City Times — Oct. 12, 2010

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Lady Knights win own tourney PAGE 8 What’s behind recent tragedies PAGE 7 Covering the San Diego City College community since 1945

College awarded green donation

By Ricky Soltero City Times San Diego City College received a $25,000 donation from the Sempra Energy Foundation on Sept. 16 scholarships for students enrolled in green job related courses.

“The grants will help educate community college students in environmental sustainability and prepare them for careers in green job fields.”

Jessie J. Knight, Jr., executive vice president of external affairs for San Diego Gas & Electric, said in an announcement for the Foundation News.

City College was one of ten community colleges in California to be awarded this grant.

“The donation from the Sempra Energy Foundation to the City College Foundation was a significant contribution to our fundraising efforts toward the Bernard Osher Scholarship Endowment,” said City College President Terrence Burgess.

The Scholarship Endowment program is administered by the Foundation for California Community Colleges in Sacramento in partnership with the Osher Foundation.

“The effect is to establish a fund of $1,409,730 that is expected to generate between 60-80 scholarships for needy City College students each year,” said Burgess.

With approximately three million students enrolled in California community colleges, the grants provide vital aid to students during the country’s economic struggles.

Volume 65, Number 4

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October 12, 2010

Death of education

By Shane Finneran City Times Several hundred City College students, faculty and staff felt strongly enough about cuts to education to host two separate budget cuts protests on Oct. 7, which flyers across campus called “a national day of action.”

The event in Gorton Quad was organized by Education for All (EFA) a group whose Web site says is “working to mobilize a mass community response to the economic crisis,” while members of Bringing Education and Activism Together (BEAT) held their rally in the Curran Plaza.

BEAT’s event drew about 100 people to the west end of the plaza, where organizers had set up a coffin and several tombstones with cemetery-style slogans such as “Here lies DSPS” and “RIP public education.”

“We wanted it to be a very strong visual,” explained Jessica Magpie, a BEAT member who helped set up the display. She said the graves signified programs and services which have been lost to “extreme budget cuts.”

“I’m just here to be solemn,”

J.D. Ruiz, a student who was one of more than a dozen people wearing black clothing, said.

Professor Larissa Dorman asked attendees to share personal testimonies of how cuts to education have impacted their lives. A student in a wheelchair said he now received less assistance from Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS).

Others mentioned higher fees, limited availability of classes and new hurdles in the transfer process.

Just as BEAT’s event finished, EFA got started with their program. In speeches, live music,

and spoken word performances, students shared their feelings about cuts to educational funding.

Yasmin Rahman told the crowd that she’s been a student at City College for four years, “Only because (she hasn’t) been able to transfer.”

She said her

plan is to earn a degree in digital music production at San Diego State University.

“They’re not taking music majors,” Rahman said.

Other students questioned why politicians are reluctant to insist on See Education, page 2

Steve Crow, computer information systems student at Coleman College, left, and City College American sign language student Delia Martinez, right, silently protest at the Oct. 7 budget cuts to education rally at Gorton Quad.

Carlos Maia, City Times

Student Services Council proposes new guidelines

By Ricky Soltero City Times Add codes could soon have expiration dates and the practice of Faculty Initiated Prerequisite Override could be eliminated.

These are just a couple of ideas being tossed around that could come into fruition by next semester.

The Student Services Council (SSC) has proposed the addition of expiration dates to add codes, claiming students wait until the last minute to add courses.

“The idea for issuing add codes that expire before the add/drop deadline is an effort to get students to enroll in classes earlier and eliminate the practice of course “shopping,” said City College Counselor and Associate Professor Edwin Hiel.

The proposal is to have add codes that have a 24, 48 or 72 hour expiration date. If the student does not enroll within the time allotted that student cannot enroll in the course anymore.

“In my opinion, I think it’s good because there should

always be a deadline for everything. But I think they should extend the due date for the add classes until the end of the month,” said City College student Alberto Sanchez.

Another City College student, Isys Avila, had a differing opinion.

“Personally I don’t think they should have expiration dates. Sometimes students are preoccupied with work and other activities and just might forget to add the class.

It has happened to me.”

Although the expiration

dates are just an idea floating around at the moment, the Counseling Department and the College Academic Senate will discuss the proposals before the SSC and decide whether this could be implemented or not.

Another idea being pitched is the elimination of Faculty Initiated Prerequisite Override.

At the moment there are three ways for students to enroll into a course without the proper prerequisites; by petition, counselor and the third, which would be the

one that could be eliminated, is by an instructor.

Currently, instructors are able to enroll students in their courses even if the student has not met the proper class prerequisites, as long as the instructor deems the student capable of performing at the academic level or standard.

“This long standing practice has recognized that the instructor of a class is the area expert and this option gave faculty the ability to enroll a student in their own class if they felt that the stu-

dent was sufficiently prepared to do well in the class even though the prerequisites have not been met on paper.” Hiel said.

If instructors were to lose the prerequisite override, students can still challenge the prerequisite by providing evidence that they have the same set skills necessary to perform well in the course.

