The Advocate 10-1

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WEDNESDAY l 10.01.14 OUR 65TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.

ASU GRANT FOR SUPPORT

SUPPORT FROZEN Program which allows for students, faculty to petition for funds suspended indefinitely

Student debt

$20,000 Last year, the Associated Students Union ran up a $20,000 bill on its procurement card. This debt was never paid by the ASU and had to be paid by the college.

BY Brian Boyle

demic year. Under the program, different departments and student groups across campus could petition the ASU for up to The Associated Students Union’s $3,500 worth of funding, pending board Grant for Support program has been approval.

The decision to cancel, or freeze, the indefinitely canceled.

ASU President Antone Agnitsch program was made independent of the announced the cancellation at the ASU’s rest of the ASU Board and no vote was held one way or the other on the subweekly meeting on Sept. 24.

“I met with the Business Office,” ject.

Agnitsch said, “and we agreed that it During the Sept. 24 meeting, Agnitsch just isn’t a good time for it (the Grant for said the Grant for Support program was Support program).” “just used by the faculty to fund their The Grant for Support program is a program that the ASU had last aca- SEE SUPPORT, PAGE 3 SPOTLIGHT EDITOR

bboyle.theadvocate@gmail.com

editorial Executive over-reach

ASU sidelines Grant for Support program without a vote on the issue.

page 2 ILLUSTRATION BY LORENZO MOROTTI / THE ADVOCATE

BLACK STUDENT UNION MAY RETURN

Campus lacking group after leaders transfer

BY Mike Thomas SCENE EDITOR

mthomas.theadvocate@gmail.com

SEE UNION, PAGE 3

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE

Commuters to experience another El Portal closure Major street shut down to prepare for CalTrans’ $113.5 million

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

SAN PABLO — Commuters using the westbound El Portal Interstate 80 off-ramp will be detoured left (away from the college) upon exiting starting Oct. 13 because of a utility relocation project that will shut down a portion of El Portal Drive to automobile traffic.

San Pablo Engineering Service Manager Scott Christie said, “This next closure will be more difficult for people who take El Portal to the college than the last (closure).”

Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) will oversee the East Bay Municipal Utilities District relocation project of a 530-foot waterline, stretching from Glenlock Street to the freeway off-ramp toward San Pablo.

CCTA Engineering Manager Hashim Neoimi said portable message signs will advise drivers to use the Hilltop Drive off-ramp seven days prior to the El Portal Drive closure.

Neoimi said, “This is so people don’t get off on the El Portal freeway exit expecting to turn right

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Samsung’s latest phone reviewed

project

BY Lorenzo Morotti

What will happen: El Portal Drive will be shut down to traffic from Glenlock Street stretching to the westbound Interstate 80 offramp until spring 2015.

Students and commuters driving toward campus will be detoured to use the Hilltop Drive Interstate 80 but are instead detoured left under the overpass and back onto the freeway (going the opposite direction).”

El Portal Drive is a major street used by Contra Costa College students commuting from Hilltop, El Sobrante, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett and Vallejo area along the I-80 corridor.

EBMUD representative Tracy Morales said Mountain Cascade, Inc., a pipeline contractor, won the project bid at $1.8 million. She said EBMUD’s relocation project is scheduled to be completed in March 2015.

SEE EL PORTAL, PAGE 3

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An effort to re-activate the Black Student Union on campus is underway.

The campus has lacked an organization for African-American students since 2012, when the club went inactive after it was left without leadership when members transferred out of Contra Costa College.

Kinesiology major DeAndre Russell is behind the attempt to revive the BSU. “One of the reasons I wanted to get the BSU started is we need more leaders on this campus,” Russell said. “We need people to step up. It takes mentors to mold leaders.”

El Portal Drive will soon be shut down to traffic once again forcing students to seek an alternative route to the campus starting Oct. 13.

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Quotable “I know from logic and from observation and from experience that the more powerless you are as a group, gender or ideology, the more you should defend your freedom of speech.”

Nadine Strossen president, American Civil Liberties Union 1996 Lorenzo Morotti editor-in-chief George Morin art director Cody McFarland Rodney Woodson associate editors Roxana Amparo news editor Van Ly opinion editor Robert Clinton Jose Jimenez sports editors Mike Thomas scene editor Brian Boyle spotlight editor Qing Huang Christian Urrutia photo editors Janae Harris Cody Casares assistant photo editors Paul DeBolt faculty adviser Staff writers Jared Amdahl Salvador Godoy Krysta Gonzalez Florinda Hershey Princess Hughes Mickalea Manuel Marlene Rivas Jason Sykes Manning Peterson Mark Wassberg Sean Whatley Staff photographers Jordan Khoo Staff illustrators Mayra Garcia Honors ACP National Newspaper Pacemaker Award 1990, 1994, 1997,1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 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, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 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. 1, 2014 Vol. 102, No. 4

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

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Editorial

EXECUTIVE OVER-REACH

ASU president goes above board to cancel program

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residential fiat is one of the worst ways for a decision to be made.

Associated Students Union President Antone Agnitsch used just that when he decided to “freeze” the ASU’s Grant for Support program. The Grant for Support program is a program the ASU started in order to give money generated by the student activity fee to student or faculty groups that petitioned the board for funding.

Agnitsch has alleged that the money surrounding the program was mismanaged. He also claims that faculty members who “wished to fund extra credit projects for their students” abused the program.

Agnitsch’s claims may have a certain validity to them, yet that hardly excuses denying the ASU board the chance to do what they were designed to do — vote on the issue.

Little protest was made against Agnitsch’s decision, but even by his own admission the board is “new with a lot to learn,” and the chance to make the decision should be presented to them.

Yet debate on the subject was still present. Senator Luanna Waters said the Grant for Support program did a number of things to benefit students directly, including purchasing new equipment for the Fitness Center.

The fact that there is any debate whether the program was a positive or a negative thing shows that the decision to cancel, postpone or go forward with the program should be left up to the board.

Any validity that the student activity fee has is from the fact that to spend it, a group of elected students must vote on how. The moment any single person decides to exercise what is effectively a veto, a power that is granted to no one according to the ASU’s bylaws, the integrity of the entire board is compromised.

Agnitsch said the board has much to learn, yet his own actions have denied the board that opportunity. There is an easy remedy to this error, and that would be to present the Grant for Support program to the ASU Board, and allow the members to voice their opinion and then vote.

The decision to enact or cancel a program that involves the student activity fee should be left to the student representatives that are there to be the voice of the students who paid for the fee.

