The Advocate 4-29-2015

WEDNESDAY l 4.29.15 OUR 65TH YEAR CONTRA COSTA COLLEGE SAN PABLO, CALIF.

Who will represent students’ concerns?

ASU election underway despite few options

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

As the Associated Students Union election nears, it will be up to the students to decide if leadership needs new direction or if current ASU president Antone Agnitsch is leading students in the right direction.

Campaign season began Tuesday and, while the election date has not been set, it is projected to be sometime in the next two weeks.

So far the only challenger to the incumbent is Black Student Union Vice President Nakari Syon.

“All students will get a vote,” InterClub

“It’s important that things get done. It’s all about... priorities.”

— Nakari Syon

Nakari Syon is currently BSU vice president and uses student and community leadership experience to express unique perspectives while being open to new opinions, ideas.

“I want to finish what I started and leave a good legacy.”

Council President Safi WardDavis said. “There will be a — Antone Agnitsch table in front of the (Applied Arts) Building where students can vote electronically.”

The election is not determined by a majority vote.

Candidates need to get half of Antone Agnitsch, ASU president, is campaigning to retain his leadership position and the previous year’s turnout to continue moving the student body forward while setting a standard for others to follow. qualify, then, whoever has the most votes after that wins.

The field has not been officially set and as of now only one student is in position to challenge Agnitsch for the seat.

The majority of Agnitsch’s term as president was spent trying to pull the group out of debilitating debt that was caused by the previous council, he said.

“When I first started as president it was more like repair work. The debt really slowed me down,” Agnitsch said. “Now

?

SEE ELECTION, PAGE 4

What about you?

ASU

Although there is still time to volunteer to run for president, only ASU senators in good standing can apply for the top seat of CCC’s student government.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SENATE MEMBERSHIP n Candidates must be enrolled in at least 5 units at Contra Costa College and maintain a GPA of 2.0 or better.

n Complete an application for membership on the Student Senate, and attend ASU weekly board meetings.

n Potential applicants must meet with Associated Student Union Screening Committee and complete the process within a 30-day probation period.

PHOTOS BY GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

COMPRESSED CALENDAR ENDORSEMENT RESTS ON LMC

Refugees talk struggles, success

An empty parking lot surrounds Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, California after shutting down on April 21 after failing to secure additional funding, support.

BY Cody McFarland ASSOCIATE EDITOR

cmcfarland.theadvocate@gmail.com

Whether Contra Costa College endorses compressing the semester calendar from 18 to 16 weeks depends on what sister school Los Medanos College decides.

After surveying all faculty opinions on reducing fall and spring semesters by two weeks, CCC’s Academic Senate determined faculty collegewide are near evenly split on the matter. Although Diablo Valley College’s Senate has already come forward endorsing the compressed calendar, LMC has yet to make a decision, and CCC is waiting to hear what LMC chooses before climbing down from the fence.

Wayne Organ, CCC’s Academic Senate president, said, “That’s our nuanced approach. Now we have to see what LMC does.”

Faculty Senate LMC President Silvester Henderson was unresponsive to repeated inquiries made by The Advocate over past weeks.

SEE CALENDAR, PAGE 4

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

PAGE 5

ANNUAL FOOD, WINE GALA HIGHLIGHTS LOCAL CHARITY Food and wine celebration brings local vendors with charitable hearts together to fund six culinary arts students’ study abroad trip to Italy.

PAGE 8

Hospital ceases operation Effects of closure ripple through community, region

BY Lorenzo Morotti EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

SAN PABLO — Doctors Medical Center officially closed its doors on April 21 after 60 years of providing medical treatment and services to residents of San Pablo and Richmond.

Now, 250,000 patients in the now closed hospital’s service area,

which spanned from Berkeley to Vallejo, and those who are without Kaiser Permanente insurance must seek emergency medical attention as far as Oakland or Walnut Creek.

Contra Costa Health Services Medical Rescue Corps Coordinator Najgrt-Smith said that while DMC did not have a specialized emergency room or acute care clinic, its closing is still an “unfortunate” loss for the community.

Najgrt-Smith said, however, it does not only affect community residents, but students at Contra Costa College.

Majorie Chatman, behavioral science major, said she and her family have been going to DMC for as long as she can remember.

“It sucks that (DMC) shut down,” Chatman said. “But it shows that our (local) governments obviously don’t care about the people in this community because, if they did, then they would have figured out a way to keep (DMC) open.

“Richmond and San Pablo are small cities, but have a lot of people, and they all can’t go to Kaiser because it, too, will be SEE MEDICAL, PAGE 4

Quotable “Once you start controlling the information to citizens, basically that’s the end of the idea of democracy.”

Don Was Music producer 1998 Lorenzo Morotti editor-in-chief George Morin art director Cody McFarland Rodney Woodson associate editors Roxana Amparo news editor Jared Amdahl opinion editor Robert Clinton sports editor Jason Sykes assistant sports editor Jose Jimenez spotlight editor Qing Huang Christian Urrutia photo editors Janae Harris Cody Casares assistant photo editors Paul DeBolt faculty adviser Staff writers Benjamin Bassham Nina Cestaro Rodney Dunlap Marlene Rivas Florinda Hershey Manning Peterson Evelyn Vazquez Mark Wassberg Kadijia West-Dickens Staff photographers Jordan Khoo Staff illustrators Marci Suela 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: 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, APRIL 29, 2015 — VOL. 102, NO. 19

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY OVERLOOKED Student voices must be active in college decisions, policies

S

hared governance is not simply a responsibility, but a privilege, to ensure the development and implantation of sound educational policies in years to come.

This privilege is not only given to faculty, staff and managers within the Contra Costa Community College District, but to its students as well.

It is vital that students seize this fleeting opportunity of being able to implement lasting change by running for the top position, or at least a senator seat, in the Associated Students Union of Contra Costa College.

However, there are only two presidential candidates on the ballot as of press time Tuesday.

That is, unless another person comes forward — someone willing to bear the responsibility that comes with being involved in decisions that will affect the college and the district.

The Advocate urges students who are interested to submit an application to the Student Life Office located on the bottom floor of the Applied Arts Building.

Although those who have served on the ASU Board are the only ones allowed to run for president, any student is welcome to petition to become a senator.

Students who are hesitant can get a glimpse of what the shared governance group does at weekly ASU meetings in AA206 Thursdays at 2:30 p.m.

It is worthwhile for students to chime in because their concerns and opinions are seldom required in the decision-making process of the college.

Assembly Bill 1725, passed in 1988, recognizes that the basic principle that higher education and its governance derives not just from the power vested in the governing board, faculty and staff, but most importantly, in the student’s experience.

But without having a range of student perspectives being adequately voiced, how can CCC properly steer its vessel, intent on student success, away from the rocky cliffs and onto the sandy beach of professionalism?

The Advocate does not often look to Diablo Valley College to set an example, but its student union is much more active and transparent.

The Associated Students of DVC provide governing documents, financial documents, board meeting agendas and minutes all posted on dvc.edu for people to access from almost anywhere.

