Advocate 10-25

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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WEDNESDAY l 10.25.17 OUR 68TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.

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LEFT: Before heading to class, automotive services major Theo Guillory closes and locks his car door in Lot 17 on Monday.

Guillory said from personal experience he knows break ins are more common on the north side parking lots on campus.

I usually make sure there is nothing on my seat. I think the same way about auto theft here as I do anywhere that I go.”

Anthony Gallon, liberal arts major

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Recent crimes cause fear, raise awareness Despite efforts to limit access to vehicles on campus, common sense measures to protect belongings are still the greatest deterrent from theft

By Robert Clinton opinion editor

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

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hattered glass on the ground, desperation and the feeling of being violated are some of the things that people feel when having their car broken into, especially at home, work or school.

Over the past 60 days, six cars have been burglarized on campus, but the number isn’t large enough to warrant a change in policy by Police Services.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a scourge. Off of the top of my head, we’ve had two or three in Lot 14 and there was another one some place else,” Police Services Lt. Tom Holt said. “(Concern rises) when we get one where somebody breaks into two or three in one shot in a parking lot. If it was happening on a daily basis where we could tell that there was somebody coming in and hitting a car and leaving, then we would have to set up some kind of operational plan.”

SEE BREAK-INS, PAGE A4

in brief n Six cars have been broken into at CCC over the past 60 days. n Over the same time period, 28 burglaries were reported at Diablo Valley College. n Los Medanos College reported 11 thefts and two cars were reported stolen. n Police Services will not increase patrols unless the rate of criminal activity increases.

COMPRESSED CALENDAR EXTENDS CLASSES Shift from 18 to 16 weeks alters classtime minutes

By Michael Santone

COMPRESSED CALENDAR 2018-19 EFFECT Year

associate editor

msantone.theadvocate@gmail.com

PAGE A5

Accounts of paranormal encounters divulged PAGE A8

With the final draft of the 201819 academic calendar released, discussions on building the course schedule for the fall and spring semesters take precedent.

The compressed calendar, which will be implemented districtwide in 2018-19, reduces the semester length by two weeks causing necessary adjustments to instructional hours and the number of days per week courses are offered.

“The length of some courses could increase by four to five minutes,” Contra Costa College Academic Senate President Beth Goehring said. “It could be 20 to 30 minutes for courses that meet only once a week or for math courses.”

One move by the United

Most classes that meet multiple times per week may see an increase in class time of 10 minutes.

SEE CALENDAR, PAGE A4

INSTAGRAM: @cccadvocate

Math courses and classes that meet once a week may increase by up to 30 minutes per class session.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY BENJAMIN BASSHAM, DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

TWITTER: @accentadvocate

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW B

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Classes that meet for two hours or more may increase by up to 20 minutes per session.

SNAPCHAT: @cccadv0cate

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Workshop focuses on extremist ideology

From Aug. 23 through Oct. 23, the thefts on campus appeared in clusters.

In the Police Services daily log, accessible on the Contra Costa Community College District website, there were two break-ins on Sept. 13, both at roughly 11:30 a.m. There were two more, one each on Sept. 26 and 27, both near 9:30 p.m. and then two on Oct. 2 beginning at 10:37 a.m. with the final being reported at 9:11 p.m.

All but one of the incidents occurred on Campus Drive with the exception of the Sept. 27 report that stated the burglary happened on Library Drive.

Until the incidents present more of a sustained problem, Police Services and police aides will continue to patrol as usual.

There are options for officers on campus to nab a would-be thief but it would take manpower.

“We could decide some kind of tacti-

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Quotable “Liberty is the one thing no man can have unless he grants it to others.”

Ruth Benedict anthropologist 1942 Denis Perez editor-in-chief Roxana Amparo Anthony Kinney Michael Santone associate editors Mayra Garcia art director Benjamin Bassham news editor Robert Clinton sports editor opinion editor Xavier Johnson scene editor Dylan Collier assistant scene editor Efrain Valdez social media editor Tashi Wangchuk multimedia editor Paul DeBolt faculty adviser Advocate Staff Leamsi Amaya Sean Austin Louis Cano Carina Castrillo Maxwell Craig Alondra Gallardo Ryan Geller Tony Gojilde Dan Hardin Julian Robinson Jessica Suico Desmond Sylva Drew Thomas Demond Washington Andrew Weedon Honors ACP National Newspaper Pacemaker Award 1990, 1994, 1997,1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015 CNPA Better Newspaper Contest 1st Place Award 1970, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2013 JACC Pacesetter Award 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 Member

Associated Collegiate Press

California Newspaper Publishers Association

Journalism Association of Community Colleges How to reach us Phone: 510.215.3852 Fax: 510.235.NEWS Email: accentadvocate@ gmail.com Editorial policy Columns and editorial cartoons are the opinion of individual writers and artists and not that of The Advocate. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board, which is made up of student editors.

opinion

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25, 2017 VOL. 105, NO. 8

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

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EDITORIAL FUND SHORTAGE DOOMS INITIATIVE Fiscal responsibility training suffers irresponsible fate

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he California Community College Chancellor’s Office initiated a plan to alleviate students of their financial burdens by teaching financial literacy throughout all of California’s 114 community colleges.

Although the plan aims to strengthen students’ knowledge on community college campuses about resources that are available to them, there are not funds provided from the state to effectively run the program.

Given the limited financial resources dedicated to the bringing the program to fruition, the responsibility falls on faculty and staff to make sure they follow through with the initiative.

The program is designed to work in three phases: Phases one and two will aim to increase the financial capability for all students enrolled in the community college system with a distinct focus on program completion in order to ensure a culture of financial competence is realized.

During the third phase, colleges will partner with local education agencies to provide financial education in elementary and secondary schools. Program organizers will also work with community stakeholders to provide financial information to residents of nearby communities.

Phase three will be implemented once phases one and two have been fulfilled.

Contra Costa College Financial Aid Supervisor Monica Rodriguez said the state will not provide additional funds so CCC will have to utilize the resources on campus they already have, which can be difficult because running an event costs money.

Programs like the Comet Care Package gives students in need basic necessities to ease insecurities that otherwise could be a hassle to purchase.

Students struggling to pay rent or who may be faced with hunger or homelessness need help, but when a program designed to help them is not adequately funded these students can’t get the help they need.

Rodriguez said services are already available on campus like the Office of Financial Assistance, which helps students fill out FAFSA forms and assists student with some financial issues.

One of the programs CCC offers is SparkPoint, a service on campus that works to educate students about financial success through workshops, budgeting, searching for jobs and providing advice.

SparkPoint is designed to ease students with their financial burdens and offer a glimmer of hope that the K-12 system fails to provide when preparing students for their next chapter in life.

“Your K-12 education doesn’t cover that, but that’s part of the financial wellness initiative is designed to do — teach this stuff. That is what SparkPoint is here to do,” SparkPoint Coordinator Bill Bankhead said.

By providing the tools for students to be educated about how to manage their finances and how to save for long-term goals, students have a chance for fiscal success as they move into the future.

However, the state Chancellor’s Office is limiting colleges by not fully investing in the Financial Wellness Initiative or the success of students by not providing adequate program funding, especially when the program in question provides fiscal education.

ALONDRA GALLARDO / THE ADVOCATE

■ INSIGHT

Veteran perspective guides moral sensibilities

A

s the National Football League enters its eighth week and teams still struggle to get anything going on offense (cough, cough…

49ers…) Super Bowl quarterback turned activist turned America’s favorite villain is still out of a job.

Good ol’ American “Patriots” (not the football team) continue to vilify Colin Kaepernick whenever his name is brought up in debates for simply exercising his First Amendment rights in such a clever way that swiftly and effectively turned America’s attention to an undeniable and ongoing issue facing minorities in the United States — police brutality and systemic oppression.

However, his protest was quickly hijacked, rebranded by haters and described as disrespectful to the national anthem and flag by the highest office in the land.

As a military veteran, I have boldly and proudly placed my life on the line to protect the freedoms and liberties that all American citizens enjoy, even though some use their rights to bash others for exercising their own.

With his false notion, Trump was able to convince America’s majority to shun the former 49er quarterback and his noble protest by pushing the misleading perspective that he and other players, who kneel during the national anthem, “spit in the face” of America, and in the process to ignore the issues Kaepernick was trying to get America to address.

The truth is, America has been spitting in the face of

AnthonyKinney people of color, especially African-Americans, since its inception.

The relentless attack on the NFL players’ protest is yet another blatant attempt to ignore the plight of black America and remind us that our issues are not of any concern A divided of the country.

America is I proudly support not what Kaepernick I, and so and the other play- many of my ers’ protest to shed light comrades, on racial risked our inequalities. lives over.

I don’t subscribe to the ridiculous idea now that these players are rich professional athletes who don’t deserve the right to stand up (or kneel) for what they believe in.

To some fans, players are expected to just collect a check and turn a blind eye to the injustices that plague the communities they grew up in.

That’s wrong.

I commend those men for risking it all and using their fame and platform to promote such a critical issue impacting the AfricanAmerican community.

Meanwhile, Trump con-

tinues his onslaught on people of color via Twitter against the widow of a fallen Green Beret and Florida congresswoman who felt the president was insensitive during a phone conversation he placed to the widow while attempting to express his condolences.

Instead of issuing an apology to the family, he lashes out in the typical “Twitter Trump” fashion we have grown to hate.

The White House has confirmed that the president has no intention of attempting to make amends with the pregnant widow who is now left with three kids to raise without the support of their father, a man who will be deemed a hero for courageously enduring the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country.

I’m disgusted by the president’s inability to support this widow in her time of grieving by apologizing to her and the family of this slain soldier.

It undoubtedly adds to the white supremacist perception he possesses.

Unfortunately, the racial division in America will continue to widen if our president continues to allow those white supremacist tendencies that corrupt the system to continue to run amok.

A divided America is not what I, and so many my comrades, risked our lives over.

Anthony Kinney is an associate editor for The Advocate. Contact him at akinney.theadvocate@gmail. com.

CAMPUS COMMENT Have you experienced any paranormal activity and do you believe there could be ghosts on campus?

“One time I heard a pounding on my bedroom windows so I had my brother check it out.”

“I believe there could be something on campus, but I haven’t seen anything.”

“I haven’t experienced anything paranormal, but I believe something could be on campus.”

“I take night classes and I haven’t seen anything on campus. It just gets dark.”

Breanna Donaldson

Lisa Patton

Julian Dunn

Jamil Elzofri

social sciences

kinesiology

JESSICA SUICO AND LOUIS CANO /THE ADVOCATE

sociology

automotive services

“I woke up one night and someone was holding me down and laughing at me. I don’t know if that would happen on campus though.”

James Sibrian psychology

“About a month after my grandpa died I saw his figure standing in my doorway.”

Christine Encarnacion nursing

forum ■ TECH DESIGN

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andrewweedon

NEW GENERATION PRODUCTS MAR APPLE REPUTATION

I

own one Apple product, a second generation iPod touch. I would be the first to admit that I love it and am proud to call it mine.

When I see someone with a new Apple product however, I don’t feel jealousy or envy.

That person likely bought that product because it was their understanding it was the best of the best.

For a time this was true, but the exorbitant cost now outweighs the history that surrounds Apple.

When you spend a lot of money on a product, there is a reasonable expectation that it will be fast, reliable and durable.