If that is not the case, then the fee should not exist. The student activity fee generates a lot of money for the ASU every semester, and that money needs to be monitored closely to ensure that the proper democratic process the ASU was founded upon is actually followed.

The members of the ASU are either elected, or must present at least 25 student signatures to the board in order to be members. This is supposed to be a sign of support from the students these senators represent.

Denying the individual members of the board their voice is the same thing as denying the rest of the students at Contra Costa College the chance to be heard.

LORENZO MOROTTI / THE ADVOCATE

N ETHNICITY

Shameful society focused on race

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ontrary to popular belief, I am an American, not an African-American.

All people should be allowed to be themselves and coexist.

This is a country that consists of many different types of people, all from different types of places.

Embracing one’s culture and remembering ancestral origins is all fine and dandy, but at some point, enough has to be enough.

Here at Contra Costa College, every year there is a “black” graduation celebration. Yet, there is already a general college graduation.

A lot of people in the area are part of families where first-time college students attend CCC. And celebrating their accomplishments is terrific, but does it have to be surrounding race?

How is humanity supposed to look past race, if race is made paramount?

We don’t need an African-American graduation, a Hispanic graduation, nor do we need an Asian graduation. Hell, how would the community react to a white graduation?

It sounds a little too close to a “white’s only” graduation? Probably, but imagine how a black graduation sounds to anyone not black?

People may argue that past oppressions open the door for Americans of African descent to over-glorify being who they are, but that is not

enslavement and despair so others could eventually claim to be national citizens, while those like me must first be identified by race?

The original people of this land still do not receive proper respect as such, pushed away onto reservations, continually ridiculed true. and under minded, referred We have the right to to as Native Americans, or celebrate our differences in American Indians. Why are general. So celebrating an they not Americans? Why ethnicity, or accomplishare white Americans not ments achieved by those a European-Americans? part of one, is great.

No race, culture or ethBut it can be done withnicity is better than another. out deliberately and pointNo American is more lessly shoving race into American than any other. someone’s face, because, During the civil rights after all, that’s what racists movement people were beatdo. en and killed in the name of Wouldn’t it unite the colhumanity.

It seems we have lege and its surrounding lost that idea of morality. community more so if the After a hard fought vicentire college put all of its tory the troops have relaxed efforts into one graduation, and our once strong leadrather than trying to sepaers, such as Jesse Jackson rate them by race?

It is when the promotion and Al Sharpton, preach more about the importance of differences encompasses of voting and being good an unhealthy amount of pride that we find ourselves Democrats rather than raising awareness about the in the midst of those who have enslaved and oppressed ongoing injustices the U.S. affords most of its citizens. the masses of Americans My accent, my native who descend from Africans. tongue, my slang and my I am not an Africanstyle of dress are American.

American. Keep your paciI am American and this is fying rhetoric to yourselves. my home, no different from I have never been to Africa, any other American. although someday I would like to go there.

Rodney Woodson is However, how does an associate editor of The someone dare assimilate Advocate. Contact him at a hyphenation into our rwoodson.theadvocate@ nationality after millions gmail.com. died and fought through

rodneywoodson

CampusComment What clubs would you like to see around campus?

“A guitar club, because it would be interesting to see the diversity of people who play guitar.”

“A guitar club would be nice. I wouldn’t have the time to take a class and a club would be convenient.”

Paul Sanchez

David Nava

undecided

undecided

JORDAN KHOO AND MAYRA GARCIA / THE ADVOCATE

“A reading club would allow people to get together to share their thoughts and opinions on many different books.”

“Soccer club, because people should know more about it since it seems a lot of focus goes toward other sports.”

Alejandro Gonzalez

Emily Gonzalez

history

liberal arts

“A dance club, so that people can come watch, listen to music and show their skills.”

“A guidance club, because most people lack experience on being qualified for a job.”

Jade Walker psychology

David Navarro business

campus beat Follow The Advocate

Newsline Q accreditation

COLLEGE INSPECTION BEGINS NEXT WEEK A state accreditation team will visit the campus from Monday through Oct. 9.

As authorized by the U.S. Department of Education, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACCJC) will, through process of peer review, evaluate the overall educational quality and effectiveness of Contra Costa College based on four accreditation standards adopted by the commission in June.

In general, the evaluation determines whether or not community colleges and other associate degree granting institutions in the western region of the U.S. are effectively meeting their personal standards.

Institutions that fail to meet these standards will lose accreditation. Credits earned by students at an unaccredited institution are not recognized by the United States university system.

Q culture

ARTISTS SHOWCASE THEIR QUILTS, ART The Barbara Hazard exhibition, along with a quilt show, will be on display in the Eddie Rhodes Gallery in A-5 today through Nov. 1.

Beside the quilts, Hazard will have 30 2D images on both canvas and paper hanging in the gallery.

Q asu

CAMPUS TO HOST TRANSFER DAY The Associated Students Union is hosting the annual Transfer Day event in front of the Liberal Arts Building on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Representatives from universities, state universities, local and private colleges, and out-of-state colleges will be on hand.

Students will be able to obtain valuable information on transfer requirements, majors, financial aid and campus life.

For more information, call the counseling department at 510215-3936 or call counselor Andrea Phillips at 510-215-3914 or email her at aphillips@contracosta.edu.

Q food

CULINARY TO HOST CHOCOLATE EVENT The culinary arts department is hosting its annual Champagne and Chocolate event in the Three Seasons Restaurant from noon to 3 p.m. on Oct. 19.

There will be different chocolate dishes and types of champagne.

Tickets for the event are $30 at the door and $25 in advance.

All proceeds will benefit the Culinary Arts Scholarship program. Tickets can be purchased by check or cash at the Three Seasons Restaurant.

Parking will be available in lots 9 and 12.

For more information, call the culinary arts department at 510215-3878 or by email at wchau@ contracosta.edu.

CrimeWatch Tuesday, Sept. 23: An officer conducted a traffic stop and the driver was found to be in possession of marijuana. The subject was cited and released.

An officer conducted a traffic stop and the driver was determined to be driving without a license. The subject was cited.

3

SUPPORT | ASU accrues $20,000 credit debt Continued from Page 1

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extra credit programs,� an assertion that senator Luanna Waters disagreed with during the meeting. “Last year we held feed the homeless, helped get equipment for the Fitness Center — we did things that helped students,�

Waters said.

Agnitsch said that last year the ASU spent $4,000 to fund a drumming group to perform for a Black History Month celebration. He said that all of the students who went were offered extra credit by their professor.

