The Telescope 67.13

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the telescope Palomar College’s Independent Newspaper

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Vol. 67, No. 13 • Monday, March 31, 2014

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the-telescope.com

Arson suspect pleads not guilty CLIFF IRELAND THE TELESCOPE

Palomar’s Women’s Studies program held events in honor of Women’s History Month regarding women in the military March 26 - 27. Photo courtesy of Daniel Bendjy/Getty images

Campus event discusses women in military “Invisible War” screening unveils visible truth in the armed forces

Panel sheds different light for the role of women in uniform

STEVE KIRCH

STEVE KIRCH

THE TELESCOPE

The Women’s Studies Department hosted a screening of the “Invisible War” as part of its Women’s History Month event, March 26-27.

The documentary depicts the sexual harassment and abuse women endure while serving in the military; as well as, the lack of discretion

the military enacts to bring assailants to justice, and compensate victims of rape.

Devon Smith, of Palomar’s Behavioral Sciences department, said that the film brings awareness to the role of women in the military and that the values of women shouldn’t be diminished or minimized in a

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THE TELESCOPE

To bring a close to Women’s History Month, the Women’s Studies program hosted a panel in the Governing Board Room on March 27 that focused on the role of women in the military.

The panel consisted of six women of different ages, ethnicities and

backgrounds who had positive and encouraging stories to tell from their time in the military.

The stories were quite different from those Palomar students heard the prior day from rape survivors in the documentary “Invisible War.” Many said that the military helped them grow and mature as a

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THE TELESCOPE

Palomar’s Women’s Studies program was denied funding by the Office of Student Affairs for its annual event to celebrate Women’s History Month.

The OSA claimed there were no funds available as the reason for its denial.

“Upon review the Director of Student Affairs, Ms. Titus, is sorry to report that we do not have funds available at this time. The budget is depleted,” the email read.

Earlier in the year Devon Smith, assistant professor of sociology and the lead organizer for the event, was tasked with submitting a request for proposal on behalf of the Women’s Studies Department to procure resources for an event to celebrate Women’s History Month.

The event, “Women in the Military: Past, Present, and Future” involved a film screening that documented rape and sexual assault within the military as well as a panel featuring women who discussed their daily experiences while serving in the armed forces.

“The issue (rape and sexual assault) is an issue that doesn’t get enough attention,” Smith said. “But also there is a tremendous military presence in San Diego and on Palomar’s campus so we felt like it would be a topic that would be received well on this campus specifically.”

The department asked for nearly $3,000 to cover the costs associated with the event. The majority of the money would be for refreshments and for the rights to show the film. The remaining amount would be allocated toward advertising and printing costs as well as for t-shirts for those who volunteered for the event.

This particular event has been a mainstay on the Palomar campus for the past several years and has consistently counted on funds from of the student activities budget so it begs the question: What made this year different from previous years and what happened to

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Spanish program offered LOTTIESHA BLANDON THE TELESCOPE

Student activities budget depleted mid-semester RALPH CHAPOCO

Connor Ryan Cook, 18, is out on $25,000 bail after pleading not guilty at his arraignment March 18 for arson and attempted arson at the Palomar College San Marcos campus.

Cook was taken into custody March 14 by the San Diego Sheriff ’s Department on suspicion of starting the fire that occurred in the men’s restroom of the P Building earlier that day.

The March 14 fire was similar to a string of fires on the San Marcos campus that started in December 2013. Toilet paper and toilet seat covers were used to start all the fires in each of those cases.

There were no injuries reported and no major damage in any of the incidents.

all of the money?

The student activities budget is funded from the sale of Palomar Identification cards.

At the beginning of each semester students who have enrolled at Palomar College are given the option to purchase an I.D. card for $15 to use for the coming semester and the purchase of the card confers certain benefits.

On average, about 11,000 students pay for the use of the I.D. card and this nets the student activities fund approximately $165,000 each academic year.

Palomar College’s World Languages Department will provide students with a chance to fulfill all foreign language requirements in just one summer.

Students will be able to take all three levels of Spanish this summer with the reintroduction of the intercession semester beginning May 19, the week after the spring semester ends.

If Spanish 101 is taken during the intercession semester, then 102 and 201 can be taken consecutively for the remaining eight weeks of the summer semester allowing students to fulfill their entire 15 unit foreign language requirement.

These classes will be offered as hybrid classes. Hybrid classes are when 50 percent of work is done in a traditional class setting, while the other 50 percent is done online.

According to Palomar College Spanish Professor Kathleen M. Sheahan, Ed. D., the traditional portion focuses on speaking and listening skills while the online portion focuses on writing and reading.

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Student activities budget breakdown

Infographic by Ralph Chapoco

2 • NEWS

Monday, March 31, 2014

BRIEFS Positions available in upcoming student elections

The election for next semester’s Associated Student Government is approaching.

President, Vice President, and Senator positions are now open.

According to the ASG’s election committee, students who are looking for an experience, the chance to be a leader, want to make a change and be the voice for the students should join the Palomar College’s student government.

Interested students can pick up election applications in SU-201 to become a candidate. The last day to pick up an election packet is April 26 at 3 p.m.

Voting will take place from May 5 to May 8 on Palomar’s website.

For more information and details about the election, stop by SU-102 or SU-104 or email Election Chairperson Genesis Gilroy at ggilroy@palomar. edu.

Spring sale brings green to campus

The Palomar College Arboretum will hold an annual spring plant sale on April 2 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. near the student center flagpole.

The sale is open to the public and a variety of plants will be available for purchase including California Natives, cacti, succulents and perhaps even some edibles.

Friends of the Palomar College Arboretum President Tony Rangel spoke of the importance of plants in our everyday life.

“If a home garden is planted correctly, it can enrich the lives of those who tend it, see it and the critters who live with it,” Rangel said.

Career workshop offers students steps to succeed

The Palomar College Career Center will be kicking off the start of a new workshop series focused on helping students better prepare themselves for the job market on March 31.

The “Are you Job Ready?” series covers career portfolio options such as the nuts and bolts of building Networking and Social Media, as well as Advanced Career Development for

things like creating a personal brand and closing the deal to land the job.

“Getting our students job ready is everyone’s business,” said Career Center Director Rosie Antonecchia via email. “That is the sole reason they are here! To develop, prepare and/or upgrade the skills they obtain in their classes.

However, they still need to prepare to sell these to their interviewers.”

The Career Center will be hosting the various workshops in this series free of charge to students on campus due to funding provided by the Carl D. Perkins Career Technical Education Act of 2006 according to the event’s flier.

The act provides almost $1.3 billion in federal support for career and technical programs in secondary and post-secondary schools.

The first workshop will be offered on March 31 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in SU 17.

During the workshop students will be working to create cover letters and resumes that sell their skills and make them stand out among other job hopefuls according to Career Center Coordinator Pippa Pierce.

“Your portfolio is about what you are able to do. It is to help build your confidence,” Pierce added.

Campus groups to host Multicultural event

Palomar College and its Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee are coming together to celebrate the diverse cultures of our campus.

The EEO is hosting the school’s 9th annual “Unity in Diversity” event Thursday, April 3 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Student Union.

This year’s theme is “Cultural Convergence: Acculturation, Reinvention and/or Creation”.

There will be entertainment by the Palomar College Chamber Singers and the Agogo Drum and Dance Ensemble; a buffet featuring foods from a variety of different cultures, as well as guest keynote speaker Dr. Sam Delchad.

The event shall conclude with a panel discussion. Students and faculty are welcome to attend.

Director of Student Services Sherry Titus receives a pie in her face from student Esteban Santana on March 13 during the Active Minds and Health Services stress relief event in the Student Union. • Lucy Wheeler/The Telescope

School staff take pies for mental health awareness ARIANNE ANTONIO THE TELESCOPE

Palomar College’s Active Minds club hosted their Pie Your Professor event at the student union quad on March 13.

With the club’s main focus of raising mental health awareness and the school’s notorious midterms week, Active Minds members brainstormed a way to provide students with an outlet to blow off some major steam.

Club member Natasha Montoya explains, “We wanted to provide a fun way to destress, especially during the week of midterms… (and) I know a lot of people are waiting to hear their transfer decisions”.

The club allocated a significant amount of support.

Palomar College Health Services volunteers facilitated the event and local restaurants such as Marie

Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery and Coco’s Family Restaurant donated pies to the event .

“I’ve never seen so many students in the quad. Within the first hour, we’ve had about 50 pies (thrown),” Montoya said. “At some points we’ve even had lines of students waiting to throw their pies.”

