The Advocate 10-7

WEDNESDAY l 10.7.15 OUR 66TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.

State pushes online uniformity District begins talks to adopt initiative’s transition from D2L to Canvas

BY Lorenzo Morotti ASSOCIATE EDITOR

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

The California Community College Chancellor’s Office is offering its campuses a chance to transition from other online learning platforms to Canvas for free through its Online Education Initiative (OEI).

Vice Chancellor for Communications Paul Feist said OEI is providing Canvas’ online services at no cost to colleges that decide to sign up until the 2018-19 academic year.

After 2019, Feist said the state plans to absorb approximately two-thirds of the cost for colleges that have adopted Canvas as the state’s primary platform for online learning.

He said the Chancellor’s Office offering Canvas for free is part of OEI’s push to unify California’s 113 community college campuses using an online learning tool that will provide students with 24/7 technical support, tutoring, resource tools and an “course exchange program” that allows students to enroll into courses offered at other colleges from their respective home campus. Students will also be able to use Canvas from their mobile devices or tablets.

“It is premature to think that we are going to switch (from Desire 2 Learn) yet,” Contra Costa Community College Director of Communications Tim Leong said. “I cannot say that the district will SEE DESIRE TO SWITCH, PAGE 4

in brief

The state Chancellor’s Office is promoting colleges statewide to transition to one online learning platform.

Canvas reps organize a workshop from 9 a.m. to noon in LA-107 on Oct. 14 The district plans to make a decision to join by November.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCI SUELA / THE ADVOCATE

COMMUNITY HONORS LIFE OF ATHLETIC ADVISER

“

Education is a form of empowerment. It is a way to gain respect in today’s society and especially for us women of color. Having status comes with the level of education.” — Dr. Seti Sidharta, Center for Science Excellence program director

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

Balloons filled the sky over Comet Stadium as the memory and 33 years of service by retired Admissions and Records assistant and Athletic Eligibility Adviser Kay Armendarez were honored during Saturday’s Homecoming celebration.

Armendarez owned the hearts of her co-workers and the outreach she conducted spanned the width of the campus, shaping the lives of thousands of student athletes along the way.

“She genuinely cared about the students, not just because they were athletes. She just wanted to help people,” Comet football coach Alonzo Carter said. “It was tough. We had a genuine relationship. I appreciate it — and I miss her.”

SEE ARMENDAREZ, PAGE 4

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE

Program’s ‘nucleus’ earns Golden Apple Award Center for Science Excellence

It is vital to find a professor who dedicates his or her time to provide students with a foundation for their academic goals while fostering an enjoyable learning experience in the classroom.

Creating an atmosphere where students can learn and achieve success in different aspects of their lives is what this year’s Golden Apple Award recipient Seti Sidharta, Contra Costa College’s Center for Science Excellence program director, has demonstrated.

“Education is a form of empowerment,” Dr. Sidharta said. “It is a way to gain respect in today’s society and especially for us women of color. Having status comes with the level of education.”

empowers students’

PAGE 8

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ramparo.theadvocate@gmail.com

director

COMETS ROUT LMC IN RIVALRY MATCH

BY Roxana Amparo

education

The Golden Apple Award is given annually during every fall semester to a professor who has demonstrated excellence in the classroom.

Deemed worthy by the students in the Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society, chemistry professor Sidharta possesses these qualifications.

Receiving the award came as a surprise to her when announced at All College Day, but Sidharta said she was honored to be selected as the recipient.

Physics and astronomy department Chairperson Jon Celesia said, “If she were to take another position, then it would be a great loss. She is important to create a nucleus in the sciences.”

But Sidharta has no plans to leave. She said she only plans to work harder.

SEE SIDHARTA, PAGE 4

ABOVE: Dr. Seti Sidharta, winner of the 2015 Golden Apple Award, oversees a copper cycle experiment in which students mix copper metals with chemical reagents to create color compound reactions in PS-6 on Monday.

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Quotable “In holding up a mirror to America, journalists too often have filtered out the good, embellished the bad and produced a distorted image.”

Kenneth Walsh senior White House correspondent, U.S. News and Report 1997 Christian Urrutia editor-in-chief Roxana Amparo Lorenzo Morotti associate editors Jared Amdahl opinion editor Robert Clinton sports editor Mike Thomas scene editor Jose Jimenez spotlight editor Cody Casares photo editor Marci Suela editorial cartoonist Paul DeBolt faculty adviser Staff writers Asma Alkrizy Benjamin Bassham Brian Boyle Joseph Bennett Keno Greene Xavier Johnson Magali Mercado Jason Sykes Mark Wassberg Larry Wickett Staff photographers Jordan Khoo Denis Perez 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, 2013, 2014, 2015 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: accent.advocate@ 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. 7, 2015 VOL. 103, NO. 5

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

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EDITORIAL EASYPASS AIMS TO IMPOSE FEE AC Transit looks to increase ridership, spur referendum

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he Associated Students Union and the Sustainability Committee at Contra Costa College are entertaining the terrible idea of partnering with AC Transit to increase AC Transit’s ridership by adding a semesterly fee for every CCC student.

The idea on the table would be adopting AC Transit’s EasyPass program, which would mean imposing a fee of $35 to $41 per semester per student at CCC. The idea was met with support at the Sept. 9 meeting of the ASU and the Sustainability Committee’s meeting on Thursday.

Former ASU president Ysrael Condori said when he sat on the board, the same idea was entertained but never came to fruition because the ASU at the time did not believe it could attract enough student interest to justify the cost.

Ignoring the history that says CCC students are not interested in the program should raise alarms for students who the ASU is considering trying to impose almost an entire unit’s tuition cost on.

Coupled with the history of disinterest in such a program should make students wonder why the board is so disconnected from student needs and interests.

As easy as it is to simply blame the ASU for continuously making misguided decisions with student money year after year, students at CCC need to shoulder the blame for allowing the ASU to play with their money in order to pad their college resumés.

Student government is met with a severe amount of apathy at CCC. It may be largely because students think of high school leadership and student government programs as models for what the ASU probably is.

Probably is apt because most students would have no idea how the ASU operates because they have never attended a meeting.

The difference between high school government programs and the ASU at CCC is money.

Every semester the ASUs at the three district colleges collect a $5 student activity fee from each students at their representative college. They also collect a $1 student representation fee. At CCC there has been a repeated history of an impotent performance by the ASU in regards to using this money to support students’ interests or host student activities.

And now the ASU is entertaining the idea of imposing yet another fee on students every semester, but this one would be substantially larger than the others.

Fees leveraged on college students do not come and go easily. The ASU would have to hold an election, and if the majority of votes cast were in favor, the fee would become a reality. The current ASU or a future board would have to repeat this process in order to repeal the fee.

These elections, of course, would be paid for with student money. The fact that no referendum has appeared to repeal the $5 student activity fee despite its chronic misuse should signal to students that if the EasyPass program is a dud, students will most likely continue to pay for it years down the line.

MARCI SUELA / THE ADVOCATE

■ FOOD

McDonald’s devalues breakfast all day long W

e did it, y’all!

After years and years, we somehow managed to push McDonald’s into serving all-day breakfast. Let me be the first to congratulate everyone who helped make this momentous day possible and for achieving such a hard-fought victory.

I’ll also go “If we ahead and guess that the amount start of sarcasm eating I am currently trying breakfast to express is probably at 6 p.m., not coming through all before too well in we know it text.

Really, everyone’s all-day breakfast? going to Back in my day, we be ate breakfast once a day, doing it.” and it was before 10:30 in the morning on weekdays and sometimes as late as 11 a.m. on weekends, gosh dammit. Except for those times Dad would get all spontaneous, and yell through my family’s halls, “Kids keep your jammies on, we’re having pancakes for dinner!”