Meanwhile, ASUCCC only has a brief description, phone number and set of senator and representative application requirements posted online.

And while it does have a Twitter account @cccasu, not having adequate resources on the website only limits the flow of information to the student body.

A solution to this widespread apathy toward student governance at CCC is to express the importance of what the ASU does, what it has contributed to the college and what it plans to do — be it through pamphlets, websites, and social media.

Just like faculty, staff and administrators, who have to make adjustments based on a changing world, the students must share the weight in creating a better tomorrow.

MARCI SUELA / THE ADVOCATE

2

N SOCIAL MEDIA

Digital divides create relationship strife

I

t seems more and more these days people look for the wrong ingredients to strengthen their relationship bonds. Surface beauty holds more weight than what is inside. And far too often admirers attach their affection to money or material things.

And social media amplifies these misplaced priorities all too much.

Social media provides an audience to what should be personal conversations.

It opens a window to the inner-workings of an intimate connection and allows parasites to eat away at the strands that hold it together.

There was a time when relationships did not end with the passing of a season and stayed strong through tests and temptation.

Bonds were built on genuine love, trust and loyalty.

Trust still exists, but people fall victim to the illusions presented on social media by believing false ideas about themselves and the surrounding world.

Ideas work to dissect the ties that hold a couple together.

So many people claim to want to be with someone, to have a meaningful relationship.

But then use every tactic available to hide all of the electronic contacts they have with other potential romantic matches.

Interactions on social media, for instance, would make any significant other

caught up with their significant other every day over the random like or comment on an Instagram photo.

You cannot even feel comfortable liking a picture of yourself if the wrong person sent it. uncomfortable. But rather Especially if the wrong than limit the amount person sent it. of time in life connected There was no messaging to social media, couples random strangers online, increase it. people had to actually go People post every instant out and talk to each other of their relationship on to find their one and only. social media, allowing People met in person and an open door for others experienced things togethto comment and sew the er, so stronger bonds were seeds of doubt that can built. chip away at any meaningThere was more truthful foundation that has fulness and it was even been created. there after the relationship These new aspects of ended. communication take away It was easier to go your from what it seems like separate ways and remain ‘finding the one’ was supfriends, even if a connecposed to be. tion is just not meant to be.

It takes away from that Now people are spiteful. old-school love.

After the magic is gone, That is the kind of love they go out of their way to that keeps you guessing make their one and only with butterflies in your feel as much pain as they stomach, wondering if that felt. special someone feels the Those kinds of actions same way. are commonly fueled by This was done during a conversations on social time when individuals pur- media. sued each other for their Quickly a lovers’ quarrel loyalty and devotion, not or an intimate disagreefor what may or may not ment becomes an Internet be in their pockets. spectacle.

There is something that This provides a momenfeels natural about looking tary reality show for everyinto the eyes of the one you body, ending with relationlove and speaking directly ship shrapnel everywhere. from the heart.

And it should not be this There was no digital way. divide between people to Jacqie Moody is a staff jumble intentions with writer for The Advocate. interpretations.

Contact her at jmoody.theadThere has to be thouvocate@gmail.com. sands of people who get

jacqiemoody

CAMPUS COMMENT

What should the Associated Students Union do for students?

“They should make themselves more available for students. At least have a stand outside once a week.”

“They need more ways for students to get involved.”

Carlos Rodriguez

“I don’t know. I don’t know if and how much they can really do for those that don’t want to be involved.”

liberal arts

Xenia Rivera political science

ROXANA AMPARO AND JORDAN KHOO / THE ADVOCATE

“ASU has a challenge because of the construction, but putting on on-campus events could get more students involved.”

Julia Bourey

nuclear medicine technology

“They should do something more to connect students with the counselors to make it easier on (students).”

Monica Slaton

Joey Cunningham administration of justice

biology

“They can have more events like painting, competitions, chess games and sports for everyone to take part in.”

Aigerim Daniyar chemical engineering

campusbeat Follow The Advocate

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 4.29.2015 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

ELECTION | ASU president candidates campaign Continued from Page 1

Receive breaking campus news and sports updates by following The Advocate on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You can find a digital copy of this paper on Issuu. twitter.com/accentadvocate facebook.com/accentadvocate instagram.com/cccadvocate issuu.com/the_advocate

NEWSLINE ■ FUNDRAISER

DEPARTMENT MAKES CRAFTS FOR MONEY The art department is hosting its pottery event in the atrium and Eddie Rhodes Gallery in the Art Building starting Monday from noon to 4 p.m. and will continue throughout the week until May 8 at 2 p.m.

Prospective buyers can bid for affordable gifts in the silent auction until the last day of the event.

All the proceeds will go toward funding the department and its future events.

For further information, contact the art department at 510-2153964.

■ OFF CAMPUS

ENGLISH PROFESSOR TO LEAD DISCUSSION The Contra Costa College faculty will be facilitating a book discussion for “Lying to Tell the Truth: What The Things They Carried Teaches Us About Memoir Writing” on Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. led by author and adjunct English professor Dickson Lam at the Hercules Library Room 109.

For further information, contact the reference desk in the Library and Learning Resource Center at 510-215-4897.

■ BIG READ

LIBRARY TO HOLD VIETNAM WAR TALKS The Contra Costa College faculty will be facilitating a book discussion for “The Things They Censored” today from 5 to 6:30 p.m. led by adjunct English professor Haley Kantor in L-107.

For further information, contact the reference desk in the Library and Learning Resource Center at 510-215-4897.

CRIMEWATCH Monday, April 20: A student fainted in class.

American Medical Response responded but the student refused to be transported and was picked up by his mother.

— Christian Urrutia

CORRECTION In the April 22 issue of The Advocate on page 4, in the story titled, “Corporate partnership provides free software,” the infobox states that, “The deal will be available for the foreseeable future and students can keep using the programs even after they graduate;” this is not true.

The programs will only remain active while the student is enrolled and taking classes at Contra Costa College.

The Advocate regrets this error.

— 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.

3

we have momentum and a full board. I want to finish what I started and leave a good legacy.”

The ASU president is supposed to set a standard and should be open to hear from all students and be willing to provide what they want and need.

“They have to be the one that represents students at board meetings or going to district council meetings, anywhere that the student voice needs to be heard,” Student Life Coordinator Erika Greene said.

Syon said, “Being in student leadership and leading in my community, I’ve learned that it’s important to be open to different opinions.

Students deserve that kind of perspective. It is also a great position to make sure encouragement is more impactful.”

As for mission statements, both candidates have the same ultimate goal for the students on campus: They want to make sure students are represented in all committees or campus matters.

“I want students to feel more connected to the campus,” Agnitsch said. “It’s hard to get through to some of the students that only come here for classes then leave. We need them to be

involved, too.”

The elections are important because the ASU not only is the voice for the students, but also manages a large pool of student funds. The union is also responsible for coordinating the events and activities on campus.

“I want to bring more informative events to the campus,” Syon said. “Informed students are more likely to be involved with new activities and new policies.”