A wide array of students huddled around the booth waiting their turn to destress - Pie Your Professor style.

After throwing his pie, student and Inter-Club Council Chairperson Carlos Araujo explained, “I have horrible aim but I think it does the trick. I’m a little bit less stressed. It does help.”

Student Christopher Graham said “Anything that’s going to promote student health, anything that’s going to help us get through whatever it is we’re doing, is something that I want to be a part of...I think that it’s empowering the students”.

It wasn’t just students that gathered around the booth.

Palomar College athletic coaches were seen bringing out their whole sports teams to participate.

Several other professors also took their turns in throwing pies at their colleagues as well.

When asked if he would ever volunteer for the event again, Palomar’s Disability Resource Center Classified Staff Member Aaron Holmes responded, “Most definitely. It was a lot of fun.”

The Pie Your Professor event gathered students, teachers, staff and even local businesses outside of Palomar College together to end midterms week together.

Despite this event being the first of its kind, Araujo said the Pie Your Professor “is probably one of the most creative events Palomar has had in years.”

AANTONIO@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Student Emmy winner sweeps up awards once again JOSHUA LAPORTE THE TELESCOPE

Already a regional Emmy Award winner, former student producer of North County News Zoya Popova is adding yet another notch to her belt.

The former Palomar student came in third place in the Broadcast Educators Association competition, a multinational contest for college broadcast news.

Popova’s productions competed against several national and international four-year universities.

Popova, a Russian native, originally started with a degree in International Economics from Moscow.

“When I moved here I really wanted to go into television production,” Popova said. “I heard about the program at Palomar and became part of it.”

Popova found her stride as the producer for the show.

“Being such an outstanding person, she (produced) several shows,” said Professor and Digital

Photo courtesy of Zoya Popova

Broadcast Arts Facilities Coordinator Gregg Baker. Baker also oversees North County News.

Each broadcast goes out locally on channel 16 and reaches over 100,000 households in the area.

As producer for the show, Popova determined what stories were featured in the show for the week, tracked the development of the stories and made sure everything ran on time.

“You have to time the show, you have to time each piece (and) you have to kinda know in advance how

fast the anchor talks,” Popova said.

“You time everything.”

After two years of working with North County News, Popova found herself working for a direct response marketing group called Grand Slam Direct as an editor.

Though she does not have time to take classes currently, Popova does intend to return to Palomar to take graphic design and motion graphics classes in the future.

JLAPORTE@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

NEWS • 3

the-telescope.com INSURED • A young, healthy, insured individual will incur $1,717 in out of pocket health care costs in 2014 with the majority of these expenses relating to premium costs, not to direct health care expenses.

Demonstrators for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act march and chant outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 27, 2012 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court digs deep into health care as the justices consider the most important challenge to the law: compelling individuals to buy insurance or pay a fine. •Olivier Douliery/MCTCampus

UNINSURED

VS.

• An insured patient who visits the emergency room (ER) once during the year will pay approximately $2,791 in annual healthcare costs, accounting for premiums, negotiated ER costs, and doctors’ visits.

• The average uninsured young adult will pay $348, including the cost of physician office visits and the penalty for not carrying health insurance.

•Those uninsured young adults who visit an ER in 2014 will pay $2,022 in annual out of pocket healthcare costs, including full freight or “chargemaster” pricing for the one-time visit to the ER and after paying the $95 penalty.

“Young invincibles” choosing not to invest in Obamacare STEVE KIRCH THE TELESCOPE

According to the U.S Department of Health, during the first three months of the Affordable Care Act, only 24 percent of the 2.2 million adults who enrolled in Obamacare are between the ages of 18 to 34.

This is well below the Obama administration’s 40 percent target for the “young invincibles”, a term coined for adults in that age range who see themselves as young and healthy.

The Center of Disease Control and Prevention reported that 95 percent of young adults said their health was “good, very good, or excellent”, which along with cost, is

one of the primary reasons for not purchasing insurance.

Therefore, the question is, “do young adults need health insurance?”

According to a report on nerdwallet.com, “not really”. Nerdwallet makes an argument that its cheaper for the “young invincibles” to just skip health insurance and take the fine for not having it.

Herminia Ledesma, a counselor with Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, said that in 2014 people will be forced to pay a $95 fine or 1 percent of their income, whichever is greater, plus $45 per dependent, for not having health insurance.

However, Nerdwallet, an online site that helps consumers make fi-

nancial decisions, said that the fine for not having insurance is a drop in the bucket compared to what one would have to pay for having insurance.

However, the younginvincibles. org disagrees with nerdwallet and said that young adults should get insured and not roll the dice with their health.

The younginvincibles is a national non-profit organization that focuses on empowering young Americans with information regarding healthcare, jobs, and economic opportunity.

The group points out that young adults need be to be prepared for those “freak accidents”. Injuries and ailments like hospitalization for asthma or diabetes, broken bones,

Heroes helping heroes: A veteran’s tale DAVID SHRUM THE TELESCOPE

For most veterans the experience of transitioning from military life to civilian life is a difficult and unfamiliar adjustment process.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, it is estimated that 11 percent to 20 percent of the veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been affected by posttraumatic stress disorder.

“A veteran comes with a different set of baggage,” said Bonifacio Gonzales, a veterans outreach specialist for the Vet Center, part of the VA, located at the San Marcos Civic Center.

Gonzales served 20 years in the Marine Corps and is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Cal State San Marcos and is a former Palomar College student.

Gonzales is also the liaison for the Vet Center and often visits various locations, including Palomar’s campus twice a month on Wednesdays.

“One thing that I ask our veterans is if they’ve heard of our services and a lot of them don’t,” he said.

Part of Gonzales’ position as a veterans outreach specialist is to educate people on the services and benefits offered through the Vet Center.

“What I do is I go out into the community, and campuses,

anywhere I can find and locate any veterans or active duty personnel, (including) going on base and reach out to them about our services,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales first became involved with the Vet Center as a work-study while he was attending Palomar College and was presented the opportunity to become a full-time staff member.

He also added that working for the Vet Center inspired him to pursue a career in counseling.

“This job has allowed me to enjoy the ability to be creative enough to find ways to give back to veterans,” Gonzales added.

Gonzales said that a lot of veterans don’t understand that they may qualify for the services offered by the Vet Center.

“I find that a lot of them don’t know where to go to begin with,” Gonzales said about Palomar’s veterans. “We’re only two train platforms away and a lot of them don’t know about us.”

According to Gonzales, the Vet Center treats patients for P.T.S.D., anger management, spousal support, sleep management, cognitive processing therapy, and alternative therapy such as hypnosis and equine therapy.

The center also provides services on a one-on-one basis and in group settings.

According to Gonzales, all but one person on the San Marcos

Bonifacio Gonzales • Yolanda Granados/ The Telescope

Vet Center staff has served in the military and the majority are combat veterans themselves.

“Who could better understand and work with a veteran that’s in need of this type of assistance?”

Gonzales said.

Gonzales said his passion lies within helping veterans and working towards policy change for the fair treatment of veterans.

“I don’t do it for the pay, I don’t do it for the glory, I don’t do it for the glamour, I do it because I like it,” Gonzales said.

DSHRUM@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

and x-rays can cost someone over $10,000 if they don’t have insurance.

Dr. Hubert Mast, from Palomar College Health Services, said the $19 health fee students pay every semester at the campus only covers the most basic care before students have to be referred to a hospital or general physician for x-rays or advanced testing.

The Department of Health Services reported that 66 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 -34 would be able to purchase health insurance plans on the exchange for $100 a month or less through subsides.

According to Covered California, students at Palomar who are not on their parents insurance plan and work part-time or are full time stu-

dents can purchase health insurance for as little as $25 a month or for free through Medi-Cal, depending on their level of income.

“Sometimes students at Palomar think their health fee is health insurance, and we sometimes have to do some education before we treat them,” said Lenka Schanka, a health educator at Palomar College.

The young invincibles also need to remember that a $95 fine (or 1 percent of income) is a one time thing. In 2015 the fines for not having insurance will be $325 or 2 percent of income, plus $162.50 per dependent. In 2016, $695 or 2.5 percent of income, plus $347.50 per dependent.

SKIRCH@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

4 • OPINION

Monday, March 31, 2014

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Focused On Palomar Monday, March 31, 2014 Vol. 67, No. 13 Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.