But do we really need a McDonald’s breakfast readily available at any point in the day? Keep in mind this is a McDonald’s breakfast — a lifeless mockery of what would otherwise be recognizable as sustenance, covered in, or sometimes injected with, artificial

McDonald’s is basically saying, “Hey, we’ll give you 10 cents...if you just buy 10 more mcnuggets.” What kind of world is this we’re living in? What can chicken mcnuggets be worth if McDonald’s itself is paying its customers 10 cents to pancake syrup. take 10 mcnuggets off of its If we start eating break- hands? fast at 6 p.m., before we All of these are a sheer know it everyone’s going sign that McDonald’s realto be doing it. And what ly does not care what you comes after all-day breakwant, as long as you’re at fast? Let’s just replace McDonald’s eating somebreakfast with dinner and thing, at any given hour. have a brisk supper right Yet it is all done in the after, to be followed, of name of this idea we have course, by my noon teagiven life to, that should time at 4 in the afternoon. have never existed — we It would be utter chaos. want all-day breakfast.

If you’re into afternoon Funny enough, you breakfast, even the kind can’t even buy lunch items from McDonald’s, then I around the clock. During am in no position to judge. the regular breakfast hours, It is not that I don’t think all you can order is breakthat McDonald’s breakfast. fast doesn’t taste good, Breakfast is a sacred although on any real scale time of the day. You get of taste it probably doesn’t. up and put the first pieces But rather that moving it of food into your body to an all-day activity is just that will act as fuel. It is an absurdly-apparent disre- when you wake up and tell gard for any sort of health- the world you will not go ful thinking. unwillingly into sheer apaOpening up breakfast thy. A McDonald’s breakas an anytime ordeal is not fast says the exact opposite. the only ridiculous policy It says “I’m going to hang McDonald’s enforces. out on my couch and move Did you know that 20 as little as possible because chicken mcnuggets costs my insides are digesting 10 cents cheaper than 10 the equivalent of a paper chicken mcnuggets? I’ll bag filled with God knows pause for a moment, give what.” you a second to go back We have to make a and re-read that so you can stand. Let’s keep breakfast make sure you’re not seein breakfast. ing things.

To buy 10 chicken Jared Amdahl is the opinmcnuggets costs $5.09. To ion editor of The Advocate. buy 20 chicken mcnuggets Contact him at jamdahl. costs just $5 flat. theadvocate@gmail.com.

jaredamdahl

CAMPUS COMMENT

What improvements can be made to Contra Costa College?

“I like it. I think it is fine the way it is right now.”

Claudia Alfaro undecided

“They could offer more media classes. The media (department) seems small.”

“A shuttle service to take you around campus.”

Toddrick Gaines liberal arts

Garry Moore art

“More parking for students. When I drive around looking for a spot it seems like there are more spots for faculty than students.”

Olivia Cowen undecided

XAVIER JOHNSON AND DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

“I think it does not need changes. The system in place seems convenient.”

Tonya Ochoa

medical assisting and office technician

“We should try to be more of a community on campus. The computer lab should be improved.”

Francis Sanson computer science

forum

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We want to hear from you

■ FASHION

Reader responses help cover the college completely

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

josephbennett

RETRO DESIGNS BRING NOSTALGIA TO SHOE FANATICS

Joseph Bennett is a staff writer for The Advocate.

Contact him at jbennett.theadvocate@gmail.com.

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

— The Advocate Editorial Board

LEAP TO THE LEAF assessing risks,benefits

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ll of these shoe brands re-releasing older shoes is a brilliant idea. But it feels like not everyone out there will see it the same way.

Older shoes bring back memories for the older audience, while presenting an opportunity to create new memories for the younger crowd. Why anyone would go against the flow is beyond me.

You should buy the shoes that you like. I own more than 60 pairs of shoes and half of them are shoes that have been re-released and I don’t have a single problem with it. The money I spend on these shoes is my own and no one will stop me from doing just that.

I buy shoes on a consistent two-week basis. I like the fact of trying to get shoes that you want and not everyone can get. It’s almost a challenge, especially if everyone wants that specific shoe.

The multi-million dollar brands: Air Jordan, Jordan, Nike, New Balance, Adidas, Timberland, Skechers, Sperry Ellis,Vans and Reebok are all shoe brands that continue to release shoes, new and old.

It doesn’t matter, as long as the brands continue to put a release date on the shoe, they will continue to be bought.

So the biggest names in the shoe game at the moment are Jordan, Nike and Reebok.

Michael Jordan was recruited to the Nike family in 1984 and has not failed it ever since. Just by merely bearing his name, Jordans always sell. When it comes to Jordan, he releases a shoe on a near weekly basis — releasing the exact same shoes all year round and making a new shoe once a year.

They are numbered one through three, all the way to 23 which then skips to 28.

Although, he did just recently release some 29s. Jordan has partnered up with many stars and has made shoes for them which sell at high prices.

The first batch of shoes he made, he refers them as retros now.

Now the Nike brand has many partners and hundreds of designs. A majority of the new shoes are made by newcomers to the Nike company.

Some stars who are a part of the Nike company that have been re-releasing shoes are Penny Hardaway, Scottie Pippen and Kobe Bryant.

These shoes also come in a hilarious variety of sizes from men’s, women’s, grade school, toddler and pre-school footwear.

Shoes that have been re-releasing aren’t only Nike and Jordan. People continue to buy these shoes because of their style, comfort and memory. Or for the memory of having that exact same shoe in high school or grade school.

It doesn’t matter if you buy shoes that came out a long time ago, as long as you like them. That’s all that matters. If you need some help finding some nice shoes, here are some go-to sources: www.kicksonfire.com and www.23isback.com are just a couple of websites where you can keep up with shoe releases, just to be on your A game.

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.

Comparing health effects of alcohol and marijuana

own disease, alcoholism.

Much of U.S. drug policy is centered on marijuana. Undue enforcement destroys the backbone of our culture while alcohol silently wreaks havoc on the body from the moment its legal, liquidy goodness greets our lips.

BY Robert Clinton The sweet poison fills your mouth SPORTS EDITOR rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com and the first relaxing gulp burns its way into your stomach. f you believe marijuana is a larger As the human body is prone to do threat to society than alcohol then upon knowingly ingesting poison, it you are not alone. frantically searches to find a way to Just like there are people who argue get the potential brew of death out. that Earth is flat or that racism is Initially irritating the stomach lindead, there is a place in the world for ing, the organ fights to get rid of the those who harbor completely irratio- concoction, which in some cases is nal views on things science and soci- displayed through vomiting. etal examination disprove on a daily When swallowed, 20 percent of the basis. alcohol is absorbed by the gut and That place would be working for the other 80 is absorbed in the small the federal government. intestine.

Even with successful legalization The higher the alcohol content, the efforts in 23 states across the country, quicker the absorption process takes the federal government still ranks place. marijuana among the most dangerous Now comfortably in your system, drugs with the highest risk of severe 10 percent is handled by the kidneys, psychological or physical dependence. lungs by way of urine and the moisIt is listed as a Schedule I Drug ture in human breath, leaving the liver along with drugs like heroin which is to do all of the heavy lifting to filter in the midst of a three-year spike in out the majority of the poison. death totals — the numbers climbed For some, the actual toll for from 5,927 in 2012 to 8,260 in 2013 imbibing is measured the folaccording to the Center for Disease lowing day in the form of a Control (CDC). hangover.

At the same time, according to Believed by statistics from FBI Uniform Crime some people to Reporting for 2011, one person was be dehydration, arrested every 42 seconds in the U.S. it is actually a for marijuana use, sale or possession. withdrawal The debate to remove marijuana symptom from the Schedule I Drug list is not to triggered proclaim marijuana as a miracle cure, by your but to admit that the war on it is out body of control. crashIt also creates a hiding place for the ing real harbinger of death through illicit joy in our society: alcohol.

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports shows among drugs commonly used, marijuana is the safest.