“We want students to go through an objective process,” said Vice President of Student Services Peter White. “But at this point they’re only ideas ...”

www.sdcitytimes.com | October 12, 2010

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take note Crack City By Michele Suthers

Education Continued from Page 1 more funding for education.

“Tax the rich -- for a start,” said a hand-lettered sign hung in a cafeteria window.

Norissa Gastelum said she owes $30,000 she borrowed to attend UC San Diego, where she earned a bachelors in cultural anthropology.

“There is a crisis of priorities, not a budget crisis,” said Gastelum, who is currently attending City College and -- like several

speakers of the conference -- believes higher education in the United States should be free to students, as in many other developed countries.

Wayne Scherer, a member of EFA, said the rally in Gorton Quad was planned in coordination with similar events at SDSU and the UCSD and endorsed by activist groups such as Food Not Bombs and the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice.

“The main thing is raising public consciousness (and) connecting people with the reality of the

issues,” Scherer said. “That happens through actions like this.”

“Have to rebel when this s*** is unfair / Keep on fighting because we almost there,” rapped Karim Assaf, a student who performs as Karim.

Pearl Ayom, a former City College student who now attends Southwestern, sang a pair of songs, including one with the seemingly cautionary refrain, “Here today / gone tomorrow.”

At the BEAT’s rally, Maurice Martin said he relies on several programs that have been scaled back.

Martin, a veteran student with a disability, said his weekly access to tutors has been reduced from four hours to 30 minutes and that DSPS can no longer provide him with an audio recorder to use in class.

In addition, Martin said his access to computers has been reduced by cuts to the Learning Resource Center’s hours of operation.

“I’m watching those hours dwindle,” he said.

Professor Jim Miller urged people to vote on Nov. 2. He said he believes Propositions 24 and 25 could soften or prevent future funding cuts and that Jerry Brown would be more supportive of education than Brown’s opponent in the race for California Governor.

“If we elect Meg Whitman,” Miller said, “the cuts are going to come hard and fast.”

October 12, 2010 | www.sdcitytimes.com

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news

Conference criticizes AZ law

By Shane Finneran City Times Responding to Arizona’s passage of House Bill 2281, students and educators celebrated ethnic studies during a conference at Mesa College Oct. 1 and 2.

According to critics, the bill aims to eliminate programs like the Mexican-American studies offered at Tucson High School.

Keynote speaker Auggie Romero, Student Equity Director for the Tucson Unified School District, noted that at a time when less than half of students are finishing high school, the students in the Mexican-American studies program have shown a 97 percent graduation rate.

These students — who take English courses fused with Chicano literature, and history classes with a Hispanic perspective — also get better grades, get in less trouble at school and enroll more frequently in college.

Romero was joined by Sean Arce, a “Critical Raza Educator” in the Tucson Unified district who is a member of the team suing for a federal injunction to halt HB 2281.

The conference was hosted by the San Diego Ethnic Studies Consortium as part of Ethnic Studies Week, which included similar events held across the nation.

Arce and Romero presented a 10-minute excerpt from “Precious Knowledge,” an upcoming PBS documentary focusing on the Mexican-American studies program at Tucson High School.

The footage featured the chief proponent of HB 2281, Tom Horne, who is currently Arizona's school superintendent, and is running for state attorney general.

Horne says ethnic studies programs such as the one in Tucson High are “divided up by race.”

“We should be teaching that (race) is irrelevant,” Horne said.

Tucson High School students in the documentary say they struggled to relate to standard history courses that offered little or no insight into the history and cultural heritage of minorities.

“It is important when you look in the book and see someone who looks like you,” Shaneeka Thomas, a Mesa College student who attended the conference, said.

During the “teach-in” portion of the conference, ethnic-studies faculty members from colleges across San Diego gave 15-minute demonstrations of how they teach.

City College Chicano Studies professor Justin Akers Chacon said that his classes aimed to encourage less “passivity, acceptance and powerlessness” and more “critical thinking.”

May Fu, an ethnic-studies professor at the University of San Diego, said the consortium that hosted the event includes members from seven colleges across San Diego.

Fu said the consortium came to life a few months ago, after HB 2281 became law.

“Sometimes the things that bring us together are painful,” she said. “We’re always going to be able

From left to right, Frank Gastelum, Kim Flying Eagle and Henr y Mendibles — all of Native American descent — sing Kumeyaay tribal songs and bang expertly on a buffalo-hide drum during the Ethnic Studies Conference at Mesa College on Oct. 2. Shane Finneran, City Times to flip the script.”

Romero explained the specifics of HB 2281, which bans courses that foster “resentment toward a race or class of people,” are designed mainly “for pupils of a particular

ethnic group” or espouse “ethnic would have heard about it from lawsolidarity instead of the treatment enforcement authorities.

“If this wasn't so serious, it of pupils as individuals.”

Romero said that if the Mexican- would be laughable,” Romero said.

He also added that Horne had American studies program was 10999_3_72x7:jc_3_72x7 Page 1 not9:37 satAM in on a single class. in any way calling for a coup, he9/2/10

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Construction workers feed branches into a wood chipper on Sept. 12. Recently, trees are being cut down around campus to make room for construction. Carlos Maia, City Times

Nature vs. new development

By Luis Carrillo City Times In recent weeks, there has been a major uprooting of trees and foliage on the City College campus.