He also said he disagreed with money that was spent on the psychology department and renting a bus for the football team, as that money only benefitted a small number of students.

Agnitsch said that during his meeting with the Business Office, the conversation was focused on ensuring the student activity fee — the $5 fee collected from every student each semester, unless they

submit a waiver — was spent explicitly on students.

ASU adviser Ericka Greene said, “It’s the student activity fee, it had better be spent on students.�

Business Services Supervisor Nick Dimitri said the Grant for Support program was not administered well. He said although the ASU voted to grant departments funds, the paperwork to transfer the money was rarely done.

Agnitsch said he met with Dean of Students Vicki Ferguson, Dimitri and the senior accountant Jacqueline Ore, and he said he took to heart their advice to not go forward with the program. “Last year the program was a huge mess,� Agnitsch said. “Departments that were approved for funding never got their money, and when they complained to the Business Office, the office said they never heard of the program at all.�

Agnitsch said the ASU’s procurement card was also a matter of contention. “Right now, the Business Office doesn’t want to let us use the pro-

curement card,� he said. He said the reason for this was, due to mismanagement of paperwork, the ASU left their procurement card with a $20,000 debt on it.

Dimitri said the college itself had to cover the $20,000 bill. “We had to cut them off from the procurement card,� Dimitri said. “There hasn’t been any talk of what form of reconciliation there should be yet.�

Dimitri said last year he requested the proper paperwork to process the ASU’s expenditures, but he never received it. “I talked to Student Life and I talked to Dean Ferguson, but it just never came,� he said.

The steps for an ASU project to be approved make the request pass through numerous hands.

Students pay their bills on WebAdvisor, and that money is eventually transferred to the cashier.

After the money enters the cashier’s hands, the money is transferred to the district, who then makes deposits into the ASU’s

account a few times a year.

From there, the ASU can begin voting to spend money generated by the student activity fee.

Though, after the ASU votes, the ASU president must then fill out the proper paperwork and sign it, before it is passed to the ASU adviser to sign. From there, the request to fill a payment is given to Ferguson, where it is given a stamp of approval.

After that, a check is cut by the Business Office. As a safeguard, the check must be signed by two managers, and then the payment can happen.

Agnitsch said he is unsure what would happen if the ASU and the college administration disagreed on an ASU project. “It has apparently never happened,� he said. “No one really knows what would happen if they didn’t agree with us, but I think we would just do what we wanted anyway.� “Ultimately, we don’t really have authority over the money,� he said.

UNION | Historic group absent on campus Continued from Page 1 Russell approached history professor Manu Ampim to be the BSU’s adviser, and Ampim agreed.

Ampim said organizations like the BSU have a rich history. “(The Black Student Union) emerged in 1966, and were led by black students from different colleges — they wanted ethnic and black studies classes on their campuses,� Ampim said. “All of that activism in the human and civil rights movement led them to create the Black Student Union (nationally).�

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article published on Feb. 1, 2010, Jimmy Garrett and Jerry Varnado first created the BSU at San Francisco State University. Their stated goal was to advocate for civil rights everywhere.

Students at CCC value their ethnic identities. “Having a student union on campus that is your same race or ethnicity means a lot — you learn to embrace your culture, traditions and

even history,� La Raza Club President Jeannette Martinez said.

The La Raza Club is almost always active, and maintains a large student interest. The club is also diverse, despite focusing mainly on Latin-American issues. Martinez said the lack of a BSU on campus is unacceptable.

Russell is the only student presently trying to rebuild the BSU, but is willing to get all the help he can get. That starts by getting the students at CCC to understand the history of African-Americans, and the BSU. “Right now the main thing I want is to give better knowledge of the African-American history, and I want to reach out to everyone and make us one,� Russell said. “If I can get the African-American students to buy into the BSU then I can get them to tell everyone else, but it starts with us.�

Members of La Raza credit their interest in the club to their adviser, Agustin Palacios.

Martinez said being able to so easily relate to an adviser of the same background makes the club

EL PORTAL | I-80

more attractive. “Whenever you can identify yourself with someone with the same descent, it really helps,�

Martinez said. She said having an adviser who is able to relate their own life and struggles to things their students may be experiencing helps foster a deeper connection to the club.

Associated Students Union adviser Ericka Greene said, “The BSU is a student club, so students have to take the initiative to start one.�

Ampim said when the BSU was active in the past, the focus was mainly on social events, and less on understanding African-American history. He said that he and African-American studies professor Carolyn Hodge’s main goal is to keep the club focused on learning.

Ampim said he is going to approach the new club members differently this time around. He said on the first meeting he would give a brief introduction about himself and the history of the BSU. “We want (the students) to give their voice, and their opinions to mold the club,� he said.

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Continued from Page 1 Neoimi said the prior closure, which lasted from June to September this year and stretched from Glenlock Street to the Shell gas station on El Portal Drive, allowed workers to relocate a Phillips 66 petroleum line.

The prior utility relocation project funneled traffic along the narrow neighborhood streets of the Rollingwood area. The detour forced some of its residents to write speed limits on the street in chalk and post their own signage because of hasty commuters not adhering to residential speed limits along the designated route.

Neoimi said the detour maps for both projects were developed in close coordination with the cities of Richmond and San Pablo, as well as all of Contra Costa County and CalTrans.

He said the upcoming El Portal closure will detour traffic along Hilltop Drive toward Robert Miller Drive until reaching San Pablo Avenue. “We have to relocate two major utility lines (EBMUD and Phillips 66) before construction can start,� he said.

Christie said these utility relocation projects are in preparation for phase one of CalTrans’ $113.5 million San Pablo Dam Road Interchange and Reconstruction Project (SPDR project).

CalTrans representative Allyn Amsk said phase one is scheduled to start during the summer of 2015 and end in fall 2016.

Christie said the city of San Pablo was involved in the design, review meeting and its input during most stages of the project process. He said the projected will be sectioned off into two phases.

However, “The (start) date of phase two (of the SPDR project) is still up in the air,� he said.

According to ccta.net, the SPDR project is funded by Measure J, Subregional Transportation Fees, City of San Pablo Redevelopment Fund, the State Transportation Improvement Program and Regional Measure 2 at $12, $7, $3, $24.2, and $8 million, respectively.

Neoimi said they are short about $60 million in funding to complete the overall project, but have been given the right-of-way by local government to follow through with the projects for phase one, which is the SPDR interchange project.

Christie said the SPDR project will completely remove the isolated westbound El Portal on-ramp, currently located next to the Shell gas station, and install it farther north near the El Portal off-ramp and the next scheduled closure.