CLIFF IRELAND EDITOR IN CHIEF MARISSA MILLOY MANAGING EDITOR CHRISTINE FORONDA NEWS EDITOR CHRISTOPHER BULLOCK NEWS EDITOR JORDAN GREENE COPY EDITOR JAVIER PEREZ OPINION EDITOR LLOYD BRAVO A&E EDITOR SUSAN WHALEY SPORTS EDITOR RALPH CHAPOCO FOCUS EDITOR SCOTT COLSON ONLINE EDITOR STEPHEN DAVIS PHOTO EDITOR YOLANDA GRANADOS PHOTO EDITOR WENDY NELSON ADVISER DEB HELLMAN BUSINESS MANAGER STAFF WRITERS ARIANNE ANTONIO, LOTTIESHA BLANDON, MEGAN BUBAK, PAIGE HARVEY, STEVE KIRCH, JASON KLINGERMAN, JOSHUA LAPORTE, MICHAIL MARININ, REBECCA PETERS, JOSHUA RAY, DAVID SHRUM, JUAN ZUNIGA PHOTOGRAPHERS JOSEPH DAVIS, STEVE PORTER, LUCAS SPENSER, LUCY WHEELER ADDRESS THE TELESCOPE PALOMAR COLLEGE 1140 W. MISSION ROAD, SAN MARCOS, CA 92069 PHONE / 760-891-7865 NEWSROOM / MD-228 WEBSITE/ WWW.THE-TELESCOPE.COM FACEBOOK/ SEARCH “THE TELESCOPE” TWITTER/ @TELESCOPENEWS EMAIL/ EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE.COM AD EMAIL/ ADS@THE-TELESCOPE.COM THE TELESCOPE WELCOMES ALL LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. LETTERS MUST BE TYPEWRITTEN, UNDER 300 WORDS AND INCLUDE THE AUTHOR’S FIRST AND LAST NAMES, MAJOR AND PHONE NUMBER. PHONE NUMBERS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. LETTERS SHOULD BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@THE-TELESCOPE. COM. THE TELESCOPE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT LETTERS FOR SPACE AND GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND NOT TO PRINT LEWD OR LIBELOUS LETTERS. LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE NEWSPAPER’S PUBLICATION TO BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION. THE TELESCOPE IS PUBLISHED 8 TIMES PER SEMESTER. OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE NEWSPAPER ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL WRITERS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE ENTIRE NEWSPAPER STAFF, PALOMAR FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBERS OR THE GOVERNING BOARD TRUSTEES.

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Zero Tolerance, zero results, zero logic MEGAN BUBAK THE TELESCOPE

Why should a kid be condemned for being a kid? Perhaps we didn’t understand the concept of guns, but we still played cops and robbers.

In early March, a fifth grade student named Nathan Entingh was put on a level two suspension notice for pointing his fingers at a friend and saying ‘Boom’.

The teacher then removed him from class and invoked Ohio’s zerotolerance policy.

This policy, known as SB-167, was modified earlier this year to include ‘violent behavior’ along with truancy and bullying to their suspension/expulsion reasoning.

The school and law are being completely reasonable when they saw that they want to protect children in every way imaginable.

They are also being reasonable when they talk about the gravity

Schools want to do everything they can to protect those they are responsible for...

When does their protection become overbearing? of consequences when children are violent in school.

What is not reasonable is when they pull a kid out of school for being a kid and doing something that almost everyone on this planet has done: pointing their fingers to look like a gun.

We all grew up with the same

school rules: no guns or fake guns, no swords or fake swords, no drugs, no alcohol, and no violence. Maybe we’ve even seen the principle a time or two because we ignored the rules.

Then, we have a law in Ohio that makes pointing your fingers like a gun a crime.

Yes, schools want to do everything they can to protect those they are responsible for, but when does their protection become overbearing?

Perhaps this is the only rule that just seem ridiculous to enforce, and these adults needs to just relax about what kids do.

In all honesty, we know the look on someone’s face when they hear about a mass shooting at an elementary school.

It’s a surreal truth that something so young and innocent as a kindergartener is at risk when they skip off to school.

So why was Nathan suspended for this? Was his teacher being too rough? Is the law being misinterpreted?

Maybe, it’s the simple fact that schools are on high alert and won’t take any kind of risk regarding their students.

It’s not like a bullet could pop out of your finger like you’re Inspector Gadget.

How was Nathan supposed to know that pointing his fingers was against the law? Yes, maybe some kind of disciplinary talk should be held for doing that in class. But he should not have been suspended for it, even if it was just for a few days.

Overall, schools and parents should be teaching their kids a basic rule: guns are not toys.

However, they should not punish kids for acting like kids.

MBUBAK@ THE-TELESCOPE.COM

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor, Let’s go back to the Organic topic I was glad to see a discussion about nutrition. However, I have several concerns about the claims made by the writer, and the conclusion she draws.

The article is not a discussion of organic versus non-organic food (inorganic includes metals); it is about the pitfalls of plant-based diets. It assumes that all vegetarians base their food on processed products.

The conclusion is problematical: because meat substitutes contain sodium and carbs, it is better to eat meat.

Quoting “it’s what’s for dinner” shows the reach of the Beef Industry. Problems associated with eating

animal foods are not addressed, including studies implicating high-fat animal foods in heart and gastrointestinal diseases.

She ignores the cruelty of the meat industry, the over-use of antibiotics in farm animals, and the harmful effects of factory farming on communities and the land.

I have been a vegetarian since I was twelve, and vegan for the past eight years.

I researched various nutritional approaches. I have found that most people become vegans because of the cruelty of the animal-based food industry, and that most vegetarians are very aware of additives in foods, cosmetics and household products.

Quoting “it’s what’s for dinner” shows the reach of the Beef Industry.

As a group, veggies are more conscientious label-readers, and get more of our nutrition from fruits and vegetables (organic or not) than do meat-eaters.

I refuse to participate in the inhumane treatment of animals and

the waste of our resources to support a relatively new idea that meat was essential to health.

The meat lobby has worked for years to protect their economic status via expensive subsidies.

I do not actively recommend my diet to others.

But many people feel uncomfortable being around veggies. I wonder if it is because they need to substantiate their own unhealthy eating choices?

Ellen B. Weller, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Music Director, Palomar Symphony Orchestra Performing Arts Department

OPINION • 5

the-telescope.com

But wait, please stop taking so many selfies JAVIER PEREZ THE TELESCOPE

There is something Grimm happening my brothers and sisters.

More and more I see people staring dumfounded with a childlike blankful heart at nothing other than their hands holding a phone.

Some ridiculously twist their lips outward, and others put themselves at great peril to capture a “Selfie”, or as people past their 20s have always called, a self portrait.

And much like the mirror, mirror on the wall, Selfies have become our obsession, a technological crutch to separate us from the outside world unintentionally creating a fixed image of what we should look like even if those standards of beauty are unattainable.

We lie to our own accord seeing only what we want, and unintentionally living in a fairy tale.

Ultimately we have become so self-absorbed that we forget about the outside world.

One thing is apparent. Our inability to focus (regardless what filter you use) on anyone other than ourselves or immediate bow to every knee jerking fad in the internet, unintentionally creating a fixed image of that we should look like even if those standards of beauty are unattainable and inability to think outside the box (or iPhone).

Though some make the claim that the increase in technological connectivity is beneficial, the evidence to the contrary and extreme misuse of this new renaissance can be seen just by walking around, or going to a bar, or a concert.

Though “selfies” have become the norm by making the Oscars

Illustration by Megan Bubak / The Telescope

and Ellen DeGeneres current for another couple months as a trend, the word has been added to the Oxford Dictionary Online along with thought provoking words like “twerk” or “jort”(That’s short for

jeans shorts).

Uniformity seems more imminent; a recent survey by The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery saw an increase in requests for proce-

dures due to patients being more self-aware of looks in social media.

The International Business Times also reported that scientists have found a link between selfies and narcissism.

“Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises the damned-ifyou-do and damned-if-you-don’t spectre of either narcissism or low self-esteem,” said psychologist Pamela Rutledge, according to the IB Times.

In a way our attachment and obsession with making a virtual life is taking our individuality and self-esteem.

When Selfie was added to the Oxford Dictionary Online; Geoffrey Nunberg, a linguist who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information diagnosed the social pitfalls and redundancy of how fickle popular fads can be.

“It used to be in order to make the dictionary you had to have respectable antecedents in literary usage, but now they pick words because of Reddit and things like that generating buzz,” said Nunberg.

Ultimately we become uniformed and impressionable.

There is something very human about taking a picture to capture a moment, but don’t spend all your time updating others on your ordinary life.

So put your phones down and stop making odd poses.