At a price point above a few thousand dollars, that product should not only posses those qualities but also be innovative and top of the line.

In the late 1990s, Apple didn’t only meet these goals but did so while being miles ahead of its competitors.

As a leader in design at the time, Apple was directly responsible for many of the features and technologies we take for granted today.

With faster and better quality products, both families and businesses decided to invest in Macintosh computers for any and every need.

This was the status quo for many years until the turn of the century.

While the company did in fact stir up the phone market with the release of the iPhone, many of their other products were being left in the dust.

With a move to outsourced processors, Apple started to lose its reputation for quality and performance.

Fast forward to today and we find a design department which is stagnant and hasn’t released anything noteworthy or original in the last decade.

Every product is an iteration of the last with laughably minor improvements.

This brings up the bigger issue here of cost.

Students and regular consumers alike are buying these products because Apple has made them believe that they can’t get better elsewhere.

Would they spend the money if they knew they were getting outdated processors and graphics cards?

A computer that costs over $2,000 should not have a graphics card that is two generations old and on par with the one in my 7-year-old computer.

My current personal desktop computer can trounce just about any Apple computer and yet it cost only half the price of a new iMac. It feels to me like most of that money is going toward the apple on the boring aluminum shell.

It really bothers me that so many people buy into the current design philosophy of restriction to their brand.

If you buy an Apple product, you have to buy the others too in order to ensure compatibility.

Locking users into this environment is merely forcing them to buy more of these unimpressive products if they want to stay loyal to Apple.

For their sake, I hope Apple gets back on the innovation train.

Andrew Weedon is a staff writer for The Advocate.

Contact him at aweedon. theadvocate@gmail.com.

T

he Advocate staff works as hard as it can to serve as the voice of Contra Costa College students, but there are opinions and issues we miss.

We need to hear from

students and faculty to cover the campus fully. Send us your opinions or interests.

Send letters to the editor to accent.advocate@gmail. com or deliver them to our Newsroom in AA-215.

Letters must be signed, are limited to 300 words, and are subject to editing for libel, space constraints and clarity.

— The Advocate Editorial Board

■ CLOTHING

BRAND NAME clothes overrated

Contempt, reflection of the past revitalize gratitude for the struggle of parents

By Denis Perez editor-in-chief

dperez.theadvocate@gmail.com

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rowing up I always longed to wear top brand-named clothing to feel comfortable at school, until my late teens when I realized it was better to have been raised to not care for them.

Much of my adolescent life revolved around fitting in in a new land that my parents had immigrated to for a better life.

I didn’t wish to be popular, but I didn’t want to stand out.

Having some cool shoes and a nice sweater really didn’t get me friends, but it did allow me to shake off any insecurity my anxious brain would bring up about my appearance.

When I was going to elementary school, my mom and dad were both 31-year-old undocumented Mexican immigrants raising three children while living in a 16x10 foot room with four other families. We shared a three bedroom upper duplex on the corner of West and 33rd streets in West Oakland.

Since my school, Hoover Elementary, once had a white polo shirt and navy blue pant dress code, much of the self-expression my peers used were in the shoes and sweaters they wore.

Going to school during my first years in the U.S. had its rough periods.

At that time, I had no idea what fashion, style or personal expression had to do with a social life.

I was just happy.

I was finally living together with my parents as a whole family, even if it was in a small room.

I met many kids who I played with at recess and in the classroom, but I never felt comfortable living by my own choices or being by myself.

Unfortunately, I was a shy kid and I didn’t talk, so it was easy for kids to judge me by the way I spoke — with an accent.

I was also teased a lot because of my lack of style when it came to shoes, sweaters or even about the TV shows I watched.

I didn’t own a pair of Nikes or top brand name shoes until I was in seventh grade.

In elementary school I wore shoes sold at “la pulga” (flea market), Payless, Sketchers or Ross.

Eighty dollars for a pair of Nikes that I am going to rough up in a couple of months anyway wasn’t economically sane to us.

The savings transcended more than fashion.

It was always just better to have OK clothes and save money, than have fine clothing and cut into the little budget we had.

My dad even had a saying.

Look for the three B’s. “Bueno, Bonito, Barato.” In English it is the three G’s — “Good-condition, good-looking and great price.”

I would always shop at secondhand stores and non-brand selling retail stores.

Cultural reality hit in second grade when the need for nice, brand name shoes came to a climax.

My mother told me she got me shoes “de marca” (brand name).

In reality they were Shrek designed Payless shoes.

I was 7 and wearing an ogre on my feet just wouldn’t meet the standard of coolness the kids at school had.

They couldn’t shake off the simplest joke that came directed toward me.

I understood, but I couldn’t complain.

My mom and dad faced bills and looking for sustainable employment in a world of exploiters.

It was me who would have to face the mean-ass kids at school.

It was definitely me who desired brand name shoes that the athletes wore in the commercials during WWE “Friday Night Smackdown.”

I didn’t realize it then, but two years in America, where all I did was go to school, watch TV and socialize with neighborhood kids, drove my need for fresh kicks to be able to assimilate properly.

The need for brand-named shoes and clothes traveled with me throughout high school as well.

When I got my first real job as a handyman’s assistant in sophomore year, I was excited to be able to afford nice shoes and nice clothes.

Then when I got a better job my junior year, I bought vans every month and made sure I had nice shirts and

sweaters.

It wasn’t until my senior year when I entered Mr. Silva’s class at El Cerrito High that I learned a lot about everything. I remember one day we talked about the clothing industry in America.

We talked about the business of politics and the issue of exploited clothing manufacturing workers.

I didn’t It hit me then and there. The lowrealize it paid women in the clothing factories in then, but Bangladesh face the same industry prestwo years sure my parents and I faced. in America That is what made it so memorable. drove my I began thinking need for back on all the times I did not have those fresh kicks brand name clothes and knowing I was to be able still OK with myself but not OK with how to assimilate people saw me.

It was all just a mentality brought on properly. by the people around me, and not how I actually felt.

I remembered my mother and father really couldn’t afford nice shoes for themselves, not to mention three kids.

I’m thankful for the tough shell formed through experiences that a shy, out of style, immigrant kid had to go through.

Those experiences made me embrace my humility, humanity and, in the end, they made me better.

Denis Perez is the editor-in-chief of The Advocate. Contact him at dperez.theadvocate@gmail.com.

ILLUSTRATION BY MAYRA GARCIA, DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

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campus beat

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Newsline n VETERANS DAY

CITY CELEBRATES, HONORS MILITARY San Pablo City Hall will play host to a Veterans Day celebration on Nov. 11 from 10 a.m. to noon.

After the ceremony light refreshments will be served and there will be giveaways. The celebration will be hosted at San Pablo City Hall, located at 1 Alvarado Square in San Pablo.

For more information call 510215-3000

n HALLOWEEN

HAUNTED HOUSE OFFERS THRILLS The Associated Student Union will a Halloween Mixer and Carnival Scream House with a maze on Tuesday from 7-10 p.m.

The carnival and mixer will be held in the John and Jean Knox Center for the Performing Arts.

Attendees will enjoy candy, music and dancing, as well as a costume contest.

For more information call the Student Life Office 510-215-4923.

FUNDRAISER TO SUPPORT REFUGE, AID HUNGER Richmond walk unites community to quell issues

By Ryan Geller advocate staff

rgeller.theadvocate@gmail.com

The Contra Costa College volleyball team and the men’s basketball team will be helping with Richmond’s Harmony Walk fundraiser on Saturday to support local hunger and homelessness programs.

Funds generated from the event will go to the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP), which manages the Souper Center at 165 22nd Ave. in Richmond that serves up to 500 hot meals daily.

The same location also offers a 75-bed shelter, a food pantry and other services for homeless community members, said Uche Uwahemu, board member of GRIP and Harmony walk chairperson.

The run/walk event will go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nichol Park on Macdonald Avenue, which is the location of the start of the race as well as the finish line.

Richmond Mayor Tom Butt and Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia will be speaking at the event, along with Richmond’s representative in the 2018 Miss California-USA Pageant.

The Harmony Walk will have a kid’s area with jumpers, face painting and food trucks with local cuisine.

Everyone is encouraged to come in their favorite Halloween costumes, Uwahemu said.

CCC sports teams are a new partner in the 31-year-old event.

Student-athletes will be on hand to help event organizers with a variety of tasks such as setup, directing participants and passing out water to runners and walkers, Uwahemu said.

Comet Athletic Director John Wade said the Harmony Walk is an opportunity for student-athletes to demonstrate that they are not just playing a sport, but they are here to support the commu-

n “We are all grown-ups

so it’s up to us to get our school work done. With as much energy as we spend on basketball, it won’t hurt to do some good work for the community.”

— Karl Perez, Comet power forward

nity.

“We do all kinds of stuff like this from feeding the homeless to toy drives to parades to speaking events, to talking with children for the Richmond Police Activity League (PAL) program,” Wade said.

“It’s (volunteering) something you should do but it’s not a requirement,” Wade said.

Karl Perez, a math major and Comet men’s basketball team power forward, said, “They told us about it last week. We can’t really say no. We are all grown-ups so it’s up to us to get our school work done. With as much energy as we spend on basketball, it won’t hurt

to do some good work for the community.”

The volleyball team is excited for an off the court team building experience, coach Christy Tianero said. “The team wanted to help out with the emergency shelter that was here on campus, but there are certain rules for Red Cross volunteers.”

Tianero said that the Harmony Walk will be a good chance to show the team’s service oriented spirit.

The Harmony Walk is a collaboration between GRIP and local organizations and businesses including Kaiser Permanente, Mechanics Bank, East Bay MUD and Chevron.

“Chevron has been investing in this organization for over 20 years.

Our corporate sponsors bring resources and money; to run a non-profit and a big event like this you need that kind of support,” Uwahemu said.

In the past as many as 1,600 people have shown up to the event, Uwahemu said. Those who want to enter the run/walk can register at www.gripharmonywalk.com.

n HOMECOMING

FOOTBALL TEAM RAISES AWARENESS The Comet football team will be host the De Anza College Dons for the Contra Costa College Homecoming Game Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to attend and wear their Comet gear while they enthusiastically cheer on the Comets.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, any students wearing pink during the week of Homecoming or during the Homecoming Game will receive a free ticket to the game.

For more information contact Athletic Director John Wade at jwade@contracosta.edu.

n VETERAN’S DAY

SCREENING HONORS FEMALE VETERANS Contra Costa College will host a Veteran’s Day celebration honoring those who have served, in particular, female veterans, on Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Fireside Hall.

Melissa Margain, a U.S. Army veteran, founding committee member of the West Coast chapter of the Women’s Veteran Mental Health Committee and Western Regional Director for Alpha Gamma Xi Military Sorority, will speak at the event.

The talk will be followed by a recognition of veterans on campus and a free lunch for all in attendance.

If interesting in attending, please RSVP at cccveteransday2017. eventbrite.com.

n TRANSFER

TRANSFER/CAREER CENTER HOSTS TOUR A free tour day trip to San Jose State University will be provided to registered students from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.

To register to attend, go to www. contracosta.edu/transfer.

For more information contact the Transfer/Career Center, in SA-227, or call them at 510-2153996.

CrimeWatch Wednesday, Oct. 18: An fire alarm was pulled in the Physical Sciences Building.

An fire alarm was pulled in the Applied Arts Building.