Neoimi said the reason is to reduce the high number of accidents caused by how close the San Pablo Dam Road off-ramp is located to the El Portal on-ramp on the I-80 corridor. He said drivers exiting the freeway do not have enough time to merge with those entering the on-ramp “resulting in slow downs and close calls for drivers.�

He said with the new on-ramp, however, the distance between the ramps will be twice as long as what currently exists. He said it will also remove the yield turn onto the on-ramp, westbound along El Portal Drive, that has been the cause of many traffic accidents.

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WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 10.01.2014 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

Gateway to College senior William Santos looks over a voter registration form as it is explained to him by a volunteer from the League of Woman’s Voters during National Voter Registration Day in front of the AA Building on Sept. 23.

Voter registration prompts reaction Women’s league promotes political awareness

BY Mayra Garcia STAFF WRITER

mgarcia.theadvocate@gmail.com

Volunteers from the League of Woman’s Voters held a voter registration drive in front of the Applied Arts Building and in the Welcome/Transfer Center on Sept. 23.

National Voter Registration Day is meant to not only increase the number on registered voters but also raise awareness regarding the importance of voting.

“This is the League of Woman’s Voters first time taking part of National Voters Registration Day,” Myrtle Braxton, coordinator for the League of Woman’s Voters of West Contra Costa County, said.

After setting up outside of the AA Building and inside of the Welcome/Transfer Center, volunteers spoke to students about the importance of voting.

Braxton said she wanted the attention associated with the convenience of bringing registration stations to students to help demonstrate the importance of registering to vote.

I think it’s good (registering) because there are a lot of people that don’t vote.

All my family members vote. It’s a good way to get your opinion out.” — William Santos, student

“

“Being mindful of the actions of people in control means a lot,” Braxton said. She added that because a lawmaker’s rulings determine young peoples’ lives, it is necessary to be politically aware.

Nursing major Ana Lozano was one of several students who registered. She said she registered because it is important to be able to vote in times of crisis.

Lozano said that although the League of Woman’s Voters is registering individuals to vote, there is little incentive for people to actually vote. She said people only vote when something is negatively impacting them.

Braxton stressed the importance of voting. She said any law that is passed would impact the lives of everyone for years to come. She said every person has the power to make change.

Although he cannot vote, international student Rico Salvador said registering to vote is important.

Braxton said even those who cannot vote could still make their voices heard by campaigning.

Guanita Barbarin, a retired nurse and volunteer, said voting should be something every person participates in.

“Getting student attention is a challenge at times,” Barbarin said. “There is no easy approach other than introducing oneself.”

Though some students hesitated when asked to register, William Santos said he did not have to think twice about registering.

“I think it’s good (registering) because there are a lot of people that don’t vote,” he said. “All my family members vote. It’s a good way to get your opinion out.”

Veteran’s Center open for business Normally, veterans will come here just to ask questions or find a good place to get started registering for classes. We’re tailoring to a specific audience (veterans) and generally it begins with questions or assistance with paperwork and ed plans.” — Trinidad Ledesma, A and R assistant

STAFF WRITER

“

The new Veteran’s Center in SSC110 has been put to use since it was opened on Aug. 14.

“Normally veterans will come here just to ask questions or find a good place to get started registering for classes,” lead Admissions and Records assistant Trinidad Ledesma said. “We’re tailoring to a specific audience (veterans) and generally it begins with questions or assistance with paperwork and ed plans.

He said it differs from the Welcome/ Transfer Center because the information has a slant toward veterans.

Veterans must go through a check process in order to verify that they are actually veterans. Once they have been certified, the college can assist them.

Representative from the Veteran’s Service (VS) Office in Martinez Jenna Galvan-Speers said that having a veteran’s center on campus helps tackle difficulties veteran students may have along the way.

“The process for certification is quite specific, and with the amount of information that follows along, help along the way is a beneficial thing,” GalvanSpeers said.

The Veteran Center office is open on Tuesday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesday from 1-5 p.m. and Thursday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Two Admissions and Records workers help operate the room during those hours to help aid Director of Admission and Records Catherine Fites, who is also the current Contra Costa College

veteran certifying official.

Army veteran and film studies major Daniel Shrigley said he knew the Veteran’s Center was the first place he should go for his first semester signing up for classes at CCC. “I just started coming here,” Shrigley said. “I’m interested in finding out if there are any filming or survival classes I can register for, so I figured this was the place to come to.”

Before contacting the Veteran’s Center, Shrigley decided to make contact with representatives at CCC, to gain more information, he said.

He said he arrived at the office on a Thursday at 9 a.m. — during Veteran’s Center hours — to find a closed door with nobody inside and no hours posted, but received help after asking around the SSC. “It is really hard to have a successful Veteran’s Center on campus when there isn’t someone that is able to dedicate the proper amount of time (to it),” Galvan-Speers said. “In my opinion, and from what I have noticed around the area is, if you want to have a successful Veteran’s Center, it should be open from the time students arrive, to the time they leave.”

After visiting the Veteran’s Center here at CCC, the process leads students to the VS Office in Martinez or to the branch office in Richmond where veterans can learn exactly what benefits they are eligible for.

The VS Office then helps veterans complete a GI Bill application for either

Location gives aid to students in need, supplies information

BY Jared Amdahl jamdahl.theadvocate@gmail.com

in brief VETERAN’S CENTER The new Veteran’s Center is

located in the Student Services Center, room SSC-110, and has been in use since Aug. 14.

The center is open Tuesday 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesday from 1-5 p.m. and Thursday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Catherine Fites is the college veterans certifying official.

Additional funding came from a walkathon put on by the college and community leaders during the spring semester.

The center offers resources

for veterans such as assistance with paperwork and other difficulties.

Chapter 30 or Chapter 33 entitlements, which determine the amount of money a veteran will receive for education.

The office then submits the veteran’s application to the VS educational benefits center in Muskogee, Okla.

Ledesma said, “Once they are certified they come back to us and we’re able to register them for classes.”

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA/ THE ADVOCATE

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

A participant prepares to tee off during the Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament at the Mira Vista Country Club in El Cerrito on Monday.

PUBLIC SWINGS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AT COUNTRY CLUB

BY Roxana Amparo NEWS EDITOR

ramparo.theadvocate@gmail.com

Community members, friends and families gathered at the Mira Vista Country Club for the final Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament on Monday.

For the past 15 years, the Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament has been raising funds in support of Contra Costa College students in the form of scholarships.