To get the word out about the upcoming election, the candidates plan to use both old and new methods. Both will use fliers and pepper social media with reminders about the importance of getting involved.

“I like to go out face-to-face and talk to students,” Syon said. “I’m confident in informing voters about my position. Fliers aren’t as effective as face time.”

Agnitsch also said it is important for students to know what the ASU does for them.

As current president, he already has projects in the works that he believes will enhance student life on campus.

Plans are in motion to finish the student recreation room, with potential of adding gaming consoles for video game tournaments.

Agnitsch also enjoys the face-to-face inter-

action, but after a year in office, sees the position from a different perspective.

“I enjoy the face-to-face interaction with the higher-ups,” he said. “This is good real world experience, handling public funds and being an elected official — only on a smaller scale.”

The ASU has a Facebook page and will use its social media presence to promote the candidates until election day. A picture will be posted with a short bio about the candidate and his or her vision for their perspective term in office.

Tuesday the election committee met to brainstorm strategies which it hopes to implement to better reach the CCC student body and in turn get more participation.

Both candidates also expressed a need for patience in the position. The current president emphasizes small actions toward accomplishing a larger goal.

Syon said, “It is important to encourage patience. We rush things that don’t need to be rushed. It’s important that things get done. It’s all about peer support and organizing priorities.”

For more information about the election, contact ICC President Safi Ward-Davis or visit the Student Life Office in AA-109.

CALENDAR | Final weigh-in slows districts’ decision Continued from Page 1 The Advocate was allowed to review the CCC Academic Senate’s survey results; they show that 50 percent of faculty voted “no” on compressing the calendar, while 48 percent gave a “yes” vote.

“Two percent are unknown. As far as we know, those 2 percent may favor the compressed calendar, which would make the decision 50/50,” Organ said. “Since it is so close to being divided down the middle, we decided to not yet take a collegewide stance for or against.”

The district’s ultimate decision must be forwarded to the Faculty Senate Coordinating Council this fall at the latest.

If the district does decide to compress the calendar, changes would not occur until fall 2016.

Dr. Jeffrey Michels, member of the United Faculty, the independent collective bargaining association for faculty districtwide, said, “I like the way the Senate planned it. I personally like surveys because they give everybody a chance to weigh in.”

When The Advocate anonymously surveyed 200 students about compressing the calendar (March 4 edition), nearly 59 percent of students desired semester length to stay at 18 weeks.

While many left comments in the vein of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” others supporting making the switch noted that compressing the calendar would better prepare students for transfer into four-year universities operating on tighter calendars than CCC. The Advocate’s survey asked for students’ majors; the Academic Senate’s survey asked for faculty member’s divisions. Though major was hardly an indicator of an individual student’s stance, the results of the Senate’s survey show that, of

faculty, those in the Natural, Social and Applied Sciences Division are the most opposed to compressing the calendar.

‘A competitive edge’ The proposal to compress the calendar came to the Academic Senate via district consultation on Dec. 15, 2014.

The UF have compiled much data on the effects of compressing semesters, which can be found online at uf4cd.org, under latest news and the link compressed calendar discussion and data.

While there is no data to support 18 weeks is any better than 16 weeks, there have been published studies that indicate making the switch may increase enrollment and retention, transfer and completion rates, as well as open up the yearly schedule to include a winter intersession and extend the already offered summer session.

“There is good reason to believe it will give us a competitive edge at CCC,” Michels said.

District Executive Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services Eugene Huff said, “There would be a competitive advantage for the district. None of the contiguous colleges offer a compressed calendar, so if CCC and a nearby school offer the same course, a student could complete the course at CCC in less time.”

James Slenter, a CCC student completing prerequisites to enter a physical therapy program at Ohlone College, said he supports compressing the calendar because it would extend the summer session, thus providing additional time to absorb material.

Slenter said he has been reluctant to take summer courses because of the short duration, but adding a week or two to that would certainly change his mind.

“My initial reaction is I’m for

it,” he said. “It boils down to how professors make the adjustment — will they be able to, and will they be able to teach all that they need to (in the new parameters)?”

Chemistry department Chairperson Thuy Dang, though opposed to making the switch, said the best pro for compressing the calendar would be the winter intersession and enhanced summer session.

Dr. Dang feels students will be more affected by the adjustment than faculty.

“Faculty will have to rearrange their syllabuses and curriculum to make it work,” she said. “The adjustment will not be difficult (for faculty); it will mainly affect students, who may face difficulty adjusting to the new calendar.”

Go slow, go strong Dang said shrinking fall and spring semesters would leave mathematics and sciences classes with too much to cover in too little time.

Physics and astronomy department Chairperson Jon Celesia said, “The amount of work physics and engineering students need to learn is already challenging to get through in an 18-week semester.

My experience with a 16-week system (teaching at SF State) is that you either leave out material or leave out students — or both.”

Considering CCC serves a large demographic of underprepared and first-generation college students, Celesia stressed the importance of such students developing strong academic foundations, which may require extra time and attention from professors — time and attention that would be curtailed by reducing spring and fall semesters from 18 to 16 weeks.

“To go slow is to go strong,” he said.

One consequence of shorten-

ing semesters would be longer class sessions, as students are still required to meet state mandated instruction hour minimums for course credit.

Dang said, “We already know how attentive (students) are and when that attentiveness drops during a class meeting. Extending the meeting time may not help if students stop paying attention.”

Other faculty, however, feel it is not the duration of the individual sessions that wears as much on students as does the duration of the semester.

On the fence African-American studies department Chairperson Carolyn Hodge was initially neutral when the college first considered compressing the calendar in 2006.

Nearly a decade later, her experiences with students in various classroom capacities has fed her decision to endorse making the switch from 18 to 16 weeks.

“I’ve noticed students tend to peter out in the last three weeks of the semester,” she said. “It seems that students are out of breath, whether it’s a lack of academic stamina, family issues, or something else.”

Hodge, who has taught sixweek-long summer sessions in recent past, said that students in her summer run of History 122 produced greater completion rates than students from the same class in spring and fall semesters.

“I would be on the fence if I hadn’t taught summer to contrast my experience. Even with that intensity, (students) do better.”

With a nebulous deadline contingent on LMC approaching, and a potential implementation date of fall 2016, there is no clear cut answer whether district campuses will adopt compressed semester calendars or not.

MEDICAL | Shutdown affects patients, students Continued from Page 1 overwhelmed (with patients).”

Najgrt-Smith said, “Many people also forget that many of CCC’s students were not only the hospital’s patients, but (were) also studying (there) to work in the medical field.”

Nursing department Chairperson Cheri Etheredge said because of the drawn out process of DMC’s closure, the department pulled its nursing students gaining required hands-on experience from the hospital about a year ago.

“We’ve known about the shutdown for quite a while,” Dr. Etheredge said. “We hoped people in the community would be able to pull together to keep the hospital going because it was such a great resource for the community and our nursing students.”

Out of the 80 nursing students in the program at CCC, she said half of them are considered advanced. These advanced students are those who have to go to hospitals and volunteer to get necessary experience to graduate.