— Anthony Kinney Dylan Collier

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Contra Costa College Police Services aide Batish Amirr patrols Lot 4 during his shift at Contra Costa College on Monday. Amirr said there is less threat of a break-in in most of the southern campus parking lots because of the open area environment.

BREAK-INS | Car burglaries generate concern

Continued from Page 1 cal thing, like set up a dummy car with people out there paying close attention to what’s going on around it,” he said. “We have about 14 or 16 police and if we were having a problem like that at one campus over another we could pull them in to do something like that.”

At CCC, students seem to feel as comfortable parking here as anywhere else they go.

“I usually make sure there is nothing on my seat. I think the same way about auto theft here as I do anywhere that I go. I usually park down by the Gym, but I think the safest place is probably near Police Services,” liberal arts major Anthony Gallon said. “For something to be considered a problem here it would probably take a professor’s car getting broken into.

Then it would be a problem.”

Holt said CCC has the lowest crime rate in the district and the numbers support his claim.

Over the past 60 days 28 cases of theft, excluding auto theft, were reported at sister school Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill.

At Los Medanos College in Antioch, 11 thefts were reported, including two auto thefts.

Former ASU adviser Ericka Greene, who now works at DVC as the educational talent search adviser, uses common sense when choosing where to park.

“I take the same precautions there at (DVC) that I take as if I was parking in Oakland. If you look at the socio-economic status of Pleasant Hill it’s clear why there might be more crime there,” Greene said. “There are more luxury cars at that campus so I would assume that they would be better targets. If they see a nice car, they probably think, there must be some-

thing nice in there.”

Most of the burglaries that happen on campus are near the edges of CCC and away from the majority of foot traffic.

Still, Holt is confident that cars and their drivers are relatively save at CCC. “We have the lowest crime rate here out of all of the colleges in the district by percentage and population,” Holt said. “I’d have to go back and look at the numbers because I don’t regularly pay attention to DVC and LMC, but based on what I casually hear, we don’t usually have the kind of problems that they do.”

The lieutenant also said he has to consider if he sees one or two break-ins there is probably one or two that hasn’t been reported.

Even having said that, he doesn’t believe there is a trend right now.

CALENDAR | Measure to revise existing schedules Continued from Page 1 Faculty to help alleviate the increase in course hours is the change in productivity during Finals Week.

What used to be a week off for students to prepare for their finals, instead will be a week of instruction, with finals given on the last class session of the semester.

“We needed that extra week to make a 16-week calendar,” Goehring said. “Without the changes to Finals Week, we would’ve had to push to a 17-week calendar.”

Following the Education Code established

by California legislation, under Title V each course unit is required to have a specific number of in-class hours and a set amount of student work in correspondence with the credit hour calculation.

The California Community Colleges Board of Governors is responsible for approving regulations which are implemented in compliance with California Community College Chancellor’s Office.

“For example, with the increase in minutes, if a course met for two hours and 40 minutes, it would add a little time and instead be

difference is extending the minutes and unit load to now fit into 16 weeks of instruction.”

Limited on the number of work hours in a day, Sherwood said staff and faculty have been working diligently and already have a zero draft for the 2018 fall Beth Goehring, semester.

Academic Senate president Michels “Most classes will start at 8 a.m., with labs starting two hours and 55 minutes,” Goehring said. at 7:50 a.m.,” he said. “It’s really the math and “There is also a good possibility for courses science courses and labs that need more time, such as chemistry with a lab to meet Monday, so we are starting them earlier.”

Wednesday and Friday.”

UF Vice President for CCC Jeffrey Michels When creating the course schedule, faculty said the biggest issues have been cramming use pre-existing templates which include boxes instruction, now based around minutes, into for the courses that meet five times a week, four an equivalent to the course units. times a week and three times a week.

“It’s hard to spread activities out over just Faculty then fill in the template as desired 16 weeks,” Michels said. “For faculty who have to establish continuity and to gauge course a set schedule of how to operate, this really minutes and potential overlapping. changes the playing field.”

“We will still have the basic block schedule There are still things that need to be worked that makes it easier for students to enroll in out, Michels said. “We aren’t sure what the multiple classes,” Contra Costa College Vice impact will be.”

President Ken Sherwood said. “The primary

“With the increase in minutes, if a course met for two hours and 40 minutes, it would add a little time and instead be two hours and 55 minutes.”

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‘ALT-RIGHT’ DIALOGUE PROVOKES ACTION

By Efrain Valdez social media editor

evaldez.theadvocate@gmail.com

With the recent advancements made by the “alt-right,” philosophy professor Asad Kabir believes most educators here on campus are not prepared to talk to their students about the movement.

The workshop hosted by Kabir on Oct. 18 in the Library and Learning Resource Center called “The Rise of the Alt-Right and the Tasks of Educators” was scheduled to inform faculty on the white nationalist agenda of the alt-right.

Kabir opened the workshop with a presentation introducing the alt-right and the roots of its white nationalistic agenda. He then opened the conversation for the attendees to chime in with ideas and opinions.

“The purpose of this workshop was because I noticed that my students don’t follow the news closely. I asked them about the alt-right and they didn’t know about it. That was scary for me,” Kabir said During the workshop, students and faculty members talked about how President Donald Trump gave white nationalists a space to spread hateful ideas that instill fear by giving alternative facts about immigration in this country.

“News organizations, like Breitbart, put out articles with a lot of numbers Walker about the influx of immigrants in our country,” Kabir said. These numbers bring fear to people.

“They give alternative facts about how immigrants take people’s jobs and hurt the economy and that instills fear in that community,” kinesiology major Jahmeer Robinson said.

He said that he came to the workshop to be more informed on how the alt-right spreads its ideas and he was interested in understanding how they think.

Kabir said, “I don’t think all of the professors here on campus are prepared to talk about the alt-right to their students. I just wanted to emphasize that we must see where both sides (liberals and conservatives) are getting their information.”

He said that the first part of being a critical thinker is being informed.

Humanities professor Heaven Walker said that she came to the workshop because social activism is something that is close to her heart.

“I’m here because I want to have facts and to gain knowledge. It’s good to be informed about this,” she said.

Robinson said that the thing that surprised him the most was how Breitbart deliberately allows its media platform to give white nationalist a voice to grow by publishing false or misleading articles.

“It’s scary to think that a news organization deliberately fuels anger and bigotry,” he said.

TONY GOJILDE / THE ADVOCATE

Automotive major Sonja Escobar (left) takes notes at a SparkPoint workshop held by SparkPoint Coordinator Bill Bankhead (right) in SA-222 on Monday. Escobar hopes to create her own business using the skills she learned.

Initiative spotlights scope of budgeting,maturity

By Roxana Amparo associate editor

ramparo.theadvocate@gmail.com

Often times, the struggle of financial instability goes unseen as people put out a well-kept facade or say they aren’t hungry but they haven’t eaten in 18 hours, SparkPoint Coordinator Bill Bankhead said.

“They are wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but so is 80 percent of the campus. But what we don’t see is that they own one pair of jeans and a T-shirt, while other people have four pairs of jeans and 15 T-shirts.”

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) developed the Financial Wellness Initiative to increase financial literacy among community college students.

By educating students on how to manage their financial choices, people are more likely to save, invest and stay out of debt, according to the CCCCO website.

“We want to help students know, ‘You are not alone. Whatever your financial challenge is, whether it’s related to food insecurity, housing insecurity or how much debt you are in, you are not alone and there are support resources here on campus’,” Bankhead said.

Financial Aid Supervisor Monica Rodriguez said the decisions people make at an early stage in life can affect them for the rest of their lives and helping students think about money in different ways like understanding student loans and credit scores can help them.

“We have a lot of first-generation college students who come from a background where financial literacy is not something they are learning at home.”

Growing up, Rodriguez said she

learned through friends how to set up a bank account because at the time her parents didn’t have one.

“I remember myself being a college student, when you don’t have an example on how to manage your money,” she said.

Contra Costa College Vice President Ken Sherwood said students face other factors in their daily lives other than just attending college.

Based on tracking data from Achieving the Dream, a non-government reform movement for student success, the factors that create barriers for students to be successful lie working a job or being parents are becoming clearer.

Sherwood said, “This (Financial Wellness Initiative) is the next step in trying to address those concerns.”

The realization happened with knowing if they didn’t start to help people with their financial insecurities, food insecurities and those who are homeless, then they are not going to get more people coming to college.

“If students are going to take out loans, we need to counsel them, before they take out the money, about how to use the loan money and how they are going to pay it back.”

Sherwood said communication habits have changed so much with each generation that it’s hard to know how to get information out.

“I hear all the time, ‘Well, students don’t read their email.’ For us working at the college, that is our primary mode of communication. We do most of our work through email. But if students don’t read their email, that is not going to help us to educate them about financial issues.”

Rodriguez said although it is in the

early stages, they are talking to campus committee members like the Student Success Committee and exchanging ideas to support students.

At CCC, student resources can be found through the Associated Student Union food pantry, located in the Student and Administration Building, as well as Comet Care Packages with toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and other basic necessities for students who request them in SA-227.

Bankhead said he offers weekly SparkPoint workshops on budgeting, credit improvement, student loan and paying off debt to help students manage money.

“These resources are here. Please use them. We have food and toiletries and we want to give them to you,” he said.

By normalizing the idea is that students will feel supported and understand that financial instability is real and nothing to be ashamed of, Bankhead said they want to inform students on the necessary steps to take in order to learn to help themselves.

Rodriguez said one of the challenges is that there isn’t additional funding provided by the state to implement the initiative, which may affect the implementation of the program.

“It can be difficult because things like running workshops or hosting events cost money for supplies of for offering a prize drawing.”

One of the current struggles is engaging students through workshops put on on campus, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the goal is to create a culture where financial literacy is “a thing” and every student understands the message.

Trove of free books offer education, entertainment

By Jessica Suico advocate staff

jsuico.theadvocate@gmail.com

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Computer science major Andranette Quick grabs a free book off one of the two shelves in the Library foyer offering the books on Friday.

Some books available as of Monday

“BURNS” (1923), a 222 page book on ancient history

“Canterbury Tales” (1476), 24 stories following travelers

“Blues For Mister Charlie” (1964) play based on Emmett Till

A book on FrenchCanadian Society

“The Day the Whores Came Out to Play Tennis” (1965)

In an attempt to boost the reading rates of members of the campus community, the Library has been giving away free books.

The literary gifts are located right when you walk into the Library on mobile book carts.

With only two mobile shelves remaining in the entryway, it’s clear that students and staff are taking advantage of the giveaway.

Distance Education Coordinator Judy Flum said, “The reason we do the free book giveaway every semester is because we withdraw from our collection of books that haven’t been used in a really long time and distribute them, and update with newer books.”

There are also books found with bar codes so those also get put out for free.

Music major Esmeralda Ochoa said, “I have looked through the carts of books once, and I found one book I was interested in. It was a book about a girl who was a writer.”

Ochoa said she has read most of the book but hasn’t

finished it yet.

According to www. contracosta.edu, through the Library, students have access to 44 databases, 2,790 videos, 51,285 print book, 51,941 ebooks and 286,000 streaming films.

Hours for the Library are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7:45 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. The Library is closed on holidays and over scheduled school breaks.

Contra Costa College student Kennith James has not decided on a major yet but does have an opinion about giving away free books.