These trees, most of them over 20 years old, are being cut down to make way for the construction of the new Business and Technology building on the southeast side of campus.

The deforestation has, of course, not gone unnoticed.

According to Tom Fine, construction project manager, the demolition phase of construction began Aug. 11 and was completed Sept. 20. He said 40 to 50 trees were cut down around campus, but will be replaced at a 1-3 ratio.

For every tree cut down three more

will be planted in and around the new building.

“A lot has gone into trying to recycle and reuse materials, not only organic matter,” Fine noted.

Not all the trees had to be removed and disposed of.

“We were able to salvage two of the trees that were of a certain species,” Fine said. “The district decided (these species) grew at too slow of a pace to be replaced all together and they were replanted elsewhere.”

As for the trees that were cut down, Fine added, “All of them are being mulched and redistributed as fertilizer all around the campus as well.”

Referring to the debris left from demolition of the old structures Fine states that, “about 90 percent of the steel and concrete from those buildings

was also sent off to be recycled.”

Many students and members of faculty are fully aware of the reduction in foliage around campus due to the ongoing construction projects.

“I was very upset and disturbed when I saw that they were cutting down all those trees,” English major student Yahir Solarzano said. “I used to have to lunch in that grassy area in front of the old cosmetology building. I’m glad to hear that they’re going to plant new trees.”

History major Kayra Frank shared the same sentiments.

“Well at least at the end of the construction, there will be more trees then there was before, and that the noise and the rest of the inconveniences of the construction will be worthwhile,” Frank said.

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www.sdcitytimes.com | October 12, 2010

4

FOCUS

Center frame New Luxe Gallery brings photo department in focus

By Anulak Singphiphat City Times From unexposed film to a fully functional work of art, San Diego City College’s new photography facility has the makings to become the hub of everything photographic in San Diego.

The Photography department had a successful grand opening show in the new photography gallery, Luxe on Sept. 24. More than three hundred guests attended the first City College Faculty Photography Exhibit, “far more than anticipated,” said David Eichinger, photography instructor and cochair.

“I was very impressed.

Really high class work,” said Teresa White, a first year photography student, “this gallery adds so much to the city, it is something to brag about.”

The faculty photography exhibit is expected to be an annual event and is the first of many planned exhibits for the new gallery space in the Career Technology Center.

“We decided to do a faculty show because it was the quickest to get the pieces together,” said Eichinger.

All of the preparation work for

the faculty exhibit was done without funding. There is no gallery director at the time, but Eichinger is hoping for one soon. The faculty even framed all of their own photographs.

The photography club was able to raise over $300 in donations in a drawing for one of the photos on display.

There are also plans to exhibit students’ and other local artists’ works after the closing of the faculty exhibit.

The main goal of the gallery is “to showcase the students’ photography,” said Eichinger. That was what Eichinger and David King had in mind when planning began for the new building in 2005.

Now, five years after its conception, the photography department has two floors that houses three studios with two shooting areas each. That means six students are able to utilize the new studio spaces and lighting equipment at any given time.

The photo department also has three darkrooms, digital photo labs, eight film-loading rooms, a film processing room and even lockers for the students. “Some of the students

miss the old (building) because it felt more homey, but they have a new, clean space and a lot of equipment to use,” said Tamika G., a temporary lab technician lending a hand from the cosmetology department.

“The students are in heaven,” said Eichinger, “the old building was cramped and dingy.”

Eichinger also said that, with meetings held in the new facility with professional organizations like the ASMP and PPA, the City College photography facility will be the center of focus for photography in the area.

City Photography is also working with the Museum of Photographic Arts to offer workshops and will be hosting the Society for Photographic Education West 2010 Regional Conference. The conference is set to take place Nov. 12-13.

With a student photography exhibit being planned to take place sometime in the spring the new photo facility seems to be a great addition the campus.

For more information on the San Diego City College Photography Department, please visit www. sandiegocityphoto.com.

A photograph by Dave Eichinger titled The San Remo in June is on display at the Luxe galler y at San Diego City College. Courtesy photo

David Eichinger - old school in a new school building Dave Eichinger is full-time faculty member at the San Diego City College Photography Department.

He has taught and shot commercial, portrait, and wedding photography for 30 years.

Eichinger’s specialty is in fine art work: infrared photography, both film and digital.

He also encourage students to explore more fundamental aspects of photography with

‘toy’ cameras (Holga, Diana, Lomo) to emphasize the creative process and de-emphasize their reliance on technology.

Lisa Vella started in photography at 8 years old when her mom asked her to take a portrait of the family dog. Vella holds a B.S. degree in Imaging and Photographic Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

In 1990, she moved to San Diego to become the Photography Lab Technician at Grossmont College in La Mesa. She remained there for 11 years.

Lisa Vella’s photograph, Vella received her M.A. in Sex Sells, is on display at Educational Technology from the Luxe. Anulak San Diego State University.

