October 2015
NEW
SEMESTER NEW
FACES Behind the News Photo Story p. 6 - 7 Election Perspectives p. 11 Riverbat Games p. 10
Letter From the Editor The first day of school is like New Year’s Day for scholastic institutions. Many ponder the potential academic new year’s resolutions and events posed by the upcoming school year. For the administration, it’s the challenge of improving operations and maintenance. For teachers, it’s the challenge of translating and communicating knowledge and information to a new set of students. For students, the considerations are as different and varied as the population itself. Some are fresh from high school, others come from the workforce and haven’t gone to school for a while. Regardless, students involved in classes at Austin Community College make an unspoken statement: “I’m here to improve myself.” Just like students, the Accent is taking advantage of this time to develop a strong foundation. We apply our efforts to the best of our abilities, learning lessons along the way, and figure out what works and what doesn’t. We report on the news and current events that effect ACC. We publish stories and content following concise guidelines: Is this information the student body needs to know? Is it being presented in the best form possible? Is it in context? Are all the sides of the discussion covered? Our goal is to provide the student body with the information they need and want so they may be able to develop and form their own well-informed, educated decisions or opinions. We at the Accent are just like you, students who are doing our best to balance the different aspects of our lives while pursuing our goals. We are a growing organization full of likable individuals, curious of the little world we have here at ACC. If you should meet one of us covering a school event, or walking about one of the campuses, give us a tip on what you think the student body should know about. We may ask you a few questions, maybe even take a picture or two of you. We see how beautiful our community is, and we want to provide a way for you to see that too. Anyone who chooses to further their education makes a wise investment in their future. I believe ACC truly stands by it’s motto “Start here. Get there.” I believe that ACC can help you pursue your goal of becoming the person you want to be. So, on behalf of Accent News, I bid you welcome! I am excited to see what the future has in store for all of us. All the best wishes, Anthony DeVera Editor in Chief
2 | ACCENT
Student Staff Anthony DeVera Editor in Chief
Noor Alahmadi Reporter
Nohra Johnston Illustrator
Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell Business Clerk / Reporter
Contents On the Record.............................. 5 Photo Story................................... 6-7 College News............................... 8 Riverbat Games........................... 10 Campus Viewpoint....................11
Editor in Chief
Contributors
Business Clerk
• Anthony DeVera
• Noor Alahmadi • Shaina Kambo • Christian Santiago • Stefani Ventura
• Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell
Graphic Designer • Nohra Johnston
Adviser • Era Sundar
Photo Editor • Joseph Lee
To Submit a Story Idea, Comment or Correction:
To Place an AD: • accent@austincc.edu
• editor@austincc.edu Contact us: Accent Austin Community College 4400 College Park Drive, Room 2107 Round Rock, Texas 78665 Phone: 512-223.-0122
To
Apply for a Position:
• theaccent.org/openings
On the Cover: Student Life staff member Tranise Pleasant prepares to greet students at ACC’s annual Riverbat Bash on the Rio Grande Campus. Photo by Joseph Lee.
What Is Your Favorite Quote And Who Said It? by Stefani Ventura
Kendal Travis•
Forget what hurt you in the past, but never forget what it taught you. — Shannon L. Alder
Margarita Triana•
Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time. — Arnold H. Glasow
Tyreese Brown•
Miguel Barvosa-Martinez•
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear. — Albert Camus
Rachel Egan•
In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase. — Martin Luther King Jr.
Yvonne Naziraje•
The best way to lose yourself is to find yourself in the service of others. — Mahatma Gandhi
October 2015 | 3
4 | ACCENT
Accent
On the Record
Ben Mathey
Interview and photo by Shaina Kambo
Eastview Campus Manager Ben Mathey, has worked for ACC since 1999. He started in student services and gained experience as a center supervisor and adjunct professor. Mathey received a bachelor’s degree in history from Southwestern University and a master’s degree in history from Texas State University.
ACCENT: Can you describe a typical day on the job? MATHEY: My job on a typical day is to help people on the campus who are experiencing any issues in regards to the facilities at the Eastview Campus. Even more simply, my job is to try and make things better. Fortunately for me, I have a team of great individuals that make everything run so smoothly. ACCENT: What challenges did you have to overcome in life in order to achieve your current success? MATHEY: I have dyslexia, but I would not consider that a challenge. When I was 12 years old, I had a doctor tell me that in two-weeks time there was a 50% chance I would be completely healed and a 50% chance I would be dead. Fortunately, I went for the first option. ACCENT: Was there anyone who motivated you to take the career path that you did? MATHEY: There is no one individual but a multitude who [have]inspired me
to have a career in education. I believe higher education is one of the greatest gifts of civilization, and I relish that idea everyday. Education is a gift that is continually giving and the ability to be a part of that on a professional level is a privilege.