Don’t irritate others with luminescent flashes screaming and reflecting off daffy, self-absorbed grimace that should never be on anyone’s face.

Editor’s note: Send all complains and disagreements to the e-mail below also make sure to attach a selfie to identify who to ignore and avoid.

JPEREZ-TORRES@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

It’s our job as students to stop ridiculous stereotypes LOTTIESHA BLANDON THE TELESCOPE

According to urbandictionary. com, college is “a magical place where it is rumored that learning takes place.”

Described as “a [beautiful] land in which beer flows in amber currents and where virgins lie naked with gentle smiles upon their calm, inviting faces; but more precisely, a Shangri-La rite of passage into adulthood which involves rampant consumption of alcoholic beverages, flagrant and promiscuous sexual behavior, and a general and fundamental disregard for any form of responsibility.”

Wait, wait, what? “Virgins lying naked with gentle smiles upon their calm, inviting faces?” Seriously?

You have got to be kidding me.

I don’t remember seeing anyone lying on the floor and I certainly don’t think I could have possibly missed the amber currents of beer flowing throughout the walkways while walking to class last week.

So maybe urbandictionary.com, is a way for visitors of their website to give the most ridiculous and exaggerated definitions of words but it seems as if this definition is

really what people are beginning to believe college is entirely about.

Take for example, Urban Dictionary’s Twitter account who has over 210,000 followers without even being a verified twitter account. Oxford Dictionaries, who happen to be a verified Twitter account with 116,000 followers.

Let’s be real now. Is this the way our generation is going to continue to define college? Are we really okay with allowing words related to “college” to be synonymous with sex, party, beer, drunk, alcohol, pot, frats and blacking out?

It is not okay for college to continue to be defined this way.

In college, we have students studying countless hours on different subject areas.

We have full-time students with full-time jobs. Students who care about their future and who are working hard to get to where they want to be.

Both sororities and fraternities are to blame for this conception that college is about partying like a rockstar or drinking until you’re someone else’s problem.

According to dictionary. com, a fraternity is “any group or class of persons having common

University of Georgia graduates celebrate during commencement ceremony at Sanford Stadium in Athens • Jason Getz / MCT. Campus

purposes, interests, etc.,” Seems to be that the only commonality these group of people actually have are contributing to the ridiculous conception of college being nothing but partying and sleeping around.

How about posting more pictures on your Instagram’s of the philanthropism you guys claim to be a part of rather than continue to fill our news feeds with your “big’s

and little’s” performing keg stands?

Then we’ve got the annual list of party schools being released such as fiestafrog.com’s “Top 100 college party schools and universities: 2013-2014.” As if that kind of information should dictate what schools students apply and go to.

Enough destroying the college conception.

College is not the time to just party and let loose. We have people

spending thousands of dollars for their education and for the rest of the world to sit back and believe, let alone read this nonsense is ridiculous.

In college we have students who may be stressed at times, but the same students who would appreciate a more positive view on what college really is.

LBLANDON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

6 • A&E

Monday, March 31, 2014

Cabaret ensemble members perform “The Telephone Song” during the dress rehearsal in the Howard Brubek Theatre. Lucas Spenser/The Telescope

‘Cabaret’ gleams with grace, glitz and style JASON KLINGERMAN THE TELESCOPE

The Performing Arts Department’s production of “Cabaret,” directed

by Pat Larmer, opened March 7 to welcome, or rather, “willkommen,” a full house.

As the lights dimmed for the opening number, the Master of Ceremonies, as any earnest Emcee would do, grabbed the audience by a hook and never let them go. Caled Halsted played the highly coveted role, and thrived after a slightly tense opening number supported by the Kit Kat Klub Girls.

Halsted Jumped in and out of Jane Craig-Jones’ flamboyant and gender bending costumes and cruised up and down Larmer’s and scenic designer Christopher J. Sinnott’s sets and layouts. It took Halsted time to fully

evoke the decadent, cosmopolitan atmosphere of 1930’s Berlin, but it did not take long.

The action was so close that, when the first three rows were introduced to the Sally Bowles (Emilee Brown) in “Don’t Tell Mama,” and when they saw Cliff Bradshaw (Joshua Mekbel) provoke Sally to kiss him by reciting poetry, they felt they were in the Kit Kat Klub.

The enclosed space changed the audience’s engagement with the actors, creating a more private and intimate setting for Cliff, the self-proclaimed “starving artist” and novelist. Thanks to the spotlight work and lighting of Matthew Novotny, silhouettes performed onstage with their masters.

Shadows danced on the scuffed walls of the apartment, bringing attention to the griminess of his quarters.

Not every moment was perfect.The choreography of Sue Gibson was sound

but lacked polish, and the ensemble was clumsy during certain numbers.

The Kit Kat Klub is supposed to be lively. Music plays in the background as characters interact but the volume of the piano, saxophone, and drums together was too distracting. At times the dialogue was barely audible.

But these are nitpicks. The “Intr’Act” performance, aided by the Halsted’s Emcee, dressed in drag and wearing black leather boots with five inch heels, made up for any discrepancies.

The comic relief was most welcoming after the looming number “Tomorrow Belongs To Me—Reprise,” which was led by a surprisingly strong performance by Julia Miranda Smith as Fraulein Kost.

The belated love shared by Fraulein Schneider (Lisa Laughbaum) and the Jewish fruit vendor Herr Schultz (Bruce Blackwell) was finely executed and adorable. Laughbaum’s impressive

vocals outshined Blackwell’s in “It Couldn’t Please Me More,” but Blackwell supplemented the number with his silly and charming quirks.

Cliff Bradshaw, the manifestation of the real life Christopher Isherwood, is a tricky role for any actor to play, and Menkel is commended for his effort.

The role asks you to portray a bisexual writer, handsome but rather timid, who unexpectedly conquers a cabaret girl, for a time.

The delicate moment when Cliff’s transformation should occur is still somewhat elusive. Mekbel was too expository from the start, and although he took control in act two, it may have come too late to convince the audience that Mekbel’s Cliff was capable of grounding the “mobile” Sally and briefly draining her of her fluid promiscuity.

Brown was sexy and sly when she needed to be, but her bouncy

and disarming nature captivated her audience. The emotional connection Brown commanded, and Halsted’s triumph over early jitters, springing him to a spectacular finish, made this production all the more provocative, hilarious, heartwarming, heartbreaking.

Barely encumbered by its ambitions, Larmer’s production hit the bleakness and disillusionment of the original post-World War II musical with near perfect precision.

The impending doom of the rise of the Third Reich, the anti-Semitism of the Nazi party, and the grave reality that it could happen again were not lost to Larmer. It is a narrative that must be retold and updated, and we were honored with a worthy addition to the conversation.

JKLINGERMAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Daughter’s difference inspires children’s book JASON KLINGERMAN THE TELESCOPE

Walking into Lori Mitchell’s home, before entering the studio where she composes her illustrations, a coffee table holding several portraits can be seen by the stairwell.

Amongst the pictures, there is a familiar looking face of a young man donning an orange V-neck.

It is the mugshot of Justin Beiber after his arrest, framed and placed among the others.

When asked about the photo, Mitchell laughed nervously and said she feared her daughter, April, might be embarrassed for placing it there after his arrest in January.

The mock homage to the bad boy pop star reveals a playful and witty side to April, who was Mitchell’s chief inspiration for her book, “Different Just Like Me,” which received national recognition after being presented on The Oprah Show.

If not for her daughter April, the book may have never been written.

April was born with Vitiligo, a rare

Palomar College Faulty Member Lori Mitchell is the author and illustrator of the children’s book, “Different Just Like Me”. Yolanda Granados/ The Telescope

condition in which you lose melanin, the pigments that determine the color of your skin.

“April was four when her Vitiligo began to show on her face”, Mitchell said. “She was almost a year when she started to get it but you couldn’t see it.”

As April grew she knew she was different, but she also saw differences in people that were around her.

“She was four years old…we went to a Padres game, and she asked a question about everybody in the whole stadium. Like, ‘well how come that guy’s so tall?’ and ‘how come

that person’s in a wheel chair?’ and ‘how come that person has a dog with them here at the stadium?’”

For Mitchell, it was not good enough for her to simply tell her daughter what she saw. After the game she wanted to find a book that could show April the differences in people and how those differences are accepted.

“There wasn’t a book with everyone all together. I found a book on disabilities, and a book about different races, a book about different gender information…there was one book about seeing impaired, one book about people who are deaf…but there wasn’t one book that had everybody all together.”