Singphiphat, City Times She has taught photography at numerous community colleges in San Diego.

Vella has taught at City College since 1997.

A lesson in pain

Douglas Welsh explains his photographs in a birthing series on Oct. 5.

These and other photos are on display at the Luxe galler y at San Diego City College. Anulak Singphiphat, City Times

Douglas Welsh is a professor of photography at San Diego City College. He teaches Traditional Black and White Photography and Digital Photography.

He has been a full-time tenured high school photography teacher at San Diego School Of Creative and Performing Arts for 17 years.

Welsh also teaches master classes in digital and fine art photography to educators at the annual California State Art Teachers Conference.

In addition to teaching, he is currently working on a half dozen color and black and white fine art photography projects (both digital and traditional). His work has been shown both locally and nationally.

Welsh’s passion is teaching young people the art and craft of both commercial and fine art photography.

October 12, 2010 | www.sdcitytimes.com

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David King of creation David King started his artistic career in the traditional art mediums of painting, print making, and sculpture, but in college veered into photography.

Photograph titled Bones of the Patriarch, by N. David King on display in the King has been a professional commer- Luxe galler y at San Diego City College. Anulak Singphiphat, City Times cial still photographer since 1969 adding He taught photography at City College in 1979-80 until he film and video cinematographer, writer, producer, and director received a grant for a major photo-documentary project. to his credits in 1983.

Returning to City College in 2000 he is now an Associate ProHis award winning work has been created for a wide range of clients and productions have included a family oriented feature fessor in the photo program trying to give back some of the lessons and skills learned over the years of his professional work. motion picture.

A Cinderella story

A photograph titled Cinderella by Siobhan Ridgway is on display in the Luxe at San Diego City College.

Anulak Singphiphat, City Times

Capturing soul – in any medium – is a talent available only to those that possess and appreciate it in themselves.

In her work, Siobhan Ridgway employs an innate gift for making images resonate with meaning- a gift that transcends the medium and produces art that speaks to its audience.

Ridgway earned a BFA in photography graduating with honors from Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in California.

While at ACCD she minored in Director of Photography in the film department. She also earned a BA in Sociology from the Univer-

sity of Maryland.

Light, color and most especially, mood are reveled in her insightful photography.

“Mind and heart are inexplicable linked. If you may capture either- optimally both- on film you have created a legacy for the client and yourself”, said Ridgway.

Ridgway has a wide range of clients from advertising to editorial.

Ridgway’s work has been seen in several magazines including Seventeen Magazine, Cosmo GIRL!, Child Magazine, Baby Talk, DC One, Indianapolis Monthly, Svensk Dam Tidning and Biz San Diego.

A photograph titled Johnny #5, by Mar v Sloben, won best in show at the Luxe galler y grand opening on Sept. 24. Courtesy photo

Best in show

Marv Sloben holds a B.F.A. from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. He has been a freelance photographer for 25 years specializing in architecture, portraiture and commercial work. His images have been published in magazines and brochures and he has won numerous awards, including Best in Show at the Del Mar Fair.

Craig Carlson’s untitled photograph is on display in the Luxe galler y at San Diego City College. Anulak Singphiphat, City Times Craig Carlson became interested in photography in his early teens and subsequently worked at student publications from High School through his University studies.

Carlson received his Bachelors of Arts in Editorial Journalism in 1973 from San Diego State University and Masters of Arts in Studio Arts with an emphasis in Photography from Humboldt State University in 1976.

Carlson is the author of “Look Before You See”, a 160 page self published instructional guide to photography, as well as being a manuscript and book proposal reviewer for the publisher Focal Press.

This photo by Carlos Richardson is on display in the Luxe galler y at San Diego City College.

Courtesy Photo

Emilyo Arias, a histor y and photography student, left, views the photographs on display in the new photography galler y, Luxe at San Diego City College on Oct. 5. Anulak Singphiphat, City Times

Carlos Richardson attended high school in San Diego. He received a BA in Art 1967 from Yale College, BFA and MFA in Photography and Graphic Design 1971 from Yale School of Art. He teaches at San Diego City College and Southwestern College.

www.sdcitytimes.com | October 12, 2010

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ARTS Book fair features moving collaboration

By Emily Mather Moretz Correspondent The San Diego City College International Book Fair featured a collaboration of author Luis Rodriguez and Grammy nominee Perla Batalla and her band Oct. 2.

“Words are power,” Rodriguez tells the packed house of the Saville Theatre. Rodriguez read selections from his work and related his experience of being raised in East Los Angeles as a child of Mexican immigrants. Rodriguez discussed how he dealt with his feelings of powerlessness in destructive ways.

Through a lifetime of community work, helping others and writing he has overcome his past mistakes and dedicated his life to being a positive influence for future generations.

“We invited author Luis Rodriguez because his work and life experiences resonate with those of so many of our students,” Virginia Escalante, book fair organizer and English professor at City College, said.

“An estimated 500 people attended, but, unfortunately, many of them could not get in-once again underscoring the need for a larger venue for our events. The response

from the students has been overwhelming, and many of them are still talking about the impact that the reading and concert had on them.”