It is 114 times safer than the most deadly drug — alcohol, and the only drug with the distinction of having its

I

back to normal after altering itself to cope with the physiological effects drinking has on the way the brain neurologically functions.

Alcohol is absorbed after the first few swallows and gets out of the system quickly, which is why a hangover happens so rapidly. Marijuana leaves the system much slower, allowing the body time to adjust, explaining why there is no such thing as a weed hangover.

A healthy 2.5 pound liver goes through an old-fashioned beat down to filter out the toxins.

Successful filtration comes at a cost as the process produces much deadlier chemical enzymes that scar and ultimately spell a slow death for the liver.

According to the CDC alcohol kills 37,000 people every year, not including accidental deaths like car accidents, cannabis kills zero.

Health and economic reasoning alone should be enough to justify the examination of alcohol consumption and the benefits of the substitution effect (the switch from alcohol to marijuana).

After legalization in Colorado, various studies are starting to reflect a trend that shows a substitution effect is starting to take shape.

A recent study in the Journal of Law and Economics shows that there is an 8 to 11 percent decrease in the rate of traffic related fatalities in areas where marijuana is legalized.

Colorado has seen a 7 percent decrease in traffic related fatalities and a 5 percent decrease in beer sales since legalization.

In Washington, drunk driving arrests fell 11 percent after legalization.

Also, information published through the Public Library of Science claims studies in 11 states that passed medical marijuana legalization all saw rape, robbery, assault and larceny fall sharper than the national rates over the same time period.

If you are reading this shaking your head, refer to paragraph one, renew your membership to the flat earth society and continue to bury your head in the sand.

The medical benefits alone are enough to make the leap to the leaf.

After factoring in the strides communities that have normalized marijuana have made, anyone still riding the fence on the issue should topple over to the greener side of things.

Blindly supporting zero tolerance policies that bolster the myth that weed is worse than drinking, while ignoring links to heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis, depression and a host of other ailments, is a display of willful ignorance.

ASMA ALKRIZY AND MARCI SUELA / THE ADVOCATE

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ARMENDAREZ| Community celebrates service, life Continued from Page 1

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NEWSLINE ENGINEERING

SHPE TO SHOW FILM, VISIT UC BERKELEY A few members of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) are going to attend the engineering transfer day at UC Berkeley on Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to witness potential benefits from networking and visiting the campus.

SHPE will also be a hosting a fundraising movie night for the film “Interstellar” on Friday in PS-109 from 5 to 8 p.m. There will also be requested amounts of $5 for donations to cover food costs and to fund raise.

Please contact Dr. Seti Sidharta for more information at (510) 2154005.

CRIMEWATCH Tuesday, Sept. 29: A father reported his daughter missing. She was entered into the missing person database.

Thursday, Oct. 1: An officer received a report of a male student inside the women’s restroom.

CORRECTION In the Sept. 23 issue of The Advocate on page 4 in the story titled “Eddie Rhodes Gallery boasts faculty artwork,” the job position of Anthony Gordon is listed as psychology professor. That is incorrect.

Gordon’s title is that of fine and media arts assistant professor.

In the Sept. 30 issue of The Advocate on the front page in the map for the story titled “Policy violations bring cameras into focus,” it lists that the Automotive Technology Center has cameras inside the building. That is incorrect.

The Automotive Technology Center does not have cameras within the building and was only listed as having so due to a color coded error.

In the same issue of The Advocate on page 4 in the story titled “Student trustee finds strength in past, optimism for future,” the story said the student trustee for the 2014-15 year was Ivan De Los Santos. That is incorrect. The student trustee for the 2014-15 was Elijah Ziskin.

The Advocate regrets these errors.

— The Contra Costa Community College District is committed to equal opportunity in educational programs, employment, and campus life. The District does not discriminate on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, marital status, national origin, parental status, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in any access to and treatment in College programs, activities, and application for employment.

Born Aug 11, 1958 in Walnut Creek, Armendarez began her career as a student assistant at Los Medanos College before moving to Admissions and Records at Contra Costa College.

Following her retirement in 2014, Armendarez became ill and was hospitalized before fully getting to enjoy the free time her years of dedication demanded she deserved.

Armendarez died of cancer less than a year after retirement, June 8, 2015.

She is survived by her two sisters Nancy and Gayle Armendarez and an expansive list of family and friends.

“I thought I knew her, but when I found out how much she meant to everyone here it was really special,” Nancy Armendarez said. “She loved working with the students and had a lifelong love of baking. If she found out someone liked brownies, she made brownies. And she never expected anything more than a thank you.”

Regularly described as generous, Armendarez’s personal touch included gifts of fruit or home baked goodies that brought a sentimentality to what could be clinical administrative relationships.

A multi-talented worker, she handled eligibility for the students in athletic programs, clarifying paperwork and advising athletes about in-state rules and financial aid.

Most importantly, she wanted to guide students in a direction

that would most likely lead to their success.

A staunch supporter of Comet athletics, Armendarez built relationArmendarez ships with not just the athletes Worked 33 she helped, but years as she also forged an athletic strong bonds eligibility with the coaches adviser and on staff.

Admission Her online and Records memory and assistant. condolences page contained last respects from former faculty members and even a message from former college president McKinley Williams.

He also expressed how much he missed her fresh baked brownies.

Williams exalted Armendarez’s 33 years of service and added a personal memory linked to her support for him throughout his tenure as president.

Also, the fond memories he has of her fresh baked brownies.

She smoothed the rough patches for student-athletes as they transitioned to college life.

Armendarez would not pass off students from department to department, allowing them to become discouraged with the admissions process.

She empathized with students who complained about standing

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

(L to R) Football coach Alonzo Carter, Nancy Armendarez and Athletic Director John Wade stand midfield during the ceremony to honor the memory of Kay Armendarez on Saturday.

“She genuinely cared about the students, not just because they were athletes.

She just wanted to help people. It was tough. We had a genuine relationship.

I appreciate it — and I miss her.

vide hands-on assistance to get a problem solved.

“Kay (Armendarez) put her neck on the line to help students,” Athletic Director John Wade said. “She wasn’t one of those people who would tell you what needed to be done — she just got things done herself.”

Armendarez’s charitable heart and generous ways still bring smiles to the faces of staff — Alonzo Carter, football coach members who were touched by her unselfishness. The memory in line after line just to be told of Armendarez lives on in the they were missing some essential hearts of Comets campuswide. paperwork. Armendarez routinely Her loving spirit will be sorely plucked students out of line to pro- missed by all that knew her.

DESIRE TO SWITCH| District discusses pending offer Continued from Page 1 decide to switch over (to Canvas) because the discussion has only begun to be mulled over in conversations at the district.

“But what we do know about Canvas as a tool for students is that it is clearly a more robust online learning system compared with D2L.” Three years into its contract with D2L, Leong said the district has only recently started discussing if it should switch over to Canvas, and requires evaluating feedback of faculty and students at Contra Costa College, Los Medanos College and Diablo Valley College before a decision can be made.

“I think the benefits outweigh the pain of the initial move of having to learn a new online learning platform,” CCC Interim President Mojdeh Mehdizadeh said. “It will be wonderful for our students to have an online tool (Canvas) that is being used across the state.”

On Friday, the district sent out an email to faculty explaining it will be sponsoring workshops and forums for students and faculty, at each of its three campuses, to test the Canvas software and provide the district with feedback so it can come to a decision.

According to the email, CCC will have its Canvas workshop on Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to noon in LA-107.

“The bottom line is that D2L is far from perfect,” District Distance Education Committee Chairperson Judith Flum said. “D2L charges for every little service and is not helpful — but Canvas is the opposite.”

Associated Student Union Director of Recruitment and Training Luanna Waters said Flum is scheduled to attend its Oct. 21 meeting in LA-204 at 2:15 p.m. to inform the ASU Board about the benefits and detriments of moving over to Canvas.