The amount of money raised from the community throughout the years is $1.5 million, Eric Zell, tournament committee chairperson and member of the CCC Foundation Board, said.

“The funds collected are for Contra Costa College, for students, for scholarships,” Zell said.

The Sy and Beverly Zell Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament was named after Eric Zell’s parents, Sy and Beverly.

The importance of the event is that the community and the college have been coming together for decades, Zell’s executive assistant Sonia Rivas said.

President of the CCC Foundation Mila Coffey said, “It is great that we can give money — it’s a great feeling.”

Coffey said the donations fund different scholarships for the different departments at CCC, such as the music, nursing and English.

During the event, 28 teams participated in foursomes, also known as alternate shots, a type of match in golf where golfers compete in teams of two and tee off on alternate holes. There are 18 holes in total.

Tournament participants rode around the bright green course in golf carts, teeing off throughout the course.

“We are playing a foursome and a scrambler,” sponsor from Plumbers and Pike Filters Mike King said.

After playing 18 holes, golfers took part in a putting competition. The wind and the condition of the course came into play.

This year there were two platinum sponsors, Chevron Richmond Refinery and Richmond Sanitary Service/ Public Service, who each donated $10,000 toward scholarships.

There were also various California Gold Sponsors who donated $5,000 toward scholarships. Among the California Gold Sponsors were the City of San Pablo, Kaiser Permanente, Mechanics Bank, Pacific Gas & Electric and others.

Everyone gathered for a cocktail hour and dinner after the tournament. Zell’s wife Wendy and sisters, Bonnie and Tracy Zell, were there to show support.

The last scholarship recipient, current UC Berkeley student Clarence Ford, gave a speech after the dinner and spoke about his accomplishments and how the scholarship money has benefited him.

Ford came from a troubled background but decided to make a change for the better, he said. He applied himself academically, submitted applications for scholarships and ended up receiving the $8,000 Kennedy King scholarship and the $1,000 ASU scholarship.

“The funds helped me with my housing at UC Berkeley (and toward) books,” he said. “My objective is to do the best that I can.”

Although this was the final Sy and Beverly Zell Swinging for Scholarships golf tournament, it will not be the end of the Zell family’s support and influence in the community,” Zell said. “Caring matters. I am proud to be of this family, of this community.”

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5

Unleashed

MOVIES

This week: “Annabelle” (R) “Gone Girl” (R) “The Good Lie” (PG-13) “Left Behind” (NR) “Nas: Time is Illmatic” (NR)

BLU-RAYS SPECIAL TO / THE ADVOCATE

REALISTIC GAME GETS BLOOD PUMPING FIFA installment leaves players wanting more

BY Cody Casares ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

ccasares.theadvocate@gmail.com

T

his year’s installment of videogame developer EA Sports’ FIFA series, “FIFA 15,” delivers an immersive, heart-pounding and realistic experience that may just steal more than a few hours of your day.

While improvements to the overall feel of the gameplay and look of the graphics in “FIFA 15” are minor, there are noticeable differences across the board for this game’s features.

The menu system in the game is amazing. The best word to describe the set up for tabs and buttons used to navigate the various menu pages in the game is convenient.

With quick command buttons and pop-up menus integrating the online marketplace that you buy players from, the transfer market and the squad-builder option, it is easy to lose hours simply building and refining your team.

The depth of this game is immense, there is so much game you play before you ever even step on to a soccer pitch.

Players can choose from numerous game modes.

These modes range from single-player careers, where players get to create their own soccer player and conquer the sport, to Management positions where players can dominate soccer leagues with their idea of the ultimate team-the exact name of the biggest game mode

the game offers.

The online-based FIFA Ultimate Team, also known as “FUT 15,” allows players to manage custom football clubs using a vast library of actual players, coaching staff, physical trainers and everything else needed to run a successful club.

People who play “FUT 15” can acquire in-game player-trading cards through a transfer market or by buying packs of random items.

These packs can be bought using real money converted into FIFA points or in game money earned by completing season matches and tournaments both off and online.

The transfer market pricing is controlled by players with prices fluctuating frequently, often listing the more popular football players as far too expensive for anyone not on an all-day grind.

“FUT 15” has 10 divisions with games either against the computer AI or online against other players. The computer AI divisions gradually increase in difficulty, matching teams of relative ratings while the online option is strictly division based.

Players can move up a division-based on performance during a season with in game money rewards or be relegated back down a division for poor performance, receiving nothing.

The gameplay features changes such as real time field wear and much more agile control of movements both defen-

sively and offensively with players. With the field reflecting slide tackles and chunks of grass missing from shots on goal, it is hard to tell that you are playing a video game at times.

Additionally the computer AI has become much more intuitive with AI players adjusting to your strategies and changing up plays as the game progresses. AI players even sometimes try to single handedly run the ball downfield in offensive frustration.

The goalkeepers have seen the biggest adjustment with more save animations and realistic decision making when in one-on-one situations with attacking strikers. With spectacular saves and deflections, sneaking one past the goalkeeper and hearing the crowd erupt in a frenzied celebration is even more rewarding.

Another notable addition to this years game is the new loan system.

The loan system allows players to acquire top-shelf players like Lionel Messi much quicker by borrowing them for a cheaper price rather than purchasing them in the market or relying on luck by receiving one in a pack.

With only small refinements to gameplay the learning curve in “FIFA 15” is non-existent.

Any brand new player who finds him or herself in an online match too early in their “Ultimate Team” career could see a score difference more reflective of an American football game.

Samsung releases waterproof phone

BY Janae Harris ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

jharris.theadvocate@gmail.com

A

nother Galaxy smartphone has made its way onto the technological scene. First there was the Galaxy S5, then there was the Galaxy s5 Active with AT&T and now we have the Galaxy S5 Sport.

The phone comes in two colors; a cherry red and electric blue. The build of the phone overall is heavy duty, making it a bit heavier and slightly bigger than the original S5.

It comes with a protective shock-proof case made of metal, giving it a feel that the phone has a built-in case.

The phone features crisp and clear 5.1 inch screen display with a 1080p resolution that give images and video very bright, vibrant and vivid colors. The navigation controls are similar to the rest of the galaxy series with the off button placed on the right side of the device and volume controls on the left. The front is quite different, instead of being built into the screen the front bulky buttons are centered below the display.

Below the bulk-like buttons is an open/close seal for the charger port to prevent water damage. Yes, this is a water

proof phone where you can take photos and videos up to 3-feet under water and for as long as 30 minutes.