As in his memoir, “Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.,” Rodriguez reflected on growing up as a Chicano in poverty while facing discrimination from police, teachers and classmates. He then turned to drugs as an escape and gang activity to feel a sense of belonging.

Rodriguez Luis Rodriguez discussed how he spent most of his youth in and out of prison, high on heroin, and contemplating suicide.

During the live reading from his new poem “Freedom Shapes” he discussed about his first time attending a poetry reading for the first time at age 18. He said he was “instantly drawn to spoken word.”

Rodriguez also said he believes “that this encounter was divine intervention telling him to wake up and unleash his imagination”.

He has now published “My Nature is Hunger: New & Selected Poems, The Republic of East L.A.: Stories, Poems Across the Pavement,” “The Concrete River,” and “Trochemoche.” He also released “My Name’s Not Rodriguez,” a CD of poems and original music.

Rodriguez said he is now 17 years sober and attributes his success to helping others.

His contributions to the community include cofounding the Tia Chucha Cultural Center, a bookstore, performance space and workshop center in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

The workshop sponsors the “Celebrating Words: Written, Performed and Sung” Literacy and Performance Festival.

“If you take care of the development of everyone, we help ourselves,” Rodriguez said.

He has also founded the Tia Chucha Press, one of the country’s premier small presses, Rock A Mole Productions, which produces CDs, films, and music and art festivals in Los Angeles and Youth Struggling for Survival, a nonprofit Chicago-based organization that works with gang and nongang youth.

Grammy nominee Perla Batalla and her band collaborated with author Luis Rodriguez on Oct. 2 during the San Diego City College International Book Fair.

Carlos Maia, City Times

‘Satan’s Playground’ author attracts a crowd at book fair “Ugly Americans” returned with it’s second season Oct. 6. Comedy Central photo

Humans, demons, wizards, zombies, worms and more “Ugly Americans” is the new animated comedy series on Comedy Central, which had its series premiere last march.

Oct. 6, the show returned with its second season. In a phone interview with two of the voiceover actors, Matt Oberg and Natasha Leggero, they spoke of their experience on the show and reveal what viewers can expect from the new episodes.

The series is set in a version of New York which is inhabited not only by humans, but also by all kinds of other species, such as demons, wizards, zombies and double-headed worms.

In the first season, viewers meet Mark Lilly (Oberg), who just moved to the Big Apple and works as a social worker at the “Department of Integration”. His love interest, Callie Maggotbone (Leggero), is the product of the devil raping a drugged woman and struggles with reconciling her human and devil selves.

AS SCENE ON SCREEN Christine Klee

“Callie does have a human side and it comes out more in her love relationships,” says Leggero about her character, Lilly lives with zombie Randall, who in the second season joins a zombie cult to deal with his obsession over his ex-girlfriend.

According to Oberg, “the show gets weirder from here on in, now that we have sortof established the baseline …

It gets weirder and dirtier, but I think still clever.”

He notes about the show that “the animation is really the coolest part about it … To me, I’m always so impressed with the amount of detail and care (Chris Augenblick and his team) put into even the smallest characters and backgrounds.”

Both of the voiceover actors have a background

in comedy, which prepared them for improvising on the show. In her career as a voiceover artist, Leggero had previously done “impressions of Hillary Clinton or Lindsey Lohan … so this was really fun for me because I really got to just create my unique character.”

This year, Leggero was a judge of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” and will be taping her Comedy Central Special in New York on Oct. 16.

Oberg said he had never done any animation work before, but “I do improv shows every Saturday” with a group called “Big Black Car” in New York.

Despite the actors’ insistence on the show being a comedy, the first episode of season two seems depressing, rather than funny. Most of the jokes come across as offensive.

A show made for college students, its humor clearly doesn’t appeal to all of us.

The question is — does it appeal to any of us?

What better place to hear about mobsters, gun battles, prostitution, booze, gambling and all other sorts of debauchery than the City College International Book Fair?

On Sept. 30 the fair hosted a reading and book signing with Paul Vanderwood, featured author and San Diego State University history professor.

Vanderwood recently published a fascinating book, “Satan’s Playground: Mobsters and Movie Stars at America’s Greatest Gaming Resort.”

Vanderwood delighted a modest crowd of students, teachers and various literature fans with a collection Paul Vanderwood of excerpts and vignettes from his informative and exciting book.

Vanderwood’s story delves into the history of Tijuana’s famed resort and casino, Agua Caliente, which opened its doors in 1928 and closed them soon after in 1935.

The reading began with Vanderwood describing multiple stories about the resort from the politically connected “barons” who owned it, the workers who built it, the gangsters who taxed it and the Hollywood movie stars and American socialites who gambled their money, drank the alcohol and lived it up for as long as the resort was open.

