Accent March 2015

March 2015

Update on E-Cig Policy p. 4 Photo Story Winner p. 6 - 7 The Future is Here p. 8

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Contents Campus Focus............................. 4 Photo Contest Winner............. 6-7 The Future is Here...................... 8 Community College Buzz...... 9 Hot Spot Review.........................11 On the Cover: ACC student Devon Foster is the winner of Accent’s Spring 2015 Cover Art Contest. The painting titled “Illusion” is acrylic on canvas. The dimensions of the original art are 22 inches by 28 inches.

Editor in Chief

Reporters

Photographers

• Noor Alahmadi

• Joseph Lee • Anthony DeVera • Gaius Straka

• Raquel Moreno

• Chloe Kwak • Kyle August • Jessica Youssefi • Nicholas Reisenauer

Multimedia Editor

Business Manager

Adviser

• Nicholas Mery

• Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell

• Era Sundar

Online Editor

To Submit a Story Idea, Comment or Correction • editor@austincc.edu Contact us Accent Austin Community College 4400 College Park Drive, Room 2107 Round Rock, Texas 78665 Phone: 512.223.0122

To

To Place an AD • accent@austincc.edu

Apply for

a Position • theaccent.org/openings March 2015 | 3

SGA Corner

The Student Government Association (SGA) is an organization that represents you. We are the direct link between the student body and the administration of Austin Community College District. We exist so we can hear and report your voices to the administration.

We have senators who are tabling district wide. They are tabling to hear your voices, and they are also inviting students like you to attend our general meetings. You can become an SGA officer if you are interested and if you come to our meetings. We keep most of our SGA bulletin boards updated district wide so you know what is happening within the SGA and ACC. The SGA will also conduct several projects this semester. Chalkboard of Democracy is one of the projects. This project consists of having one whiteboard per campus. Officers will pose a question on the whiteboard to get students like you to answer the question and to discuss it.

The purpose of this project is to enhance student interactions within the Austin Community College District.

You can contact us at sga@austincc.edu. You can find us at austincc.edu/sga and facebook. com/ACCSGA. Senators’ contact information will be on most SGA bulletin boards throughout the district. We have more positions available as well. Please contact us for more information.

Let us have a great semester together!

Sincerely, SGA President John G. Gizdich III

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Alternate Route to Success Jessica Youssefi, Reporter Students attend college for different reasons, but the desire for success is a common trait.

Whether they are using community college as a way to familiarize themselves with the nuances of college life, or as a way to re-acclimate to an academic lifestyle, community colleges around the country offer opportunities and hope for individuals looking to achieve their goals.

For some, like UT graduate and former student at Northlake Community College in

Dallas, Texas, Reihaneh Haijibeigi, community college served as a segue from high school academia to college-critical curriculum.

“I took my first community college courses while I was still a high school student,” said Haijibeigi.

“The handful of courses I took allowed me to juggle many different passions without falling behind in rigorous coursework.”

Community college is known for its diversity; it is very common to find people of

different ages, ethnicities and financial backgrounds.

Community college provides an avenue for students who may be facing financial difficulties, hectic schedules and apprehensions about embarking on their education.

ACC currently enrolls more than 43,000 credit students and serves an additional 15,000 students each year through non-credit programs.

Community college has been the beginning of many success stories for students who are eager to get their foot

in the door of knowledge. It continues to help students, young and old, connect the bridge between just starting out in college, and preparing them for the leap to a university.

It is vital that there are adequate resources extended to people who have the desire and drive to gain an education, and the tools needed to gain success in higher education can be found within community college.

ACC Board Clears Smoke on E-cigarette Policy Kyle August, Reporter Last fall, debate surrounded the topic of electronic cigarettes and whether or not vaping was subject to the same regulations as cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Last year on Nov. 17, the ACC board of trustees voted to expand the college’s smoke-free policy to prohibit nicotine vapor products. This ban, which also includes smoke-free tobacco products, went into effect Jan. 5 of this year.

“We want to maintain a healthy and safe environment for our students and employees,” Dr. Mary Hensley, ACC Executive Vice President of Operations, said.

This new restriction has sparked controversy, and many

students argue that school officials lack any real supporting evidence that vapor smoke is harmful. Collin Hayes, a student at the Northridge campus, believes the ban is too harsh. “[Tobacco smoke and vapor smoke] are two completely different substances,” Hayes said. “I feel it’s more of a moral attack”.

In the ACC online Newsroom, students criticize the ban as being imposed without any sort of consensus or representation.

Accent sought to capture differing viewpoints on this topic, but the few students who seemed to be in favor of the ban chose not to go on record with their opinions.

There is not enough data to determine whether there is any risk associated with secondhand nicotine exposure, but scientists have confirmed there are no combustion-related toxins present in vapor. Electronic cigarettes are most often used as smoking-cessation tools, and can help reduce the risk of relapse and tobacco-related death. Vaping is, however, a relatively new trend; the longterm effects remain unknown.

