. The 1990s were a time when filmmakers didn’t really know how to market video game movies like “Super Mario Bros.,” “Double Dragon” and “Street Fighter” with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
This rainbow-colored animated version is a vast improvement on those duds. It helps that everyone brings their A-game. I know that Day, who plays Luigi, had a lot of fun. Black, who can be over-the-top at times, is adequate
and provides a decent service as Bowser, the villain. In fact, he turns out to be more of a colleague to Luigi and Mario in this tale.
This cinematic romp is aimed at kids 10 and up. It’s one of those rare occurrences like lightning in a bottle. It hits theaters at a time when there’s not much competition for that age group of moviegoers. The overwhelming success of nearing a billion bucks at the box office is a result of these PG-rated “Mario Bros.” lighting up the big screen at exactly the right time.
The lightning missed my bottle, though. It wasn’t DOA, it was D-U-D, a flat-out dud. I know I’m not in the target audience. Of course, the movie studios don’t care much about what I think because I don’t fall in into their specific demographic.
This “Super Mario Bros.” romp is a fun family movie that’s full-throttle all the time. It’s enjoyable visually because vibrant colors splash across the screen. The story is lagging way behind the colorful palate, however. I never lost interest because of all the kinetic energy and the screen breakneck pacing of the action.
It’s not a bad movie per se, but I am not part of the target audience. I was unable to summon up my inner-Mario ability.
There is no doubt it’s a smash hit for the kids. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just doesn’t rate accolades from me. I disliked the movie, but I didn’t hate it.
Grade: C-
Dallas College Richland Campus can claim the title of having made the best video game in Texas.
It was quite the whirlwind of events to say the least. When Christopher Curra sent an email to us students searching for volunteers for a SkillsUSA competition in Houston, it was the first time anyone had heard of the event or association. No one had any idea of what to expect, advisers included.
Most of the students that joined viewed it as perhaps a fun way to learn some skills on the side, and us few older members hadn’t learned how to say no yet. I personally viewed it as a head start for one of the reasons I had started college, which was to finally be able to experience what game design was like in a team environment.
What we found behind the curtain was that we had one month to create a game from scratch. This included a game design document, video trailers, logos, assets. Everything. Game jams often happen over much shorter time periods, but to college students that only have a few months’ experience in game development and are taking six classes at the same time, it’s a very difficult thing to ask.
I had almost a decade’s worth of experience in creating video game assets already, but I had never worked in tandem with others, and
especially not in a leadership position. Making the game alone would prove nothing, and the criteria for success would be the participation and growth of all that were involved.
The first half of the month was spent figuring out who each of us were through the pinhole lens of online interaction and figuring out what we actually wanted to do.
We had to use assets that already existed to meet such a short deadline, and I offered a robot character that I was planning to use for
my own first game. Once we picked that as our spearhead, the playing field expanded to the goalposts I had set for the character awhile back. The challenge became personal at that point, and success had become a vendetta. We had a vision, but it could only be uncovered through process.
It took a great deal of effort on all our parts to bring that vision to fruition. It was a rough few weeks of back and forth work – planning, blueprinting, worldbuilding, animation, effects and design. We learned all aspects of game development as we went, as well as contended with our jobs and coursework at the same time.
Everyone in the team helped in more ways than one. Kate Duke coordinated for us to have team meetings in person at the Thunderduck Hall. Shayna Albert, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, still made efforts to be there for the meetings and offer everything they could do to help. Angel Ruiz, Daniela Maldonando, and Nathan Hawkins did their best between classes and Esports tournaments to learn and contribute what they could.
It was my responsibility to make sure we would walk that stage with gold medals. Five days of work without sleep led to me almost being left behind on the bus for Houston, but the team went above and beyond to make sure I’d get there and claim the gold with them.
The experience is something we won’t soon forget, due in no small part to the pain it required, but also through the skills we picked up, the comradery we gained, and the incredible amount of lessons we earned.
I believe in learning through doing, and when given an opportunity to do something on the path towards your ultimate goal, you give yourself to that opportunity unreservedly. SkillsUSA was a perfect platform for that, and we stand both united as friends and stronger from it.
We will be flying on to Atlanta for nationals in June. That will give us some time to make the game even better, and hopefully not have to rely on any more last second heroics.
Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor Entertainment Editor Layout Editor
Blanca Reyes Simon Pruitt Ricky Miller Jesse Serrano
ON THE COVER
Staff photo Blanca Reyes
Maple trees are planted to celebrate Arbor Day on April 29.