“I want to see the difference between the programs myself,” ASU President Nakari Syon said. Syon also said he encourages students to attend the workshop on Oct. 14 and the ASU meeting on Oct. 21 to help the district come to a decision for or against Canvas.

“This decision will not only affect students now, but students in the future,” he said. “The

Flum

student body must acknowledge this potential change and give it light — because right now it’s in the shade.”

Mehdizadeh, however, said once the students and faculty use Canvas they will see that joining the OEI is beneficial for everyone

involved.

But if it does not, then it would be one of few colleges in the state to miss trying Canvas out for free until 2019.

“There are a lot of benefits going with a statewide system,” she said. “It will provide training opportunities and conversion tools for faculty who are unsure about (Canvas) and 24/7 support and tutoring for students.”

Leong said based off the input from academic senates, the Distance Education Committee, information technologies, college presidents and students — the district will come to a decision by early November, could sign up by January and begin the 14-month implementation process in April 2016.

Feist said, “(Canvas) was selected as the common course management system by OEI to provide its services to embark the initiative to improve access and quality of online education for students statewide.” He said the state is projected to spend $10 million over the first two initial years covering the cost for colleges that join the OEI. “The later years will be more expensive,” he said, “running from $2 million to $7.5 million (annually) depending on the number of colleges involved (with OEI).”

He said the push is only possible due to Gov. Jerry Brown’s special education initiative to increase student’s ability to complete educational goals through online support.

Leong said that if the district decides to join the OEI and move forward with the migration from D2L, which the district is paying $380,000 for annually, to Canvas it would not have to completely stop using D2L. Flum said during the 14-month long transition period, professors and students will still be able to use D2L until June 30, 2017, when its contract with the district expires.

“I think the benefits outweigh the pain of the initial move of having to learn a new online learning platform.

It will be wonderful for our students to have an online tool (Canvas) that is being used across the state.”

— Mojdeh Mehdizadeh , interim president

“If the district hops on the April cycle then we will transition while using both systems,” she said. “And we would be completely off D2L when the (Canvas trial) ends (in 2018-19) and not have to pay D2L for an additional yearly cost.”

Never looking back Three years ago, the district selected D2L to be used at its three campuses instead of Canvas, which at the time was a close second, Mehdizadeh said.

Political sciences professor Leonard McNeil said at this point in time, the district should have foreseen that the state was working on creating a unified online platform before selecting D2L. “(The district) decided to drop over $400,000 a year at the same time legislators in Sacramento were having a discussion about implementing a online system for all its 113 community colleges — Canvas,” McNeil said.

“Why commit to something like that when you know you’re just going to have to change?”

Leong said the district decided against Canvas because it was still developing its reputation, unlike D2L, Moogle or Blackboard.

Technology Systems Manager James Eyestone said D2L was not his first choice.

“I would have picked Canvas,” Eyestone said. “We now know how the support (D2L) offered behaved and how reliable it was during peak times — at the start of the first two semesters it was down for a week.”

SIDHARTA| CSE director receives Golden Apple Continued from Page 1

throughout the educational process because it is something students can benefit from.

Teaching chemistry is not the only thing She is not only directing the CSE program, she focuses on. Sidharta also plays an importbut she helps students through their transiant role for transferring students by providing tions and serves as a mentor for the students useful information and resources, including by opening up a space, whether personal or internships and scholarships. academic, and makes it possible to open up — Jon Celesia, physics and astronomy department “She gives her students a unique opporturelationships with her and other students.

Chairperson nity and loves when they succeed,” physics and Biology major and CSE office assistant engineering assistant professor Mark Wong Gaganjot Sidhu said the decision to nominate said.

Avila took Sidharta’s chemistry class during Sidharta happened at the end of the spring Wong said he has seen how passionate the fall 2014 semester and now works alongside 2015 semester during AGS’ final general meetSidharta is when working with students in the her in PS-109. ing.

CSE. “She is a role model,” he said.

Within the CSE, Sidharta is seen as more Celesia said Sidharta deserves the award Sidharta’s presence in the sciences and style than just a professor — she is seen as a mentor because of the high level of care and support of teaching has impacted the lives of oth- and as a resource on campus. Her teaching she provides her students. ers, whether it be in the classroom or in the style adapts to the different learning styles of The connection she develops with her stuPhysical Science Building where many of her students and she does not mess around when it dents is “motherly-like” — she expects them to students hangout between classes. comes to school, Avila said. be respectful and responsible, as well as work Speaking from experience after taking a “She is tough.” But she makes the experience hard in their studies, he said. chemistry class with Sidharta, engineering enjoyable through her humorous personality, Wong said she is someone students look for major and CSE office assistant Valeria Avila she said. advice during challenging situations regarding said Sidharta is “firmly” passionate to push Sidharta said more colleges should open academic or personal life. students toward their educational goals. their arms to students and provide help

“If she were to take another position then it would be a great loss. She is important to create a nucleus in the sciences.”

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Bus program discussion resurges The AC Transit EasyPass program if approved, could implement a fee of $35 to $45 for students to gain total access to the bus system.

The EasyPass imprint can also be added to the back of a Clipper Card.

BY Lorenzo Morotti ASSOCIATE EDITOR

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

AC Transit has solicited the ASU and Sustainability Committee at Contra Costa College to participate in its EasyPass program for students and staff. “(EasyPass) gives students access to AC Transit services anywhere and anytime,” AC Transit Representative Cleo Goodwin said at the ASU meeting on Sept. 9. “It allows full access anywhere in its service area, including its EasyPass transbay link lines.” aims to At the Sustainability impose fee Committee meeting on Thursday, Goodwin said The Advocate if the college administration and faculty examines past work with the ASU to decisions, implement the program, current fees to students would pay an determine the additional fee of $35EasyPass pro$45 each semester — or gram’s benefits about $90 annually. and shortfalls.

“That’s pennies on the dollar compared with the PAGE 2 regular price of $151,” Goodwin said. “And compare that further with the $7 cost of a ticket for the transbay link.”

If the college were to join the program, she said, it would need administration and faculty support, with the ASU’s endorsement to push a student referendum to the district level to institute the additional fee. “(EasyPass) would create a fee that every student would have to pay at the start of the semester,” Goodwin said. She said the college would have to assure that at least 100 students will use EasyPass for it to be implemented.

Contra Costa 511 Representative Danielle Carey, who was at both meetings, said, “All students will have to pay a fee if EasyPass passes, but all students can take advantage.”

Counseling assistant MaryKate Rossi, who was at the Sustainability Committee meeting, said she is unsure how students would react to imposing another student fee

editorial

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

on top of the $5 Student Activity Fee and $1 Representation Fee. “When the college first imposed the ($5 SAF), there was an uproar,” Rossi said. “And that was only $5. I can only imagine what that reaction would be now.”

At the ASU meeting, Goodwin said the college administration would create a working committee to define specific costs and limitations based on the definition of all included groups. “(AC Transit) cannot sway (the college’s) vote,” she said, “but we can show up to events and promote services, and make a priority for (students and faculty) to know about the program and consider a decision.”

Both the ASU and Sustainability Committee supported the idea with the notion that it will cut down the college’s carbon footprint, comply with California’s push

to reduce carbon emissions and provide transportation support to those who cannot afford to ride the bus, pay for gas or get to class all together.

Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King is in support of the college’s further discussion of the possibility of joining the EasyPass program.

“Students will have to pay a little more now,” King said, “but gain a lot back later.”

Student Life Coordinator Erika Greene agrees with King. Greene said she plans to schedule a meeting for Goodwin to meet with CCC Interim President Mojdeh Mehdizadeh before the end of the month.

Greene said the meeting would consist of Goodwin, Mehdizadeh, ASU members and the college community, and would discuss creating a referendum that can work with the Contra Costa Community College District’s

policies and procedures.