On the Record

Gerald Richardson Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief

“A lot of times I get upset, but then after a while I push myself to do what I need to do.

I think about how quitting would get in the way of my goals.”

Photo by Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief

sometimes because I don’t know what people think of me and I feel like I make them uncomfortable. My advice to them is just know that people with cerebral palsy are just as capable of learning as anyone else and you should treat them like a regular person.

ACCENT: What is proper etiquette?

Should people look you in the eye?

RICHARDSON: I really don’t care (laughing) because I’m not very good at looking people in the eye either.

RICHARDSON: I just want to be able to say that I helped people that didn’t have the same opportunities as me. I want to serve my country in any way that I can.

ACCENT: Is there a specific way in which you want to serve your country?

ACCENT: What is cerebral palsy?

RICHARDSON: It happened when I was born. The oxygen gets cut off and you have a sort of stroke. There are different degrees of stroke and I got a mild form. It makes the messages from your brain to your muscles not travel correctly and it makes your muscles tight and you start to have trouble with balance.

ACCENT: What are your academic plans?

ACCENT: Does the condition make school work difficult?

RICHARDSON: It doesn’t really

ACCENT: What stereotypes do you deal with?

RICHARDSON: Some people believe that I can’t think for myself. I am spoken to as if I didn’t understand what they were saying.

ACCENT: How should people interact with you?

RICHARDSON: It’s hard to fit in

Enter the exciting world of student media production

n i e c n e i r e p x gain e

m s i l a n r u Jo marketing

ACCENT: What are your life goals?

Like most ACC students, Gerald Richardson has hobbies and plans for the future. However, he also has the added challenge of living with cerebral palsy.

Richardson spoke with Accent about conquering the condition and moving toward his goals. affect your ability to learn. It affects the speed at which you can do certain tasks. It just makes the mechanics of stuff more difficult.

Accent

RICHARDSON: No, I would just like to help people around the world but I’m not exactly sure how to do that. I just know that I don’t like hearing about ISIS and I want to help in any way that I can.

RICHARDSON: I plan on transferring to Texas State to major in Middle Eastern studies. Since 9/11 I’ve been very interested in helping other cultures, especially ones surrounded by stereotypes, since I deal with those all as well.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been condensed and edited

Event Coverage

photography

MULTIMEDIA BROADCASTING Contact us • editor@austincc.edu • http://www.theaccent.org/ openings/ • Twitters - @theaccent • Facebook - AccentNews March 2015 | 5

Photo Story Winner

Inking Austin One Body at a Time Krystal Anzaldua

ARTIST’S PALETTE — An assortment of ink is laid out for the tattoo artist.

CLOSING TIME — Tattoo artist Garrett Potts locks up his shop after a long day. Mom’s Tattoos is open 7 days a week, and is located at 1703 South Lamar.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS— Garrett Potts, 34, discusses tattoo sketch options with Chris Holmes, 27, and John Holmes, 54.

TASTEFUL ART — Artist Garrett Potts tattoos a hamburger on Kim Burnet, 32.

Afterwards, she will be given a complimentary Care Kit to ensure proper healing.

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Photo Story Winner

TEAMING UP — Artist Garrett Potts tattoos a peacock feather on April Hernandez, 24, while Gary Stiles tattoos another client.

SKETCHING IT OUT — Potts sketches out the tattoo design, and prepares the stencil that will be placed directly onto the skin.

THAT’S THE SPOT — Potts watches as Sarah Conner, 24, carefully decides on the

perfect spot for her tattoo.

KEEPING IT FRESH — Tattoos fade with time; Potts touches up a piece previously done on a client.

March 2015 | 7

Program has Austinites Great Scott, its 2015 Running for Shelters Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief

Kyle August, Reporter

Photo by Kyle August

Austin is home to runners and dog lovers alike. Combine the two and you get RuffTail Runners— a program that inspires Austinites to take shelter dogs out of their kennels and onto the trails for exercise and exposure.

“There were a lot more benefits than we realized,” Rob Hill co-founder of RuffTail Runners said.

The runners act as extra trainers, and the vast majority of the dogs are well behaved

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as a result.

Each month, RuffTail Runners holds training sessions to teach volunteers how to properly handle the dogs. Group sessions are fairly small, and include both classroom and hands-on training.

“What we try to do is keep the runners, dogs, and public [on the trails] safe”, Hill said.

“We average about 300 runs a month. All these runs, we’ve had virtually no dog fights”.

Running with the

dogs is not a requirement. Many participants walk the dogs.

Hill has no statistics on the program’s effects on dog adoption rates, however he said that getting the dogs away from the stressful shelter environment results in happier, healthier, pets.

The program also allows people to spend time with the dogs without the full-time commitment of ownership.

Before each run, dogs are fitted with bright vests that read, “Adopt Me!” Hill, a native Austinite, has two adopted pets of his own — a dog and a cat.