Interestingly, Vanderwood tied America’s experiment with prohibition to the building of the resort, suggesting it was built primarily to take advantage of the fact that

BOOK FAIR REVIEW Brian Jackman

American’s could no longer drink legally in the late 1920’s. The “barons” then created an escape for thousands of American’s who could enjoy the taste of booze, gambling and whorehouses without consequence.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the reading came when Vanderwood discussed of a robbery involving Agua Caliente guards while they were transporting money out of the casino. A group of robbers intercepted the delivery of money and receipts and brutally murdered the guards by machine gun after the guards fired pistols at the robbers’ car in defense. Fascinatingly enough this heist occurred on the streets of early day San Diego, and was the first ever report of machine gun use in Southern California.

Vanderwood went on to explain that the result of the attack lead to a sensational and highly publicized investigation and trial, which convicted the robbers and also uncovered a huge conspiracy exposing the casino owners as the ones who planned and helped execute the robbery.

The reading concluded with a question and answer session. Vanderwood then thanked the crowd and received a loud and well-deserved applause.

Vanderwood’s reading was very captivating, and had my pockets not been so thin that day, I would have bought a copy of his book.

With events like Paul Vanderwood’s reading, one can enjoy the entertainment of seeing and listening to a great writer at no cost. The best things in life really are free.

October 12, 2010 | www.sdcitytimes.com

7

VOICE

Social suicide On Sept. 19, Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi secretly recorded his roommate, 18 year old Tyler Clementi, in their dorm room kissing another man.

Days later, Ravi allegedly posted a Twitter message saying, “Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 12 a.m..” Ravi had set up his computer to broadcast a live feed from his dorm room while Clementi was in the room with another male.

The ensuing scandal and shame that Clementi felt from this gross invasion of privacy led him to commit suicide, leaping off the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey.

This incident, along with a recent wave of self-induced deaths at Cornell University, have led people and experts scratching their heads.

What is causing this sudden rise in student suicides? And are social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter adding fuel to the fire?

Anyone who’s ever been through middle and high school knows that bullying is a simple fact of life. Most people have been on both ends of the spectrum, victim and culprit. But there is a thin line between bullying and harassment.

In the already stressful environment that college can be, harassment by a peer can feel like a whole other set of weights placed on ones shoulder.

College is meant to be a place where you can be yourself. It’s supposed to be the first step towards adulthood and away from the childishness people experience in high school.

Fear and loathing of one’s self

EDITORIAL

City Times Editorial Board Unfortunately it takes some people a little longer to grow up than others. And with the advent of the Internet and sites that allow you to share media instantly, this bullying and harassment has gone to another level.

Before, a victim of a bully could confront the person face to face. Rumors might spread between a group of people or campus but it never really went further than that.

But now with Facebook, YouTube and other social media like it, a video or “status update” can be posted and literally within seconds, be seen by people all around the world. It’s a humiliation that can’t be contained.

Something like this can be overwhelming for the victim and unfortunately, as we’ve seen recently, can make them take drastic measures.

While it’s basically impossible to ever stop bullying, there are resources available to those that suffer from it.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (619-957-5849) has offices in San Diego that reach out to individuals and help them through tough times.

On campus, there are the Mental Health counselors, of which many students don’t even know can access.

However, sometimes all a person in these situations really needs is someone to talk to and friends and family should be the first line of defense against such a tragedy.

Have an opinion?

E-mail the editor citytimes@gmail.com CITY TIMES Volume 65, Number 4 October 12, 2010

www.sdcitytimes.com

“You really need to get your act together and get to State.”

I looked up at this man, my girlfriend’s old boss and thought, “Who do you think you are?’ There I was cheering on his kid, who didn’t even know which way to run on the soccer field, and he has the audacity to tell me to get my act together? I was, to say the least, a little perturbed.

The following night I was sitting in the car with said girlfriend after watching “The Social Network” (I liked it, she said it bored her.) and the conversation turned serious. “You’ve been in community college for eight years. When are you going to finally graduate.

This is going nowhere if you don’t.” I was kind of starting to notice a pattern.

I have a tendency to drown out people when they’re pointing out my negative aspects so I just sat there staring out the window and

Heric Rubio

enjoying the Bloc Party song that had been stuck in my head for a few hours. Unfortunately this little coping mechanism has caused a lot of problems in the past so I forced myself back to reality. I began wondering, ‘Why haven’t I accomplished this one goal? What is it that’s holding me back?’

“Heric, I think you’re just scared,” I heard her say.

Sometimes I wonder why I even try to figure anything out on my own.

She was right. And I think I’ve known this for years but I was just in denial.

So many like myself have hopes and dreams that we

this is one of those goals that I had set for myself; having my own column in the school paper. As simple as it sounds, it wasn’t easy. And I’m not stopping at this.

For those that are like me, scared to start anything new, let me give you a little piece of advice my significant other gave me that night in the car.

“I think you have to just do something. Something you’ve been wanting to do forever. Buy a plane ticket, quit the job you hate, something, anything. But once you do just one thing that you think you can’t, everything else seems possible.”

So while I don’t plan on doing anything that drastic, yet, I will do certain little things that I’ve been putting off, starting with getting my act together

Heric Rubio is the City Times opinion editor

Just who do you think you are?

Self -entitlement is deeply rooted into our society, We work hard to purchase that gas-guzzling Hummer and rack up overtime to buy that coveted pair of glossy cherry Christian Louboutins. Well deserved. Bravo even, but enough is enough.