BACK COVER
Staff Illustration: Rachel Foong
COVER AND FONTS
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Arianna Villarreal
Jason Ryer
Jerry Weiss
Juan Rivera
Kaden R. Martin
Piers Donahue
Raine Caldwell
Ryan Bingham Duff
Raymond Thomas Pronk
Saint Garcia
Tareakubore Ejovwo-Ottoh Tomy Arguelles
STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERS
Erica Edwards
Jubenal Aguilar Tim Jones Larry Ratliff
ISSUE DATES
August 2023
STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS
1st Place Comic Strip - TCCJA, 2022
1st Place Advertising - TCCJA, 2022
2021 Pinnacle Award for Two-Year Radio Station of the Year from College Media Association (CMA)
1st Place Cover Design - TIPA, 2021
1st Place Critical Review - TIPA, 2021
Student Organization Community Service Award, 2019
Student Organization of the Year, 2019
CMA Pinnacle Two-Year TV Station Award, 2018
CMA Two-Year Radio Station Award, 2018
ACP Newspaper Pacemaker Winner Award, 2016
ACP Best of Show Award, 2015
ACP Photo Excellence Award, 2015
CMA Newspaper of the Year Finalist, 2014
1st Place – TCCJA Overall General Excellence, 2014 2nd Place – Pinnacle College Media Award, 2014 Over 270 Texas college journalism awards since 2000
CONTACT INFORMATION
El Paso Hall, Room E020, 12800 Abrams Rd., Dallas 75243 Newsroom: 972-238-6079; richlandchronicle@gmail.com
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Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. in E020
Letter Policy
Letters to the editor may be edited for space. They will be edited for spelling, grammar and malicious or libelous statements. Letters must be the work of the writer and must be signed. For identification and verification purposes, letters also must include the writer’s classification (grade level), full name, address and telephone number, although address and telephone number will not be published.
Editorial Policy
The Chronicle is the official student-produced newspaper of Richland College. Editorials, cartoons, columns and letters are the opinions of individual students and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other individual student writers, editors, advisers or the college administration.
© Richland Chronicle 2023
Richland player is on the national radar
Edward Trahan, Richland Campus’ basketball team forward, was selected to play in the National Junior College Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game May 20 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas due to his outstanding performance. According to rlcsports.com, Trahan was selected as the NJCAA Division III National Player of the Week Feb.16.
Trahan is a sophomore, who is pursuing a kinesiology degree. He is graduating this semester with an associate on science. Although Trahan has not decided where he is going to continue his education, he hopes to have a high-level performance at the all-start game to be noticed by one of the fouryear university coaches.
“I haven’t heard from many coaches yet, but hopefully I can play well enough in this all-start game because they’re gonna be a lot of coaches,” Trahan said.
Trahan has been playing basketball since he was a small child. he said Richland basketball team head coach John Havens has been involved in his growing like a basketball player since the beginning.
“He always told me that I was a good player, and
“He’d always tell me to go harder. He has always pushed me. … He is like a motivator.”
Trahan said he will always remember coach Havens and Richland because they made a big difference in his life in and out of the court.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.
May 2 i
9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Free STI Testing for Students
East Circle Parking Lot
May 3
Noon - 12:30 p.m.
Staff photo Saint Garcia
Trahan said he would like to pursue a career as a professional basketball player, but knows that it is not an easy path. Trahan is not the first basketball player in his family; however, he is the first one to make it to this level.
The difficulty of becoming a sport star has made Trahan considers getting into a culinary school to become a chef. He said that he enjoys cooking so much that he cooks for his roommate.
Trahan will fly to Las Vegas on May 19 for the all-star game.
Tryouts underway for T-Duck men’s soccer team
Tomy
Arguelles
“This semester the team plays many friendly games against universities in order to strengthen their competitive level, besides trying to find an option for a scholarship,”head men’s soccer coach Raul Herrera said.
Eleven players have already signed and accepted offers to their new universities. They are Gabriel Matute, Lorenzo Rovei, Diby Ulrich, Carlos Arconada, Saimon Gjeci, Jaime Salinas, Jafeth Jimenez, Rodrigo Artiga, Yahir Gallardo, Felipe García (He was named the MVP last final) and Robert Zanfir. Meanwhile, two more players have not decided which offers to accept. They are Juan Camilo Vargas and Samuele Muroni.
Muroni is a student of business administration. He was born in Sardinia, Italy. He speaks three languages: Italian, English and Spanish. “The experience was amazing because I was not expecting to play in my first year due to the high level that this college has, but I could play and win the championship,” Muroni said.
The first final was against Herkimer College from New York in 2022, and the second one was vs. Genesee in 2023. Both games were held in New York. One of the choices that the left-back player has for transference is the Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls.
On the other hand, Vargas is deciding whether to choose Tulsa University, Syracuse University or Memphis University to continue his studies in sports medicine. The right-back
Staff photo Tomy Arguelles Ivan villatorro and Luca Marfisi practice for the tryouts for next season’s team.
was born in Colombia but raised in Madrid, Spain. He won three championships with the -Ducks. In 2021 against Camden College (New Jersey), in 2022 vs. Herkimer (New York) and in 2023 vs. Genesee (New York).“Coming from Europe you know the level is higher, but Richland has a great level, too, and this college has many international players and
is very interesting because each one contributes with their culture in favor of the team.
I think that is one of the keys to being the best team in the United States,” Vargas said, adding, “I think all the players from Richland College are well-intentioned people. All of us struggled to achieve our goals, and we did it,” said Vargas.
i Walk N’ Talk
Lakeside Resource Center E082
i i
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Financial Aid Session
Tunderduck Hall T225
May 4
11 a.m. - noon
Intramural - Open Gym
Guadalupe Hall
May 11
Fannin Hall F108
11:00 a.m. - noon
Intramural - Open Gym
Guadalupe Hall
—Edward Trahan
I showed sparks of it. … He’d always tell me to go harder. He has always pushed me. … He is like a motivator,” Trahan said.Ed Trahan chosen for all-star game in Las Vegas.