“Doctor’s Medical closing affects the community negatively,” Etheredge said. “But I don’t think it will be that much of a problem for our program.

“We had to find other hospitals in the region for our students to get training. We started sending them as far as Kaiser in Vacaville. It’s more of a drive for them, but we did what we had to do to keep this program going when we anticipated the (DMC) closure.”

Nursing professor Angela King-Jones said it is a “shame” that the only hospital in San Pablo had to turn patients and nursing students away, considering what made DMC “special.” “(DMC) couldn’t have been a better place four our (nursing) students to learn,” Dr. KingJones said. “Not only because of the diverse

people within the hospital, but a lot of the nurses who worked there were also CCC graduates.”

Zoila Rosas was part of the last group of nursing students who did rotations at DMC before the department decided to sever ties with the hospital ahead of the impending closure.

“The patient population there was mostly lower class, non-English speaking, minority groups that felt like they had no where else to go,” Rosas said. “(DMC) was a bridge for nursing students to learn what it’s like to work in our diverse community.”

Etheredge agrees with Rosas and said that the hospital provided an eclectic experience for its students.

King-Jones said nursing students have the option of Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, Alta Bates in Berkeley, John Muir in Walnut Creek and the various Kaiser hospitals in Richmond, Vallejo, Martinez and Oakland.

Since DMC’s closure, resources have been highlighted to help residents who do not have medical insurance, and who have limited access to transportation, to still receive basic forms of medical treatments.

Contra Costa Health Services is urging residents to call the county’s free, 24-hour nursing advice line at 877-661-6230 for non-life threatening conditions.

And for urgent but non-life threatening medical needs, residents can visit the new LifeLong Urgent Care Center across the street from DMC at 2023 Vale Road in San Pablo.

Najgrt-Smith said, “The (LifeLong Urgent Care Center) meets a lot of the needs that were provided by DMC, except life threatening emergencies. So 911 systems will still be in

place and ambulances will continue to respond to medical emergencies — but it will take longer.”

On Aug. 7, 2014, DMC’s Emergency Room was closed in order to prepare paramedics for coping with the extra time it will take to respond to life-threatening situations due to an expected patient overflow at other hospitals.

CCC Emergency Medical Technician instructor Scott Weatherby said while paramedics are faced with adhering to the “golden hour” rule, they will have to travel further in lieu of DMC’s closed E.R. and risk increasing the patient’s chances of death.

Weatherby said what would take 10 to 20 minutes to reach an E.R. or acute clinic will now be doubled, without taking traffic into consideration.

He said the “golden hour” is the time it should take paramedics to arrive onto the scene of the accident, assess how serious the injuries are, load the patient into the ambulance and get him or her to the E.R. “But just because you are in an ambulance, it does not guarantee that you are on a fast track to being treated once you get to the E.R.,” Weatherby said. “When beds are full, there isn’t much you can do but wait.

“So paramedics in this area will have to deal with more people dying in the ambulance or while they wait to be treated.”

EMED students Stephanie St. Onge and Kenyetta Haynes said DMC closing down is a “disservice to the community” and a “tragedy.” “(DMC) was very convenient for the low income people living in West County who are without transportation in case of an emergency,” St. Onge said. “Other hospitals won’t be able to handle the overflow caused by the closure because there is not enough room.”

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campusbeat

WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM 4.29.2015 l WEDNESDAY l THE ADVOCATE

“

We want to bring together the collective brain power and skills set of our students, our staff, faculty and our

managers.” —

Sherry Diestler, speech department Chairperson

Online tutelage to provide assistance

BY Marlene Rivas STAFF WRITER

rivas.theadvocate@gmail.com

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

Culinary arts assistant professor Elizabeth Schwarz shows spectators how to make fresh ricotta cheese and pesto as part of the Teaching Café in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

Workshops bridge gaps, give opportunities to grow success Cooperative seminar promotes education

BY Lorenzo Morotti EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

In order to promote the statewide push toward student success and ease students’ struggles, one must first pinpoint and then understand the issues students face going through the education system.

“The Teaching Café” was created to close the gap between educators and students through an eclectic variety of workshops, food and presentations in the Library and Learning Resource Center at Contra Costa College Friday from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

The theme was “Student Success: Innovative Ideas and Best Practices,” and the event was open for any student, faculty or staff member from any campus within the district to better prepare students to enter the workforce.

The Professional Development Office gathered representatives from English as a second language, counseling, student services, automotive technologies and health and human services departments; all while the culinary arts department students provided food and drink.

“Please be careful with your food and drink. We don’t allow food and drink

n ”You don’t see this after

elementary (school) but mixing classes allows for students to get to know each other better and learn as a group.”

— Sandy Solis, middle college high school student

normally in the Library,” health education department Chairperson Sandra Everheart, who helped organize the event, said. “But feel free to grab a plate, grab a table and let the learning begin.”

Five tables were converted into workshop areas that focused on skills ranging from “We are overwhelmed: Productively Venting and Managing our Stress” to “Teaching You to Teach us Students.”

Other interactive workshops included a virtual paint sprayer and refinishing booth by the automotive services department, and how to make fresh ricotta cheese and pesto by the culinary arts department.

Attendees moved freely through the Library, participated in various workshops and listened to musical performances and student presentations.

The presentation that attracted the largest audience was led by four Middle College High School students.

They expressed their concerns through a rap and then later a breakdown of 10 points where they think teachers could

improve the learning experience in the classroom.

Eziah Tagle-Napitan, Bemister Tessema, Sandy Solis and Luis Garcia burned through their list, which ranged from being more interactive during lectures, study collaboration between departments on campus, in class group work to implementing “class-to-class” group work.

“You used to see this a lot in elementary school, where another class would come in the room,” Solis said. “You don’t see this after elementary, but mixing classes allows for students to get to know each other better and learn as a group.”

Everheart said, “Our (district) chancellor had a Convocation on Innovation at the beginning of the semester and encouraged all of us to think about innovative and creative ways in which we can facilitate the learning process in our classroom, campuses and non-instructional areas.”

She said the event was the “brainchild” of speech department Chairperson Sherry Diestler.

“We want to bring together the collective brainpower and skillsets of our students, our staff, faculty and managers,” Diestler said, “and put out the call on our campus so people can come out and share their knowledge with us.

“So let’s have fun together, learn together and acknowledge our great skillsets.”

New, additional online services will be offered in fall 2015 in an attempt to facilitate tutoring and help for students not regularly on campus.

There are currently resources available to help students who may not be able to spend much time on campus to take part in face-to-face tutoring.

Tutoring coordinator Brandy Gibson said that there is currently online tutoring that students may not be aware of. If one is enrolled in the Skills Center’s tutoring, then questions can be sent to tutors via Desire 2 Learn, she said.

Students can pick the courses they require assistance with and begin a discussion with tutors and others, or use the provided information to contact tutors alone. The incoming questions are monitored and tutors are guaranteed to respond within 24 hours.

The push for new online services came from a suggestion from the accreditation committee last fall to provide equitable services to students, primarily online students, counselor Norma Valdez-Jimenez said.