Upon publication, Mitchell not only taught April about the multiplicity of people and life, she wrote a book that would affect children all over the world with its universal message of diversity and acceptance.

“I pretty much was doing it for (April),” Mitchell added, “I didn’t

even think it was going to be around, that other people would be reading it.”

Drawing heavily from her own life, the sincerity and distinctiveness of Mitchell’s detailed illustrations add to the books initial praise and contribute to its lasting impression.

Search “Revolution” by the John Butler Trio on YouTube and April can be seen standing with people from all walks of life, all colors and creeds, all different but all beautiful in their own way.

April doesn’t try to hide her Vitiligo. She’s made her condition a part of her life, exerting control over it. In a video interview, April said she likes it and it’s given her some unique opportunities.

“We own our own pride. We don’t have to be ashamed of who we are, no matter what we look like.

We can take back who we are and not let anyone tell us who we are,” Mitchell said JKLINGERMAN@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

A&E • 7

the-telescope.com

With intimidating fashion, looks can be deceiving JUAN ZUNIGA

gel wing backpack because the colors are bright and the wings make an impression on people.

Vo: My favorites are beanies and hats. I like to have a variety to choose from and wear, from time to time.

Love the way they look. It’s usually a must for what I wear every day.

THE TELESCOPE

19-year-old Biology/Psychology student, Jocelyn Sarasua, and Nikko Vo, 20, may come off as intimidating, at first. However, they have the kind hearts that match their shy, quiet and caring personalities.

“While many people think I am fashionable, I tend to disagree with that statement. I personally do not call myself stylish because I am only wearing clothes that I love and make me feel good,” Sarasua said.

“My personality does not match up with what I wear, to be honest.

Maybe matches about, only 20%. I act like a nerd,” Vo said. “I’m alright on being stylish.”

The fashionable duo shared their thoughts on fashion and personal style, with The Telescope:

5. What makes a person fashionable or stylish?

Sarasua: I can’t pinpoint what makes one “stylish,” but my guess would be what reflects how you feel inside. People can wear whatever they want, and by wearing it, they are in their own sense fashionable. But, in my opinion, there is no real fashionable person out there. Everyone is unique in their own way.

Vo: I guess you just have to express yourself with what you wear and not to be afraid of what you like.

Wear what you think looks good. Be creative.

1. How would you describe your fashion sense?

6. Is fashion important?

Sarasua: My fashion sense is a mixture between the Japanese Harajuku Street Style and Korean hip hop style.

Vo: Not quite sure to be honest.

It’s random every day. But, I guess the closest matchup would be Korean hip hop style.

2. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Sarasua: My inspiration for fashion is derived mostly, if not entirely from the Japanese and Korean cultures. At first, it came from my obsession over anime. Then, it came from Harajuku street style, which I discovered when looking at Japanese websites.

Nikko Vo and Jocelyn Sarasua express their stylish blend of Japanese and Korean cultures. Yolanda Granados• The Telescope Vo: Usually from my favorite idols in Korea, they dance/sing/rap and have an amazing style. I like to be you more insight on what another shopping, among other places. It 4. What’s your favorite piece unique and not too much on trends. country’s trends are. They sell things is better than shopping at the mall, of accessory or clothing? you don’t often see here in the U.S., sometimes, but not always. I shop Sarasua: My favorite accessory 3. Where do you shop? such as my favorite heel-less plat- cheap and rarely buy expensive would have to be the addition of Sarasua: The places I shop vary, form wedges. clothes. spikes or anything gold. It gives my I shop on online websites, they give Vo: Thrift shopping, Ross, online outfits more edge. I also love my an-

Sarrasua: Fashion can be important, depending on what perspective you look at it from. How you dress is your first impression on a person you meet for the first time. Fashion helps people be creative and dig deep to find themselves.

It can differentiate you from other people, and most importantly, helps you express who you are as a person.

But honestly, who cares what the world thinks of you and your fashion, it all comes down to you and how you feel.

Vo: Don’t want to say yes or no, so I’ll just state my opinion. People like to look good, while others like to just slip on a random shirt and jeans and walk out the door.

But, I always enjoy people with a unique and different style because it tells people a little bit about who you are. To me, fashion is a good thing to have.

JZUNIGA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Dazzling duo jazzes it up in unexpected concert hour performance STEVE KIRCH THE TELESCOPE

On March 13, Concert Hour received a pleasant, but unexpected surprise when an hour of Opera turned into an hour of Jazz.

Spectators expected to see Palomar College alumnus Danielle Perrault sing opera in front of a packed house in Palomar’s D-10, instead heard the musical Jazz stylings of Leonard Patton and pianist Michael Leroy Peed.

Perrault had to cancel her performance because she came down with a case of Laryngitis two days before her performance.

Publicity assistant Rachael Kolb said that when Perrault contacted her to let her know that she couldn’t perform, the first person she thought of was Patton.

“I’ve been Leonard’s fan on Facebook since 2008, since the first time I saw him sing at Dizzy’s in San Diego,” Kolb said.

Mr. Patton didn’t disappoint by

Leonard Patton performs March 13 in room D-10. • Photo Courtesy Rachel Kolb

offering spectators a collection of classics and Jazz standards that suit his rich, smoky voice and unique style.

For his first song, Patton did a

rendition of the Stevie Wonder classic ”Love’s in Need of Love Today.”

Before each song, Patton gave the audience some background on each selection and said Wonder was a big

influence on him growing up.

Patton followed up with a collection of Jazz standards, one of which he wrote himself titled “Leonard’s Song.”

He said that he started singing jazz in 1991, when he was studying music at San Diego Mesa College.

It was around that time the school’s musical director, James Romeo invited him to sing jazz in the school’s big band.

Patton said that he didn’t grow up singing jazz, but had to learn how to sing it.

“Jazz has a language to it... It’s a matter of understanding the language. Not singing well, but grasping the improv side,” Patton said.

During the performance, Patton also played the Cajon, which is a drum that a performer can sit on while singing. He played it during most the Jazz songs.

Along with Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, gospel, and Jazz, Patton admits that he’s also a big fan of 80’s pop. For his last song, he did his own interpretation of the Tears for Fears

classic “Everybody wants to Rule the World”.

When asked if she was worried if the audience would take to Patton, because they were expecting Opera, Kolb said she wasn’t worried at all.

“Leonard is so good and people love him... he makes it look so easy,” Kolb said.

Prior to playing Palomar, Patton and Peed played for the first time together just a week before at Northern Sprits in San Marcos on March 7.

Peed said that the San Diego musicians are a close knit community and pretty much everybody works together at some point. If two people want to work together they pretty much contact each other on Facebook.

Peed began playing piano when he was 4-years-old and he previously worked at Caesar’s Palace.

The two men said that they plan to work together more in the future, including another performance at Northen Spirits.

SKIRCH@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

8 • FOCUS

Monday, March 31, 2014

Orchestrating your social media image

LOTTIESHA BLANDON THE TELESCOPE

You applied for a great job, but still have not heard back from the hiring manager. Your cover letter was great and the resume you worked on for weeks was impeccable.

Did you forget to delete that Instagram video from Thursday night? Yes, the one with you guzzling down a bottle of alcohol while throwing up the infamous Captain Morgan leg pose? The same video linked to your Facebook, which is also linked to your Twitter account?

It seems as though people are having a hard time understanding that whatever is placed on their social media websites is also available to millions of eyes around the world. Regardless if you place your profiles on private, all it takes is one “screenshot.” Someone you follow may screenshot your photo and then easily send it to who they want or post it where they want.

Every friend that person has on their page that you don’t have on yours can see your picture now too.

We are all connected. Even when we think we are not, we are. Friends, family, employers, friends of friends and friends of friends of friends... the information we place online can be easily obtained by others.

Employers are beginning to take advantage of social media websites to determine if they should or should not hire particular employees or interns.

Many seem to ignore the fact that they are building their own reputations through what they place online. It is up to each individual to make the best of what they are putting out there for the world to see. One should take advantage of their social media websites by building their personal image or brand.

Research yourself

“Google it!” It’s a phrase used when we don’t seem to have the

answers we’re looking for. Many tend to forget that they can Google themselves.

What search results pop up when you search your first and last name together? What pictures are in the image results? Googling yourself is important because you get to see what information is available to employers who may search your name through a search engine.

According to CareerBuilder.com, a nationwide survey “conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder from February 11 to March 6, 2013, and included more than 2,100 hiring managers and human resource professionals, found that nearly two in five companies (39 percent) use social networking sites to research job candidates, up from 37 percent last year (2012).”