“They should keep the books because it’s basically like giving away culture.”

James looks through the books almost every day and says he took an encyclopedia from the cart the last time he visited the Library.

James said he would recommend students look at the books if they have a burning curiosity, are open minded, observant and plan to move forward in society with knowledge.

Flum said the book giveaway is a way to benefit students by getting them reading. It also provides a dis-

trictwide opportunity to expand t h e i r knowledge and Flum interests.

“The books will be here until they’re all gone,” she said.

Most of the books haven’t been looked at in 10-plus years and have no bar codes on them, Flum said.

Ochoa said, “I think it’s really cool that the Library gives away free books because students can choose whatever they want and they don’t have to pay for the book, which is nice.”

Ochoa thinks it benefits students by giving them more of a chance to gain knowledge and opportunities to read more without harming their pocketbooks or budgets.

Flum said, at least 20 boxes of books were filled to give away. There are presently about six boxes out on the carts for students to take home.

“There are always students and other people browsing the free books,” Flum said.

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Food pantry provides sustenance

By Alondra Gallardo advocate staff

agallardo.theadvocate@gmail.com

The Associated Student Union (ASU) offers a food pantry on campus for students who are in need of sustenance.

Student Life Coordinator Joel NickelsonShanks said, “The food pantry opened at the beginning of the spring semester of last year. It was something the college thought about ahead of time and would have space for once the new buildings (Student and Administration, General Education buildings) were open in fall 2016.

“Former CCC vice president Tammeil Gilkerson led the charge and made sure we got the ball rolling. She reached out to a couple of departments to see what we could do in order to start the food pantry here on campus.”

He said the college has a large population of students who are in need of food so college officials knew the campus needed to have a food pantry available on campus for them. This also follows the trend of a lot of other community colleges statewide, Nickelson-Shanks said.

The food pantry is located in SA-234 and any Contra Costa College student is eligible to receive food. Students will be required to fill out an Intech form for informational purposes.

ASU Treasurer Aireus Robinson said, “It is kind of a more conscious thing where we hope someone who is more well off won’t come in and pick up food.”

The ASU also has a list of other local food banks and contacts in order to help students if the food offered at CCC isn’t enough or if for whatever reason students’ needs are not met, Robinson said.

ASU member Mikaela Pollard said a bag is given to students filled with groceries, including non-perishables.

Students are able to pick out five other items in stock aside from what is inside of the bag and if there is something they see in the bag that they do not like, or are allergic to, they are able to swap it out for something else.

Pollard said, “A lot of students do not

JULIAN ROBINSON / THE ADVOCATE

Two students take inventory in the food pantry located in SA-234. The pantry is open to any Contra Costa College student who is in need of groceries. know about the food pantry so sometimes it is sad because the food goes bad. We do not carry as many perishables for that reason.”

There is not a limit for the number of times a student can receive food, NickelsonShanks said.

“We try to recommend (students come

just) twice a week. But if you have an emergency — we wouldn’t turn you away.”

The food given to students varies based on what is given to the food pantry from a local food bank, what is in season, what has been purchased, what is already in the food pantry and donations.

Robinson said, “Knowing that the community around me needs help is really important for me to be able to help in any way.

“Being able to support the college and students is really important to me.”

Students learn to spot falsities Workshop emphasizes fact checking to help people spot ‘fake news’

By Ryan Geller advocate staff

rgeller.theadvocate@gmail.com

Fact checking and verifying sources to discern “fake news” from credible information was the topic of the final workshop of a research skills series presented by the Contra Costa College Library.

Judy Flum, library department chairperson and professor of library studies, discussed the different types of fake news, their dangers and what to do about fake news.

The presentation included a video about white supremacist Dylann Roof who murdered nine people at a historic black church and how the Google search algorithm may have fueled his racist hatred. The Google search algorithm, or the program used to select a user’s search results, will customize

those results based on the user’s previous search history.

According to the video, “The Miseducation of Dylann Roof ” from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Roof did not grow up with a racist family and even had black friends prior to the murders.

The video tracks Roof ’s on-line comments and sites that he visited after he entered the phrase “black on white crime.”

The phrase generated results from white supremacist sites that portrayed black on white crime as an epidemic although FBI crime statistics show that white on white crime is far more common.

As Roof continued to search, the algorithm provided results similar to the misleading information. The video makes the argument that “fragile minds” can be dangerously affected by search engines that encourage a user’s bias toward certain information.

Flum spoke of the effects of fake news on the 2016 U.S. presidential election along with a host of other incidents in which fake news had very real economic, political and

social consequences.

The workshop laid out techniques for verifying sources of information, such as using the “about us” page to verify the credentials of “experts” who are presenting information through an organization or on a website.

Jim Grizzell professor of health education at CCC attended the workshop.

“I have about 20 Facebook friends who are totally clueless about fake news. I try to tactfully encourage them to cite their sources,” Grizzell said.

Flum recommended websites like Snopes, Fact check, Politifact and The Washington Post Fact-Checker to cross reference sources to determine their validity. She also noted questions to ask about a source like, does it contain advertising?, what types of people or organizations support or publish the source?, are the arguments backed up by scientific studies?

Much of this information used to be part of a library studies course that was required for graduation but CCC dropped many of its local requirements to be more competitive

with other colleges.

“It’s a shame because students really need this information,” Flum said.

Students can be specifically targeted with certain types of fake news.

Sonja Escobar, an auto mechanics major at CCC found information like this to be particularly frustrating.

“I tried to sign up for scholarships and some of them were fake. They even said things like ‘college funding for single mothers’ and ‘funding for honor roll students.’

The information in this workshop is going to help me understand which ones are fake,” Escobar said.

Luanna Waters, a social and behavioral sciences major at CCC, also attended the workshop. “When I find good information I like to pass it on, but I want to make sure I don’t pass on bad information,” she said.

The series included five other workshops titled Introduction to Microsoft Word and Power Point, Searching online data bases, Improving your web search skills, and Avoiding plagiarism with Noodletools and Turn-it-in.

SIGNAGE ADDITIONS CONSIDERED TO HELP CAMPUS IDENTITY

By Dan Hardin advocate staff

dhardin.theadvocate@gmail.com

The proposed archway signage is set to go back to the drawing board in an attempt to rethink the two proposed locations, as well as to consider two additional options.

The first location being brainstormed is the foot bridge over Rheem Creek on Comet Way near the drop off area near the Student Services Center.

The second location proposed is the roundabout island located at the main entrance of the campus on Mission Bell Drive.

Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Sherwood will give additional locations that are being brainstormed by the committee to the engineer, so that they may also be taken into consideration.

LEFT: The Bus Transfer Center archway is a possible location for a new Contra Costa College sign according to Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Sherwood.

“The location to be used also determines the size of the sign.”

Bruce King,

buildings and grounds manager

The engineer will provide a report on the work required to install the archway in each of the proposed locations. This would also be shared with the committee.

Sherwood said, “The archway design had been discussed at an Operations Council Committee meeting and that it posed some unique issues.”

The different locations all come with their share of financial burden and minor inconveniences, such as the relocation of other signs, the cutting of trees and some land-

ANDREW WEEDON / THE ADVOCATE

scaping issues.

“The location to be used also determines the difference in the size of the sign,” Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said. “The sign was the brainchild of former Contra Costa College president McKinley Williams.”

Williams served as president from 2006 until his retirement in 2012 and even though it has been

nearly six years since his retirement, his dream, vision and legacy is being realized.

There has also been talk of a sign at the archway of the CCC’s Bus Transfer Center, but according to Middle College High School student Kobi Cannoni, “There is already a sign when you drive up.

There is no need for a new one.”

Nineteen-year AC Transit

employee Darrell Brown said, “The bus has an automated system that orally announces the location of the bus.”

Both the MCHS student and the AC Transit employee suggest that the sign may be a waste of money.

But CCC student Chime Nwamuo said, “A sign is better because it will help people to know where they are.”

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Serendipitous wildlife encounters

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LEFT: A spider perches in a large web on the windowsill on the second floor Applied Arts Building balcony Tuesday.

Photos by: Denis Perez, Andrew Weedon For

more photos, please visit our website: www.cccadvocate.com

RIGHT: An injured possum squeals as students surround it to take photos, feed it or just see it in front of Lot 9 on Oct. 19.

A black crow perches on a tree outside the Gymnasium above Lot 5 on Tuesday as it looks at other wildlife in the area. Crows are quite timid and won’t interact with students on campus even when they have food.

A swan walks in Rheem Creek while searching for crawdads in front of the Student Service Center on Oct. 19.

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spotlight

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 10.25.2017 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

Alternative cookie dough parlor serves up varied, tasty nibbles Fresh cookie dough-ice cream parlor offers dough to be eaten raw or baked at home

By Tony Gojilde advocate staff

tgojilde.theadvocate@gmail.com

The Cookie Dough Parlor in Pinole is a confectionery dream, following the new trend of cookie craze and serving both safe-to-eat cookie dough and ice cream in deliciously enticing recipes.

Husband and wife Pezhman Pakneshan and Mahsa Gholami opened their store to bring their vision of flavors to ice cream and cookie dough.

The Cookie Dough Parlor takes household name dessert brands and transforms them into sweet little bowls of guilty pleasure.

An example is “Cookie Monster,” FOOD which is a cookREVIEW ie dough flavor that “The Cookie resembles the color Dough Parlor” of Sesame Streets ★★★★★ Cookie Monster and Cuisine: Cookie has the cereal “Cookie dough/ice cream Crisps” embedded Where: 1418 into the dough.

Pinole Valley Rd, The unique cookie Pinole, Calif.

Price Range: $ dough recipe is not made with eggs, so it’s safe to eat and doesn’t disturb customer’s stomachs when consumed raw.

Another special feature of the cookie dough is that it can be eaten raw right away or saved to be baked on a later day.

I found that having the option to do that made the Cookie Dough Parlor even more of a versatile experience and ahead of other similar businesses.

When I walked inside I was greeted by the co-founder, Mahsa Gholami, and she instantly took notice that I was a new customer.

She wasted no time explaining what the store is and what made it special.

Not once did I feel like I didn’t understand what the store had set out to do — provide ice cream and cookie dough to the masses.

After trying all the flavors of ice cream and cookie dough I was impressed by the home-made taste of it all, especially the basic flavors like strawberry and chocolate.

The sweetness isn’t overpowering. It doesn’t overdose on sugar like processed sweets usually do.

My favorite combination ended up being strawberry ice cream and brownie cookie dough.

If you’re worried that ice cream and cookie dough isn’t enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, don’t be.

The Cookie Dough Parlor has you covered.

You can add hot caramel sauce or hot fudge, whipped cream, pretzels, caramel popcorn, even kettle corn chips if you wanted to.

Marketed toward kids and young adults, the Cookie Dough Parlor posts all-inclusive signs for those looking for a sweet treat.

This draws larger crowds during the day because of its proximity to Pinole Valley High School.

Because of its friendly appeal to youth and diversity, people feel comfortable enjoying sweets and pleasant conversations.

I give this store four stars out of five.

The selection is wide and accommodating enough for those with or without a sweet tooth, but loses points for availability.

Cookie Dough Parlor is open from 12:45-9:30 p.m., which is where the problem lies.

For those looking for a trendy new shop during a night out, unfortunately they won’t be able to explore the ice cream and cookie dough because of the early closing hours.