The speed is much faster than the average phone, with the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor this phone offers a speed of 2.5 Ghz and 2gb of RAM. You get 16gb of storage and have a micro SD expansion with up to 128 Gb of memory.

It is a great phone for gaming and it offers several cool gadgets that you can purchase for your very own S5 like the lens kit with tripod, hundreds of fashionable cases and the Samsung smart watch that can sync with your S5 and track your fitness while leaving your phone at home.

The battery life is pretty good, holding up to 18 hours of energy. And the battery is replaceable so you can carry around an extra one for secondary power.

What makes this different from the regular S5 is the one-year free subscriptions of awesome work out apps such as s-health, an app that tracks your daily steps, and map rides for cyclist. These apps can also track your daily workouts, food intake and even check your heart rate by pressing your index finger on the back of your phone underneath the

camera.

The camera is 16 megapixels with over 50 different types of settings and modes with even more room for download.

My favorite is the ultra-shot mode where you can take speed shots with your camera to capture people or things in motion.

This camera also works great in low lighting and can capture a better image than most smart phones.

There are also daily motivational quotes that appear on the screen that keep you motivated to stay active in your everyday routine.

So far it has worked for me. I get excited tracking my daily commute cycling to and from school.

New releases: “Transformers: Age of Extinction” (PG-13) “Chef” (R) “Are you Here” (R) “Cold in July” (NR) “Decoding Annie Parker” (R)

MUSIC

New releases: Boyz II Men: “Collide” The Vaselines: “V for Vaselines” Prince: “Art Official Age” Blake Shelton: “Bringing Back the Sunshine” Jamie T: “Carry on the Grudge”

GAMES

New releases: “Super Smash Bros for the 3DS” (E) “MiddleEarth: Shadow of Mordor” (M) “Forza Horizon” (E)

Editor’s note: This column lists popular new (and upcoming) releases for the week.

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DROUGHT ENDS BUT STILL NO WINS New training routine increases shots on goal not wins

FALCONS

BY Rob Clinton

8 1

SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

A six-game scoring drought finally came to an end for the Comets (0-1 in the Bay Valley Conference, 0-8 overall), but it was not enough to thwart Solano Community College’s (1-0 in the BVC, 3-2-2 overall) potent offense en-route to an 8-1 loss Tuesday at the Soccer Field.

SCC oozed confidence the moment it arrived at the field. The first signs that this would be a long day for Comet coach Amanda Beckenhauer came early in the first half as Solano re-positioned for a far side corner kick score.

That goal started a deluge of shots sprayed from various angles throughout the CCC defensive third.

For the remainder of the half, the Comet effort to slow down the Falcons bore no resemblance to the defensiveminded team they had become nearing the end of the preseason.

Solano sent CCC into I feel like the break searching for ways to climb out of a we all five-point deficit. know what CCC forward Mayra Garcia took we’re more shots in this doing out game than she had in most of the previthere. ous games combined.

Minimal scoring has Everyone become paramount on needs to the team’s list of things know what to be addressed.

“I feel like we all the next know what we’re doing out there,” Garcia said. step is “Everyone needs to — what know what the next step is — what they’re they’re going to do with the going to ball after they get it.” into do with the theHalfwaypreseason, ball after Beckenhauer adjusted pre-game routine, they get it.” the implementing shootMayra Garing drills closer to cia, game time so players CCC forward enter the game with a more aggressive mentality.

“We took more shots today than we usually do,” Beckenhauer said.

Center Abigail Perez, who Beckenhauer hopes to become her consistent scorer, seemed to have let some scoring opportunities slip by. The Comets finished the game racking up 12 shots.

“It’s a comfort thing,” Perez said. “I prefer to kick the ball (with my right foot) but even if it’s not perfect I still have got to take the shots.”

Garcia’s earlier statement, that the players are not visualizing the next step, could not be more evident.

“I liked that they fought to the end,” Beckenhauer said.

The scoring famine came to an end on a late goal by CCC center Deanna Guzman. Guzman battled her way through teammates and defenders, and bodied a deflected ball into the net just past Falcon goalie Anna Castro’s outstretched right arm.

CCC was in action at Folsom Lake College (6-3 overall, 2-0 in the BVC) on Friday, an 11-0 loss. The Comets return to action at College of Marin (0-4 overall, 0-1 in the BVC) Friday at 3:30 p.m.

COMETS

“

Women’s soccer (Sept. 23) Solano , Contra Costa Solano 5 CCC 0 First Half 1. Solano, 2. Solano, 3. Solano, 4. Solano, 5. Solano,

Comet defender Lizette Hurtado (right) tries to keep possession of the ball during CCC’s 8-1 loss against Solano Community College at the Soccer Field on Sept. 23.

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

Team earns conference victory

BY Lorenzo Morotti EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lmorroti.theadvocate@gmail.com

The men’s soccer team managed to overcome a one-goal deficit during a second half rally to win its first Bay Valley Conference game of the season at Yuba College on Friday.

Contra Costa College (4-3-1 overall 1-0 in the BVC) edged the 49ers 2-1 despite ceding a first half goal off a free kick at the edge of the penalty box.

Yuba’s (1-5-1 overall, 0-1 in the BVC) lead was revoked at 65 minutes when Comet midfielder Jesus Villagrana scored a stunning 30-yard finessed shot.

Ten minutes later, Bryan Santos tapped the ball into goal off a cross sent into the penalty area to seal the Comets’ first BVC victory of the season.

Comet coach Nikki Ferguson said Villagrana hit the crossbar twice by

Lewis 3 (Sjoberg) 15th minute Dessel 6 (Sjoberg) 21st minute Hamister 5 (Calderon) 23rd minute Hamister 5 (Dessel) 33rd minute Hamister 5 (Sjoberg) 42nd minute

Second Half 1. Soalno, Williams 5 (Comande) 53rd minute 2. Solano, Williams 5 (Hish) 55th minute 3. Solano, Williams 5 (Comande) 59th minute 4. CCC, Guzman 1 130th minute Yellow Cards Solano Briney Wheeler Individual statistics Goals —Solano — Lewis, Dessel, Hamister (3), Williams (3)— CCC — Guzman Assists — Solano 8 — CCC — 0 Shots on goal — Solano — 15 — CCC — 6 Saves — Solano — Castro 5. — CCC — Garcia 18.

Record — Solano — 3-2-2 overall, 1-0-0 in BVC. — CCC — 0-9-0 overall, 0-2-0 in BVC.

COMETS reach.

Alman said, “There was not a lot (Vanier) could have done to stop that well placed shot.” Vanier 49ERS ended the game with six saves.