Make sure to be aware of what information is available online and to remove any “digital dirt” that you wouldn’t want a potential employer to encounter. For the best results, try searching from a public computer to ensure you’re getting the correct results.

A great way to manage what information is out there in relation to your name is to set up a “Google alert” for your name.

Photo Illustration by Scott Colson

Think twice

Does the world really need to see that picture?

Do your friends need to know the biggest issues going on in your relationship?

In his book, “For Single People Who Still Understand the Value of a Relationship,” Rob Hill Sr. says, “Find healthy ways to communicate with one another, other than silent cries for attention on social networks.”

“A relationship is not a public playground,” Hill outlines in his

book. There is a time and place for certain things and it is important to think twice about what is being shared with the rest of the world.

I get it. We love to tweet and share our newest opportunities and biggest accomplishments. We feel good when it happens but more importantly we love to share it with friends through our social media websites.

Let’s take it back to March 2009 when UC Berkely student Connor Riley landed a job with Cisco.

“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work,” is what Riley tweeted.

Well turns out Riley never got the chance to cash in on a “fatty paycheck,” because a Cisco employee happened to pass her tweet along to one of the hiring managers. No job for Riley.

According to careerbuilder. com, “research suggests that hiring managers are using social media to get a glimpse at the candidate’s behavior and personality outside of the interview, and are most interested in professional presentation and how the candidate would fit with the company culture.”

“I don’t like it, since they will tend to judge prospective employees based on their personal lives rather than their professional lives. But still, people put up their stuff on what is essentially public, so it’s legally fair game,” Palomar student Patrick Lim said.

We need to be smart about what is out there and can’t allow our online presence to ruin our chances at landing a great job!

Sometimes it helps to pretend that you are being “followed” by certain employers. It helps because you are able to question yourself and question if what you post is appropriate for these types of employers.

According to Career Builder’s 2013 study, the top three mentions of inappropriate behavior employers seemed to find and actually remove candidates from getting jobs with them were candidate postings of provocative and/or inappropriate photos and info, candidates drinking or using drugs and candidates bad mouthing a previous employer.

Clean it up

The information that we have out on the Internet is available 24/7.

One thing about social media is it is constantly being updated itself.

Privacy settings are also something that is often changing and we tend to forget to check our settings regularly.

Make sure that your privacy settings are set up the correct way.

Leave the negative thoughts and pictures that may be controversial off of the Internet, keep it personal. It is the best way to avoid any issues later down the line.

“The first and foremost piece of advice I would give is don’t write anything down and distribute it unless you want the world to see it.

Everything we are doing online, we are crafting that. We are creating our personality online. Be strategical and tactical with your information,” Google Media Outreach Leader Nicholas Whitaker said.

Put yourself out there in a positive way. Lisa Vaughn-Olstad, creative and digital marketing lead agent for Aquent, says the best thing to do is to make yourself memorable. Show the world what makes you different and unique.

Make sure that what you have online is updated and that the social media websites you are using are a positive reflection of you.

Take advantage of your social media website by putting yourself out there in the best way. The greatest thing about sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, are that they are free. Why not be your own publicist and build your image?

“You are basically putting your name out there and saying you approve this message. Anyone who were to come to your social media pages, they would say, this is what the person is about, this is the quality of the person that they are. I think that if you start doing it from that perspective, everything else kind of falls into place,” Whitaker said.

LBLANDON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

NEWS • 9

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OSA

CONT FROM PAGE 1

However, not every dollar is spent directly on student benefits since there are administrative costs associated with the program.

According to Sherry Titus, director of the Office of Student Affairs, an estimated $91,000 is used to pay for salaries and benefits of the student activities coordinator.

Another $20,000 to $30,000 is directed toward student workers to assist with the events and student needs. This leaves $44,000 to $54,000 to go directly for student benefits for the entire year.

Faculty and staff can request money out of this fund to pay for events that will benefit students throughout the Palomar Campus.

Titus estimated her office disbursed nearly $2,300 to outside entities so far this year, about 1 percent of the budget.

One reason the student activities budget has been depleted has to do with paying salary and benefits of the student activities coordinator out of the student activities budget itself, a practice the previous director of OSA, Bruce Bishop never intended.

Administrators at different colleges pointed to the same concern as well.

The sale of I.D. cards is not a stable revenue stream. In a given year sales can be robust or flat depending on the economic environ-

FIRE

CONT FROM PAGE 1

According to Sgt. Everard Dayrit of the Sheriff’s Department, the investigation for the previous nine fires is still in progress, but would not give any further details.

To date, Cook is only being charged in connection with the last fire and not with any of the earlier fires that have taken

ment and if sales fall to a very low level there may not even be enough sales to support the position.

“She loses her job…That’s her fear. In fact that’s a big fear of hers that her salary is contingent on the sale of these cards,” Titus added.

Sherry Titus defends the practice in the following way, “but that also makes her work really hard on selling these cards and selling what we give here.”

Different administrators cite a second concern with the practice.

Every dollar that is spent on salaries and benefits is one less dollar spent on benefits to students. The $121,000 spent on administrative costs could go to more programmatic events to increase student involvement on campus, or to new equipment to enhance the student experience, or to a whole host of other amenities that students need and want.

However, Titus argues that the benefits the card offers already far outweigh the price of purchasing the card.

“If you were to calculate everything on this (card) it’s well worth the $15 a semester. I calculated it once before and it seems like $200 if you used everything, every time.”

Ultimately, Women’s Studies found an alternative funding source for the event. However, since it is only March other events may be in danger of going unfunded.

RCHAPOCO@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

place at the San Marcos campus.

Deputy District Attorney Cal Logan said there is a court order that has been put in place that mandates Cook to stay away from the Palomar campus.

If convicted, Cook could be sentenced to three years in jail.

His next scheduled court appearance is April 17 at the Vista Courthouse.

CIRELAND@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Palomar Nursing student Brittney Charlot casts her vote during the ASG forum March 26. •Stephen Davis / The Telescope

Student Government uses open forum for input and outreach CHRISTINE FORONDA THE TELESCOPE

The first Associated Student Government forum of the semester took place from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the student union on March 26.

ASG President Genesis Gilroy said in a previous ASG meeting that she hoped the forum would allow students to ask questions and voice concerns about Palomar College and the student government.

She also said she wants to continue to increase the awareness of the presence of the ASG on campus.

“We want students to be aware that we exist and to know what we are,” Gilroy said. “Secondly, we want to advertise our polls and get students to voice in.”

She added that she also wanted to let students know about the elections coming this May. Students flocked to the booths

even before the ASG finished setting up, eager to vote on certain topics on campus and ask Gilroy and Vice President Shant Soghomonian questions about how to participate in the ASG election.

Soghomonian and Senator Javier Tovar manned the booth that had poll boxes allowing students to cast their votes on issues.

These included whether or not to allow e-cigarettes on campus and whether they agreed or disagreed with the parking fee increase.

Senator Carlos Araujo passed out free popcorn and candy to those who voted and the ASG members offered water and lemonade to students as well.

The booths also displayed fliers detailing the open positions for the upcoming election and had contact information for students interested in applying for candidacy.

Student Juan Morales said that he applied for a delegate

position and is looking forward to being considered as part of next semester’s student government.

“I want to help other students out with any problems they may have such as bookstore and parking permit (prices) and let them know we are here to serve them,” Morales said. “I am excited.”

Student Andy Tenchavez said he was glad that students had a chance to voice their opinions through voting.

“It’s pretty great to hear that (voting) was going on,” Tenchavez said. “If I didn’t walk in here I wouldn’t have been able to vote and I wouldn’t know what’s going to go on with Palomar College’s future.”

He added “It is good that the ASG wants to hear from every individual student…I think it’s a great idea to do this event for us because it helps us.”

CFORONDA@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

10 • NEWS

Monday, March 31, 2014

MOVIE CONT. FROM PAGE 1

military that is male dominant.

Many of the rape survivors said they joined the military with ideas grandeur: family tradition, adventure, patriotism, and a chance for a quality education.

However, reality and terror would soon set in for these women.

It is reported that over 20 percent of female veterans have been sexually assaulted while serving in the military, or an estimated 500,000 since 1991.

However, 80 percent don’t report due to fear of retaliation by superiors.

The film has many testimonials from rape survivors, but the most explicit one was given by Kori Cioca.

Cioca is an ex-U.S. Coast Guard veteran who carries a crucifix and Swiss Wesson switch blade on her at all times “You always have help with Jesus, but sometimes you need a little more,” Cioca said.