If someone is looking for something new around Pinole, or after a game at Pinole Valley Lanes, the Cookie Dough Parlor is at 1418 Pinole Valley Road and is the perfect place to indulge in a bowl of safe-to-eat cookie dough or one of its many flavors of ice cream.

TONY GOJLIDE / THE ADVOCATE

Cookie Dough Parlor owner Mahsa Gholami uses a card reader to finish a customer’s transaction during her shift on Wednesday.

LEFT: The Cookie Dough Parlor offers nine flavors of cookie dough.

Small cups of dough begin at $5 each.

TONY GOJILDE / THE ADVOCATE

Ghostly experiences scare Shadowy figures and other unexplained phenomenon leave chills down the spines of college personnel

By Anthony Kinney associate editor

akinney.theadvocate@gmail.com

Walking down the narrow dimly lit hallway of the Biological Sciences Building after hours as you intend to lock up the premises, a sudden feeling of a presence builds behind you. You turn around to see a shadowy figure walking toward the bathroom, but the echo chamber-like hallway produces no footsteps.

Before you can tell the shady figure you’re locking up and that he needs to leave the building — he disappears.

This incident, which occurred on Friday night, Oct. 13 around 8 p.m., left police aide Alonso Saravia wary of what goes bump in the night on campus.

“There have been times that I’ve heard the voices of people coming from classrooms that are empty and locked,” Saravia said. “How does one explain that?”

Although there’s no solid evidence that ghosts exist, belief in the paranormal by Americans has soared in recent decades.

According to a survey conducted by Chapman University earlier this year, out of the seven paranormal phenomenon listed on the questionnaire, only 25.3 percent of Americans hold none of the seven beliefs.

This means that nearly threefourths of Americans believe in some type of paranormal wonder.

In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2009, nearly one in five or 18 percent of U.S. adults claim they’ve seen or have been in the presence of a ghost.

That same survey concluded

that 29 percent of American adults said they felt in touch with someone who has died.

People, like custodians and police officers, who spend time at CCC while the campus is submerged into its eerie still silence, after night classes are excused, often share stories of spooky experiences they endure after the sun sinks below the horizon of the Marin Headlands.

Night shift custodian Jackie Allan-Smith said in the past she’s heard sounds like someone was saying her name in the older buildings on campus.

“My mother told me a long time ago, if I hear someone calling my name, but nobody is there — don’t answer.” Allan-Smith said. “I still won’t go in the building where they keep the cadavers.”

The unnerving feeling that he wasn’t alone made Saravia turn around and catch eye to a dark figure dressed in a suit and hat boasting a beard walking toward the building’s rest room.

“I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore, so I turned around. I could clearly see what the man was wearing and could tell he had a long beard,” Saravia said. “But once I approached the bathroom and called for him to come out I realized that there was no one there.”

Saravia said the automated lights in the men’s rest room were triggered on before he entered the door. However, as he investigated he found the bathroom completely empty.

He said what made his heart stop and his hair raise was when he checked the women’s room it was pitch black as expected, unlike the men’s room.

“Someone or something triggered the automated lights in there,” he said. “It gave me the chills.”

Late shift campus custodians commonly recall feeling unseen presences and hearing voices while cleaning the interior of the buildings. A few consider certain areas of buildings personally off limits and won’t come close to them after hours because of encounters they’ve witnessed in past experiences.

Contra Costa College Building and Grounds Manager Bruce King recounted hearing from Police Services about inexplicable security footage from the General Education Building. The footage, which had a timestamp around 3 a.m., showed the locked sliding doors blow outwardly open by a tremendously powerful unseen force.

The force was so powerful the heavy black doormat laying at the foot of the sliding door was also blown back several feet.

The unexplained phenomenon was first thought to be the violent release of built-up pressure from the building’s ventilation system.

However, King said that theory is impossible because the ventilation system is on a programmed schedule which doesn’t turn on until 6 a.m.

“This happened at least twice since the building has been up (August 2016),” King said. “My jaw hit the floor when I heard about it.”

Rumor has it that the campus is built on ancient Native American burials grounds, however no one on campus could confirm or deny that fact.

“There have been times that I’ve heard the voices of people coming from classrooms that are empty and locked.”

- Alonso Saravia, police aide

n “My mother told me

a long time ago, If I hear someone calling my name but nobody is there — don’t answer.”

— Jackie Allan-Smith, custodian

“I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore, so I turned around. I could clearly see what the man was wearing and could tell he had a long beard.”

- Alonso Saravia, police aide

B SECTION WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

Renewed squad preps for season The women’s basketball team regains a star.

PAGE B7

COMET ATHLETES CAPTURED IN PHOTOS PAGE B3

Body image in U.S. offers insight into insecurities PAGES B4-B5

SPEAKER REFINES VOICE, CHALLENGES STEREOTYPES Kulsoom Mohsin steps outside of her comfort zone to compete in public speaking tournaments, many times being the only Muslim woman competing.

PAGE B2

SQUAD SWEEPS, KEEPS VICTORY STREAK ALIVE IN 5-1 ROAD WIN PAGE B6

spotlight

Standards of beauty contrast social habit

By Robert Clinton opinion editor

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

History shows what constitutes traditional standards of health and beauty are in constant evolution and at times along that evolutionary path, standards of health run completely opposite of what it means to be aesthetically beautiful.

Ideals of traditional beauty reach as far into the past as ancient Egypt.

Records show that during the time of the Pharaohs, the ideal woman was slim with a symmetrical face, narrow shoulders and a high waist.

More resonant images of beauty were depicted in ancient Rome through sculpture as humanity neared the modern era with many of these works of art still on display in museums around the world.

“How I feel about me is totally based on me. It’s not about what the world does or how I’m seen in it.

It’s about what makes me feel good — it’s self interest,” political science major Sesen Smith said.

Roman depictions of the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite, often show her with a smooth voluptuous body that conveys the image of someone healthy, well fed and potentially fertile.

Non-existent are depictions of over-developed breasts or bottoms that modern men consider traits of beauty and sexuality.

Modern standards of beauty contradict the general cuisine choices Americans make resulting in an increasingly large populous.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 20 percent of Americans are obese and 40 percent of citizens over 20 are obese as well.

“Some students are trying to be more healthy about what they put into their bodies but it comes down to what they can afford. Fresh fruits and perishables won’t last as long,” Contra Costa College health education professor Miguel Johnson said.

“It comes down to convenience, price and marketing. Kids want large portions — more bang for the buck. If there were other healthier more convenient options, I’m sure students would take them.”

Public perceptions of health and beauty are not exclusively geared toward women.

In sculptures, the most notable figure defining Renaissance masculinity, the marble-carved statue of David by the artist Michelangelo, has a substantially smaller penis than modern people would envision the ultimate male image of the era to have.

That fact is less about David and more what the statement said about him as a man. His sculpture was to be greater than the sum of his physical parts — he was defined by what was inside.

“My sense of style comes less from outside influences and more from within,” philosophy and English tutor Ron Chand said. “I don’t pay attention to what’s going on in fashion. I pick out things that I like at thrift stores and kind of put them together myself.”

Modern America is a far cry from the flat-chested, vertical-lined hips that permeated pictures and men’s fantasies in the 1920s.

Now, over-exaggerated images of voluptuousness, complete with enhanced lips and collagen-filled hips stray far from what size and shape of average American women.

“The way I feel inside is more important than the way people see me,” English as a second language major Denise Siquaira.

According to data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics, 70 percent of Americans

are overweight or suffering from obesity.

Today, the average weight of American women is as much as the average weight of an American man in 1960, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The average weight for men has also increased from 165 pounds 50 years ago to 195 pounds today, an increase of 17 percent.

Many contribute this steadily increasing weight gain to many leading a more sedentary lifestyle.

However, others place the lionshare of the responsibility at the feet of one deteriorating aspect of daily American life — poor diet.

According to polling from Gallup, 28 percent of Americans say they eat fast food at least once per week.

Out of the over 2,000 people surveyed, more than 75 percent believed fast food was bad for them but ate it anyway.

Beverages, desserts, milkshakes and ice cream can be a prime source for unhealthy fat, however, aside from sugar, chemicals used to extend the shelf-life of food products can have an adverse effect on human health.

“It’s not just what you eat, it’s also a lifestyle. The student-athletes here eat a ton of whatever, but they have a relatively high level of health and fitness,” Johnson said.

According to data collected by the Journal of Nutritional Health & Food Science, many of the 10 letter additives listed in small print on food labels are known to be unhealthy.

Despite public information and visual evidence, shown by Americans’ collectively expanding waistlines, citizens continue to consume unhealthy food.

Even in the CCC Bookstore the junk food always sells first.

“Most people buy junk food from here,” Bookstore employee and history major Jin Jorge said. “Only the athletes buy the cliff bars or people who are trying to eat healthy. Most of the Middle College (High School) kids buy all of the junk.”

Some of this consumption can be related to the nationwide epidemic of food islands or deserts dictating what people use to fuel their bodies.

Food deserts are areas, usually populated by low-income residents, that have limited access to affordable and nutritious food. Others turn to less-nutritional food choices out of convenience, with many making concessions to time or income limitations that restrict the ability to prepare consistent home-cooked meals.

This trend doesn’t limit itself to affecting only one generation of nutritionally-deprived families.

Data also shows that obesity rates in parents is directly associated with childhood obesity.

Confronting notions of health and body image in modern America can be a daunting task. Advertisers spoon-feed images of seemingly happy, healthy, young people in advertisements for beer and fast food when, overwhelmingly, the consumers of those products are relatively the opposite in real life.

In actuality, American levels of activity have continued to slide.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, under President Obama, found only one in three children are physically active per day with less than 5 percent of adults participating in 30 minutes of physical activity each day. The statistics are being reinforced in the way American children are raised.

Timeline of body image standards at different points in history: 300 B.C., Rome This era was lived best with a lot of physical strength.

The natural world back then forced society to have a physique-oriented culture.

1100 A.D. India At the end of the classical period, India had a bustling economy and religious life. The body was seen as a physical temple disciplined through meditation.

1512, Valencia Artist Michaelangelo paints a historic painting of God and Eve. The light, fair skin and physicality were honored as divine. Statues and sculptures would even be whitewashed for a whiter tone.

1920s, U.S. After many years under male conservative ideals, a cultural shift toward women’s empowerment begins.

Women begin to wear shorts instead of long skirts and do the same things as men, from smoking cigarettes to working in the same fields.

2000, U.S. Body image standards are controlled by mass media industries.

Hollywood is a global phenomenon and influences body trends around the world.

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ANDREW WEEDON / THE ADVOCATE

Contra Costa College biology major Kulsoom Mohsin performs her speech about genetically modified and engineered pathogens, which won her first place at two different speech and debate tournaments this semester.

PAST MOTIVATES SPEAKER

Orator steps out of comfort zone during speech tournament

By Andrew Weedon

n “Just like most other students, (Mohsin)

Advocate Staff

aweedon.theadvocate@gmail.com

A strong voice from humble beginnings can provide a powerful example to anyone who comes from a position of disadvantage.

Kulsoom Mohsin has made quite an impression this semester in her time on the speech and debate team.

Her incredible public speaking ability was a surprise to almost everybody, including herself.

“Public speaking is really out of my comfort zone,” Mohsin said.