Ferguson said that during CCC’s past three games against Skyline College, Chabot College and Yuba it has only conceded goals during set-pieces.

A set-piece is when the play is stopped because of a foul, offside, or when the ball goes past the end line for a corner kick.

He said this stat reflects the quality of the backline while defending quick breaks, and attacking drives.

The Comets will next challenge Folsom Lake College at the Soccer Field on Friday.

2 1

Lack of intensity leads to loss FALCONS DEFEAT COMETS

25-16, 25-14, 25-13

BY Jason Sykes 3—8 1—1

15 minutes into the second half before scoring. A loose ball found Villagrana 35 yards out, near the left edge of the penalty area.

Villagrana curled a right-footed long distance shot just inside the far post. He said, “I (won) the ball in the attacking third. I noticed the keeper was out of position and I just hit it.”

Alman said, “When (Villagrana) scored, it was then that our belief flooded back. We realized we had a good chance to come home with a win.”

He said the Comets missed six easy chances to score throughout the game.

At the final whistle, CCC had 15 shots on goal to the 49ers’ nine.

49er striker Ivan Lopez scored after he fell to the ground in between Comet center backs Charlie Mendoza and Alman at 24 minutes into the first half. Lopez placed his shot just out of CCC goalkeeper Stephane Vanier’s

STAFF WRITER

jsykes.theadvocate@gmail.com

Losing in straight sets to Solano Community College (7-5 overall, 3-0 in BVC), the women’s volleyball team has now dropped three consecutive Bay Valley Conference games.

The Falcons beat Contra Costa College 25-16, 25-14 and 25-13 to stay undefeated in conference play. The Comets (2-6 overall, 0-3 in the BVC) have had some trouble staying healthy, and finding a system that works for them offensively and defensively.

The Comets started off great in the first set, but Solano began to dissect the Comet defense to win the first set ADVERTISEMENT

25-16. CCC was able to match Solano’s intensity but could not muster enough energy to close out the set. Playing from behind has become a trend for the team.

CCC had great passing and chemistry throughout each set, but as SCC began to pull away it was clear that the Comets were losing their intensity.

“Our biggest challenge is keeping up the fire,” middle backer Valeria Avila said.

CCC began the second set strong, as they had done so for the first set.

Once again the Solano attack proved to be too much for the Comets to handle. CCC went down two sets and was going to have to find a way to climb out of a hole. After giving their all in the first two sets, fatigue began to set in.

“We played 75 points of just us,”

setter Micaela Zaragoza-Soto said of the fact that the Comets had only six players available to play. CCC still lack bodies on its roster and this time it is not because of injury.

Solano went on to win the second set 25-14. Facing a 2-0 deficit, CCC entered the third set with a different mindset.

“We were thinking one point at a time,” coach Zachary Shrieve said.

“We can’t think of it as games or sets.”

Setter Richelle Ledesma said that when they are down in sets it’s best to think of it as a new game.

The Falcons had the game under control the entire contest. Although CCC played hard throughout the game fatigue was their eventual downfall.

The Comets return to action at Laney College in Oakland tonight at 6 p.m.

sports

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7

COMETS

27 20

BLUE DEVILS

Comet defensive back Chauncey Carter (center) jumps for an interception during the fourth quarter of CCC’s 2720 win over Merced College at Comet Stadium on Saturday.

QING HUANG / THE ADVOCATE

Defensive effort leads to close win Comet pass rush sacks Blue Devils nine times

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

The football team won its second game in a row, gutting out a 27-20 win against Merced College (1-3 overall) Saturday at Comet Stadium.

The Blue Devils took an early lead, scoring seven minutes into the game on a sloppy play where the Contra Costa College (3-1 overall) defender failed to get his head around and find the ball, resulting in a 15-yard touchdown strike.

The mistakes were plentiful early on. Halfway into the quarter, penalties by Merced negated any positives they might have gained rushing the ball through the CCC defensive front. After a lengthy feeling out process, the Comet offense finally seemed poised to capitalize on the Blue Devil shortcomings.

Late in the quarter the offense finally found the illusive rhythm it so often search for, allowing quarterback Jonathan Banks to put together an 11-play drive ending with an 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Taylor Sterling.

The Banks touchdown did more to reinvigorate the defense than any of the offensive players. Defensive lineman Deyonte Reynolds recorded his first sack five minutes into the contest, but between the first and second quarter, chants of, “We’re about to eat,” could be heard from numerous defensive players along the CCC sideline.

And eat they did, piling on nine sacks for a net loss of 74 yards and numerous runs for losses, while the secondary claimed two interceptions — returning one for a touchdown.

CCC receivers seemed to be willing to drop as many big play balls as they were able to catch.

When wide-outs did make plays, such as receiver Malcolm Hale recovering a fumbled kickoff in the

end zone for a touchdown, costly mistakes like the taunting penalty that followed would take precious points off of the board.

But the defense came to eat.

Defensive back Lavon Washington resuscitated the CCC spirit with an interception returned for a score that put the pilfered points back on the board. The Comets led 20-13 at the half.

CCC stretched the lead after the break on a 42-yard touchdown catch by Terrance Barnes from Banks. The ensuing kick off was fumbled by Merced and recovered by linebacker Ricky Davis. Another opportunity to put the game away was lost when Banks threw his only pick of the game.

“Some of our play has not been consistent when it comes to finishing teams off,” CCC coach Alonzo Carter said. “We need to come in with the mind state that the only one who can beat CC is CC.” The squad will need that mentality with conference play beginning Saturday in Pittsburg at Los Medanos College.

Another stop, highlighted by a Davis sack, got the ball back in the hands of the Comet offense.

Shifty running back Austin Harper ripped off a 13-yard run followed by a 10-yarder. As the crowd anticipated Harper breaking loose on the third, he promptly coughed up the ball, putting the onus on the defense to close this one out.

Over the next five minutes the defense dined on Merced QB Juwan Brown.

Davis notched two more sacks along with Reynolds. Also, defenders Wallace Payton and Anthony Ledoux slung Brown down for a sack that netted a 14-yard loss. The CCC defense marched the Devils 20 yards in reverse, but another penalty handed Merced the ball with 8:41 to go.

“I wanted to go at the biggest guy, I knew he was already too slow to stop me,” Davis said. “And when

QING HUANG / THE ADVOCATE

he started getting tired I just continued to take advantage of him.”