While she was stationed in Michigan, Cioca was sexually harassed, assaulted and raped by her unit’s commanding officer.

Due to the assault, she suffered nerve damage and a dislocation in her jaw from when her rapist attacked her.

To this day she can only eat soft foods like Jell-O and mashed the potatoes.

Due to the condition of her jaw, Cioca filed a claim with the VA for surgery, but the claim gets denied, even though the x-rays and doctors show proof she needs surgery.

Like many rape survivors in the film,

Palomar Students attend a screening of The Invisible War on March 26 hosted by the Women’s Studies program • Yolanda Granados/ The Telescope

Cioca said she considered suicide.

The movie shows her reading a suicide letter that she wrote to her mother.

Cioca said she was going to overdose on pain pills but changed her mind when she found out she was pregnant.

Cioca’s assailant was never prosecuted and to this day he is still serving in U.S. Coast Guard.

The filmmakers depict many reasons why rape goes unpunished in the military.

One reason is that 33 percent of the time the rapist is a friend of the commanding officer and 25 percent of the time the commanding officer was the

rapist.

In the film, military investigation experts said commanding officers have the final word on how a rape investigation proceeds.

Many of the rape victims said that along with their assailants going unpunished and lack of due process, most of them were victims of professional retaliation.

In the movie, attorney Susan Burke, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of rape survivors against the U.S. military, said that rape survivors in the military said that only thing worse than rape was the professorial retaliation they suffered.

PANEL CONT. FROM PAGE 1

person, and afforded them the opportunity to get and education, find out what they wanted to do with their life, open up career opportunities and see the world and different cultures.

In the documentary, many of the rape survivors said they would not advise young women to join the military.

However, at the panel, Megan Stone, who is a 10 year staff sergeant in the U.S. Marines, said that she has loved her time in the Marines and would recommend it to any young woman if that is what she wants to do with her life.

Stone is in the process of transferring to San Diego State University from San Diego Mesa College to pursue a degree in kinesiology.

When it came to sexual harassment and assault in the military, Wilma Owens, a dean at Palomar College who served as a major in the Marines for over 10 years, said that there has to be a complete cultural

SPANISH CONT. FROM PAGE 1

The traditional part of the Spanish classes will be offered four times a week, just less than five hours each day.

“If you prioritize the right way and are used to school and good with time management, you can get it done,” said Spanish student and Foreign Language Lab Assistant Stacie Cruz.

According to Sheahan, it helps to take these types of courses intensively because when language

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Megan Stone speaks during the Women in Military Forum held March 27.• Stephen Davis/The Telescope

shift. She said there needs to be an environment of zero tolerance going up to the joint chiefs where assailants are prosecuted.

Owens said that she personally

is fresh on your mind you do better with it.

However, Sheahan wants to make sure students know the foreign language courses are not your typical lecture type of classes.

“We try to make our classes really interactive where students are doing things with each other.

It’s not like a lecture base where you just sit there. It makes the summer go by, it’s doable,” Sheahan said.

Sheahan said the foreign language department is excited

was never a victim or witnessed it, but did hear of stories from Vietnam veterans.

“Invisible War” advocates for discretion of sexual harassment and assault prosecution to be taken away from company commanders and the need for an outside civilian agency to prosecute.

Stone, who also serves as uniform victim advocate, said she can see both sides of the argument but believes people need to have faith in their leaders and would like to see the power stay with company commanders.

In her 18 months as a uniform victim advocate, Stone said she has never had to represent a victim of sexual harassment or assault.

Owens said that the military believes that the commanders have to be in charge of the discipline, and their solution is to do away with bad commanders.

SKIRCH@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

to offer students the opportunity to get a language done within their own time frame so that these students can transfer and continue to move forward.

“I think it would be a good thing because it’s better to get it all done in the summer. It’s like a Band-Aid. Peel it fast and get it over with rather than pulling it slowly and painfully,” said Palomar College Spanish student Scott Sevigne.

LBLANDON@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

cuses strictly on prevention and care, and does nothing to address the problem of a rapist not being prosecuted and giving victims their due process rights.

Near the end of the movie, filmmakers show a lawsuit that was filed by 17 rape survivors and Burke in February 2011, against the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Robert Gates and former secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

In several of the plaintiffs’ cases, the victim had been forced to work with the accused rapist after reporting them for sexual assault and less than one in five cases are prosecuted.

However, the lawsuit would be dismissed by the federal court citing that rape is an “occupational hazard.”

The purpose of the documentary is to urge congress to create an outside civilian entity to represent rape victims in investigations and prosecute rapist.

Keely J. Barrett, a student at Palomar who served in the Marines for 27 years, said told fellow students and faculty during an open forum that people do get prosecuted for sexual assault and harassment in the military, but unfortunately the ones who are part of the incrowd or clique are the ones who get away with it.

It is reported at the end of the film that in April 2012 Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, watched the film and two days later took prosecution duties away from unit commanding officers

For example, Lt. Elle Hemer who was stationed at the U.S. Marine Barracks in Washington D.C in 2006, the most prestigious unit in the Marine Corps., was charged with public intoxication and conduct unbecoming by her superior officer, even though she was ordered to attend and drink at a bar event on the night in question by the unit’s commanding officer who raped her.

Since 2004, the military’s response to sexual assault has been the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program.

However, Burke said that SARP fo- SKIRCH@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

SPORTS • 11

the-telescope.com

Comets match high standards over break STEVE KIRCH THE TELESCOPE

On March 20 Palomar men’s tennis team scored its second straight win of the spring break period with a 5-4 win over San Diego City College.

In the first round, Palomar split its singles match play 3-3, with freshmen Angelo Gustillo (6-2 ,61), Vince Rivera (6-3, 6-4), and Evan Davis (6-1,6-0) winning in straight sets.

Rivera played a considerably larger opponent in his first round match against Scott Samperio of SDCC. Samperio stands at 6 feet 6 inches, but Rivera said he wasn’t intimidated by the height difference because he played him earlier this season at SDCC and beat him.

Head coach Ronnie Mancoa credits Rivera with having good strategy against Samperio by keeping the ball low and keeping his taller opponent off balance.

“Hit them low, slice them low, run them around. Big guys tire easily,” Rivera said.

In the second round, Palomar won its doubles match play 2-1, with doubles partners Angelo Gustillo/ Vince Rivera (6-2, 6-1) and Chris Orbe/Zev Dutta (6-4, 7-5) winning in straight sets.

Orbe and Dutta were relieved to win their doubles match, since both lost in singles.

“I played doubles all through high school. All four years ... so I put a lot pressure on myself to win at my doubles,” Dutta said.

Orbe said it would have been nice to play the person he lost to in singles in his doubles match so he could get revenge, but acknowledged that once a match is over with, you have to move on and focus on your next opponent no matter who it is.

Mancao said this was an important win for his young team of freshmen, since SDCC beat the Comets earlier this season 6-3 at SDCC. The win moved Palomar to 4-10 overall and 4-6 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference.

However, it was Palomar’s second straight win, which gave them a perfect record over spring break.

On March 18, Palomar beat Vic-

Above: Palomar tennis player Evan Davis hits a two-handed backhand in a singles match against Saddleback’s Ethan Muskins at Palomar Feb 21. Below: Palomar men’s tennis player Thomas Pelletier hits a backhand slice in a singles match against Saddleback College at Palomar’s tennis courts. The Comets went on to lose to the Gauchos 9-0. • Photos by Scott Colson/The Telescope

I played doubles all through high school. All four years ... so I put a lot pressure on myself to win at my doubles.

ZEV DUTTA• PALOMAR TENNIS PLAYER

tor Valley College 5-4.

Even though it’s been a long season for the Comets, the players were upbeat during the match, joking around, laughing and being supportive of one another before, during and after matches.

Many of the players also said they weren’t disappointed with having to play two matches over spring break, because they would have been training or working on their game anyway.

“I went to the beach yesterday so it’s okay. I had some spring break.

But I like coming out here playing.

I like the guys and spending time with them,” Davis said.

Mancao said he is very pleased with the development of the team, but occasionally needs to remind them to work on their movement during points.

These statistics are from March 20 and the team has played since.

Updated stats on the team and players can be found on Palomar’s website.

SKIRCH@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Kaminsky and Wisconsin headed to Final Four BILL ORAM MCT CAMPUS

ANAHEIM, Calif. - One final shot was off target and too late.

Like the three other times Arizona played in an Elite Eight here, the Wildcats already had trudged off the court by the time the nets came down in Anaheim.

