WEDNESDAY l 11.11.15 OUR 66TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.
Renowned author stirs ‘curiosity’ Historical injustices displayed through published works
BY Robert Clinton
“It’s hard to tap into all of the knowledge. It’s nice to have educated positive people in life to look up to.”
SPORTS EDITOR
rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com
S
tudents, faculty and family were treated to a presentation by an accomplished author who came to explain the metaphoric connections between socio-economic politics and everyday life in his new novel, “Dawn to Twilight.” The event, held Thursday in LA103, featured novelist and professor Daniel Kunene. Dr. Kunene is an internationally known translator of African texts into English. An author of more than one dozen books, his range spans time and topic, including the “Heroic poetry
— Somori Pointer, grandson
of the Basotho,” an ethnic group that has lived in South Africa since the fifth century, to poetic works like “A Seed Must Seem to Die.” In “Dawn to Twilight,” he chronicles the lives of two South African teenagers, Duma and Meisie, growing up in the despair of apartheid. They meet at a common water spigot only to find the well has run dry. The struggle for water is a recurring theme throughout the story; it finds common connections with
location, class and status. “’Dawn to Twilight’ resonated with me because it introduced me to a culture that I had never looked into,” forensic anthropology major Malea Reeves said. “I wanted to find out more — the book made me curious about curiosity.” To begin, Kunene, who is the father-in-law to Fritz Pointer, a humanities professor at Contra Costa College, requested two volunteers from the packed classroom to assist
in acting out a passage from the book to set the mood of the story. Ku n e n e’s 92-year-old frame and calm but powerful voice Pointer led the students through the reading. Then he asked the students to explain their own interpretations of scenes and character motivations. Born in South Africa, he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Africa and his SEE DAWN, PAGE 4
Summary collection of works by Dr. Kunene: Examining the oppression of apartheid in South Africa, translating compositions by African authors “Dawn to Twilight” (2013) Two teenagers come across a dry tap while living in a white-controlled black township in South Africa. Their realization leads them in another direction in life.
“My Child! My Child!” (2010) The Zulu-to-English translated novel gives insight in rural and urban life in South Africa during apartheid, a system of racial segregation.
“Thomas Mofolo and the Emergence of Written Sesotho Prose” (1989) Kunene examines Sesotho literature and provides historical context to author Thomas Mofolo’s works.
“Pirates Have Become Our Kings” (1978) The collection of written poems highlights South African culture and ideologies. Poems include “Vortex,” “Madam belched” and “Zola.”
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MARCI SUELA AND CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE
ASU GRANTS FIRST SET OF SUPPORT FUNDING Board listens to six applicant petitions, approves only five BY Lorenzo Morotti ASSOCIATE EDITOR
lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com
The ASU Executive Board unanimously approved funding for five Grant for Support applicants on Friday after listening to most presentations on Wednesday. ASU Internal Finance Committee member Safi Ward-Davis said, out of the six applicants, only Senior Library and Learning Resource Center Assistant Tadalech Yoseph’s request for $2,500 to order 14 reserve textbooks and 10 reserve print cards for students at Contra Costa College has not yet been approved. SEE SUPPORT, PAGE 4
CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE
‘The Rock’ valiant in face of danger, education Speech professor translates supportive will into
SQUAD ON BRINK OF CLAIMING TITLE PAGE 7
his daily campus routine
BY Benjamin Bassham STAFF WRITER
bbassham.theadvocate@gmail.com
When a fire has already rolled through an area, that area becomes surprisingly safe. The fire rages nearby, hot enough to melt aluminum, but here there are just smoldering cars, the occasional burning gas line and an investigator with a mission. Contra Costa College speech professor Hans Craycraft was an investigator for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) for 21 years, investigating the odd, the dangerous and the dull, in the name of making our water get where it needs to go. “I just kind of fell into it. It wasn’t any kind of great plan,” Craycraft said. “The first eight
years, I spent building pipelines.” Once you know how the pipelines work you can be an investigator, he said. An investigator’s job is to be the EBMUD’s eyes and voice. “We had radios and they would tell us to go places and check things out. I would work with the fire chief, (and) I had to go to all three alarm fires,” Craycraft said. “I found myself on the nightshift quite a lot. The shift rotates, but I always seemed to be on nights. (I was) working in Richmond, Berkeley and around the East Bay — from Hayward to Crockett,” he said. “There were a lot of adventures that I had as an investigator that were one of a kind, (but) it wasn’t always a heart-poundSEE CRAYCRAFT, PAGE 4
ABOVE: Speech professor Hans Craycraft led an adventurous life in his previous profession as an investigator for EBMUD over a 21-year period before coming to Contra Costa College.