“If we get the process going now, we can roll out the (EasyPass program) by spring,” Greene said. “All we need is to have (the ASU) vote by the end of the semester and we would spend the rest of spring advertising.

“This is a chance for the ASU to do something big that isn’t just voting on another event,” she said.

However, not all feel the same as the current ASU board. Hispanic Serving Institution STEM employee Ysrael Condori said, during his term as former ASU president, the board rejected the EasyPass program because of the cost to students.

“The price per student for EasyPass goes down the more students who participate,” Condori said. “It seemed like a great idea, but we were not sure we would have enough students to (participate).”

‘Next Level’ set to improve learning experience x

BY Brian Boyle STAFF WRITER

bboyle.theadvocate@gmail.com

A proclamation from the Contra Costa Community College District’s Chancellor’s Office has made improving the student and faculty experience the main goal of the district and its three colleges over the next five years.

The Chancellor’s Office wants to improve student success toward degree acquisition and transfer rates, energizing faculty and improving the education of under-prepared students as reaching the “Next Level.”

The elimination of develBenjamin opmental education by 2020 is another one of the markers that the colleges have reached the “Next Level.”

Governing Board Trustee for West County John Marquez said, “Diablo Valley College is already at the ‘Next Level,’ and Los Medanos isn’t far off. But Contra Costa College is way behind on meeting its students’ needs.”

The college readiness gap is one of the main focuses of CCC’s five-year plan. A staggering number of high school graduates from West County who come to CCC are underprepared in math and English skills. According to the five-year plan, between summer 2013 and spring 2014, 72.3 percent of new high school graduates entering CCC were assessed into basic skills level English, and 83.7 percent were put in basic skills level math.

At the Sept. 9 Governing Board meeting, the availability of $736 million in bond funding was cited as the reason for the drive toward the “Next Level.”

“I think it is important to think how far we’ve come,” Chancellor Helen Benjamin said. “We want to try some new, innovative things to bring us to the next level, and we finally have the finances available to be able to.”

In a report released by the Chancellor’s Office titled “What the Next Level Looks Like,” it is stated that a decade ago, little districtwide discussion was taking place regarding how race, ethnicity and poverty impact the success of students. The report also states that

minimal efforts were being taken to improve student success, and little innovation was taking place.

Speech professor Joseph Carver said he could understand that assessment by the Chancellor’s Office.

He said, “There’s a tendency in educational institutions to copy other people. It’s easy to look to other institutions and copy what worked for them without considering if it would work for you.”

However, Carver found the idea of focusing on innovation at CCC “problematic.”

Like Marquez, Carver said he thinks there are a number of issues that need to be addressed at CCC before the college should look toward innovating the field of education.

“I think the college needs to look at who our students “We have are and what a very ambi- their actual are,” tious chancel- goals Carver said.

“Do stulor.” dents want — John Nejedly, to transfer?

Governing Board Or are they looking for president meaningful employment? Even if it just means talking to them about their goals, professors and the college need to work to make those connections with students.”

Carver said he often hears students tell him that they were not aware of what jobs they could get with a certain degree, or that after being on campus for years, they were not aware of resources available to them.

“Being on campus for years and not knowing what help is available isn’t the students’ fault, it’s a failing of the institution,” Carver said.

Carver said the college needs to create an environment that clearly prioritizes helping students as the main goal. He said he currently does not get that impression from the college.

“I think there are definitely pockets of professors who really care and will take their time to help students,” Carver said. “But I don’t think we do that collectively as a whole.”

Carver’s opinion seems to be shared by a number of faculty. In CCC’s five-year strategic plan, titled “Vision 2020: Equity and Access, Engagement and Achievement,

Persistence from basic English skills to degree program

x

x

38% Persistence from basic math skills to degree program

x x

34%

x x

49%

31%

LEGEND

Degree and certificate completion

x x

15% 17%

Districtwide Contra Costa College

0

Transfer completion

10

20

42% x

x

28% SOURCE: CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES, CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE (CCCCO), STUDENT SUCCESS SCORECARD 2014

0Contra Costa 10 College 20and districtwide 30 50 CCC comparison rates: x 40 and districtwide student equity data shows how CCC compares to the district’s total numbers in completion rates for basic math and English skills, degrees and certificates, and transferring.

Excellence and Accountability,” it states that, “Employees at CCC had concerns about considering the needs of students when decisions are made to add or delete programs or courses and whether there are sufficient knowledgeable staff to provide effective student services.”

Though whether the issue of sufficient knowledgeable staff will be addressed is debatable.

Governing Board President John Nejedly said, “We have a very ambitious chancellor.

“I don’t know if CCC should grow,” Nejedly said. “Honestly, CCC probably needs to be downsized.”

Dr. Benjamin did not necessarily agree with that sentiment, but said, “I don’t know if downsize is the right word. I think it might need to be right-sized, but that has been happening already as programs and staff come and go.”

Another obstacle to the “Next Level” is the goal of “energizing” the faculty at all three colleges.

In the most recent faculty morale survey done by the United Faculty union, roughly 15 percent of the faculty in the district identified themselves as “energized.” The four predominant terms the faculty used to describe themselves were exhausted, frustrated, overworked

and undervalued.

English professor Jeffrey Michels said, “Teaching is a profession largely dependent upon morale. What students get out of a class is largely dependent on the level of investment the professor showcases.”

Dr. Michels explained that though the faculty had such a poor outlook of the college when the survey was taken last year, he was hopeful for the future.

Speech department Chairperson Sherry Diestler said, “A lot of the issues the faculty have are that with recent paperwork demands from the state, we’re beginning to feel more like bureaucrats and less like professors.”

Diestler said faculty who get more involved in the process of running departments and the college are often forced to prioritize meeting deadlines for paperwork over helping students.

“It makes one feel like they’re just doing busy work no one will ever read,” she said. “We have to design student learning outcomes, but often don’t have the time to discuss their implications as a department. It can make some feel like they have to choose between filling out reports or answering student emails.”

Michels said if he could elim-

0inate

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any of the non-teaching paperwork faculty do, it would be student learning outcomes.

“SLOs are the most redundant thing we do,” Michels said. “We have to define what students are going to learn in explicit terms and how we will assess their learning.

At any point in time a professor can tell you what his students should be learning. And how do we assess that? We used to call them grades.”

District Diversity, Inclusion and Innovation Officer Tammeil Gilkerson said, “A focus on student equity is happening aggressively at all three colleges right now.”

Gilkerson said innovative programs are being adopted at every level across the district.

“One big example of innovation taking place right now is at LMC,” she said. “They’re currently constructing a small farm to attach to the early childhood education program as an open classroom. It not only will enrich the learning experience for the students, but also for the children in the program.”

“I think it’s important that we have the will to push through,” Gilkerson said. “We need to work and continue to work to infuse a culture of excellence and inclusion into all of our policies and procedures.”

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Expansion rebrands objectives Department transitions to communication study

BY Benjamin Bassham STAFF WRITER

bbassham.theadvocate@gmail.com

The speech department of Contra Costa College is set to transform into the communication studies department and expand its scope to better serve its students.

The process is still in its preliminary phases right now, speech department Chairperson Sherry Diestler said.

“It still has to go through all the channels.

We’re hoping by spring or fall,” she said.

Speech professor Randy Carver said the name of the new communication studies department would “better reflect what we do.”

Speech is only one part of what is already being taught and the current name has been a limiter on what the department can provide, he said.

Wyllene Turner, speech and debate team member, said that people have been confused by the current name of the speech department, thinking that speech is just a part of the English department, or even English as a second language courses.

CCC has been one of the lingering holdouts in California, putting off the upgrade to its antiquated speech department.

CCC’s sister college Diablo Valley College has already made the change to communica-

DENIS PEREZ / THE ADVOCATE

Speech and debate team member Nora Alkrizy rehearses a speech during a practice session in AA-113 on Sept. 16. The speech department will soon expand to communication studies.