The new online services would be provided with the help of the Online Education Initiative, which colleges districtwide have been looking into.

Contra Costa College is not a pilot for these services. There was waiting on it to ensure it would be best for students and inquiring about the programs was made to other schools, Gibson said.

These services would be especially beneficial to students who take online classes only. “(Receiving counseling services) is absolutely critical,” Gibson said.

Along with the flexibility given to students with limited time, this also allows for students to privately ask any questions they might not usually ask because of embarrassment or lack of time, STEM grant and METAS program Manager Mayra Padilla said.

One of the greatest things that will be made available to students is the opportunity to meet up with counselors without having to physically attempt the appointment, Dr. Padilla said.

There is plan to equip all counselors with webcams so that meetings with students can be done completely online, Technology Systems Manager James Eyestone said.

This would be done through the system CCC Confer, which campus faculty have used for years.

One of the goals is to look for ways to assist students who are not usually on campus so that they, too, can be provided assistance from counselors, Eyestone said.

Being able to ask tutors questions through D2L and have appointments with counselors online is a step toward assisting such students. However, there is an even greater vision for the online help that can be made available to students. It is the idea of creating a social network platform.

The platform would resemble social media and allow students to be given additional guidance. It will be funded through the Student Success and Equity fund.

Along with that, the platform would move students along by helping determine eligibility for degrees and informing them of upcoming workshops.

INTERACTIVE STORIES HIGHLIGHT RESILIENCE, HEROISM Women discuss important roles in Vietnam conflict

BY Roxana Amparo NEWS EDITOR

ramparo.theadvocate@gmail.com

Students, faculty and staff gathered for interactive stories through an open conversation titled “The Unfinished Women’s Stories in The Things They Carried” in the Library Media Lab on Thursday from 4-5:30 p.m. as part of The Big Read.

English professor Heather Roth led the conversation about the women roles in “The Things They Carried,” a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War by Tim O’Brien that touches on trauma and the healing power of writing and of telling one’s story.

“Stories give us opportunities to transform, to change ourselves,” speech professor Sherry Diestler said during the group discussion.

Roth shared Tim O’Brien’s background information and said there are faculty at CCC who served in Vietnam.

She said, “Both generations are communicating” because current students are at the age of those who went to war four plus decades ago during the Vietnam War-era.

Among the attendees was war veteran Aaron Alberto, who shared with everyone a little of himself. He said his family had to flee Laos and Thailand during the war.

The things they carried were not only the tangible things, like a pen or paper, but things such as guilt, which greatly affected and haunted the soldiers, Roth said.

One of the women O’Brien wrote about in “The Things They Carried” was 17-year-old Martha, a college student and the object of affection of another character in the book, lieutenant Jimmy Cross.

The lieutenant pined for this girl,

CODY MCFARLAND / THE ADVOCATE

n “Stories give us the

opportunities to transform, to change ourselves.”

— Sherry Deistler, speech department chairperson

who was not his lover but a friend, clinging to any scrap of anything and letters that reminded him of her.

Roth said the soldiers were “hanging on to anything that would get them through.”

Many of the women in “The Things They Carried” were not physically present with the men, but Roth said it was as if they “pretended” to feel connected in some shape with reality outside of war.

Another of the women Roth discussed was Mary Anne Bell, who came into the story as a timid girl visiting Vietnam amid war, whose life changed drastically after running off into the woods.

Roth said the men used women as a form of escape from their reality, which was war.

Speech department professor Hans Craycraft said Bell symbolized the innocence of the U.S.A. and throughout the story she changed drastically.

Most people in attendance had a special connection with the book, whether it was that they knew someone who had served in the war or were someone in the war themselves.

“Soldiers are in hell, and when

English assistant professor Heather Roth speaks to students during “The Unfinished Women’s Stories in The Things They Carried” panel discussion in the Media Lab at the Library and Learning Resource Center on Thursday.

they come back they are in hell again,” Diestler said.

Her husband is a Vietnam-era veteran, which allowed for her profound connection with the book.

Breshae Marshal, liberal arts major, said, “It was an eye-opening experience to know what these people went through.”

Roth said the group shared in a “rich discussion” that day.

For some students it was an extra credit assignment, but these individuals were still engaged in the conversation.

“The Things They Censored” is the next Big Read event. It will be held today in L-107 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and will be led by English professor Haley Kantor.

campusbeat

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5

REFLECTIONS ILLUSTRATE STRUGGLES

BY Lorenzo Morotti EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

lmorotti.theadvocate@gmail.com

More often than not the driving force that propels a family to leave its country of origin behind and immigrate to an unfamiliar country is war.

And in the case of the two refugees who were invited to Contra Costa College to share their experience assimilating into Western culture, the push factor was the Vietnam War. The first Mein-American mayor in the nation, San Pablo Mayor Kathy Chao Rothberg, and Vietnamese-American journalist Andrew Lam recollected the challenges that holding onto one’s culture poses while wanting to succeed in the U.S. As part of the Big Read, a communitywide reading program aided

by West Contra Costa County Library and Contra Costa College, “The Vietnam War and Refugee Reflections: A Conversation” panel was held in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

The Big Read commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end. West County’s Big Read focuses on Tim O’ Brien’s acclaimed novel, “The Things They Carried.”

Rothberg said when her family came to Richmond in the late 1970s her parents had to work hard to make a living, like many lowincome minority groups who are still emigrating from countries in Asia, Africa, Central and Southern America to escape impoverished conditions due to conflict.

She said life in the U.S. for these people is “challenging” but can be worth it in the long run.

“There were 12 of us living in a three-bedroom apartment in the Richmond Annex,” she said. “We had one sofa, two beds, about four bowls and a coffee table, but not a dining table.

“The Lao Family Community Development started in that three-bedroom apartment. And since then, our organization has nine facilities across Northern California with a full staff and an operating budget of $5 million.”

Criminal justice major Jenny Mena attended the panel after hearing about it from La Raza studies professor Agustin Palacios.

“I was expecting more brutal stories,” Mena said, “But I was tearing up when they talked about what it was like growing up here because it reminded me of the conditions my people who also (immigrated) to this country face.”

Lam said he came to this country with his family as an 11-yearold refugee and shared a two-bedroom apartment with three families in the Mission district of San Francisco during the early 1980s.

He said his parents pressured him to become a lawyer, doctor or scientist because they believed that those are the professions that make a lot of money.

And he said he had no plans to become a journalist, poet or writer until he met — and then broke up with — the love of his life while attending UC Berkeley.

He said while he was writing about his lost love, he began to weep, not because of the girl, but because he left an entire way of life behind.

“It took a while to realize that this was not the first time that my heart was broken,” he said. “That 11-year-old’s heart was shattered, but he didn’t know it, because losing an entire country was a shock.”

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE

San Pablo Mayor Kathy Chao Rothberg (right) and author Andrew Lam recount their refugee backgrounds during “The Vietnam War and Refugee Reflections: A Conversation” panel discussion in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Monday.