While she now has the skill and confidence to speak publicly, Mohsin lived a fairly quiet childhood. Born in Vallejo to parents who came from Lahore, Pakistan, from an early age, Mohsin felt like a typical teenage girl who was interested in average teenage things like art and books.

While she struggled through school with many of the issues that are all far too familiar, it was her family that inspired her to take the path she is on now.

The biology major said she hated that subject in school but had a change of heart after talking to her sister about physics.

“My sister showed me just how amazing science is and after that I was hooked,” Mohsin said.

This interest in science has helped move her toward a future career in the medical field.

Mohsin said that her new found ability for public speaking will prove helpful in her chosen career as she will have to talk with people everyday. The medical field is not the only place Mohsin said her speaking ability could be important.

At an annual peace walk held by the local Muslim com-

says she has butterflies before a speech. But I think she makes them fly in formation.”

— Randy Carver, Contra Costa College speech team coach

munity in Richmond, Mohsin gives speeches about peace and acceptance — and has been doing this for a few years.

Mohsin is alarmed by the stereotypes of Muslim people that many of her family and peers experience throughout their daily lives.

“The bad comments are always hurtful, but I feel that they are simply out of ignorance,” Mohsin said.

Because of this she wants to prove to others that being Muslim is not a restriction.

Being easily identifiable, she feels that it is important for her to help fight against discrimination whenever she can.

“Fighting this ignorance is just helping me learn more about myself and my culture,” Mohsin said.

When she was growing up, Mohsin said she never expected to be this successful.

“I only thought I was average. I never thought I could do great things,” Mohsin said Mohsin’s inseparable best friend, Dema Aldabbas, said Mohsin is very humble about her achievements and likes to include everyone if she can.

After winning first place at a speech tournament, it was Mohsin who was eager to point out the achievements of her fellow teammates while minimizing her own.

Diverse roles foster actor’s commitment

By Xavier Johnson scene editor

xjohnson.theadvocate@gmail.com

When faced with a major setback there comes a crossroad where one can settle or make the best of their situation and grow, while finding a direction and progressing.

That choice came for Diego Loza when his grades began to slip further and further into emergency territory at Pinole Valley High School.

Over two years ago Loza entered Contra Costa College as a graduate from Gateway to College.

“Going (to Gateway to College) was a big kick in the ass,” Loza said.

Gateway to College is a program for students struggling to finish high school and looking to restructure their education after struggling to take full advantage of it.

When Loza enrolled at CCC he

started on a path that would give him a passion to drive his education forward by taking the Acting 1 class, taught by drama professor Tara Blau.

Quickly developing an interest in acting during that class, now a couple years later, he closed his third drama department production “Zombie Town” on Saturday.

Blau, director of “Zombie Town,” said Loza is the kind of actor any director would want to work with because of his versatility.

And he is versatile not just in acting ability but in his willingness to adapt to his situation and make the best out of whatever role or issue he is given.

In Loza’s three recent plays he played roles of various levels of stage time with wildly different levels of personality and age groups.

Loza’s most recent role in “Zombie Town” involved portraying a variety of characters, changing charac-

“Mohsin is very persistent and never lets anything stop her,even if she is afraid,” Aldabbas said.

Randy Carver, who is her speech team coach and former teacher, had nothing but praise for the young woman and her achievements.

“She is one of those students you don’t want to leave (the college) but you know they have to in order to do other great things,” Carver said.

Carver has helped Mohsin reach first place in the informative speaking category at two different tournaments this fall.

“Just like most other students, (Mohsin) says she has butterflies before a speech. But I think she makes them fly in formation,” Carver said.

Fellow speech team member Raquel Navas said Mohsin is a really hard worker and has done an amazing job on the speech team.

Behind this outspoken and confident personality, Mohsin is a deeply caring and empathetic person.

Aldabbas told a story of feeling sick on the way back from the Santa Rosa Junior College speech tournament earlier this semester. At a moment’s notice, Mohsin was at her side willing to help in any way she could.

Mohsin said that for much of her life, she has been very good with conversation and willing to listen to anyone who wanted to talk.

“People had a lot of trust in me, so I was kind of my friends’ therapist,” Mohsin said.

The combination of being a great speaker and listener will be helpful qualities for her dream of someday building a children’s shelter in an area of Pakistan known for rampant child abuse.

Diego Loza’s recent roles

Role: Mayor Arnsen Play: “Zombie Town”

Role: Hector Morales Play: “Zombie Town”

ters scene-by-scene or even in the same scene.

Loza said it was challenging making sure every character was unique and he took the same amount of attention to detail with each character.

From portraying a zombie, a wild Texan mayor and a common town member, he said he wanted to make the most of his screen time and have his performance enhance the play when he was on stage.

Blau said many actors have a hard time transitioning from big parts, like his role as Lieutenant Portuondo in last spring semester’s

Role: Otis Graves Play: “Zombie Town”

play “Two Sisters and a Piano.”

Even when taking on a part that’s smaller he approached the roles with energy.

Blau said while directing him in “Two Sisters and a Piano” and “Zombie Town” she noticed his preparation in both plays.

Kamau played Maria-Celia Obispo and was castmates with Loza. She said when they were castmates in “Achilles in Sparta” they didn’t have scenes together.

During “Two Sisters and a Piano” they had more intimate scenes and time to get to know each other. “We just vibe. We have

Role: Lieutenant Portuondo Play: “Two Sisters and a Piano”

a good vibe.”

Loza said he is a lot more motivated since he starting acting and that reflects in how he prepares for a show.

Kamau said, “With four people in ‘Two Sisters’ we got to work together more in close contact. He would help me run my lines and call me up all the time.”

Loza said he still is trying to decide what to pursue after CCC. Blau said if he wants to pursue acting as a career he will be the kind of person who will continue to get jobs.

“He’s a great kid,” she said.

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focus

PASSION SPURS ATHLETIC ABILITIES Photos by: Denis Perez For

more photos, please visit our website: www.cccadvocate.com

Comet middle hitter Makaya Thomas (middle) reacts with Comet outside hitter Victoria Matue (left) and defensive specialist Jacqueline Tianero (right) after hitting a ball into the net during Contra Costa College’s 3-0 loss to Solano Community College on Oct. 6.

RIGHT: Comet forward Anthony Maytum scores on a volley against Ram goalkeeper Andres Castrajon during Contra Costa College’s 6-2 defeat against Fresno City College on the Cosumnes River College soccer field on Sept. 9.

LEFT: Comet quarterback Davin LemonRodriguez launches the ball before getting hit during Contra Costa College’s 56-28 defeat to Sierra College at Comet Stadium on Oct. 16.

Mendocino College midfielder Emmylee Holt (left) fights a Comet defender for possession of the ball in CCC’s season opener at the Soccer Field on Sept. 29.

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Embracing confidence, self-admiration

“I was a skinny black kid who didn’t play sports. Everyone told me that I should eat more.”

— Arieus Robinson, Gateway to College student

Issues surrounding body image, public perception permeate modern culture, distort notions of beauty

By Michael Santone associate editor

msantone.theadvocate@gmail.com

In today’s society the definition of beauty has been warped by unattainably high standards and lies that spread false ideas of what constitutes the perfect outward appearance and what it means to be beautiful.

For those who struggle with the notion of the “perfect” physical features, such as height and weight, the challenges faced in building self-love can be a long and daunting process.

“When I was younger I was told by friends and family that I was too big to be a girl,” 19-year-old psychology major Athena Estrada said. “This made me feel insecure, so I pushed myself to lose weight.

But it was hard because I couldn’t be their type of thin and I got frustrated.”

Eating only one small meal a day, Estrada said she became really depressed and began wearing baggy clothes to hide her fat.

“I felt like I was competing with skinnier girls because they could wear whatever they wanted.”

It wasn’t until after she had her baby that she became comfortable with her body.

“I saw this really nice dress that I thought would only look good on skinny girls. But when I tried it on I looked beautiful and felt really comfortable,” Estrada said.

“It took me a long time, but I love my body — It’s unique. The stretch marks I got from my baby, I’m proud of them. I went through a lot to love my body.”

According to DoSomething.org, only 5 percent of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media.

Approximately 91 percent of women are unhappy with their body, with 40 percent considering plastic surgery in the future.

“Currently, I see all these people and I’m like ‘Maybe I should be skinnier or look like that model,’ but I just remember who I am,” 18-year-old Middle College High School student Mikaela Pollard said.

“In middle school I weighed more. I didn’t feel pretty and the friends I had didn’t think I was pretty.”

Pollard, who is biracial, said people use the cliche of the black girl, big butt perception but because she’s mixed with Indonesian, she isn’t “manufactured” like that.

“I had a butt but that’s because I was fat. Me being me, I was like ‘whatever,’ flat butt,” she said.

“It took me a while to say ‘hey, I’m not that bad.’ You just have to be confident and nurture yourself with things that make you feel beautiful.”

But the struggles people have with body image don’t begin or end with women.

Men, often portrayed as anything but body conscious within mainstream culture, are oftentimes disregarded when it comes to body image.

“I’ve always been the fat kid and struggled all the way through high school. I hated the way I looked,” 23-year-old theater arts design and technology major Cody Poehnelt said. “I thought no one looked at me like they look at other people and I began to see myself like other people saw me, like ‘man I must be ugly’.”

After having a mental breakdown and almost attempting suicide, Poehnelt said that’s when his perception of himself changed.

“I was tired of feeling like crap and started living with my own body standards,” he said. “ I don’t let anyone else’s expectations of me control my life.

I’m comfortable with myself. I am who I am and if someone doesn’t like it, that’s their problem.”

Being a man with body image issues seems to carry a label of frailty that spurs judgment amid society when brought to the public.

But for those who already experience a world of discrimination due to skin color or sexual orientation, the stigmas that come along with body image only elevate the pressures and struggles of everyday life.

Nineteen-year-old Gateway to College student Aireus Robinson said he was bullied extensively because he wasn’t black enough.

“I was a skinny short black kid and I didn’t play sports. Everyone would tell me to eat more, to the point where I would spend all my money on food,” he said. “I used to really hate how my knees looked, so I didn’t wear shorts much and when I did they were long, like cargo shorts.”

Hollywood movies portray high school stereotypes perfectly, Robinson said, because of the stressed social bubble that is constructed of cliches.

“It’s a place where you grow and encounter social problems that can shape you as a person,” he said.

“But I began doing things that made me comfortable in my own skin. I just started to love myself and it grew. I began accepting myself and doing what pleased me and not everyone else.”

The struggle with body image can consist of many different layers of insecurities that affect members of society in a variety of ways.

Business major Jeremiah Sayson said, throughout his life, height has been the root of many struggles that has guided him into his love of fashion.

“I would be looked at as weaker because I was short. It would make me jealous of guys who were taller than me and I would put up a guard that really played a factor,” Sayson said.

“I found my confidence in shoes. I really just used that as something to boost my ego.

That helped me develop passion and the mindset to not care what people think.”

Societal beauty standards and what is deemed as “perfect” can go beyond that of weight and height and into more physical judgments.

Like the elevated nature of body image for those already facing adversities, multiple social “imperfections,” only add to the burden of selflove.

Twenty-eight-yearold drama major Irena Miles said she’s not only curvy but she was also born with lazy eyes that elicited teasing since the moment she was born.