“I’m a magnet for strays!” he said.

RuffTail Runners is open to the public at the Austin Pets Alive!

Town Lake facility at 1156 W Cesar Chavez.

For more information, visit www. meetup.com/rufftailrunnersaustin.

The 1989 the Back to the Future sequel made some very bold predictions of what the year 2015 had in store.

While there might not flying cars and selfdrying jackets, Back to the Future 2’s reality is not too far from today’s reality. Although the films’ outlandish predictions cast a shadow over the technology of 1989, the late 80’s CD players and hella awesome Atari consoles, at the time, seemed like the greatest advancement in personal technology.

Back to the Future 2 predicted that Jaws XIX would come out in theaters and virtually consume Marty McFly. Although Jaws XIX has never come to be, the scene does represent how much our culture has grown to love sequels; i.e the seven Fast and Furious and four Ice Age movies.

Unfortunately, there will be no getting stuck in Austin air traffic with flying cars anytime soon. The

good news is, that with Google’s self-driving car, hands free driving might soon become a reality. Cruising around campus on hover boards may be a bit down the line, but smart phones are a universal transporting device, with the push of a button (metaphorically, for now).

Most people have that one movie, that one scene that changed their lives. Movies are such an integral part of life that without realizing it, quotes and inside jokes from those films have become a series of cultural memes. Even people who haven’t seen Fight Club know not to talk about it. It is common knowledge that Tom Cruise had Renee Zellweger at “hello”, and that you should never put Baby in a corner! Back to the Future 2 gave people a hopeful idea of what 2015 would be like.

Today’s youth has a lot in common with the youth of the film. Even

at the dinner table electronic devices seem to get in the way of human interaction. Yet what the film does not show, is that many young people put technology to good use by starting fundraising campaigns for great causes, or absorbing the vast amount of information available at their fingertips.

No, there will not be ingestible magically expanding pizza in this lifetime; but humans will most likely be landing on Mars, watch the infant mortality rate continue to decrease and read about innovative medical achievements. What the writers failed to predict was the positive use of such technology, to better the world in subtle ways rather than, flashy ones of which Hollywood is so fond.

While Back to the Future 2 helped imagine a world of magic achieved by technology, the magic lies within this generation.

Student Voice - 2015 Projections Interviews by Jessica Youssefi Photos by Joseph Lee

ALAINA MENCHACA —

We definitely haven’t progressed as far as portrayed in the movie.

We don’t have cool gear as we should.

What did you expect 2015 to be like?

CHRIS MENDOZA —

Ability to clone other people, resurrect extinct species, extend life expectancies.

AUDREY YATES— I really thought by now we’d have a “Jetsons” lifestyle, flying cars, teleportation, the whole nine yards. I’m really upset about the lack of hover boards.

DERON PICKENT — In the future I hope we have cars that drive you. I hope to have better ways to not use fossil fuels.

Student Voice - Community College Joseph Lee, Photographer

CORINNE MEDFORD — It helped me realize the importance of education, as well as gaining an interest in receiving one.

How has community college changed your life?

JAY PATEL — Community college has helped me move forward in my career by teaching different skill sets in order to get a better job.

LONG HO — Classrooms are small. It’s easier for me to pay attention, which is good because I gained from it. It’s easy to make friends.

SHIKHA JOHNSON —

Community College is less stressful in that the classes are easier. However, it is a lot smaller and is hard to be socially involved.

March 2015 | 9

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Buzz Mill Review Raquel Moreno, Online Editor

Photos by Accent Anthony DeVera

Students that are looking for a cool new place to study, drink, and attend free events, Buzz Mill is the place to go.

Located on East Riverside and open 24/7, Buzzmill has a unique atmosphere with its cozy cabin-style interior, where you can either grab a

beer, a cup of coffee, or try their specialty infused liquor. The outside seating area is equipped with wooden benches, and a fire pit for cozy conversation on those rare, cold Austin nights. Buzz Mill does not have a food menu, but have no fear - there are two food

trucks stationed right there in their backyard! The Blue Ox truck serves up some savory Bar-B-Que, and Golden Spike Rail Cart specializes in vegan comfort food.

Buzzmill has events every night, such as stand-up comedy and live music.

Comedy shows are free every Wednesday at 9pm, and are filled with local and commuting comics.

Katy Pengra opens every comedy night with some bittersweet anecdotes for the simple joy of making strangers laugh.

Pengra, who has been working at Buzzmill for a year, said “I love this place, it has a really unique vibe to it, and it’s fun running a show here.”

Buzz Mill’s lumberjack

themed setting is a comfort for students looking for a place to hide while they cram for midterms. The little nook behind the bar has a strict “no talking” rule for anyone wishing to study in peace.

Buzz Mill is a quaint hangout full of people from all walks of life, truly

representing the Austin spirit. The next time you’re around East Riverside stop by - it will be worth it!

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