Big Read opens discussion about draft defiance, protests

BY Cody McFarland ASSOCIATE EDITOR

cmcfarland.theadvocate@gmail.com

The second Big Read panel discussion sent guests back to the 1960s and 70s to impart the perspectives of anti-war activists and the social movement of that era in U.S. history.

The discussion, titled “The War at Home: The Draft, Protests, and Resistance,” featured retired fine and media arts professor and Vietnam War veteran John Diestler, activist and Yippie Judy Gumbo Albert and war-resister and former mayor of San Pablo Leonard McNeil, who also teaches as an adjunct political science professor at Contra Costa College.

Nearly 60 students, faculty and community members of all ages and backgrounds came to hear each panelist speak for his or her allotted time, followed by a question and answer segment that concluded the event in the Library from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“The 50s was a time when people trusted the government.

What Congress and the president said then was taken as truth and not questioned,” CCC Library and Big Read coordinator Judith Flum said. “That changed in the 60s.”

From a resister-turned-draftee who feared the war would maim his soul, to a man who spent two years in exile to avoid a war his heart could not back, to a playfully sardonic woman who protested with the renowned and put a pig up for president, each of the panelists provided a unique perspective on those tumultuous years.

Diestler had become seriously involved with anti-war efforts by 1967, his senior year at Richmond High, and had certainly grown from the kid bragging about being tear-gassed at protests to underclassmen the year prior.

“The organization of protests had a lot of heartfelt folks, but it also attracted a lot of people looking to build their resumés, or be a part of the social scene, or whatever,” Diestler said.

“I was convinced we could do something about the war that wasn’t all Hollywood and plasticy.”

His rampant activism through 1969 — various protests and sitins, lying down in front of trains and banging on buses shipping out young men to imminent doom — could not keep Diestler from being drafted in 1970.

“Within a year I was inside the bus, watching some of my friends beat on the windows,” he said.

McNeil said, “In 1968, I refused to be one of the 275,000 Black people who participated in the Vietnam War.” His difficult decision resulted in a five-year lapse in communication with his father, a World War II veteran.

McNeil’s perspective on social justice and anti-war stance benefited from stalwarts such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he said.

“While my people were struggling in 1968 for civil rights, equality and economic justice, I could not, in good conscience, take part in the wholesale slaughter of another non-white people who were struggling for their own liberation,” he said.

After spending two years in Canada in opposition to the Vietnam War, McNeil was arrested by the FBI in December 1973, he said.

He faced 10 years in federal prison and a $20,000 fine if convicted of the charges of refusing induction and failing to keep his draft board posted of a current address.

He was acquitted. He said, “Imagine being imprisoned and fined for refusing to kill other human beings!”

Describing her activist efforts with the Yippies, Albert said, “We used satire to expose American hypocrisy.”

The Youth International Party, whose members were called

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

Former fine arts and media professor John Diestler speaks about his experience being drafted into the Vietnam War during the “Memory Traffic and the Trouble with War Stories — A Conversation with Veterans” panel discussion in the Library and Learning Resource Center on April 22.

Yippies, was a radical countercultural offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s.

Albert said of her many experiences and efforts, none are as memorable as when the Yippies ran a pig in the 1968 presidential election, deeming the sloppy hog comparable, if not more qualified, for the role than Republican Richard Nixon or Democrat Hubert Humphrey.

She read flowing, funny segments from her yet to be published memoir that proved the Yippie penchant for satire and tickled many in the audience — from when Yippies brought the New York Stock Exchange to a halt, to when they pretended to levitate the Pentagon.

Albert’s personal movement is ongoing; in 2013, she went to Da Nang, Vietnam, to attend the delegation of the peace and antiwar activists. There, she observed the affect of armed and chemical conflict on those living and born in the shadow of war.

“The decisions made on paper in the U.S. have real results elsewhere,” she said.

Despite disproportionate casu-

alties, all sides are affected. She said, “To look for equivalency in death is meaningless: Every death is a tragedy.”

Diestler said, “Forty years ago, I got drafted. I got a letter saying, ‘You’re drafted.’ Last year I got word I have cancer. It was the same experience.”

McNeil said, “The government asks you to give up your life, your limbs, your sanity. I got to ask, why?

“Today, the military is looked upon as a job-training organization, yet its only purpose is to prepare for and wage war.”

Albert said, “Young people should be asking themselves, ‘How can I make a difference in this world — in my own way?’”

San Pablo resident Irene Thompson, a retired gardener and CCC student at the event, said, “You could never get away with levitating the Pentagon or banging on buses as they left military stations these days; the state has become far more terrifying.

“I don’t know if it’s that young people are cynical or apathetic, but I don’t think they have seen the practical effects of organized protest as my generation has.”

NASA GRANTS ENABLE CREATIVITY, PARTICIPATION STEM

BY Benjamin Bassham

majors

bbassham.theadvocate@gmail.com

receive

Picture if you will a robotic cat feeder, conceived and crafted by student hands.

NASA has begun a new project to encourage students to explore and stick with STEM majors.

Nine community colleges, three in Northern California and six in Southern California, will reap the benefits of the work of the California Space Grant Consortium, based at UC San Diego, and Contra Costa College is one of them.

Participating students will work in three groups of four to produce functional robotic systems, and when finished will receive a payment of $750 per group, Jon Celesia, physics and astronomy department chairperson, said.

“I was involved in writing this grant for NASA, and we got approved. It’s a

funding for robotic projects

STAFF WRITER

two-year grant,” Celesia said.

The project is based around the use of Arduino, an open-source set of hardware and software.

“They get to make up their own project. Part of it is understanding the programming language and the different sensors they can use,” Celesia said.

“They get to be creative — it’s a fairly new, fairly exiting, cutting edge thing.”

It is very real world, teaching programming and soldering, he said.

Astronomy and physics assistant professor Mark Wong said, “The college has periodically partnered with other institutions, (but this is new ground).

It’s a chance (for students) to apply the skills they’re learning in their engineering classes, instead of strictly theoretical work.

“The whole Arduino (system is) a very cheap micro controller, just $20$30, (although) sensors are more expensive. It’s bringing the ability to tinker to

many more. (We’re) grateful to NASA for investing in these skills.”

STEM major Alvaro Romero said, “It gets my blood pumping to be working with NASA. I’ve always looked to become an astronaut, or work beyond earth’s atmosphere.

“My older brother’s also a STEM major, and he recommended the program to me. It opens my mind up to different possibilities. I didn’t think about working with electronics.”

Celesia said students will get to tour NASA Ames Research Center, one of three NASA locations in California, and participate in live ‘webinars’ (web seminars).

Wong said, “(Students will) get to hear talks from NASA researchers, (hear) how they view science, and use computational science and robotics.”

Celesia said, “We have funded students, and we have some who are doing it on the side. About 20 students are

involved. (Those interested) should be taking a full load of courses, (including) engineering and programming. We choose who is most suited, or who will benefit most.”

“I like it for political reasons as well.

It’s open source, not limited by licensing — it’s kind of cool,” Celesia said.

Wong said, “The role (Celesia) and I fill is to be sounding boards — to find solutions or workarounds, and make sure students don’t find themselves adrift.”