In a world where everyone has a case of me first and the gimme gimmes, I’ve come to find that high flying airplanes is where they hold their conventions to exercise their right to be all about themselves.

Those hours of brainstorming the big deal or the trophies that align their walls don’t give them the right to demand the rest of us give in to their grandstanding ways.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely came into this industry with starstruck eyes and delusions of grandeur that would rival those of Anne Frank. A large part of me still believes people are good at heart. Some of the passengers I’ve encountered would tell you otherwise.

A woman with skin like a reptile once barked at me to

Published as: The Jay Sees | 1945-1949 Fortknightly | 1949-1978 City Times | 1978Incorporating the newspapers Tecolote, Knight Owl and Flicks

Ernesto Lopez Editor-in-Chief

Heric Rubio Opinion Editor

Luis Carrillo Photo Editor

Cristo De Guzman Managing Editor

Mollie Shepardson Features Editor

Michele Suthers Chief Illustrator

Vanessa Gomez Copy Chief

Katrina Cameron Haley Manbeck Arts Editors

Roman S. Koenig Journalism Adviser

Anulak Singphiphat Design Editor

WITH AN H

want to achieve in our lifetime. We set goals and let them be known to the world.

But when it comes to putting in work and doing what is needed to reach these goals, we tend to freeze up. And it’s the fear of failure that causes this.

How long can we go on like this? How many times can we start something just to quit in the middle of it?

How many times can we tell people about some idea that never comes to fruition before they just start rolling their eyes?

Living like this can cause us to never be fulfilled as a person. We stay in our comfort zone, refusing to ever put ourselves in uncomfortable situations.

I know this article isn’t for everyone. There’s probably quite a few out there reading this that are thinking, ‘How about you quit whining and just do what you say you’re going to?’

Well to those I say that

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lift her oversized Louis Vuitton into the overhead bins.

Fearing she packed bricks, I sweetly suggested we check the bag to avoid injury. She whipped around, shooting daggers from her eyes, and declared, “That bag is worth more than you make in a year, there’s no way you’re checking my s***.”

It took everything in my power not to chuck that Chinatown knockoff at her head, and the restraint of a nun to force a smile while I handed the bag back to her.

Another gross example of narcissism happened when a larger woman suddenly became ill and passed out in front of the lavatory door. Between three flight attendants, we were having a hard time moving her when we felt the passenger in the bathroom forcing the door open. Ignoring our requests for a moment to move her, the impatient man squeezed out the barely-ajar door and stepped over the woman, declaring that he “had work waiting for him at this seat.”

One of my favorite “extra

Phone: (619) 388-3880 Fax: (619) 388-3814 E-mail: citytimes@gmail.com Program homepage: www.sdcity.edu/citytimes

City Times Staff Stephen Boyd-Morales, Sidney Bryant, Katrina Cruz, Shane Finneran, Olivia Holt, Lani Ioane, Ryan Johnson, Mark Rivera, Ricky Soltero, Coatlicue Villanueva, Fernando Yates

Correspondents Brian Jackman, Emily Mather Moretz

Contributors Christine Klee

VIEW FROM THE TOP Vanessa Gomez

special passenger” stories is the one that decided cursing out a gate agent for a threehour delay was the best way to expedite the extended wait. Shouting and making a scene, the passenger demanded to know how the airline could do such a thing to him, yelling the overused phrase “Do you know who I am?”

Instantly recognizing that appeasing the passenger by throwing back insults would be useless, the gate agent calmly picked up the P.A. system and cleared his throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please, can I have your attention please?”

The boarding area grew quiet and turned their eyes to the speaker and Mr. Big Shot, waiting for the gate agent’s words.

“Does ANYONE know who this man is?”

The gate agent and I still talk about that day, when we watched Mr. Big Shot turn purple and run away and never return to board the flight.

Most of my reactions to these peacocks kept me from losing my job, but still chop away at my belief that there’s any hope for humanity. To those miserable selfabsorbed characters in the world, I say, get over yourself.

Make way for the easygoing passengers that smile, say please and thank you and those not consumed with themselves. Those are the passengers that I bend over backwards for. Those are the people that I will gladly roll out a red carpet for.

Vanessa Gomez is the City Times copy chief

City Times is published twice monthly during the semester. Signed opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily represent those of the entire newspaper staff, City College administration, faculty and staff or the San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees.

District policy statement | This publication is produced as a learning experience under a San Diego Community College District instructional program. All materials, including opinions expressed herein, are the sole responsibility of the students and should not be interpreted to be those of the college district, its officers or employees.

Letters to the editor | Letters to the Editor are welcome, 350 words or less. The staff reserves the right to edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation and length.

Memberships Journalism Association of Community Colleges California College Media Association Associated Collegiate Press California Newspaper Publishers Association

www.sdcitytimes.com | October 12, 2010

8

SPORTS

Tournament champions

Women’s volleyball team heads into conference play with confidence after hosting invitational and defeating five teams to take the top place

By Sidney Bryant City Times The San Diego City College women’s volleyball team came out on top at their annual volleyball tournament Sept. 24 to 25, in which they hosted 13 teams the region and Arizona.