Carver

tion studies.

Diestler said she tried to get the upgrade done years ago, but was stymied at the time.

Carver said, “We don’t plan on trimming, or getting rid of any existing classes. It opens up the possibility for

additional courses.”

“The hope is that we would be able to begin to merge other departments,” he said.

“We would be able to teach classes you would

normally see in a mass communications department or a multimedia department.”

Diestler said, “We hope to, for example, have a course in business communication.”

The biggest advantage of the changes is the increased options, transferability of courses and a new communications study major.

Carver said, “This is a change that seems simple, or one that might not seem significant. This allows our department to offer degree programs, certificate programs and courses comparable to other top-notch colleges in the area, or entire Bay Area.”

Speech and debate team member Lerecia Evans said, “I hope it happens by the time I graduate. It’s more representative and clear.

With speech, people think it’s just for working with people with speaking disabilities.”

Diestler said the revamped department’s curriculum will be a match for most of the districts in the state. The mechanism involved will be California’s Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID).

The C-ID exists to check that courses of the same name at different colleges are functionally equal, having the same course descriptions.

Empty Bowls helps Bay Area Rescue Mission Three Seasons hosts annual fundraiser, aims to curb hunger

BY Xavier Johnson STAFF WRITER

xjohnson.theadvocate@gmail.com

The annual Empty Bowls fundraiser will provide all-you-can-eat-soup while raising awareness on hunger issues from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Three Seasons Restaurant.

The fundraiser is organized by the ceramics department with the help of the culinary arts department who will provide unlimited soup refills after each bowl purchase.

Contra Costa College ceramics instructor Mary Law said all proceeds after expenses will go to the Bay Area Rescue Mission, an organization providing emergency food and shelter for the homeless members in the Richmond community.

Bowls will be on sale on the lawn outside of the Liberal Arts Building and will be $10 for non-students and $5 for CCC students.

There are more than 450 bowls

planned to be on sale.

“We let them keep the bowls as a reminder of all those with empty bowls around the world,” Law said.

After receiving the bowls, which range in sizes and design, culinary students will be serving a variety of soups that aim to match the diversity of the student’s art.

The purchase of a bowl will automatically enter students into the raffle where four bowls will be offered as prizes.

She said students are also able to pre-purchase tickets for a bowl before Oct. 18 at the Three Seasons Restaurant.

Law said Empty Bowls began in Michigan about 25 years ago when the two founders, Lisa Blackburn and John Hartom, wanted to give art students a way to make a personal difference in the fight against hunger.

Ceramics major Larry Jones said, “(Volunteer) potters wanted to help with hunger issues. Potters used their

skill to create bowls. They worked with a local soup kitchen to provide food for the bowls. All of the funds would go to a local soup kitchen. The proceeds for the fundraiser has to go to some kind of food organization.”

Jones said the goal of Empty Bowls is to raise as much money as possible to help with undernourished members of the community.

He said raising awareness about how widespread poverty and hunger issues are is another important goal of the charity event.

Ceramics student Allen Perolf said Empty Bowls is a long-standing fundraiser held all around the world by potters, schools and community organizations.

Law said the majority of proceeds will be going to the Bay Area Rescue Mission but the cost to make the soup makes up the difference.

Perolf said that the clay used to make the bowls was donated to the art depart-

ment by East Bay Clay.

Perolf said the time put into making the bowls is voluntary.

The Hilltop Ukulele Lovers Academy (HULA) will be providing live entertainment at the fundraiser again this year.

Perennial favorites, HULA’s music adds to the festive atmosphere that makes the event successful.

Law said this year’s Empty Bowls Fundraiser will take place on World Food Day. Established in 1979, World Food Day has been celebrated by millions of people in almost every developed nation across the globe, she said.

It celebrates the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Oct. 16, 1945.

Law said it is a fitting setting for a fundraiser dedicated to helping the widespread issue of hunger that has occurred for the fifth year at CCC.

GARDEN ‘IGNORED’ OVER SUMMER, UNDERGOES RESTORATION Project removes weeds in culinary hillside garden

BY Xavier Johnson STAFF WRITER

xjohnson.theadvocate@gmail.com

The student-run garden behind the culinary arts department is set to receive restorations after a summer of minimal upkeep.

As students returned for the fall 2015 semester, it was noticeable that the quality of the garden had diminished significantly.

“During the summer no one is here so (the garden) was ignored.

But when we get back we usually clean it,” culinary arts department Chairperson Nader Sharkes said.

He said it is common for the garden to diminish in quality but return to bloom several weeks into the new semester.

Sharkes said there are more pressing matters when it comes to initial instruction, roster finalization and picking up seedlings.

But once culinary art students collect seedlings from Sunnyside Farm on Oct. 10, they will begin planting on Oct. 11, after trimming.

Having only walked through the garden to estimate the amount of work ahead of them, culinary arts student Camilo Alberto said they only took a tour to familiarize themselves (with the garden).

“We haven’t started working on the garden yet,” he said.

Playing a role on the progress

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE

The culinary arts garden received little to no attention over the summer period leading into the fall semester due to the lack of students present and initial semester setbacks such as instruction and picking up seedlings scattered around the hill.

of the garden has been the weather.

Heather Hansen, a freshman student said, “We’ve only Sharkes worked on it about one time in the past four weeks. We’re actually avoiding it this week because it’s very hot.”

Culinary arts instructor Elisabeth Schwarz said consistent work began on the garden but is not where she would like it to be at this point in the semester.

Delaying work has made catching up to where they want to be difficult.

Culinary arts student Shuelle Alcaraz said somebody should have been working on the garden over the summer to maintain it.

Because if someone was working on it over the summer it would not be so difficult to improve the garden each semester, she said.

The culinary arts department uses the garden to grow its own herbs and vegetables.

Not only edible resources, it also provides roses to be used in the Three Seasons restaurant as

table decor.

Sharkes said he wants to make improvements to the garden to hopefully make it a better place for the culinary arts department and the campus community as a whole.

“I wish I had more bench seating because if you look any time there are people there relaxing, so it’s a good place to just relax,” he said.

Sharkes said he would also like to expand the garden and fixing the hill in need of “help” would add to the garden.

“The main idea, which is ambitious, is to take a little bit of the hill

slowly, and expand (the garden) little by little.

“I would also like to get a trail so you could walk to the other end of the hill (along Campus Drive),” he said. “You could get some exercise.”

Expanding the garden to other parts of the hillside and other improvements are long-term goals that he said will begin to take shape in the fall 2016 semester.

“I would also love to have some grape vines,” Sharkes said.

His primary concern, however, will be helping the garden recover from another summer of minimal upkeep.

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7

Season ends unceremoniously Unforseen issues ruin chance to atone for last year

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

The 2015 season officially ended five weeks after it started for the 0-3 Comet women’s soccer team as a result of fielding too few players and canceling its first five non-conference games.

Contra Costa College Athletic Director John Wade notified the California Community College Athletics Association (CCCAA) and Bay Valley Conference (BVC) Commissioner Shirley Baskin on Friday via email that the team would forfeit the remainder of the season and hoped to find eligibility options for the dissolved team’s players.

Comet coach Amanda Beckenhauer was unable to sustain a complete roster of 11 players in any match this season. A team that cannot field seven players for a match must forfeit, according to rules set by the international soccer governing body Federation Internainale de Football (FIFA) and adopted by the CCCAA. CCC canceled its first five non-conference games, which were scheduled to begin Aug. 27, hoping to add more players while bringing a team of loose ends together before

reaching the BVC portion of its schedule. The Comets played against three BVC teams, but played only one full game, a 10-0 loss at Mendocino College on Sept. 29.

In the email sent to Baskin and the CCCAA Director of Membership Services Jennifer Carodine, Wade listed “unforeseen” circumstances and a “poor” level of commitment from players as to why the squad was forced to forfeit the season.