Celesia said, “It’s been pretty much on hold (so far). NASA pushed up the start date and we’ve been struggling to catch up.”

Wong said, “Most of the work will happen later in the semester and over the summer.”

Interested students would be well served to talk to professors Celesia and Wong, whose offices can be found in the Physical Sciences Building.

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Community based growth, education

focus LEFT: Students and faculty gather around a variety of table presentations during the Teaching Café event in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

Photos by: Cody Casares and Cody McFarland FOR

MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.CCCADVOCATE.COM

RIGHT: Leslie Allums (left), tutorial program assistant, listens to advice from Vicki Ferguson, dean of student services, about the enrollment process during the Teaching Café event held in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

Andrew Kuo, library department chairperson, employs the automotive department’s “Virtual” Automotive Spraying and Refinishing program during the Teaching Café event held in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

RIGHT: Middle College High School student Bemister Tessema recites a rap during the Teaching Café event held in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

ABOVE: Lorna Shashinda, English as a second language professor, strums a harp during the Teaching Café event held in the Library and Learning Resource Center on Friday.

sports

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“

COMETS FAIL TO FIND WIN IN ULTIMATE RIVALRY GAME

7

It was good pitching on their part. They had us swinging out of the zone. It seemed like we couldn’t get any ral-

lies going.” —

Kevin Spence, Comet designated hitter

Season-long problems too much to overcome

BY Robert Clinton SPORTS EDITOR

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

The baseball team let go of its last chance to finish the 2015 season on a high note, leaving runners stranded on base and failing to patch defensive holes, leading to a 10-2 loss Friday against Los Medanos College in Pittsburg.

Contra Costa College (6-29 overall and 4-20 in the Bay Valley Conference) finished the season the same way it MUSTANGS began — winning one out of 10 games.

“We committed a couple of errors early and they took advantage of them, COMETS so they had momentum early,” Comet catcher Alex Melendez said. “There were a couple of base running errors early. We got good hits late, but left a couple of runners stranded at third.”

Conference play has been difficult as of late for the squad. Since winning 6-4 at LMC (17-19 overall 11-13 in the BVC) in their first conference matchup this season on April 3, the Comets have lost nine games in a row.

CCC took the lead in the first inning and still looked to finish the season on a strong note. After losing its last matchup against Laney College the game against Los Medanos College would be the last BVC conference opponent CCC would have a chance to sweep.

Comet leadoff hitter Timmion Hughes (0 for 3 hitting), scored from third while Mustang starting pitcher Mike Alexander was distracted by an unsuccessful steal attempt by Comet outfielder Leander Carter (3 for 3 hitting).

10 2

QING HUANG / THE ADVOCATE

Comet second baseman Rome Watson jumps up for a catch during CCC’s 10-2 loss to the Mustangs at Los Medanos College on Friday. The Comets ended their season 6-29 overall.

n ”We got on the board early

but they were just hitting the ball and things weren’t falling in our favor. We knew the stakes, we just needed to execute.”

— Leander Carter, Comet outfielder

“We got on the board early, but they were just hitting the ball and things weren’t falling in our favor,” Carter said. “We knew the stakes. We started off good; we just needed to execute.”

Base running blunders prevented CCC from getting another runner in scoring position and was the last time the team would put a run on the board until the sixth inning.

“It was good pitching on their part. They kept us swinging out of the zone,” Comet designated hitter Kevin Spence said. “It seemed like we couldn’t get any rallies going.”

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The remainder of the first inning was owned by LMC. Mustang hitters loaded the bases early and the first run was scored on a balk by CCC starter, Christian Sadler (7 hits 1 strikeout pitching).

A double and a single put two more runs on the board for LMC. The Comets got out of the inning having only given up four runs in a situation that could have been a lot worse.

Sadler made it through the second inning and seemed to be settling into his groove, until Mustang outfielder Carlos Carrillo (2 for 3 hitting) punched through a two-run single for Los Medanos.

Comet hurler Jesse Garcia (6 hits, 2 strikeouts pitching) came in to replace Sadler in the third and slowed the bleeding for the squad, giving up only one run in three innings, until CCC batters showed signs of striking back in the sixth inning.

CCC scored another run in the inning when Carter atoned for his earlier mistake by scoring on Comet third baseman Antonio Straughter’s sacrifice fly.

Signs of life and a potential shift in momentum forced the sixth place Mustangs into action in hopes of avoiding a season sweep in conference play by last place CCC. In the bottom of the eighth inning the LMC scoring push started innocently enough, on an RBI single by catcher Etham Utler. This inspired Derek Slate to crack a double, scoring two more runs for the home team.

Slate was subsequently thrown out at third, showing his greed by trying to stretch a double into a triple.

LMC put up three runs in the eighth frame.

Those would be the final runs of the game for the game and the season for either team.

N OFF THE RECORD

Athletic department needs boxing program

T

he biggest boxing match, and arguably one of the most anticipated fights ever, is set to take place this weekend in Las Vegas.

Come Saturday, deals, bets and beer will be everywhere. But after the match became official, I began to wonder about boxing, Contra Costa College and the athletic department.

Throughout my academic career I have heard stories from various faculty advisers about how CCC had a boxing program in the 1970s.

So if boxing existed here on campus, then why not revive the program and give the community something new to cheer about in the athletic department?

Aside from potential risks to bodily health, money will always be a factor.

However, I believe that if an institution can get the right coach and mentor, then any athletic program can thrive under superior leadership and management.

Imagine an ambassador associated with boxing located on campus who could teach hungry, motivated student athletes the art of quick kidney punches and speedy rabbit punches inside of a ring.

Besides the football team, who in my opinion has the best football coach in the Pacific 7 Conference, Alonzo Carter, there is no motivation.

No other team on campus has a “killer instinct” from a competitive advantage in sports at CCC. Overall, there is no strong leadership and accountability associated with the CCC athletic department.

Other than football, it appears the accountability on losing is irrelevant because, year-after-year, the same coaches roll out the exact ineffective game plans from the prior season when the next begins.

And when the season finishes, no one is held responsible for another “bad season” surrounding their philosophy of winning.

Am I really taking shots at our athletic personnel? Yes, sir, I am.

The culture has to change into a winning environment and give parents, siblings and alumni something

josejimenez great to cheer about.

Take action and give the masses of people who enjoy sports an opportunity to come out and rally at these sporting events.

Give the fans a unique experience with the teams you have put together, and allow them to be part of something bigger.

When my community college adventures began as a student staff writer back in 2013, it was the volleyball, softball and baseball teams who failed every semester in posting a winning record.

I have been told off the record by some coaches that, “some players think they’re bigger than the game.”

Of course that was after a loss.

But I have learned that is when the character of a person in sports really comes out.

I feel sorry for the sports writers who will follow me in journalism and have nothing to write about if there is no plan B for the athletic department.

That should be the spark for boxing, or any other sports program, to be reborn here on campus — the catalyst for heads to roll off in the front office and be held accountable for consecutive losing seasons.

