WEDNESDAY l 4.6.16 OUR 66TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.
CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE
Bridge closure to limit access Campus Center Project closes bridge pathway, detour not ADA compliant
BY Benjamin Bassham NEWS EDITOR
bbassham.theadvocate@gmail.com
The plaza outside Contra Costa College’s Student Services Center will be closed for reconstruction starting Monday through the semester’s end on May 27. The bridge leading from the parking lot to the plaza will be closed, but the routes from the Bus Transfer Center and the Computer Technology Center will remain open. Foot traffic that would have crossed the bridge will have to detour past the Bus Transfer Center. The stairs leading from the Bus Transfer Center are not ADA accessible. The path from the CTC is, but the detour would be long. A memo from college administration said students with a disability who need to access the building can call Police Services at 510-215-4858 to request golf-cart shuttle service as
needed. Signs will be placed, providing the phone number and directions for pedestrians. Senior Construction Manager for Critical Solutions Alex Gourtzelis said the surface of the plaza will be replaced and a storm drain installed. “We are taking out the pinkish colored concrete and replacing it with concrete pavers, which are similar color to the building’s exterior brick veneer,” he said. Some concrete south of the SSC will also be replaced, but the bridge and the various ramps and stairs surrounding the plaza will remain, Gourtzelis said. He said six Chinese elms, serviced by the new storm drain, will replace the podocarpuses growing in the plaza. Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said the construction was supposed to start April 4, but got pushed back to Monday.
Gourtzelis said previous construction work, installing the electrical hookup for the buildings of the Campus King Center Project, is responsible for the stripe of white concrete currently marring the plaza. King said planners included the reconstruction of the plaza a part of the Campus Center and Classroom Project, but “they didn’t want to do it until near the end. Some places they hook up easily, some not so much. “(The construction) is down to the last stretch, (and) come June 1, it should be done.” Gourtzelis said, “It is an inconvenience, but it needs to be done.” The bridge and three buildings are scheduled to open for the fall 2016 semester.
ABOVE: Students cross the bridge that sits between the Student Services Center Plaza and the parking lots on Monday. This bridge will be closed as construction nears its summer completion date.
GRIEF SWEEPS COMMUNITY AS BELOVED FRIEND DIES Shrieve’s storied legacy lives on in those left behind CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE
BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR
rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com
Richmond High School students and staff and the Contra Costa College community are mourning the loss of a valued faculty member, as Zachary Shrieve died March 24 after a seven-month battle with cancer. He died in his sleep at his own home in El Cerrito surrounded by his wife and family. Last Sept. 28, the 46-year-old Shrieve was diagnosed with Shrieve abdominal cancer and given just two years to live by doctors. In the face of overwhelming odds, the coach and mentor began his race against time to find any avenue toward a cure. “It’s hard to mourn someone when they’re here, but when they die it is so final,” Shrieve’s sister Stephanie ShrieveHawkins said. “That void is there. Everyone is pretty devastated. It’s still so new that it feels surreal.” His service will be held on Tuesday at the St. Mary Magdalen Church in Berkeley at 11 a.m. News of Shrieve’s death circulated that day first among family and friends SEE SHRIEVE, PAGE 3
Diversity Outreach Day boosts inclusion Graduate school event serves as resource for minorities, provides legal guidance
BY Christian Urrutia EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
currutia.theadvocate@gmail.com
SAN FRANCISCO — When Community Organizing and Political Action (COPA) Club President Milca Baires saw the opportunity to visit UC Hastings College of the Law Saturday to change a male dominated profession catered toward whites — she didn’t hesitate. “I believe that in politics, especially among the (legal) community, it is male dominated. But at this event I saw a lot of women and that was exciting. “We need diversity in not just race but gender as well. Ninety-five percent of guests (here) were
women, which was satisfying to see,” Baires said. She and fellow Contra Costa College COPA secretary Jose Arebalo traveled to UC Hastings for Diversity Outreach Day, a program aimed at expanding opportunities to low-income minorities and historically underrepresented communities as they attempt to obtain a legal education. Arebalo and Baires met with Berkeley City College anthropology major Madgalena Olvera as they traveled via BART to the graduate school early in the morning. The student-run event featured breakfast, an overview of the day’s proSEE LAW, PAGE 3
ABOVE: COPA Club President Milca Baires (left) and COPA secretary Jose Arebalo pack up their things as they leave a mock class during the Diversity Outreach Day event at UC Hastings College of the Law on Saturday.
LOSING TEAM CONTINUES STREAK, AIMS TO IMPROVE PAGE 11
People adapt to environment, life on streets of Richmond PAGE 10