People attend ACC as part of a transformational experience: they come here to change their lives. ACCENT: As a former student, what advice can you provide for the ACC student who may feel a little overwhelmed with college life? MATHEY: You the student, are the most important factor in your education. Everyone you see, everyone you encounter, has the same fears and trepidations. What you need to know is that everyone is here to help. All you have to do is ask. Learn to ask for help. Learn to ask for guidance. Learn to ask, no matter what your problem is. ACCENT: What makes Eastview Campus stand out from other campuses at ACC?
MATHEY: I know every campus says this, but it really is the people. Eastview is home to some of the most passionate faculty and staff I have encountered. People attend ACC as part of a transformational experience: they come here to change their lives. East Austin is also in a moment of transition. I believe that more than any other campus, Eastview has the potential to play an incredible role in connecting the economic opportunities occurring in Austin to the residents of the surrounding community.
Enter the exciting world of student media production
ei c n e i r e p x e gain
n
sm i l a n r u o J marketing
Event Coverage
ACCENT: What’s the most interesting experience you have had on campus?
photography
MATHEY: Technically this was not on a campus but at the San Marcos Goodnight Center. At one point we were sharing a building with the high school agriculture program. One day I heard a commotion in the hallway and when I investigated, I found that two goats had escaped from the agriculture program into the halls. I can now say that working at ACC has helped me develop my goat-wrangling skills.
MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTING
Editor’s Note: This interview has been condensed and edited
Contact us • editor@austincc.edu • theaccent.org/openings/ • Twitter - @theaccent • Facebook - AccentNews October 2015 | 5
Behind the news
by Anthony DeVera
MASTER CONTROL — The technical director monitors taping from multiple camera angles in the control room.
QUICK UPDATE — Journalist Paul Brown (left) momentarily
interrupts a rundown meeting taking place in a conference room to clarify details with his producer Ryan Catanese (right).
NEWSROOM OVERVIEW — The Capitol Tonight team shares the newsroom with the rest of the broadcast anchors, producers and reporters on the second floor of the Time Warner Cable News building in downtown Austin.
6 | ACCENT
QUIET MOMENT — Looking out from the studio’s balcony, Brown takes some time to enjoy peanut M&M’s.
ACC journalism professor Paul Brown anchors Capitol Tonight, a local political talk show on Time Warner Cable. A typical day includes meetings, follow-up phone calls on leads and editing video packages.
PRESHOW STRATEGY — Frequent guests of the show, (from left to right) conservative commentator Ted Delisi and liberal commentator Harold Cook sit at a conference table with Paul Brown to go over the topics to be discussed during that evening’s episode.
CASUAL CONVERSATION — Brown and Capitol
Tonight guest Harold Cook share a moment of casual conversation between takes while recording the show.
STAYING CONNECTED — Brown checks his cell phone for emails and text
messages outside of the control room for Studio B at the Time Warner Cable News station in Austin, Texas.
BETWEEN TAKES — Sitting at his anchor desk in studio B,
Brown checks his phone while waiting to continue recording footage for the evening’s broadcast.