“These both come with their own sets of challenges. When you are different you can feel it, but then you start to appreciate it,” she said. “When I was younger I would try to mimic what other girls were wearing, but it was not until my late 20s that I began to realize that what I thought about myself is all that mattered.”

Working in customer service, Miles said she still encounters people who stare or make comments about her appearance.

“I’m human, so sometimes it affects me and I go cry or vent to my friends,” she said.

“But then I remind myself of who I am, people love me and my opinion is the only one that matters.”

“I’ve always been the fat kid and struggled all the way through high school. I hated the way I looked.”

— Cody Poehnelt, theater major

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 10.25.2017 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT ENHANCES CONFIDENCE

Lack of perfect eyesight does little to limit fashion sense, promotes personal growth

By Robert Clinton opinion editor

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

For some, it’s a pre-planned ordeal carried out with meticulous precision. While for others, choosing what to wear each day is little more than a roll of the dice — or a shot in the dark.

According to California Community College Chancellor’s Office online database, DataMart, as of fall 2016 there were 373 students with disabilities enrolled at CCC, yet only 24 are blind or visually impaired.

According to the American Foundation for the Blind, there are over 700,000 visually impaired people in California.

Despite having diminished sight, visually impaired students at CCC have a perfectly clear image of their own bodies and the way they present themselves at school or in the outside world.

“I’m partially sighted so I can see what I’m grabbing, I know what one print is compared to another,” early childhood education major Kayla Kidwell said. “There is not any special thought that goes into it, I just want to look good like everyone else.”

Each morning these students wake up with the same question faced by millions of people across the country — what am I going to wear today?

There is no one-size-fits all strategy that people with impaired vision can employ to perfect the skill of differentiating a black sock from a navy blue one. Nor are their braille photos to display the latest trends in fashion.

At CCC, a many of the outfits worn by visually impaired students are more stylish than those of sighted students. “ As far as fashion goes, I get advice from my sister, but it all comes down to personal preference,” psychology major Michelle Yoo said. “Also, I can feel the fabric and memorize the color of the item after I’m told what color it is.”

“There is not anything special that goes into it. I just want to look good, like everyone else.”

Kayla Kidwell,

early childhood education major

The art of choosing what to wear can take some trial and error and experience does not come without some mishaps.

DSPS instructional assistant and recent CCC graduate Pat Hatterman (who also has limited vision) said she has misjudged clothes or accessories in the past and that sometimes her daughter helps coordinate outfits with her.

Hatterman has devised an ingenious plan to assure the percentage of fashion setbacks occurring in the future is lowered exponentially.

“I have black pants and navy blue pants, which can be harder to differentiate, so I put a safety pin on the waist of the blue ones,” she said. “Also, I hang my green blouses by the pink ones and the blue ones by the white ones because if I hang them near each other they are harder to tell apart.”

Many of the students have embraced technology as a tool to assist in daily activities.

Mobile apps use video to pair users with sighted volunteers to offer assistance in identifying things out of the users range of vision.

“I used the app recently when I was reading a piece of mail and I couldn’t make out the print on the bottom of the letter,” Yoo said.

There are also apps that allow users to point the camera at an item of clothing with the color announced over the phone.

Seeing what is inside first, like the visually impaired students on campus, seems to be a true method of finding out where beauty standards come from and what it truly means to love oneself.

Without being inundated by targeted advertising, promoting an unrealistic sense of what modern beauty represents, visually impaired students on campus have a healthy sense of beauty, confidence and self-worth.

“In middle school I weighed more. I didn’t feel pretty and the friends I had didn’t think I was pretty” — Mikaela Pollard, Middle College High School student

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DENIS PEREZ AND ROXANA AMPARO / THE ADVOCATE

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Comet forward James Sibrian chips the ball over College of Marin goalie Colin Sneddon into the net for his second goal of the match on Oct. 20 on the Soccer Field.

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Team sinks Mariners in rout Two Comet forwards bag brace, secure victory COMETS

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By Drew Thomas

n “You’ve got to keep attack-

advocate staff

dthomas.theadvocate@gmail.com

KENTFIELD — Following a tie game against Merritt College and almost two weeks of canceled games due to poor air quality, an eager Comets’ team (3-0-1 in Bay Valley Conference, 3-5-5 overall) dominated the College of Marin here, beating them 5-1 last Friday.

Comets’ soccer coach Nikki Ferguson told his players to play aggressively and the result was them winning most of the 50-50 balls.

Both teams made no excuses about the damp environment as players sank into the ground falling all over the field.

The players just wanted to enjoy the opportunity to play competitive soccer again.

The Comets next game is against Merritt College at 4 p.m. Friday in Oakland.

“We (Marin 1-3-1 in BVC, 2-6-3 overall) were anxious to perform after coming off of a victory against

ing and defending because the faster you get goals, you mentally kill the opponent. ”

— Alejandro Fernandaz, Comet midfielder

Mendocino,” Mariner freshman Luis Javier Bernal Martinez said.

The wet condition of the Marin soccer field proved not to be a setback for the Comets either because they didn’t let the moist field stop them from setting the tone throughout the game.

The Comets also were eager to get back on the field, since they’ve had to wait until the air was safe to breathe, after more than a week of fires in the North Bay area.

CCC showed no signs of rust from not playing for a long period of time and took full control of the first half, scoring four goals, leaving Marin scoreless.

“The longer you stay off of the field, the more anxious you get and want to play,” Comet striker Alejandro Fernandez said. “You’ve got to keep attacking and defending because the faster you get goals, you mentally kill the opponent.”

The Comet onslaught in the first half was led by Addison Escobar and James Sibrian, who each scored two goals.

CCC played with more spirit after the team notched a tie game against the Thunderbirds earlier in October.

The team used the disappointment of earning a tie as fuel to outperform the Mariners in this contest.

Ferguson wanted the Comets to “stay composed” and maintain the energy they played with in the first half to continue into the second half.

The Comets took a commanding lead in the first half against the Mariners as the home team struggled to gain its composure.

During the second half, Comet right winger James Sibrian left the game after getting injured when blocking a kick

from a Mariner player.

That play didn’t stop Alejandro Fernandez from scoring CCC’s fifth goal with a trick shot that Mariner goalie Colin Sneddon did not come close to saving.

Fernandez said against teams like Marin his team has to come quick and can’t take their foot off of the gas.

Marin winger Joseph Ndungu scored the Mariners’ only goal after receiving a throw-in, which led to an open shot.

The game never got close as CCC continued to execute its game plan of working together to trap Marin players and force turnovers.

During the game’s final minutes, the Comets and Mariners got a little physical with each other after making a play to fight for a 50-50 ball.

Ferguson stressed to the Comets his vision of being the “bigger man” on the field.

Players from both teams broke up the altercation and the game concluded in a lopsided victory for the Comets.

Comets lone victory ends skid, shows improvement

By Xavier Johnson scene editor

xjohnson.theadvocate@gmail.com

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Comet hitters Victoria Matue (left) and Makaya Thomas (right) go up for a block in a game against College of Marin on Friday in Kentfield.

The volleyball team (4-11 overall and 2-8 in the Bay Valley Conference) played three conference games in as many days with a win against College of Alameda (3-7 BVC, 3-14 overall) but then dropping two straight to Mendocino College (3-5 BVC, 3-11-1 overall) and College of Marin (6-2 BVC, 10-7 overall).

Due to the massive rescheduling caused by the effects of the North Bay fires, the Comets scheduled home game against Mendocino College had to be rescheduled.

On Oct. 18 the contest was set to happen as the tail-end of a doubleheader following their game against the College of Alameda in the Los Medanos College gymnasium.

Coach Christy Tianero said she fought for the team not to play a doubleheader and lose a shot at a home game, but after debate she settled for playing in the Los Medanos gym.

LMC was already scheduled for a home game against Mendocino College.

The Comets ended their three-game losing streak in the first game of their Oct. 18 doubleheader against the College of Alameda.

After losing the first set, the Comets stormed back to win three straight sets capturing a 4-1 victory (19-25, 28-26, 25-14, 25-19).

However, as one losing streak ended another began.

In the latter portion of the doubleheader, against Mendocino, a fatigued Comet team struggled to maintain an effective offense or defense leading to the team dropping two straight sets (25-17, 25-20).

Tianero said she knew the team would get tired during the doubleheader.

“When we play in the classics (tourna-

ments) they have to play two games. The first game is ‘energy’ and the second game is like ‘whoa, what the heck’,” she said Right setter Angel Munar said she thought the team would be ready for a doubleheader.

“Once we actually played we were damn near dead in the second game — against Mendocino,” she said.

Down two sets to the Eagles and the team wilting, a spark ignited in the Comets and they entered set three with a renewed energy. Setter Joshleen Ayson said the team unified together to pump each other up.

“I told them if you look back at this game you don’t want to regret it. No matter how exhausted you are you need to push yourself,” Ayson said.

The Comets stormed on to win set three against the Eagles 25-20.

As quickly as CCC propelled themselves to a set victory, their fire burned out.

Mendocino ran through the Comets in set four in a 25-9 drubbing to end the game.

Tianero said set four against Mendocino was one of the worst sets they have played all year.

Two days later, on Friday, the Comets gave away three straight sets in a loss to third place College of Marin (25-14, 25-10, 25-16) in Kentfield.

“I told the girls we have nothing to lose here against Marin and I thought they played really well,” Tianero said. “Everyone was playing hard, moving and we had a couple of really long rallies.”

The Comets return to action tonight in a rematch at Mendocino College. Outside hitter Justine Ayson said she expects the Comets to beat Mendocino College in a rematch.

“We could have beaten them, but we didn’t have the energy. (Today) they will be the only game we have,” she said.

NorCal fires take toll on teams, schedule resulting in sub-par play

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Elevated intensity, discipline fuel team

By Robert Clinton sports editor

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

T

he women’s basketball team finished with a 13-13 record last year in the Bay Valley Conference and missed earning a playoff berth by one game after finishing the season with only five players.

Comet coach Vince Shaw sees the potential in his team and plans using a reinforced sense of camaraderie and dedication to fuel a resurgence toward BVC title contention.

“I see this group playing well together, more of a team unit. Normally, when that’s the case we have success. We play team basketball and that’s what it is,” Shaw said. “These types of teams normally tend to get better as the year goes on. A team that stays together, works hard and gets better gradually, that’s what we want to see with this group.”

One stabilizing force returning for the Comets is 5 feet 5 inch sophomore guard Dierra Mize. The guard was named to the BVC All-Conference first team last season and plans on building on her individual gains, as well as propelling her team into the postseason.

“I think we’re going to be good.

Everyone remembers what happened last year and we don’t want that to happen again. We have to make the extra effort to really stay together,” Mize said.

“This year in practice, we work a lot

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Women’s basketball coach David Shaw directs a player down near the baseline during practice prior to the start of the new basketball season.

harder, we communicate better and we try to stick together, even when times get rough. Coach is definitely less tolerant of things that he let go last year. He stays on us about our attitude and the way that we treat our teammates.”

Last season, Mize averaged 10 points per game with five rebounds and nearly three assists.

She was also first in the BVC in minutes played per contest.

As far as coaching styles go, Shaw has reestablished a sense of discipline in practice that many, including Shaw, felt was sorely missing as last season drew to a close.

“They’re willing to accept the coaching, which sometimes has to be critical, harsh, direct and firm to get my message across,” Shaw said. “They are

responding perfectly because they want this. It’s different when players have selfish goals and selfish agendas as opposed to having the team agenda.”