So bring boxing back on campus and CCC might be lucky enough to find the next Andre Ward.

And for the record, my money is on Manny Pacquiao, because he represents everything the CCC campus is, but the athletic department is not.

A small, quiet and lucrative singularity without the flashy, arrogant and deceitful look of a wrapped bow tie.

Jose Jimenez is the spotlight editor of The Advocate. Contact him at jjimenez. theadvocate@gmail.com.

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“

It’s wonderful. This year seems bigger than ever. There is good food, plenty of wine, smiles all around and the songs are awesome.” — Frank Malicoat, KPIX news anchor

CODY CASARES / THE ADVOCATE

Wine, food brightens spirits Charitable gathering provides students chance to see culinary world

BY Robert Clinton

n ”Everyone is having a

SPORTS EDITOR

good time. Some people show so much support for the kids and the hard work they do that they are writing checks on the spot.”

rclinton.theadvocate@gmail.com

Local celebrities, vendors and residents all came together in the name of food, wine and a chance to give culinary arts department students a chance to travel the world at the eighth annual Food and Wine Event held Sunday in the Gymnasium.

Between donations and the auction, $35,000 was raised.

The event raises money for the Contra Costa College Culinary Arts Study Abroad Program. This year the program will send six students to Italy instead of the 10 it normally sends.

Culinary arts department Chairperson Nader Sharkes uses his relationships from around the Bay Area to support such a largescale event.

“I have personal connections in the community that help bring everything together,” Sharkes said.

“Everyone is having a good time.

Some people show so much support for the kids and the hard work they do that they write (donation) checks on the spot.”

Big fundraising events like the key to the liquor cabinet or the silent auction drew crowds of supporters.

KPIX news anchor Frank Mallicoat helped with auctioneer duties, back at the event for his fourth year in a row.

“It’s wonderful. This year seems bigger than ever,” Mallicoat said.

“There is good food, plenty of wine, smiles all around and the songs are awesome.”

Attendee Holly Johnson won

— Nader Sharkes, culinary arts department chairperson

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA / THE ADVOCATE

the contents of a liquor cabinet by donating $20 and receiving a key.

The correct key opens the cabinet containing various wines and popular spirits.

“I walked around with this key for over an hour before I used it,” Johnson said, “We are just happy to come and support. (CCC) is one of the premier institutions in the area.”

Vendors from the entirety of the area packed the Gymnasium decorated with white clothed tables, aligned to allow an easy flow to a large group of people as they made their rounds from display to display.

Attached to the ceiling was an over-eight-foot-long balloon sculpture configured to look like bunches of grapes on the vine.

The wine was the most popular attraction; some attendees even carried special wine glass holsters around their necks to keep their

hands free.

Many vendors hold special connections to the program or CCC in general by either graduating from the culinary arts program or getting the opportunity to be on display as a budding chef.

For culinary department alum Cassandra Simmons, this was her first Food and Wine Event as a dessert vendor.

“I finished the program 32 years ago and I came back here to speak as an alumni in 2013,” Simmons said.

With so many options, it was hard for guests to know where to begin upon entering the gala. Each display, from cupcakes to oysters on the half shell, was inviting enough to make guests forget their intended destination and meander.

Some vendors did a better job at standing out than others.

The Richmond Country Club had prime real estate: the first

booth nearest the entrance. But it takes more than location to keep the sample platter empty.

“It all comes down to the food,” Richmond Country Club Catering Manager Amanda Howard said.

“Our chef does a good job combining innovation with presentation.”

After the live auction, six students were chosen for the trip.

The selection criteria include work hours, a letter of recommendation from a professor or employer and an essay.

Lauren Patrick’s eyes filled with tears as her name was announced among the selected.

“I feel great,” Patrick said. “It’s so much of a reward after all of the hard work and hours we put in to this. This (trip to Italy) will be the farthest (away) I have ever been.”

The consistent success of this event raises questions about similar events being proposed and structured similarly to raise money for other departments.

“It would have to be something with a specific purpose and would take a culmination of things to make it work,” Dean of Student Services Vicki Ferguson said. “I think something on this scale could work for other departments.”

TOP: Arlene Passini, Monticello Vineyards employee, pours a glass of red wine for Tammeil Gilkerson, vice president (center), and Vicki Ferguson, dean of student services (left), during the 8th Annual Food and Wine Event held in the Gymnasium on Sunday.

LEFT: Anthony Blackburn, Fenestra Winery sales representative, pours a glass of white wine for Albany resident Renee Howley during the 8th Annual Food and Wine Event held in the Gymnasium on Sunday.

Galactic visionary to bring life story to stage Pioneer stargazer inspires scientists to shoot for stars

BY Nina Cestaro STAFF WRITER

ncestaro.theadvocate@gmail.com

“Silent Sky” opens Thursday night in the Knox Center for the Performing Arts and will run through Saturday, with performances each night beginning at 8 p.m.

A preview will take place tonight at 8 p.m. for a discounted ticket price of $5, and there will be a matinee performance on Saturday at 2 p.m. For each performance taking place on or after Thursday, general admission is $15 per guest and $10 for students with a student ID. Play director Kelly Ground based her decision to direct and produce “Silent Sky” in part because she was asking herself what would work in the constraints of the Knox Center. Her other influence is award-winning playwright and author of “Silent Sky” Lauren

Gunderson, is an acquaintance of hers. Gunderson is based locally and teaches screenwriting in San Francisco, Ground said.

Vicky Kagawan-Zabarte, who plays the role of Leavitt’s sister Annie, was surprised to learn that her character “named more than 350,000 stars in the universe and classified them by their colors.”

In this play, we see Leavitt at her familial home with her sister near Harvard’s Observatory working with her associates to make astronomical discoveries, and with her supervisor, Peter, with whom she had a romantic episode.

The cast could not be a more congenial group of people who are seriously dedicated to their craft, Ground said.

Student Clove Galilee said she was inspired to audition for the lead in “Silent Sky” because of “the groundbreaking research on astronomy made by Leavitt. I am astounded at how versatile she was as a volunteer, mathematician, scientist and intellectual and how her work contributed to understanding how the universe works.”

Prior to Henrietta Leavitt’s work

Kelly Ground (right), director of “Silent Sky,” makes final alterations to Henrietta Leavitt’s (Clove Galilee) coat during a dress rehearsal in the Knox Center on Thursday.

GEORGE MORIN / THE ADVOCATE

at Harvard Observatory, there was no Hubble Space Telescope, nor much information about how to count stars. Her innovative work on measuring the darkness or brightness of stars from telescopic photos and pairing them with their negatives gave the modern world of astronomy a new method, Ground said.

Hubble uses this same method today.

Ground said that each person will like this play for their own particular experience — “some might enjoy it for the possibilities and others for the science, but it really has something for just about everybody.”

Willamena is played by student

Kaitlyn McCoy. McCoy has taken one astronomy class and said she loved it.

About being in “Silent Sky,” she said, “It’s more fun than it is timeconsuming, and you learn a lot about yourself being part of a production like this.”

Adam Elder takes the only male role in the play: Peter.