First an attempted Merced touchdown pass was broken up by defensive back Chauncy Carter. A QB keeper pushed the ball to the 12, but it was testing Carter that would be the Blue Devils’ downfall. The defensive back picked off a pass on the following play in the end zone for what looked to be the game clinching play.

“I had a long talk with the coach (Alonzo Carter) earlier in the week and he told me to step up and be the play-maker he knew I could be,” Carter said. “I had a good week in practice. I really felt like I was

going to go out there and make things happen today.”

Strategic timeouts and a banged up Banks got Merced the ball with time to score. With 2:53 remaining, the Merced QB snuck his way to pay dirt on a designed run to close the gap to 27-20.

Punting from their own red zone and giving up a big return, the Comets were in need of one more big defensive stand. The lefty Blue Devil QB chose to test Carter once again and, almost as if he was expecting the challenge, Carter stepped up to save the game (again), breaking up a fourth down touchdown pass attempt.

Football (Sept. 20)

CCC — Barnes 40 yd pass from Banks. (Fonseca is good) 12:04.

Contra Costa College, Merced College MDC 6 CCC 6

7 14

0 7

7 — 20 0 — 27

First Quarter MDC — Harris, Jacque 15 yd pass from Brown, Juwan (Mendez, Arturo kicked block). 4 8:33 CCC— Sterling Taylor 11 yd pass from Johnathan Banks. (Lorran Fonseca kick failed) :41 Second Quarter MDC — Brown 8yd run (Mendez is good). 5:11.

CCC — Frank Ste[hens 8 yd pass from Johnathan Banks. (Lorran Fonseca kisck is good). 10:32 Washington 26 yd interception return. (Lorran Fonseca kick is good) 9:37.

Third Quarter

Comet quarterback Johnathan Banks holds off a defender during CCC’s 27-20 win over Merced College at Comet Stadium on Saturday.

Fourth Quarter MDC — Brown 11 yd run. (Mendez kick is good) Individual statistics Rushing — MDC — Cross 15-42, Stevens 8-35, Brown 22-27, Pew 4-4. — CCC — Banks 9-33, Holcombe 14-30, Harper 4-11, Ardoin 1-1.

Passing — MDC— Brown 14-29-192,. — CCC — Banks 15-24 170.

Receiving — MDC — Harris 5-65, Pew 3-54, Guiterrez 3-25, J.Harris 3 -41, Guiterrez 2-35. — CCC — Jones 3-60, Barnes 2-57, Taylor 2-25, Stephens 6-21, Cornish 1-7 Hale 1-0 Missed field goals — MDC — N/A — CCC — N/A. Record — MDC — 2-3 overall — CCC — 3-1 overall.

N OFF THE RECORD

Poop-strewn field accident waiting to happen

I

n our increasingly litigious society, it has almost become second nature to notice things that we colloquially deem, a lawsuit waiting to happen.

More and more, we hear of cases like that of the Stanford family from Greenwich, Conn.

Their son broke his foot on a bad soccer field resulting in a $15,000 lawsuit being filed.

The case is still pending.

I overheard athletic director John Wade complaining about the brown patches on the soccer field during the women’s 2014 home opener.

Upon closer inspection I discovered more than just patches of exposed dirt. There were also voids and depressions in the soil that are horrible for ankle and knee joints.

The time for an artificial surface like the football team enjoys has come and gone due to the high cost — with the exception of committing to a serious fundraising campaign.

Wade could take advantage

of the available signage space around the football stadium, using the proceeds to support another soccer field restoration.

The Soccer Field was resodded over a decade ago, before the new football surface was installed.

“After the Soccer Field had already been re-sodded, a bond measure was passed to restore all of the football fields in the district.” Wade said.

Chabot College team manager Rhomel Clarke raves about the well maintained natural field the Gladiators call home.

“It’s really nice. It’s bermuda grass and the ball rolls on it like carpet,” Clarke said.

Parents and players alike from opposing teams, upon seeing conditions of the Soccer Field, question why players on this level have to endure such hazards.

Everyone seems open to accepting the goose poop on the Soccer Field as an act of

robertclinton god, but the main problems with the playing surface can only be a result of negligence.

During installation of the new football field, Wade checked out the option of a dual use field. The proposed width of the dual use field didn’t work out with the logistics of the existing building on one side and a busy street on the other.

“They said to go multi-use would either expand out to the sidewalk or eliminate the track,” Wade said.

The allowable width of a collegiate soccer field is no more than 80 yards wide and no less than 65 yards. From track edge to track edge,

across the football field at Comet Stadium measures roughly 70 yards. That’s five yards more than the allowable minimum and only four yards less than the existing soccer field.

Men’s soccer coach Nikki Ferguson and football coach Alonzo Carter both said it would be no problem coordinating practice schedules and sharing space if or when the field undergoes its much needed repairs.

“I heard something about a football-soccer rift before I got here,” Carter said. “But as long as I’ve been here there has always been a healthy dialogue between both programs.”

Wade also said if the numbers fall into place, he wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of sharing the field.

“If a regulation field fits on the football field it’s something worth looking into,” he said.

I’m sure Joe Gomes thinks it’s worth looking in to. I wonder if he ever thought the

sign bearing his name would preside over such a habitually blotchy field at CCC. The average soccer field uses more water per month than the average family of four, about 15,500 gallons per month. And those are numbers that get exaggerated in the midst of our severe statewide drought. Compare that with an $80 box of field marking paint, enough to put down all of the markings of a college soccer field.

In this case inaction is worse than indecision. A best case scenario is a bruised ego after a fall. Worst case — a $350,000 lawsuit.

No matter what decision is ultimately made, options are available to limit the risk of injury. The ball is officially in your court, or shall I say field, Mr. Wade’s.

Robert Clinton is a sports editor of The Advocate.

Contact him at rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com.

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focus

PERCUSSION UNITES OAKLAND Photos by: Qing Huang FOR

MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: CCCADVOCATE.COM

ABOVE: San Francisco resident Jules Hilson (left) and her group perform AfroCuban Bata drumming during the 3rd Annual Oakland World Percussion Festival at the East Bay Church in Oakland on Saturday.

LEFT: A group of dancers perform a West African dance during the 3rd Annual Oakland World Percussion Festival at the East Bay Church in Oakland on Saturday.

Oakland resident Shriram Bharath (right) and other audiences applause during the 3rd Annual Oakland World Percussion Festival at the East Bay Church in Oakland on Saturday.

Alameda resident Kathryn Cabunoc performs the Japanese drum style Taiko during the 3rd Annual Oakland World Percussion Festival at the East Bay Church in Oakland on Saturday.