For some players and coaches, the announcement came as a shock. But it was expected by others who saw the prospect of forfeiting the season come closer to fruition.

“It’s really unfortunate. The biggest disappointment is that they don’t get to play,” Beckenhauer said. “Since the beginning of the season, we have had at least 16 (players) come through the program, but I can’t make them stay. I just want to make sure the ones that did stay get to keep their eligibility.”

Wade wrote in his letter to the BVC commissioner that Comet players dealt with a number of life issues that undermined the foundation of what it takes to be a team. Players became guardians of children, suffered injuries or couldn’t balance their commitment to work and the team, he said.

“Some of us were committed and really wanted to play.

I’m still coming to practice. It just sucks that there are going to be no more games.— Mary Sanchez, Comet defender

Attached to the email from Wade was a Form 6, the official notification that effectively dissolves the team from competition this season. If sent early enough in the season, it retains players’ eligibility to return to play next season without their participation this season counting against their years of eligibility.

Athletic directors are able to petition for the players to keep their current eligibility if the team does not attempt to play deep into conference play. Wade said he plans to push for the players to keep their status to return and play next year if recruitment goes well.

CCC Interim President Mojdeh Mehdizadeh said, “It’s just sad and disappointing that it had to come to this.”

Meanwhile, Wade said he fielded ideas from the commissioner, representatives of women’s soccer teams in the BVC and Mehdizadeh about finding a solution to the impending problem.

He said after failing to come to any solution, however, suspending the season became the only logical outcome.

Comet defender Mary Sanchez said she is disappointed the season is over.

“Some of us were committed and really wanted to play,” Sanchez said.

“I’m still going to come to practice. It just sucks that there are going to be no games.”

Wade said that he had looked into the possibility of recruiting players from the volleyball team to also play for the women’s soccer team. Other women’s programs at CCC, however, are also struggling to fill their ranks this season.

“I hope that some of the (soccer players) would come over to the volleyball team,” Comet volleyball coach Christy Tianero said.

Beckenhauer said she suggested her players try volleyball, which also plays in the fall sports season. While some are poised to make the switch, others like Sanchez said they are not totally sold on the idea.

“I may go,” she said. “But I’m not sure my heart will be in (volleyball).”

Players from the women’s soccer team were unable to reach Tianero Friday after hearing the news of the season’s cancellation because of the volleyball team’s match that day at Laney College.

RECIPE FOR VICTORY REMAINS ELUSIVE

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

The Comet volleyball team had its best showing of the season, but ultimately lost in straight sets against Laney College on Friday in Oakland.

Contra Costa College broke the 20-point barrier in the first set and tallied double-digit point totals in all three, losing 25-21, 25-16 and 25-12 to the Eagles (1-5 overall, 1-3 in the Bay Valley Conference).

With only six players on the active roster, lack COMETS of depth continues to be the priority plaguing CCC (0-4, 0-4 BVC) this season.

Hitting and serving is EAGLES improving for the squad and scoring has also increased for CCC in each game.

“We need to recognize the strides we’ve made and build on them,” CCC outside hitter Arcenia Macedo said.

“Communicating as a team on defense still is something we need to improve on.”

The Comets return to action tonight at 6 against Yuba College.

Midway through the second set, Laney began to pinpoint the Comets’ inexperience.

The Eagles exploited holes in the CCC rotations and targeted shots in the direction of newer players.

For the Eagles, the difference maker was

0 3

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

Comet right hitter Amy Palomares tips the ball over the net and Eagle middle blocker Stephanie Sandria during Contra Costa College’s loss to Laney College in Oakland on Friday.

setter Shayla Robillard. Ranked 12th in the BVC in assists (64), her 25 assists against the Comets led to every Laney player capturing three kills each.

Robillard exploited one of the Comets’ defensive communication flaws: position shifts to combat solid hitting. An officiating mix-up, forcing an undue rotation, also threw the still-gelling Comets out of rhythm.

“We try to adjust our rotations to keep newer players on the back row,” Macedo said. “In practice, we work on adjusting our range of coverage to minimize their responsibilities until they are more comfortable getting the ball back over the net.”

CCC scored as many points in the first two sets of Friday’s game as were scored in

the previous three-set home loss (25-6, 25-9 and 25-12) to conference front-runner Napa Valley College on Sept. 30.

The NVC loss was the second game of a tough home stand for the Comets. The first was a hard-fought contest that ended in defeat to second-in-the-conference Los Medanos College (6-6, 4-0 BVC).

“I see playing two of the top teams early in the season as a plus for us,” Comet coach Christy Tianero said. “It gives me a clear vision of our weaknesses and allows me to find different ways to compensate for our inexperience.”

Evidence of the team beginning to gel was clear in the first set of Friday’s match at Laney. Both teams’ rosters are best described

as shallow as they narrowly exceed the six athletes required to play.

Neither team was able to flood the court with fresh bodies and play became disjointed as fatigue set in for both squads.

“We came out confident with a good mindset in the first set,” CCC right side hitter Amy Palomares said. “We had an intense practice Thursday before the game and came out so pumped up at the start that we lost energy in the final sets of the match.”

Tianero agreed Thursday’s practice was tough and emphasized footwork, hitting and a more up-tempo style of play.

“They worked hard Thursday, but you can’t get all of those things down right away,” Tianero said.

Soccer recaptures winning attitude, spirit After

three losses, team nets road victory

BY Lorenzo Morotti ASSOCIATE EDITOR

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

Two goals, scored only minutes into each of the halves, in a shutout win at Napa Valley College on Friday snapped a three-game losing streak for the Comet men’s soccer team.

Contra Costa College goalkeeper Eduardo Escamilla stopped the Storm from surging into the game with five saves by the end of a 2-0 Bay Valley Conference win — the team’s fourth clean sheet of its 10 games this season.

After its second BVC game, CCC (5-4-1 overall, 1-1 in the BVC) is among the top three teams vying for first place in the conference standings with three points as of press time Tuesday. “(The Sept. 29) loss to Yuba brought the team together,” said CCC center attacking midfielder Jorge Avina, who Friday scored off a botched Storm clearance and also tallied an assist. “(Against NVC) we controlled the game by keeping possession, and it let us create scoring opportunities. Everyone was doing his job, so we took advantage of the (scoring) plays we had.”

CCC is in third place behind Mendocino College (1-0-1, four points in conference) and firstplace Yuba College (2-0, six points in conference), but is ahead of Merritt and Folsom Lake colleges in the standings due to its .550 winning percentage, 25 goals scored and overall record. The Comets will return to the Soccer Field to play for second place against Mendocino on Friday at 4 p.m.

The Comets’ two goals, scored by striker Bryan Vega and Avina four and 48 minutes into the game, provided a brace for the defense to play possession tactics to hold the Storm’s frustrated long-ball offense and secure .50 power points in the BVC standings.

Escamilla and Avina said when the Storm regained possession, it tended to launch the ball down the field and rely on the pace of strikers to finish the play.

“We were playing possession soccer,” Avina said. “They were playing kickball.”

At about the 70-minute mark, however, one of these long balls initiated a counter attack that almost brought the Storm within a goal of tying.

“He hesitated and tried to adjust, but it was too late. I read his mind and smothered the ball before he could shoot.

— Eduardo Escamillia, CCC goalie

Comet goalie Escamilla rushed out from the net to the edge of the penalty area to diffuse a oneon-one situation produced from a Storm through ball that the Comets’ “tense” defense, he said, could have stopped if it played the offside trap.

“When I realized he was onside, I came off the goal line,” he said. “I noticed the ball was bouncing, so I knew he was either going to try and chip (the ball) over me or try and dribble it to the side and shoot.

I had to read his mind.