Entering his second year as coach for the women’s basketball team, Shaw feels his coaching style fits perfectly with the atmosphere at CCC. “I think my style fits perfectly here it’s just that now I have people who want to be here, who want to be a part of CCC, that want to be a part of this program. I think my style fits well with those kinds of kids,” he said.

“I’m still looking to improve myself and with that being the case, I expect the team to improve right along with me. I think we’ll be right there again with the chance to close the deal this time.”

Another source of leadership for the Comets this year will come in the form of sophomore guard Jameelah Hanif.

After playing on the Comets 02-03 team, which made the State Championship Game, Hanif returns following a 15-year hiatus and expects to once again contribute to a successful CCC season.

Hanif has been practicing with her teammates since July and sets the bar unexpectedly high for this relatively young Comet squad.

“We have a lot of talent on our team.

I think we can make it,” Hanif said.

“I want to be a natural leader starting by getting the team to connect off the court. I want them to know what makes them better is what happens as a team off of the court.”

COMETS FALL TO BULLDOGS IN LACKLUSTER PERFORMANCE Squad exhibits rust following hiatus from football

By Robert Clinton sports editor

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

N

early one month removed from the field, the football team returned to action at the College of San Mateo and suffered its worst loss of the season.

Under clear skies, the Comets fell 57-6 to the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.

Following an Oct.7 bye week and the postponement of play due to unhealthy air quality brought on by the North Bay fires, CCC could use the time to either coalesce, or accumulate rust.

“The time off made us a little rusty,” Contra Costa College defensive lineman Tahji Williams said. “We only had three days of actual practice over the last few weeks, but that’s still no excuse.

Moving forward, we have to learn from our mistakes and come back ready to play this week.”

The Comets displayed more of the latter after

yielding 513 yards of total offense and six touchdowns to CSM. With reschedule dates still pending, the Comets’ next regularly scheduled game is Saturday against De Anza College at 1 p.m. in San Pablo.

BULLDOGS Against the Bulldogs, CCC kept the score close in the first quarter after trailing 13-0 early after sustained CSM scoring drives of seven and eight plays COMETS gave the home team a two-touchdown lead with two minutes to play in the quarter.

Comet sophomore receiver Courtney Beanne (three receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown), brought life to CCC after scoring on a 39-yard pitch and catch to cap a 6-play, 79-yard drive.

Not sustaining drives has been the biggest stumbling block for CCC this season.

By halftime, San Mateo owned a 34-6 advan-

57 6

tage.

After the break the Comets forced a San Mateo mistake after defensive back Marcus Pippen intercepted a Miles Kendrick pass.

However, CCC was not able to capitalize on the Bulldog misfortune as quarterback Devin Lemon-Rodriguez (6-23 for 74 yards with one touchdown and one interception) tossed an interception of his own on his team’s first play from scrimmage of the second half.

“I’m learning to trust the process. Some things just have to happen,” sophomore receiver Semaj Mitchell said. “We managed our time well over the break. We just need more people to show up. We’re like the 300 of Thermopyale.”

With two consistent drives to end the 57-6 loss to San Mateo, the Comets may be in position to earn their first win of the season against the Dons.

Saturday’s game against De Anza is an opportunity for victory as the Dons have as many conference wins as CCC — none.

Defensive resurgence fuels lineup as games approach

By Drew Thomas advocate staff

dthomas.theadvocate@gmail.com

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Comet assistant Jason Maples teaches his guards how to shield the ball from defenders while simulating a layup during practice Oct. 19 in the Gymnasium.

Another year marks a new season for CCC’s men’s basketball team as the new players are learning to play together and establishing a team identity.

“This season, we have a lot of young players, transfer guys and some first year sophomores. It’s just about finding out what our identity is, what we’re going to hang our hat on, and who were going to be this upcoming season as a young group,” Comet men’s basketball coach Miguel Johnson said.

In every sport, when starting a new season, it is common to have lost key players from the previous season who were essential to the team’s success.

CCC did lose some of its firepower from last season, including forward Curtis Harris who was named to the All-Bay Valley Conference team as a freshmen.

However, CCC did bring back some of its experienced players who may offer leadership going into these upcoming games.

“I have expectations from each guy on this team.

I think collectively as a group we can get it done.

I’m sure I’ll lean more towards our sophomore and second year guys rather than the freshmen,” Johnson said.

“Everybody’s competing for spots and going hard at each other,” freshman shooting guard Darrius Scott said. Second year players have experienced winning and losing on the college level, which makes them the most prepared this season.

Comet sophomore combo guard Stephen Evans said this year’s team is a little bit more athletic and that the team just needs to figure out how to mesh with each other.

n “We’ve got to learn how to play with each other, know what each other can do and when to get them going.

— Kemare Wright, Comet guard

CCC’s efforts to bring in more athletic players will help give the team an advantage in rebounding the ball and when hustling for loose balls.

Johnson will make adjustments from last season by focusing more on team defense, defensive rebounding and limiting turnovers.

“This year, we’re just trying to keep things simple. We started out trying to incorporate a lot of things, so this year, we’re going to simplify our system.” he said.

He hopes that the adjustments being made will lead to more running and the creation of easy baskets in transition.

Players are buying into Johnson’s style of play, as he believes this season’s team will play at more of an up-tempo pace.

The Comets continue to make adjustments this season by bringing in new players, especially aspiring guards that hope to offer leadership to the team.

“I’m hoping that the leadership from the point guard spot will emerge,” Johnson said.

The first-year players come in with a chip on their shoulder and look to prove what they can do on the college level.

“We’ve got to learn how to play with each other, know what each other can do and know when to get them going,” guard Kemare Wright said.

B8

spotlight

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 10.25.2017 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

Ingredients in processed foods Trans fats increase your risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

Disodium Phosphate is used as a preservative in processed foods.

Sodium’s use is traced back salting meat to is still used to foods.

in processed foods to the practice of preserve it. Sodium preserve processed High fructose corn syrup PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

U.S. OBSESSED WITH FOOD

By Michael Santone associate editor

msantone.theadvocate@gmail.com

Over the last 100 years the rise in processed food has gripped America in a chokehold of manufactured nourishment that has led to convenient but unhealthy eating choices.

Saturating grocery stores and household food necessities with added sugars, flavors and preservatives, these products of clinically assembled ingredients include canned goods, frozen vegetables, crackers, granola bars and deli meat.

“Processed foods start from the point of where you yank it off the ground,” Contra Costa College culinary arts department Chairperson Nader Sharkes said. “This is called processing. Then washing the item is another step. Imagine if you wash it, transport, refrigerate and then cook it and then put it in a can or freeze it. It loses all its

“Our bodies don’t know how to process these types of synthetic sweeteners. People need to back away from these processed foods to protect their health.”

Beth Goehring,

kinesiology professor

nutrients. It loses all its texture. It loses all its flavor.”

The progression of manufactured processed foods hit its stride in the 1950s and 60s as Americans strived for accessibility with inventions like the microwave and pre-packaged frozen meals.

According to a 2015 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report, 61 percent of the food Americans buy is highly processed.

“It’s because of the convenience. Everyone

is busy working and you’re trying to just get filled fast without making any effort because you are working 10 or 14 hours,” Sharkes said. “Processed food is always cheaper.

Organic food is still pricey. We are trying to teach the students and everyone to eat healthy, but they can’t afford it. ” The readiness of fast food restaurants has also created popular and cheap go-to options for millions of Americans.

In a 2012 study at DoSomething.org, at least one in four people eat some type of fast food every day.

“Toxins from these chemicals that make up processed foods trick the taste buds into thinking things are sweet,” CCC kinesiology professor Beth Goehring said. “These toxins build up in the body, and long-term effects can range from high blood pressure to diabetes.”

Food products that are labeled fat free or products that may be the new “diet craze”

can also pose a threat, Goehring said.

“Our bodies don’t know how to process these types of synthetic sweeteners,” she said. “People need to back away from these pro- Goehring cessed foods to protect Contra their health.”

CCC nursing major Costa Jazmine Carbajal said she College normally cooks all of her kinesiology food from scratch and rare- professor ly purchases fast food.

“Students are busy and don’t have time to prepare lunch,” she said.

“Sometimes I have to watch what I eat. For lunch I normally go with a sandwich, I don’t eat chips.”

Sharkes said obesity is caused by processed foods and it’s just one of the many reasons Americans need to create a balance.

Alternate diet need sustained

By Roxana Amparo associate editor

ramparo.theadvocate@gmail.com

For some people, the little green logo next to the chicken on the Brix menu is merely a symbol. But for others it’s a sign of respect and inclusion.

The Halal chicken option is a protein permissible for consumption for students or faculty who practice Islam. “(It’s good), even if it’s one Halal chicken sandwich to signify, ‘We know you are here, we respect your religion and you are not being shamed for your beliefs’,”Muslim Student Association President Rayah Alammari said.

For an animal to be Halal, it has to be slaughtered in the most “sympathetic” way an animal can be slaughtered, Alammari said.

“You can’t slaughter it in front of other animals. You have to slaughter it in the name of God.” The method of slaughtering the animal is a requirement in order for it to be qualified as Halal.

When slaughtering animals or poultry, a precise cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe must be performed and the animal must be healthy, under no stress and the blood must be drained from the carcass, according to Islamic Law. Contra Costa College is home to a diverse population of students and staff from varied backgrounds.

Brix Chef Jason Rogers said the Halal chicken option has been on the menu since the birth of Brix on campus on January 2016.

Having the Halal logo on the menu did not suffice, so Rogers said he put out a sign to let students know they had that option.

Brix worker Gloria Quintanilla said when people see what the food looks like, it helps them decide what they want

TONY GOJILDE / THE ADVOCATE

Dental hygiene major Iris Franco grabs a chipotle chicken sandwich made with halal chicken at Brix Monday. She is trying the meat after a friend recommended it to her.

n “(It’s good), even if it’s one Halal chicken

sandwich to signify, ‘We know you are here’.”

— Rayah Alammari, Muslim student association president

to order — especially when it is something people may have questions about.

When students order the Halal chicken option on the menu, Rogers said he describes it as an “animal that has been sacrificed in a proper manner.”

Muslim and non-Muslim students can request for their chicken sandwiches to be made with Halal chicken and it can be put on anything from a chicken salad to a Comet Classic Burger.

Alammari said it’s difficult to find places to eat that offer Halal selections and remembers when she discovered the Halal option on the Brix menu.

“I ate it with such a passion,” she said. “I went home and said, ‘Dad, look, they have Halal at our school.’”

He answered, “How do you know it’s really Halal?”

When Alammari told MSA members about Halal chicken

being on the Brix menu, she said they were equally as excited because they were now able to eat on campus without feeling guilty.

When cooking with Halal products, ensuring the cooking area is free of other non-Halal meats is an essential step.

“I’ve asked them to wash the spatula or change their gloves,” Alammari said.

Sous Chef Andreana Walker said they cook the Halal chicken at the beginning of the day so it cooks on the grill before any other meats.

Alammari said some people in the Muslim community are very particular about what they eat and prefer not to order from anywhere else other than Muslim places.

“Even at a Muslim restaurant you wouldn’t expect the person to know. The worker just cooks it.

“There is also an aspect of being skeptical. That is where my dad came in.”