October 2015 | 7
Dancing for Independence
Student Debt, Student Threat
by Stefani Ventura It had just stopped raining before Hispanic Heritage Month, Texas the music of Mariachi Estrella was Secretary of State Carlos Cascos heard around the Riverside Campus. encouraged the importance of voting ACC staff and students gathered to as Hispanics are the nation’s largest witness the eighth annual Diez y Seis ethnic minority. event. “As the Hispanic communi“It’s a long standing event. We ty takes pride in their heritage, it’s co-host it with former Texas State also very important to make a difSenator Gonzalo Barrientos for about ference and have an opinion of eight years,” Keisha Gray, coordinator what the future will hold as fellow of the Center for Texans,” Cascos Public Policy & said. “Everybody Political Studies, hears how the Hissaid. panic population An event continues to grow many Tejanos in Texas. But what and Mexicandifference does Americans are it make how fast proud to take this population is part in, Diez growing if we don’t y Seis, which exercise that right translates to to vote?” sixteen, was With minutes not just an orleft, the dancers of dinary day in Ballet Folklorico September 1810. LIBERTAD! — (above) Ballet Folklorico took over the stage dancers performed at RVS’s Diez y Seis It’s the most in bright, tradicelebrated day celebration. (below) Sen. Barrientos addresses tional dresses and the crowd. Photos by Stefani Ventura. in Mexico, the Johnny Degollado beginning of the Mexican War of y Su Conjunto, one of the most proindependence. lific songwriting groups in conjunto “Libertad! Viva!” said former State music, closed Diez y Seis with “Party Senator Gonzalo Barrientos. “When I Time Polka.” was a little boy, four or five years old, I wondered what they were saying. I came to find out later that it was a cry for independence, a cry for liberty and more of what we ought to have in the world.” “El Grito de Dolores” (Cry of Dolores), is affectionately known for the memorable cry of Miguel Hidalgo, priest and leader of the decade-long war which resulted in victory for Mexico. As the event takes place during 8 | ACCENT
Article by Noor Alahmadi Student debt is a looming black cloud affecting many students in America. According to the U.S. Department of Education, student loan interest rates have gone down about one-third of a percent in the last year from 4.66% to 4.29%, which according to Blake Ellis with CNN Money Investigations, is still crippling forty million Americans. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett attended a student press conference at the Highland Campus Sept. 4, to speak about H.R. 1260, The American Opportunity Tax Credit Act of 2015, a bill which he is both the author and sponsor. “It’s a $2,500 tax credit,” Doggett said. “If you do not have that much in taxes, you will get $1,000 refund.” The main goal of this act is to allow students to receive a college diploma without being accompanied with a mountain of debt. Debt restricts students’ choices and Doggett believes that it ought to be possible for people to renegotiate their interest rates just like on other kinds of loans and
prevent debt from piling up. With the upcoming primaries and ultimately the Presidential election, candidates have been offering up their own solutions to the rise in student debt. Hillary Clinton’s approach mirrors Doggett’s when it comes to the softening of student debt. “For those who already have student debt, my plan will give you the chance to refinance at lower interest rates,” Clinton said. Doggett said he would like to do more, but must be practical. “I have mixed feelings about providing free college to everyone as our first priority. I would like everybody to be able to get all the education they want, but knowing how limited our resources are, I want to see it focused on those with the biggest obstacles.” Doggett said there will be another attempt at perfecting this bill in 2017, should he be re-elected.
OPPORTUNITY — Students at the press conference sit with Doggett waiting to take a group photo on the social steps at the Highland Campus Sept. 4. Photo by Anthony DeVera.
Christian Rap Gets Students to Clap by Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell A lifetime of passionate lip syncing in the shower may have been the ticket to winning big at Student Life’s Riverbat Bash. The fifth annual Riverbat Bash on Sept. 17, welcomed students and the community with free food, family activities and chances to win Austin City Limits passes. More than 500 attended the event at the Highland Campus. ACC’s mascot R.B. did the R.B. step, which is ACC’s official dance, with students. But the main crowd pleaser was the lip sync battle which offered two one-day ACL passes to the first place winner. The contest filled up quickly as students tried to win the passes. The second-place prize included two tickets to a John Fullbright concert and a $30 gift card to Los Palmas restaurant and third place was two tickets to see John
Fullbright at the Paramount Theater. The competition was intense with Wini Evans taking first place. She impressed the crowd by performing a Christian Rap song by Lecrae titled “Round of Applause.” Evans hyped up the crowd by giving high-fives and dancing with audience members. “I felt great about my performance,” Evans said. “The lip sync battle wasn’t about winning or losing for me, it was about empowering students through a song I felt had a meaningful message.” Zach Bryant-Amos, who finished second in the lip sync contest, talked about how much he enjoyed his time at the Riverbat Bash. “It was fun,” he said. “The vendors were helpful COMMUNITY — Lip Sync battle winner and in helping me obtain some much Round Rock Campus team member Winnie Evans joins forces with R.B. to greet young needed school supplies. Riverbat Bash attendees.