And Saturday night ended with Bo Ryan on the shoulders of the players who carried the Wisconsin coach to his first Final Four. It required overtime in front of 17,814 at Honda Center, but Ryan and the Badgers held on to defeat No. 1 seed Arizona, 64-63, in a topsyturvy game in which Arizona was given a final possession after

an officials’ review and Nick Johnson’s potential winner _ the sort of shot that defines March Madness _ was off course and after the final buzzer.

“This is like nothing else I’ve ever felt before,” said Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky, who finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds.

“We’ve all played basketball our whole lives, and we’ve all dreamed of going to the Final Four. To accomplish that is something I can’t put into words.”

The Badgers will play the winner of Sunday’s KentuckyMichigan game.

Kaminsky, the 7-footer, scored 20 of his points after halftime, at which point the Badgers trailed,

28-25, against a Wildcats team that throughout the tournament had only gotten stronger in the second half. Arizona is 0-4 in regional finals played in Anaheim, most recently in 2011.

The Wildcats’ likely NBA lottery pick, freshman Aaron Gordon, missed his first eight shots, but finished with eight points and 18 rebounds. Johnson, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, finished with 16 points, but he missed all four of his shots in overtime, including a jumper after the buzzer that could have sent Arizona to the Final Four in Arlington, Texas.

“If I had to go back and do it,” Johnson said, “I probably would have taken one dribble less and try

to pull up and get the shot off. But they made it tough.” Arizona only had the ball after a lengthy review determined the ball had gone off of Wisconsin with 2.3 second left after an inbounds play.

On the play before, Johnson was called for an offensive foul trying to get to the basket.

For Wisconsin, it will be just the third Final Four in school history, and the first since 2000. And for Ryan, who became the Badgers’ coach in 2001, the day had extra meaning.

His father, Butch, died in August, but would have turned 90 Saturday. After Arizona tied the game at 54 with 31 seconds remaining in regulation, the

Badgers ran the clock nearly to zero before Traevon Jackson threw up an unwieldy jumper that never had much of a chance, forcing overtime. Once there, Wisconsin never trailed. But the Wildcats had two opportunities to take the lead.

First, the play in which Johnson was called for the charge. Then, the final play. Jackson guarded Johnson carefully. But, with Kaminsky defending the rim, Jackson made up for his end-of-regulation miss with smothering defense.

Jackson said he knew not to touch Johnson and “give the ref a chance” to call a foul. “Once I saw the buzzer go off and the ball still in his hands,” Jackson said, “I just knew it was over from there.”

12 • SPORTS

Monday, March 31, 2014

UPCOMING PALOMAR HOME GAMES April 1 Men’s Tennis 2 p.m. vs Imperial Valley

April 2 Men’s Volleyball 6 p.m. vs Orange Coast @ The Dome Palomar pitcher Emilio Esquibel starts his delivery against Mt San Jacinto at Myers Field March 22. Esquibel pitched eight scoreless innings. •Stephen Davis / The Telescope

Comets vs. Eagles: a pitching duel RALPH CHAPOCO THE TELESCOPE

The Palomar College Comets shutout the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles 4-0 to preserve its first place standing in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference on March 22.

The highlight of the game was the strong pitching performance of Palomar’s Emilio Esquibel as he baffled Eagles hitters all afternoon long en route to his fourth victory of the season. He would finish the day having allowed six hits while striking out two and walking one.

Esquibel’s performance was dominating. He consistently threw strikes and dared the San Jacinto hitters to put the ball into play.

When they obliged, the majority of the put outs were on the ground, 12 of them to be exact, and one was turned into a critical double play.

His pitching skills were on full display against San Jacinto as he had to get himself out of a few jams early.

He was most stressed in the top of the second. After getting Man-

ny Mendoza to ground out, Jaime Walls reached base on an error by shortstop Dennis Morton. Zach Fyfe then had an infield single to third and Kyle Mead walked to load the bases. Fortunately for Esquibel, David Alonzo hit into the aforementioned double play to end the threat.

He was able to strand six Eagle base runners through the first four innings and only allowed one more hitter to reach base through the rest of the game.

He is no flame thrower and he would be the first to tell you that; his fast ball tops out at 82 to 83 miles per hour and he also has a late breaking curve ball to go along with a split-finger that he uses as his “out” pitch. He makes up for it by changing speeds as well as location and keeping the hitters off balance.

“I’m not a really big strikeout guy so I just try to pitch to contact,” Esquibel declared.

Contrast that with Augie Gallardo; San Jacinto’s starting pitcher.

Gallardo is a four pitch pitcher featuring a fastball, curveball, slider

and change but his control leaves a lot to be desired. He completed his afternoon having allowed two runs, both of them were earned, while walking six and striking out five in his six innings of work.

Despite Gallardo’s control issues the Palomar Comet hitters failed to take advantage early. The team’s best chance came in the third inning. After Aaron Blackwell struck out, Gallardo walked Chris Stratton, Dillan Smith and Dennis Morton in succession.

Unfortunately for the Comets catcher Francis Christy popped out and Anthony Fernandez hit into a fielder’s choice; visibly irritating head baseball coach Buck Taylor in the dugout.

Regardless of the early frustration Comet hitters kept trying and their efforts paid off in the subsequent inning. The sequence began with a Nathan Mann base on balls and a single

by Alec Salcedo to put runners on first and second.

It was here where Gallardo made his most crucial mistake. He was not having much success with his off

speed pitches so he had to go with his fastball. Unfortunately for Gallardo he threw it up and out over the plate and Aaron Blackwell deposited the pitch into the right center field gap, scoring both Mann and Salcedo. The Comets never looked back.

Palomar scored two more insurance runs in the seventh for a 4-0 lead which they never relinquished.

Gary Cornish pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the shutout.

When asked about his reaction to the game Coach Taylor said, “Pitching wise we absolutely were lights out…Offensively we’ve got a long way to go. We left a lot of runners on second and third base. We might have left 14 guys on base today.”

Winning teams lean on their strengths and the Comets did just that with the pitching staff but the hitting and the offensive production are woefully inadequate if the team wants to continue to be competitive.

That is something the team will have to work on moving forward.

April 3 Women’s Tennis 2 p.m. vs Grossmont

April 8 Baseball 2 p.m. vs San Diego Mesa @ Myers Field

April 11 Softball 3 p.m. vs Grossmont

April 17-19 Swim & Dive 9 a.m. PCAC championship meet @ Wallace Memorial Pool

RCHAPOCO@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

First host match results in medalist SUSAN WHALEY THE TELESCOPE

Sophomore Aaron Whitely scored one-under par at the Twin Oaks tournament on March 19.

Whitely shot a medal winning 71 which helped the Palomar Men’s Golf team place second with a score of 376 behind College of the Desert.

COD is the biggest competition this year, scoring a 365 on the Comets home course.

Head Golf Coach Mark Halda said he was happy with Aaron making medalist.

“He has been working hard and deserved his accomplishment,” Halda said.

Whitely said he had been working on a play called a draw which contributed to his success on the course. He added that knowing the course also

helps.

“Hole 9 isn’t usually an easy hole,” Whitely said. He birdied it and made par on every other hole.

Kelly Cannon said this is the windiest he has seen it in on the course, but it makes par a good score when it’s windy.

Kelly made par on the first six holes, until hole seven he shot a double bogey.

“I haven’t done that since I was five,” Kelly said laughing.

He came back with two straight birdies on hole 12 and 13, and another on hole 18.

Mitch Cannon shot and Cullen Clifford both shot a 76.

Brian Cole teed off with a two stroke penalty as the ball flew out of bounds. He finished the day with an 80.

Bryce Haynes scored an 81 which got tossed out of the overall team score.

At a par 4 hole, Haynes made 8 strokes.

Although, he managed to shoot two birdies on holes 5 and 17.

Halda said he had mixed emotions about the match.

“It came down to four or fives holes,” Halda said. “It’s a lesson learned for our team.”

On March 24 the Comets played at Palos Verdes Golf Club and scored third place out of the six schools. Kelly made medalist on the par 71 course with a score of 75.

COD placed first again with a score of 390. Cuyamaca College came in second with 392 as Palomar trailed behind with a 400.

The men’s golf team is halfway through the Pacific Athletic Coast Conference tournaments with a 17-8 standing.

SWHALEY@THE-TELESCOPE.COM

Palomar golf player Aaron Whitely drives the ball down the fairway at the Twin Oaks Golf Course on March 19. Whitely medaled with a 71 score. •Photo courtesy of Paul Francis