Dede Bodnar, women’s volleyball head coach, said going into the tournament she had only one thing in mind--to win.

She said the girls had practiced “extremely hard.”

Since the inception of the

San Diego Community College District volleyball tournament in 2005, the Lady Knights had not placed number one.

“When I first started the tournament six seasons ago, I knew it was going to be an uphill process to win ... Realistically it seems as if home court advantage gives you a better chance at winning, but not at this level,” Bodnar said.

Sophomore libero Hannah Andrews, who is one of the team captains, said that it (felt) very good to share the win

with Bodnar.

“Winning our tournament is probably the (high point) of our season,” Andrews said.

Bodnar said that Phoenix Community College was arguably one of the favorites to win the tournament, since they have a wider selection of players because they offer athletic scholarships.

Bodnar said to triumph over a team of players chosen from across the country tells a lot about the team she leads.

Sophomore setter Kristina

swing.”

The remainder of the season will be very critical for the Lady Knights as they finish up the season with conference games. They won over Palomar Oct. 1.

Fernandez was named most valuable player during the tournament.

“I love my team,” Bodnar said. “They're one of the most hard working teams I’ve ever coached.”

The Lady Knights also beat Pima Community College from Tucson, Ariz., in the championship bracket prior to the final match.

Sophomore outside hitter and team captain Brittany Karls said winning the tournament was a “huge momentum

Setter McKenna Ford places the ball for a teammate during a team practice on Oct. 8 at Golden West Gymnasium.

Lani Ioane, City Times

CORRECTION WE’LL NEVER PUT YOUR BUSINESS DEGREE DREAMS ON HOLD.

In the Sept. 28 edition of City Times, the story “Knight and day ...

McGinnis’ way,” Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 refers to equality in education regardless of gender, not sexual orientation as stated in the story. It is the policy of City Times to clarify content or correct errors. Send them to the paper at citytimes@gmail.com or call 619-388-3880.

CALENDAR Compiled by Lani Ioane Get your event in the paper. E-mail us at citytimes@gmail.com or call 619- 388-3880 n Oct. 12 Jazz Live • Saville Theatre Performance: Latin Jazz and Klezmer with Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi.

8-9 p.m. Jazz 88 members free, $5 Students, general admission $10.

www.sandiegobloodbank.org.

Associated Students Sports Rally of City College Teams – An opportunity to meet with team members and to show your support! 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Gorton Quad.

M-Soccer vs. Mira Costa, 3:15 p.m.

n Oct. 21 Seeds at City Farm; Near corner of 14th and C Streets. Fall Farm Festival – Music with Professor Bob Pruitt, food, and more!. 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

n Oct. 13

World Cultures Event Saville Theatre Lecture: “Sustainability in Brazil”, Binka Le Breton 11:15 a.m.-12:35 p.m.

W. Volleyball vs. Southwestern 5 p.m. n Oct. 14 SIFE presents the Financial Literacy Workshop RM T-306. 8 -9 a.m. n Oct. 15 W-Soccer vs. Imperial Valley, 3 p.m.

M-Soccer at Southwestern 3:15 p.m. n Oct. 16 W- Cross Country Cougar Challenge. 8 a.m.

n Oct. 19 World Cultures Event , Saville Theatre. Documentary: “Maquilapolis” 9:40-10:50 am n Oct. 20 Blood and Bone Marrow Drive at Gorton Quad. 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Make an appointment at

500 TRANSFER SCHOLARSHIP

$

SIFE presents the Financial Literacy Workshop RM T-306. 8 -9 a.m.

Learn if you qualify for a $500 transfer scholarship.

Call 800.581.4100 or visit brandman.edu/business

Budget crunches may have

SAN DIEGO CAMPUS

other schools cutting courses, but Brandman is expanding.

n Oct. 21- Oct. 28 11th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival Mission Valley UltraStar at Hazard Center

We’re adding business classes to meet the increasing demand.

EARN YOUR BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ON CAMPUS OR ONLINE. EMPHASES AVAILABLE IN:

n Oct. 22 W-Volleyball vs. San Diego Mesa 5 p.m.

Brandman partners with

• ACCOUNTING

community colleges to make

n Oct. 26 M-Soccer vs. Palomar, 3 p.m n Oct. 27 World Cultures Event. Lecture: “Islamic Sufism: Jihad and Peace”, Farnaz Khoromi. D-121. 12:45 p.m.2:10 p.m .

• ENTREPRENEURSHIP

transferring credits simple,

• FINANCE

and that can make earning

• GENERAL BUSINESS

your business degree a lot

• HUMAN RESOURCES

more affordable.

• INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT • MARKETING • ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Associated Students Halloween Bash – Dunking booth, best costume prizes, karoake contest, music, food and more prizes. 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Gorton Quad.

• ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP • SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEMS

W-Volleyball vs. Cuyamaca, 5 p.m.

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

www.sdcitytimes.com

Brandman University is accredited by, and is a member of, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

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