Shyamalan Returns with Horror- Comedy “The Visit” by Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell In a surprising twist, M. Night Shyamalan’s new horror-comedy “The Visit,” ends with -- a plot twist. Most people recognize the name M. Night Shyamalan as the director of the movies “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs.” After those two outstanding films, Shyamalan’s track record went down from there having made one poorly reviewed film after another. However, “The Visit” is a step toward his former glory. The background is set as two siblings go to their grandparents’ house for a week while their mom and her boyfriend go on a cruise. The grandchildren are excited to finally meet and spend time with
their grandparents. However, within a couple of days, the siblings realize that their grandparents are acting out of the norm, starting with a strict 9:00 p.m. curfew where the kids were told to not leave their bedrooms. Before the week comes to a close, everything around the house unravels with the grandparents acting more bizarre and the kids lives at stake. The kids uncover a secret that will throw the audience for a loop. Will the children make it out of the house safely? What is this secret that their grandparents are hiding, and will the little ones be rescued? Well … you will just have to watch the movie and find out.
A Shyamalan film wouldn’t be right if it didn’t have intense, graphic scenes to make people jump out of their seats, and that’s exactly what’s packed into this movie. However, the film is filled with comedy that helps release some tension. The grandchildren, played by Ed Oxenbould and Olivia Dejonge, performed their roles with excellence. The thrill, horror, suspense and comedy are all there. I score this movie 6.5 out of 10. Still, with it receiving a 58 percent from Internet review site Rotten Tomatoes, I recommend at least seeing it at the dollar theater or waiting until it comes out on DVD.
Concealed Carry, Open Controversy by Christian Santiago This past summer, the Texas legislature passed S.B. 11. The republican sponsored bill allows those with a concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry a concealed handgun on universities and community college campuses throughout the state. The issue of firearm possession is debated across the U.S., and some states have been cracking down on laws regarding firearms. New Jersey does not allow handgun possession without a license and California requires the purchase of firearms from licensed dealers. Texas, however, is moving in the opposite direction with the passage of the new campus-carry law which takes effect in August 2016 for universities, and August 2017 for community colleges. In an email from ACC’s Office of Public Information and College Marketing, Antonio Lujan said that ACC takes the issue of guns on campus seriously. “We will work together with various key individuals including the ACC Police Department to abide by the new law, while protecting the rights of our staff, students and community.” Lujan said that ACC will look to how the University of Texas will enact their policy since community colleges have more time to construct theirs. “The goal is to ensure the safety and security of everyone at the college’s facilities.” October 2015 | 9
Riverbat Games
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10 | ACCENT
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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Fri Sep 11 17:16:24 2015 GMT. Enjoy!
Puzzle 1 (Hard, difficulty rating 0.65)
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Puzzle 1 (Hard, difficulty rating 0.65)
Word Bank: Accent, Bistro, Break, Calculator, Continuing, Distance, Meningitis, Paul, Simon’s Cafe´, Tuition Medium Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.56)
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1. Students who want added scheduling flexibility may opt for __ learning classes. 2. Usually a college student’s biggest expense. 3. South by Southwest occurs around spring __. 4. Vaccination required for ACC students under 22 years old. 7. Some math classes allow students to use this device.
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5. The student voice of the Austin Community College District. 6. Food vendor on the Rio Grande Campus. 8. Non-credit courses are offered by the __ Education Department. 9. Journalism professor featured in this issue __ Brown. 10. ACC culinary students operate __ 3158.
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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/sudoku on Fri Sep 11 17:18:01 2015 GMT. Enjoy!
6
Campus Viewpoint What are your thoughts on the 2016 presidential race? Interviews by Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell Photos by Joseph Lee
Tatiana Johnson •
Dylan Arocha •
History and Spanish: I think it will be cool for Hillary to win because her husband was our president and I feel she has insider knowledge.
Graphic Design Major: Voting is important. Our future depends on what these people are going for. I would support Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman.
Christian Padilla •
Ryan Lane •
Round Rock Campus: I feel like every race has gone through something. Being Hispanic, I’m more worried about Donald Trump. I feel like he is against us.
Illustration by Nohra Johnston
Niyra Tealer •
Advertising Major: I’m very passionate about the 2016 election. Bernie Sanders has very concrete answers when he touches base on issues and doesn’t tiptoe around taboo subjects.
Business Management Major: Donald Trump is just running to just get his brand out there more. I don’t feel like he’s running for the president of the United States.
Maria Harris •
Criminal Justice Major: The top two candidates are Hillary Clinton — because of [her views on]women’s rights and equal rights for all, and Donald Trump — even though he’s saying some ridiculous things.
October 2015 | 11
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