“So I put my arms up to stop his option of chipping it over me,” Escamilla said. “He hesitated and tried to adjust but it was too late. I read his mind and smothered the ball before he could shoot.”

This key save brought his season’s total to 46, ninth best in the

state, according to cccaasports.org.

Comet coach Nikki Ferguson said that midfielder Cristian Garibay was a vital playmaker by keeping possession in Napa Valley’s defensive third, which gave time for Avina, Vega and attacking winger Missael Hernandez make overlapping runs into space near the goal.

At four minutes into the game, Hernandez had sprinted into space along the right attacking wing and sent a short pass to Avina at the corner of the penalty area.

Avina said he then passed the ball to Vega who slotted a left-footed shot into the right side of the goal past Storm goalkeeper Sebastian Romero.

Escamilla said even though they were able to get a good result and break a three-game losing streak, the team should not become complacent with a single win.

“We need to keep playing our best to not get comfortable after this win,” he said. “We need to play every match like it is our last — that is the difference between a team that just makes the playoffs and one that wins the championship.”

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STORM

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WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 10.7.2015 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

“

I try not to force passes if they are not there. If I feel like there is a window, I can fit the ball through I let it go — I’m just trying to make plays.” — Cameron Burston, CCC quarterback

COMETS

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Comet defensive back Cameron Heath (bottom right) upends Mustang running back Gerad Higdon (center) during Contra Costa College’s 48-7 victory against Los Medanos College at Comet Stadium on Saturday.

MUSTANGS

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

HARD HITS FUEL HOMECOMING WIN Defensive effort ignites explosive offensive output

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

The Comets chose Homecoming to put together their most impressive performance of the year, a 48-7 decimation of district rival Los Medanos College (2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Pacific 7 Conference) Saturday at Comet Stadium.

After Contra Costa College (5-0 overall 1-0 in the Pac 7) beat Merced by a single touchdown on Sept. 26, the coaching staff lamented leaving a lot of missed opportunities on the field.

They said when this team clicks it will be something special to see.

And it clicked on Saturday as the Comets struck early and often, pounding the Mustangs with a steady offensive bombardment.

Comet running back Harris Ross (16 carries, 142 yards, one touchdown) chewed through layers of defenders en route to total a 8.9-yard per-carry average.

It was his best performance of the year.

The Comets play their next conference game at Yuba College Oct. 17 following this week’s bye.

CCC controlled the running attack on both sides of the ball, holding LMC to 102 yards rushing for the game.

Comet linebacker Amari Mount set the tone for the evening when he stopped the LMC running back behind the line of scrimmage on

the first play of the game, which led to an eventual Mustang punt.

Mount said, “We kept working through the whole game,. We’re starting to come together as a unit.”

Ranked 21st in state, the Comets, led by quarterback Cameron Burston, (18 of 24, 191 yards, three touchdowns) who is the current leader in completion percentage for California, (75.7 percent) wasted no time putting points on the board.

CCC receiver Malcolm Hale (four catches, 63 yards) darted diagonally from left-to-right on the field. Burston whizzed Hale the ball which he took 45 yards to the end zone.

“I try not to force passes if they are not there. If I feel like there is a window, I can fit the ball into I let it go — I’m just trying to make plays,” Burston said.

Leading 7-0, and only four minutes into the quarter, LMC had enough time to get back into the game.

CCC defensive back Elijah Cunningham quickly picked off the LMC quarterback’s pass.

The following series saw an improbable touchdown drop by Frank Stephens forcing a CCC punt.

LMC scratched and clawed its way to the CCC goal line, eventually cracking through on a 1-yard run by running back Billy Wells The game was tied 7-7.

The next LMC drive stalled fea-

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

turing four tackles by Ted Noble, (five tackles) paving the way for a 35-yard touchdown run by Ross.

Ross’ touchdown was the final in the half, and the Comets led at the break, 14-7.

CCC started the third quarter as it ended the second, pushing the Mustangs to the brink of breaking by pounding the ball down their throats. Scoring two touchdowns in the process, the onslaught continued and CCC now led 28-7 late in the third quarter.

The 14 points in the third quar-

ter and shutting LMC out nearly the entire game — the Comets were finally clicking in all phases of the game.

The Comets had their least amount of penalty yards for any game this year.

The team celebrated by forcing a late LMC fumble that was scooped up and returned by Comet linebacker Broderick Melancon into the Mustang end zone.

By the final horn, the CCC had completely broken the Mustang’s spirit with a 48-7 drubbing.

ABOVE: Comet wide receiver Malcolm Hale repels a tackle by Mustang defensive lineman Josh Marchio during CCC’s win against LMC on Saturday.

■ OFF THE RECORD

Admirable effort ends in heartbreak R

Women’s

soccer season

canceled, reflects ‘feeble’ leadership, poor field

ecruiting student-athletes at the community college level is challenging, but for Contra Costa College women’s soccer coach Amanda Beckenhauer, finding players for her second season as coach was nearly impossible.

The 2015 women’s team only had eight players on its official roster when Athletic Director John Wade forfeited the remainder of its schedule on Friday. By the way, soccer teams send 11 players onto the pitch to start each game.

So, while the decision to forfeit the season was a good one because it will allow the players to return next year without losing a year of their eligibility, the time the coaches and Wade took while listening to the players lobby to play out the season only to finally come to an agreement not to play reflects the current state of the women’s soccer program — an overwhelming sense of disconnect meshed with feeble leadership.

And there is a lot of work that needs to start now in order to ensure this does not repeat itself in 2016.

The 2014 women’s team ended its first season under Beckenhauer with just 11 players and only one

lorenzomorotti win in 20 games played.

But this year the roster never went above 11 players.

This was a clear indicator that the team was spiraling and the athletic director, coaches and players should have decided sooner to cancel the season instead of hoping that the team could add at least four players by the time Bay Valley Conference play started in mid-September.

This became even more evident after watching the 2014 BVC champions Folsom Lake College rout the Comets 6-0 in their only home game of the season on Sept.

22. The game was suspended at 32 minutes in the first half after Comet midfielder Dominique Trevino was injured. According to the rules followed by California Community College Athletic Association soccer teams, when a team drops below seven able play-

ers it must forfeit the game.

After that experience the team forfeited its next game to Yuba College on Sept. 25 and then was shut out 10-0 at Mendocino College in Ukiah on Sept. 29.

It was admirable, but foolhardy for Wade to think Beckenhauer and her players would be able to add athletes to the team in September, considering its losing record and the poor condition of the sloped and patchy surface of the Soccer Field.

The seven players Beckenhauer played against FLC fought passionately to try and shut down the gulfs of space that resulted from playing with only seven people. It was a virtuous effort, but a demoralizing result was evident from the outset of the game.

And, as anticipated, the game was deemed a Comet forfeit when Trevino was carried off the field by striker Zoe Glover and Athletic Trainer Mikel Jackson after Trevino was floored in her own defensive half by a Folsom Lake player who missed the ball and struck Trevino’s ankle.

Seeing her being carried off the field, knowing that game could not continue, was heartbreaking.

But watching the Folsom Lake

players move the goals closer together and begin a “practice” as CCC’s student-athletes slowly walked toward the locker room, it was clear playing out the season was not a reasonable option.

Meanwhile, Falcon coach Donny Ribaudo said he would never try to play out a season with only seven players.

“I just wouldn’t let that happen,” Ribaudo said, “because I do what is expected of me as a coach to recruit, fundraise and promote (the team).”

Currently, one end line of the Soccer Field is elevated and dry while the other, near El Portal Drive, is sunken in and moist.

The surface in between is uneven, patchy and poses a liability for the college if someone gets injured. The athletic department could find a temporary solution if it arranged for the CCC soccer teams to share Comet Stadium, which is exclusively being used by the football team. Such a change would make recruiting and player retention for Beckenhauer a bit easier.

Lorenzo Morotti is an associate editor for The Advocate. Contact at lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com.